If you are reading this, I assume you already know what the Linux kernel is and why you may want to update it. However, if you are accidentally reading this walkthrough, just happen to be running Linux, and have no idea what the kernel is or why you would want to update it, the next two paragraphs are for you (if you are looking instead into a less verbose and more generic way of updating your kernel on any Linux distro, read here). In a neophyte nutshell, the Linux kernel is the brain of the Linux system. It tells your system which file systems, hardware, protocols, etc. are supported. There is a lot more to it than that, of course, but I think that diminutive description will suffice for now.

Our friends over at DistroWatch report: "A new Lycoris build has quietly appeared on some of the FTP sites that mirror the main Lycoris server. You can get build 69 (beta) here: cd1_en_binary.iso (541MB). Don't be misled by the timestamp on the ISO image (14 February 2003); users who have installed it report that this is indeed a new build."

VMWare released a beta of their flagship application, VMWare 4.0 Build 4183. The new version includes support for new versions of Linux and Windows OSes, better VESA BIOS, ACPI and APIC support, better sound, new interface under Linux and more. In the meantime, the OpenOSX company released recently "WinTel", a re-packaged version of Bochs for MacOSX, with a new easy to use interface.

"Mandrake Linux 9.1 RC1 was released without fanfare on Tuesday 18 February afternoon in Paris, and as the ISO images percolated through the various mirrors worldwide, I prepared my hardware for another review of the latest pre-release of MandrakeSoft's "swiss-knife" Linux distribution. My previous articles have dealt exclusively with Mandrake's use on the desktop. This time around, I tested Mandrake 9.1 RC1 on three different platforms: a home use mid-range desktop workstation, my trusty old-and-battered Dell laptop, and last but not least a dual Celeron homebuilt SMP box nowadays used as a file server and test rig." Read it at DistroWatch.

"KDE is delivering a better version of what GNOME's goal has apparently morphed into: becoming a great component framework that you can write to in multiple languages. Nicholas Petreley rebuffs the common GNOME battle slogans and explains why the window-manager's name needs reworking." Read the article at LinuxWorld. Commentary Update by Eugenia: The author of that article advocates that Gnome is... lame, but I would just say that these wars "gnome vs kde" are the lame ones.

"Going by the numbers, Apple Computer Inc. appears headed for trouble again. While CEO Steven P. Jobs engineered a remarkable comeback after retaking the helm in 1997, one-time expenses, such as plant closures, have pushed the company into the red for two quarters running." Read more at BusinessWeek.

Hewlett-Packard and IBM tied for first place in the hotly contested Unix server market in the fourth quarter of 2002, pushing aside Unix heavyweight SUN, according to a new study released Friday.

This is the saga of Hugh Loebner and his search for an intelligent bot has almost everything: Sex, lawsuits and feuding computer scientists. There's only one thing missing: Smart machines. Read the first part and the second part at Salon.com.

This is an update release targetting bug fixes and new optimizations. It does not change the functionality of original 1.4.1 release. Check out the release notes and/or download new Java VM. In a related note, the Java porting team at beunited.org reports that they have reached a significant milestone. The java and javac programs are now building under BeOS.

The Mono Project just released Mono 0.21, only a few days after 0.20 due mainly to a bug in the compiler which made it abort on top-level enums and delegates on Windows. In the meantime, various other minor bugs were fixed on the class libraries, the runtime and the compiler. Additionally, the similar Portable.Net dotGNU project, released version 0.5.2 recently.

The next major version of XFree86, the popular X11 windowing system for Unix, is now available from XFree86's FTP server and its mirrors. Version 4.3.0 offers many new features, including the RandR extension, new mouse cursors, better font engine, better ATi Radeon support and much more.

"Lycoris does what I mentioned a few days ago on this site. It lets a person sit down and gets some work done without ever needing to crack the hood. Mandrake, Red Hat, and many other Linux versions are equivalent to buying a kit full of parts and tools and building your own car. Lycoris is like going to the dealership, plunking down the cash, and driving away. Lindows offers the same thing. But Lindows costs $129, rather than $29. And Lindows requires a yearly subscription plan of $99 a year. Whereas the Lycoris plan is included in the one time purchase price. And Lindows is proprietary, you cannot download it for free. Xandros also claims to be aimed at the windows user. But Xandros costs $99 and is proprietary. You can't get it for free either. So much for choice. Lycoris is now running on both my systems." Read the blog entry at TheForge, by Barry Smith.

Older document, but interesting read. ESR is comparing VMS, MacOS, OS/2, WinNT, BeOS & Linux.

"The new operating system is expected to be a key weapon in Microsoft's battle against low-cost software based on freely shared code. Although various versions of Windows run more than 90 percent of the world's computers, software developers are increasingly drawn to open-source software such as the Linux operating system". Read the article at SeattleTimes by Brier Dudley.