Jon A Christopher has risen through the ranks to become the new release coordinator for the LessTif project (for those unaware, LessTif is a free version of Motif, the defacto standard widget set from days of old, and days not so far off). He has written an editorial on LessTif, speaking of why it is still important today for this project to be finished, and why folks should be interested, and even join in. Read on to see what he has to say.

Stan Seibert has written a piece addressing a very key issue in the Linux community. In the beginning there was Linus. Back then, 100% of the users contributed to Linux. As it grew, the percentage of programmers dropped as the number of 'end users' grew. This will only continue as Linux grows. This is great because it means that proves that Linux is more than just a hacker's OS. But the growing number of users unable to actively contribute puts more pressure on developers (email pleas for help, bugs discovered, feature requests etc). The Linux community needs to adapt to this in order to succeed. Hit the link below and read what Stan has to say about it.

Matt Wood writes "The Linux Development team is pleased to announce the latest release of the Stampede Linux Distribution, version 0.79. This release includes many bugfixes, more packages, later versions of software, and a much easier install (than previous versions.) " You can download Stampede 0.79, try one of the many Stampede mirrors, read The Stampede install guide , or grab Stampede Updates.

So it's thursday night, my last exam is neatly folded up and sitting next to my back pack. I've got my pipe, a beer and my laptop, and my email box is flooded. So now I play catchup on a week of sluffing off. Hit the link below to read a list of cool stuff that I really want to mention...

Amos Shapira wrote in to send us a link to OS Wars to cure Cystic Fibrosis. Put a few bucks behind the OS of your choice, make it look good, and do something good besides blowing it on Pizza and Beer *grin*. MacOS is leading with Linux a distant second.

Allright for those of you who haven't been paying attention, I fully intend to open the Slashdot source. This has always been the plan. But first, hit the link below and let me say a few things about it. Updated

Jim Knoble has written us an editorial on the recent situation involving the OpenGroup and their new cost structure related to X11 6.4. I'd say if Netscape was the biggest Open Source success of the year, this situation may very well be the biggest failure. Fortunately XF86 will remain free, and will very likely define the future of X. Anyway check the link below and read Jim's take on the situation.

Allright, the new site is up, and just about fully functional. Thanks to everyone who has been just wailing email on me all day (and all last night) with comments/bugs etc. Please follow the link below and read a few points and help me smooth everything out before monday when my spring break is over and I stop having spare time to fix bugs :)

Hey guys, it's spring break for me, so rather then spend the next hour entering articles, here's a list of quickies: Danny O'Brien sent in a link to NTK Live show, the RealAudio version of Need to Know, the very cool weekly geek 'zine. Vladimir Vuksan wrote in to tell us that Netscape is having a party to celebrate Open Source. Funny stuff on that page. Next Dave Finton sent in this link about how employers use the net to find info on potential employees. Finally we have BeOS Releasing another beta sent in by Hans Veneman. Now to find my beer, a copy of Fantasia, and stick in some Floyd.

I've Been real busy lately. I started the Slashdot rewrite this weekend, and have some rough code and some HTML running on my machine at home under mod_perl. Its going pretty painlessly. But I really wanted to a minute to comment about a few FAQs on Slashdot. Hit the link below and read them: several of them are important.

Corel is Cutting Costs on software these days. Garrett sent us this note. Ready for a crazy idea? Corel is the best company to try GPLing (or NPLing) their office suite. Think about it: WP already has a unix port, so it has appeal to typical FSF junkies. The primary issue here is how Corel can make money- Netscape has revenue from Servers, but WordPerfect is a major cash cow. Hit the link below to read about the latest concept in my damn foolish idealistic crusade.

Several people have suggested this, but I figured I'd give it a whirl today. I was browsing CDnow last night looking to buy some CDs and realized that I'm broke and need some new tunes. And I since Slashdot isn't exactly paying the bills, maybe it could at least provide me some new music. If you follow This Link to CDNow, and buy some stuff, I get a 5% store credit! I know you guys listen to a ton of music, and CDNow is a cool site, so if you appreciate slashdot, say thanks buy buying your next couple of CDs through that link. It won't buy me beer, but it'll give me something to listen to while I drink it!

Eric Anderson writes "Netscape Enterprise Developer has a good article of WWW databases in which it praises the free (free beer, not free speach) MySQL database system over Oracle, IBM, etc. Linux is also praised as a server platorm, though this is not the point of the article. Another example of the mainstream accepting linux." Recently I've been familiarizing myself with MySQL for a 'secret' project with me a roommate, as well as for the Slashdot Rewrite. I'm really amazed at how cool and fast this app is. Can't wait to see how it holds up to some serious pressure.

Ok this is a wierd one:for those who don't know, I'm an Art Minor at Hope College. My next project in my Advanced Ceramics class is to make and sell 20 items. I intend to make either oversized coffe mugs or beer steins, but I need to sell them. They'll be probably $10 plus S&H for anyone in the US. I don't know about international orders. They won't have a slashdot logo or anything, but they will be hand made by me! Woohoo! So if you want to help me get a good grade, and would be willing to shell out $10 for a handmade ceramic mug, send me an email so I know how many to make. Only ask if you want one- I don't want to have a dozen leftover since they take quite awhile to make... and we all know how little spare time I have left these days.

Update:No logos. No Penguins. No Custom Requests. Sorry guys, these are art projects first and foremost. I started the first 8 today and they look pretty crazy though. If anyone wants a vase (mothers day is coming up!) let me know- a friend in the class (who is much better than me) is making vases so he can go to a ceramics convention over spring break. They'll probably cost more than the mugs, but they'll be really cool.

These last few months Slashdot has been growing at an amazing rate. We've been getting 20-25k hits a day recently. As the site grows, I begin to think more and more about the site, its future, and myself. Recently I've been approached by several companies and people who see great Potential in the site. At the same, I am torn apart by my desire to continue maintaining the site as a hobby. Follow the link below to read my opinions and some options about the future of the site.