14 DAY TRIAL // Welcome to the 96th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!
The following Linux-based operating systems were announced last week: SystemRescueCd 1.5.3, OpenSuSE 11.3 Milestone 6, Linux Mint 9 RC, DEFT Linux 5.1, PCLinuxOS 2010.1 KDE4 Edition, WeakNet IV and Slackware 13.1 Beta 1. In other news: Opera Software announced the first beta release of the upcoming Opera 10.53 web browser for Linux systems; the KDE Project announced the release of KDE Software Compilation 4.4.3; Red Hat announced that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 would no longer be supported. For this week, we've also prepared a nice and useful tutorial about how to install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the latest updates of the Linux distributions, and the development releases.
Summary:
On May 3rd, François Dupoux announced the release of SystemRescueCd 1.5.3, a live CD/USB Linux distribution based on Gentoo. The new release comes with updates to the kernels and a few other packages. It also includes the NetworkManager GUI network configuration tool to make it easier to set up network connections. This should help a great deal, especially with wireless connections that should be detected automatically and be easier to manage.
Highlights of SystemRescueCd 1.5.3:
· Linux kernel 2.6.32.12 – updated the standard kernel both the 32-bit and the 64-bit version; · Linux kernel 2.6.33.03 – updated the alternative kernel both the 32-bit and the 64-bit version; · Kernel modules are listed on-screen before loading them during the startup process; · NetworkManager is now included to simplify network install and configuration; · Missing speakup kernel modules have been added to the initramfs; · Run livecd_fix_inittab() to allow use from a serial console; · Btrfs-progs updated from upstream.
Download SystemRescueCd 1.5.3 right now from Softpedia.
Also on May 3rd, James Mason announced the release of openSUSE 11.3 Milestone 6, which comes with a lot of bugfixes, and a couple of new features. This late in the development cycle, the focus has been on stability and squashing bugs. There is one more milestone release planned, coming later this month, and then it's time for the release candidates.
Highlights of openSUSE 11.3 Milestone 6:
· The radeon video driver has replaced radeonhd, providing KMS/DRI support; · CUPS 1.4.2 now works properly on 64-bit systems; · Suspend works again; · Syslog-ng 3.1.1; · openSSL 1.0.0; · gnome-desktop-sharp2 now references GNOME 2.30 fixing an issue with GNOME Do failing to read .desktop files; · Pulseaudio had some dependency issues resolved on GNOME; · PowerDevil/KIdleTime doesn’t eat up CPU cycles on idle anymore; · Sysinfo Display shows proprietary Nvidia video driver version information; · Smb4K starts properly; · Amarok notifies users about missing codecs and suggests downloads; · and plenty more.
Download openSUSE 11.3 Milestone 6 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.
On May 4th, Clement Lefebvre proudly announced the release of Linux Mint 9 (Isadora) RC, which is based on the newly released Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) operating system, and is powered by the same Linux kernel 2.6.32.11.
Linux Mint 9 RC features over 30,000 software packages in the repositories, a new backup/restore tool, improvements to the Mint Menu, Windows installer, new artwork and lots of other nice improvements. Besides this, it will be supported for 3 years on the desktop and 5 years on the server (LTS release)!
Download Linux Mint 9 RC right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only.
Also on May 4th, Stefano Fratepietro announced the release of DEFT Linux 5.1, a small maintenance update, which brings some newer packages and fixes a couple of bugs. DEFT Linux 5.x releases are based on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. With the announcement for DEFT Linux 5.1, the team also gave some insight into future plans. Work on the next major release, DEFT Linux 6, which will be based on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverik Meerkat, will start on June 3rd, the day of the first 10.10 Alpha build. The final release of DEFT Linux 6 is scheduled for launch on December 2nd, 2010, more than a month after Ubuntu 10.10 is finalized.
Highlights of DEFT Linux 5.1:
· Sleuthkit 3.1.1; · Autopsy 2.24; · Xplico to 0.5.7, updated for full support of SIP – RTP codec g711, g729, g722, g723 and g726, SDP and RTCP; · Updated Initrd; · Fixed bug in Dhash report (reports were not generated); · Fixed a bug that prevented a few tools from being lanunched from the desktop icons; · The dd tool is included for 64-bit machines.
Download DEFT Linux 5.1 right now from Softpedia.
On May 5th, the PCLinuxOS development team announced the immediate availability of the PCLinuxOS 2010.1 KDE4 operating system. With a Linux kernel 2.6.32.12 (with BFS scheduler) on board, the new edition of the PCLinuxOS distribution provides a ready-to-use KDE Software Compilation 4.4.2 environment.
Highlights of PCLinuxOS 2010.1 KDE4 Edition:
· Linux kernel 2.6.32.12 (with BFS scheduler); · Linux kernel 2.6.33.2 (available from the default software repository); · KDE Software Compilation 4.4.2; · Support for Realtek RTL8191SE/RTL8192SE Wi-Fi cards; · Support for Microdia webcams; · Added VIM text-based editor; · Added udftools; · Updated Nvidia video driver to version 195.36.24; · Updated ATI Radeon video driver to version 10.4; · Fixed the CD-ROM eject function when using the "Copy to RAM" feature; · Fixed the new widget download in KDE4; · Updated many other supported packages!
