 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 124, 31 October 2005 |
Welcome to this year's 44th issue of DistroWatch Weekly. Fans of the BSD family of projects can expect an exciting week as NetBSD 2.1, FreeBSD 6.0 and OpenBSD 3.8 are all expected to be announced and released with the next couple of days. On the Linux front, we have some interesting information regarding the Ubuntu Zero Conference, a link to guide describing the installation of Enlightenment 17 on SUSE 10.0 and news about a working graphical front-end for the Debian installer. Finally, the fans of Debian-based distributions will no doubt appreciate our review of The Debian System - Concepts And Techniques, a newly released book written by a well-known Debian developer. Happy reading!
 Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in ogg (8.75MB) or mp3 (9.47MB) format (courtesy of Shawn Milo).
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
Content:
A big week for BSDs
 With all major Linux distribution releases of the season now safely behind us, the focus can turn to the BSD family of operating systems, with several significant new releases expected shortly. In fact, the ISO images of NetBSD 2.1 have quietly hit the NetBSD mirrors over the weekend, although they have yet to be formally announced. These are soon to be followed by an updated release of NetBSD 2.0 series, version 2.0.3 and, of course, the much awaited major new release, version 3.0, scheduled to reach a release candidate status in November. NetBSD is the most multi-platform operating system available today, supporting no fewer than 55, mostly exotic, architectures.
FreeBSD 6.0 is also expected to be released any moment now. That's according to this message by Scott Long on the FreeBSD current mailing list:
"Wanted to let everyone know that the testing on RC1 has gone well enough that we've decided to skip RC2 and go straight to 6.0-RELEASE. Everyone that we have talked to has applauded the stability and functionality of the system, so we are really pleased and really eager to wrap it up and get it out to everyone. Over the next 24 hours we will be synchronizing the RELENG_6_0 tree to get in all of the appropriate bug fixes, then we will do some test builds as a final verification. Everyone is still welcome to update their sources on the RELENG_6_0 branch and provide feedback for the next 48 hours or so. The release will likely be announced by the end of the weekend or early next week, at the latest."
The above message was published on Thursday, so it shouldn't be long before the shiny new FreeBSD 6.0-RELEASE images start appearing on FreeBSD mirrors. Besides the usual security and bug-fix updates, users can expect newly added functionality to many network cards, ACPI support for IBM, Fujitsu and SONY laptops, read support for ReiserFS 3.x file systems, and a large number of userland changes and software updates, too numerous to list them all here. On the negative side, FreeBSD 6.0 removes support for 80386 processors (the I386_CPU kernel configuration option), so those running FreeBSD on such ancient hardware should remain with FreeBSD 5.x series. Unlike upgrades from FreeBSD 4.x to FreeBSD 5.x, upgrades from FreeBSD 5.x to FreeBSD 6.x are supported and reportedly trouble-free. See the FreeBSD 6.0-RC1 release notes for a comprehensive list of changes.
Last but not least, it's release time for OpenBSD as well. The favourite operating system of many security professionals will hit version 3.8 on Tuesday as part of its usual twice-per-year release cycle. The official CD set of the new release is reportedly shipping already, but a bootable CD image designed for network installation should appear on OpenBSD mirrors within a day or two. See the OpenBSD 3.8 page for details about the new features and other enhancements.
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Miscellaneous news: Ubuntu Below Zero, E17 for SUSE, graphical installer for Debian
 The Ubuntu Below Zero conference is now underway in Montreal, Canada. The 10-day gathering's main purpose is to discuss goals and finalise technical specifications of the upcoming release of Ubuntu Linux, code name "Dapper Drake". Unlike the previous three Ubuntu releases, "Dapper Drake" intends to be "enterprise-ready", with security support provided for a minimum of five years. As such, it is expected that the new version will be slightly more conservative in terms of package selection and will almost certainly undergo a more vigorous testing process. If all goes according to the preliminary plan, "Dapper Drake" should be released in April or May 2006.
 Interested in trying out an alternative desktop on your SUSE Linux? If so, then you might want to check out this guide to installing Enlightenment 17 on SUSE 10.0. The steps are very simple: all it takes is to add the "Guru" installation sources to your YaST package management module, then install a few applications. After you log out, you will be able to choose Enlightenment from the Session Type menu. Just remember that E17 is still under heavy development and not everything works as expected, but it is a beautifully designed desktop with plenty of eye candy. See screenshots here.
 The idea of a pleasant graphical installer for Debian will never go away, it seems. The latest issue of the Debian Weekly Newsletter once again reports about the latest attempt to create a graphical front-end for the "sarge" installer: "Christian Perrier reported about the graphical frontend to the debian-installer as part of the most recent minutes of the monthly Debian Installer team meeting. Davide Viti earlier announced a nearly working graphical installer and a small ISO image for trial." If you are interested in seeing the progress, you can download the installation ISO image with a GTK+-based Debian installer from this page.
New effort to develop a graphical front-end for the Debian installer is underway.
(full image size: 39.5kB)
 The developers of Debian Pure, a user-friendly Debian-based distribution that has become fairly popular among the DistroWatch readers, have informed us that the project is now known as GenieOS: "I have been in contact with the Debian developers and I have agreed to remove Debian from the domain name. The new name for the distribution is GenieOS. The website can be found at genieos.toluenterprises.com." As a result of this name change, GenieOS has now been listed on DistroWatch.
* * * * *
Web sites: LinuxDemos.com, AMD64 Linux Support Guide
Regular readers of Linux news sites have probably noticed the almost daily occurrence of screenshot tour news by the ever busy OSDir.com. While we agree that a picture is worth a thousand words, is there something worth a thousand pictures? Yes, videos, suggests a web site called LinuxDemos.com. The site's main purpose is to demonstrate the usability of Linux distributions in Flash-based videos. Both installation and desktop videos are available for many major distributions and live CDs, including CentOS, Damn Small Linux, Debian, Fedora, KANOTIX, KNOPPIX, Kubuntu, Libranet, Linspire, Mandriva, MEPIS, PCLinuxOS, Red Hat, Slackware, SLAX, SUSE, Ubuntu, Vector, Xandros and Yoper. If you have Flash installed on your computer, this is an interesting way of examining what is available today and to get an idea what all these different distributions offer.
For those interested in the AMD64 platform, the PCBurn web site has put together a nice collection of relevant links specific to this increasingly popular processor among Linux and BSD users. The page includes a list of distributions with support for 64-bit processors, links to white papers, documentation and reviews of the these systems, as well as a thorough listing of motherboards and chipsets designed to handle these powerful processors. For more details please see PCBurn's Guide to Linux AMD-64 Operating Systems.
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| Book Review: The Debian System - Concepts And Techniques by Martin Krafft |
The Debian System - Concepts And Techniques by Martin Krafft
 Can you imagine a book about Debian GNU/Linux stretching to 600 pages? No, not covering any of the applications that ship with Debian, nor delving into general configuration of, say, X or Samba. Just pure Debian; that is to say, the book covers Debian-specific utilities only, in densely printed pages with hardly any screenshots. Yup, a book like that has just been published under the name of The Debian System - Concept and Techniques. Written by Martin Krafft, this is one of the most comprehensive and detailed accounts of the largest Linux distribution in existence.
