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Distributions
News and Editorials
Fedora - back to the six month schedule
There was some discussion this week on the Fedora-devel list about the schedule for Fedora Core 6. You can find the thread here.Fedora Core releases 1 though 4 had a (roughly) six month development cycle, but for FC5 the schedule was extended by an extra three (plus) months. Now that FC5 is out there has been a bit of confusion about the FC6 timeline.
Fedora was always envisioned as a fast-paced distribution. Some of the major packages used by Fedora (GNOME, X.org, OpenOffice.org) are on six month schedules. Having a Fedora release on a six month schedule means new versions these packages for every release. This is convenient for those who like their desktop to run with the latest and greatest software.
While some people preferred the longer timeline of FC5, others didn't care about the length of the schedule, but they did want it to be predictable (e.g. predict now when we might expect the FC10 release).
Most people agreed that six months is the right schedule for most Fedora releases, with the flexibility to change as needed and that's what we can expect in the future.
New Releases
SUSE Linux 10.1 DVDs released
The downloadable DVD version of SUSE Linux 10.1 is now available for the x86 and x86-64 architectures. The DVD contains the packages of the 5 CDs and the Addon CD.
Distribution News
Mandriva Kiosk: A System That Suits You
Mandriva has launched Mandriva Kiosk, a Web-based one-click software installation service. "This new online service provides access to the latest versions of the most popular applications through a simple installation process, so that anyone and everyone can benefit from a personally tailored system."
kernel/d-i/security/release meeting at DebConf6
There was an informal BoF at DebConf to discuss cross-team issues related to the kernel. Topics discussed include which kernel to release with Etch, kernel updates during Etch lifetime, dropping 2.4 from Etch, non-free modules + firmware, external module packages, divergence between linux-2.6 packaging and kernel-package behavior and kernel udeb creation process.
Moving irc.debian.org to OFTC
Steve McIntyre reports that irc.debian.org is moving to OFTC, the Open and Free Technology Community, and away from Freenode. "For a long time, irc.debian.org has been provided as a service by Freenode, the well-known Free Software friendly IRC network. However, as time has passed, more and more of our discussions have instead been taking place on OFTC, the Open and Free Technology Community. In recognition of that, we have decided to move the irc.debian.org alias over to use OFTC. OFTC is also a sister organisation of Debian, as both are supported and represented by Software in the Public Interest, Inc." The change will take place on Sunday June 4.
Kororaa and the GPL - Update 1
Kororaa developer Chris Smart responds to charges of GPL violation. "Thirdly, I did not announce this email through fear of being sued, but because I wanted to know the truth and what the options are. I want it to be clear that Kororaa, being a GPL project, must fully comply with the GPL. The question is whether including the nVidia and ATI drivers constitutes a violation and as we have all seen, it's not an easy answer. It appears everyone has their own opinion on whether this is or isn't a violation and are quick to draw conclusions. No-one has really looked at this objectively, however."
ROCK Linux Roadmap
Rock Linux is working toward a new release; a roadmap has been posted showing how the project developers expect things to go.
Ubuntu CD image renaming
The Ubuntu release team, the Canonical business department and others have decreed that the next round of daily CD image builds will be renamed. "Instead of "dapper-live-*", there will be "dapper-desktop-*", reflecting the rename to "desktop CD" that we started at the Dapper Beta release to indicate that the live CD is now also installable."
New Distributions
The Safedesk Terminal Server Project
The first release of the Safedesk Terminal Server Project is available for download. "STS is a new open source project to develop a Linux thin-client server based on Debian Live Net. This is the first Linux terminal server to offer local USB storage, sound and streaming video support and the design allows one server with a gigabit port to serve as many as 100+ clients at a time. This release contains a full GNOME-based desktop with OpenOffice, OpenClipart, GIMP, Inkscape, GAIM, and F-Spot plus the usual GNOME applications. It can be fully customize including the installation of KDE."
Distribution Newsletters
Debian Weekly News
The Debian Weekly News for May 23, 2006 looks at a successful install of NetBSD 3 inside the new Xen 3 virtual machine monitor available in Debian unstable, library packages with debugging capabilities, daily builds of the graphical installer, Sun Java distributed by Debian, DebConf6 successfully finished, a Project Leader report, and more.
