Linux Archive

Who’s The Fastest Growing Linux Distro?

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-16 Linux 24 Comments

Which Linux distribution is the most popular? For many players in the open source realm, that answer depends on which part of the globe is counting, and how. By most accounts and research metrics, Red Hat (Quote, Chart) is the current market leader in distributions. IDC, for example, estimates that Red Hat's distributions cover over 60 percent of the Linux server market.

Migrating device drivers to Linux kernel 2.6

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-15 Linux 5 Comments

This article is the second in a series of whitepapers on using the new Linux 2.6 kernel by William von Hagen of TimeSys. von Hagen's whitepapers place special emphasis on the primary issues in migrating existing drivers, applications, and embedded Linux deployments to a Linux distribution based on the 2.6 kernel.

What Does Linux Cost?

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-15 Linux 42 Comments

"The worst part about this is that the MCSEs involved are right: Linux can never be as good a Windows 2003 server as is Windows 2003. Linux isn't a cheaper form of Windows; direct substitution without change in thinking fails initially from a technology perspective and fails in the longer term from a cost perspective", says Paul Murphy.

Desktop Linux Share Overtaking Macintosh

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-14 Linux 156 Comments

Market researcher IDC expects to announce within weeks that Linux' PC market share in 2003 hit 3.2%, overtaking Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh software (as reported a few weeks ago it has fallen at 1.8%, for the first time). And the researcher expects Linux to capture 6% of this market by 2007. That's still tiny compared with Microsoft's 94% share. Desktop Linux hasn't had any appreciable effect on Microsoft's finances yet, but it could do damage if Linux manages to grab a 10% share of the market, say analysts. IDC estimates that desktop Windows' share will shrink slightly, to 92% in 2007 as Linux' share doubles. The first big question though is how all this will have an effect to Apple's business.

BitRock Installbuilder: New Linux Application Installer

Submitted by Daniel Lopez 2004-02-14 Linux 48 Comments

With BitRock Installbuilder, BitRock aims to make easier to install and distribute Linux applications. It allows you to create easy-to-use installers that can be run in GUI, text, and unattended modes.

Kernel comparison: Web serving on 2.4 and 2.6

Submitted by Frank 2004-02-11 Linux 17 Comments

Many improvements have been made in the Linux 2.6 kernel to favor enterprise applications. This article presents results from the IBM Linux Technology Center's Web serving testing efforts, comparing the Linux 2.4 and 2.6 kernels from various aspects. The highlights here are the key enhancements in the 2.6 kernel, the test methodologies, and the results of the tests themselves. Bottom line: the 2.6 kernel is much faster than 2.4 for serving Web pages, with no loss in reliability.

Arch Linux: An End To My Distro Shuffle?

Guest post by Andrew Barilla 2004-02-10 Linux 89 Comments

After reading a discussion on DistroWatch asking if users were happy with their current distribution, I noticed a common thread of those who have had similar experiences as myself with juggling various Linux distributions. Like myself, they feel many Linux distributions are great, but no one quite feels like home. None of them quite fit the bill and they may even begin to think that every OS sucks.

2.0.40 “Moss-covered Tortoise” Linux Kernel Released

Submitted by Jeremy Andrews 2004-02-08 Linux 19 Comments

KernelTrap reports that David Weinehall has released the 2.0.40 stable Linux kernel, calling it the "Moss-covered Tortoise". It earned this name by being released over 3 years after its predecessor, 2.0.39. Those still using the 2.0 kernel are recommended to upgrade for numerous reasons, including fixes to local exploits and remote information leaks. View the changelog and download the new kernel from a kernel.org mirror.

Linux In Dubai: How Does it Compare?

Submitted by Haider Tuaima 2004-02-07 Linux 7 Comments

"This whole article was written as a result of my own as well as my family and friends experiences with Linux, given that, I don't think Linux is a good choice is for everybody. Just like I would also say Windows is not for everybody either! The truth is you need to evaluate your needs first, do some homework, and then decide if you want to spend too much money on software and hardware." Read the shootout review at JiniComputer.com.

Configuring the 2.6 Linux kernel

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-07 Linux 23 Comments

LinuxDevices.com has published an article by veteran Linux author William von Hagen about changes to the configuration process in the 2.6 Linux kernel. The article is the first in a series of articles that will discuss using the Linux kernel and device drivers, etc., in embedded devices. However, the article is generally relevant to servers and desktops, too. Be aware, the author did not mention on the "migration from kernel 2.4" section of the article that you will need to download the latest module-init-tools (and the new 'udev', 'hotplug' packages if you were using these too) in order to fully & correctly migrate to 2.6.

