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Where’s the Progress?

By Timothy R. Butler | Oct 16, 2006 at 5:02 AM

Those of us observing GNU/Linux over the past decade have spent so much time talking about how “next year is Linux’s year on the desktop” that it has become more of a humorous cliché than a useful statement. Nevertheless, while every year the Penguin has disappointed us in not quite readying itself to compete against Apple and Microsoft’s systems, at least in the small office and home office market, we can always cling to the eternal hope: next year. Or can we?

Desktop FreeBSD: Fully Optimized 6.x Installation

By Ed Hurst | Oct 12, 2006 at 1:41 PM

You've installed FreeBSD, and it works fine, of course. If you are as seriously committed to using it as your desktop as I am, you'll want to get the most out it. Let's go hardcore! The key with FreeBSD is optimization -- tweaking the compile process so the resulting binary code runs as efficiently as possible.

Science and Faith: A Regime Unknown

By Timothy R. Butler | Oct 05, 2006 at 4:42 AM

It sounds like some kind of New York Times Best Seller’s list political thriller – perhaps a massive conspiracy by former Soviet KGB officers backed by financiers and powerbrokers on the Trilateral Commission to create a new world government. But “A regime unknown to us,” in the language of John Polkinghorne, is not talking about a political intrigue, but something even more intriguing: the idea of an unknown (and, maybe, unknowable) realm of science: the science of God.

Desktop FreeBSD: 64-bit Future

By Ed Hurst | Oct 05, 2006 at 4:33 AM

Consumer grade machines with 64-bit processors have been around for the past three years. At first it meant nothing, since the ones you could buy off the shelf came with 32-bit Windows XP. However, that's still the case, as 64-bit Windows drivers have lagged for most consumer hardware. Not so in the Open Source world, where the greatest source of complaints -- poor or missing drivers for some hardware -- is its greatest strength in the 64-bit arena.

Location, Location, Location

By Timothy R. Butler | Oct 04, 2006 at 12:13 PM

I tend to walk very slowly when I take a hike some place. Slow enough to test the patience of even a fairly relaxed fellow walker. Why? I'll admit it: I am a shutterbug. I take thousands of photographs, photographs that eventually end up in Apple's iPhoto. This is well and good, save that the quantity makes it sometimes hard to locate a photo later on. GPS is my solution to fix that, and if you create any kind of digital documents away from your desk, it should be on your list of solutions too.

Apple Announcements Add Windows, Other x86 OS Support to Macs

By Timothy R. Butler | Apr 07, 2006 at 12:07 PM

In a surprising set of announcements Wednesday, Apple announced not only the BootCamp tool to aid users in installing Windows XP alongside Mac OS X on new Intel Mac systems, but also an optional updated firmware that adds BIOS support to the systems. The ramifications of this are not yet clear, but investors' enthusiasm led to a rally of the company's stock in the days since the announcement.

Wozniak Denies iPod Spin-Off Story

By Timothy R. Butler | Feb 25, 2006 at 5:28 PM

In a striking report on Thursday, the Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper reported Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer (AAPL), had some major differences in vision with Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs. According to the piece written by Peter Nowak, Wozniak asserted that Apple ought to spin off its iPod division and was hesitant in his support of the Cupertino-based company's switch to Intel processors.

Commentary: Telcos Playing with Fire

By Ed Hurst | Feb 10, 2006 at 10:23 AM
The telcos have been making threatening noises about Net traffic passing through their lines. Despite rumors to the contary, Google says they aren't negotiating with the telcos. This has been rumbling around the Net for a couple of months. Recently Verizon announced their intent to prevent the proposed "network neutrality" which currently prevails. So far, it's been voluntary, but Congress appears set to consider codifying it in legislation. Verizon and friends are fighting to charge for Net access at both ends. A quick reading is all it takes to realize this is no more than Google envy. As one wag said somewhere, if it were really about bandwidth, they'd be going after iTunes, streaming video and other serious bandwidth hogs. Instead, they are going after a service which sends little more than text and a few tiny images, but happens to make millions doing it. This is transparently petty envy. Perhaps the telcos need to revisit their economics classes.

Do-It Yourself Computing 2: Packages

By Ed Hurst | Feb 06, 2006 at 12:42 AM
In Linux Land, distributions are often divided into categories based on how they manage software. It's more than just keeping track of what is installed, but what version. The obvious issue is security updates. Software is usually offered in packages. Sometimes they are all self-contained; often there are packages which depend on others. These dependencies usually make sense, but not always. You don't have to be a developer to know there is no sense in requiring one package with another, when the second won't even use the first. Yet I assure you it does happen. Sometimes it's a simple matter of adding extra packages to add extra functions. Either way, it helps if the package management is smart enough to tell you what it needs to run when there's something missing. There are three main systems for package management.

Apple Launches Intel iMac, Drops Firewire 800 on New Notebook

By Timothy R. Butler | Jan 10, 2006 at 2:04 PM

Apple Computer's Steve Jobs announced the first Intel-based Macintosh computers today during his annual MacWorld San Francisco keynote. Contrary to previously published rumors that had spread across the web in recent days, Apple did not announce a Mac mini DVR or a plasma television.

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