XChat 2.8.5

Homepage: http://xchat.org
Download: XChat 2.8.5

XChat is an IRC chat program for both Linux and Windows. It allows you to join multiple IRC channels (chat rooms) at the same time, talk publicly, private one-on-one conversations etc. Even file transfers are possible.

Here is the changelog:

* The userlist and treeview can now be placed on the same side, with a resize handle in between them. They can also be dragged and dropped into place.

* The resize handles between two panes are now smaller (3 pixels) and invisible.

* Scrollbars are now placed inside the frame they scroll (more Windows like).

* If you have a tree on one side and userlist on the other, they'll both now have a resize handle, previously the tree's size was fixed.

* The userlist can be hidden and shown with CTRL+F7.

* Added a feature that reloads conversations from last time you used XChat (/set text_replay 0 to disable it).

* /MENU now supports a $CHAN root aswell (see plugin20.html).

* Fixed a problem some people were having with minimize to tray (the feature added in 2.8.3e).

* Fixed /LastLog printing everything twice if you had Indented Nicks off.

* Added /set gui_tweaks for GUI fine tunning.

* A better quit dialog which warns you if you're connected to IRC or have active file transfers.

* The Channel List's minimum users spin-button can now be set downward even on networks that sent a list of channels of only a larger size. In this case the Download button will flash to indicate you need to download a new list.

* Fixed bug: [1737249] Doesn't recognize nicks with halfop mode on hovering.

Sonata Media Player

Sonata media player is GTK+ based client for the Music Player Daemon (MPD). It has been forked from the unmaintained Pygmy project in order to fix bugs, introduce new features, and proceed down a different path.

Features:

• Expanded and collapsed views
• Automatic remote or local album art
• Automatic fetching of lyrics
• Playlist and stream support
• Support for editing tags
• System tray icon with tooltip
• Popup notification
• Library searching and playlist filtering
• Keyboard friendly
• Support for multimedia keys
• Commandline control

Have a nice day :)

Xfce4-cddrive-plugin

Homepage / Download

It`s been a while since my last post. That's because I have been preparing for the exam I failed a few hours ago :( Now back on topic.
This plugin for XFCE4 puts small icon in your system tray, that indicates if there is a disc in the drive, the type of the disc (Cd, DVD ... etc.) and is it mounted. This applications allows you to mount or unmount the disk without opening the console :) The system tray icon appears only if there is mountable disc in the drive. Here is a screenshot:

Yoper 3.0 - "TITANIUM"

Homepage: http://yoper.com/
Download: Yoper 3.0 Titanium

Yoper is a high-performance operating system which has been optimized for i686 or higher processor types. All packages that come with the distribution have been built from scratch. Yoper is desktop OS for multimedia and office usage.
The default package manager now is Smart. A roadmap for a 3.1 release will be published in about 4 weeks.
Here is the list with the updated software:

• Linux Kernel 2.6.21.1
• Xorg 7.2
• KDE 3.5.7
• Koffice 1.6.3
• Firefox 2.0.0.4
• and many more ....
  

Battle for Wesnoth 1.2.5

Homepage: http://wesnoth.org/
Download: Battle for Wesnoth


The Battle for Wesnoth is a free, turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme. Fight a desperate battle to reclaim the throne of Wesnoth, or take hand in any number of other adventures. It is available for Linux, Windows, MaxOSX, Solaris, BSD.

The Kingdom of Wesnoth lies in the center of the land. Its borders are the Great River to the north, the Lower Hills in the east and south, the Green Swamp to the southwest, and the Ocean to the west. Elensefar, a once-province of Wesnoth, is bordered by the Great River to the north, a loosely defined line with Wesnoth to the east, the Bay of Pearls to the south, and the ocean to the west. There is no government of the Northlands. Various groups of orcs, dwarves, barbarians and even elves populate the region. The northern and eastern borders are not defined, the southern border is the Great River, and the western border is the Ocean.

Version 1.2.5 fixes small bugs and updates some translations. Here is the new stuff:

• New and updated manual - Serbian
• Updated translations - Afrikaans, Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish
• Revised maps: Den of Onis, Hamlets, Meteor Lake, Sablestone Delta, Silverhead Crossing, Blue Water Province, Wilderlands
• User Interface - ability to view a list of MP servers with the Join Game dialog
• Corrected all wrong image references found via macroscope
  

Pidgin 2.0.2

Homepage | Download

Pidgin is a multi-protocol chat client, also known as Gaim. This update fixes more than 100 bugs and adds suppor for Bonjour for Windows.

Thunderbird 2.0.0.4

Homepage: Mozilla Thunderbird
Download: Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.4

Thunderbird is an e-mail client developed by Mozilla. It supports thr following protocols IMAP/POP, SMTP and NNTP (newsgroups). Thunderbird can be used as RSS reader too.

