| DistroWatch Weekly |
| A d v e r t i s e m e n t |
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| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 234, 7 January 2008 |
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Welcome to this year's first issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Yes, this is the first full week of 2008, which means that in just a few days the long-awaited KDE 4.0 should be out and ready. Although the initial release might not be as stable and functional as the current KDE 3.5 series, it will lay down foundations for a truly modern desktop environment that could power many computers into the next decade. But how many of us will be using it by the end of 2008? Only time will tell. In the news section, Red Hat appoints a new Chief Executive Officer, Canonical drops long-term support goal in Kubuntu 8.04, PCLinuxOS announces new low-cost desktop computer and start of a 2008 release cycle, and Linux Mint and Elive promise new editions of their respective products. Finally, don't miss the feature story of this week's issue - a report about your DistroWatch maintainer's visit to the Mandriva headquarters and a brief meeting with Gaël Duval, the founder of Mandrake Linux. Happy new year and enjoy the read!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Reportage |
A glimpse at 43 rue d'Aboukir (the headquarters of Mandriva S.A.)
 Rue d'Aboukir is a rather ordinary Parisian street. Stretching diagonally from near the famous Palais de Louvre to Boulevard St-Denis, the street seemed rather deserted on a quiet December morning. Perhaps it was due to the sub-zero temperature and ice-cold winds, or maybe because the street itself is not nearly as commercial as some others in the quarter. Or more likely -- as I was to discover later that day -- because just about every resident of the French capital seemed to be on Boulevard Haussman and one of its grands magasins, picking up those last-minute Christmas presents. As for me, I had a single purpose - to reach the building which houses the headquarters of the largest European Linux company: Mandriva S.A.
It wasn't as easy as I hoped. While I certainly didn't expect to find any flashy banners announcing the presence of a company that based its business model on open source software, I was still slightly disappointed to see that no signs of Mandriva were visible from anywhere on the street. Instead, one has to enter a courtyard, where on the left there is a door with a neat range of doorbells. This is where I finally spotted several Mandriva logos, one for each of the five floors. One of them also carried a Firefox logo - that's because the same building now houses the offices of Mozilla Europe.
"Ah, DistroWatch," sad Mandriva CEO François Bancilhon in flawless English. "I am a bit busy right now, but Anne will show you around. I'll see you later." I didn't object; after all, I feel much more comfortable being around software developers than talking to businessmen. And besides, is there a man who would dislike the company of this pleasant young lady? Anne Nicolas, Director of Engineering and a person responsible for all the development work currently taking place at Mandriva, was happy to take me around the offices and introduce me to most of Mandriva's employees.
 It was an interesting tour. We visited the main development office, where I had the pleasure of meeting Pascal Rigaux (better known as "pixel"), David Barth and Blin Olivier ("blino"). We continued to the quality assurance floor, followed by the testing and debugging office. Often staffed by students and temporary help during peak testing periods, this office also gets to test some cool new gadgets, such as the Samsung UMPC (Ultra Mobile Tablet PC, pictured on the left and running Mandriva Linux 2008). We also visited the office developing products and providing support for the company's enterprise solutions.
 The executive office of the Mandriva CEO was next. "What advice do you have for Mandriva?" That was Mr Bancilhon's first question after we sat down in a small conference room. The question caught me by surprise; after a bit of thinking I was about to suggest to never withhold or delay the release of ISO images to the public, but I knew that this was something that Mandriva had figured out already. When it was my turn to ask questions, I was curious about the status of the Nigerian Classmate PC deal that arose so much controversy recently. "Yes, we did win the first round, after all, but whether we'll win any more contracts that is far from certain." On the subject of the open letter to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Bancilhon added: "That letter got me into a lot of trouble, but I still think it was the right thing to do." We also talked about DistroWatch, which seems to be held in high regard by the Mandriva CEO "DistroWatch is very good, very influential," he said.
After the tour ended, I was invited to join the Mandriva employees for a hearty Christmas lunch in the nearby restaurant serving delicious couscous and other Arab meals. In a relaxed atmosphere, we talked about all kinds of things - from patent protection deals to desktop Linux opportunities and coordination of development work between Mandriva's two big offices in France and Brazil. The company seems to be focusing its business activities on emerging markets, particularly those in Russia, Africa and Asia. As for Mandriva Linux, the arrival of Anne Nicolas has brought wonders to the quality control of the most recent release of the distribution, which has received universal praise from users.
Nevertheless, Linux is a tough business line to be in. With established players such as Red Hat and Novell, and new aggressive distributions such as Ubuntu now dominating the market, it will always be an uphill battle for any other Linux company to win serious market share. Still, Mandriva has survived tough times before and, as they say, what doesn't break you makes you stronger; in fact, the company will celebrate its 10-year anniversary later this year. And that's perhaps the main trait of this company: its ability to overcome difficulties and continue against all odds. A sense of cautious optimism, mixed with undying determination and pride should carry Mandriva safely into the second decade of its colourful existence.
