Foresight Linux
2.5 Alpha Released
Foresight Linux has been struggling to pump out releases lately but everything appears to be back on track. "After a very, very, very long time I can finally announce another Foresight Linux release. We have gone through a lot of changes and it took us a while to rebuild our developer, maintainer and user bases, but here we are. The goal is to go back to having a rolling release schedule and keep bringing the latest and greatest mix of GNOME and applications. Some of my favorite applications have been updated to the very latest versions, such as Banshee 1.9.2 (always built from repository), Calibre 0.7.37 , Chromium web browser 9.0.597.55, F-Spot 0.8.2, Firefox 3.6.13, Git 1.7.3.4, Inkscape 0.48 , Mercurial 1.7.2, OpenOffice.org 3.2.1, Pidgin 2.7.9, Shotwell 0.7.2, Terminator 0.95, Tomboy 1.5.2, Vim 7.3.050 and many others." Get all the info over on the Foresight site.
FreeBSD 8.2 RC 2 Released
FreeBSD is a powerful, flexible, and stable OS! The FreeBSD guys have been busy getting 8.2 ready for the world. "The second release candidate for the FreeBSD 8.2 release cycle is now available. Initial testing of the 7.4-RC2 install images turned up an issue with the pre-built packages that will take a few more days to address. For this build only the amd64, i386, pc98, and sparc64 architectures are available. An initial set of pre-built packages are available on the DVD images for the amd64 and i386 architectures. Due to a limitation in the mechanism used in some of our FTP mirror site infrastructure we are still limited to a 2 GB maximum file size (we hope that issue will be addressed before the next release), the package set on the DVD image is a bit sparse - basically just the GNOME and KDE meta-packages. The images are also compressed using xz to maximize the compression." Find out more on the FreeBSD home page.
Chakra Linux 0.3.1 Released
Chakra is a Arch-based distribution that offers the latest KDE desktop. The development team posted a release announcement, "The Chakra development team is proud to announce our first point-release of Chakra GNU/Linux 0.3, code-named 'Ashoc'. We backported some fixes we did lately in our testing repositories. What changed: Linux kernel 2.6.36 series; Linux kernel 2.6.35 LTS series (optional); X.Org 7.5 stack with Mesa 7.7; X.Org Server 1.7.7; updated X.Org drivers; KDE SC 4.5.5; known bugs fixed in Tribe." Find out more on the Chakra home page.
PC-BSD 8.2 RC 1 Released
The first release candidate for PC-BSD 8.2 has been unleashed upon the world! The development team released a statement saying, "The PC-BSD team is pleased to announce the availability of the first release candidate for PC-BSD 8.2. Version 8.2-RC1 contains a number of enhancements, improvements, and bug fixes in response to previous 8.2 testing snapshots. Some of the notable changes are: Updated to FreeBSD 8.2-RC1; fixed issue detecting the proper video card driver; fixed some crashes when adding new users / groups; added /sbin/nologin as a shell choice in the user manager; let created users have a homedir of /nonexistant via the GUI; fix customizing desktop languages when using a () in the description. Everyone is encouraged to test this beta and to report any bugs to the testing mailing list." Check out all the details on the PC-BSD site.
10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" Released
Okay boys and girls, it's that time of year again. The time when a new version of Ubuntu is released into the wild, and this release is a doozy! Everything in this release is better and shinier than previous versions. The release anouncement stated, "The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce Ubuntu 10.10. Focused on home and mobile computing users, Ubuntu 10.10 introduces an array of online and offline applications to Ubuntu Desktop edition with a particular focus on the personal cloud. Ubuntu Netbook Edition users will experience an all-new desktop interface called 'Unity' -- specifically tuned for smaller screens and computing on the move." Now go to the Ubuntu home page and download this amazing release!
10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" RC
Released
Normally I would just encompass the whole *buntu family under the Ubuntu release announcements but with this release of Kubuntu I felt it worthy of its own mention. This will be the first Kubuntu release to use Pulseaudio as the default sound server. KDE SC 4.5.1 is the default desktop along with improvements to KPackageKit and the Ubiquity installer. Rekonq is now the default web browser with the usual Firefox installer available for those who want to install Mozilla's browser. Find out all the details about this stellar release HERE
10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" RC
Released
Ubuntu Robbie Williamson has announced the availability of the release candidate for Ubuntu 10.10, code name "Maverick Meerkat": "We formally announce Ubuntu 10.10 Release Candidate. Code-named 'Maverick Meerkat', 10.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open-source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution." This is a fabulous release! The final release will no doubt be the best Ubuntu release to date! Get all the current information about this stellar release HERE.
