Linux Distributions Review

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 3

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:37:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has released Beta3 of SimplyMEPIS 7.0. The isos and beta2-beta3 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.
The kernel in Beta3 is version 2.6.22.5 which contains minor patches from the Kernel Development Team. The ipw3945 driver was updated. The MEPIS System Assistant was repaired to fix a problem when formatting USB keys. Package updates include xine 1.1.7, kino 1.1.1, kmplayer 0.10.0, k3b 1.0.3, kipi-plugins 0.1.4, knetworkmanager 0.2, and dcraw 8.77.

Due to user requests for updated compiz and other important gtk related packages, gtk was updated to version 2.10.13 and in the MEPIS pool metacity was updated to gnome version 2.18.5 Mepis-looks was updated to be compatible with gtk 2.10. Other gtk app updates are planned for Beta4.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: MEPIS antiX 7.0 RC1

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:43:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Anti and Warren announce the 7.0 RC 1 release of antiX, a lightweight derivative of MEPIS. AntiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member anticapitalista, as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32 bit PC hardware. The antiX web site is at antix.mepis.org and an antiX forum is hosted at www.mepislovers.org
AntiX 7.0 RC 1 is like AntiX 7.0 Beta2 except that the look has been updated including the wallpaper and the packages have been updated to be in sync with MEPIS 7.0 Beta 4. Anti also reports that he has fixed the reported bugs that are unique to AntiX.

Read the full release announcement her e.
Download here.

Test Release: Ubuntu 7.10 Beta

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:34:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

New features

GNOME 2.20

Gutsy Gibbon Beta brings you the latest and greatest GNOME 2.20 with lots of new features and improvements.

Desktop 3D effects

Compiz Fusion is enabled by default and will bring 3D desktop visual effects that improve the usability and visual appeal of the system. Ubuntu 7.10 automatically detects whether the hardware is capable of running compiz; if not, it falls back to normal desktop. Additional effects can be enabled in "System/Preferences/Appearance" under the "Visual Effects" tab. There you can also disable the effects entirely.

Desktop search

The deskbar applet is now included in the default configuration. It allows quick access to your common actions, including opening web bookmarks and searches, sending messages to your contacts, and more.

The Tracker indexer has been added to the desktop, making it easier and faster to search for your documents, photos, music, videos, chat logs, and all other files. You can use Tracker in the search dialog, the file selector, nautilus, or the deskbar applet.

Fast user switching

It is now possible to easily switch between user sessions without the inconvenience of entering your username or password numerous times, a time-saver on computers shared by multiple users.

Firefox plugins in Ubuntu

Firefox now comes with an improved plugin finder wizard that allows users to search and install packaged plugins easily, bringing users a richer web-browsing experience with the integrated security support of the rest of the Ubuntu system:

In addition, users can now open the Ubuntu application installer with a list of packaged Firefox extensions available by clicking on a link in the Firefox Addons dialog:

Dynamic screen configuration

Several drivers, including ones for ATI, nVidia, and Intel graphics chips now support the X Resize and Rotate Extension (xrandr). This enables dynamic monitor detection, and resizing and rotating of video output, for no-fuss support for projectors and external monitors.

If you have this hardware and used MergedFB / Xinerama previously, you may need to update your X configuration to use this new feature.

Graphical configuration tool for X

You can now configure what driver you want to use for your graphic card, change the default resolution for all users or change your monitor's refresh rate without having to turn to the terminal. A new GUI has been added making it easy to adjust your video and monitor settings. This tool can also set up dual screen capabilities for cards that use the Xinerama mode.

Fully automatic printer installation

Printers are now automatically configured by merely plugging them in and turning them on. Printer setup cannot get any easier!

Handling of non-free device drivers

Restricted-manager can now handle drivers which are free in themselves, but which require non-free firmware or other packages to operate. Only three clicks are needed to fetch and install firmware for wireless cards with Broadcom chipsets, and for a number of Winmodems commonly found in laptops, provided that you have an alternative Internet connection.

