Feb 14, 2011 18:11 GMT  ·  By

Welcome to the 136th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!

The following Linux-based operating systems have been announced last week: Sabayon Linux 5.5 CoreCDX and SpinBase Editions, SimplyMEPIS 11.0 Beta 2, Frugalware 1.4 and PureOS 3.0. In other news: VMWare and Zimbra releases Zimbra Collaboration Server 7.0; Adobe Flash Player 10.2 brings better HD video playback on Linux; Canonical releases world’s largest hardware component catalog for Linux; Canonical announced that there will no more Release Candidate for the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) operating system. For this week we've prepared a nice tutorial about how to install Firefox 4 in Ubuntu. The weekly ends, as usual, with the video clip of the week, the new/updated Linux distributions, and the development releases.

dots Summary:

dots SabayonOn February 8th, the Sabayon development team proudly announced the immediate availability for download of the CoreCDX and SpinBase editions of their popular Sabayon Linux operating system. Sabayon Linux 5.5 SpinBase and CoreCDX editions are designed for Linux experts and advanced users that want to set up a home server or create their very own operating system, based on Sabayon.

Highlights of Sabayon Linux CoreCDX and SpinBase 5.5:

· Linux kernel 2.6.37 (desktop optimized kernel with Tuxonice, the Group Scheduling patch and AUFS2.1); · Glibc 2.11; · EXT4 as the default filesystems; · Support for encrypted filesystems (LUKS); · Support for Btrfs filesystems; · Small ISO images that can be booted from CD or USB stick; · Entropy Framework updated to version 1.0 Alpha 14; · Ready for Portage and Entropy (allows access to lots of installable apps); · Easily customizable system (with the help of Entropy); · OpenVZ-enabled kernels optimized for servers are available in the default repositories; · Fast installation process (guaranteed to take less than 5 minutes).

Review image
Sabayon Linux 5.5 - Image courtesy of Sabayon Linux

Download Sabayon Linux CoreCDX 5.5 now from Softpedia.

Download Sabayon Linux SpinBase 5.5 now from Softpedia.

dots SimplyMEPISAlso on February 8th, Warren Woodford announced the immediate availability for download of second Beta release of SimplyMEPIS 11.0. Technically SimplyMEPIS 10.9.90 fixes several issues, problems with the live CD booting should be fixed, for example, and comes with updated packages, based on the stable release of Debian 6.0. SimplyMEPIS 11.0 Beta 2 comes with an updated kernel and adds some more recent packages to the mix to provide a more up-to-date selection than a pure Debian 6.0 install.

Currently, SimplyMEPIS 8.5 is the stable release, but SimplyMEPIS 11 has been in the works for a some time now. It's based on Debian 6.0 Squeeze, which has just been released after a couple of years in development. Debian provides a rock-solid base for SimplyMEPIS, but some packages are already out of date, so Firefox 4.0, KDE 4.5 and a newer Linux kernel have been included.

Review image
SimplyMEPIS 11.0 Beta 2

Download SimplyMEPIS 11.0 Beta 2 now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a beta release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only.

dots FrugalwareOn February 13th, Miklós Vajna announced the release of Frugalware Linux 1.4, after some six months of hard development. Frugalware Linux 1.4 comes with updated packages for most of its applications along with some newer technologies, like systemd, and a GUI installer by default. The Linux kernel, X.Org, GNOME, KDE SC and many other main packages have been updated, though they're still sometimes behind the very latest stable version available. There is a new LCD font rendering option in GNOME that should result in better looking text in some cases.

Highlights of Frugalware Linux 1.4:

· Linux kernel 2.6.37; · X.Org server 1.9; · GNOME 2.32; · KDE SC 4.5; · Drupal 7; · Python 2.7; · KOffice localization packages have now been included; · New LCD font rendering in GNOME which kicks in when using a digital video output; · OSSv4 is now included as an alternative to the standard ALSA; · systemd has been included but sysvinit is still the default init; · NetConfig now supports mobile 3G connections; · Booting from virtio devices is now supported; · The GUI installer is now included in the default images.

Review image
Frugalware Linux 1.4 - Image courtesy of Frugalware

Download Frugalware Linux 1.4 now from Softpedia.

dots PureOSAlso on February 13th, Marc Poirette proudly announced the immediate availability of the PureOS 3.0 Linux distribution. The Debian-based distro comes with a fresh Linux kernel and updated packages from the previous release. Since it's based on Debian testing, some of the packages may be a bit behind from the very latest versions available. It does have some packages from the experimental branch of Debian, though.

