David Ishee has written a piece on the Fear of X.0 where he talks about (surprise!) release versions of software. It's worth a gander...

Chris Marston has written a piece entitled "The Tragedy of the Commons" where he talks about open source development, and issues it will face in the future. Particularly the human issues for the people who create the code we all enjoy, and how ego, and fame fit in. It rings very true.

Matthew Crosby wrote in to tell us that "there will be an informal little celebration thing on irc.gimp.org port 6666, channel #party. Paul Hart gave me a link to The Worm Farm. It's just weird. Robert Jones wrote in to send us a link to an excellent Linux Help site. Richard Brown sent us a link to a A weather site running Linux. Brian Moore wrote in to send us a link to a story about Communicator 5.0 And finally, Rasmus Lerdorf wrote in to announce that the PHP3 has hit the wire. For those in the dark, PHP is another excellent web page scripting language.

Everybody's favorite GPLd Image Processor has finally hit the most wonderful One Point Oh. 'tis a joyous occasion, for now the developers can pat themselves on the back, shake each other's virtual hands, and move on to getting Paths into 2.0 *grin*. Seriously, I'm pleased as punch. The Free Software Movement needs one final thing to triumph, at that is Killer Apps, and I strongly believe that The Gimp is possibly the first. And there will be more. (This story set some sort of record- over 120 people wrote in to tell me that 1.0 is out. *grin*)

Shane McLochlainn writes " SomeNet, the open-source IRC Network will be hosting RMS on Saturday, June 13,at 1:30pm Eastern Richard Stallman (aka RMS) will be speaking on various topics, such as planned changes for GPL3, Why NPL counts as free software, Why "free" is the correct term and Free/proprietary issues regarding GIMP and Photoshop plugins. Does this mean he's reversed his opposition to the NPL or has the NPL been modified as per his suggestions." That's pretty cool. I should be able to go to this, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say.

Our drive back proved much less eventful then the drive down, and now having had a nice nap, I'm ready to post a final batch of rants and rambles about the Expo and my experiences there. Hit the link below to read more. And now since I'm back, I should be reading email again, and of course posting articles more regularly.

Luis Casillas wrote in to tell us that there is a manual now available for The Gimp at the official FTP site. Good software needs good docs. I'm glad to see it.

frank drewett wrote in to warn us that A new GIMP has hit the wire. Download, compile, and pray 1.0 is coming soon *grin*.

Andy Tai writes "RMS has written an article explaining how the GPL is applied in programs using plug-ins like Photoshop or the GIMP. His article can be found here " Apparently it is illegal to write a GPLd plug-in to a non GPLd program if they link in the same code (or am I really misunderstanding this?). Update Andy wrote back saying that Gimp plug-ins etc don't count 'cut they are seperate executables. If someone has a few examples of what plug-ins would theoretically apply here, send them my way.

shock has written an editorial on what he considers to be the Achilles Heal of open source software- his arguement is that "normal" applications (accounting, office suites, etc) will lag behind because they aren't as sexy for a programmer to get involved with (as opposed to the kernel, a web browser, The Gimp etc). Hit the link below and read what he has to say about it.

Whizard was the first to inform us that Gimp 0.99.29 is at the usual places. Push that onto the stack of things to download this afternoon while I'm still at the office. I'm itchin' for 1.0- Can we have 'Merge Down' and usable paths please? *grin*.

Adrian Likins sent us a link to an article where artists complain about "geek" culture. It's an interesting piece about about the geek "free" mentality. My favorite quote is "Geeks wanting creative property for free ... they are embarrassingly out of line and uneducated in the creative arts. Who are these cultural illiterates kidding?"

I always thought Artists were the idealistic ones, but now we see geeks are. Any web site worth visiting probably has images worth stealing. Many people take my stuff without asking (at least as many ask permission) and all I ask is a link back. Its not all that different from an Art Gallary (they show a bunch of paintings with the artists name next to them on a tiny card) If an artist aims to communicate, then this certainly is advancing their goal. If an artist aims for fame and fortune, well, they probably should think about a different career.

Scott Millen (my coworker, and sparring partner in the OS war :) sent me a link to Mac OS Rumors, which is posting a Press Release from Al Guerra Enterprises, Inc, which apparently is stepping up to the plate to support MkLinux. They sell a service plan for $99 and up. This is a really interesting idea: the new Mac hardware is impressive, and a lot of MacOS users may be interested in giving Linux a shot. Apps like The Gimp certainly are a good incentive to try out a new OS.

Alan Bailward wrote in to tell us that another gimp has hit the net. 0.99.28 will now be added to my list of things to download and I will continue to live a one dimensional uninteresting life as all of my spare time (yeah right) is dedicated to fantasizing about Gimp 1.0. Maybe I should seek help?

Jay Bloodworth has written a nice editorial on Linux, and its use in primary education. He talks about pros, cons, and what needs to happen to make Linux and Education go together hand and glove. Follow the link below and learn more...

First let me just post a little celebration:Yesterday Slashdot had a new hits high- for the first time we broke 100,000 hits in a single day (that's pages, not counting images people). I'm happy as a clam. And the Slashdot T-Shirts should be ready RSN. Now the bad news:

A lot of email and posting has been flying around about Slashdot, Geek, OpenScape.org, and several other web sites, and I want to give my 2 cents. First, I thank the many of you who appreciate Slashdot so much, that you are willing to defend it so strongly- but a few of you went to far. Other web sites are entitled to do their thing. If you don't like their thing, stay here. If you don't like my thing, go there. Or read both. I work damn hard to make sure that as many people as possible enjoy slashdot, but that doesn't mean there can't be competition. Hit the link below for more.

John sent us this link where you can read about a G3/300 overpowering the Compaq box with a P2/400. The tests were just Photoshop, so that biases things somewhat, but its still pretty cool. Can't wait to try Linux out on one of those buggers. We should perform some of the same tests in the Gimp just for comparisons sake.

Vincent Janelle writes "I just found out about a Serial LCD stats software pack for Linux. This little product is essentially a serial LCD panel that someone has programmed software for Linux, and it generates stats based on the loadavg, mem readouts, uptime, and more. You can get it at here.. You cannot tell me that you do not want this." I want one mounted on all of my machines. Even my laptop! *grin*. I couldn't find how much the little panel cost, but I think I found what I want for my birthday- that thing is just to cool. If somebody buys me one, I'll write something to pump slashdot headlines through it.

So yesterday Gimp 0.99.27 squirted out, bringing us one step closer. Then Raph Levien writes "The Gimp 1.0 CD will be pressing in a few weeks, and we're looking for all the cool artwork we can get. This is your chance to be famous, contribute to what's shaping up to be a really nice CD, and help out the commercial free software movement just a little. More details at this location. "

Ed Boraas writes "The GNOME Logo Contest being held by the kind folks at gimp.org is now open again, and ready for voting. Go there and check out the great submissions and cast your vote for the best!" This contest showed a notable improvement from the previous ones. The results have reached a point where they look created by an artist, and not by the Gimp. Thats really hard to do right. I know which logo I'm voting for.