The weekly roundup for Linux users

Jul 12, 2010 10:01 GMT  ·  By

Welcome to the 105th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!

The following Linux-based operating systems have been announced last week: Salix OS 13.1 LXDE Edition, Mandriva Linux 2010.1 (Spring), PCLinuxOS 2010.07, SystemRescueCd 1.5.8 and Parted Magic 5.0. In other news: Mozilla released the first Beta version of the upcoming Firefox 4.0 web browser for Linux systems; Canonical announced the Ubuntu Free Culture showcase; Mandriva finally finds a solution to its financial woes; the KDE Project announced the second release candidate of the upcoming KDE Software Compilation 4.5.0 environment; Softpedia interviews Evan Dandrea: Ubuntu 10.10 will have a revamped installer. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the latest Linux distributions released/updated and the development releases.

dots Summary:

dots SalixOn July 7th, George Vlahavas proudly announced the immediate availability for download of the LXDE edition of Salix OS 13.1. Being based on the popular Slackware Linux 13.1 operating system, Salix OS 13.1 LXDE features Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment, a very fast and lightweight desktop with a clean, simple look & feel. The Openbox window manager and the lightweight PCManFM file manager were also included in the new edition of Salix OS 13.1.

The main edition of Salix OS 13.1 uses the XFCE desktop environment. Just like it, the LXDE edition offers three installation modes: full, basic and core. While the full mode installs all the packages included on the ISO image, the basic mode will install a minimal LXDE desktop, with the Gslapt and Midori applications. The core mode offers the same installation as in the XFCE edition.

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Salix OS 13.1 LXDE

Download Salix OS 13.1 LXDE right now from Softpedia.

dots MandrivaOn July 8th, The Mandriva announced the Spring version of the popular Mandriva Linux distribution. Mandriva Linux 2010.1 "Spring," comes in three editions: One Edition, Free Edition and Powerpack Edition. Mandriva Linux 2010.1 is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, with GNOME and KDE4 LiveCDs.

Highlights of Mandriva Linux 2010.1:

· Linux kernel 2.6.33.4 · X.Org 7.5; · Xorg Server 1.7.7; · Nouveau video driver; · ATI Radeon video driver 6.13; · Intel video driver 2.11.0; · Mesa 7.8.1; · KDE SC 4.4.3; · GNOME 2.30.1; · GNOME-Shell 2.29.1; · Mozilla Firefox 3.6.6; · Oracle OpenOffice.org 3.2; · Avant Window Navigator 4.0; · Deluge 1.2.3; · Transmission 1.92; · Skrooge 0.7.0; · Amarok 2.3.1; · KTorrent 4.0; · Digikam 1.3.0; · kipi-plugins 1.3.0; · system-config-printer 1.2.0; · NTFS-3G 2010.03.06; · Spamassassin 3.3.1; · Homebank 4.2.1; · libgpod 0.7.93; · Gutenprint 5.2.5; · Lives 1.3.2; · Kdenlive 0.7.7.1; · OpenShot 1.1.3; · Bluefish 2.0.0; · Glibc 2.11.1; · GDB debugger 7.1; · Ruby 1.9.1; · Python 2.6.5; · OpenSSL 1.0.0; · Munin 1.4.4; · Zabbix 1.8.2; · Postfix 2.7.0; · Qt 4.6.2.

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Mandriva Linux 2010.1

Download Mandriva Linux 2010.1 now from Softpedia.

Download Mandriva Linux 2010.1 One Edition now from Softpedia.

dots PCLinuxOSAlso on July 8th, Bill Reynolds proudly announced the immediate availability for download of the new PCinuxOS 2010.07 operating system. This release is available on mirrors worldwide and it comes in four editions: KDE4, GNOME, LXDE and XFCE. Being powered by Linux kernel 2.6.33.5, PCinuxOS 2010.07 offers updated applications and desktop environments, such as KDE SC 4.4.5, Mozilla Firefox 3.6.6, Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0.5, Pidgin 2.7.1 or Amarok 2.3.1.

Highlights of PCLinuxOS 2010.07:

· Linux kernel 2.6.33.5; · KDE Software Compilation 4.4.5; · GNOME 2.30.2; · Updated LXDE desktop environment; · Mozilla Firefox 3.6.6; · Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0.5; · Dropbox client; · Pidgin 2.7.1; · Ktorrent 4.0.1; · The GIMP 2.6.9; · Digikam 1.3.0; · Amarok 2.3.1; · Transmission 2.00; · Shutter 0.86.2; · XChat 2.8.8; · BleachBit 0.8.0; · K3b 2.0.0; · SMPlayer 0.6.9; · Support for Nvidia and ATI video cards; · AbiWord 2.8.6; · ...and many more!

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PCLinuxOS 2010.07

Download PCLinuxOS 2010.07 KDE4 right now from Softpedia.

Download PCLinuxOS 2010.07 GNOME right now from Softpedia.

Download PCLinuxOS 2010.07 LXDE right now from Softpedia.

