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Chromatic slipped this review under our door. You need a few laughs at this point in the summer (ok, Northern hemisphere residents at least) to distract you from the heat of summer and the cost of air conditioning, and Joy of Linux has some esoteric geek humor in store, even if it's intended mostly as a mostly serious field guide to Linux nerddom for amateur anthropologists, like parents, girlfriends and bosses.

Joy of Linux author Michael Hall, Brian Proffitt pages 340 publisher Prima Tech rating 8 reviewer chromatic ISBN 0-7615-3151-3 summary A witty introduction to the wild world of Linux, suitable for the friend, relative, or significant other of a devoted geek.

The Scoop It's 2001. Do you love your operating system?

That's a silly question for the average user -- a computer's made to do stuff. The operating system hides in the background, usually dormant, sometimes hostile. Besides Solitaire at lunch, the best thing about a computer is turning it off and going home for the day. Of course, to an unrepentant Amiga, Mac, OS/2, *BSD, BeOS, or Linux fan, the question makes perfect sense. An OS has personality and history. They collect followers who put up with quirks and kinks, defending their platform even past the point of practical death.

The Joy of Linux explores this phenomenon as it relates to Linux and Open Source. It's written in a friendly, easy-reading manner, punctuated with Joy of Tech style cartoons (from Nitrozac and Snaggy). There's just enough information to teach your mother something and just enough sly innuendo to keep your brother reading. Aimed at potential and new users, die-hard penguinistas will find chuckles but few surprises.

What's to Like? Joy begins with detailed but readable looks at the allure of Linux, the history of Unix, and the growing popularity and commercial rollercoasters of Open Source in recent years. Next, the text explores the question, "What do I do now?", distilling hard experience into suggestions for finding help. More than a list of newsgroups and websites, chapter two explains the concept of sweat equity and promotes self-reliance. Chapter three talks about FUD -- both pro and contra Linux. It's fair and reasonable, with potshots reserved for the shrill faddish fanboys who spend more time complaining than contributing.

Tackling delicate topics, the next two chapters shy away from few controversies. First come three perpetual flamewars: vi versus Emacs, GNOME versus KDE, and the distribution wars. The honest assessments will disappoint everyone hovering over carefully crafted flames, ready to e-mail the authors. (That's probably a good thing, for the rest of us.) Chapter five explores the seeming juxtaposition of women and technology, with three case studies (Linux Chix, WITT, and Helix Code).

The book's second half pushes the innuendos further. Several serious discussions lie couched in metaphors and double entendres. These chapters cover system security, dual booting, migrating from Windows to Linux, hardware support, embedded devices, gaming, and multimedia. Aimed slightly above a novice level, this should be accessible to anyone capable of installing Linux.

The authors pepper their prose with personal anecdotes, some related to Linux and computers, others as analogies. They both write with a single voice, so it's difficult to tell where Hall breaks off and Proffitt starts. It makes for a mostly seamless narrative. The text is also readable, written with genial humor and occasional subtle winks.

What's to Consider? This is a book for Linux newcomers. If you can compile a kernel without having to look up directions, you may enjoy this book, but it's not aimed at you. Instead, it would serve well as a companion piece to something more technical. If 'Running Linux' is your manual, this is the cultural and philosophical guide.

Some of the cartoons require a little more insider knowledge than the rest of the book. For example, if you don't recognize aliens dressed up as maddog, ESR, Larry Wall, and Linus, you won't understand the comic on page 34. Consider that incentive to read conference speaker lists, if you dare.

The Summary Clever, but not too clever, The Joy of Linux answers two questions: "What is this Linux thing?" and "Why do you like it?" Written for home users more interested in getting things done than salivating over new hardware, it's a good introduction to a confusing, vibrant culture. If you're in the mood for a light read to amuses and inform, this book will meet that need. Table of Contents

1. Do You Know Who Your Millions of Partners Are?
2. 1. The Penguin on Top
   2. Are You Experienced?
   3. I Don't Do Windows
   4. Kissing Cousins, Lovers' Quarrels
   5. Chix Who Don't Fake It
3. Doin' It
4. 1. I'm Clean! I Swear!
   2. Switch Hitters
   3. The Joy of Toys
   4. You Want to Put That Where?
   5. Messing around: The Penguin Plays Games
   6. Loud and Graphic
   7. Breaking up Is Hard to Do
   8. The Linux Sutra: Resources
5. GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

You can purchase this book at Fatbrain.

