• “Linux Is Much Bigger Than Me!” —Interview: Linus Torvalds

 What would encourage Indian enterprises to choose Linux over other software? Will Solaris and Linux evolve together? Why does he think GPLv3 is too petty and selfish? What does the future hold for the Linux kernel? These are some of the questions the world-wide community asked. And this is what Linus Torvalds had to say, in his inimitable, forthright way.

• Looking Glass: A Mirror Into the Future

 This is amazing: 3D on the humble 2D monitor screen! With the likes of Compiz and Beryl, here comes a different face that had me quite astonished. It’s called ‘Project Looking Glass’ and has the ability to transform your desktop into an almost 3D environment. Let’s transport ourselves into this glassy world and find out what’s going on.

• When the Music’s Over...

 Hey, wait a second. Why does it have to be over? Launch Amarok, or even a Web browser, and stay tuned in 24/7 to one of the online music stations. And, what’s more, the stations are only a click or drag-n-drop away.

• CentOS 5.0 Review

 Yes, that means CentOS. And guess what? The version number has been bumped to 5, a lot of new features have been added, but it’s still as stable and robust as always. Something a lot of other distributions may take note of.

• “Linux Is Much Bigger Than Me!” —Interview: Linus Torvalds

 What would encourage Indian enterprises to choose Linux over other software? Will Solaris and Linux evolve together? Why does he think GPLv3 is too petty and selfish? What does the future hold for the Linux kernel? These are some of the questions the world-wide community asked. And this is what Linus Torvalds had to say, in his inimitable, forthright way.

• An Open Letter to Linus

 Episode 3 of ‘Grumbling Public Luminaries’: Come on Linus, wake up! There are ogres out there...

• Tomboy: The Easiest Note-taking Program

 With time, you tend to forget the file in which you saved your work or the directory where you had saved those files. Desktop search tools are useful, but comparatively cumbersome. With Tomboy, you do not have to remember file names any more.

• Tips for Artists on a Power ‘Image Manipulation’ Tool

 Here’s a book review of ‘The Artist’s Guide to GIMP Effects’.

• What NGOs Want From FLOSS

 In part, it’s due to uncertainty; in part, to the reluctance to change. And, in part, it’s also due to the lack of suitable tools. Non-profit organisations from different parts of the globe talk of their reluctance to switch over to Free Software and Open Source to Frederick Noronha. Though, there are some that have undertaken useful initiatives, with success.

• “The free world is not a place surrounded by a fence.”—Interview: Eben Moglen, chief GPLv3 author

 Eben Moglen is the legal but jovial face of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). Professor of Law at the Columbia University Law School, he also leads the legal efforts of the FSF to protect Free Software, and was involved in drafting the third version of the GNU General Public Licence (GPL). He started the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC) to uphold the licence and to ensure that GPL violations are tackled effectively. This interview was partly conducted when he visited Thiruvananthapuram, where he delivered a public lecture (as reported in LFY, July 2007) and addressed policy makers, and partly through e-mail.

• What’s Music Gotta Do With FOSS? —Interview: John Buckman, founder and owner of Magnatune

 Apparently a lot! Take a look at Magnatune.com, where both open source- and Creative Commons-based principles are applied to their record label-cum-store. In this e-mail interview, Atanu Datta of LFY Bureau talks to John Buckman, founder/owner of Magnatune, to get ‘Wot’s... uh the Deal’ behind ‘open music’.

• LINUX For You Half-Yearly Survey: Insufficient Resources to Tap High Market Potential

 The highly optimistic Linux/OSS industry in India is maintaining a healthy average growth rate of 60 per cent, with more than a quarter of the surveyed firms experiencing a phenomenal growth of more than 100 per cent.

• Subversion is In, Microsoft VSS is Out!

 This article highlights the migration of a software development team from Microsoft Visual Source Safe (VSS) to Subversion (SVN). So, if your software development group is exploring a better revision control system to reduce administrative overheads and have better control over security-related matters, read on.

• AlphaMail: An Alternative to Traditional Web Mail Software

 Let’s take a look at AlphaMail, which the project claims to be a scalable and accessible Web mail.

• Exploring the Process Filesystem

 Most of the time, all we are concerned about are the particular applications or user-space tools our daily work depends on. But have you ever wondered about the kernel-space—about what happens in that central layer of the OS? Linux provides us with a mechanism called the proc filesystem through which we can get all sorts of information from the kernel, at runtime. Let’s explore bits and pieces of this special filesystem.

• Fedora Directory Server: The Evolution of Linux Authentication

 Think LDAP is passe? Maybe it’s time to take a look at this one.

• Protecting Linux System Users

 Here’s a set of guidelines that administrators could follow, to secure the computing environment for their users.

• MotoMing A1200 with KDE and Linux

 This article describes the author’s experience using the Motorola A1200 with Debian GNU/Linux. The article is not a newbie guide and assumes a fair amount of familiarity with Linux.

• TCP and UDP are Old! So, What’s New?

 An introduction to Stream Control Transmission Protocol, or SCTP for short.

• Exchange Files Between PC and Cell phone

 Let’s learn how to hack cell phones using Bluetooth tools under Linux and also learn a nifty trick to create custom ringtones in Audacity.

• Kernel Karma: The Sad Case of Dr Con

 In the participative development model followed in the open source world, things are known to move forward at breathtaking speeds. Yet, for every success story reported and celebrated, there are cases where development gets bogged down in differing viewpoints. Read about one such casualty.

• Keep Repetitive Stress Injury at Bay with Workrave

 How about an application that has your best interests at heart? Confused? Read on to find out.

• FreedomYug: Binary Leela

 Business models around the Bhagwad Gita’s interpretation of muft and mukt software.

• The Joy of Programming: Writing Beautiful Programs: ASCII Arts and Fractals—Part III

 In this column, we’ll look at how to draw the Mandelbrot set fractal using ASCII characters.

• Silicon Valley: Flying the Geek-friendly Skies

 Virgin Airlines recently launched a ‘geek-friendly’ service for the US market. And it has many Silicon Valley geeks wishing they were on-board.

• BraveGNUIndia: An unlikely hero...

 If only other public servants could realise a good idea when they saw one... Here’s a report on how the right man at the right place, at the right time, did his bit to promote FLOSS in Asia.

• CentOS 5.0

 Your zero-cost alternate to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. CentOS is a great distribution for those who want the feel of RHEL without having to shed big bucks.

• Media Players

 MULTIMEDIA PLAYERS: VLC Media Player, Amarok 1.4.7, Last.fm Player, Songbird 0.2.5, Quod Libet, Miro DEVELOPERS: Luntbuild, SQL to Java Code Generator, SCons, OpenProj, Project Dune POWER USERS: VNCed, xrdp, FireHOL, PHP SysInfo FUN STUFF: FreeCol, Race into Space, AssaultCube, FreeLords UPDATES: Kernel 2.6.22.4