Archive

I was asked by co-workers how to establish a RAID-1 (mirror) for the system disk partitions of a FreeBSD 5 system.

As a recent ACM Queue article observes the evolution of computer language is toward later and later binding and evaluation. So while one might quibble about the virtues of Java or the CLI (also known as microsoft.net) it seems inevitable that more and more software will be written for or at least compiled to virtual machines. While this trend has many virtues, not the least of which is compatibility, current implementations have several drawbacks. However, by cleverly incorporating these features into the OS, or at least including support for them, we can overcome these limitations and in some cases even turn them into strengths.

Problem: Even the most powerful PC’s become non responsive during resource-intensive computations, such as graphic design, media, image rendering and manipulating. The traditional solution has been to upgrade to a faster computer and throw more computing power at the problem to lessen the wait-time. But there's a simple solution that utilizes multiple machines, but without using grid/clustering. For now, this involves a hack, but how hard would it be for an OS vendor to streamline this process?

As stated on their website, "AROS is a portable and free desktop operating system aiming at being compatible with AmigaOS 3.1, while improving on it in many areas." ArosMax is a version of Aros that can be run from within a Windows environment for easy evaluation.

On October 22, 2004, Novell released SUSE Linux Professional 9.2 (abbreviated as SLP9.2 henceforth) targeted at the home user and Linux enthusiast crowd. Since I am already using SUSE 9.1 for my daily work on my IBM laptop, I was quite eager to check out 9.2. SLP9.1 is already a very polished Linux distribution, with tons of software ready to go. So here's a SuSE user's review of 9.2 after several weeks using the new version. Update: Also see some 9.2 screenshots with KDE and Gnome.

A long-time Gnome user takes a week to try out SimplyMepis to see what all the hubub is about. The result is not only a favorable look at a capable Linux distro, but an examination of the state of the Desktop Environment landscape, and the areas in which KDE can tempt even a dyed-in-the-wool Gnome fan.

Last week a new worm started spreading on the Internet. It's named Santy, and it attempts to deface websites using specific versions of the popular phpBB bulletin board software. Is this just a run-of-the-mill worm causing minor damage to a few thousand websites? Yes. But it's also got something we've never seen before.

There are many ways of installing Debian, this is just how I do it. This guide is dedicated to all the newbies out there, and users with old boxes. Update: Screenshots here.

Version 1.1 of FreeSBIE, a FreeBSD Live CD, was released last week, and here's a first look. Update: Screenshots via OSDir.com.

The current changelog informs us that Patrick is back in good health from the strange ailments that affected him previously He also muses about his plans for Slackware 10.1 and kernel 2.6 possibly in Slackware 11.

GTK+ 2.6, Pango 1.8, and Glib 2.6 have been released. Look for improvements coming to a Gnome or XFCE desktop near you soon.

"Xandros Desktop OS Version 3.0 is billed as "an intuitive graphical environment that works right out of the box and offers unrivaled compatibility with Microsoft Windows". So it's pretty clear what the market of the product is - all the millions of Windows users that are fed up with an unstable operating system, want something for email and web browsing, and be able to create, edit and send the boss their Word, Excel and Visio files." Read the rest at linuxlinks.com.

Syllable 0.5.5 is now available. This release includes new and updated drivers and a large number of long overdue kernel enhancements. The full changelog is here, and it can be downloaded from Sourceforge.

I just returned from spending three days with the OpenVMS stream of the HP - Intel Developer Forum in Mahwah, New Jersey. The over-subscribed OpenVMS stream was extremely successful, and provided an advanced view of what OpenVMS users can expect from the soon-to-be generally released OpenVMS for HP Integrity Servers. Read article...