KNOPPIX 6.7.1 Live CD/DVDs are Released!

KNOPPIX (based on Debian) was one of these GNU/Linux distributions that came (still do!) as a "Live desktop environment optimized" one. When other vendors ship their distribution primarily as a desktop edition, KNOPPIX on the other hand has been  releasing their OS as a primary Live CD "environment", thus if you're looking for a portable GNU/Linux distribution, then KNOPPIX is certainly one of the best.

What do you mean ?, isn't Ubuntu or others have Live CDs of their own?

True. But as said before, the hardware detection or configuration in general in those distributions aren't optimized in the live-cd mode that much, thus if you want to use those GNU/Linux distributions as your desktop and integrate/configure your hardware to their fullest extent, then you gotta install them and configure them later rather than once inside their Live CD/DVD versions.

But KNOPPIX comes pre-optimized to work as a completed Live CD desktop and has been around for few years now... thanks to the develper's experience + the pre-installed packages of propriety drivers, multimedia codecs, etc, it's a pretty cool and feels like a "completed" Live desktop environment in my experience.

Anyhow, two days ago they've released a new version of KNOPPIX (6.7.1) below are some of the new features...

*. Starting with the version 6.0 they've decided to ship LXDE (0.5.1-4) as the standard desktop instead of the Qt written KDE in the past. This also makes sense, since LXDE is a lot faster than KDE which should help to speed things up (especially if you use a CD drive where the output MB/S a bit slower when compared with others media).

*. Comes with the LibreOffice 3.4.3 instead of the OpenOffice.

*. Uses the "nouveau" (the reverse engineered version of the proprietary Nvidia driver released under GNU/GPL) including 2D and 3D rendering.

*. Firefox 6.0.2 is the default web browser. But if you happen to download the DVD version, then you'll find Chromium 13 as well.

*. ADRIANE updates: This is the visually impaired optimized package in KNOPPIX and with this released they've done few enhancements + better scanned text recognition and several cell phone models support, etc.

*. GIMP 2.6.10-1.

*. Comes with both MPlayer 2.1.0 rc4 and Gnome Mplayer versions.

*. FFmpeg multimedia library (0.7.1-4) so you'll be able to watch all the proprietary multimedia codecs.

*. Abi word: Only in the DVD.

*. Synaptic 0.70 package manager.

*. eViaCam: Another one available in the DVD which lets you control your mouse using your head motions (via a Webcam) and few other recovery utility, etc.

These are just a handful of updated packages to mention. You can get it from this KNOPPIX download page  but if you find those FTP servers to be a bit slow, then as always, I humbly advice you to try this Torrent version (which is fully legal :P) instead. Good luck.

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Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 is Released! (Added support for ARM)

Bodhi Linux is another distribution that's based on Ubuntu. Although it seems that they've done a lot of changes to the system... it seems like a completely different distribution to me ;-). Anyhow, Bodhi linux is not for everyone though, in a way.

The reason is simple. It uses the Enlightenment Window manager as the desktop "creator" which has a  reputation of being extremely fast and low on system resource. But if you're looking for a modern desktop with fancy effects + with features that Major desktops such as Gnome/Qt-KDE or even the relatively new Unity desktop, etc offers, then you may not like it.

Okay, I take back that "not a modern desktop" part ;-)...

But the rest assured, if you're looking for complete desktop with extremely faster responsiveness, well in that case, Bodhi Linux can be extremely competitive. Unlike many other distributions, Bodhi also has a completely different UI design that's optimized for the touch sensitive devices as well.

And few months back, Jeff announced (the main dude behind it) that Bodhi will be having a completely different version for the ARM architecture related devices (if you aren't much of a tech geek, then ARM is a processor that's seen on a lot of touch screen based devices, even in Apple iPad!). Below is a video that he gave us back then.



So with this new released, which happened like few days ago now if you have an ARM based device, then you can download the ARM optimized Bodhi Linux version since now that platform it's officially supported.

Anyhow, let's have a look at some of the new package updates with this latest 1.2.0 release.

*. GNU/Linux Kernel version 3.0.0 (this is one of the reason behind the ARM architecture actually).

