Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 "Etch" Released

The Debian Project is pleased to announce the official release of Debian GNU/Linux version 4.0, codenamed etch, after 21 months of constant development. Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system which supports a total of eleven processor architectures and includes the GNOME, KDE, and Xfce desktop environments. It also features cryptographic software and compatibility with the FHS v2.3 and software developed for version 3.1 of the LSB.

Using a now fully integrated installation process, Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 comes with out-of-the-box support for encrypted partitions. This release introduces a newly developed graphical frontend to the installation system supporting scripts using composed characters and complex languages; the installation system for Debian GNU/Linux has now been translated to 58 languages.

Also beginning with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, the package management system has been improved regarding security and efficiency. Secure APT allows the verification of the integrity of packages downloaded from a mirror. Updated package indices won't be downloaded in their entirety, but instead patched with smaller files containing only differences from earlier versions.

Debian GNU/Linux runs on computers ranging from palmtops and handheld systems to supercomputers, and on nearly everything in between. A total of eleven architectures are supported including: Sun SPARC (sparc), HP Alpha (alpha), Motorola/IBM PowerPC (powerpc), Intel IA-32 (i386) and IA-64 (ia64), HP PA-RISC (hppa), MIPS (mips, mipsel), ARM (arm), IBM S/390 (s390) and – newly introduced with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 – AMD64 and Intel EM64T (amd64).

Debian GNU/Linux can be installed from various installation media such as DVDs, CDs, USB sticks and floppies, or from the network. GNOME is the default desktop environment and is contained on the first CD. The K Desktop Environment (KDE) and the Xfce desktop can be installed through two new alternative CD images. Also newly available with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 are multi-arch CDs and DVDs supporting installation of multiple architectures from a single disc.

Debian GNU/Linux can be downloaded right now via BitTorrent (the recommended way), jigdo or HTTP; see Debian GNU/Linux on CDs for further information. It will soon be available on DVD and CD-ROM from numerous vendors, too.

This release includes a number of updated software packages, such as the K Desktop Environment 3.5.5a (KDE), an updated version of the GNOME desktop environment 2.14, the Xfce 4.4 desktop environment, the GNUstep desktop 5.2, X.Org 7.1, OpenOffice.org 2.0.4a, GIMP 2.2.13, Iceweasel (an unbranded version of Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3), Icedove (an unbranded version of Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5), Iceape (an unbranded version of Mozilla Seamonkey 1.0.8), PostgreSQL 8.1.8, MySQL 5.0.32, GNU Compiler Collection 4.1.1, Linux kernel version 2.6.18, Apache 2.2.3, Samba 3.0.24, Python 2.4.4 and 2.5, Perl 5.8.8, PHP 4.4.4 and 5.2.0, Asterisk 1.2.13, and more than 18,000 other ready to use software packages.

Upgrades to Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 from the previous release, Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 codenamed sarge, are automatically handled by the aptitude package management tool for most configurations, and to a certain degree also by the apt-get package management tool. As always, Debian GNU/Linux systems can be upgraded quite painlessly, in place, without any forced downtime, but it is strongly recommended to read the release notes for possible issues. For detailed instructions about installing and upgrading Debian GNU/Linux, please see the release notes. Please note that the release notes will be further improved and translated to additional languages in the coming weeks.

About Debian
Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, developed by more than a thousand volunteers from all over the world who collaborate via the Internet. Debian's dedication to Free Software, its non-profit nature, and its open development model make it unique among GNU/Linux distributions.

The Debian project's key strengths are its volunteer base, its dedication to the Debian Social Contract, and its commitment to provide the best operating system possible. Debian 4.0 is another important step in that direction.

Dreaming in the "Cloud" with the XIOS web operating system

Xcerion is a Swedish Internet startup whose founders include ex-Microsoft employees Lou Perazzoli and John Connors. The company will make headlines later this year when they officially unveil what they call an "Internet OS" dubbed XIOS that runs in a web browser. We took an early look at the XIOS concept and had the chance to talk about the project with the company's CEO, Daniel Arthursson.

