Monthly Archive:: September 2006

This is a feature release of Subversion, featuring BDB 4.4 and repository auto-recovery support, a new tool for synchronizing repositories (svnsync), major speed enhancements in the versioned filesystem and the working copy, and of course the usual host of bugfixes and minor enhancements. Additionally, check this article on how to Set up Subversion and websvn on Debian.

Yesterday, I wrote a short editorial concerning the news that Magnussoft started accepting pre-orders for the next version of Zeta, 1.21. Today, via email, I asked a few short question which arose, more or less, in the comments' section of that editorial, to Magnussoft's Rene Weinert. Updated: See question 3.

A consortium of investment firms was near a deal late Sunday night to acquire Freescale Semiconductor, a former unit of Motorola, for more than USD 16 billion, according to people briefed on the negotiations. The deal, if completed, would be the largest leveraged buyout ever in the technology sector, surpassing the USD 11.3 billion sale of SunGard Data Systems last year.

Being a RISC OS user is an odd experience. It's normally baffling to non-believers why so many (mostly British) computer users persist with the eccentric beast. It's easy to list reasons why no self-respecting geek would trouble with it: many old or under-developed applications, poor streaming media support, lack of compatibility with key standards and technologies, limited hardware support, and there are many more. For most, RISC OS is a thing of the past, a curio, a once-promising minority OS trampled on by the juggernauts of Windows, MacOS and Linux.

After you have Apple Remote Desktop installed, you can use it to interact with users by text chat or one-way messages and alerts. Find out how to respond to user problems, observe one or more remote computers, and take control of Mac workstations remotely to improve security, enhance classrooms, and improve teacher/student interaction or help desk operations. It's all part of Ryan Faas' series on learning how to use and get the most out of the robust features of Apple Remote Desktop.

Computer people are great at coming up with clever quips and phrases. One of Paul Kimmel's favorites is the term "syntactic sugar" meaning something that, like sweets, isn't necessary, but tastes good. That's what the My feature is -- syntactic sugar. The difference between the sugary gooey foods you might eat and the My feature is that My is better for you.

Wondered how Parallels works and how to actually get it going? This article is an overview of the Parallels vitalization software and a simple guide on creating a virtual machine.

Magnussoft, the company now responsible for development on Zeta, has announced it is accepting pre-orders for Zeta 1.21. This new release will include multi-user support, will be built with GCC4, among other improvements. Bernd Korz's weblog contains more information. Korz was (is?) the CEO of YellowTAB, the company that started Zeta. Read on for a short editorial on this announcement.

Jerome 'Korli' Duval has adapted Haiku's MESA-based OpenGL subsystem to an addon format, allowing renderers to be plugged in, with the first one being a MESA software renderer. This system will allow hardware 3D renderering drivers, such as Rudolf's one when adapted, to plug in without requiring specialised libGL.so's for every card. This extends the common BeOS concept of modularity even further, and is somewhat similar to how Be's OpenGL beta worked - each graphics card acquired a third, .3da driver, to add to the kernel and .accelerant drivers.

The 'pretexting' technique used in a Hewlett-Packard investigation of board members and reporters has been an embarrassment for the company, Chairman Patricia Dunn said Friday. "I am not happy that the way this investigation has been conducted has led to this major embarrassment," Dunn said in an interview with CNET News.com. Asked if she believed pretexting is illegal, Dunn replied, "I have no idea, but it's wrong."

Mark Shuttleworth writes on his blog: "I'm of the opinion that Ubuntu could not exist without Debian. So it's absolutely my intention to see that Ubuntu is a constructive part of the broader Debian landscape. It's vital that Ubuntu help to sustain and grow Debian, because it's the breadth and strength of Debian which make up the 'shoulders of greatness' on which we in the Ubuntu community stand when we reach for the stars."

OpenVPN may seem a little daunting at first, but once you get your feet wet this can be an incredibly useful (and free!) tool. In this article, Michael Riley shows you how to use OpenVPN for secure internet surfing on your client PCs. He’ll also help you set up the configuration that will allow you access to your home network while you’re traveling. From installation to troubleshooting, and using helpful OS-specific tips, this tutorial demystifies OpenVPN for the beginning user.

AmiKit 1.2.0 has been released. AmiKit is a freeware compilation of more than 300 of the finest Amiga programs (free/shareware). To be brief, AmiKit is the way to experience a high-end Classic AmigaOS on your Windows system. You need ROMs of the AmigaOS, which can easily be obtained by buying Amiga Forever. My take: I have used AmiKit myself, and I can attest it is the one of the finest, if not the finest, among its kind. Definitely recommended if you have AmigaOS ROMs.

Asbestos, a new prototype operating system, provides labeling and isolation mechanisms that help contain the effects of exploitable software flaws. Applications can express a wide range of policies with Asbestos's kernel-enforced label mechanism, including controls on inter-process communication and system-wide information flow. A new event process abstraction provides lightweight, isolated contexts within a single process, allowing the same process to act on behalf of multiple users while preventing it from leaking any single user's data to any other user. Initial tests have been promising, and Eddie Kohler, Asbestos's creator, hopes that within a few years, Asbestos will be an alternative to server operating systems such as Linux and Windows.