 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 167, 4 September 2006 |
Welcome to this year's 36th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Following a new release of Gentoo Linux last week, another popular "geek" project is likely to announce a major new version this week. Slackware Linux, the world's oldest surviving Linux distribution, has been through no fewer than four release candidates, so the final version can't be far away. Also expected later this week - GNOME 2.16. In other news, Linspire scraps the annual fee for its software repository, Ubuntu contributors keep enhancing their favourite distribution with extra software, services and even a new start-up script, and the NetBSD world is rocked by accusations of mismanagement by one of the project's founders. We also have the pleasure to announce that DistroWatch has once again been voted one of the "Top 101" web sites by PC Magazine and that the August 2006 donation of US$350 goes to the Puppy Linux project. Happy reading!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Miscellaneous News |
Linspire frees Click 'N Run, Ubuntu updates, NetBSD troubles, Tinkerbell Linux
 Linspire, a San Diego-based Linux distribution maker, announced last week that it would do away with the annual fees for its Click 'N Run service, a web-based front-end for installing extra software applications on both Linspire and Freespire. This follows the company's recent inaugural release of Freespire 1.0, a community maintained free distribution with emphasis on usability and convenience, predominantly designed for novice Linux users. The announcement means that all Linspire and Freespire users will now have access to a vast repository of Debian packages through a convenient web-based utility.
Kevin Carmony, the CEO of Linspire, justified the move in a forum post by arguing that "for every basic CNR subscriber we have, we get 3 Gold subscribers. The added benefits of support, discounts on the commercial products, etc., will continue to be a strong motivation for many of you to subscribe to this premium service." The easy availability of software packages, he believes, should also attract more new users to Freespire.
* * * * *
 Is Ubuntu the perfect Linux distribution? Although many will probably answer the above question affirmatively, there are those users who find the lack of many useful but proprietary components unacceptable in a modern operating system. For those, a newly published article entitled Common Customisations examines the current status of the various third-party tools providing the "missing pieces", such as multimedia codecs, patent-encumbered packages, non-distributable and proprietary applications, and other software that make our daily computing lives easier. The article examines the value of existing scripts, such as Easy Ubuntu or Automatix, discusses other possibilities of extending Ubuntu, and invites users to provide a feedback on the subject. Worth a read if you want to understand the challenges and possible solutions to a highly complex issue.
While on the subject of Ubuntu, some of the more technical Linux users might have heard about the new way of starting up their favourite distribution. Instead of using the age-old "sysvinit" to start various services during the system boot, the Ubuntu developers have been working on a new system called "upstart". Ubuntu Fridge has published an article on the subject, describing the differences between the two systems in layman's language and explaining the motivation behind the move. Although the work is largely driven by a desire to simplify the boot process, rather than to increase the boot speed, many users are likely to notice faster boot times when using "upstart". The new technology is scheduled to be included in Ubuntu 6.10 "Edgy Eft", scheduled for release at the end of October.
And still on the subject of Ubuntu, a new way of generating custom, Ubuntu-based live CDs are now available through a project called Reconstructor. This graphical application, written in Python, is designed to help users to re-create a new Ubuntu live CD with customised GNOME settings, new splash screens, unique themes, additional software packages and other aspects of the popular distribution. Reconstructor is released under the General Public License and is available from the project's download page, complete with an 11-page user manual in PDF format.
* * * * *
 The BSD world was rocked by a major controversy last week. In an open letter to the netbsd-users mailing list, Charles M. Hannum, one of the four founders of NetBSD, has expressed his doubts about the future of the popular, multi-arch operating system: "The NetBSD Project has stagnated to the point of irrelevance. It has gotten to the point that being associated with the project is often more of a liability than an asset." The strong words were then followed by accusations that the project has been run by an ineffective board of directors, lacking vision and ignoring user and customer needs: "This is the result of a coup that took place in 2000-2001, in which The NetBSD Foundation was taken over by a fraudulent change of the board of directors." The misery of NetBSD was compounded by further bad press when the writer of the above letter, together with seven more NetBSD developers, were told to leave the project due to their unwillingness to sign a new agreement.
* * * * *
 Packt Publishing has published an interview with Gerard Beekmans, the founder of Linux From Scratch (LFS). When answering a question about how this excellent educational project started, the founder of LFS replied: "After trying out a few distributions I couldn't settle on any one pre-packed system to fit my needs. I also didn't get the feeling I was learning everything I could learn about how Linux works, especially behind the scenes. That's how the LFS project started. I was putting together a Linux system from scratch as an attempt to figure out how things worked. I wrote down the steps I took to get such a system up and running, thinking that there are probably other people out there who would be interested in it." Find out more on why every hard-core Linux geek should build at least one Linux system from scratch!
* * * * *
 Interested in Linux-based diskless terminals and terminal servers? If so, we have some good news for you. The Malta-based 2X Software has announced that it will open source the code behind its successful NX-based terminal servers for Linux: "2X today announced the release of 2X TerminalServer for Linux, an open source terminal server for Linux, which enables users to run a Linux desktop and Linux / Windows applications over any type of connection." The reason? "If Linux is going to happen on the desktop, it will require a terminal server approach such as that of 2X Terminal Server for Linux. Only with the more advanced thin client approach, will Linux be able to outdo Windows fat clients in a company's network." More details about the product and its benefits can be found in this press release.
* * * * *
 As KDE celebrates its 10th birthday, here is something for the more nostalgic among us - the first press release announcing the start of a new desktop for UNIX called "Kool Desktop Environment": "The idea is to create a GUI for an ENDUSER. Somebody who wants to browse the web with Linux, write some letters and play some nice games." Additional technical details about the new desktop emerge further down the announcement: "Since a few weeks a really great new widget library is available free in source and price for free software development. The stuff is called 'Qt' and is really a revolution in programming X." The announcement, written by Matthias Ettrich, is concluded with: "I admit the whole thing sounds a bit like fantasy. But it is very serious from my side. Everybody I'm talking to in the net would LOVE a somewhat cleaner desktop. Qt is the chance to realize this. So let us join our rare spare time and just do it!"
10 years later, with KDE being one of the two main desktop environments on Linux, BSD and other UNIX operating systems, it is clear that dreams do sometimes come true. All we need is hard-working leaders with vision, perseverance, and motivation to get things done! Happy birthday, KDE!
* * * * *
 Finally, a new and exciting distribution was born last week. Unlike the hundreds already listed on DistroWatch, the new Tinkerbell Linux is developed by none other than Paris Hilton, a popular American sex idol. Explaining the motivation behind her entry into the open source world, the 25-year old socialite had this to say about her new-found hobby: "I think The Open Source Movement is, like, really hot. I've been dabbling with coding for ages, but it's taken me some time to find the courage to release it. As you know, I'm a shy and modest person, and wasn't sure if it was good enough for the strict standards of the coding community." As for the technical side of things, "Tinkerbell Linux is based on Slutware Linux and will be distributed on Paris Hilton's next music CD entitled 'Crontab for Love.'" For more details about the new, titillating Linux distro please read the formal press release.
Our take: watch this space! Ubuntu's days at the top of our page hit ranking statistics will be over in record time as the new Tinkerbell Linux will take the world by storm. This is also exactly what the Linux world needed to displace that other operating system from computer users' desktops! Great, great news!
