14 DAY TRIAL // Welcome to the 66th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!
The following Linux distributions were announced last week: SystemRescueCd 1.3.1, Gentoo 10, Tiny Core 2.4.1 and Mandriva Linux 2010.0 RC2. In other news: The KDE Community announced the second maintenance release of the KDE 4.3 desktop environment. An in-depth review of the MP3 Diags 0.99.06.041 application is also present in this 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 October 4th, François Dupoux released SystemRescueCD 1.3.1, a version that's powered by the Linux kernel 2.6.31.1. Along with that, you will find a 2.6.27.35 alternative kernel, a fresh NTFS-3G, 2009.4.4-AR19, and PartImage 0.6.8, which allows you to disable SSL at runtime.
SystemRescueCd 1.3.1 isn't all about updates, though; some applications have been replaced, fixes to the distribution were made and, more importantly, a new feature was added. TigerVNC 1.0.0 took the place of TightVNC, and, in support of this change, the VNC server configuration was modified. From the fixes department comes a change to the initial RAM filesystem, which allows you to boot SystemRescueCd over the network when the source URL uses a hostname.
Download SystemRescueCd 1.3.1 right now from Softpedia.
Also on October 4th, Matthew Summers announced the release of Gentoo Linux 10.0, a special edition for its 10th birthday! Powering this latest Gentoo release is the Linux kernel 2.6.30, which is tweaked with custom patches, version 2.18 of the GNU Binary Utilities, GCC 4.3.2, GLIBC 2.9 and BASH 4.0. Along with those come Python 2.6.2 and Perl 5.8.8 for your scripting needs, and even Speakup 3.1.3 for the visually impaired.
After booting the DVD, you will be greeted by KDE 4.3.1, but, if you aren't at home on this Qt-based desktop environment, just pick one of the following: GNOME 2.26.3, Xfce 4.6.1, Enlightenment 0.16.8.15, Openbox 3.4.7.2, Fluxbox 1.1.1, TWM 1.0.4, or look into the portage system for more. The desktop wouldn't be complete without a web browser, and there are plenty of those to choose from, like Mozilla Firefox 3.5.3, Arora 0.7.11, Opera 10.0 or Epiphany 2.26.3, just to name a few. Getting in touch with others is easy when you have Pidgin 2.5.9, Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.23 and Ekiga 2.0.12 at your fingertips.
Download Gentoo 10.1 right now from Softpedia.
On October 9th, Robert Shingledecker, founder of the Tiny Core Linux project, announced the availability of Tiny Core Linux 2.4.0, a version that brings major updates to this very small Linux distribution (only 11 MB in size). However, on October 10th, its creator announced the first maintenance version of the aforementioned release.
Highlights of Tiny Core Linux 2.4.1:
· Flwm (Fast Light Window Manager) has been updated to version 1.12; · updated various components of flwm; · flwm_restart received menu refresh capability; · appbrowser was updated; · wbar.sh is now able to read even more configuration files from $HOME/.wbar; · flpicsee was updated to version 1.0 (the Ctrl hotkeys were replaced with Alt ones); · setbackground is now able to process a compressed logo template, in order to save space; · .Xdefaults supports the transparency mode of aterm; · .xsession can now start/check watcher and/or flit; · watcher will no longer overlay flit, and they were both moved to extensions; · tc-config can now process dependency file at startup; · fixed a few bugs in tce-load; · /dev/loop supports 255 loop devices (max_loop=255 is still needed); · rc.shutdown was updated to remove external calls; · fstype was updated to remove external calls; · in order to make the desktop environment reentrant and with better support for microcore, the startx, tc-config and .profile scripts were updated; · added new tce-setup, in order to load all the tce apps at boot; · tce-setup is called now by tc-config; · the filetool.sh and tc-restore scripts implement blowfish encrypted backup; · the default backup directory is now located in persistent tce folder; · fixed an issue with dependency partial downloads in tce-load; · /opt/.tcrc was updated; · removed the checkfs boot option (the "base norestore" option can be used instead); · optimized the code of tce-setup; · tc-config offers now more streamlined and consistent messages at startup; · the usbinstall script works better when it is launched from the system menu; · isolinux.cfg was updated to include max_loop=255; · free loop has been fixed; · errors about extensions are now shown at boot; · fixed tcz2ran.lst; · fixed the 'base norestore noicons' option; · $fstab_pid was added before the tce access; · removed pci.ids (the pic-ids.tcz and libpci.tczl extensions can be used instead); · in order to display the names of the extensions, during boot, the "showapps" boot code was added.
