14 DAY TRIAL // Welcome to the 47th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!
This week's editorial talks about the existing Linux distributions for kids. In the Linux distribution announcement section you will find the following releases: Linux Mint 7, CentOS 5.3 Live, PC/OS Open64 Workstation 10 and Calculate Linux Desktop 9.6. In other news: Mandriva announced its Online storage and backup solution for Linux users; Canonical has some interesting ideas about a new application called AppCenter; SouthEast LinuxFest will take place June 13th, so make sure you're there; KOffice 2.0.0 has finally arrived, after three years of development. This is the last weekly for May and we are proud to award Rhythmbox with the "Application of the Month" title. Last but not least, we have a nice tutorial for Ubuntu users, about how to replace the volume control in Ubuntu 9.04 with the PulseAudio one. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the latest Linux distributions released/updated last week and the development releases.
Summary:
Editorial: Linux for Kids - by Daniel Pop-Silaghi
· Today is the 1st of June, and, in many countries around the world, people celebrate not only the first day of summer, but also the International Children's Day. If you're a parent and you've run out of gift ideas, why not introduce your little ones to the wonders of Linux? In a previous editorial we talked about different comics created to smoothen the Linux learning curve, especially for the younger audiences, but today we will present you with various open-source projects for your kids to play around with.
LinuxKidX was, until recently, a Brazilian-only Linux distribution, but, as of March 20th 2009, it is also available in English, so a lot more children have access to it. You will probably be surprised, but this particular distribution is based on Slackware and comes in the form of a 525MB Live CD. The desktop environment used is KDE 3.5, but this won't matter to children, as they will absolutely love the interface. A huge taskbar, giant cartoonish icons on the desktop and a funny wallpaper are sure to attract some attention. What's harder though is maintaining the kids' interest in the operating system. Fortunately, LinuxKidX comes with loads of interesting and fun applications that will entertain any child for a long time.
One of the software suites that come in almost all kid-oriented Linux distributions is GCompris, a collection of activities that will not only ensure hours of fun but will also provide a high educational value. The activities range from learning to use the mouse and keyboard, to Reading and Math practice, or even a basic introduction to the laws of physics. Moreover, children will be able to draw, create animations, use a simple word processor and chat with friends from inside the local network. This can be successfully used not only at home, but also in kindergartens.
The other suites available in LinuxKidX are KDE-Edu, which comes with a bunch of edutainment utilities: KStars, a great virtual Planetarium, Kalzium Periodic Table of Elements, the KTouch typing tutor, KGeography, KWordQuiz etc., and ChildsPlay, a collection of small, cute games. Even parents will be able to efficiently use this distribution, as the regular desktop applications are also available: OpenOffice.org, Firefox, GIMP, aMSN and more.
Foresight Linux is a highly acclaimed, bleeding-edge distribution and many of you surely came across it. What you probably don't know is that Foresight also develops a "Kid's Edition." This time around, a happy bee and a yummy-looking honeycomb are on the desktop ready to steal a few giggles from your youngsters. As expected, GCompris is available in Foresight Kid's Edition too. Along that, Tuxpaint, Tux Typing, SuperTux, SuperTuxKart, Super Maryo Chronicles and more will entertain any child.
The last project I'm going to tell you about comes from Canonical and is called Edubuntu. Recently upgraded to the 9.04 version, this is an Addon ISO so you will have to install it on top of an existing Ubuntu 9.04 system. The software available is bundled in separate grade levels: Preschool (< 5 years old), Primary (6-12), Secondary (13-18) and even Tertiary, for University students. Some of the tools included are: GCompris, Tux4Kids, Schooltool Calendar and the KDE Edutainment Suite. There are three themes available, out of which one will definitely appeal to the little ones. However, If you don't feel like using the Addon CD or if you don't have an Ubuntu machine, you can also try "Kids Without", a stand-alone distribution built with Edubuntu's packages.