Phexro extended our congratulations to Bruce and Valerie on the birth of Bruce 2.0, otherwise known as Stanley Charles Perens. this is jimmy asked us all to compete in the great Beltsander Races. Need to send crazy Aunt JoAnne some E-mail? Try something from the Great Spam Archive, sent in by Jones. Nezumi-chan wasn't the only one to write in with this one, but all I can say is Oh, yes. ahaning wrote in to tell us about the Obsolete Computer Museum. Want something to plug them into? blizzard shared Electricity from Giant Artichokes. Also, check out the Ultracade, which is cool unless you're a video game purist like me. Dropkick wrote in about a cyber-riffic washing machine. Last but not least, Penguin_99 writes in about cool photos from Galileo. That's it, folks. Thanks to AfterY2K for the title inspiration.

Chromatic, already a reviewing fixture and well-known AfterY2k junkie, has sent us a quick review of the latest book in Tad Williams' Otherland series. This book is Otherland: River of Blue Fire, which is the book after Otherland: City of Golden Shadow. Click below to learn more. Otherland: River of Blue Fire author Tad Williams pages 675 publisher Daw, 09/1999 rating 9/10 reviewer chromaticsummary ISBN 0886778441 summary Tad Williams explores global conspiracies surrounding a perfectly realized virtual world in the continuation of his Otherland saga.

At the end of Otherland: City of Golden Shadow, Tad Williams had dumped most of his protagonists into the convincing virtual reality known as the Otherland. In this playground for the rich, the reclusive, and the powerful, the small band was shocked to learn that it was trapped. It would be only a matter of time before the shadowy Grail Brotherhood, masters of Otherland, could discover the intrusion and act to protect their secrets.

Frightened and confused, the party's only chance for survival is to follow the quasi-metaphorical river that flows through each simulation, connecting the private domains of each member of the Brotherhood. It's a quest that will take them through a land of giant insects, Venice, Ancient Egypt, a twisted Kansas under invasion from decaying Oz, and other exotic, imaginary locations.

The real world is packed with intrigue too, as the forces opposing the Brotherhood (both knowingly and unknowingly) plan and plot and move their pieces into position. Reality and Otherland start to feed off of each other as dark secrets come to light and the Grail project enters its final stages.

As fits the second book in this series of four, some mysteries are solved and many more are discovered. Plotwise, the motivations of and divisions within the Grail Brotherhood are explored, and partial explanations of sleeping sickness are given. True to Williams' plot-twisting style, these bring up new questions. On the whole, there is less action than in the previous book, but more plot.

While there's still a lot of action, it's divided between five major groups of characters and settings (the latter given a very loose interpretation) and at least five other, minor threads. Consequently, even in a book of nearly 700 pages, four chapters may separate sequential events. This can be frustrating, as the most intriguing character receives the least attention. (In the introduction, Williams promises his fans that he will try to avoid the sort of cliffhanger ending that the first book had. To his credit, a plot diagram of River of Blue Fire would fit the traditional form much more closely than one of City of Golden Shadow.)

Williams fans may notice themes also present his "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series, which itself expanded on ideas present in his debut work Tailchaser's Song. You'll find ancient conspiracies, shady deals with unknown forces, enlightened groups of scholars working in the background, and the question of responsibility. It's refreshing to see him choose a less-than-superhuman antagonist (though the Heliopolis simulation and the Other may turn out to be more important -- and less "human" -- in the end).

Philosophical and literary analysis aside, is it entertaining? Quite so! The mixture of enigma and revelation, imagination and technical whiz-bang makes a very satisfying texture. For a thoughtful, less-dystopian-than-cyberpunk but still epic take on virtual reality, identity, and conspiracy, check out the Otherland.

Purchase this book at fatbrain.

