We've all had this nightmare. You turn on your functioning Windows/Linux PC, and all you get is a blank screen, or a message telling you that certain files are missing, or the kernel has panicked for some obscure reason. Nothing works, and you need the data on your machine. Yes, now's the time to whip out that trusty backup disk, and heave a sigh of relief that all the important stuff is backed up, right? Well, think again.
With all of the attention on dual core processors lately, it has been real easy to overlook the one application that might benefit more from multiple cores than any other; Linux. OK, so technically Linux isn't an application, but the kernel has supported SMP for nine years almost to the date. The road to SMP has not been an easy one for Linux, but in the last nine years, and particularly since 1999, Linux has received quite the attention as a 2-8 processor core operating system. If you need a reference, just look at how many Linux machines hold SPEC benchmark records in web serving and number crunching.
Novell Inc.'s SuSE Linux Professional 9.3 desktop gives not only other leading Linux desktop distributions like Xandros a run for their money, but also enterprise desktops such as Windows XP Pro.
Motorola announced a new step this week in its plan to remake most of its mobile phone line with Linux, expanding use of the open-source operating system to midrange phones.
Mandriva, formerly known as Mandrakesoft, the publisher of the popular Mandriva Linux distribution, today announced an agreement to purchase several assets from Lycoris, a major North American Linux distribution for home users. As part of this agreement, Lycoris' founder and CEO Joseph Cheek is joining Mandriva to develop a new and advanced Linux desktop product.
In the case of the Macintosh pricing versus PC pricing, the errors have led to the general impression that comparable PC's are cheaper than comparable Macs. Now, I won't debate whether or not that's always been the case, but I will state categorically that it ain't true today and hasn't been for the last 2-3 years.
“Adobe Reader 7.0 for Linux provides desktop Linux users another important tool for daily use on par with Windows and Mac users,” said Michael Robertson, CEO of Linspire, Inc. “Adobe pioneered document sharing and secure collaboration across operating systems. More and more, major software vendors are seeing the value in creating cross-platform versions of their software for Linux. Adobe's advanced support shows its understanding of the viability of the desktop Linux market.”
Moreno Valley, Ca; Paris, France - April 13th 2005 - Mandriva (pronounced “Man-dree-vah”!), the company formerly known as Mandrakesoft, today released Limited Edition 2005, a special new version of its operating system that blends the most up to date popular open source applications, including Firefox 1.0.2, with specific customisations resulting in advanced multimedia, internet and development capabilities. These features include out-of-the-box Web content RSS reading and software sound mixing (so multiple applications can play sound at once). Limited Edition 2005 is the only Linux system to allow the trouble-free coexistence of 32-bit and 64-bit applications. It also offers enhanced hardware support for removable devices, including the ability to boot from USB keys.
Broadband ISP Speakeasy said it will offer its subscribers a version of the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox Web browser in hopes of appealing to a more tech-savvy crowd.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. [NASDAQ: SUNW] today announced the largest single release of patent innovations into the open source community by any organization to date, marking a significant shift in the way Sun positions its intellectual property portfolio. By giving open source developers free access to Sun OpenSolaris related patents under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL), the company is fostering open innovation and establishing a leadership role in the framework of a patent commons that will be recognized across the globe.