Slashdot Mirror

Matt Knuppel writes: "There will be a discussion with Paul Jones, Founder and Director of ibiblio/MetaLab/SunSITE, on Red Hat Center's Center Stage webcast on Tuesday, November 28th at 8:00 pm EST. It will be an hour long. Paul will be discussing ibiblio, open source, and contributor-run libraries. Questions for Paul can be submitted to matt@metalab.unc.edu."

bughunter writes: "Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill have successfully demonstrated Tele-immersion, the next step in virtual reality which allows the live transmission of 3-dimensional representation of real scenes. Don't look for tele-immersed streaming porn just yet; it seems the sheer volume of bandwidth the demonstration consumed caused a minor panic among the Internet 2 gateway admins at UNC."

bughunter writes: "Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill have successfully demonstrated Tele-immersion, the next step in virtual reality which allows the live transmission of 3-dimensional representation of real scenes. Don't look for tele-immersed streaming porn just yet; it seems the sheer volume of bandwidth the demonstration consumed caused a minor panic among the Internet 2 gateway admins at UNC."

Networks are everywhere, and more of them than ever are running Linux, which makes sense given its cost and its Unix background. If you're responsible for more than a handful of networked Linux machines, you probably run into more than a few situations each day that you wish you had a trusted advisor (or a few) to help you get through. How do I set up a server for [task X]? What do I do when my mail storage needs change? Christopher Thompson here briefly dissects O'Reilly's Linux Network Administrator's Guide, which promises to be a decent partner when you have network SNAFUs, at least much of the time.

The Linux Network Administrator's Guide author Olaf Kirch, Terry Dawson pages 450 publisher O'Reilly & Associates rating 7.5 reviewer Christopher Thompson ISBN 1565924002 summary A handy reference book for intermediate and experienced Linux networkers.

Introduction At long last, O'Reilly has released their second edition of the Linux Network Administrator's Guide. Updated to cover the 2.2 kernel, this book also serves as a handy reference for people using 2.0 or 2.4 kernels.

The book covers a wide variety of topics, including TCP/IP, DNS, SLIP, PPP, and PLIP, NIS, NFS, email servers, news servers, firewalling, masquerading, and IPX configuration.

Target Audience This book is clearly aimed at network administrators rather than Linux newbies. If your network consists of one or two computers, there will likely be little of value here. On the other hand, if you have a more complicated home network or administer an office lan, you will find much of value.

What's Good? This book is based on the Linux Documentation Project, though the online copy available there is rather outdated. O'Reilly have provided the entire contents of the book online, however, as part of their Open Books Project and should be commended for this.

The Network Administrator's Guide provides a great deal of information, complete with background, clear explanations, and examples. Although covering a range of topics, the guide is complete and fairly comprehensive. It is far more convenient to refer to this book rather than scanning through numerous HOW-TOs in order to set up your network. The guide covers each topic in sufficient detail that a reader is unlikely to resort to the HOW-TOs. Furthermore, the guide is a much easier read.

The author has taken considerable effort to ensure the information will not immediately become obsolete. The chapter on firewalling, for example, gives commands for kernels 2.0, 2.2, and the upcoming 2.4.

What's Bad? Unfortunately, there are some problems with the Network Administrator's Guide, both in what it contains and in what it does not.

The guide is mysteriously silent on a number of topics, not least of which are Samba, Apache, and Coda. While O'Reilly sells separate books covering at least the first two of these topics, some basic information on them would have been quite appropriate for this book. Many networks contain one or more Windows boxes and everyone seems to run web servers these days.

Sendmail and exim are covered fairly well but no mention is made of other mail transport agents such as qmail. This can be excused as no book of this size could be entirely comprehensive. Still, some of these choices seem arbitrary.

Also confusing is what the book does contain. There is, for example, an entire chapter on UUCP, as well as several references elsewhere. Although UUCP is certainly not dead, I question its importance for the majority of network administrators.

Dead Tree? Or Online? So is this book worthwhile? If you are involved in administering a Linux network, unquestionably yes. You may need additional information if your network also contains Windows boxes but this book should still prove valuable.

As to whether it is worth the purchase price or whether you should just read it online, this comes down to personal preference. Some people are satisfied with online content but I prefer having the information in dead-tree format, for reference when I am without a network connection. I also find it easier to read a book than a web page. I have no doubt that this guide is worth its purchase price.

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1. Introduction to Networking
2. Chapter 2. Issues of TCP/IP Networking
3. Chapter 3. Configuring the Networking Hardware
4. Chapter 4. Configuring the Serial Hardware
5. Chapter 5. Configuring TCP/IP Networking
6. Chapter 6. Name Service and Resolver Configuration
7. Chapter 7. Serial Line IP
8. Chapter 8. The Point-to-Point Protocol
9. Chapter 9. TCP/IP Firewall
10. Chapter 10. IP Accounting
11. Chapter 11. IP Masquerade and Network Address Translation
12. Chapter 12. Important Network Features
13. Chapter 13. The Network Information System
14. Chapter 14. The Network File System
15. Chapter 15. IPX and the NCP Filesystem
16. Chapter 16. Managing Taylor UUCP
17. Chapter 17. Electronic Mail
18. Chapter 18. Sendmail
19. Chapter 19. Getting Exim Up and Running
20. Chapter 20. Netnews
21. Chapter 21. C News
22. Chapter 22. NNTP and the nntpd Daemon
23. Chapter 23. Internet News
24. Chapter 24. Newsreader Configuration
25. Appendix A. Example Network: The Virtual Brewery
26. Appendix B. Useful Cable Configurations
27. Appendix D. SAGE: The System Administrators Guild

Networks are everywhere, and more of them than ever are running Linux, which makes sense given its cost and its Unix background. If you're responsible for more than a handful of networked Linux machines, you probably run into more than a few situations each day that you wish you had a trusted advisor (or a few) to help you get through. How do I set up a server for [task X]? What do I do when my mail storage needs change? Christopher Thompson here briefly dissects O'Reilly's Linux Network Administrator's Guide, which promises to be a decent partner when you have network SNAFUs, at least much of the time.

The Linux Network Administrator's Guide author Olaf Kirch, Terry Dawson pages 450 publisher O'Reilly & Associates rating 7.5 reviewer Christopher Thompson ISBN 1565924002 summary A handy reference book for intermediate and experienced Linux networkers.

Introduction At long last, O'Reilly has released their second edition of the Linux Network Administrator's Guide. Updated to cover the 2.2 kernel, this book also serves as a handy reference for people using 2.0 or 2.4 kernels.

