This is a brief introduction to Gnome optimization, both the hows and the whys. Details of individual tools and techniques are left for later articles, but a collection of hints and tricks is provided. Update: GNOME 2.10 Beta 2 is the first pre-release intended for wide public scrutiny before the final release.

The latest in a series of desktop Linux related articles from NerdSyndrome, The Power of Community on the Linux Desktop examines how community driven open source Linux distribtutions such as Ubuntu and Fedora Core are promising to change the way we use desktop computers for the better.

As mentioned last week, we have five fine books to give away. Two will go to existing OSNews members, two will go to readers, members or not, who participate in enlightened discourse on our comments and forums, and one will go to a new member who signed up between last week and tomorrow. Only a handful of people have signed up as new members, so if you sign up today, you have a great chance of winning a free book. Winners will be chosen this weekend, so you only have one more day to make yourself eligible.

Recently I stumbled across a very nice article, written by Torsten Scheck, published on pro-linux.de, a German Linux site. This article proved to be so helpful to me that I decided it would be worthwhile to translate it into English and republish it. Comments of the translator will be added in italics. I hope a lot of people will find this little gem as useful as I did...

The X.Org Foundation today announced the fourth release of the X Window System since the formation of the Foundation in January of 2004.

With the introduction of the 2.6 Linux kernel, FreeBSD-5-STABLE, Solaris 10, and now NetBSD 2.0, you might be wondering which of them offers superior database performance.

USB2 support for RISC OS 5 on the Iyonix is here.

After reading through the FAQ here I've noticed this particular statement: "The C++ compilers from Microsoft, Intel and Borland are not supported by the tools in the GPL version." The most common and most widely used C++ for Windows is none other than Visual C++. However, at this point OSS development using Qt/Windows GPL is for GCC developers only.

Novell's Linux Desktop distribution was widely expected last year. When it finally got released in December 2004, it had to compete with Red Hat's own Enterprise Desktop solution and Novell's very own SuSE. So, how does Novell Linux Desktop 9 (NLD) fairs?

The standard Python interpreter is unquestionably a highly valued item in the toolbox of many Python programmers. However, the IPython developers have taken the fundamental ideas found in the standard interpreter and improved upon them so considerably that they have created a tool of amazing utility. Elsewhere, this new monthly column is about writing plugins in Eclipse. Also, read here how to use the Observer Pattern in .NET.

Apple released Mac OS X 10.3.8. Key enhancements include: Improved OpenGL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers; Enhanced file sharing and directory services for mixed Mac and PC networks; Improved compatibility for third party applications and devices.

As part of the FOSDEM preparations for later this month, the organization has posted three interviews with Alexander Larsson (Nautilus & GnomeVFS maintainer), Matthias Ettrich (creator of KDE & Lyx, now at Trolltech) and Oliver Fourdan (creator of XFce).

Provides an architectural overview of "Indigo," Microsoft's unified programming model for building service-oriented applications. The paper covers Indigo's relationship to existing distributed application technologies in the .NET Framework, the basics of creating and consuming Indigo services, and an overview of Indigo's capabilities, including security, reliable messaging, and transaction support.

Today we are very happy to feature an interview with Aaron Hillegass, the famous tech instructor from the Big Nerd Ranch. We have reviewed his Mac OS X books in the past and this time we are going to talk about the actual process of the classes going on in the ranch every so often.