Clement Lefebvre has announced the release of Linux Mint 8, a beginner-friendly, Ubuntu-based desktop Linux distribution: “The team is proud to announce the stable release of Linux Mint 8, code name ‘Helena’. The 8th release of Linux Mint comes with numerous bug fixes and a lot of improvements. In particular, Linux Mint 8 comes with support for OEM installs, a brand new Upload Manager, the menu now allows you to configure custom places, the update manager now lets you define packages for which you don’t want to receive updates,the software manager now features multiple installation and removal of software and many of the tools’ graphical interfaces were enhanced.” Read the release announcement and visit the what’s new page (with screenshots) to find out more about the new release. Download (mirrors) the installable live CD image from here: LinuxMint-8.iso (688MB, MD5, torrent).
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Recover lost photos from a camera card with PhotoRec
So, you saved your photos from your flash disk onto your computer, and thought “Great! They’re safe”, and then proceeded to delete the images from the Flash card.
Next up, something happens. You reinstall Linux, your harddisk gets eaten by a cabbage-shaped computer-eating alien….. it could happen. Either way, you’ve lost the photos and somebody in the family is probably going to want to kill you. Well, Photorec and Testdisk are going to save your life!
Let’s get PhotoRec
Install testdisk which includes a program called PhotoRec 6.11, Data Recovery Utility
Install and use PhotoRec
1. Open up your terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install testdisk
2. Plugin your card or multi-card reader and wait until it is mounted (It will show on your desktop)
3. Now run the command to start PhotoRec
sudo photorec
4. Photorec will start by showing you available partitions, including your Camera Card (1Gb, 2Gb etc). Use your arrow keys to select it and click enter.
The next parts of the sequence are easy (and common sense).
5. Choose the Intel option, Partitioned, Fat 16/32 files system and then Other (fat, ntfs etc) to recover from the Whole Card . Next choose where to save the recovered photos (save them to your computer, NOT the flash drive), just selecting your Home directory is the easiest.
Step by Step Screenshots
Testdisk and PhotoRec have an indepth suite of tools which can offer complete analysis and recovery of different storage media. The above guide is only a basic recovery technique to recover data from an unformatted flash drive. There are far more options and tools for those wishing to look into data recovery a little deeper.
More Info
Christophe GRENIER
http://www.cgsecurity.org
Top 20 Most Popular Social Networking Websites
Here are the 20 Most Popular Social Networking Websites ranked by a combination of Inbound Links and Alexa Rank. I regularly check out http://www.ebizmba.com for stats and top 10’s etc.
I wasn’t surprised that Facebook was top, however I was surprised that Orkut (Google Facebook) was so far down the table. Personally I can’t stomach MySpace and steer well clear of it, but who’d a thunk that Classmates was so high? I must admit that even though I spend a lot of time on the net, I had never heard of Ning, so there ya go, you learn something new every day.
Check out the Top 20 below:
1 | facebook.com
722,434,829 – Inbound Links | 122,220,617 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 4 – Alexa Ranking.
2 | MySpace
345,130,806 – Inbound Links | 55,599,585 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 11 – Alexa Ranking.
3 | twitter
628,750,806 – Inbound Links | 23,579,044 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 13 – Alexa Ranking.
4 | LinkedIn.com
29,370,378 – Inbound Links | 11,228,746 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 113 – Alexa Ranking.
5 | classmates.com
997,666 – Inbound Links | 14,649,224 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 544 – Alexa Ranking.
6 | Ning.com
13,032,000 – Inbound Links | 5,881,943 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 108 – Alexa Ranking.
7 | Bebo.com
14,368,423 – Inbound Links | 3,120,062 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 138 – Alexa Ranking.
8 | HI5.com
8,491,287 – Inbound Links | 2,176,014 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 20 – Alexa Ranking.
9 | Tagged.com
399,111 – Inbound Links | 3,731,972 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 74 – Alexa Ranking.
10 | myyearbook.com
921,983 – Inbound Links | 3,025,772 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 483 – Alexa Ranking.
11 | Multiply.com
16,629,000 – Inbound Links | 1,442,885 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 165 – Alexa Ranking.
12 | friendster.com
6,896,127 – Inbound Links | 1,454,029 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 47 – Alexa Ranking.
13 | Meetup
1,764,287 – Inbound Links | 2,533,191 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 688 – Alexa Ranking.
14 | BlackPlanet
418,032 – Inbound Links | 1,473,081 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 1,338 – Alexa Ranking.
15 | Gaia Online
528,287 – Inbound Links | 1,000,070 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 892 – Alexa Ranking.
16 | Piczo
4,676,287 – Inbound Links | 444,457 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 1,360 – Alexa Ranking.
17 | orkut.com
9,396,000 – Inbound Links | 494,781 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 102 – Alexa Ranking.
18 | FotoLog.com
6,382,000 – Inbound Links | 199,838 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 124 – Alexa Ranking.
19 | Skyrock.com
8,185,000 – Inbound Links | 154,991 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 43 – Alexa Ranking.
20 | badoo.com
228,287 – Inbound Links | 106,885 – Compete Monthly Visitors | 161 – Alexa Ranking.
Linux Easy Printer Setup Guide
Setting up a printer is a doddle
People seem to have major issues with printer installation and setup. I don’t know why because it’s easy when you avoid all the guis and go for the cups web interface.
I have a HP Deskjet 845C, it works on every linux distro using the cups browser method.
On most Linux distros, cups is available in the repository, if not already installed and activated at boot. So just do a search for cups or printer and install Cups if needed.
Then get your HP/Other make drivers
I always install Foomatic Hpijs.
Next start the cups server
Debian/Ubuntu based boxes: sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart
Archlinux and others: sudo /etc/rc.d/cups start
Configure your printer from your web browser
Next, open your web browser and type the address http://localhost:631 which is your print server port. You will be greeted with the cups html printer setup page similar to the image below.
Now you just hit “Add Printer” and go through the motions of selecting your printer and driver etc.
Just click all the links and check out what’s on offer, you can add users to the printer and change the default settings, all much easier than some desktop printer config utilities.
When you are done, print a test page.
How to Urban Terror 1st person Shooter on Linux
What is Urban Terror?
Urban Terror is a great 1st person online team shooter with great graphics, and a whole heap of maps. Whatsmore, the online community is very active, I had no problem at all connecting to a server.
Urban Terror™ is a free multiplayer first person shooter developed by FrozenSand, that (thanks to the ioquake3-code) does not require Quake III Arena anymore. It is available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh. The current version is 4.1.
Urban Terror can be described as a Hollywood tactical shooter; somewhat realism based, but the motto is “fun over realism”. This results in a very unique, enjoyable and addictive game.
No registration required: Download, install, play!
The best thing? It works out-of-the-box on Linux
Howto install and run Urban Terror
I tested it on a laptop with Ati graphics, Broadcom wireless connection and it was flawless.
Download Urban Terror
I used this torrent as I believe in sharing bandwidth, whatsmore the torrent is very fast and I had a 40 seeders. You can also get Urban Terror direct from their mirrors:
Netherlands
UK
USA
Installation
Just unzip UrbanTerror_41_FULL.zip
Enter the new directory and choose the correct executable for your architectureLinux 32bits executable: ioUrbanTerror.i386
Linux 64bits executable: ioUrbanTerror.x86_64
In linux, you need to make it executable first: right click it, properties and tick the ‘allow execution’ box.
You’re done!
Now double click the executable and get ready to frag some ass!
First impressions
As it loaded I waited for slowdown or even a crash, nada, was running as smooth as a baby’s bum. It automatically offers you a training tutorial which I accepted.
Next I chose my username “richs-lxh” and proceeded to check all the settings; Control, graphics, sound, team options etc.
Then I decided to check out the online servers, hit refresh and a whole heap of them filled the list. I clicked on PING to get the best for me at the top and clicked “join”. There was already a battle in progress between a blue and red team, so I chose to be a spectator 
Follow Mode – Really Cool
Urban Terror has a f”ollow mode” when you are a spectator. This means that if you are new to the game (or too scared to join in like me) you can hit “follow” and suddenly you get a first person view of one of the players. It’s great as you run around shooting and being shot at. Helps you get used to the game play.
