A little while back, I wrote a review of SuSE 8.0 professional in which I reported to have a problem with getting 3D working with my ATI Rage 128 card. Thanks to some help from Alex Jensen, here’s how I was able to fix my problem. This also works for a number of ATI, 3Dfx, Intel and Matrox cards.According to the SuSE Support Database, SuSE Linux 8.0 does not include the package xf86_glx. This problem affects the following chipsets:

• 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee
• 3Dfx Voodoo-3/4/5
• Intel i810/i815/i830
• Matrox G200/G400/G450/G550
• ATI FireGL 1/2/3/4
• ATI FireGL 8700/8800
• ATI Rage 128(Pro)/Radeon

You can find the full details of the problem at http://sdb.suse.de/en/sdb/html/xf86glx_int.html.

To solve this problem, you simply have to download
the xf86_glx package from either SuSE YOU or from another source, such as RPMfind.net. Install it, re-start X and you’re ready to frag!

Again, thanks to Alexander Jensen for this information.

Sources:
http://sdb.suse.de/en/sdb/html/xf86glx_int.htmlhttp://at.rpmfind.net/opsys/linux/RPM/suse.com/i386/7.3/suse/x1/xf86_glx-4.1.0-63.i386.html

News.com reports that “RealNetworks on Monday unveiled a new open-source version of its streaming media technology that supports multiple file formats for audio and video, including those that use Microsoft’s Windows Media technology.”

eWeek:Borland Software Corp. is beefing up its Linux development tool this week with new support for C++, along with existing support for Borland’s Delphi.
Borland’s Kylix 3, which will be unveiled Tuesday, delivers new functionality to the Scotts Valley, Calif., company’s Linux tool, including expanded support for Web services and compliance with Web services standards, Borland officials said.” Read more here.

The Washington Post writes: “Wal-Mart, the most mass-market retailer imaginable, is committing an outrageous form of computing heresy: On its Web site, it’s selling Windows-compatible personal computers without Windows… To make this break with industry tradition, Wal-Mart didn’t work with experienced Linux distributors such as Red Hat. It went with Lindows.com, a San Diego start-up headed by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson… If only the Lindows PC I tested lived up to its advance publicity.”

Cheerleader writes: “If we really want to achieve growing presence on user desktops, writes Lou Grinzo in a Guest Essay on Linux and Main, we need to take a long look at what the user wants and what the user hates.”

BeachID writes: “This interview just published has Linux Cookbook author Michael Stutz
discussing the future of copyleft and how Linux and democracy are related. It’s a very interesting read.”

TheRegister reports on Perens’ reaction to RealNetworks’ Open Source announcement. “Perens welcomed the move as a first-step from the Seattle company, and expressed the hope there would be more. He stopped short of describing his comments as an endorsement.”

bryam writes:
ZDNet brings us the news: Realnetworks response to Microsoft Media trends with the Open Source platform Helix. Here the link to Helix Community project (hosted by Collab) and here the link to the licenses. The licenses say: ‘This license will be submitted to the Open Source Initiative for certification as an open source license. We believe it follows the Open Source Definition. It contains some “copyleft” provisions along the lines of the GPL, but also clears up patent issues and allows contributed changes to be put back into the pool for the entire community.'”

dotMac writes: “Dan Burcaw, co-founder, CTO, and lead developer of the biggest PPC Linux distribution, YellowDog, believes that ‘The big thing preventing more Mac users from trying Linux is ease-of-use. Linux on the desktop has a ways to go before it meets or exceeds the ease-of-use of Mac OS.’ A few interesting other points can be found at his interview at OSNews.”

– by Tina Gasperson –
RealNetworks, the company that brings us the Real Player, announced today that it is launching Helix, an open standard for multimedia application development and deployment. The Helix platform brings with it standardized APIs that will allow playback of most multimedia formats, including .wmf (Windows Media Player), .mov (Quicktime), and .rm (Real).In a press conference staged at the O’Reilly Open Source Convention and broadcast live on the Internet, RealNetworks CEO and founder Rob Glaser talked about the Helix OS-independent platform, the Helix development community, and Helix application development. Brad Hefta-Gaub, v.p. of product development, performed a live demonstration of a Helix Universal Server running all three of the “big” media file formats simultaneously, along with an IP-enabled handheld device running mpeg4, and a Nokia cellular phone streaming radio over the Net.

The company trotted out Open Source luminaries Bruce Perens (HP/Compaq), Brian Behlendorf (CollabNet), and Eric Raymond, as well as several industry partners, in support of its licensing schemes. Glaser said that Helix is being released under two licenses; the RealNetworks Public Source License (RPSL) and the RealNetworks Community Source License (RCSL). According to the CEO, the entire system will be released under the community source license, and various portions of the Helix system will also be available under the RPSL, which follows the Free Software Foundation’s copyleft philosophy more closely.

The licenses are 0.9 drafts and have not been submitted to the Open Source Institute for approval yet, but Glaser says the company is waiting on more feedback from the community and industry before doing so.

Glaser admits the company is working to “change the rules” of the industry, and it does appears that Real is battling against Microsoft’s planned dominance in the Internet multimedia arena. Real says that Helix has created standard APIs that are licensable to OEM partners and community members.

Glaser says the project will probably include Ogg Vorbis support.

Perens mentioned what he called a reverse-engineered Microsoft codec, with regard to the Windows Media Player compatibility, and asked if Real could release the source code for that. Glaser was quick to point out that he didn’t consider it reverse-engineered, but “clean room” engineered. He was non-committal about releasing the source code for that particular codec, but didn’t rule it out.

The Helix Universal Server is being released today by RealNetworks, with support from Boeing Corporation, Deutsche Telekom, Exodus, HP, IBM, J-Stream, NASA, Network Appliance, Northwestern University, Speedera Networks, Sun Microsystems, and Volera.

Other products are scheduled for release in the coming year, including the Helix DNA client, which will play all media formats, which should be available within 90 days.