Community and commercial cooperation is increasingly important in the Open Source world. At this year’s Linux New Media Awards, we were the first to award a prize for the best combination of fire and water. This year’s awards were presented at the LinuxWorld Expo in Cologne, Germany.

Jon catches up with Linux users in London and rounds up the activities of some Linux User Groups around the world.

Jono Bacon recently announced that the LugRadio Live UK show will be the final show. In his announcement, Jono said, "I am massively proud of what we have managed to achieve. Over 100 shows, 7 full-time presenters and countless guest presenters, 200+ hours of audio, 100+ guests, 2million+ downloads, 1000+ forums members, 40000+ forums posts, 5 live events in two countries, 5000+ emails to the show and an incredible community."

Kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman has invited other kernel developers to sign a petition against closed source kernel modules.

The past, the present, the future of Linux development is all about the independent hobbyist who dedicates hours and hours of their time to simply experimenting with Linux code out of interest, creative desire or a sense of wanting to achieve a personal goal. Without the Linux hobbyists there would be no open source and frankly no Linux.

While many professional outfits now work on developing Linux code, and therefore make a significant contribution to the Linux community, it is the abiding spirit of the hobbyist that underpins the whole open source ethos.

So what are the vital qualities that the hobbyist offers and why do they remain a crucial part of the Linux community?

Kernel 2.6 maintainer Andrew Morton's wish has come true now that he has found not just one, but two new embedded maintainers, Paul Gortmaker and David Woodhouse.

The Free Network Project provides a safe environment for free speech, even for users who fear censorship.

Three simple photos are causing a stir right now: they show kernel inventor Linus Torvalds talking to the ZFS inventor Jeff Bonwick and thus fire rumors about the filesystem being added to the Linux kernel.