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| Released Last Week |
Berry Linux 0.73
Yuichiro Nakada has announced a new release of Berry Linux, version 0.73. The latest release is based on kernel 2.6.17.11 SMP, with ndev/udev and bootsplash patches. Most of the base components come from Fedora Core 5, but the more visible software packages have been upgraded to newer versions; these include KDE 3.5.4, GIMP 2.2.12, xine 0.9.4, digiKam 0.8.2, Firefox 1.5.0.6 and Thunderbird 1.5.0.5 (both English and Japanese editions of the Mozilla products are included), and WINE 0.9.19. The project's own Rasp-UI window manager has been updated to version 0.04, while several new Japanese fonts have been added (YOzFont, Aoyagikouzan, Gyosho, Decoration). Read the project's changelog for a complete list of changes.
StartCom Enterprise Linux 3.0.6
Eddy Nigg has released an updated version of StartCom Enterprise Linux 3 series: "The legendary StartCom Enterprise Linux AS-3 is the first updated distribution release after the summer break, out of a series of update releases scheduled for the coming month. The release of AS-3.0.6 (Maccabee) features about 300 updated packages. Since the last release of the AS-3 series, the popular Ethereal network sniffing tool was forked to a new project called Wireshark. This change is reflected in this release, but also the newest Firefox and Thunderbird packages are included again." Read the rest of the press release for further information.
Gibraltar Firewall 2.4.1
A new stable version of the Debian-based Gibraltar Firewall has been released: "The new version v2.4 from Gibraltar is available. Gibraltar v2.4 comes with many new features and now also available pre-installed on several reliable hardware platforms. The new Gibraltar Security Gateways are offered with different performance data for network sizes up to several hundred computers. Due to permanent product enhancements during the last years, Gibraltar has been evolved from a pure Firewall to a powerful and reliable UTM appliance (universal threat management)." Read the full release announcement and check out the changelog for a full list of changes and new features.
CentOS 4.4
Johnny Hughes has announced the availability of a fourth update to CentOS 4 series, a Linux distribution built from source RPM packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4: "The CentOS development team is pleased to announce the release of CentOS 4.4 for i386 and x86_64. This release corresponds to the upstream vendor U4 release together with updates through August 26th, 2006. The Live CD edition (1 CD-ROM) is available for i386. Major changes for this version are: Mozilla has been replaced by SeaMonkey, Ethereal has been replaced by Wireshark. Firefox and Thunderbird have moved to 1.5.x versions, OpenOffice.org has moved from to the 1.1.5 version." For more information please see the release announcement and release notes.
Fedora Core 5 Live CD/DVD
Robert Jensen has announced the availability of a new set of Fedora Core live CDs and DVDs. Called "Live-Spins" and created with a tool called Kadischi, the new Fedora live CD/DVD images allow users to test the distribution without having to install it to their hard disks. Fedora Unity has released the Live-Spins for both the current stable version (Fedora Core 5) and the latest development build (Fedora Core 6 Test 2). More information can be found in the release announcement.
Gentoo Linux 2006.1
Gentoo Linux 2006.1 has been released: "The Gentoo Release Engineering team proudly announces the release of Gentoo Linux 2006.1, the second release of the year. The 2006.1 release features many highlights that improve upon 2006.0. The AMD64, HPPA, x86, 32- and 64-bit PowerPC releases are built with and include GCC 4.1, a great improvement over version 3.4 used for 2006.0. Also included are the GNU C library version 2.4 and Gentoo's baselayout 1.12.1, with improved system start-up scripts. Alpha, x86 and AMD64 also feature a new profile layout, with separate sub-profiles for desktop and server systems." Read the rest of the press release for more details.
Debian GNU/Linux 3.1r3
Joey Schulze has announced the availability of a third revision of the stable Debian GNU/Linux 3.1, code name 'sarge': "The Debian project has updated the stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 3.1. This update mainly adds security updates to the stable release, along with a few corrections to serious problems." Besides a large number of security updates and bug-fixes to glibc, GRUB, Perl and other packages, the Debian installer and several base packages were also updated. For more information please see the official release announcement and changelog. As always, the Debian stable revisions are normally applied with the apt-get package management tool. The updated stable branch, labelled as 3.1r3, is available from the project's main server or various mirrors around the world.
ZenLive Linux 2.8
A new version of ZenLive Linux, a subproject the Slackware-based Zenwalk Linux, is out: "It's official, ZenLive 2.8 has been released! This is a major version release based on the latest stable release of Zenwalk Linux, version 2.8. In addition, the latest versions of Zenwalk's net-based package management system, 'netpkg', which now allows software downloading from multiple repositories, system-tools and xdialog have been upgraded. A few new games have been added. All of your favorite Zenwalk applications are here as well so you'll feel right at home. Zenwalk 2.8 is a live CD powerhouse complete with wireless networking support, multimedia, office and gaming software, as well as international fonts and DVD codecs." Visit the project's home page to read the complete release announcement.
Ubuntu Christian Edition 1.2
Version 1.2 of Ubuntu Christian Edition (Ubuntu CE) has been released: "We have just released Ubuntu Christian Edition v1.2! We have added the GnuCash financial management software as well as the very popular Ubuntu customization tool, Automatix. There also some smaller additions such as new Daily Bible Verse feature and a new GDM to make the look and feel of Ubuntu CE more consistent. One of the major accomplishments with this release is the introduction of the Ubuntu CE Installer. With it users are able to easily install even more great Christian and Educational software." Find more details in the release announcement.
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Development and unannounced releases
- VLOS 1.3-beta3, the release announcement
- Vine Linux 4.0-beta1, the release announcement
- Mandriva Linux 2007-beta3, the press release
- Frugalware Linux 0.5-rc2, the release announcement
- Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu, 6.10-alpha2, the release announcement
- Elive 0.5-beta3.4, the changelog
- Slackware Linux 11.0-rc4, the changelog
- Wolvix 1.0.5-beta "Cub", the release announcement
- Kalango Linux 3.3-rc1
- ClarkConnect Gateway/Server 4.0-rc1
- Kurumin Linux 6.1-rc2
- PUD GNU/Linux 0.4.6.4
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
openSUSE 10.2
The openSUSE project has announced the details about its upcoming release - openSUSE 10.2. After the fourth alpha build expected on 7 September, the developers will add one more alpha, two betas and one release candidate before the final release on 7 December 2006. Besides the usual software updates, openSUSE 10.2 promises to add new WLAN and Intel 3D graphics drivers, include Wink for creating video tutorials and, if Google agrees, provide the Linux edition of GoogleEarth. YaST will come with an ability to add third-party software repositories and other enhancements. Find more information in this mailing list post and on the project's roadmap page.
* * * * *
Vine Linux 4.0
The Vine Linux project has announced details about the upcoming release of Vine Linux 4.0, the project's first major release in two years. According to ITPro (article in Japanese), Vine Linux 4.0 will be ship with kernel 2.6, and will include GNOME 2.14, as well as Anthy and SCIM Japanese input method editors. As usual, editions for the i386 and PowerPC architectures will be developed simultaneously, with the release candidate appearing roughly two weeks before the final release. Once the development of Vine Linux 4.0 is completed, work on a new update, version 4.1, will start with an expected release date in January 2007.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
DistroWatch one of "Top 101 web sites"
It is always nice to see that our work on DistroWatch is appreciated by the open source software community, but it feels even better when a general computing magazine recommends our web site to its readers. In its annual Top 101 Web Sites survey, PC Magazine has once again included DistroWatch as one of the top computing web sites on the Internet: "Looking for your daily Linux fix? DistroWatch keeps you up to date on all the latest news about release announcements of Linux distributions. The site also has reviews, articles, and interviews with Linux developers." Let's hope that each visitor's "daily Linux fix" will turn into a life-long happy love affair with Free Software!
