December 20, 1999 Web posted at: 11:50 a.m. EST (1650 GMT) by Rawn Shah

From...

(IDG) -- Here is a list of Linux gifts for gamers, developers, cyborgs, and newbies. If Santa's elves were open source developers, these are the toys that would fill the sleigh.

Linux holiday gifts for...

...the car owner:

Empeg is already working on its next-generation automotive MP3 player, which even features voice control. It's essentially a compact Linux system for those who demand a huge selection of music that travels with them wherever they go. The Empeg system is better than having a 200-disc CD player in your car. With its 10 GB drive, you can store thousands of songs and hundreds of hours of continuous music. The only problem Empeg hasn't solved is how to resolve arguments with your passengers about which song to listen to.

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...the Borg:

Xybernaut has come out with the Mobile Assistant IV, the first wearable Linux system, complete with head-mounted display, forearm LCD tablet, and wireless networking. The display comes with comfortable headphones and a miniprojector that overlays a screen on one eye. It also features voice control of the system and an arm-mounted keyboard for any nonvocal input. The complete gear looks like the body rig the Marines wore in Aliens. Be the first on your block to be a true Borg at the next Star Trek convention or Halloween party.

...the gamer:

The Penguin Computing Game Station has everything the Linux gamer needs. For around $2,000, it comes with a fast AMD Athlon CPU (up to 650 MHz), one of the best 2D/3D boards on the market (the Voodoo 3500), a really good joystick (the Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital), 128 MB of RAM, speakers, a 40x CD-ROM, a 13 GB drive, and a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet card. It also has full versions of three top games: Quake II, Myth 2, and Civilization: Call to Power. This package will keep you gamer friends occupied for several weeks.

...the developer:

Slated to come out early next year, the Dell Workstation 420 is a powerhouse dual-processor system with one of the fastest memory systems around. This top-of-the-line model can include dual 733 MHz Pentium III processors; up to 1 GB of dual-channel Rambus inline memory modules; the Matrox G400 Max or the Intense3D Wildcat 4110 Pro for the 4x AGP slot; integrated Ultra Wide SCSI controllers, a separate PCI slot for RAID port cards; and up to four 36 GB, 10,000 rpm SCSI drives. The system can handle multiple monitors, an integrated Sound Blaster Pro, and an integrated 3Com Fast Etherlink XL network card. You can even opt for the supersleek 17-inch LCD flat panel display to win back some desk space.

...the desktop user:

Here is Linux for the novice. Caldera OpenLinux has a friendly user interface and an administration and control system that makes it easy to operate a Linux box. Adding software with the Lizard installer works like a charm and takes all the mystery out of operating Linux machines.

...the small-business person:

For the small office, there is Rebel.com's NetWinder OfficeServer, a simple, elegant product that hides all the nastiness of running a Linux system in a compact device. If you are concerned only with running Internet operations for your business, you will find the NetWinder OfficeServer has everything you need. The Web-based administration and user interface takes the complexity out of running a server and makes it easily accessible and manageable from anywhere on the network. With almost every conceivable common network service built into it, and even advanced ones such as personal portal tools, the OfficeServer puts into a single package what would take an expert hours to do.

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...the Web developer:

Zope is dope. Here is a complete publishing system that has been used successfully by Slashdot.org and other sites. The Python programming language, which serves as the interface for building complex scripts with Zope, is both easy to learn and easy to compile for really fast execution. Zope provides all you need to create an intelligent Website, including the necessary tools, discussion forums, database interfaces, DHTML coding, integration with XML and objects, and so on. With all it does, this tool could fetch thousands of dollars, but Zope provides it for free.

...the hardware guru:

There is nothing cooler than Kryotech SuperG. At -43 °F, this supercooler for your processor allows you to overclock the CPU speed from 750 MHz to 1 GHz. That makes it one of the fastest production-level PC CPUs on the market. What's more, it will actually operate reliably at that speed, rather than falling to a lower speed or failing completely. The Kryotech device is basically a barebones refrigeration system built into a PC case with a motherboard. You will have to purchase your CPU and other components separately, but the pure power is there from the start.

...the dual booter:

If you are tired of constantly rebooting your Linux machine just to use a few Windows applications or games, here is something that will save you time and reduce stress: a PC emulator, VMware for Linux will let you run another operating system inside your existing Linux system. It works superbly for cross-platform developers and those who need to test software in a hardware environment.

...and the Website administrator:

Is your Web server running out of steam? Run and get TurboLinux Turbocluster or look into the Linux Virtual Server project to see how you can turn several servers into a well-formed cluster. You can now balance your traffic across multiple servers in multiple sites to take the pressure off you and your machines. Your viewers will be happy and so will your boss.