OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Are You Indulging In Unprotected Wireless?

Submitted by Scott 2004-09-07 Privacy, Security 29 Comments

Wireless PCs and wireless laptops are being increasingly used in both business and the home. . . Unfortunately, in the enthusiasm with which people have adopted wireless, the question of security has been seriously overlooked.

The History of Java on BeOS…

David Adams 2004-09-07 Haiku 10 Comments

Well, until beunited tells me to shut up (probably won’t be long) I’m going to attempt to set the record straight and describe the current status of Java on BeOS. I’ve seen a ton of inaccurate information disseminating about the community and feel something should be said by someone who actually does know what’s going on. That seems to be the general state of Haiku / beunited at this point. Too many people don’t know anything and think they do, or like to speculate, and the people who really know things are too busy working on them to keep people overly informed.

UK Navy to use Windows for Warships

David Adams 2004-09-07 Windows 149 Comments

When the UK's defense contractor for the Navy decided to standardize on Windows, it "prompted strong internal opposition from some , who had a sound background in Unix and who had, despite resource starvation and a companywide policy to standardise on Windows, been investigating open source alternatives as a foundation for future combat systems. They lost."

Linux Standards Base: Making Enough Progress?

David Adams 2004-09-06 Linux 36 Comments

Ask some end users what Linux Standard Base (LSB) is and most likely they either won't know anything about it, or know a little bit but not enough to qualify as understanding what all the buzz around LSB is about. Ask three ISVs and only one will likely understand the implications of LSB for their business. And only a very, very few will say that they have started the process of making some of their applications LSB-compliant. Read More.

Database File System for Linux

Submitted by super_science_monkey 2004-09-06 Linux 53 Comments

There's what appears to be a well-presented but probably pretty early phase implementation of a Database File System for Linux. Check it out.

FreeBSD 5.3-BETA3 Released

Submitted by Joel Dahl 2004-09-06 FreeBSD 26 Comments

FreeBSD has released a new Beta of 5.3. Release notes can be viewed at here.

Sources provide Microsoft Virtual PC 7.0 screenshots

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-05 Microsoft 30 Comments

With Microsoft's release of Virtual PC 7.0 to manufacturing this week, several sources close to the Redmond-based software giant were able to obtain finalized copies of the product. A collection of screenshots from the soon-to-be released emulation software package are included in an exclusive AppleInsider photo gallery.

Programming Linux 2.6

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-05 Linux 28 Comments

This month's column at LinuxMagazine provides an overview of some updates and new features in 2.6, including filesystem support, threading library changes, and the new kernel-level profiler. This article assumes you already have access to a machine running 2.6.

Athene 4.1 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-05 OS News 13 Comments

Athene is a desktop system for Linux that uses its own graphics drivers for high speed access to your graphics card. On version 4.1, resolution and display management functionality were improved. File and folder security information were added to the file manager. New hot-keys such as alt-tab window focusing were added. Dead-key support for international keyboards was added. Some bugs have also been fixed.

Peace, love and paychecks

Submitted by OSNews Witness 2004-09-05 Linux 49 Comments

Linux began as a labor of love by hippies and hackers. Now the suits are cutting checks and running the show. This pay-for-play arrangement may be standard operating procedure among high-tech companies and academic labs, but it represents a big change for Linux, which first gained favor among hippie-esque programmers who disdained revenue and profit, advocating a "peace, love and software" vision of Linux as a free operating system developed without regard for corporate interests.

Mandrakelinux 10.1 RC 1 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-04 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 36 Comments

Continuing with the fast development cycle, Mandrakesoft has released the first release candidate of Mandrakelinux 10.1. More info here. Update: LinuxBeta.com has prepared a 142 page slideshow of Mandrakelinux 10.1 RC1.

Widget Wars: The battle for your Windows desktop

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-04 Graphics 30 Comments

This Fall the widget wars will move into high gear. The battle for the desktop is about to begin. And with Longhorn's XAML technology lurking in the distance (and Apple's Dashboard), widgets are likely to deliver a whole new era of desktop customization. Read the article here, by the CEO of Stardock, Brad Wardell.

Summary of network changes in FreeBSD 5.3

Submitted by Jan-Oliver Neumann 2004-09-04 FreeBSD 11 Comments

André Oppermann has held a presentation on new things and changes in the 5.3-FreeBSD Network Stack at the SUNCON 04 in Zurich yesterday. His very informative summary is available here. The original announcement can be found here.

FreeBSD UFS2 Snapshots Management Environment

Guest post by Ralf S. Engelschall 2004-09-04 FreeBSD 3 Comments

OnTap WAFL's .snapshot feature is such easy to use since years while on FreeBSD UFS2 the unprivileged users were not able to as easily use snapshots for retrieving old stages of their files. To solve this I've implemented a little snapshot management environment for FreeBSD around mount(8), mdconfig(8), amd(8) and cron(8) which provides a similar environment than what people are used to from WAFL. A summary article and proof of concept implementation is available.

Apple, Microsoft Partners Find Common Ground

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-04 macOS 79 Comments

Forget the new iMacs and iPods. Apple is leaving a lot of dough on the table by not pushing its Mac OSX software aggressively into corporations running Windows. So says Technology Execution Network Corp., a Microsoft solution provider and Apple Authorized Dealer based in Needham, Mass., which says the latest versions of the Unix-based Macintosh OSX operating system code-named "Panther" significantly enhances the ability for the Mac client and server to integrate with Microsoft's Active Directory and Windows server environment.

A week with Slax Linux 4.1.4

Submitted by Barney Mattthews 2004-09-03 Slackware, Slax 18 Comments

"The first thing that caught my eye about the Distrowatch announcement on the release of Slax 4.1.4 was that it included KDE 3.3 which had only been out a few weeks. I wanted to try out KDE 3.3 and a live CD like Slax is a great way to do it, so I went over to the Slax website to download the ISO." Read more here.

Microsoft: Linux may mean Windows price cuts, fewer sales

Submitted by science_monkey 2004-09-03 Microsoft 57 Comments

Microsoft has filed a report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission warning that 2005 could be challenging, as Linux continues to steal business and PC sales remain sluggish. Elsewhere, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer touted his company's vision for a bright future, while casting doubt on alternatives to his company's Windows operating system, in particular Linux when addressing a gathering of software industry leaders.

Review of Mozilla’s Sunbird Stand-Alone Calendar Application

Submitted by Steve Mallett 2004-09-03 Mozilla, Gecko 23 Comments

Mozilla Sunbird is the latest stand-alone application from the Mozilla foundation that follows in the footsteps of now revered browser Firefox and email client Thunderbird. OSDir reviews their first public release, version 0.2.

Install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 on a JS20 blade server

Eugenia Loli 2004-09-03 SuSE, openSUSE No Comments

This article describes the steps of a basic installation of Linux on an IBM eServer BladeCenter JS20 blade server, starting with the BladeCenter Management Module and ending with the installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8.

Which Browsers Do Techies Use?

Guest post by Chris Cowell-Shah 2004-09-03 Internet 103 Comments

This is a report of a very simple and unscientific effort to determine which browsers are used by tech-savvy power users. Why would anyone care? Idle curiosity, mostly. And because it might be interesting to see if the recent spate of well-publicized security problems with Windows and Internet Explorer have had any effect on browser choice among alpha geeks.