Linux Format forums

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #79, February 2012

Ben — Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:30 pm

Author: Ben

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:30 pm

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LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #79, February 2012

www.linuxformat.com

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CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 155 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. This month on TuxRadar

7. Special newsletter feature

8. Coming up next issue

9. Receiving this newsletter

10. Contact details

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1. Welcome
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Hello and welcome to the Linux Format website newsletter. There's been a bit of a gap in the newsletters as we've struggled to cope without Mike, but we're back up to speed now. Issue 155 has now hit the news stands, and the much-anticipated season four of the TuxRadar podcast has launched (http://tuxradar.com/content/podcast-season-4-episode-1).

Below you'll find all the Linux goodness that you've come to expect. Don't forget, if you like the newsletter, you'll love the magazine. Look for it in all good newsagents, or for a special deal, take a look at the subscription offer available here: http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

Ben Everard
Newsletter editor
Ben.Everard@futurenet.com

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2. LXF 155 on sale
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Highlights include:
*A guide to get new users started on Linux. Perfect if you're just getting started with the OS, or if you're introducing new users to the wonderful world of free software.
*Graham Morrision interviews Damian Conway about Perl and where the language is going.
*Our tutorials show you how to make internet calls without Skype, manage a Drupal website, turn Arduino into a waveform generator, use Zina to share your music with the web and run automated scripts over SSH.
* Polish up your programming skills with our Coding Academy. This month, it includes subroutines and stacks in Assembler, adding interactivity to Perl programs using Dancer, creating packages in Python, and the first in a two-part series covering everything you need to know about sorting.
*Former newsletter editor Mike shares his experiences running an open source project (MikeOS).

If that's not enough, it also comes with seven bootable distros, including a special LXF remix of Ubuntu that comes with GNOME 3 in place of Unity.

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3. Special subscription offer
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Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs, complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to more than 80 issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

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4. In the news
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The biggest developments from around the net...

# Ubuntu introduces HUD
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/939
Ubuntu 12.04 will bring the second controversial new feature from Ubuntu in as many major version numbers. The Head-Up Display (commonly known as HUD) is Canonical's answer to old-fashioned, but much loved, hierarchical menus. Currently, it's only available as an add-on to a pre-release alpha version of 12.04, but if Mark Shuttleworth has his way, it'll soon take over your desktop.

# Red Hat increases support for RHEL five and six to ten years
http://investors.redhat.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=644005
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) versions five and six will now be supported for ten years from their initial release, giving users extra time before they need to upgrade.

# First Plasma Active tablet announced
http://aseigo.blogspot.in/2012/01/reveal.html
The Linux kernel has been powering Android tablets for sometime, but as yet we haven't seen a tablet running a more traditional version of the operating system we know and love. All that is set to change, however. KDE hacker Aseigo recently announced the Spark, which will be available with KDE's Plasma Active installed as default and will hopefully be on the shelves for 200 euros.

#Bada may or may not merge with Tizen
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsungs-bada-tizen-merge-on-hold-1055624
In the last newsletter, we announced Tizen (take a look here: http://linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14308), and now we can tell you that the project is growing through the inclusion of Bada, Samsung's proprietary mobile operating system. Well, maybe. After seeming to announce that they were merging the two platforms, Samsung have now taken a step back and all the company will confirm is that it's looking into the option and that it won't make any announcements until a product is ready.

#Greg Kroah-Hartman Leaves SUSE ...
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/leading-kernel-maintainer-greg-kroah-hartman-joins-the-linux-foundation-2012-02-01
... and becomes a fellow at the Linux Foundation. This is a big loss for SUSE and their parent company Novell/Attachmate, but should benefit the Linux community as a whole because he is now better positioned to work on the kernel in a distribution-agnostic way. He is one of the most prolific Linux kernel contributors and an all-round nice guy. We wish him all the best in his new position.

#Firefox For Organisations
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/
To combat criticism that the new ultra-quick release schedule is too fast for businesses to keep up with, the Firefox developers have introduced Firefox Extended Support Release (aka Firefox ESR or Firefox for organisations). This new version will be supported for a whole year before being superseded. This may seem short compared to Red Hat's new support schedule, but it's eight times longer than regular Firefox releases.

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5. This month on the TuxRadar
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There's been grumbling over our tardiness in starting the new season of the TuxRadar podcast. Well, we've finally pulled our collective fingers out and the first episode is now live here: http://tuxradar.com/content/podcast-season-4-episode-1

The question we put to you in the latest Open Ballot (discussed on the podcast) was ��Which is the biggest threat to freedom - Google, Microsoft or Apple?�� Well, there wasn't much love for any of the companies, although a few of you were willing to forgive Google, at least to some extent. The US Government also came under fire, and a couple of you nominated the one-time darling of the Linux community �� Canonical. It looks as if Richard Stallman will have his hands full for a few more years.

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6. This month on the forums
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Madoba suggested that the PC market may be overtaken by tablets in the near future �� a comment that seemed to split opinions. Ram, Marrea, Heiowge and Bazza came out in the pro-keyboard camp, whereas Rhakios and Nelz backed the original post. [1]

Bananaoomarang is a fan of Ubuntu's HUD (see news section), whereas everyone else remains skeptical. [2]

Chris0161 (among others) helped RolandS get a new version of Linux installed on his machine despite problems with his graphics cards. [3]

[1] http://linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14438
[2] http://linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14518
[3] http://linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14469

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7. Special newsletter feature
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If you've listened to the Podcast (and if you haven't you should!), you'll know that I'm a recent convert to Cinnamon, Mint's new user interface. It's a fork of Gnome Shell that's designed to provide users with a traditional desktop environment done in an elegant way. The philosophy of the project is summed up in the website's tag line ��Love your Linux, Feel at Home, Get things Done��, and it does a good job of making me feel at home on my desktop, and get things done (I loved my Linux already).

The latest version, 1.2, brings a raft of changes to the internal workings of the software, but for users the most obvious changes are the inclusion of a graphical configuration tool, an improved main menu, applets, and support for different desktop layouts.

As it stands, the desktop supports only three layouts, traditional (where the panel is at the bottom), flipped (with the panel at the top), and classic (with panels at the top and bottom). This is a bit more limited than some other desktops, but covers most set-ups.

It always takes a little while for developers to create a full repertoire of applets for a new desktop, and as you may expect, the choice is currently a little limited. At the time of writing, there are only seven listed on the website, but there's a great tutorial on the website to get potential applet writers started, so expect more soon.

My only gripe with the otherwise excellent user interface is the default effect for opening a window. It looks as if the window is being thrown from behind and splatting on the screen. Perhaps some people like it, but it seemed a bit aggressive to me. Fortunately, thanks to the new configuration tool, switching to a more sedate effect only took a couple of clicks.

It's still a young piece of software, but it shows a lot of promise, and I look forward to seeing how it develops in future versions.

You can get more information about Cinnamon from their website (http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com), and packages for Mint and other major distributions are available from http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?page_id=61.

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8. Coming up next issue
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Linux Format 156, on sale 1 March 2012

# We give an introduction to the Raspberry Pi, and tell you everything you need to know about this credit card-sized Linux hardware.
# Speed up your Linux Box to boost your productivity (or drinking time).
# Mike Saunders reports on a week exploring Minecraft.

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9. Receiving this newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this newsletter from someone else, and want to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF newsletter straight in your Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

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10. Contact details
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If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the Newsletter editor at the address below:

Newsletter editor: Ben Everard �� Ben.Everard@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

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(C) 2012 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #78, October 2011

M-Saunders — Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:30 am

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:30 am

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LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #78, OCTOBER 2011

www.linuxformat.com

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CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 151 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

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1. Welcome
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As I write this, Ubuntu 11.10 is just about to be released to the
world. Looking back a few years, I remember when Ubuntu was being
heralded as the de facto "standard" for Linux, building on reliable
Debian foundations, offering lots of up-to-date software, and using
a pretty familiar Gnome desktop without much tweaking.

Today, things seem very different. Ubuntu has become the maverick
distro, pushing boldly ahead with technologies like Unity and
Wayland. This appears to have alienated some long-time Linux fans
who like their distros to stick with established software, and so
it'll be interesting to see how 11.10 is received.

Meanwhile, read on for a look at the new issue of Linux Format,
roundups of the hottest news stories and forum posts, and a special
feature on what's to discover in the new Ubuntu release. Oh! And if
you just happen to accidentally own one of those shiny Apple mobile
gadgets, look here for a very special LXF offer:

http://tuxradar.com/content/linux-format-now-available-ios-app-store

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

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2. LXF 151 on sale
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If you want someone to make you a cup of tea, you say to them:
"Please make me a cup of tea." Well, if you're being polite. In any
case, you don't wave your hands around, pointing at different things
in the kitchen and hoping that your servant magically understands.
Very often, direct commands work best, and that's the same with
Linux -- its command line is often the best way to get a job done.

Some people see the CLI as a scary, incomprehensible world only for
use by whizzkid gurus, but that's not the case. It's surprisingly
accessible, and in this month's cover feature we introduce you to
its power and flexibility, helping you to work faster and smarter.

Meanwhile, we show you how to recycle old PCs by using lightweight
distros, and give you 18 steps towards better data security. You'll
find tutorials on Arduino, Android, Perl, XBMC and other topics,
while on the coverdisc you can try out Mandriva 2011, a shiny new
release of the novice-friendly Linux distro.

Here's a taster of LXF151 from the HotPicks section:

# GnuPG 2.0.18 -- http://www.gnupg.org

Few tools have a more interesting history than GnuPG and the
encryption tools that preceded it. You may not know it, but there
was a time when there was no way of encrypting a message (or
authenticating it) that wasn't trivial to break with even a modest
computer setup. The idea of asymmetric key-pairs provided the
answer to encryption algorithms, which manage to keep everything
from your private mail to your bank transactions safe.

The OpenPGP software became a standard for secure communication
(RFC4880) and way back before LXF was even born, a compatible Unix
version was born (in 1997!). And yet, in spite of the awesome
things it's responsible for, GnuPG is quite a humble little
command-line app that just does its job simply and efficiently and
generally stays in the background, keeping you safe and secure
with barely a murmur.

The software doesn't have an API as such, so most of the tools
that require some sort of GPG functionality just write a wrapper
around the command-line tools. Simple, but effective - you
probably use it every time you use your computer, for one thing or
another.

This new version, which has been a while in coming, probably isn't
going to rock your world that much. The headline is that it now
supports keys up to 4,096 bits in length, which is more than
secure enough to make sure you're downloading the correct package
and your grocery list is safe from prying eyes. Of course, few
people need that level of security, but isn't it nice to know that
GnuPG is there, quietly watching out for you?

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 151.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 80
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# KDE Plasma Active One arrives
http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-active-one/

"A mobile device should be more than a collection of applications.
It should reflect who you are." So says the KDE team, which has
created a new interface -- sorry, "user experience" -- geared
towards tablets. The idea is that you can collect all of your
documents, contacts, media and more under a single topic. Check
out the link for screenshots galore.

# Kindle Fire announced
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/28/amazon-fire-tablet-unveiled-7-inch-display-199-price-tag/

Yes, Amazon has got into the tablet game now with a 7-inch device at
a scratch under 200 US dollars. With Amazon's online media stores,
it's providing arguably the biggest competitor to Apple's vast
ecosystem - but more interestingly for us, it's running a variant of
Android, which is of course based on the Linux kernel.

# Tizen, yet another Linux-based mobile OS announced
https://www.tizen.org

Remember Moblin? And Maemo? And MeeGo? Well, despite their lack of
traction in the market, there's another attempt from the codebase in
the form of Tizen. It's designed to work on smartphones, tablets,
netbooks and other devices, and while we wish it look, we don't yet
see anything to indicate it'll be any more successful than its
forerunners.

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5. This month on the forum
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Fancy going distro shopping? Spangwiches posted a detailed list of
requirements for his dream distro, explaining that he wanted
something with "well stocked repos" and that also ideally had
rolling releases. Naturally, Arch, Gentoo and Sabayon came up as the
top suggestions, and Farcry suggested using ArchBang as a way to get
into the distro without being put off by all the command-line
fiddling. [1]

Software piracy is an interesting concept. On the one hand,
everybody agrees the stealing -- ie depriving someone of their own
property -- is wrong. However, it can be argued that piracy is not
stealing, because the original copy remains. And when people
casually pirate movies and songs, would they have bought them in the
first place? It's a tricky subject, and Spangwiches kicked off an
interesting discussion in Off Topic. [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14140

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14148

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6. Special Newsletter feature
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WHAT'S NEW IN UBUNTU 11.10

A new release of the world's most popular Linux distribution (and
thereby the world's third most popular PC OS) is due today. What's
to get excited about? Read on for all the details...

1) Multi-arch support

If you run Ubuntu in its 64-bit incarnation, and get sick of all the
hoops you have to jump through to get 32-bit binaries such as Flash
and Skype working, rejoice -- it's now much easier. You won't need
to install 32-bit compatibility libraries for many programs, so the
experience will be a lot more pleasant.

2) Unity updates

Love it or hate it (in which case, Kubuntu and Xubuntu are always
available), the Unity desktop is here to stay. In 11.10 it will
sport a new Alt+Tab switcher, and there's now less of a gap between
the codebases of the 2D and 3D versions. For laptop users, there's
also a new power indicator.

3) Revamped login manager

It looks pretty. That's all we can really say!

4) Deja Dup backup tool

This backup program is now included by default, and features a very
welcoming interface. You can find out more about it on the website
at https://launchpad.net/deja-dup

5) Thunderbird replaces Evolution

Yes, Mozilla's mail client has replaced Evo, which we sort-of liked
but got tired of its data engine thing always hogging RAM in the
background. Thunderbird is mature and well-regarded, so this
shouldn't be too much of a controversial move.

6) Software Centre improvements

With "app stores" (sorry for the trademark infringement, Apple) all
the rage now, Ubuntu's Software Centre has some welcome updates to
look fresher and make its offerings more attractive.

So, those are just a few things to try out. There's lots more of
course, and we'll be interested to hear your feedback on the release
on our forums. Have fun exploring!

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7. Coming up next issue
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Linux Format 152, on sale Thursday 10 November...

