W.I.L. Tech-News Highlights for January 2005

Operating Systems

In The Beginning Was The Command Line, updated – link.

Linux

Ars Technica looks back at 2004, names the best and worst of 2004 – link.

Top 10 Linux Today stories of 2004 – link.

Linux and Open Source: The 2005 Generation – link.

Richard M. Stallman interviewed – link.

The Grumpy Editor’s guide to (predictions for) 2005 – link.

Free Software Magazine makes issue #1 available for free online.

Help for Linux newcomers

How YOU can get started with Linux – link. Prepare yourself for the move from Windows to Linux – link.

Installing Software the easy way on Libranet – link.

Packaging new fonts for a new year – link.

Entering international characters – link.

Must-have applications for the Linux desktop – link.

UNIX shell programming quick-start – link.

The magic of live CDs – link.

Finding Linux-able hardware information – link.

Linux-related site reviews

Distrowatch is one of the best resources for people who want to choose a suitable Linux distro. Features news, reviews, rankings – site review.

aplawrence.com is mostly a big wiki full of original content about Linux and Unix-like operating systems and related information – site review.

LinuxLinks.com has thousands of links, and also provides helpful discussion forums about jobs, bargains, programming, and how to get started using Linux. There is a newsfeed and a wiki, too – site review.

zazzybob.com has a full repository of Linux and Unix scripts free for the taking, with fresh and frequent updates plus an abundance of original content – link.

Lynucs.org bills itself as “the free desktop screenshot archive”, and lets users share screenshots of their highly stylized desktops running Linux – site review.

Yet Another Linux Blog provides some oft-updated wisdom and entertaining, if controversial, information about Linux and open source software that will draw a larger audience as word gets out – site review.

Linuxcompatible.org has links to the latest Linux news, busy forums, plus a great big hardware compatibility database, although the page design is cluncky – link.

Linux kernel 2.4.29 released – link.

“Win4Lin Home” allows Windows 9x to run on top of Linux, and only costs $30 – link. Discussion here.

Linux.com’s “CLI Magic” series latest – CQ DE CLI, Getting on Top of Things, Tcpdump, Who Sed that?. Series index here.

Innovations in window management – link.

XFce version 4.2.0 released. New XFce visual installer reviewed and detailed – link.

Useful things you can do with FVWM – link.

The next major version of KDE, version 4, may run up to 30% faster – link.

A sneak peek at GNOME 2.10 – link. The GNOME Journal has released Issue 2.

A Linux Island in a C:\ of Windows – Part I, Part II.

Dissecting shared libraries on a Linux system – link.

Using APT on RPM-based systems – link.

HP plans to start selling a Linux-based home media hub – link.

Open Source Law Blog is designed to make visitors aware of developments in the law and business of OSS – site review.

Securing your workstation with Firestarter, a GPL-licensed graphical firewall configuration program for iptables, the firewall included in Linux kernels 2.4 and 2.6 – link.

The “Constant fiddling with Linux” myth – link.

An account of building a Linux distro – link.

Open art, open platforms and open applications – link.

Gaming on Linux remains a limited proposition – link.

Linux looms large in DVRs, PVRs – link.

coLinux allows the Linux kernel to run as a program or service under Windows 2000 or XP without using a commercial PC virtualization system such as User Mode Linux or VMware – link.

Business Week finds that Linux is biting Microsoft, hard – link 1, link 2.

Using Windows applications with Linux – link.

Why I upgrade my Linux systems frequently – link.

USB Wi-Fi adapters under Linux – link.

Running Linux along side Windows using the embedded version of Damn Small Linux – link.

Author of the new Linux Cookbook, 2nd Edition interviewed, on the language of the Linux command line, cookbooks, economics, and what applications you absolutely need Windows for – link.

BSDs, other Unixes

Understanding NetBSD 2.0’s new technology – link.

More FreeBSD for Linux Users – link.

Gentoo is considering integrating OpenSolaris support into the Portage knowledge base – link.

Overview of OpenBSD – link. My workstation OS is NetBSD – link.

Which BSD for an experienced Linux user? – link.

Windows and DOS

My workstation OS is FreeDOS – link. Discussion here.