When restricted-manager detects hardware for which a restricted driver is available, a notification window pops up:

NTFS writing

While previous Ubuntu releases only supported read access to Windows (NTFS) partitions, Gutsy Gibbon now fully supports reading and writing to them, by integrating the NTFS-3g project. This significantly eases file and document sharing with Windows.

Power consumption

Ubuntu includes the latest Linux kernel, featuring dynticks. It allows the processor to use less power and produce less heat. For laptops this means more battery life and burn-free laps and for desktops and media center PCs, a quieter, cooler environment.

AppArmor security framework

This easy-to-deploy kernel technology limits the resources an application is allowed to access and can be used to provide an added layer of protection against undiscovered security vulnerabilities in applications. Head to the AppArmor user guide to learn about this new security feature.

Additional installation profiles for Ubuntu Server

New pre-configured installation options have been added to the Ubuntu Server CD. Mail Server, File Server, Print Server, and Database Server options join existing LAMP and DNS options for pre-configured installations, easing the deployment of common server configurations.

Profile-based Authentication Configuration

Deploying authentication configuration has become a lot easier with the addition of auth-client-config. Files may be added to the profiles database, allowing for an administrator to set up a single profile for site-wide network authentication roll-outs. Find out more about AuthClientConfig.

Improved thin-client support

The speed of LTSP thin clients has been greatly improved through the use of compressed images, and LDM, the thin-client login manager included in Edubuntu, also now has support for autologin, multiple servers, and unencrypted graphics transport as an additional speed boost.

Download

Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/7.10 (Ubuntu)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/kubuntu/7.10 (Kubuntu)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/edubuntu/7.10 (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/7.10/beta (Xubuntu)

Read the full release announcement here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 5

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:29:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Warren Woodford has decided to release a 5th Beta of SimplyMEPIS 7.0. The isos and beta4-beta5 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and public mirrors.
The big change that resulted in another Beta release is the availability of OpenOffice 2.3. In addition, ksynaptics and spamd were added to the iso images; and Firefox, 915resolution, and the ALSA Utilities were updated. And the latest version of Audacity was added to the MEPIS pool.

Good news for MEPIS users! The MEPIS documentation team has released a new MEPIS User's manual under a Creative Commons License. With over 60 pages, the manual covers many questions from installation, to network configuration, to using applications. Upon reviewing the manual, Warren said "I am very grateful to the documentation team. I've wished for a long time, that MEPIS would have a manual like this. One that will help new and old users alike to get the most out of MEPIS Linux."

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Final Release: Sabayon Linux 3.4 "miniEdition"

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:25:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

SabayonLinux x86/x86-64 miniEdition, commonly called the "mini", is the CD release of the latest SabayonLinux x86/x86-64 DVD. The creation of this special version, has been made with an automatic script that shrinks down the whole chroot jail by removing every duplicated, useless or server-oriented package. The multimedia features of these special editions are kept intact. So, enjoy that beautiful piece of software on a single CD!

Distribution updates 3.4:
* Improved OpenGL configuration reliability
* NVIDIA Drivers updated to 100.14.19
* Compiz Fusion stability fixes (will be soon enabled by default on the supported hardware)
* Boot time 15% faster

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Mandriva Linux 2008 RC2

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:23:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Mandriva Linux 2008 RC2 ‘Kepler’ was released today. New features since the release of RC1 include the final release of GNOME 2.20, the inclusion of the new 8.41.7 version of ATI’s proprietary driver in the non-free repository to support Radeon HD cards, significant kernel updates that improve support for certain ATA controllers and many audio chipsets, some new features in the urpmi and rpmdrake package management tools, and over 500 bug fixes since RC1. Download information and more is available on the full release information page here, the overall Mandriva Linux 2008 release notes are here, and a guide to the new features of Mandriva Linux 2008 is here.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: openSUSE 10.3 RC1

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:20:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

After quite a few rebuilds and testing, the openSUSE team is happy to announce that RC1 looks brilliant and is now available for download. We consider this release to be feature complete, stable, and suitable for testing from any user. For more information on the release schedule, take a look at the Roadmap.
Technical Changes

libzypp 3.24
Virtualbox 1.5
OpenOffice.org 2.3
Countless bug fixes in every component: 535 bugs RESOLVED/FIXED
485 packages submitted

A more detailed list of changes is available via
http://en.opensuse.org/Factory/News.

