Things have changed quite a bit since we last posted about the state of Linux Package Management. Over the few months ago, we saw the Connectiva release, which was a RPM front-end to apt-get ^[?] . Now, for those of you running RH6.x, there are a new program called Aduva Manager. It's kinda like using apt-get update/apt-get dist-upgrade, but checks dependecies and such for RH6.x based systems. They've got screenshots as well as a FAQ/download site. It's designed more for new users, but it looks like a step in the right direction for RPM.

An anonymous reader says: "Linux kernel 2.4 got itself at the 4th position in Wired Vaporware 2000 contest! The top prize goes to ... (check the link out for yrself ;)" I have a hard time calling something Vapor that I've been running on 30 days uptime, but what do I know? I guess a "product" without a release date just isn't something comprehensible.

Aciel asks: "I recently decided to switch from Windows to Linux. I'd been held back by many things before (such as that my copies of Thief II, Quake III Arena, and Wheel of Time only ran on the former), but I was really ready to do it this time. But once I got Red Hat all set up, running Gnome, et cetera, I realized that I had no idea how to install anything. I of course knew about sites like linuxnewbie.com (and .org), but neither of them were really oriented towards people like me. One was oriented more towards programmers; the other towards idiots. But where to find a tutorial on Gnome, KDE, or Linux and X in general oriented towards people like myself, people with significant but not infinite computer DOS-based know-how?" If Unix (Linux/*BSD/etc) is ever to successfully woo users from Windows, something like this is a must.

These interviews have gotten pretty celebrity-oriented lately. To break the routine, this week's guest is an unknown, 15-year-old, Linux-using, Slashdot-reading high school sophomore named Clinton Ebadi I met at a local LUG meeting. Clinton's mom, who drove him to the meeting (his first), was happily surprised to find that there was a large group of people (of all ages) out there who instantly accepted and respected her son; his relatives, teachers, and classmates looked at him and saw nothing but a slightly strange, slightly pudgy loner. So ask Clinton anything you like about being a kid geek (a living, breathing Katz character, you might say) or anything else, including MentalUNIX or the ncurses-based front end he's working on for Splay. Post questions for Clinton below. We'll send him 10 selected ones by e-mail, and expect his answers within a week or so.

gags bunny wrote to us with the official word from Slackware that Slack now runs on Sparc. If you've got a Sparc sitting around the download site is live - else just grab the mini-ISO image and work from there. We had a story on this recently as well.

lizrd writes "The New York Times is reporting (yeah, yeah, you gotta sign to read it) that several Linux distros will be shipping stable versions of Linux for Intel's new 64-bit Itanium chip on the day that it is released to the public. Microsoft however will not be supplying a version of Windows for Itanium until sometime in the fall of next year, several months after the expected May release of the new processor."

Crixus asks: "I'm about to build a dual CPU box on which to run Linux. Currently, what is the best supported video card under the latest Xfree86 releases. Which card(s) can I buy that would be obvious 'can't go wrong' choices?" This question pops in to the submissions bin quite a bit, even though we have discussed this issue several times in the past. However times change, and as the years pass the technologies change. What does this year offer in the way of compatible video cards for XFree and Linux? Those of you who have this question might also want to check out AnandTech's October Video Card Comparison.

We had an extremely interesting submission from Ted T'so,, Linux kernel developer, who also has an obvious interest in security, given his work with Kerberos ^[?] . He wrote in concerning the release by the NSA (Yes, that NSA) of a high security version of Linux. I've included his comments below.

tangsoodo asks: "It's easy to find 1 floppy Linux distributions like Tomsrtbt or Trinux, but they seem to only run on PC's... are there any 1 or few floppy distributions of Linux or even a BSD that run on 68k or PPC Macs? Yes, I know new Macs don't have floppy drives, but there are tons of older Macs still being used in schools and libraries, and running off a floppy is probably the easiest way to experiment with the Unices without messing with the hard drive."

rar7 writes "See the whole year of Linux -- in all its many dimensions -- on one interesting and informative page!" There's a ton of stuff on this page. Amazing how much happened in the last 12 months. Anything critical missing?

