Here at NewsForge, we’re constantly amazed about the prolific super-Linux programmer Alan Cox, who seems to release a new test version of the kernel every day, if not more often. His latest, unless that changes by the time I finish this column, is 2.218pre14, only his third release over the weekend. When’s this guy sleep?

Speaking of new releases, Linux Planet started its review of SuSE Linux 7.0 with this tasty nugget: “Red Hat 7.0’s recent release was ransacked by the user community, looking for the next Big Thing. The response has been less than overwhelming thus far. But while all the hoopla about Red Hat was going on here in the States, the latest
release from Deutschland has quietly been causing a stir of its own, first in its home country, and now here.” If Mandrake’s more your flavor, Linux Lookup offered a review of Mandrake 7.2 (beta 2).

No props to closed-sourcers Apple, whose lower-than-expect earnings report this week sent the Nasdaq into a bit of a tailspin. Damn that fruit! But hey, you could be the guy who bought Apple stock on Wednesday. On Friday alone, the computer-maker’s shares dropped by more than half. Apparently those cube things aren’t selling so well.

I want my, I want my MP3

This week, MP3.com asked fans of free music (as in free beer) to flood Congress with email supporting the Music Owners’ Listening Rights Act of 2000. More about the “Million Email March” and the act itself at The Standard.

Everything under the Sun

There was lots of coverage of our friends at Sun Microsystems this week, including the release of its UltraSparc III server, complete with technical glitches during the launch event. Our friends at Linux Today questioned Sun’s commitment to Linux, saying the company’s been “somewhat schizoid” in its Linux pronouncements as of late. Also, ZDNet UK reported that Sun may be ditching Linux on its Cobalt Networks server. Check out NewsForge’s own Jack Bryar’s column on Sun’s relationship with Cobalt after its purchase of the company.

Props to itself

Chip-maker and Linus employer Transmeta ruffled a few feathers this week, when an official with the company said its technology was five years ahead of its competitors’ technologies. Later in the week, Transmeta tried to clear the air: Its lead is in its software emulation technology, only. Intel and AMD suddenly were breathing easier.

New at NewsForge

News editor Tina Gasperson examines one company’s claims that it’s the first to release remote network administration software that gives “complete control” of the Linux console. Others say, no way

Our hardware reviewer Jeff Field asks why hardware is still so difficult to install, especially with all these distributions of Linux having different methods of detecting hardware.