LinuxDevCenter.com

New Desktop Face-Off: Gnome 2.20 vs KDE 3.5 Both the Gnome and KDE desktop environments have new versions out. We thought it would be a good time to check out the differences between the two, to help you decide which of the two is most appropriate for you. Judith Myerson has all the details on what you can expect to see, as well as a peek at KDE 4.0. [ONLamp]

What's New in Ubuntu 7.10? (a.k.a. Gutsy Gibbon) Ubuntu is arguably the most popular desktop Linux distribution out today. On the 18th of October, the latest release, 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) will be released. Brian DeLacey offers a comprehensive history of Ubuntu and a look at some of the many new and improved features included in the release. [ONLamp]

Printing Trends in Linux Printing has been a notoriously difficult capability to configure in Linux, but work by the Open Printing Working Group is designed to change that. Andy Oram has been examining what we can expect in the future from this initiative, which includes distribution-independent drivers. [ONLamp]

Linux vs. BSD, What's the Difference? Linux mavens are usually pretty sure they'll never go back to (or start using) Windows. They may like Mac OS, but usually don't jump ship for that either. But how about the other open source Unix descendant, BSD? Dru Lavigne offers a basic primer on what's different in PC-BSD for a Linux user, and what's better. [Linux]

Mono: A Progress Report Mono has always been a bit of an outsider. Open source folks distrust it because it helps people use Microsoft technologies on non-Microsoft platforms. Microsoft people don't see the need for it. But this social outcast has been making steady progress and can offer a lot if you take the time to check it out. Edd Dumbill gives us an update on the state of Mono. [ONLamp]

An Introduction to Linux Audio OSS. ALSA. JACK. Linux certainly has enough ways that you can get access to the sound subsystem. But which one to use, and how? John Littler takes us on a guided tour of Linux Audio, complete with code. [Linux]

/dev/hello_world: A Simple Introduction to Device Drivers under Linux For many seasoned Linux developers, device drivers still remain a bit of a mysterious black art practiced by a select few. While no single article could possibly attempt to covered everything there is to know about writing drivers, Valerie Henson gives us a brief taste of what's involved, by implementing a device to return "Hello World" using all the major driver frameworks. [Linux]

Optimizing Linux System Performance Wringing the value out of every processor cycle on your machine required a variety of approaches. Sure, your code has to be efficient, but you also have to have your disks configured correctly, and a multitude of other things. Swayam Prakash provides a guide to some of the lower hanging fruit you can pick. [Linux]

Semaphores in Linux Semaphores are one of those things that most programmers have heard of, but may not have ever used. But if you're using threads under Linux, it's one of the best ways to keep everyone in sync. Vikram Shukla provides a code-rich tutorial on semaphores, including the differences between the System V and POSIX styles. [Linux]

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Unified Home Networks with the Fritzbox The Fritzbox is an all-in-one Linux-based device that supports VoIP, home networking, and even some extension mechanisms. Hacker Guylhem Aznar explains how he simplified his home network with this device. [Linux]

VOIP on the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet is more than a Linux-based device; a recent software update made it a handy VOIP device. John Littler examples how the upgrade works and walks you through setting up VOIP and Asterisk. [Linux]

When Linux Runs Out of Memory Memory is a precious commodity in computers. Generally the more you have, the better. Yet your application has to run alongside other applications, and each wants its own area of memory. What happens when there's not enough to go around? Mulyadi Santosa explores the memory management principles in the Linux kernel to explain how the Out of Memory killer works--and how to avoid it. [Linux]

Virtualization and the POWER5 Architecture Virtualization is a trendy topic in the server room now, especially as commodity computers begin to support features that mainframes have had for decades. Mainframes aren't standing still, however; IBM's POWER5 architecture supports powerful virtualization features on AIX... and Linux. Ken Milberg describes some of the benefits of the recent work on this platform. [Linux]

Degrees of Openness "Open" is a word too important to apply merely to source code. Although open source code is important to free and unfettered computing, openness encompasses far more components of a computing system. Adrien Lamothe explores other degrees of openness and their implications. [Linux]

Linux on the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet is more than a phone, according to John Littler. It's a Debian GNU/Linux system. This makes it a prime target for hackers. Littler explores some of the built-in utilities and some of the other tricks you can use. [Linux]

