Welcome to the 202nd issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!

Jun 3, 2012 00:30 GMT  ·  By

The following Linux-based operating systems have been announced last week: Snowlinux 2 MATE, Fedora 17, grml 2012.05, Clonezilla Live 1.2.12-60, and Linux Mint 13 OEM. Softpedia Linux Blog news includes articles about SME Server 8.0, NetBSD 6.0 Beta 2, SystemRescueCd 2.7.1, Bridge Linux 2012.5, AntiX M12 Pre-Final, Wine 1.5.5, Caixa Mágica 18, gPodder 3.1.2, Clutter 1.10.6, Fedora 17, Axigen 8.0.2, Xorg Server 1.12.2, KNOPPIX 7.0.1, LibreOffice 3.5.4, Parted Magic 2012_05_30, Calligra 2.4.2, Bodhi 2.0.0 Alpha, Alpine Linux 2.4.3, Mageia 2, Ubuntu Secure Remix 12.04, Parsix 4.0 Preview, openSUSE 12.2 Beta 1, VectorLinux 7.0 SOHO, SolusOS 1.1, Firefox 13, and much more. For this week we've also prepared an interesting review for the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS operating system. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the new and updated Linux distributions, and the development releases.

dots Summary:

dots SnowlinuxOn May 26th, Lars Torben Kremer proudly announced the immediate availability for download of the final version of the Snowlinux 2 MATE operating system. Dubbed Cream, Snowlinux 2 MATE is based on the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating system and it is powered by Linux kernel 3.2.0 and the MATE desktop environment, a fork of GNOME 2.

Highlights of Snowlinux MATE 2:

· LTS release, based on Ubuntu 12.04; · Linux kernel 3.2.0; · MATE 1.2; · New look and feel; · Chromium 18; · Mozilla Firefox 12; · Mozilla Thunderbird 12.0.1; · Snowlinux-Metal dekstop theme; · Snowlinux-Metal icons; · Improved software selection; · Better response and speed; · Support for Medibuntu, multiverse, and universe repositories; · Added terminal colors; · Added delete permanently function; · Added Open in Terminal function; · Added Open as Administrator function; · Lots of system improvments.

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Snowlinux MATE 2 - Image courtesy of Lars Torben Kremer

Download Snowlinux MATE 2 now from Softpedia.

dots FedoraOn May 29th, the final and stable release of the Fedora 17 Linux operating system, dubbed Beefy Miracle, was announced. Fedora 17 (Beefy Miracle) is powered by the Linux 3.3 kernel, it features the GNOME 3.4 desktop environment with the GNOME Shell interface, of course, and the KDE Software Compilation 4.8 environment.

Highlights of Fedora 17:

· Linux kernel 3.3.4; · GNOME 3.4.1 desktop environment (with GNOME Shell); · KDE Software Compilation 4.8.3; · Simplified filesystem by moving everything to /usr (see here more details); · EXT4 as the default filesystem; · systemd integration; · Multitouch support; · Software rendering for GNOME Shell; · Mozilla Firefox 12; · GIMP 2.8; · Boost 1.48; · Improved NetworkManager; · DRI2 3D drivers; · Support for CUPS colord; · Thin provisioning; · Updated Eclipse to Juno; · Added English Typing Booster input method; · Support for the D2 programming language; · Support for Automatic Seat and ConsoleKit removal; · Support for Lohit Unicode 6.0; · DRI2 3D drivers; · KDE Plasma dependency generation; · PackageKit integration; · New password quality checking mechanism; · New virtio-scsi storage architecture for KVM, based on SCSI; · ns-3 discrete-event network simulator; · Added Wallaby; · Added Thermostat; · Updated Cluster Stack to support Enhanced Failover; · Sugar 0.96; · SSSD-Sudo integration; · SSSD AutoFS integration; · Static analysis of Python reference counts; · Revamped LiveCD installation; · Improved and extended Power Management; · PHP 5.4; · Added Open vSwitch; · Updated OpenStack to Essex; · New mkdumprd for kdump; · Mingw-w64 cross compiler; · ibus-pinyin integration; · JBoss Application Server 7; · OpenJDK 7 as the default Java Runtime Environment; · GCC 4.7.x; · Font configuration utility.