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 A visit to Mandriva's headquarters in Paris wouldn't have been complete without meeting the person who started it all - Gaël Duval (pictured on the left). Although he is no longer with the company, parting under controversial circumstances in March 2006, he continues working with open source software. Ulteo, the project he launched in the same year, promises to deliver a radical computing solution through easy availability of software as service. I met Gaël, who lives in Caen in north-western France (about two hours by train from Paris), in a small coffee shop near gare Saint-Lazare.
"Ulteo is not really a distribution in the traditional sense of the word," explained Gaël while we sipped on the excellent espresso. "It's more like a service where the operating system doesn't matter at all." He continued: "With Ulteo, you can simply connect to a server from any operating system and start working - with applications available as a service and data stored on a remote server." Does this mean that Ulteo as a Linux distribution will no longer be developed? "Ulteo will also be provided as a downloadable, Debian/Kubuntu-based CD image, but that's just a small part of the entire picture."
So what's the business model? "These are still early days, even though our small team of 15 developers continues working day and night. But we have some ideas. The basic system with limited data storage will be free to anyone, but anything extra will require a payment. As an example, some people might need more server space or they might want to hire the entire remote server for storing their data. We are also thinking of making available some popular Windows applications, e.g. Adobe Photoshop, as an online service, but since this requires a commercial license, it won't be free." What about the competition? Google has been providing an online office suite, a photo sharing system and other services - all for free. Why should one choose Ulteo? "I don't think Google Office is powerful enough," explains Gaël, "in terms of features, it certainly doesn't compare well with OpenOffice.org, which we now provide as an online service."
The Ulteo concept certainly looks like an interesting idea, but will it succeed? If it weren't dreamt out by Gaël Duval, I would have my doubts. But this man has a reputation of creating successful solutions; those of you who have been around for a while will remember that in the first few years of the 21st century Mandrake Linux was to other distributions what Ubuntu is to them today - by far the most popular desktop Linux product. Being innovative often means that one has to entered uncharted territories, but this is exactly what Gaël did with Mandrake Linux back in 1998. Ulteo is also a new concept and a new product, but if it's executed as well as Mandrake Linux was a decade ago, it will certainly succeed. Good luck, Gaël!
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| Miscellaneous News |
Red Hat replaces CEO, Kubuntu drops LTS badge, PCLinuxOS announces $150 computer, Linux Mint and Elive offer new editions, LinuxQuestions.org votes in Members Choice Awards
 The unexpected change of CEO at Red Hat just before Christmas was the major discussion point in the Linux media during the holiday season at the end of 2007. The move seemed to have caught many enterprise Linux watchers by surprise as some complained about the poor timing of the announcement. But once the dust settled and panic subsided, it became clear that the change had been planned long in advance. Jim Whitehurst, the new boss at Red Hat, gave a brief interview at News.com where he disclosed his technical background. And the reaction of Red Hat employees? Max Spevack, the former Fedora project leader: "Matt Asay interviewed Red Hat's new CEO, Jim Whitehurst. I thought this was a great interview. A lot of the things that Jim says really resonated with me, and I think that all of the Fedora folks out there will find themselves nodding their heads as they read it too." So all seems to be well at Red Hat, after all...
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 Another major topic of online discussions during the Christmas break was the announcement by Canonical, saying that the upcoming release of Kubuntu 8.04 will not carry the LTS (Long-Term Support) label. The initial reaction of the Kubuntu user community was that of disbelief (yet another proof that KDE is treated as a second-class citizen by the project leaders), but as emerged later, the decision was purely technical. Scott Remnant explained it all in this mailing list post: "Will a bug in KDE 3.5 receive upstream attention in March 2011? In order for Canonical to make a commercial commitment to their customers, who have signed contracts and terms of service with them, they need to be sure that they can honour the terms of their agreements. The KDE upstream position appears clear, KDE 4 is the focus of developer attention; KDE 3.5 will be supported as long as KDE 4 isn't suitable for support." This decision means that the Kubuntu developers will be more free to focus on KDE 4 and on implementing new features than would have been the case if Kubuntu 8.04 was an LTS release. As always in any compromise decision, some win, some lose...