What's New in Thunderbird 2

• Message Tags: Create your own tags for organizing email. Messages can be assigned any number of tags. Tags can be combined with saved searches and mail views to make it easier to organize email.
• Visual Theme: Thunderbird 2's theme and user interface have been updated to improve usability and maximize screen real estate.
• Session History Navigation: Back and Forward buttons allow navigation through message history.
• Advanced Folder Views: Customize the folder pane to show favorite, unread or recent folders.
• Easy Access to Popular Web Mail Services: Gmail and .Mac users can access their accounts in Thunderbird by simply providing their user names and passwords.
• Improved Support For Extensions: Extensions can now add custom columns to the message list pane in addition to storing custom message data in the mail database.
• Improved New Mail Notification Alerts: New mail alerts include information such as the subject, sender and message preview text.
• Folder Summary Popups: Mouse over a folder with new messages to see a summary of the new messages in that folder.
• Saved Search Folder Performance: Search results for saved search folders are now cached, improving folder loading performance.
• Find As You Type: Finds and highlights message text as you type.
• Improved Filing Tools: Recent folder menu items for moving and copying messages to recently used folders. Move / Copy again functionality.
• Updates to the Extension System: The extension system has been updated to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions.

Songbird 0.3pre

Homepage: http://songbirdnest.com/
Download: Stable / Unstable

Songbird is a nice multiplatform media player and jukebox. This is the first pre release of the upcoming 0.3 version. Here is the list with the updates and new features:

• Tabbed Browsing
• Because the Media Web is better that way.
• New Library API
• Better performance on larger libraries.
• Multiple metadata values per field.
• Easier transfer of media.
• Objects! Objects! Objects!
• New Feathers API
• Register entirely new XUL Layouts as Feathers.
• Better CSS file set for inheriting or overriding styles.
• Make new UI for Songbird without scripting.
• Extensions overlay into XBL to not care about different Feathers.
• New Webpage API
• Control or interact with a visiting Songbird directly from your website without having to write or install any add-ons.
• Only with the user's permission, of course!
• New Search API
• Load 3rd party web search add-ons.
• Compatible with Firefox search API.
• Create custom library search add-ons.
• New Sidebar API
• Rearrange Playlists and Bookmarks as you see fit.
• Drag and drop between items.
• Tons of behind the scenes stuff that nobody cares about
• No really, you're better off not knowing.

Note: There are still some bugs and items that are not yet finished or working as intended.

Weeee :)

I just got the results from the exam I had about a few days ago. I have passed it with the highest score - 6.00 :D. This means that I can now go to study "Informatics" at the University of Plovdiv. Now I am studying "Mathematics" there but I think programming is the better option, for me at least. Have a nice day :)

Geany 0.11

Homepage / Download / Screenshots
I am using Geany almost every day but I didn`t know there is a new version. This update adds some new features and many bugfixes, new translations...etc. Here is a screenshot of Geany I made a few days ago:


For those of you who don`t know what Geany is, it is a lightweight text editor and has some basic features of an integrated development environment. It was developed to be small and fast IDE and that`s why it is based on the GTK2 toolkit.

Linux For The Gamers

Homepage: http://linux-gamers.net/
Download: linuX-gamers


This is the first public release of this distribution. It is aimed at the gamers among the linux community. LinuX-gamers is based on Arch Linux and includes the ATI and NVIDIA drivers. The Live DVD is only 2.4 GB and comes with a few games:

• BzFLag
• Enemy Territory
• Glest
• Nexuiz
• Sauerbraten (a.k.a. Cube 2)
• Torcs
• Tremulous
• True Combat: Elite
• Warsow
• World of Padman

These games are preinstalled on the live dvd. So you can directly play them right after booting from the dvd.

Ubuntu Tribe 1

Homepage: http://ubuntu.com/
Download: Ubuntu Tribe 1
- Ubuntu / Edubuntu
- Kubuntu
- Xubuntu

This is the first alpha release of Ubuntu Tribe 1. It is quite unstable so don`t try it if you want stable system. The primary changes from Feisty have been the re-merging of changes from Debian and Kernel 2.6.22.

KOffice 1.6.3

Homepage: http://koffice.org/
Download: KOffice 1.6.3


After about four months of development here is the new shiny version of the KDE office suite. This is maintenance release and is the last one of the 1.6 series. It includes mostly bugfixes. This release introduces three new translations: Low Saxon, Nepali and Bulgarian, making KOffice available in 39 languages. The complete changelog is quite big and I will not post it here this time.

ImageMagick

Homepage: http://imagemagick.org/
Download: ImageMagick

ImageMagick® is a software suite to create, edit, and compose bitmap images. It can read, convert and write images in a variety of formats (about 100) including DPX, EXR, GIF, JPEG, JPEG-2000, PDF, PhotoCD, PNG, Postscript, SVG, and TIFF. Use ImageMagick to translate, flip, mirror, rotate, scale, shear and transform images, adjust image colors, apply various special effects, or draw text, lines, polygons, ellipses and Bezier curves.
Lets see what we can do with ImageMagick:

• Format conversion: convert an image from one format to another (e.g. PNG to JPEG)
• Transform: resize, rotate, crop, flip or trim an image
• Transparency: render portions of an image invisible
• Draw: add shapes or text to an image
• Decorate: add a border or frame to an image
• Special effects: blur, sharpen, threshold, or tint an image
• Image calculator: apply a mathematical expression to an image or image channels
• Text & comments: insert descriptive or artistic text in an image
• Image identification: describe the format and attributes of an image
• Animation: create a GIF animation sequence from a group of images
• Composite: overlap one image over another
• Montage: juxtapose image thumbnails on an image canvas
• High dynamic-range imaging: accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from the brightest direct sunlight to the deepest darkest shadows
• Large image support: read, process, or write mega- and giga-pixel image sizes

Here you can find some more examples of the real ImageMagick power :D
It is written in C and interfaces to the X library, therefore does not require any other GUI toolkits. ImageMagick is also ported for Windows and Mac OS X.