The "operating system" (more on the scare quotes later) is based on XML, and using AJAX it connects to multiple back-end servers running Ubuntu Linux. XIOS is not an applet or a plug-in. Instead, the "OS" is really a complex AJAX-based system, and Arthursson says that it can be viewed as a virtual machine for XML applications.

How does it work? After downloading a couple of megabytes of code, a user can "boot up" XIOS in a web browser and start running the OS and applications Xcerion is developing. Xcerion says that XIOS and its default applications will be free, and the applications themselves will be open-sourced so that users can modify them to suit their own needs. Furthermore, XIOS is a development platform that will allow coders to create their own applications, so it's not just limited to productivity applications.

Is this the start of a true "Internet OS"? It all depends on what you mean by "operating system," really.

The one big difference between Xcerion's solution and existing "OS-in-a-browser" projects like YouOS and EyeOS is that it can also run in offline mode. XIOS will keep a user's data intact and then sync all changes with the virtual hard drive residing on a back-end server the next time a connection is regained. "It is important here to note that since XIOS supports multiple virtual hard drives, including third party hard drives, enterprise and personal ones, the data may not only be stored in Xcerion's data centers, but also on your own home server or corporate network," said Arthursson. "This is something that many services on the Internet cannot provide today. This also extends the reliability of XIOS."

Of course, XIOS is not a full operating system, as the term is traditionally defined. It requires a host OS to boot up and launch a web browser before it can start operating. A more accurate phrase is perhaps "Cloud OS" because running it requires access to the "cloud," that is, a network of services and connections that exist on the Internet. However, according to Arthursson, "XIOS is an operating system running within the browser, which executes the application logic locally (not on the servers)." Clearly for Arthursson the major point here is that all necessary code is executed locally, and this approach should help offset one of the biggest problems of web-based "OSes," that of performance. It's what makes XIOS stand apart. The question is, can XIOS succeed where so many others have failed?
There's a reason why new OSes aren't launched every day

Making a new operating system is always an exciting prospect, for everyone from university computer science students to large companies like Microsoft—the latter's Singularity research OS contains many interesting ideas. However, every truly new consumer operating system suffers from a serious and inevitably fatal problem: a lack of applications. And when applications finally come to the new OS, they do not compare favorably to mature apps from the more established platforms.

It has been argued that this latter failing is greatly overstated, and that new applications can easily be written that can accommodate the majority of people's computing needs. The standard line trotted out on these occasions is that 80 percent of users only use 20 percent of an application's features, so all a new app has to do is implement that 20 percent and they can easily grab 80 percent market share. The problem with this argument, as explained masterfully by technology blogger Joel Spolsky, is that everyone uses a different 20 percent. Writers, for example, always need a word count, and that's one of the things that is left out of every new "lite" word processing application because it doesn't fall into the standard 20 percent. Other users have different needs.

Xcerion claims that their small stable of applications can provide "40 to 50 percent functionality" of users' needs, but even this optimistic estimate would suffer from the problem outlined above. The company also states that any other software needs can easily be filled in by open-source development. The problem with relying on open source to fill in the gaps for a new OS is that OSS development is not spread out evenly amongst all projects. A considerable amount of work goes into improving Open Office, for example, but much less effort is put into Abiword, still less on KOffice's KWord, and a tiny fraction of the development resources find their way to word processing applications on new operating systems such as SkyOS or EyeOS. Can Xcerion expect a different outcome? They'll need a lot of buzz, early and often. Growth in the online "office apps" arena hasn't been explosive, and Xcerion will have to contend not only with Microsoft, but the likes of Google as well.
A solution in search of a problem

Our primary objection to the idea of an "Internet OS" with productivity apps is that it isn't really solving any particular problem in a superior way. People who want to use a word processing program today have a plethora of options. They can purchase a copy of Word, or download a free copy of OpenOffice, or, in a pinch, even use a web-based document tool such as Google's Writely. Having a new OS and a new word processor running in a web browser doesn't improve this situation, and could make it significantly worse because of potential speed and latency issues. Competition is a good thing, but it is still unclear what need this truly meets, aside from answering the most common objection to online apps: what happens if you're offline?
If XIOS is embraced by the developer community, there's no end to what could be written for it. While XIOS will debut with a productivity suite and perhaps another application or two, XIOS "the OS" should not be confused with the applications themselves, which in the early days may amount to little more than proofs-of-concept. XIOS is an "operating system" in search of a killer app. Arthursson suggests that the portability of a user's workplace--accessible from any browser, anywhere--will be that killer app.

