According to the EarthWeb article:

"The rapid release cycle of Linux distributions is a major stumbling block to wide acceptance of Linux as a consumer operating system."

If you want to run certain distributions of Linux (e.g. Red Hat), then you have to be prepared to do constant SysAdmin work keeping your system running the most current version of software. In many cases, new releases are immediately followed by a sequence of patches that fix defects found with the new releases. In many instances the defects are related to system security.

I agree completely with the following EarthWeb quote:

"There are several good books about Linux in general. However, many new users want to get a book on the current version of their distribution. The rapid release cycle of Linux distributions makes it near impossible to keep a current book on the shelves, particularly when you consider the time it takes to develop and publish a book."

"Debian GNU/Linux produces official revisions very slowly, and in their own time. They're not driven by a desire to capture commercial market share or maximize profit. However, the Debian release cycle is closer to that of traditional software, and Debian has a built-in consumer protection policy in the form of apt-get."

Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, writes a book discussing how he wrote operating system, its effects on computing, and so on. The book is titled JUST FOR FUN: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary. It is schedule for publishment on 01 May 2001. Here is press release about the book.

Bonus Item: KevinM has installed and is running Linux-Mandrake ["The Friendly Linux" -- I wonder how they define friendly?]

IBM Builds Biggest Phalanx of Linux Computers for Shell

Petroleum giant Royal Dutch Shell will purchase 1,024 IBM eServers, running Red Hat Linux, to build a large-scale server cluster for its exploration and production division.

"IBM will invest nearly $1 billion in Linux software and Linux-related systems during 2001. IBM has already invested close to $1 billion in the course of making Linux a central pillar of the company's software strategy during the past year."

[Definition] Phalanx means "a compact or close-knit group."

Zona polled 109 IT professionals with purchasing authority in small, medium, and large firms. Almost two-thirds of respondents said there were l00 or fewer Linux users in their organizations, and nearly half of these indicated that 25 or fewer used the operating system. Currently, most Linux implementations are limited to pilot programs or departmental deployments. Only 24 percent of respondents said their companies had made a firm commitment to using open source solutions in the future. [ More... from Zona Research.] [01 December 2000, top]

   GE Access extends an invitation for you to enroll in your next Sun 
   course at our Phoenix, Arizona Training Center:

   SA238 - Solaris 8 System Administration I 5 days 
           Dates:  10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 11/27, 12/11, 1/8, 1/22
           List Price: $2,495    

You have some comments about Sun Solaris training in your Unix & Linux Logger. I've taken the SysAdmin I class and the corresponding certification test and I think it's a great class. I learned a huge amount of info about Solaris in it and passed the test with no problem. On the other hand, I took HP's SysAdmin I class and thought it was terrible.

Please remember that vi has been ported to Windows and works well on the OS [sign of a well written program; solid source code base]. I'm mad at Microsoft right now. Good thing Gates donates to good causes; otherwise, I might accidently tell him to /* this is C code */ goto hell_o_world;

We need an experienced Unix programmer to teach an Introductory Unix course at Scottsdale Community College. The course assumes students are computer literate, but have little or no Unix experience -- we assume they have never logged onto a Unix system before. It is a fun class. The students are good and they are interested in the material. I like introducing them to GNU tools, open source stuff, and so on. This is not a programming course, nor is it a SysAdmin class. If you have ever been interested at doing some teaching, then this may offer you an opportunity to test the environment.

"An open operating system not only has advantages ... An open system can also have many mutations."

   Subject: [azipa] Sun Microsystems Education Training

   GE Access Phoenix Education Center SUN Class Schedule

   GE Access extends an invitation for you to enroll in your next Sun 
   course at our Phoenix, Arizona Training Center:

   SA118 - Fundamentals of Solaris 8 Operating Environment for System 
           Administrators 4 days
           Date: 11/6, 11/20, 12/18, 12/26, 1/2, 1/15
           List Price: $1,995     

   SA238 - Solaris 8 System Administration I 5 days 
           Dates:  10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 11/27, 12/11, 1/8, 1/22
           List Price: $2,495    

   SA288 - Solaris 8 System Administration II 5 days
           Dates: 10/23, 10/30 11/6, 11/27, 1/8, 1/22   
           List Price: $2,495      

   SA389 - Solaris 8 TCP/IP Network Administration 5 days   
           Dates: 10/16, 11/6, 12/04, 1/8 1/29
           List Price: $2,795     

[Extra] During early September Sun Microsystems announced that it will acquire Cobalt Networks a manufacturer of Linux-based server appliances, in a stock deal worth about $2 billion. Cobalt's appliances run on the Linux operating system but are designed so that administrators can install and use them with little knowledge of their internal workings. All the products can be administered remotely using a browser interface.

The company claims that the key component of the Network, SourceForge, hosts over 8,000 projects and over 53,000 registered users.

