Using the Root Account on Debian  Debian GNU/Linux is a powerful and popular community-developed Linux distribution--and the basis for several other useful and usable distributions. With the recent release of Debian Sarge, it's better than ever. Edd Dumbill, Debian developer and GNU/Linux advocate, shows how to use the root account safely and responsibly.   [Linux]

Retro Gaming Hacks, Part 2: Add Paddles to Pong  In part one of this three-part series on hacking Pong, Josh Glover detailed how you can write your own Pong clone, using SDL. So what's next? Adding the paddles. Today Josh walks through how, with the help of sprites, you can create and animate player-controlled paddles for your Pong clone. Tune in the first week of '06 for Josh's conclusion--you'll need to add the ball and scoring next, right?   [Linux]

Retro Gaming Hacks, Part 1: Clone Pong, Using Only SDL (and Your Brain)  One of the great things about the games of yore is that they tended to be pretty simple, and as Josh Glover explains, Pong is one of the simplest to implement. In this first article of a three-part series, Josh shows you how to clone Pong all by yourself. Josh contributed a number of the hacks in O'Reilly's Retro Gaming Hacks.   [Linux]

Security Alerts
PHP Problems  Noel Davis looks at problems in PHP, Emacs, ftpd-ssl, Lynx, Roaring Penguin pppoe, OpenVPN, RAR, Fedora Core X-Chat, HP-UX xterm, libungif4, and GpsDrive.   [Linux]

Installing and Configuring Ubuntu on a Laptop  Jeremy Jones recently bought a new laptop and decided to run Linux. Don't shudder--it actually works! Here's how he installed, reinstalled, and configured Ubuntu GNU/Linux on a Dell Inspiron.   [Linux]

Inside a Luxury Synth: Creating the Linux-Powered Korg OASYS  Defying the trend toward ever-cheaper plastic gear and soulless soft synths, this super-keyboard is designed to rock the world for years to come. Create Digital Music's Peter Kirn goes behind the scenes at Korg USA to learn how the designers finally built the dream instrument they'd been planning for 15 years.   [Digital Media]

Security Alerts
Ethereal Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in sudo, Ethereal, Apache mod_auth_shadow, fetchmailconf, lynx, Mantis, pnmtopng, gnump3d, Squid, unzip, uim, Curl, and imlib.   [Linux]

What Is a Linux Distribution  The Linux kernel may be the star of the show, but like any star, it needs a supporting cast. In this case, the supporting cast is known as a Linux distribution--a useful set of system and application programs bundled with the OS. Edd Dumbill serves up overviews of the major Linux distributions as well as the specialist distros, and for who (or what) each distro is best suited.   [Linux]

What Is the Linux Desktop  Much has been made of predictions about the "year of the Linux desktop," but what is the Linux desktop, why should we use it, and why should you care? Jono Bacon takes a look at development of the Linux desktop, from its roots to its apps to its future prospects. Jono is the author of Linux Desktop Hacks.   [Linux]

Security Alerts
KWord Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in KWord, SPE under Gentoo, wget, Brightstore, eTrust, Unicenter, OpenSSL, XMail, uw-imap, weex, tcpdump, graphviz, up-imapproxy, xloadimage and xli, and Ruby.   [Linux]

Security Alerts
XFree86 Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in XFree86, cfengine, RealPlayer 10, Helix Player, ClamAV, XSun, Xprt, arc, prozilla, AbiWord, Backupninja, Hylafax, ApacheTop, and libsnmp5.   [Linux]

What Is Linux  For a long time, Linux was seen as a geek's system--too complicated for ordinary folks. But Linux has matured, and with today's desktop environments and new user-friendly installations, Linux is finally coming into its own as a desktop system. Ellen Siever takes a fresh look at what Linux is (and is not), its features, distributions, and much more. Ellen is a coauthor of Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition.   [Linux]

What Is Asterisk  Asterisk is an open source PBX (private branch exchange) that provides all the functionality of high-end business telephone systems, and much more. Brian McConnell explains how Asterisk works and where to get it, and provides an overview of its feature set and its platform capabilities.   [O'Reilly Network]

Open Source Advocacy for the Enterprise  The free and open source software movements do a great job of providing software and guidance for programmers, and reach charities and educational markets fairly well. Aside from highly technical projects, there has been comparatively little attention given to Very Serious Business--and for good reason. Jono Bacon explores the motivations and values of the "enterprise" software market and considers how to evangelize it effectively.   [Linux]

Installing Debian  Debian GNU/Linux is a powerful and popular community-developed Linux distribution--and the basis for several other useful and usable distributions. With the recent release of Debian Sarge, it's better than ever. Edd Dumbill, Debian developer and GNU/Linux advocate, walks through a typical installation.   [Linux]