A Noobie Spends Quality Time With Linux (YDL 3.0 To Be Exact)

Submitted by Katherine Keller 2004-02-06 Linux 42 Comments

The goal of the project was to use YDL 3.0 and included software for about a month to do the more ordinary things the author does with her iBook and G4: write articles, edit html, surf the web, print, listen to music, play some QuickTime or Real Media files, and transfer some files to/from a server. Read the full review at GUILinux.

OSDL Releases Linux Enterprise Guidelines

Submitted by Joseph Childrose 2004-02-05 Linux 3 Comments

Open Source Development Labs, one of the main groups promoting the business use of open-source software, released its standards for using Linux in enterprise applications. Read the article at C|Net.

2.6.2 Linux Kernel “Feisty Dunnart” Released

Submitted by Jeremy Andrews 2004-02-04 Linux 30 Comments

Linus Torvalds announced the release of the 2.6.2 Linux kernel, calling it the "Fiesty Dunnart". Read his announcement and view the changelog at KernelTrap. Alternatively, check out the changelog or download from an official mirror.

Interview With 2.0 Linux Kernel Maintainer

Submitted by Jeremy Andrews 2004-02-04 Linux 10 Comments

KernelTrap has interviewed David Weinehall, the maintainer of the 2.0 Linux kernel. David became the 2.0 maintainer in December of 1999, after Alan Cox moved on to work full time on the 2.2 kernel. In this interview David talks about what's involved in maintaining the 2.0 kernel, who uses it, when we can expect the impending release of 2.0.40, and more.

Review: Smoothwall Express 2.0 Final

Guest post by Niall C. Brady 2004-02-03 Linux 46 Comments

For those that don't already know, smoothwall is a very slick and easy way to setup a firewall/nat/dhcp server (and more) at home or in a small office very quickly even on old computer equipment. I have used Smoothwall 1.0 in the past and liked its features (although at the time, I did have a problem with Snort failing to start after I updated the software with some fixes...). It served on an old Pentium II 400mhz machine with two NICs inside (network cards). One was the 'green' interface (more about that later) and the other was the 'red' interface. I used that setup for quite a few months, mainly because I wanted to see what alternatives there were to hardware based firewalls (such as DLink gateways/firewalls) that I had been using.

Ark Linux: Quite an eXPerience

Guest post by Joe Ferrare 2004-02-02 Linux 22 Comments

Installing Ark Linux was another episode in my continuing quest to find the perfect GNU/Linux distribution. My operational definition of perfect is pretty simple: just like Slackware, except for the parts I can't figure out (getting my USB thumb drive to work properly, for instance).

Perens LLC to support KDE Commercially on UserLinux

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-01 Linux 37 Comments

Bruce Perens' UserLinux startup, having turned down an earlier offer by a few dozen active KDE and Debian developers to integrate KDE into UL now seems to suffer from too many requests to support KDE desktops regardless of its previous policy decision to primarily go for a gratis LPGL development platform. In a mail to the UserLinux list Bruce now announced that Perens LLC will start to support KDE commercially, and declares it an option open to all other UserLinux support providers.

Linux v2.6 Scales the Enterprise

Eugenia Loli 2004-02-01 Linux 33 Comments

"Will the new Linux really perform in the same league as the big boys? To find out, I put the v2.6.0 kernel through several real-world performance tests, comparing its file server, database server, and Web server performance with a recent v2.4 series kernel, v2.4.23." Read the performance article at InfoWorld.

Introduction to coLinux

Submitted by Taras 2004-01-31 Linux 35 Comments

Cooperative Linux is the first working free and open source method for optimally running Linux on Microsoft Windows natively. More generally, Cooperative Linux (short-named coLinux) is a port of the Linux kernel that allows it to run cooperatively alongside another operating system on a single machine.

Is Linux Unix?

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-29 Linux 63 Comments

"What's really needed to settle this is a definition of Unix. Unfortunately, there's no obvious definition against which we might compare Linux. The systems we all accept as unambiguously Unix -- that is, BSD, HP-UX, Solaris and Tru64 -- have more functional differences than, say, Linux and Unixware." Read the article at LinuxInsider. Apparently, you also need to have the sign of approval to be called a "Unix" by passing some tests.