*. Midori 0.4.0: A fast loading web browser.

*. Firefox 6.0: No one needs an introduction to this one. Anyhow, for GNU/Linux, Mozilla announced that Firefox will not only be more secure but will me a bit faster on GNU/Linux thanks to some optimizations.

*. Chromium 13.0.

*. Opera 11.51.

*. Seven, totally awesome themes!.

*. Enlightenment SVN built (based on 09/06/11) are among the main core changes according to Jeff's announcement page.

You can find all the downloading links from this official link if interested.

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Fedora 16 Alpha is Released!

Well, the stubborn boys and gals :) working in the Fedora community has made the official announcement of the availability of the Fedora 16 Alpha 1 which the first step towards the upcoming Fedora 16. Fedora was actually one of the first distributions to include the Gnome 3.0 (yikes!) by default with the introduction of the current version 15.

Just like with Ubuntu where you have certain different desktop versions aimed at different users such as Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc, the Fedora team has ones of their own which they called "Fedora Spins". As usual, simultaneous to this release ISO images of Fedora spins are also updated and available for downloading too.


What's new?

This is an old screenshot from Fedora 15 actually :)...

*. Gnome 3.1.4: Yep the latest builds of the Gnome Shell and hopefully they'll ship the upcoming Gnome 3.2 (which brings some major features but in a way, "nothing will change", if you know what I mean) when it's officially released.

*. KDE 4.7 (comes with the separate KDE spin) :

Well, "thanks" to Gnome, the Qt written KDE desktop is getting more and more popular by each day it seems. Although KDE used have a shi* load of features in the past but with their version 4.0, the desktop is a bit heavily cleaned-up (which is a good thing, I think :/) and has one of the best eye-candy related stuff as well.

Fedora 16 alpha 1 also has the KDE plasma desktop edition for the Netbook users too.

*. LibreOffice 3.4.2 is the default office productivity suite which was also started to appear in Fedora with the current 15.0 version.

*. Firefox 6.0 is the default web browser (obviously). According to the developers + in my humble experience, the loading times specially of Firefox 6 in GNU/Linux feels a bit faster than with other versions and comes with few minor features + the usual bug fixes as well.

*. Impressive SELinux "version": According to their release page, this version of Fedora comes with an optimized SELinux (if you're a bit new, then SELinux is a software that manages "policies" inside your computer, sort of a firewall) that takes about 4 times lesser amount of time to install (including less memory consumption 38MB to 6MB!).

These are just the few of the main features of the Fedora 16 Alpha 1 and other things like GRUB2, enhanced virtuliazation support, GCC updates and a hell lot of individual application updates are also available as usual.

And if you want to try it out, then please visit this page for more. Good luck.

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Unity-Linux Distribution is Going to be "Discontinued!" (in a way)

First of all, Unity-Linux is a separate GNU/Linux distribution and has nothing to do with the Ubuntu's Unity desktop interface. In fact, Unity Linux is actually based on the Mandriva distro and their goal "was" to give users a very light-weight desktop environment (just enough packages to log-in to their desktop) thus enabling them to install only the software that they want rather than "embrace" the ones that most distributions impose, "forcefully".

So in general the idea "was" to let users build an OS from scratch (well, almost) and light-weight and Unity Linux in fact, has a reputation of being fast as well. But they never had a lot of developers or bug-testers, etc ... so as a result few days ago in their blog, they posted that, they've no choice but to move the Unity-Linux project into Mandriva's repositories from now on.

What does this mean?, is it the end?

Not really actually. To make a long story short, as a Unity-Linux user you'll still receive updates and it'll continue as a separate "Brand" but the developers will be concentrating and operating in a much smaller scale.

In their own words...

The benefits will be that we no longer have to maintain packages as a small team…upstream will do that for us.  We’ll be able to focus on meta packages for install, dependency resolution and default desktop environments.

So unlike in the past where they'd concentrate on Kernel, desktops and a lot other areas of the distro thus making it a unique, separate OS, but from now on, they'll still be working on and release bug fixes and optimizations, etc for a smaller number of packages in comparison with their older releases.

