Linux Archive

Knowing a little bit about how the Linux 2.6 scheduler treats CPU affinity can help you design better userspace applications. Soft affinity means that processes do not frequently migrate between processors, whereas hard affinity means that processes run on processors you specify.

In this article, Rickford Grant, author of "Linux Made Easy" introduces his book and explains the rationale behind it. Grant bases his assertion that "Linux is easy" on Xandros 3, generally considered one of the most user-friendly desktop Linux distributions. The book comes with a Xandros 3 CD.

Powerscale4ppc (Power and Frequency Scaling for the IBM PowerPC 970) is an IBM free-trial emerging technology power management solution that demonstrates a power management implementation for the PPC970FX and CPC925 bridge chips on the Maple-D PC970FX evaluation platform running on Linux. This technology demonstrates how to dynamically scale the system’s operating frequency from F to F/2, in order to create a cooler, more power-efficient system.

"Usually, a distro's most recognizable feature is the desktop environment. With SymphonyOS, the screenshots are the first hint that this is not your ordinary remix. SymponyOS is a bold step into a new desktop paradigm. It features such innovations as the Mezzo desktop environment, the Orchestra application environment, and the apt-plus software installation tool. Ryan Quinn, the lead developer of SymphonyOS, took some time out to talk with me about the distro and a few other subjects."

The Sockets API is the de facto standard API for networking applications development. Although the API is simple, new developers can experience some common problems. This article identifies the most common of these pitfalls and shows you how to overcome them.

On Monday, the Free Standards Group released the latest version of the Linux Standard Base, Version 3.0, and announced that Red Hat, Novell, the Debian Common Core Alliance and Asianux are all certifying their latest operating systems versions to it. Update: In a recent post on his blog, Red Hat's Ulrich Drepper makes some criticisms of the LSB and its shortcomings of the v3 certification process.

Klik is a system which creates self-contained packages of programmes installable over the web with a single click. In this article Kurt Pfeifle discusses the potential uses of this technology for helping the non-coding contributors to KDE. He also looks at how the system works and the obvious security issues involved.

Linus Torvalds' bid to have the word 'Linux' trademarked in Australia has failed, with the local intellectual property regulator sending his lawyer a vitriolic letter deriding efforts to provide evidence the trademark application was legitimate. In the letter, published by ZDNet, the regulator points out that information from Wikipedia and Google used by the lawyer to support the trademark application is simply not effective in making the case for a trademark to be registered.

In his latest column,, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols argues that Microsoft Vista is going to be so expensive that it's going to make users think hard about switching to Linux instead. "Desktop Linux is never going to have a better chance than it will in the next eighteen months," he says. My take: He forgets two important factors: Vista can run with all the flashy graphics turned off, and seven editions of Vista? How many Linux distributions are there to choose from?

An interview was recently done with Rickford Grant, the author of "Linux for Non-Geeks" and the new "Linux Made Easy". Grant is outspoken in his opinions and offers a number of unique views on topics as diverse as Windows Vista, desktop Linux, GNOME vs. KDE, and lots more. Part of the interview is spent talking about his new book but the bulk of the interview is a discussion of his views on pertinent topics and news.

Here's a brand new series of tutorials (free reg. req.) to help you learn Linux fundamentals and prepare for system administrator certification exam 201, however they are of use to anyone willing to learn the fundamentals of Linux. These eight tutorials cover the Linux kernel, file and service sharing, system customization and automation, and more.

MontaVista Software today announced the release of version 4.0 of its embedded Linux OS, MontaVista Linux Professional Edition. The new release is based on the 2.6 Linux kernel and includes hard real-time capabilities.

Andrew Morton has provided a short list of features and fixes that will be included in the 2.6.14 kernel which include OCFS2, Relayfs, v9fs, FUSE, pcmcia and scheduler updates among other changes including hundreds of bug fixes.

Open Virtuozzo (GPL/QPL) is an operating system-level server virtualization solution, built on Linux. Open Virtuozzo creates isolated, secure virtual private servers or virtual environments on a single physical server enabling better server utilization and ensuring that applications do not conflict. Each VPS performs and executes exactly like a stand-alone server; VPSs can be rebooted independently and have root access, users, IP addresses, memory, processes, files, applications, system libraries and configuration files.