ApacheToday: “It’s finally here, Linux Easy Installer 2.0 final has been released. This version has changed a
lot since 1.9.”

– By Robin “Roblimo” Miller –
We’re getting ready to launch the “new” Linux.com. We have most of the features locked down, based on advice readers like you have already contributed, but we could use your advice on how to handle forums and comments so that they are as useful as possible to as many people as possible.The new version of Linux.com will launch with four sections: News, Documentation, Software, and User Groups. After reading more than 3,000 emails and posted comments from readers about what information was needed most by both new and experienced Linux users, we decided these were the basic “must have” sections, so they’re the ones you’ll see when the site relaunches sometime in the next week or two. We’ll add more sections as time goes on, and which ones come first will be heavily influenced by your requests.

One thing you’ll notice immediately is that all news items, including our NewsVac pointers to stories published elsewhere on the Web, will now have space for comments. We are going to try to keep the comment boards as open as possible, consistent with the variety of people from all over the world who read Linux.com and NewsForge, many of whom do not like having obscenities thrown in their faces or to see people call each other nasty names. Most Linux.com and NewsForge readers are working adults or serious students who either use, develop or are curious about Linux and Open Source software. Our job is to provide these people with as much (hopefully accurate) information as we can. As a rule, each conversation revolving around an individual news item will be archived, with no more comments permitted, after about 10 days.

Our comment policy is, and will continue to remain, very simple: either a post belongs or it doesn’t. Linux.com and NewsForge editors can and will remove any posts that are obscene, directly insulting or blatantly off-topic. There will be no moderation and no karma. We may, at some point, require registration to post, but we’re holding off on that for the moment.

Documentation, including HOWTOs and tutorials, will be classified in our index by topic (networking; security; installation; hardware; sound; programming; etc.). Many docs are going to be filed under multiple topics (security + networking, for example). We are also going to rate each doc in our index by intended user level, as in “beginner,” “experienced” or “professional” to give you a better chance to find information that will directly help you solve whatever problem you are having at the moment without either going over your head or repeating basics you already know. This rating system is based on human judgment and will never be perfect, but it will give a little guidance and, hopefully, make the information you need a little easier to find. Some docs will be filed under more than one user level, and each one will carry a “rate this article” poll that will ask you whether it was very helpful, somewhat helpful or not very helpful. This feature will help future readers decide which articles to read first.

The Linux.com docs index will list both articles we publish ourselves and links to docs published elsewhere, with a short summary of each one below its title so that you have a chance to see if it’s what you need before you take time to read the whole thing.

There has never been a Web-wide index to Linux documentation. We are trying to create one. Our docs index is going to start small but, with your help, it will grow rapidly. One thing we are going to try to do that has never been done effectively by similar projects in the past is to constantly remove outdated links and obsolete material. This is a huge, ongoing project, but we feel it is vital to the continuing growth and success of Linux and Open Source. This section of Linux.com will never be “finished.” It will always evolve, grow and change, just as Linux itself constantly evolves, grows, and changes.

Software.Linux.com will be, at first, a rebranded version of our current Linux DaveCentral index, but its content will change radically over the next few months. It will never be the world’s largest Linux, Open Source and Free Software database. That is, and will always be, freshmeat. The Linux.com software section will concentrate on software that is ready to be used, not on projects that are in early development stages. This section, too, will constantly grow and evolve, directed by your comments and suggestions.

Linux.com’s current LUG (Linux User Group) section is outdated and not very complete. We are putting a lot of work into it. All Linux.com and NewsForge editors are members of their local LUGs. We believe that, at heart, Linux is a participatory movement as much as it is an operating system. When you come down to it, all Linux support is based on the principle of “users helping users,” and that’s what LUGs are for. Therefore, it is an important part of our job to make it as easy as possible for people to find and join LUGs — and to start new ones. We will kick off this section with a simple, geographically searchable LUG index, then build on that basic necessity as time (and budget) allows. In time, we will have the world’s most complete LUG database. Day one, it’ll be so-so. But everyone needs to start somewhere, right?

