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NewsVac: News from around the Web
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X.Org 7.4, Mesa 7.1 In Ubuntu 8.10
1 week ago
Since last night's release of Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 2 we have been trying out this latest work from the Canonical camp. While many Linux desktop users would just shrug off X.Org 7.4 as not being too relevant to them -- considering there aren't that many new blatant features -- if you're a faithful Phoronix reader you should already know about much of the recent driver work (especially on the ATI side) and Mesa advancements along with X Server fixes. -
Fedora, Slackware, Debian ... and Philosophy
1 week ago
"I have been quiet about Linux this week because I have been busy trying several new versions. In the process, I have learned quite a bit more, and started to think about the philosophy behind Linux, operating system choices, and Free / Open Source software in general..." -
Surprise desktop Linux move: Xandros buys Linspire
2 weeks, 5 days ago
Practical Technology has learned from several sources that Linspire, the San Diego, Calif-based Linux distributor is being bought out by Xandros, the Canadian desktop Linux vendor. -
Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring review
1 month, 2 weeks ago
"Linux distros are a bit like buses (bear with me on this)--miss one and another is bound to come along sooner or later .... " -
Mini-Review: Linux Mint 4.0 'Daryna'
3 months, 2 weeks ago
"From Linux Mint's About page: "Linux Mint's purpose is to produce an elegant, up to date and comfortable GNU/Linux desktop distribution." To reach this goal, lead developer and founder Clement Lefebvre used (surprisingly) Ubuntu as the base, and added multimedia codecs to the distribution, by default .... " -
Microsoft & Linux: at what point is it cheaper to just buy Novell?
3 months, 2 weeks ago
"Instead of migrating all the tried and tested Yahoo! services over to a Windows server infrastructure, wouldn't it be simpler to establish Microsoft Linux through the acquisition of Novell...?" -
Paul Frields to be Fedora project leader
6 months, 1 week ago
Outgoing Fedora leader Max Spevack has sent a goodbye letter of sorts from FUDCon and announced that the new project leader will be Paul Frields. "Many of you already know Paul. He has been part of the Fedora community since 2003, not long after the Red Hat Linux Project officially merged with the original Fedora.us. Paul has worked with Fedora's documentation, packaging, marketing, news, and artwork teams. He also served as one of the inaugural members of the Fedora Project Board." -
Linux for translators: a review of Linguas OS
6 months, 1 week ago
To this day, technology in the translation industry has been largely dominated by a handful of proprietary applications. Linguas OS is a Linux distribution created specifically for professionals in the translation industry, including Free Open Source Software tools to perform all of the tasks that professional translators must do every day in their work. -
Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring Alpha 2 "Neottia" released
6 months, 1 week ago
The second pre-release of Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring is here. This pre-release brings a near-final snapshot of KDE 4.0 (final 4.0 packages are currently being uploaded to the Cooker repositories), new NVIDIA and ATI drivers, the chance to test the experimental nouveau open source driver for NVIDIA cards, kernel 2.6.24rc7, and more. -
Novell's Microsoft deal a winner
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Two senior Novell execs hail the "success" of the first year of their collaboration with Microsoft. -
Paludis, Gentoo and Ciaran McCreesh uncensored
7 months, 1 week ago
"I took the liberty of asking Mr. Ciaran McCreesh, Chief developer among the Paludis team about a relatively gentle introduction to the Paludis world, why it became a necessity, its design and goals. Also the relation with Gentoo is examined, but also a glimpse at how F/LOSS can be a socially complicated issue .... " -
"Time to Change"
7 months, 1 week ago
"Red Hat, stalwart commercial vendor of Linux in the enterprise, is showing signs of disarray. A momentary lapse of reason, or a sign of the times to come?" -
Ubuntu JeOS 7.10 released
8 months ago
"The Ubuntu team is happy to announce the first release of Ubuntu JeOS, Ubuntu JeOS 7.10. Pronounced "juice", Ubuntu JeOS (Just Enough Operating System) is an efficient variant of Ubuntu configured specifically for virtual appliances .... " -
The perfect server - Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon
9 months ago
This tutorial shows how to set up a Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu 7.10) based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable), Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Courier POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. This tutorial is written for the 32-bit version of Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon, but should apply to the 64-bit version with very little modifications as well. -
Ubuntu: one more release, yet more polish
10 months ago
"I upgraded my laptop to the latest Ubuntu Gutsy Gibson a few days ago only to be greeted with an additional feel of polish and goodness. Read more for our mini preview..." - More News
Linux.com : Distributions
Arch Linux for the DIY Linux user
There's no dearth of Linux distributions for desktop users or even for running high availability servers. But if you are a do-it-yourself computer user, your choice of Linux distros is fairly limited. You can build Linux from scratch with Linux from Scratch or compile your own set of packages with Gentoo. But if you want a distro that teaches you the basics of Linux as you set it up; is well documented, lightweight, and zippy; and has a dependency-resolving packaging system, you need Arch Linux.
