14 DAY TRIAL // Welcome to our 8th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly! In this edition, you can read about: Debian's 15th anniversary, the inclusion of Canonical into the Linux Foundation, the new graphic drivers from Nvidia and ATI, the new release of EnGarde Secure Linux, highlights from the second beta of Mandriva 2009, second alpha of OpenSuSE 11.1, and the first beta release of Amarok 2.0. You can also read a nice test drive for OpenGEU 8.04 Beta and a good review of CrossFTP, and don't forget to check out the Linux distributions released last week, at the end of the article!
Summary:
￭ It's a time of joy and happiness for Linux fans, as on 16 August 2008, the famous Debian Linux turned 15 years old. Debian is well known for its adherence to the Unix and free software philosophies, and for its software packages that satisfy most of the computer architectures on the market. The story behind the Debian name is a romantic one, it coming from the combination of the names of its creator, Ian (Murdock), and his girlfriend, Debra.
First announced 15 years ago, on August 16, 1993 by Ian, Debian was created basically from scratch. Ian Murdock, back then a student, claimed that he wasn't quite satisfied with the Softlanding Linux System he was using and decided to create a better distro by himself. And what a tremendous impact that decision had, as today Debian is the forefather of many other famous Linux releases such as Knoppix, Xandros, Linspire, MEPIS and, last but not least, the Ubuntu family.
Read more about it here.
￭ On 17 August 2008, Canonical joined the Linux Foundation. The sponsor behind Ubuntu hopes to enhance Linux growth by supporting cross-industry collaboration and promotion.
One of the most popular Linux distributions, Ubuntu, has become a serious option for both server and desktop computers, as well as for the fast developing area of mobile Internet devices. The commercial sponsor of the Ubuntu OS is Canonical, which is also involved in other open source projects such as Bazaar, Storm and Upstart.
Read more about it here.
￭ On 19 August 2008, Nvidia announced a new beta release of its Linux display driver, version 177.67 and, two days after it, the 177.68 release. The new beta brings support for GeForce GTX 260 and GeForce GTX 280 GPUs. Below are the highlights of Nvidia 177.67 Beta:
￭ The RENDER masks, RENDER repeating modes and transformations, for video memory pixmaps, were greatly improved; ￭ GeForce 8, 9 and GTX GPUs (video memory pixmaps) received accelerated support for the RENDER convolution filter; ￭ A new option in the xorg.conf was added, AllowSHMPixmaps. The new function can be used to prevent different programs from using shared memory pixmaps; ￭ DisplayPort display devices support was added; ￭ A workaround was found for the cache flushing problems, which caused stability and corruption issues; ￭ PCI-E MSI experimental support was added; ￭ GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9 and GTX stability issues were resolved; ￭ The TwinView display configuration bug that caused GPU errors, when using Compiz, was fixed; ￭ Fixed the GPU command stream corruption issues; ￭ The 'incorrect fake Xinerama information' workaround was removed; ￭ Better compatibility with the Linux kernel 2.6.x.
Download Nvidia 177.68 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.
￭ Guardian Angel announced the release of EnGarde Linux Community 3.0.20 on 19 August 2008. This release contains some feature enhancements to the EnGarde Secure Linux Installer, the SELinux policy, and also various bug fixes and updated packages. This release fixes some of the bugs previously reported, among which:
￭ Installer thinks the disk is read only ￭ Does not install ￭ DCHP package fails to start after update ￭ Drivers for AMD 690G ￭ Domainkeys ￭ Typo in apache.pm
Download EnGarde Linux Community 3.0.20 right now from Softpedia.
￭ We have another test drive for you, this time for the OpenGEU 8.04 Beta release: "Ever since the release of OpenGEU 8.04 Beta a few days ago, I felt I needed to see for myself what it brought new and to take a closer look at the praised E17 Desktop shell. Combining the power and flexibility of Ubuntu and Gnome with the beauty of E17, OpenGEU 0.04 (Luna Crescente) aims to take the step forward in developing a user-friendly system. As Luca De Marini, the designer behind OpenGEU said, this release is somehow not quite appropriate in timing with the new Ubuntu being so close to the release date, but it's nevertheless a great OS to reside on anyone's computer. With these words from the OpenGEU team, I began installing it one of our computers, here at the Softpedia Labs, my expectations being very high, as also was my trust in a great release.".