I did that for a while, then hiot escape, and joined the game. I lasted about er…….. 3 minutes Lol! ;D
Gimme a break, I am used to playing N64 and PSII with a joypad, I need to get used to the keyboard controls.
This is a very good game, I like what I see. I know most shooters on Linux are the same, if you’ve played Alien Arena, Nexuiz, Quake, Doom etc, you’ll know what I mean. But this one had slightly brighter maps, and whereas other games have these space age futuristic arenas, Urban Terror has real houses and places that feel familiar. I prefer that.
Definitely worth downloading if you like shooters.
Will My Ati Graphics card work with Linux?
Basically, yes. Ati have been working hard to produce graphic card drivers for newer cards and have also helped Linux developers with Open Source projects. They are currently in talks with several package maintainers to provide drivers from various distro repositories.
Common questions and answers:
| Q1: | What features are provided by the ATI Proprietary Linux Driver? |
| A1: | The ATI Proprietary Linux driver currently provides hardware acceleration for 3D graphics and video playback. It also includes support for dual displays and TV Output. |
| Q2: | Which ATI graphics cards can use this driver? |
| A2: | The ATI Proprietary Linux driver currently supports Radeon 8500 and later AGP or PCI Express graphics products, as well as ATI FireGL 8700 and later products. We do not currently plan to include support for any products earlier than this. Drivers for earlier products should already be available from the DRI Project or Utah-GLX project. |
| Q3: | What computer architectures are supported by this driver? |
| A3: | Systems using 32-bit processors from Intel (Pentium III and later) and AMD (Athlon and later) are currently supported. 64-bit drivers are available for EM64T/AMD64 based systems. PowerPC, Alpha, and others are not currently supported. |
| Q4: | Is complete driver source code available? |
| A4: | Some of the technologies supported in our driver are protected by non-disclosure agreements with third parties, so we cannot legally release the complete source code to our driver. It is NOT open source. We do, however, include source code for the control panel and certain other public segments. We also actively assist developers in the Open Source community with their work, so if you absolutely require an open source driver for your graphics card, we can recommend using drivers from the DRI project, Utah-GLX project, or others. |
| Q5: | In which formats is the ATI Proprietary Linux driver available? |
| A5: | The Linux drivers available from our website are available in RPM format as well as a Graphical User Interface installer (operates in both text and X-windows modes). We are also in discussions with various distribution maintainers to provide our drivers in their formats using their repositories and delivery systems in the future. |
| Q6: | What Linux kernel version is needed for this driver? |
| A6: | Version 2.4 of the Linux kernel is required for this driver. This kernel version is installed as standard in many current Linux distributions. Support for the newer version 2.6 kernel is also included. |
| Q7: | What X-Windows versions are supported in this driver? |
| A7: | Driver packages are available for XFree86 versions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, as well as X.Org 6.8. |
| Q8: | Is v4l video capture supported for ALL IN WONDER cards? |
| A8: | The ATI Proprietary Linux driver does not currently provide video capture functionality. Video capture support for most ALL IN WONDER cards should be available from the GATOS project. |
| Q9: | What colour modes are currently supported? |
| A9: | 24-bit True Colour is currently the only native colour mode for the ATI Proprietary Linux Driver. 8-bit colour can be achieved using the pseudo-colour visuals feature, but may not work in all applications. 16-bit colour is not supported; if any of your critical applications require 16-bit colour, you should not install the ATI Proprietary Linux Driver. |
| Q10: | Where can I get more information about ATI hardware support in Linux? |
| A10: | Please check the Linux and XFree86 FAQ on the ATI website for more information about third party programming projects involving ATI hardware in Linux.. |
Wireless IEEE 802.XX Standards – What are they?
Practically everybody has at least one Wireless enabled laptop or desktop, so what do all those IEEE specifications mean?
Here is a list and explanation of the more common IEEE 802.XX Standards:
IEEE 802.XX Glossary:
802.11 – This early wireless standard provides speeds of up to 2 Mbps. Because 802.11 supports two entirely different methods of encoding – Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) and Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) – there is often incompatibility between equipment. 802.11 has also had problems dealing with collisions and with signals reflected back from surfaces such as walls.
802.11a – This is an extension of the 802.11 standard and uses a different band than 802.11b and 802.11g – the 5.8-GHz band called Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) in the United States. Because the U-NII band has a higher frequency and a larger bandwidth allotment than the 2.4-GHz band, the 802.11a standard achieves speeds of up to 54 Mbps.
802.11b – This extension of the original 802.11 standard boosts wireless throughput from 2 Mbps to 11 Mbps. It can transmit up to 100 m under good conditions, although this distance may be reduced considerably by obstacles such as walls. This upgrade has dropped FHSS
in favor of the more reliable DSSS. Settling on one method of encoding eliminates the problem of having a single standard that includes two kinds of equipment that aren’t compatible with each other. 802.11b devices are compatible with older 802.11 DSSS devices but are not compatible with 802.11 FHSS devices. 802.11b is currently the most widely used wireless standard.
802.11g – 802.11g is an extension to 802.11b and operates in the same 2.4-GHz band. It brings data rates up to 54 Mbps using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology. Because 802.11g is backward compatible with 802.11b, an 802.11b device can interface directly with an 802.11g access point. You may even be able to upgrade some newer 802.11b access points to be 802.11g compliant via relatively easy firmware upgrades
802.11i – 802.11i addresses many of the security concerns that come with a wireless network by adding Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Robust Security Network (RSN) to 802.11a and 802.11b standards. WPA uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to improve the security of keys used with WEP, changing the way keys are derived and adding a message-integrity check function to prevent packet forgeries. RSN adds a layer of dynamic negotiation of authentication and encryption algorithms between access points and mobile devices. 802.11i is backwards compatible with most 802.11a and 802.11b devices, but loses security if used with non-802.11i devices.
802.11n – The next standard in development is IEEE 802.11n. This new standard offers far higher speeds than current standards. Speed projections are at least 100 Mbps, but they could go up to 320 Mbps. The standard isn’t expected to be ratified until November 2006.
802.11X – This refers to the general 802.11 wireless standard – b, g, or i. It is not to be confused with 802.1X, a security standard.
802.15 – This specification covers how information is conveyed over short distances among a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). This type of network usually consists of a small networked group with little direct connectivity to the outside world. It is compatible with Bluetooth 1.1.
802.16 – IEEE 802.16, was ratified in January 2001. It enables a single base station to support many fixed and mobile wireless users. It is also called the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) standard. 802.16 aims to combine the long ranges of the cellular standards with the high speeds of local wireless networks. Intended as a – last-mile – solution, this standard could someday provide competition for hard-wired broadband services such as DSL and cable modem. 802.16 operates in the 10- to 66-GHz range and has many descendants.
802.16d – This recent standard – also called the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard or WiMax – can cover distances of up to 30 miles. Theoretically, a single base station can transmit hundreds of Mbps with each customer being allotted a portion of the bandwidth. 802.16d may use either the licensed 2.6- and 3.5-GHz bands or the unlicensed 2.4- and 5-GHz bands.
802.16e – This is based on the 802.16a standard and specifies mobile air interfaces for wireless broadband in the licensed bands ranging from 2 to 6 GHz.
802.20 – Specifies mobile air interfaces for wireless broadband in licensed bands below 3.5 GHz.
802.1X – 802.1X is not part of the 802.11 standard. It is a sub-standard designed to enhance the security of an 802.11 network. It provides an authentication framework that uses a challenge/response method to determine if a user is authorized.
[Video] ChromeOS Vs Windows Vs Mac Vs Linux – Hilarious
This spoof is very funny as it shows Mac as the typically stroppy “I was first!”, Unix as the grumpy old guy and Google as the big fat guy who just stomps in and nonchalantly takes all their glory. Linux as the nerd with a lisp is not a common representation of us Linux users, everybody knows that Linux geeks are hunks who are constantly surrounded by chicks. 😛
Chromium OS – Open Source Chrome OS is here
So here we go, finally, we can all get our hands on ChromeOS, well, the open source version called Chromium OS. And……… it’s a D.I.Y distro folks. Google didn’t even provide a ready made iso, VM or .image!