* * * * *
August 2006 donation: Puppy Linux US$350.00
We are pleased to announce that the DistroWatch August 2006 donation has been awarded to Puppy Linux (US$350.00). Few open source software projects have been nominated for a donation as many times as Puppy Linux, so it only seems natural to reward its creator, Barry Kauler, for endless hours of hard work. The pride of Australia, Puppy Linux has truly became a unique and original distribution, targeting mainly older computers, but also appealing to those users who enjoy small and fast operating systems with a great selection of applications and a good community of users. Besides Puppy Linux itself, a number of Puppy derivatives have also been born over the last few months; these include Grafpup Linux, Hacao Linux (site in Vietnamese) and MeanPup (formerly Mean Puppy).
We received an email from Barry Kauler shortly after sending the donation: "When I first saw the email, I thought, 'ah, Ladislav has ordered a CD'. Then I saw what it was... man, I never expected to get a big donation like that! It will not be spent on pizzas and coke -- I'm always in need of new hardware for testing purposes so that's where it's going."
As always, the monthly donations programme is a joint initiative between DistroWatch, which allocates 10% of its advertising revenue, and three online shops selling low-cost CDs and DVDs with Linux, BSD and other open source software - LinuxISO.co.uk and LinuxCD.org and OSDisc.com. The three CD/DVD vendors contributed US$50.00 each towards this month's donation to Puppy Linux.
This is the PayPal receipt for the donation to Puppy Linux:
Dear DistroWatch.com,
This email confirms that you have paid Barry D Kauler $350.00 USD using PayPal.
------------------------------
Payment Details:
------------------------------
Transaction ID: 2TA35895BD7248440
Item Price: $350.00 USD
Total: $350.00 USD
Item/Product Name: Donation to Puppy Linux project
Buyer: DistroWatch.com
Here is the list of projects that received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the programme:
Since the launch of the DistroWatch Donations Programme in March 2004, we have donated a total of US$9,650 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
Freespire reloaded
Several readers have emailed us to let us know that Linspire has launched what can only be classified as an attempt to tamper with our page hit ranking statistics by trying to artificially inflate the page hit ranking figures for its new community distribution - Freespire. Upon investigation, it turned out that both linspire.com and nvu.com had been deceivingly redirecting visitors to the Freespire page on DistroWatch and that the default home page of Firefox in the latest build of Freespire had also been set to the same page. As a result, Linspire has become the largest referrer of DistroWatch.com this month and the company has been responsible for a considerable number of extra hits on the Freespire page at DistroWatch.
Although the redirections continued for several days, the Freespire page hit counter was unaffected. As always, excessive and deliberately misleading links to DistroWatch by distributions are considered illegal and a script was promptly set up to prevent the counter from incrementing in cases where the visitors were referred by linspire.com or nvu.com.
For more information (and a rather heated debate) please see also this thread on the Freespire forum.
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- Linux Mint. Linux Mint is a GNU/Linux distribution which is based on Kubuntu. Its purpose is to offer a customised version of Kubuntu which features improved artwork, up-to-date packages and support for restricted multimedia formats. Linux Mint comes as a single live CD which provides a graphical installer.
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DistroWatch database summary
And that concludes our latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next issue will be published on Monday, 11 September 2006. Until then,
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • FC6 & Mandriva 2007 (by jokinin on 2006-09-04 12:06:33 GMT from Spain)
Waiting for Fedora Core 6 to install it on my main computer. I hope it won't crash while installing it with a Sound Blaster X-Fi , as Core 5 does.
I'd like to test Mandriva 2007, but i guess that, as i am not club member, i'll have to wait one or two months to download the free ISO image.
2 • Broken link (by Boris on 2006-09-04 12:12:01 GMT from Russian Federation)
The link to the "open letter" by Charles Hannum, regarding NetBSD, beings instead to the download page of "Reconstructor".
Best regards
3 • Glad to see the donation to Puppy ! (by Caraibes on 2006-09-04 12:12:10 GMT from Dominican Republic)
Good move, Ladislav !
Barry deserves the donation, as he has been performing an outstanding job with the Puppy Linux Project.
I have Puppy permanently installed in my USB pendrive, and feel it is a fundamental distro.
Apart from that, it was a happy reading... I am waiting to test-drive Mandriva 2007 whenever it is released to those of us who use the Free/Download edition... So if MDV 20007 is out on sept.15, it might be early october, I guess....
4 • Hi hi hi (by Harm on 2006-09-04 12:13:34 GMT from Netherlands)
The Paris Hilton gag is really hilarious!
5 • CNR (by Lakkilinux on 2006-09-04 12:23:27 GMT from Pakistan)
Hello Ladislav Bodnar,
Nice Distroweekly as ever, just want to clear about CNR basic, is it free for both freespire and linspire or just freespire?
thanks
regards,
lakkilinux
6 • Paris (by rhipwell on 2006-09-04 12:24:26 GMT from Canada)
Thanks for the laugh, Tinkerbell Linux haha
7 • aaaah ha! (by srlinuxx on 2006-09-04 12:26:39 GMT from United States)
" the first press release announcing the start of a new desktop for UNIX called "Kool Desktop Environment""
All these years since I've been using Linux, they kept saying KDE didn't stand for anything or it stood for KDE Desktop Environment. /Now/ we know! Pretty cool too. :D
And while I'm commenting on news, "Kevin Carmony... [argued] that "for every basic CNR subscriber we have, we get 3 Gold subscribers. The added benefits of support, discounts on the commercial products, etc., will continue to be a strong motivation for many of you to subscribe to this premium service."
I think it will too. Freespire is a respectable and attractive alternative to windows. The PR value of this move is immeasurable. As a self-proclaimed (but not proven) veteran, their stock went up in my book when they did this and if I was a newbie, I'm certain I'd give Freespire/Linspire long consideration.
I'm not commenting on the Paris Hilton thing, ... you geek guys... I swear. :D
8 • Sluts and Suits (by Lobster on 2006-09-04 12:43:16 GMT from United Kingdom)
Good to hear about Puppy and Paris.
Very sad to hear about NetBSD. We need more Linux sluts and fewer Linux suits.
I am not surprised Distrowatch is rated highly, it is consistent and highly regarded and loved by its regulars.
I am at this moment creating 0.8 of my distribution based on Puppy using the unleashed system. The release version will not be available until 2008. I will place a link explaining the creation process here as soon as it is ready http://tmxxine.com/tmx/ (next few days - stay sober)
9 • Tinkerbell (by The WebDruid on 2006-09-04 12:50:02 GMT from Australia)
Tinkerbell eh. I must admit that I believed it at first, but I changed my mind after I saw "Slutware", and then the 404 error that the page on parishilton.com returned.
And as for Freespire, "Not happy, Jan!"
10 • congratulations Barry (by Ken Yap on 2006-09-04 13:29:19 GMT from Australia)
Puppy Linux is one outstanding distro because unlike many also-rans, it features innovative ideas like that of writing the session back onto a multi-session CD or DVD. I only wish my regular distro could boot up as fast as Puppy. Not so much for the tower machine, which is on all the time, but for the notebook. Good onya mate.
ROTFL over Tinkerbell. Reminded me of that spoof news I once read, which I can't find anymore, that showed on a graph how with the addition of Johnny's Little Linux, the number of distros finally exceeded the number of users.
