14 DAY TRIAL // Welcome to the 109th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!
The following Linux-based operating systems have been announced last week: Karoshi Linux 7.0, MeeGo for IVI 1.0, Parted Magic 5.2, Elastix 2.0, Jolicloud 1.0 and Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3. In other news: Oracle released a new maintenance version of the popular VirtualBox virtualization software, which brings stability improvements and lots of bugfixes. For this week we've also prepared a nice and simple tutorial, about how to fix the "acer-wmi: unable to detect available WMID devices" bug on your Ubuntu netbook. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the latest Linux distributions released/updated and the development releases.
Summary:
On August 2nd, Jo Harris announced the release of Karoshi Linux 7.0 operating system, a server Linux distribution aimed at schools wanting to manage their local networks and internet access. Karoshi Linux 7.0 makes the switch to Ubuntu 10.04 as the base operating system. It is also more flexible in the configuration process enabling users to customize many of the settings that were hard-coded before.
Highlights of Karoshi Linux 7.0:
· Built on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS; · 64-bit and 32-bit versions available; · Choice of number servers; · Choice of TCP/IP numbers; · Choice of server names; · Choice of domain name; · Wide range of modules available - Email, E-Learning, Website, Proxy, Home Access, Web Filtering, Printing; · Administrate the servers via web management; · Mobile phone web management; · Expand the system with new servers with home areas auto copied; · Network monitoring with E_mail/Text message alerts.
Download Karoshi Linux 7.0 right now from Softpedia.
Also on August 2nd, MeeGo for IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) 1.0 has now been released. It’s an early build, despite the 1.0 moniker, and comes with limited hardware support and just a few, mostly proof-of-concept applications. But it’s a solid first release and with industry support behind it, MeeGo may very well become the IVI operating system of choice.
Highlights of MeeGo for IVI 1.0:
· Linux kernel 2.6.33; · Qt 4.6; · DeviceKit and udev - for hardware support; · Launching and managing applications through a home screen and a taskbar; · Navit - a sample navigation applet; · BT-HFP Dialer - sample Bluetooth dialer application; · Network connections manager UI; · Mozilla Fennec - QT-based web browser; · Open-source packages from various automotive projects with support for: audio management, resource management, persistent storage management, CE device management, and system health management.
Download MeeGo for IVI 1.0 now from Softpedia.
On August 3rd, Patrick Verner announced the immediate availability of Parted Magic 5.2 operating system for partitioning tasks. This second maintenance version of Parted Magic 5 comes with the newly released Gparted 0.6.2 application. Beside the usual bug fixes, Patrick Verner improved the support for Asian languages, by adding SCIM and GCIN. Parted Magic is an operating system created to help users easily partition their hard drives or perform various recovery tasks.
Highlights of Parted Magic 5.2:
· gDisk 0.6.9; · LFTP 4.0.9; · ms-sys 2.2.0; · SimpleBurn 1.5.2.1; · chntpw 100627; · hdparm 9.29; · memtest86+ 4.10; · Partclone 0.2.12; · Wiper 2.7; · Partimage 0.6.9; · GParted 0.6.2; · GCIN 1.5.4; · SCIM 1.4.9; · scim-anthy 1.2.4; · scim-bridge 0.4.16; · scim-hangul 0.3.2; · scim-input-pad 0.1.2; · scim-m17n 0.2.3; · scim-pinyin 0.5.91; · scim-tables 0.5.9.
Download Parted Magic 5.2 now from Softpedia.
Also on August 3rd, Rafael Bonifaz announced the release of the Elastix 2.0 operating system. The major update to the CenOS-based Linux distro comes after two years of development and brings several new or improved features including a revamped dashboard and better support for add-ons. Elastix is a Linux distro designed specifically for private branch extensions (PBX) and aims to provide a unified platform for all communications in an enterprise.
Highlights of Elastix 2.0:
· a visual and functional revamp of the dashboard; · add-on management from the dashboard; · Elastix Operator Panel - real-time phone call management; · virtual Conference Room; · easier integration with external mail servers; · web-based fax; · improved DHCP module; · automatic backups.
