The Threat of a Linux Generation

Linux 35 Comments
"Even computer programmers can sometimes let their emotions get the better of them. 'If I made a great product, and Microsoft offered me a lot of money, I would spit in their faces,' says Brett Slatkin, a student at Columbia University in New York. His colleagues roll their eyes and accuse him of being stuck at the 'hippy stage.' But when talk turns to the serious business of programming, they are of one pragmatic mind." Read the rest of the story at MCNBC.
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Tao Releases Free Intent ADK with Digital Magazine

Amiga & AROS 42 Comments
A special release of the intent Application Development Kit for Windows and Linux is included on the cover CD of the current issue of digital magazine. Intent is the core technology used in the AmigaDE and is also the standard programming and the platform independent content environment chosen by the Open Contents Platform Association (OCPA) for digital consumer devices. Consumer Electronic Giants including Hitachi, Sony, Kyocera, PSION, Nokia, NEC, Motorola, Grundig, JVC, Fujitsu, Sharp, Epson, Intel, Pioneer, Metrowerks, Sega, Bandai and Capcom are supporting the platform. A full new release of the AmigaDE Software Development Kit will become available for general developers later this year. Software developed for intent works with the AmigaDE platform as well.
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Judge Defers GPL Questions for Trial in MySQL vs. Progress Soft

Open Source 4 Comments
"In a decision handed down today in Boston, US District Judge Patti B. Saris ruled on the preliminary injunction motion in MySQL AB vs. Progress Software Corp. On the trademark dispute, on which the Free Software Foundation (FSF) takes no position, she has ruled that Progress Software is enjoined from marketing products under the MySQL trademarks until trial." Read the rest of the press release at Gnu.org. The significance of this trial is that this is the first time where the GPL license will have to "stand" in a court.
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Sharpei Virus Hits C# Note

Bugs & Viruses 12 Comments
"Virus writers took another shot at Microsoft's .Net vision. On Friday, antivirus companies received a copy of a worm called Sharpei, which is partially written in Microsoft's newest computer language, C#, and designed to infect computers loaded with the .Net framework. Antivirus company Network Associates gave the infectious program a "low" rating for risk but highlighted it as the second example of a virus writer attempting to infect parts of the .Net framework." Read the rest of the story at C|Net.
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Why Caldera Released Unix: A Brief History

SCO 3 Comments
"Our strangest dreams sometimes take on a reality of their own. In January, Caldera, the latest owners of the "official" Unix source code, decided to release some of the older versions (up to "V7" and "32V") under an open source license. While not as significant as it would have been, say, ten years ago, it is nice that everyone now has access to the code that first made Unix popular, and that led to the development of the 4BSD system that underlies FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Apple's Darwin (which in turn underlies Mac OS X). Since I was active in the computer field through almost all the years of Unix's development, I'd like to comment briefly on the Caldera announcement in its full context." Read the rest of the story at O'Reilly.
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The StartX Files: Between the Sheets Roundup

Linux No Comments
"Looking at desktop applications for Linux these days has become a bit of a balancing act; on the one hand, there is the obligation to review all of the features objectively. One the other, it has become clear that it is necessary to examine how desktop applications will fit into the corporate environment. While we cannot ignore the home users, there is growing evidence that this will not be the arena where Linux will grow on the desktop." Read the Linux office package roundup at LinuxPlanet.
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Securing Small Networks with OpenBSD

OpenBSD 6 Comments
"Like almost all things in life, good security costs good money. It has to be that way, because there are simply not enough skilled security specialists to look after all of the networks that need their attention. An unfortunate result of low supply and high demand is the migration of highly skilled personnel to clients who can meet their salary requirements. This leaves a lot of small and underfunded networks in the hands of less experienced administrators, who might not know how to design, configure, and monitor these networks' safety mechanisms, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from unscrupulous people looking for inside information, free warez storage, zombie hosts for DDoS attacks, or systems they can simply destroy for fun of doing it." Read the rest of the article at O'Reilly.
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Server Databases Clash – eWeek Benchmarks

