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Issue 96 (September 2007) - Detox your Linux box

Refresh and revive your distro by re-installing - without losing your settings or data. We show you how to rid your system of clutter and back up vital settings

Just how user-friendly are modern distros? Find out in the Ultimate newbie test

Power to the people: how open source is empowering developing countries

Can Scribus cut it in the professional DTP world? We've made a whole feature using it!

On our 4GB triple-booting DVD: Power-user-tastic Gentoo 2007.0, a preview of KDE 4, and the innovative SymphonyOS. Plus 80 pages of Linux know-how from Apress, DEFCON dempo, KOffice and OOo updates, and much more...

Tutorials on video editing, mastering Vim, understanding Bash, Mono network coding and apt-get tricks

Features

Detox your Linux box

Linux is only secure and stable if you keepo to a strict diet of official packages and updates. Most of us don't. Graham purges the detritus to reveal and installation that keeps important data intact. (Graham Morrison)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Professional DTP with Scribus

So you think Linux can't cut it in the professional world? Perhaps you are right, but we aim to prove otherwise by constructing this entire feature using open source software. (Nick Veitch)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

The Ultimate Linux newbie test

We've heard it time and time again: this is surely the year of Linux on the desktop. But is Linux really ready for the masses? (Mike Saunders)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Power to the people

Around the world, communities are using free software to gain connectivity, IT expertise and independence. We investigate. (Rebecca Smalley)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Interview: Oyvind Kolas

One-time graphic student and demo artist, Kolas is at the heart of delivering the grail of Gimp developers: the GEGL engine. We went to Montreal, where he was delivering an update at the Libre Graphics Meeting... (Nick Veitch)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Coverdisc

Triple-booting DVD

Gentoo 2007.0, the ultimate power-user's distro; KDE 4 Alpha Live; and desktop innovater SymphonyOS. Plus: 80 pages (PDF) on system administration from Apress, DEFCON demo, Amarok 1.4.5, KOffice 1.6.3, OpenOffice.org 2.2.1, and 50+ great programs (Mike Saunders)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

HotPicks

Ktorrent, Planets, K3Dsurf, Eqonomise, PowerTOP, CheckGmail, ClaSS, Sqliteman, Pyawale, Symbolica (Nick Veitch)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Tutorials

Jumpcut: Online video editing

Video editing on Linux is finally easy enough for the most beginningist beginner... so long as you're happy working within your web browser. (Andy Channelle)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Bash: Learning about users

Want to spend time at the command line but don't know where to start? We have some basic commands that can empower a beginner. (Rachel Probert)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Evolution: Sort out your diary

Sick of leaving Post-it notes scattered everywhere to remind you of meetings? We show you the smarter, more Gnome-like way to organise your life. (Paul Hudson)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Vim: A guide to the basics

The venerable Vim remains the editor of choice for many Linux professionals. It has a reputation for being hard to learn, but it's worth it. (Chris Brown)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Mono: Making a chat client

If your spider sense is tingling, there's a crime being committed somewhere. But if your Mono sense is tingling, it's because we have a new project for you... (Paul Hudson)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

APT: Advanced user tricks

Just when you thought it was safe to install software, Paul shows you some fresh power features in APT... (Paul Hudson)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Reviews

Defcon

Everybody dies. Everybody, that is, except Paul and his 13-legged pet cockroach, who bring you this review... (Paul Hudson)

Click here to read!

Fedora 7

Six months can be considered a very long time in fast-moving Linuxland. But has it been long enough for Fedora? (Andy Hudson)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

GP2X

Linux on a game console? Surely we jest! Mike checks out this Tux-powered home-brewtastic handheld device... (Mike Saunders)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Nero Linux 3

Linux versions of popular software are great, but Graham wonders if CD/DVD burning is ripe for exploration. (Graham Morrison)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

TwonkyMedia 4.4

There are plenty of multimedia playback devices but not many compatible servers. Here's one of the few that uses Linux. (Graham Morrison)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Audio players

Rated: Amarok, Banshee, BMPx, Juk, Rhythmbox, XMMS (Chris Howells)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

News: Microsoft forges more links with Linux vendors

The Redmond giant teams up with Xandros and Linspire. Plus: virtual Windows for SLES, Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon announcement, Specsavers migrates to Red Hat, Silverlight for Linux (Andy Channelle)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

Distrowatch: Six of the best

A chronology of innovations and ideas that have helped to shape the Linux world. Plus: Slackware 12, LinuX-gamers, 3D desktops (Ladislav Bodnar)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.

What on Earth: ZFS

Is this the last word in filesystems? (Paul Hudson)

Available as a PDF to subscribers.