A recent patch submission from Bosko Milekic features on-demand memory allocation for mbufs and flexible sysctl tuning options - no more fiddling with NMBCLUSTERS and recompiling. The code does not appear to be committed yet and could probably stand some testing by the willing user population.

The Syllable Team is pleased to announce that Gcc 3.3.3 and Binutils 2.14 are now available for download in Syllable. A new Glibc version is also under way.

Novell's Linux-oriented divisions, Ximian and SuSE, will work together to make one common Novell Linux desktop from Gnome's and KDE's best features, Novell Inc. CEO Jack Messman revealed in an eWEEK.com interview at the company's annual BrainShare trade show here. Ximian has been the main power behind Gnome, while SUSE has been KDE's chief backer.

Guest columnist Tom Adelstein takes a look at the latest version of Sun's Java Desktop System. Adelstein, the author of a forthcoming book on Sun's JDS, offers a well-schooled view of how this version of the Linux desktop is a serious challenger to Microsoft.

Computer graphics have long been dominated by bitmapped images. However, the free software community has taken an innovative lead by adopting scalable graphic formats on its desktops. Inthis article I cover the history and rise of scalable graphics on the desktop from my angle - as a proponent of its use in the GNOME platform. This article mostly focuses on SVG's progress from a GNOME point of view, both because GNOME has progressed the furthest and because I am most knowledgable with GNOME's efforts. I will however mention major landmarks in other projects where appropriate.

During a surprise guest appearance at Novell's annual BrainShare user conference, the Finnish open-source guru took part in a question-and-answer session with the networking-software company's chief executive and chairman Jack Messman and vice chairman Chris Stone. Linux creator Linus Torvalds says that non-technical issues such as software patents constitute the single biggest threat to the future success of the open-source OS.

Opera Software will include voice capabilities in its updated browser software, using IBM's embedded ViaVoice technology, the company says. The upgraded browser, which will continue to be offered at no cost, will be available later this year, Opera in Oslo, Norway, says. Initially, it will offer support for ViaVoice in English only, but other languages may be developed in due course, Opera Chief Executive Officer Jon von Tetzchner says.

Linuxlookup newest staff member Rich Hughes takes a look at Arch Linux version 0.6 (Widget). "I am a recovering distribution junkie. I would obsessively spend my time at Distrowatch, looking for something new. There were plenty of exciting releases. After a while, the excitement would wear off, and the sexy distribution I installed would have some annoyance, so I would dump it and look for something new."

This article shows how to handle pointers to dynamically allocated memory when programming in C++.

We all know about the benefits of open source software in lowering total cost of ownership, offering more choice and the increasing quality and functionality of the code. The rise of Linux as an edge server and now migrating toward the data center is clear validation that the open source model has taken root. But there are still significant barriers to overcome before Linux and other open source projects are broadly accepted across enterprises, says ZDNet's Dan Farber.

The new SUSE LINUX 9.1 Personal and Professional features an enhanced product concept and many new, innovative technologies, says SuSE. Chris Schlaeger, Vice President Research & Development at SUSE LINUX, explains the most important new features in detail.

Lots of Novell news today, Linux certification, migration to Linux desktops, iFolder release as GPL and a VPN solution for Macs. Read more for the details.

With last week's failure to agree on a settlement, the European Union is set to rule in the Microsoft antitrust case Wednesday. It's likely to impose a massive fine and demand concessions from the software maker. European regulators plan to levy a record fine of more than $600 million against Microsoft as part of a strongly worded rebuke of the company's business practices.

This is the first release of XPDE with a completely rewritten code base. A screenshot can be seen here. Go at TechDigest to pose your question for an interview with XPDE.