Linux

How can potential buyers judge the differences in performance among applications running on various Linux distributions? Linux kernel stability and reliability testing is quite sophisticated, thanks mainly to efforts such as the Linux Test Project, but measuring application performance on Linux is more difficult. The Open Source Development Labs is calling for application vendors to put their products to the test for scalability, security and clustering. In keeping with the open source approach, the lab is also calling on vendors to share their testing and results.

Here's an Interview with Stacey Quandt, a Linux and open source industry analyst. She explains why she feels Linux will overtake Windows as the number one operating system within the next three years. Her reasons may shock you.

Dan O'Dowd, Green Hills Software founder and CEO, today issued his second white paper in a series focused on the urgent security threat posed by the use of the Linux operating system in U.S. defense systems, including the Future Combat System and Global Information Grid. Available at http://www.ghs.com/linux/manyeyes.html, the white paper "'Many Eyes' -- No Assurance Against Many Spies" debunks the fallacy that the "many eyes" with access to Linux source code ensure that it is free of Trojan horses or other malicious software.

The open-source software movement will revitalise commercial software rather than undermine it, says Novell

Open source will force software vendors to create better products, but will not be its downfall, according to Novell.

Matt Asay, Novell's director of Linux business office, said on Tuesday at the Linux User and Developer Expo 2004 in London that Linux threatened the proprietory software industry with innovation, rather than extinction, and accused companies such as Microsoft of failing to come up with exciting new applications.

DreamWorks Animation has beefed up its technology infrastructure by tapping into an off-site 1,000-processor computing farm built on Linux.
The film company, which created the Shrek animated movie, chose Hewlett Packard (HP) to deliver the utility-based enterprise environment, dubbed HP Utility Rendering Service (URS).

It will be used for off-site animation rendering and remote collaboration in soon-to-be released feature films Shrek 2, Shark Tale and Madagascar.

Days after an embedded-industry CEO stirred up a firestorm by charging that Linux poses a threat to U.S. security, two prominent computing-security experts said last week that some developers are already inappropriately using Linux in critical security applications where it isn't suitable.

So what exactly is Arch? Arch, in a nutshell, is a "geek" distribution of Linux. In other words, Arch is not exactly easy to set up. However, it is fast and powerful once the initial effort to set it up has been made. The two main reasons for using Arch are for its Pacman package manager made possible by the Arch Build System (ABS), and for its blazing speed due to the fact that it is optimized for i686 (Pentium Pro) and above. This distro is absolutely not for newbies. To give the general idea, it takes considerably more effort to set up than even Slackware.

A CANADIAN researcher has warned that Open Source will fall flat on its face unless it gets its act together.
In First Monday, Michelle Levesque said that the Open Source concept fails because of its "user-interface design, documentation, feature-centric development, programming for the self and religious blindness".

She warned that Open Source will remain an unknown quantity to most computer users until these problems were addressed.

We recently highlighted some of the new features of the Linux 2.6 kernel. Now, we'll look at the process of compiling and installing a new kernel safely, without overwriting the existing kernel. You can install as many kernels as you like on a Linux system, and select the one you want to run at boot time. This makes it easy to test different kernels, and different kernel configurations, with particular sets of hardware or applications. The wise network admin always tests new kernels before running them on production machines.

You've prepared yourself for your Linux migration, now its time to make the jump. After reading Part 1, you should have the following items: Linux installation CDs (1-7 CDs depending on the distribution you picked), CD of drivers, a CD/DVD of your migrated files and a hard-drive with your files (if you chose this route). We will help you make it through the installation and the initial bootup. Then, we will transfer all your old documents into Linux. Your Internet Explorer favorites and your Outlook PST will be converted into Linux compatible formats.