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 Low-cost desktop systems are all the hype these days, so if you live in the USA and are after a cheap computer, here is another option. Texstar, the lead developer of PCLinuxOS, has announced the availability of a US$150 computer with PCLinuxOS pre-installed: "Refurbished IBM Net Vista Desktop with PCLinuxOS 2007 installed. Intel PIII 900mHz, Intel chipset with onboard graphics and LAN. Also includes 256 MB RAM, 20 GB IDE HDD, 40x CD-ROM, 15" flat panel LCD, keyboard, mouse and a fresh PCLinuxOS 2007 live CD. A portion of each sale goes back towards the development of PCLinuxOS." The system is available from LinFX.com.
Still on the subject of PCLinuxOS, several readers have emailed DistroWatch about the new CD images that started to appear on the project's download mirrors over the weekend. PCLinuxOS 2008 "MiniMe" edition has yet to be officially announced, but it seems that a major new PCLinuxOS build is in the making. It contains Linux kernel 2.6.22.15, KDE 3.5.8, X.Org 7.2, the PCLinuxOS Control Centre and the Draklive-Install Enhanced system installer. Interested users can download the 300 MB live CD image from one of these mirrors or you can get the torrent file from LinuxTracker.
PCLinuxOS 2008 "MiniMe" - with a brand new kernel and desktop theme.
(full image size: 579kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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 Mandriva CEO François Bancilhon has published a summary of important events in the company during 2007 and outlined some of the challenges for the new year. On the subject of the Mandriva distribution, he sounded more upbeat than ever: "We drastically changed our traditional Linux distribution business: the product line was simplified, a strong focus was put on our free products (Mandriva Linux One and Mandriva Linux Free) and on their easy download, prices were drastically reduced, Mandriva Club membership became free, we invested a lot in improving our relationship with the community and our contributors and a complete new web site was put in place. We got a globally warm response to all these changes." And what's in the pipeline for 2008? "On the community side, we will increase our openness, listen to the community, strengthen our relationship, improve and consolidate the free Club."
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 Following the last issue of DistroWatch Weekly, many readers were curious about the upcoming community editions of Linux Mint, an increasingly popular, user-friendly variant of Ubuntu. As if reading their minds, the Linux Mint developers have published all the answer in this blog post: "I'll go straight to what most people want to know: The KDE edition will come as a 2nd BETA in the days to come. Although it's extremely stable, a few tiny issues need to be addressed prior to the release and it looks wiser to give this release a week of community testing. I've already installed it on my laptop and I can tell all the KDE fans among us, this is definitely among the best KDE desktops I've ever got to see. If you liked Cassandra KDE CE, you'll absolutely love this one. The Fedora-based ISO experimentation is likely to be postponed for another 6 months as focus is moving towards the upcoming Linux Mint 5 release, translation of all the 'mint' tools, the User Guide, and the development of an alternative to Giver (easy file-sharing across the network without any shares). The 64-bit ISO experimentation won't start during this release cycle."
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 Linux Mint was not the only project announcing interesting new editions of their product; the developers of Elive, a Debian-based live CD featuring Enlightenment 17, have also published news about some new releases coming out in the next few months: "Elive will be separated into three editions now - two will be based on Debian 'Testing' in order to have many updated applications and happy users! A new Enlightenment 17, better integration, more stuff working out of the box, complete rewrite of the WiFi support, complete rewrite of the live CD system, updated new kernel, many other features that we want to implement (like suspend and hibernation), and a lot more that we don't want to say because we like the element of surprise!" No info on when we might start seeing the new 3-edition Elive, but as always, DistroWatch will keep you posted.
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Finally, a quick note from the LinuxQuestions.org community which has started accepting votes for their annual LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards: "Welcome to the 2007 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards. The categories have been chosen and the polls will open soon. I am going to post the nominees now, to give members a couple of days to post feedback. This will allow additions and modifications to be made before the voting commences. If you have any suggestions, please post in the thread for the poll in question. Any general suggestions can go in this thread." On the distribution front, the voting has been split into Desktop Distribution of the Year, Live Distribution of the Year and Server Distribution of the Year. Happy voting!
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| Released Since 17 December 2007 |
Damn Small Linux 4.2
Robert Shingledecker has announced the final release of Damn Small Linux 4.2. From the changelog: "New mtpaint replaces xpaint; New black/blue theme with "Fractal Movements" background; New folder for better support of Visual Styles for JWM .jwmrc-theme and downloadable themes; New setTheme.lua, drag-n-drop or double click application style; New folder for better support of backgrounds, downloadable "DSL Classics"; New generic folder.xpm link for easier theme of folders; Updated wallpaper.lua, drag-n-drop or double click application style; Improved support for JWM keybindings with .jwmrc-keys; Improved support for battey names in torsmo, fetched from /proc..."