The book covers a wide variety of topics, including TCP/IP, DNS, SLIP, PPP, and PLIP, NIS, NFS, email servers, news servers, firewalling, masquerading, and IPX configuration.

Target Audience This book is clearly aimed at network administrators rather than Linux newbies. If your network consists of one or two computers, there will likely be little of value here. On the other hand, if you have a more complicated home network or administer an office lan, you will find much of value.

What's Good? This book is based on the Linux Documentation Project, though the online copy available there is rather outdated. O'Reilly have provided the entire contents of the book online, however, as part of their Open Books Project and should be commended for this.

The Network Administrator's Guide provides a great deal of information, complete with background, clear explanations, and examples. Although covering a range of topics, the guide is complete and fairly comprehensive. It is far more convenient to refer to this book rather than scanning through numerous HOW-TOs in order to set up your network. The guide covers each topic in sufficient detail that a reader is unlikely to resort to the HOW-TOs. Furthermore, the guide is a much easier read.

The author has taken considerable effort to ensure the information will not immediately become obsolete. The chapter on firewalling, for example, gives commands for kernels 2.0, 2.2, and the upcoming 2.4.

What's Bad? Unfortunately, there are some problems with the Network Administrator's Guide, both in what it contains and in what it does not.

The guide is mysteriously silent on a number of topics, not least of which are Samba, Apache, and Coda. While O'Reilly sells separate books covering at least the first two of these topics, some basic information on them would have been quite appropriate for this book. Many networks contain one or more Windows boxes and everyone seems to run web servers these days.

Sendmail and exim are covered fairly well but no mention is made of other mail transport agents such as qmail. This can be excused as no book of this size could be entirely comprehensive. Still, some of these choices seem arbitrary.

Also confusing is what the book does contain. There is, for example, an entire chapter on UUCP, as well as several references elsewhere. Although UUCP is certainly not dead, I question its importance for the majority of network administrators.

Dead Tree? Or Online? So is this book worthwhile? If you are involved in administering a Linux network, unquestionably yes. You may need additional information if your network also contains Windows boxes but this book should still prove valuable.

As to whether it is worth the purchase price or whether you should just read it online, this comes down to personal preference. Some people are satisfied with online content but I prefer having the information in dead-tree format, for reference when I am without a network connection. I also find it easier to read a book than a web page. I have no doubt that this guide is worth its purchase price.

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1. Introduction to Networking
2. Chapter 2. Issues of TCP/IP Networking
3. Chapter 3. Configuring the Networking Hardware
4. Chapter 4. Configuring the Serial Hardware
5. Chapter 5. Configuring TCP/IP Networking
6. Chapter 6. Name Service and Resolver Configuration
7. Chapter 7. Serial Line IP
8. Chapter 8. The Point-to-Point Protocol
9. Chapter 9. TCP/IP Firewall
10. Chapter 10. IP Accounting
11. Chapter 11. IP Masquerade and Network Address Translation
12. Chapter 12. Important Network Features
13. Chapter 13. The Network Information System
14. Chapter 14. The Network File System
15. Chapter 15. IPX and the NCP Filesystem
16. Chapter 16. Managing Taylor UUCP
17. Chapter 17. Electronic Mail
18. Chapter 18. Sendmail
19. Chapter 19. Getting Exim Up and Running
20. Chapter 20. Netnews
21. Chapter 21. C News
22. Chapter 22. NNTP and the nntpd Daemon
23. Chapter 23. Internet News
24. Chapter 24. Newsreader Configuration
25. Appendix A. Example Network: The Virtual Brewery
26. Appendix B. Useful Cable Configurations
27. Appendix D. SAGE: The System Administrators Guild

Networks are everywhere, and more of them than ever are running Linux, which makes sense given its cost and its Unix background. If you're responsible for more than a handful of networked Linux machines, you probably run into more than a few situations each day that you wish you had a trusted advisor (or a few) to help you get through. How do I set up a server for [task X]? What do I do when my mail storage needs change? Christopher Thompson here briefly dissects O'Reilly's Linux Network Administrator's Guide, which promises to be a decent partner when you have network SNAFUs, at least much of the time.

The Linux Network Administrator's Guide author Olaf Kirch, Terry Dawson pages 450 publisher O'Reilly & Associates rating 7.5 reviewer Christopher Thompson ISBN 1565924002 summary A handy reference book for intermediate and experienced Linux networkers.

Introduction At long last, O'Reilly has released their second edition of the Linux Network Administrator's Guide. Updated to cover the 2.2 kernel, this book also serves as a handy reference for people using 2.0 or 2.4 kernels.

The book covers a wide variety of topics, including TCP/IP, DNS, SLIP, PPP, and PLIP, NIS, NFS, email servers, news servers, firewalling, masquerading, and IPX configuration.

Target Audience This book is clearly aimed at network administrators rather than Linux newbies. If your network consists of one or two computers, there will likely be little of value here. On the other hand, if you have a more complicated home network or administer an office lan, you will find much of value.

What's Good? This book is based on the Linux Documentation Project, though the online copy available there is rather outdated. O'Reilly have provided the entire contents of the book online, however, as part of their Open Books Project and should be commended for this.

The Network Administrator's Guide provides a great deal of information, complete with background, clear explanations, and examples. Although covering a range of topics, the guide is complete and fairly comprehensive. It is far more convenient to refer to this book rather than scanning through numerous HOW-TOs in order to set up your network. The guide covers each topic in sufficient detail that a reader is unlikely to resort to the HOW-TOs. Furthermore, the guide is a much easier read.

The author has taken considerable effort to ensure the information will not immediately become obsolete. The chapter on firewalling, for example, gives commands for kernels 2.0, 2.2, and the upcoming 2.4.

What's Bad? Unfortunately, there are some problems with the Network Administrator's Guide, both in what it contains and in what it does not.

The guide is mysteriously silent on a number of topics, not least of which are Samba, Apache, and Coda. While O'Reilly sells separate books covering at least the first two of these topics, some basic information on them would have been quite appropriate for this book. Many networks contain one or more Windows boxes and everyone seems to run web servers these days.

Sendmail and exim are covered fairly well but no mention is made of other mail transport agents such as qmail. This can be excused as no book of this size could be entirely comprehensive. Still, some of these choices seem arbitrary.

