OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Top Ten Mac OS X Tips for Unix Geeks

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-23 macOS 8 Comments

"I recently got a copy of my new book, 'Mac OS X for Unix Geeks', and as I anxiously await its arrival in bookstores, I have a little time to reflect. So, I'm offering the top ten tips that I gathered while working on the book. These tips will show you the differences between Mac OS X and other flavors of Unix; help you find the bits that resemble the Unix you are used to; and even feather your nest with XFree86 and ports of popular open source applications." Read the article over at O'Reilly.

Sorcery 0.9.0-RC1 Released

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-23 Linux 6 Comments

Sourcemage, under the leadership of Ryan Abrams (of BeGroovy fame), is a source-based GNU/Linux distribution based on a Sorcery metaphor of "casting" and "dispelling" programs, which the team refers to as "spells". New features include new dependency sorting, 'invoke' (used to be 'skry') a menuing tool for installed spells, a number of bugfixes, and some new asthetics.

LindowsOS Announces General Release for mid-November

Submitted by Anonymous 2002-10-23 Linspire 21 Comments

Lindows.com has announced plans to release the LindowsOS 3.0 Membership Edition in the middle of November. This release is intended for consumers.

The /opt and /usr Issue Revisited

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-23 General Development 29 Comments

"I suppose it's a losing battle, but it's one worth fighting, anyway. What makes me think of it is a thread I noticed on the freedesktop.org mailing list. In that thread, Andreas Pour, with whom I do not agree about much, defends obvious common sense against what over the last couple of years has been a growing onslaught. He's absolutely right, but that isn't always enough." Read it at LinuxAndMain.

Microsoft Cuts the Cord

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-23 Microsoft 26 Comments

"Redmond has a new line of equipment designed to help turn your home into a wireless network. In the short term, at least, that's good news for the industry." Read the article at Business 2.0.

Xandros Linux: “It Just Works,” Even With Windows Stuff

Submitted by Greg 2002-10-22 Oracle and SUN 59 Comments

"The "premier release" of Xandros, formerly known as Corel Linux, is being released today at the Xandros.com Web site. Individual users can pick up a copy for $99, and corporate/enterprise users will see a discount price for multiple licenses. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Xandros to play around with. This distribution is Linux through and through, but it could just be the Linux that will truly snag a market that is looking to escape from the confines of Windows." Here you can also find an interview with Ming Poon of Xandros. OSNews published the world exclusive preview of Xandros Desktop (Beta 3), just a month ago.

Review: Red Hat 8.0

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-22 Red Hat 34 Comments

When you first heard about Linux, it was probably Red Hat Linux, and for good reason. Red Hat entered the market in 1994 and has become the largest and most recognized company dedicated to open source software. Red Hat now has more than 500 employees and 15 locations worldwide, with headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. The review is at ExtremeTech.

Debian Begins “Debian Desktop” Subproject

Submitted by Strike 2002-10-22 Debian 27 Comments

In response to the recent reviews of Debian 3.0 seen here and elsewhere, Debian developer Colin Walters has opted to start a Debian desktop subproject. The announcement e-mail states: "There is no reason we cannot make Debian easy to use for the masses. I personally want to be able to completely replace the Windows XP machine that my mom uses. We're a fairly long way away from that, but I strongly believe in the power of free software. We've come this far, and we can go much farther." The temporary location for the homepage of this project is here which will hopefully be moved to debian.org.

RMS and BitKeeper — the Debate Turns Ugly

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-22 Open Source 43 Comments

The Linux kernel mailing list continues to be the locus of sometimes contentious discussion between Richard M. Stallman and advocates of the limited-license BitKeeper code management program that is currently used to store the pieces of the Linux kernel as it is developed. It actually reached the point Monday where there was a discussion as to whether Stallman should be banned from the kernel list.

The Captains of Nautilus: Interview

Guest post by John Gowin 2002-10-22 Gnome 28 Comments

"The official GNOME filemanager Nautilus was originally developed by Eazel as part of their plan to bring usability and beauty to the Unix desktop. Today Nautilus is maintained by veteran GNOME hackers Alexander Larsson and Dave Camp. Being such a core application in the GNOME desktop it is the topic of many discussions in and around GNOME. In a recent survey on gnomedesktop.org an interview about Nautilus was at the top of the wishlist. So to let everyone get the inside scope on what is happening with Nautilus currently I got hold of Alexander and Dave for a small interview."

A $100,000 Bet on Windows

David Adams 2002-10-22 Windows 36 Comments

A company called Stratus Technologies, that makes expensive, multiply redundant server hardware, guarantees that its high end four processor machine running Windows 2000 Advanced Server (cost: $150,000) will not have a hardware or OS-related failure or they will pay you $100,000. Stratus works on the device drivers to further ensure that they will not bring the OS down. See a Stratus Press Release for more information.

The State of the “Smart Phone” OS Market

David Adams 2002-10-22 Wireless 6 Comments

Samsung has licensed Symbian OS for a new line of PDA-enabled mobile phones. Now all five of the major mobile phone manufacturers have licensed the OS, though only Nokia has released a major handset running Symbian. Samsung will release a phone that uses Nokia's Series 60 user interface. Some handset manufacturers have licensed more than one OS. Samsung has licensed OSes from all three major makers: Symbian, Palm, and Microsoft. A ZDNet article and and PC World article have more. Update: A PC World article reports that the first Microsoft powered smart phone has been launched by European carrier Orange SA. AT&T will be the first US-based company offering a Microsoft-powered phone, in mid 2003.

Microsoft to Open Up Office File Formats?

David Adams 2002-10-22 Microsoft 30 Comments

A ZDNet article discusses Microsoft's upcoming version 11 of Office, that will use XML to make Office files more interoperable with "Web Services." Analysts quoted in the article note that this is a risky strategy for Microsoft since it will chip away at the file format stranglehold that Microsoft has had for many years. The more open and interoperable Microsoft makes Office, they say, the more likely that alternatives to Office will be able to co-exist, or even replace it in the corporate sphere.

Why Unix Matters to Mac OS X

Eugenia Loli 2002-10-22 macOS 44 Comments

When you think of open source and Unix, is your next thought Mac OS X? The O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference is the third Mac developers conference this year that company founder and president, Tim O'Reilly has keynoted. Sure this is his conference and he can do anything he wants, but earlier this year he spoke to developers at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference and to hardcore Mac geeks at the Mac Hack conference. And then there's Jordan Hubbard. Sure, he's now an Apple employee, but he's known for his work on FreeBSD." Read the article at OReilly.

RMS: Can you Trust your Computer?

Submitted by Andrew Graaf 2002-10-22 Open Source 46 Comments

"Who should your computer take its orders from? Most people think their computers should obey them, not obey someone else. With a plan they call "trusted computing," large media corporations (including the movie companies and record companies), together with computer companies such as Microsoft and Intel, are planning to make your computer obey them instead of you. Proprietary programs have included malicious features before, but this plan would make it universal." Read RMS' editorial at NewsForge.

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.