The relaunching of Linux.com has been, without a doubt, one of the most challenging professional tasks I have ever been a part of. And I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
The opportunity was stunning--to be part of a team that would take a marquee site that's been a part of the Linux community and infrastructure for years and change it to something even better.
When the word got out amongst the community that the Linux Foundation was undertaking this task, there were a lot of questions on what we were going to do with the site. Consistently the answer we gave was "make the site for the community." Now that you can see the results, I think you will agree we've achieved that goal and more.
To get started, click Login to use or Register to get your free Linux.com account. Prior Linux.com users, take note: your old account should work on our new Linux.com. You will land on your Profile page in the Community section. From here, you can start your participation.
- Click My Blog Dashboard to begin the process of creating your own blog
- Invite some friends to Linux.com
- Add an application to your Profile, like Twitter
- Create a group for your local LUG or developer group and invite friends to stay informed with local events
Socializing with other Linux users on Linux.com is very worthwhile, but it's not the only opportunity to participate in the community. You can contribute your own content to Linux.com, too.
Here are the other ways you can contribute:
- Post a comment in our Forums
- Comment on a story in our News section
- Ask a question or give a solution in Answers
- Add a listing or a product review in our Directory
- Create your own article or tutorial
The News section contains in-depth analysis and reports for software, hardware, embedded, business, and enterprise topics. It also contains the Featured Blogs from Linux community luminaries and Linux Foundation leaders.
With all of those distros out there, it can be hard to keep up with the current advances, so we've created the Distribution News section so you can find out the latest happenings, releases, and events for your favorite Linux distributions, or all of them. Get insights and knowledge about Linux distributions directly from the source: the community leaders and developers who are building the next version of your preferred distros. In the Distribution Blogs section, we've got leaders from the Fedora, Ubuntu, openSUSE, and Debian communities to start, with more folks on the way. The Download Linux section will point you to the right distribution for your needs.
One of my favorite sections of the site is the Answers area, where you find answers to other user's questions or post your own! It's in the Learn section, where we've also got a Documentation section with all of the Linux man pages and Linux Documentation Project Howtos. Look for this section to really grow in the coming weeks! The same for the Tutorials section, where users can add their own helpful manuals on how to get things done in Linux. The Learn section also has whitepapers from the Linux Foundation and industry analysts, detailed reference articles, and a Careers/Training section that gives expert advice on how to stay current in your job with career advice and advanced training opportunities.
The Linux.com Directory is a user-contributed and -reviewed database of software applications that run on the Linux operating system; Linux-compatible hardware; and books, hosting, and other professional services in the Linux ecosystem. This is another area where user contributions will only make the site better: the directory's listing are entered by users who share what they know about these items. What software is the best of its class? How do you get the drivers for that piece of hardware? These are all questions that the directory can answer. As time goes on, and the directory becomes more complete, it will be an invaluable resource for Linux users of all experience levels.
We're asking for lots of participation for Linux.com, but that's not to say it won't be without rewards.
Here's the really cool announcement: As you contribute to the site, you will gain Guru points, which will showcase your skill level to Linux.com visitors. The top 50 annual Linux gurus on Linux.com will be included in an annual report from the Linux Foundation. The top five contributors to Linux.com annually will receive invitations to the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit and have a seat at the annual Linux.com planning meeting as community representatives. The top Linux.com user will be recognized each year as the “Ultimate Linux Guru” and be given a fully loaded “dream” Linux notebook, personally autographed by Linux creator Linus Torvalds, as recognition of his or her guru status. The top five Linux gurus and ultimate Linux guru will be determined by Guru points total on Feb 15 every year.
The work put into the site thus far has involved nearly every person working for the Linux Foundation, and their efforts must be recognized here, as well as all of the IdeaForge users who contributed ideas and then gave direct feedback during our beta program. Thanks to all! This was a tremendous team effort and a lot of work done in a short space of time.
It's a lot to start with, but believe me, we've got more planned. So now, go in and check it out for yourself, see what there is to see, and let us know what you think! For content and design suggestions, please continue to visit our IdeaForge site.
More later, thanks for being here at the beginning!
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
written by Radovic Aleksandar, May 13, 2009
People of the GNU/Linux world, unite!
-
- +0
-
-
written by Kris Buytaert, May 13, 2009
Rather than trying to get them to post their content on linux.com , what about importing their existing feeds. Or did I miss that option ?
-
- +1
-
-
written by Michael Reed, May 13, 2009
-
- +0
-
-
written by Wilco Jansen, May 13, 2009
Compliments for the result. Looks very good, and also build with another open source product Joomla! Way to go, and good luck with the further development of linux.com!