Also confusing is what the book does contain. There is, for example, an entire chapter on UUCP, as well as several references elsewhere. Although UUCP is certainly not dead, I question its importance for the majority of network administrators.

Dead Tree? Or Online? So is this book worthwhile? If you are involved in administering a Linux network, unquestionably yes. You may need additional information if your network also contains Windows boxes but this book should still prove valuable.

As to whether it is worth the purchase price or whether you should just read it online, this comes down to personal preference. Some people are satisfied with online content but I prefer having the information in dead-tree format, for reference when I am without a network connection. I also find it easier to read a book than a web page. I have no doubt that this guide is worth its purchase price.

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1. Introduction to Networking
2. Chapter 2. Issues of TCP/IP Networking
3. Chapter 3. Configuring the Networking Hardware
4. Chapter 4. Configuring the Serial Hardware
5. Chapter 5. Configuring TCP/IP Networking
6. Chapter 6. Name Service and Resolver Configuration
7. Chapter 7. Serial Line IP
8. Chapter 8. The Point-to-Point Protocol
9. Chapter 9. TCP/IP Firewall
10. Chapter 10. IP Accounting
11. Chapter 11. IP Masquerade and Network Address Translation
12. Chapter 12. Important Network Features
13. Chapter 13. The Network Information System
14. Chapter 14. The Network File System
15. Chapter 15. IPX and the NCP Filesystem
16. Chapter 16. Managing Taylor UUCP
17. Chapter 17. Electronic Mail
18. Chapter 18. Sendmail
19. Chapter 19. Getting Exim Up and Running
20. Chapter 20. Netnews
21. Chapter 21. C News
22. Chapter 22. NNTP and the nntpd Daemon
23. Chapter 23. Internet News
24. Chapter 24. Newsreader Configuration
25. Appendix A. Example Network: The Virtual Brewery
26. Appendix B. Useful Cable Configurations
27. Appendix D. SAGE: The System Administrators Guild

rrwood asks: "The company at which I work is about to overhaul an existing application. Strangely enough, we're primarily Macintosh-based, but are casting an eye towards cross-platform development (i.e. Windows, though I'm hopeful that an X/Linux-based version is also a possibility). Given that the app is to be a fairly rich GUI front end that talks to a database backend, I'd be interested in hearing any recommendations or advice anyone out there has to offer." Read on for more information on the toolkits currently under consideration (feel free to offer more suggestions), but we are talking toolkits here. The topic of cross-platform languages got a rather thourough treatment in a previous article.

"It's pretty much a necessity for the solution technology to include a RAD tool.

With respect to using a portable C++ core and platform-specific GUI layer (or even portable GUI layer-- keep reading), there are a few toolkits around that seem promising:

• GLUI, an OpenGL-based GUI
• Whisper, a Mac/Windows application framework
• WxWindows, a framework which supports Windows 3.1/95/98/NT, and Unix with GTK/Motif/Lesstif, and MacOS
• YAAF, Yet Another Application Framework, offering suport for Macintosh OS, Windows 95 and Windows NT, and X Windows
• CPLAT, a framework for developing MacOS and Windows (Linux soon) applications
• Ardi's Carbonless Copies technology, which is a portable rewrite of much of the MacOS API

Additionally, these URLS have a lot of info on Platform Independent GUIs:

• GUI Toolkit/Framework Page
• PIGUI FAQ Page
• C++ User's Journal PIGUI Page"

Patrick McGouirk asks: "I work in a mixed-OS house, and need to have both Windows NT and Linux installed on my laptop. While everyone in this situation knows about the Linux+NT mini-Howto, I was installing SuSE 6.4 this weekend and accidentally did something that seems to have created an alternative solution. I installed NT as usual (hda1, primary) then installed SuSE (hda2, primary) + swap, as well as a third shared FAT32 partition (hda3, primary). I put lilo on hda2, but while fooling around with YaST2 I made hda2 active by accident. When I rebooted lilo came up with the choices of Linux or NT, which I have switched back and forth several times this weekend with no apparent problems. While in theory I knew that both Linux and NT care less about which partition is active (as long as it's a primary), It never occured to me until now that you could actually change the active partition to dual-boot. My question is this. Does this seem a safe method of dual-booting? If so this solves the basic problem of everytime you update Linux you needed to copy the new lilo to NT's root drive. It also makes Linux your primary OS!" I'm running this one for all of the Linux/NT folks out there who didn't know about this trick.

Some useful stuff: An anonymous reader noted that AltaVista has opened Raging.Com which is a super fast minimal search engine without all that bloated portal crap. gi_wrighty noted that the winneers of the 5k HTML Contest have Been announced. Impressive minimalism. Soeren Staun-Pedersen noted that a new The Gimp User Group has come along. j1mmy pointed us to pictures of the new Lara Croft Model from E3. Yaruar sent us a story about Lego Filmsets that come with cameras for you do-it-yourselfers. If you don't want to make your own films, how about your own Mars Polar Lander Site? (Thanks Biff Studly). antiwesley sent us interesting insight into a typical geek cube. Speaking of things found in geek Cubes, BenTheDewpendent sent us a page that tracks tons of info on Mountain Dew and bob_jordan found pictures of upcoming Futurama Bender Action Figures (Not as cool as Nate's Picolo tho) Baloo Ursidae sent us a story about electricity generating shoes. Gorphrim sent us some Duron Parodies Finally some Slashdot references: DrFun (one of the original net comics) mentioned us in a recent strip, Someone noted that Geek Culture is selling First Post T-Shirts. QuasEye noted that someone registered hotgrits.org and ironically enough, is running Slashcode. And the WashPost ran an article on us which is mostly accurate. And to wrap things up, maxxon showed us the way to Crank Dot Net, which has stuff on all sorts of conspiracy theories and urban myths and other crazy stuffs on the net. Stuff like UFOs, the face on mars, Creationism, Scientology, antigravity, and perpetual motion and more.

