cpfeifer writes "Building browser-based java applications has involved a mixed bag of server side technologies (servlets, JSPs), client side technologies (HTML, Javascript) and frameworks (webmacro, Struts, Taglibs, Velocity). As these technologies appeared and matured, "The Right Way" (tm) to build web applications evolved to be an application of the classic model-view-controller pattern." Below is Craig's review of Struts in Action, a book which attempts to illustrate a successful path to making sure that web applications are designed the right way.

Saqib Ali asks: "A Tomcat/Cocoon setup can be used as a framework for publishing XML content. I have this setup running in testing environment for about 5 months now, and would like to move it into production. Is anyone using a similar setup and can comment on Tomcat's ability in handling the load from a production environment, or should we look at other Java Servlet engines like BEA, Jetty or Resin? If Open Source solutions can't work under these kind of pressure what should we be looking at in terms of different commercial solutions for publishing XML content?" A similar question with respect to Tomcat and Jetty was discussed in this previous discussion. What effects does using Cocoon have on Tomcat-based environments?

Gentu writes "OSNews had a quick chat with John Fowler, Sun Software's CTO about Solaris 10, Java, the web services competition and more. In the interview, Fowler reveals the timing in which Gnome2 will become the default desktop environment: Solaris 10, which is expected to have its first beta later in 2003. This is a huge step for Gnome2 in the UNIX world, as it will be replacing CDE for good as the default desktop environment (betas of Gnome 2 for Solaris 8/9 already exist) and becoming a standard part of the large operating environment with millions of installations worldwide. Additionally, Sun is now pushing developers on coding on either GTK+ 2.x or Java (they have in fact revealed plans on creating GTK+ bindings for Java which will make all future Solaris apps look like alike)."

linuxjack55 writes "Kerneltrap is reporting a data-corrupting bug in the ext3 code of kernel 2.4.20. The scope of the problem (and workarounds) are described in the article, which also includes a link to an interesting interview with kernel hacker Andrew Morton. In it, he states that the '2.4.x core has only stabilized very recently' and the 2.4.x kernel is 'even now...in a late beta state.' He was also asked when the 2.4 kernel could be considered stable. His reply: 'Six months, perhaps?' If that prediction is accurate, 2.6.x could arrive before a 'stable' version of 2.4.x does." (The interview with Morton is from last February -- how stable you consider 2.4 right now is up to you.)

An anonymous reader writes "Todd Cranston-Cuebas, tech recruiter for Ticketmaster, offers insider tips and tricks for landing an open-source job -- or for recruiting new talent to your IT staff." Make yourself googleable.

An anonymous reader writes "Over the weekend, the PS2reality team released the first working Divx player for the Playstation 2. Site is in spanish, so try using babel for translation. Works with Divx 3 and up. You can also swap your avi cd-roms if you have a modchip or you can use the other various swap techniques out there for the PS2. Divx player does require some way of booting the homebrew program, either no-swap modchip or modchip+bootdisc( e.g swap magic, gameshark, etc.) would work."

An anonymous reader writes "This story offers some interesting performance comparisons between the latest stable Linux kernels (2.4.x) and the latest development Linux kernels (2.5.x), comparing performance on both a single processor and dual processors. These numbers help validate that the upcoming 2.6 kernel will outperform the current 2.4 kernel, at least in some instances..."

An anonymous reader writes "Andrew Morton alerted readers of the Linux Kernel mailing list today that ext3 in the 2.4.20 kernel has a new bug that can easily cause file data corruption at unmount time. The bug will only affect people using ext3 in "data=journal" mode, which fortunately is not the default... Full details can be read on KernelTrap."

Lathiat writes "Well its happening! In the last year or so, the use of IPv6 has been booming with the advent of news web sites, increasingly popular tunnel brokers and simply more users! So I have decided to run a mini-conference prior to Linux.Conf.Au. Linux.conf.au is the Australian Technical Linux Conference - it tours around the Australian cities every year organised by the local LUG in that region - this year it is being hosted by PLUG - The Perth Linux Users Group in Perth, Western Australia. The speaker line up for 2003 is looking to be great and is now available on the website - see http://www.linux.conf.au You can register for the IPv6 mini-conference at http://ipv6.ztsoftware.net/register.php and view the current schedule at http://ipv6.ztsoftware.net/schedule.php The IPv6 mini-conference will be held before the start of linux.conf.au on Monday 20th January. To attend the IPv6 Conference - you must also attend the main conference ... or else ... The IPv6 mini-conference is included with every ticket to linux.conf.au! That's two for the price of one - also running on the second day will be the Linux Gaming Mini Conference - for all your fragging needs - as well as the educationaLinux and Debian mini-conferences. We are also looking for more speakers! We currently have 2-3 slots open for other speakers to participate - so give Trent 'Lathiat' Lloyd an email at lath-ipv6(AT)irc-desk(DOT)net - and check out the website at http://ipv6.ztsoftware.net/ (Its IPv6 Connected too!) Well I hope to see all of you registering, coming along and having a LOT of fun, if you have any question just give me a yell - lath-ipv6(AT)irc-desk(DOT)net. - Trent Lloyd (IPv6 Mini-Conference Organiser)" If you've never been to this conference I highly reccomend it.