Download Tiny Core Linux 2.4.1 right now from Softpedia.
On October 10th, Mandriva announced the second release candidate of the upcoming Mandriva Linux 2010.0 Linux distribution, due for launch in early November this year. The features of this release include the newly launched KDE 4.3.2 and GNOME 2.28.0 desktop environments, as well as the Linux kernel 2.6.31.2 and X.Org Server 1.6.3. Moreover, a Guest account was added in this release, and we believe that everyone knows how this works, from the Ubuntu operating system. Support for Poulsbo drivers was also added, but only in the One CDs. Netbook users were not forgotten, as Mandriva Linux 2010.0 RC2 is the first operating system to integrate the Moblin 2.0 environment for mobile desktops! Last but not least, Nepomuk has been greatly improved.
Highlights of Mandriva Linux 2010.0 RC2:
· Plymouth boot splash manager; · Added Guest account; · Added Poulsbo drivers; · Moblin 2.0 support; · Linux kernel 2.6.31.2; · KDE 4.3.2; · GNOME 2.28.0; · Xfce 4.6.1; · X.org Server 1.6.3; · VirtualBox 3.0.8; · Amarok 2.2; · Python 3; · Updated the Firsttime wizard; · Fixed various bugs in Drakxtools; · Fixed more bugs in Nepomuk; · Improved network profiles; · URPM and urpmi improvements; · ...and many more!
Download Mandriva Linux 2010.0 RC2 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development release and it should not be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.
· The KDE developers announced on October 6th the release of KDE 4.3.2. This translation and service upgrade contains a huge amount of bugfixes and graphical improvements, dispelling the negative impression that KDE 4 left us with. One of the visually appealing improvements in KDE 4.3.2 is that most of the window effects are actually usable and don't crash your desktop all the time. Read more about it here.
Review of the Week: MP3 Diags 0.99.06.041
From the review: There are many tools out there that can tackle the task of editing audio file metadata, and there is even minimal support for this in most audio players, but they aren't able to do advanced edits, embed the cover to the file or even repair some messed-up headers. For those kinds of problems, I find it better to just use MP3 Diags. While this isn't a tool for the novice user, spending a short time getting used to the concepts and the functionality bundled in this program can help you save a lot of time when you do the actual edits.
MP3 Diags has a comprehensive on-line user manual that goes beyond the options of the program and even has details about the basics of the MP3 file structure and the technical terminology used. Also, when the function that you are trying to use has a mode of operation that isn't obvious, a note containing a short description and a link to the relevant documentation section will be shown.
Read the entire review here.
Video Clip of the Week: Gentoo Linux 10.0 Live DVD - Live
· For this week, we've posted a video clip that showcases the new Gentoo 10.0 Live DVD's features. The video has 4 minutes and 4 seconds and it was posted by the tuxzuechter. Enjoy!
Distributions Updated Last Week:
· Sabayon Linux GNOME 5.0 · Sabayon Linux KDE 5.0 · Tin Hat 20091003 · Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.2-31 · LliureX 9.09 · Excelixis 1.0 · Gentoo Linux 10.1 · Webconverger 5.6
· Parsix Linux 3.0r0 Test 3 · Puppy Linux 4.3.1 RC
See you again next Monday, October 19th, for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.