Letters to the Editor

I just discovered your Linux Journal. I purchased and enjoyed issue #3, and I just wanted to write to say thank you for this terrific publication. It's terrific to have a legitimate source for Linux info, and to find so many resources for Linux.

Thanks again; I really like Linux Journal.

—Peter Horadan peteho@halcyon.com

I've read an issue of Linux Journal and I think it's great. I will probably be sending in a subscription soon.

In the issue I read (Vol. 1, Ed. 2), there was a request for questions. One thing I would like to see is a definitive review of multi-port serial boards. I'm sure that there are a lot of people like me who want to find a good board that is supported by Linux (without having to make several patches to the kernel).

If you plan to do such an article or have already done one, please let me know.

—Jason Funk jasonfunk@aol.com

LJ replies:

We had one article about the newly-supported Cyclades board in issue #5. It is currently the only smart serial board supported by the kernel. Digiboard will probably be supported later. All dumb serial boards that use a UART with a FIFO like a 16450 or 16550 (almost all of them) are pretty much equivalent, and most are supported in the standard kernel.

I just read your post to c.o.l.announce; part of which was a preview of the contents of the September issue. I'm particularly interested in the article “Writing an Intelligent Serial Driver”, by Randolph Bentson because that is what I am doing! Is this an introductory article or does it document a real project to implement intelligent serial I/O on Linux?

BTW, I subscribe to LJ and look forward to reading it each month. I was particularly impressed with the recent article about the history of Unix. I'd also like to see more “real world” examples of using Linux like the comic example this month.

—Simon Allen simonallen@cix.compulink.co.uk

LJ replies:

The article (which was printed in Linux Journal issue #5) does indeed document a real project: implementing a driver for the Cyclades 8Ys intelligent serial board.

We have a policy of publishing articles about Linux being used in the real world. However, they are sometimes hard to find out about. Therefore, if any readers know of Linux being used in the “real world” in an interesting way, please send us a letter at ljeditor@ sunsite.unc.edu and tell us about it.

I saw where you requested feedback on page 19 of the June issue. I subscribe and am shopping for a Linux machine, which I'll probably buy preloaded from an ad in LJ. I was already a customer of SSC, which helped me make the journey from DOS/Mac to Unix. I'm delighted that SSC got into Linux; it's a perfect match image-wise. The only thing better would be you guys cooperating with O'Reilly or something. There's a nice feel to the Journal and a nice mix of hard stuff (over my head but challenging) and beginner stuff.

—SEAKAYAKER@delphi.com

LJ replies:

Thanks.

We do have a good working relationship with O'Reilly. We have subscribers there, and we read and recommend their books. O'Reilly is also helping to work on Linux documentation, working with the Linux Documentation Project. We mention their new books in the New Products section when they send us press releases which relate to Linux; see the New Products section in this issue.

All letters to the editor are subject to editing for clarity, length, grammar, and spelling. Send letters to ljeditor@linuxjournal.com and use a subject like LTE. Alternately, send paper mail to Linux Journal, P.O. Box 85867, Seattle, WA 98145-1867. E-mail is preferred, because we can print the results of a discussion, which can be more useful than just your letter and our response.