Slashdot Mirror

Magorak writes "There's an interesting article I found here about Linus Torvalds' take on the future of the software and hardware industry. There's tidbits about Linux's future itself, the competition with Microsoft, and about customized software becoming more important. It also gives us an interesting view on how Linus sees the future of computers and technology. "

johnrpenner writes " SGI has released "Jessie" - an open source development environment for Linux. It provides an advanced IDE (integrated application environment) with comprehensive debugging tools and a highly graphical interface that eliminates the need for employing older command-line tools." However there doesn't seem to be linkage to anything more than a press release.Update: 09/21 11:41 by H : Check SGI's Jessie site for more information.

ErikSev has graciously submitted a review to Mathias Kalle Dalheimer's latest O'Reilly effort Programming with Qt. For those of you interested, click below to find out more about. Programming with Qt author Matthias Kalle Dalheimer pages 361 publisher O'Reilly rating 9/10 reviewer ErikSev ISBN summary An excellent book on QT programming, and a must buy. The Scenario:

The Parrot Book, as this is sure to be known, is excellent for a beginner looking to quickly learn the ins and outs of Qt programming. Some previous experience with GUI programming helps, and previous C++ experience is required.

The Layout:

Programming with Qt starts with a chapter on Qt. It addresses freedom issues, portability issues, and other miscellaneous stuff. You then go through a basic program. The next few chapters introduce lots of different widgets and layout managers. Next come all sorts of other things like focus handling, graphics, working with perl, GUI builders, 2d transformations, etc. Look at the table of contents, it pretty much tells you what's included.

The Good:

Most of it. I personally bought this book having no previous experience with Qt, but familiar with GTK, MFC, etc. Within a day or two I was writing usable programs in Qt. This book is direct and to the point. Moreover, this is NOT just Linux users, Windows coders are definately covered, and portability is addressed extensively. GUI design, plus advanced tips and tricks are addressed. As the table of contents shows, all sorts of topics, both beginner and advanced, are covered.

The Bad:

A little too brief.just in spots. The cover of the book touts, "Covers Qt 1.4x and 2.0". I honestly feel that that is almost false advertising. Qt 2.0 is covered in a sparce 4 pages, with only two lines of code. One other nitpick, alot of lines of code are repeated, when he could just show the new/changed portions of the program. Final Thoughts:

While this book isn't a reference manual, it gets you started, and to the point where you can quickly write programs, use the more advanced features, and have the skills to find what you need in the system documentation. I do wish 2.0 were covered more, and that another unique program or two were written instead of so much code repetition. If your interested in learning Qt, and like dead trees to look at, this is a great buy. Everything you expect from a book with an animal on the cover and O'Reilly on the spine.

Pick this book up at Amazon.

Preface
1: Introduction
2: First Steps in Qt Programming
3: Learning More About Qt
4: A Guided Tour Through the Simple Widgets
5: A Guided Tour Through the Qt Dialogs
6: Using Layout Managers
7: Some Thoughts on GUI Design
8: Container Classes
9: Graphics
10: Text Processing
11: Working with Files and Directories
12: Inter-Application Communication
13: Working with Date and Time Values
14: Writing Your Own Widgets
15: Focus Handling
16: Advanced Event Handling
17: Advanced Signals and Slots
18: Debugging
19: Portability
20: Using GUI Builders
21: Qt Network Programming
22: Interfacing Qt with Other Languages and Libraries
23: Using the Visual C++ IDE for Qt Programs
24: Sample Qt Projects
25: A First Look at Qt 2.0

tilly sent us a really interesting little article on Why O'Reily is Better written from the perspective of one of their authors. Rahga wrote in to comment that the new KDE Mascot Looks like Playstation's "Croc". He's got a little poll. I vote no, but its close. tilly wrote in to note that Sunday's User Friendly is funny- it features a the ultimate choice. And for the best Star Wars quickie today, Sharkey sent us a link to this picture. Just look at it. Somewhat related is this one from an Anonymous reader: The Dark Redemption which is a 26 minute short film being directed in Australia- it takes place 2 days before the beginning of Star Wars, A New Hope and is apparently being done with permission of Lucas. gwendolin wrote in to ask the ultimate question: Do you dare to eat pop rocks and drink pepsi at the same time? This is wierd stuff (both the page, and the fact that a female with a cool homepage submitted a story!) Some Slashdot Sightings: VinceV wrote in to say that Slashdot apparently is mentioned in the printed manual for Caldera OpenLinux 2.2. cymen wrote in to tell us that Slashdot appeared in the Mit Technology Review. No URL, but someone sent me a scan (that I can't post for they fear the Slashdot effect) but its pretty cool. And finally, for some good old fashioned porn parody, gelbardn sent us Geek Erortica which features live strip shows of Ms. G3 and Ms. Dell. (No its not actually dirty, but its quite amusing).