First, a few words about the author. Martin Krafft has been a passionate Linux user since 1995, an ardent Debian supporter since 1997 and a prominent Debian developer since 2002. His interests lie, in his own words, in "security, support, quality assurance and public representation of Debian." Martin is currently working towards a PhD degree at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Zurich in Switzerland, "researching neurobiologically inspired models of learning in robots."
Now that we know the basics about the book and its author, here is the list of chapters making up the book:
1. Introduction
2. The Debian project in a nutshell
3. Installing Debian the right way
4. Debian releases and archives
5. The Debian package management system
6. Debian system administration
7. Security of the Debian system
8. Advanced concepts
9. Creating Debian packages
10. Documentation and resources
 As you can see from the above, there are four general, mostly non-technical chapters (chapters 1, 2, 4 and 10) that can be easily digested while away from a computer. Chapter 2 especially is perfect for bed-time reading, covering the history of the project, together with some interesting information about the Debian philosophy, licensing and community. I found the author's writing style somewhat academic and humourless (surely, the 10+ years of Debian have produced some amusing stories that could have spiced up this section), although I still digested the information with great interest. The topics dealing with information about becoming a Debian developer or some of the theories behind the origin of the "swirl" (nobody really knows the real meaning of the famous logo) certainly captured my interest.
The real value of this book, however, lies in the six technical chapters. The one covering the new sarge installer could be useful for those who don't find the installation intuitive enough. Otherwise the chapter is safe to skip - unless you are interested in learning to set up logical volumes or have troubles configuring some hardware.
Chapter 5 deals with Debian's venerable package management system. This is possibly the most valuable chapter where even many experienced Debian users will find something new and interesting. How many times I wished I knew how to widen the columns of the "dpkg -l" output! Now I know: all it takes to is to set the COLUMN variable to a reasonably large value before running the above command and bingo - even the longest package name is longer hidden from view. Or did you know that using "apt-get upgrade" is an unwise way of tracking the "unstable" branch as you are running a relatively high risk of ending up with a broken box? To prevent potential breakages and to obtain more information prior to an update, the recommended way of keeping up with sid is "apt-get --show-upgraded dist-upgrade". Memorise it for your next update!
The above are just two interesting snippets of the 140-page chapter dealing with Debian's package management utilities. Besides APT and dpkg, Aptitude and Synaptic are also covered, together with thousands of other vital pieces of information. What do you do if an upgrade goes wrong and you are stuck in a loop that does not let you install anything until you solve the problem? Or how do you use such useful utilities as "apt-listchanges" or "apt-listbugs" to keep on the top of your system? And how about information on auto-updates with "cron-apt", using "alien" and "checkinstall", or configuring installed applications with "debconf"? These and many other excellent topics are described in amazingly thorough detail with practical examples and useful tips.
The package management chapter is further extended in the 80-page chapter 9 which deals with creating Debian packages. As one would expect, this is a more technical topic, written for software developers rather than users. But even if you never intend to build a Debian package, it is a great chapter to read through. It enables you not only to understand the process of creating Debian packages, but also to appreciate the care that goes into the process, together with some great concepts that make the entire 15,000+ package Debian system so remarkably stable and bug-free!
The 85-page chapter 6 discussing system administration in Debian is another invaluable section of the book. Starting with easy basics on configuration files, permissions and the "alternatives" system, it then delves deeply into user management and authentication, before discussing backups, device management, network configuration and "inetd". The chapter concludes with "wajig" and "feta", two integrated system administration tool that combine the plethora of Debian commands into two convenient utilities.
The chapter on security is rather short, dealing mostly with general overview of security in Debian and restricting itself to package updates. The new "Secure APT" with signature checking and other security features are also discussed. This is followed by a chapter presenting three advanced topics: a useful section explaining the concept of building a Debian kernel, the option of mixing packages from different releases by pinning and wider implications of such actions, and a discussion about alternative methods of installing Debian.
All technical aspects of this distribution are explained with remarkable clarity of a person who is rather familiar with the system. Interestingly, Martin Krafft admits that during the year he spent on writing the book, he exchanged a large number of email, as well as opinions on IRC channels, and learnt a lot in the process. Yet, he does not come through as a person strongly advocating his preferred operating system - in fact, he freely admits that Debian might not be for everyone and other Linux distributions (or even other operating systems) might sometimes be more suitable for certain users and tasks.
So who is this book for? I have no problem recommending it to anyone who has settled on Debian or one of the Debian-based distributions as his or her preferred operating system. No matter how skilled you are in administrating a Debian box and irrespective of how confident you are running the multitude of Debian commands at 4 o'clock in the morning, you are bound to learn something new. There is so much amazing information packed in this book that it is impossible for any one person to know it all. A great reference material and also a great read for all who enjoy the gift the Debian project keeps giving us year after year.
This is, of course, the first edition of what is one of the most comprehensive Debian-related book ever written. As such, it is not quite perfect yet. There are grammatical errors that make for a slightly less enjoyable reading. I didn't find the excessive annotations at the bottom of most pages particularly pleasant - I would much rather see the notes integrated into the main text, instead of having to interrupt the reading by shifting my eyes and attention to the bottom of the pages. There are some notable omissions too; as an example, one of the appendices provides a list of the main Debian-derived distributions on the market, but it completely omits the two commercial and arguably most user-friendly among them - Linspire and Xandros.
But these are comparatively tiny annoyances when considering the book's technical merits. I have always enjoyed computer books and have a sizeable collection that I accumulated over the years. However, The Debian System - Concepts And Techniques will go down as one of the greatest of them all - the one that I will certainly keep on the table for a long time before I put it up on the shelf, but even then, it will never be far from reach. An absolute must for all users of Debian and Debian derivatives, and a proud addition to any Linux user's book collection. Highly recommended.
Title: The Debian System - Concepts And Techniques
Author: Martin Krafft
Publisher: No Starch Press
Price: US$44.95
Errata: http://debiansystem.info
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| Released Last Week |
Distribution Release: Càtix 1.2
A new version of Càtix, a Debian-based live DVD designed for speakers of the Catalan language, has been released. Version 1.2 is a major update with many new features; the most important among them are: switch to the Unionfs file system which allows modification of files and installation of applications while in "live" mode; switch to X.Org for a better support of 3D accelerated graphics drivers; OpenOffice.org in Catalan, Spanish, English and French; KDE 3.4.2 and GNOME 2.10.2 desktops with many other package upgrades from Debian 'sid'. See the product information page (in Catalan) for further details and download locations.
Finnix 86.0
Remember Finnix? One of the oldest live CDs ever created but discontinued after 2000, the developers of this minimalistic distribution for system administrators are back with a new release. Based on Debian GNU/Linux and complete with LVM2 or dm-crypt packages, Finnix 86.0 is now ready: "Nearly 6 years ago, Finnix 0.03 made history as one of the first bootable CD Linux distributions. It may have taken a while, but Finnix is back as a small (less than 100MB), fully-featured live CD for system administrators." Visit the project's home page and read the release notes to learn more about the new Finnix live CD.
Nonux CD 1.6
Nonux is a Dutch live and installation CD based on Slackware Linux. Incorporating the Dropline GNOME desktop with several key applications localised into Dutch, the product is designed specifically for business use in the Netherlands. Version 1.6 was released earlier today with the following changes and improvements: upgrade to kernel 2.6.13.3; upgrade to OpenOffice.org 1.1.5 with support for the open document format; interface changes to the Nautilus file manager; minor interface updates to the Nonux hard disk installer. Read the complete release announcement on the project's home page (in Dutch) for further details.
