The development cycle for MkLinux continues fast and furious! As we go to press, several updates to both the Linux server and the Mach kernel have been finished and posted to the Net.
Several bugs have been fixed since the first DR1 release. Some of the most significant include a memory problem that didn't allow systems with more than 40MB of memory to run the operating system, a time setting problem making MkLinux believe that no matter where you were the system thought it was in England time-wise, and a more robust SCSI driver to take care of situations where several hard drives would fail to work with the operating system at all.
Performance issues and enhancements have also been addressed. With each release the video display has gotten faster and faster. Collocation has been supported to allow for a much faster system, overall. Macintosh AV systems now have direct video support for their special configuration. X11R6.1 has been released. Most significantly, MkLinux now has serial and PPP support defined so that all of us can get into networking!
The user community has also been busy. Packages such as the text editor Pico, the scripting languages TCL and TK, the games Net Trek and Maelstrom, and the web browser Chimera have been ported over to MkLinux and been made available via the Net. Several World Wide Web sites have sprung up to support MkLinux's user community. Some worth checking out include: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/alt.sources.mac/mklinux.html, http://tigger.clarku.edu/mkarchive/info/index.html, and http://www.commonlink.com/mklinux/.
Decisions for the future have also been made. The Apple/OSF team announced that the next class of machines MkLinux would be supported on would be the PCI class Macintoshes: the 7200, 7500, 7600, 8500, and 9500. A first release for these machines is planned for just before Christmas, making, according to the team, a perfect stocking stuffer! As I write, the DR2 release for the NuBus Macintoshes is being burned to CD-ROM and will be available when you read this. DR2 won't give any new enhancements per se, but will be a current snapshot of MkLinux and the many bug fixes and improvements that have been made since DR1. Like DR1 it will be available on the Internet and via CD-ROM from Prime Time Freeware.
Audio support and floppy drive support is being worked on as well as bringing the MkLinux server up to Linux 2.0 standards! The NuBus reference release, which should incorporate audio and floppy support if not Linux 2.0, is on schedule for an October release.
The pace and excitement is increasing. Come join the fun!