Regards, Wilco
-
- +1
-
-
written by ago, May 13, 2009
-
- +1
-
-
written by Brian Proffitt, May 13, 2009
-
- +0
-
-
written by ago, May 13, 2009
-
- +0
-
-
written by Chris Bruner, May 13, 2009
Is this the place for suggestions?
Ok here is a suggestion,
When i've created my own profile I've choosen my preferred/work/everyday use distribution, it's Gentoo ;-) and I've choosen "other" cause it's not listed in main list. Could you please at Gentoo to your list. It is one of the major distros.
Second suggestion, add a suggestion box.
Third suggestion, only send out one email when a comment has been replied to. I woke up to several dozen emails after I commented last night.
Forth suggestion, track the "I have read and agrree tot he terms of usage" checkbox clicks per user. I can't comment unless I'm registered, so you know who I am,
-
- +1
-
-
written by rjb, May 13, 2009
It is a good thing that you guys sent out emails announcing the re-launching of Linux.com because as far as I was concerned this site had been off-line for so long that it had become irrelevant to me and I had even deleted my bookmarks to the site.
After looking around for a while there are a lot of things that seem to be good additions, there seems to be a lot more general information about Linux than in the past. However I still like the old Linux.com look and feel. I do not like anything about the current look of the web pages especially the colors and interface. I know that a lot of effort has been expended and when it comes to the look of a website which is always subject to personal tastes a developer can never please everyone with the way things look. I for one like the old color scheme far more, guess its because my favorite colors are blue and my least favorite are yellows and oranges. I also do not like the current CMS that is being used, probably Joomla, with all the content in one extremely narrow column running down the center of the page. I don't know what CMS the old site used but at least each page would expand to fill up the width of my wide screen monitor reducing the amount of vertical scrolling that has to be made just to read an article. With all the things I personally do not care for I doubt I will become a frequent visitor like I used to be as I have found several other good sites who also have excellent content that I visit on a daily basis.
Sorry I did not have more positive comments for you.
Robert
-
- +1
-
-
written by Brian Proffitt, May 13, 2009
Gentoo has been added to the list.
We're likely going to add a feedback form on Linux.com soon.
Make sure you've unchecked the subscribe via e-mail check box when you comment, so you won't keep getting notified.
The Terms of Usage issue is a known concern. We'll implement a fix/policy soon.
-
- +0
-
-
written by Chris Bruner, May 13, 2009
I should have thought of ideaforge.
The unchecking subscribe via email option doesn't actually do what I want. If I make a comment and somebody replies to the comment, I would like to receive an email (singular) saying that someone has replied. If a dozen people reply I don't need anymore emails,. This system has been in use in phpbb for a while, (the Gentoo forum uses it to great effect).
One last little thing, is that the system seems really slow. I think I know why it's slow for me. It's 30 jumps to it. The first 9 are getting to Toronto and take under 30ms, but after reaching seattle it starts really slowing down.
9 20 ms 27 ms 21 ms bx4-toronto63_so-1-1-0-0.net.bell.ca [64.230.138
.142]
10 31 ms 33 ms 30 ms peer_level3_bx4-toronto63.net.bell.ca [67.69.246
.190]
11 34 ms 35 ms 32 ms ae-8-8.ebr1.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.69.140.245]
12 34 ms 33 ms 29 ms ae-6.ebr1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.69.140.190]
13 61 ms 56 ms 54 ms ae-3.ebr2.Denver1.Level3.net [4.69.132.61]
14 85 ms 85 ms 89 ms ae-2.ebr2.Seattle1.Level3.net [4.69.132.53]
15 83 ms 85 ms 82 ms ge-11-0.hsa2.Seattle1.Level3.net [4.68.105.39]
16 118 ms 119 ms 119 ms UNIVERSITY.edge5.Seattle1.Level3.net [63.211.200
.246]
17 122 ms 119 ms 123 ms corv-car1-gw.nero.net [207.98.64.177]
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.
Just some feedback for you.
-
- +0
-
-
written by V. T. Eric Layton, May 13, 2009
Thanks for all the hard work that went into this "grand re-opening"!
~Eric
-
- +1
-
-
written by Jay Bowles, May 13, 2009
-
- +0
-
-
written by Jonathan Lackey, May 15, 2009
I'm very impressed that you built the site in Joomla! It's a great framework with unlimited potential.
On thing I must say is that I'm not a fan of using a template from a template club, especially for a site of this size and power. And using a template club is not my biggest issue. My biggest issue is that the template for the new site is an exact copy of htt://ThinkVitamin.com
I'm not sure who's choice that was, or if anyone other than the person that designed/refined the template knew about this. Either way this was a poor choice from a branding standpoint, and possibly a legal standpoint (I'm not sure on intellectual property with template clubs).
