FreeSoftNews

Last year I wrote a review of Vector Linux 5.8 Standard for O’Reilly in January. Five months later I decided a new review was in order for Vector Linux 5.8 SOHO because the two weren’t based on the same code and the changes were great enough to make the SOHO release seem like an entirely different version from Standard. This past March I reviewed Vector Linux 5.9 Standard and once again I find the changes in the SOHO release warrant a separate review.

For those not familiar with Vector Linux it’s a decade old distribution based on Slackware that provides many of the user friendly tools and features offered by the largest and most popular distributions. I’ve often compared the Standard edition to Xubuntu with it’s relatively lightweight Xfce default desktop while the SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) edition is comparable to Kubuntu, with a fully integrated KDE desktop. That hasn’t changed. In addition Vector Linux SOHO 5.9 remains a 32-bit operating system. The 64-bit version of Standard is still in beta an no plans for a 64-bit SOHO edition have been announced, a fact which may limit interest somewhat even though the 32-bit release runs perfectly well on most 64-bit systems.

Read more at O’Reilly

I have been quiet about Linux this week because I have been busy trying several new versions. In the process, I have learned quite a bit more, and started to think about the philosophy behind Linux, operating system choices, and Free / Open Source software in general.

The first thing that became clear to me this week, although I already knew it on a more superficial level, was that Linux distributions run across a sort of a scale from easy to install and use to complex to install and requiring a lot of manual setup and configuration.

Read more at ZDNet

Pierrick Le Brun has announced the release of Zenwalk Live 5.2, a live CD edition of the Slackware-based Zenwalk Linux: “Zenwalk Live 5.2, the latest Zenwalk in its live CD format is ready! Based on Zenwalk Current and a slightly modified version 6.2.3 of the Linux-Live scripts, Zenwalk….
Read more at DistroWatch

This article will try to provide a contrast between ‘the Debian way’ and ‘the Slackware way’ when it comes to distribution management. The idea is to really attempt to illuminate people on why Debian, and many other distributions may not be ideal, and why a classic approach such as Slackware still has merit in this world of modern feature-crazy distributions.

I start this article knowing full well that it will offend people, even so, I think this needs to be said.

Read more at blog.sillica.com

Jean-Philippe Guillemin has announced the release of Zenwalk Linux 5.2: “The long awaited Zenwalk Linux 5.2 is now available. What’s new? The new release includes nearly 500 changes to software packages including a number of updates, bug fixes and enhanced replacements for some software. Notable updates include the….
Read more at DistroWatch

The GNOME SlackBuild GNOME 2.22.1 Desktop is now available for users of the latest Slackware 12.1 release! There have been a lot of improvements in this latest GSB release, including the move to PulseAudio, fewer package replacements, a GNOME-integrated Compiz-Fusion setup, the latest NetworkManager, Abiword 2.6, and OpenOffice2.4, a richer Mono C# suite, as well as all the great features of GNOME 2.22.

For those users new to GSB, head over to the Download page which has full instructions on how to download, install and configure GSB GNOME 2.22.1. For users who want to upgrade their current version of GSB, please check out the What’s New page to find information on what needs to be done for a smooth upgrade, and information about what has changed in this release of GNOME SlackBuild.

Gnome News

Slackware Linux has stood strong for more than a decade by refusing to compromise. There was a time when people used to say, “If you want to learn Linux and learn it well, give Slackware a try.” Attila Craciun, a Romanian software developer and Linux enthusiast, has ported the Slackware tree to the AMD64 architecture to create the Bluewhite64 distro. We spoke with him to find out about Bluewhite64, where it came from, and where it’s going.

Linux.com: What is Bluewhite64 Linux and how does it differ from other 64-bit Slackware-based distributions?
Read more at Linux.com

Well folks, it’s that time to announce a new stable Slackware release
again. So, without further ado, announcing Slackware version 12.1!
Since we’ve moved to supporting the 2.6 kernel series exclusively (and
fine-tuned the system to get the most out of it), we feel that Slackware
12.1 has many improvements over our last release (Slackware 12.0) and is a
must-have upgrade for any Slackware user.

• Read more: Slackware 12.1

Patrick Volkerding announced today that the Slackware development tree had reached release candidate status: “OK, we’re going to call this Slackware 12.1-rc1, though there is still some more minor work to do. Please help test! And if we’re missing anything major, please let me know. Thanks.” The most….
Read more at DistroWatch

GoblinX, an installable live CD based on the solid foundation of Slackware Linux, released Standard edition version 2.6 last month. It comes with lots of handy applications and five desktop managers: KDE, Fluxbox, Xfce, Enlightenment, and WindowMaker. I was impressed with the amount of software included as well as the stability and performance of GoblinX 2.6.