11 • CNR (by Kevin Carmony on 2006-09-04 13:40:16 GMT from United States)
lakkilinux,
The CNR Service is now free for BOTH Linspire and Freespire users.
Kevin Carmony
CEO, Linspire, Inc.
12 • distrowatch (by starikarp on 2006-09-04 13:52:58 GMT from United States)
Each SuSE alpha or whatever version is the same minute on the distrowatch. I didn't read nothing about Frugalware RC2.
13 • Mandriva, free, open, transparent, available (by agendelman on 2006-09-04 14:05:20 GMT from United States)
Jokinin
The current beta 3 release of Mandriva 2007 is available to everyone as a free download onh the cooker mirrors
http://qa.mandriva.com/twiki/bin/view/Main/CookerMirrors
The final release will be available to club members first, but a few weeks later, free isos will be available to the public. You can always get the current release here ( again, free)
http://www.mandriva.com/en/download/free
Club members continue to squash bugs and participate in qa befor the final release to the public. You can install the beta now and continue to update to the final release now as it develops. Again, free. You can do a network install of the final release the minute it is available, and before the isos are available to the public. Again free.
The misconception that you have to be a club member to get, use, and enjoy Mandriva is just that, a misconception.
14 • Re: 13 Free Mandriva... (by Caraibes on 2006-09-04 14:23:20 GMT from Dominican Republic)
Hey, Agendelman,
I know you are right ! My "Media Box" happily runs MDV 2006 Free (Gnome-only ;) ), totally tweaked with every codecs on earth...
It is up to date, the only distro that let me watch TV with that damn Lifeview Flyvideo 2000 PCI TV-card, thanks to their Mandriva Control Center... (to be fair, PCLOS does it too, but it's based upon MDV, so the control center is MDV's )
And that is also a call to Kevin Carmony, of Freespire, to include some sort of TV-card configuration wizard, that will work as well as the mandriva one. Since both distros were originally newbie-orientated.
15 • Frugalware... (by Kensai on 2006-09-04 14:25:14 GMT from Puerto Rico)
It's time to give it another try, I used frugalware back in the days when 0.1 was available and even helped mantaining some GNOME packages. BUt I haven't look back since then since I am more of a Arch Linux and Gentoo Linux user. But it might change now to a Frugalware and Gentoo Linux user. Arch Linux is decreasing in quality as of packages they don't have much variety and is boring, AUR has outdated packages most of the time, And look at pacman it is a freaking old version of pacman Frugalware has taken pacman to the next level at version 3 with much more improvements.
So I'll make a frugalware netinstall. ;-)
16 • No subject (by ubuntu guy on 2006-09-04 14:48:24 GMT from United States)
wow i will have to try out reconstructor, i was looking into that stuff earlier but seemed to hard for my time, i guess then i can make my own backup install cd with my nvida drivers included i hope...
17 • Slackware 11.0 (by Rob on 2006-09-04 14:49:08 GMT from United Kingdom)
Wow, after about a year, Slackware 11.0 looks as though it will finally be released this week - too bad most of the Linux community doesn't care about this monumental release of 'just another distribution'. :(
18 • Slackware (by Johannes Eva on 2006-09-04 15:05:33 GMT from France)
To Rob (Nr. 17): Thank you for saying it! I was thinking the same.
Hey people: Slackware 11 is coming!!!
19 • NetBSD situation (by Dima on 2006-09-04 15:09:55 GMT from Israel)
I bet a guy named Theo is not very upset because of this. :) It will be interesting to see what he has to say on the matter.
20 • Distro suggestion (by bill johnson on 2006-09-04 15:11:48 GMT from United States)
We need a exhilarating distro from RAMMSTEIN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ql-zpqvoKs
Awesome!
21 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2006-09-04 15:40:34 GMT from Iran, Islamic Republic of)
Paris hilton has insulted us!
22 • next donation (by Anonymous on 2006-09-04 15:42:20 GMT from Hungary)
Good to see PuppyLinux got the DW donation.
Suggestion for next month's donation: Knoppix.
23 • puppy (by klhrevolutionist on 2006-09-04 15:57:54 GMT from United States)
Good to see that puppy is noticed. slutware......
24 • DW weekly (by Gert on 2006-09-04 16:36:38 GMT from Belgium)
Hi, DW Weekly is amzingly interesting. I was just wondering why is it not possible to subscribe to Weekly by e-mail?
That would be great. I forget to check often and mis always a few issues that way...
Thanx and keep it up !
25 • RE: 12 distrowatch (by ladislav on 2006-09-04 16:48:49 GMT from Slovakia)
I didn't read nothing about Frugalware RC2.
It's right there on the front page, just scroll down a bit. Alternatively, click here: http://distrowatch.com/3671
26 • CDDL has extra restrictions, which the GPL does not allow. (by Distrowatch reader on 2006-09-04 17:03:22 GMT from United States)
CDDL was intentionally modelled on the MPL in order to make it GPL-incompatible
Steal from GNU then donate the stolen code to SUN For example GNU/Solaris
http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/09/msg00002.html
One current and one former Sun employee visited the annual Debian conference in Mexico in 2006. Danese Cooper clearly stated there that the CDDL was intentionally modelled on the MPL in order to make it GPL-incompatible. For everyone who wants to hear this first-hand, we have video from that talk available at [2].
You can read the FSF position about the CDDL at [3]. The thread behind [4] contains statements on the issue made by Debian people; for more context also see the other mails in that thread. In short - the CDDL has extra restrictions, which the GPL does not allow.
27 • Slackware 11 (by Misty on 2006-09-04 17:21:19 GMT from United States)
Screw the community if they don't care. I like Debian best, that's just my personal preference, but Slack is a great distro too. One of *the* greats. I'm glad to hear a new version is coming out soon.
28 • thinkerbell linux (by Distro_Who on 2006-09-04 17:27:07 GMT from Puerto Rico)
is fool's day somewhere or this a proof of resurrection of a dead distro is possible?. anyway, good luck for the phantom distro.
29 • Useful post om the CDDL (by NK on 2006-09-04 17:44:45 GMT from United States)
But it would help if it was mentioned that this was the reason behind the fork of cdrtools, as new versions of the cdrtools contains code put under the CDDL. Also, a little backstory of why some of cdrtools was put under the CDDL would help also.
30 • CDRTools (by NK on 2006-09-04 18:43:44 GMT from United States)
For the whys and why nots, see the thread at slashdot.
31 • Furgalware #15 (by tom on 2006-09-04 18:53:32 GMT from United States)
I tried Frugalware in the past and had some trouble. I use Arch now and am watching Frugalware.
I tried one of the RC a while back and could not install the base either via CD or network install.
I am waiting on the distribution release, but if you would update us (me) on your experience that would be nice.
32 • Not only is it free... (by benplaut on 2006-09-04 19:23:58 GMT from United States)
Click N Run is also (or will be soon) open source!
much bigger news, in my opinion!
33 • 30 (by AC on 2006-09-04 19:29:51 GMT from United States)
We've needed a fork for some time. It will be nice for people to be able to study documentation for CD burning without having to read Schiilling's asinine comments.
34 • tsck! tsck! (by srlinuxx on 2006-09-04 19:38:38 GMT from United States)
"Several readers have emailed us to let us know that Linspire has launched what can only be classified as an attempt to tamper with our page hit ranking statistics by trying to artificially inflate the page hit ranking figures for its new community distribution - Freespire."
Well, I take it back. Their stock just went down again. tsck tsck! Shame on them.
