CNet reports that a federal court on Friday randomly assigned U.S. District Judge
Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to preside over the Microsoft antitrust case. A federal appeals court also returned the
Microsoft case to the trial court for further proceedings.

The BBC has an overview of Linux’s past 10 years.”
Linux has developed from those early beginnings into a worldwide
industry and movement. Now it is available in many different
‘distributions’ that come with a bewildering array of utilities and
programs that have turned it from an engineers tool into something
much more useable.

Its emphasis on openness, collaborative development, stability and
security have helped it grow in stature and stand in stark contrast to
Microsoft’s way of doing business.” There’s also a bunch of reader comments on Linux.

It’s posted at LWN.net. Among the items: Continuing the interest in Python-aware editors last week, Alan
Green posts a list of python IDEs.

Augustus writes, “LinuxHardware.org has just released two new kernel patches that fix detection issues of certain AMD 761 chipsets and the VIA KT266 chipset in the AGP driver. Anyone currently having detection issues with either of these chipsets should grap the corresponding and see if it fixes your problems.”

– by Tina Gasperson –
Tomorrow is the official 10th birthday of Linux, the anniversary of the date that Linus Torvalds posted in the Minix newsgroup about the hobby OS he was working on — nothing “big and professional like GNU.” I learned that at Linux10.org, and I also know where all the good parties are happening.
Linux10 isn’t just a Web site; it’s an event that is sponsored by the Silicon Valley LUG, the South Bay/Silicon Valley Community Network, and the East Bay LUG. These are the big daddies of LUGs. They get speakers like maddog and have corporate sponsors to help with finances. So it’s no surprise that they’d have the momentum needed to organize a raise the roof event like this one, being held at the Sunnyvale Baylands Park in California.

The site is everything an event Web site should be. It’s got a guest list for people to RSVP. There’s a “rides needed” list and a “rides offered” list. You can get the GPS coordinates of the party location, or public transportation information, maps, special instructions for bike riders, driving directions, and even fly-in directions.

There’s a place to volunteer, and a list of workers already secured. There will be lots of food, games, and activities, and they’ll need lots of people to help clean up. This event even has its own security staff — all of them are ham radio operators who are prepared to communicate via radio between the four areas of the event and the transit shuttle — oh yes, there’s also a transit shuttle with a full complement of mini-van drivers to pick partiers up from the rail station.

You can buy a Linux10 T-shirt at the site for $15 and have it shipped for $3.95; or you can pick it up at the party. You just can’t pay for it there — the park forbids it.

Linux10 has already been an overwhelming success. They’ve posted this on the site:

“We had to stop accepting new RSVPs for Linux10 because we have reached the picnic
area’s capacity. I am sincerely sorry that we have to turn people away … We reserved enough
capacity at the Sunnyvale Baylands Park for 625 people. That’s everything that was
still available for Aug 25 when we made the reservation in early July.”

You can still be there in spirit. Or, take a trip to the East Coast version of Linux10, sponsored by the Philadelphia LUG and the Bucks County LUG. Strange message at the East Coast Linux10 site: “The East-Coast Linux10 event is a ‘media OK’ event. Members of the media may attend and cover the event, but why
would you want to? It’s just a bunch of people hanging around and having a good time. :)”

Other smaller Linux10 events are happening across the United States and all over the world. Check the Linux10.org Web site for those listings.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
and ten Bay Area bands invite you to an open air concert
for everyone who loves music from to 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM on
Saturday, September 8, 2001. EFF’s “Share In” will feature
musicians performing in Golden Gate Park near the
intersection of Haight and Stanyan streets. Artists
participating in this event will permit recording of their
performances by those in attendance in support of EFF’s
Open Audio License (OAL).