# Desktop showdown -- Forget talk of new paradigms and
synergised workflows -- what actually works best?

# PHP returns -- After a gap of several years, we return
to the language that put the P in LAMP

# Women in FOSS -- Free and open source software doesn't
just have to be the domain of blokes

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

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8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #77, September 2011

M-Saunders — Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:50 am

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:50 am

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LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #77, SEPTEMBER 2011

www.linuxformat.com

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CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 150 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------

1. Welcome

----------------------------------------------------------

We made it! Linux Format magazine is now 150 issues old. (Or young,

depending on which way you look at it.) So much has happened since

issue 1 back in May 2000, when we were talking about Red Hat Linux

6.1 and KDE 1.1.2. We've been through some great times, such as

winning over new users thanks to the mess that was Windows Vista,

and some less great times, like the whole SCO vs Linux legal tangle.

But Linux has gone from strength to strength, and with Android's

explosive growth, we can be proud that our favourite OS (at least

the kernel!) is powering millions of devices around the world.

Read on for a look at the just-released LXF150, plus roundups of the

hottest news stories and forum threads. Then delve into our special

feature on the "GNU" vs "GNU/Linux" naming controversy - we've got

both sides of the argument. Enjoy!

Mike Saunders

Newsletter Editor

Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

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2. LXF 150 on sale

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We feel a bit sorry for users of Windows and Mac OS X. Whenever they

come up with a new idea or fix for their operating systems, the most

they can do is send off an email to Microsoft or Apple and hope that

someone, somewhere, reads it. And then does anything about it.

Whereas here in Linuxland, everyone has the opportunity to make

their OS better, or customise it exactly how they want. That's what

this issue's cover feature focuses on: making your own, unique

distro. Who knows - maybe you'll produce the next big hit in the

DistroWatch charts?

Meanwhile, we explore the new features in kernel 3.0, report from

inside the Mageia project, talk to Rob Pike about the Google Go

programming language, and put KDE 4.7 under the spotlight in our

reviews section. You'll find tutorials on data protection,

MediaWiki, Python and Arduino, while the coverdisc is packed with

software to explore: CentOS 6, Chakra Linux (including KDE 4.7),

Ubuntu 11.10 preview and much more.

Here's a taster of LXF150 from the HotPicks section:

# Minitube 1.5 -- http://flavio.tordini.org/minitube

Can one man change the way we watch video? Probably not, but

Flavio Tordini is going to have a go anyway. His simple yet

cunning idea is to create a standalone player for YouTube videos.

Yes, you might say, isn't that just like a browser window? But no,

it isn't!

Well, it is, sort of. But because Minitube doesn't look like just

a browser window, and because it has some features which are

slightly more centred on viewers rather than web users, it does

sort of subtly change your perception of what's going on. It seems

as if you're no longer just clicking on links to watch videos of

cats sneaking up on people or small boys biting each other, but

actually watching channels of, erm, cats sneaking up on people.

Nevertheless, it's actually pretty good. It isn't any faster than

watching on YouTube or anything, and you may still experience the

tedium of waiting for files to fill the buffer and so on, but it

does encapsulate all the controls you need in a nice interface.

It's a bit of a wonder that the playing controls are at the top of

the screen rather than underneath the video window, but you can't

have everything.

Minitube is pretty straightforward to build from source. It's

written in C++ and uses the Qmake build system so it won't pose

any problems to those of you who can manage a few commands. Make

sure you have Qt 4.5 or better installed and then just type "qmake

&& make".

One thing we should mention: Minitube might not actually work.

Well, it works at the minute, but YouTube has a habit of changing

its website every so often, which in the past has broken previous

versions of the software. If it doesn't work, the author is

usually pretty prompt at fixing, so check the website for any

updates.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture

for more information on Linux Format 150.

----------------------------------------------------------

3. Special subscription offer

----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic

savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to

the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,

complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 80

issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our

latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------

4. In the news

----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Ubuntu Technical Board member proposes monthly releases

http://tinyurl.com/3ttx4vb

Ubuntu has made some controversial moves recently, most notably with

the inclusion of Unity as the default desktop, and now one of the

members of the distro's Technical Board has put together a proposal:

that Ubuntu switches from six-monthly releases to monthly releases.

Will it happen? How big would the community backlash be? We'll have

to wait and see...

# Bruce Perens suggests new scheme for copyright assignment

http://lwn.net/Articles/458515/

Many open source projects love to have developers contribute, but

they also want the coders of patches to assign copyright too. This,

naturally, puts developers in a bit of a bind. Now Bruce Perens has

come up with a possible solution: developers hand over copyright to

their code to a project, but the project msut commit to having an

open source version for three years. Interesting reading.

# Major Linux websites hacked

http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/202179/linuxcom-linux-foundation-sites-breached

No matter how secure a system is, it's only as secure as its users.

Some notable Linux websites such as kernel.org and linux.com were

hacked recently, and the admins are still working out exactly what

happened. Suffice to say, if you have a login on any of those sites

and use the same password elsewhere, you might want to change it...

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5. This month on the forum

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Ever come across a seemingly inexplicable chain of dependencies,

when you're installing or removing a program? Rhakios wanted to

remove Apache from his Debian Squeeze box, and noticed that apt

wanted to remove Gnome as well. Huh? Roseway pointed out that

metapackages were the cause here, and the process of removing Apache

could go ahead safely. Pastychomper fanned the flames a bit by

suggesting the whole system was designed to make it very difficult

to remove Mono. Hah! [1]

With more and more people using notebooks as their primary PCs,

there's a lot of discussion about how well suspending (writing the

contents of RAM to disk) works on Linux. Nelz pointed out TuxOnIce,

a suspend system that lets you store the contents of RAM to either

the swap partition, or a file (that can also be compressed if need

be).

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14084

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14085

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6. Special Newsletter feature

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UNDERSTANDING THE LINUX VS GNU/LINUX ARGUMENT

Some people call it Linux. Some people call it GNU/Linux (GNU slash

Linux). A few even call it Lignux. But why? If you've ever tried to

research both sides of this debate on the internet, chances are

you've come away completely perplexed. After all, as our very own

Andrew Gregory has often pointed out on the TuxRadar Podcast, the

gnu.org FAQ on GNU/Linux usage is longer than the US constitution.

Here are both sides of the argument.

FOR GNU/LINUX

What we call "Linux" today actually started as another project with

a different name, back in the mid '80s. This was GNU, meaning GNU's

Not Unix, and was created by Richard Stallman to make a totally free

operating system that anyone could share and modify. GNU produced

lots of important software such as the GCC compiler suite, but

progress on its kernel was sluggish, and in 1991 a student called

Linus Torvalds wrote a kernel that fit in with the system.

A kernel is only one part of an OS, and so credit should be given to

the GNU project for its work. Moreover, there has been a tendency to

focus on the practical benefits of GNU/Linux - reliability,

performance and security - rather than the ethical benefits of

freedom and community as original espoused by the GNU team. By

calling it GNU/Linux, we remind people of the principles behind GNU.

AGAINST GNU/LINUX

We could argue that the history above is very pro GNU, and not the

full truth. In reality, "GNU" back in 1991 was a scattering of bits

and pieces, taken from various projects. It wasn't very advanced and

was missing by far the most important piece, a kernel. When Linus

released Linux, he didn't just slot it into GNU - it needed many

other components and modifications to become a working OS. The GNU

pieces helped, but so did code from many other projects. It's a real

mixture, and to give everything real credit we'd have to use a name

like GNU/BSD/X11/Apache/Perl/Linux.

GCC was alright at the time, but it's only when Linux arrived did it

start to become a seriously powerful piece of software, thanks to

work from "Linux" companies such as Red Hat. So in all, GNU had a

role to play in the development of our OS, but it's by no means

important enough to put in the name (and make an awkward sounding

name). The ball only really starting rolling when the Linux kernel

appeared, and that deserves the main credit.

DISCLAIMER!

These are two competing opinions of course, and we're not trying to

push you in any direction. But hopefully the argument is a bit

clearer now, and when you see flamefest thread #385,161 about GNU vs

Linux on a forum, you can chip in with some informed musings. Have fun!

----------------------------------------------------------

7. Coming up next issue

----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 151, on sale Thursday 13 October...

# Conquer the command line -- Never be scared of Bash again.

We take you from total CLI newbie to hacker extraordinaire

# Old hardware resurrected -- Don't throw it away! Discover

how to put those beige boxes under your desk to good use

# Build a XBMC media centre -- Create and use the ultimate

media centre without having to resort to MythTV

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------

8. Receiving this Newsletter

----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want

to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each

month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your

Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing

Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):

http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/

2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'

3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter

(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums

2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page

3. Select Newsletter and then View information

4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the

Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)

Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------

(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #76, August 2011

M-Saunders — Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:19 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:19 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #76, AUGUST 2011

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 149 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Welcome! It's been interesting to read about Linus Torvalds's
experiences with Gnome 3 over the last few weeks. He has very
vocally moved over to Xfce, complaining that Gnome 3 does things in
a backward way. Personally, I was surprised that he uses desktop
environments at all - I always assumed he ran something ultra
minimal like FVWM 1!

In fact, I think I'll dig out my old FVWM config file now... In
the meantime, enjoy this month's newsletter. We have a look at
the shiny new issue of Linux Format magazine, roundups of the
hottest news stories and forum threads, and a special feature on
starting your own open source project.

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 149 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

Cloud computing is the hottest buzzword of recent months, but what
exactly does it mean? Big businesses talk about shifting their whole
infrastructure to the cloud, but how can we home desktop users get
in on the action? In this month's cover feature we show you how to
utilise cloud services to simplify your life: streaming your music,
sharing email across all your devices, and evening running a whole
operating system remotely.

Meanwhile, we send Linux into outer space with a look at astronomy
software, and find out why IPv6 is going to save the internet. We
show you how to put embedded terminals onto your desktop, and make
Debian more friendly for new users. Then there's our coding section,
in which we explore Python, Arduino, C and more.

On the coverdisc you'll find the very latest releases of Sabayon and
PCLinuxOS, along with the ever-so-impressive Haiku BeOS clone. Then
there are games, development tools, podcasts and heaps more to
explore.

Here's a taster of LXF149 from the HotPicks section:

# OrDrumbox 0.9.06 -- http://www.ordrumbox.com

Drum machines are either the greatest liberating force in music
(you don't need to find a drummer for your band anymore, and lets
face it, they're usually the weird ones, and why should they share
in all the glory when all they contribute is hitting things every
now and then), or the greatest tragedy (the creative energy of
generations replaced by a few lines of code and a handful of too
perfect and inhuman samples). In either case, they're popular and
useful, so we're confident that, aside from having a sack of
badly-written mail from disgruntled percussionists, you'll be
interested in OrDrumbox.

The reliance on Java shouldn't put you off. It doesn't look like
the best thing in the music world ever, but OrDrumbox is all about
the thumping beats, not the visuals. Once running, you'll quickly
be able to grasp the sort of standard pattern and track building
options you usually get in such software. OrDrumbox ships with a
modest but good set of drum sounds in various styles, so you
probably won't need to add your own for most types of composition.
In spite of being notoriously difficult to manage real- time sound
in Linux (and Java come to that) it does a creditable job of
reliable, stutter-free playback and there is always the option to
hook it up to your MIDI equipment too.

One of the most interesting features though is the automatic
pattern generator, which uses a set of rules to generate patterns
for you (which can then be tweaked and adjusted) so you don't even
need any talent. In fact OrDrumbox is full of nice touches - name
a track with some sort of instrument name and it will
automatically assign the closest matching sample it can find.

There are various binary downloads available for OrDrumbox if you
have difficulty, but in reality it's very easy to compile from
source. Just unpack the zip file, enter the resulting directory
and type ant to engage the Java compiler. The resulting JAR file
can be run with java -jar <xxxxx.jar>.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 149.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 80
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# KDE 5 starts development
http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2011/08/important-announcement-coming-today-at.html

Don't panic: this isn't going to be another KDE 4. Well, hopefully.
The idea here is for a more evolutionary, rather than revolutionary,
release, with emphasis on "modularity and dependency clarity". It's
still very early days, so there's no reason to fall out of love with
your KDE 4 installation just yet.

# Torvalds ditches Gnome for Xfce
https://plus.google.com/106327083461132854143/posts/SbnL3KaVRtM

Everyone's favourite kernel team leader has had a good rant (scroll
down the posts) about the state of Gnome 3. Complaining about the
"head up the arse" behaviour of the desktop, Torvalds's words echo
those of many in the community. Gnome 3 continues to be
controversial...

# Chrome overtakes Firefox in the UK
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/01/chrome_overtakes_firefox_uk_browser_market_share/

Are we seeing the end of Firefox's glory days? The switch to an
ultra-rapid release cycle hasn't pleased many bystanders, and now
comes the announcement that Google Chrome has more users than the
venerable Mozilla project. Of course, a lot of this could simply be
down to Google's advertising campaign.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

Ubuntu's move towards Unity has caused a few arguments on the net,
to say the least. Some users have flocked to Linux Mint which
currently offers the 'classic' Gnome environment, but Stuartpalmer
asked if that could be considered a permanent solution. lok1950
noted that whatever Mint's intentions, the Gnome team won't support
earlier versions for much longer, so at some point there will be a
day of reckoning. [1]

Installing new software on older distros can be troublesome, as Colin
White discovered when trying to get Google Chrome running on Ubuntu
9.10. After following the recommendation to upgrade to a newer version,
Colin's video was messed up, which led to a useful discussion about
ways to gather video information.

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13986

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14012

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

SETTING UP AN OPEN SOURCE PROJECT

There are millions of free software/open source projects out there,
and you might have a great idea to start your own. But to avoid your
effort being lost in the wilderness of SourceForge, here are some
tips to bear in mind. You'll have to deal with the programming side
yourself - these tips will help you integrate better with the
community.

1) Start small

It's easy to think of grandiose plans for your project, with a vast
featureset and hundreds of contributors. Look, for instance, at the
many attempts to replace the X Window System with something else.
But at the start you'll have to produce something sufficiently
interesting to tempt others to help. Have a clear set of version 1.0
objectives and think about bigger plans later.

2) Polish your presentation

So many free software projects have brilliant code and technology
behind them, but bare, messy or badly written websites. Even if
you're not much of a web designer, spend a bit of time on your
internet presence, stating clearly what your software does and what
level it's at. Broken links and typos can put off potential users
and - even more so - developers.

3) Come up with a good name

This is a touchy subject, and we don't want to give Gimp a hard
time, but a clear, sensible name is hugely valuable. As temping as
it is to use an acronym (or a mutually recursive acronym, HURD
style), think of how your users will pronounce the name. Short,
snappy, and related to the software is key - think of Inkscape or
Rhythmbox, for example.

4) Spread the word

Once you've made a release you're happy with, generate interest by
talking about it on the net. This doesn't mean spamming forums with
links; rather, post on Freshmeat which is a software directory
that's syndicated by many other websites around the world.