Read the full release announcement here.

Download here.

Test Release: Damn Small Linux 4.0 RC4

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:58:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The fourth release candidate for DSL v4.0 is now available.
Change Log for DSL v4.0rc4
* New dfmext.lua GUI tool for dfm associations
* New automatic update of etc.ld.cache for uci .so files
* Updated torsmo v0.18
* Updated functions5.lua
* Updated DSLpanel Backgrounds calls dfm background option
* Update mydslDownload.lua
* Added emelfm to jwm taskbar
* Removed obsolete and unused files and directories

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Fedora 8 Test 2

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:24:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

A veritable "sea" of choices await you in this release.  First up is
the "Fedora" installable 'choose your own adventure' style set of isos
and trees for i386, x86_64, and ppc(64).  Next up we have a variety of
Live images:

* Fedora Live (i686, x86_64, ppc) - A good general use Desktop live
image.  i686 even fits on a CD!

* Fedora KDE Live (i686, x86_64) - A Desktop based on the KDE software
suite.  i686 even fits on a CD!

* Fedora Developer Live (i686) - A Live image designed for software
developers.

* Fedora Electronic Lab (FEL) Live (i686) - A live image designed for
engineers working on electronics.  Fits on a CD!

Remember that these Live images can be used on USB meida via the
'livecd-iso-to-disk' utility available in the livecd-tools package.

Test 2 is for "beta" users.  This is the time where we have more
features in a "testable" state where the more people using them and the
more feedback we get the better.  So please help us make Fedora 8 as
good as we can!

Release Notes
=============================
Work in progress release notes for this test release can be found in
the Fedora wiki: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/F8Test2/ReleaseNotes

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 4

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:23:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The 4th Beta of SimplyMEPIS 7.0 has been released by Warren Woodford. The isos and beta3-beta4 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and public mirrors.
The kernel in Beta4 is version 2.6.22.6 which contains more patches from the Kernel Development Team. The MEPIS kernel was tweaked to eliminate some boot time warning messages. The fglrx ATI video driver was updated to eliminate an annoying AMD watermark bug.

Wireless-tools and wpasupplicant were updated. Configurations were adjusted to improve k3b, wireless networking, keyboard and language support, video defaults and boot options.

In the MEPIS pools gnome-games, sylpheed-claws, evolution, and gtk-qt-engine were updated in response to user requests. The MEPIS OSX Assistant was recompiled and tested for OSX Leopard and to use the 0.10 version of rEFIt.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Final Release: Sabayon Linux 3.4f

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:20:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Live boot is now 3 times faster thanks to our improved OpenGL configuration tool
Beagle only runs on-demand
Portage has been updated with performance patches
Entropy stack has been updated to the latest SVN (intended as technology preview)
- Dependencies resolution code completed
- Removal dependencies resolution code in testing (not completed)
- etc-update alike tool needs to be written
- Pre/post install/remove scripting functions need to be written
- Branches support need a rewrite
- Multi source download support completed
- Query tools almost completed
- Code split is on the way
- Database API is almost complete (and will be extended with extra functionalities)
- 3rd party interface structured
- ETA? End of the year.
Installer updates:
- Vim is on the Core Install along with groff (man pages issue fixed)
- Better release handling
- Initial Entropy integration
Bluetooth stack updated
Ext4 support improved (new e2fsprogs)
ATi video drivers updated to 8.40.4

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: openSUSE 10.3 Beta 3

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:18:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

t's my pleasure to announce the availability of openSUSE 10.3 Beta3. This
is the last beta release before entering RC phase in two weeks. Many
thanks to everyone who has contributed to this release of openSUSE!