So in short, no, this is certainly not the end but in a broader way, I think it kinda is :/. But at least on the bright side, hey!, it's GNU/Linux and we can choose the heck out of any distro that we want! :D.

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Gentoo Linux 11.2 is Released! (DVD Edition)

GNU/Linux is all about variety or a hell lot of choices :D. Unlike with MS Windows or Mac OSX in that sense, if you don't like your current GNU/Linux desktop or the distribution in general for some reason, then just ditch it and find something amazing that meets your requirements (even if you have special needs!).

I came across Gentoo few years ago and in a way, it's actually "one of a kind" GNU/Linux distribution. One of the main reasons for its popularity is its ability to let you compile (creating executable out of the original programming codes) the whole OS, almost all the packages, from scratch thus giving you an optimized operating system for the hardware installed on your system which means enhanced performance and stability in general. Although most of the time you're better off with the pre-compiled packages because...

... To be honest I'm not sure how easy it is these days but while I was using it, yep it wasn't that hard but if you're a newbie, then it may not be that easy to perform. But that's a bit of a long time ago + if you don't like to use the command-line a lot to setup and optimize the OS then even back then and nowadays, you can still  use this amazing GNU/Linux distribution by using the "usual methods" of installing it using a LiveCD/DVD or using the pre-compiled packages as with almost all other GNU/Linux distributions.

A recent version of Gentoo Linux (not the latest 11.2 version of course...)

Anyhow the latest news is that, like 2 days ago they've released a new DVD Edition which makes it the version 11.2, as a way of celebrating the collaboration between her users and the developers. Here are some of the main features of this latest DVD Edition.

*. Comes with the Kernel 3.0 (including patches from Gentoo developers).

*. GLIBC 2.13-r2, GCC 4.5.2 (the GNU C/C++ compiler).

*. Gnome 3.0.

*. KDE 4.7.0.

*. Proprietary ATI driver 11.6 version. 

*. Xfce 4.8 (another excellent alternative for those of you who has lower-end PC hardware).

*. Openbox 3.5.0 (a "lightweight" window manager and a desktop environment).

*. LibreOffice 3.3.3 (interesting that they haven't picked the 3.4 version, which makes sense in a way since it's more likely a "test" version rather than the 3.3 long-term version).

*. AbiWord 2.8.6 (another fast word processor that uses the GTK toolkit).

*. GIMP 2.6.11.

*. Inkscape 0.48.2 (an advanced vector graphics editor/creator).

*. XEmacs 21.5.31 (a derivative of the original, super powerful source code and text editor GNU/Emacs).

*. Amarok 2.4.3 (this version in fact was actually introduced very recently and Gentoo was also one of the first distributions to provide precompiled packages within hours of its release!).

*. Mozilla Firefox 5.0, Chromium 13 and Opera 11.50.1074, Epiphany, Seamonkey and few others are included as web browsers (man that's a huge list!).

These are just a fraction of the new packages included in this latest Gentoo Linux DVD release and other applications such as MPLayer (Gentoo is know to included all the proprietary codecs installed by default!), ffmpeg 0.6.9 (a collection multi-media playing libraries), Gnome-Mplayer 1.0.4, SMPlayer 0.6.9, etc again just a few to mention.

It's available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions and if you want to give Gentoo Linux a try, then please consult this download page (look at the end of the page and you should find your links below a sub-heading called "3. Other Media"). Usually these newly released Linux ISO files on the servers could give you slow downloading speeds, in that case it's advised that you try out the Torrent section. Good luck and enjoy the Gentoo 11.2 "ride!" :).

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openSUSE 12.1 Milestone 3 is Available for Download!

In the past it was called SUSE Linux (which was based on the awesome Slackware) but then Novel, just like RedHat, decided to create a "community driven" version of the GNU/Linux distribution and later called it openSUSE. This Germany based distribution has been around for a while and is one of the most popular one among the GNU/Linux geeks since it has a complete set of tools of its own (Yast control center for instance) and easy to use + when properly configured, it is a very solid OS.

