Beyond Basics

Now that I have coverd the basics for those who may be new to Linux, I think it is time to start updating more frequently with interesting news stories, tips and articles. These posts will possibly take the form of "What I'm reading today" or something like that. They will not always be oriented to new Linux users, as I like to search out more advanced tips and tricks for command line use, shell scripting, configuration etc. I do hope that even the new user will find some of the posts interesting as they learn more about how Linux works, and how it differs from Windows or Mac.

In that vein, here is an article that I found informative and thought provoking (with a couple of quotes):

Don't compare Linux to Windows or Mac
"The answer is not (always) to make it easier to use —by which most people seem to mean “hide half the functions”— but to make learning it more interesting. The quality of a user experience should not be judged by the cuteness of the help avatar or the number of steps in a wizard (or even by calling it a wizard). It should also be about how much it enhances your life/work, widens your perspective and awakens the child-like hunger to learn in you."

A reader comment on the type articles referred to in the above article link:
"You may not appreciate the actual purpose of these uninformed opinion pieces. They are constructed for one purpose only, to reassure those who embrace ignorance that they are right to do so. Since the inception of the industry, much of the popular media has been devoted to this activity. From William Randolph Hearst to Rush Limbaugh, empires have been built on pandering to those unwilling to embrace learning or facts before coming to conclusions. Fortunes await those who cynically offer this debilitating comfort to the unquestioning hordes. That fact is not lost on those who market Microsoft or Apple products."

Other Interesting articles/news:
DNS implementations vulnerable to cache poisoning.
...and a test for your ISP's DNS server.
Mine shows vulnerable. Hope they patch it soon!

Spit Will Be Worse Than Spam

Apple not as secure as people think? Skip down the page to "Conclusions" if you want a summary of the findings.

Free Software and why it is important. This is a pretty good effort at explaining the origins and strengths of the Free/Open Source Software movement.

Slitaz, a twenty-five megabyte distro!
(a newer review, and another).