Databases 18 Comments
"Finding solid performance data to help choose among competing technologies is as tough as creating the data in the first place. This is particularly true in the database space, where database vendors routinely use no-benchmarking clauses in their license agreements to block publication of benchmarks of which they do not approve. We tested IBM's DB2 7.2 with FixPack 5, Microsoft Corp.'s SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 2, MySQL AB's MySQL 4.0.1 Max, Oracle Corp.'s Oracle9i Enterprise Edition 9.0.1.1.1 and Sybase Inc.'s ASE (Adative Server Enterprise) 12.5.0.1." Read the rest of the benchmark article at eWeek. Our Take: Hey, where are my PostgreSQL benchmarks?
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WinXP SP1 to Combine New Goodies with the Fixes

Windows 4 Comments
"Microsoft will ship Service Pack 1 in Q3 this year, a little later than expected. But from the sound of it the company is planning SP1 more as a bundle of goodies and enhancements than as a plain old fix roll-up. It'll include support for the Mira and Freestyle technologies Microsoft intends to unleash on us, and will also apparently support Tablet PCs, which are due out later this year." Read the rest of the report at TheRegister.
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Scientists Develop Research Holodeck

Geek stuff 10 Comments
"Canadian scientists have opened a powerful computing lab they said will help speed up research into diseases like cancer and diabetes by allowing researchers to view three-dimensional models of cells in a room similar to the holodeck in the Star Trek television series. The $3.7 million University of Calgary facility is a step ahead of the handful of other virtual-reality labs used in such research because users for the first time can build models on their own computers, rather than be tied up for days or weeks programming at the site, officials said." Read more about the Java3D-based system at ZDNews.
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UI Expert Jef Raskin Talks Skins with OSOpinion

Office 25 Comments
Kelly McNeill from OSOpinion writes: "A few weeks ago, I wrote an editorial detailing the importance of a well-designed user interface (UI) and the need to keep that interface consistent. Unfortunately, my article was incredibly misunderstood by nearly all those who read it. To help clarify the issues surrounding this choice, I contacted Jef Raskin, arguably the leading authority on user interface design and author of the highly acclaimed user interface book, "The Humane Interface." What follows is an interview I conducted with the interface expert to help clarify the issue of consistency vs. skins."
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Editorial: Is Palm the Next Netscape?

Wireless 26 Comments
Descriptive quote from the editorial at OSOpinion: "Even though Palm's operating system still owns more than half of the PDA (personal digital assistant) market, Microsoft's marketing engines are roaring. With Microsoft aligning with Intel, and making a full-court press to capture more of the mobile operating system market, it is not hard to see a new Microsoft-Netscape battle brewing. This time, though, the battle is more than just browsers. It is about full operating systems, and Palm now is the would-be David facing the Goliath of the software industry."
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FreeBSD December 2001 – January 2002 Status Report

FreeBSD 1 Comment
This bi-monthly report covers development activities on the FreeBSD Project for December 2001 and January 2002. A variety of accomplishments have been made over the last couple of months, including strong progress relating to the KSE project, which brings Scheduler Activations to the FreeBSD kernel, as well as less visible infrastructure projects such as improvements to the mount interface, PAM integration work, and translation efforts. Shortly following the deadline for this status report, the BSD Conference and FreeBSD Developer Summit were held, and will be covered in the next bi-monthly report at the end of March.
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Hey, Desktop Linux Fans: Buy a Mac!

Linux 74 Comments
The once Mac-skeptical, David Coursey (executive editor at ZD AnchorDesk), seems to have turned into a huge Mac fan, it seems. In his latest editorial he says that "These desktop Linux people are just like the adherents to any concept that has failed in the marketplace of ideas: They don't know when to let go, and make fools of themselves as a result." and "How you build a vibrant computing platform when nobody is willing to spend money on it escapes me." and "Linux servers are a cause for concern in Redmond and a source for happiness in data centers worldwide. Desktop Linux, on the other hand, is rapidly being assigned to the trash pile of computing history. Like scientific socialism, it will go down as an idea that sounded good on paper but didn't work in the real world."
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