Category: GNU/Linux

Stuff about GNU/Linux distro, tips and tricks or information

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Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (Etch) was officially released

The much anticipated Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (Etch) was finally released on 8th April 2007.

The release was unofficially available since November last year but some technicalities prevented the project from making an official release announcement until all architectures it supported is of release quality.

Among softwares included in Debian Etch are :

  • GNOME 2.14
  • OpenOffice.org 2.0.4
  • GIMP 2.2.13
  • Iceweasel (Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3)
  • Icedove (Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5)
  • PostgreSQL 8.1.8
  • MySQL 5.0.32
  • GCC 4.1.1
  • Linux kernel 2.6.18
  • Apache 2.2.3
  • Samba 3.0.24
  • Python 2.4.4 and 2.5

Debian is one of the oldest GNU/Linux distribution project which is still active until today. Many of the newer Linux distribution (eg Ubuntu, mepis,knoppix) based their project on Debian codebase.

Debian has the largest collection of softwares and the widest machine architecture support compared to other distro.

Please visit the official Debian GNU/Linux project website to get more information about it.

[tags]debian,linux,distro,opensource, open source[/tags]

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The Mystery Behind Ubuntu Release Name

Ubuntu users are no doubt familiar with the unique and funky name for its releases (Feisty Fawn, Breezy Badger, Hoary Hedgehog) in which it is more popular than the release number (7.04, 6.10, 6.06). Most people tends to remember the codename when refering to a particular Ubuntu release (such as Ubuntu Dapper as opposed to Ubuntu 6.06)

The main reason codename is used because it is easier for humans to memorize names compared to release number (hence the motto Linux for human beings). he same codename is also used as development name during initial buildup stage. Using the same codename has the advantage of reducing potential confusion that might arise from the different development/release name pairs.

Though the Ubuntu Wiki Page explains how codenames are formed, it doesn’t reveal the technique of naming the release is known as Alliteration.

The use of Alliteration
Alliteration is a form of mnemonics that uses the same alphabet (consonant) in two consecutive words, like Peter Parker and Lex Luthor. Phrases that use alliteration is easier to remember than those that do not.

Alliteration isn’t solely used by Ubuntu alone, other brand names or products that use alliteration includes :

  • Playboy Playmates
  • Spongebob Squarepants
  • Coca-cola
  • French Fries
  • Kit Kat
  • Pontiac Pursuit
  • Super Sonic
  • Take Two
  • Peter Pan
  • King Kong
  • Mickey Mouse
  • Paypal
  • Plater of Paris
  • Tic-tac
  • Ding Dang
  • Marilyn Manson
  • Kuda Kepang

Alliteration can make a phrase more memorable which explains why Ubuntu release name is more widely known than its release number (ie. How many people remembers Ubuntu Hoary release number?).

p/s: Now I know why I have no trouble recalling Paypal as a credit card processor service or French Fries when ordering chips at any fast food restaurant and Coca Cola as my favorite soft drink (yeah, carbonated drinks are not good, but at least they are not as pretentious as Ribena)

[tags]breezy badger,ubuntu,feisty,feisty fawn,linux,distro[/tags]

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New features in Ubuntu Linux Feisty Fawn

Here are some of the new features that you can expect from the upcoming Ubuntu release, Feisty Fawn.

Codec Wizard
Now you can play mp3,DVD and mpeg4 videos of yours without much hassle. Ubuntu Linux Feisty Fawn includes a cool Codec Wizard which automatically install the required codec for you when you first played the file.

Improved Network Manager
Connecting to existing network has been made easier with the pre-installed Network Manager. You can now connect to wired and wireless network with relative ease.

Windows Migration Assistant
Provide easy migration from Windows operating system to Ubuntu. Supports Internet Explorer bookmarks, Yahoo IM, AOL IM, Desktop Wallpaper and documents during installation.

Desktop Effects
The latest release includes desktop effects, making it a definite reason to try Feisty Fawn for a desktop user.

Thin Client
An attractive functionality for those that runs a computer lab, thin client server allows you. Edubuntu Feisty Fawn includes Classroom Server edition consists of two CDs, a server image and a server add-on image with additional education applications and languages complete with tips and best practices for educators.

Other than that, Feisty Fawn also includes latest software like GNOME 2.18, OpenOffice.org 2.2.0, X.org 7.2, Firefox 2.0.0.2 and Linux kernel 2.6.20.

