DistroWatch Weekly |
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 161, 24 July 2006 |
Welcome to this year's 29th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! This week started a bit slow, but fortunately things picked up. Debian announced their updated release goal sheet with version information. The Fedora Core 6 test2 was delayed by a week. Mandriva has also been suffering delays due to extremely warm temperatures. This week we bring you a guest columnist comparing and contrasting the differing apt-get front ends. I took a quick look at some of the new live cds released this week. Oh, and as Ladislav always says, "Happy reading!"
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG format (6.6 MB)
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in MP3 format (8.1 MB)
(The Podcast edition is provided by Shawn Milo.)
Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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Miscellaneous News |
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise, Mandriva delayed, Debian Version stories, Ubuntu Server Trouble
Marc Brockschmidt informed readers of the debian-devel-announce mailing list that the official versioning of the Debian Etch stable release is to be 4.0 as he outlined the steps towards final release. Other interesting version goals to be mentioned are gcc 4.1.*, Xorg 7.0, and kernel 2.6.17 or newer. Kernel 2.4.* won't be shipped with 4.0 at all.
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In other Debian news, there seems to be somewhat of a controversy developing over an updated version of Sarge being offered by backports.org, as mentioned in last week's DWN. Apparently this is being billed as an update for the current stable Sarge that features an updated udev, grub, and kernel-2.6.16-15 as well as other newer releases of software. The controversy appears to center around this special Cebit edition of Sarge still being named "Debian Sarge" and it not being differentiated from the official Sarge by the Debian Project. Perhaps more important is the issue of testing of (or lack of) the said release and it being misunderstood by many to be an official update to the enterprise class Debian stable.
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No sooner was last week's DWW published that the news broke of Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 release. Probably every computer and Linux website in existence announced this first release from Novell in almost two years. Early reports have been quite favorable for the release, although later in the week it was revealed that the JBoss Application Server seems to have been removed in favor of Geronimo. Novell cited changes in the licensing terms for the switch, but JBoss denies any changes in terms.
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FC6 test2 freeze slipped by a week to July 19, making the new projected release date July 26.
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Besides the expected code problems that arise, seems Mandriva has been suffering some hardware issues thus delaying the release of 2007 betas. Most hardware failures are being blamed on the above average temperatures being experienced in Europe the past few weeks. Another interesting tidbit is the evaluation of gfxboot for upcoming releases. This will extend the hardware detection during boot to include more exact monitor and cpu settings, which will allow the launching of an architecture (32 or 64 bit) specific installer.
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The popular UbuntuForums along with other Ubuntu servers suffered approximately 24 hours downtime over this past weekend. No official explanations have been offered as of this writing, but unconfirmed reports of power outages or hosting company technical issues seem likely. The usual conspiracy theories circulated, but were swiftly discredited. On a humourous note, so distraught were some users that a new poll has emerged to ascertain how loyal users occupied their time during the "blackout."
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Guest Columnist |
Comparing Apt-get Interfaces
(By CapnKirby)
I recently posted an article on my website submitted to me from Roger who currently lives in Illinois but is originally from Europe. Roger has absolutely been sold on the advantages of the Debian package installer Aptitude. He truly feels that there is simply nothing better out there and really does not understand why the American Linux users do not use Aptitude as he feels it is a much better product than it's counterparts. In my conversations with Roger, and in reading his article, I have come to understand his point of view. Which raises the question, what is Aptitude, and how does it compare to Synaptic, Kpackage and plain old APT-Get?
To get a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of each, I have downloaded and installed each, what follows are my findings and impressions.
To begin, I should briefly answer the question as to what APT is. APT is short for Advanced Packaging Tool, and is the core of the Debian package management.
Wikipedia defines APT as:
Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT, is a package management system used by Debian and its derivatives. APT was originally designed to work with .deb packages on Debian systems, but it has since been modified to work with RPM packages via APT-rpm, and to run on other operating systems such as Mac OS X (see fink). On systems with package management based on .deb, such as Debian, APT is a front-end for dpkg (1)
In turn, Aptitude, Synaptic and Kpackage are all interfaces or front ends to APT-Get. They make using APT easier for the day to day management of the given Linux Distribution.
APT-Get:
Using APT-Get itself is really quite easy as long as you know the base name of the package you are looking for. It uses basic command line inputs to update and install packages. APT-Get is also very lightweight so it works well on the speed challenged computer which is its primary advantage over the full interfaced versions. Running updates in APT-Get is very easy, you issue the command to update the listing, and than issue the command Apt-get update, and everything takes care of itself. Additionally, APT-Get takes care of any and all dependencies quickly and efficiently. You will be asked if you want to install the dependencies as well as the core package itself, and it goes to work. Removal of a package is just as easy, issuing the command and letting it do its thing. What APT-Get lacks is any sort of an interface. It is purely command line only which can be intimidating to the new user as well as a real pain if you are not positive of a package name. You know you need a database program but have no idea what is available in Linux, or simply wish to browse through the listing of applications available to get a feel for what else might be interesting or useful to install. This is where the interface front ends to APT come in.
Kpackage:
Kpackage is the KDE based front end to APT-Get and for the most part it works quite well. Its layout is, to my eyes, not as clean as Synaptic, nor as easy to use.
The package listings are lined up on the left side and are set up by sections of application type. There is search ability, but no list by alphabetical. Additionally, setting up personal layouts is not provided. Once you select a package all its given dependencies are listed in the right pane which also provides advanced descriptions of what the package is, its size, and version. Installing is then as easy as clicking the install button. Kpackage tends to provide mysterious output from its install not really telling you that everything was successful, rather providing you a non-descriptive "0" indicating there were no errors. Uninstalling programs is the same, only clicking uninstall rather than install. I also find running installed program updates to be less convenient than the others. You have to click on the Updated tab, individually select each package that is available for updating and then run the install process. One of the biggest conveniences to Kpackage is you do not have to be root to run it, only to install. You can peruse the package listings to your hearts content as a non-root user, once you click "Install" only then are you asked for the root password to continue. Kpackage is a full packaging solution, but is not really to my liking.
Synaptic:
Synaptic is another solution to the packaging problem. I find synaptic to be very clean and easy to use. It is laid out in an over/under format, with the package listings being on top and the descriptions on the bottom. Up the left side is a set of configurable listings. To install a new package, you select it by right clicking and choosing install. You can select as many as you like and than click the Apply button which puts the installer to work. Again dependencies are just taken care of. Once finished, you are presented with a success or failure message. The failure messages are usually presented with an explanation as to what the issue was. Removal of packages is again the same as installing, only choosing to "remove" rather than install. In some versions you are given the option to watch the command line go by during the install, on others this option has been disabled. Updating packages is a three step process, click "Reload" then "Mark All Updates" and finally "Apply". You will be asked to confirm, and off it goes. It is very easy to work with, and I feel is the best option for the new user.
