GNU/Linux for Christians: Kubuntu-based Ichthux Beta5 is out

LXer Feature: 27-Aug-2006 The beta ISOs should be available Sunday evening or Monday, with the first major release, Ichthux 6.09, due out in early September.

Developers from the Debian, Ubuntu, and Sword Projects have been working since 2005 on Ichthux, a GNU/Linux distribution aimed at Christians and ministries. What initially began as a Custom Debian Distribution project is now a Kubuntu-based project, and is progressing nicely. The team is releasing Ichthux beta5, with an eye toward releasing Ichthux 6.09, their first major release on 10 September.

Ichthux Beta 5 will include BibleTime (i18n), a KDE-based Bible study program, and KioSword, which offers Sword integration with Konqueror. The Sword langauge packages, as well as the culmus fonts with Frank Ruehl activated offer solid WLC support. Kdict is configured with Easton's Bible Dictionary and Hitchcock's Bible Names dictionary. And console lovers will find verse and bible-kjv at the tap of a few keys.

Ichthux may just be the first distribution to release with web content filtering utility Willow-NG. Willow-NG uses a bayesian classifier to 'learn' what is good or bad through training. Kopete gets an improved animated emoticons theme, and the desktop is adorned with the Ichthux logo - the Christian fish symbol. The logo also serves as Konqueror's throbber.

Ichthux can be downloaded from the Ichthux website, or can be installed from within your K/X/Ubuntu distribution. Installing in this manner will replace the user's current installation, so it might be wise to install via CD for most. Some folks are stepping forward to offer mirrors as well. Matheteuo Christian Fellowship will be hosting the ISO images on their website in the near future. Another source has a terabyte worth of bandwidth to offer.

Lead developer, Raphaël Pinson, has good reason to believe in the strength of the Ichthux team. They not only know software, they know Greek and Hebrew, too. "Our strong point is that we have both Debian and Ubuntu developers who can really act within these distros directly and move forward with efficient technical solutions. Our team is strong and dedicated to the open-source community as well as to the Christian Linux one. Most of us have been contributing to FLOSS for more than a year, and we are experienced in distribution building. Ichthux is on the move - God be praised for it."

References

• Ichthux
• Matheteuo Christian Fellowship Mirror (Active)