Solaris 9 to Ease Patch Uploads

Solaris 4 Comments
"Sun Microsystems Inc. is hoping to lift up its operating system where competitors have slipped, through automated software and security patch uploading. Among the new features planned for Solaris 9, due at the end of the month, is Patch Manager, an analysis engine that automates the process of locating required security and software patches for a target system, said officials of the Palo Alto, Calif., company. Also on tap is Solaris Product Registry, a mechanism that maintains a record of the software installed, modified or removed through the life cycle of a system." Read the the report at ExtremeTech.
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Interview with Cosmoe’s Bill Hayden

Original OSNews Interviews 48 Comments
One and a half months ago, we were among the first to report about an operating system which would combine the strengths of Linux & AtheOS and that would breath a new kind of life back to BeOS. Today, we are happy to host an exclusive interview with the architect of the combined OS, Bill Hayden. Dubbed "Cosmoe", the OS not only will feature support for the AtheOS, Linux and BeOS APIs, but also for... Macintosh's Carbon! Read on for more surprises!
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PalmSource Adds New Developer Program

Wireless 5 Comments
"Palm subsidiary PalmSource introduced a new program to help software developers create applications for its upcoming operating system. PalmSource is offering a kit that includes a Palm OS 5 simulator so developers can test their applications on the operating system. PalmSource is also introducing the Palm Powered Compatible Solution logo, which can be applied to applications that pass compliancy tests with Palm OS 4 and 5. The test will be administered by a third party and requires a fee. The fee and availability of the test will be announced early this summer with the launch of PalmOS 5. The logo is meant to help consumers identify software that meets compatibility standards." Story at ZDNews.
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Apple Launches Power Mac G4 Rebates

Apple 22 Comments
Apple is offering up to $300 off a purchase of Power Mac G4 in its "Powerful offer" through July 7th (just one week before the NY MacWorld). The promo offers $200 mail-in rebate on a 800MHz Power Mac, and $300 rebate on either a dual 1-GHz Power Mac or a 933MHz. The 933 Mhz specific model seems like a good deal overall (considerably faster than the 800 MHz one because of its additional 2 MB L3 cache), especially if you add some 1 GB memory on it that you can find for cheap these days ($50 USD for a 512 MB DIMM PC-133 SDRAM). The offer is only valid at retail Apple store or at the Apple Store online.
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BSD vs. GPL: A Framework for the Social Analysis

Open Source 13 Comments
These are the first three parts of a multipart paper 'BSD vs. GPL': "The paper attempts to establish a framework for the social analysis that might help to clarify issues for developers of free/open source products as well as the relative merits of each license. This paper is written from the software developer point of view, not that of a lawyer. I would argue that such an approach makes sense because none of major open/free software licenses was ever tested in court. And as such they can be viewed as a social contract, a mechanism for attracting users and co-developers and ensuring cooperation."
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New Matrox Graphics Solution in Action

3D 6 Comments
On this Chinese website you can already see some pictures of Matrox' new graphics chip code-named "Parhelia" in action. An English translation of another russian source can be found here. Note this information was meant to be under NDA until the 14th of May. The pictures at this webpage show a three monitor display setup, demonstrating Quake3 Arena, a flight simulator and Adobe Photoshop. The text talks about a 20GB/s memory bandwidth, other sources indicate 19GB/s! An announcement by Matrox is expected on the 14th of May.
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Introducing the TriangleOS and Sartoris

  Submitted by Wim Cools & S. Bazerque OS News 20 Comments
OSNews reader and OS developer Wim Cools writes: "I'm writing a hobby OS (TriangleOS) and I've just released the second version of it. The OS isn't very big yet, but I've managed to begin with a GUI and have applications running inside the windows. Anyway, here's my site. There are a few screenshots of the GUI in an early stage but I haven't been able to create any up to date screenshots yet, with the shell and applications running but there's a floppy image available for everyone to check it out."
Another interesting new OS is Sartoris. Santiago Bazerque is part of the Sartoris team and he writes: "Me and my friends from the Univeridad de Buenos Aires are working on an experimental microkernel. We are now finishing our second release. We are not OS gurus, just a few students (our Computer Organization professor looked at us in a quite funny way when we told her we wanted to build an operative system, but hey, we did it!). The webpage is here, in case you feel like taking a look."
Note: Before everyone starts again "what does that OS do and why do we need it?" please let me clarify that these hobby/small OSes are built with the purpose of gaining knowledge. They were never meant to create userbases or user communities or markets. They are solely of developer-only interest, users can try them, but they won't directly benefit.
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Reaching Beyond Two Terabyte Filesystems

