The long anticipated update to Portable.NET has been released. The new version features important patches and fixes for Serial I/O, threading support, sockets and many more - read the full announcement for details or download the source code now (binaries will be available shortly).

The Darwinports project recently announced the 2000th package has been added to its collection.

When on Unix/Linux I mostly use Gnome, and so here are some of the best third party GTK+ applications around I have found.

Viruses could stop you getting cash from an ATM Cash machine networks could soon be more susceptible to computer viruses, a security firm has warned. The warning is being issued because many banks are starting to use the Windows operating system in machines.

DesktopLinux has published a detailed and lengthy eight page review of SimplyMEPIS 2004. In the review, SimplyMEPIS is declared "the absolute masterpiece of desktop Linux distributions." There are several screen shots to go along with the article. Update: More Mepis screenshots here.

Apple's worldwide market share fell to 1.8% in the third quarter of this year from 2.1%, and dropped to 3.2% from 3.6% in the U.S., according to figures from research company Gartner. The numbers also showed dramatic declines in the quarter-to-quarter growth rate of Macs sold while Apple's Windows-based competitors saw double digit increases in the U.S and an almost 10% rise worldwide.

The X Window System, which is the foundation of graphical displays on Linux, Unix, BSD, and optionally on Mac OS X/Darwin, has long stayed submerged in the public consciousness just as it has been submerged under window managers and heavyweight desktops.

The Office of Government Commerce's report into the viability of using open-source software in the public sector was toned down in its praise of Linux security before release, silicon.com has discovered. A copy of the report, seen by silicon.com with amendments still visible, shows changes were made to the government's stance on the particular advantages of Linux versus proprietary software regarding security.

OpenBSD project leader Theo de Raadt today announced the official release of OpenBSD 3.6 for fourteen architectures. This regular release includes new support for the luna88k platform as well as a long list of enhancements such as SMP support for x86 and AMD64. NewsForge has details and a list of mirrors. There is also an interview with openbsd developers on new technologies in 3.6.

CTO of Adeptiva Linux, Stephan February, admitted that consumers find it difficult to use Linux because of the lack of support compared to Windows. "There is no compelling need to shift to Linux today," he said. Despite the availability of user-friendly graphical user interfaces similar to what Windows-based desktops have, Linux remains a very technical software product with few people outside the technical community are available to support consumer users. My Take: I personally agree with this fellow.

"I'm an optimist. I can't help it. But that doesn't mean there aren't a few goblins and ghouls roaming in the shadows that bug me out. So as jack o' lanterns light up across North America this weekend, I'll let you in on a few of the biggest issues that send chills down my spine." Read Schwartz's article.

In this month's KDE: From the Source, entitled Breaking the Network Barrier George Staikos takes us on a walk-through of KDE's desktop networking protocol handlers in the vein of sftp:// webdav:// and a few really nifty ones I wasn't aware of like info:/ perldoc:/ and tar:/.

Solaris 10, Beta7 is expected to be released tomorrow; you can get it here. This 'blog posting covers the changes since Beta6. A lot has changed: The Service Management Facility, the Java Desktop System, and a new X.org-based X server on x86 have all been added.

One of the minor ironies of the Linux world is the slight disconnect between the mantra of "choice" the most ardent advocates use to make the case for a multitude of graphical interfaces and the state of the North American enterprise Linux market, where a single distributor has dominated since the late '90s. That distributor is, of course, Red Hat, and while the numbers analysts produce about its share of the Linux market vary, they consistently hover above 75 percent. The company is so dominant that it's not uncommon to hear less savvy executives simply refer to the distro as "Linux," which infuriates many.