My favorite Linux magazine, by far, is Linux Format, a UK based magazine that is just chock-a-block full of great Linux info. They also run the informative Tux Radar blog. So I thought I would just give a rundown each month of the highlights from the most recent issue.
In issue 125, dated December 2009, the cover story is Remix Linux and there's some great stuff in there about creating your own personal distro. They start with apps that let you create your own mix, working from the Ubuntu Customization Kit (or UCK for short), thru SUSE Studio, and include quick shoutouts for Revisor (the Fedora UCK equivalent) and InstalLinux.com, a cool web site for building a distro.
The next step is to build your own Arch Linux version. Looks involved but you get pretty much complete control. And speaking of hard core, the final step is a project I've always had on my back burner - Linux From Scratch. Here you build it all from sources, beginning with GCC. Follow along with the ebook and see what happens! Better than a video game, even.
My favorite sections, being the "app-aholic" I am, are the Reviews and the Hotpicks, along with the Roundup, where they examine a bunch of apps dedicated to one purpose. This month, they looked at collection managers, and, being the packrat I am, I'm hoping to give this month's winner, GCStar a whirl, esp. after finding it in the openSUSE 11.0 KDE4 repository. I also tried to compile Choqok, a Twitter client, directly from the development snapshot, but my current installation as KDE3 just doesn't seem to like compiling this KDE4 app. Other interesting apps this month include Bilbo (a blogging client now called Blogilo), Booh (generate static web albums ready to upload straight to your website), Jampa (Yet Another music player), Rednotebook (a diary, journal and notebook), and KMyMoney (a personal finance package). I played a bit with KMyMoney (again) but got stumped when I couldn't figure out how to import .OXF files. Also disappointing there's no kind of web connect, but maybe I'll get back to it.
There's also several great tutorials, including writing a Python script to get Google data and getting your backups straightened out using Backup PC (although I've always leaned towards Bacula myself).
All in all, a great deal, even for US$99 (go here for that deal). You get 13 issues a year, plus a jam packed DVD in each issue, plus access to all the back issues in PDF form. The best deal in Linux!
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