Linux Archive

Free Download of Icepack Linux 2.75

IcePack is the third biggest German Linux distribution after SuSE and Knoppix. DistroWatch informs us that they recently released their commercial edition as a free download, as its developers are currently working on Icepack Linux 3.0. Icepack Linux 2.75 comes on 4 CDs, plus a bonus CD containing plenty of artwork, true type fonts and some commercial applications. Download from either the English, German, French and development web site.

Linux 2.6 Beta Coming; Linux Lab Hires Second Guru

Although Linus Torvalds didn't meet a goal to release the upcoming 2.6 version of the Linux kernel in June, the Linux leader said a test version could come as soon as next week. A day after Linux founder Linus Torvalds joined the Open-Source Development Lab, the group has hired another top programmer, Andrew Morton, the developer who will assume responsibility for the upcoming 2.6 version of Linux.

WalMart.com Linux PC Shootout

I was quite distressed when I read the article in the July 2003 Consumer Reports about the Wal-Mart $300 Computer. I've been a big fan of Consumer Reports for years. But this time I didn't feel that they really did a fair comparison of the Wal-Mart Linux PC's. So I decided to do one of my own.

JAMD: Your Neighbor’s Distribution

The Tux Team just published a look at the JAMD 0.0.6 distribution. "We continue our look at rpm-based distributions with JAMD 0.0.6, the latest release from Jim Lucha. It is his third release in less than one year. Each release has focused on the personal desktop experience for users who wish to use Linux but who are not interested in the details of learning Linux; such as compiling software, editing configuration files, and customizing the environment. In other words, this distribution is directed toward your neighbor." Full article at TuxReports.

My Secret Life as a Linux User

"To us at PC World HQ in Auckland, there seemed nothing different about Geoff as he seamlessly exchanged documents and email with our Windows/Intel PCs. But inside his Wellington home office, things were anything but business as usual as Geoff tried his luck with a Windows alternative (Linux), a Microsoft Office alternative (OpenOffice.org) and even a whole new platform (Apple). Here are notes from his new life beyond Wintel." Read the article here.

Enterprise Linux Server Distributions

"When we pitted Red Hat Enterprise Linux against several flavors of UnitedLinux to see how each fared as an enterprise server platform, we found each edition of the popular GNU/Linux operating system to represent a distinct method on how to build bare metal into a working server. Installation is different, configuration options are different, and hardware support varies across these Linux flavors." Read the review at NWFusion.

Novell Sets out Linux Roadmap

Novell will launch a bundle of its network services running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SuSE Linux Enterprise Server later this year. And in 2004, the entire services stack from Netware will be running on Linux, the company said, as revealed this April by vnunet.com, VNUnet reports.

US Government Loves Linux

Linux and other open source software has been widely used by government technologists for years in an unsanctioned way, but a recent Department of Defense memo officially puts open source software on the "approved" list. Government research contractor MITRE recently published a study that found that OSS was in wide use in the government, and warned that if it were to be forbidden, the costs and security fallout would be considerable. See this Forbes.com story for more.

Yellow Dog Linux 3.0: Better Red Hat Linux than Red Hat Linux 9

"How does a distribution that's a carbon copy of Red Hat 9 install and perform better than Red Hat 9 itself? By having the inside track on the platform being used, that's how. Brian Proffitt had the opportunity to use Red Hat 9 on an Intel notebook and Yellow Dog 3.0 on an iBook recently, and in terms of ease of installation and ease of use, Yellow Dog won by a big, wet nose" LinuxPlanet claims.

On SuSE’s Dramatic Rise and Mandrake’s Uninspiring Lethargy

LWN features an article on how SuSE is now a big force in Linux with new products every so often while MandrakeSoft is in deep lethargy media and PR-wise. Note that SuSE made it big also because of help from its own country, Germany (and the rest of Europe), while MandrakeSoft failed to captivate France in the government level and land big contracts that would keep the company in a healthy state.

Introducing the LinuxInstall Distribution

This article is a review of Linuxinstall.org 3.0, a Redhat 8.0 based distro aimed at the new home user . Some time back, after reinstalling windows for the umpteenth time I knew there had to be a better alternative. But the more I researched the more confused I got. Debian-Slackware-Knoppix-Redhat? etc,etc. Linux was totally new to me - I wanted stability and speed without the viruses, but I was starting to get overwhelmed from choice and command line phobia. I just wanted an o.s. similiar to Windows in ease of use, but stable!