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SPARC Optimizations With GCC

In continuing with my articles exploring the my SPARC-based Sun Ultra 5, I'm going to cover the topic of compiler optimizations on the SPARC platform. While many are familiar with GCC compiler optimizations for the x86 platform, there are naturally differences for GCC on SPARC, and some platform-specific issues to keep in mind.

Zeta 1.0-RC1 Preview at Beta10

"The other day something happened that left me a little speechless. A friend of mine brought over a copy of Yellowtab's Zeta OS RC1." Read the review at Beta10, but please note that they are reviewing an older version of Zeta, RC1, while RC2+more_patches are already available. Yesterday OSNews featured shots of ZintrO, YellowTAB's newest work, and ZetaNews has some info as well on this.

IT Investor’s Journal: How Novell is becoming a true Linux play

"During the next two to three years, I quite like the prospects for appreciation in Novell’s stock price, but I'd be inclined to stay on the sidelines for the next few months before thinking about starting a position. While I expect Red Hat to remain the sector leader, its dominant position will be eroded as strong competitors such as Novell/SUSE enter and consolidate in the space. It's still early, and Novell’s transition will take time as management reconciles its various challenges and opportunities." Read the article at ITManagersJournal.

Is Linux Kernel 2.6 Primed for the Enterprise?

"Linux Kernel 2.6 has been in stable release for months now, which is like dog's years in kernel time. Kernel releases are exciting times for Linux geeks, because it's just plain fun to be able to replace the kernel on a system, or have several different kernels installed, and choose among them as the whim strikes. Oh yes, you want to gain improved performance and functionality, too." Read the article at ITManagement.

Introducing the Rhapsody Project

"Our main goal is to complete the Rhapsody OS and make it an OS that people would like to use. We aim for end users and hope to bring them what Apple has brought their customers for the past 20 years - the simplicity and style which Mac OS has." Check out the project here.

KDE 3.2 Review at ArsTechnica

Along with the development environment, Datschge and Henrique Pinto look at the large number of new KDE apps, the project structure, and even the philosophy behind KDE. If you are thinking about checking out KDE 3.2, are a long-time user, or just want to know what's up, this review has everything you need to know.

Torvalds: Intel Should be Ashamed over x86-64

A post by Torvalds on the linux-kernel mailing list suggests that Intel should be more than a little ashamed of itself when it announced its 64-bit extensions last week. Torvalds was replying to a post which asked whether there was any difference between X86_64 and X86-64. He said the real name for the instruction set should be X86-64, and always has been. Torvalds said he was "a bit disgusted" at Intel for not even mentioning AMD in its documentation or its press releases. Read more at the Inquirer.

Kernel Development: High Memory In The Linux Kernel

As RAM increasingly becomes a commodity, the prices drop and computer users are able to buy more. 32-bit archictectures face certain limitations in regards to accessing these growing amounts of RAM. To better understand the problem and the various solutions, we begin with an overview of Linux memory management. Understanding how basic memory management works, we are better able to define the problem, and finally to review the various solutions. This article was written by examining the Linux 2.6 kernel source code for the x86 architecture types.