Eugenia Loli Archive

Sun Challenges Microsoft on the Desktop

As executive vice VICE president of Sun's software group, Jonathan Schwartz heads the company's new unified software business and is leading the charge to promote the Linux open-source technology. Schwartz met with InfoWorld Test Center Director Steve Gillmor and Technical Director Tom Yager to discuss Sun's recently announced Linux desktop strategy and to explain how it's in the industry's best interests to develop an alternative to arch-rival Microsoft.

Battle of the platforms

The delivery of Microsoft's Visual Studio .Net IDE (integrated development environment) marked the beginning of the next battle phase for platform supremacy. Organizations must determine a directed approach toward platform selection and not get caught in a mire of ad hoc use. Business impact: Organizations' technology choices must reflect availability of skills, or they will risk enormous cost overruns. Read the article at TechUpdate.

Debugging Atomicity in Kernel 2.5

Robert Love, author of the kernel preemption patch, has written an informative article for KernelTrap on debugging the Linux kernel. He says, "Recently, a lot of work has gone into the 2.5 development kernel to facilitate better debugging. Starting with the 2.5.39 kernel, an infrastructure is in place for tracking down a wide range of atomicity/sleep bugs."

First Look: UnitedLinux Open Beta is Here

"For some reason, UnitedLinux attracts FUD the way a dog does fleas. But, now that the public beta is out, we can see that, well, its basically a GPL-compliant, high-end Linux server operating system. In short, this isn't a Linux for playing with at home or running a small business. It, as the developers promised, is a Linux for business customers high-end needs. Now, the question is can UnitedLinux deliver on that promise. And, that is what well see in the coming weeks as potential business customers put this beta through its paces." Read the article at LinuxPlanet.

Do we Really Need a New Windows Operating System so Soon?

"With Windows XP already reaching its first birthday, it is already time to start thinking about what is round the corner for the next release of the Windows operating system. While the chances of us seeing a major new release of Windows before 2005 is highly unlikely, there is a high possibility that there will be, as predicted on ActiveWin earlier in the year, a minor update to the Windows XP operating system sometime within the next 2 years. The question is, do we really need a new operating system quite as soon as that? Why not just wait a while before releasing another one? Or at least make sure the one you have released as bug free as possible." Read the editorial at ActiveWin.

Preview of Red Hat 8.0: Bluecurve’s Debut

"Red Hat 8.0 is scheduled to be formally released on Sept. 30 and many in the Linux user community are watching the development of the new "Bluecurve" desktop design very closely. In the retail edition of Red Hat that's coming out this Monday, the Linux vendor is replacing the traditional GNOME interface with Bluecurve, a Red Hat-created GUI theme combining elements of both GNOME and KDE, the major rival to GNOME." Read the article at LinuxPlanet.

The World’s First AOL Computer?

"This computer could turn out to be a very big deal. Not so much because it’s the first under-$200 new PC to hit the marketplace or because it runs a version of Linux which can run some Windows programs; but because the idea had been embraced by the No 1 online service." Read the article at MSNBC. OSNews recently carried out an in-depth review of the LindowsOS system.

Flirting With Mac OS X

"Regular readers of this column already know there is no lost love between me and GUIs. In fact, I rarely use them; I do most of my work from the regular console, using a variety of tools to do all the things I'd ever need from a GUI: Multiple terminal sessions (screen, Linux virtual terminals, Emacs, vim) and a good e-mail client (nothing beats pine)." Read the article at Byte.

Windows XP One Year On

It is hard to believe that Windows XP is only just coming up to its one year anniversary; it feels like it has been with us for a lot longer than that. Perhaps it is due to the long running beta that took place before its release or maybe I have just managed to settle down with Windows XP far quicker than I have done with any of the previous Windows operating systems. Read the rest of the editorial at ActiveWin.

The State of Linux in 2002

Sun in August joined IBM, HP and Dell in offering Linux as a server operating system. A month later, IBM expanded its prepackaged Linux server offerings. Even Apple computers can be purchased with Linux preinstalled. Clearly, the Linux bandwagon is gathering speed -- Sun has said it anticipates a 30 percent annual growth rate -- but where is it going? For the first time in years, Microsoft’s unassailable lead in computer operating systems is being challenged by manufacturers offering Linux software. Even a puny challenge is better than none. Read more at Economist.

Microsoft Ponders Windows Upgrade for 2004

According to developers close to the Redmond, Wash., company, a proposal to deliver a Windows 'Yukon' release—timed to tide over Microsoft and its users until the long-awaited Longhorn debuts—is on the company's drawing boards. Microsoft executives have held fast to their promise that Longhorn will be the version of Windows designed to follow Windows XP on the desktop, and Windows .Net Server 2003 on the server. In recent weeks, however, company representatives have taken to calling Longhorn the next "major" version of Windows.

Autonomic Computing Changes Gear

Unanswerable questions of our time, number one: If you're so smart, why ain't you rich? And number two: If your new PC's so much better than your old one, how come it don't work properly? Having a gigabyte of fast memory and a 2GHz processor is, for a computer, like having a Mensa-grade IQ is for us humans: looks great on paper but in practice it just means you get into more trouble faster. Read the editorial at ZDNet.

Poll: Do you Favor Red Hat or KDE in the UI Issue Raised Recently?

Countless things have been said from both camps about the changes Red Hat did to both Gnome and mostly KDE for their upcoming OS, Red Hat 8.0, codenamed "Psyche". Read more to vote if you favor the UI changes needed to make a desktop OS to look and feel unified troughout the whole spectrum of applications it comes with, or you are favoring the idea that... Red Hat just tries to hurt KDE, possibly on purpose, just for the kicks of it... Let the community of users decide!