● 11.10.11

● Links 11/11/2011: Fedora 16 Reviews, Desura Linux Client

Posted in News Roundup at 7:51 pm by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

• We’re having a bit of a clear-out here at LXF Towers, and we’ve come across some goodies to give away. We have three sheets of stickers (readers loved these) and six boxes of fridge magnets. If you fancy some of these goodies, simply leave your best Linux joke in the comments below (tasteful, please!) and we’ll choose the best in a week or so. Please also leave your email address in ROT13 format (to avoid spambots) so that we can contact winners for their addresses.

Desktop

• In the my previous post I asked about launching applications from the desktop by clicking on the icon on the desktop. Also I run 2 public opinion polls on the Russian sites Linux.Org.ru (the most popular site about GNU/Linux in Russia) and unixforum.org (the most popular forum about GNU/Linux in Russia).

• Your readers have heard the term “The network IS the computer”, so they will understand that most of my daily use is on other machines, not the desktop I happen to be sitting behind.

• However, my main laptop runs Windows7 because some clients don’t know how to deal with Linux. I run a 32-bit Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS with LXDE loaded inside a VirtualBox VM for 95% of what I do daily. I try every new Ubuntu release, but always find those are too bloated for my needs since 8.04. Even Lubuntu has so many programs that I don’t use, it is easier to just load the server image and add a DE. I’ve been temped to drop back to FVWM more than once.

Audiocasts/Shows

Kernel Space

• ‘I encountered a kernel panic with the 3.1.0 kernel on a Dell Latitude E6410 while inputting simultaneously from the integrated keyboard with a cat and from the external keyboard myself. I was trying to type my password with the external keyboard (pw dialog already visible), but I noticed that the computer didn’t seem responsive to my typing. Then suddenly the cat shifted his position and there was a kernel panic involving input handling. I’m now using i8042.nokbd kernel parameter as a workaround, something I’ve found useful also earlier.’

Applications

Instructionals/Technical

• We have covered plenty of Gnome Shell tips here in Make Tech Easier, but we also know that those are not enough to satisfy all of you. So here you are, more Gnome shell tips and tricks for you.

• Rayson announced a new release of Open Grid Scheduler. But the announcement does not yet have binaries or source! I was impatient and checked out the latest SVN from the sourceforge page. I ended up with revision 70.

Games

• Martin Lotecki sent word that Blue Libra and Thunder Fleets have been released for Linux on Desura!

• If you have been paying attention to this blog for the past few days, you probably have heard me mention Desura a time or two or seen it in a screen shot. If you haven’t figured out what it is yet, Desura is a content distribution client that mostly specializes in distribution of indie games. This isn’t you average run of the mill content distribution service though, what sets it apart is its recently released Linux client. Although there are some pretty good Linux game stores on-line like Gameolith, or tux games, they just don’t compare to the solid streamlined experience that Desura offers. So what exactly does it have to offer?

Desktop Environments

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

GNOME Desktop

• It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these design update posts. There’s plenty going on in GNOME design at the moment though, so I thought it would be a good idea to write about what’s being worked on. Here’s what we’ve been up to recently.

Distributions

Gentoo Family

Red Hat Family

• The CentOS Continuous Release repository (“CR”) was first introduced for CentOS 5.6, and currently exists for both CentOS 5 and CentOS 6. The CR repo is intended to provide package updates which have been released for the next point release upstream (from RHEL) which has not yet been officially released by CentOS yet due to delays around building, testing, and seeding mirrors for a new point release. For example, this means that once RedHat releases RHEL 5.8, CentOS will include package updates from 5.8 base and updates in CentOS 5.7 CR repo until the time that CentOS is able to complete the release of CentOS 5.8. For admins, this means less time without important security updates and the ability to be on the latest packages released in the latest RHEL point release.

Fedora

• After a night and a day of feeling at home and happy with an “unstable” Debian, last night I decided to get a taste of another distribution. First, I quit Ubuntu, ending up with the rough and tumble Arch Linux, then back home to my old flame Debian. But I’m not yet ready to settle down.

• What is my general opinion of Fedora 16 GNOME3? I’d say it is as good as GNOME3 system can be. It is stable, solid and has good reputation. If you like interface of “new wave” desktop environments (GNOME3, Unity), then you should be able to use Fedora without many issues. I am not big fan of this “new wave”. I prefer KDE. What does it mean for you? That review of Fedora 16 KDE is not far away! Stay tuned!

• Today I installed the shiny new Fedora release, and said goodbye to Fedora 14, which was in my humble opinion the best Linux distribution I have ever used (oh, I’ve been in F16 for just a couple of hours, and the artwork based on Jules Verne theme it’s a good start: really awesome).

