OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Vector Linux Releases Version 3.0

Submitted by Robert Lange 2002-10-22 Linux 6 Comments

"We are proud to release the 3.0 incarnation of Vector Linux. This is a big rewrite as we made the decision to go completely Slackware compatible and also LSB compliant. This gives us the ability to update as Slack does and keep up with security fixes and other vunerabilities on a more timely basis." Read more for the rest of the announcement.

Lycoris and Transgaming Team Up

Submitted by Henry 2002-10-22 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 16 Comments

Lycoris partners with TransGaming and brings ross-platform gaming into the hands of Desktop/LX users. With the new Lycoris GamePak, Desktop/LX users gain simple installation of improved and enhanced Open Source games, plus the ability to play top Windows games, all in one box. Access to TransGaming's WineX software, which allows DirectX games to run on other platforms, will be included with the Lycoris GamePak, on retail store shelves this Holiday season.

An Early View of Windows Longhorn

Submitted by Jon Benson 2002-10-21 Windows 85 Comments

A number of screenshots of Windows Longhorn were leaked, and some people in the know have confirmed that these shots are authentic. The new UI is called "Plex" and it is clear that Microsoft is moving away from the traditional UIs, to highly task-based ones. Check out the shots before they vanish.

Mach-O ABI Costs MacOSX 12% of Speed

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-21 macOS 16 Comments

An Unsanity developer writes in his blog that MacOSX, by using the CISC-optimized Mach-O ABI, which is derived directly from NeXT, can see a decrease of speed of up to 12%. Attempts to rewrite that ABI would result in breakage of applications and binary compatibility.

Apple on the Move

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-21 Apple 4 Comments

Apple's senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Avie Tevanian, and Director of Mac OS Product Marketing Ken Bereskin met with InfoWorld Test Center Director Steve Gillmor, News Editor Mark Jones, Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz, Test Center Lead Analyst Jon Udell, and Technical Director Tom Yager to discuss Web services, digital rights management, Bluetooth, and Apple's plans for the enterprise.

Review: Mandrake Linux 9.0

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-21 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 8 Comments

Mandrake Linux 9.0 from MandrakeSoft has established a reputation for being one of the easiest to install and user-friendly Linux distribution (often called a distro) on the market. That reputation is well deserved, and the latest release continues to improve on what has been previously offered. Like SuSE 8.1, Mandrake 9.0 has excellent documentation, designed with the beginner in mind. allowing the inexperienced or potential Linux user to easily install a system. Read the article at ExtremeTech.

Linux – Good Windows Alternative, but Installation can be Tricky

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-21 Linux 19 Comments

Contrary to popular belief, the cops will not arrest you if you don’t use Windows. There are some interesting alternative operating systems out there —and with perseverance, you won’t go crazy trying to use them. Chief among them is Linux, the largely free, enormously geek-popular system that hard-line anti-Windows users rave about, which has Tux the penguin as its mascot. Read the rest here.

PGI 1.0, Graphical Installer for Debian Released

Submitted by Charles Goodwin 2002-10-21 Debian 10 Comments

PGI is a multi-architecture graphical installer creation system for Debian GNU/Linux, originally developed by Progeny Linux Systems, Inc. for the Debian-based "Progeny Debian" operating system. Get screenshots here, and version 1.0, here.

Amiga: The A-Expo Review

Guest post by Nicholas Blachford 2002-10-21 Amiga & AROS 55 Comments

I haven't been in the Amiga scene for quite some years now as I have long since left for the shores of planet BeOS. However I recently had the chance to re-enter the Amiga World at an Amiga show in the South-East of France when I went to meet a potential employer - after being "discovered" on OSNews! You'd think that a computer which hasn't shipped in years would have a small dwindling community. If you thought that well, you'd be wrong. This show dwarfs the BeOS BeGeistert shows I go to in Germany. Yet, Begeistert is for all of Europe and held every 6 months, this was just one French Amiga show and they are held around Europe nearly every week.

JTMOS Operating System Build 3337

Submitted by Cesar Cardoso 2002-10-21 OS News 4 Comments

A new release for the JTMOS. The changes are, according to Jari's changes description to Freshmeat, "A TCP/IP stack (uIP) has been added. JTMOS now answers to ICMP pings. Major fixes were made in the SLIP driver. A working and usable WWW server was added and tested. A telnet server has been introduced. Many interrupt related problems have been fixed. A snake game called 'Greedy Snake' has been ported to JTMOS. Split partitioning support for the first floppy disk drive was added, which allows a file system to be placed on the same disk as the system loader and system image."