MS out of the bundling business? – analysis.

Why bandwidth should scare Microsoft – link.

First Aid for your Windows PC – link.

Windows XP Pro x64 Edition RC1 tested – link.

Longhorn will make graphics cards more important – link.

Mac

Macworld walkabout – link. Macworld 2005 keynote coverage – link.

Macworld later in the week, including second thoughts on the Mini – link.

A first look at Apple Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” – link.

Dual-booting Linux on a Mac – link.

Configuring and running X11 applications on Mac OS X – link.

Macintosh Justification – link.

Guest PC is a new x86 emulator for OS X – link.

Must-have applications for the open source Mac desktop – link.

A Linux geek embraces Mac OS X – link.

Other OS’s

ReactOS 0.2.5 released – link.

BeOS Developer’s Edition 2.1.22 released – link.

Mark Gorham, HP Vice President for OpenVMS, interviewed – link.

Alan Kay wants to take computing forward with his next great invention, “Croquet”, an OS that runs on top of OS’s like Windows, Linux and Apple. Its innovation is in relocating the interface of windows and folders to a shared virtual world – link.

Possible new desktop for QNX Neutrino – link. QNX Momentics PE/SE 6.3.0 SP1 update available – link.

Ars Technica reviews MicroA1 and AmigaOS4 pre-release – link. Discussion here.

HP announces availability of OpenVMS 8.2 – link.

AROS gets native TCP/IP stack – link.

Ambient, the MorphOS desktop, becomes free, full with source code – link.

SkyOS 8.3 beta released to Beta Team – link.

Applications

BitTorrent, eXeem, Meta-Torrent, Podcasting; “What? So what?” – link. The centralization of BitTorrent networks – link.

A guide to ripping and encoding music – link.

File formats: the past, the present and a possible future – link.

On the software quality vs. user license quality tradeoff – link.

Should KDE port its applications to Windows? A debate has flared up in parts of the KDE community – link.

Open Sourcing Netscape servers, and a new PDF/Postscript document viewer – link. AOLserver 4.0.10 released – link.

Keeping your life in a Subversion repository – link.

NameBase is an ad-free Google proxy using the minimal “ie” interface, bypassing Google’s notorious “2038” cookie (when it expires) and the text ads. Is it legal? – link.

Female gaming stereotypes, the role of women in gaming, and the mythical “girl formula” for gaming success – link.

Any Linux tax filing software solutions out there? – link.

Quasar Accounting seems to have most of the features that a small business would need, with the significand exception of payroll functions, is licensed under GPL and runs on Linux – review. Comments here.

Pure Networks’s Network Magic cuts through the obscurities of Windows XP home networking (support for Windows 98 is promised too). The beta looks promising – link.

Veritas beefs up its popular storage software, Backup Exec, aimed at small- and medium-sized customers – link.

A small business consultant’s must-have Linux apps – link. Must-have open source applications for consultants-- link. Some favorite Open Source utilities – link.

Databases

Q&A with key movers at object database vendor db4objects – link.

New versions of MySQL and PostgreSQL will deliver yet more features to make enterprises happy – link.

Firebird database readies SMP release – link. Firebird 1.5.2 released – link.

Pervasive Software offers a customised version of PostgreSQL – link 1, link 2.

Penn State’s QFilter puts security in XML database queries, thereby boosting query performance as many as 100 times – link.

PostgreSQL 8 released – links 1, 2, 3. Discussion here.

Internet applications

Browser alternatives: Beyond Internet Explorer – roundup.

Opera, the forgotten browser – link. New Opera beta for Linux now available – link.

Firefox makes gains as RSS reader – link.

SpreadFirefox.com is a Web site created by and for fans of Firefox – link.

Gecko-based browser K-Meleon, the lighter-weight and speedier twin of Firefox, releases version 0.9 – link. Discussion here.

Firefox 1.1 to be delayed, version 2 expected late this year – link.

Thunderbird not quite ready for business – link.

Securing Thunderbird email with OpenPGP – link.

KMail In depth – link.

Building a command-line generator for RSS feeds – link.

Enterprise instant messaging using Jabber – link.

