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Mandriva Linux 2007 Released - Linuxlookup.com is reporting on Mandriva’s introduction to its brand new product: Mandriva Linux 2007. This new version of the operating system was designed to be an even better fit for the needs and expectations all users, from the beginner to the SOHO user.
New Features include:
kernel 2.6.17- GCC 4.1
- GNOME 2.16
- KDE 3.5.4
- glibc 2.4
- Xen 3.0
- Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.7
- OpenOffice.org 2.0.3
More on Mandriva Linux 2007
Episode 33 - Xfce - In this episode: a look at the Xfce Desktop Environment and alternative file managers to use with Xfce such as Emelfm2, Rox-filer, PCManFM, and the Gentoo file manager; two listener tips; listener feedback.
Download: linuxreality033.mp3 (40:03)
Please feel free to discuss this episode in the Linux Reality forums.
Firefox 2.0 RC1 Adds Security, Usability Enhancements - 
The Mozilla Foundation has added some welcome improvements to the browser as it nears the finish line. Version 2.0 looks to be a must-upgrade for Firefox users, but it doesn’t dazzle with innovation.
eWEEK Labs’ tests of Firefox 2.0 Release Candidate 1 show that the new browser will be a worthwhile upgrade—with welcome usability enhancements and improved security controls—but anyone hoping that it would set the Web on fire with innovative new features will probably be a little disappointed.
With the release of Firefox 2.0 RC1, the Mozilla Foundation is providing a look at what will most likely be the shipping version of the popular open-source Web browser.
Firefox 2.0 RC1 has added a few new features and capabilities since our review of Beta 1. The most noticeable of these changes is a new default interface theme, which has tool bar icons that glow when the mouse hovers over them.
Novell's giant killer: Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 - I'm rather impressed. Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 is designed to do just that – impress the user from the start, with a smooth and (mostly) simple experience that will satisfy the secretary through to the MD. It does still have some areas to work on, however.
[Digg Linux News]
TV Interview with Mark Shuttleworth - Video - Mark Shuttleworth was interviewed on More4 News. The page mentions the fact that Mark does not do too many TV interviews. In the video Mark states the case for Ubuntu being a competitor to Windows, and talks bout how it is a wonderful oppurtunity to effect change during one’s lifetime. Talk of philanthropy and technology dominates the interview.
When you’ve made £400m before your 30th birthday -you’d probably want to spend the rest of your days living the highlife.
But not Mark Shuttleworth who made his fortune when he sold off his internet security company four years ago.
Since then, he has given half of it to charity and bought a £13m pound ticket to space station.
Now he’s working hard to create a free software - which he hopes will rival Mircosoft. He has given a rare interview to More 4 News.
Buying a preinstalled Linux desktop or laptop - So you want to run Linux, but you really would rather have it preinstalled? Good idea. It’s for those users that longtime LXer.com reader cyber_rigger started putting together his “Companies selling preinstalled Linux and no-OS” listing.
It may be fun installing a Linux distro and getting it to fit you like a glove, but sometimes even the most techie of us just want to sit down with a new box, turn it on, and get it to work without worrying about whether we need to download a WiFi driver.
Cyber_rigger’s new list is for everyone who wants a low-end Linux desktop or laptop that just works. In other words, it’s for home users.
How To Find A Computer With GNU/Linux Pre-Installed - Just about two weeks ago, cyber_rigger, one of LXer's active readers, announced he was putting together a list of computer vendors selling GNU/Linux pre-installed. The list also includes vendors selling computers without any operating system installed. [Digg Linux News]
New book explains Ubuntu to non-geeks - Open source teacher Rickford Grant, author of "Linux Made Easy," has written a new volume to help non-technical users get started with Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks is characterized as "a pain-free, project-based, get-things-done guidebook," by its publisher, No Starch Press. [LXer]
KDE 3.5.4 Released With New Features -
The KDE Project today announced the immediate availability of KDE 3.5.4, a maintenance release for the latest generation of the most advanced and powerful free desktop for GNU/Linux and other UNIXes. Even while KDE 4 is being prepared, improvements to KDE 3.5 have been made and this release makes them available. The new features were subject to rigorous quality testing so that KDE 3.5.4 is as stable as the maintenance releases that precede it.
Significant enhancements include improved support for removable devices (users can now mount all devices supported by FreeDesktop’s HAL and control how it will be done). Multiple holidays can now start on the same date in KOrganizer. Lots of fixes have been applied to Konqueror’s HTML engine, KHTML. The dialog for sending client-side SSL certificates is now more usable, the StartCom SSL certificate was added and KNetworkConf now supports Fedora Core 5 and handles WEP keys better.
Packages are available for ArkLinux, Fedora, Kubuntu, Pardus Linux, SuSE Linux, Slamd64, amongst others. You can also download the source or have it built for you with Konstruct. -dot.kde.org
As for KDE updates for SUSE Linux 10.1, check out my previous post.
