"maddog" and Linaro are collaborating on a contest to improve the performance of certain GNU/Linux source code modules.

The DVD attached to this issue brings you two great new distros: Knoppix 7.2 and Fedora 19.

• Considered by some to be the “Best Live Distro on Earth,” Knoppix is the ultimate sys admin tool – a full-featured system packed with troubleshooting apps that boots and runs from the DVD drive.
• The Red Hat-sponsored Fedora is a free Linux with many of the same tools and packages found in Red Hat's enterprise editions.

A few years ago, the great epic battle of the IT industry was all about operating systems. MS-DOS versus OS/ 2, Windows verses Mac. Novell NetWare rode the wave of the network operating system for a while, until Microsoft punched back with Windows NT. The first couple of years I was in my editor’s chair, it seemed like every month we were writing about some hyperbolic new FUD from Microsoft as it sought to bring down Linux.

The DVD attached to this issue brings you a pair of the world’s most popular Linux distributions. Mint 15 “Olivia” is the latest release from the ever-friendly Linux Mint, a desktop distro based on Debian and Ubuntu that keeps the emphasis on simplicity and ease of use. Mint tops the DistroWatch downloads list and describes itself as: “The 4th most popular home operating system after Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, and Canonical’s Ubuntu.”

Klaus Knopper is the creator of Knoppix and co-founder of LinuxTag expo. He works as a teacher, programmer, and consultant. If you have a configuration problem, or if you just want to learn more about how Linux works, send your questions to: klaus@linux-magazine.com

• RHEV 3.2 released
• FreeBSD 8.4 Released
• Cisco Introduces New Backbone Routers
• AMD Chips, Strategies, and Roadmap
• Java Enterprise Edition 7 Released
• Crafter Studio 2.2