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Love Linux? Want to be known as thatguy @ linux.com? Now you can.

I reported earlier that the Linux Foundation had taken stewardship of the Linux.com domain with plans to turn it into a social networking hub for the world’s Linux community.

The site has since come online, with articles, blog postings, forums and more. Some especially nice features are the international Linux user group directory, a directory of distributions available, and a Linux guru directory to either showcase your geek status, or to find suitably-qualified local support, depending on your needs.

All this content is free to read, but the Linux Foundation hope they can encourage visitors to join up as paid members.

The Linux Foundation uses its money to support the development and work of Linux across the world. This includes the employment of Linus Torvalds, the recent “I’m Linux” advertisement contest, and other initiatives and influential activities.

To spur you to part with your hard earned members can earn guru points through their activities on the site. Each year, the top-rated Linux.com member will be recognised as the “Ultimate Linux guru” and win a fully-loaded dream laptop (running Linux, naturally) personally signed by Linus Torvalds.

What’s more, every member will also receive their own @linux.com forwarding e-mail address. Why be nurk2518 @gmail.com when you could be jedi @linux.com? Imagine the ultimate geek street cred in that?

Membership includes other things; you will receive a T-shirt, you can run for and vote in Linux Foundation elections, you receive discounts at Thinkgeek and O’Reilly press and other benefits.

Membership is $US 99 per year for individuals. Corporates also have membership options.

Act quick! Sadly david @linux.com was already taken, but I got my second choice.

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David M Williams

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David has been computing since 1984 where he instantly gravitated to the family Commodore 64. He completed a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from 1990 to 1992, commencing full-time employment as a systems analyst at the end of that year. Within two years, he returned to his alma mater, the University of Newcastle, as a UNIX systems manager. This was a crucial time for UNIX at the University with the advent of the World-Wide-Web and the decline of VMS. David moved on to a brief stint in consulting, before returning to the University as IT Manager in 1998. In 2001, he joined an international software company as Asia-Pacific troubleshooter, specialising in AIX, HP/UX, Solaris and database systems. Settling down in Newcastle, David then found niche roles delivering hard-core tech to the recruitment industry and presently is the Chief Information Officer for a national resources company where he particularly specialises in mergers and acquisitions and enterprise applications.

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