LXer -- tomorrow's Linux and open-source news today
While I'm pimping Web sites, I might as well put in a plug for LXer, which collects links to posts and articles everywhere about all things Linux and open source.
The beauty of it is that anybody can become a member of LXer and submit their own links of things that look interesting on the Web.
I did it ... and now I'm a contributing editor. I mostly post links to items on Click, but every once in a while I find something not already on LXer that I can post a link to.
The site is valuable because it acts as an intelligent clearinghouse of open-source news. If something's happening in the world of Linux, BSD, or anything in the open-source software (and related hardware) world, chances are the LXer community already knows about it and has links to everything they can find concerning it.
Equally important is LXer's "Latest Discussions," where users bat around the dozens of articles linked from the site.
I've asked my LXer guru, Scott Ruecker more than once: The LXer concept is so novel and works so well -- everything from the conception and ideas behind the site to its programming (no pictures, just ultra-fast PHP and MySQL) -- that I wonder why there aren't LXer-type sites for Windows, Mac, and even for things outside the realm of computer hardware and software. It's a concept that just might work in both larger and different spheres -- everything from politics to quilting could benefit from an identically programmed forum.
LXer isn't as complicated as Digg, nor as chaotic as USENET, and it's not a fiefdom in any sense ... it truly reflects its community. And I couldn't imagine not being a part of it.