Highlights of PureOS 3.0:

· Linux kernel 2.6.37 Squashfs 4.0 and LZMA included; · Gnome 2.30 along with the Docky, a dock-type task manager and panel; · LibreOffice 3.3.0 - Base, Calc, Draw, Impress, Math and Writer all plucked from the "experimental" Debian repositories; · Iceweasel (aka Mozilla Firefox) 3.6.13 - also from the "experimental" repositories; · Icedove (Mozilla Thunderbird) 3.0.11 with the Lightning calendar extension; · Network-Manager; · Transmission 2.03; · Filezilla 3.3.3; · Songbird 1.8.0; · VLC 1.1.3; · Brasero 2.30.3; · GIMP 2.6.10; · Evince 2.30.3; · Gparted 0.7.0.

Review image
PureOS 3.0

Download PureOS 3.0 now from Softpedia.

dots Other NewsOther News:

· On February 7th, the Zimbra 7 cloud collaboration suite has been released. All major components of the platform have been made available at the same time which will be the norm moving forward. VMware Zimbra Collaboration Server, as well as the Zimbra Collaboration Appliance and Zimbra Desktop, have all been updated along with the Zimbra Collaboration Suite Open Source Edition. Read more about it here.

dots

· On February 8th, Adobe announce the final and stable version of the highly anticipated Flash Player 10.2 plugin, for Linux, Windows and Macintosh systems. The new release brings Stage Video and full hardware accelerated video pipeline for amazing video playback. As we've said above, Adobe Flash Player 10.2 has a new feature called Stage Video, which brings smoother, more beautiful and more efficient HD video playback for the web. Read more about it here.

dots

· Canonical announced on February 10th, that it just made publicly available its entire database of certified hardware components for Linux and Ubuntu, for the first time. This will rapidly reduce the time-to-market for ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers) working on Linux or Ubuntu systems. Canonical's catalogue includes over 1,300 certified hardware components from 161 manufacturers. This is definitely the biggest and up-to-date list of Linux-compatible hardware components available. Read more about it here.

dots

· Ubuntu release team, through Kate Stewart, announced on February 11th that the release schedule for the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) operating system has been changed. Therefore, there will be no Release Candidate version for Ubuntu 11.04! It was replaced with a Beta 2 release, scheduled for April 14th, 2011. Ubuntu 11.04 will have 3 Alpha releases and two Betas. Ubuntu 11.04 is dubbed Natty Narwhal, it will be the fourteen release of the Ubuntu operating system, and it will see the light of day on April 28th, 2011. Read more about it here.

dots Tutorial of the WeekTutorial of the Week: How to Install Firefox 4 in Ubuntu 10.10, 10.04 and 9.10

· The following tutorial will teach every Ubuntu 10.10, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and Ubuntu 9.10 user how to install the current development version of the upcoming Mozilla Firefox 4 web browser.

Review image
Mozilla Firefox 4 on Ubuntu 10.10

The Mozilla Firefox 4 packages are available for the following Ubuntu distributions: Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat); Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) and Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala).

Read the entire tutorial here.

dots Video Clip of the WeekVideo Clip of the Week: Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal Alpha 2 Review

· For this week we've posted an 720p high-definition video clip that presents a review of the recently released Xubuntu 11.04 Alpha 2 (Natty Narwhal) operating system. The video has 7 minutes and 56 seconds, and it was posted by quidsup. Enjoy!

Download from SoftpediaNew Distributions:

· Linux KDuXP 1.98 · iGolaware Linux 2.0 · Murphy 3.6 · 4MLinux Allinone Edition 2.0

Download from SoftpediaDistributions Updated Last Week:

· Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.7-11 · 4MLinux Media Edition 2.0 · Toorox 01.2011 · CIITIX-WiFi 1.1 · Xange 2011 · MyWolfe 028 · Comfusion 3.0 · Oracle Enterprise Linux 6 · Pinguy OS 10.04.2 · IPFire 2.9 Core 46 · KDE 4 Live CD 4.6.0 · PLD Linux Rescue CD 11.02

Download from SoftpediaDevelopment Releases:

· Linux Mint KDE Edition 10 RC · CrunchBang Linux 10 R20110207 · VectorLinux 7.0 Beta 1 · Kororaa 14 Beta 2 · Chrome OS 1.0.648 RC · Netrunner 3 RC · Scientific Linux 6 Beta 3 · Openwall GNU/Linux Current-20110212 · Linux Mint LXDE 10 RC

See you again on February 21st for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.