Basically you need to be running Linux, they recommend building it using the Git repos. Then you can create a USB Pendrive, a Vmware image or install it straight to a partition on your harddrive.
Soooooo……….. who is going to be the first to post a distributable iso? Get hacking folks!
[Howto] Manage a Group Project on Google Wave
I suppose a few of you have gotten your invites from friends and co-workers, I got one from a generous member of Chrome-OS Forums. When you first login to Wave, you see something similar to the Google Contacts layout page with a window for Waves, and another for Contacts (Your buddies/colleagues on Gmail).
The coolest part of your first experience is Doctor Wave who will pop up in the video box on the bottom right hand corner and start explaining and pointing to everything, I think every online app should have this.
So you make your first Wave, which looks just like a chat message. Then your buddies comment and it ends up looking like Gmail!! Ok, so, now what. Well, there’s a lot more to Google Wave than just using it as an IRC chat room.
When to use Google \/\/ave
Go back to Welcome wave
There are tons of ways to use Google Wave–here are just a few examples to get you thinking and an overview video that shows Google Wave in action.
Organizing events
Keep a single copy of ideas, suggested itinerary, menu and RSVPs, rather than using many different tools. Use gadgets to add weather, maps and more to the event.
Sample event planning wave
Meeting notes
Prepare a meeting agenda together, share the burden of taking notes and record decisions so you all leave on the same page (we call it being on the same wave). Team members can follow the minutes in real time, or review the history using Playback. The conversation can continue in the wave long after the meeting is over.
Sample meeting notes
Group reports and writing projects
Collaboratively work in real time to draft content, discuss and solicit feedback all in one place rather than sending email attachments and creating multiple copies that get out of sync.
Sample project
Brainstorming
Bring lots of people into a wave to brainstorm – live concurrent editing makes the quantity of ideas grow quickly! It is easy to add rich content like videos, images, URLs or even links to other waves. Discussion ensues. Etiquettes form. Then work together to distill down to the good ideas.
Sample brainstorm
Photo sharing
Drag and drop photos from your desktop into a wave. Share with others. Use the slideshow viewer. Everyone on the wave can add their photos, too. It is easy to make a group photo album in Google Wave.
After searching the net for a half decent guide, I found a pretty good example at Life Hacker:
http://lifehacker.com/5407183/how-to-manage-a-group-project-in-google-wave
To chat with other Google Wave sufers, head over to the Wave board on ChromeOS Forums, you never know, there may even be some invites up for grabs, they’re a friendly bunch at COF.
Google’s New Music Search
Google has launched a new music search feature, which helps you search and discover millions of songs with a simple Google search. When you search for an artist, song, album or even a few lyrics, you’ll find links to their partner sites — putting you just one click away from listening to and purchasing the music you’re looking for.
To celebrate the launch, MySpace and Lala are hosting exclusive, never-before-heard tracks from a variety of artists — and they’re helping people to find those tracks through a simple Google search. So if you’re a Lady Gaga fan looking for a new remix, in love with the Arctic Monkeys and looking for something extra or hunting for a new acoustic track from YouTube sensation Zee Avi, just search for it. You’ll find links to these tracks right in your regular search results. And when you click the links, you’ll be able to hear the songs directly from MySpace and Lala.
Google knows how much you care about music, and they’re excited to partner with Lala and MySpace to help you discover more music from artists you love, using Google. To see the full list of tracks and read more, check out the blogposts on Lala and MySpace. We hope you enjoy the music.
Can Google’s SPDY make the web twice as fast?
Google has announced it’s new html-killer protocol SPDY, pronounced “Speedy”. It has only been tested in lab conditions so far and awaits real world tests to see if it can indeed increase on the 55% faster download speeds that they encountered.
Today we’d like to share with the web community information about SPDY, pronounced “SPeeDY”, an early-stage research project that is part of our effort to make the web faster. SPDY is at its core an application-layer protocol for transporting content over the web. It is designed specifically for minimizing latency through features such as multiplexed streams, request prioritization and HTTP header compression.
Read the full article at: http://blog.chromium.org/2009/11/2x-faster-web.html
Stunning Breakthrough in Wireless Reception Technology
Helios’ writing style makes this one of my favourite posts so far this year! Relating his friend’s “Skip “skipsjunk.net” Guenter’s” state of the art Wireless Booster. I have created many wireless “enhancers” over the years, from the wireless hackers’ favourite, the “Cantenna” to small USB dongle enhancers, but this one really is a gem.
http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2009/11/stunning-breakthrough-in-wireless.html
Note the surgical precision by which Guenter cut and splayed the metal mesh to insert the highly developed usb wireless adaptor extension.
Yes, I know…it’s breath-taking. Drink in the precision of its placement. Understandably overwhelming, I know.
Besides the giant black zip ties don’t show up so well at night and nobody has a lens that’ll show the nail jammed between the sheet metal roof and the 2×4 beam it’s hanging from.
Well, you get the idea. A hacked together botch job described with an over-flamboyant artistic freedom which made this post hilarious to me.
Screenshot:
[Video] How to pronounce Linux – From Linus Torvalds himself!
L-ih-nucks…. lainooks, lainix, leenooks, Lie-nux………………… pfft! Lets ask Linux Torvalds, the man who created it!
[Video] Linux vs Pc & Mac – Commercial
Linux sure looks good from here!
What about the unknown Linux distros?
Practically the entire planet has heard of Ubuntu due to it’s colossal marketing machine, free CD’s, huge online community and related user blogs. Not to mention the now renamed DiggBuntu, which used to be the Digg Linux section. Ubuntu has topped the charts at Distrowatch since it’s release, closely followed by the likes of the other Top 10 distros like Debian (the father of Ubuntu), Mint, Fedora, Suse, Mandriva et al.
But what about all the other distros that haven’t made it to Distrowatch yet?