What will bring the developers to the table? This is perhaps Xcerion's most genuis move: XIOS was designed with monetization in mind, and developers will be able make money off their applications through user fees or advertising. It's "Software-as-a-Service" meets the proverbial lemonade stand, and Xcerion hopes that developers will come for the lemonade and stay for the money.

Apple targets Linux, Windows

When the Virginia Polytechnic and State University decided earlier this year that it wanted to deploy a supercomputer - and do it on a university budget - it, not surprisingly, turned to Dell. The idea was to cluster hundreds of Dell's low-cost, Intel-based boxes to create a system that could crunch numbers like a supercomputer, but without the hefty price tag.

But when it was about to sign the contract for hundreds of Dell's Itanium 2-based boxes, the server maker balked and backed out of the deal. Virginia Tech turned to Advanced Micro Devices, HP, IBM, Intel and Sun, but ultimately settled on a vendor that might come as a surprise to some network executives: Apple.

Today, the Terascale Cluster at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., consists of 1,100 of Apple's new 64-bit Power Mac G5 computers and is expected to be ranked as one of the fastest supercomputers on the planet. The price, which includes Mellanox Technologies InfiniBand networking and Cisco Gigabit Ethernet switches, was $5.2 million, compared with as much as $12 million that other vendors quoted.

"Basically, when we had just about given up hope, Apple announced the G5. The G5 has the IBM PowerPC 970 chip. That was our dream chip," says Kevin Shinpaugh, associate director of the Virginia Tech Terascale Facility. "It's inexpensive, it's 64-bit, it has fuse multiply-add, and it also has a very high clock rate."

Apple rolled out the G5 in June and more recently unveiled the latest iteration of its Unix-based operating system, Mac OS X 10.3, nicknamed Panther. Apple executives say they hope this updated operating system, which makes it easier to integrate Macs with existing Windows and Linux machines, along with higher performing hardware such as the G5, will help Apple gain more traction in enterprise data centers.

Today, Apple doesn't even make the list when analyst firms break out operating system market share for server operating environments. It falls in the "other" category for Unix systems, which accounted for 11% of the market in 2002, according to IDC. Meanwhile, Windows captured 55% of the market and paid shipments of Linux, which analysts say is the fastest-growing operating system, held 23% of the market.

Apple says it hopes to take a bigger bite of operating system market share by offering an alternative based on open standards that can fit into existing Windows, Linux or Unix environments. A plus for Apple is its pricing. Unlike Microsoft, which licenses per user, Apple sells Panther for just less than $1,000 for unlimited users. A 10-client license is $500.

Panther, which Apple says includes 150 new features, now offers tighter integration with Windows environments by using Samba 3, the latest version of an open source technology that enables transparent integration between Windows and Macs.

Panther also includes JBoss, the open source Java-based application server, so that any Java-based applications can run on the Mac systems. And a new Server Admin tool provides better management, including an automation capability that makes setting up a server rack as easy as deploying one server, says Tom Goguen, director of product marketing for server software for Apple. Enhanced directory and authentications services in Apple's Open Directory make linking to existing systems, such as Microsoft's Active Directory easier, too, he says.

"Where Apple is heading is the enterprise," says Joe Wilcox, a senior analyst at Jupiter Research. "With this release of OS X 10, there is improved support for Microsoft's Active Directory and new support for Exchange Server, so it's a very Windows-friendly release. At the same time, Apple has also bolstered support for Linux."

Because the operating system is based on BSD Unix, it has long been friendly to the Unix environment. However, in the past, Apple customers running Macs would transition to Unix machines when they wanted to run big applications.

"The Macs could only take them so far because of the capabilities of the operating system," Wilcox says. "There are a lot of installations that have Unix servers running alongside Macs. So now that everything is based on Unix at the core Apple is hoping to convert everything over to Macs."