5) Accept all feedback

You might have some less-technical users reporting seemingly
redundant problems with your software. Although we can easily
dismiss these issues as a result of user inexperience, they can be
pointers to significant problems with the software. If 20 people
report the same problem with a seemingly obvious solution, perhaps
the solution isn't so obvious after all.

So, those are some things to bear in mind when sowing the seeds of
your first open source project. Good luck, and get in touch if you
have any other hints you'd like to share with readers!

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 150, on sale Thursday 15 September...

# Build your own distro! Make the next big thing on
planet Linux happen - straight from your home

# Kernel 3.0 is here -- discover its new features

# Take three monitors, three operating systems and
meld them into the ultimate in geek showoffery

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #75, June 2011

M-Saunders — Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:00 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:00 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #75, JUNE 2011

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 147 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Hello! I'm really struggling with something in my head here: online
advertising. On the one hand, I strongly support it when it gives us
great free content, as we see on many websites. I enjoy reading
Engadget, for example, and I'd never want to block the ads as they
help to pay the staff's wages. That's a fair setup.

However, the amount of information being tracked by ad providers is
getting scary. Adverts are increasingly being tailored to what I
(apparently) want, and it's clear they're building up a detailed
profile about my browsing habits. I don't know what to do - I still
want to help ad-supported sites that I read, but I'm genuinely
concerned about my internet anonymity. I don't have anything to
hide, but I just want to be free. Any ideas, readers?

While we muse over that, enjoy this month's newsletter. We have a
look at the brand spanking new issue of Linux Format, roundups of
the hottest news stories and forum threads, plus a special feature
on emulating classic computers and consoles. Enjoy!

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 147 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

We all need a change of scenery now and then, so how about a change
of distro? With so much rapid innovation going on in the Linux
world, distros are constantly edging ahead of one another in areas
such as performance stability and ease-of-use. In this month's cover
feature we throw six of the best distros into a pit and let them
battle it out for supremacy. Who's the winner? You may very well be
surprised...

We've backed this up by putting all six of the distros on a special
8GB, double-sided DVD. On one side we have the full version of
Fedora 15 with almost 3,000 packages - everything you need for a
powerful Linux desktop, development workstation or server. Plus
we have games, tutorials, podcasts and much more.

Also in the magazine: check out our review of Mageia 1.0, the
community spin-off of Mandriva. We look at how the Fedora distro
grows from a bunch of ideas into a fully installable release, examine
the best Android apps, and have tutorials on lightweight distros,
pro photography, cloud file sharing, Gnome 3 tweaking and more.

Here's a taster of LXF147 from the HotPicks section:

# Rekonq 0.7.0 -- http://rekonq.kde.org

New browsers don't make a habit of popping up, and there's
probably quite a good reason for that. Firefox and Chrome/Chromium
have the market pretty well sewn up, and they do a very good job
for the most part. Things like Flock, source forks with overly
lofty ambitions, don't tend to go down well with their intended
audience, as Flock's own closure demonstrates. And if you're
feeling deliberately obtuse, you'll plump for Opera rather than
something small and obscure, won't you?

Perhaps not. Firefox 4 has wrinkled a fair few brows thanks to its
memory management, which we can only call 'awful'. Chrome,
similarly, has always had issues when you're running a large
number of tabs because it reserves individual pockets of RAM for
each one. Konqueror? Well, it's there. And it's huge. It's
probably the most extendable browser of any on general release at
the moment. And for some people that's an issue - enough so that
it's been ousted in favour of Reqonq as Kubuntu's lead browser.

Rekonq (which I've decided, hilariously, is pronounced 'Re-conk')
aims to fix all this. It's a KDE-based browser running off the
WebKit framework (rather than Konqueror's default KHTML), so you
know it's going to have high compatibility with a large number of
pages and should stay up-to-date.

And it's built on a philosophy of 'small and light', meaning it
deliberately tries not to be a memory hog. There's a default mode
which allows you to select when plugins are loaded, akin to
Firefox's FlashBlock extension but wider reaching - an absolute
boon when it comes to reducing unnecessary memory use and even for
saving battery when you're on a laptop.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 147.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 80
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Firefox 5 released
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/21/mozilla_firefox_5/

Just a mere three months after Firefox 4 hit the download mirrors,
we have a major new release. Well, depending on how you look at it.
Firefox 5 includes the Do Not Track privacy feature, but otherwise
it's mostly a collection of bug and security fixes. But who can
complain about lovely new software, eh?

# Ubuntu might switch to Chrome
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/061311-mark-shuttleworth.html

It's not all good news for Firefox though. Mark Shuttleworth has
stated that Ubuntu might move to Chrome in a few releases. He says
that due to Google's work on Chrome OS, the web browser's
performance on Linux is exceptionally good, making it a natural
choice.

# Fedora 16 to use Btrfs by default
http://digitizor.com/2011/06/09/fedora-16-btrfs/

Just when you were getting used to ext4, Fedora has announced that
the distro will use a different default filesystem in the next
release. Btrfs supports pooling, snapshotting, checksumming and
other advanced features, which will keep the distro on the cutting
edge, but if any massive problems crop up the switch will be
postponed until Fedora 17.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

Heiowge spotted an article about wireless router SSIDs, and how some
people leave them with the default names, which makes them easy
targets for crackers. He changed his to the awesome sounding
"Surveillance Vehicle T7", and the discussion delved into the finer
points of wireless security. Thinking up decent passwords is often
tough, so towy71 pointed out a couple of solutions. [1]

Is Firefox moving too fast for its own good? Nerdy-ish wondered if
the developers were learning "bad habits from Microsoft, namely,
change for changes sake" after moving the tab bar. There certainly
seems to be a prevailing opinion around the net that Firefox is
jumping around too quickly, possibly as an attempt to catch up with
Google Chrome's ever-growing version number. [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13799

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13663

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

RE-LIVE THE GOOD OLD DAYS WITH EMULATORS

New-fangled octo-core 35 jilliherz machines are all good and well,
but classic computers and video games consoles had a lot going for
them as well. Many of us learnt the fundamentals of computing on
8-bit machines in the 1980s, and have fond memories of games from
the time too. Let's take a look at some of the best options for old
system emulation.

1) PC -- DOSBox -- http://www.dosbox.com

The PC was host to a huge range of great games, and getting them
working under Wine (or even modern Windows) is often out of the
question. DOSBox emulates a PC with x86 processor, sound card and
other features, with a simple DOS layer on top for running old games
and apps. It's easy to configure (much better than DOSEmu, if you
remember that) and sports excellent compatibility. You can mount
local directories as drives inside the emulator, and change its
performance with the CYCLES option.

2) ZX Spectrum -- FUSE -- http://fuse-emulator.sourceforge.net

While its graphics were somewhat limited by the infamous colour
clash problem, the ZX Spectrum was still a great home computer with
heaps of games. FUSE, the Free Unix Spectrum Emulator, is arguably
the best emulator around and goes right from the 16K model through
to the +3 (with disk drive). It can read lots of different file
formats for tapes and has great compatibility.

3) Commodore 64 -- VICE -- http://www.viceteam.org

We're not going to start a flame war here, because clearly the Z80
is a better CPU than the 6502. Nonetheless, the C64 had considerably
better graphics than the Spectrum, and was hugely popular in the
States. VICE is an excellent emulator that has been around for many
years, so its compatibility is first-class.

4) Commodore Amiga -- UAE -- http://www.amigaemulator.org

Emulating the Amiga has always been difficult, due to the machine's
powerful custom chips. For many years it was hard to find an
emulator that ran games at the right speeds, but with today's
super-fast PCs that's not a problem. UAE is by far the most notable
Amiga emu; if you have trouble getting the vanilla version to work,
try E-UAE from the download page. With both you can use virtual
floppy disk images and run Workbench.

5) Atari ST -- Hatari -- http://hatari.berlios.de

We're fascinated to see that there's still a community of
ST/TT/Falcon fans on the internet, primarily in Germany. Atari's
unbelievably bad strategy and marketing led to a premature death of
its computer range, and while it didn't have all the graphical
prowess of the Amiga, it was still a great home computer. Hatari
runs the full gamut of Atari machines and is particularly focused on
running games.

6) Consoles -- SNES and Mega Drive (aka Genesis)

And lastly, a quick mention of some console emulators. For the SNES,
nothing beats ZSNES for excellent compatibility and performance. It
features some advanced facilities to search through memory and
create Game Genie codes. For the Mega Drive, try GENS, a scorchingly
fast emulator that even lets you record video footage.

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 148, on sale Thursday 21 July...

# Attack of the killer apps! We pluck out the 50 very best
programs that your Linux machine can handle

# Linux in the public sector -- Our favourite OS is free
and reliable, so why are our taxes spent on Microsoft?

# Build a cloud with Eucalyptus -- Share data across your
organisation with the power of koala food

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #74, May 2011

M-Saunders — Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:02 am

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:02 am

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #74, MAY 2011

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 146 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Fedora 15's release is a huge moment for the Linux community. It's
the first major distro to include Gnome 3, a radical departure from
the previous desktops we're all used to. Personally I'm a little bit
nervous about the coming weeks and months - many new users are going
to be trying Linux for the first time, and first impressions count
enormously. I really hope Gnome Shell will be well received by the
masses, but I'm just keeping my fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, read on for a look at the brand new issue of Linux
Format, roundups of the hottest news stories and forum posts, along
with a special feature analysing the importance of version numbers.
If you have any questions or thoughts, please drop me a line!

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 146 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

A new Ubuntu release always generates a certain amount of chatter
in Linuxland, but nothing compares to the impact of Ubuntu 11.04.
This signals a new direction for Canonical, with the familiar
Gnome 2.x desktop being replaced by Unity, which significantly alters
how we interact with our computers. In our cover feature we show you
how to master Unity, we talk to the developers behind the desktop,
and also probe Mark Shuttleworth for his thoughts too.

Meanwhile, we examine the state of accessibility software on Linux,
take the Google Cr-48 laptop for a spin, and show you 19 ways how
you can contribute to the open source/free software movement. In
our reviews section we look at Epiphany 3.0, Slackware 13.37 and
Zorin OS4, while in tutorials you can learn about Xfce, Firefox 4,
Frugalware and Asterisk.

And don't miss the 4GB DVD: it's an LXF exclusive triple-booting
disc with Ubuntu (including loads of extra packages), Kubuntu and
Xubuntu all rolled into one. We also have lightweight window
managers from our roundup, games, podcasts and much more to explore.

Here's a taster of LXF146 from the HotPicks section:

# Parted Magic 6.0 -- http://www.partedmagic.com

If one of your machines is up the creek, Parted Magic is
inevitably there to help. It certainly helped me the last time one
of my hard drives went bad; I was able to retrieve the files off
the dying disk - which wouldn't mount or even format properly -
using TestDisk, just one of the many free tools contained within.
No self respecting geek should leave home without a copy.

It's also great, as its names suggests, for tweaking the partition
sizes of established installations - Parted and GParted are on
board, and support for a wide range of filesystems means that
pretty much any disk can be changed with ease.

It'll test memory, benchmark machines, and run secure erase
procedures if there's something you really want rid of. OK, Parted
Magic won't whip you up a tasty omelette, but you can't have
everything.

This new major version release completely rejigs the way Parted
Magic handles the kernel, which should improve its ability to live
boot on more obscure systems, and completely removes the graphical
boot menu which has apparently caused problems on some machines. A
host of programs within have been upgraded, a few downgraded for
compatibility, but overall things look much as they have for a
while. It's a live distro that could save your bacon.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 146.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 70
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Fedora 15 released
http://fedoraproject.org

There's a whole bunch of new stuff to delve into here, most notably
Gnome 3 with its controversial Gnome Shell. There's also a new
Ethernet device naming system, a dynamic firewall (to which you can
make changes without restarting) and LibreOffice.

# Could Gnome become a Linux-only project?
http://osne.ws/j3t

There has been some talk about Gnome making systemd a dependency,
which would thereby make the desktop a Linux-only project. On the
one hand, this could arguably produce a more coherent experience
from the kernel right up to the clickable bits, but on the other, it
could be a loss for smaller OSes that also feature Gnome, like the
BSDs.

# The end of Linux kernel 2.6 is approaching...
http://digitizor.com/2011/05/24/end-linux-2-6/

Linus Torvalds thinks that the version numbers for Linux 2.6.xx are
getting too big, so he might switch to 2.8.0 in the near future. Or
indeed he's even considering 3.0, as Linux moves into its third
decade. While version numbers shouldn't really matter, could a major
X.0 release make pointy-haired IT management types scared?

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

Gnome 3 has been the hottest topic of the last few weeks, and
felis_silvestris kicked off a thread about it, saying he had ran out
of patience and gone to Xfce. RedWillow preferred Unity, while Brian
Hunter pointed to a useful "cheat sheet" of Gnome Shell shortcuts.
In general, opinions were mixed on the new desktop, with
SpecialStuff saying he/she loved it, while a couple of users
couldn't get it to run properly. [1]

Microsoft's recent acquisition of Skype furrowed a few brows among
the forum regulars. Being closed source software, it was never going
to be massively popular amongst the Linux crowd anyway, but Towy71
asked for some alternatives. Nelz recommended sticking to the
standard SIP protocol, which is open and implemented in many
clients. [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13656

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13702

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

THE IMPORTANCE OF VERSION NUMBERS

What's in a number? It's tempting to think that whether a program is
1.0 or 11.5, it doesn't actually matter - the quality of the
software is what's important. However, version numbers can reveal a
lot about the developers' intentions behind making releases, and how
they're perceived by end-users.

The most important version number is 1.0. There are countless free
software projects that have proven to be stable, reliable and
featureful, and yet never manage to reach that magical 1.0 mark.
Window Maker is a great example of this, as is Inkscape. Now,
perhaps the Inkscape team has a bunch of functionality still to
implement, and it wants to wait - that's their decision.

But we'd argue that just the label "1.0" generates a huge amount of
interest. This author has experience in this field: I started
working on MikeOS, my little operating system, releasing various
0.4x versions on SourceForge and Freshmeat. They received some
interest, but nothing special. When I decided that I was happy with
my work and released 1.0, I followed exactly the same process - an
announcement on SourceForge and Freshmeat.

And the difference was astounding.

Suddenly my project received a great deal more interest, with more
downloads on the site and emails coming my way. I believe that just
the "1.0" mark distinguished it clearly from millions of other
projects on Freshmeat that perpetually languish in the 0.x zone.
That's not to say my OS was better than most 0.x projects - but it
said "This is ready for everyone to try."

