Monthly Archive:: November 2001

The second beta of the promising office suite gobeProductive 3 has been released. The Windows download file only weighs 6.3 MB and it includes further bug fixes and some new features. Remember to send bug reports to Gobe by stating your software and hardware setup along with a explanatory description of the bug. In related news, OpenOffice 6 Build 641b has also been released for Windows (47 MB), SPARC Solaris (68 MB) and Linux (75 MB).

"Apple yesterday withdrew its latest OS X development guidelines after the document raised a storm of protest. Published four days ago, Apple posted Technical Information Note TN2034 containing advice on good programming practice for Mac OS X. Traffic on the list - usually confined to discussion of arcane programming tips - mushroomed as developers expressed their dissent." Read the rest of the story at TheRegister, along with further explanations about this story which apparently has a NeXT background.

"I predict that Linux will eventually be at the foundation of nearly every enterprise system and that the whole issue of which server operating system to choose will then disappear into ambient background noise. It's not often that I make predictions about predictions, but because the above prophecy is so bold, I'll make an exception: I predict that this will turn out to be one of the easiest predictions I've ever made." Nicholas Petreley predicts the future of Linux for ComputerWorld.

Is Ginger a breathtaking device that will change the world, or just another Scooter-like invention? "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer said earlier this week that the show will reveal what Ginger--also known as IT--is next week on the show. So far, all we know are clues gathered from filed patents, which are about methods for making a "personal mobility vehicle" that could carry people up stairs or over other irregular surfaces. Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs and Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos have seen the device, with Jobs going so far as to say it could prompt builders to construct cities around it.

After a very short period of beta, Opera 6 for Windows is released. Read the press release or download the plain (3.2 MB) or the Java-enabled (10.7 MB) version. Opera 6 for Linux, Tech Preview 1, is also available.

"Reiserfs is fast and reliable. The new ext3 is an easy upgrade. Both journal metadata, but ext3 journals data too, but at a big price. Which journaling filesystem is right for you?" The IDG Network discusses which Linux journaling filesystem is right for you. Our Take: Personally, I would definetely go with SGI's XFS.

Daemonnews reports that "Looks like the OpenBSD project is a bit ahead of the scheduled Dec 1st release date for OpenBSD 3.0. This release is a 3 CD set, instead of the usual 2 CD set, but still comes in the 2CD size jewel case." In related BSD news, USB v2.0 support added to NetBSD-current. "The new ehci driver is still in development but is in a working state for some mass storage devices, such as CD-RW drives."

ConsultingTimes features an article regarding StarOffice 6, which is currently in beta, describing what's new in the new version and also what's missing. "The old StarOffice 5.2 provided integration with a vengeance, taking over your entire desktop in the process. StarOffice 6 follows the more conventional model with excellent cross-application integration. For example, it's quite special that you can start a new spreadsheet or presentation while working on a text document. No other office suite offers such smooth, unobtrusively integration." In related news, the company behind Hancom Office 2.0 released their final beta (107 MB) just a few days ago.

LinuxPower features an interesting interview with Rodney Dawes. "At daytime Rodney is a faithful employee at Ximian working on making sure that the packages in Red Carpet are up to date. At night he is working hard to make his GNU/Elysium Linux distribution a reality."

PC World reports that IBM has reached a settlement with the city of San Francisco for $120,000 in damages to pay for the cleanup of its Linux graffiti campaign in the city. Our Take: Maybe these "Peace, Love and Linux" ads are a bit weird, but I just love this huge "IBM DB2 Outperforms Oracle" ad just right in front of Oracle's office buildings, viewable from the highway, near my house. This sort of marketing competition between IBM and Oracle is at least... funny.

Lineo, current holder of the CP/M and DR-DOS intellectual property, decided to open source the two operating systems. CP/M is a legendary operating system of the '70s and '80s, while DR-DOS is a clone of MS-DOS, used by Novell and Caldera at the end of the '80s and in the beginning of the '90s. Get more information at the full story at NewsForge. Update: DR-DOS' source code is only available for a fee.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that we are heading for a world in which there are only two operating systems Windows and Linux. Within 10 years virtually all computers, from the smallest wristwatch (don't laugh) to the largest mainframe (they will never die), will run one of these two operating systems. All others are headed for extinction." Maybe true, maybe not. Get the rest of the story at It.MyCareer.

The Unununium-based distribution FRuSTRaTiON, version 0.3, has just been released. Features improved console support, new keyboard code with unicode support, ext2 file system support; and it can now run applications. Unununium is a Single-Addressing-Space environement entirely developed in 386+ assembly with an emphasis on speed. The system is entirely dynamic: Any component of the system may be reloaded at any time; there is not even a static nano-kernel. Channeled IRQ, dynamic linker, memory allocation, 3d engine and communication channels are only a few of the elements present in the system. Multiple virtual consoles support, fixing the thread engine and starting the development of a GUI are their current development priorities.

"Viewsonic, the monitor manufacturer has entered into the Tablet PC market and in a big way. The new ViewPad 1000 Tablet PC has a touch screen hi resolution monitor with built in camera, a celeron 800 Mhz Processor and it even has a built in WAN, LAN and Wi-Fi Wireless LAN abilities. This is great for people on the go or those that would like a casual PC at home without a million features. Maybe the Tablet PC market will take off where the Internet appliance market failed." Get the story at DesignTechnica. We also hear that the TabletPC will run a custom version of WindowsXP in the near future.