Thom Holwerda Archive

Trolltech To Release Official Java Bindings for Qt 4?

Submitted by anonymous 2005-10-22 Qt 67 Comments

In his blog, Aaron Siego reveals that in Q1 2006 Trolltech is going to release a technical preview of officially supported Java bindings for Qt 4, and that Qt 4.1 has built-in SVG support and PDF generation.

LG3D LiveCD 2.3: Linux with Sun’s Looking Glass

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-21 Linux 40 Comments

"LG3D LiveCD is an interesting project incorporating Sun Microsystems' Project Looking Glass - a Java-based technology that attempts to bring a richer user experience to the desktop and applications via 3D windowing and visualisation capabilities. The newly released version 2.3 is considered to be the project's first stable release. Based on SLAX 'Popcorn', but enhanced with Firefox, Gaim, working NVIDIA graphics driver, and copy2ram support, the live CD boots directly into a great-looking 3D desktop with many interesting capabilities (see this document for hints to navigate the 3D workspace)."

A Firefox Fan’s Perspective of the Flock Browser

Submitted by Gsurface 2005-10-21 Mozilla, Gecko 30 Comments

"If you’re a Mozilla Firefox user, you will probably notice the close resemblance Flock has with Firefox. Though the browser is in fact based on Firefox, Bart Decrem, the team leader of the project, says Flock won't be forking the Firefox codebase. Still this Flock preview on the outside looks like Firefox but with a different theme. So would a Firefox user be missing anything by sticking with Firefox? Let’s explore some of the features that makes Flock different from the rest."

Gaël Duval ‘Answers’ Mark Shuttleworth

Submitted by Mathieu Blondel 2005-10-21 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 49 Comments

A few days after Mark Shuttleworth, Gaël Duval, founder of Linux Mandrake, now Mandriva, posted a FAQ related to his distribution. He addresses some controversial issues such as Will Mandriva ever demand licence fees?, How can a free software based company be sustainable? and even Why is the default desktop in Mandriva Linux blue?

Learn How To Use Ajax with PHP, and Meet Sajax

Submitted by anonymous 2005-10-21 General Development 18 Comments

For years, the goal of creating a truly responsive Web application was hampered by one simple fact of Web development: To change the information on part of a page, a user must reload the entire page. Not anymore. Thanks to asynchronous JavaScript and XML, we can now request new content from the server and change just part of a page. This tutorial explains how to use Ajax with PHP and introduces Sajax (Simple Ajax Toolkit), a tool written in PHP that lets you integrate PHP with JavaScript.

ZETA 1.1 Live CD for Free

Submitted by Lukas Linemayr 2005-10-21 Zeta 85 Comments

YellowTAB, makers of BeOS' successor ZETA, released a free live version of their operating system. You can download it for free here (click "zum download"). It's a *.cue file and the download is 175 MB. Note: ~~I cannot ... not approved ...~~ It has been confirmed.

Shame on Corel

Submitted by Andrew Updegrove 2005-10-21 Office 43 Comments

Corel had a chance of a lifetime handed to it on a silver platter - support OpenDocument and take an immediate lead in the charge to supplant MS Office. They've decided to stick their head in the sand instead, according to Andy Updegrove.

Open Source Taking Over Europe

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-21 Open Source 31 Comments

Nearly half of European local government bodies are using open source software while nearly a third don't know that they are using open source at all. A Maastricht University survey of 12 counties has reportedly found 49 per cent using Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) while 70 per cent said they expect usage to increase.

Leopard To Feature Redesigned Finder; Dual-Core PowerMacs Tested

Submitted by Alexandros Roussos 2005-10-21 Apple 52 Comments

According to sources, Apple will entirely re-design the Finder in its next major Mac OS X update. The new version of the Finder, code-named "Chardonnay" (like the wine), will be totally based on the Spotlight meta-search technology which was introduced earlier this year with Tiger. The aim behind this new Finder is to offer to the user the ability to browse his files just as he browses his music. Users will be able to browse files by different criteria (name, type, creator, creation date, modification date, etc.). Elsewhere, the first benchmarks of the new PowerMacs have arrived.