VariCAD - 2D/3D CAD system for mechanical engineering

Homepage: http://varicad.com/
Download: VariCAD

I found this program just five minutes ago and I think it is very interesting, especially for those of you who like CAD design. If you are interested you can watch the on-line demonstration here.



This program is not free but there is a 30-day trial version. The new version brings many useful improvements: completely new tools for 3D shells, 3D pipelines and 3D wires, a substantially improved 3D editing function allowing more complex editing, significantly improved STEP file import, new 3D checking functions, an extended tutorial and quick demonstration with new Flash examples. - etc.

The Eric IDE

Homepage: Eric IDE 4.0
Download: Eric IDE 4.0

Eric is a full featured Python end Ruby editor and IDE written in python. It is based on the Qt gui toolkit and the newest version uses Qt 4. It is useful as an everyday "quick and dirty" editor or as a project management tool.

Some nice features:

• Configurable window layout
• Configurable syntax highlighting
• Source code auto completion
• Error highlighting
• Integrated class browser
• Makro recordings
• Integrated version control interface for Cvs and Subversion repositories
• Integrated task (todo items) management
• Advanced search functionality including project wide search and replace
• and many man more ...
  

I don`t have enough time to test it now but as soon as I have free time and Qt based DE :) I will try it ;]

Fedora 7 "Moonshine"

Homepage: http://fedoraproject.org/
Download: Fedora 7 Moonshine


This version of the Fedora Linux distribution comes with a number of new features. Here is the summary:

• Gnome 2.18
• KDE 3.5.6
• New SELinux troubleshooting tool
• "spins" - variations of Fedora built from a specific set of software packages
• GCC 4.1
• Kernel 2.6.21
• the full release announcement ....
  

XFce4-volstatus-icon 0.1.0

Homepage: xfce4-volstatus-icon
Changelog || Download

If you are tired of opening terminal or the file manager every time you want to unmount removable devices (i.e. flash drives) this XFCE plugin is just for you. Now you can just click on an icon in the system tray to eject them safely. This plugin requires GTK 2.10.0.

Code::Blocks - C++ IDE

Homepage: http://codeblocks.org/
Download: Code::Blocks

I just installed this C++ IDE on my Gentoo desktop PC and I am quite impressed :)
First of all I want to note that the latest official/stable release is from Oct 25, 2005 - 1.0 rc2. But don`t worry :) The project is not abandoned and every day the publish something what they call "nightly builds". They are development snapshots of Code::Blocks in binary form. You can find them here.

The first time you start the Code::Blocks it "scans" your PC for any compiler installed and asks you which one to use if more than one is detected.

Here are the compilers which can work with Code::Blocks:

• GCC (MingW / Linux GCC)
• MSVC++
• Digital Mars
• Borland C++ 5.5
• Open Watcom

You can directly import MSVC projects and workspaces or even Dev C++ projects.

Interface Features:

• Syntax highlighting, customizable and extensible
• Code folding for C++ and XML files.
• Tabbed interface
• Code completion plugin
• Class Browser
• Smart indent
• One-key swap between .h and .c/.cpp files
• Open files list for quick switching between files (optional)
• External customizable "Tools"
• To-do list management with different users

Sounds cool, eh ...? :D Code::Blocks` functionality can be extended with plugins.
Looks like a great IDE for now, but I am going to do more tests when I have more free time.

Deluge BitTorrent

Homepage : http://deluge-torrent.org/
Download: Deluge BitTorrent Client


Since nothing interesting happened today in the linux realm, I decided to write a few words about this BitTorrent client. I have been "observing" the development since version 0.3 and it is going very good. I believe that by the end of the year we will have stable 1.0 release :)
Deluge is written in Python and makes use of the Rasterbar's version of libtorrent. Since it is based on python, Deluge uses PyGTK for the user interface (I am learning python and pygtk too:)). Deluge is intended to bring a native, full-featured client to Linux, BSD, and other *NIX GTK desktop environments such as Gnome and XFCE. Deluge supports a few but enough for now plugins. You can find them here. That is all for now, have a nice day :)

Frugalware Linux 0.7pre1

Homepage: http://frugalware.org/
Download: Frugalware 0.7 pre1

Frugalware Linux is designed for intermediate users, who are not afraid of text mode. This is technical preview release of the upcoming 0.7 stable release.

Package Updates:

• Linux Kernel 2.6.21
• GCC 4.2.0
• GNU C Library 2.6
• OpenOffice.org 2.2
• Pidgin instead of Gaim
• more than 100 new packages...

The support of Xorg 6.x has been droped. The package manager (pacman) now supports checking the integrity of your database.

New Logo

As you can see, I created new logo for the blog :) I am not a professional designer but this one looks good :) Please drop a comment about what you think. I need your opinion.

