Mandrakelinux Community Newsletter #102

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Mandrakelinux Community Newsletter

Issue # 102 April 1, 2005

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Welcome to the Mandrakelinux Community Newsletter -- dedicated to keeping you up-to-date with the latest Mandrakelinux-related news & info.

Inside this Issue:

* Special Section: Mandrakelinux's future development -- Changes to Mandrakelinux development * What's cooking at Mandrakesoft -- Mandrakelinux Limited Edition 2005 RC2 available * Mandrakesoft Releases -- New Mandrakelinux books released in the U.S.A. * Mandrakelinux in the news -- Mandrakelinux reviews * Software Update -- Security begins at home * Mandrakelinux Goodies -- Shop Mandrakelinux today!

Special Section: Mandrakelinux's future development ---------------------------------------- Changes to Mandrakelinux development

Our top news this week is the recently announced change in the development and release schedule of Mandrakelinux. On March 21st, it was announced that Mandrakelinux will migrate to an annual release cycle and change its release names to relate to their year of release. Mandrakelinux 10.2 will be renamed Limited Edition 2005 and will be a 'transitional' release. It will come out in early April and be available first through the Club and as a DVD/CD set at Mandrakestore. A few weeks later, a freely available Download Edition will be available. There will be no boxed sets of Limited Edition 2005, and none of the technical support that goes along with them. However, security updates will be available through Mandrakeupdate and on FTP mirrors as normal.

Following the release of Limited Edition 2005, the next version will be Mandrakelinux 2006, which will be released in fall 2005. This will be the first release to incorporate elements of technology from Conectiva, particularly in the area of the smart package management software and some of Conectiva's kernel enhancements. It will be a full official release, with boxed sets and the related technical support available through our retail distributors and the Mandrakestore.

Finally, after 2006 is released, Mandrakelinux will migrate to the new annual development cycle, with Mandrakelinux 2007 - the next full release - following a year behind Mandrakelinux 2006. We also plan to implement a system of interim releases between the full yearly releases as an added benefit for members of the Mandrakeclub, allowing us to keep the benefits in stability and reliability of a yearly development cycle while allowing the enthusiastic members of Mandrakeclub to keep up to date with the latest technology.

You can find the initial press release about the new cycle here: --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakesoft.com]

This is a follow-up message which clarifies some issues on the Club: --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakeclub.com]

Frederic Lepied chats with Club members

The new release cycle brought up lots of questions from users, especially Club members, and our own Frederic Lepied - Mandrakesoft Chief Technical Officer - put on his best flameproof suit and went out to IRC to answer them! Lots of good questions were asked and answered. Club members can find an edited version in Q&A format here: --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakeclub.com]

What's cooking at Mandrakesoft ---------------------------------------- Mandrakelinux Limited Edition 2005 RC2 available

The release of Limited Edition 2005 is drawing near! Several releases have come since the last newsletter. The final test release for standard CPUs, Release Candidate 2, is now available for testing. Several important bugs have now been fixed, including problems with installing from and to SATA devices, and a problem with the first release candidate which caused systems with certain soundcards to hang during startup. This is your last chance to help make sure Limited Edition 2005 will work as well as possible for everybody, so please try it out! --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakelinux.com]

64-bit Limited Edition 2005 RC1 available

To go along with RC2 for regular systems, RC1 for x86-64 systems has also been released! To allow a timely release, this will almost certainly be the last test release for x86-64, so be sure to download and try it out! It has been synchronised with the regular RC2 release, so includes all the bugfixes from that release. --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakelinux.com]

PowerPC Limited Edition 2005 RC1 available

Completing our trio of releases, the volunteers who are making the unofficial PowerPC release have finished their first Release Candidate. It features some improvements to the way bootloaders are handled, and sound support for the Mac Mini! The team is doing a great job of making a commercial quality release in their free time, so all you Mac users be sure to test the release and help them out! You can find more information on this Club article, and download the release from the official mirrors. --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakeclub.com]

Mandrakesoft Releases ---------------------------------------- New Mandrakelinux books released in the U.S.A.

