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News and Editorials

Linux on iPod

The Linux on iPod project is currently focused on porting the uClinux kernel to the iPod, a propriatary MP3 player made by Apple. Apple has not supplied very much technical information for this hardware platform so a lot of reverse engineering and guess work has gone into the project. The uCLinux kernel is a pretty solid embedded version of the Linux kernel that supports systems without a Memory Management Unit (MMU).

This is a new project. The author, Bernard Leach, recommends that if you really love your iPod, don't try installing Linux on it just yet. For the adventurous hacker there are plenty of challenges left. Here's the status as of January 27, 2003.

Current features:

• Basic frame buffer
• Audio device (44.1kHz 16bit little-endian)
• Directional buttons via tty interface
• HDD support
• FAT (and UMSDOS) filesystem support

The following features are not present:

• Scroll-wheel input
• Firewire
• Remote control
• Peizo
• Power Management (suspend etc)
• Battery Status
• Hold button status
• HFS+ support
• Flash support

You can find some of the technical details of the iPod hardware here, and the instructions for building a uClinux system for the iPod are here.

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Distribution News

Debian GNU/Linux

The Debian Weekly News for February 4th, 2003 is available. This week Martin Michlmayr was interviewed (German only) about the Debian project; Jonathan Oxer told us that the Debian Mini-Conf last week was a success with 117 people attending; there's a new Debian archive key; and much more.

Debian has many different mailing lists where people can discuss a wide variety of Debian related topics. This listmaster update talks about some new mailing lists, what's being done to reduce spam on the lists, and more.

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Gentoo Weekly Newsletter -- Volume 2, Issue 5

The Gentoo Weekly Newsletter for the week of February 3rd, 2003 is available. This week looks at the KDE 3.1 release; mirror slowdowns; Gentoo server migrations; and more.

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Mandrake Linux

The Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter for January 31, 2003 is out. This week looks at the Mandrake Linux 9.1 Beta 2 release; a new PPC beta; and much more.

MandrakeSoft has announced a new end of life policy for Mandrake Linux. "With the release of Mandrake Linux 9.1, we will put in place a cycle that customers can easily anticipate. MandrakeSoft will provide 12 months of "desktop" support for distributions, and 18 months of "base" support for distributions. This means that applications such as window managers, desktop environments, browsers, etc. will have a 12 month support life, while applications such as the kernel, Apache, and other "base" components will have a support life of 18 months. At certain times, MandrakeSoft may choose to extend support for certain versions of Mandrake Linux."

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Slackware Linux

Slackware Linux has upgraded both GNOME and KDE packages, among many other changes. See the change log for complete details.

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Red Hat preps wider range of 'Advanced' server, client OSes (Register)

The Register looks at Red Hat's support policy and the new products that are coming soon. "Red Hat Advanced Workstation will be out later this year, and the company also proposes lower cost versions of non-consumer server products "that fit in below Advanced Server", which should give the company a clearer and more viable product range, with consumer being the traditional open source stuff you can get for free, and that updates eye-wateringly fast, while non-consumer has upgrade cycles and support periods that are in line with businesses expectations of being able to deploy something and have it supported without major upgrades for three to five years."

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Minor distribution updates

Blue Linux

Blue Linux has released v1.0 with major feature enhancements. "Changes: This release updates several libraries, the Linux kernel, and others. KDE has been updated from 2.2 to 3.0.5a."

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Coyote Linux

Coyote Linux has released v1.40rc1 with major feature enhancements. "Changes: A Web-based administrator, SSHd available for all config types, an updated kernel, a rebuild to use uClibc instead of glibc, remote syslog capabilities, a new menu system, and numerous bugfixes."

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LRs-Linux

LRs-Linux has released v0.3.1-rc1 with major feature enhancements. "Changes: KDE 3.1, Gnome 2, The GIMP, LFS-CVS-27.01.2003, kernel 2.4.20, and much more."

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RUNT

RUNT has released v1.01 with minor bug fixes. "Changes: This release adds support for USB keyboards."

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Topologilinux 2.0.0.1

Topologilinux has released version 2.0.0.1 which has many new features. This release is based on Slackware (current 2003-01-19) with some updated packages and some extra packages like the ICQ clone Licq and the windows emulator Wine.

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Distribution reviews

Xandros Desktop Deluxe 1.0 Review (LinuxLookup)

LinuxLookup.com test drives Xandros Desktop Deluxe 1.0. "The Xandros Desktop development team should be applauded for the simple elegance and fearlessness exhibited in the construction of this system. I have finally found a Linux OS that is not afraid of alienating hardcore Linux users by incorporating some of the triumphs of Windows like certain aspects of the XFM and acknowledging the importance of access to Microsoft Office through Crossover Office."

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Page editor: Rebecca Sobol
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