Aptitude:
This is something a bit different, aptitude is both command line and a front end to Apt. It uses a nCurses interface inside of the command line. This provides an interface that is clickable, easily searched and manipulated much like one would in either Synaptic or Kpackage. It continues to look more like command line than not, which may bother some users. It is not as immediately user friendly as Synaptic and Kpackage, but it is not wholly unfriendly either. Additionally, you can run command line actions without starting up the full interface, much like Apt-Get itself. Aptitude works quickest if you learn its keyboard shortcuts reducing upgrading to a few keystrokes of "u," "g," and another "g." Otherwise, the same results can be obtained through the header menu under "Actions."
Installing a program is reasonably easy, although browsing is not as easy as in Kpackage and Synaptic. There are several different view options as to the layout of the package listings, either by status, or by package types. Once you pick a package, and click "enter" you are taken to a second screen which provides a plethora of data about the package including its description, version, and dependencies. From there you either click "i" or select install from the "Package" menu, then click "g" and "g" again, and off it goes. Removal is again quite similar, you select the package and then "r," "g," and "g" and the package is gone. Now it is at this point that Aptitude sets itself apart from the others by a bit. Aptitude also willingly removes the dependencies as well, as long as they are not being used by something else. This means no orphaned packages, or cruft. This provides a cleaner working environment and presumably a more stable system. You can also play Minesweeper while waiting for the packages to install.
Summary:
In the end the choice of any of the four discussed package managers is a matter of personal preference. Technically speaking, there seems to be little to differentiate one from the other with the exception of Aptitude's ability to remove dependencies when removing an application. As far as my personal preference, I really like Synaptic. It is an easy interface to work with and it just plain works.
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Quick Looks |
Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft Knot 1
Not quite two months ago Ubuntu released its 6.06 LTS to much acclaim. This past week the developers released an early development snapshot that they are calling 6.10 Edgy Eft Knot 1. I was interested in booting the livecd to find out what's new. On the surface it appears the answer is 'not much', unless you count the "test-pattern" silent boot splash.
It appears they have spent their time updating some packages. In this release we find an updated desktop as well as some other applications. They are utilizing the recent Gnome 2.15.4 developmental release as well as several other applications still in beta, while still others are well established. Some interesting package versions include:
- gcc-4.1.1-3
- make-3.81-2
- linux-2.6.17-5
- Xorg-7.0.0
- OpenOffice.org-2.0.2
- gaim-2.0b3
- evolution-2.7.4
- gimp-2.2.11
I booted the amd64 version, and I can't report that I saw any dramatic speed increases over i386 in the livecd format. Hardware detection was fairly good, although my usb printer wasn't detected nor was an usb connection offered in the printer setup interface. Some of the desktop preference menu items produced errors when clicked upon, although some of those did precede to open when closing the error box. On one boot of the livecd, the gnome-panel crashed and restarting gnome didn't clear the problem. Most of the desktop applications, such as office apps, graphics, or games, did seem to function as designed.
At this juncture, I'm not sure what the point of this release is. I can only speculate it was to create further interest or publicity for Ubuntu now that the excitement over 6.06 is decreasing. Their long range goal is the updated versions and they are now laying that groundwork as most will have stabilized before the next final release of Ubuntu. This is an expected course of events, however, at this point I didn't find enough different from 6.06 to create any new excitement.
Debian Live-Sid KDE
The Debian Project released some live cds on July 21. The list consists of a gnome version, a kde version, an xfce version, and a commandline version. I downloaded the KDE version to test and it booted with no problems.
The Debian live-sid boots up to a command prompt (at least in my case) with the user 'debian' autologged in. Guessing at the root password was fruitless, but one soon discovers sudo is enabled. With, if needed, quick adjustments to the generic xorg.conf file one can startx.
In my case a default KDE 3.5.3 desktop appears. It sits on Xorg 7.0.0 and linux 2.6.17 and comes with the full banquet of KDE applications. The KDE version as tested here didn't come with much more. Of course, one can get by with KDE only, but I have to wonder what might have come with the xfce version.
The system was stable and fast in the livecd format, but the fonts weren't very pretty. My sound was detected and the correct modules were loaded, yet sound didn't work. Other basic hardware seemed to function.
Debian GNU/Linux is one of the grandfathers of the Linux world, along with Slackware and perhaps Red Hat. Most of the distros available today have their roots in one of these founding fathers. As such, who doesn't love Debian? That said, I'm having a hard time imagining the niche for these live-sids. I wasn't able to locate an installer. Perhaps with the small download sizes of 354 MB or less, they might make limited rescue and repair disks. My conclusion is it works, but it doesn't excite.
Slax 5.1.7
Slax is another long time favorite of mine. They offer some of the extras that makes Linux so easy to use these days. In addition, they usually dress up their desktop ever so slightly and offer a new look from time to time. This release still utilized the 'sneakers' wallpaper, but underneath it included Linux 2.6.16, Xorg 6.9.0, and KDE 3.5.3.
The KDE version offered was just about the full suite of kde, perhaps lacking some of the development apps, toys, and games. They included KWord, Kpresenter, and KSpreadsheet for those pesky office tasks.
Most of the usual commandline applications were present, which would make it suitable as a portable desktop system or rescue and repair disk.
It boots up to a command prompt and gives the user instructions for logging in and starting the graphical desktop as well as offers various options such as a means to configure the X server if needed. In my case I just tweaked the generic xorg.conf file already in place and started X. Common hardware was autoconfigured, such as sound and network card. The menu contains a net-config if needed as well as the Slax module loader.
This is another great offering from the Slax team and well worth the download, especially considering it's less than 200 MB.
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Released Last Week |
rPath Linux 1.0.3
Michael K. Johnson has announced the availability of an updated release of rPath Linux 1 for both i386 and x86_64 architectures: "The new images incorporate installation changes, new kernels, and all package updates released as of July 12. If you have already installed rPath Linux 1, you should update your current system using Conary rather than reinstall using the new images. In this update, additional image types are now available for use with VMWare, QEMU, and other emulation technologies. A "live" or "demo" CD image is included as well." Please refer to the release announcement for further information.
CollegeLinux 2.6
Prof. David Costa has announced the release and immediate availability of CollegeLinux 2.6 CH. CollegeLinux Live Server is a Debian Linux based Live CD. As soon as you start, it is a fully capable PHP5, Perl and Ruby webserver, preloaded with GEdit and Vim for editing scripts with syntax highlighting. More information on the project homepage.