VA Linux Systems success has been from sales of its rack-mountable servers that are tweaked to run Linux. Checkout the company at http://www.valinux.com

Plan 9 is a distributed OS developed by the same core group of programmers that created Unix and C. The OS name came for what many consider the worst Sci-Fi movie of all time Plan 9 from Outer Space. Here are some quotations from the movie provided by QuoteGeek.com.

"The Open Source Development Lab will help fulfill a need that individual Linux and open source developers often have: access to high-end enterprise hardware."

"Beowulf is a kind of high-performance massively parallel computer built primarily out of commodity hardware components, running a free-software operating system like Linux or FreeBSD, interconnected by a private high-speed network. It consists of a cluster of PCs or workstations dedicated to running high-performance computing tasks. The nodes in the cluster don't sit on people's desks; they are dedicated to running cluster jobs. It is usually connected to the outside world through only a single node."

Early August 2000, IBM announced a new pricing scheme for Linux on the S/390. By the end of September, you will be able to buy a mainframe engine that runs Linux for $125,000. That's a third of what it costs for one that runs OS/390.

For $20,000 more, you can buy software that will let you run multiple copies of Linux on the same machine. IBM is calling it S/390 Virtual Image Facility or VIF. (You can do the same thing under OS/390 and VM, but that costs more). One user got over 4000 copies of Linux running on one machine. The cost of the main-frame computer when compared to buying 4000 PCs came out to average cost per PC of $45.

• Red Hat reported a smaller than expected loss its first quarter (2 cents a share instead of 4 cents). It also reported a 95 percent increase in revenue, to $16 million. [More...]
• Intel plans to release an open source universal plug-and-play development kit for Linux. This tool enables different device types to communicate over a network using standard protocols. [More...]
• Acer Information Products Group, a manufacturer of electronic notebooks and other devices for domestic labels such as IBM, mentioned Linux's momentum as one of several reasons why they believe the Internet appliance market will not be Wintel-dominated. [More...]

  Tue 20 June
  Where:  Bandersnatch
  Time:   7:00ish
  Topic:  As usual, no topic, just Linux conversations

  ASULUG::Wednesday, 21 June
  Where:  Probably Computing Commons Auditorium
  Time:   6:00 p.m
  Topic:  Presentation will be a replay of either the PLUG 
          or AZSAGE presentation.

TheLinuxStore.com, part of EBIZ Enterprises, and Viking Systems are hosting a free Introduction to Linux Seminar.

  When: Friday, June 9, 1-3 pm
  Where: The Buttes Resort, Tempe

  Topics include:
     Linux demonstration
     Definition of terms
     History of Linux/Unix heritage
     The open source software development model
     Software licensing models
     Where Linux is being used
     FUD Revealed & Dispelled

Space is limited, so register today at TheLinuxStore.com

The number two person at Microsoft (Steve Ballmer) was quoted saying:

"So far, Linux doesn't have a lot of traction on the client (desktop computer), except in some university environments. In Linux, there is just nothing there that would create a different user experience and there's no financial opportunities and there is no customer clamor."

Here are some links provided by TheStandard.com::Media GROK:

Linux Weekly News Stock Page
How VA Linux, Once a Soaring IPO, Crashed Back to Earth [San Jose Mercury News]
Microsoft, On 2 Sides of a Debate [Washington Post]

The IPO market for Linux stocks was extremely speculative the latter half of 1999; however, this year they have been awful short-term investments.

How were the Linux stocks doing as of 20 March 2000?

                        Low       High        Current
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   RedHat [RHAT].........20......151 5/16......59 1/4
   VA Linux [LNUX].......92......320...........86 13/16 (new low)
   Andover Net [ANDN]....25...... 90...........38 1/6

How are the Linux stocks doing at this moment?
Goto ZDII Inter@ctive Investor and find out.

Linux Router Project (LRP) n.
"A networking-centric micro-distribution of Linux. LRP is small enough to fit on a single 1.44MB floppy disk, and makes building and maintaining routers, access servers, thin servers, thin clients, network appliances, and typically embedded systems next to trivial."

What's a router?

Thanks to Andres Chen of CSC294 for the following information:

Turbo Linux is popular only on the northern China. On the southern China, the hottest Linux is Blue Point Linux   <--- website is in Chinese.

RedHat, Suse, Caldera, TurboLinux, Slackware, ... I give. How many Linux distributions are there?

VA Linux to Acquire Andover.Net in Most Significant Transaction in Linux History

About GDT::Blog::Unix & Linux Logger

The Unix & Linux Logger is a collection of postings that are related to Unix systems such as Linux, the BSDs, and commercial offerings (Solaris, HP/UX, AIX, etc.). The Logger was started during May of 1999 and it is updated on a weekly basis. [More...]