KernelTrap has a very interesting article about a recent attempt to sneak a "back door" into the Linux 2.6 kernel. Evidently someone managed to break into the CVS server that mirrors the kernel source tree and add a small patch allowing one to locally obtain "root" super-user access. Fortunately, during an export from the master BitKeeper version of the kernel source tree into the CVS mirror, the change was detected and quickly removed.

"I like REBOL for many reasons. In this article I'll focus on one, the integrated GUI system, and I'll show you how to build a front end for a small email-based survey and feedback system." Read the article at OnLamp by Gregg Irwin.

The latest version of the Mac OS X operating system could easily run on Intel chips, but Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs said on Wednesday that the company has little interest in changing processors. "It's perfectly technically feasible to port Panther to any processor," Jobs said at a meeting with financial analysts. But Jobs said the company is happy with IBM's PowerPC family of chips and feels the performance is "quite competitive."

"The amazing thing about the free vs. proprietary software race is that free software is in it at all. With all the resources larger proprietary software companies have at their command, you'd think their products would be unfailingly easy to use, virtually bug-free, and priced so low that no one would mind paying for them. But this is not the case. Why isn't it?" Read the article at NewsForge.

I've been using computers since I was quite young and have been using Unixlike OSes for about two years. Most of my life I've used Macs and only started using Windows and Unixlike OSes recently for programming. I'm good at learning OSes as long as they are documented. I've been using FreeBSD for about a year and a half.

The first release of Fedora Core is now available. Download from here or use BitTorrent. Changelog.

This document describes the high-level roadmap for Mono. Mono 1.0 is expected in 2004 and 2.0 in 2006. Mike Kestner released Gtk# 0.12 recently.

The new presentation subsystem in the next version of Windows, code-named "Longhorn," offers powerful new capabilities to developers. This new subsystem, code-named "Avalon," allows developers to take advantage of its capabilities through a language—Extensible Application Markup Language (code-named "XAML"), as well as through modern object-oriented programming languages such as C#. Because most applications written to Avalon will probably be a mix of XAML and programming code, this article discusses XAML tags used to control page layout along with the procedural code written to respond to events.

Moore's Law is alive and well, but Intel is changing its basic semiconductor recipes to make sure that it stays that way.

Longhorn WMV videos at WinSuperSite: Longhorn user experience scenarios: "Longhorn addresses the needs of all users, whether beginner or advanced." Latest Aero prototype: Cool Start Menu animation and media player Sidebar tile."

"We listened to the inevitable "We all love each other and everything is going to be wonderful" press conference, looked at readers' reactions to the original Novell buys SuSE announcement, monitored and asked questions in assorted IRC channels, and talked to contacts at Novell, SuSE, Ximian, and elsewhere. But whatever we say (or anyone else says) this week, don't expect the full effect of Novell's SuSE purchase to be visible for at least two months; the purchase isn't expected to become final until January, 2004." Read the article at NewsForge, while check here for an analysis at ZDNews about it too. Update: See detailed comments from former-Ximianites Miguel de Icaza and Nat Friedman.

"Out of Vancouver comes very neat little distro called Libranet. Based on Debian but with an emphasis on ease-of-use, this is a powerful yet stable distribution that although isn't a major name, has loyal followers.The version I'm currently reviewing is 2.7 Classic Edition, the freely downloadable version, as opposed to the newer Flagship Edition, 2.81." Read the review at LinMagAU.

What sets LindowsOS 4.0 apart from the crowd is not what is shares with standard Linux approach, but what it doesn't. LindowsOS has been reviewed many times over, mostly with favorable results - but this is not just another review. This piece will tell you not only about my experience with LindowsOS 4.0, but also what you need to know to arm yourself with the knowledge to make the decision whether LindowsOS is right for you.

Red Hat's chief executive has said that Linux needs to mature further before home users will get a positive experience from the operating system, saying they should choose Windows instead.