Tao Linux 4 Update 2 And 1.0 U6
Tao Linux is the latest RHEL-based distribution with updated releases of both its versions 1.0 (rebuilt from RHEL 3) and 4 (rebuilt from RHEL 4). Tao 1.0 U6 updated ISOs: "Yesterday I pushed a new set of ISOs to the main site; by today, all the mirrors should have them. This respin is current with all security updates through yesterday." Tao 4 Update 2 respin: "I pushed out the new Tao 4 ISOs yesterday, and they should be available on all the mirrors today. It'll probably be tomorrow before I push the remaining updated packages out to the yum repositories for pre-u2 systems. Other than the updated yum packages which are already available in the testing repo, there's nothing exciting here."
Devil-Linux 1.2.7
A new version of Devil-Linux, an independently developed live CD firewall and server, has been released: "I'm proud to announce v1.2.7 of Devil-Linux. A lot of updates have been done, including many security fixes." Excerpts from the changelog: "Added cyrus-sasl configdir patch; added rar3 and 7-zip support for ClamAV; increase syslog-ng max_connections to 1000; fixed Perl extension dependencies and added a bunch more modules; fixed missing man-pages; added samba smbldap-tools; enhanced the setup program to configure a basic NTP service...." Find more details in the release announcement and changelog.
BeleniX 0.2
BeleniX is the first live CD based on the OpenSolaris source base that boots into a full graphical desktop (with XFce). Developed at the India Engineering Centre of Sun Microsystems in Bangalore, BeleniX is trying to popularise OpenSolaris in the growing open source user and developer community in India and abroad. The project's latest version is 0.2, released on Saturday: "Announcing BeleniX version 0.2. Version 0.2 of BeleniX has been released and it is now a live CD that can boot into a graphical XFce 4 desktop and provides a bunch of useful applications. Following are some of the new features: the major feature of this release is the option to boot into a graphical XFce 4 desktop as well as the option to boot into a command line login." See the full release announcement on the project's home page.
Annvix 1.1
Annvix (formerly OpenSLS) is a secure Linux server operating system based on Mandriva Linux. The project's second stable release, version 1.1, is out: "Annvix 1.1-RELEASE is now available. 'Netinstall' ISO images are available for x86 and x86_64 on the mirror sites. Using the netinstall method, when you perform your install, your system will be 100% up to date. This is a personal project that I am embarking on as I have a strong interest in a secure Linux-based OS that is easy to use and maintain ('urpmi' has spoiled me). Unfortunately, this type of product is not on Mandriva's radar at the moment so I'm essentially scratching my own itch." See the release announcement and visit the distribution's home page for more information.
Slackintosh 10.2
Slackintosh, the project building a Slackware-based distribution for the Macintosh computers, has released version 10.2, the most complete and up-to-date release to date: "Slackintosh 10.2-final released! It's done, our 2nd Slackintosh release is ready: version 10.2. Slackintosh 10.2 contains all security-fixes for Slackware 10.2 up to SSA:2005-286-01 (OpenSSL). Upgrading Slackintosh 10.1 to 10.2 works the same as upgrading Slackware, so you can follow Pat's instructions. Using Slapt-Get may also work." Read the full release announcement and check out this screenshot for a taste of running a fresh Slack on your Apple hardware.
* * * * *
Development and unannounced releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Elive 0.4
The developers of Elive have announced version 0.4, scheduled for release at around Christmas: "Elive 0.4 (X.Org) is slated to be released around Christmas. It will include a much improved Elpanel control panel, an improved version of e17 and an accelerated startup. In the mean time, updates are published and made available to the users via the Synaptic package manager." See the project's roadmap page for more information.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Web Site News |
On Tompkins County, Kirux Kuadra, SUSE "edge"
Our sarcastic comment and link to Tompkins County's guide to Internet security in last week's issue of DWW caused quite a stir among our readers with the result that the incriminating page didn't survive beyond just a few hours after we published the story. We hope that all who emailed to the relevant authorities did so in a civil way. However, let's make one thing clear about the issue. The sarcasm was NOT directed at the fact that the Tompkins County government uses and recommends Internet Explorer - in fact, we believe that every organisation has a right to choose whichever software they find most suitable for their needs. The reason we published the screenshot was simple: it clearly advised that, in order to prevent virus infections, users should remove Firefox and any other non-IE browser from their computers. We thought that this advice was ridiculous and deserved our sarcasm.
Several readers have expressed outrage at our inclusion of Kirux Kuadra Enterprise Server on the waiting list of distributions to be included on DistroWatch. Apparently, the developers of SME Server believe that the Kirux Kuadra project is breaking the General Public License (GPL) by using the SME Server code base for creating a commercial product without releasing the source code of their modifications. While we do sympathise with the developers of SME Server, we also believe that their concerns should be directed to the relevant authorities dealing with GPL violations, such as the appropriately named GPL Violations web site, rather than to DistroWatch. As a side note, it seems that a community edition of Kirux Kuadra Enterprise Server has now been released for free download and is currently available from Ibiblio.org's incoming directory here: kes-community.iso (620MB).
The SUSE Linux page has now bee updated to include the SUSE development branch called "edge" (although we are told that the name might still change). Similar to Mandriva, Ubuntu, Fedora and any other distribution with an open development model, the SUSE page is now also updated daily with listings of the latest packages from the "edge" repository.
* * * * *
New distribution additions
- BeleniX. BeleniX is a *NIX distribution that is built using the OpenSolaris source base. It is currently a live CD but is intended to grow into a complete distribution that can be installed to hard disk. BeleniX is developed at the India Engineering Centre of Sun Microsystems in Bangalore, the silicon capital of India.
- Finnix. Finnix is a small, self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution for system administrators, based on Debian GNU/Linux. You can use it to mount and manipulate hard drives and partitions, monitor networks, rebuild boot records, install other operating systems, and much more.
- GenieOS. GenieOS (formerly Debian Pure) is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on the stable Debian GNU/Linux at the time of release. However, GenieOS attempts to be more user-friendly by limiting the system to a selected number of packages and enhancing it with many useful, but non-free applications and plugins, such as those required for viewing encrypted DVDs, Flash and Java browser plugins, and MPlayer with support for many popular audio formats. GenieOS includes the GNOME and KDE desktop environments.
- SchilliX. SchilliX is an OpenSolaris-based distribution which runs from CD and can be optionally installed on a hard disk or a USB memory stick.
* * * * *
New on the waiting list
- WifiWare. WifiWare is a Slackware-based mini distribution designed for WiFi routers, VPN servers and file servers.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And with this we'll say good-bye until next Monday. We hope you've enjoyed this issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Linux Foundation Training |
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • O primeiro? (by Anonymous on 2005-10-31 10:04:53 GMT from Brazil)
O primeiro a dar oi aqui, hoje?
Legal!
:-)
2 • Great start to the week !!! (by Shikaeshi on 2005-10-31 10:11:42 GMT from United States)
Thanks again for a great start to the work week ! Keep up the great work !!!
3 • Great Work (by Mark Kowarsky on 2005-10-31 10:15:37 GMT from Australia)
My Mondays never feel complete without a read of DWW. Great work Ladislav.