Download PCLinuxOS 2010.1 KDE4 Edition right now from Softpedia.
Also on May 5th, WeakNet Labs released the latest version of its highly customized WeakNet Linux, a penetration testing distribution packed with goodies for security experts and sysadmins, but not only! WeakNet Linux IV brings the first release of the custom WeakerThan Linux kernel with built-in support for packet injection and a faster boot time. It also comes with a lot of tools for testing a network’s strength to attacks and other types of security-related testing.
Highlights of WeakNet Linux IV:
· WeakerThan Linux kernel 1.0; · Wireless penetration testing tools: FreeRADIUS WPE edition, AIRPWN, a customized Kismet, and a lot more; · Better wireless support, with Ath9k, Ath5k, Rt73USB and Broadcom drivers modified for packet injection; · Boots directly into X, skips any graphical login manager; · More ‘user-friendly’ pen testing tools; · FTP and networking clients like VNC and Filezilla; · Better MITM (Man-in-the-middle) support and new apps; · Google Chrome replaces Mozilla Firefox; · RAV hunter - a new tool that seeks and destroys rogue antivirus clients on infected Windows machines; · SAM Hunter - a utility to reset passwords on Windows 7,Vista, XP and NT machines; · Technician utilities - a bunch of utilities for Windows and Mac admin and security-related jobs.
Download WeakNet Linux IV right now from Softpedia.
On May 6th, Patrick Volkerding announced the immediate availability for testing of the Slackware 13.1 Beta 1 operating system. The major change in this release is the switch to KDE SC 4.4.3, which has been finally introduced to the main tree after testing. With this addition, the team believed that the development reached a stage stable enough to label it as a beta. Besides the upgrade to KDE SC 4.4.3, Slackware Linux 13.1 Beta 1 also introduces the ConsoleKit and PolicyKit authentication tools. Of course, it also includes all the updates and new packages that have made it into the Slakware Linux 13.1 development.
Highlights of Slackware Linux 13.1 Beta 1:
· KDE SC 4.4.3; · K3B 1.91; · KDevelop 4.0.0; · KDevplatform 1.0.0; · PolicyKit; · ConsoleKit; · Phonon 4.4.1; · Xterm 258; · XFCE 4.6.1; · Amarok 2.3.0.90.
Download Slackware Linux 13.1 Beta 1 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.
· Red Hat announced on May 3rd that the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 3 operating system was entering its last six months of limited support. After October 31st, 2010, there will be no more updates issued or support offered for the aging release. The EOL (End of Life) announcement also involves CentOS 3, indirectly, as it is based on RHEL 3. Read more about it here.
· Opera Software has finally managed to reach the beta stage with the latest version of its, to a degree, popular web browser for Linux. Opera 10.53 Beta 1 was launched on May 4th for Linux and FreeBSD. Opera 10.53 Beta 1 brings a lot of interesting updates over the current stable release, Opera 10.10, not the least of which is an almost tenfold increase in JavaScript performance thanks to the new Carakan engine. Read more about it here.
· The third maintenance release of KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC) 4.4.0 was announced on May 6th, by the KDE developers. Dubbed Cuality, KDE SC 4.4.3 brings a few important fixes and updated translation. KDE Software Compilation 4.4.3 is composed of the KDE Plasma Workspace, the KDE Applications and the KDE Development Platform. Read more about it here.
Tutorial of the Week: Installing Ubuntu 10.04
· From the article: "Ubuntu 10.04, also known as the Lucid Lynx, arrived on April 29th, 2010 and is the twelfth release of the Ubuntu OS. We've created the following tutorial to teach Linux newcomers how to install the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating system on their personal computer. Therefore, it is addressed to people who have just heard about Ubuntu, those who have never installed Ubuntu before and want to test it, but don't know how. The tutorial will make things very simple for you, but if you get stuck somewhere in the middle of the installation and you need help, do not hesitate to use our commenting system at the end of the article!"
Read the complete tutorial here.
Video Clip of the Week: Advance Partition - Ubuntu 10.04
· For this week, we've posted a 720p High Definition video clip that shows how to partition your hard drive(s) for an Ubuntu 10.04 LTS installation. The video has 6 minutes and 51 seconds, and it was posted by sneekylinux. Enjoy!
Distributions Updated Last Week:
· Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.5-11 · MONOMAXOS 5.0 · XtreemOS 2.1.1 · Bauer-Puntu Linux 10.04 · Janinux 2.0.0 · Quirky 020
· Xange 2010.06 Alpha · SME Server 7.5 RC2 · Tiny Core Linux 3.0 Alpha 1 · nFlux Slackware 13/current i686 RC2 · nFlux Debian Squeeze i686 RC3 · nFlux ubuntu 10.04 i686 RC3
See you again next Monday, May 17th, for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.