It almost looked like a spoof at first, but the long-awaited release of the Linux 2.4 kernel finally happened this week. Linux godfather Linus Torvalds announced the release in a slightly goofy email that had some news people wondering if it wasn’t really a joke.

But it wasn’t. The kernel’s about a year later than scheduled, but it’s here, making for a ton of stories this week. Several news sources commented on the lateness of the project, including Wired.com, which had put the kernel on the Wired News Vaporware List just weeks earlier.

If you’re waiting for 2.4 to be pre-installed on a box, you might wait for months, according to ZDNet. Hardware manufacturers say they’ll wait for the Linux distributions to work 2.4 into their packages before loading it on machines. Distributions told eWeek they’ll wait for the early bugs to be worked out. The folks at the world of ZD/CNet also talked to Linus himself, who says he’s planning a house-warming party to celebrate the new baby.

Lots of Linux sites reveled in the history. Advogato suggested Linux fans put their excited moods to good use, by helping test the new kernel. Linux Today asked readers what they’d change about Linux.

Really, there was other news this week

Yes, this week wasn’t all about the 2.4 kernel. Linux also went to Hollywood, with several sites reporting that the movie “Antitrust,” to be released this month, features shots of the Gnome desktop in a tale of a huge technology company in the Pacific Northwest that “will stop at nothing” to keep control of the computer market. Hmmmmm, sounds slightly familiar. Where have I read about something like that from real life?

If you’re looking for something other than Linux news, check out this opinion piece at BSD Today in which the author rails against “misunderstandings and misinformation” on TuCows, the major download site.

New at NewsForge this week