Mandrakelinux is back in American stores! After a few years away, it's back with a bang - last week, the American launch of two new books based around Mandrakelinux was announced, in conjunction with O'Reilly, the leading wholesaler of technical books. The two books, 'Your First Linux Desktop' and 'Full Power Of Linux Desktop', are bundled with Mandrakelinux Discovery 10.1 and Mandrakelinux PowerPack 10.1 respectively. 'Your First Linux Desktop' acts as a comprehensive guide to Linux for new users, helping them get started with simple tasks on the new system immediately. 'Full Power Of Linux Desktop' has over 500 pages of detailed explanation and tips for the powerful Mandrakelinux PowerPack, helping more advanced users of Linux or other operating systems exploit all the power it has to offer. The first print run is already shipping to major American retailers such as Barnes and Noble and Borders, so Americans can expect to see Mandrakelinux in stores everywhere soon! --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakesoft.com]

eZ publish demo CD released

eZ Systems, developers of the eZ Publish open source content management system, have released a demonstration live CD of eZ Publish which is based on Mandrakelinux 10.1. This is a great showcase for Mandrakelinux's integration with the LiveCD project, which makes it easy to build a custom Linux live CD from a Mandrakelinux system. Other distributions which use the LiveCD system to build on a Mandrakelinux base include amaraoK Live and the Dutch-language MCNLive CD. You can find out more about eZ Publish and the eZ Publish Demo at the address below. Check it out today! --> [HYPERLINK@ez.no]

Mandrakelinux in the news ---------------------------------------- Mandrakelinux reviews

The British website IT Reviews has reviewed Mandrakelinux PowerPack+ 10.1, our most fully-featured package. They seem to have enjoyed the experience, commenting on Mandrakelinux's famous ease of use for first time Linux users: "However, if ever there was an easy implementation for the first timer, it's MandrakeLinux 10.1". They were also impressed by the huge range of software available in PowerPack+ and its ability to be used in every role from desktop to server. You can buy the PowerPack+ from the Mandrakestore here: --> [HYPERLINK@store.mandrakesoft.com]

The popular NewsForge site also has a Mandrakelinux review, this time of the recently released Corporate Desktop 3.0. They were also impressed with the product, mentioning its support for new technologies like NoMachine NX and concluding that "Mandrake has quietly created a competent, stable, compatible, and well-equipped operating system at a lower price and with more flexible purchase options". Find out more about Corporate Desktop 3.0 here: --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakesoft.com] Head over to the Mandrakestore to buy a copy for your business! --> [HYPERLINK@store.mandrakesoft.com]

HP, Voltaire and Mandrakelinux clustering

Once again, Mandrakelinux is involved at the cutting edge of high technology. Voltaire, a leading company in high-performance computing, recently announced that HP has retained it to deploy a new high performance cluster at HPC1, Europe's first on-demand processing cluster, which will be leased to anyone with a need for high-performance computing on-demand. The new, 240-node cluster is based on the new Infiniband interconnect technology for greatly increased throughput between the nodes of the system, and runs a customized version of Mandrakelinux. You can read more about this breakthrough here. --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakesoft.com]

Software Update ---------------------------------------- Security begins at home

Don't forget, security begins at home! We're always working to make Mandrakelinux even more secure, so don't forget to update regularly. Since the last newsletter there have been security updates to KDE, MySQL, gnupg and others, and bugfixes for Evolution, so don't forget to run MandrakeUpdate or sign up for MandrakeOnline today! --> [HYPERLINK@www.mandrakesoft.com]

Mandrakelinux Goodies ---------------------------------------- Shop Mandrakelinux today!

Looking a bit cold outside, but you've got that irresistible urge to go shopping? Well, put away your furry hats and gloves, put the kettle on and head on over to the Mandrakestore instead! We've got Mandrakelinux products, computer systems, MandrakeClub and MandrakeOnline subscriptions, stylish baseball shirts, Tux toys and more in stock - no need to face the weather to satisfy your shopping desires. --> [HYPERLINK@store.mandrakesoft.com]









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