06-10-2006

Development Release: Grafpup Linux 1.0.4 Beta

A beta release of Grafpup Linux 1.0.4, a light-weight distribution designed for graphics artists, is now available for download and testing: "Announcing the availability of Grafpup Standard 1.0.4 beta. This is a feature-complete release for testing purposes, we are now on a freeze and nothing new will be included in the live CD. Many, if not most, of the small issues and bugs from the pre-release have now been fixed and cosmetically this is very close to how 1.0.4 final will appear. IceWM has been recompiled with antialiasing on and a new data directory path. The Squash utility is now on version 0.5 and includes an early version of Gsquash, the graphical interface." Read the release announcement for more details. Download (MD5): Grafpup_standard-104beta.iso (80.0MB).

Distribution Release: Voltalinux 1.0

Voltalinux, a distribution combining Slackware Linux with the 'pkgsrc' package management software from NetBSD, has reached the 1.0 milestone: "Voltalinux 1.0 is out! New feature: the installation is based on 3 sets: base, devel, net. Many server oriented packages ready to be deployed. Based on Slackware Current (almost Slackware 11) and pkgsrc 2006Q1. Remember to install rc-subr, to edit /etc/rc.conf and install the packages you like (Postfix, Dovecot, Pure FTP, MySQL, etc)." Here is the brief release announcement. Download (MD5): voltalinux-1.0.iso (254MB). Voltalinux 1.0 is designed for advanced Linux users and does not contain a graphical desktop environment.

06-11-2006

Development Release: SLAX 5.1.7 RC1

Tomáš Matějíček has announced the availability of SLAX 5.1.7, release candidate 1: "I'd like to let you know that a release candidate of SLAX 5.1.7 is out. This version contains a few major feature updates. The most important features include: modified 'changes=' cheatcode to accept device names with path; added 'fromiso' cheatcode to load CD data from a different ISO image." Also new in this release, the Linux kernel has been upgraded to version 2.6.16.20 with SMP support, while KDE has been upgraded to version 3.5.3 and KOffice to 1.5.1. See the SLAX changelog for a more detailed list of updates and feature enhancements. Download: slax-5.1.7rc1.iso (194MB, MD5).

Development Release: OpenLab GNU/Linux 4.1 Alpha 1

A.J. Venter has announced the first development release of OpenLab GNU/Linux 4.1, a Slackware-based desktop distribution developed in South Africa: "It is my honour and privilege to announce that the first alpha version of OpenLab 4.1, code name 'Conina', is now available for download. Conina includes significant enhancements for mobile computing, including improved wireless and WPA support, and integration of Kdebluetooth. Kernel 2.6.16.18, X.Org 6.9.0, KDE 3.5.2 with HAL and DBUS, and a massively overhauled video setup process should cover almost any Linux-supported hardware with great ease." Read the full release announcement for more details. Download: openlab-live-4.1alpha1.iso (699MB, MD5); also available via BitTorrent.

06-12-2006

Distribution Release: StartCom MultiMedia Edition 5.0.5

After two development builds, version 5.0.5 of StartCom MultiMedia Edition has been released: "StartCom has released its new Multimedia Edition, ML-5.0.5, code named 'Kessem'. It's probably one of the largest and most complete Linux distributions ever released to the public. Release ML-5.0.5, offers many 'out-of-the-box' capabilities, never bundled with an operating system before. Designed as a multimedia workstation with music studio and advanced video editing applications, it also provides the desktop user with the most applications for day to day use." Please refer to the press release for further information. DVD images for both the i386 and x86_64 architectures are available for download from here (MD5): Kessem-i386-DVD.iso (4,326MB) or Kessem-x86_64-DVD.iso (4,209MB).

06-13-2006

Development Release: GoblinX Mini 1.4.0 RC1

A release candidate for GoblinX Mini 1.4.0 is ready for testing: "The first release candidate of GoblinX Mini 1.4.0 is out today. The release candidate is out to anyone who wants to test and know more about the next release, also we wish that you report any errors or bugs found while using the release candidate version. GoblinX 1.4.0 rc01 has some important improvements, but not every new ones are added yet. There is a massive upgrade of packages and also Unionfs, SquashFS and kernel (2.6.16.12). It's important to test the stability of the main system, especially the new Unionfs and SquashFS 3.0." Visit the project's news page to read the full release announcement and changelog. Download: GoblinXMini-1.4.0.rc01.iso (148MB, MD5).

06-14-2006

Development Release: Musix GNU/Linux 0.49

An experimental version of Musix GNU/Linux has been released for public testing: "The Musix project has released Musix 0.49, along with 459 updated software packages, a new Linux kernel version 2.6.16, and the KANOTIX installer. Musix 0.49 is an experimental version that was made to support new hardware, for example the SATA hard disks, and new sound and video cards. The most relevant upgraded packages into Musix 0.49: AbiWord 2.4.4 (word processor based on GTK+), Beast 0.6.6 (music synthesis and composition framework), Denemo 0.7.5 (a GTK+ frontend to GNU LilyPond); jackd 0.101.1 (JACK Audio Connection Kit...." Find more details in the release announcement. Download: MusixGNU+Linux-0.49.iso (688MB); also available via BitTorrent.