Booker asks: "Are there any public domain repositories for sounds? Sort of like Propaganda for your speakers? Audio cues can really enhance a desktop design, but most of what is currently out there consists of a small number of bleeps, bloops, and buzzes. Of the window managers / desktops which do ship some default sounds (E, gnome, KDE...), where did those come from? If someone were to start such a repository, what should the file format be?"

gbnewby writes: "Prof. Greg Newby of UNC-Chapel Hill has been forced to remove the DeCSS files from his course materials. This resulted from a March 17 MPAA complaint. Newby has a press release and essay online. The class was INLS183, in which Linux/Unix systems administration, software installation and security are taught." Nothing really shocking here, but the essay is worth reading.

gbnewby writes: "Prof. Greg Newby of UNC-Chapel Hill has been forced to remove the DeCSS files from his course materials. This resulted from a March 17 MPAA complaint. Newby has a press release and essay online. The class was INLS183, in which Linux/Unix systems administration, software installation and security are taught." Nothing really shocking here, but the essay is worth reading.

gbnewby writes: "Prof. Greg Newby of UNC-Chapel Hill has been forced to remove the DeCSS files from his course materials. This resulted from a March 17 MPAA complaint. Newby has a press release and essay online. The class was INLS183, in which Linux/Unix systems administration, software installation and security are taught." Nothing really shocking here, but the essay is worth reading.

gbnewby writes: "Prof. Greg Newby of UNC-Chapel Hill has been forced to remove the DeCSS files from his course materials. This resulted from a March 17 MPAA complaint. Newby has a press release and essay online. The class was INLS183, in which Linux/Unix systems administration, software installation and security are taught." Nothing really shocking here, but the essay is worth reading.

gbnewby writes "According to this press release, 'Kevin O'Connor, CEO and co-founder of DoubleClick, Inc, has been appointed to the Direct Marketing Association's Board of Directors.' This is scary. The DMA (along with the Federal Trade Commission) is responsible for the absence of any serious regulation of Internet junk mail (spam) in the US. We can expect more of the same lack of progress towards overcoming spam, looks like."

It seems that Redhat 6.2 will be out Real Soon Now - the mirrors (at least at metalab) are starting to get it. The main Redhat FTP doesn't have it yet - but it should be there in the next few hours... I think that the beta idea was a really good one (and I know lots of problems have been fixed since the beta was out - look at the rawhide directory in their FTP server). I hope other Linux distributions will follow RedHat with a public beta test before releasing a new version. (Thanks Udi for the info).

pjones writes "Donnie Barnes has posted a longish explanation about the fate of LinuxExpo on the 'real' LinuxExpo site. This helps clarify the situation quite a bit." Read more below.

Turns out that there's really an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Linux conferences, and Donnie Barnes has decided that making them better is more important than making them more numerous, so the LinuxExpo folks are joining forces with the Atlanta Linux Showcase, and the future looks bright.

Donnie's explanation also sheds some interesting light on the growth of Linux as reflected in the attendance at shows like these. Says Donnie: "I still remember the line of almost 100 people at 9 a.m. when the doors were to open on the first event." Times change.

Guylhem Aznar, one of the folks over at the Linux Documentation Project has sent us an updated list of features/responses/additions that they've put into the project. Much of this work comes as a result of Slashdot suggestions; you can read more below and perhaps want to sign up to help out.

Thanks a lot to Slashdot readers for the comments they submitted.

Our announcement may have seemed "empty" but you provided us with lots of good feedback regarding the LDP in general, and that will help us in improving our quality.

While reading the comments, I took a paper and wrote down the different problems people had.

Some will not be solved immediately, some are now solved, others are outside our scope while others can be solved if we get more people to help in the effort.

- web site design : FIXED

Each of your comments were precious to help us improve its appearance and ease of use. Please try out the new version.

- provide direct access to important links : FIXED

We now have big links for each of the major document types (HOWTOs, FAQs...) on the first page. Please check "non-English" where you should find a link to your local LDP with translated documents.

- provide security bulletins & link to RFC archives

I'm sorry, but this is not within the current goals of the LDP. However, we will add links to other sites with this information in our "Links" section.

- provide DocBook and PDF documents : FIXED (Docbook format and ">PDF format are online now

I converted each of the LinuxDoc HOWTOs and mini HOWTOs to DocBook and PDF, uploaded them two days after the Slashdot article ; they are now available on each of the formats as another output, just like the html and ps versions.

- move to DocBook because LinuxDoc sucks - stick to LinuxDoc because DocBook sucks

The HOWTOs are now provided in both LinuxDoc and DocBook; however for the moment we can only accept LinuxDoc source for the HOWTOs.

In the next weeks both DocBook and LinuxDoc SGML source will be accepted for the HOWTOs. We are currently testing DocBook output formats.

You can already submit your DocBook only document which will be put in the DOCBOOK section. (a new major section, like FAQs and HOWTOs)

- "tables don't scale to window size and resolution and 10 pt font size is hardcoded

Our Webmasters are working on these problems.

- How can I submit my work to the LDP? You can read the HOWTO-HOWTO

three possibilities depending on the format:

a. you can write in LinuxDoc : call your document an HOWTO b. you can write in DocBook : call your document a DOCBOOK :-) c. you are a master of TeX/LaTeX, pdf or any specific format : call your document a GUIDE or a FAQ, depending on its contents.

Please use a license compatible with our requirements (GNU Free Documentation License is IMHO the best choice but feel free to take any other license) and mail your document to ldp-submit@lists.linuxdoc.org

If your LinuxDoc or DocBook source contains errors, I'm sorry but we will not process it until the errors are fixed. Please test it first

- You should check the documents : FIXED

We have since November! We would like to be able to have our peer review team proofread each submitted document.

However, there are far too many docs submitted to ldp-submit for our small team to adequately proofread each document. If you would like to help us please subscribe to ldp-submit (mail ldp-submit-request@lists.linuxdoc.org).

- XXXX and YYYY HOWTOs are outdated/unmaintained

Please update the document and submit the new version to the LDP if the license allows modifications. We will be happy to include your new version (News HOWTO and SCSI HOWTO are especially old!).

- I just found ZZZZ HOWTO which is not part of the LDP yet

Then please contact the author and ask him to send his document to ldp-submit@lists.linuxdoc.org Chances are we will include it, unless it contains errors, has a non- free license, or duplicates an existing document.

- license problem, GNU/Linux... FIXED

We have a manifesto and a license guide on the first page. There is an ongoing discussion and both may be revised.

We will not impose any license but rather have some criteria and requirements (free redistribution for ex.)

And if you don't like "LDP", just remember netscape/mozilla : it's written LDP but it reads GNU Linux Documentation Project.

Writing documentation is not as sexy as writing software (To quote a Slashdotter, "Honestly, how many users want to read documentation? How many of them see a fat manual and feel happy?")

We do need more authors. Unfortunately, not everyone can be a good author. It requires a combination of writing skills, technical knowledge, and the willingness to accept criticism that improves your final product. Thank you all for your responses--we hope that you continue to let us know your opinions on the LDP.

