Personally, I thought it was strange for everyone to make a big deal about such an arbitrary number of days. Then I was told it was the years that were of particular note (20 of them, to be exact), and suddenly thought it seemed insignificant. I mean, 7,305 is a much bigger number! Then people rolled their eyes and left the room.
We're excited for our 20th year! And to celebrate, we figured we'd give you a month of Linux-related information, up-to-date news, fun articles and boat loads of tips. It's been our thing for 20 years, and it seemed like a silly time to stop! Reuven M. Lerner kicks off this System Administrator-focused issue with togetherness. Specifically, togetherness supported by TogetherJS. With TogetherJS, you can add real-time collaboration to your Web apps. If you need to write apps that allow remote individuals to collaborate on particular projects, this article is for you.
Dave Taylor steps back into the gaming world as he starts us off on a quest for Zombie Dice. I don't think we'll actually script brain-munching game pieces, but Dave proves that story problems really were important in school. Let's dive in and figure out the game as Dave describes how to create it. Kyle Rankin has a game of his own this month, and that game is security. Okay, maybe it's not a game, but it was a good segue, so I'm going to keep it. Kyle demonstrates Tails, which is an entire Linux distribution designed to route all traffic through the TOR network. It does even more, but I'll let Kyle explain the rest.
I decided to open up my personal laptop a bit and explain how I use a GUI notification system on my remote Irssi IRC program. Using Irssi in a screen session is such an incredible way to chat that I'm unwilling to move to another client. Unfortunately, I can't always see my terminal window when working, so I miss important notifications. This month, I show you my solution. Hint: it's nerdy.
Then we have Bernie Thompson back to celebrate our 20 years of Linux. You may remember Bernie wrote in the very first issue of Linux Journal, comparing Linux to Windows and OS/2. In this issue, he looks at where things have gone during the past two decades, and where things are going in the future. Linux was cutting edge 20 years ago, and today? Still on the forefront of technology.
Virtualization has changed the way we think of computers. As with any incredible idea, it has evolved and even sparked new technologies like LXC, or Linux Containers. Dirk Merkel shows us Docker this month. If you need lightweight Linux containers, and want them to be consistent and easy to deploy, you'll want to read this article. Dirk not only shows us the why, but also the how.
Every system administrator needs to be familiar with the latest security-related features of Linux and the hardware it supports. Mark Doran discusses UEFI Secure Boot this month, as it's becoming more and more prevalent and important in our corner of the tech world. Whether you prefer simply to disable Secure Boot or want to leverage a distribution that supports it, Mark's article will arm you with knowledge. And like G.I. Joe told us all those years ago, knowing is half the battle!
Last, but certainly not least, James Litton shows how to implement two-factor authentication on Web sites and SSH servers. If you thought implementing two-factor auth was too complicated for your own purposes, think again. James demonstrates that with a little bit of scripting, it's as easy as 1-2-3. (But please don't use “123” as your password, even with two-factor auth.)
Like every other issue during the past 20 years, this one is full of tech tips, product announcements and thought-provoking content. I've only been part of the staff here at Linux Journal for a little less than half the past 20 years, but I've been a reader for almost the entire 20. As a community, we've grown more and more passionate through the past two decades, so I very much look forward to the next 20 years—or 10,519,200 minutes, whichever you prefer.