I get 403s on the screenshots so you may want to look into fixing that.
4 • debianpure2genieOS (by Anonymous on 2005-10-31 10:17:17 GMT from Brazil)
"I have been in contact with the Debian developers and I have agreed to remove Debian from the domain name. The new name for the distribution is GenieOS."
Será que o mantenedor do projeto mudou o nome por causa
da discussão que rolou aqui no forum?
É a DWW definindo os rumos do freesoftware!
:-)
5 • Damn!! 5th place!! (by Andy on 2005-10-31 10:35:28 GMT from United Kingdom)
One day I'll be first to post, have to set the alarm clock a few hours earlier!!! I'm in training for next week.
Great work Mr Bodnar.
6 • #4: debianpure2genieOS (by Christophe Grandsire on 2005-10-31 10:38:18 GMT from Netherlands)
"Será que o mantenedor do projeto mudou o nome por causa
da discussão que rolou aqui no forum?"
I'd rather think that Debian and the now GenieOS maintainer have long been in discussion, and the discussion here had probably little to do with it :) . After all, it takes a while to find a new name and logo.
"É a DWW definindo os rumos do freesoftware!"
I completely agree with that! That's why DistroWatch Weekly is one of my first reads on Mondays, and I keep reading the comments for the rest of the week! :)
PS: sorry for not replying in Portuguese, but although I can kinda read the language, I cannot write it at all, having actually never learned it.
7 • On FP (by Peter on 2005-10-31 10:56:42 GMT from Romania)
I think maybe is time to move DWW comments to a moderated system with user logins and all that... First Post comments are getting annoying... ( I might have commited the sin a long time ago but now I know it is wrong)
8 • #6 (by Anonymous on 2005-10-31 11:10:04 GMT from Brazil)
"I'd rather think that Debian and the now GenieOS maintainer have long been in discussion, and the discussion here had probably little to do with it :) . After all, it takes a while to find a new name and logo."
Você tem razão. Demora um certo tempo até encontrar
um logo apropriado.
Mas nunca se sabe... talvez o mantenedor nos leia, sim!!!
:-)
"PS: sorry for not replying in Portuguese, but although I can kinda read the language, I cannot write it at all, having actually never learned it."
E eu não consigo escrever direito em Inglês, embora leia
razoavelmente bem...
Talvez seja somente falta de prática.
9 • Distrowatch shames Linux? (by AQ on 2005-10-31 11:21:17 GMT from United States)
"While we do sympathise with the developers of SME Server, we also believe that their concerns should be directed to the relevant authorities dealing with GPL violations, such as the appropriately named GPL Violations web site, rather than to DistroWatch."
Disgraceful... simply disgraceful. You will stand with GPL violators? Or is this a matter of not having evidence?
Well, if Microsoft creates a Linux distribution someday, but completely breaks compliance with the GPL, will you list it on Distrowatch as well?
If so, Distrowatch will have clearly jumped the shark and become one of the most disgraceful Linux publications on the internet.
10 • Genie OS (by Caraibes on 2005-10-31 11:22:24 GMT from Dominican Republic)
Now that "the artist formerly known as Debian Pure" is officially a distro, it really should be followed closer, since it's a great tool !!!
Thumbs up to Genie OS !!!!
Estamos contando con una buena compatibilidad con la versión en español... (osea que se pueda instalar facilmente en este idioma...)
11 • Slackintosh (by anony_mouse_cow_herd on 2005-10-31 11:31:03 GMT from United States)
it is nice to see Slackintosh be raised from the dead...
with Apple computers switching to Intel there should be more incentive for hardware mfg to build and sell PPC motherboards & accessories - i would build a PPC if places like NewEgg & TigerDirect offered PPC hardware (wishfull thinking?)
12 • GenieOS & Debian book (by gnobian_ken00bie on 2005-10-31 11:43:59 GMT from United States)
First, as someone who was vehement (though I hope thoughtful) in my criticism of the former name, let me now applaud GenieOS for the change.
Second, I couldn't agree more with the review of Kraft's new book, having received it only a week ago, and devoured it in large chunks since then. The chapter on the installer is not only useful for those struggling with it, it digs deeper and really gives the reader a clear idea of why - contrary to many criticisms - the sarge installer is the best Linux installer out there. No, not the prettiest and not the easiest, but the most flexible, powerful, and versatile. there's lots of other great information too.
The best thing about the book is that it eally gets into the theories and rationales that underly Debian policy and the Debian Way. I don't know that I would recommend it to most Debian users, but anyone who really wants to understand not only how the system works, but why, will find this a fantastic source of insights.
13 • Kirux Kuadra (by gnobian_ken00bie on 2005-10-31 11:58:35 GMT from United States)
Having applauded your stand on GenieOS prior to the name change, let me add that I believe that supporting the GPL is as important as supporting Debian's trademarks. Moreso. Is this a matter of uncertainty in the Kirux Kuadra case vs. the clarity of the issue with GenieOS? That's not the rationale you give, but it's the only one that doesn't seem inconsistent. With the reasons you gave, should you not likewise have said that concerns about the patent infringement by GenieOS should have been directed elsewhere?
I tend to respect and trust your judgment, Ladislav and would give you the benefit of the doubt, but in this case I'd suggest perhaps a reconsideration may be in order.
14 • Languages (by Fiksve on 2005-10-31 12:01:23 GMT from Norway)
Lets stick to english so everybody can understand it. I could have written this in Norwegian, and somehow keep this text between us in the nordic communities. But the point in writing anything is that everybody can understand it.
People who write in portugese or any other non-english languages on distrowatch should be banned, there are several other sites in portugese and whatever, use these instead of hampering the international ones!
15 • RE: Kirux Kuadra (by ladislav on 2005-10-31 12:23:06 GMT from Taiwan)
Let's review what we have here. On one side there is Project A that makes a new Linux distribution. On the other, there is Project B that accuses Project A of violating the law.
Now, I am not a lawyer, and I am certainly not planning to become one.
The point I wanted to make is simple: if Project B suspects that Project A is breaking the law, they should report it to relevant authorities, such a law-enforcing body. If that body concludes that project A has indeed broken the law, then we'll have something to work with and we can take up a position based on facts. Until then, I am not prepared to take sides, sorry.
Please remember that Kirux Kuadra is innocent until proven guilty.
16 • distrowatch weekly (by terry on 2005-10-31 12:35:16 GMT from Ireland)
thanks, ladislav, I always look forward to DW. best wishes from ireland!.
17 • Re:Languages (by Reinaldo on 2005-10-31 13:13:40 GMT from Venezuela)
To the guy from Norway...
Have you ever noticed the top right corner of the distrowatch page, where you can CHOOSE A LANGUAGE? That means that English is not the only language allowed... if you don't know any other language, don't read foreign language comments.
On another tone, THANKS ladislav for a wonderful issue
18 • PCLINUXOS!!!!!!!!! (by R0bG0tti on 2005-10-31 13:36:35 GMT from United States)
PCLINUXOS D*BEst
19 • debian-installer (by Lux on 2005-10-31 13:38:34 GMT from Finland)
"The latest issue of the Debian Weekly Newsletter once again reports about the latest attempt to create a graphical front-end for the "sarge" installer"
It is *not* "sarge" installer. Debian sarge has already been released and there is no need to develop a new installer for it. Rather, it's called "debian-installer" (although Ubuntu calls their tweaked version of debian-installer "ubuntu-installer") and the next version of this debian-installer is currently being developed for the next stable Debian release (january 2006), codenamed "etch".
