“The Mac is our Linux proxy server,” explains Chris Wood, publisher. “It provides our dedicated line for Internet access, and it runs our internal network. The Mac also connects our production and editorial Macs with Advertising’s PC network.”

Linux is an open-source operating system. Released into the public domain in 1991, today it has become one of the most popular UNIX implementations in existence. And with Yellow Dog Linux, it runs on Macintosh.

Wood’s Mac will soon be a web server, too. Their Mac is currently providing e-mail service allowing each of their employees and reporters to have e-mail at NCBR.com. NCBR also encourages their clients to deliver ads via e-mail attachments. And this e-mail system is not only used for communication with the outside world but is also used for inter-office e-mail. “Right now our web site is hosted by an ISP...all e-mail traffic funnels into our Linux proxy server, the Mac, and from there the software sends e-mail to the correct desktop.”

Based in Fort Collins, the Northern Colorado Business Report is a newspaper serving northern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. First published in October 1995, the paper now circulates 15,000 copies a month.

So, how exactly did Wood end up with a Mac running Linux? Enter Kai Staats, network guy from Terra Firma Designs.

“The original technology plan they had been given by a local network expert included an NT machine and no statement as to who was actually going to manage the monster or how much it would cost,” says Staats. “In less than 10 minutes, during our first meeting, I sketched on the back of a MacMall catalog the network configuration, the number of machines, hubs and cables they needed and how much it would cost. They smiled and said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

“Kai is handling maintenance in the near term, but eventually we hope to do it ourselves,” adds Wood. Shouldn’t be too hard, thanks to Macintosh.” Yes, indeed-y.

—Diane Cohn