Eugenia Loli Archive

Signals as a Linux Debugging Tool

By focusing on the analysis of data captured using signal handlers, you can speed up the most time-consuming part of debugging: finding the bug. This article gives a background on Linux signals with examples specifically tested on PPC Linux, then goes on to show how to design your handlers to output information that lets you quickly home in on failed portions of code.

Ubuntu, King of Distros for 2006

According to Google Trends, but also according to Distrowatch, our own statistics here at OSNews and overall sense of the industry during 2006, Ubuntu has a big leap in mind share ahead of its competition (please note that we don't dare to say "market share", although we are pretty confident that it's the most used Linux desktop out there today). The second Fedora has a very small edge ahead of SuSe (while in US is a clear second), while Debian is following fourth. Mandrake+Mandriva (add both names on Google Trends and then sum the results) is clearly way below the previous four distros, but a clear 5th nonetheless. Last year Ubuntu was only a bit ahead of the other distros worldwide, but 2006 seems to have skyrocketed the distribution in the people's minds and computers.

Apple Seeds Leopard 9A326 Internally

Apple yesterday seeded a new version of Leopard (build 9A326) to internal Apple employees. Apple continues to gloss over the interface, refining it even more and there is an overly presence of black gloss. Among the new features, Safari 3 has the ability to view videocasts and listen to podcasts in browser while TextEdit can now export and open new Word 2007 documents.

The Best J2ME Applications for your Phone

Our mobile-oriented sister site, Mobits, put together the third free service for you (first, second), a mobile web page that let's you access the 23 best J2ME phone applications created so far. Visit the mobile-optimized page with any browser at http://mobits.com/jad. There is space for two more J2ME apps in the page, so leave a comment if we forgot a deserving application out of the list (no games please). We hope that this page will prove helpful to users who just got a new cellphone or reseted their existing one and are in need of re-installing their Java apps as quickly as possible.

A New Driver Guide for the Syllable OS

Kristian Vander Vliet, aka Vanders, has been working on a document that explains how to port drivers to Syllable. This document first starts off as a primer on how to write drivers for Syllable. Then the document shows how to port a driver from Linux to Syllable. Kristian chooses to focus on network drivers and ported the broadcom tg3 driver from Linux while writing this document.

Performance Comparison of Most Current CPUs

Most current Intel and AMD CPUs, as well as almost every Macintosh model from the last few years, geekbenched and compared. Interesting results if you just want to have an overall generic idea of how fast is what. Interesting to see that my 12" 867 Mhz Powerbook G4 is at least 6 times slower than a new MacBook Pro or that new Core2Duo CPUs at 2 GHz are way faster than my pretty recent 3 GHz P4 (which came with hyperthreading and 64bit support nonetheless). Technology flies fast past you!

Trolltech’s Greenphone: A Reasonable First Effort

Linux users have been salivating over Trolltech's promised Greenphone for the better part of a year. The "open" Linux phone platform, powered by Trolltech's Qtopia 4 embedded software stack, is bundled with a Qtopia software development kit (SDK) designed to kick-start mobile Linux application development. The first batch of devices has now shipped, and I spent a couple of weeks with a review unit. While it's an interesting package, it's only a first step and in no way a finished product.

TrollTech, Motorola Move In with Linux Phones

Motorola is shipping the first model in its Scpl ("scalpel") line of Linux-based phones set to replace the ubiquitous Razr. The Motofone F3, available today in India, is an extremely low-end phone featuring an "electronic paper" display, breakthrough battery life, and usability features for the illiterate. Additionally, Linux may have taken another step toward mobile ubiquity with a new initiative from Trolltech called Greensuite.