Development Release: SUSE Linux 10.2 Alpha 1

The development of SUSE Linux 10.2 is now officially underway with the release of the first alpha build: "SUSE Linux 10.2 Alpha 1 is available. It has one major problem, but apart from that it is highly usable. The installation using the GUI interface does not work, please select 'Text Mode' when booting from CD media. Download of release notes does fail (server side issue). The difference to SUSE Linux 10.1 is mainly in version updates in some areas (especially the YaST package manager and KDE). Have a lot of fun!" Read the rest of the release announcement for further details and download links. The 5-CD ISO image sets for the three supported architectures are available from these SUSE Linux mirrors and also via BitTorrent; here is a quick link to the i386 torrent file: SUSE-Linux-10.2-Alpha1-i386 (3,283MB)

06-15-2006

Development Release: Nexenta OS Alpha 5

The Nexenta project, which builds a distribution combining the OpenSolaris kernel with applications from Ubuntu, has announced a new alpha release of Nexenta OS: "This is our way to celebrate the 1 year OpenSolaris anniversary. This release provides a fully integrated Ubuntu Dapper Drake userland, OpenSolaris core (build #40), and contains overall 11,800 packages. In addition, Alpha 5 contains: Sun's Java SE 5.0 Java Development Kit (via Nexenta OS APT); Live Upgrade - supported from Alpha 5 and onwards (use Debian tools to bring your system up to the bleeding edge); OpenOffice.org 2.0, natively compiled on Nexenta OS; OpenSolaris build #40, non-DEBUG kernel." See the release highlights on the project's download page for a detailed changelog. Get the installation or live CD from here (MD5): elatte_installcd_alpha5_i386.zip (587MB) or elatte_livecd_alpha5_i386.zip (242MB).

Development Release: Bayanihan Linux 4.0 Beta 2

The second beta of Bayanihan Linux 4.0, a desktop-oriented, Debian-based distribution made in the Philippines, has been released: "We are proud to announce the second beta release of Bayanihan Linux 4, a project of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology. The goal of the project is to provide the best alternative desktop solution to Filipinos. The features listed below have significantly been improved: local networking (SSH, SMB, VNC, FTP); running some Windows applications via WINE; antivirus using Klamav; enhanced fonts for on-screen readability...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further details. Download: BL4Beta2.iso (699MB, MD5).

Development Release: SimplyMEPIS 6.0 RC1

After five beta releases, the first release candidate of SimplyMEPIS 6.0 is available for download: "MEPIS has announced RC1, the release candidate of SimplyMEPIS 6.0. RC1 contains KDE 3.5.3, the latest security updates, an improved USB media handler, and the CD is compressed with SquashFS. The ISO image is available for download and test in the mepis 'testing' subdirectory at public mirrors and the MEPIS Subscriber's Site. With feedback and suggestions from the community, a number of small bugs were fixed. During the next week or two more bugs will be fixed and the MEPIS utilities will continue to be restructured. Final release is planned for around June 27." Read the full press release for additional details. Download: SimplyMEPIS_6.0-rc1_i386.iso (671MB, MD5).

06-16-2006

Distribution Release: Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Server SPARC64

A specialist server edition of Ubuntu 6.06 designed for high-end SPARC64 processors has been released: "The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS server for Sun SPARC 64-bit architecture. Highlights of this release include: new kernels targeted at server platforms, the server kernels are tuned differently than the desktop kernels (providing better performance for server applications); turn-key LAMP installation for this common deployment scenario; improved support for clusters and SANs." Please refer to the release announcement for further information and download links. Get it from here: ubuntu-6.06-server-sparc.iso (392MB, MD5); also available via BitTorrent.

06-17-2006

Development Release: Guadalinex 3.0.1 RC3

The third release candidate for the updated version 3 series of Guadalinex, a Spanish distribution based on Ubuntu Breezy, has been released for download and testing. In addition to a large number of bug fixes, the following aspects of the distributions received extra attention: updates in documentation and help files of Hermes, the hardware assistant; improvements in generating digital signatures; inclusion of a new hardware reporting facility to assist with hardware problems. For further information please refer to the release announcement (in Spanish). Download the live and installation CDs from here (MD5): guadalinex_v3.0.1_RC3_live.iso (636MB), guadalinex_v3.0.1_RC3_nolive.iso (688MB).

Development Release: BU Linux 4.6 Beta

BU Linux, or Boston University Linux, is a Fedora-based distribution specifically tailored for the university environments and enhanced with Kerberos authentication, tight default security, apt-get, OpenAFS file system, and extra software applications. A new development version has been released: "The BU Linux team at the Office of Information Technology is excited to announce a preview release of BU Linux 4.6 (Stormy). While we're still working on some rough edges, this release is generally as it will be for the final gold-seal version available in several weeks, and we encourage you to install it and try it out on your test systems." Read the full release announcement for more details. BU Linux is distributed in the form of small ISO images for network installation; get them from here: stormy32-installer.iso (68.5MB), stormy64-installer.iso (68.9MB).

Distribution Release: GParted LiveCD 0.2.5-1

Patrick Verner has announced the availability of an updated version of GParted LiveCD: "GParted LiveCD 0.2.5-1. I think this might be the best version of the live CD released so far. Many issues have been fixed and I spent some time making it look better. Junel Mujar made a very cool wallpaper for the desktop. Changes: updated to Linux kernel 2.6.16.20, Parted 1.7.1, e2fsprogs 1.39, GTK+ 2.8.19, Fluxbox 1.0rc, udev 094; Added xfce4-panel 4.3.90.1 to Fluxbox, Thunar 0.3.0beta1; rebuilt X.Org to be smaller; the source for the CD is located in /usr/src/." Read the rest of the changelog for further information. Download: gparted-livecd-0.2.5-1.iso (29.4MB, MD5).