How much do you know about your kernel? Like really know? Considering how critically important the Linux kernel is to the world—and, perhaps just as important, to our own personal computers and gadgets—it's rather amazing how little most people actually know about it.

Three kernel developers describe what it's really like to work on the kernel, how they interact with developers from other companies, some pet peeves and how to get started. Like most Linux users, I rarely touch the actual code for the Linux kernel. Sure, I've looked at it. I've even compiled the kernel myself on a handful of occasions—sometimes to try out something new or simply to say I could do it ("Linux From Scratch" is a bit of a right of passage).

Learn how the leiningen utility can help you manage your Clojure projects. This article is a gentle introduction to the Clojure Functional Programming language that is based on LISP, uses the Java JVM and has a handy REPL. And, as Clojure is based on LISP, be prepared to see lots of parentheses! Installing Clojure You can install Clojure on a Debian Linux machine by executing the following command as root or using sudo:

If we pay for it, we should be able to use it.

Learn about how the cutting-edge, free software Heads project detects BIOS and kernel tampering, all with keys under your control. Some of the earliest computer viruses attacked the boot sector—that bit of code at the beginning of the hard drive in the Master Boot Record that allowed you to boot into your operating system. The reasons for this have to do with stealth and persistence. Viruses on the filesystem itself would be erased if users re-installed their operating systems, but if they didn't erase the boot sector as part of the re-install process, boot sector viruses could stick around and re-infect the operating system.

We've tested the most promising laptops pre-installed with Linux, and featured reviews of them in our 2018 Linux Laptop Buyer's Guide. Download your copy now to read what you need to know when shopping for your next Linux laptop.  In this special issue we review the: Chromebook   Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition Librem 13v2  System76 Oryx  We hope you enjoy!

If you're wary of the Microsoft takeover of GitHub, or if you've been looking for a way to ween yourself off free public repositories, or if you want to ramp up your DevOps efforts, now's a good time to look at installing and running GitLab yourself. It's not as difficult as you might think, and the free, open-source GitLab CE version provides a lot of flexibility to start from scratch, migrate or graduate to more full-fledged versions.

You can shuffle your feet and you can shuffle cards, but can you shuffle characters? Dave's latest column explores the possibilities. My last few articles have described building a pretty sophisticated password generator, except for one thing: I never quite got to the point of scrambling the end result to add a second level of randomness. I sidestepped the issue by saying it was an exercise for the reader, but in fact, it's a pretty interesting problem, so let's look at it here. You can reverse a word with the handy Linux command rev, like so:

Why open source needs an open geographic dataset.

Surprise—Python wins again! Here's the breakdown (the contenders listed below were nominated by LJ readers via Twitter):