Instead of always having a full-sized Linux distribution such as Suse and Mandriva, why not have a compilation DVD with lots of the smaller distributions on it?
I'm sure you could come up with your own list, but Damn Small Linux, Busybox, Puppy Linux, Minislack, etc. would probably be quite popular.
Gordon Anderson, by email
| LM |
Thanks for your suggestion. In fact, we've covered the small distribution area quite extensively in the past. For example, our issue #47 "Knoppix Collection" DVD features several live distros such as Knoppix, Kanotix, and GNUstep. Watch for an updated version of this collection sometime in the future.
I read your article on Ripping Audio Streams in issue #57 / August.
I'd just like to point out that MPlayer will quite happily play Real audio files without any difficulty if you make the necessary accommodations. You may need to install the relevant codecs.
Richard Neill, by email
I have recently received issue #57 / August. I'm afraid that, for my taste, there was far too much coverage of proprietary software. If I wanted to read about this, I would subscribe to PC Plus. The cover feature was about integrating Linux and Windows. Not something that interests me, but I guess many are still infected with that particular virus.
The thing that made me most annoyed were Carsten Möhrke's comments in his article about Zend Studio 4: "Zend Studio is neither open-source, nor is it free of charge, although US$ 249 is a fair asking price." This doesn't seem very fair to me! He concludes "When all's said and done, Zend studio is well worth the asking price." Does Mr. Möhrke realize he is writing for a GNU/Linux publication? This software is closed and non-free.
I think you need a sanity check here, because I'm certainly having one! Remember: free as in freedom, free speech, free thought, free world! Surely there must be interesting free projects to fill your pages with, without having to resort to corporate propaganda.
Guy Heatley, by email
| LM |
Thanks for your feedback! We agree with your desire to support Free Software. The vast majority of the applications you'll read about in Linux Magazine are free. In fact, it would be difficult to find another print magazine anywhere that provides broader, deeper, and more comprehensive coverage of Free Software projects for the everyday Linux user.
We occasionally include product reviews of proprietary products because, actually, many of our readers use these products and are interested in learning about new releases. This coverage should not be considered an endorsement of the product. Each reader must decide, based on their own philosophy and needs, whether they agree that a product is "well worth the asking price."
If you'll look closer at the table of contents for our August issue, you'll find that only the Zend review focuses on a proprietary product and the other 16 articles in the magazine are strongly oriented to free applications. Even our "Windows Integration" cover story highlights free tools. The goal of Windows integration, after all, is not to help Windows but to break down barriers so that Windows is forced to co-exist with other systems.