Fedora 14 Beta
Released
Fedora Dennis Gilmore has announced the availability of Fedora 14 beta, the distribution's last development build before the final release scheduled for early November: "The beta release is the last important milestone of Fedora 14; only critical bug fixes will be pushed as updates leading up to the general release in early November. Features: the Spice framework for providing a virtual desktop infrastructure; extended utilities for remote or powered-off management of servers; updates in a wide variety of programming languages, including D programming language support and Rakudo Star, an early implementation of the Perl 6 specification; alternative environments like Sugar and software from the MeeGo project; the next-generation systemd management for faster start-up...." Find out more about this beta release HERE.
Vector Linux 6.0 Released
Robert Lange has announced the release of VectorLinux 6.0 "SOHO DELUXE", a commercial edition with KDE 4.5.0 as the default desktop, out-of-the-box multimedia support, and extra application on the second CD: "The VectorLinux development team is proud to announce the release of VectorLinux 6.0 SOHO Deluxe. This release is based on the KDE 4.5.0 Plasma desktop and latest Xfce as a secondary desktop. Updates from the public release include Digikam 1.4.0, GIMP 2.6.10, K3b 2.0, Scribus, OpenOffice.org, Amarok 2.3.1, KMyMoney, GnuCash and additional games and system updates. Kernel version is 2.6.31.11 which adds new wireless network possibilities. There have been speed and stability improvements. The GUI installer has seen further refinements and is the default installer." Get all the info and the current ISO at Vector Linux home page.
Trisquel 4.0
Released
Rubén Rodríguez has announced the release of Trisquel GNU/Linux 4.0, a 100% libre distribution based on Ubuntu: "As our special way to celebrate the Software Freedom day, we are pleased to announce that Trisquel 4.0 LTS is ready for download. It is our second long-term support release; it comes in the usual GNOME flavor and with a light LXDE based environment in the shape of the new 'Mini' edition. 'Netinstall' images are also available for servers and custom installations. Soon we will also add an international DVD with a big translation set - the standard images contain complete support for English and Spanish - and educational and professional environments as well. This release is based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and it contains just free software, including Linux-libre kernel 2.6.32, X.Org 7.5, GNOME 2.28, LXDE 0.5...." Get all the details and download the current ISO at Trisquel's home page.
Caine 2.0 Released
Nanni Bassetti has announced the release of CAINE 2.0, an Ubuntu-based live distribution featuring a collection of forensic tools in a user-friendly environment: "CAINE 2.0 'NewLight' is out. CAINE (Computer Aided INvestigative Environment) is a live distribution created as a project of digital forensics. It offers a complete forensic environment that is organized to integrate existing software tools as software modules and to provide a friendly graphical interface. CAINE includes scripts activated within the Nautilus file browser designed to make examination of allocated files simple. Currently, the scripts can render many databases, internet histories, Windows registries, deleted files, and extract EXIF data to text files for easy examination. The Quick View tool automates this process by determining the file type and rendering with the appropriate tool." Download the release at Caine's home page.