35 • RE: # 17 (by Anonymous Penguin on 2006-09-04 19:56:20 GMT from Italy)
Rob
Slackware is now one of the most geek distros out there.
Much more so than Gentoo, at least with Gentoo you can "emerge" almost everything under the sun.
Every attempt to create a popular Slackware derivative has failed, possibly with the exception of Vector, which remains mainly a distro for older hardware.
I know a developer (a well known one) who moved from Slack to CentOS.
36 • 25 • RE: 12 distrowatch (by ladislav on 2006-09-04 16:48:49 GMT from Slovakia) (by starikarp on 2006-09-04 20:16:58 GMT from United States)
Frugalware Linux
Last Update: Thursday 17 August 2006 00:07 GMT
37 • No subject (by warpengi on 2006-09-04 20:17:24 GMT from Canada)
I think the click N run news is a big deal. This means the users of freespire will get a fully functional Gnu/Linux OS. However, I won't be using freespire as long as the default setup includes users with root privileges. Even MS Vista EvilOS (tm) will include default users with restricted permissions. I think the user as root default is too entreched at Linspire to change though.
An open-source click N run might be a good thing. Distros may find it a good front end for non-technical users to access their repositories. Here's hoping. The bar will never be too low for the non-technical user.:-)
38 • Freespire Uses SUDO (by JaceMan on 2006-09-04 21:29:35 GMT from United States)
warpengi,
Freespire does not run as root like Linspire. A user must take advantage of the sudo command, like with Ubuntu, in Freespire for most tasks.
Just thought you should know.
- Jace
39 • Waiting List (by Ariszló on 2006-09-04 21:43:22 GMT from Hungary)
Boreas Linux is submitted twice: first as Boreas Linux then as Boreas GNU/Linux. The websites of these distributions are either for sale or not found: J-Nix, Wikix, Shift Linux.
40 • No one's interested in upstart? (by UZ64 on 2006-09-04 22:49:57 GMT from United States)
Sounds pretty interesting to me... should be cool to try out when Edgy Eft or whatever it is comes out...
41 • re:15 • Frugalware... (by Kensai on 2006-09-04 14:25:14 GMT from Puerto Rico (by starikarp on 2006-09-04 23:12:40 GMT from United States)
And what is you opinion about Frugalware, please? Is it o=possible that you put something about Frugalware in your blog?
42 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2006-09-05 01:17:13 GMT from United States)
It is great to see Puppy recognised here. Puppy has wonderful community and it has been my distro of choice for over a year and a half. Great work Barry and team!
43 • NS (nothing special) (by JAG on 2006-09-05 02:13:37 GMT from United States)
Congrats!!!...to BK of Puppy...
Here's something interesting...
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/download-accelerator-for-linux-command-line-tools.html
44 • Linspire purchase XandrOS (by Troy W. Banther on 2006-09-05 02:15:17 GMT from United States)
Mr. Carmony:
Would you seriously consider the purchase of XandrOS and make a Linspire server line?
Fire a gaping shot into MicroWaste making a server product as-well-as a desktop line.
--
Troy W. Banther, B.Sc.
ENMU Alum 95' & 00'
Linux, BSD, and Open Source
http://banther.homelinux.net:8080/webportal
http://www.marcelgagne.com/node/387
---
45 • NICE WORK UBUNTU (by Ely on 2006-09-05 05:08:10 GMT from Philippines)
nice to hear those news on ubuntu
i found this interesting articles about upstart and ubuntu-debian:
http://www.nuxified.org/ubuntu_leaps_forward_with_new_innovations
http://www.netsplit.com/blog/
http://blog.madduck.net/debian/2006.05.24-ubuntu-and-debian
46 • Re: one of the most geek distros (by Ariszló on 2006-09-05 07:09:37 GMT from Hungary)
Anonymous Penguin wrote: Slackware is now one of the most geek distros out there. Much more so than Gentoo, at least with Gentoo you can "emerge" almost everything under the sun.
This is where you can get almost everything under the sun for Slackware:
http://linuxpackages.net/
Every attempt to create a popular Slackware derivative has failed, possibly with the exception of Vector, which remains mainly a distro for older hardware.
How about Zenwalk?
http://www.zenwalk.org/
47 • RE: # 46 (by Anonymous Penguin on 2006-09-05 07:52:00 GMT from Italy)
"How about Zenwalk?
http://www.zenwalk.org/ "
Sorry, I forgot about that.
48 • Linspire redirect (by Anonymous on 2006-09-05 09:17:49 GMT from United Kingdom)
[quote="Kevin Carmony"]
We have what we call "express URL's" on our server, and one of these got changed improperly, so some of you may have seen this. We fixed it. It should go to freespire.org now.
As for gaming DistroWatch, that wouldn't have worked because all the links would have been coming from the same referring source, Linspire.com. We have THOUSANDS of hits on that express URL every HOUR. IF that had in fact been the case, we'd have shot WAY WAY WAY WAY up in the charts. We actually fell yesterday, with an average of about 900 clicks. I'm sure DistroWatch has been gamed plenty over the years and long since would have weeded out any clicks from the same referring source, expecially when that source is the company behind the distro.
Kevin
[/quote]
49 • Donation to Puppy Linux (by Imran Yusof on 2006-09-05 09:24:13 GMT from Malaysia)
Puppy is great distro especially for old hardware. The donation was justified. Congratulation Barry Kauler! Thank you Distrowatch...
50 • re 46 & 47 (by Akuna on 2006-09-05 12:16:05 GMT from France)
"How about Zenwalk?
http://www.zenwalk.org/ "
I was going to say that as well ;-)
51 • Ubuntu Christian Edition 1.2 - released last week (by agnostic on 2006-09-05 12:48:32 GMT from United Kingdom)
Would others like to consider that by producing a Ubuntu Christian Edition 1.2 - with out simultaneously producing Editions for the other major religions - is tantermount to promoting RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
EG: Christian Edition only = by fanatics, for fanatics
52 • Ubuntu & Kubuntu Christian Editions (by Troy Banther on 2006-09-05 13:08:33 GMT from United States)
I think it's an excellent idea. Why? Do you realize how much not-for-profits, charities, educational (public and private), religious organizations and other like organizations pay in M$ licensing fees?
Any Linux-based company CEOs listening out there?
--
Troy W. Banther, B.Sc.
ENMU Alum 95' & 00'
Linux, BSD, and Open Source
http://banther.homelinux.net:8080/webportal
http://www.marcelgagne.com/node/387
53 • http://just-john.com (by just john on 2006-09-05 13:15:07 GMT from United States)
RE: "Would others like to consider that by producing a Ubuntu Christian Edition 1.2 - with out simultaneously producing Editions for the other major religions - is tantermount to promoting RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE"
Nope.
Promoting one thing doesn't mean you're intolerant of other things.
If you feel strongly enough about your particular take on the Universe, you have the tools to promote it.
54 • And more coffee would be nice, too. (by just john on 2006-09-05 13:17:01 GMT from United States)
(Gee, I wish we could edit our comments, f'rinstance, so I could put a meaningful SUBJECT on the above post, rather than my url.)
55 • Ubuntu: Common Customisations (by Kingbahamut on 2006-09-05 13:46:03 GMT from United States)
Always nice to see my friend UD (ubuntu_demon) get some of his work recognized. =).