As you should have realized by now, Linux and the open-source world provide the perfect resource for both parents and educators who want to use technology in keeping children entertained and interested in learning something new every day.
In the end, there's only one thing left for us to say: Happy Holiday, kids!
Linux distributions announced last week:
On May 26th, Clement Lefebvre and the community behind the Linux Mint project proudly announced the immediate availability of the final release of the Linux Mint 7 (codename Gloria) operating system. Linux Mint 7 is based on Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) and it is powered by Linux kernel 2.6.28, X.org 7.4 and GNOME 2.26.1. Above all that, the 7th release of Linux Mint includes a brand new artwork, updated applications and many, many new breathtaking features.
Highlights of Linux Mint 7:
· Based on Ubuntu 9.04; · Linux kernel 2.6.28; · X.Org 7.4; · GNOME 2.26.1; · New artwork; · Improved boot speed; · Improved mintMenu; · Improved mintInstall; · Improved mintUpdate; · Improved mintUpload; · Added mintWelcome; · Added apt version, inxi and rtfm command-line tools; · Moonlight/Silverlight support; · Xchat-Gnome was replaced by XChat; · Meta and virtual packages.
Download Linux Mint 7 right now from Softpedia.
On May 27th, the CentOS Development Team announced the immediate availability of their CentOS 5.3 Live CD Linux distribution. This version is based on the previously released CentOS 5.3 for i386 processor architectures. In order to make the ISO fit on a single 700 MB CD, the Emacs, K3B and Scribus applications had to be removed. Still, these can easily be installed through the "yum install" command, even while running the Live environment.
CentOS 5.3 Live CD can be successfully used as a powerful workstation, by having the following applications included: OpenOffice.org 2.3.0 office productivity suite, Mozilla Firefox 3.0.6 web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird E-mail client, Pidgin 2.5.5 instant messaging client, XChat 2.6.6 IRC client or GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) 2.2.13.
Download CentOS 5.3 Live CD right now from Softpedia.
Also on May 27th, Roberto J. Dhnert announced the release of his PC/OS Open64 Workstation 10 Linux distribution. This new version is based on the latest Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) and was exclusively created for 64-bit architectures. PC/OS Open64 Workstation 10 also contains all the security patches and bugfixes released until the 25th of May.
Highlights of PC/OS Open64 Workstation 10:
· Xfce 4.6 desktop environment; · OpenOffice.org 3.1.0 office productivity suite; · QT 4 application and UI framework; · Monodevelop IDE (Integrated Development Environment); · VLC multimedia player; · Exaile audio player; · Sun Java Runtime Environment; · Adobe Flash 64-bit plugin; · Full collection of multimedia codecs; · GIMP Gnu Image Manipulation Program 2.6.6; · Filezilla FTP Client 3.2.2.1; · Mozilla Firefox web browser 3.0.10; · Wine 1.0.1; · Scribus 1.3.3.12; · Development and multimedia libraries and tools.
Download PC/OS Open64 Workstation 10 right now from Softpedia.
On May 29th, Alexander Tratsevskiy proudly announced the immediate availability of the Calculate Linux Desktop 9.6 KDE Live DVD Linux distribution. Being based on the Gentoo Linux, Calculate Linux Desktop 9.6 is an anniversary version, as the first version was released exactly two years ago, on May 29th, 2007. It is powered by Linux Kernel 2.6.28.10 and X.Org 7.4, built on top of the KDE 4.2.3 desktop environment, and it includes OpenOffice.org office suite 3.0.1.
Highlights of Calculate Linux Desktop 9.6:
· Now boots from DVD with the help of isolinux; · Users can now choose their keyboard layout when booting from the Live DVD image; · Added Wicd, a popular network configuration graphical utility; · Improved Live USB support; · Automated the switch to normal mode if the client fails to communicate with the server; · Changed the way the user accounts are stored on the server; · The system can be upgraded to the newest version directly from the ISO image, no need to burn it on a DVD disc; · Video card setup is now powered by the X.org drivers.
