We acknowledge that, however incrementally, the "average Linux user" is creeping more and more toward the vast middle ground of computer users each day: the onus any desktop project has on it, especially one hoping to profit from migration to Linux desktops, is to provide a compelling set of reasons to make the migration at all. It's clear from Ximian GNOME, though, that the company is building the expertise it needs to provide definitive motivation to make that move, even if small bumps remain.

The package

The package comes with 7 CDs and includes the far more usable single DVD. As always, the DVD installations are very easy and don't require you to be alert to change the CD on time. The excellent technical `handbook' is now, 15 pages richer (though we didn't check to see where). What we did see was that the manual still carries images from the 7.0 release. The usual QuickInstall, configuration and application manuals are available for quick help.

Installation

Bynari's primary target market for Insight is "Fortune 1000" companies which have a population of Linux or UNIX-based technical/engineering employees who need to interact with their Windows PC counterparts, who use Outlook with Exchange server. With Insight, a single UNIX or Linux user can now install Bynari's client software and immediately join the enterprise, without requiring unique support from the Exchange server.

Craig Mundie of Microsoft is going to make a major speech in New York attacking open-source software -- specifically, attacking the GNU General Public License. I haven't seen the speech it is supposed to be embargoed. But I'm expecting it to be a masterpiece of FUD. You watch; it's going to be a studied and ingenious attempt to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt in the minds of software users and the public -- and to obscure Microsoft's underlying motives by cloaking them in affected concern for the public welfare.

Linux users say it runs computers more efficiently, proficiently and reliably and it isn't prone to the kind of lockups and system crashes that Windows is infamous for. Yet, for all its pluses, Linux can be daunting to all but the savviest computer users. It's an operating system -- no, a culture -- that's completely foreign, if not downright scary, to many of us in the point-and-click crowd. In Linux land, people talk about "kernels," "distributions" and "open-source software" and throw "installfests," where experienced users help newbies load Linux onto their machines.

It's now time for a little summary about what's going on with GNOME 2.0 and how you can help with it. As you might already know, we have several new CVS modules for GNOME 2.0. Here's a list of all of them together with a description and in the correct compilation order. Unless otherwise specified, all modules come from CVS HEAD.

"The year's Big Lie is the assertion that Apple has embraced open source software. Sure, Apple's next generation OS X is based on its Darwin project, which is based on the open source Mach operating system. But the embrace is actually a chokehold. Apple's only interest in open source is what it can extract, both in technology and publicity. Despite appearances, Darwin's dependence on free software doesn't indicate that Apple has changed its self-serving attitude towards the community," says Evan Leibovitch.

The GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is GNU's tool for secure communication and data storage. It is a complete and free replacement of PGP and can be used to encrypt data and to create digital signatures. It includes an advanced key management facility and is compliant with the proposed OpenPGP Internet standard as described in RFC2440. Version 1.0.5 has just been released and should be available at the mirrors really soon.

"I learned from Michael's column Eazel is soliciting payment for its software. It's nothing so formal as setting a price and refusing to ship product until that price is paid, but it's payment nonetheless. The company has set up a PayPal account so that people who want to do so can give the company money. And the message from Eazel is plain enough: You want us to stick around and keep producing "free" stuff, you're gonna have to send us some money. The only thing wrong with it is its Orwellian, Free Software Foundation, convoluted misuse of the word "free," says Dennis E. Powell

"I submit that within this transition period is an excellent time for Linux developers to get their ducks in a row and start really churning out the apps that will attract disenfranchised Windows users, whether they are server administrators or desktop users. In times of upheaval, fortune may favor Linux with more serious looks from serious users," says Brian Proffitt.