Release Candidate : Damn Small Linux v4.0 Alpha 1

Excerpts from the release announcement.

DSL v4.0 Alpha 1 is now available in the Release Candidate area.

This is a very different version of DSL. It is based on the following wish list as expressed in the forums.

• New 2.4.34 kernel.
• Easier to use user interface
• A real desktop framework
• Drag-N-Drop capability
• Better and more flexible file associations
• Closer coupling of the icons and file manager
• Document centric capability
• Optional menu-less capability
• More intuitive interface to MyDSL extensions

Please read the new Getting Started document. There are many changes in icons, file manager, accessing menu and mydsl.
Note: This is NOT a release candidate. It is the first in an alpha cycle. A such, do expect anomalies.
Updated alpha cuts will be posted as they become available.
When posting feedback here in this forum, please be aware that DSL has four major installations methods.

1. Live CD
2. Frugal
3. Hybrid
4. Traditional

Please indicate which method is being used.

Be aware that this is a new system and that copying only KNOPPIX will not work!

You should test separately from exising installations of DSL.
Should you so attempt to do otherwise please be aware that the following files have changed and are likely in your backup.

1. .xinitrc
2. .desktop
3. .fluxbox/fluxter.bb
4. .fluxbox/menu
5. .jwmrc
6. .filetool.lst
7. .xfiletool.lst

The following are no longer used:

1. .xtdesktop/
2. .emelfm/

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Final Release: Sabayon Linux 1.0 "Business Edition"

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Sabayon Linux "Business Edition" is another of our hard work that proof that we do care for people needs:
You love Sabayon Linux and want to use it for working purpouse but you're not interested at all in games or desktop acceleration?
Sabayon Linux is the only distribution that recognize your hardware perfectly but you want something that will make it perfect on your working enviroment?...
Here you go!!!
Sabayon has prepared for you a fast, cheap and stable solution for every "office needs" you might have!!

INFO/ FEATURES:

• Optimized Server profile
• Kernel 2.6.22 Sabayon Linux Powered
  
• Stable branch for almost all packages
  
• Wpa_supplicant compiled with a better support for mac80211
  
• Latest madwifi driver
  
• Latest Sabayon Installer
  
• Latest Ati-drivers
  
• Latest Nvidia-drivers
  
• Fast installation speed
  
• Package Selection on install time
  
• Really fast working live enviroment
  
• Easy firewall management with Kmyfirewall

Read the full release announcement here.
ISO - Torrents:

• Sabayon Linux x86 Business Edition 1.0 Torrent download
  
• Sabayon Linux x86_64 Business Edition 1.0 Torrent download
  

Download Mirrors:

• Official Mirrors Page

Wubi 7.04.03 : Install Ubuntu in Windows

Wubi is an unofficial Ubuntu installer for Windows users that will bring you into the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other application. If you heard about Linux and Ubuntu, if you wanted to try them but you were afraid, this is for you.

It does not require you to modify the partitions of your PC, or to use a different bootloader.
Just run the installer, no need to burn a CD.
Wubi keeps most of the files in one folder, and If you do not like, you can simply uninstall it.
Wubi (like Ubuntu) is free as in beer and as in freedom. You will get this part later on, the important thing now is that it cost absolutely nothing, it is our gift to you...

Download here.
Screenshots here.

Final Release: antiX MEPIS 6.5

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has announced the "Spartacus" release of antiX, a lightweight derivative of MEPIS. AntiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member anticapitalista, as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32 bit PC hardware. The antiX web site is at antix.mepis.org and an antiX forum is hosted at www.mepislovers.org

Anticapitalista said, "After months of hard work, I am delighted to announce that antiX "Spartacus" is ready for release. antiX is a fast, stable, lightweight and easy to install livecd for those with old computers or for those who prefer a 'lean and mean' operating system on modern hardware. Enjoy antiX!"

AntiX is built using the MEPIS Linux 6.5 core including the MEPIS 2.6.15 kernel and utilities, but mostly it has a different set of default user applications: fluxbox and ice window managers, Abiword, Gnumeric, Leafpad, Scite, Nano, gimp, xpdf, Firefox2, Sylpheed-claws, Dillo, Links2, Gaim, Xchat, gftp, Pan, Irssi, Raggle RSS reader, Gtk-Gnutella, bittorrent, flash, mozilla-mplayer, xmms, mplayer, audacity, xine, Midnight Commander, rox-filer, xarchive, xcdroast and graveman.

Warren reported "Anti has demonstrated that you don't need to be a programmer to build a very useful derivative of MEPIS Linux. The MEPIS community is very impressed with his achievement."

AntiX is designed to work on computers with as little as 64MB RAM and Pentuim II or equivalent AMD processors. The new ISO images are available in the 'released/antix' subdirectory at the MEPIS Subscriber's Site and at the MEPIS public mirrors.

Read the full release announcement here.

Download the latest version here, currently antiX-Mepis6.5 (410MB) download

antiX is also available on the MEPIS mirrors. mirrors

antiX-Mepis6.5 md5sum and xdelta patches available. antiX

Here is a link to some screenshots. Screenshots1

PCLinuxOS leaves behind Ubuntu

Good news for PCLinuxOS fans!!!! But at the same time die-hard Ubuntu supporters must be worried. Here is why.
Finally PCLOS has taken lead from Ubuntu on the last 3 months based rankings on distrowatch.com. The H.P.D. today showed 2669 for PCLOS against 2668 for Ubuntu.