Now, if we're talking about big business, your average pointy-haired
IT purchasing manager will be wary to go with anything x.0. It
sounds too new, too untested, too raw. Once you get to x.1 or x.2 it
reassures potential users that the software has been well tested,
and bugs have been ironed out.

So there's a lot of psychology behind version numbers. If you've
been sitting on a piece of software that's reliable, solid and does
what it says, don't just leave it at 0.35 just because you once had
plans to add 500 more features. Release it as 1.0, get it on the net
and you might find a lot more help and support to add those
features.

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 147, on sale Thursday 23 June...

# Epic distro showdown -- Fedora, Ubuntu, Arch, SUSE, Debian
and Mint go head-to-head in this monster contest

# Android apps -- Like man and fish, your Android phone and
your Linux box can live together in peace

# Inside the Fedora project -- From the brains of the coders
to your desktop is a twisting path

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #73, April 2011

M-Saunders — Thu May 26, 2011 2:40 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 2:40 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #73, MARCH 2011

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 144 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Being a big player in the Linux community is hard work. We've seen
Canonical come under fire from all sorts of angles recently, perhaps
deservedly in some cases, but there's never a shortage of flamewars
on the internet. We're a passionate bunch, we've made a conscious
decision to move away from controlling, proprietary OSes, so we're
naturally sensitive to commercial involvement.

On the other hand, Canonical has arguably brought millions of users
into the Linux fold, and its ShipIt free CD programme is to be
applauded. I think it's good to stay vigilant when it comes to
protecting our community, but I think we can also value the great
contributions that companies can make too.

Meanwhile, read on for a look at the shiny new issue of Linux
Format, roundups of the hottest news stories and forum threads, and
a special feature on the radical new design of Gnome 3...

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 144 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

MythTV usually conjures up two thoughts amongst Linux users: it's a
brilliant digital TV platform, but it's also notoriously difficult
to set up correctly. Fortunately, then, this month's cover feature
teams up with the mighty Mythbuntu (on the DVD) and helps you
configure a powerful, attractive and feature-laden personal video
recorder. You can watch TV over the web, cut out annoying adverts
and never miss your favourite shows again.

Meanwhile, the Ubuntu Community Manager explains the tricks of
project management, while we look at how to convert weary Windows
users to the happy world of free software. In our reviews section we
look at OpenSUSE 11.4, SpaceChem and OpenShot, while our tutorials
bit covers KDE, LPI certification, Bash scripting, accessing iOS
devices on Linux and more.

Then there's the software-packed 4GB DVD, featuring a trifecta of
OpenSUSE 11.4 versions: KDE, Gnome and 64-bit. Then there's the
aforementioned Mythbuntu 10.10, a demo of the top-scoring SpaceChem
puzzler, Puppy Linux 5.2, development tools, games, podcasts and
heaps more to explore.

Here's a taster of LXF144 from the HotPicks section:

# Bangarang 2.0 -- http://bangarangkde.wordpress.com

What does the world need now? It's not love, sweet love
apparently, but a new media player for the new age. Yes, we have
plenty of media players and they all play media, so why would
someone create another one? Maybe they were bored. Or maybe they
realised that playing media isn't what people want from a media
player.

If you want to play your favourite TV show through the Linux
desktop, there are dozens of ways you can do it, but if that's all
you're after, you want the player itself to get out of the way and
let you get on with it. What the team behind Bangarang have
realised is that the attention-deficit user of today doesn't
really want to watch their favourite show; they want to be
distracted from it by the promise of finding out more information
about said programme.

They want to be sucked into a time-consuming journey through all
the other shows written by the same screenwriters, or starring the
same stars. They want their music to come with pictures and
ratings and all sorts of other stuff until they can't remember
what the first thing they looked at was.

That's a little unfair - Bangarang does deliver this through a
side panel of information about currently playing media, but it
does a stylish and commendable job of serving up the thing you
first thought of too. Crucially, it latches into the KDE
infrastructure, so that it can be more hooked up to your whole
desktop experience.

Bangarang supports the Media Player Remote Interfacing
Specification (MPRIS) API, so it's easy to control and integrate
with other software. It does a good job of playing your media,
too, whether it's local files, external streams of DVDs (including
menus, subtitles and so on). Building from source is possible, but
it's not for the faint-hearted, so you may wish to wait for the
update to reach your favourite repositories.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 144.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 70
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Ubuntu 11.10 has a name
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/646

Are you ready? It's... the "Oneiric Ocelot". In normal words, this
is a dreamy, medium-sized wild cat that has a tawny yellow coat.
Mark Shuttleworth says: "We'll need to keep up the pace of
innovation on all fronts post-Natty. Our desktop has come together
beautifully, and in the next release we'll complete the cycle of
making it available to all users, with a 2D experience to complement
the OpenGL based Unity."

# Debian Derivatives Project launched
http://dex.alioth.debian.org/

There are hundreds of Debian-based distros out there, but not all of
the innovations that they produce are rolled back into Debian
itself. That's a shame, so the DEX project aims to make it easier to
integrate these improvements by providing a central resource for
communication and information. Good luck to them.

# Gtk 3.2 apps to work in browsers?
http://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2011/03/15/gtk-html-backend-update/

Here's a curious tidbit. A feature has been merged into the
development branch of the Gtk toolkit, enabling applications to run
on one machine and display in the web browser of another, without
any weird Flash or Java hacks involved. There's a video at the above
link showing a developer running Gnome's calculator at the command
line, and then accessing its GUI elements in Firefox. It's a bit
limited right now, but perhaps holds a glimpse of the future.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

Ubuntu Unity: a great step forward for desktop Linux, or a silly
side-step into the unknown which will be soon forgotten? The debates
rage on, and after Khakilang started a discussion about moving to
Debian from Ubuntu, the topic soon turned to perceptions of Unity.
On the one hand, Wyliecoyoteuk was having a grand time with the new
interface, whereas LeeNukes found it "horrible and very buggy".
RedWillow noted that Unity has improved a lot between Ubuntu 10.10
and 11.04 - if you've got any good or bad experiences with it, join
the thread and let everyone know. [1]

Imagine you're in the position of making a web browser plugin that
has gigantic market penetration, is used by hundreds of major
websites and has a huge market behind it. You'd want to make it fast
and reliable, right? Well, Adobe doesn't seem bothered about that,
given the widespread detest for its Flash plugin around the net.
Bobthebob1234 flipped out and couldn't contain his rage any more,
spurring others to express their raw, seething hatred. [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13498

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13516

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

EXPLORING GNOME 3

If you haven't heard yet, Gnome 3 is going to sport a radically
redesigned interface called Gnome Shell. This throws everything we
know from the standard Gnome desktop into the air, and the results
are... well, really, it's too early to develop a strong opinion yet.
It's certainly very modern and fresh in its approach, but will it
just alienate users who're familiar with the old panel and menu
design? Here's how it works...

1) The top bar

Along the top you'll see a black panel that ever-so-slightly
resembles the one in normal Gnome, with a clock, system tray and a
user button that you can click to switch to another user account or
shut down the machine. Click on the clock and you get access to
a calendar, which hooks into the Evolution PIM client. On the far
left of the panel is this button...

2) Activities

This is where everything happens. Click Activities (or move the
mouse right into the top-left corner of the screen) and the desktop
will fade out, with any windows currently on display resizing into
the centre in Mac OS X Expose-like style. This appears to be the
primary way to switch between running applications - there's no
traditional task bar to speak of, although (thankfully) Alt+Tab
still works.

3) The dock

In the Activities view, there's a panel down the left-hand side
which contains your most-used programs. You can add other programs
to this by clicking the Applications button near the top, and then
dragging them into the dock. It is very similar in operation to
the dock in Mac OS X.

4) Searching

Search facilities are an ever-growing aspect of all modern OSes,
and the search box in the Activities view looks for applications and
preferences. There are also buttons at the bottom so that you can
perform your search on Google or Wikipedia instead.

5) Workspaces

When you're in the Activities view, there's a very thin line on the
right-hand side; mouse over it and you'll see a small '-' box and a
long '+' pane. These can be used to add and remove workspaces (aka
virtual desktops). You can then switch between these using the
little boxes at the bottom of the view.

Ultimately, Gnome 3 is still in development and it may be more
refined and polished by launch day. It's certainly a decent
performer at the moment and we've encountered no major bugs in our
testing. However, it's just so unusual and feels like we spend far
more time mousing around to get things done than in the normal Gnome
setup. Constantly jumping into the Activities view, which causes a
flurry of effects on the screen, just to launch a program seems
really messy. We'd love some quick launchers on the top panel.

It'll be interesting to see how well it's received...

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 145, on sale Thursday 28 April...

# More on Gnome 3! Our in-depth guide, along with Gnome 3
Live on the disk, gets you involved. Plus: coding tips

# Stallman speaks -- RMS, the beard-toting guru who started
the free software movement, doesn't mince his words

# Developers rejoice! Say hello to our brand new, awesome
coding supplement

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #72, March 2011

M-Saunders — Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:09 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:09 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #72, MARCH 2011

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 143 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Hello! OSNews has just put up a good story (http://osne.ws/iw3)
about a video on YouTube, showing a virtual machine with Windows 1.0
being upgraded all the way through to Windows 7. In fairness to
Microsoft, it's pretty impressive that compatibility with old DOS
games and Windows apps is retained through all the releases, but I
wonder how much baggage Windows must be carrying to support this.

Here in the free software world we have our own ways of handling
compatibility: recompiling. Sure, you can make a binary statically
linked if you want to semi-guarantee it working into the future, but
it's far better to release an app as free software / open source so
that others can adapt it to newer libraries and build systems,
without having to carry cruft everywhere.

Meanwhile, read on for a look at the shiny new issue of Linux
Format, roundups of the hottest news stories and forum threads, and
a special feature on effectively advocating Linux and free software.

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 143 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

At heart, we're all system administrators. That doesn't mean we all
have big beards and spend our time reminiscing about punch cards -
it just means we all have to do things like securing our networks,
accomplishing tasks at the command line and so forth. With this in
mind, this month's cover feature is all about sysadmin secrets: tips
from the pros to make your Linux box faster, safer and smarter.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. In this packed issue we show
you how to upgrade to KDE 4.6, discover a better file manager in our
roundup, code awesome apps in KDevelop and get your box dual-booting
between two distros. In our reviews section we have the rather
special Google Nexus S, while our tutorials cover LPI certification,
funky uses of ExifTool and much more.

And then there's the 4GB DVD, loaded with hot new software: Debian
6, LibreOffice 3.3, KDE 4.6 Live and heaps more. And one more thing!
We have a very cool gift that will remind you to celebrate the
birthday of your favourite distro or Linux celebrity...

Here's a taster of LXF143 from the HotPicks section:

# Wings3D 1.4 -- www.wings3d.com

Linux Format is almost unsuitable for bringing you news of a new
version of Wings, because it's only capable of doing so in two
dimensions. When you think about it, though, this software builds
3D models in a 2D medium - your monitor. Smoke and mirrors. As is
common with such apps, you start out by creating a simple
'primitive', then mess around with it and slice it up until it
resembles what you want. There are more than a few similar tools
for Linux, but Wings3D has some decent features, and while the
interface looks distinctly un-Linuxy, there may be some things
that you find compelling about it.

As well as the standard tools for shaping your objects, there's a
very handy magnet puller - which works sort of like one of those
car body repair magnets and is used for deforming a shape's
vertices - and the AutoUV mapper makes texturing a little easier,
too. The modeller also supports a wide range of formats for
importing and exporting, so if you're refining a 3DLS, LightWave
or Wavefront object (of which there are a plentiful supply
online), or you ultimately want to export to a format such as VRML
or POV-Ray, you can rest easy.

Wings makes use of the curious and perhaps underused Erlang
language to power its multi-dimensional world. Fetching it from
your standard repository might land you with an older version, but
it will pull in the language itself and all of the additional
libraries that are required.

If you're going down the self-build route, you'll need to install
the Erlang-esdl package, and set the ESDL_PATH variable before you
hit make. You can do so by running something like this:

export ESDL_PATH='/usr/lib64/erlang/lib/esdl-1.0.1/'
make

Otherwise, you can download some Deb packages from the homepage.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 143.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Debian 6 released!
http://www.debian.org/News/2011/20110205a

Yay! OK, so it was six months later than originally planned, but
that's the Debian way - stability is the absolute priority. This
release sports updates to pretty much everything, with a modern set
of desktop apps and a playful space theme. Under the hood, it has
faster dependency-based boot scripts too.

# Firefox planning flurry of releases in 2011
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Roadmap

Four releases this year - yes, four. Some might accuse Firefox of
trying to chase IE and Chrome in the version number race, but others
say it's a sign that the team wants to make steady, evolutionary
releases rather than world-changers every two years. As long as it
catches up with the mightily zippy Chrome in the speed stakes, we're
chuffed.

# Nokia and Microsoft team up
http://tinyurl.com/4g77ffo

That in itself isn't particularly interesting to us in the Linux
world, but it poses a question: what's going to happen to the MeeGo
platform, which Nokia was backing before? All we know at this stage
is that Nokia is planning some kind of MeeGo product this year, but
what it is remains to be seen. And what'll happen to Qt?

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

Rhakios found a news story that didn't impress him much: a report
about Linux machines being vulnerable to security exploits via "USB
worms". We get a strange image in our heads when we think of a "USB
worm", but apparently you have to disable loads of security measures
and then have physical access to a machine and then trigger a
certain bug in a certain piece of software. Nelz craftily noted that
direct physical access isn't always necessary though - you could
hand out USB keys with smiley faces and cause much chaos. [1]

Poor AndyBaxman. Trying to be a decent bloke, he took his family for
a trip to the cinema, and came off almost 40 quid down. Nelz had a
similar rip-off experience recently too. We remember the days when
40 quid would get you a copy of Zelda III, which would last you a
good month. And then you'd spend another month trying to find Chris
Houlihan's secret room.

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13303

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13347

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY

We all want to spread the word of free software. We've all seen how
much safer, faster and better computing can be thanks to Linux. We
know that we're free of corporate domination and can delve into our
operating system as much as we want, without being labelled as
criminals. It's great being a Linux user, but how do we spread the
work properly?

1) Start small

If you want to switch someone over to Linux, they're not going to
tear up their existing operating system in one fell swoop. It's a
good idea to demonstrate the benefits of free software gradually,
first by showing the big news stories on the BBC and similar
websites about how scarily insecure Internet Explorer is. Show them
Firefox, how easy and familiar it is, and explain how much safer
they are online now.

