Linux Archive

Inside the Linux Scheduler

  Submitted by IdaAshley Linux 77 Comments
"The Linux kernel continues to evolve, incorporating new technologies and gaining in reliability, scalability, and performance. One of the most important features of the 2.6 kernel is a scheduler implemented by Ingo Molnar. This scheduler is dynamic, supports load-balancing, and operates in constant time -- O(1). This article explores these attributes of the Linux 2.6 scheduler, and more."
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Dropping GNU/Linux Helps Restore Corel Profitability

  Submitted by lmh8 Linux 36 Comments
After six years of financial difficulties and reorganizations, Corel finally seems on track with promising first and second quarters in 2006 and a return to public trading. One of the first steps in this turnabout, according to Graham Brown, executive vice president of software development at Corel, was the jettisoning of the company's products for Linux, WordPerfect for Linux and Corel Linux.
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A Real Year of the Linux Desktop – What’s Needed

  Submitted by jchalifour Linux 54 Comments
"They said it at LinuxWorld in Toronto a few months ago. They've buzzed it at analysts, and now the press is saying it to the public. Novell says this is the year of the Linux desktop, and I'm familiar with evidence showing gains in popularity for Linux. Yet, I disagree that this is the year. Nothing is happening this year to make it, specifically, the year of the Linux desktop and I'm going to hypothesize what could change that."
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Damn Small Linux 3.0 Review

  Submitted by Mark Linux 13 Comments
As its name suggests, Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a damn small distribution! The ISO is just 50MB and it fits on a business card CD so you can carry it with you wherever you go. It also acts as a Live CD so you can run the system without installing it on the machine. The idea is to access your Linux environment from any computer, thanks to a tiny CD that would fit in your wallet.
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Why Linux Has Failed Most Beginners

  Submitted by Yadav Ji Linux 176 Comments
"Over the years, I've had a number of people asking me what I believe the problem was with further migration over to Linux by the public at large. To be frank, I don't believe that there is a simple answer to this. To me, there are a number of factors that play a role in keeping Linux out of the mainstream limelight" writes Matt Hartley in his opinion piece.
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Editorial: The Chaos of Incompatibility in Mobile Linux

Linux 66 Comments
Linux has one, last, chance to become the No1 OS in a particular consumer-oriented market (not counting servers): the mobile phone market. The open nature and yes, the hype around Linux has made lots of mobile-oriented companies to consider using Linux for their next-generation cellphones. But there is a major problem on the way to success, a problem which is created not by Linux itself, but by the greed and close-mindness of these same companies that endorse Linux.
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Desktop Linux Distros Headed in the Wrong Direction?

  Submitted by Valour Linux 91 Comments
"The impending release of Windows Vista with its fancy Aero Glass special effects, along with the hasty addition of the similar XGL and Compiz technologies to the latest SUSE Linux release makes me think that programmers have a warped idea of what desktop computing is about. For some reason, many GNU/Linux users are concerned about competing feature-for-feature with Vista, while Apple and Microsoft struggle to add more graphical extras to their already graphics-intensive desktop OSes. It's gotten so that you need a serious 3D video card (with proprietary drivers) and a fairly fast computer just to keep up with desktop environments. Whatever happened to being productive and having fun?"
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Linux 2.6.17 Released

  Submitted by misha Linux 24 Comments
The Linux kernel version 2.6.17 has been released. Not a lot of changes since the last -rc; the bulk is actually some last-minute MIPS updates and s390 futex changes, while the rest tend to be various very small fixes that trickled in over the last week. The changes are listed at KernelNewbies (don't look at me for the name).
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What Happened to Linux Evangelism?

  Submitted by Valour Linux 100 Comments
"Not that long ago, a significant portion of desktop GNU/Linux enthusiasts were actively advocating GNU/Linux among Windows users. I even remember doing it myself at one point, though now I really don't care what you use on your computer as long as I don't have to use it too. I thought that sentiment was isolated to me, but lately I've seen an abrupt decline in GNU/Linux evangelism on online forums. Here are some possible reasons for this change in community thinking and behavior."
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Linux: Reverse Engineering Wireless Drivers

  Submitted by SEJeff Linux 33 Comments
KernelTrap reports on an interesting discussion on the lkml. The specific topic is the legality of the ACX1xx wireless driver, which, according to Andrew Morton, will be included in the next kernel release (2.6.18). Jeff Garzik opened the discussion: "I've never had technical objections to merging this, just AFAIK it had a highly questionable origin, namely being reverse-engineered in a non-clean-room environment that might leave Linux legally vulnerable." Christopher Hellwig posed an interesting point: "Please don't let this reverse engineering idiocy hinder wireless driver adoption, we're already falling far behind OpenBSD who are very successfully reverse engineering lots of wireless chipsets."
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For Dell, Industry Standard Now Includes Linux

Linux 26 Comments
Linux now forms a quarter of Dell's server business and is growing fast, the company says. Should Microsoft be worried? Long hailed as the provider of choice for companies looking for PC solutions based on Intel hardware and Microsoft software, Dell says that Linux now makes up 25 percent of its enterprise market. The company also claims to have made inroads in the Linux services market and to have reached a comfort level with Linux systems where it can now solve over 90 percent of Red Hat Linux service calls without need to involve Red Hat.
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The State of Linux, 2006

  Submitted by Moulinneuf Linux 30 Comments
"In days gone by, the personification of Linux might have conjured up the image of a hotshot college kid full of half-baked ideas and sharp edges. But that college kid has now graduated into the business world, and unleashed his furious entrepreneurial spirit. Today, Linux has a sharper, more refined edge than before, and has branched out into private, public, enterprise and governmental sectors. Linux also spans all manner of hardware platforms, and serves an incredibly wide variety of purposes."
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Inside the Linux Boot Process

  Submitted by IdaAshley Linux 3 Comments
"The process of booting a Linux system consists of a number of stages. But whether you're booting a standard x86 desktop or a deeply embedded PowerPC target, much of the flow is surprisingly similar. This article explores the Linux boot process from the initial bootstrap to the start of the first user-space application. Along the way, you'll learn about various other boot-related topics such as the boot loaders, kernel decompression, the initial RAM disk, and other elements of Linux boot."
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Taiwanese Government Says All New PCs Must Be Linux-Friendly

  Submitted by Moulinneuf Linux 54 Comments
The government-run Central Trust of China has mandated for the first time that all desktop computers purchased from now on must be Linux-compatible, demonstrating the Chinese government's desire to widen the nation's usage of open source software. "It is a global trend that Linux is gaining wider adoption due to its lower costs and better adaptability," Mike Lin, a consultant at the Taipei Computer Association, told the Taipei Times yesterday. Note: This article is about the Republic Of China (Taiwan) and not The People's Republic Of China.
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