Linux creator Linus Torvalds released the 2.6.0-test10 Linux kernel today, tentatively calling it the "stoned beaver" release. Linus plans to hand the kernel over to Andrew Morton in a few weeks, and then it will be up to Andrew to decide when we see the final 2.6.0 stable kernel. Download it from a mirror.

SuSE Linux can be installed free of charge directly from their FTP server. More info and links here.

AROS gets a native GCC and you can read all about it at the TeamAROS mailing list.

Ximian's Joe Shaw writes: "We announced the release of rcd 2.0 and the open-carpet stuff. We did a lot of work over the past five months to get Red Carpet into a state where we can try to push it as the premier software management infrastructure and then try to get it integrated generically into GNOME. I am really excited about this release since it opens up a huge amount of open source software to our users who previously needed to turn to some other solution. Our daemon architecture makes it easy for others to write applications which tie into the packaging system, so I hope projects like NARC (Nautilus-Red Carpet integration) pick up again and see some adoption. The Open Carpet software is a first step toward making Red Carpet services easy to set up. I'd like to work toward getting those big Apt repositories to also set up RC services, so we'll see." More info here.

Eclipse is an open source integrated development environment that has gained considerable popularity in 2003. Philippe Mougin provides an introduction plus some expert opinions from the last ECOOP conference. In related news, Eclipse 3.0 M5 was released recently.

The GNOME Foundation announced the launch of the first-ever open source desktop integration bounty hunt. The aim of the contest is to recruit new developers and to more tightly integrate the various projects that make up the desktop into a more coherent, and complete user experience. The contest consists of a number of small, concrete projects, each of which has a cash bounty associated with it. Complete the hack, enter the contest, and collect a prize. Also of great interest are Nat's slides shown at the Gnome Summit in NY showing a bright future for Gnome and the Unix/Linux desktop.

Here is a Mac OS X Panther 10.3 review at NWSource.

Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates and his wife Melinda are the most generous charitable donors in America, Business Week magazine said this week, as the couple gave away or pledged a staggering $23 billion -- more than half of their net worth.

Despite a cracker incursion into Debian Project servers this week, representatives of the Debian Linux distribution said the open-source code behind it remains untouched.

This whitepaper published at LinuxDevices describes an approach to solving the "device driver crisis" that plagues both the embedded and non-embedded computer system markets. SciTech, the developer of the "System Neutral Access Protocol" device driver architecture ("SNAP"), says the SNAP approach to device driver development is radically different from traditional methods, and can drastically reduce the complexity of OS- and processor architecture-related device driver support.

RISCOS Ltd., the developers of RISC OS, have this week released a freely available patch for RISC OS 4 and users are recommended to install it. According to RISCOS Ltd., the patch corrects a "long standing" bug in the !Boot sequence that affects the recently released Toolbox upgrade. In addition to this, it also corrects a fault that prevents RISC OS 4.02 users from easily switching to a softloading Select version of RISC OS. More RISC OS news at Drobe and IconBar.

The Server Administration Software contains administration software and tools that you can install on a computer other than your server. The following tools will be installed into Applications/Server folder with the exception of QuickTime Broadcaster: Server Admin, Workgroup Manager, Server Monitor, Network Image Utility, Server Assistant, and QuickTime Broadcaster.

Prof. Andreas Zeller from the Saarland University, Germany, announced his Tool Igor: "Your program does not work? The 'AskIgor' Web service automatically finds out why. Researchers of Saarland University, Germany, have started a Web service that automatically finds out the causes for program failures – automatically, quickly, and for free. At www.AskIgor.org, programmers may submit buggy Linux programs; Diagnosis tools for Java and Windows programs are underway." Read more here.

AmigaWorld has interviewed Alan Redhouse, the managing director of the Eyetech Group, regarding the AmigaOne motherboards. Alan is trying to push AmigaOS4, LinuxPPC and the AmigaOne boards into new markets. For instance earlier this year he did presentations in Taipei and Beijing.