PCBSD 8.1 Released
PCBSD is a FreeBSD based distribution that provides easy installation, a full KDE desktop, and plenty of great tools. FreeBSD has always been a stipped down OS that lets you build everything from the groud up. PCBSD, on the other hand, aims to simplify BSD-like systems so anyone can enjoy the speed and over the top power FreeBSD provides. PC-BSD 8.1 has been released: "The PC-BSD Team is pleased to announce the availability of PC-BSD 8.1 (Hubble Edition), running FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE and KDE 4.4.5. Version 8.1 contains a number of enhancements and improvements. For a full list of changes, please refer to the changelog. Some of the notable changes are: FreeBSD 8.1-Release; KDE 4.4.5; Numerous fixes to the installation backend; Support for creating dedicated disk GPT partitioning; Improved ZFS support; Bugfixes to desktop tools/utilities. Recommended system requirements: Pentium 4 or higher; 512MB of RAM; 20GB of free hard drive space (either partition, or entire disk)...." PCBSD Home Page
Mandriva 2010.1 Released
Mandriva Linux 2010.1 has been released: "Mandriva, the leading European publisher of Linux solutions, announces today the launch of the final version of Mandriva Linux 2010 Spring. Quicker, easier and more secure than ever, Mandriva Linux offers new functionalities which revolutionise the desktop. In a nutshell, Mandriva Linux 2010 Spring offers: complete, quick-to-install system, comprising all the necessary drivers; 'Smart Desktop', a unique technology, which offers dynamic access to all files by labelling them and grading photos, documents, emails and videos; Mandriva Directory Server (MDS), an easy-to-use LDAP directory management solution; tools to easily secure the system, parental control is easier than ever...." Mandriva Home Page
Linux Mint KDE RC Available
"The Linux Mint team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 9 KDE RC." This is the release candidate for the KDE branch of Linux Mint. Many new features are added to this release. For a full listing go to the Linux Mint KDE blog
PCLinuxOS 2010 Released
PCLinuxOS Bill Reynolds has announced the release of PCLinuxOS 2010.07, the latest update of the popular beginner-friendly Linux distribution and live CD: "Quarterly updated CD images of PCLinuxOS are now available for download on mirrors worldwide. The quarterly release currently comes in three editions: KDE 4.4.5 SC edition, GNOME 2.30.2 edition and LXDE edition. Other editions to follow shortly. Highlights of the 2010.07 release: Linux kernel 2.6.33.5, KDE Software Compilation 4.4.5, GNOME 2.30.2 and updated LXDE desktop. PCLinuxOS includes all of the latest popular applications such as Mozilla Firefox 3.6.6, Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0.5, Dropbox, Pidgin 2.7.1, KTorrent 4.0.1, GIMP 2.6.9, Digikam 1.3.0 and Amarok 2.3.1." PCLinuxOS Home Page
Ubuntu 10.04 Available
Ubuntu 10.04, the latest version of the popular Linux distribution for desktops and servers, has been released: "The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long-Term Support). This release incorporates the Desktop edition and the Server edition. The Server edition can be used on physical servers, on Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC), and on Amazon's EC2 public cloud. Code-named 'Lucid Lynx', 10.04 LTS continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. We are also pleased to announce Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook edition, which is not a long-term support release. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS will be supported for three years on desktops and five years on servers. Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook edition will be supported for 18 months." Ubuntu Home Page
Linux Mint 8 "Helena" Released
Clement Lefebvre has announced the stable release of Linux Mint 8, code named "Helena". This is by far the best version of Mint I've seen yet! It improves on Ubuntu 9.10 in all the right areas! The release announcement stated, "The team is proud to announce the stable release of Linux Mint 8, code name 'Helena'. The 8th release of Linux Mint comes with numerous bug fixes and a lot of improvements. In particular, Linux Mint 8 comes with support for OEM installs, a brand new Upload Manager, the menu now allows you to configure custom places, the update manager now lets you define packages for which you don't want to receive updates,the software manager now features multiple installation and removal of software and many of the tools' graphical interfaces were enhanced." Linux Mint Home Page
Knoppix 6.2 Released
Klaus Knopper has released Knoppix 6.2 using LXDE and a very impressive implementation of Adriane, the accessibility tool and screen reader for the visually impaired. "The current version 6.2 has been completely updated from Debian 'Lenny', 'Testing' and 'Unstable', and uses kernel 2.6.31.6 and X.Org 7.4. Microknoppix is a complete rewrite of the KNOPPIX boot system from version 6.0 and up, with the following features: high compatibility with its Debian base; accelerated boot procedure; LXDE as graphical environment - a very slim and fast desktop with extremely short start time and low resource requirements; amount of installed software greatly reduced in the CD edition; network configuration handled by NetworkManager...." Knoppix English Language Home Page
