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Linux Archive

Why Linux Sucks as a Desktop OS

vbRad.com has an article detailing how modular nature of Linux is causing it to have difficulties penetrating the home desktop market. "Bottom line. Most of these problems can be traced to lack of integration between components in Linux. Until there is some integration Linux is unlikely to gain a foothold in the desktop market" the author concludes.

CodeWeavers Review: Photoshop under Linux

CodeWeavers has released CrossOver Office 2.0.0. This new version adds support for Photoshop 7.0 (other versions of Photoshop work as well), Word XP, Excel XP, and PowerPoint XP. Photoshop even has support for tablets under Linux. There is now a trial version of CrossOver Office available for download. DesktopLinux.com previews the upcoming CrossOver Office 2.0 release from CodeWeavers that introduces support for Adobe Photoshop, among other featured enhancements. Embedded Linux support engineer, and former Adobe test engineer, Cal Erickson gives the new release extensive testing.

Application Development on Linux Power

Deploying and developing your application on Linux for the IBM pSeries and iSeries POWER platforms is similar to deploying and developing on other Linux systems. In this article the similarities and differences that you need to be aware of for the Linux POWER systems are discussed.

Why the Design of the Kernel Scheduler is Critical

"Two of the most critical parts of a kernel are the memory subsystem and the scheduler. This is because they influence the design and affect the performance of almost every other part of the kernel and the OS. That is also why you would want to get them absolutely right and optimize their performance. The Linux kernel is used right from small embedded devices, scaling up to large mainframes. Designing is scheduler is at best a black art." Read the article at LinuxGazette.

Why Linux Still Gives Me Grief

Several days ago I wrote a rather scathing article about my utter dismay and disappoint with Mandrake 9.1 and by association, Linux as a whole. Since then I have had many many flames and equally as many agreeing emails (is there a simple opposite word for flame?) Since then I have been trying, really really trying to get my system working fully. But time and again I'm coming up against the same brick wall of (un)usability, computer esotericism and down right idiocy.

Why Linux is Not for You: The Lengthy Rebuttal of a Linux User

Put yourself in his/her shoes. You're a budding young technical writer and the one word you hear popping up in almost every tech-related conversation is, you guessed it, Linux. Now look in the mirror and try to tell yourself you're more than a writer. After all, you write about technology because it not only interests you, but you're accurate and fair enough to tell it like it is. Maybe not.

Improving Linux Performance

Frank writes "Performance breakthroughs seem to come in two varieties: easy and hard. That's no platitude; the boundary between the two is surprisingly clear. Although in some cases it has taken considerable genius to realize their first application, they're easy to understand. The other kind involve careful measurement, specific knowledge, and a fair amount of tuning. Good programmers can operate in either the "hard" or "easy" mode. This article offers a paired collection of 4 hard and easy tales from real (programming) life."

Success with Linux on the Home Desktop

Here is - at times frustrating, and at times exhilarating - the journey I made trying to get Linux working on my desktop. This is the experience of someone who tried using Linux for the first time (most Linux veterans will probably find nothing surprising here). The whole experience reminded me of all the fun I used to have playing with Windows 3.1. Although it was not easy, it does show that a novice can make Linux work with a little persistence.

The Quest for the Perfect Linux System…

This (quite long) article has been written by me for two primary reasons: One, to hopefully save someone else the time and hassle associated with trying out various Linux distributions, and two, to promote some discussion and feedback regarding what a modern Linux distribution should be, and of course to contrast this with what is currently available. I am exploring the offerings of MS Windows, BeOS and MacOSX, and then taking on a number of well-known Linux distributions.

In the Linux Loop

"Using open-source software like Linux is a no-brainer for many companies. It's stable and can be fixed easily if bugs appear, and you can't beat the price. But some companies and government organizations are taking their commitment to open source a step further by actively participating in the open-source community." Read the article at ComputerWorld.

A Linux Desktop Odyssey, Part II

Michael C. Barnes updates his in-depth look at leading desktop operating system options on the market. In this long 4-page exclusive article at DesktopLinux.com, Barnes addresses reader feedback to his popular first article and evaluates today's Linux distributions. Barnes offers practical considerations and discusses what software can best meet your home or office needs.

Page Clustering, Booting Linux On A 64GB x86

William Lee Irwin III recently announced on the lkml that he'd successfully gotten Linux running on a 64GB x86 server. His posts included two different boot message logs, one without his page clustering patch, and one with. In the latter case, his patch overcomes the 1GB mem_map virtual space limitation imposed by x86 32-bit servers, without which the kernel over-runs allowable memory space. Read the report at KernelTrap.

Get to Know the “Other” Linux Distributions

Yes, we all know the "big three" (Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE) commercial distros, we also know the next big bunch of respected traditional/geek distros (Debian and Slackware and some might add Gentoo too in this list), and we know the "other big three" in the desktop Linux area (Lindows, Xandros, Lycoris). However, not everyone knows what is available besides this "threshold". Here is a list of Linux distros that worth knowing about and to keep an eye on!