Kolab is a Free software groupware solution. Kolab is the server and Kontact is the KDE Kolab client. Prominent project members were interviewed – Part I.

Roxen is a Web application server with everything but the kitchen sink – link.

OpenOffice.org news

OpenOffice.org Writer is worthwhile for anyone already familiar with OOo and who wants to graduate to a more advanced level, and people looking to use OOo Writer in a professional setting – book review.

Publishing with OOo Writer and DokuWiki – link.

Looking forward to OpenOffice.org 2.0, which has a way to go before it is finished – link.

OO.o’s database application, Base, aims at Access and gets a first look – review.

The importance of KOffice – link. Comments here.

Desktop-oriented applications

Intuit, Best Software offer improved accounting applications – review.

Small business accounting software for Linux – reviews.

Quasar accounting program released under the GPL, updated to version 1.4 – link.

Desktop search engines compared (Google is not the top pick) – link.

Learning a foreign language with The Sims – link.

A personal desktop back-up solution – link. Discussion here.

AnandTech guide to better portrait photos – link.

Choosing an open calendar manager – link.

Simple Standards-based Slide Show System (S⁵) is a slide show program for browsers based entirely on XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript – link.

Open source sniping tool helps one’s eBay bidding – link.

GRAMPS is an easy to use, genealogical application that runs on Linux – review.

Some Linux apps are small wonders – link.

Autodesk shrugs off open source CAD competition – link. Development release 21 of PythonCAD is available – link.

In search of video formats for non-Windows users – link.

Programming

Joel on Software has some advice for CS majors (write English, learn C, don’t worry about India) – link. Programming until retirement? – link.

OOP is much better in theory than in practice – link. Learning to think in objects – link.

The biggest change in software development since the OO revolution is knocking at the door, and its name is Concurrency – link. Discussion here.

Measuring code complexity – link.

Changing software and legacy code – link. Working Effectively with Legacy Code – link.

The whys and hows of refactoring, and why you should not trust automated refactoring – link.

PowerPC Assembly Language introduced – link.

The thing to love about the GPL is the same thing that Microsoft and other corporate predators hate about it: it works. – link.

Linux Application Development, 2nd Edition – book review.

How not to write FORTRAN in any language – link.

Graphical user interface

Introduction to Qt 4 Beta 1 – link. Qt 3.3.4 released, Qt 4 now estimated to be out in late Q2 – link.

The Independent Qt Tutorial has been updated, with a new chapter about OpenGL and Qt – link.

Open Source alternatives to Dreamweaver templating – link.

Bluefish, a GUI-based HTML editor, releases version 1.0 – link.

Qt4Lab project is a cross-platform open source toolkit for laboratory applications – link.

Is XML the answer to everything? – link.

Demo shows how to create a GUI application with GNUstep – link.

Printing XML: Why CSS is better than XSL – link.

C/C++/Java family

Techniques for using linked lists in C and (smarter still) Scheme – link.

Choosing the right Java IDE for the job – link.

Scripting and high-level languages

Gambas, a free development environment based on a Basic interpreter with object extensions, like Visual Basic but NOT a clone, version 1.0 is out – link 1, link 2. Discussion here.

TinyP2P, the world’s smallest P2P app, is 15 lines of Python code – link.

Protect yourself from PHP worms – link.

Take your PHP Web pages pro with the Zend IDE – link.

Cheetah is an extremely effective Python-powered template engine that can generate any text-based format – link.

Microsoft .NET: The Big Picture – link.

Developing of a web application using Rails, Ruby-based framework that makes database-backed applications dead simple – link.

Lowering the bar to code: with the core Python language setting the bar for ease of use, each of the peripheral language additions and tools have a clearly defined level in which to match ease of use – link.

Security & Privacy

Security myths and architectural realities: The differences between how average computer users and security professionals approach security – link.

Exploring the law of unintended consequences – link.

Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders – book review.

Basic firewall functionality explained – link.

Broadcom plans to release Wi-Fi security software that allows users to easily set up secure home wireless networks with access points from Linksys Group and devices from HP – link.

Hacker breaches T-Mobile systems, reads U.S. Secret Service email – link.

