While I was growing up, I loved “choose your own adventure”-style books. They were always fun, even when you ended up dead.
In the internet age, “choose your own adventure” has become a little more adult and bizarre. Modern “choose your own adventure” isn't limited to text, either, as this stunningly produced adventure shows.
Looks like the Washington Post got it wrong; AOL is not looking to buy out Red Hat.
It would be very interesting to know just who the source of the rumour was.
AOL is thinking of buying Red Hat?! This has got to be a joke.
AOL has a history of buying things that sparkle, including Mirabilis (and their product, ICQ), WinAMP and Netscape, but in all of those cases, they were buying code. Due to the nature of Linux and Open Source software, this code is fully available for anyone to download, use and modify. So what does AOL have to gain by doing this? They're not gaining exclusive access to code, and it's not like Linux is really ready to give to your average AOL user.
The only thing that AOL would get is a well-established Linux distribution that the majority of Linux users install out of the box. They walk into their local computer store, ask for “that lenooks thingy”, go home, put the CD in the drive, click a few buttons (which they really don't understand) and then start playing about with the only bit that looks familiar: the web browser.
This is the only thing that AOL has to gain. Imagine if the standard Red Hat install CD setup AOL by default, with just a few free hours to get them hooked. Most people who install Red Hat probably click on the default option for everything and hope for the best. They don't want to fiddle with /etc/ppp/whatever-it's-called.conf; they want to be a 1337 h4×0r and they want it now.
I've never been a fan of Red Hat, but for their sake, I hope AOL doesn't get their way.
Do you need to know how to perform a tracheotomy? Win a sword fight? Perhaps you just need to hotwire a car and then ram your way out of trouble? It's like a dummies book for all those situations you hope to never find yourself in. Their most recent book on dating will also give you tips ranging from pickup lines to determining the gender of your date.
Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) has written a rather amusing piece on the war on terrorism. I don't think this is going to make him any more popular in the US.
Once again, I am reminded that some things were not meant to be eaten in large quanities. We can only hope that one day his children will see that page. If he survives long enough to have them, that is.