Duncan Lawie, our in-house science fiction book reviewer has returned from Christmas, this time with a look at Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. With the recent appearances of Clarke in AfterY2k, I'm almost afraid to put anything up by him *grin*. Nonetheless, click below to read more about this somewhat flawed novel. Childhood's End author Arthur C. Clarke pages 200 publisher Pan, 1953/1990 rating 7/10 reviewer Duncan Lawie ISBN 0345347951 summary Alien visitation leads to transformation of the human race in a novel. Arthur C. Clarke has become an "elder figure" in this age of the Western World: each pronouncement he makes on the future is widely reported; he is generally credited with the invention of the communications satellite; he was knighted in 1998; there is a British science fiction award named after him. His career in science fiction has lasted 50 years and many of his novels are considered classics of the field. His early work has a distinctly different flavour to that of his American contemporaries whilst 2001:A Space Odyssey propelled his career to a whole new level.

Childhood's End was Clarke's fourth novel and is one of the books on which his career is founded. It was originally published in 1953 and republished with an introduction and a radically altered first chapter in 1990. It is a novel of visitation by aliens and the vast changes in humanity which result. Of course, many science fiction stories of every vintage could be summarised identically. Clarke displays his awareness of this early in the book when he outlines many of the alternative paths the novel could take and dismisses these possibilities. The story told is profound in comparison with much of the science fiction which had come before. However, the preconceptions which the modern reader is likely to have of this author will jar with the tale told. The original edition states that "the opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author". From reading his new introduction, it would appear that Clarke's subsequent development has distanced him from an even larger proportion of those opinions.

The first chapter discusses the coming of the aliens. The original version posits a space race between the Soviets and America entering the final stages of take off for the moon when alien spaceships appear in the sky. At the time of publication, the setting is clearly twenty years in the future. Because it is also clearly now in our past, Clarke has updated this with a prelude involving Russian and American co-operation for a Mars mission. The subsequent story is unchanged. Having read the original version, I feel that the new-grafted root might make the story even more dated in it's handling of emotion and interrelation between the sexes. However, perhaps these simply form part of the story environment for a reader unfettered by knowledge of the book's antiquity.

After the scene-setting arrival, events skip forward several years to describe the consolidation of the new order. The alien Overlords put backbone into the United Nations and bring about a genuine world government with widespread peace and prosperity despite fears regarding the nature of the aliens, who refuse to reveal themselves. This is followed by a time where humanity, under guidance, transforms the planet into a utopia. The populace of this new era is faced with the question of what to do next. The answers offered by the Overlords are as unpalatable as the physical form of the aliens would have been at the time of their arrival.

The structure of the novel reaches this point without faltering greatly. However, the requirement for continued human narrative is fractured by Einsteinian physics and by the paranormal. The author's desire to escape from the confines of Earth and offer a greater perspective complicate the story but offer intimations of the future awaiting the human race. This future is developed through paranormal mechanisms and disappears into realms undescribable, providing a lyricism at odds with much of the rest of the novel. The characters are often stilted and rather formal. Even in the worst extreme, their emotional life is considerably less interesting than their intellectual activity. The book almost overflows with ideas, making it "archealogically" interesting: it's influence can be sifted from much work of subsequent generations, from 'V' to The X Files. . This contributes to the reading experience but it is not a gripping book. Childhood's End will be worthwhile principally to those interested in the history of science fiction and the development of one of it's leading authors.

Unofficial Arthur C. Clarke homepage: http://www.lsi.usp.br/~bianchi/clarke/

You can purchase this book at fatbrain.

Every year I pick a new years resolution and ever year it doesn't come true. This year I've opted to set my sights low so I can greatly increase the chance of suceeding for once. This year my resolution is to continue converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. Read on to learn what resolutions RMS, ESR, Jon Katz, CowboyNeal, Mandrake and others have for the year 2000.

Jason Haas from LinuxPPC has the following resolutions: "248x768 @ 85 Hz, Merge my world domination plans with Linus's tree, Kawasaka W650:It will be mine (a Virago would be ok), Restart akido, and mv competition to /dev/null

Jon Katz , Slashdot's favorite gasbag says " I wish for Walt Disney to thaw himself out, climb out of his Cryogenimatronic Vault, show up at Walt Disney World and wreak havoc on the corporate weenies who desecrated EPCOT, his model city of tomorrow. Maybe join with the Seattle protesters and touch off a war against corporatist weenies everywhere. "

Emmett Plant is the latest editorial addition to the Slashdot Authors roster. His resolution is "to start a company called 'EmmettLinux,' which will be responsible for creating no product whatsoever. We will employ a highly-paid staff of fifty people who will show up every day and start throwing money into a furnace. I hope to IPO by March and use the cash to hire 2,000 more moneyburners and open an office in Hong Kong. I will leave soon after, selling all of my stock and retiring to the Bahamas."

