OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Configure Samba as a Primary Domain Controller

Submitted by Irish 2002-05-03 Internet 8 Comments

Want to integrate your Microsoft client machines with a Linux or Unix server? Open-source Samba turns a Unix or Linux system into a file and print server for Microsoft Windows network clients. Roll up your sleeves, take this tutorial, and learn how, to configure Samba as a primary domain controller.

Jarno van der Linden from Amiga Inc., Interviewed

Submitted by Paul Cardwell 2002-05-03 Amiga & AROS 6 Comments

OSNews reader Paul Cardwell writes: "Jarno van der Linden, one of the brilliant minds behind Amiga DE, has taken time to be interviewed by the GetBoinged! crew." Update: You can also read a new interview (includes AmigaDE/SDK screenshots) of the CTO of Amiga, Fleecy Moss, at TempleOfTech.

Solaris 9 to Beef Up OS, Application Security

Eugenia Loli 2002-05-02 Solaris 18 Comments

Got the link at the original article from BSDForums.org: "With Sun getting ready to launch Solaris 9, the next generation of its Unix operating system, sometime between now and the end of June, everyone is scrambling to try to figure out what will make Solaris 9 different from the existing Solaris 8, Timothy Prickett Morgan writes. One of the big differences, it turns out, will be substantially enhanced security mechanisms for both the operating system and its applications."

AmigaOne – Are you the One?

Guest post by Mike Bouma 2002-05-02 Amiga & AROS 33 Comments

In a Suite101 editorial John Chandler writes about Eyetech's upcoming AmigaOne PPC motherboard and that these will be open to alternative operating systems other than AmigaOS4 as well. The hardware design and availability should be as open and non-exclusive as possible. Hopefully many alternative OS developers/supporters will view the PowerPC Amiga platform as a safe heaven out of reach of current OS monopolies.

XP Embedded: The One That They Want?

Eugenia Loli 2002-05-02 Windows 14 Comments

"XP Embedded is designed to identify dependencies, not remove them. What if a binary you remove is depended upon by other parts of the system? During Bill Gates' recent testimony in the antitrust lawsuit being pursued by nine U.S. states, he insisted that Windows could not be easily split into modular pieces. On the other hand, during cross-examination government lawyers pointed out that Windows XP Embedded seems to consist precisely of Windows split into modular pieces. So, who is right?" Read the editorial at OSOpinion. Update: ZDNews also features an editorial on the subject.

Migrating Solaris Applications to AIX

Submitted by Frank 2002-05-02 Unix 1 Comment

In this paper, the IBM authors discuss various migration scenarios and focus on the instances that require changes to the application source or to the way the application is built for an easy move from Sun Solaris to IBM's AIX.

SDL – The Little Engine That Could

Eugenia Loli 2002-05-01 Games 50 Comments

Can Linux be a practical alternative OS to Windows for gamers? Paul Sullivan investigates the issue by talking about the C-based Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL), the Linux equivalent to DirectX. The article also got a lengthy interview with Sam Lantinga, the man responsible for the SDL initiative.

OpenOffice.org 1.0 Released

Submitted by Arougthopher 2002-05-01 Office 35 Comments

The OpenOffice.org community today announced the availability of OpenOffice.org 1.0, the open source, multi-platform, multi-lingual office productivity suite available as a free download at the OpenOffice.org community website. OpenOffice.org 1.0 is the culmination of more than 18 months of collaborative effort by members of the OpenOffice.org community, which is comprised of Sun employees, volunteer developers, marketers, and end users working to create an international office suite that will run on all major platforms. Scroll down this page for mirrors.

Interview with the Leader of the Mozilla Project

Eugenia Loli 2002-05-01 Mozilla, Gecko 8 Comments

"As the leader of the Mozilla.org project, an AOL-funded open-source Web browser technology, Baker has been trying to stoke the fire she helped light in 1998. Mozilla, which was created using Netscape's browser code, found support among a legion of software developers intent on blocking the juggernaut advance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Making sure that's a prediction and not a pipe dream is going to be Baker's challenge. She recently offered her thoughts to CNET News.com on why, despite the heavy odds against it, Mozilla will triumph." Read the interview at News.com.

Stallman Takes Gates to Task Over GPL

Eugenia Loli 2002-05-01 Open Source 20 Comments

"Attacks by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on the GNU General Public License, under which much open source and free software is distributed, have been driven by a fear that the GPL creates a domain of software that Microsoft cannot privatize and control, according to GPL founder Richard Stallman." Read the report at ZDNews.

Michael Phipps On the OpenBeOS Progress

Eugenia Loli 2002-05-01 Haiku 26 Comments

The OpenBeOS project leader, Michael Phipps, sent us a status report and he even makes a guess as to when a packaged OpenBeOS alpha release might be ready: "The status is very good. The networking and FS groups are coming along really well. To the point where they are testing functional (albeit occasionally going to kernel debugger land) pieces. The other kits are mostly moving along quite nicely. Printing, Input and ScreenSaver are nearly done. Storage and Midi are moving very rapidly. You know all about prototype 5 of the app_server, and work is in progress on #6. Media is moving under the heroic efforts of Marcus, and there should be some exciting Kernel news shortly. As far as an alpha, it would all depend on what people are looking for. Anyone can download and build today. We encourage (and warn, since nothing is super well tested yet) that. As far as a completed, packaged alpha, I would not expect one for **AT LEAST** a few months. Probably more."

