Matthew Patton asks "RH5.2 is supposed to be 2.0.36 but it isn't quite there. Notably the install tool doesn't offer the AMI Megaraid as a supported device though the kernel release notes say it's supported. I have several boxes with AMI's as their only controller. Thus I can't install Linux on any of them. I have an old RH5.1 (i386) kicking around, is it possible to build the .img floppies off of this, assuming I managed to grab latest codebases for the kernel and tools?"

Cassius wrote in to send us a link to News.com which has a front page story that talks about the recent Amazing Linux Growth. They say 212% in 1998. Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone in the know.

Several people have written in to tell us that ZD is running a poll about the Top News Maker of 1998. I find it terribly amusing that Jenni of Cam fame is winning. Sure, I dig the Jennicam, but Linus is on the list as well, and for some reason I think Linus was a bit more of a news maker in the last 12 months. So go vote if you like.

H. Peter Anvin writes "I would like to set up an "official mirror" system for kernel.org. "Official" means a set of mirrors that are willing to:

1. Have a contact person on file;
2. Allow public access;
3. Update their mirror via rsync or FTP at least daily (privileged access will be provided to participating hosts);
4. Mirror all of /pub/linux and /pub/software (either .gz or .bz2 files may be excluded at your option);
5. Participate in a uniform URL (via roundrobin CNAME DNS) scheme. The exact spec for the uniform URL is not set in stone at this point, but probably will be in the next few days.

If you are interested in participating, please subscribe to the mirrors@linux.kernel.org mailing list; the goal is to have this system operational by the time the 2.2 kernel hits the wire. "

Chris Allwein writes "SoftwareAG has released EntireX DCOM 4.1.2 for Linux! Better yet, it's free. For those who don't know, EntireX DCOM is a set of programs that allows you to run DCOM objects on non-microsoft OS's. This includes such things as ActiveX! It looks like we just blew one more chunk out from under the proprietary foundation that holds Microsoft up. " Is there source? How is the performance of this thing? I'm still skeptical.

Dawn Keyhotie writes "How do you know when Linux has become part of the mainstream? When a major software package is released and one of its 'cons' is that it doesn't support Linux (yet). Check out this review of Java2 (a.k.a. JDK 1.2) on the world-renowned ZDNet. Of course, it would be too much to expect that Linux would be mentioned in the actual body of the article. But there it is in the sidebar, big as life. "

I've gotten a response from IDG, the Linuxworldexpo people. This response comes from the outcry raised today. Click below to read the response. Update: 12/14 05:55 by CT : Alan Cox also sent in his response which is also attached to the end of this story.

Chip Richards writes "PCWeek's John Taschek makes some rather inflammatory claims about Linux scheduling and I/O in his column this week. The words "dog meat" are bandied about. I don't know enough kernel hackery to know if these claims are true, so I'd like to hear from someone who does."

Nils posted to debian-announce that Debian has passed a Constitution. The highlights of the constitution include the creation of the Technical Committee, the Project Leader postion, the Project Secretary position, Leader Delegate positions and a voting proceedure.

Andrew G. Feinberg sent in a review of Richard Petersen's endeavor Linux Programmer's Reference. The book itself is a guide to scripting and other mini-languages, so if brushing up on that looms in your future, click below to read more about it.

Several folks have written in over the weekend (including Alan himself) to point us to Alan Cox's Diary where he says that LinuxWorld has no intention of covering speaker expenses for their show. There's always The Bazaar and Linux Expo.

A nonymous Coward writes "Computer Retail Week claims that Acer may soon sell Linux servers for the educational market. This was seen on Linux Today. " H: It's a bit hard to find-read down in the article.

EngrBohn writes "They've changed the contents of the web page! This morning, Nicolai Langfeldt [janl@math.uio.no], a fellow subscriber to the Beowulf mailing list, informed me that they changed all references to Linux such that they now read Digital-UNIX: This is odd. The page appears to have been changed, it reads 'Digital-Unix' all over, instead of 'Linux'. The reference is still the same. :-("

jelwell asks "Is anyone working on an RPM installation for the new Xfree86-3.3.3? I've been checking the RPM repository regularly. I tried downloading the source code, but my computer reboots when I try to compile. Am I going to have to wait for Red Hat 5.3? "

Mr. Daemon not only has a cool nick, but he also writes "Compaq and Mitsubitshi are going to build a Beowulf of 130 Alphas to Japan's Institute of Physical and Chemical Research." It's cool because its Beowulf, and its cool because its good to see Compaq pushing Alphas forward.

This Internet World article makes some interesting predictions. The first being that Kaffe will end up shaping Java as much as Sun does, and even that Microsoft will end up adopting Kaffe. While that might be a little far out, the second set of predictions are believable: IBM and Compaq may be lining up a ton of software to release as open-source. However, unlike the article I expect it will be go beyond server software. Improving support for Java, existing Xterminal and WinTerminal support will increase the number of users whose GUI is Linux based. By helping make Linux into a fully fledged desktop OS, large vendors' reliance on Microsoft is reduced, increasing the ability of their own software departments to compete without being constrained by undocumented APIs, and the like. I'll make the bold prediction that by 2000 Linux will be a very strong desktop contender, with some desktop features Windows 2000 does not have.

Robert McMillan wrote in to plug a few new articles over at LinuxWorld. The first is about a the major investments in Linux from various sources lately. The second is an anlysis of Sun's Java License.

Rob Bos writes " "Windows users know Tucows as one of the virtual places to get Internet software. And now it's planning on adding Linux." "[tucows] doesn't allow ISPs to mirror its site on servers running Windows NT" "If Tucows didn't believe in the profit potential of Linux, it wouldn't bother." "isn't ruling out the other popular flavors of Unix, such as Solaris and FreeBSD, as future additions" " News like this makes being up since 4:30 in the morning a little more passable. A little.

Barrett Lyon writes "The new and improved Alpha Linux web site is now up. This site replaces the original on Azstarnet, left behind by David Mosberger-Tang and Bob Cauthorn. The site promotes Linux on Alpha architecture and also holds archives of AXP Linux Documents, Mailing Lists, Software, Hardware, Howto Docs, and Links. Oh, and of course the site is hosted on a Alpha Linux machine ;) " And it looks awesome.

Sean Garagan writes "The PCWeek labs reviewed the latest RedHat offering as a desktop alternative. They had the usual problems of GUI interface and hard to configure sound subsystems. I have to agree on one point though, the RedHat package install interface needs to be cleaned up somehow."