Hola everyone.

There's been quite a bit of discussion about the site going down. Quite a bit more than I expected. Thanks for everyone's kind words and news posts about it. Still, I'd like to clarify a few things on why the site is shutting down.

First off, running a site costs money. Regardless of whether or not I'm getting my bandwidth and such cheaply, I'm still paying to maintain a server (as in, keep it up to date). I get some free hardware, but I'm not about to "review" a power supply, as that's basically an advertisement. Things like that come out of my pocket. Not that I'm bitter, but it's just another cost that goes into running a site.

Secondly, handing the site off to someone else is easier said than done. My information is useful as is and will be for a while, I suppose. Teaching someone the tricks of the trade is easier said than done. I've tried it several times on the site, and it just hasn't met my standards. I always ended up falling back into things and taking the helm again. This was fine when I had a lot of time to dedicate to the site.

In short, if I can't work on the site to my full potential and post interesting bits a couple times a week, it doesn't work for me. Handing off the site to someone else and letting it die doesn't seem right to me either.

I don't make a penny off the site, but I still feel like I have a duty to readers and the Linux community. To provide concise and accurate information on Linux hardware and software. I couldn't, in good conscience, hand over the site to someone who couldn't perform this duty. Some might not mind, but a great deal of readers would. It just wouldn't be the same site.

With that said, some people are wondering, "Where can I go now? I have no resources for Linux hardware and software reviews!" While you won't find everything in one place like you might here, there are many fine sites out there. Check out Linux Hardware.org, or Evil3D.net, or DistroWatch. Roll those three together, and you've got the Duke of URL.

It's sad to go, but it's been 4 years of heavy work on the site. We've had ups and downs from our early days (some might remember them) when we didn't even have a focus, to our Maximum Linux days (when things were actually profitable from the web!), up until current when we kept afloat with a lot of volunteer work from Dan, Chas, and myself. None of us got that much out of the last year of work on the site (don't feel bad for me...it was a labor of love). I can't thank Dan and Chas enough for their help with the site. These guys pulled all-nighters to finish things up on articles for a volunteer website. I can't think of any greater dedication.

People have also talked of archives of the site on CD, possibly. I would be up for that, but I would need some form of payment to cover my cost of CD-Rs. =) It would also take a bit of editing to get it into a digestible format, but maybe I can come up with something. Are people still interested? Let me know.

Thanks again for the community's support over the years. I've really received an amazing amount of positive e-mail, which is, as you might guess a little heart warming. It was hard to imagine I had so many dedicated readers. Hopefully they can find a new home for Linux hardware and software reviews.

...And perhaps you'll be hearing from me again on another website. I wouldn't count that out.

Until then....

Hey hey everyone.

It's been pretty dead here lately, and here's why. Our review of Pogo's Altura is our last. For various reasons I'm setting the site aside and am planning on carrying on that normal life I once had. Ahh, the glamour of being a webmaster. =)

It's been fun throughout the years, but like all good things, it must come to an end. It was great serving the Linux community as well as getting a chance to butt heads with a lot of interesting minds. The site will still be up for a while as an archive, and even after that, I'm hoping to move it to some cheap hosting so all those Linux people out there will still have access to our articles.

Thanks for all the contributors over the years such as Jimmy, Dan, Chas, Steve and others. You know who you are.

So with this I bid you all a fond farewell. Feel free to contact me with questions.

Hello again everyone.

Today we've got a review -- finally, right? I've been working hard for a while on this one, so here it is, Pogo Linux's Altura Athlon XP Workstation. Quite an impressive workstation. It'll be hard to let go of this one. =)

Stay tuned. More to come next week.

Hey everyone. Dan's been hard at work again, and we have our look at Mandrake Linux PowerPack 8.1 -- it's hot off the presses! Looks like they're going for a more universal name now (it's called "Mandrake Linux" not "Linux Mandrake" now).

Jimmy is hard at work on a KT266 VS. KT266A comparison on Linux and the results are looking pretty interesting so far. I'm hard at work on a review of Pogo Linux's latest Athlon-based workstation, and that should be here late week.

Stay tuned.

I know it's been a while folks. At any rate, our Conectiva Linux 7.0 is ready to roll. The distribution looks impressive, and I'd fully stand behind Dan's final judgement on this product. Conectiva is sort of Debian meets Red Hat -- you're left with a very interesting combination.

Up later this week is the low-down on Mandrake 8.1, and after that is a head to head motherboard review -- the KT266 VS. the KT266A. Should be interesting.

Until then...

