OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Microsoft Updates Windows Without Users’ Consent

Submitted by tux68 2007-09-14 Windows 138 Comments

Microsoft has begun patching files on Windows XP and Vista without users' knowledge, even when the users have turned off auto-updates. Many companies require testing of patches before they are widely installed, and businesses in this situation are objecting to the stealth patching. "Normal behaviour," according to Microsoft.

Atheros Driver Developments

Submitted by anonymous 2007-09-14 Legal 67 Comments

"Reyk and I have decided to show something from the private handling of this Atheros copyright violation issue," OpenBSD creator Theo de Raadt began in a posting to the OpenBSD -misc mailing list referring to the recent relicensing of OpenBSD's BSD licensed Atheros driver under the GPL. He noted, "it has been like pulling teeth since (most) Linux wireless guys and the SFLC do not wish to admit fault. I think that the Linux wireless guys should really think hard about this problem, how they look, and the legal risks they place upon the future of their source code bodies." He stressed that the theory that BSD code can simply be relicensed to the GPL without making significant changes to the code is false, adding, "in their zeal to get the code under their own license, some of these Linux wireless developers have broken copryright law repeatedly. But to even get to the point where they broke copyright law, they had to bypass a whole series of ethical considerations too."

The 0.11 Linux Kernel

Submitted by anonymous 2007-09-14 Linux 9 Comments

According to this KernelTrap article, the 0.11 Linux kernel was released on December 8th, 1991. Among the 'features' advertised in that release, Linus noted that the console was now capable of producing beeps, Linux gained native mkfs, fsck and fdisk utilities, and the com ports finally had adjustable line speeds. However, if you managed to get Linux booted you were immediately dropped into a root bash shell as Linux lacked a login system. It also lacked support for SCSI devices, and support for swapping to disk meaning it required at least 4MB of RAM to be useful.

Jeos: Canonical’s Virtualisation-Specific Ubuntu Linux

Submitted by Delvin Nair 2007-09-14 Ubuntu 7 Comments

"Ubuntu sponsor Canonical announced a version of its Linux software stripped down for use just on virtualized environments. The version, called Jeos for 'Just Enough Operating System' and pronounced 'juice', is now available." That's what ZDnet and News.com report, but Jeos is nowhere to be found on the Ubuntu website. El Reg claims: "Canonical is still in the midst of deciding whether not to make JeOS wildly available, since it's mostly meant as an ISV thing."

Legal Summits To Tackle Linux

Submitted by Leo Zera 2007-09-14 Legal 5 Comments

The Linux Foundation, custodians of the Linux trademark, have announced two summits to deal with legal issues surrounding Linux and open-source software. Attendees will focus on building a legal defense structure for Linux and policies designed to support intellectual property rights within open development.

Fedora 8 Test 2 (7.91) Released

Submitted by Philipp Esselbach 2007-09-13 Fedora Core 39 Comments

Fedora 8 Test 2 (7.91) has been released with isos and trees for i386, x86_64, and ppc(64) and 3 live CDs (KDE, developer and Electronic Lab). Update: Preview of Fedora 8 here.

Open Source Risks and Responsibilities

Guest post by Mark Tolliver 2007-09-13 Editorial 22 Comments

The widespread acceptance of open source continues to grow as a cost-effective alternative to traditional network deployments. Well-known projects such as Linux have proven themselves to be in the enterprise environment, helping to dispel the fear, uncertainty and doubt preceding open source implementations. In the past two years, the industry has begun to shift from a total dependence on proprietary applications to a desire for more cost-effective, scalable and collaborative solutions.

Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell Ubuntu

Submitted by Anonymous Reader 2007-09-13 Ubuntu 213 Comments

"My verdict: Even in the relatively slick Ubuntu variation, Linux is still too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users", says Mossberg. Among others, he complains about one of the things I did too when I was writing my stream of Ubuntu reviews back in Spring.

ReactOS 0.3.3 Released

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-12 ReactOS 61 Comments

ReactOS 0.3.3 has been released. "The Win32 subsystem is in the beginning of a total overhaul to make it completely compatible with NT5 which may introduce various drops in application compatibility from time to time, however in the 0.3.3 release it has had a positive impact on stability and compatibility with Win32 applications. As a generic result of these internal changes, the system feels a lot more stable in comparison to previous releases, and could be run on a real hardware (though usual limitations still apply - no USB, SATA, NTFS)." The screenshots page has been updated as well.

Sun To Become Microsoft’s OEM Partner

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-12 Oracle and SUN 31 Comments

Having recently rediscovered itself as a systems company, Sun Microsystems has been welcomed into Microsoft's vast and growing family of OEM partners. Expanding the companies' three-year-old interoperability pact, Sun has agreed to ship Microsoft's dated but important Windows Server 2003 operating system pre-installed on its x64 machines. The companies will also co-operate on go-to-market activities for the machines. Ars Technica has more.