Myah OS: Not quite ready
Myah OS is a desktop-oriented distribution built from the ground up around a custom package manager. When things go right, it has the potential to be an easy to use, simplistic deskop operating system. As you will see, however, not everything always goes right.
SliTaz, a mighty micro Linux distro
SliTaz is a new micro GNU/Linux live distribution designed to run from RAM (a recommended minimum of 128MB) and installable to a hard drive or USB device. The current version, SliTaz 1.0, weighs in at a light 24.8MB and provides a nice selection of applications that run on a lightweight desktop. You can store user data and settings on persistent media, and support for more than 400 additional download packages is available.
How to write a thorough review of a Linux distribution
I have never written a review of a Linux distribution, but I've read more than I can count, and many of them have been maddeningly incomplete and not worth the time it took to read them. Here's a list of items you need to talk about in order to write a thorough review, covering every aspect of the distribution from the initial download to the final recommendation and everything in between.
Ten sticking points for new Ubuntu users
With Ubuntu, Canonical has had notable success in convincing people to switch from other platforms, but potential Ubuntu users are still running into trouble in several areas. Having spent some time on Canonical's forums, I've identified 10 points that seem to be common sticking points for new users -- that is, problems that have the potential to prevent a new user from adopting Ubuntu in the long term. These problems span the entire Ubuntu experience, but they all have two things in common: they are all serious enough to evoke the dreaded "I tried Linux but it didn't work" excuse, and they are all solvable.
OpenLX and KalCulate pair Linux distro with proprietary accounting app
Most free-libre accounting applications that ship with GNU/Linux distributions are for personal accounting only: they manage one person's finances. Corporations and accounting firms need far greater functionality, however, such as the ability to maintain a complete sets of multi-company accounts, tally final accounts automatically, generate MIS reports, and function synchronously across multiple offices. Though there are some free-libre applications with such functionality, such as SQL Ledger and Ledger-SMB, the lay user may find their installation complicated, as it can involve manual configuration with the PostgreSQL database, possibly the programming language Perl, and the remote access software Samba. And these accounting apps are not installed by default in any distribution. But OpenLX is a distro with an accounting app.
New media center OS is pleasing to the eye and ear
Acoustic Reality is a Danish company that sells speakers, amplifiers, storage devices, cables, and other products to build top-shelf home entertainment centers. It recently released eAR OS Free Edition, a free media center system built on top of Ubuntu that features a free version of the Acoustic Reality software technology used in the $100 eAR RT-OS Enterprise Edition and in the company's hardware Media 4 products. It provides a user-friendly media center along with a nice implementation of Ubuntu.
Kudos to openSUSE 11.0
openSUSE 11.0 was one of the most anticipated Linux distro releases of 2008. Despite a few bugs in the final code, which was released yesterday, it was worth the wait. The openSUSE version of KDE 4 alone is worth the download, and the improvements to the software manager make customizing a pleasure.