64 Studio 1.4.0 'Ariadne'

Homepage: www.64studio.com
Download: 64 Studio 1.4.0

64 Studio is a GNU/Linux distribution tailor-made for digital content creation, including audio, video, graphics and publishing tools. A remix of Debian testing, it comes in both AMD64/Intel64 and 32-bit flavours, to run on nearly all PC hardware. This is the first release candidate for 64 Studio 2.0 which will be based on Debian Etch.

KDE 3.5.7 Released

Homepage: http://kde.org
Download: KDE 3.5.7


Early this morning I saw that there is new update to the legendary K Desktop Environment. I am not big fan of KDE(XFCE for the win!) but it looks cool :)
KDE 3.5.7 features translations in 65 languages and lots of bug fixes.
This release has a renewed focus on KDE PIM applications. KAddressBook, KOrganizer and KAlarm received attention with bugfixes, while KMail additionally witnessed new features and improvements with both interface work and IMAP handling: it can manage IMAP quota and copy and move all folders.

These applications have been updated:

• KPDF shows tooltips for links when hovering on them, displays correctly more complex PDF files like this Firefox advertisement and reacts to the commands for opening the Table of Contents pane.
• Umbrello now can generate and export C# Code and has added Java 5 generics support.
• KDevelop got a major version upgrade to version 3.4.1. New features include much improved Code Completion and Navigation, a more reliable debugger interface, Qt4 support and better Ruby and KDE4 development support.

The KDE`s HTML and JavaScript engines (KHTML and KJS) have been updated too :)

PCLinuxOS 2007

Homepage: http://www.pclinuxos.com
Downlaod: PCLinuxOS 2007

The PCLinuxOS is a free and easy to use linux distribution for home. PCLinuxOS was founded by Texstar, and is headquartered in Houston, Tx. It was originally based on another distribution under the name of Mandriva and shares many features of Mandriva such as the Control Center and the Draklive Installer.
PCLinuxOS uses the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) which was developed for the Debian Linux distribution, and Synaptic - GUI frontend to APT.

Here is the new stuff:

• Kernel 2.6.18.8
• KDE 3.5.6
• Open Office 2.2.0
• Firefox 2.0.0.3
• Thunderbird 2.0
• Ktorrent, Frostwire, Flash, Java JRE, Beryl 3D .....
  

Sabayon Linux 3.4 Loop 2

Homepage: http://www.sabayonlinux.org
Download: Sabayon Linux 3.4 Loop 2

Sabayon Linux is based on my favourite linux distro - Gentoo . Loop 2 is the second beta/development release, and it rocks.

Here is the changelog:

Cool Features:

• Linux Kernel 2.6.21 featuring:
  
• DeviceScape Wireless Stack (mac80211), including new wireless drivers
  
• Gensplash support
  
• SquashFS support
  
• UnionFS support
  
• MacTel support
  
• Ext4 updates (with this kernel, ext4 filesystem name is exported as "ext4" and not as "ext4dev")
  
• Advanced ThinkPad and SONY Laptops support
  
• Intel i965 support
  
• CFS v12 (scheduler - providing extra Desktop performance boost)
  
• Suspend2 2.2.9.13 support
  
• Compiz 0.5.2 pre-release as alternative option to Beryl 0.2.1 (still the default - you need to install desktop-acceleration-helpers 3.0 and re-enable XGL or AIGLX using Acceleration Manager)
  
• New Sabayon Linux artwork (boot splash, wallpaper, window decorations)
  
• Updated to Gentoo 2007.0 profile
  
• Elisa Media Center Technology Preview (http://elisa.fluendo.com)
  
• Metisse Desktop Acceleration Technology Preview (NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED)
  
• Automatic timed login on the LiveDVD
  
• Improved speed on early boot stages
  
• Improved VIA OpenChrome driver support
  
• MS Windows Autorun - featuring VMWare Player click and boot (no hassles, no need to reboot)

Software updates:

• 26-Apr-2007 Portage sync
• Linux Kernel 2.6.21
• KDE 3.5.6
• GNOME 2.18.1
• OpenOffice 2.2.0
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3
• WINE 0.9.37

Installer updates:

• Added support for ext4 filesystem
• Imported updates from upstream Anaconda Installer
• Updated Anaconda to better handle new IDE libata based layer
• RAID 10 Support

... and some bugfixes.

Arch Linux 2007.05

Homepage: http://archlinux.org
Download: Arch Linux 2007.05

This is the first release after the implementation of the new release policy. It is codenamed 'Duke' and is available for i686 and x86_64.

Changelog to last Voodoo installation ISO:
- pacman3 usage
- kernel 2.6.21.1 usage

Setup changes:
- soundcards are now also ordered by hwdetect
- rsync has been added to installation environment
- proxy support during ftp installation
- selection to copy installation network setup to final installed system
- selection about keeping package cache during cd/ftp installation
- selection of primary pacman sync server added
- fixed grub installing on software raid devices

Enjoy!

KDE 4.0 Alpha 1

This is the first alpha test version of the next general release of KDE.

