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In an ideal world, all your code is packaged into a universal install script, with dependency checking, updating, and logging services handled automatically. Conflicts between resources required by different applications are resolved according to predefined policies. Site-specific configuration changes are automatically applied as part of the unattended installation, and tests are run across the environment to confirm that everything is good to go. Autonomic computing technology brings this vision closer to an achievable reality.

A few weeks ago I got my hands on a copy of Debian Non-Profit, one of a growing list of Custom Debian Distributions. And after spending a few weeks installing and re-installing it on my painfully old (433MHz AMD) work machine for testing purposes I've become something of a fan. There are some issues that could do with a little more attention (in my opinion) but as a whole the Morphix-based Debian NP is a formidable start to what could be a very important project.

> While most people bicker about which OS is best, the truth is much vaguer: what computer is sitting on your desk has more to do with your comfort level than intellectual choice.

If you need a markup language to create nicely formatted documents, Linux has plenty of them to choose from -- DocBook, TeX and LaTeX, Lout, the roff family, and of course (X)HTML and XML. So do we really need another? I didn't think so, until I ran across Almost Plain Text (APT), a simple system for marking up text in which most of the formatting is done using indentation and ordinary keyboard characters. Using APT's command-line formatting engine, you can output APT documents to PostScript, PDF, LaTeX, and HTML.

IBM's Systems and Technology Group has introduced its Virtualization Engine, which allows a Unix-based system to be partitioned just like a mainframe, enabling it to run as many as 10 servers per processor.

Because of the high TCO for storage area networks (SANs), demand for Linux-based network attached storage (NAS) devices is expected to see an increase in the US SOHO (small office and home office) market by 2005, according to sources

With recent advances in freely available LDAP client utilities, Linux administrators can now take advantage of some of the benefits of network groups without the overhead of maintaining a NIS server. In this article, I'll explain what netgroups are, and how they can help you get finer-grained control over your local system security.

The Dublin Institute of Technology has said that a new e-learning system is transforming student life and its lecturers' attitudes to teaching.

NAS devices using Linux will be more widely adopted in the small office and home office market than Windows, say reports coming out of Taiwan. NAS and Open SAN storage should grow to 60 per cent of the total network storage market in 2005 from the current 40 per cent, whereas the direct attached storage (DAS) market is likely to drop below 40 per cent from its current 60 per cent.

Linux clustering is catching on in corporate America, thanks to newfound support from major systems and software vendors, says Chuck Foley, executive vice president for clustering solutions vendor InfiniCon Systems of King of Prussia, Pa. Of course, where success goes, Microsoft follows. In this interview, Foley covers the clustering waterfront, from Microsoft's involvement in clustering to InfiniCon's new partnership with Penguin Computing to the turnaround in the fortunes of Linux clustering resulting from Unix vendors' facing of some hard facts. InfiniCon and Penguin have teamed up to bring Linux clusters on Intel to high speed network infrastructures, switching and virtualization systems.

Gentoo Linux is proud to announce Gentoo Linux 2004.1, the new and exciting version of Gentoo Linux.

Daniel Robbins has resigned from his development responsibilities for Gentoo, including his role as chief architect and as manager of release engineering.

As Microsoft focuses on merging its Web browser and operating system software, open-source competitors are mulling a proposal to join forces and beat the software giant to the punch.

The Mozilla Foundation is looking for a graphic designer to design its new online donations site, with the aim of raising US$1,000,000 over the next year. So far almost US$100,000 has been donated online and the Foundation is keen to build on this success with its Mozillion campaign, which borrows from the recent Internet fundraising efforts of several US presidential candidates. Interested designers must submit a Mozillion logo, homepage mockup and a design for one internal page of the campaign site by midnight Pacific Daylight Time on Friday 7th May.

Welcome to this year's 17th issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for the Debian community. In light of recent events Nathanael Nerode is working hard on splitting binary firmware blobs out of the Linux kernel so they can be loaded via the request_firmware command which would resolve incompatibilities with the Linux license. Steve Kowalik announced a new major release of linda, a policy checker, that adds full support for internationalisation.

The Linux Business Directory has expanded its offerings for its members and visitors. The new additions include a community Blog, a member updatable events calendar, and over 200 new business classification categories.

"If I'm curt with you, it's because time is a factor. I think fast, I type fast, and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get the best out of this. So, pretty please, with sugar on top, try the test release!"

The LUG is a fantastic part of the Linux culture and a great way to share your Linux experience with people in your area. The LUG forum is a resource that LinuxQuestions.org is proud to offer to the Linux community...