Review image
Fedora 17

Download Fedora 17 now from Softpedia.

Download Fedora 17 GNOME Live CD now from Softpedia.

Download Fedora 17 KDE Live CD now from Softpedia.

Download Fedora 17 LXDE Live CD now from Softpedia.

Download Fedora 17 Xfce Live CD now from Softpedia.

dots grmlAlso on May 29th, Michael Prokop proudly announced the immediate availability for download of the final and stable release of the grml 2012.05 Debian-based operating system. Dubbed Ponyhof, powered by Linux kernel 3.3.7 and based on Debian Testing (28/05/2012), the grml 2012.05 Linux distribution comes with new features, such as the ability to retrieve NUMA information with numactl, simplified support for brltty, and the ability to mount DCS-directory (configuration and scripts, debs - see man grml-autoconfig) using the 9p-virtio filesystem.

Highlights of grml 2012.05:

· Linux kernel 3.3.7 (with no additional modules); · New wallpaper; · Added sysstat; · Added grml-hwinfo tool to retrive NUMA information from numactl; · Re-added simplified support for brltty; · Added support for the 9p-virtio filesystem, to mount DCS-directory (debs, configuration and scripts - see man grml-autoconfig for details); · The ssh bootoption can be used to set a SSH password for the "grml" user and a new password for root; · /media is now used as the default mount target; · Removed the grml-feedback utility; · Modified the end of the main syslinux config file with a few kB of lines made of # characters; · Fixed the remaining issues.

Review image
grml 2012.05 - Image courtesy of grml

Download grml 2012.05 now from Softpedia.

dots ClonezillaOn May 30th, Steven Shiau proudly announced a new stable release of his popular Clonezilla Live operating system, used for cloning hard disk drives. Being based on the Debian Sid repository as of May 25th, 2012, the Clonezilla Live 1.2.12-60 operating system is powered by Linux kernel 3.2.18-1 and incorporates Partclone 0.2.48, drbl 1.12.9-1drbl and Gdisk 0.8.4-1.1drbl.

This release also allows now to create a partition table when a blank destination hard drive is found in restoreparts mode, by entering the command-line prompt. The vlan package was added in Clonezilla Live 1.2.12-60, as well as support for the vmfs5 filesystem, and an option to use "autohostname" in order to create the image name.

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Clonezilla Live 1.2.12-60

Download Clonezilla Live 1.2.12-60 now from Softpedia.

dots Linux MintOn June 1st, Clement Lefebvre proudly announced the immediate availability for download of the OEM installation images of the recently released Linux Mint 13 operating system. Dubbed Maya and powered by Linux kernel 3.2, Linux Mint 13 is was released a week ago and it is based on Canonical’s Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating system.

Linux Mint 13 comes in two editions, with the MATE and Cinnamon desktop environments. Being based on an LTS (Long Term Support) release, Linux Mint 13 is supported for five years with security updates and patches. Linux Mint 13 (Maya) is distributed as Live DVD ISO images with separate editions of MATE and Cinnamon desktop environments, for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. The OEM images of Linux Mint 13 are only for the 64-bit architecture.

