Linux Archive

"Let's be honest here. When most of us think of open source and free software, we really aren't thinking of something flashed to a BIOS ROM chip. And yet when it comes to the Linux BIOS project - that's exactly what's happening here. The LinuxBIOS is a project designed to work out any perceived shortcomings from existing BIOS options distributed on today's motherboards. Started back in 1999, it has been in development steadily for quite some time now."

"I recently read a story that asked, 'Has the Desktop Linux Bubble Burst?' Burst!? No, I don't think so. Actually, it still isn't even half as big as it will be when it's full. The author goes on to explain that he feels this way because GNOME 'lacks any form of a vision', while KDE4 is full of wonderful ideas, but not enough money and effort behind turning concepts into code. I don't see that at all. I think both popular Linux desktop environments are making good progress."

"In the year to come, we expect to see Linux maintain its torrid development pace, with major new enterprise releases from Red Hat, which is set to ship RHEL 5 in January, and Novell, which will also ship an update to its Open Enterprise Server early next year. What's more, we expect to see one or two new releases from each of the all-free leading-edge distributions we track - including Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSUSE - alongwith new developments from the swelling horde of smaller Linux flavors, inboth commercial and noncommercial quarters."

"Linux file manager ontogeny encapsulates the history of GNU/Linux. File managers began as command-line and generic graphical tools and progressed to desktop-specific ones, gaining sophistication along the way, with mouse controls, for example, replacing buttons. Today, the more than a dozen options highlighted here will suit users with widely varied interests."

If you are like me an want to try ArchLinux, but were discouraged by its awkward installation program and the complex task to convert the base system into a usable desktop, here is a new option for you: Arch Linux Office Install CD: "This CD installs a complete setup of Arch Linux distribution. No 'configure' is needed except to prepare hard disk, set mount points, and install the LILO boot loader. Also no post configure. Once installed, you can start working with popular Linux programs for office, Internet, and web development. If you are new to Linux, this installer is a good starting place to begin." It comes with Linux 2.6.18.3, X.Org 7.0, KDE 3.5.5, and the usual open source software applications.

KVM, the kernel-based virtual machine for Linux, will be merged into the Linux kernel , according to Andrew Morton's merge plans for 2.6.20. Besides VMware, Xen, qemu, etc., Linux users now have a full virtualization solution built in the kernel which supports running unmodified Linux or Windows images.

The Linux kernel has been updated with several serviceability improvements, chiefly around the kdump and SystemTap features. The kdump enhancements should improve the ability to reliably and quickly create crash dumps that can be analysed offline. The new SystemTap features enable IT professionals to debug a running system in real-time without affecting performance or recompiling.

"It's always an interesting day when you get to write a kernel patch, at the urging of Andrew Morton, that notifies the world that non-GPL Linux kernel modules will not work after January 2008 and write some poetry all in the same message." More here. Hopefully, many closed-source drivers will be opened during the next year if this patch goes through. Update: Linus responds.

By focusing on the analysis of data captured using signal handlers, you can speed up the most time-consuming part of debugging: finding the bug. This article gives a background on Linux signals with examples specifically tested on PPC Linux, then goes on to show how to design your handlers to output information that lets you quickly home in on failed portions of code.

Over the past week, some of the Linux desktop's foremost developers gathered together in Portland, Oregon at the OSDL Desktop Architects Meeting to work further on bringing order to the Linux desktop. According to John Cherry, the OSDL's Desktop Linux initiative manager, there was a good turnout of about 45 developers from the community, including major Linux vendors such as Novell and Red Hat, and ISVs like Google and Adobe."

European governments have long complained about their dependence on Microsoft's software, but their rhetoric has not turned into a mass migration away from Windows. During the past few years, Europe's elected officials have made a lot of noise about ambitious projects to switch to open source software, including big migrations of government PCs in France, Germany, Spain and Norway. Yet the actual migrations have been negligible. More than 95 percent of all PCs used by European government workers still run on Windows, according to the market research firm IDC.

After seven years of work, the LinuxBIOS project is on the brink of making a free BIOS a standard option for computers. Serious obstacles remain, including a lack of resources and resistance from some proprietary chipset manufacturers and OEMs, but the advantages of LinuxBIOS indicate that its availability to the average computer buyer may be only months away.

As part of the 2.6.20 development process, patches adding support for the 'PS3 game console and other devices' (built on top of the IBM Cell) have been merged. The code has been written by Sony.

The title of the article seems familiar to you? Naturally it would, when you read something like this. But I do state the corresponding sentence isn't even grammatically correct, thereby making it difficult for me to parody. I am sure that Linux is not close to extinction but is rather gaining momentum or at least holding its ground.