Guylhem Aznar, one of the folks over at the Linux Documentation Project has sent us an updated list of features/responses/additions that they've put into the project. Much of this work comes as a result of Slashdot suggestions; you can read more below and perhaps want to sign up to help out.

Thanks a lot to Slashdot readers for the comments they submitted.

Our announcement may have seemed "empty" but you provided us with lots of good feedback regarding the LDP in general, and that will help us in improving our quality.

While reading the comments, I took a paper and wrote down the different problems people had.

Some will not be solved immediately, some are now solved, others are outside our scope while others can be solved if we get more people to help in the effort.

- web site design : FIXED

Each of your comments were precious to help us improve its appearance and ease of use. Please try out the new version.

- provide direct access to important links : FIXED

We now have big links for each of the major document types (HOWTOs, FAQs...) on the first page. Please check "non-English" where you should find a link to your local LDP with translated documents.

- provide security bulletins & link to RFC archives

I'm sorry, but this is not within the current goals of the LDP. However, we will add links to other sites with this information in our "Links" section.

- provide DocBook and PDF documents : FIXED (Docbook format and ">PDF format are online now

I converted each of the LinuxDoc HOWTOs and mini HOWTOs to DocBook and PDF, uploaded them two days after the Slashdot article ; they are now available on each of the formats as another output, just like the html and ps versions.

- move to DocBook because LinuxDoc sucks - stick to LinuxDoc because DocBook sucks

The HOWTOs are now provided in both LinuxDoc and DocBook; however for the moment we can only accept LinuxDoc source for the HOWTOs.

In the next weeks both DocBook and LinuxDoc SGML source will be accepted for the HOWTOs. We are currently testing DocBook output formats.

You can already submit your DocBook only document which will be put in the DOCBOOK section. (a new major section, like FAQs and HOWTOs)

- "tables don't scale to window size and resolution and 10 pt font size is hardcoded

Our Webmasters are working on these problems.

- How can I submit my work to the LDP? You can read the HOWTO-HOWTO

three possibilities depending on the format:

a. you can write in LinuxDoc : call your document an HOWTO b. you can write in DocBook : call your document a DOCBOOK :-) c. you are a master of TeX/LaTeX, pdf or any specific format : call your document a GUIDE or a FAQ, depending on its contents.

Please use a license compatible with our requirements (GNU Free Documentation License is IMHO the best choice but feel free to take any other license) and mail your document to ldp-submit@lists.linuxdoc.org

If your LinuxDoc or DocBook source contains errors, I'm sorry but we will not process it until the errors are fixed. Please test it first

- You should check the documents : FIXED

We have since November! We would like to be able to have our peer review team proofread each submitted document.

However, there are far too many docs submitted to ldp-submit for our small team to adequately proofread each document. If you would like to help us please subscribe to ldp-submit (mail ldp-submit-request@lists.linuxdoc.org).

- XXXX and YYYY HOWTOs are outdated/unmaintained

Please update the document and submit the new version to the LDP if the license allows modifications. We will be happy to include your new version (News HOWTO and SCSI HOWTO are especially old!).

- I just found ZZZZ HOWTO which is not part of the LDP yet

Then please contact the author and ask him to send his document to ldp-submit@lists.linuxdoc.org Chances are we will include it, unless it contains errors, has a non- free license, or duplicates an existing document.

- license problem, GNU/Linux... FIXED

We have a manifesto and a license guide on the first page. There is an ongoing discussion and both may be revised.

We will not impose any license but rather have some criteria and requirements (free redistribution for ex.)

And if you don't like "LDP", just remember netscape/mozilla : it's written LDP but it reads GNU Linux Documentation Project.

Writing documentation is not as sexy as writing software (To quote a Slashdotter, "Honestly, how many users want to read documentation? How many of them see a fat manual and feel happy?")

We do need more authors. Unfortunately, not everyone can be a good author. It requires a combination of writing skills, technical knowledge, and the willingness to accept criticism that improves your final product. Thank you all for your responses--we hope that you continue to let us know your opinions on the LDP.

Pretender writes, "Donald Knuth is interviewed here, and the questions have more depth than you usually see in his interviews. Gets into a little nitty-gritty about TeX, fonts, and Crusoe's possibilities with MMIX emulation. The cartoon at the bottom is hysterical. "

pjones writes "Many of us know Fred Brooks from his book, Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, and from his coining of the term "computer architecture." He is also famous for Brook's Law which every manager should learn and be forced to repeat daily. So it's good news to report that Brookes has been awarded the Turing Prize from ACM. Brook also managed the development of the IBM 360 Operating System." I also heartily recommend Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution which he co-wrote. An excellent look at how the efforts of the '60s influenced later developments.

pjones writes "Many of us know Fred Brooks from his book, Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, and from his coining of the term "computer architecture." He is also famous for Brook's Law which every manager should learn and be forced to repeat daily. So it's good news to report that Brookes has been awarded the Turing Prize from ACM. Brook also managed the development of the IBM 360 Operating System." I also heartily recommend Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution which he co-wrote. An excellent look at how the efforts of the '60s influenced later developments.

Wil Mahan writes "According to the LWN daily updates page, a beta version of the Opera browser has been released for Linux, and is available at Metalab (1.9 MB). Looks like Opera fufilled its promise of a full public beta before Christmas."

Tanner Lovelace alerted me to an interesting nano-manipulator in use at U-NC. They've got some interesting work going on right now, but what I found most interesting was their use of the real-time forcefeedback manipulator - the only I've heard about. Check out some of the experiments that have been done with said equipment.

Tanner Lovelace alerted me to an interesting nano-manipulator in use at U-NC. They've got some interesting work going on right now, but what I found most interesting was their use of the real-time forcefeedback manipulator - the only I've heard about. Check out some of the experiments that have been done with said equipment.

Tanner Lovelace alerted me to an interesting nano-manipulator in use at U-NC. They've got some interesting work going on right now, but what I found most interesting was their use of the real-time forcefeedback manipulator - the only I've heard about. Check out some of the experiments that have been done with said equipment.

