YARMDK 9.1 (Yet Another Review of Mandrake Linux 9.1)
Some of the people complained about the two previous posted reviews being incoherant and you said "write your own", so I thought I would throw my two cents in...
Page Clustering, Booting Linux On A 64GB x86
William Lee Irwin III recently announced on the lkml that he'd successfully gotten Linux running on a 64GB x86 server. His posts included two different boot message logs, one without his page clustering patch, and one with. In the latter case, his patch overcomes the 1GB mem_map virtual space limitation imposed by x86 32-bit servers, without which the kernel over-runs allowable memory space. Read the report at KernelTrap.
Get to Know the “Other” Linux Distributions
Yes, we all know the "big three" (Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE) commercial distros, we also know the next big bunch of respected traditional/geek distros (Debian and Slackware and some might add Gentoo too in this list), and we know the "other big three" in the desktop Linux area (Lindows, Xandros, Lycoris). However, not everyone knows what is available besides this "threshold". Here is a list of Linux distros that worth knowing about and to keep an eye on!
Mandrake Linux 9.1 – Raising the Bar for Usability
The development of Mandrake Linux 9.1 has been completed: "Sounds like a good time to put myself in the seat of a first-time Linux user and dissect this long-awaited release. I had rehearsed the installation of Mandrake Linux 9.1 final using 9.1 RC2, and this time I decided to explore in detail the hardware and software configuration that I would consider adequate for a comfortable Mandrake desktop experience. Kind of, a Mandrake 9.1 Certify-It-Yourself PC if you see what I mean..." This article concludes DistroWatch's 7-part series in which followed the Mandrake 9.1 development process.
CD support for Syllable; SkyOS Gets Installer Updates
A milestone for Syllable OS: "With a couple of patches from Arno Klenke, both the ATAPI driver and ISO9660 filesystem driver work together happily, and we are able to mount, read and unmount discs" project leader Vanders wrote. In the meantime, SkyOS gets some significant updates on its installer on other parts of the OS.
Red Hat, Mp3 and the Home Desktop Market
A long thread has started in the phoebe-list over at Red Hat, people arguing that Mp3 capabilities should/shouldn't be included in Red Hat's products. Mike Harris of Red Hat replied to the issue and gave a clear answer about the facts.
Sun Plans to Get Java on PCs
The server maker expects major PC makers soon will begin bundling Sun's software for running Java programs on their computers.
OpenBSD’s SMP Status
"An update on the current status of OpenBSD Symmetric Multiprocessor support was recently posted to the OpenBSD smp mailing list. At this time, it still looks to be quite a ways off in the future, with currently only i386-specific code that will detect and spinup a 2'nd processor, but not yet actually use it." Read the report at KernelTrap.
Eclipse 2.1 Released; Python 2.3, PHP 5 News
Eclipse 2.1 was released today. For a list of what is new checkout here. In other developer news, OnLamp posted an article explaining what's new in Python 2.3. Info on PHP 5 can be found from here.
(Yet Another) Mandrake 9.1 Review
When I first started playing with Linux (RedHat Distribution -- Version 5.2 Deluxe), it was a present from a father's friend in Boston. As I recall that is the only version of RedHat I ever got to work correctly without any major problems (like "Kernel Segmentation Error" or something to that effect).
Is the GPL Completely Misunderstood?
"The GPL, GNU General Public License, is a license boilerplate that the FSF, Free Software Foundation, has put forward to be adopted by software developers that are creating software. The GPL has some fundamental flaws that may actually make one wonder if people using the GPL license really understand the license." Read the editorial here by Chris Davies.
First Look At SuSE Linux 8.2
MadPenguin has the first review of SuSE 8.2. OSNews' SuSE 8.2 review is coming this Monday, so stay tuned.
Goodbye zOS? Your Next Big Unix Box Might Be a Linux Mainframe
In what one IBM-watcher calls a 'dramatic change' in IBM's thinking, Big Blue is now starting to push mainframes that run Linux -- and only Linux.
Call for Beta Testers – SciTech SNAP Graphics for Linux
SciTech Software is preparing to release the first version of SciTech SNAP Graphics for Linux to outside beta testers over the coming weeks. If you have an interest and XFree86 based display drivers for your Linux platform and are willing to test out new technology, we would love for you to join our growing Linux beta program! Read more for the rest of the announcement.
Sun Drops Its Linux Distribution
In a major strategy shift, Sun will stop offering its own customized version of Linux and will instead turn to several other standard Linux distributions.
Knoppix to the Rescue!
"Every once in a while a product stands out not only because it is innovative but because it just makes sense. It fills some space that has not previously been filled. I'm certain that you will agree that Knoppix -- a live Linux-On-CD Distribution -- is one of those products." Read the article at LinuxAndMain.
My Personal Review of Mandrake 9.1
Let me start by saying that I'm desperate for a real alternative to Windows on the PC platform. I like Windows XP for a lot of reasons, and hate it in equal amounts for just as many other reasons. I want to like Linux, I really truly do. I really want to be be in a situation where I can migrate happily, easily and with the minimum of fuss onto another better system in part or fully over time, but at the moment that day just seems too far away.
Microsoft Releases WinXP 64-Bit Edition (ver 2003) to Manufacturing
Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 is optimized to enable customers to take advantage of the performance enhancements in the Intel Itanium 2 processor.
Anniversaries, Anniversaries and More Anniversaries
This week it seems to be the week of anniversaries: Two years of Mac OS X, ten years from the Pentium launch, ten years of Red Hat, three years of OS/2 World.
The Next XFree86 Wars: XFT2 vs STSF
Sun is doing quite some work on GNOME and X these days. Their latest project is to create a font library for XFree86, named Stsf, that would replace Fontconfig and Xft2. But the big question is: Does the world need yet another X font library that would create more incompatibility and fragmentation? Update: Sun proposes a new direction for both X.org and XFree86, keep reading for more.