OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Q&A: Sun’s Jonathan Schwartz on Java’s future; More SUN News

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-19 Oracle and SUN 25 Comments

Sun's Jonathan Schwartz is not so sure about the idea of an open-source Java. Elsewhere, Sun seeks boost from stronger Java while in the meantime Sun slips and its CEO slams takeover talk: Sun's shares dipped into negative territory Thursday after CEO Scott McNealy tried to shoot down rumors that the network-computer maker was a takeover target. Additionally, Web services must start delivering, says Sun, while they will also sell and support all x86 versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Yellow Dog Linux 3.0: Better Red Hat Linux than Red Hat Linux 9

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-19 Linux 21 Comments

"How does a distribution that's a carbon copy of Red Hat 9 install and perform better than Red Hat 9 itself? By having the inside track on the platform being used, that's how. Brian Proffitt had the opportunity to use Red Hat 9 on an Intel notebook and Yellow Dog 3.0 on an iBook recently, and in terms of ease of installation and ease of use, Yellow Dog won by a big, wet nose" LinuxPlanet claims.

E/OS LX NT 0.2 Released

Submitted by Emanuel Chanampa 2003-06-19 OS News 28 Comments

E/OS LX NT v 0.2 is available, a graphical desktop for MS-DOS that can run Windows programs, Linux programs and DOS aplications. It´s based on Linux 2.0.30, Xfree 4.1.0, Wine, Dosemu, and Libc. The system is based on the UMSDOS file system and can only run under DOS as Desktop.

Interview with XP Founder Kent Beck on Working Smarter, Not Harder

Submitted by Shellie 2003-06-19 General Development 7 Comments

Extreme Programming (XP) founder Kent Beck likes to say he made up XP's fundamentals during a particularly troubled project in 1996. While strictly true, from talking to him you sense he'd really been formulating the process for quite some time. Find out what Kent thinks about the contribution of the Java platform to software development's success (or lack thereof). In this interview he explains how better applications can arise from the ashes of failure.

On SuSE’s Dramatic Rise and Mandrake’s Uninspiring Lethargy

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-19 Linux 42 Comments

LWN features an article on how SuSE is now a big force in Linux with new products every so often while MandrakeSoft is in deep lethargy media and PR-wise. Note that SuSE made it big also because of help from its own country, Germany (and the rest of Europe), while MandrakeSoft failed to captivate France in the government level and land big contracts that would keep the company in a healthy state.

PalmSource Aims OS at Businesses

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-19 Wireless 15 Comments

PalmSource is working on a new operating system called Sahara (PalmOS 6) that the company hopes will make the Palm OS more useful in corporate settings, Chief Executive David Nagel said Wednesday. It is expected near the end of the year.

Koffice 1.3 Beta 2 Released — OO.org Changes

Submitted by Mike 2003-06-19 Office 32 Comments

Read more about Koffice 1.3 Beta 2 here. On another note, Ximian has a nice presentation on the changes and planned changes for OO.org here.

AMD’s Opteron: Does it measure up?

Submitted by Nexus Polaris 2003-06-19 AMD 16 Comments

The Inquirer features a long article on AMD Opteron and its potential.

Linux: Not Ready for the Enterprise?

David Adams 2003-06-19 Editorial 62 Comments

Forrester's Rob Enderle opines that, for all its advantages, the open source OS just isn't ready to power the systems on Starfleet Vessels. Just kidding. What he really says is that however much the geeks love Linux for the freedom it gives them, the customizability isn't always a boon to the average users and the managers who just want things to work with as little tinkering as possible. And the untested intellectual property issues surrounding the GPL and the open source development methods are a potential quagmire. He says large companies need to consider these issues, religious fanatacism aside. Do you agree? Update by ELQ: Counterpoint at NewsFactor.

