See also: last week's Back page page.

Linux links of the week

Rob Kennedy's Linux-howto.com site has a new look, and a new URL at howto.tucows.com. All of the useful documentation material remains, and he has added other features, such as recent kernel patches and more. Worth a look.

In the same reorganization, the Tucows "Linuxberg" site has been moved to linux.tucows.com.

Section Editor: Jon Corbet

Letters to the editor

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 11:20:47 -0700
From: Greg Woods <woods@ucar.edu>
To: lwn@lwn.net
Subject: Kicking the Heathens

[In reference to http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/TJMiller/TJMiller1.html]

I have to say I agreed with this article 100%. In fact, I have to tell
my Libertarian friends this all the time: you don't win many converts by
insulting people. "If you don't see things the way I do than you must
really be a dumb ass" doesn't help people to see the light. It is one
thing to disagree with someone and argue your case, and another to
insult somebody's intelligence. I've even had religious zealots
criticize me because my systems are all dual boot. I run both Windows
and Linux, because there are many things Linux does better (such as
anything having to do with networking or the Internet) but there are
some apps (yes, sometimes including the kewl games) that I want to run
that, for various reasons, I can't run on Linux. And I don't want to be
called a traitor to the cause for it. I don't care much for religious
zealots. I run Linux because in many cases it is a better value than
Windows (how can it not be when it's free) and not because of any
religious convictions about open source. If the open source software
does what I want, I will use it. If Windows does what I want, I will use
it. 

--Greg

Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 23:32:26 -0500
From: Ambrose Li <acli@acli.interlog.com>
To: letters@lwn.net
Subject: certification stuff

"Is Linux professional certification really necessary?" Actually, is
professional certification really necessary? This is being asked not
only in the Linux circle, but also in the general sysadmin (USENIX) and
software development (IEEE/ACM) communities. (In fact, the same seems
to be happening elsewhere, in graphic design.) "Certainly not everyone
is sold on this point." Yes (and I'm only half-sold on this point, like
most poeple I suppose), but it seems that certification is coming.

I wonder how many Microsoft certified engineers can legally call
themselves engineers though (i.e., have a P.E. license); I'm sure we
can sue most of them and win in court :-)

Cheers,
-- 
Ambrose Li                   <ai337@freenet.toronto.on.ca>
                              http://www.interlog.com/~acli/
                    "A good style should show no sign of effort;
what is written should seem a happy accident." -- Somerset Maugham.

Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 19:03:58 -0500
From: "Jay R. Ashworth" <use-reply-to-address@gte.net>
To: editor@lwn.net, cameron@camworld.com, wesf@cs.utexas.edu,
Subject: RANT: The great merger mania...

Am I the only one?

Am I the only one who's tired of every company thinking that they have
to own every other company on earth?  This is why I've come to hate the
public stock market...

We're likely to see this, in the specific case of RedHat, and I hope Bob
and Marc have the balls to stand firm.  Yes, it is the responsibility of
the management to manage the company to the benefit of the board, and
thereby the stockholders.

But who defines what's "the benefit"?

In today's market, that seems to be being defined by the unwashed masses
who own the stock.  And we don't buy stock to help a company anymore, or
even to be able to say we own it -- we buy it to make money.  It is my
view that it is the job of the board of directors of any public company,
having been made confident that the long term plans of the management
will work, to _insulate_ the management from the slings and arrows of
outrageous stockholders.

Greed, in a word, is bad.

I just hope some prominent public companies start recognizing this, and
acting _very publically_ in accord with the corollaries thereto...
before the entire house of cards comes down around us.

Cheers,
-- jra
Jay R. Ashworth
jra@baylink.com

Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1999 17:56:41 -0600
From: Scotty Orr <scottyo@tenbits.com>
To: lwn@lwn.net
Subject: World Domination in Sight

Hi,
Whenever I go to a store that sells computer software,
I always go check to see how the "Linux section" is
stacking up (don't you?).  CompUSA has the largest
Linux section of the stores I check.  It makes me feel good.

Now, Wal-Mart is not my favorite place to shop,
but whenever I *must* go there  for some reason,  I
(like many of you other closet Wal-Mart shoppers) always
go back to the electronics department to see  what they
might have, AND to see if  Linux has been "mainstreamed"
yet.  I know it's a strange yardstick, but I always thought that
if Linux could ever make it to Wal Mart, well.....

Well, it has happened.  A boxed version of Linux has
appeared on the shelves at Wal-Mart in Sedalia, MO.
And much to my surprise, it was a very current version.
Macmillans Linux 6.5 (which is Mandrake 6.1 with PM,
XFree86 3.3.5 AND Linux kernel 2.2.13!) was right there
on a shelf at eye level (for $29.95).

This may seem  trivial to you, but in my mind, it is a huge
milestone!  I mean....think of it....You can now buy Linux
even at Wal-Mart in Sedalia, Missouri!!  WOW!

Scotty Orr