ZenLive Linux 2.6.1
ZenLive-2.6.1 Live CD features new games, the Gparted utility with ntfs support, full DVD support & a better sampling of International fonts. Furthermore, it is based upon Zenwalk-current (as of July 15th) which will give you a sneak peek into the imminent Zenwalk-2.8 release... At the same time, we have also released a Special French-speaking edition dedicated to our sister website: Zenwalk.fr. More information, including the changelog and download links, can be found on the project's home page.
Zenwalk Linux 2.8
Zenwalk 2.8 is a major evolution as more than 160 packages have been updated or added, including the Linux kernel 2.6.17.6 and several system improvements... Visual enhancements include a new boot splash screen and 4 new icon themes for the latest XFCE desktop environment (version 4.3.90.2). The most significant recent addition to Zenwalk's software repository is a full GNOME desktop environment built in only six packages! Extra desktop environments (Gnome and KDE) are available as optional packages in the repository, available via Zenwalk's internet based package management system "netpkg"." Read the full release announcement for more information.
SimplyMEPIS 6.0
Warren Woodford has announced the availability of SimplyMEPIS 6.0, the first public release of SimplyMEPIS to incorporate an Ubuntu foundation: "Based on the Dapper LTS package pool, 6.0 is designed for stable long term use and support. SimplyMEPIS 6.0 is a complete and safe desktop environment designed to meet the needs of everyday computer users. SimplyMEPIS offers advanced hardware autodetection, multimedia integration, and an easy to use installer. Featured software includes KDE 3.5.3, Kontact 1.2.3, OpenOffice 2.0.2, Firefox 1.5.0.4, Thunderbird 1.5.0.4, RealPlayer 10.0.7, as well as hundreds of other top quality applications. SimplyMEPIS 6.0 runs the latest security patched 2.6.15 Linux kernel from Ubuntu-Security." Read the complete press release for further information.
SLAX 5.1.7
After two release candidates, Tomas Matejicek announced the availability of SLAX 5.1.7: "The final version of SLAX 5.1.7 has been released. Compared to 5.1.6, the new version fixes some bugs regarding the 'load' cheatcode, it adds and upgrades several boot options (like noswap, noauto, from= and changes=/dev...) and added new cleanup scripts to correctly handle shutdown procedures." Check the list of changes since 5.1.6 here.
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Development and unannounced releases
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Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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DistroWatch.com News |
DistroWatch database summary
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Thanks!
Again, I want to thank everyone for tuning in this week while Ladislav is still on vacation. I also would like to thank Dr. Wen Tao Zhu for his invaluable help. Thanks to gfranken for emailing with the Mandriva news tip. I hope you enjoyed the article from our guest columnist this week comparing and contrasting the various apt-get front ends, we thank CapnKirby for that. I'll be with you for one more week. If you'd like to contribute, please feel free to email me with links. Thank you again, and have a great week!
Susan Linton
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Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • UBUNTU (by RIGODOR on 2006-07-24 11:21:36 GMT from Philippine, Philippines)
Can't wait for the Ubuntu Edgy... Which do you prefer? Ubuntu or SLED? There is a review posted at distrowatch... check it out at the homepage (left navigation)
2 • Fedora :) (by CoolGoose on 2006-07-24 11:45:30 GMT from Bucuresti, Romania)
Well i like Fedora :D.
3 • aptitude (by lezard on 2006-07-24 11:51:15 GMT from New York, United States)
to completely remove a package, use '_' (purge) and not 'r' (remove), it will delete configuration files as well.
4 • apt-get interfaces (by Fred on 2006-07-24 11:58:13 GMT from London, United Kingdom)
I personally use all 3: apt-get if I want a specific package, synaptic if I'm looking for a function but not quite sure what packages fit the bill and aptitude to update or remove packages.
5 • News from the kennels (by Lobster on 2006-07-24 12:18:03 GMT from Rochdale, United Kingdom)
Slax produce a very pleasant environment to work with. It makes Linux a pleasure. So well done to them. Well done to Debian for being "boring" (aka stable). Nice to see a smaller download for their live CD. . . Never did download their 14 CD set . . .
After producing the fastest KDE known to penguins, Puppy is taking its first steps towards Puppy Gnome - which many considered impossible. Not so.
This Thursday a Puppy test release offering writing to NTFS will be available.
In August we will be offering hardware companies opportunities to learn why at least two manufacturers now put Puppy in hardware with our Puppy Media Fiesta . . .
Our new biz site is being developed.
A new 50MB for business card CD's using Opera has been released - "Mean Puppy"
Our new Meaty Puppy promises to be even smaller 39MB with a full set of programs including Browser, Chat, Editors, utilities etc. You then add the components such as the bigger browsers you prefer. Should be out in August http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Puppy2xxCE
Anyways that is the news from the kennels :)
Puppy Publicity
6 • apt-cache (by nico on 2006-07-24 12:20:57 GMT from Riesa, Germany)
if you're using plain apt-get from the command line, you need to use apt-cache as well! using apt-cache search database you'll get a list of packages with "database" in their names or descriptions.
other important apt-cache commands are * apt-cache policy bla - to show existing versions of a package * apt-cache show blub - shows description of a package
generally speaking, apt-get does some modification in the root file system and must therefore be run by the root user, while apt-cache just shows some information and can be run as a normal user.
7 • Distrowatch is FAST... (by Flavio de Oliveira on 2006-07-24 12:29:07 GMT from Porto Alegre, Brazil)
WOW, I've just upgraded GoblinX homepage to annouce the GoblinX Mini release and few minutes later Distrowatch had already published the release... NICE...
8 • Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft Knot 1 (by Anonymous on 2006-07-24 12:35:45 GMT from Topeka, United States)
"At this juncture, I'm not sure what the point of this release is. I can only speculate it was to create further interest or publicity for Ubuntu now that the excitement over 6.06 is decreasing."
Wasn't this a scheduled snapshot so that people wanting to be early testers could do so without having to do an ftp install? After downloading and installing the ISO all they have to do is keep it updated with (apt-get).
As for what is in this snapshot that is different from 6.06, according to the announcement: "The primary changes from Dapper have been the re-merging of changes from Debian. Common to all variants, we have upgraded the kernel to 2.6.17. In Ubuntu, Gnome has been updated to 2.15.4 and GTK+ to 2.10."
9 • About APT... (by Caraibes on 2006-07-24 13:03:08 GMT from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
Good article... I enjoyed reading it...
As of me, I use both apt-get, and Synaptic...
I feel both are very convenient tools...