KDE 4.0 Alpha1 marks the end of the addition of large features to the KDE base libraries and shifts the focus onto integrating those new technologies into applications and the basic desktop. The next few months will be spent on bringing the desktop into shape after two years of frenzied development leaving very little untouched.


The cool stuff in this release is:

• A new visual appearance through Oxygen
• New frameworks to build applications with, providing vastly improved hardware and multimedia integration (through Solid and Phonon, spelling and grammar checking, to name just a few)
• New applications that focus on a smooth user experience, such as Dolphin, the file manager, and Okular, the document viewer

While Alpha1 is nowhere near finished, it includes all of the exciting new frameworks that lift the Free Desktop to an unparalleled level of integration. Areas that need attention include:

• Finishing Plasma and turning it into the default desktop shell
• Finishing porting applications and integrating the new technologies into them
• Fixing lots of bugs
  

There are a lot of things to be done until KDE 4.0 goes stable
If you want to test KDE 4.0 without installing it, you could try the "KDE Four Live" CD.

Gentoo Linux 2007.0

After several delays I am glad to see that Gentoo 2007.0 is released. This release is codenamed "Secret Sauce" :) Gentoo 2007.0 includes a completely rewritten version of the Gentoo Linux Installer on the AMD64 and x86 LiveCD and LiveDVD.
The 32-bit emulation libraries for amd64 have been improed and now they support many closed source applications and browser plugins (yey!). These packages have been upgraded to their latest stable versions:

• Gnome 2.16.2
• KDE 3.5.5
• XFCE 4.4
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3
• OpenOffice.org 2.1.0
• Linux Kernel 2.6.19
  

Homepage
Download Gentoo Linux 2007.0

Pidgin 2.0.0

Pidgin is the new name of the good old Gaim Instant Messanger. It allows you to use all your IM accounts at once. Pidgin can work with AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, QQ, SLIC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo! and Zephyr.

Download Pidgin 2.0.0

I am not dead yet :)

I am just busy and I will be back very soon :)
Untill then ... you can allways try the newest Ubuntu :)

AbiWord -My Favourite Word Processor!

Abiword is a free wordprocessing program similar to Microsoft Word. It is able to run on the most popular operating system such as Microsoft Windows, Linux/Unix, MacOSX, Solaris. This program was designed to take advantage of the unique features that these operating systems offer.

Abiword is able to read and write the most standart file types sych as OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Rich Text Format and HTML web pages and many other.

Features

Abiword supports "all" known layout options such as tables, bullets, lists, images, footnotes and endnotes....Dictionaries exist for over 30 languages, and that makes the spellchecker very powerfull tool. AbiWord supports right-to-left, left-to-right, and mixed-mode text. This means that in addition to supporting European languages, AbiWord supports languages like Hebrew and Arabic as well.

Mail Merge

With Abiword you can automate the process of sending tens, hundreds or even thousands of emails, with its mail merging features. You can set up a template document with special fields, which will be automaticaly replaced with data coming from different sources, for example databases, comma separated text files or tabbed text files.

Plugins

Abiword is designed to be very lightweight and run on very "old" machines. Its functionality could be extended with plugins. They offer very cool features.

Some AbiWord links:
Homepage: http://abisource.com/
Download: http://abisource.com/download/
Plugins: http://abisource.com/download/plugins.phtml
Screenshots: http://abisource.com/screenshots/

Mandriva Linux 2007.1 Spring

Mandriva Linux 2007.1 has been released. These packages has been updated:

• Kernel 2.6.17
• X.org 7.2
• KDE 3.5.6
• Gnome 2.18.0
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3
• OpenOffice.org 2.1

The Beryl 3D accelerated desctop is introduced and the Metisse window manager. Another major feature is the migration to the pm-utils suspend / hibernate framework.

Debian 4.0 etch goes STABLE

I guess you already know that but I am going to post it.
This release includes a newly developed graphical frontend to the installation system. Also the package management system has been improved regarding securety and efficiency.

Secure APT allows the verification of the integrity of packages downloaded from a mirror. Updated package indices won't be downloaded in their entirety, but instead patched with smaller files containing only differences from earlier versions.

Here are the most-important updates to the "main" packages:

• K Desktop Environment 3.5.5a
• GNOME Desktop Environment 2.14
• XFCE Desctop Environment 4.4
• Xorg 7.1
• OpenOffice.org 2.0.4a
• GIMP 2.2.13
• MySQL 5.0.32
• GNU Compiler Collection 4.1.1
• Linux kernel version 2.6.18
• Apache 2.2.3
• Samba 3.0.24
• Python 2.4.4 and 2.5
• Perl 5.8.8
• PHP 4.4.4 and 5.2.0

and other 18 000 packages ..... :)

qBittorrent v 0.9.1

Hello again :) Sorry for not posting here so log but I had some very bad exams at the university.
Back on topic, qBittorrent is a C++ / Qt 4.2 bittorrent client.

This release includes a lot of interesting new features such as Peer Exchange (PeX) support, autocompletion, new system tray popups, better internationalization, a lot of code rewriting (optimized and cleaned). It is also based on latest libtorrent library by Arvid Norberg (v0.12) and latest Qt 4.2 for Graphical User Interface.