MS Pushes New Exchange 2003 Service Pack

Submitted by Dan Frussel 2005-10-21 Microsoft 12 Comments

The new Microsoft's Exchange 2003 service pack comes with the so-called "Direct Push" key enhancement being the ability to push new e-mail directly to mobile devices and eliminates the need for Microsoft mail servers to notify remote users of new e-mail via text messages. Other new features includes, new calendar appointments, contacts and task notifications can also be automatically sent out and support for Sender ID.

Sun Sounds HP Death Knell in Enterprise Space

Submitted by anonymous 2005-10-21 Oracle and SUN 55 Comments

HP seems on its way out, or so claims Sun. Sun's Global information systems strategy office, Larry Singer, says Sun hears a consistent message from HP customers: "They have no idea where HP is going. If you chase the decision up the stack to the OS, you realise HP’s OS has had no major release since Fiorina took over," he says. "People only have three legitimate OSes: Windows, Red Hat or Solaris. As soon as HP talks to 9900 or Alpha customers they have to say HP does not have an OS."

The Software Police and Your Company

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-21 Office 13 Comments

"What would help the most is to eliminate both the dependency on expensive commercial software and also eliminate the company-owned computer. If, like master mechanics in machine shops, the employee owned his or her own tools, none of this would be an issue. That means the company would require its knowledge worker to purchase specific tools and he or she would then own them. A company store could sell these products and even buy them back at the end of an employment period."

What Does Microsoft’s New Shared Source Mean for You?

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-20 Microsoft 63 Comments

"Open source advocates are doing what was once unthinkable - giving the thumbs up to a Microsoft source code licensing program. The Free Software Foundation has said new licenses for Microsoft's pseudo open source program, the Shared Source Initiative, appears to satisfy the four requirements defining Free Software." So, what does it mean for you? Update: A description of the changes.

Sun Shines on AMD’s Opteron

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-20 Oracle and SUN 14 Comments

These days, engineers at Sun Microsystems have their counterparts at chipmaker AMD on speed dial. Sun, whose turnaround plan bets heavily AMD Opteron-based processor servers, has gained the ear of the chipmaker over the last two years and thus is helping shape the future of the Opteron, which charged on the scene in early 2003 as a competitor to Intel's Xeon.

Submitted by sappyvcv 2005-10-20 Opera 67 Comments

Opera Software has released a preview version of their latest browser iteration, codename Merlin, Opera 9.0. Some of the changes include support for XSLT, Web Forms 2.0 and Canvas 2D; rich-text editing; site-specific preferences; find highlighting; default useragent ID as Opera; almost 100% Acid2 test compliance.

The More Processors, the Better

Submitted by anonymous 2005-10-20 Hardware 8 Comments

Achieve a level of high reliability in a microprocessor system by adding a second identical processor to a system to monitor and verify the system processor operation - also known as the lockstep processor technique. This tip demonstrates the integrated lockstep facility in the PowerPC 750GX processor.

SUSE Linux 10.1 Alpha 2 Released

Submitted by netpython 2005-10-20 SuSE, openSUSE 22 Comments

SUSE Linux 10.1 Alpha 2 is ready for testing. Improvements and updates over alpha 1 include KDE 3.5 Beta 2, GNOME 2.11.1 (according to the announcement that is; 2.12.1 is more likely), smartpm, and OpenOffice.org 2.0 RC3. This alpha is available for x86, x86-64 (AMD64/EM64T), and PowerPC. Download locations, including torrents, are listed in the release announcement.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 Released to Servers

Submitted by Witek Wasilewski 2005-10-20 Office 56 Comments

OpenOffice.org 2.0 has been silently released to servers. It can be found here. OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute. Update: Here's an interview with OOo's community manager, Louis Suarez-Potts.

Microsoft: No Plans To Seek Open-Source Licensing Approval

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-20 Microsoft 9 Comments

While Microsoft has no current plan to apply for Open Source Initiative approval of the new licenses that will govern its Shared Source projects going forward, the software maker has not ruled this out as a possibility going forward.

Debian Trademark Dispute

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-20 Debian 19 Comments

Lacking permission from the Debian project to call itself Debian anything, the Debian Common Core Alliance has agreed to change its name to the recursive DCC Alliance. Ian Murdock responds to the matter.