Issue #86 / Jan 2008

COVER STORY: LogFS

Flash memory and the LogFS filesystem

Flash is now an everyday part of the Linux environment. The new LogFS filesystem will help you contend with the problems of flash memory.

REVIEWS: Books

Reviews of O'Reilly's Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think, Prentice Hall's The Official Damn Small Linux Book, and Linux Firewalls: Attack Detection and Response with iptables, psad, and fwsnort from No Starch Press.

REVIEWS: Email Suites

KMail, Evolution, Thunderbird, and Claws Mail

We examine the strengths and weaknesses of four popular mail clients: KMail, Evolution, Thunderbird, and Claws Mail.

REVIEWS: PDF Readers

Adobe Reader 8.1 vs. Xpdf and Evince

The creator of the PDF format, Adobe, has released Adobe Reader 8.1. Does the proprietary display program offer more than free software alternatives Xpdf and Evince?

KNOW-HOW: 64 Studio and JAD

Tuning up with the 64 Studio and JAD audio Linux distros

The 64 Studio and JAD Linux distributions specialize in tools for the audiophile.

KNOW-HOW: Plone 3.0

Content management with Plone 3.0

The simplicity and power of Plone make it the open source CMS of choice for sophisticated sites. Plone 3.0, which was released in August, brings many improvements and enhanced support for enterprise applications.

KNOW-HOW: ASK KLAUS!

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

SYSADMIN: Charly's Column

The sys admin's daily grind: Munin

Ornithologists already know that magpies don’t really deserve their reputation. The true kleptomaniac in the world of birds is the raven. And it’s worthwhile for data dealers to make the acquaintance of Munin, a monitoring tool named after one fabled raven.

SYSADMIN: IMAP Proxies

Managing mail traffic with an IMAP proxy

IMAP proxies like Perdition, Imapproxy, and Cyrus Aggregator help distribute mail to multiple IMAP servers. We examine some options for IMAP proxy in the Linux evironment.

PROGRAMMING: Perl: Vim

Problem solving with Vim

The Vim editor supports Perl plugins that let users manipulate the text they have just edited. Complex functions can be developed far faster than with Vim’s integrated scripting language.