The rumors are approaching consensus that a pair of new netbooks running the Google Chrome OS may/will be available early in the New Year. The details of the specs and marketing plans are still a bit vague, but we do know that they will run the Chrome OS. We think that they will be c...

It seems like just about every cloud computing discussion with a development audience results in the same question being asked: “Why does this matter to me?” As cloud computing first appears to be primarily an operational-centric paradigm, it is easy to understand the reason this is as...

I understand there are several different philosophies of application development. Some people prefer GTK not because it is the better tool kit, but because the approach makes more sense to them, because GTK is more granular than Qt, prefer C to C++, or another reason. I cannot address ...

With PHP 5 around the corner, many are asking, 'Is PHP evolutionary or revolutionary?' This article tries to answer this question. Many readers might have already read about PHP 5 or heard of its numerous new features. As the current PHP 5 code base is already extremely stable, s...

The project, launched in July 2001, aims to create a runtime environment for Microsoft's .Net Framework for a variety of operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS X, Windows and Unix.

The 'meta-distro' Gentoo makes it possible to compile and configure everything on your system exactly the way you like, providing you with more structure and tools to ease the process and automate updates. Do I still like Debian? I absolutely love it. But until further notice, Gentoo i...

In the late 1980s, I wrote an online bridge game for Portal. The world has changed a lot since then, but the itch remains. I decided to scratch the old itch again: I'm writing a bridge game, this time for online play over the Internet and on Linux.

If developers and packagers flesh out the details of these suggestions, modify them to iron out wrinkles and then adopt the practices, most if not all Linux software installations will be trouble-free and distribution-agnostic. (3,250 words)

If developers and packagers flesh out the details of these suggestions, modify them to iron out wrinkles and then adopt the practices, most if not all Linux software installations will be trouble-free and distribution-agnostic. (3,250 words)

Given that the GNU utilities accomplish the more difficult goal of cross-platform compatibility, it shouldn't be at all difficult to design a packaging system that solves the compatibility problems between distributions of the same Unix system. (2,000 words)

In Part 1, Our Hero examined many (though not all) of the problems with the current approaches to software-installation. This time, we take a closer look at the technological considerations behind one of the biggest issues for software-installation: shared libraries. (2,200 words)

Our Hero examines the problems with existing approaches to software installation, looks at the technical issues and alternatives, and proposes a framework for a solution. (2,100 words)

In monitoring his son-in-law's performance in the Busch Series, Joe Barr discovers that NASCAR.com is packed with great information and features for racing fans. Unfortunately for Linux and Macintosh users, the site's most-exciting feature -- streaming audio and video -- is rigged to w...

We put a microscope to SCO's complaint and find logical leaps, factual gaffes and a heap of trouble for IBM if SCO's main contention is true. (2,600 words)

Showcasing a questionable understanding of the history of Unix, open-source software and computing in general, SCO's lawsuit against IBM has sent shockwaves rippling across the IT community. Parts of SCO's complaint would be laugh-out-loud funny if only the possible repercussions for L...

A Sun engineer addresses a portion of How Sun can pull out of its slump in which author Paul Murphy calls attention to a perceived problem with SPARC and scientific computing. In fact, although there is something to be learned from the square-root summation example, it is not what Murp...

There are times when I want a lean, mean editor and times when I enjoy a good, bloated editor packed with wizards. We compare the programming editors Jext and J to Jedit and offer a revised opinion of the best Java for Linux. (2,500 words)

Java performance on Linux has yet to reach its potential. That said, I am still impressed with the current state of Java for client applications. If you want to get an feel for how much I believe Java has improved, here's a point of reference ('benchmark' is too strong of a term) that ...

Although Mandrake 9.0 is a breeze to install, there are a few important things that Debian does better. Nicholas Petreley lists the pros and cons of Mandrake when compared to Debian and sets the record straight about his first Xoops column and his opinion of Britney Spears. (1,900 word...

