Monthly Archive:: September 2003

On Database News: Oracle, DB2, MySQL, FireBird, SAP

Submitted by Frank 2003-09-11 Databases 14 Comments

A new production version of the MySQL database, version 4.0.15, has been released. Additionally, MySQL Studio 4.2.5 is out: a set of MySQL GUI tools for database management, import/export, backup and monitoring tools for OSX and Windows. Firebird-SQL 1.5 RC-6 is out too, release notes. In the meantime, SAP unveils GUI Machine, a set of dev RAD tools, while an Oracle executive says the company is building a consortium of industry players to help create standards for commercial use of grid computing. Interesting results of the recent TPC-H benchmark performance testing on Clustered and non-Clustered 100GB and 300GB configurations.

Mobile News from NewMobileComputing

David Adams 2003-09-11 Wireless 4 Comments

A article over at NewMobileComputing asks whether 2003 is the "year of the laptop." It seems that the tide has turned, and laptops are powerful and cheap enough to be most people's main computers, and wireless networking is certainly a killer app. Also at NMC, a look at GSM vs. CDMA, wearable computing influencing fashion, and a 3D laptop.

Interview With Michael Phipps, of OpenBeOS

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-11 Haiku 34 Comments

The BeOSJournal spent some time with Michael Phipps, who is the Project Leader of OpenBeOS, and orchestrates the entire direction of the project. On other OpenBeOS news, their latest newsletter is out.

XFce 4.0-RC4 Released

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-11 Xfce 23 Comments

The popular X11 DE, XFce, 4.0-RC4 was released. Release notes, download here.

Gartner: Linux on Desktop Not Necessarily Cheaper

David Adams 2003-09-11 Linux 37 Comments

A recent Gartner study (which unlike the Forrester one from this week was not commissioned by Microsoft) finds that while some businesses can save money by migrating desktop systems to Linux, others would do better to stick with Windows. Companies that have held off upgrading for quite some time and use a limited number of applications on the desktop may save money with Linux, but those that have already spent the time and effort to upgrade to recent Windows versions and those that depend on a wide range of apps should stay with Windows.

No Great Enthusiasm For the 64 Bit Changeover

David Adams 2003-09-11 Hardware 36 Comments

Back in the 80's when the PC world made its change from 16 to 32 bit processors, people were excited. They were probably most excited about what the hot new 32 bit OS (IBM/Microsoft's OS/2) promised to do on the new 386 class of processors from Intel. But the jump to 32 bits scratched some real itches, like a need for advanced multitasking and vivid graphics. Now that we're on the cusp of moving to 64 bits, the incentive for making the switch isn't there. A ZDNet article has more.

Torvalds, Perens, Raymond Respond to SCO’s Open Letter

Submitted by Timothy Ha 2003-09-11 SCO 47 Comments

In the continuing SCO/Linux saga are responses from Linus Torvalds and Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond to Darl McBride's open letter of a few days back.

GNOME Desktop & Developer Platform 2.4 Released

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 Gnome 130 Comments

The GNOME 2.4 Desktop & Developer Platform is the latest release of the popular, multi-platform free desktop environment. GNOME 2.4 includes 11 new applications and more than 100 user-requested enhancements. You can use a script like Garnome, CVSGnome or (if on Slackware) Dropline to build. Update: Ximian releases beta of its upcoming Ximian Desktop 3 product, currently losely based on Gnome 2.4, but targeting 2.6 for its final release.

Wind River Terminating BSD/OS

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 BSD & Darwin 15 Comments

The end of an era for BSD/OS: Yesterday, on the bsdi-users mailing list, it was reported that Wind River Japan had announced that they will be discontinuing BSD/OS Internet Server Edition (ISE) on Dec. 13, 2003. The final version of BSD/OS, BSD/OS 5.1 ISE, will be available as an upgrade for 5.0 ISE customers in October with sales ending on December 31, 2003. This will be available in binary and binary with source code, as with previous releases.

KDE 3.2 Alpha 1 Available

Submitted by Richard Moore 2003-09-10 KDE 23 Comments

The Dot reports that KDE 3.2 Alpha-1 is available on the main FTP and more mirrors will be picking it up soon. This source release includes KDevelop 3.0a6 among other goodies. Use Konstruct to build.