It is a good thing that Jebba included Apt in Blag, which is Fedora based...
10 • Typo (by Jonathan on 2006-07-24 14:11:12 GMT from Union, United States)
Slax 5.7.1 should be 5.1.7 (in the title)
11 • Quick look of Debian Live-Sid KDE (by Fonzarelli on 2006-07-24 14:16:51 GMT from Kajaani, Finland)
The system was stable and fast in the livecd format, but the fonts weren't very pretty.
The command for adjusting the font settings under Debian Sid is "sudo dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig-config".
12 • Umbongo (by Tommy Tomato on 2006-07-24 15:00:11 GMT from Savannah, United States)
It's nice to see amphibians getting some much-needed publicity by way of the new version of Ubuntu ('Edgy Eft'). Mammals dominated all the other releases, so it's good to see a little more diversity this time! Plus, the kids love the animal names. Genius!
13 • Ubuntu for now. (by RobNyc on 2006-07-24 15:46:05 GMT from Montclair, United States)
Seems like PCLinuxOS is never gonna come =
14 • Slax version typo (by James on 2006-07-24 16:12:10 GMT from Islandia, United States)
The section label for Slax says "Slax 5.7.1" when it should be Slax 5.1.7. Other than that, a great DWW as usual. Thanks.
15 • Other packaging systems (by Wilfred on 2006-07-24 16:24:05 GMT from London, United Kingdom)
The package round-up was nice, but you missed a few notable apps IMO. There is adept, which is ok but a little slow, and the new smart package manager which claims to resolve dependencies more intelligently than any others available, although it's still in beta.
16 • No subject (by pilpilon on 2006-07-24 16:58:13 GMT from , Israel)
to Tommy Tomato:
Dappers? Mammals?
17 • seems like pclinux is never gonna come out (by hekar on 2006-07-24 18:12:18 GMT from London, Canada)
The lastest pclinuxos is still great, you dont need bleeding edge software to have a great desktop distro and I rather they take their time working on a great inovative linux distro than release a update of v9.2
18 • RE: 16 (by SFN on 2006-07-24 18:31:24 GMT from Rochester, United States)
"Dappers? Mammals?"
Drakes.
19 • SLAX special editions are online (by Anonymous on 2006-07-24 19:26:25 GMT from Eschborn, Germany)
http://merlin.fit.vutbr.cz/mirrors/slax/SLAX-5.x/special-editions/slax-frodo-5.1.7b.iso http://merlin.fit.vutbr.cz/mirrors/slax/SLAX-5.x/special-editions/slax-killbill-5.1.7b.iso http://merlin.fit.vutbr.cz/mirrors/slax/SLAX-5.x/special-editions/slax-popcorn-5.1.7b.iso http://merlin.fit.vutbr.cz/mirrors/slax/SLAX-5.x/special-editions/slax-server-5.1.7b.iso
20 • Hibernating (by Anonymous on 2006-07-24 20:33:45 GMT from Honolulu, United States)
Are there any distro's in which hibernate (suspend) actually works by default? (on a desktop PC) I've tried a bunch of distro's, but haven't found one in which hibernating works.
21 • mepis? (by benplaut on 2006-07-24 20:35:03 GMT from Burlingame, United States)
I'm suprised 6.0 wasn't reviewed -- it's a pretty major release of a popular distro. My recommendations have now changed -- for gnome, ubuntu. For kde, mepis's new release is much more polished than kubuntu (imo)
22 • Re; 16 & 18: Ubuntu - Preferred Classes of Animals (by Tommy Tomato on 2006-07-24 21:05:20 GMT from Savannah, United States)
Yes, you're quite right. So we have had 2 mammals (Warty and Breezy), one bird (Dapper) and now an amphibian (Eft). We still need: fish, reptile and insect.
May I suggest Pretentious Pirhana, Klassy Komodo and Cocky Cockroach?
23 • Synaptic still has poor user interface design (by gnobuddy on 2006-07-24 21:06:04 GMT from Marina Del Rey, United States)
When I first used Synaptic a couple of years ago, it had an "install" button that did not install the software, but instead queued it for installation. It also had an "execute" button that did not execute the software, but rather, installed it. Two buttons that do something completely different from what the labels say...
From what you wrote, things are not much better today: there is still a button labelled "install" which does not install the software but queues it, and a button labelled "Apply" which does not apply anything, but instead installs the software.
If those two buttons were labelled "select this package for installation" and "install previously selected packages", their function would be much clearer to the user. Even better would be to lose the "queue and install" two-step behaviour of the program, and simply have a single button labelled "install" that would, in fact, install the selected package. If the user needs to install multiple packages, she will just have to do so one at a time. While less flexible, this is a lot clearer.
While there has been a lot of progress in Linux usability since I first started using it in 1999, this sort of thing is still with us, despite being so easy to fix. All it takes is watching a few unsuspecting first-time users struggle with your software, trying to figure out how to use it, and developers will have these sorts of issues clearly pointed out. I am thankful Novell has finally begun to do some of these usability studies.
-Gnobuddy
24 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2006-07-24 21:16:04 GMT from Marina Del Rey, United States)
May I suggest Pretentious Pirhana, Klassy Komodo and Cocky Cockroach? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems the release names also start with successively later letters in the alphabet, so we need something starting with F, G, and H to follow Edgy Eft.
How about "Feisty Featherfin", "Glamorous Gecko", and "Heroic Hornet"? :)
-Gnobuddy
25 • package managers (by Warpengi on 2006-07-24 21:36:57 GMT from Calgary, Canada)
I moved from Mandriva to Debian and one of the things I noticed right away was that, with apt-get, dependencies are not removed when uninstalling. Urpmi does remove dependencies. From my experience so far I sould say urpmi is superior but that is probably more a matter of the maintainers keeping dependencies up to date and conflicts resolved within the package database.
Nice to know that Aptitude removes dependencies. I will have to give it a try. Since I run Debian on my servers with no X installed it is nice to see that it is ncurses based as well. It seems odd to me that a front-end contains functions that the back end should have.
26 • Re : 23 (by ShakaZ on 2006-07-24 21:56:56 GMT from Bruxelles, Belgium)
Maybe your opinion on the actual state of the Synaptic interface would be worth something if only you had taken the 3min. needed to test it...
I don't think making a button 10 times larger, to place the text you suggest into it, would make the Synpatic any better... That kind of text belongs in a tooltip or in a warning somewhere else. Anyhow you can't know if there are any such warnings or tips as you haven't tried it for some time...
