The Linux Pimp

Until now, the received wisdom has been that Linux will never take off with general users because it's too complicated. One of the achievements of the Asus Eee PC is that it has come up with a front end that hides the richness of the underlying Linux system. It divides programs into a few basic categories - internet, work, learn, play - and then provides large, self-explanatory icon

For experienced technicians and engineers, the opinion is that experience is the most important for landing a job. In the minds of newbies and wannabes, certifications rule. Certifying authorities and vendors, of course, want you to spend the money obtaining the certifications and are ready to cite instances where certification is required for employment.

It was back in 2002, according to Sam Trenholme, the creator of the secure DNS server software MaraDNS. That was the year that forces conspired to make sure Linux on the desktop would never become a reality. Linux as a server was another matter entirely, but to him the "Linux desktop" is as dead as the Amiga.

The latest version of the open-source office suite OpenOffice.org 3.1 has just arrived, and it's a good one. While some of the improvements are visible to the naked eye, I found that the most important changes were hidden under the hood.

There are plenty of guides that offer advice on how to avoid trouble running or managing Linux systems. It's just as important, however, to catch and avoid problems that can doom a Linux migration project before you install a single piece of software.