I'd like to announce my new project, flush. Flush is a shell with a difference, you'll be able to execute simple commands like mv and rm, but there will be no support for scripting constructs, pipelines, globbing or substitution.

Sun this week at LinuxWorld revealed its Java Desktop 3.0 enterprise Linux desktop environment. Sun has not yet given a laundry list of features, but has indicated that device support and productivity are the foremost attributes of the upgrade.

In this paper, we explore a new approach for data privacy and security in which a security administrator protecting privacy at the level of individual fields and records, and providing seamless mechanisms to create, store, and securely access databases.

TextOS, the small FreeDOS-based operating system/programming language on a floppy, has been updated to version 1.0b5 "Architect." It fixes some bugs and includes the long-awaited PAK file creation menu, which makes it easier to create your own TextOS PAK applications. Download it here.

QEMU is a generic and open source processor emulator which achieves a good emulation speed by using dynamic translation. Its sporting a new module called the 'Accelerator' which can achieve near native speeds, and currently runs on Linux 2.4.x and 2.6.x kernels. This means you could theoretically run Windows (or another OS) on a Linux machine at near native speeds without buying a commercial emulator.

T2 is a system development environment. It provides a self-contained distribution build kit based on sources with an up-to-date development toolchain (gcc, glibc, uclibc, dietlibc, X.org, KDE, GNOME, etc.).

A sample program CCtest was created to demonstrate an error common to C++ applications -- the memory leak. The examples in this article demonstrate the use of the DTrace feature in the Solaris 10 Operating System to diagnose C++ application errors. These examples are also used to compare DTrace with other debugging tools, including Sun Studio 10 software and mdb in the Solaris 10 OS.

"To make the desktop look really nice, you want the ability to theme a window (or sub-component thereof) as a whole. This could mean graphics that span multiple widgets, it could mean moving widgets around, it could mean changing the spacing between widgets, etc. To address this, I believe we'd need to rework GTK+ a fair bit" says Red Hat's Havoc Pennington.

Top Linux seller Red Hat acknowledged on Friday a misstep in its relations with technology enthusiasts but said the profit motive is helping it to mend its ways.

StarOffice 8 Beta available For Public Download. At HUP they installed SO 8 beta and grabbed some nice screenshots.

In just a few short months, an open-source software package called Xen has been catapulted from obscurity to the limelight as many computing industry powers throw their weight behind the project.

Here's a story that the next generation of Windows spyware and exploits are starting to make use of "kernel rootkits". A paper at Microsoft Research has details on a prototype detection tool.

Sabayon is GNOME's first major design targeted at improving the user experience for people who administer GNOME systems, and hopefully the start of an initiative toward designing for this important group of users.

I was quite excited about the release of Slackware 10.1, the same way I was excited about 10.0 and versions before that. As a self confessed 'Linux Desktop Dabbler', to date, I've found Slackware my favourite Linux flavour to Dabble with.