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Linux Mint 13

Download Linux Mint 13 OEM now from Softpedia.

dots Softpedia Linux BlogSoftpedia Linux Blog:

· SME Server 8.0 Is Based on CentOS 5.8 · NetBSD 6.0 Beta 2 Available for Testing · SystemRescueCd 2.7.1 Has Xfce 4.10 · Ubuntu 12.04 ARM Server AMI for Amazon EC2 · Bridge Linux 2012.5 Has UEFI Support · AntiX M12 Pre-Final Has Linux Kernel 3.3.5 · Wine 1.5.5 Brings Support for Mono · Caixa Mágica 18 Is Based on Ubuntu 12.04 · gPodder 3.1.2 Is Based on JQuery Mobile · Clutter 1.10.6 Officially Released · Calibre Plugin of the Week: Manage Series · Fedora 17 GNOME Live CD Screenshot Tour · Fedora 17 KDE Live CD Screenshot Tour · Introducing Ubuntu News Lens for Unity · Oneiric Linux Kernel Backport Fixed in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS · Download Axigen 8.0.2 Mail Server Now · Xorg Server 1.12.2 Is Available for Download · KNOPPIX 7.0.1 Is Now Available for Download · LibreOffice 3.5.4 Brings 100% Performance Improvements · Dell ARM Server Helps Ubuntu ARM Development · Fedora 17 Xfce Live CD Screenshot Tour · Parted Magic 2012_05_30 Has Been Released · Calligra 2.4.2 Has Speed Improvements · SkyDrive Support Coming to GNOME 3.6 · Bodhi 2.0.0 Alpha Is Based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS · Alpine Linux 2.4.3 Has Linux Kernel 3.3.7 · Mageia 2 Has a New Wallpaper · Download Ubuntu Secure Remix 12.04 · Humble Indie Bundle 5 Comes to Ubuntu 12.04 · Parsix 4.0 Preview Available for Download · New OMAP4 Kernel Vulnerabilities Fixed for Ubuntu OSes · Bastion and Limbo Land in Ubuntu Software Center · New Kernel Vulnerabilities Affect Ubuntu 11.04 · openSUSE 12.2 Beta 1 Has Linux Kernel 3.4 · VectorLinux 7.0 SOHO Officially Released · SolusOS 1.1 Has Linux Kernel 3.3.6 · Humble Bundle V Smashes Previous Record Sales · Download Firefox 13 for Linux With Speed Dial · Goodbye Fedora 15

dots Review of the WeekReview of the Week: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

· You can love it or hate it, but when Canonical releases a new Ubuntu operating system, people take notice and when that distribution is an LTS (Long Term Support) version, the standards of quality are twice as high. Is Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, dubbed Precise Pangolin, up to the challenge?

Review image
Cogs on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

The main bonus and the most important feature of them all, that is not trumping all the other problems is the speed. Everything works faster, including nautilus, programs, and boot time. I'm fairly confident Canonical will manage to repair all the remaining problems in the coming months.

Read the entire review here.

dots Video Clip of the WeekVideo Clip of the Week: Humble Indie Bundle V

· For this week we've posted a 720p HD video clip for the newly released Humble Indie Bundle V. The video has 2 minutes and 21 seconds, and it was posted by WolfireGames.

Download from SoftpediaNew Distributions:

· Alien Section OS 2 · Linux-Bro 12.04 LTS · jfLinux 12.04 Alpha 1 · Adonis Linux

Download from SoftpediaDistributions Updated Last Week:

· Berry Linux 1.14 · SME Server 7.6 / 8.0 · Bridge Linux 2012.5 · EeeMC 12.04.25 · Oblong Linux Proto 3 (Tribbles) · Caixa Magica 18 · Ubuntu Secured Remix 12.04 · Parted Magic 2012_05_30 · Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.12-60 · Knoppix 7.0.2 · VectorLinux SOHO 7.0 · SolusOS 1.1 · Tor-ramdisk 20120601

Download from SoftpediaDevelopment Releases:

· antiX MEPIS M12 Pre-Final · 4MLinux 3.3 Beta · Bodhi 2.0.0 Build 2 · openSUSE GNOME Live CD 12.2 Beta 1 · openSUSE KDE4 Live CD 12.2 Beta 1 · openSUSE Linux 12.2 Beta 1 · Parsix Linux 4.0 Preview

See you again at the end of next week for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.