Where does Linux go from here?, Oct 21, 2007

Linux is now mainstream -- so mainstream, in fact, that two of the top three Linux distributions are commercially successful operations, and the third aims to be. Every day, more and more old-school IT firms shake off their initial doubts, get in line behind their customers, and try Linux and other free software projects.

The GPLv3 debates are drawing to a close. By the end of the year, it may have become reality. Whether or not the Linux kernel team will adopt the new license, however is still up for debate. Linus Torvalds is not as fervently anti-GPLv3 as he was in earlier renditions of the license, but he still isn't ready to support a wholesale move to it, either.

Following his second presentation of his talk on the status of GPLv3, Professor Moglen sat down with me for an exclusive interview. We discussed his departure from the Free Software Foundation; his personal history with Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel; the battle with Microsoft over its patent agreement with Novell; his history with free software; and what he would like for his students, for programmers, and even for reporters on the fringes of media corporations to learn about how to change the world.

Tremulous is the best free software FPS game I've had the pleasure of playing, and I'm not alone in this opinion. It also has a community growing up around it, which should aid not only in growing its popularity but also in continuing improvements.

Anytime I read of Microsoft "reaching out" to someone, the hackles on the back of my neck appear and I hunker down into a defensive position.

A new live CD from the Kororaa Project is making big waves in the Linux community, because it provides an easy way to see and use Xgl, the X server graphics technology that's the hottest thing to hit the Linux desktop since the blinking cursor.

Ken Starks is a man with a mission: He wants to see Linux succeed on the desktop. To that end, Starks has been beating the drum for Linux on his Lobby4Linux Web site the past year or so. More recently, he has launched something called The Austin Project, which has since been renamed to Linux4Austin. The project aims to bring desktop Linux to the attention of the masses with a radio ad campaign.

Torvalds says that the Linux kernel "in general" has always been covered under version 2 of the GPL, and that that isn't going to change.

A recent Slashdot offering entitled A Look At Windows Server Outselling Linux pointed to a story on CoolTechZone with the absurd title of "Linux is Doomed, Thanks to Microsoft." The story, title and all, is one of the most egregiously wrong reports of the century. Here's why.

Just like in other towns across the region, volunteers from the Austin Linux Group are pitching in to help in the recovery from the devastation of Katrina.

In a recent review article of SUSE 9.3 Professional, I discussed the advantages of using a common distribution to administer CUPS and more easily share a locally attached printer across a LAN. A reader comment about using a network-ready printer instead made me consider that alternative for multi-OS environments where a common platform is not a possibility. I am now the proud owner of a Deskjet 6840, a color inkjet printer by Hewlett-Packard (HP).

For the past several weeks, I've been running my home office LAN exclusively on SUSE 9.3 Professional. I found this latest version, released in March, to be an excellent implementation of the Linux operating system. It brings Linux's levels of ease of use and configurability to an all-time high.

Keep in mind that the GtF campaign did not represent a turn away from honest advertising, but rather continued a policy of deception.

I recently asked Linus Torvalds for his thoughts on the relative strengths and weaknesses of Linux and BSD, and about how much synergy there might be between the Linux kernel and the BSDs.

The report's wording is often misleading, and sometimes it's simply wrong. Let's start with the headline: "Most Mid-sized companies not interested in Linux." Not even the numbers in the study support that contention.

We spoke with the three primary figures involved in the dispute -- Larry McVoy, Linus Torvalds, and Andrew "Tridge" Tridgell -- to learn what happened and whether it could have been avoided.

... I still believe it is hard to be a pure open source company, if you want to do software development. If you want to do consulting, that's fine, but the kind of companies that just produce software, as pure open source, is incredibly hard.

The Linux kernel is the poster-boy for GPLd software. It's become the little OS who could, the bumblebee who could fly, the impossible notion that a bunch of kids on the Internet could create the most successful operating system in history come true. All of that has happened at least partly because of the GPL.

I've been running the recently released Deluxe Edition of Xandros Desktop OS for the past week. Xandros 3 has proven to be all that I hoped for, and more. This release should prove a good fit for many, combining the ease of use and elegant good looks that Xandros brings to the table with the underlying power and stability of Debian.

The Linux Show -- an original Internet radio offering -- is shutting down. It's been part of the Linux and Internet scene for seven years, but it has run into financial difficulties and lack of sponsors make it impossible to continue.