Something else I've noticed in this comment thread is a couple of users complaining about the load time and speed of the site. It is very slow. With MyBlog, JomSocial, JomComment and all the other components, modules and plugins loading there are a lot of external javascript and CSS files being loaded. This really needs to be optimized. The JS and CSS needs to be minified and anything not being used needs to be excluded.
I could go on and on. The main point of this comment is that I was extremely excited to see such a big name choose Joomla! as their framework, but I was even more disappointed when I saw the use of a template club and the stolen design.
-
- +1
-
-
written by Dan Knauss, May 18, 2009
A more substantial criticism--given that this is Linux.com--is that JomSocial, JomComment, and perhaps other "derivative products" of Joomla are still under a proprietary copyright and not (to my knowledge) GPL or a compatible license.
-
- +0
-
-
written by Dan Knauss, May 18, 2009
Things people care about: the comment form here says you have to register to comment, but there is no link to the registration form, so you have to find that and go through the whole process (which asks for a lot of demographic info) before returning here to leave a comment.
Honestly if there were a big original penguin themed design here, I would start associated Tux with frustration and annoyance usually reserved for Joomla "community" sites.
-
- +0
-
-
written by Jonathan Lackey, May 18, 2009
The original Joomlart template, ja_vauxite, is not where the stealing stems. Yes, their template may be heavily based on the WooThemes template, but it's not identical—the Linux.com altered version of the template is.
There is no need for traceable files, identical css, or anything of that sort needed to prove intellectual property theft. Intellectual property rights cover a range of intangible assets and design is one of them. I have no idea what kind of intellectual property could be applied in this case since both sites are using designs from template clubs.
I love how you keep calling my comments "subjective, aesthetic, and economically self-interested". I'm not sure how you keep coming up with that. There is nothing subjective about this. There are major design elements on this site that are EXACTLY the same as the ThinkVitamin site. Any person looking at the 2 side by side can see that. And as for being "economically self-interested" it's much bigger than that. I'm not worried about losing work to template clubs and don’t consider template clubs to be competitors.
I am a huge supporter of Joomla! and open source in general. The only self-interested motive I have here is to help Linux by pointing out what I see as a huge issue for them.
"From the typical user experience perspective, who cares about the design's originality/unoriginality? " when design and branding is done right nobody thinks about it they just use it. Design and branding is much larger than a single person recognizing its originality. It's also much more than "a big original penguin themed design".
-
- +1
-
-
written by Dan Knauss, May 19, 2009
You keep using words like "theft" and "stolen," but you are jumping to that conclusion solely on the basis of the extreme similarity between the themes/templates used at Linux.com and ThinkVitamin. The implication is that the Linux.com design is "stolen" from ThinkVitamin.com, yet ThinkVitamin.com has no ownership rights over its design. (Neither does Linux.com have ownership over its design.) If WooThemes asserts ownership over all modifications to its themes (though I can't find language in their TOS that clearly says this), then they are the ones who can claim to be victims of theft by Linux.com and its designers, or possibly by JoomlArt.com, and maybe both.
But absent a clear victim who then alleges a theft has been perpetrated, the whole issue is a non-legal matter of taste and propriety that for you has to do with what certain people should do with their money. (This was the bulk of what you wrote about on your blog.) That's fine, but it's just an opinion and has nothing to do with the legal issue that may or may not exist here. I mostly agree with your opinion except for the idea that it's generally bad for a "serious" site to use a club template.
Obviously you previously assumed the ThinkVitamin site had an "original" design until you looked closer, motivated by the knockoff here at Linux.com, leading you to "excuse" ThinkVitamin's use of a club template (assuming they couldn't afford something more original) along with a similar reaction from ThinkVitamin that it is just a "temporary" design...which rather complicates any "theft" allegations.
On the subjective issue of when a template club design is/is not the best choice for prospective buyers, I think the lessons here are that they're great as long as you don't care deeply about not having proprietary rights over them and would not be disturbed by (or able to prosecute) knock-offs that dilute your brand short of stealing your trademarks. Maybe there is a way that template vendors could licenses their work so that buyers could defend their modified, derivative versions when they are distinctly different from the original.
I think you were on a more substantial track when you raised the topic of "brand control"--how do you maintain/defend a brand, especially if you use some degree of open source design? Do you just adopt a "steal this website except for the trademarks" posture, or should you be more restrictive? How can those restrictions best be defended?
Whether or not there is an intellectual property case here vis-a-vis Linux.com/JoomlArt.com and ThinkVitamin.com/WooThemes.com designs, it is surely an open question about propriety and community standards. Extra-legal pressures might be in order (and the best solution) from various markets/communities to make it clear what the dominant expectations are (if there is anything like a consensus) for derivative web design, especially in the open source world.
-
- +0
-
-
Show/hide comment form
The site is running very slowly. I think you need more dylithium crystals in that engine Mr. Scott!