April meeting is at New Horizons, 1890 Commerce Center Blvd., Fairborn

What is Linux?

Who are We?

Linux is a free Unix-type operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around the world. Linux is an independent POSIX implementation and includes true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand loading, proper memory management, TCP/IP networking, and other features consistent with Unix-type systems. Source code for Linux is freely available to everyone. That doesn't mean that Linux is necessarily free of cost, although it can be freely downloaded from many Internet sites. It is also sold at a very modest cost, usually packaged with hundreds of applications, thousands of pages of electronic documentation (and often hundreds of printed pages of documentation), and often includes free technical help via e-mail or phone for a limited time. For a more thorough explanation, see The Linux Journal's article Linux from the Beginning by Phil Hughes.

You can read more about what Linux is at Linux Online. Find more detailed Linux / kernel info at Wikipedia.

We're one of several Special Interest Groups (SIGs) of Dayton Microcomputer Association (DMA®). This SIG has been meeting regularly (previously as a very small Unix group) since the early 1990s. We've slowly grown from three or four people per meeting to usually thirty or more for the past few years. We have about 150 subscribers to our mailing list. You may subscribe at the Linux-SIG Info Page. Occasionally we have one or more topics planned for the meeting, but often we simply discuss whatever topics come up. We're working on planning presentations for more of our meetings. We regularly have attendees who have been Unix and/or Linux system administrators for several years to those who have been hearing about Linux and want to learn more before deciding which distribution to try first, and everything in between. We are for anyone wanting to get started using Linux, and for those who've been using it for quite a while, but need more specific information of various aspects of it, such as configuration, security considerations, applications, etc. So feel free to join us - you'll fit right in.

Effective January, 2003, we hold regularly scheduled monthly meetings in room 145 of the Russ Engineering Center, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, at 7:00 P.M. on the third Thursday night of each month. We can park in Lot 16. Until July 2002 we had met on the first Thursday. These meetings are open to anyone interested in UNIX or Linux and we welcome both the experienced and inexperienced user. You need not be a member to attend but if like what you see and hear your membership will be welcomed. Dues are only $25.00 a year and not only entitle you to a year's subscription to the DMA® publication The DataBus and eligibility to win valuable door prizes at DMA's main monthly meeting, and entitles you to some great benefits, including discounts, but gives you access to a group of enthusiastic Linux users who are always willing to listen to your ideas and help solve your problems.

Below is the latest kernel info as of 11:30 am Sun, May 11, 2008 EDT.

The latest stable version of the Linux kernel is:           2.6.25.3
The latest prepatch for the stable Linux kernel tree is:    2.6.26-rc1
The latest snapshot for the stable Linux kernel tree is:    2.6.26-rc1-git8
The latest 2.4 version of the Linux kernel is:              2.4.36.4
The latest 2.2 version of the Linux kernel is:              2.2.26
The latest prepatch for the 2.2 Linux kernel tree is:       2.2.27-rc2
The latest -mm patch to the stable Linux kernels is:        2.6.25-mm1