Linux Archive

Abstracting the Linux Desktop from the File-system

Submitted by Yama 2002-11-26 Linux 21 Comments

"One of the most intimidating things to new users about Linux is the layout of the file-system. Users who are learning to hack Linux have to just clench their teeth and learn their way around, but what about a user who just wants to send e-mails, browse the web and type up a few documents?" The rest is here.

Run Multiple Linuxes, Hot-Migrate Them via Network

Submitted by Jacob Gorm Hansen 2002-11-25 Linux 2 Comments

Jacob writes: "The NomadBIOS project aims at making operating systems nomadic. It allows you to run several instances of Linux on the same box, and to migrate them almost without downtime between boxes. Recent performance measurements show that it handily beats beats VMWare for execution speed." A similar project is the UserMode Linux.

Linux 2.6 on Horizon

Submitted by Joe Brusky 2002-11-25 Linux 13 Comments

"Scalability enhancements, as well, will add to the appeal of the latest kernel, Version 2.6, for enterprise customers, according to Linus Torvalds, the creator and top programmer for the Linux kernel, in an e-mail exchange last week with eWeek. While he would like the 2.6 kernel to be ready early next year, Torvalds said, "It's just too hard to predict, and it does end up depending a lot on how good the vendors are at trying to calm things down through stability fixing."" Read the report at eWeek.

LinuxBIOS Boots Linux, OpenBSD, Windows

Submitted by Yama 2002-11-25 Linux 1 Comment

The LinuxBIOS Project "now have a completely free software replacement for the BIOS that supports (without modification) either LILO or GRUB as bootloaders, and Linux, OpenBSD, and Windows 2000 as operating systems". FreeBSD, Win98 and WinXP support are in the works. See announcement here.

Review: United Linux 1.0

Submitted by Jörg Luther 2002-11-21 Linux 6 Comments

Tecchannel.de has a preview of SuSE's UnitedLinux flavour SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8: "A close look into United Linux 1.0 substantiates the not so new suspicion that the initative of the four UL companies essentialy is an attempt to stand up to Red Hat's overwhelming market potence and to counter Red Hat Advanced Server with a competitive product. Conectiva, SCO and Turbolinux apparently have insisted in delivering their own management tools as a last line of defense for differentiating "their" UL flavours from a plain SuSE SLES."

UnitedLinux Releases Version 1.0

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-20 Linux 33 Comments

Today the UnitedLinux group announced the release of Version 1.0 of its UnitedLinux product, a standards-based Linux operating system targeted at the business user. Founding companies of UnitedLinux are Linux industry leaders Conectiva, SCO Group, SuSE and Turbolinux. UnitedLinux Version 1.0 is the engine that powers products to be sold by the four companies, each with its own local language support, value-add features, and pricing. There is already a new article, describing UnitedLinux, at DeveloperWorks. Our Take: Erm, great, but why there isn't a "buy now" link or a "contact me" form anywhere in that site?

Linux ‘Desktop War’ Claims First Corporate Victim

Submitted by Robin 2002-11-19 Linux 18 Comments

"Okay, I'm playing with your head today, but I expect to write that headline for real sometime in 2003. We're seeing an explosion in the number of Linux distributions meant specifically for desktop users, and not all of them are going to survive." Read the editorial at NewsForge.

Introducing the Linux-based Moxi

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-18 Linux 39 Comments

A few months ago Paul Allen's Digeo company acquired Moxi, who at the time was working on a TiVo-like PVR Linux-based solution, also named Moxi. Many expected that the co-founder of Microsoft would modify the product to use WindowsCE, but instead the Moxi has continued to be developed with Linux. In fact, Digeo seems really happy with the popular open source kernel. Continue reading to learn more about this exciting new product and view the exclusive screenshots we have for you.

Klaus Knopper, Creator of Knoppix Talks to DistroWatch

Submitted by Ladislav Bodnar 2002-11-18 Linux 12 Comments

Ladislav writes: "Knoppix has taken the Linux world by storm. Barely known outside its borders only a few months ago, it has suddenly become the focus of Linux media as a great way of introducing anyone to Linux. This amazing product is a brainchild of Klaus Knopper. Klaus was kind enough to take time off his schedule and agreed to answer a few questions for the benefit of DistroWatch readers."

Gartner: Linux Poised for Desktop Failure

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-16 Linux 91 Comments

"Linux will be deployed on no more than five percent of desktops over the next two to three years because of a lack of viable applications, claimed Gartner research director Phil Sargeant on Thursday evening at the Gartner Symposium and ITXpo." Read the article about the Gartner Group's analysis.

Andrew Morton on Linux 2.5’s Performance Improvements

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-16 Linux 12 Comments

In a reply on Linux kernel maling list to Aaron Lehmann's praising of the contest results of the latest 2.5-mm kernel Andrew Morton explains some of the important performance and design differences between the 2.4 stable series and the 2.5 development series accompanied by illustrating benchmarks. Read the report at KernelTrap.

UnitedLinux Group Plans Tuesday Surprise

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-15 Linux 3 Comments

SuSE Linux, the SCO Group (formerly Caldera International), Conectiva and Turbolinux are all expected to launch on Tuesday the latest versions of their Linux enterprise distributions powered by the UnitedLinux core, according to industry sources late Thursday. Read the report at eWeek.

Perspective: Moving Beyond Creative Cloning

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-14 Linux 28 Comments

"Why isn't GNU/Linux taking the desktop market by storm? After all, when you make a feature comparison, Linux has a lot going for it. With Windows, the operating system is just a start; you must add applications to make it functional. Many Linux distributions provide a desktop look similar to Windows and include an extensive assortment of applications, programming tools and games. Installing Windows and sundry applications can take most of a day. Contrast that with Linux, where the process typically takes less than 60 minutes." Read the article at News.com.

Embedded Linux: What, Where and Wow!

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-13 Linux 7 Comments

"If you look back 10 years, you would see a world without Linux. Linux has developed in leaps and bounds into what it is today or what it will be tommorow. It's like Linux has grown in Real-Time. From geeks computers to budget tight companies, from non-technical desktops to big corporations, from hand held computers to embedded devices, Linux has transformed the way we look at computers. And guess what, it ain't stopping here." Read the article at LinuxLookup.

Virtual Memory in the IA-64 Linux Kernel

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-11 Linux 1 Comment

This sample chapter (free registration required) explores how the Linux kernel implements its virtual memory system and how it maps to the underlying hardware. On the same site you will find a Cocoa development article: Scott Anguish, Erik Buck, and Donald Yacktman describe the general features of all languages that can be used with Cocoa, and provide a brief overview of object-oriented terminology.

Linux Multithreading Advances

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-09 Linux 26 Comments

"Recent advances in Linux's threading implementation are expected to continue to ease migration from other Unix-like operating systems. These advancements have arrived with intense activity on two fronts. First, thread-handling improvements have greatly enhanced the kernel's scalability even to thousands of threads. Second, there are now two fresh, competing implementations of the POSIX pthreads standard (NGPT and NPTL) set to replace the aging LinuxThreads library." Read the article at OnLamp.

Linux for the Rest of Us

Eugenia Loli 2002-11-05 Linux 10 Comments

"The clerks at Zumiez, a national chain of snowboard and skateboard shops, tend to stick out from the crowd. And it's not just because they sport black hooded sweatshirts or smack their gum while ringing up your kid's new $100 "deck." It's what lies under the hood of the old Compaq computers they use as cash registers that makes them true deviants." Read more at Business 2.0.