NetBSD 4.0
Geert Hendrickx announced the availability of the official release of NetBSD 4.0: "Major achievements in NetBSD 4.0 include support for version 3 of the Xen virtual machine monitor, Bluetooth, many new device drivers and embedded platforms based on ARM, PowerPC and MIPS CPUs. New network services include iSCSI target (server) code and an implementation of the Common Address Redundancy Protocol. Also, system security was further enhanced with restrictions of mprotect(2) to enforce W^X policies, the Kernel Authorization framework, and improvements of the Veriexec file integrity subsystem, which can be used to harden the system against Trojan horses and virus attacks." See the release announcement and the complete list of changes for more information.
ZenEdu Live "Christmas"
Pierrick Le Brun announced the availability of ZenEdu Live Christmas Edition, a special edition of Zenwalk Linux: "Zenwalk community, on the occasion of this festive season, is pleased to offer you a Special Edition of ZenEdu Live. A live CD based on Zenwalk snapshot and focusing on educational and fun contents which can be used independently by educational institutions, families, students and children alike. Along with the legendary speed, lightness and full multimedia support you can expect from a Zenwalk derived production, key features include the famed educational suite GCompris, the universal OpenOffice.org suite and the indispensable over-the-network teaching and viewing tool iTALC, already pre-configured with teacher/student parameters." Here is the full announcement.
VectorLinux 5.9
Robert Lange has announced the final release of VectorLinux 5.9: "The VectorLinux development team is proud to announce the release of VectorLinux 5.9 final GOLD edition. This is the fruit that has resulted from several months of coding, debugging and testing by the core development team and the VectorLinux community. It follows our legendary tradition of stability (inherited from Slackware 12.0), blazing speed on even modest hardware and simplicity of design and function. The release features fully working browser plugins including Flash, Java, mp3, Real media, Windows media, PDF and QuickTime. Additional features include: X.Org 7.3, Linux kernel 2.6.22.14, fully customized Xfce 4.4.2...." Read the release announcement for full details.
VectorLinux 5.9 - the default Xfce desktop
(full image size: 2,277kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
CRUX 2.4
Tilman Sauerbeck has announced the release of CRUX 2.4, an independent, i686-optimised Linux distribution designed for power users: "We're happy to announce that CRUX 2.4 has been released." Some of the new features include: "Toolchain updates: includes glibc 2.6.1, GCC 4.2.2 and Binutils 2.18; X.Org 7.3, note that Xprint isn't supported any more; a new ISO image with an initial RAM file system (initramfs) that allows for some convenient features: the boot sequence now tries to automatically detect the CD-ROM drive, the CD can be unmounted, install can be completed remotely." See the release announcement and release notes for more information.
SimplyMEPIS 7.0
Warren Woodford has announced the long-awaited final release of SimplyMEPIS 7.0: "MEPIS has released SimplyMEPIS 7.0. Some of the important packages included with the 7.0 release are: an updated and security-patched 2.6.22.14 kernel, X.Org 7.1, KDE 3.5.8, OpenOffice.org 2.3.0, Firefox 2.0.0.11, Thunderbird 2.0.0.6, Digikam 0.9.2, Sun Java 6, Amarok 1.4.7, MPlayer 1.0rc1.... Some of the additional packages in the MEPIS 7.0 pool include: Acrobat Reader 7.0.9, Evolution 2.10.3, NVIDIA driver 100.14.19, ATI driver 8.43.2, Compiz 0.6.3. This release contains a new desktop theme and a detailed user manual, both developed and contributed by the MEPIS community." Here is the full release announcement.
SimplyMEPIS 7.0 - a beginner-friendly distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux.
(full image size: 375kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Linpus Linux 9.4 "Lite"
Linpus Technologies has announced the immediate availability of Linpus Linux 9.4 "Lite", a specialist distribution designed for low-cost computers, such as Intel Classmate PC or Samsung UMPC: "Linpus Linux Lite is designed specifically to meet all low-cost PCs and mobile devices requirements: runs smoothly on a lower grade hardware unit; manages power efficiently; rich web applications supported; built-in networking - WiFi, WiMAX, HSDPA, HSUPA, Ethernet, BT, IR, UPnP; user interface designed specifically for handheld 4"- 7" screens; extensive collections of widgets to select from; two desktop modes - simple and advanced; fully supports UNICODE encoding and multilingual desktop environment in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese." Visit the company's product page for more information and screenshots.
Linpus Linux 9.4 "Lite" - daring to be different
(full image size: 536kB, screen resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
Nonux 4.3
Nonux is a Slackware-based Linux distribution optimised for office use in Dutch-speaking office environments. A new version, Nonux 4.3, was unveiled just before the holiday break. Some of the updates and new features include: upgraded Mozilla Firefox to version 2.0.0.11, upgraded OpenOffice.org to version 2.3.1; added GnuCash, an accounting software package; fixed bugs in scanner support; added improvements in default desktop theme; minor package updates (GParted, VLC); added Linux kernel source to the CD image; added support for automatic upgrades of existing Nonux installations to latest version. Please visit the distribution's news page (in Dutch) to read the complete release announcement.