Although it's a bit "heavy" for my taste but for those of you who loves it then you must be aware of the upcoming openSUSE 12.1 release (will be released in 2011/11/11). And in preparation for that they've already released two milestone releases and yesterday they officially announced the availability of the milestone 3!.

The openSUSE developers do take their time and unlike with many other major distributions who releases a new version within 6 months ... openSUSE on the other hand takes her time and do a lot of testing and if I'm not mistaken they release a new version around 10-12 months cycle which in my opinion makes sense.

Gnome Shell in openSUSE 11.4...

Anyhow, this milestone release brings some major improvements and new version of popular applications such as...

*. Mozilla Firefox 5.

*. The Free email client, Thunderbird 5.0 (has major improvements, faster start up times, etc).

*. Kernel 3.0 rc 7 (well there's nothing new in Kernel 3.0... it's just playing with the numbers :P).

*. Libreoffice 3.3.3.1 (although we do have the Libreoffice 3.4... but they've decided to go with the 3.3x series instead).

*. Tomboy 1.7.1 (the popular note taking awesome app for the Gnome desktop).

Although these are just the main ones to mention but this release do bring a lot of bug fixes and version updates to a lot of both Gnome and Qt/KDE desktop related apps as usual too. The openSUSE 12.1 is nowhere near the final release since according to their roadmap page they do have a lot of work to do but if you like you can contribute by downloading it, testing and reporting feedback by using this milestone 3 release nonetheless.

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AriOS 3.0 is Finally Released (Linux Distro Based on Ubuntu!)

For those of you who aren't familiar with AriOS, it's another Linux distribution based on the world famous, dominating ;-) Ubuntu Linux. Now the interesting thing about AriOS, just like with Mint is that, if you build something that's based on a solid "platform" like Ubuntu, then your success will be measured by how good your distribution is at providing the things that are "missing" or forced to be missed (sometimes it's a good thing, don't' you think?) by the developers of that original distribution.

Just like that, by default, AriOS comes with all the proprietary codecs installed + other goodies like the Nvidia and Ati drivers are also embedded into the downloadable image as well. So, if you don't have an internet connection, but still want to enjoy all those nerdy movies in your newly installed GNU/Linux distribution... oh well have a go at the AriOS, 'cause it's worth it! :).

Few days ago they released the latest version which is based on the Ubuntu 11.04 called AriOS 3.0. But like many others they also have "skipped" the Unity desktop module, giving the reasons by saying ...

"No Unity! Unity has been removed as I think it still lacks a lot of features and customization options..."

Which is obviously true right ?.

A Clean desktop with a cool wallpaper :)...

Anyhow, to mention few of the main features of the AriOS 3.0 release...

*. Comes with a bit older version of Compiz (2:0.8.6-0ubuntu9.2.1) to avoid some issues which I think is a good thing since I never had that much luck running the original Unity 3D interface.

*. As mentioned above, no Unity desktop and comes with Gnome classical desktop. But as you can see with the screenshots, they've created a desktop that look a bit similar to the Unity GUI by using other apps such as - Avant Window Navigator which resembles the application launcher in Unity, etc.

*. Both VLC and the Gnome Mplayer (with all the nerdy codecs installed :D) are also included + other media players (well a front-end) such as Totem, etc will also be able to play all the proprietary codecs because the Gstreamer ugly plugins are also installed by default.

*. Evolution is the default e-mail handler.

*. This release did take some time and as a result for the first time AriOS includes the LibreOffice which replaces the OpenOffice, office productivity suite.

*. It has an offline driver installer which lets you easily install proprietary drivers for Ati, Nvidia, Broadcom, etc type hardware devices.

*. Wine - Lets you run MS Window applications (some of them) in GNU/Linux. 

Some of the totally new applications...

*. Super Boot manager - This is a very powerful utility for customizing the Grub boot-loader (+ re-installing and removing, change menu-names, etc).

*. Angry Birds - It's actually a... oh come on you know that :P.

*. OpenShot - A powerful, opensource Video editor.

