Rexx is a scripting language that was invented at IBM years ago. The Linux community has largely ignored Rexx, but I believe it could play an important role in Linux's challenge to the Windows desktop. How can a language many in the Linux community have never even heard of be valuable in Linux's fight for the desktop?
A totally new release of Knoppix was unveiled at LinuxTag 2005, Knoppix 4.0. This is the release that introduces the split between "maxi" DVD and "mini" CD releases. I've tried out the 4.0 DVD and let me tell you, I'm like a kid in a candy store.
L33tdawg: If I had an iPod you can be sure I'd definitely give this a go. I think the flexibility of being able to go back to the native iPod OS will entice more people to give this a try :) Much love to icebear42 for the heads up on this story.
According to the Linux watching web site, DistroWatch, there are more than 400 Linux and BSD distributions currently available and active. Many of these exist with many versions, giving thousands of possible options to choose from.
L33tdawg: Hey Theo -- when are you coming down to KL again mate? :)
Theo de Raadt is a pioneer of the open source software movement and a huge proponent of free software. But he is no fan of the open source Linux operating system.
"It's terrible," De Raadt says. "Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is. And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and saying, 'This is garbage and we should fix it.'"
A configuration mistake in the new Debian Linux distribution has forced a fix less than 24 hours after the software was released.
"New installations [of Debian 3.1 from CD and DVD] will not get security updates by default," said Debian developer Colin Watson in an e-mail warning. Installations from floppy disks or network servers were not affected.
The Debian Project has finally released a long-anticipated new version of its widely-used Linux distribution.
In a statement, project leaders said salient improvements in the distribution included improved installation routines and software selection tools, as well as integrated cryptography and the inclusion for the first time of Sun Microsystem's OpenOffice.org office suite.
Linux From Scratch (LFS) and its descendants represent a new way to teach users how the Linux operating systems work. LFS is based on the assumption that compiling a complete operating system piece by piece not only teaches how the operating system works but also allows an independent operator to build systems for speed, footprint, or security.
A retired university lecturer in Australia has come up with the latest twist on Linux, fielding a distribution of the operating system that takes little memory and can boot directly off of a USB thumb drive.
Dubbed Puppy Linux, the OS is one of dozens of custom and guerilla variants on Linux circulating throughout the broader software community. (Many are tracked on the Distrowatch open-source Web site.) But Puppy appears to be catching on, attracting recent attention on Slashdot in the wake of the release in May of Puppy Linux version 1.0.2.
British researchers are turning to Linux and embedded processors to build a fleet of tiny, robotic helicopters capable of swarming like angry bees and evaluating their surroundings with a single hive mind.