The 0.10.0 alpha will arrive soon and we can expect UPnP Port Forwarding, RSS Feeds and Visual Styles support.

Beryl 0.2

That is what I call good news in the end of the week :D
Finally, Beryl 0.2 is here. This is the second stable version.
Check you repository for it.

Beryl 0.2.0 is a complete overhaul of Beryl. The last stable release 0.1, featured a very fun, and eye-candy based compositing window manager. However, since it’s release, many parts of beryl have been rewritten, replaced, or simply dropped. The Beryl team has put in numerous hours to bring you this release. It’s filled with fun, eye-candy, better user support, new features, and most of all, stability. While Beryl has had numerous developer releases, known by their 0.1.X versions, 0.2.0 has been throughly tested by many more users.

Here is the list with the new cool features:

* New Plugins
- Thumbnail: Thumbnails on the taskbar (window list) which show a mini view of the actual window
- Snap: Allows windows to “snap” to each other, or provide edge resistance
- Opacify: Makes windows behind the active window transparent
- Group: Allows windows to be group, to easily switch between a set of windows

* New system requirements check
- The improved check has much better accuracy
- The check is a lot faster

* New Window Decorators
- Since 0.1, we have two new window decorators
- Heliodor: Uses metacity themes
- Aquamarine: Uses Kwin themes.

* Newly Rewritten Beryl-Settings
- Written in Python
- More user-friendly UI
- Better profile support

* New Translations

I am going to test as soon as I can. Enjoy.

Kino 1.0.0

This is the newest stable version of Kino. Kino is a non-linear DV editor for GNU/Linux. It features excellent integration with IEEE-1394 for capture, VTR control, and recording back to the camera. You can load multiple video clips, cut and paste portions of video/audio, and save it to an edit decision list (SMIL XML format). Most edit and navigation commands are mapped to equivalent vi key commands. Also, Kino can export the composite movie in a number of formats: DV over IEEE 1394, Raw DV, DV AVI, still frames, WAV, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4.

Here are the release notes:

• New http://blip.tv/ uploading feature for movies and still frames! Watch a screencast for more information.
• Fixed audio handling on big endian CPU architectures (thanks, Pavel Fedin)
• Improved generic video import script when using mencoder: faster, no bulky intermediate file, less compatibility problem between mencoder and ffmpeg, and retains interlacing in ITU-R 601 sources
• Added support for X-Keys Editor USB Jog/Shuttle (thanks, Shawn Rutledge)
• Added support for Jog/Shuttle to FX (jog wheel and button actions that scrub only--no shuttle ring support)
• The USB Jog/Shuttle hotplug integration was changed to use udev. The new configure option is --enable-udev-rules-dir, which defaults to $sysconfdir/udev/rules.d/ The following configure options were removed: --enable-hotplug-script-dir, --enable-hotplug-usermap-dir
• Added private copy of ffmpeg source code for static linking with new configure options: --enable-local-ffmpeg(=yes by default), or --disable-local-ffmpeg NOTE: This option builds a statically linked, kino-specific version of the ffmpeg transcode utility named 'ffmpeg-kino' that is invoked by the Kino import script. ffmpeg-kino contains a bugfix for reading the audio on imported files. However, when --enable-local-ffmpeg=no, then the import script uses the normal ffmpeg found in the PATH.
• Updated Italian translation
• bugfixes, of course

Ubuntu Feisty Fawn Herd 5 Released

This is the last test version of Ubuntu Feisty Fawn, which is going to be released in month. Here is the list with the newupdated stuff:

VPN - VPN can now be easily used with the use of Network Manager and VPN plugins.

Desktop Effects - Graphical Desktop Effects will be made extremely accessible, with one click activation in the system menu.

Xorg 7.2 - weee :) Version 7.2 comes with significant stability and correctness fixes, including improved autoconfiguration heuristics, enhanced support for GL-based compositing managers such as Compiz and Beryl, and improved support for PCI systems with multiple domains. Some of these features are not implemented in Herd 5 but will be available in the final version.

Artwork - here is the new Human theme and the new wallpaper:

Download Herd 5:

• Ubuntu
• Kubuntu
• Xubuntu
• Edubuntu
  

Musix GNU+Linux 0.99

Musix GNU+Linux is a 100% free software multimedia operating system for artists and general users. This is the most stable and user friendly version for now.

Since version 0.79, Musix GNU+Linux is focused on multimedia content creation and specially on music, that is: music production, audio edition, video edition, 3D animation, graphic design, image edition, web design… without forgetting the usual software for desktop’s PCs.

The most important programs in this distribution are Ardour 0.99.3 (audio sequencer), Rosegarden 1.4.0 (audio/midi sequencer), Cinelerra (video edition), Bluefish (web design), GIMP (image manipulation), Inkscape (vectorial graphic design) and Blender3D (3D animation).

