Links: Distribution Reviews, Sabayon Linux 5.3 “Extra Spins”, Fedora Community Web Site Design
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2010-07-22 08:20:47 UTC
- Modified: 2010-07-22 08:20:47 UTC
Summary: Distributions news accumulated in recent days
One or two of the five distros I mentioned yesterday had been labeled as “lightweight” either by their designers or the community around them, and I was probably pushing that definition just a little bit when I gave them the chance to run at 150Mhz on 32Mb of memory.
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Reviews
Unity Linux had their first release on 09/07/2010 after around 1.5 years of development. The project was created in 2009 by former developers from the PClinuxOS (hereafter abbreviated PCLOS) community. One of them was KDulcimer who at the time had his own project TinyMe based on PCLOS, which according to the website started in 2006. His distribution would in the future be based on Unity Linux. So much for how the two are intertwined.
[...]
I have to say I like this basic distribution and the philosophy behind, there is definitely a niche for it. The artwork is an inoffensive non-blinding white swirl on dark-blue background, good for my sensitive eyes, with a Mint leaf floating around giving a fresh impression, and for convenience sake you got 'halt' and 'logout' buttons on the desktop to access these functions. Mandrake/Mandriva has always been my favourite rpm based distribution and one of the first I used back in the 90's, and I'm glad to see it and its many innovations living on in so many forms. Mandriva is of course in ongoing financial troubles and after so many years of it I'm a bit pessimistic if that will change any time soon. So what will projects like Unity Linux do if Mandriva disappears?
For the moment at least they are still around, so let's enjoy this little spin-off if you don't have long term planning needs.
Unity also runs well in Virtualbox, with guest additions pre-installed. As you would imagine due to its size, it ran well with 384MB memory, but will probably be happy with less.
Unlike Microsoft Windows, Linux has a deserved reputation as a bullet-proof operating system. To teach computer security a University lecturer has deliberately produced the most damn vulnerable Linux you’ll ever see.
I didn't have many complaints when it came to Zenwalk's security. The install process sets a password for the administrator and allows the user to create additional, unprivileged accounts. I did have two concerns. While I was using the distro the repositories were populated with updates, but there didn't seem to be any notification for the user when security updates were available. I've been spoiled recently by systems which automatically check for me. My other concern is Zenwalk runs a secure shell service by default, which allows remote root logins. Preventing root from remotely logging into a machine is a policy I'd like to see more distributions adopt.
Lucid Puppy Linux 5.0 was released back in May of 2010, but as one of my favorite distros, I have been playing with it heavily since then. I have been so impressed with the new version that I wanted to take a moment and write a quick review of this release.
You can find the official release page here, along with download information.
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New Releases
Our crew, is happy to announce the immediate availability of XFCE, LXDE and SpinBase/OpenVZ Sabayon 5.3 “Spins” built on top of Sabayon “SpinBase” ISO images.
Under the “Extra Spins” umbrella, the Sabayon developers are going to experiment new Stable Releases with different package compositions.
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Red Hat Family
The open source remote access project will include 3D acceleration, network tunneling, and perhaps iPad, iPhone, and Android tablet support
Server maker Hewlett-Packard and commercial Linux juggernaut Red Hat have teamed up to help shops using Oracle's Sparc/Solaris platforms make the jump to Linux-based x64 iron.
While the two companies did not say so, the migrations services being offered today through HP Services are no doubt a reaction to Oracle's spiking of HP's Solaris OEM agreement last month. Under that agreement, HP was able to bundle Solaris on its ProLiant rack and blade servers and sell Solaris support contracts, much as it does for Microsoft's Windows, Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Red Hat's Enterprise Linux.
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Fedora
When it was launched in late 2004 it was up against a number of distributions that had been in development for years: Red Hat, Fedora, Suse Linux and Mandriva (then still called Mandrake). These were well-developed distributions with their own fans and unique features. Ubuntu, based on Debian, had a solid base but had a long way to go to be as user-friendly as it planned.