I visit Distrowatch everyday, and also have an RSS feed here at Total Linux listing the latest releases, and only recently did I see the long waiting list of new projects who are hoping that a spot on Distrowatch will launch them to ÜberStardom, or even ÜbuStardom 😉
Check out the waiting list below, you never know, you may find a hidden little gem of a distro that hasn’t got the backing of the likes of Canonical or Novell, so remains unknown. (Take into account that the list goes back to 2004 and some projects have been discontinued)
(List courtesy of Distrowatch.Com)
The current list of to-be-included distributions:
- LinVDR (submitted on 2004-04-08)
- cdlinux.pl (submitted on 2005-01-19)
- FeniX (submitted on 2005-03-02)
- BOSS (BSI OSS Security Suite) (submitted on 2005-06-21)
- Proxmox Mail Gateway (submitted on 2005-08-30)
- Bio-Linux (submitted on 2005-11-12)
- Movitos USB Linux (submitted on 2005-11-30)
- IPFire (submitted on 2006-02-08)
- Tomahawk Desktop (submitted on 2006-03-06)
- KNOPPIX-NSM (submitted on 2006-05-06)
- Tmxxine (submitted on 2006-06-25)
- Metasys (submitted on 2006-08-08)
- Majilux (submitted on 2006-10-26)
- URLI OS (submitted on 2006-11-01)
- LernTux (submitted on 2006-11-07)
- Kids Without (submitted on 2006-11-14)
- YaKa (submitted on 2006-11-16)
- mEDUXa (submitted on 2006-11-23)
- deepOfix Messaging Server (submitted on 2006-12-09)
- Kuliax (submitted on 2006-12-15)
- Linkat GNU/Linux (submitted on 2006-12-29)
- CosmoPBX Live CD (submitted on 2007-02-15)
- Sflack (submitted on 2007-02-17)
- MADbox Live (submitted on 2007-03-17)
- KcPenTrix (submitted on 2007-04-04)
- Univention (submitted on 2007-05-03)
- cl33n (submitted on 2007-05-04)
- Cytrun Linux (submitted on 2007-05-14)
- VDRLive (submitted on 2007-05-29)
- Linux For Clinics (submitted on 2007-06-09)
- DetaolB (submitted on 2007-06-15)
- FrogLinux (submitted on 2007-06-29)
- CPX mini (submitted on 2007-07-17)
- S-M-S (submitted on 2007-08-09)
- Embun (submitted on 2007-08-25)
- BlackRoute (submitted on 2007-08-27)
- LivEPICS (submitted on 2007-09-15)
- Kinux (submitted on 2007-10-08)
- Arktur (submitted on 2007-10-30)
- PCFluxboxOS (submitted on 2007-11-06)
- OS Desktop (submitted on 2007-11-14)
- KarachiOS (submitted on 2007-11-15)
- Pendrive Linux (submitted on 2007-11-28)
- ChurchPup (submitted on 2007-12-12)
- Evoke (submitted on 2007-12-20)
- VAFEO (submitted on 2008-01-14)
- iloog (submitted on 2008-01-20)
- Aloofix (submitted on 2008-01-28)
- Piren (submitted on 2008-02-04)
- VicidialNOW (submitted on 2008-02-10)
- Tartuga (submitted on 2008-02-12)
- NuFW (submitted on 2008-02-15)
- AltimatOS (submitted on 2008-04-10)
- Turtle Kevux (submitted on 2008-04-16)
- ForLex (submitted on 2008-04-26)
- Hrat GNU/Linux (submitted on 2008-04-28)
- Phoronix Test Suite LiveCD (submitted on 2008-05-23)
- PING (submitted on 2008-06-03)
- BoliviaOS (submitted on 2008-06-20)
- F-Secure Rescue CD (submitted on 2008-06-26)
- DAVIX (submitted on 2008-07-03)
- Asterisk on IPCop (submitted on 2008-07-11)
- Excelixis (submitted on 2008-07-17)
- Tin Hat (submitted on 2008-07-30)
- GUFI (submitted on 2008-08-09)
- Linux Black Wolf (submitted on 2008-08-27)
- ScratchLinux (submitted on 2008-08-27)
- TITAN LEV (submitted on 2008-09-02)
- K-Rune Velo (submitted on 2008-09-24)
- Cooperation-iws (submitted on 2008-09-27)
- Zonbu (submitted on 2008-10-07)
- Bardinux (submitted on 2008-10-14)
- RsLive (submitted on 2008-11-11)
- Suriyan Linux (submitted on 2008-11-14)
- WeakNet Linux (submitted on 2008-11-15)
- SecurPC (submitted on 2008-11-20)
- 4bak (submitted on 2008-11-27)
- Zorin OS (submitted on 2008-11-27)
- CentServer (submitted on 2008-12-02)
- Jaris (submitted on 2008-12-10)
- CacheGuard (submitted on 2008-12-19)
- pure:dyne (submitted on 2009-01-06)
- Incognito LiveCD (submitted on 2009-01-07)
- 4Biblen (submitted on 2009-01-10)
- Amahi (submitted on 2009-01-17)
- Galinux (submitted on 2009-01-17)
- PocketPC (submitted on 2009-02-03)
- Dotsch/UX (submitted on 2009-02-10)
- pupitup (submitted on 2009-02-16)
- flexxxpup (submitted on 2009-02-17)
- Ubuntu Extras Remix (submitted on 2009-02-17)
- Linux4One (submitted on 2009-02-19)
- Bio-Linux (submitted on 2009-02-20)
- Hag GNU/Linux (submitted on 2009-02-23)
- Elementary OS (submitted on 2009-02-25)
- Guara Linux OS (submitted on 2009-02-26)
- dvd::rip Cluster Live CD (submitted on 2009-02-28)
- VoIP on CD (submitted on 2009-03-02)
- Ultra X Linux (submitted on 2009-03-06)
- ARAnyM/AFROS Live CD (submitted on 2009-03-09)
- Livre S.O. (submitted on 2009-03-09)
- FuguIta (submitted on 2009-03-10)
- Jarro Negro Linux (submitted on 2009-03-12)
- FAN: Fully Automated Nagios (submitted on 2009-03-18)
- JUX (submitted on 2009-03-18)
- Denix (submitted on 2009-03-21)
- cp6Linux (submitted on 2009-03-21)
- Linux DaVinci (submitted on 2009-03-22)
- Noys (submitted on 2009-03-23)
- Unity Linux (submitted on 2009-03-29)
- Omnia XP (submitted on 2009-03-31)
- Turnkey Linux (submitted on 2009-04-06)
- ayuOS (submitted on 2009-04-11)
- Desktop Paraná (submitted on 2009-04-17)
- Lihuen (submitted on 2009-04-19)
- TOSS (submitted on 2009-04-20)
- Chaox (submitted on 2009-04-23)
- Lin-X (submitted on 2009-04-26)
- Xange (submitted on 2009-05-13)
- OWASP Live CD (submitted on 2009-05-13)
- Taneu OS (submitted on 2009-05-24)
- Foxy Linux (submitted on 2009-05-25)
- Digital Forensic Live CD (submitted on 2009-06-03)
- StormOS (submitted on 2009-06-05)
- InfraLinux (submitted on 2009-06-07)
- LinuxAdvanced (submitted on 2009-06-12)
- Eden Live (submitted on 2009-06-12)
- Linux Mangaka (submitted on 2009-06-15)
- Intuitive (submitted on 2009-06-18)
- Wires Cut Linux (submitted on 2009-06-19)
- Anubis-Linux (submitted on 2009-06-19)
- AuroraUX (submitted on 2009-06-19)
- AV Linux (submitted on 2009-06-20)
- VINUX (submitted on 2009-06-21)
- openArtist (submitted on 2009-06-23)
- VESTA (submitted on 2009-06-29)
- Sugar on a Stick (submitted on 2009-06-30)
- Milnix (submitted on 2009-07-01)
- Mundus OS (submitted on 2009-07-04)
- BSD Router Project (submitted on 2009-07-04)
- Element GNU/Linux (submitted on 2009-07-09)
- 8ix Zenith CE (submitted on 2009-07-10)
- BrowserLinux (submitted on 2009-07-14)
- pcubuntoo (submitted on 2009-07-19)
- Ice-Z Linux (submitted on 2009-07-19)
- Photo Artists Workshop Live CD (submitted on 2009-07-23)
- sEEcher OS (submitted on 2009-07-23)
- Xin Yang Linux (submitted on 2009-07-24)
- Omega (submitted on 2009-07-28)
- Live Android (submitted on 2009-07-28)
- Mesk Linux (submitted on 2009-07-28)
- ArchOne (submitted on 2009-07-31)
- Nexradix (submitted on 2009-08-02)
- Grusha Linux (submitted on 2009-08-03)
- Scentlinux (submitted on 2009-08-04)
- PTS Desktop Live (submitted on 2009-08-06)
- Zencafe GNU/Linux (submitted on 2009-08-08)
- PenaOS (submitted on 2009-08-14)
- juntaDados (submitted on 2009-08-18)
- VENENUX GNU/Linux (submitted on 2009-08-19)
- Gordux GNU/Linux (submitted on 2009-08-20)
- ÆrieBSD (submitted on 2009-08-24)
- Spri Linux (submitted on 2009-08-30)
- Masonux (submitted on 2009-08-31)
- Lighthouse Pup (submitted on 2009-08-31)
- Torinux (submitted on 2009-09-06)
- Oxinus Linux (submitted on 2009-09-06)
- Kahel OS (submitted on 2009-09-15)
- Succi Linux (submitted on 2009-09-17)
- KDuXP (submitted on 2009-09-23)
- VIPER VAST Live (submitted on 2009-09-28)
- DigAnTel (submitted on 2009-09-29)
- EsiTux (submitted on 2009-10-01)
- Portable Linux (submitted on 2009-10-02)
- MyXbmc Passion (submitted on 2009-10-03)
- Pandorga GNU/Linux (submitted on 2009-10-03)
- Business Linux (submitted on 2009-10-13)
- Slax Router (submitted on 2009-10-16)
- JULinux (submitted on 2009-10-17)
- Simplix Linux (submitted on 2009-10-22)
- Leeenux (submitted on 2009-10-22)
- Phoenix OS (submitted on 2009-10-28)
- GhostBSD (submitted on 2009-11-10)
- ABC GNU/Linux (submitted on 2009-11-12)
RSS Feed Readers for Linux
RSS readers allow users to view information contained in rss feeds in a specific location in an intuitive way.
