From the Los Angeles Times: “The story so far: In a quest to end my dependence on Microsoft, I embarked on
a 14-day experiment. I tossed all my Microsoft programs and made Linux my
primary operating system.”

“If you have fond memories of Core War, or if you think the Mars rover would have been more interesting with a
rocket launcher strapped on, then MindRover: The Europa Project is for you. Lee Anderson lays out the basics of
designing your own rover and then setting it free to blast away other people’s creations.” Review at LinuxWorld.

From InfoWorld: “Turning up the pressure on its arch-rival Sun Microsystems, Inc., IBM on Wednesday shipped what it claims is the industry’s fastest Unix-based workstation, which is propelled by its copper-based processors.”

ZDNet’s Mary Foley writes “In 2001, we saw the single largest
corporate purchase of Linux, the
biggest Linux clustering installation,
the greatest gains for Linux
vis-à-vis Windows and Unix, the
largest number of Linux-made
millionaires (and millionaires gone
bust), not to mention the greatest number of news articles
hyping Linux. Makes you wonder if there’s anywhere for
Linux to go but down!”

“Ever wondered why seemingly sane people would choose to install and use
Linux? Is there some method to this madness? Here’s a geek’s reasons for
leaving the safety of Windows for uncharted territory. What does Linux have
that other OS’ don’t?” From FreeOS.com.

From OSOpinion: “Macintosh users will be experiencing a rather major change in the user
interface (UI) that Apple supplies for its computers. Apple made
available a beta preview of their new OS, MacOS X, for public
consumption.

Accordingly there have been many grievances with the changes Apple
has made. This article will not preach the necessity of the changes
but rather try to explain why Apple has chosen to make the following
alterations.”

Reader’s Digest UK: “In the middle of the night, a scruffy
21-year-old sat in a darkened room at
his mother’s house in Helsinki, Finland,
tapping out a message on his computer
keyboard. “Hello everybody out there,”
he typed, sipping tea and nibbling the
dry pasta he habit-ually ate. “I’m doing
a (free) operating system (just a hobby,
won’t be big and professional)…I’d like
any feedback on things people
like/dislike…”
The young man’s name was Linus
Torvalds. And what he sent out to the world on that August
night in 1991 has transformed the whole landscape of computer
use.”

“As the year drew to a close,
vendors were racing to
one-up each other, each
claiming the best strategy
for delivering on its Web
services promises. In 2001, look for developers and
some bleeding-edge customers to put vendors’ claims —
and early versions of their Web services wares — to the
test.” From ZDNET.

The president-elect has said he opposes a
forced breakup of Microsoft, but that doesn’t
mean he’ll intervene. To begin with, Bush has
bigger problems, reports ZDNET.

LinuxToday posted this opinion piece by Lou Grinzo, editor of Linux Programming: “We’ve all seen the comments from industry pundits and frustrated individual users alike: “Linux needs a
single desktop standard!” they shout. And just in case that isn’t sufficiently incendiary, these same people
usually take sides in our favorite soap opera here in Linux Land, the KDE/GNOME mud wrestle, and
anoint one as being clearly the “right” choice for uberdesktop. This is where such conversations normally
take a Jerry Springer-esque turn, complete with virtual chair throwing.”