27 • Re 23 + (by tom on 2006-07-24 22:48:05 GMT from Helena, United States)
If you think Synaptic is hard for new useres, try sitting them in front of the command line. apt-get and aptitude are much more "in the know". As a new user who would guess-
vi /etc/apt/soruces apt-get update apt-get dist-upgrade apt-get install package-name-x.y.z
Let alone all the flags/options.
28 • eventual insect H name for Ubuntu (by Eric Hawk on 2006-07-24 23:22:39 GMT from Warminster, United States)
A previous poster had it almost right.....it should be Horny Hornet.
29 • RE: #13 # 17 #20 #21 aptitude rules (by Greg on 2006-07-25 00:30:18 GMT from Victoria, Canada)
Debian Etch is shaping up quite nicely but it still is getting polish. Got to say that the laptop task doesn't even install hibernation to disk so it works. Much better then last release where they had to use 2.4 kernel default because 2.6.8 would hang machines like mine unless acpi was disabled.
backports.org doesn't know better? The project should have chosen there own name. "Debian Sarge" is not theres for using. I believe Debian is trademarked. They should fix there name and rerelease
Suse Enterprise Linux Desktop 10 is really nice. I really want to try that out provided it has got the necessary updates since release candidate 3 which had some issues installing software. Suse has not really let me down compared to other distributions.
Fedora Core 6 is still zooming along. I am glad they introduced 6 a month release cycle. It really helped both FC and short release cycles catch on. They must be working hard or at least darn smart.
Gfxboot could be a nice improvement to isolinux for the cds and both grub and lilo in the installation. I can't think of another way I've seen internationalization done at the boot prompt. (Still wish Mandriva used a gfxboot enhanced grub as a default too, but they have setup lilo the nicest I've seen)
Apt-get frontends sure are nice. Aptitude is my favourite because it gives a command interface and a 'graphical' interface even if your stuck without X11. i for install and r for remove are really easy to remember. + install, - remove and _ remove including configuration is a little harder. I wish all programs opened up an easy user interface when you don't specify an option, or just do it if you tell it the options like aptitude; Now that is intuitive. I've used synaptic and adept too and they are really nice. Never tried others like Kpackage Kynaptic or smart (does it really do debian packages) #13 Kubuntu now, because got hibernate working. PCLinuxOS preview .93 can be installed now or upgraded from .92. I still think the top few on distrowatch rank are coincidently the most polished including SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 Desktop too. #17 They due make updates to preview .92 (fyi it isn't v9.2 it is .92 because it is a preview) I like the helpful blurb you give. #20 You may be unlucky with your laptop. I would suggest www.google.com/linux search for the name of your machine model and the word "hibernate". Suse has done hibernate (suspend to disk) since 9.2 or 9.1 for me. Ubuntu derivatives also work when I fixed my grub configuration file. I had to cat /proc/swaps and add my swap device to the end of the line. Email me if you like and I'll try to help. I had to install some packages in Fedora Core 5. Again I used google to find the package repositories. SLED probably works but I haven't got around to using it. #21 I'll bet Mepis 6 will be reviewed here soon. Even if it is not lots of other places will blab about it. I could see why you may like it better but myself I really like Kubuntu more. To each there own. #23 I see your point it is kind of confusing. I still find Synaptic has a wounderful interface that will upgrade, install, query or remove software and is quick to use. Windows sure could have used a universal upgrading application with software repositories set up. It is so fast to update in the everything background. The criticism of the quick example can be ignored.
30 • 25 (by AC on 2006-07-25 00:30:38 GMT from , United States)
"I sould say urpmi is superior but that is probably more a matter of the maintainers keeping dependencies up to date and conflicts resolved within the package database"
That guess would be way off. As aptitude's abilities demonstrate.
"It seems odd to me that a front-end contains functions that the back end should have."
Who says it "should" have those features? Aptitude is a front-end for a variety of tools and they're all front-ends for dpkg. (So far no one has mentioned my preferred front-end, the fabulous but little-known wajig, but no matter.) Sometimes one doesn't want to remove dependencies and consistent with the Unix philosophy, we should have tools that do one thing well and give you the choice to add other features. Then add tools that combine those tools. Aptitude is of the latter variety.
I will say this though: not enough people know the benefits of aptitude.
31 • wajig (by AC on 2006-07-25 01:34:17 GMT from , United States)
http://wajig.togaware.com/
32 • Upcoming Source Mage release (by Katz on 2006-07-25 02:16:20 GMT from Berlin, Germany)
The "Upcoming Releases and Announcements" section should be updated to include the Source Mage 0.9.6.1 release. A release candidate iso has been made available for testing. The Source Mage 0.9.6.1 release will be based on the recently updated stable grimoire.
http://www.sourcemage.org/node/1655 http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/sourcemage/iso/x86/0.9.6/smgl-0.9.6.1-x86-rc1.iso.bz2
33 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2006-07-25 02:34:20 GMT from Calgary, Canada)
"That guess would be way off. As aptitude's abilities demonstrate"
Are you saying that Aptitude resolves dependencies better and installs packages with fewer errors than apt-get? There is nothing in the article to suggest that. I don't say it happens a lot with apt but it can be a real PITA when it does.
"Who says it "should" have those features"
Well obviously I do:-) I got used to urpmi removing dependencies so that is what I am used to.
Why would one want to leave unused dependencies in? If you want or need to install additional packages it is far saner to install them individually than to install them as dependencies and then remove packages for which they are depends. Leaving unused dependencies in just creates a mess. I suspect that that was a lack in apt-get that the Mandriva developers saw when they created urpmi.
By the way, is there a command line tool for determining dependencies on installed packages in Debian?
34 • 33 (by AC on 2006-07-25 03:59:03 GMT from , United States)
I seem to have misunderstppd your criticisms of apt-get. I've never encountered the problems using stable, though on occasion, boxen running testing with unstable have. I don't know enough about Mandrivel to make a comparison or to know if you're comparing apples and oranges.
What is familiar is naturally preferred in most cases. But i would add to my remark about Unix philosophy that removing dependencies also violates the dictum to provide mechanism, not set policy.
Certainly installing FOO to get FOODEP then removing FOO is an odd way to proceed. And aptitude does show the courtesy of not removing FOODEP with FOO when, subsequent to FOO, BAR was installed which also depends on FOODEP. However, if BAR is to replace FOO, it makes a huge difference using aptitude if you first remove FOO or first add BAR. With apt-get, it makes no difference. Also, if you are building FOO from source but want the Debian versions of FOODEP, you may want to remove FOO without removing FOODEP. I'm sure there are other cases where this behavior might be desirable. In any case, it's a policy question and having a back-end (apt-get is actually fairly close to the front, but no matter) that doesn't try to set policy is a good thing.