The Standard edition is the distribution’s general-purpose offering and is delivered in a 310MB freely available download. GoblinX is also available in three other editions. The Micro edition is a 100MB version that only offers Fluxbox and GTK applications. The Mini edition is 153MB and features Xfce 4. These are perfect for GTK fans, those who want a small fast system, or those who wish to remaster their own systems with maximum control. The Premium edition is for purchase only. It contains all the software found in the Standard edition as well as extras such as a compiler, libraries, and more drivers.

Read more at Linux.com

The latest version of Slax 6.0.3 has been released few hours ago. Among all the updates described in the changelog, it features a bugfix for SquashfsLZMA kernel driver. I said 6.0.3 won’t include the fix, but it has been decided to wait a bit and include it.

What’s new?

1. added kernel 2.6.24.3 with kernel headers, stripped sources and modules all using the same version, to prevent any possible mismatch
2. silenced several bootup messages
3. added wpa_suplicant package
4. updated to Slackware-current, which adds a lot of FIRMWAREs
5. fixed a bug in sqlzma, which may cause (in rare conditions) data read errors
6. the sgnfile= boot parameter was not working, so it’s fixed now.
7. make_iso.sh now works even if called from a different directory
8. the ‘copy to ram’ boot menu option doesn’t have any changes= default anymore
9. fixed loading of modules from subdirectories while using copy2ram
10. the ‘nocd’ boot parameter has different meaning now. It will cause CDROMs to be skipped, but still visible later on

I hope you like it

Slax Blog

Wolvix is probably one of the fastest rising distros today. First released 2 years ago, it has already gained plenty of loyal followers and is steadily going up in the ranks of Linux distributions over at Distrowatch. In fact, I received a couple of comments at this blog and some emails telling me to try Wolvix. So what’s so special about this beastly-named distro? I’m here to find out.

Wolvix, as described from its main website, is a LiveDistro built from Slackware and the Linux-Live scripts. It’s a desktop and multimedia oriented Linux distribution designed to suit the needs of regular to advanced desktop users. Wolvix comes with the XFCE desktop environment and the Fluxbox window manager and includes a carefully selected group of development, graphics, multimedia, and network and office applications.

Read more at Tech Source from Bohol

Slax, a Slackware-based modular Linux distribution, released version 6.0 last month. This release brings a new tar install format along with a new donation request, but also includes some noticeable bugs.

One of the new interesting developments with Slax since the 5.x releases is the availability of a 190MB tar image as well as the more traditional ISO install file. The tar file is for use primarily on USB media, but you can use it to perform a hard drive install as well. Installing the archive onto a memory stick was easy. I used a 512MB pen drive with one partition formatted with the VFAT filesystem. I mounted and navigated to the partition and untarred the Slax-6.0.0.tar. Then I changed directory into /boot and ran the bootinst.sh script. I was then able to boot Slax from the pen drive without any trouble, and any changes I made to the pen drive install were retained after I shut down the operating system, just as if Slax were installed onto a hard drive.

Read more at Linux.com

Today, two Slackware-based Linux distributions from the lightweight division will square off to find out once and for all, who has the clear edge. On the left corner, please welcome the Brazilian sensation, GoblinX. On the right corner, put your hands together for the Zenmaster, Zenwalk.

I will be the sole and fair (hopefully) judge for this Slack-off as I have tried and tested the latest versions of the two distros just recently. I know that it is kind of unfair to compare the two as Zenwalk is bigger than GoblinX “Mini Edition” in terms of size and therefore has more pre-installed applications and features. And, I could have used the “Standard Edition” edition instead. But, we are all just having fun here so we shall push through. Who knows, this could end up like the fight between David and Goliath.

