Why Microsoft's Palladium project threatens to send Linux and open-source into exile: "Unless Microsoft signs a particular Linux kernel, it will almost certainly refuse to run on Palladium-equipped hardware." Read the editorial at SecurityFocus.

Remember a month ago, when I urged the open source developers to take on this software and develop something equivelant and multi-platform? It seems that the only people who actually got interested in my $100 USD offer... was Apple.

A good break down of what needs to be done for the Linux kernel 2.6 (which might be coming out as soon as in November) can be found on LWN and on KernelTrap.

Luigi Rizzo has implemented a weight-based process scheduler for FreeBSD-stable, and is in the process of porting it to -current. Read all about it at BSDForums.org.

Let's face it, the most important, truly alternative, hobby operating systems that are somewhat usable today are three: MenuetOS, SkyOS and AtheOS. All three are hobby, open source OSes, written from people who enjoy coding low level programming. Read more about the differences between these OSes and which one you might want to try out.

"Would you give your grandmother a PC with Linux as its main OS? The developers of a Linux startup, Lycoris, have been trying to make the answer a more likely "yes" with their Linux package." Read the review at OnLamp. On a related note, Update 2 of Lycoris Build 44 should be available in 1-2 weeks.

A new version of Mandrake Cooker, the unstable version of Mandrake, has been released on the FTP servers with many fixes and new software packages. Please note that this version is not production level quality, but it is intended for testing purposes only.

"Developing the Graphical User Interface (GUI) for a Python application is often a tedious, time-consuming, and opaque process. This is the exact opposite of how Python programmers would describe most other aspects of software development using Python. So what is it about GUI applications that causes them to be so hard?" Read the technical article at OnLamp. Two more Python articles can be found at developerWorks at IBM, here and here.

A lot has been said about the roots of Mac OS X and there is quite some confusion about its exact Unix geneology. We asked Jordan Hubbard, engineering manager of the BSD Technologies Group at Apple and one of the most important figures throughout the FreeBSD history, about the older releases of OSX, the current one and the future ones, and this is what he replied to us: "The earliest releases were based on FreeBSD 3.2 and NetBSD, though I'm not as clear on what version of NetBSD was used. For 10.2, we did a massive re-sync with FreeBSD 4.4 and 4.5 and regard FreeBSD as the primary reference code base going forward." Update: Read for some more clarifications from Jordan. Update 2: More updates from Jordan! Read on.

"$100 per year is too much for many Mac users to hold on to their mac.com email addresses, and Apple sysadmins have been furiously busy deleting the complaints that flooded Apple's own technical forums. Users are also unhappy that the upgrade to 10.2 costs a full $129, with no discount for existing Mac OS X users." Read the report at TheRegister. Update: And now Apple masked the thread linked from above and TheRegister's article, and it is no longer available for viewing. This is one of the many such threads Apple censored since yesterday in their discussion board. So much for "feedback from the userbase."

There have been many articles as of late about the so called "source" distributions of Linux. Articles about "rpm hell" and how to get out of it. While I have been using Red Rat since the first release (and do have some things for and against it) there is no distribution that will please all of the people all of the time. Then again, that is what makes an OS like Linux nice, in my opinion. Choices. Today, Gentoo Linux is my choice.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs touts new features for OS X, unveils new lower-cost iPods--including one for Windows, and a 17-inch flat panel iMac. Read more in a ZDNet News Focus. Our Take: So, no G4 speed bumps? And no word for the G5s, still? BTW, that new Sherlock 3 looks like a Watson replica.

"As part of our 100th issue celebration, we present 100 of the most significant events in Linux history. As shown in the timeline, the first issue of Linux Journal coincided with the release of Linux 1.0. Ever since, the fortunes of our magazine have followed those of Linux at large." Read the Linux Timeline.

Jared White over at The Idea Basket has published an interview with Erik J. Barzeski, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Cocoa Dev Central. In the interview they discuss the history of the Cocoa programming environment, the importance of Cocoa vs. Carbon within the Mac development community, and how vital Cocoa is to Apple and the Mac platform.