Vine Linux 4.2
Daisuke Suzuki has announced the final release of Vine Linux 4.2, a Japanese community distribution designed for desktops and servers. Version 4.2 is a maintenance release, where the base system and most applications were left at their original versions (except for Firefox - updated to 2.0.0.11, LVM - updated to 2.02.28, and a few minor packages). Other changes include new or updated kernel drivers, updated X.Org graphics drivers, addition of Totem plugin for Mozilla and new usbutils package. Please read the full release announcement (in Japanese) for a more detailed list of changes and updates.
FreeNAS 0.686
FreeNAS 0.686, a FreeBSD-based operating system which provides free Network-Attached Storage (NAS) services, has been released: "FreeNAS 0.686 stable out. Changes and bug fixes: Refactor port makefiles; upgrade netbsd-iscsi (iscsi-target) to 20071221, fusefs-ntfs to 1.1120; disable firmware upgrade via WebGUI for 'full' installations, use the 'full' upgrade mode from live CD instead; changed boot splash screen and WebGUI logo images; try to fix AFP Time Machine problem; fix bug in 'full' upgrade / install routine (live CD); do not delete log files during boot process on 'full' installations; it is not possible to format a SoftRAID disk with MSDOS FAT16/32; it is not possible to encrypt a disk partition, only complete disks are supported." Here is the complete release announcement.
sidux 2007-04.5
The sidux development team has announced the release of sidux 2007-04.5, a special Christmas edition of the Debian-based live CD: "This updated release of sidux 2007-04.5 concentrates on additional hardware support and stability improvements for wireless and DVB devices, combined with newly available hardware support for various ATI graphics cards, in interaction with the new X.Org 7.3 / XRandR 1.2 X detection. A new feature is the combined DVD ISO which supports i386 and amd64 architectures. As a special Christmas present for our non English and German speaking users, sidux 2007-04.5 ships an xdelta to add initial localisations for all currently supported languages." Read the rest of the release notes for further details.
Debian GNU/Linux 4.0r2
The Debian project has announced the availability of the second revision to Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 "Etch": "The Debian project is pleased to announce the second update of its stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 4.0. This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustments to serious problems. The installer has been updated to use and support the updated kernels included in this release. This change causes old 'netboot' and floppy images to stop working; updated versions are available from the regular locations. Other changes include stability improvements in specific situations, improved serial console support when configuring GRUB, and added support for SGI O2 machines with 300MHz RM5200SC (Nevada) CPUs (mips)." Here is the full release announcement.
Debian GNU/Linux 3.1r7
Martin Schultze has announced the availability of the seventh revision of Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 "Sarge", the project's legacy (or "old stable") branch: "The Debian project is pleased to announce the seventh update of its old stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 3.1. This is the first time we update the old stable distribution during the lifetime of the stable distribution. This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the 'oldstable' release, along with a few adjustments to serious problems. With this release the installation system for sarge gains full support for installing 'oldstable' from network mirrors. This includes base-config. The installer also uses and supports the updated kernels included in this revision." Read the complete release announcement for further information.
GoboLinux 014
Happy New Year! Hisham Muhammad has announced the release of GoboLinux 014, an independent distribution whose main claim to fame is a radically redesigned file system layout: "We are pleased to introduce GoboLinux 014, the new major release of GoboLinux, the Linux distribution with an alternative directory structure. This release is the result of over a year of work. The live CD build environment is highly customizable and packages were built using a dynamically-generated sand-boxed environment which insulates the source code and its dependencies during compilation. Major upgrades include KDE 3.5.8, glibc 2.5 and X.Org 7.2, as well as new versions of the GoboLinux management tools." Read the release announcement and release notes for further information.
GoboLinux 014 - a project with a goal of creating a more logical UNIX file system layout.
(full image size: 85kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
SME Server 7.3
Ian Wells has announced the release of SME Server 7.3, a server-oriented Linux distribution based on CentOS: "The SME Server development team is pleased to announce the release of SME Server 7.3. This release is based on CentOS 4.6 and all packages have been updated to the latest releases. Changes in this release: using 'sme multipart' boot parameter now enables quotas on all LVMs; support for disconnect option in rhsbl plugin; support for disconnect immediately if dnsbl plugin rejects recipient addresses; newer version of ipsvd to resolve a few Thunderbird issues; support for configurable time-outs; now able to remove Corporate DNS setting; RAID reconstruction now finishes after using 'sme nolvm' passed at install time; ability to use console restore with CD or DVD recordable media...." Further details can be found in the release notes.
