07.21.10

Links: Linux News (SSHFS, Drivers), Applications, Instructionals, Unigine Game, and Distributions

Posted in GNU/Linux, News Roundup at 11:06 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Accumulation of Linux and GNU news including a Zenwalk 6.4 review

Graphics Stack

• Here’s The 3dfx Banshee, Voodoo DRM/KMS Driver

  Last month we reported on the status of kernel mode-setting with the Glint driver that’s being done as a Google Summer of Code project to provide KMS support for the ancient 3Dlabs Permedia 3 and Permedia 4 graphics cards and to better document the Linux KMS/DRM driver writing process. As part of the Glint KMS discussion, it emerged that an independent developer (James Simmons) happened to hack together a 3dfx DRM driver. This was interesting as the work was never published or accepted into the mainline kernel, but today we finally are able to lay our eyes on this open-source 3dfx driver for the Banshee, Voodoo 3, and Voodoo 5 graphics cards.

• Cool User File Systems, Part 1: SSHFS

  Userspace file systems are one of the coolest storage options in Linux. They allow really creative file systems to be developed without having to go through the kernel gauntlet. This article presents one of them, SSHFS, that allows you to remotely mount a file system using ssh (sftp).

Applications

• Three Apps For Monitoring Performance In Linux

  Most Linux users are familiar with the top command. Top shows you a list of processes on your system and provides a ton of useful information such as their CPU usage and owner. Unfortunately, this isn’t always enough data and many people don’t know where to turn next. This article covers three performance monitoring applications that show information top doesn’t tell you, and can greatly help in troubleshooting bottlenecks or just finding out more about your system. These utilities are iftop, iotop, and pv.

• screen’s competition: tmux

• A Perfect Image Juggler: Geeqie

  digiKam is undoubtedly a powerful application for processing and managing your photos, but there are situations when you need something lighter. For example, I use my netbook when I’m on the move to off load photos from my camera and quickly go through them. For this, I use Geeqie, a lightweight image viewer that offers a slew of nifty features that make it an indispensable tool in my arsenal.

• Instructionals

  • Installing applications in Linux with a double click

  • Portable Linux Apps – Run your favourite apps on any Linux distribution from a USB drive

  • Pidgin’s Buddy pounce, a powerful Notification Feature

  • HowTo: The Ultimate Logrotate Command Tutorial with 10 Examples

  • HOWTO: Cross compiling the kernel for the Mini2440

  • Getting to Grips with GRUB 2

  • Change a MySQL Table from MyISAM to InnoDB

  • HowTo: Migrate / Move MySQL Database And Users To New Server

  • Beautify your GNOME desktop

  • Unix How-To: Tricks for Working with Filenames

  • PDF Manipulations And Conversions From Linux Command Prompt

  • How to install Nanny on Mint 9 and Ubuntu 10.04

  • Running Linux on new OpenRisc simulator or1ksim 0.4.0

  • Large Text File (logs) viewer – Rowscope

• Games

  • Unigine Is Working On A Strategy Game

    Earlier this month the developers behind the Unigine Engine shared their latest update on this advanced 3D engine that’s fully supported under Linux. With the latest work on this game engine, there are significant performance optimizations to UnigineScript (the developers say these optimizations are “HUGE”), volumetric light shafts, optimized rendering of meshes in non-instanced mode, optimizations of the Unigine math library, and a note there is a new terrain system on the way, among other changes. Unigine Corp also dropped their first public confirmation of a new strategy game they are developing.

Desktop Environments/WMs

• Alternative desktops: Fvwm

  This time around, in our Alternative desktops series, we’re going seriously old-school Linux with Fvwm. Although using Fvwm will make you feel like you’ve gone back in time, it still has it’s place in today’s world. Where speed and simplicity are the single most important desire on a desktop, you really can’t go wrong with Fvwm. The only problem with this wonderful little desktop is getting used to the configuration.

• K Desktop Environment (KDE SC)

  • Clementine 0.4 Rocks! I Love Open Source!

    Most of you probably haven’t heard about Clementine before. But every linux music enthusiast must be aware of Amarok 1.4, which for many like me, was the best open source music player for Linux. Even though it was KDE app, I used it as my default music player in Ubuntu Gnome. It was that good. But everything changed once KDE developers decided to rewrite Amarok.

• GNOME Desktop

  • Probably The Best 5 GnoMenu Themes

    I can’t stand the default menu Ubuntu comes with and I only keep it because I have to know under which submenu the user can find an installed application when posting on WebUpd8. This wouldn’t be needed if people used a menu with a search function but anyway. Also, since I install quite a few applications, half of it requires scrolling and makes it almost unusable.

Distributions

• How Many Types of Linux Do We Need?

  There are gazillions of people on this planet right now. Not all of them will ever care to build their own flavor of Linux. But Linux gives you the ability to choose how YOU want things, and then share it with the world. I’ve talked before about where you can go to build your own version of Linux. It’s not as difficult as you might think it is… so what are you waiting for?

• Reviews

  • Zenwalk 6.4: Simple yet Awesome

    It’s been a long time since I last took a look at Zenwalk. I’ve always had a sweet spot for it, though I haven’t had a chance to really give it a full spin in quite some time. Although I am primarily a KDE user, there’s something about Zenwalk that always keeps my attention: It’s simple, fast, and gets the job done. Not only that, but its one of the best lightweight distros around.

    Zenwalk uses XFCE as it’s desktop of choice (though other versions are available) and from the past times I’ve used it, it appears to be focused on allowing your system to run free, rather than bog it down with unnecessary eye candy and bloat. Zenwalk manages to pack a punch with a large variety of useful applications preinstalled, without slowing you down in the process.

• Red Hat Family

  • Is Red Hat the New VMware?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux now comes with built-in virtualization (KVM) but is Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) about to go to the virtual mat with VMware? If you look at their RHEL video, you’ll come away with a resounding ‘Yes’ to that question.

    Red Hat purchased Qumranet in 2008 to acquire their KVM-based virtualization solution and SolidICE product based on the SPICE protocol.

  • Fedora

    • Cantarell

      As Ian and Ryan already blogged, the Fedora Design Team is evaluating new branding fonts: Comfortaa for headings and either Cantarell or Droid Sans for body text.

• Debian Family

  • DebConf10: the Debian Project

    After ten editions in nine countries spanning four continents, and for the first time in the US, the Debian project is holding the annual Debian Developer conference, DebConf, at Columbia University in New York City on August 1.

  • Canonical/Ubuntu

    • Ubuntu Manual Project core philosophy

      I believe such a philosophy, like Ubuntu’s code of conduct, is important and every project should have one.

    • Flavours and Variants

      • Netrunner Blacklight Released!

        Huzzah! So, the official (and huge) ISO for the second release of Netrunner is up, out and available right now! (torrent)

        Here’s the distrowatch announcement.

        Moving to KDE

        The biggest change in this version is moving to KDE for the desktop.

        Something important to understand about that: when I say “KDE for the desktop”, that doesn’t mean Netrunner is running all KDE apps. There are a lot of GNOME (and other) apps in there, because we are trying to present the best selection of applications and for some reason some people like some of the non-KDE apps better.

      • Peppermint Ice – Press Release!

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