Monthly Archive:: December 2003

Tutorial: “Message Passing for Intertask Communication”

"This online training lesson contains material taken from our introductory courses. This particular section presents the basic approaches to message passing for communication between concurrent tasks. In an actual training course, this section would be preceded by introductory sessions covering the fundamental definitions of embedded and real-time systems, as well as the fundamentals of multi-tasking (priority-based pre-emptive task scheduling)." Read it here.

o3one: The Object Oriented Operating System

o3one, is a VMS-like hobby operating system with some UNIX features currently in development. It includes VMS version control in the filesystem dfs, as well as both stream and "mailbox" style pipes. Development is currently headed towards an Alpha port, and a GUI is in development.

Order Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 – Free

For a limited time, you can order the full version of Microsoft Services for UNIX 3.0—at no charge (see conditions). A $99 retail value, Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 provides an integrated environment in which to run applications for both Windows and UNIX on a single system. This offer is available only in the United States while supplies last, so act now (offer expires Dec. 31, 2003).

DesktopX 2.0 Released

DesktopX is a program that lets you design your own desktop by adding "objects" that can do pretty much anything you might imagine for it. Version 2.0 has just been released and it's a radical re-design that has focused on improving the functionality, performance, and memory use of it. If you don't have DesktopX, you can download it on its own here or get it as part of Object Desktop.

The Status of Home Video Editing on Linux & Unix

My husband and I are thinking of buying the Canon Optura Xi camcorder soon (in our opinion, the best DV camera at this range). Because I run so many OSes I always have 'embedded' in me this "thing" to only buy supported hardware by the major OSes. I am sure Optura's DV part will work fine with some Linux tools, but then what? How do I easily edit my... masterpiece and burn DVDs or VCDs via an integrated solution and send them to our families in Greece and France?

CRUX 1.3 Released

Slackware-alike CRUX 1.3 was released (ISO image is 194 MB). Changes: USB 2.0 support added; USB storage support added; modules for most network cards added; new packages: opt/expat 1.95.7, opt/firebird 0.7, opt/fontconfig 2.2.1; removed packages: opt/mozilla (replaced by opt/firebird).

Mono: Taking the Leap Without the .NET

Earlier this year Novell purchased Ximian Software, the primary sponsor of the Mono Project. Novell is committed to providing support for open source development and specifically the Mono Project. There are plans for providing additional services around the Mono Project including support and consulting. Novell is also involved in providing resources for contributors by way of Novell Forge which will become the home for many Mono based projects and a community around Mono. Read the article here.
Update: On other C#/Mono news, the Qt# bindings project is almost on a halt, OSNews learned. Developers wanted to help out the one remaining developer, Marcus Urban.

Applications You Can’t Live Without

I find myself using a number of OSes daily but for the OSes I use most, I have some favorite third party applications that I can't live without. Here are my application lists for Windows, Unix/Linux, Mac OS X and BeOS; applications I always download and install after a clean OS installation. Please tell us about your favorite third party apps you use on different OSes by using the provided comment section.