Download PCLinuxOS 2010.07 XFCE right now from Softpedia.

dots SystemRescueCdOn July 9th, François Dupoux announced yet another release of his popular SystemRescueCd Linux-based operating system for rescue and recovery tasks. With SystemRescueCd 1.5.8, both kernel lines offered have been updated to Linux kernel 2.6.32.16 and Linux kernels 2.6.34.1 respectively. A newer version of Gparted, the graphical partitioning tool, has been included which fixes a couple of critical bugs from the previous release.

Highlights of SystemRescueCd 1.5.8:

· Standard Linux kernels 2.6.32.16 - 32-bit and 64-bit versions; · Alternative Linux kernels 2.6.34.1 - 32-bit and 64-bit versions; · GParted 0.6.1 - fixes two critical bugs.

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SystemRescueCd 1.5.8

Download SystemRescueCd 1.5.8 right now from Softpedia.

dots Parted MagicOn July 12th, Patrick Verner announced the immediate availability for download of the new and major version of his popular Parted Magic operating system. Parted Magic 5.0 comes now with Linux kernel 2.6.34.1, GParted 0.6.1, Xorg Server 1.7.7, support for the French, German, Norwegian, Italian, Russian and Brazilian languages, a few updated packages, as well as some bug fixes and improvements. Parted Magic is an operating system created to help users easily partition their hard drives or perform various recovery tasks.

Highlights of Parted Magic 5.0:

· Linux kernel 2.6.34.1; · Xorg Server 1.7.7; · GParted 0.6.1; · Added support for new languages (French, German, Norwegian, Italian, Russian and Brazilian); · ClamAV 0.96.1; · Bash 4.1; · FreeType 2.3.12; · Syslinux 4.01; · SimpleBurn 1.5.1; · module-init-tools 3.12; · wireless_tools 29; · wpa_supplicant 0.7.2; · util-linux-ng 2.18; · Added Gawk 3.1.8; · Added psensor 0.2.6; · Added Wiper 2.6 · Added lscpu utility; · Added tk 8.5.8; · Many bugs were fixed.

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Parted Magic 5.0

Download Parted Magic 5.0 right now from Softpedia.

dots Other NewsOther News:

· On July 6th, Mozilla released the first beta of the upcoming Firefox 4.0 web browser for Linux systems. Firefox 4 Beta 1 is just the first step, of many, towards the final release, but things are shaping up already. The biggest changes will be to the UI, though Linux users won’t notice too many differences in the first beta. Firefox 4 Beta 1 comes with a brand-new, in-browser Add-ons Manager, support for the emerging WebM open-source video format and many other goodies. Read more about it here.

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· On July 7th, Canonical proudly announced that it will support the Ubuntu Free Culture showcase, which will offer photographers, artists and musicians from all over the world and with any background, the opportunity to see their work in the next release of the Ubuntu operating system, Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat), due for release in October 10th, 2010. Read more about it here.

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· Mandriva’s financial troubles are no mystery to anyone following open-source software. The company behind one of the most popular Linux distributions has been struggling to stay afloat. At one point, it seemed like the only way out was to sell the company, but on July 7th they announced that a solution which doesn’t involve a sale, and which will ensure that the company will survive for the foreseeable future. Read more about it here.

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· The second release candidate of the upcoming KDE SC 4.5 has been released on July 8th. The developers aren’t being very specific on updates, but you can expect KDE SC 4.5 RC2 to be better suited for regular use than the first release candidate. Other than bug fixes and patches, there shouldn’t be that many changes from RC1. If you haven’t given KDE SC 4.5 a try yet, there should be plenty of things to like over the previous versions like the new, consistent notification area and window tiling. Read more about it here.

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· Last week, we had the pleasure of talking to Evan Dandrea, Software Engineer on the Foundations Team at Canonical, about the upcoming installer of the Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system. Evan Dandrea is the creator of the Migration Assistant functionality in the Ubuntu installer (Ubiquity) and also co-maintainer of Ubiquity and maintainer of the USB Startup Disk Creator application. Through this article, we would like to inform all current and future Ubuntu users that the next release, dubbed Maverick Meerkat, will have a completely revamped and accessible (by Linux beginners) installer. Read more about it here.

dots Video Clip of the WeekVideo Clip of the Week: KDE SC 4.5 RC1 - The Desktop part 1

· For this week we've posted a 720p HD video clip showcase the new features of the upcoming KDE Software Compilation 4.5.0 environment. The video has 4 minutes and 19 seconds, and was posted by madsheytan. Enjoy!

Download from SoftpediaNew distributions:

· Aurora OS 4.0 Beta 1 · Pipsqueak 1.1.0

Download from SoftpediaDistributions Updated Last Week:

· Debian Live 5.0.5 · MyWolfe 018 · Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.5-32 · GParted LiveCD 0.6.0-7 · Unity Linux 2010.1 · R.I.P. 10.2 · ttylinux 11.2

Download from SoftpediaDevelopment Releases:

· Netrunner 2.0 RC · Debian Live Unstable 6.0 Alpha 1 · Zenwalk Live 6.4 Beta 2 · Lubuntu 10.10 Alpha 2 · Kongoni 1.12.3 RC1 · Super OS 10.04 Beta 1 · Lunar Linux 1.6.5 RC1 · Ultimate Edition 2.8 Alpha 2 · Tiny Core Linux 3.0 RC1

See you again next Monday, July 19th, for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.

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