| Straw Straw is a desktop news aggregator for Gnome environment. A faster easier way to read RSS news feeds and blogs. |
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| Bottom Feeder BottomFeeder is a news aggregator client (RSS and Atom) written in VisualWorks Smalltalk. BottomFeeder runs on x86 Linux (also FreeBSD), PowerPC linux, Sparc Linux, Windows (98/ME/NT/2000/XP), Mac OS8/9, Mac OS X, AIX, SGI Irix, Compaq UNIX, HP-UX, and Solaris. |
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| Liferea an abbreviation for Linux Feed Reader. It is a news aggregator for online news feeds. It supports a number of different feed formats including RSS/RDF, CDF, Atom, OCS, and OPML. |
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| Syndigator Syndigator is an RSS feed reader based on Gtk2 and is targeted primarily at those people using Linux (since this is the platform that the developers are using). |
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| Composite It’s a simple app. It has a page where you enter feeds, and a page where it displays the aggregated content. |
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| Eclipse RSS Reader The Eclipse RSS Reader allows the user to create RSS channels, connected to on-line RSS feeds, and view the items they contain in several workbench views. Each channel can be updated from its source at regular intervals. |
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| K.R.S.S. K.R.S.S. is a Linux-based application that downloads Rich Site Summary feeds and displays them on your desktop, in HTML. It quickly downloads any number of pre-selected RSS feeds that you have chosen, and displays them when and how you want in a ticker-tape fashion. |
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| Rol Rol is a simple application for reading RSS or RDF feeds such as those produced by many news sites or weblogs. It is not intended to do anything more than display the headlines and allow you to choose which to read in your web browser. |
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Chandler Project (Linux) PIM – Calendar, Email
Chandler Project PIM
Many moons ago, I set out on a quest to find a good calendar app for Linux. At the time, my choices were limited. At least for what I wanted / needed to accomplish. During my quest, I came upon a neat little app called Chandler. The screenshots caught my eye and I decided to download it and see if it lived up to expectations. The short answer is, YES! Since then, I’ve used this app on a daily basis. It helps keep all my crap organized, readable, and shareable. Chandler supports iCal, Lightning, Sunbird, Evolution, etc. Share your data via the Chandler Hub. It also works with Google.
Chandler does everything I need it to do, and more. Sure, there are probably better apps out now. But, I’ve used this one too long to switch. Not to mention, this one is Desktop independent. So, on Linux, it doesn’t matter if I’m running KDE, Gnome, Xfce, etc. It just works OOTB. On the rare chance it doesn’t work with your distro, the source is available for you to compile yourself. I know, who wants to compile stuff in this day and age of Linux? Well, a lot of us still do and for various reasons. It sounds difficult, but seriously, it’s like 3 commands.
So, what do I use Chandler for? Everything! I keep track of my various projects, my kids activities, upcoming appointments, tasks lists, etc. The list of things I use it for is almost endless as the features Chandler has. I consider it one of the most important tools on my system.
Some have complained about the size of Chandler (it packs a lot of features) and some have complained about Chandler being slow. It seems that some have problems when using Chandler with large amounts of data (i.e. business amounts). However, I’ve never experienced this issue. Although, I’ve only used Chandler for personal use. To me, I may have a ton of data in use. But, compared to a business, my data might be small. So, it may not be great for large scale business use, it does work great for personal use.
Check out the Chandler site for more details and screenshots at: http://chandlerproject.org/
GNOME 3.0 In September 2010 – Cool but needs 3D graphics drivers
New Gnome – No Open Sourced drivers
The new Ubuntu release, Ubuntu Karmic Koala has seen reports of Nvidia graphics problems,
Nvidia has said they won’t open source their drivers. The “New” Xorg has been adding to the borkage on many a major distro. Other graphics cards such as Sis don’t even offer 3D acceleration, whatsmore, they need a sisfb workaround just to produce a usable desktop [[Howto] Ubuntu 9.10 Sis graphic card wrong colour depth problem]. So why would the next Gnome release require such graphics capabilities from a slowly worsening scenario?
In first tests by users at the Linux-Hardcore, it was revealed that Gnome-Shell, the currently available “will become Gnome 3.0” will not run on non-3D accelerated graphics cards such as Sis.
A quote from the Gnome blog:
“The GNOME release team has decided (and then announced) that GNOME 3.0 will come in September. GNOME 2.30 will still happen in March and will feature the GNOME 3.0 packages that are ready in time, while September will be the first full-blown release of this overhauled desktop environment. GNOME 2.30 is still being considered a stable desktop release.”
The official announcement HERE
Maybe Ati have some leverage with the Gnome 3.0 devs, because this new desktop will certainly go in their favour when Linux users need to choose a 3D accelerated graphics card with (up to now) increasingly improving graphics drivers.
Google’s new programming language – Go
Google has just announced the release of a new, open sourced programming language called Go. The company says that Go is experimental, and that it combines the performance and security benefits associated with using a compiled language like C++ with the speed of a dynamic language like Python. Go’s official mascot is Gordon the gopher, seen here.
Here’s how Google describes Go in its blog post:
Go attempts to combine the development speed of working in a dynamic language like Python with the performance and safety of a compiled language like C or C++. In our experiments with Go to date, typical builds feel instantaneous; even large binaries compile in just a few seconds. And the compiled code runs close to the speed of C. Go is designed to let you move fast.
We’re hoping Go turns out to be a great language for systems programming with support for multi-processing and a fresh and lightweight take on object-oriented design, with some cool features like true closures and reflection.
For more details check out Golang.org.
Microsoft Patents Sudo?!!
Will they stop at nothing?!
It appears that Microsoft has just patented sudo, a personalized version of it. Here it is, patent number7617530. Thanks, USPTO, for giving Microsoft, which is already a monopoly, a monopoly on something that’s been in use since 1980 and wasn’t invented by Microsoft. Here’s Wikipedia’s description of sudo, which you can meaningfully compare to Microsoft’s description of its “invention”.
This is why what the US Supreme Court does about software patents means so much. Hopefully they will address the topic in their decision on Bilski. Sudo is an integral part of the functioning of GNU/Linux systems, and you use it in Mac OSX also. Maybe the Supreme Court doesn’t know that, and maybe the USPTO didn’t realize it. But do you believe Microsoft knows it?
Perhaps Microsoft would like everyone in the world to pay them a toll at least, even if they don’t want to use Microsoft’s software? Like SCO, but with more muscle behind the request? Or maybe it might be used as a barrier to competition? What do you personally believe Microsoft wants patents on things like sudo for? To make sure innovative new companies can compete on an even playing field with Microsoft?
And how do you like the final wording of the patent?:
Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological steps, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described. Rather, the specific features and steps are disclosed as preferred forms of implementing the claimed invention.
Please don’t ever again write to me that software patents are good for us because they include full disclosure, so others can build on the “invention”.
Full Story at Groklaw.Net
Firefox 3.6 Beta 2 Available for Download
Windows/Mac/Linux: Less than two weeks after they released the first beta, Mozilla is back with Firefox 3.6 beta 2. This release includes over 190 bug fixes from beta 1, in addition to the already existing performance boosts and support for one-click themes.
You can grab the latest straight from the Firefox beta page; if you’re already using 3.6 beta 1, those 190+ bug fixes seem like they’d be well worth the update.
Again, this is a beta release, so only upgrade if you’re an early adopter willing to deal with some potential bugs. That said, if you’ve been using 3.6 over the last week or so, let’s hear how you’ve liked it so far in the comments.
FROM: http://lifehacker.com
How Google uses Linux
KS2009: How Google uses Linux
There may be no single organization which runs more Linux systems than Google. But the kernel development community knows little about how Google uses Linux and what sort of problems are encountered there. Google’s Mike Waychison traveled to Tokyo to help shed some light on this situation; the result was an interesting view on what it takes to run Linux in this extremely demanding setting.
Howto Ubuntu Gnome Blog Poster – No WordPress XML-RPC Connection Problem
I have been installing a collection of desktop apps related to administrating websites and forums, and generally keeping up to date with Twitter and Blogs etc.
Well one of those apps was a Desktop Blog publisher. I tried a few and I couldn’t get any of them to connect to any of my self-hosted WordPress sites.
