Monthly Archive:: April 2008

Theo de Raadt has lifted the veil off OpenBSD 4.3. "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.3. This is our 23nd release on CD-ROM (and 24rd via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install." Boasting as always, but when it's justified, arrogance is a virtue.

While the technologies used on the web have always been mostly free, with non-free technologies delegated to non-essential parts of the net, this has been changing fast, lately. The popularity of YouTube has demonstrated the pervasiveness of Adobe's Flash, to an extent where not having Flash is one of the big downsides to any alternative operating system. And to possibly make matters worse, Microsoft is pushing its proprietary Silverlight technology. The founder of Mozilla Europe, Tristan Nitot, warns for "the dangers of the proprietary web".

Back in 2007 when Apple released Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, a much-heard criticism was the lack of support for Java 6. Leopard shipped with an older version of Java, 1.5, even though 1.6 had been released by Sun almost a year prior. Sun had already released Java 1.6 for Linux and Windows, but did not do so for Mac OS X, since Apple insists on developing their own version of Java, according to Sun. Now, 6 months later, Mac Java programmers can rejoice.

The (unstable and development-oriented only) filesystem Btrfs version 0.14 has been released. "Btrfs is a new copy on write filesystem for Linux aimed at implementing advanced features while focusing on fault tolerance, repair and easy administration. Initially developed by Oracle, Btrfs is licensed under the GPL and open for contribution from anyone."

People hoping for the demise of Web 2.0 social media won't like the latest report from Universal McCann, which investigated the use of social media among 17000 participants in 29 countries. The report is the third instalment of a yearly investigation into the use of social media, and it concludes a worldwide rise in participation.

Some more information regarding PsyStar and its Opencomputer have surfaced, that try to dispel some of the doubts surrounding the company. Last week, the company posted a video online that supposedly showed the inside of the company, as wel as a bunch of OpenComputers running Mac OS X, Ubuntu, and Windows XP. In addition, a Gizmodo reader has sent a video to Gizmodo where he shows off his OpenComputer.

The trash can metaphor in computing is as old as the desktop metaphor itself. It was first introduced with the Apple Lisa user interface, and found its way to the Macintosh. Apple patented the whole idea, and sued anyone who tried to use the same name, resulting in other user interfaces implementing the exact same principle but just named differently. Despite its old age, and the fact it barely changed over the decades, many people have issues with the traditional concept.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that hundreds of thousands of IIS webservers were hacked. Code was placed on them that installed malware on visitors' computers. Among the infectees were websites from the UK government and the United Nations. Initial reports said the attackers used a security vulnerability in Microsoft's IIS, but the company published more information on the attacks today, and denies IIS was compromised.

The latest version of Whitix, V0.1, has been released for download. "Whitix is a simple open-source operating system for your PC. It offers a range of applications, so you can do what you want without worrying about instability or poor performance. How often have you wondered why modern software is too complicated, too buggy or just too unclear? Whitix is a return to the ideal of simple software that works the way you want it to. Although the software itself is still in its early days, our vision is well established."

Back at MIX, the Live Platform Services team announced a new standard APP-based protocol for accessing your Live data, and at Web 2.0 the Live Mesh team has announced plans to extend that API with synchronization-ready access to data, devices, application and activity feeds. Ori Amiga shows a number of demos showing the native Mesh feeds, WPF applications using Mesh, a Silverlight client that supports working on and offline, a custom Facebook application that syncs Facebook photos with Live Mesh, a Mac client that sends photos to Live Mesh and even LINQ queries over Mesh objects.

As you surely know by now, the latest hype on the web is stories, news, or supposedly new quotes regarding the potential availability of Windows XP after June 30th, when Microsoft will cease selling the seven year old operating system. The latest development? Big PC companies like Dell and HP have found a backdoor to keep on selling XP after 30 June. And no, it doesn't involve Windows 2003.

When Asus released its Eee PC, praise was almost universal. People loved the device's size, low price, and the fact it came with Linux appealed to many geeks. Consequently, the device sold rather well, and was a hit for Asus. However, the device had two major shortcomings: its small screen (7" 800x480), and its relatively short battery life. Asus took the critcism to heart, and came up with the Asus Eee PC 900, which has a 9" 1024x600 screen. So, what's the verdict?

When PsyStar announced they would be offering their own Macintosch clone, pre-installed with Apple's Mac OS X Leopard, they opened up a whole can of worms. Despite the fact that the company itself was shrouded in mystery and dubiousness, the possible implications of their actions sparkled an interesting debate here on OSNews as well as other discussion venues: can PsyStar and its users just discard Apple's End User License Agreement for Leopard? Instead of relying on my own limited layman's understanding of Dutch Common Law, I decided to contact Dutch legal experts, and ask for their opinions on Apple's EULA, and EULAs in general.

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