The Next Big Thing? Open Peripheral Hardware Connectivity – Part II

Guest post by Jim Kirkley 2003-06-19 Hardware 18 Comments

Recently, an article published in OSNews by Joshua Boyles entitled "The Edge Computing System" captured my attention. This led me to publish my own article entitled "The Next Big Thing? Open Peripheral Hardware Connectivity." I appreciate all the feedback, but I feel that there is still a certain amount of confusion concerning what I was proposing. So, here is a Part II. follow-on article...with some insights that hopefully may flesh things out a bit more.

Win4Lin 5: A Real Win for Linux Users

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-19 OS News 36 Comments

About a month ago, NeTraverse contacted OfB Labs with an early release copy of Win4Lin 5.0, the follow-up to the already impressive Win4Lin 4.0 released in May 2002. Win4Lin, for those not familiar with it, offers near-native (or better) speed "virtualization" of a Windows box so that one can run Windows 9x (95/98/Me) inside GNU/Linux. Read the review at OfB.

Apple’s Real Worry Isn’t the Loss of IE

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-19 Apple 99 Comments

"Who needs Internet Explorer, now that Jobs & Co. has its own browser? The much bigger threat is the growing chance that Microsoft will abandon Office for the Mac." Read the article at BusinessWeek.

Embedded Systems Programming: Is Linux Worth the Effort?

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-19 Linux 10 Comments

If your embedded system doesn't need networking and storage, porting Linux to your hardware may not be worth the effort, Embedded.com says.

Interview with Solaris Kernel Engineer Andy Tucker

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-18 Original OSNews Interviews 43 Comments

Today we host an interview with Andy Tucker, Distinguished Engineer of the Solaris kernel. We talk about the internals of Solaris, the competition and the future of the Solaris OE. The 9th question was answered by Robert O'Dea, Director of Engineering at Sun Microsystems.

80,000 School Computers Using GNOME in Spain

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-18 Gnome 85 Comments

Representatives of the Junta of Extremadura (regional government) announced that a sweeping initiative has put 80,000 computers in schools across that region running a special version of Linux, GNU/LinEx. Our Take: I wish the government in my home country, Greece, also put together cheap $199 PCs (plus $60 1024x768@75Hz 15" monitors) and give them away to high-schools. Problem is, we talk for at least $50m in hardware/support -- Greece is a poor country. With time I guess...

HP Lets Some Athlon64 Specs Out of the Bag

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-18 AMD 38 Comments

Hewlett-Packard apparently slipped up and revealed some of the specifications for AMD's upcoming Athlon64 chip, a processor that HP seems to be preparing to use in its PCs. Although the specifications fit within the expected performance range for the chip, the 1.8GHz speed and 3100+ model number may begin to raise questions about AMD's ability to keep up with Intel, C|Net says.

I.B.M.’s Opponent in Suit Criticizes Linux Advocate

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-18 SCO 53 Comments

In a new court document, the SCO Group criticizes Linus Torvalds, the guardian and copyright holder of the freely shared Linux operating system. Update: Two more articles, one at TheInquirer, one at Forbes.

SkyOS, Updated

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-18 SkyOS 26 Comments

New features and many bug fixes/updates are seen in SkyOS way. New screenshots too.

Microsoft’s Direct Approach Saves Businesses Money

Eugenia Loli 2003-06-18 Microsoft 11 Comments

Licensing doesn't really lock customers into a constant frenzied upgrade cycle of products they don't actually need. Read the article at Silicon.com.

Introducing the LinuxInstall Distribution

Guest post by Patrick Reen 2003-06-18 Linux 86 Comments

This article is a review of Linuxinstall.org 3.0, a Redhat 8.0 based distro aimed at the new home user . Some time back, after reinstalling windows for the umpteenth time I knew there had to be a better alternative. But the more I researched the more confused I got. Debian-Slackware-Knoppix-Redhat? etc,etc. Linux was totally new to me - I wanted stability and speed without the viruses, but I was starting to get overwhelmed from choice and command line phobia. I just wanted an o.s. similiar to Windows in ease of use, but stable!