Chris J. DiBona , Linux Community Evangelist for VA Linux Systems, President of SVLUG, and Grant Chair for LI, has resolved the following: ".Sleep is high on my list, but I really just like to have more time to read, this year has been pretty hard-core. I'd also like to spend more time learning power supply electronics, dc-dc transformers and such. I'm already pretty good with the digital side of things, but this is a big gap in my knowledge. Can I give more than two? I'd also like a puppy. A puppy with an X10 Cam mounted on its collar so I can put a "puppy cam" online."

Rusty Russell , kernel hacker and mad genius wishes to Learn to cook. Or trade kernel code for food. Or buy a fire extinguisher.

Eric S. Raymond is perhaps better known simply as esr... and if you don't know who he is, well, ouch. He resolves to " Catch up with my email and cut down on my traveling. It's nice to be needed, but 50% time on the road is getting ridiculous..."

Raster aka "That Enlightenment Guy" who is the only living person with more typos than me resolves simply to use procmail to allow more sleep time.

Mandrake resolves "I really need to start taking better care of my body. I haven't really worked out in about a year - and I eat too much garbage (junk food / fast food), and I REALLY need to stop drinking coke. I go through 2liters like most people drink cans of coke. I don't think it'll happen any time soon - but hopefully I'll at least be a little healthier by the end of the year."

Trae McCombs , aka X, aka MC, aka 'That Linux.com guy' resolves to "Learn to eat more foods, Incorporate working out into my lifestyle, Work less than 14hrs a day, Be kinder to others, Listen more, Talk less, Learn to code, Read more, Keep true to my ideals..."

Scott Draeker , the President of Loki Entertainment Software resolves to release a first tier Linux game which is not available for windows. Hard to argue with that one.

Kurt DeMaagd , aka The Pope, aka Rob's Roommate and the BSI number cruncher has the following:

1. Combat bimetallism and establish the gold standard for currency.
2. Negotiate the DeMaagd-Hay-Pauncefote treaty, allowing the U.S. to unilaterally construct an isthmian canal.
3. Establish an American protectorate in Cuba.
4. Suppress the Boxer uprising.

Mind you if you look closely at Kurt's resolutions, you might notice that they look strikingly similiar to President William McKinley's adminstration's high points. I'm going to have to up kurts medication.

Illiad , creator of the ever popular User Friendly comic strip says "I resolve to only take responsibility for those choices that I have control over. That means I have to give up on the idea of educating the technically-resistant, the doublespeak-inclined, and the village idiot."

Richard M. Stallman , founder of the Free Software Founding and the GNU Project gave us suggested resolutions for Slashdot readers: They are 1. Do not install any non-free software your computers and 2. Do not buy from Amazon until they stop using software patents for aggression.

CowboyNeal , the man, the myth, the legend. The guy who responds when users can't figure out how to login. The guy who maintains the slashboxes. And the guy who inhabitants the living room in the Geek Compound, resolves that he shall "Shower Every Week, whether I needs it or not." All of the co-workers in this office who have orafactory functionality thank him. It doesn't matter to me much either way.

Jim Jagielski , aka jimjag or jim@apache.org or jim@jaguNET.com, resolves to call sleep(28800) a lot more often.

Nitrozac is the creator of After Y2k... which as best as I can tell means she's about to work herself out of a job. But regardless she says "If civilization manages to hold on to its tenuous existence, I'd like to find a cure for Agalmatophilia, and have others join me to rid the world of this illness that causes so much needless suffering. If civilization crumbles, my Post-Apocalypse Resolution is to learn how to do 16-bead graphics on my abacus, so I can continue the comic. ;-)"

And finally (thank god because my wrists are tired) is Jeff "Hemos" Bates , a man who needs no introduction (but he does need a solid smack to the head).He says "With the coming of El Ano Neuvo, I resolve that I'm going to continue my battle against the dread forces of The Krull Invasion. I think that I might also try to learn some grammar. Per'aps. And maybe I'll learn how to spell a few more words as well".