Homepage: Musix
Download: Musix

Damn Vulnerable Linux

Damn Vulnerable Linux (DVL) is a Linux-based (modified Damn Small Linux) tool for IT-Security & IT-Anti-Security and Attack & Defense.
Actually, it is a perverted Linux distribution made to be as insecure as possible. It is collection of IT-Security and IT-Anti-Security tools. Additional it includes a fullscaled lesson based environment for Attack & Defense on/for IT systems for self-study or teaching activities during university lectures. It's a Live Linux Distro, which means it runs from a bootable CD in memory without changing the native operating system of the host computer. As well it can be run within virtual machine environments, such as qemu or vmware. There is no need to install a virtual machine if you use the embedded option. Its sole purpose in life is to put as many security tools at your disposal with as much training options as it can. It contains a huge ammount of lessons including lesson description - and solutions if the level has been solved by a community member at crackmes.de.

Homepage: Damn Vulnerable Linux
Download: Damn Vulnerable Linux

GParted Live Cd 0.3.3-7

GParted is based on gentoo-catalyst and is running Fluxbox. This release adds more video drivers so it could run on most x86 computers. VMware and VirtualBox compatibility improved and shutdown bug fixed.

Download: GParted 0.3.3-7
Release Announcement

Damn Small Linux 3.3 RC1

This is the first release candidate of Damn Small Linux 3.3.
Here is the changelog:

* Added mouse configuration persistence via .mouse_config.
* Improved rdesktop - added color depth.
* ALSA sound autoconfiguration improvement via conflicting audio module.
* Automated start of rcfirewall upon boot when rcfirewall.unc is in mydsl search path at boot.
* Added auto start of gtk2 when gtk2 extension is in mydsl search path at boot.
* Removed non-boot SCSI modues, now a unc and autoloaded when scsi.unc is in mydsl search path at boot.
* Added legacy option to lowram boot image label.
* Added lowram check to .xinitrc - prevents Dillo and Torsmo from starting.
* Updated bootfloppy.img to fix the 16MB memory/ramdisk bug.
* New dsl-split.lua a DSL KNOPPIX file dump to diskettes.
* Updated boot image "install" menu - dslinstall to support new options.
* Created a DSL FreeDOS utilitities diskette bootfloppy-utils.img for access to DOS installaton tools - linld, loadlin.
* Added declobber.sh to remove troublesome extraneous system directories in MyDSL extensions.
* Restored original b44.o module, should resolve hard drive netcard issues in v3.2.
* Fixed typo bug in mkmydsl.
* Fixed bug in frugal_lilo.sh when installing from a file.
* Fixed man script to support hard drive installations.

Download: Damn Small Linux 3.3 (48.4 MB / MD5)

Feisty Fawn Herd 4 Released

Ubuntu Herd 4 is redy for testing. This release includes some very interesting features.

* Gnome 2.17.91 - updates of Orca, Totem and Nautilus.

* Migration-Assistant - this tool will help you to switch from other OS to linux. It imports documents and settings from other operating systems and convert them into their Ubuntu equivalents.

* Easy codec Installation - FINALLY :) A new tool will help us to install media codecs just with a few clicks.

* Some VMware optimisations of the Kernel and new artwork.

Homepage: Ubuntu
Download Feisty Fawn Herd 4: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu

Linux Genuine Advantage :D

This program checks if your copy of Linux is legal :)). It is licensed unde GPL and source code is available. More information at http://www.linuxgenuineadvantage.org

Inkscape 0.45 Stable

Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and grouping. Inkscape also supports Creative Commons meta-data, node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing, and more. It imports formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and others and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.

Inkscape 0.45 is now officially released and available for download.
This release includes a lot of improvements developed by the Google Summer of Code 2006 participants.

Most notably is the new Gaussian Blur feature, which allow softly and naturally blurring Inkscape objects like path, shapes, groups, text, and images. Gaussian blur enables a wide range of photorealistic effects: arbitrarily shaped shades and lights, depth of field, drop shadows, glows, etc. Also, blurred objects can be used as masks for other objects to achieve the "feathered mask" effect.

Download: Inkscape 0.45
Release Notes: Inkscape 0.45

Linux Kernel 2.6.20

This is the new version of he Linux kernel.

Changelog: Linux Kernel 2.6.20
Download: Linux Kernel 2.6.20
Homepage: Kernel.org

How to install Adobe Flash Player 9 for Mozilla Firefox and Opera

It is not so hard :)

First download the installer - here. Download and uncompress the archive. Open the console and navigate to the just created directory. Then type the following command;

./flashplayer-installer

The instaler will ask you to close all your running browsers. Close them. The next step is to select the installation folder, and install the player. By default this folder is the firefox plugins folder:

/home/username/.mozilla/plugins

To get Opera use the new flash player open Opera. Select Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Plug-in Options -> Change Path
Then select the directory, where you just installed the flash player, select Ok and press the Find New ... button from the Plug-ins window. Thats all :)

Enjoy your flash 9 player for linux.

Win32 Installer for Debian

This tool will help you to install Debian from Windows :)

The program, inspired by Ubuntu's similar project, features 64-bit CPU auto-detection, download of linux/initrd netboot images, and chainloading into Debian-Installer via grub4dos. The frontend site goodbye-microsoft.com/ has been set up for advocacy purposes.