  Submitted by Jeremy Andrews Linux 18 Comments
Peter Chubb posted a patch to the lkml, with which he's now managed to mount a 15 terabyte file (using JFS and the loopback device). Without the patch, Peter explains, "Linux is limited to 2TB filesystems even on 64-bit systems, because there are various places where the block offset on disc are assigned to unsigned or int 32-bit variables."Peter works on the Gelato project in Australia. His efforts include cleaning up Linux's large filesystem support, removing 32-bit filesystem limitations. When I asked him about the new 64-bit filesystem limits, he offered a comprehensive answer and this interesting link. The full thread can be found here on KernelTrap.Reaching beyond terrabytes, beyond pentabytes, on into exabytes. I feel this sudden discontent with my meager 60 gigabyte hard drive...
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Previewing Windows .NET Servers

.NET 8 Comments
"If you have just finally finished figuring out the relationship between the various versions of operating systems coming out from Microsoft over the past couple of years, get ready to be challenged once again. The successor line to the server versions of the Windows 2000 operating system is called .NET Server and is currently available as a Beta 3 release to MSDN subscribers and other beta testers. It was originally called Whistler Server, but after the Beta 2 release it acquired a new name (despite an interim announcement that Whistler Server would be released as Windows 2002 Server). In this article I'll try to summarize what is new and exciting in this new release." Read the article at O'Reilly.
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RISC OS Select Released

  Submitted by Steve Knutson RISC OS 29 Comments
RISC OS Select is the latest version of the RISC OS operating system originally developed by Acorn Computers. Since Acorn's demise in 1998, RISCOS Ltd have taken over development of the desktop version of RISC OS. They released RISC OS 4.0 in August 1999. RISC OS Select has many features including: DHCP support, SVG graphic support, Improved printing, Multiuser logons, over 100 other improvements. RISC OS Select will run on Acorn A7000 and RISCPC computers, as well as machines from RISCStation and Microdigital.
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ELXLinux Preparing for Release 1.0

  Submitted by zegenie Linux 5 Comments
It seems that the ELXLinux project is preparing for its 1.0 release, named ELX Power Desktop 1.0. It is said that the company have partnered with another company in Northern America and some in Europe to distribute its ELXLinux 1.0. Their website features a brand-new improved design.
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Amiga Inc Website Updated

  Submitted by Rodney McDonel Amiga & AROS 4 Comments
Amiga.com has been updated as many people have noticed already. The update includes an improved front page with links to already existing pages such as, Amiga-Anywhere site, Amiga Dev site and the corporate site, which takes the form of their "old" website. The new link on the front page leads to the Official AmigaOS website which has a number of features such as News, Forums page, Events, Dealers and an About page. Also, its been announced that Computer City will port the Inga gaming system (a adventure game design tool) to all Amiga platforms. The tools is a full design solution for the amateur of professional adventure game creator.
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Lynuxworks Gets a Shot in the ARM

Linux No Comments
"Lynuxworks, which makes Linux software for embedded devices, has landed a deal with prominent chip designer ARM to bundle the two companies' products into a single embedded Linux development platform. The deal is a boost for Lynuxworks, which will gain visibility as a partner of one of the biggest names in embedded processors." Read the rest of the story at ZDNews.UK.
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Microsoft Services & Integration Solution for UNIX 3.0

  Submitted by Ian Smith Microsoft 13 Comments
"Microsoft announced that version 3.0 of its Services for UNIX (SFU 3.0) package was released to manufacturing this week. SFU 3.0, one of the key products developed by Microsoft’s India Development Center teams in Hyderabad, India, and Redmond, Wash., is being offered to meet the growing demand of UNIX customers wanting to take advantage of Microsoft Windows 2000. SFU 3.0 is a breakthrough version that incorporates new tools for rapid migration to Windows 2000 as well as new features for tighter platform integration in mixed environments. SFU 3.0 enables customers to optimize their previous investments in UNIX infrastructure, applications and people, while capitalizing on the value of Windows 2000 as an enterprise platform." ENTNews has an explanatory article about this too.
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