mister_nate sent us a really cool interview with Jon "Maddog" Hall. I've said this before, but Maddog is the perfect Linux advocate. A lot of Slashdot readers (and I definitely include myself in this statement) can learn a lot by watching the way Jon handles Linux Advocacy. It's amazing.

Make no mistake. Andy Hertzfeld, Eazel developer and Macintosh forefather, is an Open Source zealot. Forged in the fires of Steve Jobs and Bandley 3, Andy's leading the team to build a kinder, gentler interface for our favorite operating system. I got the opportunity to speak to Andy last week, and I learned a lot about the challenges and victories of thinking different with Linux.

Dave Sifry writes: "I wanted to let you guys know that my response to Tim O'Reilly's recent column about Linuxcare. Things really aren't as bad as some in the press have made it appear. I feel it is important to get a dose of facts into the conversation -- now that we're out of our quiet period and we can talk about what's going on, and all of the neat stuff we've been working on." After all that's been said about LinuxCare, it's good to hear info straight from the top, and that Tim O'Reilly is an active listener. Just remember who's speaking.

nodvin writes: "CNN is reporting Linux users unscathed by ILOVEYOU. It is interesting that none of the multiple e-mail accounts on my Linux IMAP-POP servers seems to have encountered the virus. The mail server that I use is Communigate Pro from Stalker Software running under either Red Hat 6.2 or Linux-Mandrake 7.0. Perhaps the fact that I have Communigate Pro enabled for the MAPS Realtime Blackhole List (RBL) helped prevent ILOVEYOU from getting through. " It's a Petreley piece from LinuxWorld, but kinda cool seeing it on CNN.

~-zman-~ asks: "How should Linux User Groups advocate Linux/free software in their community. Obviously, meetings and 'installfests' are good ideas, but my group has been pondering public service announcements and LUG radio. What do you guys think?" Interesting thought. If Microsoft can have TV commercials, why can't LUGs make radio announcements. Click below and share your thoughts, and suggestions.

joel_archer writes "According to this article on C|Net Red Hat Ventures division will take $500,000 to $2 million stakes in new companies specializing in open-source software and Internet infrastructure technology. Red Hat said it hopes to identify new business opportunities through the funding of start-ups. "

chromatic returns with a book tuned for anyone whose answer to heterogeneous networks is SAMBA, and wants 500 pages of practical advice (and answers to common problems) distilled from the fountain of SAMBA knowlege.

Leo Comitale writes "According to this press release the Linux Standard Base and the Linux Internationalization (I18N) project have merged and are calling themselves the Free Standards Group. I think it is really important for Linux to have a basic, low level standard for file system layout and support for international languages. These areas are critical to keeping Linux from splintering into a bunch of incompatible variants, and it seems these efforts are not getting as much support as they probably should be."

dmelomed asks: "I would like to Ask Slashdot about Linux's PHYSICAL limits of partition and FS size on i386 and 64 bit chips. What are the maximum real-life possible partition sizes on big RAIDs (several TB) that the kernel can work with reliably? What are better filesystems to use that handle LARGE RAIDS?"

Eupolis writes "Reuters reports that Linuxcare has withdrawn its IPO filings, and is now cutting staff to try to keep from running out of money. " As well as the report from Reuters, News.com has an analysis of the situation as well.

Fluid Donkey was the first of many to let us know that kernel 2.2.15 has come down the wire. It's a fairly large patch (just over a meg), but it contains many updates, including support for Intelligent Input/Output (I20) devices. You can find it in the usual places. (ftp.<two-letter-country-code>.kernel.org if you forgot)

buzzcutbuddha writes "Bob Young from Red Hat issued his rebuttal to John Taschek's Anti-Open Source Article on ZDNet. Well written and articulate, and to the point ... He shoots, he scores!" Check out the original article blasting the open-source idea. Good rebuttal, Bob.

negaPLuCK writes: "i just mounted my first reiserfs partition. When the reiserfs.o module loaded into the kernel what popped out but ads for SuSE, MP3.com and Ecila.com." I've attached the exact text in the read more: it's more like sponsorship than ads, which on one hand is a cool way to finance development, but where is this gonna end?

linux_penguin asks: "I've been using Linux for a few years now, and have only just hit the wall I believe most intermediate users hit at some time... I hate RPM and all of its idiosyncracies, and I hate all the clutter and unnecessary junk most distributions install. I wanted to compile Enlightenment from CVS, and it turned into a major hassle due to RPM dependencies and libraries being spread everywhere. What I would like to achieve is an absolute basic install, and then build the system up slowly with source (with most stuff being installed into /usr/local hopefully, leaving the basic install clean and untouched). I know this is a fairly tall order, but has anyone achieved this to any degree and can anyone give me advice? What's the best distro for *this purpose*? Or am I better off building my box from the ground up, to the point of compiling *everything* from source? I would like to use this as a learning experience to gain greater knowledge of Linux and how it works."

parad1gm asks: "So I was an idiot and when offered my choice of a free Cisco 605 internal DSL modem or a $50 external 675 router, I opted for free. Now I cry nightly as I stop to swap out my Linux drive with my Windows 98 drive. If anyone has any word on drivers for the 605 drop me a line."

doon asks: "Just got a new box and wanted to check out how Moonlight 3D worked on it. Went to www.moonlight3d.org to see what the latest version was and there was a simple note saying 'As you can see, Moonlight3D.org has been stripped down to a website that's not really worth visiting any more. It deeply saddens us to have to do this, but it was the right thing to do.' Does anybody know what happened?"

menthos writes: "It seems like Axis Communications has brought a YAJFS (Yet Another Journaling File System) to Linux. It is however a bit different, in that it is designed for flash memory filesystems, as in Axis's own Web cams. It is GPL, and the JFFS link is here. Maybe this could mean more Linux PDAs?"

PanchoNB writes: "There is a new site on the net. This site is out to show that Red Hat is a Linux distribution but Linux is not just Red Hat." It's at RedHatIsNotLinux.org. We all know this already, but it doesn't hurt to nudge vendors, nor to have a place to point your pointy-haired boss. Sign their petition, or sign up to help maintain a list.

slambo writes: "Everyone's favorite bootloader, LILO has been updated to remove the 1024-cylinder limit. LILO now supports disks up to 2Tb. "

spacey-g asks: "What methods are used by Linux User Groups (especially those in the US) to organize their group? Is it president/vice president/etc., anarchy, amorphous, monarical, three branches of government? What types of rules are typically laid down during meetings: Robert's Rules of Order, WWF rules of disorder, etc?. With the Linux community growing every day, I feel it is important to understand how local groups are handling the task of managment and interaction with other groups." Any LUG officers: please feel free to share what methods have and have not worked for your groups.