@tomic212 writes "Ever wish you could play Gameboy games on your PalmPilot? This article on the Palm Infocenter discusses a gameboy emulator being developed for the PalmOS. With an interview with Maven who is building the emulator from scratch in assembly. "

@tomic212 writes "Ever wish you could play Gameboy games on your PalmPilot? This article on the Palm Infocenter discusses a gameboy emulator being developed for the PalmOS. With an interview with Maven who is building the emulator from scratch in assembly. "

@tomic212 writes "Ever wish you could play Gameboy games on your PalmPilot? This article on the Palm Infocenter discusses a gameboy emulator being developed for the PalmOS. With an interview with Maven who is building the emulator from scratch in assembly. "

Erik has written in with a nice little commentary on the personalities behind the free software movement. Mostly about RMS and Linus, but its worth reading.

The following was written by Slashdot Reader Erik

The Personalities Behind Linux

The varied personalities of Linux definitely show the many facets that make up our favorite OS. I was reading the Wired article that had an interview with RMS, and I've seen quite a few interviews with Linus. IMHO, Stallman represents quite a bit of what Linux and it's users is all about, but Torvalds is more a way to market it.

Obviously both Torvalds and Stallman were and are central to the OS. As we all know, the kernel mainly the product of Linus, but most of the tools, and the very license under which Linux was placed is the result of Stallman's GNU. But, these two men don't seem to get along quite as well as the software they wrote. Linux is a coder, but RMS is a zealot.

Stallman's fire, passion, and concern for politics are essential for Linux users. Many people criticize Richard for being overly paranoid, but that paranoia is necessary, especially in the upcoming months and years. As Linux gains mainstream support, there will undoubtedly be blatant violations of the GPL. Slashdot has recently posted at least one story of a new distro that violates the GPL. It's a huge asset to have RMS and similar enthusiasts to vigorously defend the freedom that our "rebel" OS has come to represent.

As a result, I love having RMS go everywhere he can, reminding people of the free nature of Linux. Excuse me, GNU/Linux.

Remind people that Linus didn't write the whole kernel, and owns a very small percentage of the code in any Linux distro. Torvalds will be the first to admit that. And Stallman reminds us that Linux is more about hackers and free code than about the OS itself. It's about making decisions for ourselves, not having to accept a crappy OS.

But as much credit as RMS deserves, he shouldn't necessarily be the spokesman for Linux. While

Stallman looks like a fanatic, Linus is like the penguins; cute, maybe a little plump, but over all, someone who's very likeable. Plus he has a "normal" job, and is making money from Linux (not directly, but through his Transmeta job, speaking, etc.)

As a result, though Stallman deserves tons of credit, he shouldn't necessarily be on the cover of the magazines. He's done a great job, as has Linus, but as Linux gets marketed to a more mainstream audience, we need to look at our figurehead. Stallman ranting to Wired is great, it gets everyone to stop, think, and be more aware of the politics. But let's think twice before flaming CNN/Fortune if their latest Newstand didn't mention RMS. We all know of his contribution, and all geeks appreciate it. We need him to help lead the movement, but not necessarily to be our public leader. Let CNN snub him, and let the other mags ignore him. He has a great product to be proud of. But as great as he is, he's often inflammatory, nearly always an extremist, and not necessarily who the business community wants to put it's trust in.

Erik has written in with a nice little commentary on the personalities behind the free software movement. Mostly about RMS and Linus, but its worth reading.

The following was written by Slashdot Reader Erik

The Personalities Behind Linux

The varied personalities of Linux definitely show the many facets that make up our favorite OS. I was reading the Wired article that had an interview with RMS, and I've seen quite a few interviews with Linus. IMHO, Stallman represents quite a bit of what Linux and it's users is all about, but Torvalds is more a way to market it.