SpLiFFoRd asks: "I'm a MIDI musician and songwriter who seems to be constantly running out of processing power for my VST effects when I'm working in CubaseVST. Coincidently, I've also been working on explorations into Linux clusters and parallel processing. As I watched my CPU meter in Cubase hit 95% one night, I began thinking...'What if there was a way to farm out the work of my single processor to an outside Linux cluster with multiple processors to speed things up as well as enable me to run more simultaneous effects without straining the system?' I've been looking around, but don't seem to see any others who might have had this thought. This would be a tremendous real world application to me, and probably to others as well. Do you know anyone who might want to tackle such a project?" Sounds like a worthy project, but sound processing is still in its infancy under Linux, and while the horizon looks good with projects like GLAME and ecasound, I'm wondering if it may be a while before something like this will be feasible. That issue aside, however, I think something like this would be really cool. What about you?

wish bot sent in a link to a ZD Net story that talks about how Linux distributions are too big. Many valid points... of course IMHO my distribution is exactly the right size, and I apt-get all the bloat if I want it, later.

sPaKr asks: "Why do we still use LiLo? I have recently installed FreeBSD, and and the boot loader that comes with latest release seems very powerful: it allows me to navigate the disk, preload kernels and modules at boot time and if I make kernel changes but forget to make changes to the loader configuration file I can still boot into a stable system (even though this can be fixed by having a handy boot disk aka tomsrtbt). I have conducted a quick search and find that there are several replacement loaders for Linux, (ie. grub, uniload). Why is it that most distributions ship with LiLo when we can find stable and more feature-rich replacments?"

A few people noted that Debian has brought the 'Testing' Tree on-line. So now we have Stable (currently potato) for production boxes, Testing (woody) for settling things down before an eventual release, and a new unstable tree for those of us who'd just rather things randomly break. Here's a bit more info if you're curious.

Mark Cappel writes "Here's a holiday guide to games for Linux, published by Linuxworld.com. Share and enjoy." The only game on there that I know some people have been playing is Tetrinet. I've been playing with SC3U quite a bit lately - I highly recommend it.

keskoy writes: "David Cantrell is a core team member for the Slackware ^[?] Linux Project. In this interview you will learn how David got his start working on Slackware linux, what his role as a Slackware developer is, he will explain to us about his two new applications protopkg and autoslack, plus other various topics of interest are touched on."

kemster writes "I've seen a few articles on different Wireless ethernet devices which are supported under Linux, but I'd like to know what people's experiences with them are. I'd like to get a wireless ethernet card for my laptop, and Linux support is a must, but I'd also like something that isn't too expensive and has decent range and speed. Does anyone have any suggestions? What have other people used? I'd love any suggestions and/or links people have to products." We've discussed this issue over a year ago and the market for wireless networks has grown dramatically since then. Has the intervening time changed anything when it comes to wireles options for Linux?

j2demelo writes: "What would happen to Linux if BeOS were to be released under the GPL? How much competition, if any, would this bring upon Linux? I for one would love to see it happen. It would mean another low-cost alternative to Windows on the desktop, allowing computer manufacturers to reduce prices even more. We know Linux isn't currently ready for mainstream desktop use. Could the open sourcing of BeOS give it the kick-in-the-butt it needs?" Before you all start the advocacy wars, I'd like to point out that if BeOS was converted to an Open Source License, it would not mean the end of either OS by a long shot. Competition in markets usually means an improvement of the products in that market, that would mean that both Be and Linux would have to improve. What improvements would both OSes make and how would this affect the Open Source Operating Systems market?

cr0sh asks: "I am seeking help obtaining TV output under Linux. I am currently running SuSE 6.2 and XFree86 3.3.2, using a Hecules Stingray 128/3D with TV out. I have tried numerous different modelines under X to try and activate the TV output, with no luck. A look at the chipset revealed that the card uses a Chrontel CH7002D-V to provide the TV output. Studying the specifications revealed that in order to activate it, an I2C bus or direct pin programming may be used. I searched the internet using Google to see what I could find out regarding this chip and Linux, but the best I turned up was an I2C bus driver for a Riva TNT/BTV chipset. Seeing that this may have been a blind alley, I tried setting up my Genius HiEncoder VGA-to-TV converter to display the output from the card, with help from Tomi Engdahl and his site. I eventually found a solid modeline to use, however, all I get is a black and white display. No matter what changes to the modeline I try, I cannot obtain color. I really need a color TV output (it is to drive an HMD I own). Can anyone give me suggestions as to how I may get proper TV output, either via my current card (anyone know how to enable the Chrontel?), gaining color via my converter (has anyone used the HiEncoder with Linux?), or using an entirely different video card (with TV output supported under Linux)? Any help would be appreciated."

zonker writes "This article at C|Net says the army is going to try an embedded version of Linux to use on portable vehicle diagnosis devices. Red Hat got the contract. Here is an article at Red Hat's site." Not a huge deal fiscally, but this is one of the areas where Linux is probably going to grow the most - hence companies like Lineo and others like them.