A step-by-step guide for securing Linux production systems – link.

Interview with Ken Cutler, VP, Information Security, MIS Training Institute – link.

Beginners and veterans are finding the Interweb experience so repellent that they are disconnecting in droves, blaming malware and spam – link.

WBGlinks.net has a lot of good links to security information – site review.

CAcert aims to provide a community-driven free certificate authority alternative to a X.509 security certificate – link.

Encrypting shell scripts – link.

Smarter password management – link.

Ciphire, a transparent, easy PGP alternative – link.

Holes, patches, defenses

Phishing morphs into pharming: using DNS poisoning or domain hijacks to redirect users to dodgy URLs – link.

Microsoft sends shivers through antivirus market with release of anti-spyware tool, promise of virus removal software – link.

Microsoft patches Windows, offers malware removal tool – link.

Ads and adware have a new way to get on your PC, via music and video files – link.

Inside the mind of a virus writer – link.

Linux systems are getting tougher for hackers to crack, security experts have reported – link. Discussion here. Why is noone trying to crack Linux anymore? – link.

Clam AntiVirus is an Open Source program that protects both Linux and Windows systems – link.

Running Windows viruses with Wine – link.

Ads and adware can now get on your PC via music and video files – link.

“Serious” Microsoft Office encryption flaw uncovered – link.

Sensible precautions to avoid getting cracked while using a public Wi-Fi hotspot – link.

A new tool In the spam war – link. Discussion here.

Miscellaneous

Robert Cringely’s predictions for 2005 – link.

2004 digital media winners and losers – link.

Getting Things Done promises stress-free productivity – book review.

O’Reilly’s new Make magazine brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life – link.

The Free Geek Experience – Part I, Part II.

Business

Hollywood sues hundreds of file sharers and hobbles hardware in war on piracy – link. A proposal to save Hollywood from illegal copying involves a code unique to each disc – link..

The war on copyright “communists” – link.

Vendor-neutral certifications are better value propositions – link. The real value of certification – link.

The European Computer Driving License wants to become the world standard certification for computer end-users – link.

The Hymn Project restores the health of AAC (Apple iPod) files by stripping them of the locks and keys Apple attaches, and enables them to be played on an ordinary MP3 player – link.

Business Under Fire: How Israeli Companies Are Succeeding in the Face of Terror – and What We Can Learn from Them – book review.

The Professional eBay Sellers Alliance reckons that the “integrity of the eBay marketplace is the single largest issue challenging their businesses on eBay” – link.

Consumer electronics giants create an Open Source program for digital rights management and will license everything to anyone who wants it, in order to flood the market with DRM systems and route the threat offered by Microsoft in consumer electronics – link.

The Internet

Podcasts bring DIY radio to the web – link.

62% of Net users do not know what a blog is – link 1, link 2.

On finding Semantic Web Documents – link.

The two fathers of “podcasting” have called for jokes and satirical broadcasts to be clearly labeled as such, after they were bamboozled by a comic female impersonator – link.

ICANN is picking a company to which it will redelegate the .net global top-level domain when its current agreement with Verisign expires on June 30 – link 1, link 2.

The business and technology of finding a friend in cyberspace – link.

Science

Scientists, futurists, other pundits asked what they believe even if they cannot prove it – link. Discussion here.

The physics of the hydrogen economy – link.

Breakthrough efficient, paintable solar cells harness infrared light – link.

Telecommunications

Vonage to offer wireless telephone handsets for its VoIP service, eliminating the need for its customers to buy VoIP adapters to connect with traditional, non-VoIP phones – link. Discussion here.

VoIP predictions for 2005 – link.

Comcast announces plans to launch VoIP service this year – link.

Networking companies search for greater Wi-Fi range, fewer dead spots – link.

Misguided regulations of the airwaves are thwarting precious opportunities to innovate and create so-far undreamed of services – link.

PC Magazine completes an in-depth review of six VoIP providers – link. eWeek’s VoIP home page here.

WiMAX certification is complete nightmare for vendors – link.

WiMAX 802.16-2004 certification delay shakes investor confidence – link.

Is Google planning a VoIP service? – link.

VoIP regulation, SIP insurrection – link.