20 • Ubuntu imakes the news once again...... (by Scott Wilson on 2005-10-31 13:50:36 GMT from United States)
On Saturday, I finally found a mirror site to downloaded SUSE Linux 10. I have used the YAST version to install enlightenment before, I am going to try next week on Ubuntu. Speaking of SUSE.....
I was really looking forward to having it install, I loveed 9.0 9.2 and the best 9.3. Now I relize that I downloaded the eval, but what a bunch of trash. Nothing worked, (which was the first time that has ever happen to me) the X system worked fine, Sound would not, nick card I had to reinstall every reboot. Many bugs. the printer was stuck in a endless loop of ascii printing. I was really dissapointed, I loved SUSE
So I installed Ubuntu 5.10, everything worked.
Finding PPC system componets, wont happen, the new Xbox is usiing the PPC chips Im sure MS has made special purchasing agreements.
Another great read!
21 • Oh yeeaaah (by Bassist Of The Fall on 2005-10-31 14:08:31 GMT from Egypt)
FreeBSD 6 is coming out!!
*dances around the room*
22 • Kirux Kuadra (by Darin MacLachlan on 2005-10-31 14:28:11 GMT from Canada)
I am currently a supported of the SME Server, and have a few comments about this version of the SME Server, because for all intents it is a version of the said server.
The developers of the SME Server have approached the developer of this version on numerous occasions about the GPL issue.
http://contribs.org/modules/pbboard/viewtopic.php?t=27314&sid=c16ce191dd10da90ba60762d3631b4fc
The Kirux crowd seem to rattle their sabers abit about complying with the GPL and then when things cool down a bit, they go back to their original acertation and remove any indication that they use the SME Server as the basis of their product. Correction, they have a line listed in the bowels of their web site that states the SME server is the base. Even the free Contribs development still maintains the links to Mitel and Redhat, right on the mangement server page.
SME Server 6.0.1-01.
Portions of the underlying code are copyrighted by contribs.org,
RedHat, Mitel, and under the GPL and GNU licenses.
All rights are reserved by their respective owners.
Should not the developers of SME Server, community and Mitel, get the recognition they deserve for spending countless hours developing a server that matches the needs of most small businesses?
23 • RE: Kirux Kuadra (by ladislav on 2005-10-31 14:41:28 GMT from Taiwan)
Should not the developers of SME Server, community and Mitel, get the recognition they deserve for spending countless hours developing a server that matches the needs of most small businesses?
Yes, I believe they should.
24 • GenieOS & DebianPure (by smartjak on 2005-10-31 14:56:22 GMT from United States)
I 'discovered' GenieOS/DebianPure about six months ago. Loved it. Now this is was I was looking for. A fully compliant Debian OS with all the software needed working right out of the 'box'. Java, Flash, streaming video/audio. I don't have a machine with a DVD drive so I can't comment on that aspect of this OS.
With GenieOS I'm able to view Yahoo''s streaming news videos. Something I can't do with other distros without a lot of work. Or maybe not at all. Apple Trailers? No problems. News feeds from the big news sites? No sweat.
My only complaint is that Gnome is 2.8 and I've had to add repositories to bring it up to 2.10. Damn! wish there was some way to install 2.12.
Oh well. Debian has always been know to be a little too cautious. Rather than cutting edge, a more behind-the-curve approach is taken. But isn't that why Debian is know for it's rock solid stability?
Getting back to GenieOS, great way to put a fully compatible Debian distro together with all the necessary software needed.
25 • RE: debian-installer (by Lux on 2005-10-31 14:59:49 GMT from Finland)
"the next stable Debian release (january 2006)"
Eh, that was, of course, supposed to be "december 2006".
26 • GenieOS & DebianPure (by smartjak on 2005-10-31 15:12:44 GMT from United States)
I guess what I've saying is that at this stage of my Linux experience I've gotten really tired of spending countless hours tweaking and fiddling with my OS to get it up to speed. (I've also reach the stage of not trying every disro that comes out.) GenieOS is the answer to my needs. I do believe it will nudge Ubuntu from my PC as my main distro. I do believe it will.
27 • ubuntu (by ray carter at 2005-10-31 15:48:56 GMT from United States)
I bought a new $330 computer last week (Everex Explora - from the other evil empire - WalMart) and sat down to resize the MS partition and install Linux. Installed Elive and Ubuntu (5.04). I found docs about upgrading to 5.10, and thought - well, why not. I must say things went quite well. I've been sadly disappointed with other major distros in the past that basically required a new install to upgrade (yes, I know the 'upgrade' option has been available in severaly major distors, but it seldom worked very well). I'm glad to see at least one island of sanity amidst all the chaos. Anyway, both distros are working well except for the via video driver which does not seem to support the K8M88 chipset - using the vesa driver right now. I'll probably try WMs $550 laptop next - hope things go that well.
28 • RE: Slackintosh (by DNAku at 2005-10-31 16:45:30 GMT from Belgium)
There are other companies who build PPC machines (including IBM and Sun who sell PPC servers).
Genisi is a company who sells pegasosPPC machines, they don't have the sexy design of a mac, but by buying a nice case (or a used mac case on ebay) you can build your own nice PPC box (this is off course where I'm saving money for)
http://www.pegasosppc.com/products.php
29 • GenieOS or is it DebianPure after all? (by David Reuveni on 2005-10-31 16:45:44 GMT from Germany)
OK, so I grabbed GenieOS and found it was still DebianPure.
Then, it decided that it was the only distro around so it installed grub in my MBR (no other options here!!!) and disregarded the rest. Not nice. Then it started an interminable download to get the full Sarge (I expect) on top of the CD-full I already got.
No! Ubuntu's the way to go! At least you get a working system after completing the download and I haven't noticed much missing.
30 • GenieOS (by Jeff on 2005-10-31 17:05:07 GMT from United States)
"Then it started an interminable download to get the full Sarge (I expect) on top of the CD-full I already got."
You obviously didn't read the instructions. There is a specific step that you should refuse APT setup and Finish the base install early. It's the only gotcha to the GenieOS install. I imagine that they'll also preseed this part of the install so people don't have to remember.
As far as the GRUB installating without prompting, it detected all my other systems so I didn't have a problem with that. I can always change the bootloader back to what I had using Knoppix or Mepis.
In any case, I've tossed Ubuntu in favor of GenieOS simply because I like being able to use Debian's repositories. Debian Unstable is too broken right now so I've upgraded my install to testing which was painless.
"No! Ubuntu's the way to go! At least you get a working system after completing the download and I haven't noticed much missing."
Nothing wrong with preferring Ubuntu, but if you had followed the 5-step installation instructions, you would be able to make a fair comparison. GenieOS installed in 7 minutes versuses Ubuntu's 30-40 minutes.
31 • Tao Linux - which DVD.iso to download ? (by Fotograf on 2005-10-31 17:43:40 GMT from Canada)
" Download: mooch-i386-bin-dvd.iso (1,881MB, MD5) and sponge-i386-bin-dvd.iso (2,033MB
They offer 2 iso-s...do not know which one to download to install on my AMD 2500Barton System ? What is the difference between Mooch and Sponge ???