Of course, ultimately, what we're talking about is a difference in design philosophy.
At one end, there's Red Hat (and I would guess SUSE and Madriva), which tries to automatically do "the right thing", which is depends by what most users would want in most situations. At the other end, there's Slackware, which tries to give the user total control and not to make assumptions, but in so doing offers fewer assistive tools.
Debian's position is in the middle. They try to offer a variety of tools to meet a variety of needs. The price of being both flexible and powerful is complexity - both the tools and Debian policy.
(Gentoo is similarly in the middle, but focuses on a different set of choices being easier.)
I far prefer the Debian approach, but there is merit in all of them.
aptitude show FOO | grep Depends wajig detail FOO | grep Depends wajig show FOO | grep Depends
The grep filter is only necessary if you really object to seeing the other package info roll past. And I'm sure there are other ways to get this info, but I wanted to give you a prompt response.
35 • Puppy getting worse? (by Raymond on 2006-07-25 04:20:08 GMT from Forestville, Australia)
Has anyone noticed that Puppy is getting worse? Releases 1.7 - 1.8 were great but after the rewrite of scripts for 2.0 it always hangs when you open MUT, and the other mount tool just flashes on screen. It's unusable for me.
36 • Re: 33 tool for determining dependencies (by Greg on 2006-07-25 05:29:08 GMT from Victoria, Canada)
There are two command line tools that will show dependencies on installed packages in Debian that come to mind. Use apt-cache or aptitude with the show option. An example of this would be to type in the commands: apt-cache show abiword aptitude show abiword
Please note that you can look at dependencies recursively with aptitude. Run aptitude and use / to search for what the package. Select the dependency with Enter and then select the package that is shown for that dependency. You can then look at its dependencies and so on. ? gives help for more info in aptitude.
Warning: Don't get too hung up on dependencies. If everything works, who cares? Most of the time you can waist disk space and install whatever you think you need. A few megabites is not going to matter normally.
37 • 36 (by AC on 2006-07-25 05:45:42 GMT from , United States)
Of course, I left out apt-cache. (the grep filter works the same there)
I should also add apt-cache showpkg FOO
This lists dependencies and reverse dependencies.
Another came to mind as well after my first response:
dpkg-query -s FOO | grep Depends
38 • 33 (by AC on 2006-07-25 05:57:46 GMT from , United States)
I'd also add that wajig can work like aptitude (removing dependencies) with:
wajig remove-depend FOO
OR
wajig purge-depend FOO
or it can leave dependencies, like apt-get.
39 • Advertising list (by Soloact on 2006-07-25 09:18:37 GMT from Redding, United States)
What ever happened to your list of advertisers, or sponsors? I was browsing and an ad caught my eye just as I was going to a new page. Of course backspace loaded up the next ad in rotation, and I never came across it again. Bring back the list, please. Thank you. BTW, it was an ad for computers preloaded with Linux, zdesk-something. Will keep looking...
40 • Debian Live (by AC on 2006-07-25 12:01:09 GMT from , United States)
"That said, I'm having a hard time imagining the niche for these live-sids. I wasn't able to locate an installer. Perhaps with the small download sizes of 354 MB or less, they might make limited rescue and repair disks. My conclusion is it works, but it doesn't excite."
The main point is to have a live CD that will give a truly representative experience of Debian (particularly Debian stable, when Etch is released) for demonstration purposes, something Knoppix, wonderful as it is, does not do. And it will include d-i, cdebootstrap, and debootstrap, so it will be entirely possible to install Debian from the live CD. It should also be possible to use for many of the tasks for which Knoppix is used and the aim is that there be a customization infrastructure for creating live CDs with a particular purpose, e.g. security audits, application demo, et al.
41 • Debian Live (by AC on 2006-07-25 12:03:29 GMT from , United States)
http://live.debian.net/wiki/WhyDebianLive
42 • answer to : 35 • Puppy getting worse? (by Caraibes on 2006-07-25 12:07:47 GMT from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
I had that feeling too, but I believe the Puppy community is exploring its possibilities.
keep in mind Puppy still have a great potential... I must say I was more happy with version 1.08... But I can't complain, because newer version have sound working for VIA 82xxx chipset... I had trouble installing 2.x on usb pendrive...
All in all, I would say Puppy is going thru a "sid" phase (unstable), but it might give birth to an absolutely lovely Puppy soon.
I trust Barry and the crew, they still have the best live-cd around when it comes to light distro, or one of the best live-cd of them all...
By the way, cheers to the Puppy team !!!
;o)
43 • Mepis 6.0 and LiveCDs (by Michael on 2006-07-25 12:34:51 GMT from Nashville, United States)
I have installed the new version of Mepis on two computers and I think it's excellent. The installation is easy and the hardware detection superb. The only peripherals that I had to configure were printers, but Mepis identified both printers so the configurations only involved a few mouse clicks.
I also think the LiveCD concept is great. (Thank you, Klaus.) Just put your /home directory on a separate partition and if you hose your installation, you can be back in business in minutes with a LiveCD. I commend Debian for developing their own LiveCD (see 41 posted by AC).
44 • 43 (by AC on 2006-07-25 12:56:15 GMT from , United States)
People should also be aware of bootcd, which has been available for awhile: a script for converting your existing Debian install into a bootable CD. Unlike Knoppix, et al, the resulting CD is really only suitable for the hardware it was built on, but for rescuing your own system or running your system read-only, it's quite handy.
Debian-Administration had an article on it awhile back
http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/148
45 • 43 Mepis (by tom on 2006-07-25 13:21:49 GMT from Helena, United States)
My wife uses Mepis so I also installed Mepis 6.0. So far, so good no real problems or surprizes (last month Ubuntu did not go as well).
Overall a very nice, "full featured" disto for Windows converts who do not want to meddle with the CLI. Compares favorably to any disto for ease of use and newbie friendliness. For the most part it "just works" out of the box.
I have not had time to look "under the hood".
A little too resource hungry/daemon prone for my tastes as I prefer something a little lighter, but I tinker more then my wife.
46 • Options for both (by Jesse on 2006-07-25 14:04:46 GMT from Calgary, Canada)
I enjoyed the debate over what a package manager should do and should not do. I like the idea of my package manager removing unused dependancies. However, there are times when I would prefer it did not (I use yum on Fedora) and I would like an option to simply remove the target package.
Example: yum --leave-deps remove package_name
I don't know how many times yum has become confused and decided it had to uninstall something it shouldn't have.
47 • koffice (by SC on 2006-07-25 15:37:25 GMT from Redwood City, United States)
'They included KWord, Kpresenter, and KSpreadsheet for those pesky office tasks.'