MEPIS antiX 7.01
MEPIS antiX 7.01, a lightweight derivative of SimplyMEPIS 7.0, was released as an update to antiX 7.0: "antiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member 'anticapitalista', as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32-bit PC hardware and is designed to work on computers with as little as 64 MB RAM and Pentium II or equivalent, but not AMD K5/K6 processors... This updated version of 'Lysistrata' is built using the MEPIS Linux 7.0 core, including the MEPIS 7 updated and security-patched 2.6.22.14 kernel and upgraded MEPIS utilities, Debian security upgrades and application upgrades since antiX-M7 was released on October 29. The Live CD scripts have been improved, extra 'cheatcodes' added and bugs squashed. Kernel headers are now included and antiX uses X.Org 7.2 from the Debian Testing repositories. This release contains the new GRUB menu theme developed and contributed by the MEPIS community." Check the full release announcement, the website of antiX, and its forum for more information.
trixbox 2.4.0
The developers of trixbox, a CentOS-based specialist distribution that enables the user to easily set up a VoIP Asterisk PBX, have announced the release of version 2.4.0: "This set is the latest version of trixbox CE. This is a major change from trixbox 2.2 in that it is based on CentOS 5.1, Asterisk 1.4, and FreePBX 2.3. One problem with trixbox CE 2.x is the lack of hardware support for current systems, especially newer Dell platforms. The vast majority of this has been solved because trixbox CE 2.4 is now based on top of the latest CentOS 5.1 kernel. This now provides support for a much larger number of motherboards, network cards and components, such as hardware RAID controllers. CentOS 5.1 also has high resolution timers built into the kernel so the need for hardware timers on the PCI bus should no longer be required." Read the full press release for further details.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
- Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu 8.04-alpha2, the release announcement
- GoblinX 2.6-rc1 "Mini", the release announcement
- SAM Linux 2008-rc1, the release announcement
- Sabayon Linux 3.5-beta1, the release notes
- Zenwalk Linux 5.0-beta, the release announcement
- Parsix GNU/Linux 1.0r0-test2, the release announcement
- grml 1.1-rc1, the release announcement
- PCLinuxOS "GNOME 2.21.2", the release announcement
- FreeBSD 7.0-RC1, the release announcement
- VectorLinux 5.9-beta "Live", the release announcement
- FreeBSD 6.3-RC2, the release announcement
- Musix GNU+Linux 1.0r3-test4, the release announcement
- Endian Firewall 2.2-beta2, the release announcement
- KANOTIX 2007-rc7, the release announcement
- Linux Mint 4.0-beta "Fluxbox", 4.0-alpha "Debian", the release announcement
- Damn Small Linux 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3
- RIPLinuX Linux 4.3
- AUSTRUMI 1.6.5
- LinuxTLE 9.0-beta1
- m0n0wall 1.3-beta6, 1.3-beta7
- PapugLinux 07.2
- LFS LiveCD 6.3-r2160
- JackLab Audio Distribution 1.1-alpha1
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
December 2007 donation: Zenwalk Linux receives €200.00
 We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the December 2007 DistroWatch.com donation is the Zenwalk Linux project. It receives €200.00 in cash.
Slackware Linux is a reliable and rock-solid distribution, but its reputation for being hard to configure has probably contributed to its lack of deployment on the desktop. Luckily, third-party integrators seem to be more than happy to step in and to deliver custom solution. The Zenwalk Linux developer team has been working hard to produce a solid desktop based on the latest Slackware, together with the light-weight Xfce window manager, popular desktop applications and a large repository of extra software packages. Formerly known as Minislack, the project has been around since 2004.
Zenwalk Linux 5.0 Beta - a major new version of the Slackware-based desktop distro
(full image size: 260kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Jean-Philippe Guillemin, the founder and lead developer of Zenwalk Linux, emailed DistroWatch after receiving the donation: "Thank you very much for your contribution. This money will be used to rent the main web server and repository (and eventually buy some devices for contributors who need them)."
As always, this monthly donations programme is a joint initiative between DistroWatch and two online shops selling low-cost CDs and DVDs with Linux, BSD and other open source software - LinuxCD.org and OSDisc.com. These vendors contributed US$50.00 each towards this month's donation to Zenwalk Linux.