32 • Debian Pure. Etc... (by |TG| Mateo on 2005-10-31 17:54:23 GMT from United States)
First, great job as always.
Debian Pure is a great project, and glad to see they saw the light and changed the name. GenieOS is a nice play on words...obviously, they haven't had time to change the branding on the ISO, so give them a break people!
As for GPL violations, real and alleged...that's for the IP holders to assert, not a news site like Distrowatch. Keep in mind that Debian, Fedora, and other IP is regularly repackaged as a new OS, and noone blinks.
As for including or not including Debian Pure prior to the name change: that was a clear and unauthorized use of the debian trademark. As a result, Ladislav was correct in not adding them until they complied. The SME thing is much less so.
I want my linux news impartial, well, as impartial as I can get, thanks. Ladislav rocks from here to there and back again for giving us as unbiased take on the Linux World as possible.
33 • Happy Halloween (by guhappy on 2005-10-31 18:58:18 GMT from United States)
Great Job. I am really looking forward to trying out GenieOS, but I'm going to wait until they change the branding on their ISOs. I also like the logo for GenieOS a lot. Finally, PCLinuxOS looks great. I'm going to wait until the final release to try it. Looks promising.
34 • I am not on dial up! (by Praveen on 2005-10-31 19:21:12 GMT from United States)
Distrowatch has been way too slow. Do something guys.
35 • PCLinuxOS and the nazi cross in the logo (??!!??) (by Caraibes on 2005-10-31 20:54:41 GMT from Dominican Republic)
I do enjoy PCLinuxOS, and feel its comunity to be friendly, I installed it this morning, but quickly tweaked it so it doesn't look so much like XP !
It's a great OS !
But I am really wondering if it's pure luck (or bad luck, and I think it is...) that the new logo has a nazi cross in the middle...
No offense to Texstar, and the whole PCLOS team, who I know are all great folks...
It's just disturbing...
36 • GenieOS (by Bill_A on 2005-10-31 21:15:05 GMT from United States)
Nice logo, there.
37 • No subject (by SFN on 2005-10-31 21:42:32 GMT from United States)
"But I am really wondering if it's pure luck (or bad luck, and I think it is...) that the new logo has a nazi cross in the middle..."
?
Where are you seeing that? I'm looking at the logo on the home page and I'm not seeing any cross of any kind.
38 • No subject (by Caraibes on 2005-10-31 22:35:33 GMT from Dominican Republic)
It' s the new windows-like logo... It' s totally obvious when it boots on your screen...
See here :
http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/3265
the 5th photos of the page...
if you see it full screen, it' s there...
Please keep in mind I am just pointing that out, as a PCLinuxOS enthusiasts, with no attack-spirit in mind...
I was just quite surprised, but I am sure it' s not intentionnal from the team and Tex...
By the way, I am casting my vote for GenieOS these days !!! Nice logo !!!
39 • Kuadra ES (by Kiruxadmin at 2005-10-31 22:46:17 GMT from United States)
This response has been posted on contribs.org
I have been watching the community forums with anxiety, frustration, astonishment and even at times, levity. This is not to say that the issues and comments surrounding the Kuadra ES are taken light heartedly by Kirux Technology Solutions and its team. The observation of licenses is always priority number 1 when we begin a new project. I am sadden to say that I believe that this statement will fall on ears of those who have already made up their minds. However, after seeing the frenzy and even enduring some slight attacks on our site and network I felt it time to release a proper response. Hopefully, by the end of this document
most of you will have your concerns answered or addressed.
First and foremost, The Kuadra ES is NOT a clone of SME server. There were elements of the SME server were used as template. For the sake of an example these elements were used as “defaults,” and then subsequently enhanced, completely changed or entirely replaced by Kirux. In fact, the Kuadra ES is in no way compatible with SME server. I will say this again, The Kuadra ES or part thereof is not compatible with any version of SME server. Aside from operating differently and being Enterprise grade, the Kuadra ES also supports modern hardware implementation and a
slew of other things unsupported by SME. In any case, all the SME
components are included under the GPL in every version of the Kuadra.
I think it is prudent to address the GPL concerns next.
*All the GPL source material which the Kirux Team modified and enhanced are included within every version of the Kuadra ES with the all the copyrights intact.* The specific operations that make the Kuadra ES the unique work of the Kirux Technology team resides outside GPL.
One of these enhancements, which I will share here, is the operating environment of the Kuada ES. The Kuadra ES is a synergistic system that cannot be sectioned off into several pieces for individuals to use on another system. In reality, there is nothing really to share as none of the system is compatible with anything else, or is capable of running without the Kuadra ES structure remaining intact.
Furthermore, and most IMPORTANTLY, I do provide source code to GPL components to everyone. If anyone wants to download a community copy of the Kuadra ES , they are more than welcome to. I also wanted to add, that the “similarities” which community members have found in our features .pdf are in fact just that similarities. To be quite frank, the look and feel might seem the similar, but the functionality and the capabilities are quite different.
I feel confident that once users try the community version everyone will see not only how different and integrated the Kuadra ES is but that we have respected the GPL and it can verify that all the copyrights are intact. If you have any questions email me directly at modria@kirux.net. The link to our community edition and
documentation can be found at our site, www.kirux.net
Respectfully yours,
Kiruxadmin
Kirux Admin
40 • Re:Nazi cross (by Reinaldo on 2005-11-01 00:51:17 GMT from Venezuela)
About the "Nazi" cross:
It's just an optical illussion formed by the layering of the colors
(By the way did you know that the symbol is original from Northern India and it stands for Pursuit of Peace and Happiness???)
41 • Re:Nazi cross (by AG on 2005-11-01 03:31:59 GMT from India)
mr reinaldo,
your knowledge is 1/2 baked.
point1. what we see in the screenshot is nothing like what the nazis used.
point 2. nazis used swastik, but many times in anti clockwise direction.
this is strictly forbidden in hindu religion. swastik should always be in clockwise direction.
anticlock direction represents distruction and death (which probably explains why the nazis behaved in that manner.)
point 3. swastik is the holy symbol, not only of the hindus, but also of buddhist, zorastrian and other religion.
point 4. the holy symbol of christian - the cross - is easily converted to the holy symbol of hindus - the swastik - by adding few lines - which really proves that all the religions are same.
__
| | |
-------- = --------
| __| |
42 • GPL blah blah (by James on 2005-11-01 04:16:26 GMT from United States)
Distro number 2,000 or what number? Who cares?
FreeBSD 6, yay!
Thanks for the review of the book. I was thinking of getting that one! As far as the genieOS; they should not have the word Debian in the name. There can be only one Debian, and it rocks.
43 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-01 04:19:28 GMT from United States)
Mr. Bodnar
I think that next issue of your "weekly" should be dedicated to spellcheckers. While researching that subject you might be compelled to integrate one into the publishing process. It's hard to take your website seriously when every article has so many misspellings. If not you should consider hireing an editor.
What does it say about Linux if cheerleading is being done by illiterate.
44 • RE: 34 • I am not on dial up! (by ladislav on 2005-11-01 05:26:35 GMT from Taiwan)
The server keeps experiencing periods of intensive port scanning. We are trying a few of things with the web hosting provider to stop these attacks from affecting the web server, but we haven't found a good solution yet.
