Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

At long last, the Debian project team released Debian GNU/Linux Version 4.0—code-named Etch—on April 8. The release follows “21 months of constant development,” according to the team. This anxiously awaited update will benefit not only users of “Debian GNU/Linux,” but also those of a rich assortment of Debian-derived distributions that utilize the projects Linux kernel […]

A few months late, Debian 4.0, aka Etch, has been released, but how many people actually will be running it? Thats not a trite question. It wasnt that long ago that a new release of Debian would have the Linux world excited and downloading it. Now… well, Debian Etch isnt exactly being greeted with yawns—but, […]

If you need your data to be available in all your offices—even if the central office goes up in smoke one day—Radiant Datas new PeerFS 4.0, which now supports multiple 64-bit Linuxes, might be just what you need. Available since 2003 for 32-bit Linux systems, PeerFS uses a multiple-sources and multiple-targets replicating file system to […]

Several months after parting ways, the leaders of the two leading 3D compositing Linux desktop projects, Compiz and Beryl, have agreed to come back together. Quinn Storm, one of Beryls creators, wrote last September that “it at least feels as though development is rather closed, with any possibility of getting code into the main source […]

It sounds unlikely, but Novell and Sun Microsystems have partnered to bring SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 to Suns Ultra Workstations: the Sun Ultra 20, Ultra 20 M2, Ultra 40, and Ultra 40 M2. These workstations are powered by AMD Opteron chips. The older 20 and 40 models use single-core processors, while the newer M2 […]

I have a nomination for the “Worst possible situation for reviewing an operating system” award. Review it, SimplyMEPIS 6.5 Release Candidate 2, while stuck in a hotel room 2,000 miles from home, with food poisoning. Trust me, in a situation like this, you are not in the mood to put up with any crap from […]

On the heels of releasing the latest draft of the GPLv3 (General Public License version 3), the Free Software Foundation on April 3 released a new draft of the LGPLv3. The LGPL was first released as Version 2.1 in February of 1999. It was the follow-up license to the GNU Library General Public License 2.0. […]

Dell may have picked the perfect time to begin offering Linux-powered desktops. Why? Because, the next generation of Windows, Vista, has just sprung its first major security leak: the .ANI vulnerability. “ANI” stands for Animated Cursor Image format. When any version of Windows from NT to Vista opens up a corrupt ANI file with USER32.DLL, […]

The new GPL drafts digital ink hadnt had time to dry before everyone began voicing their opinion on it. Some observers hate it, while others think this version represents a significant step forward in making the GPLv3 palatable both to the Linux community and big business. When it comes to disliking the latest GPL draft, […]

Red Hat Inc. reported its financial results today for its fourth fiscal quarter and full fiscal year, both of which ended Feb. 28. While total revenue was up, the market was disappointed at the report that net income for the quarter fell about 25 percent year-over-year. Specifically, Q4 net income dropped from $28.75 million (13 […]

The Free Software Foundation released the third discussion draft on the GNU General Public License on March 28. As expected, it contains language designed to prevent patent partnerships that extend protection from patent litigation to only the companies involved in such agreements. Controversy over deals such as the patent partnership between Microsoft and Novell has […]

Dell contacted DesktopLinux.com on March 28 to let us know that the company will be releasing select desktop and notebook systems with pre-installed Linux as an option in the coming weeks. Dell, however, is still playing its Linux cards close to its vest. For example, we do not know at this time which Linux distribution—or […]