OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Newbie’s Opinion: Suse 9.1 Professional vs. Fedora Core 2

Guest post by Zach Levin 2004-08-09 Rumors 66 Comments

Quite frankly, I got fed up with my Windows XP. Everything was wrong with it - security, stability, and price. So, I took a new step in my computer experience and tried going Linux. My only previous experience having been using and FTP Wizard to upload files to a web host, I could definitely be put into the "newbie" category.

DragonFlyBSD 1.0A: A strong start

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-09 BSD & Darwin 19 Comments

"Don't mistake DragonFlyBSD 1.0A for a complete, finished, polished operating system. At this stage of development, DragonFlyBSD isn't good for much, as it has problems with SMP on systems that use Hyper-Threading Technology, and the XFree86 port (among others) didn't compile properly for me despite using the special compatibility overrides." Read the review at NewsForge.

Bilinear, Trilinear, and MIP Mapping Technologies Explained

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-09 3D 16 Comments

Since the earliest games of Ping Pong and Pac man, graphics have evolved quite a bit. The technology in which to render them has also evolved into complex and speedy graphics processing units. From primitive software acceleration to the current hardware and software acceleration, graphics have become more efficient, more complex, and most importantly, more beautiful than ever before.

On Win XP Service Pack 2

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-09 Windows 47 Comments

Service Pack 2 for Windows XP has finally been released and is now available for people to download and install on their systems. The file, at just over 265 Megs, is a hefty download yet is packed with new updates well worth getting. Microsoft's new focus on security is paying off, but the company still has a long way to regain its customers' trust, according to the company's security program manager.

The OpenSTEP Story at Sun

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-09 OpenStep, GNUstep 13 Comments

Rich Burridge is shedding some light as to what happened around the time that Sun was supposed to use OpenSTEP as its next-gen API/GUI for SunOS/Solaris.

Mac Keeps Lead on Linux

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-09 Apple 57 Comments

With the release of its first Linux laptop last week, Hewlett-Packard predicts this year the free operating system will unseat the Mac as the No. 2 desktop operating system behind Windows. Indeed, some analysts say Linux displaced the Mac as the leading alternative in 2003. Today's the Day. But the Mac hasn't been relegated to third just yet. While Linux machines are shipping in ever greater numbers, especially to giant markets like China, the vast majority are stripped of Linux in favor of pirate copies of Windows, experts say.

Automated Penetration Testing – False Sense of Security

Submitted by Scott 2004-08-09 Privacy, Security No Comments

The security industry has matured quickly over the past few years with penetration testing becoming one of the norms for organisations adopting best-practice processes. Loosely defined as the process of actively assessing an organisations security measures and completely reliant on consultancy services, security manufacturers have been eager to bridge the gap between product and service and more importantly to reap the benefits of additional profits. Story is here.

Why Windows Isn’t Quite Ready for the Desktop

Guest post by Brian Davis 2004-08-09 Windows 153 Comments

As I'm sure many have noticed, there's been a flurry of articles recently regarding the Linux desktop and the direction it "needs" to go in. A few have been insightful and offered up valuable information regarding the future of desktop computing. Most, however, have been painfully ill-informed or even confrontational. After sitting back and watching the fighting break out in the trenches, I decided to pen something from the opposite side of the fence.

RISC OS Gets X11 Application Help

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-09 RISC OS 6 Comments

The Unix Porting Project's efforts to bring X Windows software to RISC OS continues, as the team gradually implements more and more of the X11 specification to enable open source applications, found on Unix, to be enjoyed by RISC OS users. While the ChoX11 library isn't complete yet, applications are starting to take shape, such as the GTK-based web browser Dillo.

LinuxGazette for August Available

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-09 Linux 5 Comments

LinuxGazette for August is released and includes articles --among others-- like: "Fvwm", "How To Enable Desktop Icons for Lightweight Window Managers", "White Box Linux Kickstart Tricks", "Securing a New Linux Installation" and many others.

KDE 3.3 RC1 is Out

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-08 KDE 52 Comments

The first release candidate for KDE 3.3 is available from the mirrors.

Creating a Fault-Tolerant Environment in Windows Server 2003

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-08 Windows 7 Comments

There are many ways to add fault tolerance to network services and resources running on Windows Server 2003 servers, and all without the hassle of third-party software. Find out how to use them.

Using Solaris Resource Manager With Sun Ray

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-08 Solaris 2 Comments

This article describes best practices for managing system resources for Sun Ray users. Based on an actual customer scenario, this article provides recommendations for integrating and using the Solaris Resource Manager software to fairly distribute system resources when users insert and remove their smart cards from Sun Ray desktop units.

Matthias Ettrich talks about KDE and aKademy

Submitted by Torsten Rahn 2004-08-08 KDE 27 Comments

Continuing the series of articles previewing KDE's World Summit, aKademy (running from August 21st to 29th), Tom Chance interviewed Matthias Ettrich, the founder of the KDE project, the creator of the LyX document-processor, and an employee of Trolltech. At aKademy he will be talking about how to design intelligent, Qt-style APIs. He discusses about his thoughts about the status of the KDE project, its achievements, and what he is looking forward to in aKademy.

Linux 2.4.27 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-08 Linux 22 Comments

Kernel 2.4.27-rc6 was released as 2.4.27 with no changes. Here is a list of the most important security issues fixed by this release.

Gnome Tips Article Available

Submitted by David Uhlman 2004-08-08 Gnome 8 Comments

David Uhlman has put together a Gnome tips article much of which will be appearing in the forthcoming gnome hacks oreilly book. In other news, check out the extended application ranking we implemented for Gnomefiles.org.

E/OS LX 0.2.4 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-08 OS News 18 Comments

E/OS is a graphic operating system which can execute programs from Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, IBM OS/2, MSDOS, and Linux. This version run as a live CD, and supports DOS, Windows, and Linux emulations.

DotGNU Portable.NET 0.6.8 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-08 .NET 22 Comments

Lots of bugfixes in this development release for DotGNU Portable.NET 0.6.8.

Console and Desktop Shaking Hands

Submitted by Dennis Heuer 2004-08-08 General Development 9 Comments

This Freshmeat article proposes a new technique for how desktops can integrate console applications.

Groovy forever changes the way that you view Java

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-08 Java 35 Comments

Whereas the Java language has won over an entire generation of programmers with its commitment to exactitude and extensiveness, Groovy heralds a new era of programming on the Java platform, one defined by convenience, expedience, and agility. This article shares an informal introduction to the proposed addition to the standard programming languages for the Java platform.