Obviously both Torvalds and Stallman were and are central to the OS. As we all know, the kernel mainly the product of Linus, but most of the tools, and the very license under which Linux was placed is the result of Stallman's GNU. But, these two men don't seem to get along quite as well as the software they wrote. Linux is a coder, but RMS is a zealot.

Stallman's fire, passion, and concern for politics are essential for Linux users. Many people criticize Richard for being overly paranoid, but that paranoia is necessary, especially in the upcoming months and years. As Linux gains mainstream support, there will undoubtedly be blatant violations of the GPL. Slashdot has recently posted at least one story of a new distro that violates the GPL. It's a huge asset to have RMS and similar enthusiasts to vigorously defend the freedom that our "rebel" OS has come to represent.

As a result, I love having RMS go everywhere he can, reminding people of the free nature of Linux. Excuse me, GNU/Linux.

Remind people that Linus didn't write the whole kernel, and owns a very small percentage of the code in any Linux distro. Torvalds will be the first to admit that. And Stallman reminds us that Linux is more about hackers and free code than about the OS itself. It's about making decisions for ourselves, not having to accept a crappy OS.

But as much credit as RMS deserves, he shouldn't necessarily be the spokesman for Linux. While

Stallman looks like a fanatic, Linus is like the penguins; cute, maybe a little plump, but over all, someone who's very likeable. Plus he has a "normal" job, and is making money from Linux (not directly, but through his Transmeta job, speaking, etc.)

As a result, though Stallman deserves tons of credit, he shouldn't necessarily be on the cover of the magazines. He's done a great job, as has Linus, but as Linux gets marketed to a more mainstream audience, we need to look at our figurehead. Stallman ranting to Wired is great, it gets everyone to stop, think, and be more aware of the politics. But let's think twice before flaming CNN/Fortune if their latest Newstand didn't mention RMS. We all know of his contribution, and all geeks appreciate it. We need him to help lead the movement, but not necessarily to be our public leader. Let CNN snub him, and let the other mags ignore him. He has a great product to be proud of. But as great as he is, he's often inflammatory, nearly always an extremist, and not necessarily who the business community wants to put it's trust in.

Tom Owad writes "Taking a Powerbook 160, I disassembled it, reconnected the parts using Erector set pieces, and encased it in Lego. Pictures and information are here "

Tom Owad writes "Taking a Powerbook 160, I disassembled it, reconnected the parts using Erector set pieces, and encased it in Lego. Pictures and information are here "

Drew Bertola writes "HP World Conference is looking for paper submissions for their Linux Track. The Linux Track may be cancelled unless 4 more paper submissions are made by the end of the week. To submit your idea, go to the HP World Conference submissions page. For more information, e-mail Orly Larson or me. "

Drew Bertola writes "HP World Conference is looking for paper submissions for their Linux Track. The Linux Track may be cancelled unless 4 more paper submissions are made by the end of the week. To submit your idea, go to the HP World Conference submissions page. For more information, e-mail Orly Larson or me. "

Ed Silva writes "It seems Microsoft knows something we don't about Gateway according to their press page: it seems that Hitachi isn't the only PC maker bundling BeOS... Funny, 'cause most of us Be geeks thought Dell would be the one... " The table is quite interesting showing Dell and Toshiba will be or are shipping Linux according to Microsoft, in line with previous reports. update Apparently, Microsoft did not get it right about Gateway and BeOS. Michael Alderete of Be Inc. posted both in the comment section and on BeNews that at this time the only OEM comitted to ship BeOS is Hitachi. Thanks to Elwood. Interestingly... Microsoft seems to have removed the Gateway entry from the table. Hmm, do not seem to have changed the date though.

I recently received this submission from Shannon Hollen, asking for the following: "I am an online game designer/producer with a small company. I am also handicapped. So, I ask your help: I am in search of a Linux coder to hire for the purpose of writing me the specialized software that I need. I use the word "hire" because I am ready to, willing to and insistent upon paying my way. Can you point me in a direction?" Sounds like a worthy cause! Click below for more! Shannon continues:

Since 1985, I have used a Mac and a piece of hardware called "Headmaster," a headset cabled to a box that sits on top of my monitor, completely replacing the mouse is every way. The box tracks the movement of my head, pointing where I look, essentially.