So the trend is clear Ubuntu is loosing the race to PCLOS. Ubuntu has been the leader quite for a long time and established its reputation. PCLOS on the other hand is relatively new and need to maintain its good work to be at the top of the distro race.

But certainly both the Distributions are really great. As always, not every person is satisfied with these two but overall they have many more positive responses than the negative ones.

I hope this race would continue indefinitely as this would help the Linux and the community grow as a whole.

Final Release : Damn Small Linux 3.4

Excerpts from the release announcement.

DSL v3.4 is now released.
Final change log:

1. Updated MurgaLua to v0.4.1
2. Added libXft.so.2
3. Added acpid. Use boot option "acpid"
4. Added bcrypt. Dropped des
5. Improved emelfm for better CLI support
6. Fixed user umount Debian Woody bug.
7. Updated webdata to use bcrypt
8. Updated file backup/restore to use bcrypt via "protect" boot option.
9. New image has been added: dsl-3.4-initrd.iso

I took a little side trip while working on 4.0 to make a much asked for version of DSL.

dsl-3.4-initrd.iso version has the KNOPPIX image packed in the initial ramdisk. This means it is very easy to setup a PXE DSL server.

It also means the entire system always loads into ram. You will need 128MB ram for this version. It will boot as a typical isolinux version and thereby eliminates the scan for the KNOPPIX image. So, by producing this image I have tried to satisfy two areas of improved use.

Note: The embedded install scripts are not aware of the new initrd version.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download dsl-3.4.iso.

Final Release : Slackware Linux 12.0

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Well folks, it's that time to announce a new stable Slackware release again. So, without further ado, announcing Slackware version 12.0! 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 12.0 has many improvements over our last release (Slackware 11.0) and is a must-have upgrade for any Slackware user.

Among the many program updates and distribution enhancements, you'll find two of the most advanced desktop environments available today: Xfce 4.4.1, a fast and lightweight but visually appealing and easy to use desktop environment, and KDE 3.5.7, the latest version of the award-winning K Desktop Environment.

Here are some of the advanced features of Slackware 12.0:

- Runs the 2.6.21.5 version of the Linux kernel from ftp.kernel.org. Also included is a kernel patched with Speakup to support speech synthesizers providing access to Linux for the visually impaired community. The 2.6.x kernel series has matured into a stable kernel, and provides reliable performance for your desktop or your production server.

- System binaries are linked with the GNU C Library, version 2.5. This version of glibc also has excellent compatibility with existing binaries.

- X11 7.2.0. This is the X.Org Foundation's modular X Window System. You will notice many more X package than before, and it's probably best to install them all. There's been much activity in the X development world, and the improvements here in terms of performance and hardware support are sure to be only the beginning.

- Installs gcc-4.1.2 as the default C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran-77/95, and Ada 95 compiler.

- Support for fully encrypted network connections with OpenSSL, OpenSSH, OpenVPN, and GnuPG.

- Apache (httpd) 2.2.4 web server with Dynamic Shared Object support, SSL, and PHP 5.2.3.

- PCMCIA, CardBus, USB, IEE1394 (FireWire) and ACPI support. This makes Slackware a great operating system for your laptop.

- The udev dynamic device management system for Linux 2.6.x. This locates and configures most hardware automatically as it is added (or removed) from the system, and creates the access nodes in /dev. It also loads the kernel modules required by sound cards and other hardware at boot time.

- New development tools, including Perl 5.8.8, Python 2.5.1, Ruby 1.8.6, Subversion 1.4.4, git-1.5.2.2, mercurial-0.9.4, graphical tools like Qt designer and KDevelop, and much more.

- Updated versions of the Slackware package management tools make it easy to add, remove, upgrade, and make your own Slackware packages. Package tracking makes it easy to upgrade from Slackware 11.0 to Slackware 12.0 (see CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT). The slackpkg tool in /extra can also help update from an older version of Slackware to a newer one, and keep your Slackware system up to date. In addition, the slacktrack utility (in extra/) will help you build and maintain your own packages.

- Web browsers galore! Includes KDE's Konqueror 3.5.7, SeaMonkey 1.1.2 (this is the replacement for the Mozilla Suite), and the immensely popular Firefox 2.0.0.4, as well as the Thunderbird 2.0.0.4 email and news client with advanced junk mail filtering.

- The complete K Desktop Environment (KDE) version 3.5.7, including the KOffice productivity suite, networking tools, GUI development with KDevelop, multimedia tools (including the amazing Amarok music player), the Konqueror web browser and file manager, dozens of games and utilities, international language support, and more.

- A collection of GTK+ based applications including pidgin-2.0.2, gimp-2.2.15, gkrellm-2.2.10, gxine-0.5.11, xchat-2.8.2, xsane-0.994, and pan-0.131.

- Large repository of extra software packages compiled and ready to run. This includes various window managers, the Java(TM) 2 Software Development Kit Standard Edition, libsafe (buffer overflow protection for additional security), ISDN support, additional 802.11 drivers, and much more (see the /extra directory).

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.