The implication is that these applications are suited to the task.
The statement quoted above tends to perpetuate the myth that KOffice is a capable product with respect to office tasks. KOffice may be outstanding for home users who don't need compatibility with popular/standard office software and don't need to use particular popular/standard fonts. For many with office jobs, KOffice fails.
Accurate reporting in this regard will increase the awareness of the people who put together Linux distributions, some of whom may have no office experience themselves.
48 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2006-07-25 15:50:05 GMT from , United States)
"For many with office jobs, KOffice fails."
And for many, it does not. YMMV. But the idea that everytime KOffice is mentioned, one needs a disclaimer is ridiculously pedantic.
49 • Re: koffice (by Ariszló on 2006-07-25 22:17:17 GMT from Budapest, Hungary)
What fonts can't you use with KOffice? I have never had any problems with its fonts support. Here is an old screenshot of KWord 1.4.1 displaying Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic and Hebrew letters, Chinese hanzi, Japanese hiragana and Korean hangul:
http://ariszlo.tripod.com/scr1.html
50 • koffice (by Anonymous on 2006-07-26 01:07:57 GMT from Rohnert Park, United States)
"the idea that everytime KOffice is mentioned, one needs a disclaimer is ridiculously pedantic."
Agreed, generally, but not in this discussion.
In the review the author is recommending Koffice software for office tasks.
For office work, appearance and compatibility are important. Koffice, a superior set of applications for many purposes, is handicapped in important ways.
Give KOffice to a friend who has Windows or a Mac, or has Linux with Open Office, who works in an office and say, "Here, use KWord, Kpresenter, and KSpreadsheet for those pesky office tasks." That friend will become distressed rather quickly.
Print out a formal letter using sans serif proportional font with KWord and compare the printed text to text generated by Open Office or any Windows or Mac application. The difference is significant.
Try to edit and save files that are compatible with MS Office. Compatibility with respect to file format, at this point, is poor compared to some other Linux office aps.
Actually, I am most curious about why Linux users including Distrowatch would recommend Koffice for office tasks when there is a known issue with print quality. The fix for the print kerning issue apparently continues to be deferred to the future. I wonder if there are so few Koffice users with real office-related needs that superior print quality just doesn't make the priority list.
Perhaps it's simply that the vast majority of Linux users really don't need top quality printed documents and are unconcerned about users who do.
It may not be "YMMV". It could be more like, "We don't need excellent mileage and it's not real important to us that a few of you do."
51 • No subject (by Odysseus on 2006-07-26 04:51:55 GMT from Auckland, New Zealand)
"those pesky office tasks"
Where I come from 'Pesky' is defined as small and annoying, which seems to be your appraisal of tasks that KOffice is fit for?
"The fix for the print kerning issue apparently continues to be deferred to the future"
With good reason. As has been repeated many times, the problem lies in the Qt3 toolkit, not KOffice itself. The solution lies in the port currently being undertaken to the Qt4 toolkit for KDE4.
Besides, printing is so last century, I rarely print office documents anymore :-)
The devs acknowledge that some of their filters are not up to scratch for heavy file sharing with MSOffice users, their main aim seems to be to support people migrating over to KOffice. For file sharing, they've concentrated their VERY limited resources into implementing ODF as the native file format, which ensures compatibility with OOo, and perhaps MSOffice when its ODF plugin is working fully.
And you're missing the context here. For those needing OOo, it's in the SLAX repository, but you try fitting OOo into a 200Mb live ISO and you'll see why they choose KOffice instead :-)
John.
52 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2006-07-26 10:17:31 GMT from Los Angeles, United States)
What happened to the Distrowatch page that listed what distro other distros are based on? Is it still available? Also, a week or so ago I noticed a new release based partially on Kanotix, but now I can't find it and I don't remember the name of the distro. The Latest Distributions list only goes back 3 or 4 days. That is not much depth. Is there a way to search back farther for resent distribution releases on DistroWatch?
53 • Re: 52 • No subject (by Ariszló on 2006-07-26 12:04:23 GMT from Budapest, Hungary)
It is here: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=independence
54 • 53 • Re: 52, continued (by Ariszló on 2006-07-26 12:10:49 GMT from Budapest, Hungary)
Oops, it is no longer up to date. Try the Search page instead: http://distrowatch.com/search.php http://distrowatch.com/search.php?basedon=KANOTIX&status=Active
55 • MEPIS reference page (by vdb on 2006-07-26 14:46:51 GMT from Torino, Italy)
Hi ! The MEPIS reference page on Distrowatch still needs to be updated. It shows as current release 6.0rc3.
56 • Puppy works better than ever (by Lobster on 2006-07-26 17:06:05 GMT from Rochdale, United Kingdom)
To clarify what I feel are perfectly fair comments about the 2.xx series of Puppy. The 1.xx series is still being used but we are encouraging development and use of the 2 series, most people are delighted with it.
Version 1.09CE (many people still use it - it was our first Community Enhanced edition) was the last version based on the developed stable structure. It is very stable and usable. In 6 months and 8 test releases, the surface of Puppy looked the same but the underlying structure is different.
You can see how Puppy now works here: http://www.puppylinux.com/development/howpuppyworks.html
Long term we will have:
# Better Flash Drive support # 32MB Ram support. # Even faster booting # Simpler structure. # Improved security. # Simplified multisession - that is run and save to CD or DVD
Barry is also going over to k2 - multi processor support is on the way. Because Puppy is so good, people have high expectations. A new test release will be available this week and our second community enhanced version will be based on the stable release of that.
If you want our most stable release use 1.09CE but we would prefer you grow with us. Get the latest. It works. Have fun.
57 • Answer to Lobster (by Caraibes on 2006-07-26 20:48:35 GMT from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
My friend Lobster,
I am actually writing you from Puppy 2.x. I do enjoy tremendously Puppy, and all my critics are friendly critics...
These days my main desktop is Blag 50000, but I also have one PC running Zenwalk, and my live-cd of choice is Puppy.
Puppy 1.09 is on my USB pendrive because it installed fine...
So I just wanted to say that I trust you guys, and I am sure Barry andthe crew will do a great job...
As a matter of fct, one of my PC's has no more hdd, and all others are being used by customers, while my wife has the main one... So I am really gratefull to Puppy to allow me to browse the web and relax on this hdd-less pc.
58 • Re: #51 Koffice (by Anonymous on 2006-07-27 02:07:16 GMT from Rohnert Park, United States)
"Besides, printing is so last century"
Yes... and no... The demise of paper printing may be only wishful thinking, at least for the next decade.