2) Count up the price

We're all used to web browsers being free (as in beer), but you can
really make an impact talking about office software. This works
especially well in small businesses, when you can point out that
switching to LibreOffice will potentially save thousands of pounds.
If your convertee in the making gets applications through torrent
sites, show them free alternatives that they can use without the
risk of legal problems.

3) Don't yell FREEDOM

We value software freedom, but it's quite an abstract idea and for
those who don't understand what source code is, it can be hard to
get across. So initially, it's good to focus on the practical
benefits of free software (price, reliability, security). Once a
user is settled in, show them how they can't be controlled by a
company. And even if they have no use for the source code, by
everyone having access to it, nobody is at mercy of corporate
interests.

4) Step up to live CDs

There's no need to jump straight into a hard drive Linux
installation. Give someone a live distro, help them to boot it up
and leave them exploring. Tell them that they can't damage their
machine like this and they can simply reboot whenever they want.
That generates massive confidence.

5) Stick with popular distros...

...at least at the start. You may love WonderBuzz Linux 84.7, but
because a new convertee may need help from a community online, it's
best to start with a well-known distro where it's easy to find help.
Once your convertee is fully settled into the Linux world, you can
show him/her the broader world of distros.

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 144, on sale Thursday 31 March...

# MythTV -- Download TV and watch what you want, when
you want. Lorraine Kelly never looked so good!

# The conversion challenge -- How to make friends and
influence people (to use Linux, or maybe BSD)

# GUI plotters group test -- Sharpen your pencils and
plot your axes with this graphical geekery

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #71, February 2011

M-Saunders — Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:25 am

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:25 am

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #71, FEBRUARY 2011

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 142 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Hello! Regular LXF readers and TuxRadar podcast listeners will know
that I'm not a big fan of forks. (In software, that is. For eating
they're grand.) Far too many projects fork for tiny, trivial
reasons, leading to duplication of effort and arguments between
teams. However, sometimes I think it's essential, when no proper
progress can be made in the current form. That happened with XFree86
(X.org) and OpenOffice.org (LibreOffice). XFree86 looks effectively
dead now, and X.org has seen much more rapid development. I'm sure
OOo will stumble on for a while, but hopefully LibreOffice will make
it much quicker to get new features rolled in!

If you want to try LibreOffice but you're unsure about the
installation process, check out our special newsletter feature
below. Plus there's also our usual roundups of hot news stories and
forum threads, along with a look at the shiny new book-bonused Linux
Format, issue 142!

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 142 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

Some things make us cry: kittens with sad faces, chopping onions,
and the cost of rail tickets in the United Kingdom. But nothing
makes us cry as much as losing a file, especially when it's a prized
photo or piece of writing that can't be reconstructed without vast
effort. So in this month's cover feature, we show you how to never
lose a single file again. Our tips, tools and strategies for making
backups will ensure that your data never goes walkabouts and you
always have a spare copy, just in case.

Meanwhile, we show you how to master KDE's Plasma Desktop, explain
how Ubuntu is going to transition to Unity, and list the 20 things
we'd change about OpenOffice.org. Our reviews section puts
VirtualBox 4.0, Mathematica 8 and Opera 11 under the spotlight,
while in tutorials you'll find guides for Ntop, CakePHP, Cherokee
and LPI certification.

And! The free 4GB DVD is a triple-booter with the latest releases of
PCLinuxOS, Lubuntu and CrunchBang, along with Puppy Linux and
SystemRescueCD. Whether you're looking for a newbie-friendly Linux
flavour, a distro for power users or something to revive an old
machine, you'll find the perfect answer here. Plus the disc contains
heaps of applications, games, podcasts and documentation.

And there's another and! As a special bonus, LXF 142 comes with a
64-page book packed with advanced tutorials - SSH tunnelling, fixing
NTFS partitions, bandwidth shaping, RAID and more. It's ideal for
keeping on your bookshelf when you have a difficult job to do.

Here's a taster of LXF142 from the HotPicks section:

# MP3 Diags 1.0.07 -- http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net

MP3 files changed the face of music. The lossy but oh-so compact
format throws away (mostly) the bits you can't hear anyway, and
made it possible to store your whole music collection on a
fraction of a hard drive. Yet the format is not without its
issues. Whether you recorded your files yourself, downloaded them
from some music service or decoded them from a CD, they are very
rarely perfect. The ID3 tag system was invented to add metadata to
music files, but it's used inconsistently, which means you
sometimes buy files with no useful data, no album artwork or with
dodgy audio stream formats.

For all these situations and more, MP3 Diags is ready to ride to
the rescue. We originally saw this back in LXF129, but since then
some of the more pernicious problems have been ironed out, so it's
worth another try if you didn't get on with it back then.

Sometimes, it isn't the most intuitive software to use, with its
strange mixture of left or right mouse clicks depending on whether
you want to perform operations on a single file or the whole
collection. It is getting better, though, and and really is an
invaluable tool for sorting out your music collection.

You can easily download and build the source, but the homepage
also features binary package downloads - along with a credible
amount of documentation - for a host of distros and formats, so it
may be worth checking there first.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 142.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# KDE 4.6.0 released
http://www.kde.org/announcements/4.6/

Yes, the Plasma Workspaces, Applications and Development Platform
bundles of the popular desktop have seen a new release, with better
suitability for mobile devices, a "faceted browsing" mode for files
and an "activity manager" that groups together your applications.
Hit the link above for details and screenshots galore.

# Distros collaborate on app store
http://ostatic.com/blog/one-package-manager-for-them-all

Imagine if all the distros had a standard package manager, with
standard package names, across all distros. Imagine how much easier
it would be to write documentation that applied across Linux
distros, and how much easier it would be for users. Well, that's the
goal of a team of developers from Red Hat, Fedora, Debian, SUSE and
other distros that met up last week. Good luck to them, we say.

# Qt to be included by default in Ubuntu?
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/568

Looks like it. Mark Shuttleworth says that Gtk shouldn't be an
absolute requirement for standard Ubuntu apps, and "it��s the values
which are important, and the toolkit is only a means to that end".
The blog post makes for interesting reading, although we're a bit
concerned about which apps need to be removed to fit Qt into the
(already tightly packed) CD image...

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

Ubuntu's big forthcoming changes (Unity as the default desktop,
Wayland replacing X) has many long-term users understandably
concerned. Heiowge asked Ubuntu users what they're going to do for
the next release - upgrade, revert back if it's bad, stay with an
older release or switch distros entirely. PCNetSpec was bothered
about some of Mark Shuttleworth's "weird decisions", and the speed
of implementation. [1]

Optical media is fairly robust when it's in cases, but it's also
horribly prone to scratches as we've all experienced. bobthebob1234
asked the forum how he could make backups of his DVD movies, looking
for something that would retain features of the films (chapters,
subtitles etc.) Some good suggestions came up! [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13243

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13238

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

INSTALLING LIBREOFFICE 3.3

There's a new office suite in town, although it's extremely familiar
to the one you're probably already using. Due to disputes within the
developer community, OpenOffice.org was forked off into LibreOffice
a few months ago. The new suite continues the work done in OOo and
also rolls in the Go-OO project improvements too. Many distros are
moving towards LibreOffice. But, in the meantime, you can try it for
yourself today! Just follow the steps below.

1) Remove all traces of OpenOffice.org

For simplicity's sake, it's a good idea to get rid of your existing
OpenOffice.org installation first. Exactly how you do this will
depend on your distro, but you should open up your package manager,
do a search for 'openoffice' and remove all packages with the name.
Have a search for 'ooo' as well. Note that this won't remove your
personal settings, however, which will be in the '.openoffice.org'
directory that's in your home directory.

2) Grab the installation files

Go to http://www.libreoffice.org/download/ and select the
appropriate file for your distro. If you're running Ubuntu, Debian
or any other Debian-based distro, select the 'deb' option. Download
the .tar.gz file to your home directory, open a terminal window and
enter 'tar xfvz filename', replacing filename with the one you
downloaded (hit tab after the first few letters to auto-fill and
save time). Switch into the resulting directory, and DEBS inside
that, and enter

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

If you're running Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSUSE or another RPM-based
distro, download the 'rpm' option to your home directory. Extract
the file with 'tar xfvz filename', 'cd' into the resulting directory
and then RPMS, switch to root with 'su' and then enter:

rpm -ivh *.rpm

3) Launch the suite

With it all installed, you can now launch it from the command line
like this:

/opt/libreoffice/program/soffice

That'll start up the welcome screen for creating a new document in
the various components (word processor, spreadsheet etc). You can
launch directly into these components using:

/opt/libreoffice/program/soffice -writer
/opt/libreoffice/program/soffice -calc
/opt/libreoffice/program/soffice -impress

You may also want to create launchers for your desktop environment
or window manager, to fire up the suite with a single click. Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 143, on sale Thursday 3 March...

# The sysadmin bluffer's guide -- Still feel like you're stuck
at beginner level? We upgrade your Linux skills!

# Free wallchart -- A pretty picture, and something useful too...

# File managers group test -- Manage your pics, music, documents
and more with our selection of the best tools

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #70, January 2011

M-Saunders — Thu Feb 03, 2011 3:40 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 3:40 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #70, JANUARY 2011

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 141 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Happy new year! As I write this, the CES gizmo show in Las Vegas is
well underway, with a seemingly endless range of Windows 7 "tablets"
on display. It strikes me that we've had Windows tablets for years,
and they never took off - it's only when Apple made a tablet with an
OS specifically designed for it, that the market started to grow.

I really can't see how show-horning clunky old Windows onto a tablet
will ever work, which is why I'm so excited for Linux (in the form
of Android). It has a GUI perfectly suited to mobile computing, it's
much more cost effective, and it's ultra robust. My bet: Android
tablets will outsell Windows ones this year. Fingers crossed!

But there's much more to come in 2011 - and that's the focus of our
special feature in this month's Newsletter. We also have roundups of
the hottest news stories and forum posts, plus a look at the shiny
new issue of Linux Format. Enjoy!

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 141 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

Come to Linux Format Towers, and you'll find us surrounded by stacks
of distro discs, drinking coffee from penguin-adorned cups and
vigorously debating whether Ubuntu should switch to Wayland. We love
Linux, and it's our lives. But we're also pragmatists - we know that
Linux has to co-exist in a world of Windows and Mac OS X. So in this
month's big feature we're looking at interoperability. We show you
how to install Windows drivers in Linux, share data across
platforms, clone disks and more.

Meanwhile, we talk to Jon Phillips of the Identi.ca microblogging
service, examine the ever-changing design of Ubuntu, and peer into
the future of display rendering with Wayland. In our reviews section
you'll find Mint 10, MythTV 0.24 and Oxygen 12, while our tutorials
cover photo management, shell scripting, CakePHP and Drupal. On the
distro-loaded 4GB DVD we have Sabayon 5.4, CentOS 5.5 and NetBSD 5.1
for your exploring pleasure - along with heaps of other software,
games, podcasts and more.

Here's a taster of LXF141 from the HotPicks section:

# MoneyGuru 2.3.3 -- http://www.hardcoded.net/moneyguru/

Whether you're amused or not by "quantitative cheesing", there's
no doubt that many people are keeping a closer eye on their
finances these days. Perhaps a few more should still be concerned
about what they spend their lucre on, but it's always so difficult
to work out where it went. A tin of baked beans here, a night out
on the rough cider there, and soon there isn't enough left to pay
the taxman. MoneyGuru isn't going to advise you on consolidation
loans, tell you how to switch your mortgage to save cash or
suggest what to spend your last fiver on, but it can let you know
where your money goes.

When cash-counting software first emerged from the primordial
floppy disk, it was functional rather than friendly, so few people
used it. MoneyGuru manages to keep the workload light. It supports
a multitude of different formats for sucking in your transactions,
and because the majority of banks are now online and have
statement download options, it shouldn't pose any problems.

The software uses a double-entry system for extra rigour, and a
strategy of multiple accounts that work even if you're only
dealing with data from one physical account. For example, you can
set up a cash expense account, where money is 'sent' when you take
it out of the ATM. This means that you don't necessarily have to
keep track of every bus ticket you buy to make your balances add
up - you just need to count the money in your wallet periodically
and offset the difference against a miscellaneous expense.

This software is also quick and fairly simple to use once you've
got the hang of it. Keyboard shortcuts and plenty of tabbed
displays mean getting around is nippy: you'll have solved the
mysteries of your disappearing cash in no time. MoneyGuru is a
cross-platform app, although a lot of the attention seems to be
paid to versions running on other platforms. Nevertheless, it's
available as source and in a number of package formats for easy
installation.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 141.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Linux kernel 2.6.37 released
https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/1/4/266

Linus Torvalds has given us a late Christmas present to play with,
featuring SMP scalability improvements for the Ext4 and XFS
filesystems, removal of the Big Kernel Lock, image hibernation using
LZO compression, new drivers and heaps more. If you fancy getting
ultra-technical, check out the full list of changes at
https://lkml.org/lkml/2011/1/4/266

# The Linux Game Tome is back!
http://www.happypenguin.org

Phew... after months of silence, our favourite Linux games website
is finally back up and running. One of the hard drives had failed,
and the team had trouble getting data from a backup, so it has taken
quite a while to fix, but now it's open for posting. If you've
written a Linux game in the last few months, now's the time to post!

# New distro releases
http://www.distrowatch.com

And finally, a quick summary of a few distro releases that took
place over the Christmas period. Puppy Linux 5 arrived to bring a
Linux boost to older machines, while a new snapshot (201012) of
Linux Mint's rolling Debian flavour is here too. We're glad that
Mandriva is still alive, with 2010.2 appearing just before Christmas
day, with hundreds of bug and security fixes since 2010.1

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

DomJohnson announced a project he had started, trying to create GUIs
for commands that are lacking them. He asked the forum for
suggestions: which commands need GUIs? Rhakios noted that the
multitude of Grep options could be better explained in graphical
format, while Nelz mused that there are a few regular expression
editors available, but he's usually too exasperated from trying to
use regexps before he remembers to try them! [1]

Rhakios wins an award for being the most forum-eco-friendly poster
of 2010, reviving a previous "happy Christmas" thread instead of
starting a new one. [2] If Christmas isn't your thing, then you
might find Catgate's post covers your particular festival
celebration of choice. And what friendly forum would be complete
without a "happy new year" thread too? We had one too! Started by
the most infamous member of the board, no less... [3]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13109

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11299

[3] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13159

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

COMING UP IN EARLY 2011

So, a new year is here, with lots to look forward to in the Linux
world over the next 12 months. What's on the radar? What should we
be getting excited about? Here's the road ahead...

