Steve's Software Page

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like operating system which was originally written to run on Intel-compatible 386-based PCs, but has now been ported to many other architectures. It was started by Linus Torvalds in Helsinki in 1991, Finland and since then has been added to by an anarchic team of coders distributed around the world. It is distributed freely under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

For more information to help setting up and running your own Linux machine, look at the Linux Documentation Project.

Linux Journal is published monthly and contains much of interest to Linux users, including articles about Linux and Free Software development, usage tips and advertisements for hardware and software suppliers supporting Linux.

Debian

If you do decide to install Linux yourself, I would recommend the Debian distribution, due to its easily upgradable nature and systematic bug reporting/fix system. But then, I may be a little biased, as I have been a Debian developer since 1996.

I've maintained many different Debian packages over the years, and worked in many other roles from Project Leader on down.

The bugs in my packages are here.

I used to be Treasurer of the Debian UK Society, a group consisting of the UK Debian Developers. We were the group that organise Debian's presence at Linux expos and trade shows in the UK.

I'm also the leader of the Debian Images Team, the group responsible for creating CD/DVD/USB images of Debian releases. I also write and sell these CDs and DVDs.

I've written JTE to help in producing jigdo images for releasing CDs and DVDs. JTE is a patch to mkisofs and a set of separate utilities, packaged as jigit.

PGP

See more info here.

Other Free Software

I've done some work to integrate CVS and Bugzilla

Richard Corfield wrote an Idiot's Guide to using the trn newsreader.