Fresh Linux Mint is a mixed bag
Linux Mint is a heavily customized community-driven derivative built on top of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. According to the creators, its purpose is "to produce an elegant, up-to-date, and comfortable GNU/Linux desktop distribution." The latest release, Linux Mint 5.0 "Elyssa", released this month, retains most of Ubuntu's stability and features, but distinguish itself with unique features and tweaks. Although Mint is a great desktop, a few problems keep it from perfection.
Gobuntu to become installation option in Ubuntu
According to the Ubuntu development team and Ubuntu Community Manager Jono Bacon, the Ubuntu derivative Gobuntu has been sucking up too many resources and will therefore be dropped in favour of an installation option in Ubuntu that installs only free software.
Test your environment's security with BackTrack
In the field of penetration testing, BackTrack is today's premier Linux distribution. Designed for, created by, and used by security professionals around the globe, BackTrack is the result of a merger between two earlier, competing distributions -- WHAX and Auditor Security Collection. The most recent beta version was released on June 10.
Puppy Linux 4.00 is barking up the right tree
With the recent release of Puppy Linux 4.00, developer Barry Kauler and his team have provided a lightweight but functional Linux operating system. To help reduce size and include more functionality over the previous binary-package-based Puppy 3.01, Puppy 4.00 has been compiled from a Slackware 12-based source. Yet despite its small size -- the ISO file is a meager 87.1MB -- Puppy has an abundance of applications, with more than enough for an average user.
Canonical showcases Ubuntu Netbook Remix at Computex
This week, Canonical announced a reworked version of Ubuntu at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. The new Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) is specifically built for new so-called "netbooks" -- mini laptops with small screens geared towards Web browsing and built on Intel's new, low-power micro-architecture called Atom. The new version will allow users to access email, browse the Internet, and use instant messaging, and provide online access to music, photos, and videos, all in one small, affordable package.
Upgrading to Slackware 12.1
Pat Volkerding and the Slackware team released the latest version of Slackware Linux, 12.1, on May 2. Even though it is a "point one" release, the list of new features reads like what other distributions would consider a major new version. Slackware 12.1 features the latest KDE 3.5.9, Xfce 4.4.2, and a number of improvements, especially to udev. The full list of updated features is in the official product announcement. From a user's perspective, version 12.1 is a true refinement of the previous version.
gNewSense distro frees Ubuntu
Free software lovers can rejoice at this month's release of gNewSense 2.0 (pronounced "guh-new-sense"), the latest version of the popular distribution based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron. Code-named DeltaH, this operating system includes only software where users have the right to run, study, adapt, redistribute, and improve all of the software and code. To that end, gNewSense is supported and sponsored by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The strict freedom-ware requirement excludes a great deal of software, including proprietary drivers for wireless and video cards, leaving most users with a less functional -- albeit less tainted -- derivative of Ubuntu 8.04.
Review: Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring
Last month Mandriva announced its latest Spring edition. Despite a few minor glitches, after several weeks of testing the two Mandriva flavors, I have finally come across a distro that gives you the best of the GNU/Linux and proprietary worlds in terms of ease of use, range of software, and stability on hardware that ranges from old Celerons to newer multi-core machines.
Testing the new SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2
In Novell's new SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2, announced yesterday, you'll find only small, but useful, improvements, most of them for better interoperability with Microsoft protocols and formats.
Comparing Linux USB flash disk distros
The recent success of the ASUS Eee PC has shown that running Linux from flash memory is now commercially viable in the consumer market. If you don't have an Eee PC, you can still run Linux from a humble USB flash disk, which will hold not only Linux but also your data. Several Linux distributions run from flash; here's how some of them compare.
Latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux released
Red Hat is on top of the business Linux world and it has no intentions of coming down. Its newest release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), version 5.2, is designed to make sure that it stays on top.
Famelix and the dangers of combating Windows
One of the perennial debates about the GNU/Linux desktop is how much it should resemble Windows. Usually, the debate is framed in terms of whether the desktop should look familiar to new users, or be developed in whatever way seems most logical. However, if the experience of the Famelix distribution in Brazil is any indication, imitating Windows and outperforming it can also leave you open to other threats, including accusations of piracy and changes of policy by Windows-centric management.
