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Issue 147 (August 2011) - Distro showdown!

Click here to get Side 1 of the DVD via BitTorrent

Click here to get Side 2 of the DVD via BitTorrent

Click here to get just the source code used in tutorials

For cutting-edge software, stability, easy of use and more - get the best distro for you

Massive 8GB double-sided DVD with Fedora 15, including almost 3,000 packages. Plus Mint, Arch, Debian, OpenSUSE, Ubuntu and much more

Mageia 1.0 is here and on test

Find out how a distro is made with our in-depth look at the Fedora community

Pick the perfect geek podcast in our roundup

Tutorials on LXDE, cloud storage, Gnome Shell... Plus our special Coding Academy supplement

 Features

Distro Showdown!

We've selected the most popular distros of the day to go head-to-head in a cage fight for your affections. Exhaustive trials and contentious conclusions ahoy! (Nick Veitch)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Inside Fedora

Putting together a distribution is a mind-blowingly complicated task. Jon takes us behind the scenes at Fedora to see how it's done. (Jonathan Roberts)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

20 ways to break Linux

Linux has a reputation for robustness but we prove there are still plenty of ways to damage a perfectly working system. (Neil Bothwick)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Android app roundup

The Android app market is positively booming with more than 200,000 different downloads now available. We guide you through the very best. (Damien McFerran)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Dr Brown's Administeria

BoxGrinder: Scratch-build virtual machine images based on Fedora, Red Hat or CentOS. Plus: PowerNap and Grub 2 (Chris Brown)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Interview: Wim Taymans

We sit down with a core developer of the GStreamer multimedia framework. (Jono Bacon)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

 Coverdisc

Double-sided Fedora 15 special!

The full Fedora 15 with almost 3,000 packages - a powerful, cutting-edge distro. Plus Arch, Debian, Mint, SUSE, Ubuntu, games, guides, development tools, podcasts and more. (Mike Saunders)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

 Tutorials

Mint LXDE: the lighter desktop

Looking for a lightweight option to bring an older machine spluttering back to life? Here are three low-fat distros. (Bob Moss)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Linux tools for photographers

We prove the masses wrong and discover that if you want to get serious with your snapping, you don't have to abandon your favourite OS. (Adam Oxford)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

School of Linux

Part 7: Learn how to handle processes like a pro, and get to grips with the famously minimal Vi editor. (Mike Saunders)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Cloud control: work anywhere

Never suffer the anguish of a misplaced USB stick again. We show you how to look after your documents using the power of the cloud. (Andrew Gregory)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Gnome 3: Let's get hacking

Finding it hard to break the shell? We have all the tools and techniques you need to restore lost features and get the desktop you want. (Jonathan Roberts)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

 Coding Academy

Android: Let's get moving

Juliet shows you how to make the most of your phone's 'mobile' nature by coding a simple spirit level app. (Juliet Kemp)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Python: QR code generator

Nick harnesses Python to power of the command line and shows you how to make a front-end for useful tools. (Nick Veitch)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Arduino: Build a datalogger

We delve into the magic of the I2C interface a build a temperature datalogger with only four components. (Nick Veitch)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

 Reviews

Mageia 1.0

The community fork of Mandriva still has the magic - even if we're not quite sure how to pronounce the name... (Graham Morrison)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

FreeNAS 8.0

Is this latest incarnation a watershed for the open source storage platform? We discover a strong shift towards enterprise. (Shashank Sharma)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Warsow 0.62

It's a first-person shooter with a difference... but is a lighter touch enough to convince our reluctant marksman? (Jonathan Roberts)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Kdenlive 0.8

Andy pulls up his director's chair and joins the YouTube revolution with the latest release of the Linux video editing package. (Andy Channelle)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

FritzBox 7390 ADSL2+ Modem

Graham replaces a cupboard full of Linux boxes with a single red and silver piece of plastic. (Graham Morrison)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Linux podcasts

On test: The Linux Link Tech Show, Linux Outlaws, Going Linux, Linux Basement, The Linux Action Show, MintCast, FLOSS Weekly, Hacker Public Radio (Mayank Sharma)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

 More

News: Attachmate takes full control of SUSE project

Company claims it's business as usual - but layoffs affect core development staff. Plus: Ximian team launches Xamarin; Linus pushes Linux up to version 3; new firewall options for 2.8 series kernel; CentOS finds fans in Redmond; Ricoh launches eQuill Linu (Andy Channelle)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Distrowatch: Mepis and Anti-Mepis

The popular Debian brothers offer something for just about everyone. Plus: Open Xange, Linux Mint 11, Raspberry Pi (Susan Linton)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.

What on Earth: coreboot

Think your computer's free? You're almost certainly running a proprietary BIOS. Here's a project that's trying to change this. (Jonathan Roberts)
Available as a PDF to subscribers.