Fast forward almost six years and Ubuntu has delivered. For many users it has been the perfect starting point for their Linux adventures. For others it offers the stability that they want from an operating system. It also has a huge fan-base and is the dominant voice in Linux marketing.
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Debian Family
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Canonical/Ubuntu
“Does Ubuntu have a firewall, and how do I turn it on?” is a popular question among new Ubuntu users. The answer is a bit complicated, but it’s an understandable inquiry for those migrating from the Windows world. WorksWithU addresses that question below by taking a look at Ubuntu’s firewall and some of the tools available for managing it.
In This Issue
* Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase calls all artists to contribute to next version of Ubuntu
* Operation Cleansweep: We Need You!
* Ubuntu Accessibility Team Personas Survey
* ISO testers for the Hall of Fame
* Ubuntu User Days Wrap-Up
* Ubuntu Stats
* Rocking The LoCo Council
* Ubuntu: a computer operating system built around community
* Ubuntu Chicago Bike Tour
* The Early-Summer LoCo BBQ at hutchnate's house was a tasty success!
* Ubuntu Honduras LoCo Team Wakes up
* Launchpad News
* Ahmed Kamal Joins the Horsemen
* Reviewers Team and Operation Cleansweep
* Ubuntu Manual Project core philosophy
* Man Your Browser
[...]
I’m an Ubuntu and FOSS kinda guy, I’m not happy with software that isn’t FOSS and I don’t find any sense in proprietisation of code. Having said that there are times when I must be a little more considered and not simply shun an entire site because it’s not foss.
Heaven known that deviantArt is one of the most proprietary, confused and messed up places I know. Bad copyright advice, no public domain option, admins that consistently ignore open formats like png and svg. FOSS Software isn’t promoted at all in any way. So why in Slartibartfast’s fjords would I want to hang my coat over there?
Well no matter what I do there _will_ be artists over there who use Ubuntu, people who may need help with wacom tablets, upgrades or finding help. There will be people who use Windows or Mac but don’t have FOSS tools yet or perhaps wouldn’t do better with Ubuntu instead. There are artists who’d love to get involved with the wider community but for what ever reason are disconnected by social chance.
Officially, Ubuntu does not come with built-in support for the GMA 500 drivers. We gave a workaround to this problem way back in Oct 2009 when the Ubuntu had just released Ubuntu 9.10. People expected Ubuntu to include these drivers in the Ubuntu 10.04 that never happened.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 189 Out of 200: A Terrible Idea to Condemn Projects for Using Slop 'Code' When Your Own Employer Does This (and Profits From Every Company Doing So) or to Call Distros 'Not Secure' While You Advance Back Doors
- "I don’t want a back door. I want a front door."
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- Links 19/09/2026: Many Patents Become Candidates for Annulment and Linux [sic] Foundation Takes More Slop Money to Promote Malicious Bots
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 19/09/2026: The Fundamental Human Assets, The History of Gopher's "i" Type, and ROOPHLOCH 2026
- Links for the day
- Links 19/09/2026: "OpenAI and Microsoft Knew They Were Starting a ‘Doom Loop’ [of Mass Plagiarism 'Normalised' by Brute Force] for the web", Calling It "Hey Hi"
- Links for the day
- 8 Series Going on at the Moment in Techrights
- 4 series about SLAPPs and related matters
- Linux Kernel Becoming a Slopfest - Part 4 - Outsourcing to Microsoft, Approaching 10 Gigabytes
- Can we blame Microsoft for those DDoS attacks? Partly.
