Distributions

News and Editorials

MEPIS and GPL Compliance

MEPIS Linux (home of SimplyMEPIS and MEPISLite) is a fairly popular Debian-based distribution company. With the recent release of SimplyMEPIS 6.0, a MEPIS transitioned from using Debian packages to using Ubuntu (actually Kubuntu as MEPIS is KDE-centric) packages.

MEPIS has typically used binary packages straight from the parent repository for large parts of the system. They never carried the source code for these unaltered packages. For packages that they did alter, such as the MEPIS kernel, they have always made the source code available. However that doesn't conform to the letter of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2, the license used by many of the packages found in SimplyMEPIS. The GPL v2 states:

Sending people to the parent source repository is not good enough, although they got away with it for some time. So MEPIS has now announced a full GPL source release. There are some interesting comments in the associated GPL compliance FAQ, however.

MEPIS now offers all source code on 2 DVDs available though the MEPIS Store.

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New Releases

Version 3 of the ROCK Linux Distribution Build Kit a.k.a "ROCK3" released!

ROCK Linux has released version 3 of its Distribution Build Kit. The release announcement (click below) contains the changes since version 2.0.3, plus pointers to the new ROCK Linux roadmap and more.

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Mandriva Linux 2007 Beta version "Thor"

Mandriva has released the first beta of Mandriva Linux 2007. CD and DVD images are available for download for a variety of architectures and languages.

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Familiar v0.8.4-rc3 released

A new release candidate for Familiar Linux v0.8.4 is available for download. It comes with various bug fixes and further improves support for the HP iPAQ h2200, hx4700, and h6300 series of devices.

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First beta release of the 64 Studio distribution

64 Studio has released a 709MB DVD-R image for version 0.9.0 beta. "This will install Debian testing with X.org 7.0, the Gnome 2.14 desktop, Linux kernel 2.6.17 with real-time pre-emption patches and a selection of creative applications, covering audio and music, 2D and 3D graphics, and publishing for the web and print. It also includes the internet and office tools that a creative user is likely to need for their daily work." Click below for information on download and known issues.

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Distribution News

New SPI board of directors and officers

Software in the Public Interest has announced that it has appointed new Officers following the election of three new members to the board of directors. "In a board meeting on 1st August, the board elected Bdale Garbee as President, Michael Schultheiss as Vice President, Neil McGovern as Secretary and Josh Berkus as Treasurer of the board."

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Debian's birthday, 16th of August

The Debian Project will have its 13th anniversary on August 16, 2006. A wiki page has been set up to help organize local celebrations.

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Ten Days Later: Tremendous Reception to SUSE Linux Enterprise 10

Novell, Inc. has issued a press release claiming success for SUSE Linux Enterprise 10. "To date, over 165,000 users from around the globe have downloaded components of the SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 suite, which includes the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop products."

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Ubuntu Documentation Website and Wiki

Ubuntu's community-contributed documentation has been moved to its own wiki on the global documentation website.

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Upcoming Ubuntu releases (6.06.1, Knot 2)

The first point release of the current stable version of Ubuntu (a.k.a. Dapper Drake) will be released soon. Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS will be built from dapper, dapper-security, and dapper-updates, and will consist of updated desktop, alternate, and server CD images. On the development release front, the second milestone release of Edgy (Knot 2) should be out next week.

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Xandros targets unsupported Windows users

Xandros is seeking to attract legacy Microsoft Windows users. ""Now that Microsoft has discontinued all support for Windows 98, 98SE and ME, legacy Windows users have three options," said Andreas Typaldos, CEO of Xandros. "First, they can cross their fingers and continue to use the abandoned, insecure and unsupported Windows product. Second, they can purchase a costly XP upgrade along with new hardware that will be out of date as soon as Vista is released. Or third, they can continue using their existing computer by installing the latest Xandros Desktop Home Edition. Not only does this option extend the useful life of their computer without a need to learn anything new, but it also provides users with a stable and reliable platform that is free from the constant frustration of spyware and viruses, and costs less than Windows-based Anti-Virus software alone.""

