OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Head to Head: Red Hat vs. SuSE

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-27 Rumors 35 Comments

Red Hat has maintained the pure open-source approach, making open-source software available to users, says Gartner analyst George Weiss. "For the end-user, the software may be open source, but the question is, 'How much do I have to pay to enable the software with a subscription?'"

Kaffe 1.1.4 Released

Submitted by Dalibor Topic 2004-02-27 Java 14 Comments

A new version of Kaffe has been released. Kaffe is a free software runtime environment for programs written in Java. Among many bug fixes, and code cleanups, the new release added support for policy files, and improved posix threads, crypto, SSL and sound support.

The Linux Booting Process

Submitted by Roberto Alsina 2004-02-27 Linux 20 Comments

This article describes how Linux boots. Who loads what, who starts which program, and what services do and act like.

Java: When segments collide

Submitted by Frank 2004-02-27 Java 3 Comments

While sizing the heap for 32-bit Java applications on AIX, you can sometimes run into situations where a segment is claimed by two or more parts of the process simultaneously. This article shows how to detect this situation by using a well-established set of applications as examples, and we also show the reasoning behind the configuration changes suggested to avoid this situation.

Review: theKompany Black Adder Python IDE

Guest post by Clinton De Young 2004-02-27 General Development 19 Comments

Before beginning, I must offer my profuse apologies to Shawn Gordon and the rest of theKompany crew. Shawn sent me the Black Adder software several months ago; however, my schedule ballooned beyond all believable bounds and has stubbornly maintained that ludicrous pace; unfortunately. I have not had an opportunity to write this review until recently, so I am sorry for my tardiness. And now to answer the most obvious question; what is Black Adder?

Test Driving Virtual PC 2004

Submitted by Gsurface 2004-02-27 Benchmarks 10 Comments

Here is a look at Virtual PC 2004's performace. It's put to the test by using the PassMark benchmark.

GTK# 0.17 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-27 Mono 32 Comments

Ximian released today GTK# 0.17 while MonoDevelop is also under way (new screenshot).

Commodore 64 is Alive and Well

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-27 OS News 38 Comments

Believe it or not, Commodore 64 is still being used for commercial purposes. Analogik has discovered this truly rare occurrence at MYER Centre main bus station terminal - Brisbane, Australia. How reliable C64 is proves the fact that it is still being used to inform travelling people of 21st century.

Eric Raymond on UI design in OSS

Submitted by Eike Hein 2004-02-27 Graphics 88 Comments

Quality rant by Eric Raymond on the topic of bad user interface design in open source software, making some good points. The editorial was inspired by ESR's experience with CUPS.

Sun to Meet IBM Over Freeing Java

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-27 Java 54 Comments

In response to an open letter from IBM asking Sun to join the company in developing an open-source version of Java, Sun plans to meet with IBM to discuss the issue, Sun sources said. Sun officials planned to meet with IBM as early as Thursday to discuss the merits of whether the company should work with IBM on an independent project to create an open-source implementation of Java.

The Future of Computing Part 5: Evolution and the Bump

Guest post by Nicholas Blachford 2004-02-26 Editorial 25 Comments

Today's computers are the result of many decades of evolution of techniques and technologies. From this process new techniques and technologies have sprung forth and some of these are really just starting on their evolutionary journey, in time they will change the face of computing but there's a road bump to get over first.

Bona Fide brings Operating System CodeWars

Submitted by mr. xsism 2004-02-26 Rumors 5 Comments

http://codewars.osdever.net marks a new beginning in the OS Development Ring. A totally new idea of code wars? No, code wars aren't any new idea(Allegro SpeedHack) but coding an OS in such a short time? Even at all. OS development is a relatively new and growing hobby for programmers. Now you have a chance to openly develop OS code, have it judged, and win Challenges.

Hackers Exploit Patches; Longhorn, Win2k3, OSX Security News

Submitted by LogError 2004-02-26 Privacy, Security 26 Comments

Malicious hackers and vandals are lazy and wait for Microsoft to issue patches before they produce tools to work out how to exploit loopholes in Windows, say experts.

Solaris 10 Zones Appear on Solaris Express 02/04

Submitted by Bruno Saverio Delbono 2004-02-26 Solaris 21 Comments

Solaris Express 02/04 is now available with exciting new features: partitioning a single Solaris instance into isolated application environments called "zones." It's a project similar to Linux Virtual Server (LVS).

Windows XP Reloaded to be Released?

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-26 Windows 39 Comments

Despite Microsoft's repeated denials, the company will indeed release an interim version of Windows XP that will bridge the gap between the initial XP release and Longhorn, which is currently due in late 2005 at the earliest. The interim XP version will ship as a new retail product that replaces existing retail boxed copies of XP and as a set of updates, called XP Reloaded, that existing XP users can install separately.

GNUstep Live CD Released

Submitted by hN 2004-02-26 OpenStep, GNUstep 33 Comments

A Morphix-based GNUstep live CD has been released for i386. It includes many GS apps, such as MPlayer (GS port), GWorkspace, Preview, GNUmail, ProjectCenter and many more. It can be installed to a hard drive.

Metrowerks CodeWarrior for Windows v9.2 Released

Submitted by Maggot 2004-02-26 General Development 6 Comments

Metrowerks CodeWarrior for Windows is a C/C++ compiler with code-generation for SSE2 and 3DNow!. Support for GCC compiler extensions. Here are some of its updated features:

Emulating RISC OS under Windows

Guest post by Mark Round 2004-02-26 RISC OS 20 Comments

One of the most impressive aspects of even relatively modest PC hardware is its' ability to emulate a wide range of other platforms. Being a bit of an OS junkie myself, and lacking the space for a full computer room of weird and wonderful hardware, I emulate a range of systems from my humble desktop PC. In this article, I will describe the procedure through which you can run RISC OS 3.7 and others on a Windows-based PC and experience this classic OS (screenshots included).

FreeBSD 5.2.1 Released

Submitted by ap 2004-02-26 FreeBSD 39 Comments

Scott Long has announced the release of FreeBSD 5.2.1. This point release contains security and bug fixes, as well as improvements to the ATA/IDE and SATA handling. A list of mirror sites is here.

Will Red Hat Take Linux to Enterprise Heights?

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-26 Red Hat 31 Comments

"From a strictly technical standpoint, Red Hat ES isn't particularly noteworthy: It's a collection of software compiled and packaged up, given a few management tools of varying quality, and pushed out the door. We did not notice any functionality unique to this Linux distribution, and there are certainly others out there that could fill the role of "departmental server" with equal facility for a lower price." Read the review at ITManagement.