Read the full review here.
￭ Mandriva announced the second beta release of Mandriva 2009, which brings a new installer, system-config-printer, Firefox 3, OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta and a few other small changes. Also, in this beta, the Mandriva theme (Ora) was integrated into the KDE 4 desktop environment. Moreover, as we've mentioned, the installer was fully revised in Beta 2, introducing a modern interface and new functions. The following features could be part of Mandriva 2009, scheduled for release on October 9, 2008:
￭ Linux kernel 2.6.26 ￭ GCC 4.3 ￭ GNOME 2.24 ￭ KDE 4.1 ￭ Firefox 3.0 ￭ OpenOffice.org 3.0 ￭ revamped installer ￭ improved boot speed
Download Mandriva 2009 Beta 2 right 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.
￭ The latest ATI display driver for Linux systems was announced on 20 August 2008, and it brings many new features such as CrossFireX and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing support. It also introduces ATIOverDrive to maximize the GPU's (Graphical Processing Unit) performance, although some caution is advised, as increasing its clocks above normal limits could cause system hangs, graphics corruption or data loss. ATI MultiView is another addition that comes with this version, allowing the GPU's use on an independent multi-display desktop from multiple adapters.
Read more about it here. Download ATI Catalyst 8.8 right now from Softpedia.
￭ The second alpha version of openSUSE 11.1 was announced, as expected, on 21 August 2008, by the hard working people behind the openSUSE project. Among the new technologies and applications that will be part of the final version of openSUSE 11.1, due for release on December 18, you'll find:
￭ Linux kernel 2.6.27 ￭ KDE 4.1.1 ￭ KDE 3.5.10 (optional) ￭ GNOME 2.24 ￭ OpenOffice.org 3.0 ￭ Software update stack improvements and many more...
Download and test openSUSE 11.1 Alpha 2 right 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.
￭ The Elive Team announced yet another unstable version of their Enlightenment-based Linux distribution. Elive 1.8.4 brings important improvements and temporary features like the removal of the Fast Boot mode, new drivers and a translation of the installer.
The kernel used in this version has been changed to the old mode configuration, thus improving the chances for your system to boot properly, if you experienced difficulties trying to boot the last version of Elive. Another important addition is the two new categories of ralink drivers required for the EeePC model 1000h.
Download Elive 1.8.4 right now from Softpedia.
￭ On Friday, the Amarok team proudly announced the much anticipated release of Amarok 2.0 Beta 1. Codenamed Nerrivik, this Beta version takes one step further towards the final 2.0 version, by bringing lots of improvements and new features like the scripting interface, new artwork, AFT and numerous bug fixes.
The scripting interface has evolved much, script authors exploring the new possibilities that are offered by QtScript, and is now in its final stages, although it could suffer some minor modifications.
The Amarok File Tracking (AFT) allows you to keep a large number of file related records, in order to provide access to playcounts, ratings and various types of information. This tool will be available in Amarok 2 and will be further developed in later releases. Also in this version, the interface has been improved considerably by new artwork and splash screen.
Read more about it here.
￭ Another week, another review by Mihai Mircea for Softpedia Linux. This time, it's for the CrossFTP application, a versatile FTP client that offers cross-platform engine to transfer any file using FTP. Read this comprehensive review of CrossFTP 1.41 here.
￭ Distributions Released Last Week:
￭ Distributions Updated Last Week:
￭ Polippix 2.0 Beta 3 ￭ Weasel GNU/Linux 2.0 RC1 ￭ INX RC2 ￭ Momonga 5 Alpha 2 ￭ FaunOS 0.5.4 ￭ R.I.P. 6.3 ￭ Freezy Linux 1.5 ￭ gNewSense 2.1 ￭ Zenwalk 5.2 GNOME Edition ￭ MEPIS AntiX 7.5 ￭ SYS 0.23 ￭ Slack Mini Server 1.3.11 ￭ m0n0wall 1.3 Beta 14 ￭ Astaro Security Linux 7.300