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Distribution Newsletters

Debian Weekly News

The Debian Weekly News for August 1, 2006 covers new members on the QA team, an integrated l10n infrastructure in the works for Debian, Xen on Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 howto, proposed branding for Debian Derivatives, key management for Secure APT, and several other topics.

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Fedora Weekly News Issue 57

The Fedora Weekly News looks at One Laptop Per Child: An Education Project, The K12 Open Source Interview Series Has Begun, OSCON Day 0 - Freedom 2.0, On-Disk.com Donations and Big Developer Payouts, Use Fedora Directory Server For Manageable LDAP, Book review: Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed, and more.

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Gentoo Weekly Newsletter

The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for July 31, 2006 covers Catalyst 2.0 released, Bugday's 3rd anniversary, Gentoo/Java staffing needs, Developer of the week - Joshua Kinard, and more.

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Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter - Issue #7

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter for the week of July 15 - 21, 2006 covers the Edgy Eft Knot 1 Release, The Classroom, Ubuntu Magazine Meeting, Canonical Commercial Repositories, Opera 9 for Ubuntu, Hug Day, Technical Board Meeting, Ubuntu Marketing Team Meeting, Lugradio Live 2006, and more.

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DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 162

The DistroWatch Weekly for July 31, 2006 is out. "This is my third and final week bringing you DistroWatch Weekly. It's been great fun, but I now have an even greater appreciation for the contribution Ladislav Bodnar makes to the Linux and Open Source Community. Fedora and Mandriva have announced the end of the support cycle for some older products, Ubuntu is starting class and Gentoo is holding elections. Dr. W. T. Zhu brings us an in-depth look at all the options and features available here at Distrowatch with glimpses into some of the history as well. Beranger brings us a wonderful look at last week's release of Zenwalk Linux 2.8, while I report on my test drive of Berry Linux 0.72."

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Package updates

Fedora updates

Updates for Fedora Core 5: xorg-x11-drv-nv (new PCI IDs, better installer behaviour), cups (update to 1.2.2), samba (bug fixes), vim (Vim-7.0 Patchlevel 42), hal (bug fix), xorg-x11-drv-nv (bug fix), java-1.4.2-gcj-compat (bug fixes), openoffice.org (bug fix), icon-naming-utils (update to 0.7.3), selinux-policy (bump for FC5), NetworkManager (update to 0.6.4), lksctp-tools (resolves a kernel - userspace interface conflict), libstdc++so7 (reverts the libstdc++so7 string implementation to the rc kind), scim (rebuilt against libstdc++so7), scim-anthy (rebuilt against libstdc++so7), scim-chewing (rebuilt against libstdc++so7), scim-hangul (rebuilt against libstdc++so7), scim-m17n (rebuilt against libstdc++so7), scim-pinyin (rebuilt against libstdc++so7), scim-tables (rebuilt against libstdc++so7).

Updates for Fedora Core 4: samba (bug fixes).

Updates for Fedora Extras 5: dumb (security issue).

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Mandriva update to ImageMagick

Mandriva has updated ImageMagick packages that fix an infinite loop issue.

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rPath updates

Updates for rPath Linux 1: conary, conary-build, conary-repository (Conary 1.0.25 maintenance release), vsftpd (start vsftp as a listening service).

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Slackware updates

It's been a busy week for Slackware Linux. Many packages have been upgraded including KDE and X11 packages. There are Linux 2.6.17.7 in testing, For a complete view see the slackware-current changelog.