FreeBSD 8 Released
The popular and powerful FreeBSD has officially released their newest version! "The FreeBSD Release Engineering team is pleased to announce the availability of FreeBSD 8.0-RELEASE. This release starts off the new 8-STABLE branch which improves on the functionality of FreeBSD 7.X and introduces many new features. Some of the highlights: Xen Dom-U, VirtualBox guest and host, hierarchal jails; NFSv3 GSSAPI support, experimental NFSv4 client and server; 802.11s D3.03 wireless mesh networking and Virtual Access Point support; ZFS no longer in experimental status; ground-up rewrite of USB, including USB target support; continued SMP scalability improvements in many areas, especially VFS; revised network link layer subsystem; experimental MIPS architecture support." FreeBSD Home Page
Linux Mint 8 RC1 Released
Linux Mint has released the first release candidate for Mint 8 code named "Helena". Clement Lefebvre made the announcement saying, "The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 8 RC1. The 8th release of Linux Mint comes with numerous bug fixes and a lot of improvements. In particular Linux Mint 8 comes with support for OEM installs, a brand new Upload Manager, the menu now allows you to configure custom places, the update manager now lets you define packages for which you don't want to receive updates, the software manager now features multiple installation and removal of software and many of the tools' graphical interfaces were enhanced. As a release candidate, this release is targeted at developers and beta testers who want to help Linux Mint find and correct bugs before the stable release. Please do not use this release as your main desktop." Linux Mint Home Page
FreeBSD 8.0 RC3 Released
Ken Smith announced the FreeBSD 8.0 third release candidate stating, "The third and hopefully last of the release candidates for the FreeBSD 8.0 release cycle is now available. Unless something catastrophic comes up within the next couple of days we will begin the final builds for 8.0-RELEASE. There is one known issue with the igb(4) driver we are still deciding whether or not to fix it as part of 8.0-RELEASE versus doing an errata notice for it some time after the release is out. It has been patched in head, and the SVN commit for it is r199192. If any of you are able to give that patch a try on a machine with the igb(4) NIC it would be appreciated. ISO images for all supported architectures are available on the FTP sites, and a 'memory stick' image is available for amd64/i386 architectures." FreeBSD Home Page
openSUSE 11.2 Released
One of the most popular Linux distributions available, openSUSE, has put a larger focus on KDE for the 11.2 release. Firefox is now optimised to intergrate better into KDE, and the same holds true for OpenOffice.org. Novell released the announcement which stated, "The openSUSE Project announced today that openSUSE 11.2 is immediately available for download. openSUSE is a secure and stable Linux-based operating system that is easy to use and includes everything needed to get started with Linux on the desktop or server. Some of the new and interesting features of this release include: KDE 4.3, a major update to the KDE platform, which offers improved networking support, and better integration of Firefox and OpenOffice.org with the KDE environment; GNOME 2.28, the latest release of the popular GNOME desktop, which includes a brand new theme, improved software update application...." openSUSE Home Page
FreeNAS 0.7 Released
Okay all you BSD lovers out there, here's a release just for you. FreeNAS is a network attached storage server distribution based of the excellent FreeBSD! Volker Theile made the release announcement saying, "Today I am proud to announce the release of FreeNAS 0.7. Majors changes: add ability to configure the login shell for a user; upgrade Samba to 3.0.37; upgrade Transmission to 1.72; local users must join the 'ftp' group to be able to login via FTP if 'Local users only' in 'Services, FTP' is enabled; upgrade lighttpd to 1.4.23; add a user portal, this allows a local user to login and change the password; upgrade ProFTPD to 1.3.2a; upgrade iSCSI initiator to 2.2.3; Upgrade NTFS-3G to 2009.4.4; upgrade e2fsprogs to 1.41.8; add Adaptec AACRAID 32/64-bit driver to 5.2.0 Build 17517; upgrade inadyn-mt to 02.14.10; upgrade fuppes to SVN-0.640." FreeNAS Home Page
Moblin 2.1 Released