Important Changes Since Beta2
=============================
* Kernel 2.6.22.5
* libzypp 3.22.1
* improved package lists of 1-CD GNOME and KDE
* countless bug fixes in every component
* reworked concept of language bundles (bundle-lang-* and -lang packages)

A more detailed list of changes is available via
http://en.opensuse.org/Factory/News

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Mandriva Linux 2008 RC1

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:16:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The first release candidate of Mandriva Linux 2008, codenamed Copernic, is now available. The release notes are available here. A guide to major new features (some of which are not yet implemented in this release candidate) is available here, and the detailed technical specifications are available here. This release candidate is available as a three CD or one DVD Free edition (containing no non-free software or drivers) for the x86-32 and x86-64 architectures, with a traditional installer, and as a mini-CD edition for both x86-32 and x86-64 architectures. A One combined live / install CD edition will be released in the near future (problems with unionfs prevented the One edition from being release at the same time as the other editions).

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: MEPIS antiX 7.0 Beta 2

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:12:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has announced the 7.0 beta 2 release of antiX, a lightweight derivative of MEPIS. AntiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member anticapitalista, as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32 bit PC hardware. The antiX web site is at antix.mepis.org and an antiX forum is hosted at www.mepislovers.org
AntiX 7.0 beta 2 is very similar to AntiX 6.5 except that it is built using the MEPIS Linux 7.0 core including the MEPIS 2.6.22 kernel and utilities, but mostly it has a different set of default user applications: fluxbox and ice window managers, Abiword, Gnumeric, Leafpad, Scite, Nano, mtpaint, xpdf, Firefox2, Sylpheed-claws, Dillo, Links2, Xchat, gftp, Pan, Irssi, Snownews RSS reader, Gtk-Gnutella, bittorrent, flash, mozilla-mplayer, xmms, mplayer, gmplayer, Midnight Commander, rox-filer, xarchive and brasero.
AntiX is designed to work on computers with as little as 64MB RAM and Pentuim II or equivalent AMD processors.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Damn Small Linux 4.0 RC3

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:27:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The third release candidate for DSL v4.0 is now available.

Change log for DSL v4.0rc3
* Added taskbar buttons & click to focus in .jwmrc
* Corrected rdesktop icon to rdesktop.lua
* Added emelfm - dropped mc
* Updated association for *.gz
* Created new Standard Boot floppy & PCMCIA modules floppy.
* Updated getman/man url
* Restored SCSI modules - corrected cdrecord
* Updated .torsmo_ip to fetch ethernet device from /proc
* Updated pendrive_usbhdd script to prompt for boot options.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Alpha Release: SimplyMEPIS 6.9.51Prebeta

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:29:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

SimplyMEPIS 6.9.51prebeta is a preview of upcoming SimplyMEPIS 7. It is available from the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.
MEPIS has discontinued using Ubuntu binary packages in favor of a combination of MEPIS packaged binaries based on Debian and Ubuntu source code which is combined with a Debian Stable OS core and extra packages from Debian package pools.

Warren Woodford of MEPIS explains the change "By using the latest Debian and Ubuntu source code for building user applications, we can provide the best latest versions of the applications users want the most. And by building on top of a Debian Stable core, we can provide a release that has the the stability and long life that users want."

Warren continues "Most Linux users are tired of having to reinstall every 6 months in order to have up-to-date applications. We expect that with this approach MEPIS can offer a superior user experience that will be incrementally upgradeable for 2 years without reinstallation of the OS."

The prebeta includes a 2.6.22 kernel, Debian Etch core, KDE 3.5.7, Firefox 2.0.0.5, Thunderbird 2.0.0.4, and OpenOffice 2.2.1. This is an early release with many rough edges. In particular the splashy boot splash does not run reliably, some extra kernel drivers are not yet compiled for the new kernel, some gui components are not themed for MEPIS, and the prebeta has had very limited testing.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Alpha Release: openSUSE 10.3 Alpha 7

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:27:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Alpha7 is ready, after 5 rebuilds we're happy to say it looks good enough for
the public.

