Linux Archive

NewMobileComputing is reporting that a new version of The Linux-Mobile-Guide, a manual covering laptop and PDA related Linux features, is now available.

Walter Kruse offers up his experiences with Peanut Linux over at DesktopLinux.com. Not talked about as often as more high profile commercial distros, this flavor of Linux is fast, lightweight, and suited to both new and advanced users. Kruse steps us through his reasons for making a move to Peanut as his distribution of choice and offers us some tips and links for customizing the environment.

This article is based on a masters thesis project which investigated the possibility of turning Linux into a real-time operating system. The authors primarily focus on available "hard real-time" solutions for Linux, but also look.

OSNews reader Andreas writes: "Recent additions to 2.5 dev kernel (2.5.65 will contain the changes) that heavily improves desktop interactivity smoothness. It's easy to overhype so I won't but I'm running patched 2.5.64 and the difference are without a doubt more then just "noticable". Here's the story at KernelTrap."

BlackRhino v1.0, a Debian-based GNU/Linux distribution for Sony's PlayStation 2 has been released by xRhino: "This release constitutes a 1200+ software package Linux distribution that will hopefully be added to and extended by the general community."

"Today is a great day for PC users, both personal and business alike, and a great day for the PC industry with the launch of Yoper - Your Operating System," reads the bombastic release announcement for Yoper V1. Yoper (Your Perfect Operating System) is a lean and fast Linux distribution with an endearing superiority complex. This is the debut release of Ydesktop, which is aimed at workstation/desktop or terminal server use. See more at Yoper.com.

"The Linux kernel project is growing up. New contributors, job delegation, and a source code control system have changed the way the kernel gets hacked. The guy at the center of it all -- Linus Torvalds -- has changed, too. Gone are his days as poster boy for Open Source. He doesn't do Comdex keynotes anymore; he's not on the covers of business magazines; and he rarely gives interviews. No, these days, Linus is all about what he does best: hacking the kernel and keeping a sure and steady hand on the rudder of everyone's favorite project." Read the interview at Linux-Mag.com.

In this guest column at DesktopLinux.com, former SCO evangelist and Samba.org team leader John H. Terpstra weighs in on market perceptions about Linux and its suitability for the desktop. Interviewing a sample group –- that included 30 people evenly split in the Linux and MS camps -- Terpstra discovered each group cited the very same arguments in defending their OS of choice! The author sought definitive answers about the state of Desktop Linux and reasons for and against a switch to Linux. The results, and key factors, were not as expected.

It's more likely to keep making greater strides in single-use areas, such as cash registers, than in consumers' PCs says BusinessWeek. However, the future of Linux probably rests with corporate IT departments says Will Harvie in his talks to Kiwi organisations about using open-source operating systems and software.

"Linux, the cash-saving open source option to costly proprietary operating system (OS) such as Microsoft’s Windows operating system, is now seen to be gaining ground in the desktop market in India. Thus far, Linux has been a dominant force only in the worldwide server market and has grabbed impressive market share from Microsoft and Sun Microsystems." Read more at Business Standard.

The first beta version of Vector Linux SOHO 3.0 is now available for download. Some quick features: vlautosetup tool has been integrated to the install routine so all hardware can be configured, namely the mouse, the network card, XFree86 4.2.1, cdroms, and sound are automatically setup and ready to be used upon first boot. KDE 3.1, IceWM, and XFCE are the available window managers/Desktops and OpenOffice.org 1.0.2 Koffice 1.2.1 are included. Screenshots here.

"When someone mentions "Microsoft Windows", most experienced computer users have an idea of what the operating system does. Whether it's Windows 95/98, ME, 2000 or XP, Microsoft has managed to maintain an identity for their OS that has translated into a monopoly-sized chunk of the desktop business and home market. Maintaining the look and feel of their desktop OS over several revisions and upgrades, Microsoft has established a standard for most desktop computer users." Read the editorial at LinuxOrbit.

Yoper limited announced the fourth public release candidate of Ydesktop. This is the first part of Your Operating System that Yoper Limited ("Yoper") is developing. The distro contains the latest software, which includes Linux-2.4.20, KDE-3.1, Mozilla 1.2.1 and OpenOffice-1.0.2. The CD is optimized for i686 and higher X86 CPU's.

When I first got in touch with the Linux world - it was back in 1998 -, I started with an old Slackware distribution. Of course I cannot say it was a wise choice for a beginner, and I soon moved to Red Hat, and then tried various SuSE, Mandrake and Debian flavours; now I am using this good Slackware 8.1. Everyone can see the Linux world has been making giant steps towards usability during the last five years. Applications have dramatically improved, too, both in quality and quantity: OpenOffice, AbiWord, Mozilla, Evolution, Gimp are examples of packages allowing Linux to be used for everyday work. So, is Linus Torvalds' creature now ready to conquer the desktop?