Networks are everywhere, and more of them than ever are running Linux, which makes sense given its cost and its Unix background. If you're responsible for more than a handful of networked Linux machines, you probably run into more than a few situations each day that you wish you had a trusted advisor (or a few) to help you get through. How do I set up a server for [task X]? What do I do when my mail storage needs change? Christopher Thompson here briefly dissects O'Reilly's Linux Network Administrator's Guide, which promises to be a decent partner when you have network SNAFUs, at least much of the time.

Sits asks: "Every year my univerisity's computer society hopes to entice new students to join by running a computer display. Last year we ran Q3 test on a Win98 system, but this year we would like to demo something running on Linux. Does anyone know of a flashy way to demonstrate Linux to regular people? Does Linux have an active demo scene and if so would a display of those be appealing to non-technical users?"

A reader writes "Check the latest Kurt's Closet; he points to some interesting flaws on Debian 2.2, from a security point of view. " Kurt's Closet is part of SecurityPortal - he's got some good points, but it's also good to remember, as the article points out, that nothing is automagically secure. Always do testing on your own.Update: 08/30 01:44 PM by H :Thanks to Ben Collins, Debian guy, for sending a response which I've included below.Update: 08/30 04:32 PM by H :Kurt has written an update that will be appearing on the site soon. In the meantime, he also sent me the text - read below for more.

cmuncey writes: "Salon has an Associated Press article that IBM, HP, Intel, NEC have announced an 'Open Source Testing Lab' for testing Linux for large corporate systems that will open by the end of the year in Portland, OR. The main four sponsors are putting up a couple of million and Red Hat, Turbolinux, Linuxcare, VA Linux, Dell and SGI are also kicking in. The lab itself will be run by a nonprofit corporation that will be neutral in picking the projects to be tested. Sounds a bit better Mindcraft, doesn't it?"

Malcontent asks: "Since it's possible to tweak Linux to a high degree I wonder what tricks can be employed to make Linux a better database server. I am not talking about obvious hardware improvements like RAID, more processors or memory because they apply to any operating system. I am looking more for Linux specific things like kernel settings and disk/filesystem tricks which may improve performance."

Madman Chromatic (coder, writer, thinker) sheds even more light on the books lurking on store shelves designed to lure, and then snare, new or uncertain users into trying out -- and actually enjoying! -- this wacky "Linux thing." This time around, the texts he's chosen cover the topics of installation and day-to-day operation of a Linux system in greater depth than the Dummies series dares to, but they're still aimed squarely at competent, literate users rather than only at technical gurus. Read on for his insights into Using Linux, Linux Configuration & Installation, and the Linux Essential Reference.

Maktoo writes: "Just checked out the latest Netcraft survey and it has a very interesting new feature breaking out the differences between "Total Web sites hosted" and total *active* Web sites. The pie charts are about 3/4 the way down the page. They show that in total sites, Linux and MS have 35% and 21% marketshare respectively... but when it comes to actual active sites, that gap shrinks to 29.9% and 28.3% respectively. Netcraft have figured out a way to try to eliminate the millions of place holder pages out there that aren't actually serving content, thus not really Web sites. Apache's marketshare also shrinks a little, but it's still an impressive 59%. It's an interesting read."

Dreddlox writes "I'm looking at a company producing cluster management software for Linux-based clusters such as Beowulf and would like to get a feel for waht's out there right now. I know Turbolinux for example has a product, enFuzion as do a few others. I'm trying to get a complete list of the players in this market as well as on any open source software and distributions of it if any exist. Also if anybody has any pointers or information on the use of Linux clusters in non-military and non-academic applications (such as auto manufacture and finance) especially outisde the US. I'm curious as to potential for such software in Europe and Asia (with all the talk of China being a ripe market for Linux due to the open source angle)."

PapaZit writes: "Government Computer News is reporting that the DOD isn't willing to adopt Linux...yet. They're eager enough to do so, however, that they're considering relaxing the requirements for POSIX compliance and Motif." That may be true, but the article only mentions folks from VA Linux and Red Hat as advocating this idea. After all, those wacky Linux people favor "letting anyone have a crack at modifying it, which could represent a security compromise for military systems for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence." Not to worry -- you're probably aware that Free software has long been at work and play in serious government applications; reader sdriver points out a few of them below.

truefluke writes: "This was forwarded to me, from a friend who is a very loyal Debian supporter, with the cool news that Debian could become 'more up to date more often'. This news appeared here on the Debian news source. A good idea, and prob incentive for more folks to try out Debian without resorting to the old saw of 'too old / too slow.'" Debian developer Anthony Towns says in the list posting mentioned there that "[t]his is a (mostly finished) project that will allow us to test out distribution by making it "sludgey" rather than frozen[.]" Sounds like the same logic behind the Caldera "Technology Preview" and Red Hat's Rawhide -- give people more of what they want of The Bleeding Edge, without getting reckless with the official release.

chromatic is back with a mini-compendium of introductory Linux texts -- and yes, they have the famously protected "Dummies" trademark. Don't scoff at the nature of these books, though; the skill of translating the arcana of any computer topic (and boy are they all arcane to the uninitiated!) into language that mom, kids and the guy down the street can understand is not a common one. If you don't know what a root prompt (or an editor) is, or why you might want one, it's hard to do much else with your system.