At Virginia Tech, Shinpaugh is looking forward to deploying the new Panther operating system to take advantage of the G5's 64-bit capabilities. He also likes the enhanced manageability features in the new operating system, such as for handling Web servers and remote sites.

Virginia Tech set up its homegrown cluster itself with the help of dozens of students, working for nothing but pizza.

"What Virginia Tech did speaks volumes about the power of the Unix-based operating system, the price performance and the efforts we've put in to make things easy," Apple's Goguen says.

Linux Foundation updates Linux Standard Base

The Linux Foundation has updated its Linux Standard Base (LSB) server specification to include new automated testing toolkits to make it easier to develop applications for different distributions of the open-source operating system.


The move is part of the nonprofit industry consortium's main avowed mission to make the Linux operating system an attractive alternative to Microsoft's Windows.

Debuting in 2001, LSB is a set of interface standards created by the Free Standards Group (FSG), a nonprofit Linux consortium, designed to improve compatibility between Linux distributions so a developer can write an application for Linux and have it run on any distribution that's LSB-compliant. Most leading Linux distributions do comply with the LSB standard. These include Red Hat, Novell's Suse, Debian, Ubuntu, Mandriva and Xandros.

The FSG merged with the other leading Linux industry consortium, the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), earlier this year to create the Linux Foundation. The organisation has around 70 members including IT vendors, universities and end users. Its board of directors, announced last month, includes the founder of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, Mark Shuttleworth.

Along with the update to LSB 3.1, the Linux Foundation is also releasing a new testing toolkit -- the LSB Distribution Testkit, which the organization describes as the first automated open-source testing tool for the Linux platform.

"All the moving parts are coming together to give the Linux ecosystem its first testing framework that will coordinate development of upstream code to standards and downstream implementations," Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, said in a prepared statement. For any standard to be really effective, it requires a very strong and easy-to-use testing infrastructure, he added.

The LSB Distribution Testkit is the first fruit of a multimillion dollar project to develop a new LSB testing framework and features a Web-based front-end testing process. FSG announced the project back in November, which is being undertaken jointly with the Institute for Systems Programming of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The new framework aims at tightening the links between compatibility tests and code development.

The Linux Foundation is also making a lightweight download available, the LSB Application Testkit, for independent software vendors that just want to access the LSB validation tools needed to let them know whether their application is LSB-compliant.

203 Million Mobile Phones Will Use Linux Operating Systems by 2012, with 76 Million as RTOS Replacements

The Linux community is assaulting the mobile phone environment with a two-pronged attack that focuses on commercial operating system solutions and real-time operating system (RTOS) replacement. In a new study, ABI Research forecasts that by 2012, more than 127 million devices will be enabled with a commercial Linux OS, up from 8.1 million in 2007. Additionally, device shipments that incorporate Linux as an RTOS replacement are set to grow to more than 76 million units in 2012, up from nearly zero in 2007.


"Linux in the cellular phone is not a question of 'if', but 'when'," said research director Stuart Carlaw.

The new report, "Mobile Linux: Bringing License-Free Operating Systems to Smartphones and Mid-Tier Devices," found that the most fundamental issue that has plagued the growth of commercial Linux in this space—vertical and horizontal market fragmentation—has shown signs of being alleviated, both by growing collaboration between industry initiatives, and by the introduction of complete solutions such as the Trolltech-led GreenSuite, and ALP from ACCESS.

On the other side of the coin, issues with latency have prevented Linux being considered as a viable RTOS replacement in single-processor devices. But Carlaw pointed out that "Innovative solutions such as PREEMPT_RT, the VirtualLogix virtual operating environment, and the use of RTOS executives over Linux kernels, look set to deal with latency issues. However, the industry still needs to understand the total cost of ownership for Linux solutions, and it must create a common set of APIs to enable economies of scale for third-party developers."

Is the 'Web OS' just a geek's dream?

The idea of treating the Web like an operating system--and loosening dependence on Windows desktop applications--dates back to the Netscape browser's debut in the mid-1990s.

Technically, so-called Web OS software still relies on an underlying operating system, like Windows or Linux, to translate a user's actions to hardware functions. But proponents of the Web OS or "Webtops" are bringing more end user computing into the Web browser, arguably making the choice of operating system less important.