Moblin is an amazing distro for netbooks! It's optimised for Intel Atom powered netbooks. Imad Sousou announced the release stating, "The Moblin project steering committee today announces the project release of Moblin 2.1 for Intel Atom processor-based netbooks and nettops. This project release includes the broadest feature additions, customer requested improvements, and overall polish to date. With this community release you will see significant feature additions and improvements including enhanced browser functionality and plug-in support, UI enhancements, support for 3G data connections, Bluetooth device management, input method support for localized languages, integrated application installer for the Moblin Garage, performance and stability improvements, and additional overall help and documentation. In addition to the various new features, this new version of Moblin includes several hundred bug fixes and incorporates feedback from users and the developer community." Moblin Home Page
Mandriva 2010 Released
Mandriva is one of the most well built distributions available. The release statement says, "Mandriva is proud to introduce its brand new release: Mandriva Linux 2010, code name 'Adelie'. Included in this new release, 'Smart desktop' technology, coming from a European research project. Your desktop is tasks oriented. Organize your personal data (mails, documents, images, videos). Notate it, add your comments and tags. Now your data is easy to find through your projects. Boot time has been improved again. Mandriva Linux 2010 comes with 3 brand new designs - choose the one you prefer. You can also choose one of the 11 extra backgrounds contributed by community members." Mandriva Home Page
Ubuntu
Studio 9.10 Released
Ubuntu Studio is a Ubuntu based distro with a real-time kernel and a focus on audio, video, and graphics editing applications. The release statement reads, "The Ubuntu Studio team is proud to announce its sixth release: Ubuntu Studio 9.10 'Karmic Koala'. With this release, which you can download in a 1.4 GB DVD, Ubuntu Studio offers a pre-made selection of packages, targeted at audio producers, video producers and graphic designers. Ubuntu Studio greatly simplifies the Linux-based multimedia workstation. Features: official upstream real-time kernel; font meta package added to the graphics meta, which installs hundreds of free fonts; Xwax and a2jmidid packaged and added to the audio meta-package; Xjadeo added to the video meta; Firewire libraries are now upgraded to 2.0...." Ubuntu Studio Home Page
Xubuntu 9.10 Released
The Xubuntu Development team recently announced the release of 9.10 saying, "Xubuntu 9.10, code-named the 'Karmic Koala', is the latest and greatest version of Xubuntu. It integrates the latest Xfce desktop release with the high-quality and feature-rich core of Ubuntu, resulting in a light-weight and easy-to-use Linux distribution. New features: Xfce 4.6.1; includes the Exaile 0.3.0.x music player to make enjoying podcasts, streaming radio, audio books, and music library easier than ever before; Xfce power manager provides a more integrated power management experience; improved notify-osd integration with the Xfce desktop; faster application load times and reduced memory footprint for a number of your favorite Xfce applications...." Xubuntu Home Page
Ubuntu
9.10 Released
Canonical recently anounced the release of Ubuntu 9.10 stating, ""Ubuntu 9.10 brings changes small and large that all have a common purpose - to make Ubuntu the most user-friendly operating system available. Ubuntu 9.10 features a redesigned, faster boot and login experience, a revamped audio framework, and improved 3G broadband connectivity, all of which contribute to a first-class user experience. Furthermore, the innovative '100 Paper Cuts' initiative organised with the Ubuntu Community allowed users to nominate minor annoyances that impacted their enjoyment of the platform. So far over 50 fixes have been committed, removing minor irritants such as inconsistent naming or poorly organised application choices." Ubuntu Home Page
Chakra Development Build
Chakra is an Arch-based linux distro using KDE4 and a graphical system installer. I am very impressed with this distro and have high hopes for its future success. Phil Miller made the release announcement stating, "Today we are pleased to announce the release of a development release named Fuzzy of our very own Chakra live media. It comes in two flavours, DVD and minimal, which contain a big amount of fixed bugs and polishing done all over the place. There is also a slew of new features like an improved hardware detection, an auto-updater called 'chase', updated Shaman and brand new hybrid images. Most noticeable changes and additions since Alpha 3: Linux kernel 2.6.31.4 + fglrx patch, KDE 4.3.2, updated Tribe, American locales fixed." Chakra Project Home Page
CentOS 5.4 Released
CentOS is a server distro in the style of Red Hat. I must applaud the CentOS team for continuing on with this project after all the hardships and turmoil they've faced in recent months. Karanbir Singh made the release announcement saying, "We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS 5.4 for i386 and x86_64 architectures. CentOS 5.4 is based on the upstream release EL 5.4.0, and includes packages from all variants including server and client. All upstream repositories have been combined into one, to make it easier for end users to work with. And the option to further enable external repositories at install time is now available in the installer. For the first time, we are also releasing the i386 CentOS 5.4 live CD at the same time as the main distro." CentOS Home Page