I installed the Gnome Blog Poster from the Ubuntu Software Center:
http://www.gnome.org/~seth/gnome-blog/
Problem
Every time I tried to connect with my WordPress driven site, I got this error message:
Could not get list of blogs
URL ‘http://blahblah.org/xmlrpc.php’ does not seem to be a valid bloggerAPI XML-RPC server. Web server reported: Precondition Failed.
That was after choosing the option “Self Run WordPress“.
Solution
So I decided to try and connect using the other options, and eventually got it to work by choosing Self Run Moveable Type instead. Hey presto!! it worked.
So, just in case anybody else tries to use Blog Entry Poster with their own WordPress blog, now you can.
Smokin’ Guns
The tagline for smokin-guns.net reads, “With cordite in the air, splintered steel, shell casings and powder burns, there’s only one explanation…. Smokin’ Guns.” I don’t know about you, but I like watching movies based on the Old West, so it was a real treat when I came across this particular game a month or so back.
I honestly didn’t have very high expectations for this game, so when I did finally take it for a test run, I was pleasantly surprised. This game, which can be run natively in Windows, as well as in Linux, is an open source game based on the Quake 3 engine. You may have noticed that I did not mention Mac: it is true, that SG is not officially supported on a Mac, but according to SG forum post, somebody has ported it to the Mac.
Although this game can be played in Single Player mode, it is really geared toward Multiplayer over your LAN or the internet. Besides the usual Death Match and Team Death Match modes, there are also Bank Robbery, Duel and Round Teamplay. If you have ever watched “The Quick and the Dead” then you will love the thrill of the Duel mode.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of the Death Match mode, but the folks at SG more than make up for it by throwing Bank Robbery, Duel and Round Teamplay into the mix. The only thing that might prevent others – read avid gamers – from liking this game – in my estimation – would be the graphics. That being said, I do believe that the genre of this MP FPS is what will draw the fans, not the graphics.
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originalFirstChild = document.body.firstChild;
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x = document.all ? (event.clientX + document.body.scrollLeft) : x;
y = document.all ? (event.clientY + document.body.scrollTop) : y;
element = document.createElement('div');
element.style.position = 'absolute';
element.style.zIndex = 1000;
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excessHeight = 20;
element.innerHTML = '
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renderedElement = document.body.insertBefore(element, document.body.firstChild);
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y = overFlowY > 0 ? y – overFlowY : y;
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Top 10 Linux Distros
Top 10 Distributions
Leading distributions have usually been around for a while and are well-established. They will support several architectures from low-end x86 versions to high-end versions for IBM mainframes and the latest 64-bit technology. Some come from companies that supply service and support contracts for their products, others are community projects. Leading distributions usually support many languages.
Debian GNU/Linux
http://www.debian.org/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/debian/
The Debian Project is one of the oldest distributions and is currently the largest volunteer based distribution provider. The distribution supports many languages and hardware platforms, for example the lenny release supports i386, amd64, powerpc, alpha, arm, arm64, hppa, ia64, mips/mipsel, sparc and s390. The old stable version 4.0 (etch) was released April 8, 2007 – now at revision 8 released April 8, 2009. The current stable version 5.0 (lenny) was released February 14, 2009 – the third revision, v5.0.3 was released September 5, 2009. Debian users who want a more current desktop distribution are encouraged to use the testing branch, which is where the next stable release (currently codenamed Squeeze) is prepared and which should normally be quite stable. Debian Developers and users who want to live on the bleeding edge can run the unstable branch (Sid) or even try packages from experimental.
Fedora
http://fedoraproject.org/
Fedora Project wiki
http://freshmeat.net/projects/fedora_project/
The Fedora Project is Red Hat’s community distribution. It is intended to be a fast-paced distribution for those that like to stay on the leading edge of technology. It is also a test-bed for Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux products. The Fedora contains all the packages necessary to run a functional desktop or small server. The first Fedora Core release was dated November 5, 2003. Fedora strives for a new release every 6 months and releases will be supported for 13 months. Still supported: Fedora 10, released November 25, 2008 and Fedora 11, released June 9, 2009. Fedora 12 Beta was released October 20, 2009.
Gentoo Linux
Gentoo Linux is a source-based distribution that can be optimized and customized for just about any application or need. Gentoo offers extreme performance, configurability and a top-notch user and developer community. Users keep their systems up-to-date using Portage, which is based on BSD Ports. Gentoo is a meta-distribution with a large number of packages available (nearly 11,000 as of April 2006). Gentoo Linux 2005.1 is currently available for Alpha, AMD64, PPC, PPC64, SPARC, X86, IA64 and SPARC32. Gentoo Linux 2006.0 was released February 27, 2006. Gentoo Linux 2006.1 was released August 30, 2006. Gentoo Linux 2007.0 was released May 7, 2007. Gentoo Linux 2008.0 was released July 6, 2008. Gentoo 2008.0-r1 fixes some live CD issues. Sets of weekly stage3 tarballs and minimal CDs were released December 20, 2008. Gentoo Ten LiveDVD 10.1 was released October 10, 2009.
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva
Mandriva Brazil
Mandriva is a new name for two popular distribution companies resulting from the merger of the French company Mandrakesoft and the Brazilian company Conectiva. Mandriva has also acquired Lycoris assets and hired Lycoris founder and CEO, Joesph Cheek on June 15, 2005. Mandriva Linux 2006.0 merged technology from MandrakeSoft, Conectiva and Lycoris. This version became generally available on October 13, 2005 and reached an end of support on April 13, 2007. Mandriva Linux One is a combined live and install CD, first released in March 2006. The Mandriva Corporate Server 4.0 was released September 19, 2006. Mandriva Corporate Desktop 4.0 was released June 21, 2007. Mandriva Linux 2008 was released October 9, 2007. ML 2008.1 was released April 9, 2008. ML 2008.1 Xfce edition was released May 1, 2008. Mandriva Linux 2009 was released October 9, 2008. XFCE One 2009.0 was released November 20, 2008. Mandriva Linux 2009.1 was released April 29, 2009. Mandriva Linux 2010 RC2 was released October 10, 2009.
Red Hat Enterprise
Red Hat, Inc. provides one of the the best known distributions in the world. In 2003 the company announced its decision to drop its popular Red Hat Linux in order to concentrate on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux line. The Fedora Project (see above) has replaced the Red Hat Linux line for the home user or small business. Red Hat Linux 9 was released April 7, 2003, and official Red Hat support ended on May 1, 2004. Red Hat Enterprise Linux comes with service and support contracts for those Red Hat customers who require a stable, supported system. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 was released October 22, 2003. The seventh update for RHEL 3 was released March 15, 2006. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (Nahant) was released February 15, 2005. RHEL 4.8 was released May 19, 2009. RHEL 5 was released March 14, 2007. Version 5.3 was released January 20, 2009. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 was released September 2, 2009.
Slackware Linux
http://www.slackware.com/
Slackware Linux for ARM
Slackware German forum
http://freshmeat.net/projects/slackware/
The Slackware project is headed by Patrick J. Volkerding, with a cast of volunteers and a loyal following. It is the oldest active Linux distribution with the first release dated July 16, 1993. For a very long time the official Slackware project only supported x86 platforms, however others have made ports to other platforms. In 2009 the x86_64 port and the ARM port were offically accepted into Slackware. Slackware 12.2 was released December 11, 2008. Slackware 13.0 was released August 28, 2009.
SuSE Linux
openSUSE
Nuremberg based SuSE Linux AG is one of the older Linux distributions. It became the the European UnitedLinux partner, and supplied much of the code base for UnitedLinux and for Sun’s Java Desktop System (both now unsupported). SuSE was later acquired by US company Novell (finalized January 12, 2004). SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) supports x86, x86-64, IPF (ia64), POWER (32 & 64bit, ppc & ppc64) and Mainframes (32 & 64bit, s390 & s390x). OpenSUSE is the community distribution beginning with SUSE Linux 10.0, released October 6, 2005. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) are available for enterprise customers. SLES/SLED 10 became generally available July 17, 2006, now at Service Pack 2, released May 21, 2008. openSUSE 10.3 was released October 4, 2007. The 10.3 Live edition is also available. SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 10 was released November 27, 2007. openSUSE 11.0 was released June 19, 2008. openSUSE 11.1 was released December 18, 2008. SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 (SLES/SLED/JeOS) was released February 28, 2009, generally available March 24, 2009. openSUSE 11.1 KDE4 remix, released September 10, 2009, comes with KDE 4.3.1 and all online updates. openSUSE 11.2 RC1 was released October 15, 2009.
