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Re: What a Week!



Hi,

I'll be going to Germany for Pessach and might bring back a SuSE Developer
Pack (many CDs, incl. SuSE Linux, no book, many packages & sources). If
someone is interested, that migth will turn into a will :-). Also, if
someone needs a speciality from there, contact me personally to see wether
I can help.

Schlomo

On Sat, 28 Mar 1998, Eli Marmor wrote:

> Wow!  What a week!
> 
> It looks as everybody has waited till late March '98, to announce
> his software and/or new release and/or candidate release. I don't
> remember a month (and maybe even a year) with so many news and
> updates (regarding to Linux, open source, etc.) like this week
> (and next week; some of the announcements refer to next week, or
> another soon date):
> 
> KERNEL:
> ======
> In paraller to the stable path (pre-2.0.34 was announced today), the
> betas enhance quickly: pre-2.1.92 was announced today (28.3.98), and
> the final (2.2) is nearer than ever. The folks of GGI set an
> ultimatum ("if GGI will not be included in 2.2, we will move to
> another UNIX"), and if Linus will not surrender (Linus, don't be
> afraid, we are all behind you!), a candidate revision is expected
> soon!
> 
> Distributions:
> =============
> RedHat: According to rumors, RedHat is expected to announce 5.1 very
>         soon.
> Debian: Current version is 1.3.1, but codefreeze of 2.0 is available
>         since this week (25.3.98), and final 2.0 is expected soon.
>         Note: this version will include libc6.
> S.u.S.E:5.2 was announced this week, and can be ordered now. To be
>         available in a few days. This version is capable of running
>         Java Workshop!
> 
> Open Source Software for Linux and Others:
> =========================================
> Apache: In parallel to the stable versions (1.2.6 was announced this
>         week on 24.3.98), 1.3b6 is expected in the next week, and
>         as it looks, 1.3b7 will be the last before the final release
>         will be ready (probably on April).
> GTK+:   0.99.9 was announced yesterday (27.3.98), the final version
>         (1.0) to be ready in a few days!
> GiMP:   0.99.23 was announced yesterday (27.3.98), the final version
>         (1.0) to be ready in a few days.
> Mesa:   (an OpenGL clone) 3.0beta3 was announced this week (24.3.98)
>         The final 3.0 to be ready soon.
> PHP3:   Finally, after 4 alphas and 6 betas, Release Candidate was
>         announced this week (23.3.98), and the official 3.0 is
>         expected in a few days.
> Mozilla:The full source code of Netscape 5.0 beta, to be available
>         in 3 days !!!
> 
> Free Databases:
> ==============
> PostgreSQL: After many months without any news or change, 2 (!) new
> versions were announced this week (6.3, 6.3.1). Although the major
> number (6) was not changed, there is a real reason to celebrate.
> 
> MySQL: 2.21.27 Gamma was announced today; It is still not the final
> version, but after many alphas, betas, and even 4 gammas, the final
> version looks nearer than ever (next week?)
> 
> Samba: After a long wait, 1.9.18p4 was announced yesterday (27.3.98)
> and according to the development team, the next major version is
> expected soon.
> 
> Java Stuff:
> ==========
> JDK 1.2: The 3rd beta was announced this week (23.3.98), and
> according to Sun, it is going to be the last beta before the Release
> Candidate (but not soon  :-(  ).
> 
> Java Activator: Yes! The tool that will allow us to be free of the
> bundled JVM of the browsers, and use Sun's JVM instead of Microsoft
> or Netscape's JVMs. Current version is Early Access 3, but according
> to Sun, the final release is expected in a few days!
> 
> JServ: Well, the news is only that it is going to leave its alpha
> stage and entering its beta phase, by the near 0.9.11 release, but
> since it is already usable, it is important news (JServ allows
> Apache developers to use server-side Java serlets, which are the
> future replacement of CGI and other scripts).
> 
> Summary:
> =======
> The revolution didn't begin this week; Since the beginning of '98,
> a bunch of new software and versions was announced, some of them to
> have strong impact in the future (for example, FreeType 1.0 which
> was announced 2 months ago, is a core technology, and we will feel
> its revolutionary impact only in the following months, when various
> tools which will be based on it, will be ready). But it looks that
> everybody wants to be ready before the launching of Windows 98.
> Even non-UNIX operating systems for x86, are doing their best to
> be ready before Microsoft, such as BeOS 3.0 for x86 (the first BeOS
> to run on x86 processors, announced this week) and Novell's NetWare
> 5.0 (no date was specified). If this rate of announcements will
> continue, then we are going to have a hot spring!
> 
> -- 
> Eli Marmor
> 
>