56 • #51 (by 1c3d0g on 2006-09-05 15:23:58 GMT from Aruba)
And it's why a lot of your own countrymen left your country too when America was discovered. Stop being hypocritical, because it will only come back and bite you (I'll leave the location up to your imagination). :-P
57 • Slackware #6 (by Ariszló on 2006-09-05 16:34:46 GMT from Hungary)
This "one of the most geek distros" is #6 at DistroWatch if set to the last 30 days, 5 hits ahead of Mandriva. 8-)
58 • Re #47 (by rglk on 2006-09-05 17:20:24 GMT from United States)
"One of the most geek distros" (Slackware) and three of its immediate descendents (Slax, Zenwalk and Vector) are among the top 20 of the current six months DW hit list. Only Debian surpasses that with itself and five of its descendents (Ubuntu=Kubuntu, MEPIS, Knoppix, Kanotix, Xandros) currently among the top 20.
Robert
59 • re-count the issues (by Anonymous on 2006-09-05 19:17:12 GMT from Germany)
Uuuuups, i think there is an error in the issue-counter:
Issue 158: "Welcome to this year's 27th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!"
Issue 159: "Welcome to this year's 27th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!"
So this is not this year's 35th issue of DWW, it's the 36th.
60 • #51 (by WyldBob on 2006-09-05 21:17:45 GMT from United States)
Spare me the politics of your anti-religious attitude. Let some enterprising souls make up Hindubuntu or BuddhistUbuntu or whatever. Anybody's choice to do that if they so wish.
And I'm quite sure they'd be here along with Christianubuntu.
This is about linux and related os's. Not politics.
61 • 51 60 (by AC on 2006-09-05 21:42:33 GMT from United States)
51 would be right that it was religious intolerance if the Ubuntu project produced only an Ubuntu Christian Ed and not for other religions. But he's wrong, because this was a separate effort by a group not claiming to serve the public at large. So yes, if one wants distros for other religions, representatives of those religions need to build them.
However, I wouldn't call 51's views anti-religious. Merely misguided.
Personally, I find the development of "Christian" distros to be gratuitous and divisive, not too mention an example of cheezy marketing. But not "intolerant", per se.
62 • Pfef! (by Zu on 2006-09-05 22:27:00 GMT from Poland)
That christian thing again :(
What an improvement - GnuCash added (to increase sales of salvation).
63 • upstart (by Warpengi on 2006-09-05 23:50:33 GMT from Canada)
I wanted to mention upstart in my earlier post. This is hardly the 1st attempt to replace sysvinit. None of the others have made much of an impact so I wouldn't hold my breath about this one.
Nice to hear about the improvement to Freespire Jaceman. I don't really like sudo very much but unlike users-as-root it actually has some arguments its' favour vis a vis security.
#58 "One of the most geek distros" (Slackware) and three of its immediate descendents (Slax, Zenwalk and Vector) are among the top 20..."
and just who do you think developed those siblings? Geeks, that's who;-) Those stats make Debian an even more geek distro than slackware. Being a geek distro is a good thing:-)
64 • Graphical installer...My 2 cents (by gentooer on 2006-09-06 01:28:25 GMT from Australia)
It would seem the gentoo installer project has a long way to go. Installing gentoo by hand is still the best way to get a gentoo system.
Perhaps the installer team could take a lesson or two from vidalinux
65 • Top 100... (by iMoron on 2006-09-06 03:26:43 GMT from Puerto Rico)
I must say, we do need a better criteria for a "Top" list...
I have notice that it is hard to make a criteria that would be fair to the Distros...
Now... Just for analisis sake.
+ Top list base on how many users there are registered for each distro...
- Not to realiable unless users would not be able to create multiple registrations... maybe even more complex than that...
- Who's to say that a large userbase means better platform/system
+ Browser identifications... as far as I know the browsers identefy on which platfor they are running...
- Then again... I think it is only in a general basis... not specific to any particular distinction among distros.
- If it were posible it could still be as unrelayable as the current system.
+ distrowatch own regitration system
- ... naaaa, erase that one...
+ goole or google fight stadistics?
- Yea... rrriiiggghhttt....
... boy, am realy trying to find something... But I need a better kernel and some legacy support :p
66 • Is Freespire the Mepis Killer? (by RoachBoy on 2006-09-06 09:09:09 GMT from Kenya)
Mepis has acquired the reputation for being a newbie-friendly distro. But now with the arrival of Freespire it seems that Mepis may be knocked off that perch. In fact, Freespire could very well become the new desktop distro numero uno. Fedora is buggy and notwithstanding the claims by the folks at Fedora, it still feels like a beta for RHEL. Kubuntu/Ubuntu seem fairly stable, but are they really anything more than Debian with tassels on?
Suse and Mandrake, sorry, Mandriva, are strong contenders, but in my experience they’re bloated, slow, resource hungry, and...buggy.
Last year on the Linux Link Tech Show (http://tlltsarchive.org/archives/tllts_75-03-16-05.ogg ), Warren Woodford expressed big hopes for Mepis. He has certainly put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into Mepis, but now there’s a new heavyweight in town...
I’m in the process of downloading Freespire (using BitTorrent); hopefully I'll be done before Christmas then I can find out for myself if this is the new Mepis!
P.S. Linspire’s decision to open up its CNR software service suggests a change in strategy, but one wonders how this will affect their revenues. Are they throttling the goose that lays the golden eggs? If you look at the FAQs page, http://wiki.freespire.org/index.php/FAQ_Category:_About_Freespire_and_The_Freespire_Project, Freespire almost seems to offer more than Linspire, which is great for freeloaders like myself.
67 • to LadislavB: is netbsd i386 iso 687 MB? (by a thinking man on 2006-09-06 09:50:06 GMT from Ukraine)
Greeting! is netbsd for i386 contains full KDE, Gnome etc? ;) please, change your 09-04-06 news post to the correct value.
68 • Re. 66: Mepis vs. Freespire (by UZ64 on 2006-09-06 09:53:50 GMT from United States)
Nah... they both suck. Mepis is an ugly, bloated, buggy mess by default, while I couldn't even get the FreeSpire live CD to boot. It gave me possibly the most errors I've seen in my life. Yikes. As for install... didn't try it, as my Zenwalk partition ain't going anywhere. The stunts Linspire have pulled will make sure they stay off of my "favorites" list. If I recommend a hand-holding distro like Mepis or Linspire, I'd rather go with SUSE, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, the Ubuntus, BLAG, etc.
69 • RE:Re. 66: Mepis vs. Freespire (by Madman on 2006-09-06 12:36:29 GMT from Netherlands)
I tried Freespire and although I'm no fan of using sudo for newbie distros, it looked good. Perhaps you should check the md5 sum before you burn the ISO, UZ64!
70 • Re. #69 MD5 (by UZ64 on 2006-09-06 12:47:22 GMT from United States)
"Perhaps you should check the md5 sum before you burn the ISO, UZ64!"
Already did. I don't burn *any* images to disc without verifying the sum. I even wasted another CD and burned the disc a second time to make sure there wasn't an error in the burning process. Still had no luck. No problem, I moved on. Besides, my experience with Linspire back when they were giving it away for free wasn't too great either... but at least it would boot.
I will give Linspire credit for one thing though: they do have one nice looking desktop, and from what I've seen in reviews, Freespire's desktop looks decent too.
71 • 51 & 62 (by Anonymous on 2006-09-06 13:15:48 GMT from United States)
51: We need a Catholic Ubuntu with a choir-boy database in MySQL.
62: As George Carlin says, God is all powerful and God is everywhere...but he's bad with money!