Fedora 12 Beta Released
Fedora is to Red Hat what openSUSE is SUSE, a free and open source desktop derivative. Fedora is Ubuntu's closest competitor when it comes to desktop Linux, and understandably so. Fedora is just as powerful and as user friendly as Ubuntu. If you prefer RPM package systems then Fedora is the way to go! Jesse Keating announced the release of the Fedora 12 Beta stating, "We have reached the Fedora 12 Beta, the last important development milestone of Fedora 12. Only critical bug fixes will be pushed as updates leading up to the general release of Fedora 12, scheduled to be released in mid-November. What's new? Optimized performance, smaller and faster updates, NetworkManager broadband and other enhancements, next-generation (Ogg) Theora video, graphics support improvements, automatic reporting of crashes and SELinux issues, new Dracut initrd generation tool, PackageKit plugins, Bluetooth on-demand, Moblin graphical interface for netbooks, PulseAudio enhancements...." Fedora Project Home Page
Gentoo 10.0 10 Year Anniversary
Release
Matthew Summers has announced the release of Gentoo Linux 10.0, a special anniversary live DVD to celebrate the project's 10th birthday: "Gentoo Linux is proud to announce the immediate availability of a new, special edition live DVD to celebrate this monumental occasion. The live DVD features a superb list of packages, some of which are listed here: system packages - Linux kernel 2.6.30 (with Gentoo patches), accessibility support with Speakup 3.1.3, Bash 4.0, glibc 2.9, GCC 4.3.2; desktop environments and window managers - KDE 4.3.1, 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; office, graphics, and productivity applications - OpenOffice.org 3.1.1, AbiWord 2.6.4, GnuCash 2.2.9, Scribus 1.3.3.11, GIMP 2.6.4, Inkscape 0.46, Blender 2.49a.... The Gentoo 10.0 live DVD is available in two flavors - a hybrid x86/x86_64 edition, and an x86_64-only edition." Gentoo Home Page
Sabayon
5.0 Released
Fabio Erculiani has announced the release of Sabayon Linux 5.0, a desktop distribution and live DVD based on Gentoo Linux: "After tremendous, tough work, Sabayon 5 is eventually here with a joint release of GNOME and KDE editions. Dedicated to those who like cutting edge stability, out-of-the-box experience, outstanding desktop performance and beauty. Features: less than 2 GB size; based on new GCC 4.4.1 and glibc 2.10; shipped with desktop-optimized Linux kernel 2.6.31; installer now available in multiple languages; complete ext4 file system support; features X.Org 7.5 and up-to-date FLOSS, NVIDIA and AMD video drivers; GNOME 2.26 and KDE 4.3.1...." Sabayon Home Page
GoblinX 3.0 "G:Standard"
Released
Flavio Pereira de Oliveira has announced the release of GoblinX 3.0 "G:Standard", a Slackware-based live CD featuring the KDE 4 desktop: "The GoblinX Project is proud to announce the released of the new stable G:Standard. In the past, GoblinX Standard included five windows managers and also supported five languages, but G:Standard is now the KDE distribution of our project and it includes only the default English language. Changelog: upgraded several packages and libraries including X.Org; fixed some errors and bugs; added a few more applications; made a few changes to the KDE desktop in order to improve usability; some GTK+ applications added to fill missing Qt applications; added Opera 10 with full Slik/Webmount support." GoblinX Home Page
Linux Mint Xfce Released
If you've read my most recent rant, you'll know I'm very fond of Linux Mint. Mint is Ubuntu with balls (so to speak)! There are several CE's or community editions of Linux Mint that offer up various desktop environments and slightly different setups. Clement Lefebvre announced the release of the Xfce CE saying, "The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 7 'Gloria' Xfce. Based on Xubuntu 9.04, Linux kernel 2.6.28, Xfce 4.6 and X.Org 7.4, Linux Mint 7 Xfce features many improvements and the latest software from the open source world. What's new? mintInstall improvements - featured applications, pre-filled information, seamless screenshots downloads, improved GUI layout; mintUpdate improvements - changelogs, package sizes, usability; mintUpload improvements - ads-free, GUI improvements, graphical service manager, SCP/SFTP support; mintWelcome welcome screen; command line goodies - APT version, RTFM; new artwork; Moonlight plugin and support for Silverlight 1.x, signed repositories...." I encourage anyone who has become jaded or bored with Ubuntu to try Linux Mint. Linux Mint Home Page
MoonOS 3 Released