Download Calculate Linux Desktop 9.6 right now from Softpedia.
· After Canonical recently announced the availability of a cloud-based storage solution in the form of Ubuntu One, on May 25th Mandriva unveiled a similar service, called Click'n Backup. But, of course, there are quite a few differences that really separate these two. First of all, you should know that there is no "Free" plan available, so regular users with only a few important files that need to be backed up might just look for other alternatives. Read more about it here.
· On May 26th, we presented an interesting idea from Canonical, about a nice application called AppCenter. To summarize, AppCenter or whatever its name will be in the future, will definitely replace the popular Synaptic Package Manager, Update Manager, Add/Remove, GDebi and System Cleaner applications, in order to offer to the new or experienced Ubuntu users an easier and more intuitive way to install/update/remove software packages. Read more about it here.
· On May 27th, we announced the date when the SouthEast LinuxFest would make its debut in Clemson, South Carolina. The one-day conference features an impressive list of speakers that will be sure to fill the Hendrix Student Center at Clemson University. The entrance is free but, if you want to support the project, you can do that by opting for a $50 admission fee, for which price you also receive a T-Shirt or drink tickets. Read more about it here.
· After more than three years of hard work, the team behind the popular KOffice suite announced on May 28th the final release of KOffice 2.0.0. The cross-platform office productivity suite has been almost completely rewritten and consists of six applications, each suited to cover various tasks either at home or in an enterprise environment. Read more about it here.
Application of the Month: Rhythmbox
· From the article: Though I'm almost 100% positive that everybody heard of Rhythmbox, it would be a shame not to award it the "Application of the month" title, as it is my trusty companion throughout the day both here at Softpedia and at home. Make no mistake about it, I'm far from being a music guru/maniac, but, from time to time, the silence has to be broken. Moreover, though it's described as a "Music Player," you can always use Rhythmbox for listening to entertaining/informative podcasts or be kept up-to-date with the latest news as reported through your favorite radio station.
If the "Portable players" entries caught your attention, yes, Rhythmbox supports a variety of players, including the ever-popular iPod. Another interesting plugin is DAAP Music Sharing, which will allow you to share music or play songs others have shared, inside your network.
Read the full article here.
Tutorial of the Week: How to Replace the Volume Control in Ubuntu 9.04
· I have recently heard someone cursing Canonical for not implementing the highly acclaimed PulseAudio volume control into the new Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) operating system, a function that exists in the newly released Mandriva 2009.1 (Spring) distribution. First, let me tell you what the PulseAudio volume control can offer. Except for the fact that it is much better than the old ALSA or OSS sound servers, it will offer you the ability to individually control the volume of each running application that uses the sound server, including web-based ones, such as flash players (YouTube, Google Videos, etc). So, as usual, I thought this would be an easy-to-achieve task and I've created the following guide, which will teach you how to replace the default volume control in Ubuntu 9.04 with PulseAudio's smarter one, in only five minutes!
Read the full tutorial here.
Video Clip of the Week: Linux Mint 7 mintWelcome
· For this week we decided to post a video clip that showcases the mintWelcome application available in the new Linux Mint 7 operating system. The video has 1 minute and 20 seconds and it was posted by beginusinglinux. Enjoy!
· Linux Mint 7 Universal Edition · Hymera 20090428 · LinuxKidX
Distributions Updated Last Week:
· Nexenta OS 2.0 · LOUD Platform Project 2009-05-26 · Ultimate Gamers Edition 2.1 · Vinux 1.51 · R.I.P. 8.9 · Linux LiveCD Router 2.0.50
· Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.2-17 · Devil-Linux 1.4 RC1 · ZeroShell 1.0 Beta 12 · Pardus Linux 2009 Alpha · openSUSE Linux 11.2 Milestone 2 · Vixta.org 2009.06 RC1 · Astaro Security Linux 7.5 Beta · Debris Linux 1.7.0 Beta
See you again next Monday, June 8th, for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.
The Softpedia Linux Editorial Team.