Read more at Tech Source From Bohol

As soon as the primary mirror copies data from FTP, I’ll release Slax 6.0.1 (so it may be already available if you’re reading this few hours after this post was published). Changes are the following:

1. bugfix: Module Manager will display correct info about slik’ed modules
2. bugfix: activate refused to insert a module which was activater last time (before reboot) because of some empty mountpoints left. This is now fixed
3. bugfix: /etc/slax-version now shows correct version number
4. bugfix: trash bin was not empty
5. bugfix: swap partitions were not auto activated due to a bug in linux live scripts
6. bugfix: raise sound volume for ‘front’, ‘center’ and ’side’ channels too
7. kdeglobals set to force konqueror to follow slik:// addresses without asking
8. For a popular demand for at least a stripped version of vi in Slax, symlinked vi from busybox.
9. Slax will not have vi as default, but the ‘vi’ command will call the busybox’s vi.
10. workaround: because Flash plugin with konqueror hangs even after recompiling KDE 3.5.9, disabled flash plugins in konqueror. I have no idea how to fix that.
11. added madwifi wireless drivers version 0.9.4
12. added memtest 2.1
13. make posixovl less sceptic (use kernel cache and set relookup timeouts to 300 seconds) in order to get 2x better performace
14. delete some unneeded c++ files in the devel module to save few megabytes (actually 5)

Also note that the Slax logo at DistroWatch is outdated. Please don’t write to me about it, I know it. I can’t change that. Slax’s logo has been modified five times in the past few years, and people@distrowatch have better things to do then updating the icon once per year. Justitia suum cuique distribuit …

Slax Blog

Zenwalk, a Slackware-based slim-and-zippy distribution, released a major update last month. The release announcement listed some noticeable enhancements and promised the best support for Wi-Fi you can expect in any Linux distro. Excuse me for being skeptic, but one doesn’t expect midget distros to be the best in any field. How well can a single-CD 469MB distro hold up against every other multi-GB DVD distro available today? As it turns out, Zenwalk manages to squeeze in a long list of open source wireless drivers, as well as the proprietary Intel wireless device firmware. Surprisingly Zenwalk 5.0 not only does things you don’t expect from a single CD distro, it does them with ease and very little command-line sorcery.

Read more at Linux.com

So, it’s released. I have to setup the website in order to make it usable, a lot of documentation have to be written, the Build Slax feature have to be tested, but everything seems so far so good. Please be kind to the server and download Slax 6 now only if you really need it. If you don’t, please wait few hours or days, or try a mirror (it will take some time to be updated, entire Slax 6 release is over 10GB of data, because all international versions are prepared for you as well)

Read more at Slax blog

While Slackware isn’t as hard to use as some would lead you to thing, it is different enough from Ubuntu, Debian and Red Hat that a how-to is in no way a bad thing. In fact, a lot of things are easier in Slackware than in other distros because Slack’s command-line tools do more of the work for you than many Slackware users would have you believe. (I love xwmconfig, netconfig and pkgtool and wonder why Debian doesn’t have similar utilities … although apt probably makes up for all other omissions.)

Read more at CLICK

Zenwalk 5.0 is here !

Since the conception of Zenwalk the decision was made to focus on simplicity and optimum performance. You will be happy to learn that Zenwalk 5.0 even while being a major release continues to follow those very same principles.

The Zenwalk GNU/Linux OS continues to provide bleeding edge system focusing on optimal performance and ease of use. This latest release now features the 2.6.23.12 Linux kernel, includes modern hardware detection based on HAL, and continues it’s tradition of showcasing the powerful XFCE 4.4.2 desktop.

Being a major release, Zenwalk 5.0 introduces several new systems.
Firstly, version 5.0 is the first Zenwalk release to introduce the Freedesktop HAL system (Hardware Abstraction Layer). In the past Zenwalk had provided its own hardware hotplug system, but HAL has now been deemed mature enough to fit within Zenwalk’s stability guidelines while giving unbelievable flexibility to hotplug and hardware detection in general. One of the first things you will notice is that icons representing any plugged or removable media and devices will appear on the desktop with a name matching the device or media type.

Read more at Zenwalk

I don’t like Slackware. No, please! Do not stone me right away! Slackware is a very good operating system. It’s just not “compatible” with my nature. It’s the oldest Linux system, probably the only distro fully compatible with the original foundations of UNIX systems, and working according to the DIY paradigm (Do It Yourself). It runs stable after proper configuration. The problem is that I do change distros very often and were it not for the frequent manual changes of the config files, the never ending checking whether the versions of the system’s parts are correct… Well, for a server, which it suffices to configure only once and for all, it’s an excellently tailored distro. Or if one would like to select reasonable software, have it installed, then configure it carefully, and finally burned it as a LiveCD… Yes… and have the logo of a green clover added just for luck… Wow, that’d be something!

Read more at polishlinux.org