TreyHarris writes "The New York Times has an article about how MP3 is changing the experience of listening to music. Most other articles have been hung up on how it changes the experience of purchasing music, which misses the point, so this is a nice change of pace. Pretty simplistic, but good for your clueless friends. Requires free registration. "

Vertigo1 asks: &nbsp "I have a Cable Modem with RoadRunner. I have a Dual Pentium 200 machine (w/two NIC's), running Red Hat 6.0 w/the latest errata updates. I am going to setup a firewall w/ipchains. I have a Citrix (ie Terminal Server) behind the firewall I want to connect to from the Internet and an FTP server also. How do I set up IPChains to forward to the Citrix server (which uses tcp port 1494) and then to an internal FTP server (tcp port 21 and ftp-data). I understand how ipchains works and have read thoroughly the IPChains-HOWTO, but I still cannot connect to the Citrix server from the Internet. Please help!" This is a common misconception. IPChains are good for configuring what gets in and out of your network on a packet level, but this is a redirection problem. Anyone know where you can find a a good port redirection program on the 'net?

MacJedi writes "Freshmeat has an excellent article about a possible Microsoft strategy to capture the web from both the server and the client ends. " The article itself does a good job of dissecting recent comments from Steve Ballmer, as well as what some of the new items in Win2k portend for our favorite web server.

tilly sent us a really interesting little article on Why O'Reily is Better written from the perspective of one of their authors. Rahga wrote in to comment that the new KDE Mascot Looks like Playstation's "Croc". He's got a little poll. I vote no, but its close. tilly wrote in to note that Sunday's User Friendly is funny- it features a the ultimate choice. And for the best Star Wars quickie today, Sharkey sent us a link to this picture. Just look at it. Somewhat related is this one from an Anonymous reader: The Dark Redemption which is a 26 minute short film being directed in Australia- it takes place 2 days before the beginning of Star Wars, A New Hope and is apparently being done with permission of Lucas. gwendolin wrote in to ask the ultimate question: Do you dare to eat pop rocks and drink pepsi at the same time? This is wierd stuff (both the page, and the fact that a female with a cool homepage submitted a story!) Some Slashdot Sightings: VinceV wrote in to say that Slashdot apparently is mentioned in the printed manual for Caldera OpenLinux 2.2. cymen wrote in to tell us that Slashdot appeared in the Mit Technology Review. No URL, but someone sent me a scan (that I can't post for they fear the Slashdot effect) but its pretty cool. And finally, for some good old fashioned porn parody, gelbardn sent us Geek Erortica which features live strip shows of Ms. G3 and Ms. Dell. (No its not actually dirty, but its quite amusing).

Dan Cyr sent us a link to the Script Kiddy HOWTO which is actually quite amusing, and quite satirical about its subject matter. As far as HOWTOs go, I don't think you'll find it very useful.

REwT6 wrote in to say that Metalab, the archive formerly known as Sunsite, is shutting down. Having served the Linux and Open Source as the defacto clearing house for free software, it will be missed. Next week it will begin its new life as a mirror of download.com.

In a recent e-mail conversation with Timur Tabi (of Win32-OS/2), I asked him about opening the source to Win32-OS/2 and collaborating with the Wine crew. For instance win32-OS/2 has some Direct X support, allowing Quake 2 3D-Now, and Destruction Derby II to run. And this was his reply: "We have already announced our intent to release the source code as well as use code from WINE. The announcement was made at Warpstock". Timur gave the Win32-OS/2 speech at Warpstock. update In related news, Wine 990110's out.

qbzzt writes "For all you budding Linux Kernel Module programmers out there - I just wrote a new book for the LDP (Linux Documentation Project) to help you get started. For more information, go to the doc project or an LDP mirror near you. - Ori "

Paul Jones writes "MetaLab.unc.edu is the new name for the Site Formerly Known As SunSITE.unc.edu beginning today. As most slashdotters know, this site has been the home of Major Linux projects and distributions from the earliest days as well as one of the original WWW servers. The name "SunSITE" is a trademark of Sun Microsystems. "Our name change more accurately reflects the diverse collection of sponsors of the projects in that it is owned by no one but UNC," said Paul Jones Director of MetaLab. "

Paul Jones writes "MetaLab.unc.edu is the new name for the Site Formerly Known As SunSITE.unc.edu beginning today. As most slashdotters know, this site has been the home of Major Linux projects and distributions from the earliest days as well as one of the original WWW servers. The name "SunSITE" is a trademark of Sun Microsystems. "Our name change more accurately reflects the diverse collection of sponsors of the projects in that it is owned by no one but UNC," said Paul Jones Director of MetaLab. "

Paul Jones writes "MetaLab.unc.edu is the new name for the Site Formerly Known As SunSITE.unc.edu beginning today. As most slashdotters know, this site has been the home of Major Linux projects and distributions from the earliest days as well as one of the original WWW servers. The name "SunSITE" is a trademark of Sun Microsystems. "Our name change more accurately reflects the diverse collection of sponsors of the projects in that it is owned by no one but UNC," said Paul Jones Director of MetaLab. "

Paul Jones writes "MetaLab.unc.edu is the new name for the Site Formerly Known As SunSITE.unc.edu beginning today. As most slashdotters know, this site has been the home of Major Linux projects and distributions from the earliest days as well as one of the original WWW servers. The name "SunSITE" is a trademark of Sun Microsystems. "Our name change more accurately reflects the diverse collection of sponsors of the projects in that it is owned by no one but UNC," said Paul Jones Director of MetaLab. "

MacJedi writes " Wired news is reporting that another bug has been found in Communicator- this time in the newest version 4.0.7. The bug has been dubbed son of cache-cow, after the bug, cache-cow (which, btw, 4.0.7 was supposed to fix). Apparently, the bug allows cookies to insert "rogue" javascript into your documents... "

MacJedi writes " Popular Science reports that Nintendo is going to release the first portable to use a "color reflective" LCD. Those things are supposed to use about 10% of the power of a traditional color LCD and be viewable in sunlight too." I need to reintroduce tetris into my life.

Noumena writes "Looks like the Linux Documentation Project has undergone a nice little facelift. Looks pretty good... " Is it just me or are a lot of the HOWTOs beginning to look a bit aged? Perhaps that's something that the non-programmer Linux users could start toying with. A lot of you guys email and complain that you can't code so you can't contribute. This might work.

Kevin Poorman (Petra) writes " Sunsite, our favorite linux archive, is going down on monday July 13, 1998 for a operating system upgrade. down time should start around 10:30, and finish whenever the y get done."

MacJedi sent us a link to a site that tracks Internet Hoaxes. I find this sorta thing interesting. Usenet Lore is also an interesting net phenom that entertains me excessively.

MacJedi (who wins Cool Nick of the Day I'd say) wrote in to send us a link to something called PuppetTime. They are designing an API for digital puppret avatars. Sounds like a strange idea, but I see a ton of potential. There still isn't a good practical implementation though, so we'll have to wait and see.

