OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Miguel de Icaza On Novell and Toolkits; Novell Drops NetWare Name

Submitted by Tsykoduk 2004-03-29 Novell and Ximian 114 Comments

"My team and other teams within Novell continue to develop and use Gtk as their toolkit (recently open sourced Simias/iFolder for instance) and all of the Mono GUI development tools. The only use of Qt that am aware of today is SUSE's recently open sourced YAST" said Ximian's Miguel de Icaza replying on Heise's recent article on standardization of Novell on Qt.

Apple Endorses OpenAL

Submitted by Dago 2004-03-29 macOS 44 Comments

Apple is now officially endorsing OpenAL and has provided a new branch of Mac OS X code which is now in OpenAL's CVS (it requires to install Apple's latest CoreAudio SDK before compiling).

Extra Headaches of Securing XML

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-29 Privacy, Security 3 Comments

Creating a popular new computing approach always seems to bring with it a familiar catch-22: security issues. And Web services is no exception.

Update: The Independent Qt Tutorial

Submitted by Johan Thelin 2004-03-29 Qt 1 Comment

The Independent Qt Tutorial has been updated with a new chapter on the Qt canvas module. It consists of examples and in-depth discussions. The Independent Qt Tutorial is a book introducing the different areas of Qt step-by-step with task orientated chapters rich on examples and a detailed discussion of the different areas of the Qt toolkit.

Migrating from Windows to Linux, Part 1: Preparation

Submitted by Tudy Parghel 2004-03-29 Linux 69 Comments

Tudy Parghel sent us a link to the first part of Tom's Hardware's migration guide. It starts you down the path of migrating from Windows to Linux.

Fedora Core 2 Test 2 Now Available

Adam Scheinberg 2004-03-29 Fedora Core 51 Comments

Test 2 of Fedora Core 2 is now available. You can download it from here or, if you want maximum speed, you can grab the torrent from the Duke LUG. BitTorrent info can be found here. Update: Great. Just spent 4 hours downloading the 4 Fedora CDs (md5sum'ed) and the first CD won't boot on a machine that is fully compatible (apparently it is a new bug, there is already a bug report about it). Fedora's poor testing before the distribution (even for a beta) continues to amaze me each time a new version is out.

OpenOffice.org 1.1.1 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-29 Office 69 Comments

OpenOffice.org 1.1.1 is a new bug fix release. Release notes are here.

Microsoft to Preview New Mobile Windows CE

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-29 Windows 2 Comments

Microsoft is set to release Monday a beta version of an update to its Windows CE operating system for handheld devices, set-top boxes and other limited-function computing devices. Update: Here is the press release.

Linux Kernel 2.6: the Future of Embedded Computing, Part I

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-29 Linux 26 Comments

With the release of kernel 2.6, Linux now poses serious competition to major RTOS vendors, such as VxWorks and WinCE, in the embedded market space. Linux 2.6 introduces many new features that make it an excellent operating system for embedded computing. Among these new features are enhanced real-time performance, easier porting to new computers, support for large memory models, support for microcontrollers and an improved I/O system.

Java/.NET Interoperability with the Microsoft.com Web Services

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-29 General Development 4 Comments

This article covers interoperability between the Microsoft.com Web service, built with Web Services Enhancements 1.0 SP1 for Microsoft .NET, and a Java client. See how the WS-Security specification and implementation can be used to validate a Web service call from Java to Microsoft .NET. GLUE 4.1.2 Professional from webMethods will be used to enable WS-Security functionality for the Java client.

NetBSD 2.0 Release Engineering Process has begun

Submitted by Jan Schaumann 2004-03-29 NetBSD 19 Comments

James Chacon of the NetBSD Release Engineering team has announced that the Release Engineering process for the much awaited NetBSD 2.0 release has begun. At this time, the expected final release is scheduled for the end of May 2004. See James' message to the netbsd-announce mailinglist for details.

Linux Kernels Compared: 2.6.4 vs. 2.4.25

Submitted by John Miller 2004-03-29 Linux 36 Comments

2CPU.com has an article posted comparing the performance of Linux kernels 2.6.4 and 2.4.25 under a variety of server-oriented benchmarks. Their Apache and MySQL results were especially interesting. It's a good read for those of us debating whether or not to update our production machines from 2.4 to 2.6.

gProf, Python Generator Tricks, FVWM on LinuxGazette

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-28 General Development 6 Comments

March's LinuxGazette.net and 100th issue includes interesting articles like "Programmer's Toolkit: Profiling programs using gprof", "Python Generator Tricks" and "Fvwm and Session Management".

LwVCL: The API Bridge between Java and C#

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-28 General Development 22 Comments

Zaval's dual licensed LwVCL provides the same API solution for both Java (J2SE & J2ME) and .NET (.NET & Mono). This means that the same API, the same components set, the same functionality, and at last the same look and feel work on both architectures.

IronPython for Mono & .NET; Free Python Book

Submitted by Mysterious & 2004-03-28 General Development 23 Comments

IronPython is a new implementation of the Python language targeting the Common Language Runtime (CLR). It compiles python programs into bytecode (IL) that will run on either Microsoft's .NET or the Open Source Mono platform. Elsewhere, "A Byte of Python" is a free book (or free tutorial) on Python. It is meant to be a guide to anyone learning Python.

IDEs: Software Building Architecture w/ MonoDevelop; Eclipse 3.0 M8

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-28 General Development 24 Comments

This document is the result of various discussions with Mono and MonoDevelop users on their needs to build, package and distribute their software by using Mono Develop. Elsewhere, Eclipse 3.0 M8 has been released. It features many fixes, improvements and new features inlcuding a minor UI facelift.

Reiser4 FileSystem Stabilizing

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-28 General Development 53 Comments

Those following the evolution of the Reiser4 filesystem will be interested in learning that it has become "fairly stable for average users", so much so that Namesys is soon planning to push patches to 2.6 kernel maintainer Andrew Morton. Once the two remaining known bugs are fixed, the warnings against using reiser4 on a production system will likely be removed, KernelTrap reports.

New Project Looking Glass Screenshots

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-28 Oracle and SUN 84 Comments

Sun Microsystems posted some new screenshots of its Java-based Project Looking Glass.

Panther Secrets Declassified; Setting Up Apple Remote Desktop

Submitted by Case AlDoub 2004-03-27 macOS 60 Comments

Macworld goes undercover to reveal 40+ Mac OS X 10.3 Tips and Tricks here. Elsewhere, if you work in an environment where you need to manage a large number of Macs (such as in a classroom), you might want to take a look at Apple's Remote Desktop. Using this pricy but effective software, you can easily control and manage all of the Macs on the network. Also, MacOSRumors details some of the planned features and marketing points for Mac OS X 10.4 (preliminary code-name "Merlot").

What Happens to Java Now?

Eugenia Loli 2004-03-27 Java 44 Comments

Sun is still seeking ways to ensure that it remains relevant -- and not only in terms of quantity of users, developers and applications. "What's good about the model that exists now is that Sun, being the custodian, enforces compatibility," says IDC analyst Stephen Hendrick.