72 • Re 51 & comments 52, 53, 56, 60, 61 (by Agnostic on 2006-09-06 13:29:19 GMT from United Kingdom)
I think you are all missing the point, 52 had the most relevant comments BUT most poeple it seems are not "looking out side the box they live in"
(1) I am not anti-religion - I just do not need to have a faith,
that is my freedom of choise,
(2) what does the word "tantermount" mean - do you know ?
73 • 72 (Pedantry) (by Some Geezer on 2006-09-06 16:03:18 GMT from United Kingdom)
If you're going to slate someone for misspelling, check your own.
What does "choise" mean?
74 • Freespire looks really good so far (by JeffS on 2006-09-06 16:58:40 GMT from United States)
I'm a rather technical Linux user of over 4 years, and I've tried many distros ranging from the more geeky (Slack), to the more newbie friendly (PCLOS, Mepis).
Until now, my only experience with Linspire was helping my Mom buy one of those $150 PCs at Fry's with Linspire predoaded (my only help was basic computer usage). At the time, I thought Linspire was very polished, attractive, and very very easy and newbie friendly. However, being technically oriented, I did not need the super newbie friendly niceities like CNR and the Linspire installer. Thus I would use stuff like Kanotix, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, Mepis, etc.
Now that Freespire is out, and CNR is free, I thought why not try it - nothing to lose except a little time and a blank CD.
I'm very very glad I did. I'm very impressed with Freespire. It is so smooth, polished, easy, beautiful, and very full featured. And I'm finding I'm liking CNR. It really adds a lot to standard apt and Synaptic. It's like browsing Amazon or something, then a single click installs the software, with a menu item and a desktop shortcut. That's slick.
And, even though I'm technically oriented (I'm a programmer by trade), I'm also married and have two kids. Thus my time is very limited, and thus I very much appreciate all the slick, enjoyable, time-saving conveniences that a distro like Freespire brings. I don't need those conveniences, but I lack the time, and now the motivation, to constantly get under the hood to tweak things (like with Slackware - a great distro that requires lot's of command line usage and config file editing).
So Freespire is looking really good. Also, I'm showing it to lot's of non Linux types, and Freespire gives them the "Ooooh neat" reaction.
75 • @#72 - defining "tantermount" (by pfpearson on 2006-09-06 17:53:44 GMT from United States)
Assuming your second qestion was serious, "tantermount" is a misspelling of "tantamount". I used Google ( http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Atantamount ) and saw that tantamount means "being essentially equal to something"
Just because someone - *anyone* - produces something targeted to a particular belief does not necessarily mean that person is "intolerant" or even opposed to other beliefs. Are the English-only distros "intolerant" of other languages, or are they just focusing their efforts on a smaller population, to produce a better product?
76 • @#62 - Financial accountability (by pfpearson on 2006-09-06 17:56:47 GMT from United States)
"GnuCash added (to increase sales of salvation)."
GnuCash is a tool which can help churches (charitable organizations) manager their donations more reliably. This is a good thing for *any* organization, espicially charities. The churches can now manage their money more professinally and responsibly, showing themselves to be better stewards of the money.
77 • About #72 and #76 (by pfpearson on 2006-09-06 18:05:18 GMT from United States)
I posted the above two comments for the express purpose of deflecting the issue from religion to Linux. Since Distrowatch's stated purpose is to "Put the fun back into computing", let's keep the discussion focused there. Someone has taken the best OS (Linux, in my not-so-humble opinion) available, found a usable packaging of that OS (Ubuntu), and "tweaked" it to suit the purposes of a niche audience. The discussion of whether it qualifies technically as a "distro" was good - and answered by Ladislav. But, for the most part, we are "geeks" (hey, who but a geek would post to a forum about Linux, and argue over whether UCE is a "distribution" or "derivative") so let's not side-track into religious or political comments.
(I wonder what would happen if I started a Slackware-based distro targeted to Republicans. Would I be "devisive"?)
78 • RE: # 74 (by Anonymous Penguin on 2006-09-06 19:30:48 GMT from Italy)
Very good post.
It proves my point. A distro like Slackware can be popularl with geeks, but it will never be with 99% of ordinary PC users, which at the end of the day is the only market which really counts.
Linspire/Freespire, on the other hand, do have such a chance (of becoming popular with the general population), even if the MS "addiction" is far too strong.
As to me, after having been a self proclaimed geek for so many years, I want to be just a user. I am having trouble finding the right distro, though: SUSE is slow, bloated and a resource hog beyond belief. Kanotix has stopped releasing. Debian Etch could be an option, but not right now.
79 • re #77 (by ray carter at 2006-09-06 20:44:21 GMT from United States)
You might have a little better luck with the Dumocrats - Repubs are generally more 'pro big business'.
80 • 79 (by Anonymous on 2006-09-06 20:48:16 GMT from United States)
That is correct. The Repugs get big donations from Microsofts Bill Gates, and they in turn go easy on M$ when they violate trade rules.
81 • Stop it already! (by RoachBoy on 2006-09-07 06:20:25 GMT from Kenya)
Tantermount, Dumocrats, Repugs - you guys are killing me! :-D
82 • Ubuntu 64 sucks. (by Douglas on 2006-09-07 06:46:54 GMT from Germany)
I just had the worst time trying to get Kubuntu 64 to install on my new computer!! If I had not been doing linux for years, I would have given up!!
My computer is a M2N-E motherboard AMD 64 X2 3800 and a 160 GB sata drive and a DVD. 2GB ram.
While booting the CD it just says that the HDA is not found and stuff like that. The only HDA on the system is the DVD. No other distro that I tried had this problem.
To get it to work add LIVE as an option to start up and wait for the errors to pass: a long wait. Then use the desk top install. Also the new partioning was very hard to use. Also PowerNow does not seem to be working and it booted a non multi-cpu kernel.
Ubuntu needs some work for sure. Please get it right because I Ioved Ubuntu when I had an old computer.
I am now running Ubuntu and won the battles but what of a newbie?? And a question? Does the 64 version run all 64 bit programs or do they just run all the 32 bit ones?
83 • The Problem with the GPLv3 (by RoachBoy on 2006-09-07 07:14:52 GMT from Kenya)
Is the Bearded One jeopardising the future of Linux? This article suggests that he is: http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/31/stallman-linux-opensource_cz_dl_0831stallman.html?boxes=custom. (will we have to shift to the GNU HURD kernel which as far as I know still needs a lot of work).
84 • 83 (by AC on 2006-09-07 08:20:07 GMT from United States)
For those unacquainted with Daniel Lyons, the author of said article:
http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/174/42/
85 • Re: #82 (by linbetwin on 2006-09-07 08:32:41 GMT from Romania)
My computer is a M2N-E motherboard AMD 64 X2 3800 and a 160 GB sata drive and a DVD. 2GB ram.
While booting the CD it just says that the HDA is not found and stuff like that. The only HDA on the system is the DVD. No other distro that I tried had this problem.
I am not very happy with Ubuntu either and I never had the courage to try the 64-bit version, but as far as I know SATA drives are sda, not hda.
86 • Re: The Problem with the GPLv3 (by Ariszló on 2006-09-07 09:20:20 GMT from Hungary)
Forbes.com also has a slid show about the "Heroes of the Revolution":
http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/31/cz_dl_0831hero_slide.html
One of the heroes is Scott Dietzen, CTO of Zimbra:
http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/31/cz_dl_0831hero_slide_5.html
Zimbra? I haven't heard of it before:
http://www.zimbra.com/
87 • Distro Rankings (by Ariszló on 2006-09-07 15:57:00 GMT from Hungary)
I have just found this:
"Distro Rankings - new portal for posting and ranking Linux Distributions"
http://www.distrorankings.com/
88 • 87 (by Anonymous on 2006-09-07 19:23:05 GMT from United States)
I have just found this:
"Distro Rankings - new portal for posting and ranking Linux Distributions"
http://www.distrorankings.com/
Blah! I prefer Distrowatch, even with the UCE, Tantermount and all!