Security Alerts
MySQL Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in MySQL, umount, KDE's kcheckpass, GNOME Workstation Command Center, X.org, Squid, TWiki, ncompress, grip, Turquoise SuperStat, gtkdiskfree, and LessTif.   [Linux]

Review: Fervent Software Studio To Go!  Pop this CD-ROM into any recent PC and it will boot up as a powerful Linux music workstation with tons of cool software. Eject the CD, and you're back to normal. Linux music expert Brad Fuller takes the world's roundest and flattest portable studio for a spin.   [DigitalMedia.oreilly.com]

Improving Network Reliability with Keepalived  No matter how good the software, hardware eventually fails. Redundancy is an important way to keep your important services running smoothly. With the right software, you can even sleep through otherwise catastrophic network failures. Philip Hollenback demonstrates how to make your network robust by using Keepalived on multiple Linux routers.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Distributing Content with BitTorrent  You have good software, or audio or video, and you want to make it available to the public. If you get really popular, though, you'll spend all of your money and bandwidth being popular--and then what? Consider P2P distribution with BitTorrent, which allows your users to share pieces of your file with each other, giving them faster transfers and you fewer headaches. Robert Bernier explains.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

The Next 50 Years of Computer Security: An Interview with Alan Cox  Alan Cox is well known for his long-standing work on the Linux kernel, but at O'Reilly's EuroOSCON (October 17-20), he will speak about computer security. According to Alan, we're just at the beginning of a long journey into getting security right. Eager for directions and a glimpse of the future, O'Reilly Network interviewed him about his upcoming keynote.   [O'Reilly Network]

Security Alerts
PHP Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in PHP, Adobe Reader, Kismet, LibTIFF, Evolution, Mutt, bluez-utils, Ignite-UX, CPAINT, Awstats, Clam AntiVirus, and Gaim.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

What Is the X Window System  Developed at MIT in 1984, the X Window System, now up to X11 release 6, or X11R6, has been the standard environment for Unix windowing systems. Ellen Siever provides some historical context for X's staying power, then discusses its major features: working with X and the X server and X clients; configuring X; and much more. Ellen is a coauthor of Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Linux for Video Production  Linux and open source software is traditionally good for developers and system administrators, and recently good for business users. When will it be good for multimedia users? A handful of projects are making video production and editing possible (and useful)--PiTiVi and GStreamer among them. Jono Bacon examines the present and future of video production with Linux and open source software.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

What Is the GNOME Desktop  Nope. It's not a garden garnish. GNOME is a desktop software project designed to look familiar to anyone who has ever used a computer. Aaron Weber distills what the GNOME desktop is, what apps users will find as well as what platform development tools developers will find, and the resources to help you get started using it. Aaron is a coauthor of Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

The Ur-Quan Masters  Star Control II is one of the most beloved space exploration games. When its original developers released a version of the source code under the GPL, members of the fan community began to port it to modern operating systems. Howard Wen recently interviewed the developers about their goals, their progress, and how open source works for them.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Apache Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in Apache, bzip2, Cisco devices, fetchmail, Netpbm, Ethereal, Proftpd, pstotext, apt-cacher, Compress::Zlib, Gopher, nbSMTP, and PowerDNS.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

OSDL's Linux Initiatives  OSDL is a somewhat vague entity in the minds of many in the Linux community. Beyond employing several top kernel hackers, the company spearheads several initiatives designed to improve the GNU/Linux operating system for use in business and industry. Here's what it's doing, what it's done, and why.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Problems in Oracle Reports  Noel Davis looks at problems in Oracle Reports, Skype for Linux, MediaWiki, Kate, Kwrite, Shorewall, ekg, libgadu, PHPNews, phpSurveyor, Affix, Heartbeat, and phpPgAdmin.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

The Irrlicht Engine  One of the most complicated pieces of software in the world is a 3-D engine, right? Not according to Nikolaus Gebhardt. He's almost single-handedly created his own open source-capable 3-D engine, Irrlicht. Howard Wen talks with him about the design, implementation, and goals of the project.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Important Notice for Linux DevCenter Readers About O'Reilly RSS and Atom Feeds  O'Reilly Media, Inc. is rolling out a new syndication mechanism that provides greater control over the content we publish online. Here's information to help you update your existing RSS and Atom feeds to O'Reilly content.  [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Problems in SpamAssassin, PEAR, and Bugzilla  Noel Davis looks at problems in SpamAssassin, PHP PEAR, Bugzilla, Heimdal/Kerberos telnetd, Vipul's Razor, TikiWiki, poppassd_pam, zlib, FUSE, the Solaris kernel, HT Editor, GNATS, JBoss jBPM, Trustix Secure Linux, and Trac.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]