My employer uses less paper for data printouts and monthly reporting. However, overall we use as much paper as in the past in spite of policy to reduce paper consumption. Email has not reduced the use of bond paper in our large U.S. organization.
While it is risky to extrapolate based upon one example, and statistics are easily misinterpretted, our experience appears to be consistent with other indicators. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=396906&in_page_id=1770 http://www.printondemand.com/MT/archives/002388.html http://www.grist.org/news/counter/2000/02/02/paper/
Attractive hard-copy presentation wins arguments. It sells ideas and products. And convenient... it can be taken into the bathroom for serious study! It's essential in the business world. One would expect developing countries to begin to fully appreciate its advantages.
Printing is far less important to hobbyists, which accounts for our differences.
"And you're missing the context here... you try fitting OOo into a 200Mb live ISO and you'll see why they choose KOffice instead :-)"
Agreed. Guess I got carried away. Apologies to everyone.
59 • 58 (by AC on 2006-07-27 06:04:09 GMT from , United States)
"Agreed. Guess I got carried away. Apologies to everyone."
You still made some interesting and important points. Though probably not appropriate to the context, it was still a valuable contribution. No need for apologies.
And it was I who said "ridiculously pedantic". ;-)
60 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2006-07-27 21:09:11 GMT from Santa Barbara, United States)
"'They included KWord, Kpresenter, and KSpreadsheet for those pesky office tasks.'
The implication is that these applications are suited to the task."
There's no such implication.
"In the review the author is recommending Koffice software for office tasks."
The author is doing no such thing. You really need to learn how to read, and to interpret what you read. The author simply noted that those KDE apps are included in the release, with a cutesy phrase about what those apps are for. There's nothing there at all about the quality of the apps, how good they are at the task, whether including them was wise, or anything of the sort. It's fine that you have a bug up your butt about Koffice, apparently for good reasons, but that's no excuse for accusing people of doing things they didn't do.
61 • Google hosting code (by Raymond on 2006-07-28 01:29:32 GMT from Forestville, Australia)
#56: Puppy is having some growing pains :( Looking forward to the rejuvinated puppy.
What about this: Google is now hosting opensource code like Sourceforge. Are they trying to gobble up everything on the net?
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=15310
62 • 61 related points (by AC on 2006-07-28 01:40:58 GMT from , United States)
http://www.joachim-breitner.de/blog/archives/60-Launchpad,-Google-and-why-Microsoft-is-not-the-problem.html
63 • re apt-get and depencies (by Warpengi on 2006-07-28 02:07:56 GMT from Calgary, Canada)
Thanks people for the responses to my query, just got around to checking today. Some very useful suggestions there. I expect the information was helpful to more than just me. It occurs to me that I could have done a little googling or read some man pages. Sometimes it is nice to simply ask a question and get the answer without looking.
64 • No subject (by Fud 4 All at 2006-07-28 18:10:11 GMT from Lake Havasu City, United States)
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1993707,00.asp I think I will keep the iPod I already use.
65 • FreeBSD packages on install cds, 6.1-RELEASE-i386-disc1 and disc2 (by Antonio on 2006-07-28 20:37:31 GMT from Corpus Christi, United States)
On the distrowatch page of FreeBSD, it lists a bunch of packages that available on FreeBSD. When you install, some of those packages are not there, i.e, tetex-3.0. I know that to get TeTeX to work, one can build it from the ports system. Yet it is shown on the page that tetex-3.0 comes with the install discs. It makes me wonder.
Also, Mplayer on FreeBSD is old, still with 0.99 series, while the new version MPlayer-1.08 runs very nicely.
Ghostscript is still 7.07 while NetBSD and other have ghostscript-8.16 or newer.
Why doesn't the new code appear on FreeBSD. After all one can do a # make install clean and get the latest available sources if one has a decent internet connection, ie. high speed and not dialup.
66 • Configuration (by Jill Hudson on 2006-07-28 22:40:41 GMT from Exeter, United States)
I'm kind of confused, I read an article that I wanted to post this specifically to, and now this looks like it's all of them? Not sure.
Okay, so I've been using a product to configure my servers, and it has helped a lot with disaster recovery which was covered in one of the articles...
It's called Auditor Lite, it can be found here:
I didn't know if anyone else had experience with it or if anyone has ever used the Basic after using the Lite version, because I'm looking into getting it. Thanks.
67 • Please help... (by Anonymous Penguin on 2006-07-30 04:05:40 GMT from Roma, Italy)
Please help the SymphonyOS project if you can:
http://www.symphonyos.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4793
It would be also *very nice* if the next DistroWatch donation could go that way: Ryan Quinn has done a lot to innovate, and now he happens to be in trouble...
68 • XFree86 returns (by Ariszló on 2006-07-30 15:05:09 GMT from Budapest, Hungary)
Most Linux distributions have abandoned XFree86 for xorg due to various reasons but now aLinux 12.8 is shipped with XFree86 rather than Xorg. Any ideas why? Is XFree86 4.6.0 technically superior to Xorg?
http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=03600
69 • xfree (by AC on 2006-07-30 19:59:16 GMT from , United States)
My only guess is that there's still an issue with ati drivers for x.org. But I'd thought that had been resolved.
70 • Love Ubuntu - hate these flaws! (by Kim Connors on 2006-07-31 04:16:47 GMT from Sudbury, Canada)
My biggest whine in respect to Ubuntu,( which I otherwise love), has got to be:
(1) The lack of a fix for the Live Dapper Install on my Asus/AMD64 3000/Nvidia system. My only resort is to install Breezy 5.10, then upgrade to 6.06 via Synaptic.
The Alternate Dapper cd gave me the same faulty " blank screen" result.
Oddly enough it install well on my Celeron with the same FX5200 Nvidia card.
(2) HPLIP printer install failure. One must resort to long manual tar installation. Mine was buggy. I had to remove it and go with Cups only.
What does the average joe do?
HP Printers are common and so are AMD 64's.
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• Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
• Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
• Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
• Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20 |
• Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
• Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
• Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
• Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
• Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
• Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
• Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
• Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
• Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
• Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
• Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
• Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
• Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
• Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
• Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
• Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
• Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
• Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
• Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
• Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
• Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
• Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
• Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
• Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
• Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
• Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
• Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
• Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
• Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
• Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
• Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
• Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
• Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
• Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
• Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
• Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
• Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
• Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
• Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
• Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
• Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
• Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
• Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
• Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
• Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
• Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
• Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
• Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
• Full list of all issues |
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Random Distribution |
Amber Linux
Amber Linux was a Latvian Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. It aims at being the first business desktop Linux distribution that was tailored specifically to the needs of Latvian users. Features include automatic hardware detection and storage device mounting; GNOME as the default desktop environment; OpenOffice.org as the default office applications suite; Hansa Financials accounting software.
Status: Discontinued
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Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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