Eugenia Loli Archive

The GNOME Development Series Snapshot 2.1.3 "Twin Pines", is ready for your bug-busting and testing pleasure! It is intended for testing and hacking purposes only. You will need XFT2 and fontconfig to build it. Among the changes is Sawfish which has been removed completely and replaced with Metacity.

Con Kolivas recently posted some interesting kernel benchmarks generated with his contest benchmarking tool. Using resources provided by the OSDL, Con compared 2.4.19, 2.4.20, 2.5.49 and 2.5.50, each with a single processor enabled and with dual processors enabled. On KernelTrap you will find many of the tests, Con makes some quick observations about the results.

"The version I've been using is Red Hat Linux 8.0, shipped by Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat in late September. This is the first Linux distribution I've tried that hasn't made me feel as if I'm about to step on a rake and have its handle swing into my face. Parts of this are still infuriatingly convoluted, but if you've been thinking about trying out Linux on part of your hard drive -- or about dumping Windows entirely -- this is what I'd recommend." Read more at WashingtonPost.

"In recent times, the desktop Linux world has been enriched beyond recognition by the KDE & GNOME projects, but window managers are still at the heart of these environments, as well being used widely on their own. I'll delve into this exciting world and look at the development and the state of the art of some of the most significant and most popular window managers." Read the article at FreshMeat.

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group announced yesterday the release of PostgreSQL v7.3, now available for download. Numerous changes include: support for the SQL 92 Schema spec, enhanced dependency tracking for complex databases, prepared queries for maximized performance on common requests, expanded logging options, supports data in many international characters sets, dozens of performance enhancements. Update: A report at eWeek about mySQL & PostgreSQL's progress.

The new release of the objC GNUstep API, 0.8.3, contains preliminary support for OpenGL. Other improvements include simple printing, print previewing, and more documentation. Also recently, the C++ APIs of Fox Toolkit and wxWindows had new releases too. Update: FLTK had a new version too.

OSNews reader Peter Naulls writes about the new Risc PCs and RiscOS 5: "This machine, IYonix, is extremely important to RISC OS users - it's the fastest new RISC OS machine in eight years since Acorn's (RIP) flagship RiscPC product."

Get the Linux kernel 2.4.20 from here, changelog here. Test-kernel 2.5.50 was also released.

Several new releases of ByzantineOS have been made this month. The ByzantineOS distro is now in its first stable release. ByzantineOS is a software Internet Appliance with a home entertainment bias, based on the OEone's engine. It is based on a networked Linux distribution/bootable system with Mozilla providing access to a range of services and applications. ByzantineOS fits in 32MB (or 48MB) of media and should work on most PCs (Pentium Pro/Celeron or better).

You can download the recently released DirectX Media 6 SDK here (93 MB). The SDK can be installed on any recent version of Windows.

Aqua Data Studio is a SQL editor and developer tool that allows developers to easily create, edit, and execute SQL scripts, as well as browse database structures. Aqua Data Studio provides an integrated database environment with a single consistent inferface to all major relational databases. This allows the DBA or developer to tackle multiple tasks simultaneously from one application. The application is multi-platform as it is written in Java. Screenshots here.

"The U.S. Defense Department should think twice before embracing open-source software, a trade association is advising. The Initiative for Software Choice, which counts Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Intel among its backers, said in comments filed Tuesday that the department should "avoid crafting needless and potentially detrimental IT policy to promote the use" of open-source software." Read the report at News.com. At a time that countries like Germany and Japan begin to invest in OSS/GPL, Microsoft tries to hold US back. Are the Group's worries justified? Discuss.

A new company, 91:E computers has entered the market with Linux-based PCs -- preloaded with Xandros Desktop 1.0 (review here). Xandros 1.0 comes with a thirty day installation support via e-mail plus a 250-page manual. 91:E's computers come with a manual for setting up your desktop and a one year limited warranty. 91:E is working exclusively with Xandros. Read more at DesktopLinux.com.

You can read all about the new features here, download here. This bug is still there though (Win2k/XP).