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Ubuntu updates

Updates for Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake): openoffice.org (minor fixes), openoffice.org-l10n (added help in many languages), localechooser (bug fix), openoffice.org (improved amd64 support), openoffice.org (adjust the Conflict/Replaces for dapper-updates), kdenetwork (bug fixes), gnome-games (bug fixes), matplotlib (bug fix), sixpack (bug fixes + bib manpage), sparc-utils (sync with Debian), hw-detect (improved sparc support), openoffice.org-amd64 (update to 2.0.3-3dapper6), gajim (new upstream release), libwpd (new upstream release), base-installer (backport from trunk), debian-installer (improved sparc support), libgnomeui (bug fixes), gtksourceview (new upstream version), gnome-desktop (new upstream version), pessulus (new upstream version), openoffice.org (upload to dapper-proposed; remaining changes compared to edgy), gedit (new upstream version), ubiquity (bug fixes), gtkhtml (new upstream version), debian-installer (add dapper-security to sources.list.udeb), kdenetwork (bug fixes), openoffice.org-amd64 (update to 2.0.3-4dapper1), gnome-panel (new upstream version), zenity (new upstream version), debian-installer-utils (backport bug fixes), file-roller (new upstream version), gnome-themes (new upstream version), debian-installer (bug fix), nautilus-cd-burner (new upstream version), yelp (new upstream version), eel2 (new upstream version), gnome-applets (new upstream version), totem (new upstream version), dasher (new upstream version), gnome-games (new upstream version), eog (new upstream version), gtk+2.0 (new upstream version), epiphany-browser (new upstream version), gnome-menus (new upstream version), gnome-session (new upstream version), gdm (new upstream version), gtk2-engines (new upstream version), ia32-libs-kde (add dapper-security to the list of sources), ia32-libs-openoffice.org (freshen packages).

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Newsletters and articles of interest

KDE and Distributions: SabayonLinux (KDE.News)

KDE.News has an interview with Fabio Erculani, founder and developer of Sabayon Linux. "Sabayon Linux is quite a new addition to the family of KDE distributions. It first came into existence on the Gentoo Forums as RR4/RR64 and was designed to provide a fast and easy way to get a Gentoo system with extras. After the initial success, founder and developer Fabio Erculani decided to turn this project into a fully fledged distribution. It was also decided that a new name was needed and thus Sabayon Linux was born."

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Little-known APT utilities for Debian desktop users (Linux.com)

Linux.com looks at APT. "The Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) is a distinguishing feature of Debian-based systems. APT was the first major alternative in GNU/Linux to boast automatic dependency resolution. Most GNU/Linux users know it through the apt-get command, a utility that calls on the lower-level dpkg command. However, other APT-based utilities remain largely unknown to desktop users. Some of these utilities offer a range of functionality far beyond those of the basic tools."

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Distribution reviews

First look: Freespire (Linux.com)

Linux.com looks at Freespire. "Freespire is the free offshoot of the proprietary Linspire Linux distribution, formerly an outside effort, but now produced by the company itself. The first beta release is available through the Freespire Web site, both as an CD-sized burnable ISO image and as a VMware Virtual Appliance. Despite its youth and inexperience, it already exhibits considerable polish."

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Mandriva 2007 Beta 1 (TuxMachines)

TuxMachines reviews the first beta release of Mandriva 2007 and the results are not good. "[T]his release isn't even beta quality. I know Mandriva has been plagued with hardware issues amongst other things and their beta cycle was falling embarrassingly behind schedule, but they should have waited a bit longer. Don't bother downloading this one."

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Rock Linux 3 reviewed (Tweakers.net)

Tweakers.net reviews Rock Linux 3. "It took a bit over 20 months, but finally, ROCK 3 is done. Over the last 20 months, ROCK Linux has seen many changes not only in the code, but also in its aim and social relations: ROCK has an official mission statement, ROCK has switched to a Wiki-based website, allowing anyone to contribute in various ways, not only coders and bug-reporters, Sadly, some people have left ROCK for one reason or another, Other people have in turn become more active in the project, Despite - or because - of that, ROCK 3 is now available for public consumption."

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Symphony OS marches to a different drum (Linux.com)

Linux.com reviews Symphony OS. "Symphony OS is a GNU/Linux distribution designed to innovate from the ground up. Although originally based on Knoppix and now on Debian stable, it quickly differentiates itself from the bulk of distros by implementing the ideas articulated in a so-called grey paper on user interface design by Jason Spisak, one of the co-founders of Lycoris. Often, Symphony's implementations challenge UI assumptions on any platform. At other times, the possible shortcomings of Symphony OS' solutions raise issues themselves. Either way, in putting the May 2006 beta through its paces, I found it impossible to stop thinking about UI design. Even when Symphony OS does not provide ultimate answers, it raises questions about usability that are too often ignored."

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