Showing all newswire headlines

With all the other features of the upcoming Ubuntu 8.04 release, one feature that could drastically increase the rate at which Ubuntu spreads has been largely overlooked.

LXer Feature: 24-Feb-2008

In this week's LXer Roundup we have five must-have apps for a new Linux install, 11 Versions Of WINE Benchmarked, how to build your own RAID storage server, a Asus Eee PC product diary, the 2007 LinuxQuestions.org members choice winners, Linux anti-virus programs explained, Microsoft gives away its developer software and in our FUD section we have part 5 of Linux FUD patterns and a Linux advocate who gets his facts wrong, and runs with it.

This posting follows up the recent one regarding same problems on F8. Xen implementation on CentOS 5.1 is not 3.1 all around as on F8 and doesn't allow to create Solaris DomUs with "pygrub". Here we need "xen manager" utility for original DomU creating.However, we can still benefit from "pygrub" power and flexibility creating runtime profiles for Solaris DomUs at CentOS 5.1 Dom0.

Preload is an "adaptive readahead daemon" that runs in the background of your system and observes what programs you use most often, caching them in order to speed up application load time. By using Preload, you can put unused RAM to good work, and improve the overall performance of your desktop system. Best of all, it's easy to install and use!

The Ubuntu developers are moving very quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. Hardy Heron Alpha 5 is the fifth alpha release of Ubuntu 8.04, and with this new alpha release comes a whole host of excellent new features. Screenshots at The Coding Studio

I just read that Debian is removing Flash from its repository: Flashplugin-nonfree has been removed (see below), as this is closed source and we don't get security support for it. For security reasons, we recommend to immediately remove any version of flashplugin-nonfree and any remaining files of the Adobe Flash Player. Tested updates will be made available via backports.org.

This guide will walk you through the setup process for implementing NDT running under Ubuntu 7.10 Server. For those unfamiliar with NDT, it is a network performance testing application. NDT will measure the throughput between your server and the desktops that you run the java client from.

AstroMenace is a brilliant 3d scroll-shooter allowing you to feel the adrenalin rush of a fierce space battle against relentless swarms of alien invaders. Immerse into a decisive battle against tons of cunning foes, face the terrifying bosses and protect your homeland throughout 15 diverse levels of the game. The hardcore gameplay of AstroMenace, packed with pure non-stop action, will become a full scale test for your basic instinct of survival.

With a little bit of digging, I’ll show you how those file formats got so unbelievably complicated, why it doesn’t reflect bad programming on Microsoft’s part, and what you can do to work around it.

[I kinda like their approach to this, as a software engineer, but it sure looks like some desperate ad-hockery -J.]

Today marks ten years since Netscape Communications Corporation launched mozilla.org to coordinate the open source development of the Netscape Communicator 5.0 source code, an endeavor that would later become known more broadly as the Mozilla project.

Frozen-Bubble has blissfully stolen hours and hours of my life with its addictive gameplay and flippin' awesome soundtrack. It's an easy game with a simple premise: shoot colors bubbles onto the game board in an attempt to match up three or more similarly colored bubbles. Doing so will cause them to fall from the board, taking connected bubbles with them. If you clear all of the bubbles, you move on to the next level. If the bubbles pile up and cover the entire screen, you lose the game and restart the entire level.

What's new in this release:

- Proper handling of OpenGL/Direct3D windows with menu bars.
- Stubs for all the d3dx9_xx dlls.
- Several graphics optimizations.
- Many installer fixes.
- Improved MIME message support.
- Lots of bug fixes.

There has been a lot of debate recently over whether or not it's a good idea to run an anti-virus program if you're using Linux. I hope to clear up a common misunderstanding: An anti-virus program running on Linux is designed to detect Windows viruses, so that they aren't spread, unknowingly, by the Linux user. This article explains when you should run a Linux anti-virus, and what exactly they do.

For the past several weeks we have been referencing AMD's "tcore" in several of our articles, which is a user-space software suite that has been developed and used internally at ATI by engineers to work on various aspects of their binary drivers. Tcore is primarily used for testing prior to the availability of the actual silicon for their forthcoming graphics processors. John Bridgman and Alex Deucher have been working tediously to get this tcore source-code sanitized and cleared for public release, and finally they have reached this milestone. AMD has just published the first bits of open-source 3D programming documentation for ATI GPUs. This 3D programming documentation covers the R500 series and even goes back with information on the R300/400 series as well. The R600 3D programming guide will also be out soon. This information available today is what will foster the growth of open-source R500/600 3D support for the Radeon and RadeonHD drivers as well as R600 2D acceleration.

ITWire has a rant disguised as an opinion piece titled OLPC: one bad idea per child by Sam Varghese.

Griffith is an application for Linux that organizes your movie collection. Simply by entering the name of a movie, Griffith will query various databases on the Internet and download cover art, plot details, and cast information. You can then export your movie database as a PDF, iPod, or HTML file to show-off to your friends!

So, what's the most secure desktop operating system of all? Well, we'll get at least a hint from an upcoming bout pitting some top hackers against Mac OS X, Windows Vista and Ubuntu.

What version of Linux has been at the top of the Distrowatch rankings for months now that I've never tried until today? PCLinuxOS. Everybody I know who has runs PCLinuxOS has good things to say about it. Scott Ruecker of LXer and the Los Angeles Daily News' own City Hall reporter Rick Orlov are among those who have used and liked it.

User is torn between needing an exchange environment and the comfort of Linux, so he chooses Mac. This is his experience so far.

Linux Journal's James Gray recently spoke with Tyler Mitchell, Secretary of OSGeo, about his organization's efforts to promote open geospatial technologies.