Linux Archive

UnitedLinux LLC began with much energy and promise in May 2002, as four Linux vendors joined to create a standardized, certified and robust enterprise-focused version of the open-source operating system. But things haven't exactly turned out as planned. The first version of UnitedLinux debuted that November, but the group's Web site hasn't been updated since April 2003.

Improvements to the desktop will require a greater Internet focus that enhances communication and collaboration; the ability for users to access their data anywhere; and the option of software as a service, Havoc Pennington, the technical lead for desktop engineering at Red Hat, said at OSCon Wednesday. You can find the OOo slides from the talk here: Creating a Desktop OS and D-BUS.

The promise of Desktop Linux (DL) has been long coming. It's made significant progress since the mid-90s when GNOME and KDE came out, giving Linux users a somewhat modern desktop to work upon. However, it's been 7 years and DL hasn't progressed much at all since then. Today, DL is still nothing more than a UNIX-clone with a task bar, a start menu, and a desktop with some icons on it. But why has DL evolved at such a glacial pace?

Linux boasts the widest array of filesystem support among mainstream operating systems. However, Microsoft (with Longhorn) and Apple (with Tiger) have made it clear that they consider the filesystem of the future to be a database of information to be mined, and that client PCs will be a major part of the next chapter in the "search wars."

First of all, we should agree on what the definition of "ready for the desktop" stands for. For some of us it refers to a graphical user interface in which applications have icons and can be launched in an intuitive manner without the need of complex commands. Even a Commodore 64 running Geos could be "ready for the desktop" by this definition, but the fact is that when we read "ready for the desktop" we understand "ready to replace Microsoft Windows".

Tuxs.org published a mini-review of three Linux Live CDs: Damn Small Linux, Knoppix and PCLinuxOS.

The Ottawa Linux Symposium wrapped up its busy 4 days with a 6-hour long bar party at the Black Thorn Café across the street from the American Embassy in Ottawa. And for some, it was that social aspect that they came for. For most attendees, though, stable Linux kernel maintainer Andrew Morton's keynote address was the highlight of the day.

Gartner will officially announce figures that show Linux has shipped on 5% of all PCs worldwide in 2004. It expects that figure to grow to 7.5% by 2008, but is quick to point out that this is not necessarily a representative figure of the number of Linux PCs being used. The company estimates that perhaps 2% of all PCs shipped worldwide this year will actually be used with Linux, with that figure growing to 3.5% by 2008. Not every PC that ships with a version of Linux continues to run with that, noted Gartner.

Preston Gralla, a well-known technology expert and windows user for a long time, tries Linux after his son suggests it to him. I found his testimony brief but very honest.

Jono Bacon has written an article on my O'Reilly Blog called The path to unified interaction which looks at the challenges of making our software work natively in the different desktop environments on Linux. Do you think this is something we should strive for, and if so, do you think it is technically possible?

Say you want to use Linux in a dual-boot arrangement, but you don't have any free space on your computer's hard drive. One solution would be to use a "live" Linux distribution such as Knoppix, which can be run directly from CD. This is certainly viable for occasional use, but it has a number of serious drawbacks.

Loosely based on Red Hat Linux 9, ELX BizDesk 4.0 is designed primarily for corporate users who are looking for a drop-in replacement for Microsoft Windows and Office. DesktopOS.com has just published a comprehensive review that examines this Indian-designed distribution.

This articles teaches you how a Linux system starts, or boots -- that is, how the kernel gets into memory and how the regular system processes get started.

Yoper Linux V2 has been released. It includes "leading edge technology enhancements using Linux Kernel 2.6.7, bolstered with performance patches, innovative prelinking, Win4Lin support, VMware support, VMware module integration, NVIDIA 3D support, ReiserFS 4, Secure SHell File System, CDROM Supermount and NdisWrapper for Windows binary driver integration."