Here is the list of projects that received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the programme (figures in US dollars):
- 2004: GnuCash ($250), Quanta Plus ($200), PCLinuxOS ($300), The GIMP ($300), Vidalinux ($200), Fluxbox ($200), K3b ($350), Arch Linux ($300), Kile KDE LaTeX Editor ($100) and UNICEF - Tsunami Relief Operation ($340)
- 2005: Vim ($250), AbiWord ($220), BitTorrent ($300), NdisWrapper ($250), Audacity ($250), Debian GNU/Linux ($420), GNOME ($425), Enlightenment ($250), MPlayer ($400), Amarok ($300), KANOTIX ($250) and Cacti ($375)
- 2006: Gambas ($250), Krusader ($250), FreeBSD Foundation ($450), GParted ($360), Doxygen ($260), LilyPond ($250), Lua ($250), Gentoo Linux ($500), Blender ($500), Puppy Linux ($350), Inkscape ($350), Cape Linux Users Group ($130), Mandriva Linux ($405, a PowerPack competition), Digikam ($408) and SabayonLinux ($450)
- 2007: GQview ($250), Kaffeine ($250), sidux ($350), CentOS ($400), LyX ($350), VectorLinux ($350), KTorrent ($400), FreeNAS ($350), lighttpd ($400), Damn Small Linux ($350), NimbleX ($450), MEPIS Linux ($300), Zenwalk Linux ($300),
Since the launch of the Donations Programme in March 2004, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$15,893 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- Damn Small BSD. Damn Small BSD (DSBSD) is a small (50MB or less) FreeBSD-based live CD desktop environment geared toward developers and system administrators, but it also includes applications that the average user may find handy. DSBSD comes with Fluxbox window manager, Firefox, XMMS, an SSH server, a mini web server, a VNC viewer, and many other applications.
- MIB Live Games. MIB Live Games is a Mandriva-based live DVD featuring the best open source games available on the market. It is maintained by Mandriva Italia, an unofficial Mandriva Linux user group in Italy.
- p30x. p30x is a Slackware-based distribution designed for a live CD or bootable USB storage device.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 14 January 2008.
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 340 (2010-02-08): Interview with Kris Moore, FreeBSD history, Fedora newbie guide, backups |
| • Issue 339 (2010-02-01): GNOBSD, end of Sun, Ubuntu Yahoo deal, converting ext3 to ext4 |
| • Issue 338 (2010-01-25): Hymera and commercial Linux, Lubuntu and Qimo 4 Kids updates, Linux on Mac hardware |
| • Issue 337 (2010-01-18): First look at Jibbed, Fedora Community Remix, better applications, online CD sales |
| • Issue 336 (2010-01-11): Examining SliTaz, Debian installer changes, restoring GRUB |
| • Issue 335 (2010-01-04): Look at MINIX 3, 2009 PHR statistics, optimising 64-bit distributions |
| • Issue 334 (2009-12-21): SheevaPlug as Debian MythTV server, Canonical management changes, Mandriva "InstantOn", LSB |
| • Issue 333 (2009-12-14): Look at LinuxConsole 1.0.2009, KDE-centric distros, Archiso-live, Katana security suite |
| • Issue 332 (2009-12-07): Look at FreeBSD 8.0, Fedora 12 LXDE, ClearOS for small business, FreeNAS switch, 32-bit vs 64-bit |
| • Issue 331 (2009-11-30): Look at Kubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10, FreeBSD 8.0 features, Mandriva community spins, office suites |
| • Issue 330 (2009-11-23): Look at Fedora 12, Chromium OS source code, updating FreeBSD, Qimo 4 Kids interview |
| • Issue 329 (2009-11-16): Look at openSUSE 11.2, Fedora 12 goes gold, five years of pfSense |
| • Issue 328 (2009-11-09): Look at Mandriva 2010, Ubuntu media coverage, real-time kernels |
| • Issue 327 (2009-11-02): Overview of Ubuntu variants, upgrading openSUSE and Mandriva development builds |
| • Issue 326 (2009-10-26): Review of GNOME SlackBuild, Ubuntu and Mandriva nearing release, Funtoo "fork" |
| • Issue 325 (2009-10-19): Look at iMagic OS 2009.9, Arch Linux Handbook, Linux Mint 8 Update |
| • Issue 324 (2009-10-12): Sabayon Linux 5.0 review, Debian develops kFreeBSD port, Mandriva re-introduces itself |
| • Issue 323 (2009-10-05): Slackware 13.0 review, updating openSUSE with "zypper", Red Hat vs software patents |
| • Issue 322 (2009-09-28): First look at HP Mini 110, netbook news roundup, Slackware package management |