Companies like Salesforce.com and start-up YouOS have taken on the ambitious task of building what they refer to as an operating system for the Internet. Microsoft, too, has assembled a Windows Live Core team of engineers for building services that run in the Internet "cloud".

In another twist on the general idea, more services that replicate a computer desktop inside a Web browser are coming online. These Webtop products, also often referred to as a Web operating system, enable people to do most, if not all, of they want to do on the Web.

Laszlo Systems last month introduced what it calls Laszlo Webtop, software that lets users run multiple desktop-style applications within a browser.

For example, a person can run Laszlo's Web-based mail product along with a contact list manager and instant messaging in the same Web browser "container".

Laszlo's desktop-in-the-browser approach--which requires both server and client software--is a step up from interactive Web portals where people can move visual widgets around, said David Temkin, the company's chief technology officer.

"This is a lot more like what a full-blown operating system offers on the desktop than a portal page," he said. "It's not an operating system according to the technical definition. To the end user, though, it appears to be something like that."

Laszlo Flash-based applications are interactive and can share information with each other, such as e-mail addresses, and be programmed to tap into corporate data sources.

Webtop versus Web platform
While Laszlo Webtop is aimed at corporations looking to build rich Internet applications, there are a number of Webtop offerings aimed squarely at consumers. Typically, these provide the foundation to let people run a number of mini applications or widgets in a single browser window.

Goowy, for example, last year launched YourMinis, a Web service where people can combine different widgets that get information such as blog feeds and news through RSS (Really Simple Syndication).

Similarly, Desktoptwo is one of a handful of services that enables users to get to their data and applications like e-mail from any machine. TransMedia's Glide OS also aims to re-create the common desktop program list--word processor, e-mail, etc.--in a Web-based dashboard.

While many of these Webtop or Web OS services tend to be packaged for consumers, software developers are getting their due as well.

Just as Windows, Linux and Mac OS represent a platform on which others can build specialized applications, many Web sites offer application programming interfaces (APIs) to developers, a movement that has spurred thousands of mashup applications.

Salesforce.com, Google, eBay, Amazon.com and other Web heavyweights actively woo developers to build applications that use their services such as online maps or data.

Microsoft, the king of desktop software, has already begun building up a set of APIs for its Live-branded services. As reported by the blog LiveSide, it is now pushing ahead with a more comprehensive effort to provide operating system-like services from its data centers, with Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie at the helm.

What users want from Linux

Enhanced system management capabilities, better security, support for third-party drivers and more unity among the various distributions top user wish lists when it comes to Linux. They also would like to see more of their peers embrace the open source operating system as it evolves into a platform capable of supporting even the most-critical layers in the data center.

"One of the biggest hurdles that Linux has to overcome to be a bigger player in the enterprise is FUD [fear, uncertainty and doubt]," says Timothy Kennedy, a senior projects engineer at content-services firm YellowBrix in Alexandria, Va. "As Linux continues to prove itself in the enterprise, corporations are becoming more confident of the performance and savings that Linux offers. And with corporate support available [from companies like Dell, HP and IBM], it provides some peace of mind."

What follows is a wish list compiled from discussions with more than a dozen network professionals and Linux aficionados:
1. Monitoring tools

With Linux being deployed in more areas of the data center, users are looking for better ways to manage Linux systems - and easier ways to find those tools.

"When a machine hangs, I'd like to be able to create system dumps for analysis by others or myself. System tracing tools also would be very helpful in pinpointing problems," says Jeff Davis, technical lead at petroleum firm Amerada Hess in Houston. "Tools may exist, but I'm not aware of them. Better marketing of features of the Linux kernels would probably make locating new features easier for the busy systems administrator."

Davis adds that he'd like to see management tools focused on networked Linux machines that would enable him "to completely automate management of a large number of systems, reducing the day-to-day administration tasks and allowing me to focus on value-added tasks."

"Tools are becoming available and Linux is inherently open to this kind of management," he says.
2. Reliability

New versions of the Linux kernel have improved the operating system's reliability, but users say they could always use a more-hardened platform. Disaster-recovery options should be expanded, they say.