Fedora Weekly News Issue 47
This week the Fedora Weekly News covers Red Hat Magazine May 2006, Changing the way that Development lands, New ticketing system for the Fedora Project, Fedora Board chair looks ahead, Documentation leadership grows, The gift that keeps on giving, Unofficial FAQ Update: 2006-05-11, Phoronix: Fedora Rawhide 2006-05-16, and several other topics.
Gentoo Weekly Newsletter
The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for the week of May 22, 2006 covers GCC 4.1 to be added this week, Summer of Code update, old-style PHP packages removed from the tree, reports from Milan and Graz events, managing overlays with layman and more.
Kubuntu Development Newsletter
This is the first Kubuntu newsletter, keeping you up to date with current Kubuntu development. Read on for Shipit CDs, LinuxTag and the Kubuntu Council.
Mandriva Community Newsletter #120
Issue #120 of the Mandriva Community Newsletter has been published. Also, a new release of the e-magazine Mandriva Linux Inside (pdf) is out.
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 152
The DistroWatch Weekly for May 22, 2006 is out. "Lots of activity on the Mandriva front - the new Kiosk, public release of Mandriva One, and many Cooker updates hint at the beginning of an exciting new beta testing period for the French distribution maker. In other news, we link to a number of interesting SUSE articles, inform about a much improved new version of Debian's APT, provide an update on the Kororaa controversy, and say good-bye to both Libranet and FreeBSD's Alpha port. In the Interviews section, we talk to Miklós Vajna, the project founder and lead developer of Frugalware Linux."
Package updates
Fedora updates
Updates for Fedora Core 5: psmisc (sync with upstream), policycoreutils (bump for FC5), pirut (bug fixes), ntp (bug fixes), libstdc++so7 (fix ppc target in wrapper script), scim (rebuild against new libstdc++so7), scim-anthy (rebuild), scim-chewing (rebuild), scim-hangul (rebuild), scim-m17n (rebuild), scim-pinyin (rebuild), scim-tables (rebuild), vnc (not specified), tog-pegasus (bug fixes), avahi (bug fixes), lftp (upgrade to 3.4.6), librsvg2 (update to 2.14.4), libraw1394 (update to 1.2.1), mcelog (update to 0.7), xen (updated and patched), xen (update userspace tools to 3.0.2-2), hal-cups-utils (fix the CUPS 'hal' backend location), system-config-printer (bug fixes), cman-kernel (update to 2.6.16-1.2122_FC5), dlm-kernel (update to 2.6.16-1.2122_FC5), GFS-kernel (update to 2.6.16-1.2122_FC5), gndb-kernel (update to 2.6.16-1.2122_FC5), system-config-securitylevel (bug fix), selinux-policy (bump for FC5), cups (fixes some bugs in 1.2.0).Updates for Fedora Core 4: vnc (really fixed authentication), ntp (update to stable-4.2.0a), system-config-services (use pam_stack), mcelog (update to 0.7).
Fedora Extras
Fedora Extras has updated kphone (security fix) for FC3, FC4 and FC5.
Mandriva updates
Mandriva has updated gstreamer-plugins that fix an audio CD bug.
rPath Linux updates
Updates for rPath Linux 1: conary (1.0.15 maintenance release), gvim (bug fix for x86_64), ypbind (bug fix), system-config-network (bug fix), cups (remove execute permission for /etc/logrotate.d/cups), system-config-securitylevel (separate multiple components), libao (move plugins for better dependency resolution), group-core (group-core now contains system-config-securitylevel).
Slackware updates
Slackware has linux-2.6.16.18 packages in testing, a few new packages and lots of updated packages. Click below for this week's slice of the change log.
Trustix Secure Linux
Trustix has updated squid, fixing various bugs.
