OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Open Source Alternative: NetBSD

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-11 NetBSD 64 Comments

NetBSD's main claim to fame, so to speak, is its portability. Although ports of Linux are available for several platforms, NetBSD blows the penguin's doors off when it comes to platform support. Read the article at NewsFactor.

Sun Steps Up Linux (Lightly)

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-11 Oracle and SUN 20 Comments

Sun Microsystems made strides this week with its Linux strategy, releasing updated Sun ONE compiler code for both its low-end SPARC and Intel's x86 platforms, and adopting common Linux distributions instead of pushing its own version.

Linux not Ready for the Desktop? Give me a Break!

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-11 Linux 143 Comments

"I'm tired of reading on an almost monthly basis articles asserting that Linux isn't yet ready for the desktop. Nonsense! Linux is about as ready for the desktop as Windows is. It's simply a matter of corporate and user inertia that's keeping Linux marginalized." Read the editorial at NewsForge.

Novell Offers Free Networking Software

Submitted by Prognathous 2003-04-11 Novell and Ximian 7 Comments

Novell is releasing new networking software aimed at small businesses and will make it available for free, the company said on Thursday.

Liberty Alliance Submitting Spec to OASIS

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-11 Internet 1 Comment

The Liberty Alliance next week will announce two new draft specifications and for the first time turn over a portion of its work to a standards group providing the first evidence that efforts to create a standards-based identity management framework may be fragmenting.

Speculation About Microsoft’s Mysterious X#

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-11 .NET 21 Comments

It's worth watching for, as indications are that X# would be used to treat XML as a first-class citizen in the .Net programming arena. Read the article at TechUpdate.

Staying Current with NetBSD

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-11 NetBSD 20 Comments

Open source never stands still. Even the flexible and mature BSDs are continuing to evolve. In this article, Michael Lucas looks at the NetBSD upgrade process, demonstrating the most common steps to stay abreast of the current source code.

Mandrake Linux 9.1-PPC Released

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-11 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 23 Comments

Mandrake Linux 9.1 for PPC is out and is based on Linux kernel 2.4.21 and includes XFree86 4.3.0, KDE 3.1, GNOME 2.2, OpenOffice.org 1.0.2 (semi-related note: OOo 1.0.3 has just come out), Mozilla 1.3, Apache 2, and Samba 2.2.7. Specifical features for this PPC version include: MOL Mac-On-Linux, pbbuttonsd/gtkpbuttons, BenH based alternate kernel.

MySQL Boasts Might Against Big Players

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Databases 39 Comments

MySQL is aiming for speedier development cycles than most database companies. The company is currently focusing on two products: MySQL versions 4.1 and 5.0. It released the binaries of 4.1 this week and plans to unveil a final version in about eight months. A final version 5.0 should be available about six months after that. Read the report at News.com.

Red Hat Linux 9: A Step Closer, But Still With Some Annoyances

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Red Hat 207 Comments

The up to now highly anticipated Red Hat Linux 9 is finally released. OSNews had its hands to the final version of Red Hat Linux 9 for over 3 weeks now and we were able to evaluate it in a number of ways. The final version is not too different than the Phoebe-3 beta for which we wrote a preview recently.

Mac OS X 10.2.5 Now Available; New iPod Soon

Submitted by Ken Saunders 2003-04-10 macOS 41 Comments

Mac OS X 10.2.5, now available via Software Update and through the Apple Store, delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, utilities, services, and technologies: Address Book, AirPort, AppleScript, Bluetooth, Classic compatibility, Disk Copy, Disk Utility, Finder, iChat, Image Capture, IP Firewall, Kerberos, Mail, OpenGL, Print Center, Rendezvous, and Sherlock.

GNOME Development Series Snapshot 2.3.0: “Mighty Atom”

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Gnome 45 Comments

The GNOME Development Series Snapshot 2.3.0 "Mighty Atom", is ready for your bug-busting and testing. A few new modules were added to this dev beta of Gnome for testing: battfink (energy saving and battery tool), fontilus, galeon, gcalctool, gnome-mag (desktop magnification tool), gok ('GNOME On-screen Keyboard', an accessibility tool), gpdf, gucharmap (unicode character map tool), nautilus-cd-burner, themus (theme management), zenity.

Solaris on Course to Merge with Linux?

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Solaris 18 Comments

"When I interviewed Sun chief engineer Rob Gingell last August, he hinted at a blurring of the lines between Linux and Solaris, if not an outright merger. Said Gingell: "Five years from now, when all the tribes intermarry, who is going to know what's Solaris and what's Linux, and who's going to care?" Read the editorial at ZDNews.

Windows Server 2003 Editions Compared

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Windows 18 Comments

"Sure, Microsoft has its own table comparing the various Windows Server 2003 editions, but that version is incomplete, hard to read, and poorly organized, especially if you're interested in the features that are specific to the 64-bit editions of this product family. So here is my own comparative table, which I think you'll find to be much more readable." Check it out over at WinSuperSite.

Does Apple Still Have a Future?

Guest post by Tim Jiaqi 2003-04-10 Apple 109 Comments

I was desperately looking for something to write about when I happened to chance upon Apple’s new shipping system – a dual 1.42GHz Power Mac G4. A new system, a faster system, but does it mean a brighter future for Apple?

Microsoft Grants “full access” to Windows CE Source

Submitted by Jill 2003-04-10 Windows 18 Comments

Microsoft Corp. "dropped the other shoe" today, as it were, announcing the first source code sharing program for its Windows CE embedded operating system that allows developers and manufacturers to actually redistribute modified OS code in real products. Read the report at WindowsForDevices.

Gentoo 1.4-RC4 Released

Submitted by David Sinclair 2003-04-10 Gentoo 45 Comments

The Gentoo project released today the fourth RC of their upcoming Gentoo 1.4.

Apple Service Price Structure… and the 459 USD Plastic Clip

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Apple 29 Comments

OSNews' sister web site NewMobileComputing posted the experiences of a reader with Apple's service department over the support of an iBook.

Solaris 10 to Get Zoned

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Solaris 5 Comments

It's still a ways off, but when Solaris 10 arrives, Sun Microsystems will ship the OS with a new type of partitioning technology called Solaris Zones. Read the report at TheRegister.

OmniWeb 4.2 released; 4.5 to Use Safari’s WebCore

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Internet 9 Comments

The Omni Group has released OmniWeb 4.2, an update to their web browser for MacOSX. OmniWeb 4.5 will be based on Apple's WebCore and JavaScriptCore frameworks, the KHTML-based technology that Apple has developed for its own Safari browser. Elsewhere, Opera released 7.10-TP4 for Linux.