Thom Holwerda Archive

Morton: Linux Kernel Getting Buggier

Andrew Morton, the lead maintainer of the Linux production kernel, is worried that an increasing number of defects are appearing in the 2.6 kernel and is considering drastic action to resolve it. "I believe the 2.6 kernel is slowly getting buggier. It seems we're adding bugs at a higher rate than we're fixing them," Morton said, in a talk at the LinuxTag conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, on Friday.

Windows Vista Build 5381.1 Released

"Microsoft has officially released Windows Vista Build 5381.1 today on Microsoft Connect. Internal sources have confirmed that this is 'what will be' Beta 2 - in a couple more days at WinHEC 2006. What we are seeing right now with this build is a feature complete Beta without the performance guarantee. If you want to put it in terms of practical use, etc. this is Beta 2; it will be compiled and recompiled several more times, mini-glitches taken care of, size and speed optimized, and maybe a couple of minor things changed, but for all intents and purposes, those of us that have been dying for another beta ever since the first; it's here." Update: Err, an update.

Comparing Browser Speed

"There is a speed war on the web. Browsers compete on many fronts; security, standards support, features and speed. Most people are aware of which major browser fails on three of these, but one of them is still open for grabs. Speed." On Windows, Opera was the fastest browser, while on Linux Konqueror performed the best for viewing basic pages (however, as soon as images, scripts or frequent use of back/forward buttons is involded, Opera is faster). On MacOS X, Opera and Safari perform the best. Overall, Gecko-based browsers did fairly poorly.

ATI: Open vs. Closed Drivers

"We have been overwhelmed with requests to take a serious look at the frame-rate performance differences between the various open-source and proprietary contenders. Our first article on this topic, which will likely be the first of a series of examinations, is looking at the differences between the X.Org open-source ATI Radeon driver and that of ATI's official but proprietary fglrx display driver."

Can We Make Operating Systems Reliable and Secure?

The micro vs. monolithic kernel debate is now very much alive. Not too long ago, I wrote an article on the merits of microkernels, while a week later we featured a retort. Now, the greatest proponent of the microkernel steps in-- yes, Andy Tanenbaum writes: "Microkernels - long discarded as unacceptable because of their lower performance compared with monolithic kernels - might be making a comeback in operating systems due to their potentially higher reliability, which many researchers now regard as more important than performance." Now, we only need Torvalds to chime in, and it's 1992 all over again.

GTK+ 2.9.0 Released

GTK+ 2.9.0 has been released. This is the first development release leading up to GTK+ 2.10. For completeness: "GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. Offering a complete set of widgets, GTK+ is suitable for projects ranging from small one-off tools to complete application suites."

Acorn Brand Name in PC Laptop Launch

The Acorn brand will be used to launch a range of PC laptops at a computer show next week. The lack of connection shown between the new company behind the apparent revival and the Acorn of old is unclear, provoking a furious reaction from a number of RISC OS users. Acorn Computers Ltd, which was incorporated on January 28 this year, will be attending the CTS 2006 event at the NEC in Birmingham while promoting a 'new range of Acorn Notebooks'.

Review: Pepper Pad

MadPengiun has a review of the PepperPad, a Linux-powered competitor to Microsoft's Origami concept, and concludes: "Overall, the Pepper Pad is a sleek ultra mobile PC in a nice form factor with a great touchscreen for navigating, launching applications, watching video and surfing the web. With the advent of AJAX web-based applications for calendaring, editing video, word processing, creating spreadsheets, and more, you can have some good fun with the Pepper Pad and get a wee bit of work done as well. The Pepper Pad won't replace a Sony PSP-type game platform, or a PDA, or a notebook, but it will do some things that those devices won't do."

The Evolving ODF Environment: Spotlight on KOffice

Andy Updegrove interviews Inge Wallin, KOffice's promotions lead, about how KOffice is different from the other major office productivity releases that support ODF, which users may find it most appropriate to their needs, in what directions future development will proceed, and much more. Meanwhile, FreeSoftwareMagazine takes a look at the three major OpenDocument capable office suites/word processors.

The GNU/Linux – Linux Controversy

"This famous controversy is there ever since I became aware of operating systems known as GNU/Linux. The GNU General Public License, which is used by Linux as well as most GNU software, armors both characters. GNU/Linux is the term coined by the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman and people who support FSF, for operating systems composed of the FSF's GNU software and the Linux kernel; such systems are generally called Linux."

strace: a Powerful Troubleshooting Tool for Linux Users

"Many times I have come across seemingly hopeless situations where a program when compiled and installed in GNU/Linux just fails to run. In such situations after I have tried every trick in the book like searching on the net and posting questions to Linux forums, and still failed to resolve the problem, I turn to the last resort which is trace the output of the misbehaving program. Tracing the output of a program throws up a lot of data which is not usually available when the program is run normally. And in many instances, sifting through this volume of data has proved fruitful in pin pointing the cause of error."

First Look: Dropline GNOME 2.14.0

Linux.com takes a look at Dropline GNOME 2.14, and concludes: "I have to admit that dropline GNOME satisfies a very basic itch. I get to keep using Slackware, a distribution I have come to rely on to provide a fast, stable, and full-featured Linux, and I get a cutting-edge GNOME desktop. This allows me to see where GNOME is heading, and since it's still Slackware, I can easily add all the programs I want by downloading and compiling the source. Dropline GNOME is not Ubuntu, but then Slackware is not Ubuntu. It's not the easiest distribution to install or configure, but it just works."

AMD PIC Snubs Linux?

Eighteen months after shipping, AMD's Personal Internet Communicator, aimed at lowering the cost of computing so half the world could enjoy Internet access by 2015, apparently still doesn't run Linux. It now appears the design may actually be rigged to block the use of Linux.

Guide to Solving MacBook Pro Heat Issue

A few days ago we reported on heat issues with Apple's MacBook Pro. As SomethingAwful.com has found out, the issue is related to Apple making errors in applying the thermal paste on various locations in the MacBook Pro. SomethingAwful also gives a DIY fixing guide. Apple, however, was not amused, and sent out a cease and desist letter to SomethingAwful, asking them to remove the link to the MacBook Pro's service manual. Apple is also addressing battery issues.

Review: Ageia PhysX Physics Accelerator Chip

El Reg has one of the first reviews of Ageia PyshX accelerator chip. The four-page review concludes: "The limited number of titles and their disappointing use of the PhysX PPU means that, currently, there's no reason to spend the GBP 200+ to acquire a PhysX card. The current effects in the supported games aren't worth the price and potential performance drop. Cell Factor and awesome Unreal Engine 3.0 games, where art thou? Without them, the PhysX hardware is merely a curiosity. But one to watch."

Star Trek-Like Cloaking Devices Proposed by Physicists

Since all you boys and girls watch Star Trek: "Physicists Nicolae Nicorovici from the University of Sydney, Australia, and Graeme Milton, from the University of Utah, have proposed that devices called superlenses could be used to create a type of cloaking device. Using a principle called 'anomalous localized resonance', superlenses placed very close to a small object could mask its reflected light waves by resonating at the same frequency, much like how noise-canceling headphones mask sound waves by creating a sound that is at the same frequency but inverted in phase."