The new Workhorse on Tropical Ice Cube resident dual core laptop is now Debian in latest un-released yet guise, next release' Squeeze.

After years on Fedora (7 >> 10) I grew unsatisfied of 11 and 12. It's not that it doesn't fulfiull its misson of being the bleeding edge of the cutting edge... It's just that too many regressions occured, stuff stopped working. I hate that. With debian, we are back on a system that is still user-friendly (full gnome+metacity desktop), modern (2.28+) and hacker friendly too, again a machine where compiling a driver or some exotic software isn't a stressful chore.

Or quite: in true, when you load Debian the first time, you will miss essentials like kernel sources, but nothing that the versatile apt, debian's package manager, couldn't handle. From then on, enjoy a great, flexible system without the overbranding of Ubuntu (and without the 'Nanny is watching over your shoulder' feeling, too.) Debian 5 "Lenny' is the distro of choice for file severs where reliability is on top; for build servers and a modern desktop, Squeeze is definitely where the fun resides (Well, apart from my main Slackware 13/64bits main machine of course).

Grab yours as usual, text 012 825 645

The latest installment from the LinuxFormat magasine, of wich the TropicalIceCube is a subscrier of course, is a dual-sided 8Gb distro gallore containing no less than:

- Ubuntu 9.10 + 300 extra packages included, in both 32 and 64bits version! You don't have to have the latest Ubuntu on your laptop to look serious, but it seriously help.

- The latest, long awaited, openSUSE 11.2; now, at least, a KDE 4 desktop you can work with, everyday, without swearing, sweating and cursing!

- A bit Off the Radar, lately, but Mandriva nevertheless comes back with a vengeance and awards for it's 2010 editon, praised for its ultimated collection of configuration tools. Point-and-click, dumbproof iterface anyone?

... There is also a Server version of U 9.10 in there...  And even a fligh simulator :)

You know the drill: text me on  012 825 645 to get yours!

Clement Lefebvre has announced the release of Linux Mint 8, a beginner-friendly, Ubuntu-based desktop Linux distribution: "The team is proud to announce the stable release of Linux Mint 8, code name 'Helena'. The 8th release of Linux Mint comes with numerous bug fixes and a lot of improvements. In particular, Linux Mint 8 comes with support for OEM installs, a brand new Upload Manager, the menu now allows you to configure custom places, the update manager now lets you define packages for which you don't want to receive updates,the software manager now features multiple installation and removal of software and many of the tools' graphical interfaces were enhanced."

Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distribution whose goal is to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience by including browser plugins, media codecs, support for DVD playback, Java and other components. It also adds a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, and a web-based package installation interface. Linux Mint is compatible with Ubuntu software repositories.

Fedora 12, th e latest versio n of the popular open-source operating systems for desktops and servers, has been released: "The Fedora Project, a Red Hat, Inc. sponsored and community-supported open source collaboration, today announced the availability of Fedora 12, the latest version of its free, open-source operating system distribution. Fedora 12 includes a robust feature set for desktop users, administrators, developers and open source enthusiasts alike. New enhancements available in Fedora 12 include next-generation Ogg Theora video, virtualization improvements and advancements to NetworkManager, among numerous others."

The Fedora Project is an openly-developed project designed by Red Hat, open for general participation, led by a meritocracy, following a set of project objectives. The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from open source software. Development will be done in a public forum. The project will produce time-based releases of Fedora about 2-3 times a year, with a public release schedule. The Red Hat engineering team will continue to participate in building Fedora and will invite and encourage more outside participation than in past releases. By using this more open process, we hope to provide an operating system more in line with the ideals of free software and more appealing to the open source community.

Mandriva Linux was launched in 1998 under the name of Mandrake Linux, with the goal of making Linux easier to use for everyone. At that time, Linux was already well-known as a powerful and stable operating system that demanded strong technical knowledge and extensive use of the command line; MandrakeSoft saw this as an opportunity to integrate the best graphical desktop environments and contribute its own graphical configuration utilities to quickly become famous for setting the standard in Linux ease of use. In February 2005, MandrakeSoft merged with Brazil's Conectiva to form Mandriva S.A., with headquarters in Paris, France. The company's flagship product, Mandriva Linux, offers all the power and stability of Linux to both individuals and professional users in an easy-to-use and pleasant environment.

Mandriva Linux2010 has been released: "Mandriva is proud to introduce its brand new release: Mandriva Linux 2010, code name 'Adelie'. Included in this new release, 'Smart desktop' technology, coming from a European research project. Your desktop is tasks oriented. Organize your personal data (mails, documents, images, videos). Notate it, add your comments and tags. Now your data is easy to find through your projects. Boot time has been improved again. Mandriva Linux 2010 comes with 3 brand new designs - choose the one you prefer. You can also choose one of the 11 extra backgrounds contributed by community members." Read the release announcement and release notes, and visit the what's new page to learn more.