FreeLinuxDisks.org has been founded to offer free GNU/Linux CD's to anyone who needs it which are usually those who are still on slow connections and hence aren't able to download CD images directly off the net, and might find it too cumbersome to order CD's (not everyone has a credit card or a PayPal account).

It looks like a great way to promote and spread the use of GNU/Linux. The project needs help though in form of contributions (including donations) or if you have something to advertise sponsorships. You are encouraged to spread the word either by word of mouth or linking to it from your blog using one of these buttons. And of course, a good way to help get the word out is to digg it.

The creator of Haiku Podcast has made a very nice video presenting Haiku OS, a BeOS-like Free Operating System which is now mostly in alpha stage and can already be used for simple things. This video shows that it's well on its way and I believe it has great potential as a possible future contender in the realm of Free Operating Systems, as they start developing some more exciting things based on the first release of Haiku. Here's the video: http://sikosis.com.nyud.net:8080/haiku/Haiku05.divx

Upon developing a quite solid desktop operating system, Ubuntu seems to be moving forward with new innovations, this time, I would say, pushing the boundaries of the GNU/Linux world even further. As one would expect for a GNU/Linux distribution with such a great buzz and following, there are alot of critiques and people tired of hearing about Ubuntu all the time, people that hate it as an operating system for whatever reason, but that doesn't really change the fact that it is still the most popular flavor of GNU/Linux with the biggest community and hence the greatest number of minds dedicated to making it even better. You gotta admit there's alot of potential in that kind of setting. So yes, I would concede that Ubuntu is currently among few distributions with such a great potential for innovation and I would not be surprised if it continues to "set the standard" for mainstream GNU/Linux desktop in the future.

To type a lot of one character (or a backspace) when using Bourne Shell or Bash, hit Alt, enter the number of times to repeat, then hit the character to be repeated.

Hit Ctrl+l (lowercase L, not uppercase i) to clear a console without typing out "clear".