Important Changes Since Alpha6
==============================

* Linux 2.6.22.1
* gcc 4.2.1
* libzypp 3.12.1
* the package set of the CDs are heavily reshuffled and with it the patterns
also affecting the DVD

After Alpha6 was more about testing the first integration of libzypp, Alpha7
is already 10 steps further in regards to libzypp. But we'd like to have your
feedback on the refresh policy of yast/zypper.
See Duncan's explanation about the problem in the opensuse-factory archive:
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-factory/2007-07/msg00169.html

A more detailed list of changes is available via
http://en.opensuse.org/Factory/News

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Damn Small Linux 4.0 RC2

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:45:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The second release candidate of DSL v4.0 is now available for testing.
Change log:
* New xtar.lua. A new GUI to view,extract or process as a MyDSL extension various tar files.
* New netcardconf.lua. A new GUI to configure netcards, relaces dialog version.
* New printing.lua, called from the printer icon, provides "intelligent icon" to handle all printing needs, from setup, start, stop, or print, double-click or drag-n-drop.
* New add2filetool.lua, add2Xfiletool.lua, add2bootlocal.lua provides smooth interface for these tasks, double-click or drag-n-drop
* New switcher.lua GUI to switch WM, jwm, fluxbox, or swm
* Added sudo to myprism2, myndis, myiwconfig so they can be run from home by double clicking.
* Updated minirt24.gz waitusb function.
* Fixed cloop error on traditional hard drive installations.
* Fixed background on several icons.
* Updated "Getting Started" with more dfm information.
* Fixed missing ext3 support.
* Updated pendrive_usbhdd.sh with more warnings of its use of "sda"
* New rootMenu.lua sets root menu based on selected WM.
* Removed -zoom from .dfmext mplayer associations to better support older hardware.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Mandriva Linux 2008 Beta 2

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:43:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The second beta of Mandriva Linux 2008, codenamed Galilee, is now available. The release notes are available here. A guide to major new features (some of which are not yet implemented in this beta) is available here, and the detailed technical specifications are available here. This beta is available as a three CD or one DVD Free edition (containing no non-free software or drivers) for the x86-32 and x86-64 architectures, with a traditional installer. Future betas will be available in One live / install CD hybrid editions with proprietary drivers.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 2

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:42:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Warren Woodford of MEPIS has announced Beta2 of SimplyMEPIS 7.0. The isos and beta1-beta2 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.
The kernel in Beta2 is version 2.6.22.4 which is a security update from the Kernel Development Team. All of the MEPIS Assistants and the Installer were updated to fix minor problems reported by testers. Amarok was updated to version 1.4.7. There were minor updates to some KDE 3.5.7 packages. Security updates to a few Debian Etch packages brought the MEPIS Debian Etch core in sync with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0r1, the Debian Etch update which was released last week.

The open source rtl8187 wireless driver was added to the kernel. For ndiswrapper, the Broadcom wireless drivers were updated and rtl8180 and rtl8185 drivers were added. Knetworkmanager was updated which resulted in more reliable automatic network startup for some users.

When asked about the release schedule, Warren said "At this point 7.0 is on schedule. I'll be speaking at the Ohio LinuxFest in Columbus on September 29th about the process used to create a MEPIS release, with an emphasis on the decisions and tradeoffs that have to be made when recompiling and integrating from upstream sources. I'd like to have 7.0 final at that time."

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Ubuntu 7.10 Alpha 5

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:39:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The Ubuntu release team is pleased to announce Tribe 5, the fifth alpha release in the Gutsy cycle.  Images are now available for Ubuntu
Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Edubuntu.  Tribe releases are for developers and testers only, do not use them if you need a
stable system.

Download the images from

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Ubuntu Desktop and Server)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/gutsy/tribe-5/ (Xubuntu)

See http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Mirrors for a list of mirrors.

For details of the new features since Tribe 5 see
http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe5
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/GutsyGibbon/Tribe5/Kubuntu
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/GutsyGibbon/Tribe5/Xubuntu

Read the full release announcement here.