Josh Lucas wrote in to tell us that Dave Winer, of Scripting.com fame as well as writer of several essays that have sparked controversy on Slashdot in recent weeks, has written a nice bit on Linux Advocacy. If you haven't, you should read The Linux Advocacy HOWTO. I'm not kidding. Read it carefully. Then read it again. If we all followed this document, there would be no stopping Linux.

The Mining Co (I'd never heard of them before, although it looks like a nice site) has posted their Linux "Best of the Net" site awards. The 10 winners include Freshmeat, Debian GNU/Linux, The Linux Documentation Project, LinuxHQ, and last/least, Slashdot.org. I'm sure everyone here has visited all the winning sites many times, but I'm sure all of them appreciate the recognition.

Kendall Koning has written in with a mini editorial that everyone should read. In addition, read The Linux Advocacy Mini HOWTO, On many occasions, Linux users appear to be more of a mob than a team. I've fallen prey to this more than a few times in the thousand articles I've posted on these pages. Its something that we all need to work on if we want Linux to truly be mainstream.

The following is a mini editorial by Slashdot reader Kendall Koning

Why too much MS-bashing is a Bad Thing (tm)

I'll make this really short.

After reading many of the comments sent to Mr. Berlind about his piece on MSNBC, I'm a bit embarrased. This is the kind of thing that gives (influential) people like Mr. Berlind a negitive impression of the user community that supports Linux. While he may have been wrong in his judgement of Netscape's source code release, we certainly have no right to accuse him of being paid-off.

A few of the responses were fair and professional, but most were just flames. Keep in mind that people are often turned off by disrespect, anger, unfounded allegations, and name-calling.

From the linux advocacy mini-howto:

As a representative of the Linux community, participate in mailing list and newsgroup discussions in a professional manner. Refrain from name-calling and use of vulgar language. Consider yourself a member of a virtual corporation with Mr. Torvalds as your Chief Executive Officer. Your words will either enhance or degrade the image the reader has of the Linux community.

Always remember that if you insult or are disrespectful to someone, their negative experience may be shared with many others. If you do offend someone, please try to make amends.

If you believe that Linux was not given fair treatment in an article, review or news story, send the details, including the above information, to li@li.org so that an appropriate response can be sent to the publisher. If you contact the publisher directly, be professional and sure of your facts.

Focus on what Linux has to offer. There is no need to bash the competition. We have a good, solid product that stands on its own.

If you plan be an active advocate of linux, through whatever medium, please read the rest of the advocacy mini-howto, and try to follow the suggestions it has to offer.

Thanks,

Kendall Koning (kkoning@kkoning.ml.org)

Kendall Koning has written in with a mini editorial that everyone should read. In addition, read The Linux Advocacy Mini HOWTO, On many occasions, Linux users appear to be more of a mob than a team. I've fallen prey to this more than a few times in the thousand articles I've posted on these pages. Its something that we all need to work on if we want Linux to truly be mainstream.

The following is a mini editorial by Slashdot reader Kendall Koning

Why too much MS-bashing is a Bad Thing (tm)

I'll make this really short.

After reading many of the comments sent to Mr. Berlind about his piece on MSNBC, I'm a bit embarrased. This is the kind of thing that gives (influential) people like Mr. Berlind a negitive impression of the user community that supports Linux. While he may have been wrong in his judgement of Netscape's source code release, we certainly have no right to accuse him of being paid-off.

A few of the responses were fair and professional, but most were just flames. Keep in mind that people are often turned off by disrespect, anger, unfounded allegations, and name-calling.

From the linux advocacy mini-howto:

As a representative of the Linux community, participate in mailing list and newsgroup discussions in a professional manner. Refrain from name-calling and use of vulgar language. Consider yourself a member of a virtual corporation with Mr. Torvalds as your Chief Executive Officer. Your words will either enhance or degrade the image the reader has of the Linux community.

Always remember that if you insult or are disrespectful to someone, their negative experience may be shared with many others. If you do offend someone, please try to make amends.

If you believe that Linux was not given fair treatment in an article, review or news story, send the details, including the above information, to li@li.org so that an appropriate response can be sent to the publisher. If you contact the publisher directly, be professional and sure of your facts.

Focus on what Linux has to offer. There is no need to bash the competition. We have a good, solid product that stands on its own.

If you plan be an active advocate of linux, through whatever medium, please read the rest of the advocacy mini-howto, and try to follow the suggestions it has to offer.

Thanks,

Kendall Koning (kkoning@kkoning.ml.org)

Raj Dutt has done a nice writeup on why you should, or shouldn't try a devel kernel. If you've never tried one, and wonder why or even if you should try, you should read on. Especially timely considering yesterdays feature freeze, we're on the home stretch for 2.2.0. The following was written by Slashdot Reader Raj Dutt

In the world of Linux kernel development, both Development-releases and stable-releases are developed concurrently. This is an extremely effective method of development as it provides the basis for improvement at both unbelievable speed and quantity. However, since the model does not follow the traditonal singular develop-release-develop-release cycle, it can create great confusion among users.

Before detailing the implications of development kernels, it might be beneficial to some to understand the kernel versioning convention:
(Generation.Major.Minor)

It is the Major number that is the key here. An even Major version represents a stable, release kernel and an odd Major version is indicative of an unstable, development kernel. For example, version 2.0.33 means "33rd minor release of the Second generation, 0 (even therefore stable) Major version Linux kernel." Using the same classification, version 2.1.91 means "91st minor release of the Second generation, 1 (odd therefore unstable) Major version Linux kernel"

Hence, the 2.2.x series, which will be released starting with 2.2.0 in the near future, will be the next Major version of stable kernel releases.
With that out of the way, let us examine the PROs and CONs of using development kernels.

The PROS

Nobody (well almost nobody) will deny that the current crop of release kernels work great. Why then should one jump ship and run something that is not nearly as stable as 2.0.33? The development kernels offer three main advantages that often convince people to go with them :

Firstly, after 91 development kernels, ALOT of new hardware is now semi-officially natively supported. If you have a device that you can't use because of the simple lack of a driver, check out the 2.1.x series, there is a good chance that your hardware will be among the hundreds (Color Quickcams, Radio Cards and NCR53C9x SCSI just to name a few) of new components supported.

