OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

FOSS License Compliance for Companies

Submitted by shanecoughlan 2009-10-29 Open Source 3 Comments

Armijn Hemel (gpl-violtions.org, Loohuis Consulting) and Shane Coughlan (Opendawn, FSFE) complete a trilogy of articles examining FOSS licensing issues and best practice on LWN.net with an outline of FOSS license compliance for companies. Readers may also be interested in part one, introducing the topic and describing what developers can do to protect their rights, and part two, examining the field of compliance engineering.

Ubuntu 9.10 Released

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-29 Ubuntu 99 Comments

We're a little late, but Real Life got in the way, so here we finally are. Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, announced today that Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop Edition has been released. This version focusses on improvements in cloud computing on the server using Eucalyptus, further improvements in boot speed, as well as development on Netbook Remix. The related KDE, Xfce, and other variants have been released as well. Update by ELQ: Just a quick note to say that one of my Creative Commons videos was selected to be part of Ubuntu's Free Culture Showcase package that comes by default with the new Ubuntu version!

Syllable Desktop Gets Aspire One, EeePC Install Targets

Guest post by Kaj de Vos 2009-10-28 Syllable, AtheOS 4 Comments

The current development build of Syllable Desktop has a greatly increased installation menu. The options for IDE and USB CD players were merged, so that the troubleshooting options can now also be tried with a USB CD player. Specific installation options were added for the Acer Aspire One and ASUS EeePC netbooks. The EeePC requires compensation for its shifting of drive positions, which is now performed by the installer. This was tested by Hans Rood on the Summer SylCon, and the Aspire One was tested by Ruud Kuin.

Apple to Nokia: We’ll Defend the Case Vigorously

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-28 Legal 33 Comments

As most of you will know, Nokia slapped Apple with a patent lawsuit last week. Nokia claims that Apple's iPhone infringes upon 10 patents related to GSM, UMTS, and WiFi connectivity. In its SEC 10-K annual report filing, Apple made its first cautious response to Nokia's claims.

Preview: Verizon’s Android 2.0 Phone

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-28 Wireless 7 Comments

Verizon's highly awaited Droid phone lands November 6th, but Geek.com was able to get their hands on one and post early impressions. This will be the first phone shipping with Google's Android 2.0 operating system, giving it a big advantage over some of the competing Android handsets on the market. Not content to win people over on software alone, Motorola included a 5MP camera, 16GB of storage, and an 854x480 WVGA display.

Submitted by Flash3441 2009-10-28 Windows 25 Comments

Users remained stymied today by endless reboots after trying to upgrade their PCs to Windows 7, according to messages posted on Microsoft's support forum. An answer has yet to be found for all users, who began reporting the problem last Friday after watching the upgrade stall two-thirds of the way through the process.

Submitted by Cytor 2009-10-28 Hardware 86 Comments

When Psystar announced it Rebel EFI package, the company was quickly accused of simply taking open source code, repackaging it, and selling it for USD 50. While selling open source code is not a problem, not making the source code available if the license demands it is. Netkas, famous OSX86 hacker, and a Russian site are now claiming they have found the smoking gun.

Google Releases Android 2.0 SDK

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-27 Google 15 Comments

Today, Google has released the software development kit for Android 2.0, the company's mobile operating system. The SDK gives away all the new features, and there's indeed quite a lot in this one. The biggest new feature is multitouch support, but there's a whole lot more.

GeoCities Decommissioning Unleashes Torrent of Nostalgia

David Adams 2009-10-27 Humor 37 Comments

The Blogosphere has been abuzz over the past few days, with remembrances of the halcyon days of the internet viewed through the lens of atrociously-designed GeoCities sites. If you missed the xkcd GeoCities tribute, you'll have to be content with a screenshot, as it was a limited-time engagement. (Update: a mirror) The Archive Team is working on saving as much of GeoCities as possible for future generations. The internet is ephemeral, and, like ancient civilizations, it seems we're constantly building our new cities on the ashes of our old cities, but, this being the internet, in a much faster cycle. Like anthropologists who get excited about pot shards or shriveled woven sandals found in a cliff dwelling, a lot of internet old-timers like me get pretty nostalgic about how the internet used to be, and think it's worth preserving, or at least commemorating.