Spiral Man writes: "There has been a lot of talk lately about Linux on handheld and embeded device. One interest of particular interest to me is in-dash computers for cars. Probably the most important app for one of these (aside from the CD player) would be a navigation and trip planing package such as DeLorme's Street Atlas, and Microsoft's Streets USA. My question is: Are there any apps, or even plans to write apps like this for Linux. Preferably these would use a commercial, or at least well updated, street database, and would have to be able to track you current location with a GPS." Especially considering the coming flood of GNU/Linux-based handhelds and dashboard computers, this question will be one of the toughies for folks who want to use Free software wherever possible, but who also want the capabilities in applications like Streets USA. Are there any competitors out there in the Free world?

A reader writes " According to the German Heise Newsticker Linux is the top server for .de-domains both in terms of IP addresses and domain names hosted. The survey carried out by the company iKu Netzwerklösungen surveyed all of almost 2.5 million connected .de-domains distributed over 205.540 IP addresses with the port scanner nmap. 44 percent of IP addresses surveyed were hosted by Linux, 30 percent by Windows. In terms of domain names hosted Linux has an even greater lead, with over 1.1 million domaines. Solaris follows with about 850,000 names, of which 180,000 are hosted on just two Solaris boxes belonging to Germany's biggest webspace provider Strato. Windows follows in 3rd place with just 10%. " Check out the fish if you don't jive deutsch.

Paul Bristow writes "I've been using a Headless Linux server at home for years and years, but I always find myself putting off doing a distro upgrade. It always means digging out the old graphics card, keyboard and monitor, dusting them off and plugging them in, just so I can have a console to upgrade on. Are there any linux distributions that will allow remote upgrades? You know, log in as root viua ssh, webmin, whatever, run upgrade prog, remotely reboot, off we go. ;-) I know I'm not the only one running a headless server, and I *know* how stable it is, but occasionally RedHat (in my case) come out with a nice new feature that I might want to upgrade for. Also, with just one server it might just be possible, but how do you upgrade a headless server farm?"

TillmanJ writes: "Just a quick note to let everyone know that the New Linux Myth Dispeller is online at http://www.eruditum.org/lin ux/myths/myth-dispeller.html It is not, however, ready for prime-time, but is usable. If anyone has anything to add/correct/bitch about, send me some email. In patricular, I would like to work with some non-english-speaking folks to translate it into whatever langs we can" Useful for clearing up the misconceptions of PHBs and other folks.

A reader wrote to us about "Notes From The Cathedral", which is sort of a tell-all from a former developer of a "major software company". An interesting, if somewhat sad, read.

Thanks to several of our readers who noted the public version of the Wall Street Journal's interview with Linus, conducted by Lee Gomes. Some of the standard issues - 2.4, Linux on the desktop are talked about but the statements concerning ye olde Mindcraft tests are particularly interesting.

briansp asks: "What hardware vendors are people most happy with for rackmount Linux servers? We've looked at IBM, Dell, VA Linux, and others, as well as putting stuff together from parts. Important evaluation points for me are: price, quality, reliability, support, and quick turnaround on orders. Anyone have any vendors they've been particularly happy or unhappy with?"

mduell writes: "Saw these three on the Technology front page at MSNBC.com. First off, This story on how GNOME Foundation takes aim at Microsoft. Secondly, this story about what Michael Dell thinks of Linux. Lastly, this story about Linux on mobile devices." Some other links that have been submitted: a reader submits pictures from the Expo, a Linux PDA is announced, and Michael Dell tries to figure out why he's selling overpriced Linux systems.

batsman was among the countless folks to announce that Potato is now Stable... i.e., Debian 2.2 has been released. The ISO is available, but I'm not linking (not because I'm an elitist (although I am) but to at least try to let the mirrors do their thing). No official word outside of mailing lists, but the 'stable' directory is now Potato. Congrats to all the ever slaving Debian developers... time to dist-upgrade those boxes that aren't already running woody! It's official now since the release is on Debian's site *grin*