Stories by James Turner

Installing Linux apps: A few good tips

Sooner or later, we all end up installing new software on our computers. Whether it's a new version of Firefox, or a cool game, or a video editing package, there comes a time when you want to make your system do more than it can do now.

Linux examined: Xandros Professional

To a lot of people, Ubuntu represents the most end-user-friendly nongeek-compatible Linux distribution. But there are other commercial distributions that work even harder to create a desktop experience that is, frankly, Windows-like. The two most well-known of these are Xandros and Linspire (formerly Lindows). Since Xandros recently acquired Linspire, that leaves it pretty much in sole possession of that segment of the marketplace.

Linux examined: OpenSUSE 11.0

A few weeks ago, the OpenSUSE Project announced the release of OpenSUSE 11.0, the "community" edition of SUSE Linux, Novell's commercial Linux distribution. Like most recent distributions, OpenSUSE is made up of the usual suspects, including GNOME and KDE-based desktops, Live CD and full DVD installation options, and an online repository of software that can be installed using a GUI tool.

Linux examined: Fedora 9

For many of us, our first painful introduction to old-school Linux installs came from installing early versions of Red Hat. Like most early Linux installs, it was a highly technical, highly finicky process that was best left to the experts.

Linux examined: Ubuntu Hardy Heron

If there is a single complaint that is laid at the feet of Linux time and time again, it's that the operating system is too complicated and arcane for casual computer users to tolerate. You can't ask newbies to install device drivers or recompile the kernel, naysayers argue.

RIM's Pearl reinvents the BlackBerry

The BlackBerry has always been a status symbol as much as a technological innovation. "I'm a business person, with business needs. I need to know immediately when trouble's brewing," your typical business user might say.

Unix vendors will need soon to abandon ship

Setting aside the legal conspiracy theories regarding Linux/Microsoft/SCO/IBM/The Trilateral Commission/The Freemasons, it’s becoming more and more pertinent to ask the question: what’s the future of commercial dialects of the Unix operating system?