OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

The Two Schools of Linux

Adam Scheinberg 2002-09-18 Editorial 79 Comments

There's so much going through my head right now, my first article since a fairly controversial article I wrote that got emotional for many on this website as well as many others. One thing is for sure: many have gotten a crash course on some things perceived as "wrong with Linux" and what is collectively agreed is right.

MacOSX 10.2.1 Now Available

Submitted by Prognathus and Sebastian 2002-09-18 macOS 33 Comments

The MacOSX 10.2.1 Update (via OSX's Software Update) delivers enhancements and improvements to the following applications, technologies and components: Mail, Image Capture, Help Viewer, graphics, printing, networking, Rendezvous, Kerberos, USB, FireWire, SCSI device compatibility and includes additional Digital Hub peripheral device support. Also, iTunes 3.0.1 was released today, while in related news, here is a review of MacOSX 10.2 along with the availability of the high end PowerMac.

Mandrake 9.0 RC-3 Released

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-18 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 39 Comments

Get Mandrake 9.0 RC-3, the last beta before the final version, and report bugs back to Mandrake. For screenshots of the new RC-3 Mandrake, check here and here (thanks goes to Gaël Duval from MandrakeSoft for sending us the screenshots). Update: Here is a third shot too.

Lindows 2.0 Released to Insiders

Adam Scheinberg 2002-09-18 Linspire 35 Comments

Lindows.com, Inc., maker of the low-cost, Linux-based operating system LindowsOS , announced today the release of LindowsOS 2.0 available now to Lindows.com Insiders. Michael Robertson also writes about it in his column. LindowOS 2.0 uses the Keramik KDE theme (and possibly KDE 3.x), and it includes many new tools like wireless configuration, laptop support, printer network scanning and more.

New SuSE Linux 8.1 Available on October 7th; Drops StarOffice

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-18 SuSE, openSUSE 17 Comments

Today, SuSE Linux has announced the availability of the latest version of SuSE Linux for October 7th. Blending operating system and applications, SuSE's system assistant, YaST2 (Yet another Setup Tool), is the core element and administration center of this comprehensive package for first-time and experienced Linux users. Read the whole press release explaining all the new features. Also, SuSE Linux is the latest vendor to drop Sun Microsystems Inc.'s branded StarOffice 6.0 desktop productivity suite in favor of the free OpenOffice alternative. SuSE on Tuesday confirmed to eWEEK that it had decided not to include StarOffice 6.0 in SuSE Linux 8.1.

Sun to Develop Low-Cost Linux PC

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-18 Oracle and SUN 30 Comments

Sun on Wednesday will announce plans for inexpensive desktop computers based on the free Linux operating system in a bid to undermine archrival Microsoft (related article at NYTimes). The OS is based on Red Hat Linux, but with many touches by Sun. Red Hat's version 8 adds a "personal desktop" option that will "create a system ideal for home or desktop use," according to the software maker.

Allchin’s Eye on Longhorn

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-18 Windows 21 Comments

As Microsoft Corp. prepares to unleash new software over the next year, including the Windows .Net Server 2003 family, the next version of its Office productivity suite and three server infrastructure applications, Jim Allchin, group vice president for platforms at the Redmond, Wash., company, sat down with eWeek Senior Editor Peter Galli in San Jose, Calif., to discuss this next round of software releases.

EXCLUSIVE: Xandros Beta 3 Preview

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-18 Oracle and SUN 105 Comments

These days, the big players in the Linux "purely-desktop market" are Lycoris, Lindows, ELX and the much awaited Xandros Desktop 1.0. OSNews got their hands to the latest version of Xandros (beta3b) and we are giving it a whirl. Read more for information and screenshots.

I Hate Windows – I am Afraid of Linux

Guest post by Robert Gering 2002-09-17 Editorial 143 Comments

First, a little background. I am a Windows user who has been using Windows since 3.1. I am not a programmer or a developer, I am a user. I process photos, use the internet, e-mail, write letters, play the ever important games and even use it to develop my comic strips. I am not computer illiterate and I use my computer with confidence and skill. Now with that said. I hate Windows.

Linus Merges XFS on Kernel 2.5.36

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-17 General Development 14 Comments

From LWN: "Linus has just merged the XFS filesystem into his BitKeeper tree; it will thus show up in the 2.5.36 kernel. XFS is a high-performance, journaling filesystem from SGI; it now becomes the fourth journaling filesystem (alongside ext3, ReiserFS, and JFS) supported by the Linux kernel. (Other stuff which has been merged, so far, for 2.5.36 includes an IEEE-1394 ("Firewire") update, the next big set of IDE patches, the "huge page" patch for i386 systems, and a number of other tweaks)."

