The Multiboot Specification and NetBSD

  Submitted by jmmv NetBSD 10 Comments
Multiboot is a specification that defines a protocol between boot loaders and operating system kernels. The idea behind it is to let any compliant boot loader load and execute any compliant OS kernel, decoupling these two system components. This way, boot loaders can be simpler by only having to know a single load protocol, and OS development is easier because there is no need to write a custom boot loader. This article details how NetBSD was made Multiboot-compliant, allowing it to be booted directly from within GRUB, and thus making it easier to install NetBSD alongside a Linux system in a single machine.
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Preview: Ubuntu 7.04

  Submitted by Michael Anckaert Ubuntu 60 Comments
Recently, Canonical released Herd 5, the last alpha release of Ubuntu 7.04. Masuran.org took a quick look at this preview release, and concluded: "Ubuntu 7.04 will be a very sweet release. I can only hope that the new Gnome Control Center will be the default instead of the current menu structure and that desktop effects like Beryl or Compiz get a more prominent place in this wonderful operating system."
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Choice or Chaos: the High Cost of Linux Fragmentation

  Submitted by WillM Linux 124 Comments
"Freedom of choice is one of the great benefits of Open Source Software in general and Linux in particular. This freedom gives consumers the ability to select, without fear of litigation, what software they will use and how they will use or modify it. As a principal, this freedom is extremely valuable. However, a couple of announcements this week seem to indicate that market value of freedom of choice has dipped considerably. The biggest hurdle Linux adoption faced this week wasn't Microsoft, it was an enemy from within: Linux fragmentation."
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The GNOME Journal, March Edition

  Submitted by Lucas Rocha Gnome 3 Comments
The latest issue of the GNOME Journal has just been published. It features an introduction to GTK+ cross-platform application development, an interview with Jakub Steiner and Andreas Nilsson about the Tango Project, the first article of a series about free desktop companies, and a letter from the editor. Writers in this edition are John D. Ramsdell, Alexandre Prokoudine, Sri Ramkrishna, and Jim Hodapp.
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Using Java 5 Language Features in Earlier JDKs

  Submitted by BlueVoodoo Java 1 Comment
"Java 5 added a number of powerful language features: generics, enumerations, annotations, autoboxing, and the enhanced for loop. However, many shops are still tied to JDK 1.4 or earlier and may be for some time to come. But it's still be possible for those developers to take advantage of these powerful language features while continuing to deploy on earlier JVMs. Brian Goetz returns from his hiatus in this installment of Java theory and practice to demonstrate how."
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eComStation 2.0 Beta 4 Available

  Submitted by martini OS/2 38 Comments
The fourth beta of eComStation 2.0 has been released. Some of the new features include better wireless support, the Lucide document viewer, the Psi/2 instant messenger, SAMBA, and much more. "This is the fourth beta release of the eComStation 2.0. This product is available for download to all registered eComStation customers with active Software Subscription Services."
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E17: Desktop Enlightenment

  Submitted by michuk Desktop environments 63 Comments
"The performance of desktop computers increases year by year. This gives the programmers great opportunities to further improve the desktop experience of the users. However, what should you do when you have an old computer that is not capable of running the latest and hottest software? How can you benefit from the great software that is X.org when you can't run a desktop that takes advantage of its best features? No need for upgrading your PC, when you can have a usable alternative with the current one. Let me introduce you to Enlightenment E17 - the window manager with minimal hardware requirements that may amaze you."
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It’s Official: Pirates Crack Vista

  Submitted by danwarne Windows 137 Comments
"A genuine crack for Windows Vista has just been released by pirate group Pantheon, which allows a pirated, non-activated installation of Vista (Home Basic/Premium and Ultimate) to be properly activated and made fully-operational. Unlike cracks which have been floating around since Vista RTM was released in late November, this crack doesn’t simply get around product activation with beta activation files or timestop cracks - it actually makes use of the activation process."
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Centralised Management with Puppet on Ubuntu

  Submitted by falko Ubuntu 15 Comments
"This is a step by step tutorial on how to install the server component of Puppet (puppetmaster) on one machine, and the Puppet client (puppetd) on another. We then perform a simple test to make sure Puppet is working properly. If you're not familiar with Puppet, it's a configuration automation tool that allows you to centralize management of the various *nix flavors running on your network. Puppet supports central management of the important aspects of your systems, such as: files, packages, users, services, cron, mounts, etc."
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RISC OS Open To Run Allocations Service

  Submitted by RISCOSMike RISC OS No Comments
RISC OS Open is to manage the RISC OS allocations service after Alan Glover was said to have stepped down from the role. The list was maintained by Alan for several years on a voluntary basis. Now seemingly with the blessing of both Castle, the owners of RISC OS and developers of ROS 5, and RISCOS Ltd, developers of RISC OS 4 and 6, RISC OS Open have offered to fill Alan's shoes. The database is used by developers to officially reserve resources for new products and software, such as filetypes and system variable names. Castle boss Jack Lillingston said ROOL were this week "officially authorised" to take over the allocations system from Alan.
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New Linux WLAN Subsystem Integrated Into ‘mm’ Kernel Tree

Linux 18 Comments
"Almost a year ago the Linux WLAN developers announced the switch to a new WLAN subsystem. Today the new system finally found its way into the mm kernel tree of Andrew Morton. In May and April 2006 it became clear that the devicescape WLAN stack will be the future base for the Linux WLAN drivers. The aim was to overcome the current situation of having several different subsystems for different drivers and to create a common, well documented subsystem. The new stack will feature a reworked driver for Broadcom bcm43xx drivers as well as a Ralink rt2x00 driver. And, as already mentioned, Intel's ipw3945 driver will be implemented without the need for a proprietary deamon."
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Fedora 7 KVM Virtualization Howto

  Submitted by Michael Larabel Fedora Core 4 Comments
"One of the areas where Linux has rapidly progressed is in the field of virtualization. Among the virtualization options are Xen, QEMU, QEMU with KVM, and VMWare. With Fedora 7 it's so easy to use KVM virtualization that you can start virtualizing your favorite operating system and barely even touch the keyboard! In this guide we will tell you how as we work on virtualizing a battery of operating systems from Microsoft Windows Vista to Mandrake 9.2."
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New Leopard Build Seeded

macOS 23 Comments
Apple seeded developers with a new build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard late Thursday night. The new build, 9A377a, arrived roughly six weeks after the last Leopard seed, 9A343, was delivered. According to accompanying release notes, 9A377a delivers performance improvements over 9A343, features a new iSync plug-in maker, offers more powerful searching, and features Safari compatibility for rich text editing. In addition, the build features a new Sharing preferences pane and enhancements to the Address Book for taking photos.
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Novell’s Revenue Sags, Linux Business Soars

Novell and Ximian 40 Comments
"Novell on Mar. 1 announced preliminary financial results for its 2007 fiscal year first quarter, showing net revenue of USD 230 million. The first quarter's revenue represented a decline of USD 12 million, or about 5 percent, from the prior year's first quarter revenue of USD 242 million. Despite the unexceptional overall results during the first fiscal quarter 2007, however, Novell reported USD 15 million of revenue from Linux Platform Products, up 46 percent year-over-year, and USD 91 million of invoicing, up a whopping 659 percent year-over-year. Linux - make no doubt about it - is Novell's future."
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