89 • re 87, Distro Rankings (by Andy Axnot on 2006-09-07 23:11:12 GMT from United States)
Well, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but my first impressions are not overly positive. According to that site the top 5 distros are: CentOS, Debian, Slackware, Ubuntu, and cdlinux.pl.
Cdlinux.pl? And nowhere in the top 100 did I find Slutware!
Hard to take that list too seriously. For now, anyway.
Andy
90 • Slutware (by tom on 2006-09-07 23:44:22 GMT from United States)
Slutware comes with Viagra !
91 • 89 (by AC on 2006-09-08 00:28:05 GMT from United States)
I'm definitely not too impressed, but I will say this: CEntOS and Debian being top does better square with NetCraft's statistics for servers, if we assume that businesses that use RHEL on servers with Oracle go with CEntOS on desktop where these certs aren't needed. Interesting. I certainly don't think Distrowatch's counters reflect how widely Debian is deployed (let alone Red Hat), but then I suspect a lot of Debian users don't click the Debian page regularly. We just use it.
This isn't to fault Distrowatch. Distrowatch measures buzz among enthusiasts, hobbyists, home desktop users, and that's a worthwhile thing to measure.
92 • Linspire (by Anonymous on 2006-09-08 03:32:12 GMT from United States)
Mepis acts weird
Pclinuxos big daddy sound subsystem crashes then KDE crashes
Gentoo 2006.1 still boot loops
Time to try linspire again
93 • RE: #83 • The Problem with the GPLv3 (by Rölli Peikko on 2006-09-08 10:45:27 GMT from Finland)
Is the Bearded One jeopardising the future of Linux?
Stallman thinks it's GNU/Linux, not Linux.
I'm not an expert on this subject but from what I've gathered, those who call the movement "Open Source" and the operating system "Linux" usually want people to use it because they think it's the most technically advanced operating system out there. But those who call the movement "Free Software" and the operating system "GNU/Linux" want people to use it because it allows people to share and modify the software they use -- even if it's not the most technically advanced operating system available.
Stallman emphasizes the point that attracting lots of newbies and gaining momentum is all in vain if the freedom to share and modify software is lost. Newbies who start using [GNU/]Linux because of its technical benefits will also quickly switch to some non-free (closed source) operating system as fast as one can offer some benefits that are not available in [GNU/]Linux. Only those [GNU/]Linux users who have learned to appreciate the right to share and modify software will stick to it even when there are technically more advanced non-free (closed source) alternatives available. Personally I think that Stallman has a valid point there.
The main purpose of GPLv3 is to ensure that software patents and "DRM" don't take the freedom to share and modify software away from users. Stallman thinks that protecting these freedoms is much more important than making [GNU/]Linux the world's most popular operating system.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/
94 • Re: Stallman thinks it's GNU/Linux, not Linux. (by Ariszló on 2006-09-08 11:32:53 GMT from Hungary)
Yes, he likes to divide the community. I prefer the terms Linux and Open Source to GNU/Linux and Free Software but I don't prefer technical merits to freedom and sharing.
95 • RE: #94 (by Rölli Peikko on 2006-09-08 13:59:40 GMT from Finland)
Then you're sending a mixed message. ;-)
The thing with freedom is that when you decide to give it away, it's gone forever. If you value the freedom of distros to modify software into an easy to use & distribute package and if you value your freedom to share programs with your friends, then you should prefer the terms GNU/Linux and Free Software. Initially it's a moral choice but in the long run this choice has very tangible results. It's far too easy to lose all your freedom if you start giving it away bit by bit in order to get some short term benefits.
There is only one pro-freedom community and I don't think Stallman is dividing it at all. The rest of the crowd, those who can't make up their mind about freedom, don't really belong to this community. They may be here today but they are gone tomorrow when they decide that some non-free alternative suits their needs better. Trying to please these people and bargain with them is a wasted effort -- it only leaves those who stay with diminished freedom.
96 • 95 (by AC on 2006-09-08 19:31:10 GMT from United States)
I too prefer "Free Software" and "GNU/Linux" and have debated this with Ariszlo, but I don't think that Ariszlo's preference gives a mixed message. It merely chooses not to send a message at the expense of using the more familiar, more widely used terms. I may choose differently, but if he places freedom and sharing above technical merit and encourages others to do so - which he does - that is what matters.
That said, I consider it a mistake to say that Stallman "divides the community". A community is defined by its principles and goals: stating them clearly and discussing them ensures the health of that community.
97 • Dream Linux (by Anonymous on 2006-09-09 00:16:11 GMT from United States)
Supposedly Dream Linux is going to release v2.1 at the end of September.
To me, Dream Linux is the best looking linux distro out there. Plus it's Debian/Kanotix based.
Unfortunately it doesn't recognize both cores of my dual-core machine, and the video card support needs some more work.
Check it out at:
http://dreamlinux.com.br
98 • SELinux (by Anonymous on 2006-09-09 00:22:32 GMT from United States)
Hi,
Are there any Debian-based distros that have SELinux incorporated by default? I think SELinux is one of the most important initiatives in linux. I hope it will spread and I hope that easy-to-use tools for creating policies will be developed.
Thanks
99 • Open Source (by mika hack on 2006-09-09 09:07:15 GMT from Italy)
Not related with linux distro....but interesting anyway...if you own an old Nokia Mediamaster 9500 !! ;)
http://dvb2000.got.to/
have a look.....it sounds cool!!!!!
100 • re 97 Dreamlinux (by Andy Axnot on 2006-09-09 14:43:31 GMT from United States)
That link didn't work for me, but their Distrowatch page gives:
http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/ which does work.
It looks very interesting. Sigh... so many distros look interesting these days. Reviews seem favorable...
I never thought I would say this, but I may just be getting jaded and tired of trying new distros. It's a tough life :-)
101 • RE: #100 (by Anonymous Penguin on 2006-09-09 16:15:22 GMT from Italy)
"I never thought I would say this, but I may just be getting jaded and tired of trying new distros. It's a tough life :-)"
I know the feeling :)
About 2 years ago I believed it would never happen to me, but it did eventually.
102 • re 93 - 96 (by Andy Axnot on 2006-09-09 16:17:34 GMT from United States)
I just wanted to mention, before this week's comment's page is closed out, that this was an interesting (short) discussion. I hadn't quite considered the Linux vs. Gnu/Linux argument in this light before, nor had I appreciated how important the freedom involved is, as compared to the technical merits of the software.
Of course, I'm a little slow on the uptake :-)
Incidentally, I'm writing this using DreamLinux as a live CD. I've only been using it for about 15 minutes or so. Quite nice, but I can't say I've been tempted to run out and get a "DreamLinux" tattoo -- or even a T-shirt if there are any.
103 • RE: #98 (by Anonymous Penguin on 2006-09-09 16:23:45 GMT from Italy)
Many people have been asking for SELinux in Kanotix, the next release could have it.
There are several Debian SELinux how-tos, for instance this one:
http://wiki.debian.org/SELinuxSetup
But to my knowledge no Debian derivative has SeLinux supported by default yet.
Number of Comments: 103
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