"LVM 2 [Logical Volume Management]/EVMS [Enterprise Volume Management System] and back-up software need to be improved," says Russell Coker, an engineer for a software company in Melbourne, Australia, that he asked not be identified. "Commonly used applications such as OpenLDAP need to be made cluster-aware."
3. Security

Security continues to be a big issue as backers position Linux as a Unix or Windows alternative in business networks. Efforts to steel the operating system, including the National Security Agency-backed Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) project, need to be embraced by vendors.

"Security is a problem. SELinux, plus better training of administrators, is needed," Coker says.

Bill Rugolosky, director of Telemetry Investments in New York City, agrees. "SELinux promises to make Linux a whole lot more secure, and given [recent attacks on Microsoft systems] events . . . very attractive to those currently . . . using Windows," he says.
4. Simplicity

Linux has the reputation of being overly complicated, and Linux users would like to see that image softened.

"It has long been perceived by some that installing and configuring Linux is some sort of impossible task, and only for experienced computer enthusiasts and professionals," says Peter Baylies, a computer consultant in Durham, N.C. "I don't think that this is necessarily the case anymore. The perception part of the problem can be remedied through appropriate marketing and training." Intuitive interfaces and good documentation would help create a more user friendly Linux, he adds.

"My ideal Linux operating system would be very user-configurable and responsive, and would have a standard and consistent interface for system configuration," Baylies says. "It would allow a novice to customize the environment as much as possible. Also, it would need very little maintenance, while still keeping the system up-to-date."

5. Hardware support

Users are asking for better support for things such as third-party drivers, printer management and graphic interfaces.

"I have certain drivers and pieces of software that require a specific version of the Linux kernel," Hess' Davis says. "This makes it difficult in some cases to put various pieces together on the same system or to keep up with kernel fixes and security updates. Many vendors ship drivers that I can build into any kernel, making the kernel decision mine."

As for printing, Davis says that today he has to create and manage printers individually for each Linux system. "Every time I have to visit all the systems that need access to the printer," he says. "Some sort of directory allowing users to locate and connect to printers on their own would be very nice."
6. Cohesiveness

Users don't want to see Linux go the way of Unix, where vendors created their own proprietary versions that made it difficult to port applications to one from another. A more-cohesive approach would result in a better operating system, they say.

"I would like to see more-united Linux development," says Gabriel Kihlman, a software developer at financial application firm Univits International in Stockholm, Sweden. "The patchwork that a Linux distribution is today does not inspire confidence. The BSD operating systems have a more unified distribution, which does not change as much [with] each new release. The difference between the major distributions is a big drawback."
7. Applications

Some users running Linux have found limitations when it comes to software deployment and would like to see a broader range of applications supported, both on the server and desktop.

"Support for Windows-based applications would be a definite plus," says Bill Hicks, senior vice president of technology and CIO at Precision Response, a customer-care services firm in Miami. "We are currently investigating the feasibility of running Linux as a desktop solution. The challenge for us is there is a wide range of third-party applications we must support or integrate at the desktop. This volume of application support makes Linux a challenge on the desktop side. However, there are niches for us to use Linux at the desktop, with candidates being 3270 emulation and base CRM environments."
8. Skilled developers

Linux is becoming more widely deployed in corporate data centers, but users say that training for Linux programmers is lagging.

"We need more skilled Linux programmers," the Australian software company's Coker says. "To solve this we need programmer's special interest groups at user conferences and we need more university support for open source programming. Many universities just teach students how to program on Windows, and as a result they don't get to learn much (if anything) about how a computer really works. Then when it comes to debugging race conditions, network programming, or library code they don't have a clue about what to do."
9. GUI

Network execs would like to see an easier-to-use and better-performing GUI.

"[Linux] is still command-line-oriented. I don't consider that a drawback, but newbies would mostly come from the Windows world and that flashing command prompt is intimidating," says Tom Bakken, information resource manager at U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in Temple, Texas.
10. Consolidation

Instead of having basic tools spread around the operating system, users would like to see them all in one easy-to-find location.

"I would go more toward the BSD world and collect all the base tools into one big repository and maintain it together," Univits' Kihlman says. "This would remove a lot of extra work and free resources for GUI and application enhancements."