Copyright (C) 1999 by Steve Litt. All rights reserved. Materials from guest authors copyrighted by them and licensed for perpetual use to Troubleshooting Professional Magazine. All rights reserved to the copyright holder, except for items specifically marked otherwise (certain free software source code, GNU/GPL, etc.). All material herein provided "As-Is". User assumes all risk and responsibility for any outcome.
Please give me feedback on the usefulness of the new "split" format. Troubleshooting Professional is here to serve the reader, so your opinion is gospel. There are many ways to reduce bandwidth, although most involve reduction of content ("See next month for part 16 of our series", etc.).
Many readers pointed out that last month I had misleadingly implied that Marc Andreesson created the web, and ignored Tim Berners-Lee. Guilty as charged. See the article on Tim in this issue.
Many others asked for coverage of Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie. You asked for it, you get it this issue. While I was at it, I included Bjarne Stroustrup. The final piece of old business in this issue is an article entitled Gary's Revenge, detailing how Linux powerhouse Caldera acquired Gary Kildall's superior DR. DOS, and sued Microsoft, claiming all the same things we suspected of Microsoft's failure to work with DR. DOS.
Please understand that I can't write about everyone. Non inclusion does not imply non importance. This is especially important in light of part two of this issue, "Linux Expo: The New Breed". My goal at Linux Expo was to report on people and vendors you might not find in every newspaper and website. The fact that I don't report on Red Hat, Caldera, VA Research, and the many other people and vendors at Linux Expo in no way implies a lesser opinion of them. But coverage of such entities is ubiquitous.
I interviewed a couple voices from the Free Software community, and a few of the people and startups who impressed me as rising stars. I hope you'll find these interesting, and please have mercy on me if your favorite vendor or person is absent.
This issue concludes the "heroes" series. Next month's Troubleshooting Professional gets back to its technological roots, with the issue devoted to "Troubleshooting CGI", including a toolkit for those without telnet access.
So kick back, relax, and enjoy this issue of Troubleshooting Professional. And remember, if you're a Troubleshooter, Technologist, or free software user, this is your magazine. Enjoy!