And now, the big question: Should Linux.com have a “users helping users” forum? One where readers can post questions and other readers can answer? We, the Linux.com and NewsForge editors, tend to seek (and give) tech help and support through our local LUGs’ email lists, but if the constant stream of “How do I…?” email we get through editors@linux.com is any indication, there are plenty of people out there who don’t want to take this approach. Should Linux.com have a readers’ forum that can take up some of this slack? We worry that the repetitive nature of some of the questions might ruin the idea; most of the ones emailed to us could be answered by reading the Introduction to Linux and Linux.com article prominently displayed on the current Linux.com front page — and we’re working to build an entire “New to Linux” section that will answer virtually every question anyone could have about how to get started with Linux, whether as a home “hobby” user, on an office desktop, in a server environment or as a programmer/developer. But the questions will continue to come, no matter what we do.

So let’s assume we have Forum.Linux.Com, if not the day we launch the rebuilt site, shortly afterwards. Should it be limited to “help” requests? Should editors choose questions and post them, a la Ask Slashdot? Or should we have an “open” forum where anyone can post anything at all, as long as they follow our basic posting rules? Should we also create a “linuxhelp@linux.com” email list? If we did, would enough people answer questions to make it viable?

These are not rhetorical questions. We — Linux.com and NewsForge editors — take your comments very seriously. Our plans to improve both sites are based almost entirely on what you (and others) have told us you wanted, and this is a continuation of that pattern.

Please post your thoughts in the space below, rather than sending them to us by email, so that others can look at, comment on, and add to your suggestions. Thanks.

NewsFactor Network writes “Recent visitors to Sun’s Web site were greeted by a large graphic that said “XPerience This! New Java plug-in for Windows brings your browser back to the leading edge.” That graphic is the result of a long, drawn-out battle between Sun and Microsoft that led to Microsoft’s abandonment of Java support in its Internet Explorer browser. Windows users now must turn to Sun for third-party software to make them first-class citizens on the Web.”

From CNN: “If you thought computer security was bad in 2001, you’re not going to enjoy 2002. That was the message from SecurityFocus co-founder and CEO Arthur Wong in a presentation he gave at the RSA Conference 2002.”

Linux 2.2.21pre3 has been released. Read more for the changelog.

This merges the main backlog stuff as a big chunk. There are some small but
important fixes left for pre4 then I want to aim for a 2.2.21 about March
10th or so.

2.2.21pre3
o Fix a case where a non blocking tty write could get stuck (Peter Benie)
o Fix non blocking midi close on es1370, es1371 sonicvibes right this time (Alan Cox)
o Fix menu/xconfig warnings (René Scharfe)
o Fix non blocking midi close on cmpci, cs4281, esssolo, trident. (Alan Cox)
o Add eepro100VE ident (Hanno Boeck)
o Fix DRM oops case (Herbert Xu)
o Fix an oops causing datagram AF_UNIX race (Paul Menage)
o Support newer geodes using new CPUID properly (Hiroshi Miura)
o Fix up RTC build for non pmac ppc boxes (Tom Rini)
o Fix MCE address reporting (Pete Wyckoff)
o Vibra16 docs update (Neale Banks)
o Eicon include file fix (Herbert Xu)
o ISDN loop and header fixes (Kai Germaschewski)
o Fix eepro100 out of memory during init path (Neale Banks)
o Fix BSD partition table handling breakage (Andries Brouwer)
o Add WD XD signature to xd driver (Paul)
o 3Ware driver update (Adam Radford)
o S/390 debugging updates (Carsten Otte)
o S/390 DASD updates (Carsten Otte)
o S/390 CIO updates (Carsten Otte)
o Update USB serial, belkin, digi_acceleport, empeg, ftdsio, edgeport, keyspan, mctu232, omninet, prolific, visor (Greg Kroah-Hartmann)
o Cyberjack USB driver (Matthias Bruestle)
o USB ir dongle driver (Greg Kroah-Hartmann)
o Support very large FAT file systems (Vijay Kumar)
o Backport 2.4 modversions build fix (Mikael Pettersson)
o Backport 2.4 es1371 init for new revs (Julian Anastasov)
o 3c507 driver fixes (Mark Mackenzie)
o ext2 obscure group descriptor corruption fix (Daniel Phillips, Al Viro)
o Correct a problem where rpciod didnt give up its current dir (Andreas Haumer)

Alan Cox has released Linux 2.4.18-ac1. Read more for the changelog.