Download Elastix 2.0 now from Softpedia.
On August 4th, Jolicloud, one of the original and most touted ‘cloud’ operating systems, has finally hit the 1.0 mark. With the release of Jolicloud 1.0, most of the work has been done and the OS should be considered feature-complete. It has gone through several big changes and upgrades during the development cycle. If you haven’t used it in a while, Jolicloud 1.0 major highlights are touchscreen support, a new HTML5-based app launcher and a Windows installer.
Jolicloud 1.0 has been available to existing users for a couple of weeks now through the automatic update system. However, a pre-release version was only available at the site. Jolicloud has finally gotten around to releasing the ISO and the Windows installer so the Ubuntu-based OS can be considered officially launched.
Download Jolicloud 1.0 now from Softpedia.
On August 5th, Canonical unleashed the third and last Alpha release of the upcoming Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system, due for release in October 10th, 2010. What's new in Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3? Do you remember the OneConf software introduced by Softpedia a couple of months ago? Well, you should know that the first version has been released and it is available in the default software repositories. OneConf can be easily installed via the Synaptic Package Manager and it will allow users to synchronize the applications installed on all of their Ubuntu desktop or laptop/netbook machines, via the Ubuntu One service. After the installation, OneConf can be found in the File menu of the Ubuntu Software Center application and it is entitled "Inventory on Ubuntu One."
GNOME 2.31.6 is now the default desktop environment, and most of its components were updated to the latest development version. Mozilla Firefox was updated to version 3.6.8 and the Transmission BitTorrent client to version 2.03. The kernel packages were updated to version 2.6.35-14.19, based on the final release of Linux kernel 2.6.35.
Download Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 now from Softpedia. Remember that this is an alpha release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only.
· On August 6th, the popular and powerful VirtualBox virtualization software from Oracle, reached version 3.2.8. This new maintenance release brings lots of stability improvements and many bugfixes over previous versions. VirtualBox 3.2.8 binaries are available for download (see the link at the end of the article) for Linux, Solaris, OpenSolaris, Windows and Macintosh platforms. Read more about it here.
Tutorial of the Week: Fixing "WMID devices" Error on Your Netbook
· The following tutorial will teach you how to fix the "acer-wmi: unable to detect available WMID devices" error on Ubuntu Netbook Remix and other netbook operating systems based on Ubuntu. The error appears on various (if not all) netbooks made by Acer, such as Acer Aspire One or Acer eMachines, after a recent system update.
What will this fix do? The answer is: it will blacklist acer-wmi and you'll no longer see the "acer-wmi: unable to detect available WMID devices" error! From this point on, your netbook will boot the operating system in a normal way, and all you'll see is that nice splash screen.
Read the entire tutorial here.
Video Clip of the Week: MeeGo IVI on Menlow
· For this week we've posted a video clip to showcase the new MeeGo for IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) operating system. The video has 1 minute and 12 seconds, and it was posted by pinebud77. Enjoy!
· openSUSE 11.3 LiveCD MeeGo 1.0.1 Build 1.5 · openSUSE Medical 0.0.1 · Puppeee 1.0
Distributions Updated Last Week:
· Comal-Linux 0831 · R.I.P. 10.7 · eBox 1.5-1 · Redo Backup and Recovery 0.9.5
· Kongoni 1.12.3 RC2 · Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud 10.10 Alpha 3 · Kubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 · Ubuntu Server 10.10 Alpha 3 · Kubuntu Netbook Remix 10.10 Alpha 3 · Xubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 · Ubuntu Studio 10.10 Alpha 3 · Edubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 · Ubuntu ARM 10.10 Alpha 3 · Frugalware Linux 1.3 RC2 · BlankOn Sajadah 6.0 RC · Lubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3
See you again next Monday, August 16th, for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly. Follow us on Twitter @softpedialinux Follow me on Twitter @MariusNestor