Fedora Core 3: A Short Review

I've been using Linux since the Redhat days. Since then, it has grown from a curious look to a hobby, and more recently to my main operating system. Due to starting out with Redhat, I admit to being partial to the Redhat/Fedora series. Don't let that concern you though, as I've tried all of the mainstream distributions, even Lycoris and Linspire.

IBM Releases Object Rexx as Open Source

IBM's programming and scripting language, REXX, may have achieved a unique range of supported platforms, with success on everything from the Commodore Amiga to OS/2 to IBM mainframes. Over the years, REXX gained object-oriented features, and turned into Object Rexx, with programming interfaces to DB2, C, and C++ applications. A few weeks ago, IBM quietly released Object Rexx to the open source community. RexxLA — the REXX Language Association — targeting the first release of Open Object REXX for early 2005.

Morton: Linux 2.7 may see code fork

Accommodating large patch sets in Linux is expected to mean forking off of the 2.7 version of the platform to accommodate these changes, according to Andrew Morton, lead maintainer of the Linux kernel for Open Source Development Labs (OSDL). Commenting on the planned 2.7 release of the Linux kernel, Morton said OSDL expects a few individuals with big patch sets will want to include them in the kernel. But there will be no place to put them.

Inside Memory Management

Memory management is one of the most fundamental areas of computer programming. In many scripting languages, you don't have to worry about how memory is managed, but that doesn't make memory management any less important. Knowing the abilities and limitations of your memory manager is critical for effective programming. Get an overview of the memory management techniques that are available to Linux programmers, focusing on the C language but applicable to other languages as well.

Improving OSS usability: A Quick Guide

Free and open source software is often criticised for being less usable than its commercial equivalent. Good user interface design isn't some magical thing that FOSS developers can't do for themselves, however. I've written a short article describing five key points of good interface design that any developer can use in their projects. (Note: hosted on a slow connection, please use the Coral Cache if possible).

QNX: The Unexpected Surprise

I think that everyone reading OSNews will have heard at least something about QNX. You can regard this article as an introduction, but also as a review, and as a "Is-QNX-Ready-For-The-Desktop? article". To start off, I put together a short explanation of the merits of using a microkernel. Let me start off by saying that QNX Software Systems (QSS) does not aim towards the desktop with their Neutrino RTOS.

GnomeFiles Reaches 100,000 Downloads, 500+ App Entries

We are very happy to announce that our little side project, GnomeFiles.org has reached as of this moment 535 application entries, 100,000 downloads and an average of ~19,000 pageviews per day, all in about 5 months since its first publication. We would like to thank our readers and the GTK+/GTK-binding developers who supported the project so far. Update: Search Plugin for Firefox/Mozilla now available (get it from the bottom of the GnomeFiles page).

Gil Amelio’s Reign at Apple, and his Eventual Ouster

According to many economists, Gilbert Amelio is the savior of businesses in trouble. With this in mind, the board of directors at Apple decided to appoint Gil Amelio to the board after reporting another huge loss in 1994. At the time, Michael Spindler was the head of Apple, and sales in every division. The board accepted Spindler's resignation and appointed Gil Amelio to the helm of Apple.

OpenBSD 3.6 review

The OpenBSD team earlier this month released version 3.6 of the free operating system, with support for more hardware, updated application software, and bug fixes included. This time around OpenBSD has added support for multi-CPU systems, a number of drivers for new peripheral hardware, and about 200 more apps to the Ports tree. NewsForge took the new version for a spin, and liked what they found.

Top Linux vendors partner to further standards

Linuxlookup.com is reporting Connectiva, Mandrakesoft, Progeny and Turbolinux today announce the creation of a common implementation of the LSB 2.0 which will serve as the base for future products. The project, called "Linux Core Consortium" (LCC), is backed by Linux supporters such as Computer Associates, HP, Novell, Red Hat, Sun, OSDL, and the Free Standards Group. All details are in the press-release.