An Unbiased Review of Debian 3.0

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-20 Debian 94 Comments

"This is a critical review of Debian 3.0, but I want to say right from the start that I'm not trying to bait anyone. However I feel that reviewers often root for Debian as the open-source underdog, and give it marks which it doesn't deserve. If RedHat 8.0 came out with installation software like Debian 3.0 it would be savaged. I think it's time for an honest review, to spur the Debian developers into making the best possible distribution. I really want Debian to succeed. I want to use it daily, and recommend it to my friends. But I can't do that right now and I think it's important people understand why." Read the review and its (already long) discussion at DebianPlanet.

Lindows Arrives in UK on a £250 PC

Submitted by anonymous 2002-10-20 Linspire 9 Comments

The £250 PC hasn't been part of the British computing landscape since the days of the eight-bit micro. Evesham Technology has changed that, with the launch of the E-scape Li -- no monitor or speakers, but everything else you need for a working computer. It includes, for the first time in the UK market, a version of Linux aimed at the consumer, Lindows. Read the review of the machine and OS at ZDNet.

KDE to Support RandR

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-19 KDE 42 Comments

X Resize and Rotate is an extension to X which allows resizing, rotating, reflecting, and changing the refresh rate of each screen of an X display on the fly. The extension has recently been committed to XFree86; the next version, 4.3 is planned for release this year. Hamish Rodda commited a user interface for this extension to kdenonbeta/kcmrandr. Screenshots here, discussion here.

On Whether it Takes a Geek to Love Linux

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-19 Editorial 42 Comments

"There is an idea going around that Linux is not just for geeks ... some say that a good distro, like Mandrake, is easy enough for most ordinary PC users to adopt. I want to tell you my experience..." The editorial is published at NewsForge.

Borland’s Bird’s Eye View

Submitted by rajan r 2002-10-19 General Development 7 Comments

In this second and final part of my interview with Ted Shelton, Borland's chief strategy officer, Shelton focuses on Microsoft .Net's support for multiple languages and reveals a hidden .Net stumbling block. First part here.

Mozilla 1.2 Beta Released

Submitted by regular reader 2002-10-19 Mozilla, Gecko 31 Comments

Mozilla 1.2-Beta and Phoenix 0.3 browsers were recently released. Additionally, Opera Software released beta versions of 6.1 for Linux, Linux PPC and FreeBSD. Also, the Dillo web browser's CVS seems to not have any check-ins for 3 months now, so if you want to code for a small and fast browser for Unix, here's your chance.

Cross-Platform UNIX Software Packaging with OpenPKG

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-18 Unix 9 Comments

In this article, SAMag will explore OpenPKG, a software development and packaging project initiated by Cable & Wireless, an international ISP. The OpenPKG project began in November 2000 and has grown into a collaborative software development effort managed and maintained by many. The project aims to create a modular and flexible UNIX subsystem for cross-platform software packaging and installation.

Playing Audio and Video Files with FreeBSD

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-18 FreeBSD 20 Comments

"In the last few articles, I've concentrated on configuring a FreeBSD system and various applications suited for multimedia. I'll wrap up that series today by tweaking a browser's plug-in support and installing some apps which can be either called by a browser or used on their own." Read the article at ONLamp.

Security Expert Gives OSes Poor Security Grade

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-18 Privacy, Security 36 Comments

Is open source software more secure? To most Linux enthusiasts, the answer is obvious: open source means more people can look for bugs and a faster dissemination of bug fixes. Obviously, yes. But noted security expert Gene Spafford says that this may not necessarily be true. According to the Purdue professor of computer science and co-author of Practical Unix & Internet Security, good security begins with good design and neither Windows nor Linux have much to brag about in that category.

ViaVoice and XVoice: Providing Voice Recognition

Submitted by rajan r 2002-10-18 Linux 9 Comments

Conversing with a computer has long been a staple of science fiction. Such conversations are still largely in the realm of fiction, but voice recognition technology has improved significantly over the last decade. A number of voice recognition and control products are available on various platforms. Many people don't realize, however, that it is possible to control the Linux desktop by voice, and it has been possible for some time. Read the article at LinuxJournal.