Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

Over the next two or three entries I'm going to provide summaries of activity represented on some of the mail-lists most relevant to the development and use of audio software for Linux (and other platforms). I'm subscribed to a variety of such lists, and it occurred to me that a summary of their traffic would be a good indicator of the breadth and depth of our corner of the larger Linux world. I'll proceed through my lists in loose alphabetical order, starting with news from theArdour camp.

Puppy Linux has been updated to version 2.11: "Puppy version 2.11 is out. Puppy 2.10 was the first Puppy to use LZMA compression for the 'pup_210.sfs' Squashfs file (the file that has all of the applications). We found however that it doubled the start-up time for each application, not very noticeable on a modern fast CPU, however very much a problem on older hardware. Thus, for 2.11 we have gone back to the standard GZIP compression. Version 2.11 is basically an improved 2.10. Apart from reverting to GZIP compression, this release has various bug fixes. There is also an 'xorgdrvrs' ISO that includes the extra X.Org basic video drivers."

The first version of the Debian Live Initiative's make-live software is now available - see the website live.debian.net. Debian Live aims to make software to produce official Debian Live CDs, rather like Knoppix. The first version uses the Casper technology created by Ubuntu.

BrandZ is a framework that extends the Solaris Zones infrastructure to create Branded Zones, which are zones that contain non-native operating environments. The term "non-native" is intentionally vague, as the infrastructure allows for the creation of a wide range of operating environments. Each operating environment is provided by a brand that plugs into the BrandZ framework. A brand may be as simple as an environment with the standard Solaris utilities replaced by their GNU equivalents, or as complex as a complete Linux userspace.

As the project celebrates its 10th anniversary, we can all reflect on the enormous success achieved when people and organisations with a vast variety of different backgrounds and skills join forces. For people and organisations who wish to contribute to KDE by providing financial support in an ongoing manner, the KDE e.V. now offers the new Supporting Members scheme. KDE e.V. is both excited and proud to announce Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, as our first Patron of KDE.

The OpenVZ project announced today that its OS-level server virtualization software technology has been ported to -- and is now available for -- systems based on 64-bit Power processors.

Ext3 has become one of the most popular Linux filesystems. However, with hard drives sneaking up on a terabyte, concerns exist that ext3 won't be able to handle 21st-century storage requirements. With this in mind, the Linux kernel developers have just released the first real-world test version of ext4.

The European Commission is to create a portal for European public sector bodies to store and share open source application code and exchange open source knowledge. The Open Source Observatory and Repository (OSOR) will be developed and managed by a consortium led by Unisys.

So whats the big deal anyway? I argue over on GPLMedicine.org that developing proprietary versions of VistA is both unethical and foolish. I would love to hear anyresponses.

Despite some indications to the contrary this week, the Mozilla Foundation did not release its next release of the Firefox browser, which is still being widely publicly tested under Release Candidate 2. As Mozilla's vice president for engineering, Mike Schroepfer, told BetaNews on Friday, Firefox releases take place on a qualitative basis, not on a deadline or time scale.

The Firefox web browser has come a long way since the project was announced as a fork from the open-sourced Mozilla project. Version 1.0 was released in 2004 and quickly won critical acclaim for its speed, compatibility with web standards, and features. In a couple of years, Firefox managed to reach a milestone that its predecessor never quite reached: hitting 10 percent market share worldwide. Version 2 of the browser recently hit Release Candidate 2, but the team is already making plans for 3.0.

It’s been more than five years since Microsoft released Windows XP. Now, the software giant is readying XP’s successor, Vista. Will the new version be worth the price and pain of upgrading? More importantly, is Windows still relevant?

The European Commission is to spend €4m on an open source observatory and repository (Osor) to span the member states and enable them to share information across the public sector.

Web hosting provider Linux PHP Host (http://www.linuxphphost.com) announced recently it has added a number of new services to its suite of service offerings. The services are firmly focused on attracting the open-source community.

Oracle is to start ranking the severity of security bugs it fixes using an industry-standard scoring system starting with its next quarterly patch update, due on 17 October.

Technalign announced the new release of Frontier Forensics SECS (Secured Evidence Collection System). The new tool replaces Version XI and continues to use MEPIS Linux as the operating system base. The new SECS product will be available via Forensic Computers as well as selected Technalign Partners.

CDT C/C++ parsing and its abstract syntax trees

Release-critical Bugreport for October 13, 2006

Yesterday at 10:00 AM the president of the KDE e.V. Eva Brucherseifer welcomed the audience of the presentation track at the KDE anniversary event at the Technische Akademie Esslingen (TAE) in Ostfildern near Stuttgart, Germany. Keynote speakers were Matthias Ettrich, founder of the KDE project, as well as Klaus Knopper of Knoppix fame. During their presentations they looked back at KDE's successful past 10 years and they offered their thoughts about the future of KDE and Free Software.

Users will get Internet Explorer 7 whether they want it or not. Microsoft's upgrade to Internet Explorer will be automatically pushed to desktops later this month, but a web testing firm has warned that many companies may not be ready.