VARBusiness: The Rise Of Linux

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 Linux 1 Comment

If there's one trend that exemplifies the entire state of the application-development world, it's the transformation of Linux from a curiosity to a core competency. And in the process, Linux has gone from an open-systems destination to a solution providers' competitive operating-system weapon of choice with which to design, build and deploy applications and solutions. Read the article at VARBusiness.

Sun’s Schwartz: Big Brain With a Dual Mission

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 Oracle and SUN 14 Comments

Every tier-one computer company has a core of individuals who act as the company's Big Brains. At IBM and Novell, they are known as "fellows." Same for Microsoft. More often than not, company Big Brains hole up in labs and rarely make public appearances. Not Jonathan Schwartz, one of the Big Brains at Sun Microsystems. Recently, VARBusiness senior executive editor T.C. Doyle caught up with Schwartz to learn more about his dual mission. Also, Sun Microsystems may add a provision to some of its Java licenses to protect consumers from Linux-related lawsuits filed by the SCO Group. "You license Java--we will indemnify you on Linux," says Sun's Jonathan Schwartz.

Windows Flaws Allow PC Takeover

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 Bugs & Viruses 71 Comments

Microsoft identified three vulnerabilities in Windows on Wednesday that could have a similar effect to that of the dreaded MSBlast worm of August. The flaws, which affect Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and the 64-bit versions of Windows XP, are the latest in a string of critical weaknesses identified in Windows recently.

New Microsoft Storage OS Attracts Backers

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 Windows 20 Comments

Microsoft launched on Wednesday the Windows Storage Server 2003 operating system, accompanied by support from companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Veritas Software.

A River of Qt Articles

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 Qt 6 Comments

Jono Bacon has published his articles he wrote for LinuxMagazine.UK: "Getting started with Qt", "Qt Designer and KDevelop for beginners", "Using Qt Designer", "Getting to Know Debian" and other articles. Jono recently gave us his opinion in the current... non-competiveness between Gnome & KDE.

Ellison on Grid Computing: It’s Invincible, It’s Inevitable

Submitted by Gil Bates 2003-09-10 Databases 8 Comments

Speaking to thousands of attendees at Oracle's customer and partner conference, Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison launched Oracle's Grid Computing initiative, but to explain its significance, he dialed back the clock to 1964, to the advent of mainframe computing. Also, beta customers tap into Oracle Grid Computing while Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 achieves record-breaking benchmark with Oracle and HP.

What to Expect at Warpstock this Year

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 OS/2 2 Comments

Warpstock 2003 will be at the Doubletree Airport Hotel in San Francisco, California, the weekend of October 18 and 19. So far, there are several great presentations scheduled on, read about it here.

Interview with YellowTAB’s Bernd Korz

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-10 Zeta 53 Comments

Tonight we had a quick chat with YellowTAB's Bernd Korz over the Zeta OS. The German engineer, manager and spokesperson of YellowTAB is speaking of the release date, the changing goals of Zeta and more. Read more for the interesting transcript.

Debian GNU/Linux – Not Just Another Pretty Face (Part II)

Submitted by ladislav 2003-09-10 Debian 25 Comments

Debian GNU/Linux, the largest of Linux distros when measured in gigabytes, provides fertile ground for technical discussion. Last week, Robert Storey published Part I of his lengthy installation and configuration odyssey. This week, after having survived a typhoon and three power blackouts, he's back with the second and final part of the review.

ArsTechnica: Inside the GNOME 2.4 Desktop & Developer Platform

Submitted by Robert Renling 2003-09-10 Gnome 59 Comments

"GNOME 2.4 brings to the Linux desktop considerable polish, accessibility and consistency. This release is a culmination of the work done by commercial vendors and the GNOME community, as evidenced by the fact that three vendors--Sun, Red Hat and Ximian--have already shipped desktops focused on the GNOME 2 platform. The end result is a pleasant desktop that is nimble, attractive and unobtrusive. While it's not perfect, the foundation is now there and the overall product has matured." Read the in-depth review of GNOME 2.4 at ArsTechnica.