Ubuntu Linux Feisty Fawn is schedule to be released in 19 April 2007, please visit the official Ubuntu website for more information.

p/s: Most of this material of this post is taken from Feisty Fawn Beta page

[tags]linux,ubuntu,feisty fawn,feisty,debian[/tags]

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ShipIt: Get Free Ubuntu Feisty Fawn CD

The month of April is here and beside fooling your friends on the first of april, let me remind you that Ubuntu Linux (7.04) Feisty Fawn release is just around the corner.

Schedule to be released on April 19, 2007. Free Ubuntu Feisty Fawn CDs is suspected to be back available from ShipIt!

Here’s the screenshot ShipIt interface.

feistyfawn.jpg

What is Shipit?
For those who are unfamiliar with the term, ShipIt is a service maintained by the Ubuntu project for the purpose of shipping free Ubuntu CD through out the world.

To order free CDs, you need to have a launchpad account and the CDs will take around 1-6 weeks to arrive, depending on where you live (and customs delays).

PowerPC CD won’t be available ?
Also it is worth noting that Ubuntu has dropped PowerPC platform from its official release, so the usual PowerPC CD won’t be available from Shipit as with previous releases.

[tags]powerpc,ubuntu,feisty,feisty fawn, debian,linux, opensource,open source[/tags]

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Why newbies still use outdated Red Hat Linux 9 ?

I’m writing this because I found out that many Linux newbie still prefer to use Red Hat Linux 9 compared to Fedora Core distribution.

Red Hat Linux 9 has been released in 2003, and between that year and at the time of this writing, Red Hat Linux 9 has been superseded by almost 6 newer releases (Fedora Core 1 – Fedora Core 6, Fedora 7 if you want to count that too)

Red Hat Linux 9 has been long abandoned by Red Hat when it discontinued its support in April 2004 (3 years ago) in favor of Community maintained Fedora Core line (now Fedora) .

To show you that how much technology has changed since its release, Red Hat 9 includes linux kernel 2.4.20, mozilla browser 1.2.1, openoffice 1.0.2 as opposed to the latest distribution which includes linux kernel 2.6.19, (or 2.4.34, if you count the 2.4 branches) mozilla 1.8.x.

One might wonder how many security holes left unfixed when Red Hat stopped providing security patches to the operating system since April 2004 (three years ago).

What makes people (especially by newbies) still use Red Hat Linux 9 ?

  • Red Hat Linux is the most popular Linux distribution during late 1990s and early 2000
  • Red Hat made a terrible rebranding move, it rebrands Red Hat Linux to a completely new name Fedora Core.
  • There are still lots of older “Linux for beginner” books that make reference to Red Hat Linux (7.0,7.1,7.3,8.0), this left an impression to newbies that Red Hat Linux 9 is the latest ‘Linux’ release (old book stock with free RH9 CDs is the main culprit)
  • Newbies trust the content in the books 100% without taking account that computer software books has an ‘unofficial expiry date’, they should have done more research through the internet.

Implication of using Red Hat Linux 9

  • People will get the wrong impression about Linux, based on outdated technology
    Drivers support is not up to date with the current hardware (not much wifi support, unstable drivers)
  • Old software which is buggy and crash prone
  • Outdated Server softwares with tons of security vulnerabilities or even with outdated configuration file.
  • Support websites which do not exists anymore, people will get lost without proper documentation
  • No software updates support.
  • Broken software due to changes in communication protocol (gaim msn, yahoo messenger, up2date, etc)
  • Primitive software (that do not conforms with the latest trend) that may cause data loss

So please ditch the idea of using Red Hat 9 as your first distro and use latest Linux distro release for your own good, things changed a lot since RH9 been released.

norh9.png

Say no to Red Hat 9 :p

[tags]red hat, red hat linux,redhat,linux,debian,yum,ubuntu,kernel,distro[/tags]

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Linux / Unix command line sex jokes

I forgot where I found this joke, but I find it funny when people use Unix command to relay jokes. 

alias sex "updatedb; locate; talk; date; cd; strip; look; touch; finger; unzip; uptime; gawk; head; apt-get install condom; mount; fsck; gasp; more; yes; yes; yes; more; umount; apt-get remove --purge condom; make clean; sleep"

p/s: this is one thing I like about Unix (or Linux), the users and developers are just having way too much fun hacking the platform!

[tags]unix,linux,make,open source, ubuntu, debian, fsck, apt-get[/tags]