Nicholas Petreley answers reader criticism regarding his overview of phpBB and shows how you can pass parameters back and forth between dynamically included files in spyce 1.2.8. Part four in a three-part series. (1,500 words)

How to get started working with databases, and an introduction to the Python lambda function. Third and final installment in our series on tricks, tips and techniques for making spyce work with your server. (2,000 words)

In my last article, I described a relative newcomer to the Python server-side scripting solution category: spyce. Spyce is a versatile means of integrating Python code into HTML and vice versa. Here are more tricks, tips, and techniques for making spyce work with your server. (1,500 wo...

There's a new method for doing server-side Python scripting for Web applications in town, and its name is spyce. Spyce takes an approach similar to PHP. It lets you intermingle Python scripts, statements and variables with HTML to produce dynamically generated Web pages. (1,300 words)

A snapped tendon, Klingon attacks and DHCP woes had Nick Petreley in the doledrums last week at his new home in North Carolina. Luckily, a SOHOware DSL/cable router was able to fix one of these problems. Can you guess which one? (1,100 words)

The trials and tribulations of one man's attempt to code a 'cute little demo application' using using the C++ features of Kylix 3 Open Edition (K3OE). (1,400 words)

Several system calls have been introduced to allow processes to change their priorities and scheduling policies. As a general rule, users are always allowed to lower the priorities of their processes. However, if they want to modify the priorities of processes belonging to some other u...

Debian doesn't get nearly as much attention as other distributions when it comes to updating software packages, least of all desktop environments like KDE and GNOME. If you're running Debian, here's how to install GNOME 2. (1,200 words)

Do not try this at home. Do not run Kylix 3 on an unsupported distribution unless it makes no difference to you if the product works or not. Just want to play, learn, or experiment? Fine, but to develop code you intend to use or distribute, no. (1,600 words)

I don't want to give up using Debian to run the bleeding edge versions of KDE and GNOME. I recently discovered how to have your Debian and eat recent versions of KDE and GNOME, too. You don't necessarily have to download and compile the source code to get them, either. (1,400 words)

When you give up GNOME and KDE for simpler tools like Ion, Pwm, and other minimalist window managers, you sometimes have to give up a few good things about GNOME and KDE along with the bad. File managers are one, but are easy to replace. A look at your options. (1,500 words)

One of the biggest problems with desktop environments like Windows, KDE, GNOME, and others like them is that they're pretty, but they expect you to do all the work of arranging windows, minimizing applications, clicking on icons, and so on. (1,600 words)

Xfce is mostly a CDE clone, I recommend Icewm to those comfortable with the Windows 9x taskbar, Enlightenment runs quite fast & is stable, but I'm appalled by the garish look of the themes. (1,400 words)

Nicholas Petreley explores desktop Linux beyond GNOME and KDE. In this column, he examines and compares several window-managers, detailing which of these applications is best for different types of users. (1,800 words)

Despite his personal preference for GNOME/GTK and the shortcomings of current KDE applications, Nicholas Petreley explains why KDE/Qt developers are likely to outbattle GNOME/GTK developers in the quest for mainstream desktop applications. (1,300 words)

Continuing his discussion of GNOME/GTK vs. KDE/Qt, Nick Petreley explains why language support doesn't matter much, why technical merit doesn't necessarily translate to successful software and why he has a major problem with Trolltech's Qt-licensing scheme. (1,400 words)

A series on the strengths of GNOME & GTK, what programmers are getting into when they choose one over the other, and how the creators of GNOME & GTK can make their offerings better. (1,600 words)

If you really want to live dangerously try playing games with a kernel from the latest development branch, 2.5. You probably can't, because the Nvidia accelerated driver won't compile with the latest 2.5 kernels. At least not until you follow the tips here. (1,200 words)

Bruce Perens lends his name and reputation to HP's open source initiatives. (1,100 words)

Ximian's motives, plans and ambitions for Mono, a free clone of Microsoft's .NET, including the C# language. (1,200 words)