Eugenia Loli Archive

Arch Linux 0.7.1 (Noodle) Released

Eugenia Loli 2006-01-05 Linux 47 Comments

Arch Linux 0.7.1 was released with some better hardware detection (not hotplug), stock initrd support for usage with encrypted root filesystems, network profiles, and more little goodies here and there. As always, read the the docs before installing. You'll find ISO images here (torrents here).

Visual Tour: Windows Vista Begins To Get Real

Eugenia Loli 2006-01-05 Windows 51 Comments

The December pre-beta 2 release of Windows Vista offers the first true glimpse of the OS but is missing key elements. More information and screenshots can be found at Desktop Pipeline.

Methodology Design: the Way We Do Things Around Here

Eugenia Loli 2006-01-02 General Development 1 Comment

When people talk about "improving" software methodology, they rarely talk about tradeoffs. Requirements freeze, for example, runs the risk of delivering exactly what the customer asked for - and not what he needs. Concrete, detailed estimates take a considerable amount of time to create, and that's time that could be spent writing code or executing tests. M. Heusser discusses the tradeoffs and choices you'll have to make when the goal is improving (or even initially developing) your methodology.

Avoiding Java Exception Abuse

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-25 Java 48 Comments

There are always exceptions to the rule, right? In Java, those exceptions allow a clean break from normal program flow in the event of an exceptional situation. They're not used for program flow interruption, but for program flow branching, which can sometimes lead to difficult-to-maintain code. Marcus Zarra walks you through several best practices for using exceptions in Java.

Flash Player 8 for Linux Update

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-25 Multimedia, AV 54 Comments

Ex-Amiga hacker and ex-BeOS engineer Tinic Uro, now at Macromedia, blogged about the next version of Flash Player for Linux. Apparently version 8 will be skipped and the Linux version will see some extra love on upcoming version 8.5.

Fluendo Folks Licensed Mp3 for GStreamer Usage

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-23 Multimedia, AV 66 Comments

The Fluendo people have fully licensed the mp3 audio codec with redistribution rights in place, meaning that future versions of Fedora or Ubuntu will be able to support mp3 out of the box. "In order to improve the GNU/Linux and Unix multimedia experience Fluendo announced today the immediate availability of their MP3 plug-in for the GStreamer multimedia framework. The MP3 decoder is available free of charge both for individual end users and GNU/Linux and Unix distribution makers. In addition to making their licensed binary plug-in available to the public Fluendo also released the source code to this MP3 plug-in under the very permissive MIT license allowing all kind of developers and companies access to it."

SCO’s Unix Slide Continues in Q4

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-23 SCO 30 Comments

The SCO Group's revenue continued to fall in the fourth quarter and during fiscal 2005, as Unix sales slumped. Management, however, tried to put a positive spin on the results, released after Thursday's market close, saying that cost-cutting measures have made SCO's Unix business profitable again and adding that plenty of cash remains to continue a legal battle against IBM.

Working with Xcode Build Settings

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-23 macOS 1 Comment

Xcode Build Settings allow you to customize your build process in an intuitive way, giving you greater control managing complex project settings. This article shows you how.

Watch Out with Metadata in Vista, Analysts Warn

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-23 Windows 29 Comments

Windows Vista will improve search functionality on a PC by letting users tag files with metadata, but those tags could cause unwanted and embarrassing information disclosure, Gartner analysts warned.

3D Graphics for Java Mobile Devices

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-22 Java 4 Comments

The Mobile 3D Graphics API retained mode lets you work with a scene graph representation of your 3D world. This article, the second of a two-part series, describes just that -- an easy way to manage your 3D objects. Immediate mode renders 3D objects directly on the screen. Retained mode, on the other hand, lets you build a scene graph that you can manipulate and render at a later time.

NeXT Fans Give Up the Ghost

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-22 macOS 18 Comments

Among the many milestones in the tech world this last year, one occurred almost without notice. The Bay Area NeXT Group, an important user group formed 15 years ago around Steve Jobs' second great computer design, slipped into history in 2005, even as the technology that sparked it reached millions of users under a new name: OS X.

Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 Updated (r1)

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-21 Debian 27 Comments

The first security and critical bug-fix update to Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 "sarge" has been released: "This is the first update of Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 (codename 'sarge') which mainly adds security updates to the stable release, along with some corrections to serious problems."

Submitted by tpenta 2005-12-19 Linux 23 Comments

Adam Leventhal (one of the DTrace developers) was in volved in making DTrace work for BrandZ. He's written a blog entry on using this combination to have a look at the "top issue" (why is it that whenever you run top, the top process is top?). The blog entry shows how using DTrace and OpenSolaris (the only way that you can currently d BrandZ), can be of benefit to Linux.

Mandriva Linux 2006 Review – Linux Desktop Showcase Part 3

Submitted by Rob Teng 2005-12-18 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 33 Comments

Part 3 of the extensive Linux Tips for Free Mandriva Linux 2006 review has finally been published, covering multimedia, productivity and entertainment software. It also discusses Mandriva Linux security features, the Mandriva Club and looks ahead at the future: "... 1990-something was the year of Server Linux, 2003 was the year of Desktop Linux, 2005 the year of Laptop Linux, 2006 will be the year of Mobile Phone Linux and 2007 will be the year of Handheld/Palmtop Linux." Parts one and two were previously mentioned here at OSNews.

Cleartype Team – Typography in Windows Vista

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-18 Windows 90 Comments

Channel9 met with Bill Hill and the ClearType team again and see what's the latest with the fonts in Windows Vista. They talk about trends in display resolution, research done in aesthetics and quite a few other things.

Java Perspective: Advanced Core Data

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-18 Java 5 Comments

Although it is possible to use Core Data with little or no coding on your part, what if you want or need more fine-grained control over the persistence layer in your application? Marcus Zarra walks you through some of the more advanced features of Core Data.

Profiling in Linux Performance Tuning

Eugenia Loli 2005-12-18 Linux 5 Comments

This chapter covers several methods to measure execution time and real-time performance. The methods give different types of granularity, from the program’s complete execution time to how long each function in the program takes.

The Differences Between Red Hat and Novell

Submitted by creo 2005-12-18 Rumors 38 Comments

Matt Asay, who quit Novell recently, has written an opinion piece on the differences between Red Hat and Novell in the Linux industry. "Red Hat has long dominated the Linux market. In part this has resulted from serendipity - the company raised gobs of cash in a boom-time IPO and so was the first big player to market - but it also results from the company's rabid focus on customers. Importantly, Red Hat has never wavered from a core understanding that the low-hanging fruit is Unix."

Submitted by mono 2005-12-17 Windows 41 Comments

"TechWorld is reporting that Microsoft plans to move graphics outside of the Windows Vista kernel by pulling the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF, formerly codenamed 'Avalon') out of the Vista kernel. MSWatch asked Microsoft for clarification. Here's the official statement: "Because WPF is largely written in managed code on the common language runtime, it never ran in kernel mode."

How-To Resize Your Windows Partition To Make Room

Submitted by supergeek 2005-12-17 OS News 40 Comments

You would like to install Linux/BSD but the Windows partition is taking up your whole hard disk space and you don't want to pay money for commercial solutions? Not to worry, you can resize partitions with the KNOPPIX Live Linux CD.