Letters to the Editor

I just do not understand what your magazine is all about. Perhaps it's me, but I have good knowledge of Unix and some of its derivatives, and Linux is still a mystery to me. I'm not even sure of the name; is it pronounced “Lynux” or “Linux”? Anyone I've asked is not sure, but I have received both pronunciations.

Then there's the content of your magazine. Someone must be interested in the esoteric content since there does not seem to be a shortage of these articles in your publication, especially those using acronyms that I suppose make sense to someone.

I hoped some articles would cater to the “uninformed” like me who are just getting into Linux and would prefer not to decipher every article just to find it does not matter.

I want system administration tips and tricks; comparisons to Unix functions; commercial applications that have been tried and found useful; and evaluations of the various flavors of Linux. What about an article about Caldera? Speak in regular English using terms that are recognizable to us Unix aficionados.

Irwin Luchs, San Diego, CA

Everyone who's been confused about the pronunciation of Linux will be happy to know that there is a sound file of Linus pronouncing Linux, in English and Swedish, uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/saylinux.htm. We pronounce it with a short i, as in “lint” and a u as in “under”. As with most things related to Unix and Linux, there's more than one right way.

We strive to include articles that appeal to our diverse readership, but we realize that not every reader will be interested in every article in every issue. We try to not leave acronyms unexplained, but we don't catch every one.

We do have a semi-regular column on system administration, as well as reviews of products and Linux distributions. An article about Caldera is in the works. We always welcome article ideas, and many of our articles result from reader suggestions.