Asus Releases Desktop-Sized, NVIDIA-Powered Supercomputer

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-27 Hardware 21 Comments

Asustek has unveiled its first supercomputer, the desktop computer-sized ESC 1000, which uses Nvidia graphics processors to attain speeds up to 1.1 teraflops. Asus's ESC 1000 comes with a 3.33GHz Intel LGA1366 Xeon W3580 microprocessor designed for servers, along with 960 graphics processing cores from Nvidia inside three Tesla c1060 Computing Processors and one Quadro FX5800

Submitted by diegocg 2009-10-27 Wayland 23 Comments

X.org 7.5 has been released. This version includes DRI2, Multi-Pointer X, Input device properties, X Input Extension 2, RANDR 1.3 (adds support for panning and for Projective Transforms, which can be used to scale the screen up/down as well as perform projector keystone correct or other effects) and video and input driver enhancements. Here are the release notes.

Qt4 Ported to Haiku, Developer Preview Release Available

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-27 Qt 113 Comments

The Haiku alpha is barely out the door, and we already have another important news item about the open source reimplementation of the BeOS. About 18 months ago, Evgeny Abdraimov started porting the Qt4 graphical toolkit to Haiku, and now, we ave some seriously epic screenshots showing a multitude of Qt4 applications running in Haiku, as well as a developer preview release.

How Computers Are Changing Language

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-27 Office 124 Comments

In the comments on our editorial about language purism and the Psystar case, it became quite clear that language is a subject almost everyone has an opinion on - not odd if you consider that language is at the very centre of what makes us "human". Since this appears to be a popular subject, let's talk about the influence computing has had on two very minor aspects of the Dutch language.

We Hate the Wall Wart

David Adams 2009-10-26 Hardware 43 Comments

The "wall wart" is one of humanity's worst inventions (not counting all of the inventions that are actually intended to kill and maim each other, I'll admit). AC-plug power supplies are a cheap workaround to various engineering, economic, and regulatory problems that manufacturers face, and they solve those problems by pushing them off onto end users. So what can we do about it? OSNews takes a look at an ingenious workaround to the Wall Wart problem, and some hopeful trends that might make them a thing of the past.

Submitted by poundsmack 2009-10-26 Microsoft 39 Comments

Anyone who has ever dealt with Microsoft Outlook will know the .pst file format - it's the binary, undocumented file in which all data from Outlook is stored - emails, contacts, calendar, you name it, it's in there. Microsoft has announced that it will release detailed technical documentation on the Outlook .pst data format.

Apple, Psystar: Purism & Confidence

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-25 Editorial 192 Comments

A couple of years ago, a professor at my university had a very interesting thought exchange with the class I was in. We were a small group, and I knew most of them, they were my friends. Anyway, we had a talk about language purism - not an unimportant subject if you study English in The Netherlands.

Windows 7, Macs, Apple

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-25 OS News 9 Comments

Another week has passed us by, so it's time for another Week in Review. This week was obviously dominated by the release of Windows 7, but Apple was also in the news often, reporting yet another stellar quarter, and of course updating its entire line of consumer Macs.

The Future of AmigaOS4: a Roadmap

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-23 Amiga & AROS 54 Comments

Yes, we are continuing our new-found fascination with the Amiga platform, by reporting to you straight from the floors of AmiWest and Pianeta Amiga. Chris Handley consolidated all the information from these two Amiga shows into one handy post, and the future of the AmigaOS looks bright indeed! Update: More planned features have emerged. Read on for the update.

MS Sees Stronger Earnings than Expected, Revenue Still Declined

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-23 Microsoft 14 Comments

"Microsoft announces another quarter of revenue declines, but results were still stronger than expected, thanks to what Microsoft executives referred to as 'cost discipline' and a streamlining of business divisions. With the release of Windows 7 on Oct. 22, consumers and businesses may be in the mood to buy new PCs and Microsoft products."

Apple To Add Windows 7 Support to Boot Camp Later This Year

Thom Holwerda 2009-10-23 Windows 8 Comments

Apple has stated on its website that will add support for Windows 7 to Boot Camp later this year. "Apple will support Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate) with Boot Camp in Mac OS X Snow Leopard before the end of the year. This support will require a software update to Boot Camp."