Kernel Tinkering, SuSE, and SteamOS

This is what I like about studying for certifications. They force you to look into subjects at a deeper level than you may otherwise have done. One of the topics in LPIC-2 is Kernel maintenance – understanding the kernel, how it works, the concept of dynamically loaded modules, compiling the kernel and modifying the configuration prior to compiling. It is very intriguing learning about this low-level part of the Linux OS.

It is a complex topic though, and compiling a kernel can take a while, depending on configuration. I managed to compile and install my first kernel today. :)

Meanwhile, since I’ve now obtained my SUSE 11 CLA from Novell (not sure if anything will come through in the post, though), I must really refresh my memory on openSuSE. My primary distributions have been Ubuntu and Fedora.

Whilst downloading various linux distributions including the latest versions of Ubuntu and Fedora, I found out that I could download SteamOS, which is Valve’s own distribution for running its Steam platform. Problem is it only supports x64 which I don’t have (yet)

Related articles

Microsoft Appeals to Developers, Developers, Developers | Linux.com

It would appear Microsoft are looking to port .NET onto Linux and Mac. Whilst Linux already has a replacement open source framework for that, this news is obviously raising eyebrows and questioning Microsoft’s long term goals.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer became infamous in 2006 after leading a Microsoft Windows meeting in a chant, “developers, developers, developers.” While the images of him clapping his hands and screaming became the target of the early social media and YouTube culture, he was right with his intention. Developers are the masters of the universe (at least in the world of software), and Microsoft gets it.

Today the company is making a rather big announcement: It is open sourcing the server side .NET stack and expanding it to run on Linux and Mac OS platforms. All developers will now be able to build .NET cloud applications on Linux and Mac. These are huge moves for the company and follow its recent acknowledgement that at least 20 percent of Azure VMs are running Linux. This struck a chord in the Twittersphere but wasn’t all that surprising when you consider how pervasive Linux is in the cloud.

Microsoft Appeals to Developers, Developers, Developers | Linux.com.

 

LPIC-1

Linux Professional Institute Logo

Exquisite-suse

Nearly two weeks after I obtained the qualification, I finally got the physical version in the post – and now also doubled up as a SUSE CLA.