Secondly, there are numerous technical arguments for the superiority of the latest crop of creations. These include :

• Faster access to user memory (covering the 4GB user space in its entirity)
• Unbelievable improvements in SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processor)
• Major tcp/ip updates - (read: faster better networking)
• Better PCI access and support
• Major disk swap / buffer updates (including dcache)
• Lot's of improvements for non x86 (intel-like) architectures
• Improved x86 IRQ handling
• Lot's of filesystem code updates - FAT32 is natively supported, improved VFAT etc.

There are lots more. Literally hundreds. For a complete listing of changes, visit Cutting Edge Linux - a great site which keeps track of the additions on a per kernel basis.

Thirdly, in addition to the technical benefits and new device support that you may grow to love, you can bask in the knowledge that you are helping the Linux Kernel development. By sending in bug reports, you are aiding in the quality control department - something extremely important when talking about code which needs to be bulletproof.

The CONS

The very word Development carries some connotations that cannot be simply ignored. To put it bluntly, when you install a development kernel you are venturing into unchartered territory. Don't expect to receive sympathetic support when something goes wrong. Development is proceeding at an unbelievable rate and nobody is going to stop to hold your hand. "It's broken? Well it's a development kernel, what did you expect?"

Alot of people run Linux for the stability. Be prepared to give some of that up if you choose to run with 2.1.x. Since they have not been tested (at least not as thoroughly as mainstream release kernels =), your mileage with development kernels will vary. Even experiences using the same kernel on different machines can be very different. After running version 2.1.91 for just under a week, I have noticed a few problems. None of them have been serious enough to bother reinstalling 2.0.33 though. Namely, I had to upgrade my pppd to 2.2.3 and twice I had to bear some serious disk thrashing for no apparent reason.

IN CONCLUSION

Obviously, a non release kernel is not for everyone. If you run a mission critical server or have a strong need for stability, stick with the even-numbered kernel releases. But if, like me, you have a personal workstation to fool around on and are always looking to try something new, then you might wish to consider "upgrading" to a development kernel

When it comes down to the crunch, It's really a question of balance. If you can sacrifice a little stability and the possibility of a few problems for the excitement and improvements of being right on the bleeding edge, go for it.

Ed:With yesterday's feature freeze, hammering out those bugs is very important, if you're looking for something new to try, the next few releases in the 2.1.* series should keep getting more stable for the soon-to-be-ready 2.2.0.

Raj Dutt has done a nice writeup on why you should, or shouldn't try a devel kernel. If you've never tried one, and wonder why or even if you should try, you should read on. Especially timely considering yesterdays feature freeze, we're on the home stretch for 2.2.0. The following was written by Slashdot Reader Raj Dutt

In the world of Linux kernel development, both Development-releases and stable-releases are developed concurrently. This is an extremely effective method of development as it provides the basis for improvement at both unbelievable speed and quantity. However, since the model does not follow the traditonal singular develop-release-develop-release cycle, it can create great confusion among users.

Before detailing the implications of development kernels, it might be beneficial to some to understand the kernel versioning convention:
(Generation.Major.Minor)

It is the Major number that is the key here. An even Major version represents a stable, release kernel and an odd Major version is indicative of an unstable, development kernel. For example, version 2.0.33 means "33rd minor release of the Second generation, 0 (even therefore stable) Major version Linux kernel." Using the same classification, version 2.1.91 means "91st minor release of the Second generation, 1 (odd therefore unstable) Major version Linux kernel"

Hence, the 2.2.x series, which will be released starting with 2.2.0 in the near future, will be the next Major version of stable kernel releases.
With that out of the way, let us examine the PROs and CONs of using development kernels.

The PROS

Nobody (well almost nobody) will deny that the current crop of release kernels work great. Why then should one jump ship and run something that is not nearly as stable as 2.0.33? The development kernels offer three main advantages that often convince people to go with them :

Firstly, after 91 development kernels, ALOT of new hardware is now semi-officially natively supported. If you have a device that you can't use because of the simple lack of a driver, check out the 2.1.x series, there is a good chance that your hardware will be among the hundreds (Color Quickcams, Radio Cards and NCR53C9x SCSI just to name a few) of new components supported.

Secondly, there are numerous technical arguments for the superiority of the latest crop of creations. These include :

• Faster access to user memory (covering the 4GB user space in its entirity)
• Unbelievable improvements in SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processor)
• Major tcp/ip updates - (read: faster better networking)
• Better PCI access and support
• Major disk swap / buffer updates (including dcache)
• Lot's of improvements for non x86 (intel-like) architectures
• Improved x86 IRQ handling
• Lot's of filesystem code updates - FAT32 is natively supported, improved VFAT etc.

There are lots more. Literally hundreds. For a complete listing of changes, visit Cutting Edge Linux - a great site which keeps track of the additions on a per kernel basis.

Thirdly, in addition to the technical benefits and new device support that you may grow to love, you can bask in the knowledge that you are helping the Linux Kernel development. By sending in bug reports, you are aiding in the quality control department - something extremely important when talking about code which needs to be bulletproof.

The CONS

The very word Development carries some connotations that cannot be simply ignored. To put it bluntly, when you install a development kernel you are venturing into unchartered territory. Don't expect to receive sympathetic support when something goes wrong. Development is proceeding at an unbelievable rate and nobody is going to stop to hold your hand. "It's broken? Well it's a development kernel, what did you expect?"

Alot of people run Linux for the stability. Be prepared to give some of that up if you choose to run with 2.1.x. Since they have not been tested (at least not as thoroughly as mainstream release kernels =), your mileage with development kernels will vary. Even experiences using the same kernel on different machines can be very different. After running version 2.1.91 for just under a week, I have noticed a few problems. None of them have been serious enough to bother reinstalling 2.0.33 though. Namely, I had to upgrade my pppd to 2.2.3 and twice I had to bear some serious disk thrashing for no apparent reason.

IN CONCLUSION

Obviously, a non release kernel is not for everyone. If you run a mission critical server or have a strong need for stability, stick with the even-numbered kernel releases. But if, like me, you have a personal workstation to fool around on and are always looking to try something new, then you might wish to consider "upgrading" to a development kernel

When it comes down to the crunch, It's really a question of balance. If you can sacrifice a little stability and the possibility of a few problems for the excitement and improvements of being right on the bleeding edge, go for it.

Ed:With yesterday's feature freeze, hammering out those bugs is very important, if you're looking for something new to try, the next few releases in the 2.1.* series should keep getting more stable for the soon-to-be-ready 2.2.0.