*. Geeqie - Fast loading, feature-rich image viewer/manager. Although I personally prefer F-Spot like image handler in comparison, still, some really love it.

Although these are some of the main features other noticeable app such as Skype and Clementne, etc are also installed by default. Just like with Ubuntu, AriOS 3.0 also give you few main desktop loading session choices.

1. AriOS - The default session which will use Compiz (if your GPU can handle 3D graphics).

2. AriOS-2D - It ain't anything like the Unity 2D but means that the default AriOS desktop (with all those docks, etc) will be loaded without Compiz. Since this "2D" uses Metacity... you'll experience some speed nonetheless.

3. Gnome Classic - Well, you know what that is.

Anyhow, congratulations to the AriOS developers for making this latest 3.0 version. So, as a final note, if you have a slow or no internet connection at all but looking for a Linux distribution that works out of the box and looks beautiful by default, well, why not give AriOS 3.0 a try!. Good luck.

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Mandriva Linux 2011 RC1 Disk Images are Available to Download!

Mandriva is a German based GNU/Linux distribution that from the beginning was drifted towards the Qt written awesome KDE desktop rather than Gnome. Although the first versions used to come with an installer GUI written GTK but I actually haven't  tried it in a while so it could be changed by now.

But the thing is, even at that time where I used RedHat as my primary OS and those were the days where I was a bit new GNU/Linux (still learning) and I was pleased to find out that Mandriva actually came with all the proprietary codecs I ever think of! :D. So I'd just install the OS and all the audio/videos were playable as soon as I log-into the desktop!. Man, I can't describe the relief that I felt after all the frustrations that RedHat made me feel ;-).

This is actually something that you can see from the beginning with their operating system + KDE in general. Interestingly a lot of Europe based GNU/Linux distributions actually have this characteristics of being a bit light minded on "rules" or GNU philosophy. But this is certainly not to say that they don't have a philosophy or belief systems.

I guess what they believe is slightly different from the American or the others ... you know they suffered through a lot through wars and stuff :/, well we all have (trust me our county has seen more than enough) suffered but Europe in general was kind of an epicenter for all this in the past thus they have a tendency not to fall into a system that comes with a lot of rules, etc I guess.

Anyhow, as I was saying... Mandriva has evolved a lot now and they've always been known for being an GNU/Linux operating system that is very easy to set-up and use (comes with an excellent 'control-center' of their own, etc) and if you're just beginning to learn GNU/Linux then I highly suggest Mandriva. They have certain versions which falls mainly into few main categories.

The commercial version (which includes customer support, etc) and the free version that comes with both free and proprietary software and then the other version that only comes with the absolutely free software thus it is the true GNU version of their OS.

The all new KDE desktop ... Pic via: Softpedia.

Few hours ago they released the Mandriva 2011 RC1 (release candidate) which took them sometime to come up with and according to their post page this will be the last beta version before the official 2011 release thus it brings a lot of major changes (GUI, application, etc). It's available through their Mirrors if you're interested and brings the following updated packages such as...

*. A whole new Log-in manager, New themes! :D other totally new - Wallpapers, splash screens, icons, boot screens, etc.

*. Firefox 5 comes by default.

*. X.Org server version 1.10.2.

*. Pidgin 2.9.0

*. KDE pim 4.6.0.

*. iptables firewall version 1.4.11.1

*. The famous Mandriva Control center is refreshed (Qt written) and come with new features.

*. VLC 1.1.10 (oh ya... they have the most excellent multimedia support).

*. The latest version of the GRUB boot-loader.

*. Google Chrome version 12 and 13.

*. Opera browser 11.5.0

*. LibreOffice.

*. GCC 4.6.1

*. ffmpeg (one of the best multimedia handling libraries) 0.7.1

*. Wine 1.3.23 (a MS Windows OS emulator for GNU/Linux so you could make the poor Tux drunk and run those apps :P).

*. Linux kernel 2.6.38.7 and KDE SC 4.6.4.

*. Thunderbird 3.1.11 (makes sense since the version 5 is still at best stage).