| • Issue 321 (2009-09-21): Security basics - authentication, openSLES, Ubuntu "Lucid Lynx", Linux Mint plans |
| • Issue 320 (2009-09-14): Distro Odyssey part 2 - Arch Linux, Solaris and OpenSolaris updates, Ubuntu artwork |
| • Issue 319 (2009-09-07): Look at xPUD, Lubuntu test images, DesktopBSD 1.7, RHEL 5.4 features |
| • Issue 318 (2009-08-31): Look at Colibri, Slackware 13.0 features, ClarkConnect becomes ClearOS |
| • Issue 317 (2009-08-24): Look at Puppy Linux 4.2.1, openSUSE and KDE, Mandriva and Sabayon updates |
| • Issue 316 (2009-08-17): Status of Intel video drivers, running "Rawhide", Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface update |
| • Issue 315 (2009-08-10): Look at Pardus 2009, KDE 4.3 in distributions, Mandriva "Cooker" and Sabayon 5.0 updates |
| • Issue 314 (2009-08-03): Look at Slax 6.1.1 "Core", open letter to CentOS co-founder, Debian's time-based freezes |
| • Issue 313 (2009-07-27): Distro odyssey, ten years of Gentoo, paper on FreeBSD engineering |
| • Issue 312 (2009-07-20): Installing CentOS 5.3 on a Netbook, Mandriva products, distro and upstream relationship |
| • Issue 311 (2009-07-13): Great Linux distributions that did not survive, Google announces Chrome OS |
| • Issue 310 (2009-07-06): CDLinux 0.9.2 Community Edition, Debian and Ubuntu say Mono is no threat, "Fit and Finish" |
| • Issue 309 (2009-06-29): LinuxTag 2009, kernel 2.6.30 for "Lenny", Slackware user guide |
| • Issue 308 (2009-06-22): Interview with Robert Lange, VectorLinux, One Hundred Paper Cuts |
| • Issue 307 (2009-06-15): Fedora 11 review, custom FreeBSD images, sidux and non-free firmware |
| • Issue 306 (2009-06-08): Look at Absolute Linux, Fedora prepares "Leonidas", Mandriva Community Ideas |
| • Issue 305 (2009-06-01): Look at Debris Linux, running openSUSE "Factory", OpenSolaris 2009.06, Ubuntu User magazine |
| • Issue 304 (2009-05-25): First look at Mandriva 2009.1, Slackware64, Archlive-iso, Mobile Linux round-up |
| • Issue 303 (2009-05-18): Running Slackware "Current", Fedora 12 features, Ubuntu One, Debian "Lenny" with KDE 4 |
| • Issue 302 (2009-05-11): Future of Moblin, running "Cooker", Debian and eglibc, Slackware's new TXZ packages |
| • Issue 301 (2009-05-04): Minimal Xubuntu, Mandriva updates, BSD release galore, Arch Linux magazine |
| • Issue 300 (2009-04-27): Xubuntu 9.04 vs Debian 5.0 Xfce, Jaunty Jackalope, Fedora 10 re-spins |
| • Issue 299 (2009-04-20): Central bug tracker, reverting to older Ubuntu kernel, ShipIt 9.04, Easy Peasy updates |
| • Issue 298 (2009-04-13): First look at PC-BSD 7.1, Novell's Online Build Service, FreeBSD's 20,00 ports, Ubunchu! |
| • Issue 297 (2009-04-06): Review of Parted Magic 4.0, Linux Foundation to control Moblin, GNOME 3.0 |
| • Issue 296 (2009-03-30): First look at Tiny Core Linux 1.2, PCLinuxOS troubles, Fedora tests Nouveau |
| • Issue 295 (2009-03-23): Interview with Robert Shingledecker, Tiny Core Linux, Ubuntu 9.04 beta freeze |
| • Issue 294 (2009-03-16): Installing Linux with LVM, KDE 4 in Slackware current, ext4 and data loss |
| • Issue 293 (2009-03-09): Introduction to LVM, openSUSE and Ubuntu release plans, ULTILEX |
| • Issue 292 (2009-03-02): First look at SimplyMEPIS 8.0, openSUSE system upgrades with Zypper, Red Hat and the desktop |
| • Issue 291 (2009-02-23): Minimalist openSUSE 11.1, Ubuntu "Karmic Koala", VirtualBSD, Linux companies in recession |
| • Issue 290 (2009-02-16): Look at Debian "Lenny" live and netinst CDs, OpenSolaris Bible, Nova |
| • Issue 289 (2009-02-09): First look at Moblin, from Puppy to Woof, Mandriva Assembly, SlackFind.net |
| • Issue 288 (2009-02-02): Interview with Linus Torvalds, KDE 4.2 in Fedora, Easy Peasy and Moblin |
| • Issue 287 (2009-01-26): Linux.conf.au 2009, ext4 in Fedora and Ubuntu, ex-Mandriva developers move to Red Hat |
| • Issue 286 (2009-01-19): Arch Linux in review, Debian on Android, mini distros |
| • Issue 285 (2009-01-12): Interview with Paul Sherman, Absolute Linux, new Debian and openSUSE CD images |
| • Issue 284 (2009-01-05): Linux and distributions through years, 2008 PHR stats, Debian clears Lenny firmware holdup |
| • List of all DWW issues |
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