Ubuntu
Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu, Mythbuntu, Ubuntu Studio
Ubuntu and its close cousins are freely available distributions, supported by Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu takes a snapshot of Debian unstable and then creates a small fork, recompiling and stabilizing the code to get a final stable release. It usually takes 6 months between the snapshot and the release. Ubuntu comes with the GNOME desktop, Kubuntu with the KDE desktop, Xubuntu features XFCE and Edubuntu comes with educational packages. Mythbuntu integrates the MythTV package. Ubuntu Studio integrates packages for multimedia creation. The first Ubuntu release (4.10 Preview released September 15, 2004) supported Intel x86 (IBM-compatible PC), AMD64 (Hammer) and PowerPC (Apple iBook and Powerbook, G4 and G5) architectures. SPARC64 support was added for v6.06 LTS. Supported versions: 6.06 LTS Server “Dapper Drake”, 8.04 LTS “Hardy Heron”, 8.10 “Intrepid Ibex” and 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope”. V6.06.2 LTS (the second maintenance release) was made available January 21, 2008. “Hardy Heron” aka v8.04 LTS was released April 24, 2008, available in desktop and server editions. Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS was released July 16, 2009. Kubuntu 8.04 is available with KDE 3 or KDE 4. Kubuntu 8.04.2 was released February 21, 2009. Other available 8.04 variants include Xubuntu, UbuntuStudio and Mythbuntu. Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid Ibex” was released October 30, 2008. Jaunty Jackalope (9.04) was released April 23, 2009. Additional Jaunty varients include Netbook Remix, MID and ARM. Currently in development: Karmic Koala (9.10) Beta was released October 1, 2009.
Arch Linux
Arch Linux is an i686-optimized Linux distribution. It is lightweight and contains the latest stable versions of software. Packages are in .tar.gz format and are tracked by a package manager that is designed to allow easy package upgrades. Arch is designed to be streamlined while allowing for a customized configuration, with newer features such as reiserfs/ext3 and devfs. Arch uses the internally developed Pacman package manager. The inital version, 0.1, was released March 11, 2002. x86_64 support was added in April 2006. Arch Linux 2009.08 was released August 9, 2009.
Dreamlinux
http://dreamlinux.com.brDreamlinux aims to be a light, modern and functional free OS that runs as a live CD or installed to a hard drive. Dreamlinux Works edition includes plenty of desktop applications and the XGL Edition provides additional eye candy for people with Nvidia cards. It comes with the XFCE desktop environment. The MkDistro tool is included to help people create their own specialized distribution. Dreamlinux Works Edition 2.1 was released September 19, 2006. Dreamlinux 2.2 is the current release. Dreamlinux 2.2 Multimedia GL Edition, with BERYL-AIGLX, was released June 29, 2007. Dreamlinux 3.1 was released April 5, 2008. Dreamlinux 3.5 was released February 28, 2009. Dreamlinux 4.0 – XFCE 4.6 – ALPHA was released October 9, 2009.
Linux Wireless Card Command Line Help
Here is a list of Cli commands which provide valuable information when trying to configure your wireless connection
sudo iwlist scanning – shows wireless networks that are available in the area with basic encryption information
sudo lshw -C network – Shows Details of Interface card and drivers of each networking device
sudo lspci -nn – Shows PCI vendor and device codes as both numbers and names of hardware connected to the pci bus
lsusb – Shows USB connected hardware
lshw -C usb – Additional info on USB related hardware (good for USB dongles)
route -n – Lists kernel IP routing table — Good for troubleshooting problems with the gateway
sudo route add default gw 192.168.1.1 – Example of how to set the default gateway to 192.168.1.1
sudo route del default gw 192.168.1.1 – Example of how to delete the default gateway setting
sudo modprobe ***** – Loads the kernel module **** . (Example usage – sudo modprobe ndiswrapper, sudo modprobe r818x, sudo modprobe ath_pci)
sudo modprobe -r **** – Unloads the kernel module ****. (Example usage – sudo modprobe -r ath_pci)
sudo ifconfig – lists IP address
sudo ifup/ifdown – Brings up/down the interface and clears the routing table for the specified interface
sudo ifconfig wlan0 up/down – Brings up/down the interface for the specified interface
sudo dhclient – Request IP address from DNS server for specified interface
sudo dhclient -r – Release IP address associated with specified interface
sudo iptables -L – Lists firewall rules
sudo iptables -F – Flush all firewall rules
dmesg | more – Lists boot log — good for troubleshooting problems with modules/drivers not being loaded
uname -r – Displays kernel version
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules – File which assigns logical names (eth0, wlan0, etc) to MAC addresses
cat /etc/resolv.conf – Lists DNS servers associated with network connections (Network Manager)
/etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf – File which sets or modifies dns (domain name servers) settings
Chakra Linux 64bit Review
Posted on the Distro Review section at Linux-Hardcore.Com
Distrowatch: http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=chakra
Homepage: http://chakra-project.org/
Wiki: http://chakra-project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Forums: http://chakra-project.org/bbs/
Download location: http://chakra-project.org/download.html
|IT-4| Install/Live Test Install
Time to Boot/Install: Boots quick, Installed in about 15-20minutes
Problems?
The installer (Tribe) offers to update itself prior to install. Selecting this option will download the update, but then the installer will freeze. Others have reported this issue as well. Selecting not to update the install will allow you to install it just fine. The GUI installer is of the typical, enter data and click next, installers and it works well. At this time there is no command line installer for Chakra for those used to the Arch way of doing things.
|N-5| Network (router/modem/wireless)
Wifi: N/A
Nic: Not sure on my NIC, but wired worked OOTB
Modem: N/A
Problems?
None. Worked OOTB in the Live and Install environments.
|U-5| USB peripherals
Peripherals: Keyboard, mouse
Problems?
None, again all worked OOTB. And as a bonus, the multimedia keys on my keyboard worked OOTB…sweet!
|G-5| Graphics Card
Make and Model: Nvidia 9600 GSO SLI
Problems?
Live CD recognized my card and loaded the proper drivers…which later transferred to my install. Works great! Although, occasionally I will see some font flicker…but it only happens in KDE4 apps, so it may be KDE.
|S-4| Speed+ DM
Desktop: KDE4.3.1
Slow or Fast?
The system boots quick and runs quick as well. However, once in a blue moon, (very rare) the desktop seems to get stuck for about 5 secs and then resumes. It seems to happen after automatic updates.
|F-4| Forum Support
URL: http://chakra-project.org/bbs/
Seems to have good forum support and it’s well laid out. Staff seems friendly enough as well.
Points Guide
0. Didn’t Work
1. Unsatisfactory
2. Satisfactory
3. Good
4. Very Good
5. Excellent
NOTES:
I would like to point out that this is still an Alpha release so it should carry all the usual Alpha software warnings with it. However, for an Alpha release it exceeded my expectations. I tested the 64 bit version and the Live CD is fast, as is the install. I did hit a few bumps in the road. One was after an update, all my KDE4 apps would seg fault. A quick restart of KDE solved it. Cups was not started by default, and thus gave me grief when trying to set up my printer. After starting Cups my printer installed without a hitch! In SystemSettings there are some apps that require root access and most (KDE)distros will either ask for the root password first, or when the app requires it. Chakra did neither. Instead I got an invalid password error. Starting SystemSettings as root OR changing some permissions on your default user account will solve the problem. Another issue…well not really an issue, but…during boot you are presented with the “old school” display of text scrolling up the screen like crazy. However, a graphical boot screen is in the works. The last issue I see is when shutting down. The system will FAIL to shutdown several apps/services. But, Chakra continues to shutdown. Once the PC is off, I guess you could consider the apps/services shutdown. 
