GEEK NIKE
GEEK NIKE
Dear Linux Magazine Reader,
A few months ago, if I had written a column that made reference to the Battle of
Thermopylae, I would have displayed a commendable command of the past (or at least, an adept ability to access the past at pertinent moments). Since the recent release of the popular film 300, however, the Battle of Thermopylae has passed temporarily into the realm of popular culture, where it shares the limelight with the iPod Nano and the haircut of Britney Spears, so for the next few months, if you talk about it too much, you run the risk of sounding trendy. Sometimes, though, you just have to talk about the Battle of Thermopylae. This glorious moment, in which a handful of Greeks put aside their conflicts to join together and defeat the whole Persian army, is considered a classic “last stand” victory, where the underdogs exhibit extreme tenacity and prevail. The battle is also useful for illustrating another classic theme that shows up frequently in human affairs. If the ancient Greeks had known about haiku, they might have expressed this sentiment as follows:
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.