# Debian 6

Originally penned-in for late 2010, Debian 6 (aka "Squeeze") has
been slightly delayed in true Debian fashion, but in our view that's
always a good thing. The distro will be hugely reliable and stable;
no question. The main features here are new boot scripts based on
dependencies, which allow for parallel init scripts (and faster
booting). Alpha and HPPA architectures have been dropped, while
FreeBSD kernels have been added.

# OpenOffice.org 3.3

This is current sitting at a rather crazy Release Candidate 8, so
they're either finding a lot of last-second bugs, or RC is more of a
synonym for beta. Either way, there are new document protection
features in Writer and Calc, better slide layout handling in
Impress, and a common search toolbar. More at
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/3.3/index.html -- but
will it be enough to keep users from switching to LibreOffice?

# Xfce 4.8

Everyone's favourite non-Gnome/KDE desktop is about to see a major
update, with the whole kaboodle moved from ThunarVFS to GIO, which
in human terms means that Xfce users can now access remote
filesystems (eg via SSH/SCP) on their desktops. Additionally, the
panel has been completely rewritten and it's easier to manage
program launchers. The final version of 4.8 is due to be released on
January 16th, so if you fancy switching to a lightweight desktop,
keep that day free in your diary!

# Android 3.0

Rumours abound that Google is going to release Android 3.0, codename
Honeycomb, sometime around March. The biggest changes we're due to
see bring the operating system into the tablet market. Currently,
Android on tablets has been something of a fudge, but Honeycomb
should place it in a strong position against the iPad. As we write
this, the CES show is in full swing with countless Windows tablets
being waved around, but we're really excited about what Android 3
will bring...

So that's just four of the big events we've got to look forward to.
And that's just in the first few months! At this rate, it should be
a fantastic year for Linux.

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 142, on sale Thursday 3 February...

# Never lose a file again! We show you how to secure your
data and make your backups bulletproof

# Free book with every issue: Your pocket guide to in-depth
subjects such as SSH, NTFS, RAID and more

# Archivers group test: If you think tarballs are still a
good choice, these alternatives will knock your socks off

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2011 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #69, December 2010

M-Saunders — Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:41 am

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:41 am

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #69, DECEMBER 2010

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 140 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Do the LXF Christmas Quiz!

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Hello! And happy Christmas in advance, because this is the last
Newsletter of the year. And what a year it has been. Moblin and
Maemo merged to become MeeGo, every mobile phone company in the
world is suing one another, Oracle bought Sun, Mandriva forked and
Novell got snapped up too. It's all going on. Next year we're going
to see Ubuntu push ahead with Unity and Wayland, and there are bound
to be some major surprises too. Here's to a good 2011...

But there's still some time left this year to check out our look at
the new issue of Linux Format, roundups of the big news stories and
forum posts, plus our special (and really, honestly, totally
unmissable) LXF Christmas Quiz. Oh, and if you're still on the
lookout for a geek gift, we have great offers on Linux Format
subscriptions with savings galore:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 140 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

We love distros, big or small. But while the major distros such as
Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSUSE get all of the attention, there's plenty
of innovation going on inside smaller projects too. In this issue's
cover feature we look at a new breed of distros emerging for 2011,
including Pardus, Sabayon, Zenwalk, Yoper, and Crux. Some of these
distros have been around for a while - but now they're really
starting to shine and their great features are becoming more
prominent.

Meanwhile, we talk to Ruben Vermeersch of the F-Spot project, list
the 20 things we'd change about the software installation process on
Linux, and show you how to get involved in free software development
and really make a change to the future of our favourite OS. In the
reviews section we examine Fedora 14, Komodo 6 and Minecraft, while
our tutorials show you how to master OpenOffice.org Calc, build a
router from scratch and speed up your workflow with tiling window
managers.

Here's a taster of LXF140 from the HotPicks section:

# Choqok 1.0 beta 4 - http://choqok.gnufolks.org

If Stephen Fry is outraged by something but it doesn't appear on
Twitter, did it really happen? This could be the existential
benchmark of the new age where nearly everybody likes to pollute
the internet with inanities and oversharing of their dull,
pointless and unintentionally risible lives. And that's just the
celebrities. Still, there probably is a point to services such as
Identica and Twitter, and should you want to swing the balance of
the sum total of human knowledge somewhat towards the positive,
you have ample choices of how to do it. Consider for a while,
though, this very special dedicated client.

Choqok, named after a form of sparrow, is dead set on becoming the
application that everyone uses to tap their 140-character deep
thoughts into, at least on Linux. The pace of development on
Choqok is quite impressive - things are being ticked off on the
to-do list almost as soon as they're added. As well as supporting
a wide range of APIs for microblogging services, the plugin
architecture makes it easy to extend the range of the software's
services. For example, there are plugins for just about every
URL-shortening service you can think of, and the same goes for
support of Twitter image services.

New KWallet integration and support for multiple accounts have
been added recently. This series of development releases has by
default become the release series, because earlier versions of the
software didn't support the OAuth method of authentication that is
required by Twitter.

Because this is a KDE app, you'll need to have the KDE libraries
installed. This version won't run on anything less than 4.4, so if
you've put off upgrading, now might be the time to try it.
Although we've been looking at the beta release here, at the rate
testing is going, it's pretty likely to be the official stable
release soon, so check your package manager to see if it has
arrived before you try to install from source.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 140.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to
the Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs,
complete issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60
issues of Linux learning, free to subscribers to download! See our
latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Attachmate Corporation buys Novell
http://www.novell.com/news/press/novell-agrees-to-be-acquired-by-attachmate-corporation

The maker of the world's fourth most popular distro (and a big
player in the enterprise space) has been snapped up by another
company - and not a name well known in the Linux world - in a deal
worth $2.2 billion. In addition, Novell has sold a bunch of
"intellectual property assets" to a consortium of technology
companies organised by Microsoft. Interesting...

# KOffice to become Calligra
http://www.kdenews.org/2010/12/06/kde-announces-calligra-suite

A fork? A name change? It's not exactly clear at present, but
Calligra is a "continuation" of KDE's office suite. There's plenty
of renaming going on: KWord becomes Words, KSpread becomes Tables,
and KPresenter becomes Stage. These names "reflect the wider value
of the KOffice technology beyond just desktop applications".

# Tiny kernel patch boosts desktop performance
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=linux_2637_video&num=1

What a difference 200 lines of code can make. Mike Galbraith has
written a kernel patch that radically improves the performance of
the Linux desktop - so much so, in fact, that it got the thumbs-up
from the normally-quite-critical Linus Torvalds! Here's hoping that
this "group scheduling" patch makes it into our favourite distros.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

We tend to think of servers as big, noisy, grinding boxes that live
in racks or cupboards. But personal, home servers are becoming every
more popular, and AndyBaxman described how he'd set up a LAMP
(Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl) server based on a PogoPlug and USB
drive, all for under 100 quid. Its power consumption is so low that
AndyBaxman can leave it running all the time without having to worry
about the electricity bill. [1]

Snow! Snow snow snow. It has dominated the news here in the UK for
the last couple of weeks (well, that and WikiLeaks - I wonder if
WikiLeaks has anything juicy to reveal about snow?). Our forum
regulars posted a few pictures of their snowy experiences around the
country. Of course Leke, our resident Finn, was distinctly
unimpressed by all of the British fuss, noting that there's quite a
lot of snow up by the Arctic Circle too! [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13034

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13052

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

THE LXF CHRISTMAS QUIZ 2010

Think you know your Linux stuff? Can you remember everything
that happened this year? Try our quiz - but no internet research
is allowed! Check your answers at the end.

1) What's the name of the Mandriva fork?

A - Magiea
B - Mageia
C - Fandriva

2) What did Linus Torvalds call Mike Galbraith's kernel patch?

A - A killer feature
B - Insanely great
C - Woefully poor

3) Sun was bought out by Oracle. What is Larry Ellison, the boss
of Oracle, known for?

A - Inventing the relational database
B - Throwing a pie at Bill Gates
C - Owning a fighter jet

4) What is the next Ubuntu release (11.04) codenamed?

A - Naughty Nautilus
B - Natty Narwhal
C - Naked Nandoo

5) How did Mark Shuttleworth refer to "tribalism" in Linux?

A) The enemy within
B) Nothing to fear
C) The final hurdle

6) What's the name of the recently announced OpenOffice.org fork?

A) FreeOffice
B) http://www.openfreeoffice.org:80/
C) LibreOffice

7) Who does Mike Saunders sound like, according to a listener
who posted a comment on the TuxRadar.com podcast?

A) Tony Blair
B) John Lennon
C) Wayne Rooney

What's the codename for Linux Mint 10?

A) Julia
B) Sharon
C) Tracey

9) And what's the codename for Android 2.3?

A) Donut
B) Gingerbread
C) Big Mac

10) And lastly: how did the Calligra (formerly KOffice) team describe
the new project?

A) "easy for developers to create new user experiences"
B) "a dynamic re-evaluation of our end-user focus"
C) "a pro-active synergised data silo Web 3.0 e-platform"

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

And a short interval so that you don't accidentally see the answers...

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Now discover just how much Linux knowledge you really do have in
your noggin!

1 - B
2 - A
3 - C
4 - B
5 - A
6 - C
7 - B
8 - A
9 - B
10 - A

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 141, on sale Thursday 6 January (next year)...

# Work with Mac and Windows -- Share files, filesystems
and apps across any variety of desktop OSes

# Blog editors roundup -- Keep the world up to date with your
musings, all with free software!

# Drupal 7 test drive -- The most powerful CMS gets a major
new release, so get ahead of the game with our guide

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2010 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #68, November 2010

M-Saunders — Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:30 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:30 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #68, NOVEMBER 2010

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 139 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

There's a real buzz in the Linux world right now. A sense that major
changes are coming to the desktop. Ubuntu's announcements about
Unity and Wayland have generated a lot of heated discussion, and the
proposal from KDE e.V president to unify the KDE and Qt libraries
has raised all sorts of other questions. How will the Linux desktop
look in five years time? Is now the time to make some really
sweeping changes, to get us prepared for the next decade?

Exciting times. Read on for a look at the shiny new issue of Linux
Format, roundups of the hottest news stories and forum posts, plus a
special feature on the state of alternative OSes.

Oh! And if you're thinking of Christmas gifts for the geek in your life,
we have some great Yuletide subscription offers available now at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 139 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux is secure - there's no argument about that. However, security
is a moving target, with hackers/crackers always developing new
methods to attach machines. Consequently, even with Linux you need
to keep up to date with the latest patches and box-hardening
techniques. In this month's cover feature we show you how to set up
a firewall, encrypt files to keep them from prying eyes, and browse
the web anonymously.

Meanwhile, we look at the progress Linux is making in schools, and
examine the progress of desktop environments over the years. In our
reviews section we put Ubuntu 10.10, Qt 4.7 and Dark Descent under
the spotlight, while we have tutorials on OpenOffice.org Draw, Xfce,
routers, CakePHP and (shudder!) regular expressions.

This issue's DVD is a huge Ubuntu 10.10 fest: three versions of the
world's most popular distro, directly bootable from one disc.
There's the exclusive LXF-enhanced Ubuntu with heaps of extra
software, the KDE-based Kubuntu and Xfce-oriented Xubuntu. Plus we
have a 64-bit version, Tiny Core Linux, IPCop, podcasts and much
more to explore.

Here's a taster of LXF139 from the HotPicks section:

# Minerva 2.5.1 RC 1 -- http://www.minervahome.net

One day in the future, robots will was the dishes, fold the
clothes and chase the cold-calling salesmen away with a pointy
stick so you don't have to. Unfortunately, that's the future we've
been sold for the last 40 years, and all we have to show for those
grand dreams is the Roomba. Still, there are some useful things
that can be automated. Home automation systems that enable you to
control appliances remotely using the simple X10 mains protocol
have been around for years. What Minerva tries to do is to tie all
of the existing technologies together in one framework, so that
systems such as X10, your webcam and your Bluetooth phone can work
together in a world of digital harmony. Or something like that.

The Minerva system is split into three main components - the
inputs, the processes and the outputs. Some of these elements may
reference the same hardware, of course. All of it can be
configured and controlled through a web interface, although behind
the scenes it's mainly custom scripts and command line programs
that are doing the work. As well as a browser, you can also use a
LIRC-compatible remote control and, as previously mentioned, you
can even send text messages to the server (with the appropriate
services).

Minerva installs as a sort of distro within a distro. It creates a
self-contained environment with database storage for your
settings, permissions, security and such. All you need to do is
run the supplied install script, but you'll probably want to
install it on a dedicated system (or maybe a virtual machine).
Configuration of the system may take a while, but it's worth
persevering with the online documentation, which will also help
you to add your own specific functionality. It may not quite be
the future yet, but it's definitely getting there.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 139.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to the
Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs, complete
issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60 issues of Linux
learning, free to subscribers to download! See our latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Fedora 14 released
http://www.redhat.com/about/news/prarchive/2010/fedora14.html

The Red Hat-sponsored community-supported distro marches on, with a
bag of new features: a tech preview of Gnome Shell, various bits 'n
bobs from the MeeGo project, improved debugging, and framework
software for Spice, an infrastructure for desktop virtualisation.
Hit the link above for all the details.

# Ubuntu plans to dump X, and switch to Wayland
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=ODc1Ng

As if the move to Unity wasn't drastic enough, Mark Shuttleworth has
announced that future versions of Ubuntu will be based on the
Wayland display system, rather than the X Window System as with all
previous releases. The goal is to make slick, fast graphical effects
much easier to achieve than with all the complications of X.

# London Stock Exchange doubles speed with Linux
http://tinyurl.com/2uft68j

Given how unstable the world economy is right now, it's vital to
have a well-performing OS backing up stock exchange computers. Now
the London Stock Exchange has said that its new Linux-based system
is delivering record-breaking speeds, much faster than the previous
implementation which was based upon Microsoft technology.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

How fast does your machine boot? Jase kicked off a topic asking
specifically for Ubuntu statistics, but our forum regulars use a
wide variety of distros and so they chipped in with their own
stopwatch results. Poor old bobthebob1234 seemed to be having a
right old problem with his BIOS - 30 seconds before GRUB even
managed to appear! [1]

DippyGirl was looking to learn a new programming language, and
wasn't sure whether to tackle Perl or Python. She'd had some
experience in assembler, COBOL and FORTRAN, and Bazza recommended
giving Python a go. Gwilymk suggested a third option: Ruby. Join in
the thread and let us know what you use! [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12934

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12926

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

EXPLORING THE ALTERNATIVE OS WORLD

We know that many of you love to explore other operating systems
beyond Linux, and enjoy discovering new projects. If you haven't
played around with anything different for a while, here are some
pointers to set you on your way...