Overall, I was very impressed with Chakra! Everything worked OOTB! Although, the 64 bit version was lacking the usual apps by default (Gimp, Firefox, etc.) but all are available in the repos. It was also missing a lot of KDE4 apps and add-ons by default, but again…all available in the repos. Like Arch, the 64 bit version tries to stick to a true 64bit setup (i.e. no 32 bit apps). Attempting to install XAMPP (LAMPP) prompted a error stating the 32bit compatibility layer was required. Again, a quick stop at the repos for a couple of 32 bit libs and all was well.
Chakra has some neat tools as well. Such as; Tribe, the installer works well… Shaman the package manager performs well and is fast, and easy to use.
If you’ve wanted to try Arch but didn’t want to deal with all the manual labor of setting things up, then this could be the distro for you. I will be running it as my main distro while awaiting DL4.0, so if I come across anything else I’ll be sure to post it here.
Ed
Linus Torvalds Gives Windows 7 The Thumbs Up
So how do you explain a picture of Linus Torvalds giving a thumbs up to Windows 7 in Japan?
The photo, posted by Chris to Picasa, offered this narrative: “Since Microsoft tried to torpedo the success of the Japan Linux Symposium by launching their Windows 7 product that same day right across the street, we decided to make some fun of Microsoft. We dragged Linus to their big promotion booth. One of the sales guys took only a minute to get Linus sold on it as you can see in the picture. At least that’s what he thought. He obviously had no clue who he was talking to. But in the end Linus did not buy a copy…”
Linus seems genuinely happy about something in the picture … what does he know that Microsoft doesn’t know?
If Linux, Windows and Mac opened Cafés
Windows Cafe
The Windows Cafe is in a bland store front. The furniture consists of straight wooden chairs
with tables with sharp angles. Unfortunately, every so often when you sit in a chair it crashes the to the floor, but you get used to this and figure it’s just part of the experience of going to the Windows Cafe. (To be fair they have been testing chairs from a new manufacturer and they are reportedly less prone to breaking in this fas
hion.) Pictures of a smiling Bill Gates and Windows logos adorn the walls. The coffee tastes fine most of the time, but a surprising number of patrons get sick there, so that it’s become standard practice to use hand sanitizer before you go in to prote
ct yourse
lf. The coffee is expensive, and refills are definitely not free, but it’s a known quantity, and many people are comfortable going there.
Linux Cafe
The Linux Cafe is a funky place in an artsy neighborhood with eclectic furniture donated by the patrons. It doesn’t match, but it’s co
mfortable and the walls are covered with donated pictures and paintings by local artists. The coffee is free, served in black cups (or you can just bring your own), but you need to make it yourself. If you can’t do it yourself, the cafe has consultants available to help you for a fee. It’s great for people who know about coffee brewing, but many people are intimidated by the idea of making their own coffee and stay away, even though very few people ever get sick who go there.
Apple Cafe
The Apple Cafe is a modern, state-of-the-art facility. The tables are stainless steel and the chairs are ultra-contemporary. Shrines to Apple CEO Steve Jobs are dotted around the wide space. The cups are cool and come in a variety of bright colors. The coffee is well made by a highly trained staff, and even though it costs a lot more, people line up around the block for a chance to drink it. Just don’t ask the staff about their coffee-making techniques because they are extremely tight lipped about this. People occasionally get sick there, but it’s rare enough for the cafe to brag about its safety record.
Next Frictional Games Title Name Revealed !
Maxim at Linux Gaming News interviewed the developers and got some information on their latest release; Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
More from Linux Gaming News
AMD’s UVD2-based XvBA On Linux
Finally, ATI Radeon customers under Linux can use XvBA, but it is not through using XvBA directly. AMD and Splitted Desktop Systems have been collaborating to develop xvba-video, which is an XvBA back-end for VA-API. Splitted Desktop Systems is the company that brought H.264 VA-API GPU video acceleration for Gnash, VA-API support in MPlayer and FFmpeg, and a NVIDIA VDPAU back-end for VA-API. This xvba-video library is like their NVIDIA VDPAU back-end, but it is for X-Video Bitstream Acceleration instead. Effectively this makes it possible for ATI customers to use VA-API, which in turn uses XvBA atop hardware with UVD2 support. This current implementation can accelerate only MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) and WMV9 (VC-1) formats at this time, which is more limited than NVIDIA’s VDPAU implementation in their proprietary driver.
While the XvBA library has been with the driver for over twelve releases now, to use xvba-video it needs the Catalyst 9.10 driver (fglrx 8.66 or newer). Radeon HD 4000 series hardware (R700) as well as the newer Radeon HD 5000 series (R800 series; Evergreen) is recommended for XvBA usage. Though be forewarned before upgrading to Catalyst 9.11 later this month as the support may be broken in that release. Software supporting VA-API currently included MPlayer, FFmpeg, and the Helix media player. Of course, there are Splitted Desktop Systems’ Gnash patches too, but they have not been submitted for mainline inclusion. The adoption of VA-API currently is not nearly as great as that of VDPAU, which can be found in MPlayer and FFmpeg along with Xine, MythTV, VLC Media Player, XBMC, and many others.
At the end of the day it’s nice that UVD2 is finally usable on Linux (assuming no driver bugs), considering that the original ATI Unified Video Decoder was never supported, but it’s still not as nice of an implementation as NVIDIA’s VDPAU that is well supported and can handle a variety of different formats and can be used in a variety of different multimedia programs. With xvba-video though, it is just leaving developers to target VA-API for video acceleration, and it reduces AMD’s need to provide any public documentation concerning the XvBA interface. At least though XvBA is now usable to assist in the HD video decoding process for Linux desktop users. The xvba-video package was just unlocked this morning in this SDS web directory, while neither AMD or Splitted Desktop Systems have yet to make an official announcement.
The New Xorg Way – Important Xorg Setup Information
What’s New?
Xorg has been updated
1. No /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to configure anymore, unless you revert to this way of configuring everything manually.
2. No Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to restart the desktop
3. No “dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg”. It is now “X -configure” to configure a xorg.conf.new file, which you can use as with the Old Xorg Way.
4. All your hardware is now configured via Hal Hotplugging and Hal profiles.
Where do I find a Howto guide about this New Way?
This Debian Wiki page provides in-depth information about the New Xorg, as well as offering a Howto Guide on configuring your hardware.
http://wiki.debian.org/XStrikeForce/InputHotplugGuide
I would also recommend reading the Archlinux Guide as well:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg_input_hotplugging
Thanks for reading, and if you have space in your sig, please link to this post, it will help a lot of users who are accustomed to the Old Xorg Way.
rich
DesktopBSD Project Closed
This is the last and final release of the DesktopBSD project. I find myself having less and less time to spare lately and no longer desire to keep developing and maintaining this project. However, because DesktopBSD is based entirely on FreeBSD, further support for the operating system and availability of up-to-date software for DesktopBSD 1.7 is ensured.
Find Your Perfect Linux Distro
This is an amazing website that can find you your ideal distro just by you answering a series of easy questions.
[Howto] Ubuntu 9.10 Thunderbird, Lightening, Google Calendar
Ok, so, how do you sync your Google Calendar with Thunderbird Mail Client so that you have it all on your desktop?
Install what you need
1. Install Thunderbird
2. Install Lightening (It will also install Google Provider which you will see in your Thunderbird Addons)
Open your Google calendar online in Firefox
3. Login to your Google Calendar and look down to the left and you will see a pink box with your calendar name, and just below it says “settings”.
4. Click Settings and you will get the Calendar Settings page where you need to click the second “Calendars” tab.
5. Now click on your calendar below (It’ll most likely say “you@googlemail.com”)
6. You are now at “Calendar Details”, scroll down to your private address and click it.
7. A box will open with a link like this: (yup, I edited it with 1’s and X’s)
Code:
http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/richslxh%40googlemail.com/private-1111xxx1x1x111x1111111xx111xxx11x/basic.ics
8. Right Click and copy that link.
In Thunderbird
9. Open Thunderbird and choose Calendar.
10. Now click the Calendar tab, choose “New Calendar”, “On The Network”, “Google Calendar”.
11. Paste your private link that you just copied into the location box and then just go through the process and add your password.
All done! Now you will see all of your Google Calendar links appear in Thunderbird.
Happy organizing!
Debmintux 