In the meantime, please remember that DistroWatch is mirrored on 5 locations in Europe and USA, so please make use of them. They are listed at the bottom of every page.
45 • RE: 43 • No subject by Anonymous (by ladislav on 2005-11-01 05:41:14 GMT from Taiwan)
If not you should consider hireing an editor.
What's that proverb again? The pot calling the kettle black?
Please Mr Anonymous, instead of criticising my spelling, why don't you email me and point out all the spelling errors? That way I can correct them to satisfy all the grammar and spelling police of the Internet.
(By the way, the stories go through the standard KDE spellchecker, as well as manual proofreading by a regular DW contributor. If we miss something, please email me - you can find my contact address at the bottom of every page.)
46 • Re: 43 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-01 04:19:28 GMT from United States) (by Anonymous on 2005-11-01 07:42:35 GMT from United States)
Mr. Bodnar
I think that next issue of your "weekly" should be dedicated to spellcheckers. While researching that subject you might be compelled to integrate one into the publishing process. It's hard to take your website seriously when every article has so many misspellings. If not you should consider hireing an editor.
What does it say about Linux if cheerleading is being done by illiterate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) spellcheckers = spell checkers
2) hireing = hiring
You should realize that not everyone is a native language is "English". Now as for your statement: "It's hard to take your website seriously". Please have a look at:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1872108,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=129951,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1872018,00.asp
Seems like pcmag takes distrowatch.com seriously. If you would like; I can dig up a list of reputable sites that quote dw, if you so desire. I have seen dw listed as a reference site in:
1) Books
2) Mag's
3) various other pub's
Now; considering their are various respected sources in the industry that give credit to dw; my question is: "Where are your references".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GREAT Work as always Ladislav. It wouldn't be monday without you and the dw crew!!!!!!!!!
47 • On SuSE 10.0 (by Trigo on 2005-11-01 16:08:27 GMT from Brazil)
It seems most people are happy with Suse 10.0 and in fact it is one great distro. However, having upgraded from 9.3 which was rock-solid I've noticed a few quirks with the new release:
1. Hardware that was supported in 9.3 is no longer supported in 10.0, apparently: well, 9.3 detected and configured my Microsoft Wireless Desktop 1000 (their software sucks but I rather like their hardware) perfectly. All I had to do was to manually add a couple of multimedia keys and that was it. Mouse functioned out of the box. In 10.0, "Microsoft" has completely disappeared as a hardware vendor and I have to manually configure my mouse EVERY TIME I START LINUX to enable the scroll wheel. Very annoying.
2. There's no way in h*ll I can get 10.0 to use the ATI OpenGL drivers for hardware 3D acceleration. After a long struggle I'd managed to get it done in 9.3, but in 10.0 it's simply impossible.
3. This is VERY serious, and unfortunately present since 9.2 I guess: Not only does Suse 10.0 lack full Portuguese language support (especially for Brazilian spelling) but also the translation that's available is simply APPALLING. An 8-year-old slacker could spell better. One example: in YaST, the option to discard changes has been translated as "Discartar" instead of "Descartar". Looks like an American tourist with a poorly written language guide has been attempting to translate YaST for us. I don't know how to contribute to the effort, but PLEASE!!! improve the pt-br translation or hire someone with minimal language skills to help the effort.
This is the sort of problem that still prevents Linux from entering classrooms in most countries: how can the government support educational use of a product with basic spelling errors?!
The irony is that although incomplete, the Portuguese (pt) YaST translation is a LOT better than the pt-br effort. Clearer, more intelligible (apart from the usual differences in vocabulary), and free of embarassing mistakes. Perhaps that shows the difference in educational levels and language skills between the two countries, perhaps it's just the result of a half-hearted effort on the part of Novell. Hope they get it right soon.
And BTW, don't flame me, I'm Brazilian. Which makes me even more angry with YaST!
48 • On the package overview for Mandriva cooker. (by Kim on 2005-11-01 19:13:19 GMT from Germany)
Hello Ladislav,
I've wanted to ask this for some time now, but never came 'round to it:
Why does the Mandriva Cooker package overview only show version "2.6" for the kernel? I've rather expected something like "2.6.12", or something.
Apart from that minor issue, your website is being very, very helpful if for these package overviews - for cutting edge distributions - or the weekly list of projected release dates alone. Keep it up.
Kim~*
49 • Anonymous from United States - the spelling critic (by Bill Savoie at 2005-11-01 19:59:58 GMT from United States)
Hello Ladislav,
You have a wonderful website - bar none - this is good stuff and always interesting. I am sorry for my fellow country men. Here in USA we are so critical and judgemental. As a Buddhist I know it is a way to hide pain and the inability to cry. If you think they dump on you, think about the harm they do to themselves.
Thanks for the book review (Debian), I am now on page 70 and it is very well written. Good books are the life-blood of learning how to grow. Thanks Ladislav.
50 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-01 23:03:53 GMT from United States)
Hey Buddhist
Spelling critic here. Is criticism still allowed at all? Same question to you Mr. Bodnar. You don't seem to mind accepting compliments in public forum but would rather recieve critical remarks through personal email. It seems like everyone in Linux community switched into the mode of praising for efforts and not for results. How far should I lower the bar? If DW Weekly is graded as "GREAT WORK" how would you rate let's say "Samba by Example"? That _IS_ a pretty good work. But a light publication of one page worth of text with seven misspellings in it is not. And if it is to you, I wonder about your mental capacity.
51 • Wow! Halloween (by Andy Axnot on 2005-11-02 00:28:14 GMT from United States)
Wow! Halloween seems to have been kinda rough on people this year. There sure seems to be a lot of crankiness on the page this week.
Let's all eat a little chocolate and mellow out, OK?
Andy
52 • GenieOS bootloader (by agendelman on 2005-11-02 02:36:35 GMT from United States)
I'm a fan of debianpure, now GenieOS. I've installed a Debian system several times with older versions of their installation disk and was always able to direct the grub bootloader to the root partition not the mbr. With version 0.4 that all changed. I sent an email to :
genieos@toluenterprises.com
informing them of the problem and got a speedy reply assuring me that they were aware of the problem and all would be well in the next release, which was coming soon.
53 • Microsoft will take windows online/make windows live (by Antonio on 2005-11-02 13:06:37 GMT from United States)
It seems Microsoft wants to now create live cd's that will run from cdrom. In light of that what do Distrowatch readers think of that?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/246748_msftlive02.html
Best Regards,
Antonio
54 • Microsoft takes Windows online (by Antonio on 2005-11-02 13:10:50 GMT from United States)
Sorry I misread the whole think. They will apparently won't make livecd's, they will have webpages that will allow creation of documents.
Here's a brief summary from link on comment #53.
MICROSOFT LIVE
Details of the new online services planned by Microsoft:
Windows Live: Available in preliminary form at www.live.com. An online site that combines elements of a search engine, an Internet portal and a PC desktop. A mix of advertising- and subscription-based services, it includes new features, such as online file sharing, and adaptations of existing MSN offerings, such as Hotmail. Elements include Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Safety Center, Windows OneCare Live and Windows Live Favorites.
Office Live: Available in preliminary form early next year. A series of online services, accessed through a Web browser, that can be used on their own or in conjunction with commonly used Microsoft Office programs.