Homepage: http://goodbye-microsoft.com
Screenshots: Debian Win32 Installer
Source Code : Debian Win32 Installer

KDE 3.5.6

This is the newest version of KDE and hopefully the last before KDE 4 :)
This release include LOTS of bugfixes and a few minor improvements.
Here is the official release anouncement:

This release includes a number of bugfixes for KHTML, Kate, the kicker, ksysguard and lots of other applications. Significant features include additional support for compiz as a window manager with kicker, session management browser tabs for Akregator, templating for KMail messages, and new summary menus for Kontact making it easier to work with your appointments and to-do's. Translations continue as well, with Galician translations nearly doubling to 78%.

Changelog: KDE 3.5.6
Download: KDE 3.5.6
Enjoy ;]

Blender 2.43 Release Candidate 2 Released

Blender is the open source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. Available for all major operating systems (Linux, Free BSD, MacOS, Windows, IRIX, Solaris) under the GNU General Public License.



Download: Blender 2.43
Changelog : Blender 2.43
Screenshots: Blender 2.43

XFce 4.4 Final

From the official website:

After more than two years of development, Xfce 4.4.0 has just been released. Xfce 4.4 features new tools such as the much awaited Thunar file manager as well as several huge improvements of its core components.

A visual overview: Xfce 4.4
Download: Xfce 4.4
Changelog: Xfce 4.4

CNR for ALL

CNR, short for “Click 'N Run,” is a technology developed by Linspire, Inc., which allows desktop Linux users to find, install, uninstall, manage, and keep updated thousands of software programs on their Linux computers, all with just one click. Users also get a powerful way to manage their entire software library, with advanced features, such as customizable "aisles" where you can install entire groups of software with a single click.

According to this post CNR will support popular Linux distributions, including Debian, Fedora, Freespire, Linspire, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 7.04 Alpha 2

It is ready for alpha testing. This release includes Gnome 2.17.5, a new version of Thunderbird, F-Spot, Telepathy, GTK+ 2.10.7, Wine 0.9.29 and some merges from Debian.



Screenshots: Ubuntu Linux
Official Homepage: www.ubuntu.com
Download: Ubuntu 7.04 Alpha 2

Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

This book describes the process of configuration, compiling and instalation of the linux kernel. The chapter which explains the options for non-typical configurations. The book is available in PDF and DocBook formats.

Download link: Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

Linux Loving Men Are Sexier :)

I found this very interesting article. Andrea (the author) sais that the men using Linux are sexier. Is that true ? (ofc we are sexier :) )

Knoppix 5.1.1

KNOPPIX is a bootable Live system on CD or DVD, consisting of a representative collection of GNU/Linux software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices and other peripherals. KNOPPIX can be used as a productive Linux system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system, or adapted and used as a platform for commercial software product demos. It is not necessary to install anything on a hard disk. Due to on-the-fly decompression, the CD can have up to 2 GB of executable software installed on it (over 8GB on the DVD "Maxi" edition).
The most important features in this version are Kernel 2.6.19, ntfs-3g and beryl, is now available.

• Update to Debian etch/testing as base distribution
• Linux Kernel 2.6.19(.1) + fuse 2.6.1
• cloop 2.05 Realtime Decompression with extended block-buffering for reduction of CD/DVD access latency
• Replacing unionfs by aufs for better stability & performance
• KDE 3.5.5
• OpenOffice 2.1
• ntfs-3g (12.12.2006) for full transparent NTFS write support, also tested with boot options knoppix tohd= and knoppix fromhd=. Please note the hints about ntfs-3g below.
• ntfsprogs-Update (ntfsresize, ntfsmount, ntfsfix)
• integration of 3D desktop beryl+emerald as add-on for KDE (manual start with gnome is also possible), via boot option knoppix desktop=beryl. Please note the hints given below.
• Experimental script for creating a bootable flash-pendrive from a running KNOPPIX live session (mkbootdev by Martin Öhler)

Homepage: www.knopper.net
Download: Knoppix 5.1.0 CD (688 MB)
Download: Knoppix 5.1.1 DVD (4.11 GB)

Transforming Ubuntu to Kubuntu

If you are tired of Gnome and want to have KDE desktop this tutorial will help you to install it. If you want clean install download the Kubuntu CDs and install Kubuntu but if you have already installed Ubuntu and just want KDE you have come to the right place :)

The easy way !

The easy way is to install the KDE package from the terminal shell. Open terminal and type the following:

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

Enter your password and just wait. The download should begin shortly, after the package is downloaded choose your default login manager (kdm for KDE and gdm for Gnome).

The other way!

The othe way is to install KDE with the help of the Synaptic package manager. Open Synaptic Package Manager from the Administration menu. Type your password and then click the search button. In the new window type kubuntu-desktop and hit Search. Synaptic will find only one package, right click on it and select "Mark for Installation". New window will appear with the list of the packages, which are going to be downloaded and installed. Click Apply and the downloading process will begin. After they are downloaded they will be prepared and installed. Through the installation a new window will pop up asking you to choose the default login manager. KDM is for KDE and GDM is the gnome display manager. When the Changes Applied message appears, you can safely click Close. Now you have to logout and reboot your computer. When the login manager comes back up, you have to manually select KDE as your desktop environment; otherwise you are logged in to the last environment you were using. When the login manager shows up click the Options button and select Session from the menu. A new window will be opened. Select KDE and hit the Change Sesion button. Enter your login details and anjoy the new KDE desktop :)