Microsoft, Novell Open Interoperability Lab

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-12 Novell and Ximian 25 Comments

Microsoft and Novell on Sept. 12 will open their 2500-square-foot interoperability lab in Cambridge, Mass., where technical experts from both companies will collaborate on technologies to help Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise work well together. The first priority for the team is to ensure interoperability between virtualization technologies.

Overview: Asus’ EeePC

Submitted by Arne Caspari 2007-09-12 Hardware 36 Comments

Unicap has an article on the Asus EeePC. "In spring 2007, Asus announced the EeePC, a low cost, small sized mobile computer, which is expected to be available to the public in October 2007. The system is equiped with a 900 Mhz ultra low power Intel CPU, a 7'' LCD monitor, 512 MBytes of RAM and uses flash memory as permanent storage. On the software side, the system comes with a custom version of Xandros Linux preinstalled."

Submitted by Governa 2007-09-12 Windows 49 Comments

Sales of boxed copies of Windows Vista continue to significantly trail those of Windows XP during its early days, according to a soon-to-be-released report. Standalone unit sales of Vista at U.S. retail stores were down 59.7 percent compared with Windows XP, during each product's first six months on store shelves, according to NPD Group. In terms of revenue, sales are also down, but the drop has been less steep, at 41.5 percent.

Submitted by diegocg 2007-09-12 AMD 40 Comments

Daniel Stone is announcing the avalability of the first AMD/ATI specs - chips RV630 and M56 apparently. The specifications are released without an NDA.

Interview: Microsoft’s Craig Mundie

Submitted by Dan Warne 2007-09-12 Microsoft 11 Comments

APCMag interviews Microsoft's Craig Mundie. "Bill Gates has left the building - almost. In July 2008, the self-made billionaire will make his final exit from Microsoft, and his role will be taken over and shared by two Microsoft veterans: Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie. Ozzie will be Microsoft's Chief Software Architect, looking after technical strategy and product architecture, but Mundie has the role of setting Microsoft's strategy across the board as well as heading up all of Microsoft's research and development."

Submitted by SEJeff 2007-09-12 OS News 17 Comments

Today, VMware announced that it has released a majority of its VMware Tools as open source software (GPLv2), part of the project Open Virtual Machine Tools. "The Open Virtual Machine Tools (open-vm-tools) are the open source implementation of VMware Tools. They are a set of guest operating system virtualization components that enhance performance and user experience of virtual machines."

Submitted by frozen5555 2007-09-12 Java 8 Comments

"I recently gave a presentation at the Portland Java Users Group about Java FX. After talking to some of the fine members of PJUG I realize that there is a lot of confusion about JavaFX and JavaFX script. JavaFX Script is just one part of the larger JavaFX umbrella. In fact, you don't even have to use JavaFX Script to gain many of the benefits of JavaFX! This weblog posting is my attempt to clear up a few things and get you excited about the future of client Java. After reading it I hope you will come away with a better understanding of what JavaFX is and why we created it."

QNX Opens Neutrino Source Code; Interview: QNX’ CEO

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-12 Original OSNews Interviews 70 Comments

QNX has announced that they are going to open up the source code to their QNX microkernel operating system. The press release reads: "Effective immediately, QNX will make source code for its award-winning, microkernel-based OS available for free download. The first source release includes the code to the QNX Neutrino microkernel, the base C library, and a variety of board support packages for popular embedded and computing hardware." Read on for more information, as well as an interview with Dan Dodge, CEO of QNX.

Richard Stallman: Don’t Follow Linus Torvalds

Eugenia Loli 2007-09-12 Open Source 162 Comments

Here is an interview with Richard Stallman about a range of free software topics including GPLv3 and comment on the Microsoft patent issue. Stallman has a go at Linus Torvalds even suggesting that if people want to keep their freedom they better not follow Torvalds. From the interview: "The fact that Torvalds says "open source" instead of "free software" shows where he is coming from. I wrote the GNU GPL to defend freedom for all users of all versions of a program. I developed version 3 to do that job better and protect against new threats. Torvalds says he rejects this goal; that's probably why he doesn't appreciate GPL version 3. I respect his right to express his views, even though I think they are foolish. However, if you don't want to lose your freedom, you had better not follow him."

Microsoft To Deliver Windows Server 2008 RC1 This Month

Thom Holwerda 2007-09-11 Windows 25 Comments

As VMware steps into the virtualization limelight in San Francisco at its VMworld conference Sept. 11, Microsoft is trying to steal some of that thunder by making a number of announcements of its own. Microsoft is announcing that it plans to deliver the first release candidate of Windows Server 2008 later this month. The first Community Technology Preview of Windows Server Virtualization, code-named Viridian, will be released at the same time, Larry Orecklin, Microsoft's general manager of marketing for System Center, said at a media event Sept. 10.