Microsoft showed free Web hosting, domain and e-mail services to be included in the service. It also said it will offer advanced versions of those services and collaboration tools for a subscription fee. Other software developers also will be able to build programs for the service
55 • Live windows, google desktop whats the point (by Scott Wilson on 2005-11-02 13:54:02 GMT from United States)
I have tinkered around with the google desktop. Took a look at Windows live. Whats the point, you are still going to have an OS on yor laptop or desktop and web browser. I do see the a use with business, instead of a citrix farm or remoting into a server, I see it more used as a web base remote desktop, If I were Citrix that has choosen to "dance with the devil in the pale moon light". Spent tons of cash and effort to be a MS gold partner, which required Citrix to stop delevoping a citrix server for other Operating systems they have just stab you in the back, and by the way have a nice day. Every product for MS leads to one, IE, remote desktop, vitrual machine, XP, Office, MSN lead to one option, one choice, no configuration, MS chooses for you. We all know that answer----> Vista.
56 • MS developments (by gnobian_ken00bie on 2005-11-02 13:59:17 GMT from United States)
Two intresting points:
1. Google was rumored to be planning this with OpenOffice.org but then denied the rumors.
2. MS plans to make this Firefox compatible.
Not using this to lock out Firefox leads to one conclusion. Microsoft is scared of Google. But was this a response to something Google isn't even planning?
57 • Spelling (by Ariszló on 2005-11-02 17:55:03 GMT from Hungary)
Spelling critic wrote: Is criticism still allowed at all?
Calling Ladislav an illiterate is not criticism.
58 • RE: Live windows, google desktop whats the point (by Anonymous on 2005-11-03 01:05:12 GMT from United States)
You are right!!!
Who cares for shitty software and lots of updates. You still need windows installed to make use of thier crappy and shitty software.
With linux, whether runed from installed disk or from live cd, one can already make word processed documents, spreadsheets and presentations. OpenOffice, Koffice, abiword + gnumeric, already do a great job. So why is microsoft making live office, because they are scared that good guys are winning and are slapping them where it hurts.
Regards
59 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-03 02:22:17 GMT from United States)
I ran this issue through OO.org Writer.
Here is what was found as misspelled
finalise
Memorise
sizeable
popularise
Here are other examples:
"with several significant new release expected shortly"
releases (plural)
"We thought that this advise was ridiculous and deserved our sarcasm"
Shouldn't it be "advice" in this case?
I'd say my point is valid.
spelling critic
60 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-03 02:28:03 GMT from United States)
OpenOffice, Koffice, abiword + gnumeric, already do a great job.
No they don't. MS Office is still hundreds times better.
61 • spelling (by gnobian_ken00bie on 2005-11-03 04:45:13 GMT from United States)
Many of your spelling corrections are for correct British spelling, incorrect only in American English. I'd say self-appointed spelling critics ought to be more knowledgeable.
62 • RE: 59 No subject (by Anonymous) (by ladislav on 2005-11-03 04:51:52 GMT from Taiwan)
finalise
Memorise
sizeable
popularise
I didn't think that favouring British spelling over the American one would make me illiterate and mentally ill in the United States, but what do I know. I've never been there, so you might be right.
As for the other two mistakes, I'd argue that they are grammatical errors, rather than spelling mistakes. Nevertheless, I thank you for pointing them out.
63 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-03 05:47:47 GMT from United States)
I'm eating my hat now, or the crow or whatever it is people eat on such occasion.
spelling critic
64 • Ladislav's good company (by gnobian_ken00bie on 2005-11-03 09:22:15 GMT from United States)
If you're crazy, so are Debian documentation writers. I can't seem to locate it at the moment, but the official Debian policy is to standardize, er, standardise, on British spelling in documentation.
65 • Re: Ladislav's good company (by Ariszló on 2005-11-03 15:58:49 GMT from Hungary)
KDE's paint program, KolourPaint, also favours British English colour rather than U.S. English color in its name.
66 • Spelling.. (by Bumptious-Juan on 2005-11-03 20:41:03 GMT from United Kingdom)
Come on chaps! Honestly I don't know. tsk..
If a point is being successfully communicatated, then surely this is the main goal. Besides, since when have geeky/tech orientated people been vocabulary experts? Eh! I ask you..
Leave the nuances of the vernacular to the academics and philosophers of this world. You just concentrate on brushing up on your C++,Python,Ruby etc and stick to 'pidgin Engrish'.
No more than that is expected of you 'o techi wun'
p.s. DistroWatch is da bomb man! Keep da faith bro!
67 • KolourPaint (by gnobian_ken00bie on 2005-11-03 23:14:38 GMT from United States)
I hadn't remembered that. Perhaps because the Brits don't actually start everything with a K. Good point.
68 • FreeBSD 6 (by bullethead on 2005-11-04 00:48:52 GMT from United States)
I am looking forward to FreeBSD 6. This is a welcomed release, with their new logo and top notch coding.
69 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-04 08:54:46 GMT from United States)
J**** H. C*****!
S**ll Ch****r, y*u ar* a st**id a**.
None of that passed my spell checker, but I'll bet you still got my m*ssa*e.
You shouldn't be dining upon raven. You should be eating s***! F*** o**!!
70 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-04 13:27:19 GMT from United States)
60 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-11-03 02:28:03 GMT from United States)
"OpenOffice, Koffice, abiword + gnumeric, already do a great job.
No they don't. MS Office is still hundreds times better."
May I ask how many times better so that I can practice multiplication, or may I say repeated addition.
71 • Intel bashes Linux in Western countries, but bets on it in China! (by Christophe Grandsire on 2005-11-04 16:27:16 GMT from Netherlands)
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/46808/index.html
Really go and check this article. It's the proof that even Intel believes that Linux is ready for the desktop, and provides a great, cost-effective, friendly platform that can reach people who would normally not even consider buying a computer!
72 • Your Preferences (by PastorEd on 2005-11-04 21:04:41 GMT from United States)
I didn't think that favouring British spelling over the American one would make me illiterate and mentally ill in the United States, but what do I know. I've never been there, so you might be right. I'd say that rather depends on which part of the United States you were in. Since you've never been here, I can honestly say that you're missing a lot. The U.S. is full of wonderful people. It also happens to be full of a lot of people who are... (ahem)... not *quite* "full of wonder".
I live in Washington state. Gorgeous scenery, very good food, fairly nice people overall... and of course, our coffee obsession seems to be taking over the world.
My apologies for that guy in Redmond, Washington, however. He gives a blue eye to all of us...!
As for the other two mistakes, I'd argue that they are grammatical errors, rather than spelling mistakes. Nevertheless, I thank you for pointing them out. Your response was very gracious. Thank you for setting a good example.
Just wanted to let you know - love the site, love DW weekly. My biggest gripe is that I miss the days when all the distros had their little logos displayed as you logged in... but that would be HUGE these days.
G.B.Y.L.B.T.,
PastorEd
73 • Kanotix (by Bruce Keltz on 2005-11-05 01:49:58 GMT from United States)
Cannot access the kanotix.com site. Get the following message:
This Account Has Been Suspended
Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.
Very disappointing
74 • RE: #73 (by Anonymous Penguin on 2005-11-05 10:26:35 GMT from Italy)
It is back now.
Number of Comments: 74
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
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