• After installing the usual stuff (RPM Fusion it’s very important in this laptop, because I need their non-free packages so my Broadcom wireless works!), the only bit I’ve found confusing is the spell-check support. I had to install hunspell-es and hunspell-en packages (enchant is required too, but it was already installed) to have spell-checking in all the input boxes. That wasn’t obvious and Evolution’s documentation put me in the right path.

• I was very much looking forward to testing Fedora 16, to finding out about its latest new features and enhancements, so I downloaded the ISO images for both GNOME 3.2 and KDE 4.7 and on I went to test. I was so confident that both would be so great that I decided to wipe out Mandriva from one of my machines to make room for Verne. Unfortunately, my experience was short lived and a bit of a disaster. To test and install Verne, I decided to use my HP 2730p and 2740p tablets. Specifically, I wanted to install both on the latter, being a model that´s usually demanding and difficult in terms of hardware recognition. That would also allow me to compare how KDE and GNOME squeeze the latest from Fedora camp following an accurate approach. My plan was also to install the KDE flavor on the former, given that I like Fedora better than Mandriva myself. Unfortunately, I was not able to get anything working. On the 2740p, both the GNOME and KDE Live desktops would load perfectly and smoothly (albeit without support for the on board Broadcom Wireless card, a disappointment,

Debian Family

Derivatives

Canonical/Ubuntu

Flavours and Variants

• I’ll look at the hardware requirements and I’ll show what the install routine looks like in this distro.

Free Software/Open Source

• Standards-based, Content and Metadata Detection and Analysis Toolkit Powers Large-scale, Multi-lingual, Multi-format Repositories at Adobe, the Internet Archive, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and more.

Events

• Every October in Italy we hold an event dedicated to GNU/Linux and open source software development called LinuxDay 2011 Italy. The event is organized by the Italian Linux Society (ILS) and local Linux User Groups (LUG’s). LUG’s hold conferences in many cities spreading the philosophy of “Freedom, as in free speech,” with the goal of popularizing the use and development of open source software.

Web Browsers

Mozilla

• We build Firefox to build freedom and excellence into the web. We build Firefox to make sure that each person can be sovereign over the technology he or she uses to interact with the web. We build Firefox to combine user sovereignty and freedom with a great product experience that enriches web life.

• Today, we are excited to join together as a global community to celebrate the 7th birthday of Firefox. As the only independent browser with a mission to make the Web better, we are proud of how the last seven years of Firefox have pushed the Web forward:

• The Firefox development merry-go-round has moved on again, withFirefox 9 Beta and Firefox 10 Aurora builds being joined by two separate versions of Firefox 11: Firefox 11 Nightly and Firefox 11 UX, the most intriguing build of all.

• Those looking for major new features or a revamped interface will be disappointed, as the emphasis in Beta and Aurora builds is very much one of performance improvements and stability fixes. With this in mind, which version should you install? Read on for our updated guide to what’s happening with each version of Firefox.

Oracle/Java/LibreOffice

Education

• Marja Bijsterveldt, the Netherlands’ secretary of education, said that she was unwilling to force open standards on educational institutions, sparking an outcry from open-source advocates who say that Dutch students using free software or devices without Silverlight-support will find themselves locked out of schools’ online systems.

• The open standards policy was approved by the Dutch Parliament in 2007, but has not been fully implemented. Now, free software advocates are starting a new battle to make the use of open standards mandatory for all publicly funded institutions.

• Students who complain about being locked out of their school’s system are being advised to buy the proprietary Microsoft Windows OS, said For Free Software advocate Jan Stedehouder. “This behavior is not only unacceptable but also illegal. Our campaign aims at passing new legislation to ensure the mandatory use of open standards in education, to make sure that students have access to the free technology they deserve.”

Licensing

• On November 8th the Regional Court of Berlin [Landgericht Berlin] issued its decision in the previously reported case AVM Computersysteme Vertriebs GmbH (AVM) v. Cybits AG (Cybits). In this case, AVM was essentially trying to stop Cybits from modifying GNU GPL licensed Free Software inside of their AVM Fritz!Box products. Yesterday, the court dismissed this principal claim. Thus, it also confirmed that users of embedded devices with pre-installed Free Software have the legal freedom to make, install, run and distribute modifications to this Free Software. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and gpl-violations.org, both welcome this decision.

Programming

• Once in a while, someone asks “How can I compile my Perl 5 program to a binary?” Once in a while, someone answers “Use B::CC, at which point many someones shudder and reply “No, please never suggest such a thing, you horrible person.”

• Set aside that thought for a second.

Leftovers

• Some of those blunders suggest a worrying loss of control in core competencies like engineering. For example, the Gmail app for the iPhone has been widely derided. Its redesigns of Google Reader have prompted a petition asking for the original design to be brought back. And judging by my own experiences with the hideously gappy Gmail re-design, I can see people making a similar call there.

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