Linux Lane

Linux is a friendly operating system; it just chooses its friends well.

I started using Linux in the autumn of 2000. As of this writing. It's been exactly 25 years. A quarter century using it! Stuff adds up with time:

And more recently:

Little Emacs cheatsheet

I use BunsenLabs Linux, by the way. But I'm also interested in alternative operating systems. Other distributions I watch closely:

Salix: Linux for the lazy Slacker
antiX Linux: Proudly anti-fascist "antiX Magic" in an environment suitable for old and new computers.
The Void (Linux) distribution: Enter the void

DistroWatch.com remains an invaluable source of news.

Other links

France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins (9 April 2026) France is transitioning government desktops to Linux, with each ministry required to formalize its implementation plan by autumn 2026.

Never-before-seen Linux malware is “far more advanced than typical” (14 January 2026)
Various desktop Linux tips for newbies (16 August 2025)
Unprecedented Linux Growth in Europe Amid Windows 10 End-of-Life (5 July 2025)
Linux File System Structure Explained (7 April 2024)
Why is Debian the way it is? (8 October 2023)
After 30 Years, Linux Finally Hits 3% Market Share (9 July 2023)
Bash alternatives to cloud products and platforms (2 July 2023)
Rant: year of Linux on the desktop (29 December 2022)
How Wine works 101 🍷 (10 October 2022)
Floppinux - An Embedded 🐧Linux on a Single 💾Floppy (22 May 2021)
5 reasons why I love coding on Linux (13 February 2021)
The Fascinating World of Linux System Calls (17 December 2014)

History of UNIX Manpages and other things UNIX:

The trouble with symbolic links (7 July 2022)
Unix command line conventions over time (19 May 2022)
The history of *nix package management (15 August 2017)
Fonts on Unix (4 June 2017)
Screenshots from developers: 2002 vs. 2015 (10 December 2015)
The Birth of Standard Error (11 December 2013)

X11

The Comprehensive List of Window Managers for Unix

Wayland set the Linux Desktop back by 10 years (18 March 2026)

Forked-off Xlibre tells Wayland display protocol to DEI in a fire (10 June 2025) Project to modernize the X.org X11 server seems to actively court controversy

The X Window System is still hanging on at 40 (21 June 2024) Never underestimate the stickiness of legacy technology

The technical merits of Wayland are mostly irrelevant (31 August 2023)
Building an Alternative Ecosystem (14 September 2021)
Unix Shell: Philosophy, Design, and FAQs (26 January 2021)
A Neighbourly Solution to the 'X is Deprecated?!' Conundrum (29 October 2020)
on abandoning the X server (28 October 2020)

And from long ago: A day without X (21 May 2007)