Rediscovering Bluetooth Bluetooth is a powerful protocol. Its advantages over WiFi make it capable of doing a lot more than most people imagine--yet few people understand how to get the benefits. Guylhem Aznar walks through enabling Bluetooth on a Linux PC and connecting to useful devices. [Linux]

Four Tough Lessons of System Recovery KIVILCIM Hindistan recently migrated to a new laptop and promptly destroyed his partition table. Flailing around with false laziness taught him the true value of true laziness. Here's a real-life tale of Knoppix rescue and a cautionary tale about troubleshooting. [Linux]

Indie Podcasting with Open Source Linux has a reputation as a multimedia lightweight. That's undeserved; there are plenty of powerful, useful, and usable applications to meet most of your media needs. For example, it's possible to become an independent podcaster with a little bit of equipment and experience. John Littler shares his advice on podcasting with open source. [Linux]

Switching Back to Desktop Linux Almost everyone at O'Reilly owns an iBook or PowerBook and almost everyone runs Mac OS X. It's not everyone's ideal operating system, however. Recently, free software editor chromatic explained to Mac editor Derrick Story why he switched back to desktop Linux. Here's what he wants in a usable Unix desktop. [Linux]

How Shellcodes Work Buffer overflow problems are well-known. Fewer people know how exploits can help attackers execute their malware through buffer overflows and other holes. Peter Mikhalenko walks through the construction and refinement of a shellcode to show how they work so that you can protect your machines. [Linux]

Creating a Dual-Boot Windows XP and Ubuntu Laptop Running a Windows-only laptop is hardly ideal for people who do considerable work in the Linux environment. When Cygwin and ssh aren't enough, consider at least dual-booting into the free software world. Kevin Farnham recently converted his new laptop into a half-Windows, half-Ubuntu GNU/Linux machine. Here's how. [Linux]

Managing Disk Space with LVM Linux's Logical Volume Manager (LVM) allows you to create virtual disk partitions out of one or more hard drives. This makes it easy to manage growth in filesystems. Combined with RAID, it provides a nearly unbeatable way to keep your files safe and available. Bryce Harrington and Kees Cook show how to configure LVM, how to combine it with RAID, and how to use it on desktop machines too. [Linux]

Installing Software on Debian Debian GNU/Linux is a powerful and popular community-developed Linux distribution--and the basis for several other useful and usable distributions. One of the reasons for its popularity is the ease of installing and maintaining software. Edd Dumbill, Debian developer and GNU/Linux advocate, shows how to use Debian's tools to find and install software packages. [Linux]

Secure Your Linux Server Linux is a powerful and popular operating system kernel. That popularity means you might be running it even if you're not a dedicated Unix administrator or high-powered programmer. That doesn't mean that rock-solid security is out of your reach, though. Aaron Brazell shows how to make Red Hat 9 (and other Linux distributions) much more secure in a few easy steps. [Linux]

Fine-Tuning Kubuntu Ubuntu is a well-maintained, well-organized Linux distribution. Kubuntu adds the popular and powerful KDE desktop environment. As nice as Kubuntu is, the default installation doesn't fit every user. Carla Schroder shows how to get help, get access to more software packages, set up a firewall, and review and get rid of unnecessary services. [Linux]

Bristol Switches to StarOffice Bristol is one of the largest cities in the United Kingdom. Recently, the city council reviewed its software policies and needs and decided to switch to open document formats by using Sun's StarOffice, based on OpenOffice.org. Jono Bacon recently interviewed Gavin Beckett, architect of the strategy, to discover how and why the migration was successful. [Linux]

Powerful Remote X Displays with FreeNX Imagine X server technology with compression so tight that GNOME and KDE sessions yield impressive response times when run over modems with SSH encryption. Don't pinch yourself; you're not dreaming! Tom Adelstein explains how FreeNX is the cure-all to many of X11's ills in this excerpt from Running Linux. [Linux]

Linux Virtualization with Xen Virtualization is an old idea--running multiple distinct operating systems atop a powerful box has a lot of advantages. Xen is a new virtualization platform. Despite its youth, its Linux support is very good. Kris Buytaert explains the basics of virtualization and shows how to configure and install Xen and to create new virtual machines. [Linux]

Previewing KDE 4 The next major release of KDE will come out in the fall, and the developers are already planning new features and benefits. John Littler recently interviewed Aaron J. Seigo about the team's plans--and controversy surrounding upcoming ports to nonfree platforms. [Linux]