Linux 2.4.18-ac1
o Merge with 2.4.18 proper
+ Add missing -rc4 diff
o Use attribute notifiers to account shmemfs (Alan Cox)
o Initial luxsonor LS220/LS240 driver code (Alan Cox)
| This is just setup code and only in the tree because
| its where I keep my hacks in progress

Legend:
+ indicates stuff that went to Marcelo,
o stuff that has not,
* indicates stuff that is merged in mainstream now,
X stuff that proved bad and was dropped out

LinuxSecurity Contributors write, “This week, perhaps the most interesting articles include Decentralise Linux security with Sudo,
Network Intrusion Detection Signatures, and UnderLinux Interview with Core Netfilter
Member. Also this week, a cdrom bootable distribution for performing various types of forensic
analysis, incident response, data recovery, virus scanning and pen-testing was released. More
information about this is available in the Vendors/Products section of this newsletter. It’s at LinuxSecurity.com.

Raluca Neascu writes: iTuner Networks Corporation today announced a new breakthrough in video streaming with MediaBox VS-2601. Adjudged “Killer Application of the Month” by Open Sound Systems (www.opensound.com), the MediaBox VS-2601 offers “today’s best price/performance solution for video streaming,” according to iTuner. “We have simplified video streaming by integrating multiple encoders and servers into a single robust device. This has enabled us to cut device and administration costs significantly,” said Raluca Neacsu, MediaBox Product Manager.

According to iTuner, MediaBox is the only range of streaming devices built on the Linux OS- the industry standard for open platform architecture. Its platform-independence enables the MediaBox VS-2601 to serve thousands of RealAudio, RealVideo, MP3, Vorbis and QTSS streams while allowing simultaneous encoding in MP3, Vorbis and RealAudio formats. At the same time, its browser-based administration makes for easy and profitable deployment of video applications over the Internet.

The new launch follows close upon the heels of the widely acclaimed MediaBox AS product family, which has already found its niche among leading radio stations. “The MediaBox VS-2601 underlines iTuner’s capability to provide a competitive turnkey solution to Television channels in need of high-speed network infrastructure and proven technical expertise,” said Neacsu.

About iTuner Networks Corp
Privately held iTuner Networks Corporation provides turnkey streaming solutions for companies that want to broadcast to large audiences over the Internet. The company offers Class A Telco/Broadcast facilities, currently operating via multiple DS-3, OC12 and T-1s connections offering direct lines to multiple Internet Backbone peering points.

In 1996 iTuner pioneered the implementation and use of splitting and buffering technologies, gathering live signals from multiple sources across the world. Since its inception, iTuner has served several millions of listeners around the world. Today the company realizes its critical role in ensuring fast, non-stop, non-congested packet flow, which forms the backbone of the Internet centric business model.

About Open Sound Systems
Open Sound Systems (www.Opensound.com) is a venture of 4Front Technologies, a software development company specializing in digital audio solutions for UNIX. Privately held 4Front Technologies was established in 1992 and has its development centers in Finland and USA. The company’s XMMS multimedia player is currently the most popular app for Linux and FreeBSD.

Eugenia writes, “Most of you probably remember Redmond Linux, the user-friendly distro that tried to duplicate the familiar WindowsXP UI feel under Linux (ELX Linux tried so, too). Well, there is no more Redmond Linux. The company recently renamed the product Lycoris Desktop/LX. ExtremeTech features today a very favorable review of the distro, includes screenshots and information on the installation, network setup, desktop environment etc.”

Kernel Traffic #155 has just been released. Contents include “Working with BitKeeper,” “/proc Cleanup,” “XFS and rmap” and more.