Ten bands will play in two stage areas in the meadow.
Hosting the main stage are Wavy Gravy and EFF co-founder
John Perry Barlow. Musicians performing at the event
include singer/songwriter Adrian West, the jazzy Alex
Buccat Quartet featuring Sanaz, folk/pop band Atticus
Scout, high-altitude bluegrass string band Hot Buttered
Rum, soulful solo performer Michael Musika, the political
satirists of The Planning Commission, Berkeley-based party
band Shady Lady, classical Indian instrumentalists Srini
and Raja, acoustic rock performer Vanessa Lowe, and
singer/songwriter Wendy Haynes.

EFF developed the Open Audio License to help artists share
their work with others without giving up the recognition
they deserve for creating the art. Based on the open source
and free software initiatives for software development,
the OAL encourages artists to share with one another and
their fans.

Adoption of the OAL does not mean that an artist goes
unrewarded for his or her work. On the contrary, the OAL
permits artists to share single tracks or performances and
gain widespread recognition for their work without relying
on intermediaries. EFF encourages new models of music
distribution in the digital world that benefit the artists
themselves. One of the great qualities of the Internet is
that the overhead for packaging and distributing music,
which is where most of the money is currently spent by
record companies, is drastically reduced. EFF is committed
to developing tools that empower artists to take control
over their own art and to be compensated appropriately for
their works.

EFF believes that many of the laws and technologies being
developed today to protect intellectual property actually
harm the public’s First Amendment and fair use rights and
make criminals of people doing perfectly legitimate things.
We are striving to help artists realize the full potential
of the Internet for reaching their fans by challenging
restrictive laws in courtrooms and through fun public
education events, like this one.

In addition to the music, the Share In will showcase booths
with the performing artists’ music and tie-dye Share In
T-shirts. There will also be booths hosted by EFF and
outside sponsors, including artists’ rights organizations
and independent labels. Ben and Jerry’s will donate a
portion of the event’s ice cream sales to EFF.

This is an event for all ages. Bring your family and
friends, kids welcome. Hear great music, enjoy Ben and
Jerry’s ice cream, and support a great cause.

Event sponsors include: Guitar Center, Berkman Center for
Law and Technology, Future of Music Coalition, and the SF
Bay Guardian.

Information on EFF’s Campaign for Audiovisual Free
Expression and the Open Audio License is available at:
http://www.eff.org/cafe.

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression, privacy, and openness in the information
society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world:
http://www.eff.org/.

CNN: “We had an opportunity to test drive an evaluation copy of Windows XP Professional, scheduled
for official release on Oct. 25, and were impressed by improvements in its user friendliness,
stability, speed and performance.

At the same time, we were a little bit concerned about its lack of compatibility with some
software that has been developed specifically for earlier versions of Windows and won’t work
with Windows XP. But on balance, the improvements outweighed the compatibility issues, many
of which are likely to be further addressed in the weeks ahead.”

ZDNET: “Playing the role of Boss Hogg, Adobe, maker of the popular Acrobat software, had pushed the
Department of Justice to go after Dimitry. Soon after the arrest, the geek community exploded in
indignation, and Boss Hogg quickly changed his position. Boss Hogg said that it was a shame
that Officer Bubba had arrested Cooter–er, we meant to say Dimitry.”

Dean Pannell (a.k.a. dinotrac) writes: “News item: Microsoft sics the license dogs on Austin, Texas.”
Following the steady click-clack sound coming from my office, samurai guitar neck poised to strike, I confront the intruder. “Hey there, Pizza Boy, long time, no see.”

I can’t believe my eyes. It’s Toadie, right hand man to the Redmond Billionaire.

“We’ve been having a little trouble,” he says, “with that paranoid delusional black helicopter chaser, Joe Barr. Do you know him?”

“I may have heard the name.”

“Joe’s been out there doing the wacky dance again. Says we leaned heavy on the city of Austin to shell out large for years to come.”

“The Big Guy’s got a real PR problem if this thing gets any attention.”

From varlinux.org.

Slashdotters are talking about the closing of the source at VA (Newsforge’s parent company.)