Sun to Shed Light on Desktop Linux Plans

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-17 Oracle and SUN 15 Comments

"Sun is expected to unveil a Frankenstein-like desktop Linux strategy this week, combining various software elements developed in-house or by open-source community projects and third-party vendors. Sun's desktop Linux play, which will be spelled out Wednesday at the start of its SunNetwork conference here, marks another shift for the Santa Clara, Calif., company as its battles industry leader Microsoft for the hearts and minds of corporate users." Read the rest of the article at InfoWorld.

alphaWorks releases PortingManager tool for Linux

Submitted by Sam 2002-09-17 IBM 1 Comment

PortingManager is a free tool that provides assistance when porting C and C++ Solaris applications to zSeries Linux. PortingManager scans a source code tree, looks for Solaris APIs, flags them, and provides documentation that is useful when porting the API from a Solaris-specific function call to an equivalent Linux function call.

Amiga for Everyone

Guest post by Mike Bouma 2002-09-17 Amiga & AROS 10 Comments

In a new Amiga editorial for Suite101, John Chandler focusses on the Amiga solutions already available and what we can soon expect from Amiga Inc. Among this are AmigaDE enabled Zaurus PDAs and smartphones, AA availability in mainstream European shops and AmigaOS 4.0 scheduled for a pre-Christmas launch.

HP, Intel, and Red Hat Launch “Advanced Workstation”

David Adams 2002-09-17 Red Hat 6 Comments

Hewlett Packard has begun to sell Intel Itanium 2-based workstations running Red Hat Linux Advanced Workstation. Advanced Workstation is the desktop companion to Red Hat's Enterprise-oriented Advanced Server. HP also sells versions of these workstations running HP-UX, and will probably sell Windows versions eventually, following a future OS release my Microsoft. This is yet more evidence that Red Hat sees some opportunity for Linux on the corporate desktop, at least in the engineering workstation area, where high-priced Unix workstations have traditionally ruled but have been pushed out by NT/2000-on-Intel in recent years. Read more about it at Silicon.com.

Lindows Teams with Earthlink to Make Getting Online Easier

David Adams 2002-09-17 Linspire 10 Comments

Lindows and Earthlink have entered into a partnership wherein Earthlink dial-up services will be pre-configured on Lindows systems, much the way that dialup access is available with a few clicks on Windows and Mac computers. More at internetnews.com.

Apple Folds In Mac OS 9 Engineering Group

David Adams 2002-09-17 Apple 7 Comments

An eWeek article notes that Apple Computer is reorganizing the OS 9 engineering effort, presumably re-assigning engineers to work on OSX-related projects. Also, a former head of OS Engineering at Apple will be moving to Apple's Powerschool division.

MacOSX 10.2.1 Release Imminent

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-17 macOS 27 Comments

Apple put up a knowledge base page about the release of MacOSX 10.2.1, but they later retracted it. It seems that a patch release is pretty close. Read here of what is most likely to come with 10.2.1.

Gentoo Linux 1.4-RC1 Official; More Specific CPU Optimizations

Submitted by Daniel Robbins 2002-09-17 Gentoo 27 Comments

From the official note: The Gentoo Linux 1.4 release candidate 1 is gcc 3.2-based, supporting optimizations for Pentium III, Pentium 4, Athlon (Classic through XP,) K6 (Classic through K6-3,) PowerPC G3 and PowerPC G4 with AltiVec. Also included is a new 2.4.19-based high-peformance kernel with IBM EVMS (enterprise volume management) support, countless enhancements to Portage and a new "live" bootable CD that boots directly into a runtime version of Gentoo Linux 1.4_rc1. Includes KDE 3.0.3, KDE 3.1-beta1, KOffice 1.2, OpenOffice 1.0.1, GNOME 2.0.1 (2.0.2 on the way) and Mozilla 1.0 (1.1 available for testing). The "rc1" release includes bootable CD ISOs for x86, stage tarballs for PPC and Sparc64 (ISOs on their way) and new Alpha Processor stage1 support. Update: Unreal Tournament 2003 Gentoo CD! Read on.

Microsoft Versus Java: The Next Frontier

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-16 Rumors 28 Comments

"The struggle between Microsoft and Java advocates for the hearts and minds of application developers is moving to its next battlefield--and this is a phase in which the number of installed licenses could eventually outnumber everything else to date by an order or magnitude. In the rounds fought so far, Microsoft comfortably repulsed Java's aspirations to displace it on the desktop (at least for now). The struggle for the server looks likely to be an uneasy standoff between entrenched .Net and Java 2 Enterprise Edition camps. But on mobile devices, everything is still in play. The battle to be the platform of choice across this wide range of devices has barely begun, but it already looks like the primary candidates to cover a large portion of the space will be Microsoft .Net Compact Framework and Java 2 Micro Edition." Read more at InformationWeek.

Successfully Using LindowsOS

Submitted by Alan Gilman 2002-09-16 Linspire 40 Comments

OSNews reader Alan Gilman writes: "I have made a one page website with information about the Linux alternative to Windows known as LindowsOS. Not really for die-hard Linux Geeks, but if you are using Windows and thinking about switching to Linux, LindowsOS makes the job real easy."