# FreeBSD -- http://www.freebsd.org

FreeBSD, an open source Unix-like OS, is widely regarded as the
closest OS to Linux. It runs pretty much every program that you can
get on Linux, and is very familiar to use, but it has a vastly
different development methodology. Whereas Linux is coded by
scattered groups around the net, with distributors piecing
everything together, in FreeBSD the entire OS (except for X11 and
GCC) is developed in a single source free. It's relatively
conservative compared to Linux, with snazzy new features sometimes
taking a while to appear, but very robust as a result.

# NetBSD -- http://www.netbsd.org

NetBSD is all about portability. It's not as featureful as FreeBSD,
but it runs on pretty much anything that has a CPU, from old-school
VAX boxes to the Dreamcast. The source code is noted for being
extremely clean and well-designed, making it easy to port the OS to
another platform. It also has thousands of apps from the free
software world.

# OpenBSD -- http://www.openbsd.org

Security is the number 1 priority for the OpenBSD team. Extensive
code audits mean that buffer overflows and other flaws don't stay in
the source for very long, and the OS is popular on routers and small
servers. You can use it as a desktop OS too, but hardware support
can be lacking compared to Linux and FreeBSD.

# ReactOS -- http://www.reactos.org

This project aims to effectively re-implement Windows in open source
software. Ultimately, it should be binary compatible with Windows
software and drivers - but this is not like WINE on a Linux
installation. It has its own kernel, libraries and other features,
although many files are taken from WINE. ReactOS is already capable
of running many older Windows programs - but it still needs a huge
amount of work.

# Haiku OS -- http://www.haiku-os.org

Back in the late 1990s, BeOS was seen as a potential challenger to
Windows, offering a lightning-fast and modern desktop OS experience.
BeOS never made it into the big leagues, but its design won it so
many fans, that for many years there has been a project underway to
clone it. Originally called OpenBeOS, Haiku is making good progress
and the developer team has very clear goals. One to watch.

# Syllable -- http://www.syllable.org

Once a highly promising desktop OS project, Syllable's development
has largely stagnated in recent months, with few developers still
contributing code. Syllable was originally a fork of AtheOS, a
unique OS influenced by BeOS and AmigaOS. Perhaps it'll have a
future some day, but for now it looks to be kicked into the long
grass.

Also worth noting are FreeVMS (http://www.freevms.net) and OSFree
(http://www.osfree.org). These projects are in the early stages
of development but may hold promise some day.

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 140, on sale Thursday 9 December...

# Which distro for 2011? A new year is approaching, so we
showcase the hottest Linux flavours coming up.

# Linux netbooks roundup - Looking to spend a few hundred
pounds on a new laptop? Get one with Linux pre-installed!

# All-new Arduino hardware - Top-notch hardware hacking

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2010 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #67, October 2010

M-Saunders — Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:15 am

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:15 am

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #67, OCTOBER 2010

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 138 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Thinking of buying a tablet computer? It's pretty clear that this
industry is going to grow considerably in the next few years, and
I'm hoping that Linux can get a decent bite of the pie. We know that
Android and Chrome OS have the potential to be major players in the
tablet market - what I'd like to see, however, is more mainstream
distros being customised for these devices. Bring on Ubuntu Tablet
Edition, or Fedora Tablet Edition, for instance, with the powerful
Linux goodness we love deep inside, carefully overlaid with a
touch-based interface.

Anyway, while we all wait for that to happen, enjoy this month's
newsletter. We have a look at the shiny new issue of Linux Format,
138, plus regular roundups of news stories and forum threads. Then
there's our special feature on that perennial debate: the command
line versus the GUI. Flame-tastic!

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 138 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

Ubuntu 10.10 is here. Fedora 14 is just around the corner. But which
distro is really making the big push for Linux on the desktop? In
this month's cover feature we pitch the two distro heavyweights
head-to-head and compare the progress they're making on
installation, boot-up speed, desktop refinements and more. Who's
better? Who's best? You'll have to read the mag to find out!

Meanwhile, we gather together the top 20 reasons to use Linux (good
for converting your friends and family), help you to fix package
manager problems, and get your to-do list into shape with the rather
awesome Getting Things Gnome. We have reviews of Inkscape 0.48 and
Tiny Core Linux 3.1, plus tutorials on Shotwell, Scribus, CakePHP
and more.

And then... get ready for a whopper of a DVD. It's 8GB, featuring 10
operating systems to explore. Sample the latest from Ubuntu, Fedora
and OpenSUSE, and go further into Unix territory with FreeBSD and
Nexenta. There's something for everyone on this double-sided disc.

Here's a taster of LXF138 from the HotPicks section:

# Photorec 6.12 -- www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

This simple little command-line tool is worth adding to your
virtual toolbox if you ever mess around with digital cameras.
Taking pictures the digital way is great - you can fill up many
gigabytes of space with images, then just transfer them to your
computer and upload them to the web to astound your enemies and
embarrass your friends.

But accidents do happen; it's not surprising given the way that
memory cards get treated - they are, after all, trying to hold 4GB
of data or more in an area smaller than a postage stamp. Of
course, there are also the unintentional accidents, when you think
you've downloaded your images and wipe several days' worth of
shots from your camera. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us.

Photorec combats this by implementing a read-only search for
damaged or deleted files. Working on the principle that there's
practically no fragmentation in flash storage, it scans the
available blocks - largely ignoring the filesystem - and extracts
the image headers from disk.

These let it know how many blocks of data the associated image
should take up; it is subsequently read and written elsewhere in
its original glory. Of course, it isn't going to work all the
time, but you probably have nothing to lose by giving it a go.

Photorec currently recognises all of the major image formats,
including camera-specific ones such as Nikon's NEF. In fact, it
recognises a whole bunch of other file types as well, so you can
use it to recover documents, too. Also, while it works best on
flash storage, there's nothing to stop you using it on other media
types - it can be pretty effective with CD and DVD.

This is a command line tool, but it uses a sensible curses-based
menu system, so it still isn't particularly tricky to use. You'll
need to have mounted the card and be running as root to be able to
access the required devices, though.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 138.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to the
Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs, complete
issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60 issues of Linux
learning, free to subscribers to download! See our latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Ubuntu 10.10 is here
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2010-October/000139.html

Yes, on the 10th day of the 10th month of 2010, Ubuntu 10.10
arrived. There's more focus on Ubuntu One, cloud computing and the
Ubuntu Software Centre, while the Netbook Edition sports a swanky
new Unity user interface. Hit the link above for an entertainingly
bizarre release announcement.

# OpenOffice.org forked -- say hello to LibreOffice!
http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/

You know Oracle? And you know they bought up Sun? Well, some OOo
coders aren't too happy with the situation, and want to free the
office suite from the shackles of a large company. LibreOffice is a
new fork of OOo, based on the Go-OO branch, although the current
version is still marked as beta and therefore not ready for
production use.

# Mandriva forked -- say hello to Mageia!
http://mageia.org/en/

After many years of financial insecurity, Mandriva has been forked
into another distro: the hard-to-pronounce Mageia. It's early days,
and there's still a lot of work to be done, but the ultimate goal is
that Mageia will continue the strong newbie-friendly spirit of
Mandriva, but be supported by a community that won't be so prone to
financial woes.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

If you're anxious about installing a new Linux distro, there are two
things to do to put your mind at ease: read the review in Linux
Format, and see what our regulars are saying on the forums. Rhakios
kicked off a discussion about Ubuntu 10.10, saying it appeared to be
working OK on his HP laptop. Poor old heiowge was still suffering
from screen flickering problems though. If you've installed the
Meerkat, let us know how you've been getting on! [1]

What do you do for a living? And how much do computers play a role
in your life? The ever-inquisitive Bazza started a thread for
forumers to explain how they earn a buck and what programming
languages they use. Kudos to chrishall57 for having the job title
'adhesives engineer' - sounds like a sticky business? OK, sorry for
that. Really. [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12837

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12788

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

SANITISING THE GUI VS CLI ARGUMENT

It's a debate that has raged since the very first graphical
interfaces were dreamt up: is the GUI really better than the command
line? And this in turn leads to many other arguments as well -
should Linux distros try to avoid the CLI completely? Should all new
users be forced to learn the CLI in order to understand its power?

To get a handle on this, it's important to look at how CLIs are
integrated into the operating system. Unix, right from the
beginning, was a keyboard-driven, command line operating system. The
prompt was Unix in its purest form. Even today, with modern desktops
and window managers, they are still very clear layers (on top of the
X Window System), with the command line just a Ctrl+Alt+Fx keypress
away.

Contrast this with, for example, AmigaOS or older Mac OS versions
(such as 9). There was no initial command line mode. Sure, you could
boot up Amiga OS into a plain Workbench environment and launch the
shell from there, but it wasn't a separate layer, a separate way of
running as in Unix.

This is one of the reasons why the CLI still pervades in Linux. It
is always there as a fallback measure when something doesn't work.
Whatever situation you're in, even if your graphics card isn't
detected properly, you can carry on working at the command line.

The other side, of course, is user experience. Long-time Linuxers
love the CLI, and rightly so - it's incredibly powerful, rich and
can perform tasks in seconds that would take hours in a file
manager. Think of the power of pipes, redirections, wildcards and
the awesome 'xargs' utility. Take away the command line and one of
the biggest plus-points of Linux (and Unix) disappears.

Now, there's an argument that the command line is terrifying for new
users. But really, it can be quite a good way to introduce a newbie
to a certain feature of the OS, or give them instructions. No doubt
you've been on the phone to a friend or relative, trying to fix a
computer problem by saying "Click the blue icon kinda near the top,
then there should be a menu, look at the option second or third from
the bottom" ad infinitum. Trying to describe how to use a GUI from a
distance is not easy.

With the CLI, in contrast, you can very clearly describe exactly
what needs to be done, key by key. If you're lucky, the command will
be clear and logical enough that the user can see it as a distinct
order for the computer to process, rather than a series of ambiguous
movements around menus and icons. A command is a firm, direct
statement of intent for the computer.

This debate will go on for as long as computers exist, but it's
always worth keeping these points in mind. See you in the next great
flamewar on USENET!

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 139, on sale Thursday 11 November...

# Beef up your security -- If you're worried about your
computer's safety, follow our hands-on guide

# Evolve your desktop! Moving icons around is one thing, but
some people want to go further... A lot further...

# Use Linux as a router -- Get ultimate control over your
internet access by switching to a Linux distro.

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2010 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #66, September 2010

M-Saunders — Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:32 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:32 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #66, SEPTEMBER 2010

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 137 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend about domain names, and how
much of a bad reputation the newer ones have. Take .biz for
instance: would you ever buy anything online from a company that
uses a .biz domain? (No offence to anyone who has registered one --
but the only time I've ever seen .biz is in spam emails!) Also, .pro
is a strange one too. And then there's .museum, .aero... (which just
makes me think of chocolate).

Anyway, enough of my musings: read on for a look at the sparkling
new issue of LXF, roundups of hot news stories and forum threads,
plus a special feature on the efforts to unify the Linux desktop
experience. Enjoy reading!

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 137 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

Multimedia is an old term, but most of us are more used to consuming
media rather than creating it. As Linux marches boldly forward
towards widespread desktop adoption, its toolset for creating,
editing and managing multimedia is growing ever stronger, so in this
month's cover feature we show you how to use the best software to
its maximum potential. Burn discs, manage photos, edit videos and
sort your music with ease.

Meanwhile, we find out what makes Google Chrome the hottest web
browser of the moment, examine how to avoid burnout when you're
working on a lot of projects, and gather together the 24 things we'd
improve in Linux. Then there are tutorials on Mozilla Lightning,
QDVDAuthor, Webmin and scripting, along with reviews of Linux Mint 9
(KDE edition), Jolicloud 1.0 and more.

On the free 4GB DVD you'll find a wealth of great software, headed
up by PCLinuxOS 2010.07. This friendly desktop distro is one of the
most popular around, and a great way to get the latest Linux tech on
your machine. Also on the disc you'll find KDE 4.5, a preview (alpha
3) of Ubuntu 10.10, MonoDevelop 2.4, games, podcasts and much more
to explore.

Here's a taster of LXF137 from the HotPicks section:

# Makagiga 3.8.6 - http://makagiga.sourceforge.net

Makagiga is a somewhat strange combination of things, as its
cake-like name suggests. It's ostensibly a notebook and task
manager application, but there are a variety of plugins and
widgets to perform tasks as diverse as viewing images or reading
RSS feeds, searching Google or setting alarms.

The theory is that Makagiga can become your workplace,
entertainment portal and home for everything else you want to do
on the desktop. OK, so that's stretching it a bit, but there are
plenty of things to play with. Tabbed views keep the different
components separated, so you can quickly switch between editing
text, reading the latest feeds or ticking things off on your to-do
lists. The integrated web search, bookmarks and tags also make it
easy to manage your various media. However, we think it would be
good to have a few options for syncing, or at least importing
bookmarks from other sources.

With pretty minimal resource requirements and quite a catalogue of
plugins, the aspirations of this software may be best realised on
a portable device or a tablet, where having many feature-rich but
separate applications could be a disadvantage. The component parts
all work fine, but they don't look anything like native Linux apps
and some of the user interface is quirky. For example, various
menu items insisted on opening needly large, unshrinkable modal
dialogs, which is a bit annoying but not unusable (bar on an N800
or similar).

Makagiga is Java-based, so it's able to work cross-platform and
pses no particular problems for installation. Just run it directly
from the JAR file, or with the help of the script. Alternatively,
RPM packages are available from the main download site if that
makes life easier for you.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 137.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to the
Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs, complete
issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60 issues of Linux
learning, free to subscribers to download! See our latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Mark Shuttleworth muses on Canonical's contributions
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/517

It's a hard job, running the world's most popular distro. While the
majority of users are happy to see Ubuntu leading the charge for
Linux on the desktop, some express very vocal concerns about the
distro and its developers. Mark Shuttleworth has written a lengthy
blog post with his reflections on the contributions of Ubuntu to the
free software world, along with his own work.

# Firefox 4 preview shows off new JavaScript engine
http://www.conceivablytech.com/2673/products/first-look-firefox-4-jaegermonkey/

Chrome, Safari and Opera are making great strides in JavaScript
performance, and the Firefox team doesn't want to be left behind. So
they've released a new developer preview of the upcoming Firefox 4
release, sporting a whizzy new JavaScript engine called
JaegerMonkey. Give it a try, especially if you love the 'fox but
have been put off by its JS slowness in recent months.