- Software Freedom Day 2026 is Today, Week-long Celebration in Brazil
- In Brazil, Clownflare reckons about 1 in 20 laptops/desktops might use GNU/Linux already
- Red Hat Lost 2,000 Staff (Net Loss)
- Maybe by year's end it'll be a 20% reduction
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 18, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, September 18, 2026
- Gemini Links 18/09/2026: Setting Goals, Tiredness, and Admissions From LLM Purveyors It Was All Along About Building Plagiarism Engines Sold as "Intelligence"
- Links for the day
- Links 18/09/2026: Microsoft Boasted Slop is Just Copyright Infringement/Plagiarism, Floods in Europe
- Links for the day
- Slop Ruins Development and Reverse Engineering, It Rewards Retarded "Slop Kiddies" (to Quote Andy ‘TheFlow0’ Nguyen)
- Slop is just a fatal cancer that kills the body, then dies with the body it killed
- Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and Mailing Lists Are Still Better Than Discord, Slack, and Discourse
- Discourse is "open" "bossware"
- Links 18/09/2026: Disgust Over LLMs and Why "Agents" (Bots) Are Nothing More Than "Spam"
- Links for the day
- Software Freedom Day is Tomorrow
- events coming
- Illegal and Unconstitutional Tribunal That SLAPPs Critics Does the Illegal and Unconstitutional: It "Rubberstamps Software Patents"
- This is not a legal system. This is mafia.
- Privilege in 'Linux' Foundation (Double Standards) and What the FSF Should Avoid Doing
- If RMS can talk about politics, others too should be able to talk about politics
- Seems Like Many Microsoft Layoffs Are Going On Right Now (Forever Layoffs)
- Like IBM, Microsoft hopes shareholders will not know of morale and financial problems
- More Threats From the Person of Restricted Boot Infamy
- Remember this is the man who is the principal purveyor of restricted boot and who landed restricted boot in Linux
- Snooping EPO Management, Sniffing Up Every Staff Action
- It this a problem for whistleblowers? Of course.
- Don't Do That
- Options do exist. People should exercise freedom.
- Iran Has Debunked GAFAM and Cloud Computing as Safety of Data
- Cloud of smoke?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 17, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, September 17, 2026
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 188 Out of 200: Used, Then Discarded, by Microsoft (as We Predicted All Along, It's Always Like That)
- The longer they carry on with it, the more scandalous this will get
- Linux Kernel Becoming a Slopfest - Part 3 - Besieged by LLM Bots, Now Hiding Behind a Wall of JavaScript
- The series began 3 days ago
- Gemini Links 18/09/2026: Modern Linguistic, Boxing, Turning 40, and Solar MiniServer
- Links for the day
- Links 17/09/2026: Studio Closures and Negative Rumours About Microsoft XBox Again
- Links for the day
- What's Wrong with Microsoft's GitHub, New Article by Jacob Bachmeyer and Richard Stallman
- licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
- EBay is Going to Die Soon
- Users will flee
- Red Hat PIPs. The Only Question is, How Many?
- Insiders know what's coming soon
- This Week The Register MS Published a Page With "AI" 34 Times in It and It Was, as Usual, Paid SPAM!
- Does The Register MS understand that it is doing harm to its audience (for temporary gains)?
- 43rd Anniversary of the GNU Project Announcement
- Coming soon
- General Assembly (Meeting of All Staff) Starts in Hour Ago to Discuss Strikes at Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO), Strikes to Last Until End of 2026 (If Not Further)
- The media absolutely does not cover this and that's intentional
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 187 Out of 200: Reminding Ourselves of the Great Damage Garrett Did to Linux (for Microsoft)
- he rejects freedom
- Cancel Culture is a Cancer That Harms Democracy, Justice, and Science. It's Designed to Help Corporations Vanish Their Critics.
- "Codes of Conduct" sounds benign; in practice, however, it is not
- Links 17/09/2026: Class Action Lawsuit Over GAFAM's "NameTag" and Automattic Hides What It Did to CEO Mullenweg (or Why)
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 17/09/2026: Google Signals the End, ROOPHLOCH Coverage, EBay Uses Offensive Bots to Falsely Accuse Users of Stuff
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 16, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, September 16, 2026