Finally, Linux Buyer's Guide #13 is here. It's been a while, but I'm trying to get back into the groove and get some products in here. Sooner or later we should also have a review of Soyo's new KT266A motherboard.

Until then...

Hey folks. Dan's just posted another review, this time it's SuSE Linux 7.2 Professional. Dan likes it a lot -- but can it measure up to the other distros out there? With their new funding and a release like this, it sounds to me like SuSE is stronger than ever.

Hopefully we should have some new motherboard reviews coming up. Jimmy's been having troubles with a Soyo motherboard in testing, so when that gets sorted out, you should see a new wave of motherboard reviews come in.

Stay tuned.

Here it is kids, Dan's review of the latest from Caldera, Caldera OpenLinux Workstation 3.1. Dan was impressed for the most part, but there looks like to be a few things holding Caldera back.

It's been tough getting back on a regular schedule on the page. Since it's hard just to do the page (and earn a living), I'm in the quest from another job. Combine that with the server transition and moving, and that makes for hardly any content the last month. I'm hoping we can cut this dry spot short, but I wouldn't expect more than a review or two for the next two weeks as I find more writers and even take care of the backlog of things I have to tend to for the page.

I think everyone should give Dan a round of applause for his help on the page this last month. He's been the only one shelling out the reviews as of late, and without him, this page would be barren.

SuSE 7.2 should be coming up soon, probably a couple days if all goes as planned.

Hey folks.

It's been a while since my last post, but when I finally get a 'net connection where I currently am, I can tell you, things will be back to normal again. We've got a lot of content coming up, and the first piece is Dan's latest editorial, "Taming the Beast". Some great history and such included in the article, so I highly suggest everyone give it a read. For Linux-enthusiast and normal computer users alike.

I should have something more to post Wednesday or Thursday, I figure.

Until then...

Okay, with the Applixware review posted, I'm onto an editorial by Dan and a couple other reviews out there (by me and several others). By next week, content should pick up, and things will be back to normal the the URL.

The things holding me down these last few weeks range from re-organizing of staff (read: newcomers) to setting up our new server. It's dedicated, so it should be pretty fast. Let me know if you have any problems whatsoever.

Stay tuned, folks.

It's no secret that the page has been rather slow for the last few weeks. Never fear, although, because Dan has saved the day. This was done a while back, but I've been working on a variety of things from the new server to choosing a new distro on my own PC, so it took a while to go through the all-important editing process. What's on tap today? Applixware Office 5.0.

Up next is most likely something from our boy Jimmy in the form of a motherboard review. I'll be back in action shortly, as well, with a variety of distro reviews and otherwise zany fun.

Stay tuned.

I usually avoid posting things like this on the main page, but I think both of these developments are of particular relevance to the Duke of URL.

First off, Be, Inc.'s core assets have been purchased by Palm, Inc. I don't know where Be has to go from here, but what it sounds like, BeOS is dead. For this reason, I probably won't be publishing that third BeOS Buyer's Guide, as it just wouldn't make sense. If something else develops on this situation, this could change.

Secondly, Loki Games has filed for Chapter 11. That means Loki owes a lot of money and needs protection from its creditors. They still could survive, and I think with all the attention they've been getting lately, it could help them a lot. A boost in sales, perhaps? I'm all for using Linux as an all-purpose solution, and let's not allow this tech-crisis to claim another Linux company -- especially not one like Loki. If you're a Linux user or plan on being one soon, please help support Loki by buying something or spreading the word.

All right folks.

It's here, the Gigabyte GA-7DXR review. An impressive DDR motherboard based on the AMD 761 chipset. If you've been looking for an excuse to go DDR, your excuse may be here. Also, the forums are currently down. That means you can't post feedback, but feel free to e-mail me any comments.

On the way next Monday is Dan's Applixware Office review. The review schedule should start picking up again after the first, but I'm currently very busy with setting up the new dediciated server for production. Believe me, it'll be worth it.

A little misc news here today/tonight.

We're expanding into PDAs, and currently working on getting some for review and looking into all sorts of things PDA. Maybe some Linux PDAs? Let me know if you're a PDA freak and would like to see something specific pertaining to them.

We're also welcoming Peter Zdebski aboard, who'll be doing a lot of our PDA coverage, along with some motherboards, video cards, and other such products. Booyah.

In other news, O'Reilly has some awesome Open Source Convention news. In particular interest is the Mundie VS. the World discussion. Looks like Microsoft is waging a full-fledged war on Linux. Which reminds me, I think Dan has something to say about that. Look for an editorial or two from him in the near future. He's also working on wrapping up a couple reviews such as SuSE 7.2 and Applixware Office.

Stay tuned.