Miscellaneous Articles
A Linux Distribution for an Old Laptop (Linux Forums)
In this article on Linux Forums, one man searches for a Linux distribution for an old laptop. "I am faced with a challenge: I need to find a Linux distribution that is both small enough, efficient enough and easy enough to maintain for my laptop. Realizing that all Linux distributions are not created equal, I did my research and was able to narrow my list to a handful of distributions that may be suitable for my needs and my laptop. Throughout the course of this article, I am going to test each of these distributions on my laptop and discuss my experiences. I will attempt to install and evaluate each distribution for a period of a couple of days. Based on my findings, I will select the distribution that best suits my needs."
Hacking SUSE Linux 10.1 (Jem Report)
This edition of the Jem Report covers the addition of (non-free) software to SUSE Linux 10.1 OSS. "When you're done installing SUSE Linux 10.1 OSS, your desktop system is not complete. You might still need support for Java programs, MP3 audio files, and browser plugins for Macromedia Flash, Adobe Acrobat, RealPlayer, and Windows Media Video. You may also want to add support for playing DVD videos on your computer, and to try out the new XGL graphical toys. Here's how to effectively make SUSE Linux 10.1 into the perfect desktop OS."
My desktop OS: Fedora Core 5 (NewsForge)
NewsForge hears from a fan of Fedora Core 5. "I like playing with the newest software games, toys, and applications. At the same time, I have work to do, and I need a solid, stable platform that I don't have to babysit. As a full-time blogger and part-time Web programmer, I need a wide variety of tools at my disposal, and I frequently need the latest versions of available software. Balancing stability against the bleeding edge is a difficult trick, and that's why Fedora Core 5 is my desktop OS."
Distribution reviews
Review: OpenSUSE 10.1 (Linux.com)
Joe Barr reviews SUSE 10.1. "With SUSE 10.1, Novell has embraced and extended its role as the leading desktop distribution. Given the amount of eye-popping eye candy and playtime 3-D effects available on this desktop, it's easy to forget that Novell is all about bringing Linux to the corporate -- not the home -- desktops. Yes, the money is all in the server market these days, but after the revolution Linux will inherit its rightful share of desktops, too."
First Look at SUSE Linux 10.1 (MadPenguin)
MadPenguin reviews SUSE Linux 10.1. "I've said it before and I will say it again: SUSE Linux is one of the most polished desktop on the market today. It just is. You can argue that your favorite distro is better for one reason or another but you cannot deny that SUSE is one sexy desktop. They spend some quality time making sure everything looks like it belongs and fits together like an intricate puzzle. Even the splash screens to applications such as GIMP and OpenOffice.org visually fit right in."
A quick look at the GParted live CD (Linux.com)
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier reviews the GParted live CD on Linux.com. "Need a way to resize NTFS partitions, mirror disk images, or otherwise muck about with disk partitions -- and don't want to use a proprietary package like Partition Magic? If so, the GNOME Partition Editor (GParted) is an excellent open source tool for the task. The GParted team released the GParted live CD version 0.2.4-2 this month, so I decided it was a good time to take GParted for a spin. GParted handles Ext2, Ext3, FAT16, FAT32, JFS, ReiserFS, Reiser4, NTFS, XFS, and other filesystem formats. At a bare minimum, GParted can detect, read, copy, and create partitions using those file systems -- and, in some cases, can shrink, expand, and move partitions."
Ubuntu Linux, Dapper Drake Flight 7 (Technology Evangelist)
Here is a brief review of Ubuntu/Kubuntu. "I decided to try out Linux again. A couple years ago I gave SUSE Linux a shot for the desktop, and it was not quite ready for primetime. UI elements were all over the place, the system would not always respond as intended, it was a bit messy. Today I thought it would be fun to try Ubuntu and Kubuntu Linux (GNOME and KDE respectively). I could not remember which I liked better, so I gave them both a shot. My setup is a Fujitsu TabNote 4020d."
Puppy Linux v1.0.9 emerges (DesktopLinux)
DesktopLinux takes a quick look at Puppy Linux. "Australia-based Puppy's most redeeming feature is that it has a small footprint yet is full-featured, including all sorts of configuration and application installation wizards. Puppy can boot from a 64MB thumb drive, and the whole OS is small enough to run directly from system RAM. The result is that all applications start quickly and respond to user input instantly. Another advantage is that Puppy can often be a great choice for older, under-powered hardware."
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