Here is a review of QEMU, a "generic and open source processor emulator which achieves a good emulation speed by using dynamic translation": "In sum, if you have emulation or virtualization needs, before you think of any commercial products, give QEMU a try. While it may not be as feature rich as some commercial alternatives, it’s stable, fast and free. And the convenience of having the source code available is a real plus."

In this short interview, Ubuntu Linux founder and space tourist Mark Shuttleworth discusses the intended users of Ubuntu, why he chose to base it on Debian, and what the future holds for Linux on the desktop. Ubuntu is growing rapidly - and Shuttleworth is the man at the controls.

This article will teach you how to define and test for parameters within the Java environment by creating a simple system for for tracking course enrollment.

Syllable 0.5.7 has been released. You can read the changelog here, and the download locations are here. "The biggest change in this release: everything has been recompiled against the new libc, and we have broken binary compatability through the removal of all the old libgui/libatheos/libsyllable versions. There are also some new drivers, new GUI classes, new bug fixes, and no doubt, new bugs."

The next stable update of the Linux kernel will bring advances in file system event monitoring, the Xtensa architecture, and a set of system calls that allows users to load another kernel from the currently executing Linux kernel. While the 2.6.13 –rc are currently being tested, the stable version is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

Trying to locate an unresolved plug-in dependency can be strenuous and time-consuming. Almost every plug-in depends on a bunch of other plug-ins, and those plug-ins, in turn, may depend on many more. This article shows you how to resolve plug-in dependencies more quickly by automating their discovery.

Richard Stallman, chair of the Free Software Foundation, said on Thursday that the Linux trademark fracas in Australia has distracted attention away from the real issue - that of freedom to distribute and change software.

The first Live-CD based on Debian GNU/kFreeBSD has appeared. Its name is Ging (for Ging Is Not Ging) and it includes a GNOME 2.10 desktop, Abiword, and a complete toolchain with gcc 4.0.

Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference is expected to be a coming out party of sorts for the next version of Visual Studio, code-named Orcas. Primary among the new features in and new direction for Orcas will be advances in how the toolset handles data, sources said. Data becomes "cool" in Orcas, said a source familiar with Microsoft's strategy for Orcas.

Recently the eccentric security researcher Michal Zalewski published his first book, entitled Silence on the Wire: A Field Guide to Passive Reconnaissance and Indirect Attacks. Because the book is everything except a security manual, ONLamp's Federico Biancuzzi chose to interview Michal and learn more about his curious approach to information security. Among other things, they discussed the need for randomness, how a hacker mind works, unconventional uses for search engines such as Google, and applying AI to security tools.

After a great deal of interest from the community, we have decided to officially open the "SkyOS Code Ransom". In a nutshell, the SkyOS Code Ransom is a system to encourage developers to port various software packages to SkyOS, as well as a way to reward them for their efforts. Depending on how successful and how much interest there is in the "SkyOS Code Ransom", we may expand this feature of the website a great deal more in the future.

"Version 1.2 is the third official release of the Gentoo-based VidaLinux OS (VLOS). The changes and enhancements to this edition are significant, but not good enough to save this conceptually astute operating system from failure. VidaLinux 1.2 is nice to play with, but don't expect a comfortable, complete desktop experience a la SUSE or Mandriva." Linux.com has the details. My Take: Tested VLOS the other day, and while it may be not be perfect yet, it's definitely on the way to being an attractive and usable system.

The X Window System (commonly referred to as X or X11) is a network-transparent graphical windowing system based on a client/server model. Primarily used on Unix and Unix-like systems such as Linux, versions of X are also available for many other operating systems. Although it was developed in 1984, X is not only still viable but also is in fact the standard environment for Unix windowing systems. This article thoroughly discusses X.

What utility do practically all Linux users use, regardless of their job or expertise? A boot loader. In this article, see how a boot loader works, meet two popular loaders, LILO (LInux LOader) and GNU GRUB (GRand Unified Boot loader), and review the pros and cons of each.