These are just a very few of the all new features of Mandriva 2011 RC1. Remember, as said this OS is fast but when considering the latest versions applications and their needs, etc... you might need to have a PC/Laptop with 1GB of RAM or more to run it quite smoothly.

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Linux Mint 11 Release Candidate (RC version) is out!

I don't think anyone would need an introductions to Linux Mint. But for those of you who have no idea what it is, Linux Mint is another derivative of Ubuntu Linux. Although it was first started as primarily based on Ubuntu only, but I guess after seeing some recent issues concerning Canonical, etc... they recently started another version called the Mint Debian (which is as can be seen, based on one of the oldest of GNU/Linux distributions called Debian, just in case ;-). 

Anyhow, the Linux Mint 11 is based on the latest release of Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal but because of few obvious reasons (I guess) they've decided to drop "few things" on their way. One of the reasons of Mint being so famous is because out of the box they included all the proprietary codecs + multimedia players such as MPlayer, etc (currently positioned at 6, in the most popular GNU/Linux distros according to distro watch).

Mint 11 comes with both Live CD and a DVD versions but they've decided to drop the proprietary codecs from the CD!, first I thought it could be because it's still a bet version (doesn't make any sense, I know :P) but when I was reading their official Mint 11 RC page, I realized it's because... let me put it in their own words...

The liveCD comes with less applications, no multimedia codecs and no restricted software, making it fit within 700MB and safely distributable in countries where the legislation allows patents to apply to software...

Time destroys everything. First you start with fresh/new ideas and hoping that you'll make a difference, but most of us (other than very few) just end up being the exact "opposite", that we "thought", we'd never become otherwise. Suddenly Mint wants to be famous but they should not forget that behind their reputation, the excellent support for proprietary codecs did play a major role.

But actually that's not the only thing behind their reputation. For instance, if I'm not mistaken, it was them who created the MS XP/Vista like start menu for Gnome (then OpenSuse "grabbed" it or maybe it was OpenSuse who implement that on GNU/Linux first, anyway) + Mint is not just another distro that changes few backgrounds/boot-screens or themes and call it different.

Like Elementary OS, they have their own collections of tools that make the life of the GNU/Linux user more easier for which they do deserve some appreciation. So, thank you Minty dudes ad dudees :P.

Anyway, the 11 RC brings few major differences...

*. Although they've decided to drop codecs in the CD version (they're all there in the DVD) but as soon as you install and log-in you'll be prompted to install all those codecs and players via a single click which can also be accessed via the start menu as well, for that you'll need an internet connection (as in the below screenshot).

*. Enhanced software manager.

As said before, Mint is not just another "derivative", they have their own customized apps. The 11 RC comes with an even better software manger. With big icons and categorized main window, excellent if you're a bit new to GNU/Linux.

*. The Desktop Setting Tool.

This is another one of their own inventions. Depending on your Desktop type (whether it's Gnome, Qt/KDE, XFce, etc)... this user friendly wizard lets you customize the desktop according to your personal preference.

*. A Better update manager.

Yes, according to the developers, this update manager is faster than the previous ones.

*. Comes with the Ubuntu Unity's "overlay scroll-bars".

Yep, for some reason, they've not decided to drop that. So, if you love those scroll-bars in Unity, then this might get you excited.

Remember, Mint 11 does not use Unity desktop (shell) nor Gnome3 either. They still use the "old" Gnome 2.32, Kernel 2.6.38 and uses the Xorg 7.6 version.

Although these are very few to mention and Banshee is the default music player and gThumb replaces F-Spot (they're both seem pretty useless to me) as well. You can read about all the new features from this official release page.

Hardware requirements?

x86 processor (supports both 32/64-bit versions)... no information can be found concerning the CPU speed.

512MB of RAM (1GB recommended).


5GB HDD space.

800x600 Display resolution.

CD/DVD or a USB drive.


Few final words...

Let's hope that, other than giving those codecs in the DVD, if they really want to make it easy to distribute by aligning themselves with laws of other countries, then at least, dear Linux Mint team, please when you release the 11th version, could you at least create two separate CD versions (one with the codecs and the other without them, simple solution) so everyone wins! :).

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