MoonOS is a Ubuntu based distro that uses Enlightenment as its window manager. Also, MoonOS features original artwork, giving the distro a unique look and feel. moonos Chanrithy Thim said of the new release, "This 3rd release of moonOS comes with numerous bug fixes and many improvements. Based on Ubuntu 9.04, Linux kernel 2.6.28 and X.Org 7.4, moonOS 3 comes with a new tool called moonSoftware, XMPP video support for Pidgin and many other improvements." Some of the new features include: "moonControl with a new and clean interface; new interface for moonGrub with a feature for theme creation; moonSoftware - to quickly browse through available software, view screenshots and sort by various criteria; EFL Keys - a virtual keyboard for touch-screen application; Firefox 3.5 with Moonlight plugin and support for Silverlight 1.x; OpenOffice.org 3.1.1...." I am personally very impressed with this distro. Not only does it make use of the Enlightenment window manager but it also offers up a version which uses LXDE. For those that don't know, LXDE is a lightweight window manager that attempts to remain good looking while at the same time resource light. MoonOS Home Page
GoblinX 3.0 "G:Noblin" Released
GoblinX "G:Noblin" is a flashy distro based on Slackware using GNOME and GTK+ applications. Flavio Pereira de Oliveira made the release announcement saying, "The GoblinX Project is proud to announce the release of the new stable G:Noblin distribution. G:Noblin is GoblinX GNOME. This edition is ideal for those users who prefer the GNOME desktop environment. The G:Noblin edition includes the latest packages of GNOME 2.24 and several improvements and modifications in the core of the system. Some important changes are: several bugs and errors have been corrected, added Vuze and Java JRE, some duplicated applications were removed, and some interfaces were rebuilt to look better inside netbooks. Another major change is the release of a distribution without removing any files and locales." GoblinX Home Page
Easy Peasy Linux 1.5
Released
Easy Peasy is a distro based on Ubuntu 9.04 that is optimized for Netbooks using the Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface. Maintainer Jon Ramvi stated, "Easy Peasy one-point-five (or as I would say it: en-komma-fem) is finished, and it finished up real good. We've taken our time to iron out bugs and put in new features to again give the netbook community a great Linux distribution. New in Easy Peasy 1.5: a new, green visual look; awesome Linux kernel (2.6.30) optimized for netbooks with faster start-up built; support for more netbooks; upgraded software (Google Picasa, OpenOffice.org 3.1); built off Ubuntu 9.04; smaller hard drive footprint; uses the new ext4 file system as default; UXA by default - the first distro to deliver real composite desktop which means it's possible to run 3D in 3D (i.e. the netbook interface and desktop effects); Banshee as default music player instead of Songbird...." Easy Peasy Home Page
Slackware 13.0
Released
Slackware Linux is one of the most flexible, customizable, and powerful distros around. Patrick Volkerding has announced the release of Slackware Linux 13.0. Mr. Volkerding stated, "After one of the most intensive periods of development in Slackware's history, the long-awaited stable release of Slackware 13.0 is ready. This release brings with it many major changes since Slackware 12.2, including a completely reworked collection of X packages (a configuration file for X is no longer needed in most cases), major upgrades to the desktop environments (KDE 4.2.4 and Xfce 4.6.1), a new .txz package format with much better compression, and other upgrades all around -- to the development system, network services, libraries, and major applications like Firefox and Thunderbird. We think you'll agree that this version of Slackware was worth the wait. Also, this is the first release of Slackware with native support for the 64-bit x86_64 architecture!" Slackware Home Page
Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5.4 Released
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is one of the most widely used server distros on the planet! The RHEL team announced the release of 5.4 stating, "Red Hat is pleased to announce the availability of the latest update to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, release 5.4. New in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 is a reorganization of the release note material; now the release notes are a condensed set of major release highlights. The following list summarizes improvements in this release: hardware - 10 GigE drivers with GRO support, FCoE support on standard NICs, SR I/OV support; system - kernel tracepoints for systemtap use; per process I/O accounting, FIEMAP support; virtualization - hypervisor scalability to 192 CPUs, additional hypervisor - Kernel Based Virtual Machine (KVM)." Red Hat Home Page
GParted 0.4.6-3
Released
GParted LiveCD is a business card-size live CD distribution with a single purpose - to provide tools for partitioning hard disks in an intuitive, graphical environment. The distribution uses X.Org, the light-weight Fluxbox window manager, and the latest 2.6 Linux kernel. GParted LiveCD runs on most x86 machines with a Pentium II or better. GParted Home Page
