Softpedia Linux Weekly, Issue 56

Welcome to the 56th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!

The following Linux distributions were announced last week: Sabayon Linux 4.2 CoreCD, Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 and Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Alpha 2. In other news: Canonical releases patch for Kernel vulnerabilities found in Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, 8.04 LTS, 8.10 and 9.04; Mandriva launches the Mandriva Flash 2009 Spring 8GB USB key; and Canonical announces support services for Ubuntu Desktop Edition. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the latest Linux distributions released/updated last week and the development releases.

Summary:

On July 24th, Kelly Schwartz from the Sabayon team announced the immediate availability of the CoreCD edition of the popular Sabayon Linux 4.2, a Gentoo-based operating system. The CoreCD is a minimalistic version designed to provide the base for building your own Sabayon Linux system. Sabayon Linux 4.2 CoreCD is available for the x86 and x86_64 architectures, featuring a custom Linux kernel 2.6.29, with support for the EXT4 filesystem. However, it is only available as a text-based release.

Highlights of Sabayon Linux 4.2 CoreCD:

· CD and USB bootable ISO image under 400 MB; · Text-based installer; · Basic networking activated by default; · Portage and Entropy ready.

Download Sabayon Linux 4.2 CoreCD right now from Softpedia.

On July 27th, Fixars Solutions announced that Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 had just been made available for download on mirrors worldwide! Among the new features brought by Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 we can mention the ability to install and boot from a USB flash drive and an improved PS3VRAM, in order to offer an increase in speed of up to 50% compared to Yellow Dog Linux 6.1. There is also very good news for wireless users, as the Wicd application offers more reliable WPA and WEP security protocols. Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 comes packed with over 600 packages and 2500 new ones available via the EPEL repository!

Highlights of Yellow Dog Linux 6.2:

· USB boot and install support; · Linux Kernel 2.6.29 PPC64; · Linux Kernel 2.6.27 PPC32; · Added the Xfce 4 desktop environment; · Updated IMB Cell SDK to version 3.1.0.1; · Updated the OpenOffice.org office suite to version 3.0; · Updated Mozilla Firefox web browser to version 3.0.6; · Improved wireless support; · Improved Shockwave Flash support; · Better PS3VRAM support; · Updated Gnash to version 0.8.4; · Added Libfreevec.

Download Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 right now from Softpedia.

On July 31st, the second alpha of Mandriva Linux 2010.0 was announced by the Mandriva team. Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Alpha 2 is still not available as a Live CD; the only way for you to test it is to grab the DVD and install it. It is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. The features of this release are exactly what everyone was expecting – the newly released GNOME 2.27.5 and KDE 4.3 RC3 desktop environments, Linux kernel 2.6.31 RC4, and many more. The development cycle of Mandriva Linux 2010.0 will continue with a beta release at the end of August, two release candidates scheduled for September and October, and the official public release expected around November, 2009.

Highlights of Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Alpha 2:

· Linux kernel 2.6.31 RC4; · KDE 4.3 RC3; · GNOME 2.27.5; · Xfce 4.6.1; · X.org Server 1.6.2; · OpenOffice.org 3.1.0; · KOffice 2.0.1; · Amarok 2.1.1; · Digikam 1.0 Beta 3; · Kipi plug-ins 0.5.0; · KMess 2.0.0; · Apache 2.2.22; · PHP 5.3.0; · Improved Drakxtools; · Device permission handling changes.

Download Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Alpha 2 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is an alpha release and it should not be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.

Other News:

· Canonical announced on July 28th the availability of a new Linux kernel security update for the following Ubuntu distributions: 6.06 LTS, 8.04 LTS, 8.10 and 9.04 (also applies to Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu). The update patches 4 important security issues discovered in the Linux kernel packages by various hackers. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to update your system as soon as possible! Read more about it here.

· Mandriva announced on July 29th that a new version of its portable USB Mandriva Flash Drive was available for purchase. The new edition is based on Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring, with the KDE 4 desktop environment, and it is available on an 8 GB USB flash drive. Think of Mandriva Flash 2009 as your personal and private mobile desktop, which allows you to perform your daily computer tasks from anywhere. Read more about it here.

· Canonical announced on July 31st that it would offer new support services for both individual and small businesses, which would ease the transition from Microsoft Windows or Apple Macintosh to the popular Ubuntu operating system. Ubuntu is a 100% free and open-source Linux OS for both desktop and server platforms, with millions of users around the globe. With these support services offered by Canonical, users can now take full advantage of the Ubuntu OS. They will include support for installations, desktop configuration and general assistance. Read more about it here.

Video Clip of the Week: Yellow Dog Linux 6 on PS3

· For this week we've posted a video clip that showcases the Yellow Dog Linux 6 operating system on the PlayStation 3 gaming console. The video has 3 minutes and 35 seconds, and it was posted by efaustus9. Enjoy!

New Distributions:

See you again next Monday, August 10th, for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.