OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Series of Screenshots of Mandrake 9.1

Submitted by flori 2003-03-20 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 33 Comments

Tux Reports has posted a series of screenshots from Mandrake Linux 9.1 final release.

Improving the Windows Experience with Cygwin, Version 1.3.20

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-20 Unix 21 Comments

"Two or three months ago, I ran into an interesting problem. It was interesting for a couple of reasons, the first being that it has since recurred a number of times. The second is that it highlights a rapidly growing trend in the IT world." Read the article at UnixReview.

Possible XFree86 Fork; The Organization Asks for Input

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-20 Wayland 42 Comments

From Slashdot: "Keith Packard wants to fork the XFree86 effort. The XFree86 team is trying to become more open, to combat the fork. Keith is a capable developer, having worked on FontConfig, Xft, the X render extension etc. Meanwhile, All is not good in how XFree86 drivers are being developed."

Introduction to Qt

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-19 Qt 44 Comments

Qt is a a cross platform graphical user interface toolkit. Kuro5hin features an introductory article to Qt. On other toolkit news, GNUstep-base 1.6 was recently released.

Why Apple Needs To Support USB 2.0; Apple on Itanium?

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-19 Apple 57 Comments

"I have read many articles and debates on USB vs. Firewire. Recently, some writers have covered Apple's stance on USB 2.0. I won't bother to go into a technical debate as to which technology is better, or holds a better edge in future generations of the spec -- let's put that aside. I want to focus on whether Apple is following the best long-term strategy. In my opinion, it is not." Read the editorial at MacSlash. On another editorial, on PCMag this time, Dvorak predicts: "Apple will switch to Intel processors within the next 12 to 18 months". Dvorak advocates the Itanium as the main candidate.

The NetBSD Project Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-19 NetBSD 12 Comments

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the beginning of development of the NetBSD Operating System. Erik Reid has been working on getting DRI support for NetBSD to work. Under NetBSD/i386 1.6P, a Matrox G450 has been reported to work, Radeon and Riva128 should be functional as well.

Terra Soft Debuts Yellow Dog Linux 3.0, YDL.net Enhanced

Submitted by John M. Gabriele 2003-03-19 Linux 27 Comments

Macminute reports: Terra Soft Solutions today announced Yellow Dog Linux 3.0, a new version of its Red Hat and RPM-based operating system for PowerPC computers. Version 3.0 offers a completely rebuilt Installer, 1300 packages on 6 CDs (3 Install, 3 Source), a unified KDE and GNOME desktop environment featuring shared menus, applications, and user interface.

Knee Deep in Debian: A Debian Newcommer Review

Submitted by Jon Gaudette 2003-03-19 Debian 41 Comments

Odius from Digital Drip has posted an article about his first-time experiences with Debian. The article has two parts, part one is Debian Installation and part two is Customization.

Apple Pulls Plug on Original iMac, Announces XServe for Clusters

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-19 Apple 29 Comments

Five years after its debut, the original iMac, which many credit for restoring Apple Computer to fiscal health and profitability, is being pulled from the shelves. Also, following in the footsteps of larger competitors that sell Intel-based products, Apple Computer has begun offering a version of its server that can be linked in groups, or clusters, capable of tackling mammoth computing tasks.

MIT Report: Surveillance Nation

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-18 Geek stuff 22 Comments

"Webcams, tracking devices, and interlinked databases are leading to the elimination of unmonitored public space. Are we prepared for the consequences of the intelligence-gathering network we’re unintentionally building?" Read the interesting article at MIT Technology Review.

Getting Ready for Slackware Linux 9.0

Guest post by Daniel de Kok 2003-03-18 Slackware, Slax 56 Comments

This short preview is based on my experiences with Slackware Linux 9.0-RC3; Slackware Linux 9.0 has not yet been released at the moment of writing. UPDATE: And while this story was going live, Slackware 9.0 final is being released.

Microsoft vs. Linux: The Changing Nature of Competition

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-18 Rumors 38 Comments

"Enterprises will see major changes in Microsoft’s competitive strategy as Linux and other open-source software continue to erode Microsoft's traditional sources of income. Don't expect Microsoft's bundling strategies to continue as before, and don't expect it to support Linux before 2006 at least -- if ever." Read the analysis on TechUpdate.

MySQL 4.0.12 Declared ‘Production Ready’

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-18 Databases 22 Comments

The first stable version of mySQL in the 4.x branch is now available, version 4.0.12.

Critical Windows 2000 WebDAV Hole Found, Patched

David Adams 2003-03-18 Windows 18 Comments

Microsoft Windows 2000 servers are vulnerable to a WebDAV security exploit. There's information and a patch available at Microsoft's web site.

FreeBSD 4.8 RC2 / i386 Now Available

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-18 FreeBSD 14 Comments

FreeBSD Release Eng. Team's Murray Stokely announced the availability of FreeBSD 4.8 RC2 for i386 and he says that the alpha build is in progress.

Who Will Win ofb.biz’s Shootout?

Submitted by Timothy R. Butler 2003-03-18 Linux 18 Comments

"It has been several months since we began our quest to find the best desktop GNU/Linux distribution of the Fall/Winter 2002 batch. We have considered lots of distributions that attempt to innovated and streamline the Linux experience and now we consider who succeeded to push beyond the rest and win our award." Find out the results here.

The Definitive Desktop Environment Comparison

Eugenia Loli 2003-03-17 Graphics 340 Comments

So many operating systems and so many graphical desktop environments... This article is a comparison of the UI and usability of several Desktop Environments (DEs), that have been widely used, admired and reviled: Windows XP Luna, BeOS 6 (Dano/Zeta), Mac OS X Aqua and Unix's KDE and Gnome. Read on which one got our best score on our long term test and usage.