I type by clicking the "keys" of a software "keyboard" that sits along the bottom of my screen. It's about 7.5" x 1" and contains all the standard keys of a normal keyboard, arranged in an effciency layout. (NOT qwerty.) Having used this setup for the past fourteen years, I've become pretty good. I can type around thirty words a minutes when I know what I'm typing.

And I am dying to try Linux. I have a 200 mhz Pent sitting around that I used for school (All CSC departments must use DOS/Windows these days.), and I would like to drop Red Hat on it. The problem is, I need keyboard software, and in my research, I have found none for Linux.

This sounds like another area of Linux that could use some improvement, if not more visibility. Are there any active initiatives to provide handicapped access on Linux at this time? If not, then are there people out there interested in getting something like this underway?

ian ehrenwald needs some assistance with this problem: "Can someone help me out with getting a Canon BJC620 to work in Linux and with ghostscript correctly? I have RTFM over and over and compiled this in and that in and with this option and with that option. Nada. I use Staroffice 4.0 and when I try to print stuff just to the normal lpr I get the postscript codes. I am guessing this is because my printer isnt PS friendly. So can anyone reccomend a way to get this BJC620 working with ghostscript so I can print from Staroffice or Netscape or any program that uses PS?"

CresentCityRon writes "It seems that companies are offering stock options instead of fair market salaires when recruiting talent. Programmers are taking the bait only to get burned by their greed and evil CEOs who fail to exercise the IPO. see this Salon story "

Greg writes "Digital's website has a brief announcement that Peter Bannon, one of the Alpha engineers, will be presenting a seminar at Microprocessor Forum on the EV7 or Alpha 21364 which is rumored to be out sometime around or shortly after Merced. This announcement is a little unusual for Digital considering that the 21264 or EV6 won't ship until later this year."

Zackary Tippett writes "I found this on news.com. It talks about how Oracle, Informix, Dell, and Intel think Linux is ready for corporate use " Good article. Several examples of Linux in big time use. Let's face it folks, Linux is going mainstream in a big way.

Drew Bertola wrote in to let us know Tom Tromey and some of the other guys at Cygnus have the basics of a development enviornment for Java going, including a gcc front end called gjc (which cannot yet create Java executables). The software is being integrated into EGCS. Check it out. (Sorry about the gcj mistake - I had a bit of a headache at 2am)

matt writes "From a Sun Press release at Dr. Joseph Reger, Director of Technology Marketing at Siemens Nixdorf, explains, "it is true that HP will not have to do an endian transition, but it is also true that HP's Unix, HP-UX, is probably going to be the only operating system on IA-64 that runs in big endian mode. To my knowledge all flavors of UNIX on IA-64: Solaris, Linux, Santa Cruz Operation's UNIX, Digital's UNIX... and you name it--all UNIX will run on IA-64 in little endian mode and NT certainly will run in little endian mode. "

greg writes "I found this story on the front page of the LA times. Its all about the phenomenom of LAN parties and people who participate in online communities seeking real face to face contact, and of course quake. "

Eric Molitor sent us this link where you can read that sanity won out, and Wang's silly patent claim against NS has been tossed out. I wasn't really concerned. (thanks to John Burg for the newer link.

Erik Hovland writes "I was looking at SUNs website and noticed that they are going to webcast the computer bowl. I thought the slashdot faithful would like to know that Marc Andreessen is on the West coast team along with other nerd notables. The other interesting thing is that the browser for the competition is only available for windows! They should have contacted IBM to do a modification to their cool chess servlet."

Vincent Janelle writes "I just found out about a Serial LCD stats software pack for Linux. This little product is essentially a serial LCD panel that someone has programmed software for Linux, and it generates stats based on the loadavg, mem readouts, uptime, and more. You can get it at here.. You cannot tell me that you do not want this." I want one mounted on all of my machines. Even my laptop! *grin*. I couldn't find how much the little panel cost, but I think I found what I want for my birthday- that thing is just to cool. If somebody buys me one, I'll write something to pump slashdot headlines through it.