Issue 17 – December 2001/January 2002
Editorial
74k
The government’s acceptance of Microsoft sponsorship for a
discussion on IT in the NHS may strike many as plain fishy, but at
least it clearly illustrates the current level of understanding
within the executive and the Civil Service. It’s time that
ministers and mandarins got a dose of their own educational
prescription, says Trevor Parsons, and in triplicate
Cover feature – All rights reversed 149k
With the music and video industries waging a fierce and apparently
losing war to control the digital audience, Richard Hillesley asks
whether open formats, open licensing and Internet distribution
could really end up cutting out the middleman
Open personalities – Alan Cox, red hat hacker 83k
He may be handing over some of his kernel responsibilities, but you
certainly won’t see Linus Torvalds’ senior lieutenant taking a back
seat. The bearded one talks to LinuxUser about Linux, life at the
office, and why free software programmers risk their freedom if
they visit the US
Freestyle – Never knowingly understated 81k
With nearly 33 million page references to Linux indexed on Google,
our roving reporter Samuel Palmer slightly narrows the field with
his pick of Linux news and views sites on the Web
Linux at work – The message 77k
Linux: is it evolution or revolution? Both, says Russ Foster, as he
finds a Linux server delivering continuity for a solution provider
and a quantum leap in productivity for its advertising agency
client
The Knowledge 53k
The LPI releases full Level 2 certification worldwide, Red Hat
expands its distance learning offering, and beginners.co.uk online
offers Linux training free and for a fee, plus listings of training
providers country-wide, and the latest free Linux Training
Materials Project module: Work effectively on the Unix command
line
Reviews
– Products and services 124k
LinuxUser’s panel verdict on IBM’s hefty eServer x250, the new and
highly stable Red Hat Linux 7.2 release, configurable server
management in the shape of Raritan’s Paragon KVM, the DNUK Workstar
– the ultimate Linux box? – and the latest and greatest distro
release from Linux Mandrake
Books
63k
Fresh in to the LinuxUser library this month: Palm OS Network
Programming for the Linux user’s favourite PDA, Linux Routing for a
view beyond the basics, UNIX Shells By Example, a critical look at
Linux For Your Mac, and an introduction to Linux’s cousin with
FreeBSD Unleashed
Soapbox – Let’s hear it for user labs 40k
Fresh from listening to Bill Gates and Alan Milburn at the MS/NHS
love-in, Douglas Carnall concludes that free software will
inevitably replace proprietary software in the health service, but
that in the meanwhile the movement would be wise to learn a lesson
or two in usability testing from its adversary