2003.10_Reasons.pdf

Welcome

COMMENT

Right Reasons

Dear Linux Magazine Reader,

We pride ourselves on the origins

of our publication, which come

from the early days of the Linux

revolution.

Our sister publication in Germany,

founded in 1994, was the first

Linux magazine in Europe. Since

then, our network and expertise

has grown and expanded with the

Linux community around the

world.

As a reader of Linux Magazine,

you are joining an information

network that is dedicated to

distributing knowledge and

technical expertise. We’re not

simply reporting on the Linux

and Open Source movement,

we’re part of it.

The Linux com-

munity should be

leading the way for-

ward in the world

of IT. For too long

we have played

catch-up to other

systems.

Is this happening? Finally we are see-

ing results. The big Open Source projects

are capable of making an impact on the

world that will last for many years to

come.

The Gnome desktop, once it had

reached version 2, took a while to settle

down. Now the strides forward in areas

such as accessibility make other

attempts seem poorly thought out.

KDE is also moving forward with

its office connectability and group-

ware solutions. The Kolab server looks

very interesting and I am sure we will

hear more about it in the coming

months.

Mozilla took a back seat while it

slowly caught up to the functionality it

lost when it changed from Netscape.

Now the underlying work has been

done, other projects can exploit the work

such as Epiphany and Phoenix as ultra

quick browsers. OpenOffice was behind,

but now acts as the core for its parent,

StarOffice.

All these projects have taken the time

to think about what we should be doing

and where the project should be aimed,

rather than blundering on just adding

more and more unnecessary features.

This time to think has led to a better

product and standards that everyone can

work from.

It does not matter if the main projects

falter as they have given rise to a mind-

set of doing things the correct way.

Although having said that, the team

members of the big Open Source projects

already have that outlook and so can

develop as quickly if not quicker than

any of their rivals.

Linux is noticably becoming more

popular and mainstream. I now get to

talk to people who use Linux for a vari-

ety of different reasons.

Some want the freedom that is offered

and granted by the licenses. Others want

the ability to run on multiple processor

machines with ease. A small few use

Linux because the Open Source projects

offer better software solutions than the

commercial proprietary couterparts.

Some want it because at the end of the

day it is cheaper to obtain, run and keep

up to date. Others because their work-

place now requires them to use it.

The lucky few because they help oth-

ers either by making new projects or

being users and so act as software

testers. One friend told me that he used

it because it is the future and so needed

to try and understand it before his job

demanded it. Some like the idea of the

security they get with many eyes being

able to look at the code.

There are a few however, who use it

for spite. They vilify the opposition, see-

ing it as a source of all things evil. To

quote a famous play – The last tempta-

tion is the greatest treason, to do the

right deed for the wrong reason.

Forever forward!

Full 2002 Archive Online!

If you haven’t visited our Online

Archive lately, you should have a look

– all articles from all 2002 issues are

now online. That’s over 1,000 pages of

advanced Linux know-how, available

free of charge!

You can find the contents of the

2002 and other issues here:

www.linux-magazine.com/Archive .

John Southern

Editor

www.linux-magazine.com

October 2003

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