Linux Archive

YDL 2.3 surpasses YDL 2.2 with an array of timely updates, improvements: kernel 2.4.19, the 'Liquid' theme, CUPS print system, apt-get, OpenOffice 1.0, Mozilla 0.9.9, Galeon 1.2, Evolution 1.0.5, AbiWord 1.0.2, netatalk 1.5.3.1, and support for the Radeon 7500 (excluding 'Mobility') video card among its 1000 packages spread across 3 CDs.

Slashdot hosts an interesting Q&A with Caldera's Ransom Love regarding the UnitedLinux issues.

Bill Hayden released version 0.5.2 of his Cosmoe environment for Linux. The new version fixes a dozen of include file problems during compilation, API and source changes etc. The new version should compile now cleanly on all Linux systems, x86 and PPC. Check out the Cosmoe mailing list if you still are getting problems with compilation.

"So far, Linux has run just fine, hasn't crashed, and seems to offer tremendous flexibility, but this comes at the price of complexity. Up to a point, Linux is as easy to use as any other mainstream operating system. But after that point is passed, the water gets very deep, very quickly--as my monitor resolution issue serves to illustrate. Windows also suffers from this "easy up to a point" issue, but the point is a good bit farther down the road than it is in Linux." The second part of David Coursey's trip to the Linux world.

ZDNews' David Coursey is the person who was a long-time Windows user, but after pressure from his readers gave a month-long try to MacOSX, and since then he enjoys every minute with it. The other camp, the Linux users, now ask David to give a long shot at their favorite operating system. David installed Red Hat 7.3, and here is where he got stuck so far.

"You will find the Cosmoe 0.5.1 tarball on the download area of www.cosmoe.com. Please read the README before building to avoid problems. This version should compile cleanly under any gcc 2.96 through 3.1. I did not test under 2.95.x" Bill Hayden announced the release to the Cosmoe mailing list. This version should also build cleanly on PPC.

"eWeek Labs' tests of SuSE Linux Inc.'s SuSE Linux 8.0, MandrakeSoft SA's Mandrake Linux 8.2 and Red Hat Inc.'s Red Hat Linux 7.3 revealed that the penguins have made some great strides in usability—to the point that users unfamiliar with Linux could comfortably find their way through a machine installed with any of these Linux variations." Read the review at eWeek.

"Recently, a number of new Linux distributions have been seeking to create a Windows clone. Some of these are highly commercial projects and have arguably began taking on some of the code sharing traits of their model, while most simply seek to make a Windows-like system for new converts to use while they get accustomed to the entire Linux/Open Source world. A couple of these projects stand out because of their close similarities to the system they're trying to copy. Others stand out not only because of that, but also because of the innovative features they add. Everyone's Linux, or ELX, is in that second category." Read the review at NewsForge. On a similar note, Lindows has released their third closed beta, Xandros their second one, while Lycoris is heading for public release of their Update2 version on June 17th.

"Except for the most recent kernels, Linux will only see 137 GB out of the 156 GB on the the Maxtor "160 Gigabyte" Diamondmax 540T drives. I found nothing on the Maxtor or RedHat web sites about this, but a search of the Linux Kernel mailing list produced a number of references to a patch which was purported to work by some people." Read the article at NBer.org.

Bill Hayden, the initiator of the Cosmoe project has released a developer version. Bill is looking for feedback, bug reports and even code contributions. You will need a 2.4.x Linux kernel, RPM and a framebuffer graphics driver loaded through LILO. At this point, Cosmoe should only run via the console, as root. A mirror and an additional screenshot can be found here. Recently, OSNews featured an interview with Bill.

"A number of Linux vendors will announce on Thursday that they have agreed to standardize on a single Linux distribution to try to take on Red Hat Inc.'s dominance in the industry. A media advisory issued on Tuesday said executives from Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE and Turbolinux on Thursday will make 'a major announcement that will change the shape of Linux worldwide.'" Read more at eWeek.

"Support for Bluetooth has been added to the Linux development kernel, a step toward native Bluetooth support in upcoming releases of the Linux operating system." Read the report at ZDNews.

"Linux is set to become the de facto standard in so-called "embedded" devices such as robotics, information appliances and automobile information systems. However, fragmentation could prove a stumbling block, said Inder Singh, chairman of the Embedded Linux Consortium (ELC)." Read the rest of the article at ZDNews.

Peter Chubb posted a patch to the lkml, with which he's now managed to mount a 15 terabyte file (using JFS and the loopback device). Without the patch, Peter explains, "Linux is limited to 2TB filesystems even on 64-bit systems, because there are various places where the block offset on disc are assigned to unsigned or int 32-bit variables."Peter works on the Gelato project in Australia. His efforts include cleaning up Linux's large filesystem support, removing 32-bit filesystem limitations. When I asked him about the new 64-bit filesystem limits, he offered a comprehensive answer and this interesting link. The full thread can be found here on KernelTrap.Reaching beyond terrabytes, beyond pentabytes, on into exabytes. I feel this sudden discontent with my meager 60 gigabyte hard drive...