Survey Shows IE 5/5.50/6 Dominating 97% of the Browser Market

Eugenia Loli 2002-04-30 Internet Explorer 56 Comments

From ZDNews: "Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6.0 was the most popular browser on the Web last month, with a total global usage share of 44.7 percent, according to Net analysis company OneStat.com. Microsoft IE 5.5 took the second spot with 26 percent of the global usage share, followed by IE 5.0 with 25 percent, AOL Time Warner's Netscape Navigator 4.x with 1.6 percent, Netscape Navigator 3.x with 0.5 percent and Opera 6.x with 0.4 percent. The numbers show that 'Microsoft dominates the browser market with a total global usage share of 97% on the Web,' said Niels Brinkman, one of the founders of OneStat.com." Let's wait and see if the release of Mozilla next month will at least overthrown Netscape 4.x which currently holds 1.6%. Konqueror and OmniWeb can only deliver better scores if their perspective operating systems they run on gain more popularity (Linux ~1%, MacOS <3%).

Book Review: Understanding Open Source Software Development

Eugenia Loli 2002-04-30 Office 7 Comments

The good people over at Addison-Wesley sent us this book, "Understanding Open Source Software Development" written by Joseph Feller & Brian Fitzgerald. It is an analysis of the history of the open source, its goals, where it is now and where it is expected to be in the near future. The ultimate goal and target of the book, apart from the knowledge feed about open source in general, seems to be the effort to convince project managers why they should adopt Open Source. Does the book succeed? Read on.

Next-Gen Windows Rumors Heat Up

Eugenia Loli 2002-04-30 Windows 7 Comments

"The XP SE story appears in "Microsoft Windows XP--The Official Magazine," which the UK's Future Publishing produces. Dated June 2002, the issue describes XP Service Pack (SP1), a follow-up called XP SE, and the differences between the two releases. "Essentially XP SP1 is a free collection of enhancements and patches for Windows XP," the story reports. "Windows XP SE is a bigger upgrade--including IE 7 and DirectX 9--which you will have to pay for if you want it. When can I get them? Windows XP SP1 is out this summer...Windows XP SE is due early 2003." Read the rest of the report at WinInfo. Update: Microsoft: "XP SE Not Happening".

SuSE Linux 8.0: Good Software, Poor Distro

Eugenia Loli 2002-04-30 SuSE, openSUSE 13 Comments

"Those of you who have read my posts at the DesktopLinux.com discussion forum may have noticed I'm a fan of SuSE's distribution. You might even be shocked by the title of this article. But don't get me wrong, I love SuSE Linux 8.0, even though I've been disappointed by some elements of it. But let's start at the beginning..." Read the review of SuSE 8.0 at DesktopLinux. In other SuSE-related news, ZDNews had two articles "SuSE 8.0 arrives without StarOffice" and "SuSE looks to stabilize Linux".

AMD Signs 64-Bit MIPS Processor License

Eugenia Loli 2002-04-30 AMD 9 Comments

"AMD signed an agreement with MIPS Technologies Inc. for 64-bit technology, complementing the Alchemy design team already in place at AMD. AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif. said it will license the MIPS64 architecture for an undisclosed period of time, allowing the processor company a growth path for embedded devices. AMD already owns a 32-bit MIPS license through the Alchemy Semiconductor design group AMD acquired in February." Read the rest of the report at ExtremeTech.

Jordan Hubbard Resigns from FreeBSD Core

Eugenia Loli 2002-04-30 FreeBSD 9 Comments

DaemonNews reports: "Citing lack of time, energy, fun and commitment, Jordan Hubbard resigned today from the FreeBSD core team. Hubbard, a founding member of the FreeBSD Project, has been a core member from the project's inception. Despite resigning from his administrative duties, Hubbard plans to continue to contribute to FreeBSD through code development."

Apple Unveils the eMac

Submitted by egilDOTnet 2002-04-29 Apple 120 Comments

Apple today introduced the eMac, a new desktop computer targeted specifically for education that mimics the all-in-one design of the original iMac. The eMac features a 17-inch CRT display (1280x960 maximum resolution at 72 Hz), 700MHz G4 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce2MX graphics, 128MB RAM, and a 40GB hard drive. The US$999 model features a CD-ROM drive while the $1,119 model includes a DVD/CD-RW combo drive. Apple also unveiled a new PowerBook G4 running at speeds of 667MHz and 800MHz and featuring higher-resolution 1280x854 15.2-inch display. The new PowerBook G4 also features a new 4x AGP ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics processor with DVI output.

FreeBSD 5 To Get Firewire Support

Submitted by Peter Schultz 2002-04-29 FreeBSD 9 Comments

Katsushi Kobayashi has recently been added to the FreeBSD team so that he can add IEEE 1394 support to FreeBSD 5.0. Get more information here and here.

Why Linux Isn’t on the Desktop Yet

Eugenia Loli 2002-04-29 Linux 79 Comments

"The answer to the title of this article is a single sentence, but you'll have to read the whole article to understand it. The Linux community has an amazing blind spot, and I'd like to rant about it a bit. I keep bumping into programmers who think some program or other is needed to change the world. They're wrong. "Linux just needs this one program and then we'll be ready!" they cry. I generally want to slap these people until they snap out of it (which is kind of hard to do through an internet connection). They are making a fundamentally wrong assumption. It's not about programs. It's about data." Read the rest of the editorial at LinuxAndMain.