Test Release: openSUSE 10.3 Beta 2

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:27:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The openSUSE Team is proud to announce the release of openSUSE 10.3 Beta 2. Though this release should not be used on any production machines, everyone can help shape this release by testing out installations and much more. For more information on the release schedule, take a look at the Roadmap.

Technical Changes

Linux 2.6.22.3
glibc 2.6.1
YaST infrastructure improved to allow writing complete YaST modules without using YCP (e.g. exclusively in Perl, Python or Ruby)
Bootloader-related improvements: openSUSE 10.3 will use “chainloader” if it detects additional installations’ bootloader code in other partitions, otherwise “configfile” sections will be used (see Call for Testing below!)
Improved package lists of 1-CD GNOME and KDE
Countless bug fixes, all over the place

A more detailed list of the changes is available on the Factory/News wiki page.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 1

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:25:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has announced the upload of the first official Beta of the upcoming 7.0 release of SimplyMEPIS. Version 6.9.60beta1 for 32 and 64 bit processors is available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.
Since the prebeta of 2 weeks ago, there have been several changes which are included in Beta 1, a 2.6.22.3 kernel, kernel drivers for the ralink family of wireless cards, other updated drivers, KDE 3.5.7 updates, better appearance of splashy, and the latest Debian Etch security updates. The LiveCD now offers an option to boot with the aufs rw filesystem but this is not yet well tested.

MEPIS 7.0 is based on a Debian Etch core combined with up-to-date user applications that are recompiled by MEPIS from upstream Debian and Ubuntu common source code. Debian Etch users are welcome to get their updated applications from the MEPIS pools. Warren Woodford says "If you want the stability of Debian Etch and also the latest user applications, 7.0 was made for you. And if you are a Debian Etch user, you don't have to upgrade to MEPIS, in order to use the applications we recompile."

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Final Release: Debian GNU/Linux 4.0r1

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:23:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The Debian project has updated the stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (codename Etch). This update adds security updates to the stable release, together with a few corrections to serious problems. As always, the first point release also corrects a few issues that have been noticed too late in the release process to stop the release, but still should be fixed.

This point release for Etch also includes an updated release of the installer, which includes the following changes:

kernels used in the installer have been updated to ABI 2.6.18-5; as a result, some "small" images (for example netboot and floppy images) included with the original Etch release will no longer work (but the new images included with the point release will work, as well as the full CD/DVD images from both the original release as well as from this point release)
updated mirror list
support added for certain USB CD drives that were not being detected
incorrect setup of gksu fixed when user chooses to install with the root account disabled; this prevented the execution of administrative tasks in GNOME
important translation fixes in partman for Catalan and Romanian

Please note that this update does not constitute a new version of Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away 4.0 DVDs/CDs. Instead you only need to update against ftp.debian.org or a mirror after an installation, in order to incorporate those changes. New CD and DVD images will be available within the next week at the regular locations.

Upgrading to this revision online is usually done by pointing the aptitude package tool (see the sources.list(5) manual page) to one of Debian's many FTP or HTTP mirrors. A comprehensive list of mirrors is available at:
http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: Damn Small Linux 4.0 RC1

noreply@blogger.com (Vipul Agrawal) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:20:00 +0000

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Change Log for DSL v4.0 Release Candidate 1
* New pendrive usbhdd installation script now uses grub with DSL on 2nd small partition.
* Removed pendrive usbzip install script, syslinux and mtools.
* Changed default root menu from dfm to chosen WM menu.
* Updated "Getting Started" to reflect changed defaults.
* Changed kernel from 2.4.34.1 to 2.4.31 to gain user contributed modules, e.g., ipw2* and nvidia.
* Created new support modules: cloop, unionfs, ndiswrapper, fuse, and madwifi in support of kernel change.
* Updated nano-tiny to v2.0.6.
* Fixed non-critical bug in dsl-config concerning hard drive installations.
* Added dsl 3 runlevel for multiple user dsl consoles.
* Fixed bug in iwconfig-setup
* Updated functions5.lua
* Updated fluxbox menus to use system default (helvetica).
* Added vim link
* Patched knoppix-autoconfig to correct language issues.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.