# OpenSolaris lives! Kind-of...
http://openindiana.org

Yes, although Oracle brought a swift end to the OpenSolaris project,
deciding to keep the big-iron UNIX OS wrapped up in closed
development, a bunch of coders are continuing the free software
approach with the OpenIndiana project. It aims to maintain binary
compatibility with Solaris 11 and build on the available source
code, much like CentOS does with RHEL.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

There are many lightweight Linux distros doing the rounds, and
sometimes it's hard to pinpoint the best one for a particular
machine. Heiowge was looking for a Linux flavour for his mum's
EeePC 900, and having tried the latest Ubuntu releases he wasn't
too chuffed with the performance. Various suggestions came up
in the thread, and ultimately Linux Mint 9 LXDE version came
out the best. [1]

Looking to get Linux certified? There are various Linux training
courses and certifications out there, and choosing the right one
can be somewhat complex. linuxlearner asked the forum regulars for
advice, coming from an AIX (IBM) background, and crickster came
up with some useful pointers. [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12689

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12677

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

THE PATH TO LINUX STANDARDISATION

You know, we don't mince our words in the Linux Format camp. We're
known to tell it as it is on the TuxRadar Podcast, even if it means
having a dig at some of the less-than-perfect things in the Linux
world. Of course, this generates a lot of heated discussion, but we
want Linux and free software to succeed, and want to generate ideas
for fixing problems rather than merrily saying that everything is
perfect.

One reader made a good point: we should also highlight the efforts
being made to unify the desktop Linux experience. So here we're
going to point out some of the projects hoping to sort out the
inconsistencies between distros...

1) The Linux Standard Base

Supported by the Linux Foundation, the LSB aims to bridge the gaps
between distributions by demanding a certain filesystem layout, set
of default libraries and other design decisions. Ultimately, the
goal is to make it easier for application developers to release
their work, and have it run on as many distros as possible. Many
commercial developers don't have the time nor resources to package
up their software for 10 or more distros, but if those distros are
LSB compliant, the developer only needs to release one package
(theoretically).

And therein lies a problem. The LSB defines RPM as the standard
package format, much to the chagrin of Debian and Ubuntu users.
Some would argue that .deb is - in technical terms - a better system
than RPM, and it doesn't look like this situation is going to be
resolved easily any time soon.

2) The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

One of the key differences between Linux distros is the filesystem
layouts. Sure, you can always guarantee that there'll be /etc, /bin
and the other usual suspects, but there's little agreement on what
should be in /opt, where Apache should store its files (DocumentRoot)
and so forth. The FHS tries to unite distros behind a single, consistent
filesystem layout, so that users (and administrators) can move easily
between distros without having to learn their peculiarities.

3) Autopackage

You've just written CoolApp 1.0. You want to get it into the hands
of as many Linux users as possible. What do you do? Well, you could
mess around installing the 10 biggest distros, set up development
environments on each and try to build packages - but that would take
a huge amount of time. You could just release the source code, but
that's too complex for many users. You could wait for distros to
adopt the package and include it in their repositories, but that
could take months. It's not easy.

Autopackage was created to solve this problem. By using Autopackage's
scripts, you can turn your program into an executable .package file
which (in theory) should install on any distribution. The .package
format defines certain specifications and library linking decisions
to make software run across multiple distros. It enjoyed reasonable
popularity a few years ago, although in the last 12 months the project
has been somewhat quiet.

4) freedesktop.org

GNOME, KDE and Xfce all have their own ways of doing things, which
sometimes leads to duplication of effort. The freedesktop.org
project tries to organise key components and filesystem locations so
that desktop environments can work together peacefully. Ideally, if
you install FooApp 1.0, it should appear in the menus for all
desktops - that's just one of the goals of the project.

So, those are four attempts to bring cohesion to the Linux desktop
experience, and while they haven't all had 100% success, they've
helped to make Linux more focused and streamlined. We wish them the
best of luck!

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 138, on sale Thursday 16 October...

# Next-generation Linux distros -- Looking at Fedora 14 or
Ubuntu 10.10 and wish you had them now? Try our guide to
the newest, hottest features!

# New tutorial: CakePHP -- Make cool websites with ease

# Backup group test -- Backup software may not be sexy, but
we all need to keep our data safe and secure

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2010 Future Publishing Limited

Linux Format Newsletter -- #65, August 2010

M-Saunders — Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:15 pm

Author: M-Saunders

Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:15 pm

----------------------------------------------------------

LINUX FORMAT WEBSITE NEWSLETTER -- #65, AUGUST 2010

www.linuxformat.com

----------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

1. Welcome

2. LXF 136 on sale

3. Special subscription offer

4. In the news...

5. This month on the forum

6. Special Newsletter feature

7. Coming up next issue

8. Receiving this Newsletter

9. Contact details

----------------------------------------------------------
1. Welcome
----------------------------------------------------------

I've just come back from some japes in Austro-Bavaria (see
http://www.linuxformat.com/content/back-bayern) so I'm catching up
on the last six weeks of Linux-related news. The biggest shock is
that Oracle is suing Google over the use of Java in Android, a move
that has evidently not been received well by the computing community
in general. We all know how crazy the situation around software
patents has become - perhaps we actually need an all-out patent war
in order to make it clear that they're not going to make things any
better.

Still, there's lots of positive news in the free software world too,
and LXF is keeping track of it all. Read on for a peek at the new
issue, roundups of the hottest news stories and forum threads, along
with a special feature on keeping your Linux box safe and secure.

Mike Saunders
Newsletter Editor
Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

----------------------------------------------------------
2. LXF 136 on sale
----------------------------------------------------------

Networking - it's a complicated subject. Great when it's all going
like clockwork, but a right pain to fix when something is wrong. In
LXF 136, which is freshly available on UK newsstands now, we've
assembled together the best tips and tricks to perfect your network
setup. Get the best security, fastest performance and problem-free
WiFi with the help of our guides.

Meanwhile, the Ubuntu Community Manager explains how a release of
the world's most popular distro goes from a bunch of ideas to
pressed CDs, and we have a full report of the news and events from
Akademy 2010, the big KDE summit. On the tutorials front you'll find
guides for Thunderbird, Bash scripting, making podcasts in Jokosher,
FreeBSD and more.

The free 4GB DVD is a quad-booting monster, with both KDE and Gnome
versions of two top-tier distros: OpenSUSE 11.3 and Mandriva 2010
Spring. Then there's Tiny Core Linux, development tools, podcasts
and much more to explore.

Here's a taster of LXF136 from the HotPicks section:

# GiftedMotion 1.20 - http://www.onyxbits.de/giftedmotion

Whether you believe the web would be more wondrous without them or
not, it's a fact of modern life that at some point you'll have to
created an animated GIF file for some website or other. The
fundamentals of animating a GIF aren't tricky - the image data is
just stored as successive deltas with some timing information. But
putting one together can be a bit of a pain. You can do it, but
loading all those layers in is a bit of a pain and, if it doesn't
work quite how you thought, changing it is a pain.

This very simple Java application makes a simple and
straightforward job just that. Run it and load in the frames of
your image; you can easily rearrange them and see a preview of
what you have so far in the main panel. Shuffle them around,
change the timing and when you're happy, just press the big red
button to save out the animation.

It doesn't really need complicated controls - it's a simple
function that it performs and it does it pretty painlessly. If you
do need to bash out the occasional animation, it's well worth
downloading this teensy app to save you some time. This is a
straightforward Java app, supplied as a JAR file so there's no
need for compiling or any fancy installing tricks - you can just
run it from the command line with: 'java -jar giftedmotion-1.20.jar'.

Head over to the LXF website and click on the issue cover picture
for more information on Linux Format 136.

----------------------------------------------------------
3. Special subscription offer
----------------------------------------------------------

Subscribing to Linux Format not only has the benefit of fantastic
savings. Subscribers will also get exclusive, unlimited access to the
Linux Format subscriber-only area, featuring magazine PDFs, complete
issues and coverdisc downloads! That's access to over 60 issues of Linux
learning, free to subscribers to download! See our latest offers at:

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/content/lp/linuxformat/

----------------------------------------------------------
4. In the news
----------------------------------------------------------

The biggest developments from around the net...

# Multi-touch support coming to Ubuntu
http://www.osnews.com/story/23692/Ubuntu_Gets_Multitouch_Support

Yes, advanced finger tracking facilities, as championed on Apple
gizmos, is now coming to the land of the penguin. Mark Shuttleworth
said: "rather than single, magic gestures, we're making it possible
for basic gestures to be chained, or composed, into more
sophisticated 'sentences'. The basic gestures, or primitives, are
like individual verbs, and stringing them together allows for richer
interactions". Neat.

# Debian turns 17!
http://digitizor.com/2010/08/16/happy-17th-birthday-debian-and-some-interesting-history/

Wow. 17 years is a long time in the computing world, and it's a VERY
long time in the Linux world. Back in 1993, when Debian was started,
many computer users were still wrestling with DOS. The Amiga was
still popular. Windows 95 didn't exist. What a different world we
live in now, but it's great that Debian is still going strong and
providing the backbone for popular projects such as Ubuntu.

# Ubuntu 11.04 to be called... Natty Narwhal!?
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/478

Everyone's favourite one-time astronaut has come up with a name for
the one-after-next Ubuntu release, Natty Narwhal. For those who
aren't familiar with these names, the second word is always an
animal, and in this case it's like some sort of cross between a
whale and a unicorn. Hit the link above for the full explanation of
the name choice.

----------------------------------------------------------
5. This month on the forum
----------------------------------------------------------

Ollie pointed out a controversial article published by the British
Computer Society which questioned the security of open source in
a rather FUD-ish manner. He also linked to a very robust rebuttal
on Advogato. The discussion moved on to whether or not 'security
through obscurity' actually works - what do you think? Join in the
thread and have your say. [1]

Have you switched entirely to Linux, using no other operating
systems at all? That's what Khakilang asked the Off Topic forum,
and found a few full-time Linuxers, including Roseway who hasn't
run anything else for ten years. Kudos! As expected, a lot of
folks are still keeping a sly copy of Windows around for rare
occasions (or games), but the thread is yet more proof that
Linux is a hugely flexible, all-round desktop OS. [2]

[1] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12526

[2] http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12581

----------------------------------------------------------
6. Special Newsletter feature
----------------------------------------------------------

KEEPING YOUR LINUX BOX SAFE AND SECURE

Linux is a very secure operating system - there's no denying that.
But we live in an ever-changing world, and the threat of security
exploits always looms over, so there are some good practices to put
into place, to make sure that you're as well-guarded as possible
from evil-doers online. Let's look at a few here.

1) Regular updates

This might sound obvious, but keeping the patched packages flowing
is essential for good security. Some update managers, such as the
one in Ubuntu, can be extremely annoying when they pop up randomly
and try to leech all of your bandwidth. If you turn its automatic
in-your-face activities off, as we often do, at least remember to
run it every few days to get the latest package updates.

2) Strong passwords

This is a bit of a picky issue. Obviously, having a password that's
your wife/pet's name is going to be a very bad idea, but going
overboard and using something like 'h3jt@f2mjD!hr8F$��' is
problematic too. A password like that may appear to be extremely
secure, but you probably won't ever remember it and have to keep it
written down somewhere, thereby defying the point!

A good system is to choose something familiar to you, and then mix
up some of the letters. For instance, your pet dog might be called
Moss, in which case you could use 'mo55th3d0g256'. Chuck a few
numbers on the end for added security. Also look into the 'chage'
command for a way to remind users (and yourself) to choose a new
password every few months or so.

3) Firewall yourself up

On a standard desktop Linux installation, you won't have lots of
network ports open to the outside world. However, if you run a
network in your house, and have such services as SSH running for
internal communications, you may want to block them from the big,
bad internet. Linux has good firewall technology built-in, but it's
based around command line tools.

Fortunately, there's an excellent graphical program called
Firestarter that you can use to set up firewall rules, determining
which ports are available to which machines, along with other
features.

4) Security through obscurity

A good way to block the progress of crackers (at least for a while)
is to switch things around from their default settings. For
instance, if you're running an internet-facing SSH server, you can
edit the settings in /etc/ssh/sshd_config to alter the port number
that it uses. It won't be so easy for nefarious types to discover
that you're running SSH, unless they want to go to the hassle of
running a full port scan!

5) Lock down locally

While these tips protect you against internet bad guys, if your PC
is accessible to many other people then you'll want local protection
too. Go into the BIOS settings, set a password and remove other boot
options, so that nobody can fire up a Live CD and steal your data.
Edit your GRUB or LILO options so that users can't bring up a boot
prompt and boot into single user mode.

So, just a few pointers there to make sure your Linux box is hard as
nails - if you have any other suggestions, please let us know on the
forums!

----------------------------------------------------------
7. Coming up next issue
----------------------------------------------------------

Linux Format 137, on sale Thursday 16 September...

# Upgrade your Linux life - Everyone can use free software
to have fun on their computer. We show you how!

# New tutorial: CakePHP. Want to make cool websites with
the minimum of work? Here's the perfect tool...

# FTP client group test - If you want to upload files to
the internet, you want to read our Roundup first.

Contents are subject to change - the mysteries of life, eh!

----------------------------------------------------------
8. Receiving this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------

If you've been forwarded this Newsletter from someone else, and want
to sign up for future issues, just follow the steps below. Each
month you'll receive a sparkling new LXF Newsletter straight in your
Inbox, and the 30-second sign-up process is even easier than writing
Hello World in BASIC:

1. Go to the website forums and log in (or sign up first):
http://www.linuxformat.com/forums/
2. At the top of the main forum page, click on 'Usergroups'
3. Join the 'Newsletter' group, and you're done!

If for some reason you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
(which'll make the internet cry) you can opt-out like this:

1. Log into the LXF site and go to the forums
2. Click Usergroups at the top of the page
3. Select Newsletter and then View information
4. Click Unsubscribe next to 'You are a member...'

----------------------------------------------------------
9. Contact details
----------------------------------------------------------

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the
Newsletter Editor at the address below:

Newsletter Editor: Mike Saunders -- Mike.Saunders@futurenet.com

Letters for the magazine: lxf.letters@futurenet.com

LXF website: http://www.linuxformat.com

Subscriptions: 0870 837 4722 (overseas +44 1858 438794)
Website subscription page: http://www.linuxformat.com/subscribe/

----------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2010 Future Publishing Limited