TMDC Organizing writes "There's less than two weeks left to the fifth pseudoannual text mode demo compo submission deadline. The web-submission system is finally online, and you can also chat about TMDC5 on ircnet #tmdc5. Even if you haven't started on an entry yet, there's still time!"

rtaylor writes "Nearly a year's worth of work is out. The new tricks include schema support, prepared queries, dependency tracking, improved privileges, table (record) based functions, improved internationalization support, and a whole slew of other new features, fixes, and performance improvements. Release Email - Download Here - Mirror FTP sites (at bottom)."

ilovestuff writes "Sun Microsystems is building a Java-based development kit for its StarOffice software to help corporate programmers customise desktop applications, a move that better pits it against Microsoft's dominant Office. The software development kit will be available in the middle of next year as part of a minor upgrade to the business version of Sun's StarOffice 6.0, said Joerg Heilig, director of engineering for StarOffice at Sun."

Arjen writes "Artima has had a conversation with Martin Fowler, one of the gurus on software development today. It consists of six parts. Parts one, two, three, and four are available now; the rest will appear the next weeks."

jimdesu writes "True to its religion, MIT has reinvented LISP again, this time as a web-programming language called Water.At first blush, it looks rather interesting. It supports hashes, vectors and objects (prototype based) in a manner that makes it look as much like XML as one could possibly conceive. I'm certainly going to play with it. Anyway, the url is at http://www.waterlang.org."

cconnell writes "In my last article, I presented the idea that all commercial source code should be open. In other words, part of the delivery package for any software purchase should be a copy of the source files. If everyone saw software vendors' design and coding, the vendors might stop shipping us such lousy programs. The article generated a fair amount of controversy. My latest piece follows up on this idea and includes a few adjustments that respond to reader feedback."

An anonymous reader writes: "I'm a huge OS X/Gnome fan, but still highly respect the KDE project. I still try and keep up with it's developments and recently came across this posting on KDELook which proposed a totally new GUI design for KDE, which I think could be quite easily adopted in other environments as well. A rolling Slashdot discussion I think would help keep the open-source innovation going. Thoughts?" Update: 11/27 20:12 GMT by T : Amended to give credit where due, which in this case is to the anonymous submitter :)

descubes writes "A recent article asked about improvements in programming. Concept programming is a very simple idea to improve programming: program code should reflect application-domain concepts. What is amazing is not the idea itself, but how often we don't apply it, and how much existing tools and techniques can get in the way without us even realizing it. To be able to represent all concepts equally well, we need tools that don't force a particular, restricted vocabulary on us. The Mozart project is a Free Software project to implement concept-programming development tools. It includes the Coda universal intermediate language, the Melody persistent program representation, the Moka Java-to-Java extensible compiler, and a fairly advanced front-end for a new programming language called XL. In the long run, Mozart can give the Free Software community a foundation for something as powerful as Charles Simonyi's Intentional Programming."

woyouwenti writes "Nature is doing an overview on computational biology. Fascinating stuff if you haven't seen before. I especially like the overview by David Searls including my favorite new science category - "Protein Linguistics"..."

developerWorks writes "Studies by industry analysts forecast even greater demand for wireless and mobile devices, creating substantial opportunities for wireless device application and service providers. Faced with an increasingly difficult challenge in raising both average revenue per user (ARPU) and numbers of subscribers, wireless carriers and their partners are developing a host of new products, services, and business models based on data services. This article looks at location-based services, security, and how they boost both service and revenue."

An anonymous reader writes "In this article at LinuxDevices.com, Jerry Epplin takes a detailed look Qplus, an open source embedded Linux toolkit, examining what the project has accomplished -- and what is still to be done. Epplin concludes that "...The introduction of Qplus is certain to be a welcome development for developers who have been hoping for a pure open source embedded Linux toolkit. It is already an impressively capable kit, with suitably ambitious goals and a well-designed infrastructure to achieve them.""