Hacking SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 - 
Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 is a decent business desktop operating system as-is. However, it does not appropriately meet the needs of a large portion of business professionals. Additionally, a great many regular consumers have been enchanted by SLED 10’s ease of use and high degree of stability, but are disappointed with the home desktop software selection. This guide will show you how to install or upgrade the Java Development Kit, install software from the SUSE Linux 10.1 package repositories, and enable DVD movie playback in SLED 10. [Linux Blog]
Linux.com takes a look at Freespire - 
Linux.com has a review of the recent release of Freespire, Linspire's free and open source distribution Linux distribution. I have not tried Freespire myself yet. I would love to try it out as I am curious to see the types of applications available for myself. When Linspire started out as "Lindows" they wanted to be the bridge between Windows users and Linux. They were forced to go in another direction.
On the surface from the review it seems that Freespire is another run of the mill distribution. KDE desktop with the usual open source media, office, and shell apps. So immediately I am not impressed. I would like to see more of the original intent of the Linspire company but it seems that you need to become a CNR subscriber to get the proprietary content. CNR subscription comes at $20 per month.
If anyone has tried this distribution please comment on your review. [Linuxblogger - Linux News]
Latest SLED 10 GNOME Menu On Your “Vanilla” 10.1-OSS -
Interested in using the latest GNOME Menu that is featured in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 on your SUSE Linux 10.1.
Well, it comes out that it’s very easy to have one on 10.1 GNOME, replacing the standard menu. As SLED 10 shares the same code base with SUSE 10.1, I didn’t notice any problems, nor should you. Search feature that is integrated into menu using beagle also seems to work perfectly. All you need to make sure is that beagle daemon (beagled) is auto launched when you log-in to desktop.
All you need to do is to download the following gnome-main-menu file (version 0.6.1-0.2 as of writing this):
Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft Knot 1 Released - The Ubuntu team has released the first milestones en route to Ubuntu 6.10, Edgy Eft, of all flavours (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu). The kernel has been upgraded to 2.6.17 in all flavours, and the GNOME version has been updated to 2.15.4 with GTK+ 2.10 in Ubuntu. Notable Kubuntu changes are listed as well. Screenshots of Ubuntu and Kubuntu are also available. [OSNews]
Episode 22 - Audio Players - In this episode: LR email notification now available; future voice mail possibility; Mutt and Mutt-ng; listener feedback, our first Listener Tip on symbolic links; a review of Linux audio players and applications, including Xmms, Beep Media Player, BMPx, Audacious, Grip, Ripperx, Goobox, Soundjuicer, Kscd, Gnome CD Player, Amarok, kaboodle, Juk, Noatun, Banshee, Rhythmbox, and the Music Player Daemon (mpd) and its related clients, like Gnome Music Player, Glurp, Kmp, mpc, and ncmpc.
[Linux Reality]
A Closer Look at Damn Small Linux - in this article you will learn how to turn a blank CD and an inexpensive USB keydrive into a powerful, portable, take-along operating system complete with modern applications like Firefox, a Web server, and multimedia tools. All this can be done using free Open Source Linux software. We’ll start with the latest version of a distribution called Damn Small Linux (hereafter referred to as DSL) and work through the steps of getting and “burning” an image, booting it, setting up networking and applications, and saving customizations and files to the USB media. You can do all of this even with an old PC from yesteryear, turning it into something snappy and new. [Linux Blog]
A simple Linux backup method - This article describes a simple backup method that I use every day to backup my home Linux systems. It's an easy method that non-technical Linux users can use to backup their important data. We'll discuss the decisions you have to make in order to do a thorough backup. [LXer]
Google Earth 4 Beta for Windows, Linux, MacOS - Google has released a beta version of Google Earth 4, which runs on all the three major platforms. "We got so excited around here about the first anniversary of Google Earth that we decided to celebrate a bit early. Beginning today, you can download a brand new version, Google Earth 4. Running on OS X? Feel the love. Prefer Linux? Ditto. Yes, we're releasing simultaneously for PC, Mac (universal binary for full performance on both Intel and PowerPC based Macs) and for the first time ever, native support for popular Linux distributions." They have also seriously increased the amount of high-res images, so that now about 20% of the world's landmass is in high-res. [OSNews]
Google releases Picasa for Linux -- and 100+ Wine patches - Picasa is a photo organizing and editing tool from Google that does most of what most people need to do with their digital pictures. Now Picasa, previously a Windows-only program, has binaries available for most popular GNU/Linux distributions. The Linux version of Picasa is still a beta release, but it's ready to handle photo storage, organizing, and light photo editing on your Linux computer. [LXer]
Episode 15 - Partitioning and Bootloaders - In this episode: listener feedback; an overview discussion of hard drive partitioning, including a look at primary, logical, and swap partitions; brief mentions of third party partitioners like PartitionMagic, Acronis, and the GParted live CD; a look at how Linux designates hard drives and hard drive partitions; a review and explanation of bootloaders, including the Linux bootloaders GRUB and LILO, as well as third party bootloaders; a discussion of alternative locations where a bootloader can be installed, such as the Master Boot Record or the boot sector of the Linux partition.
Download: linuxreality015.mp3 (37:22)
Please feel free to discuss this episode in the Linux Reality forums.
Minimize Any Application to the System Tray - The other day I wanted to minimize the gnome-terminal to the system tray. Why? Because I thought I should be able to, if I wanted to.
Some apps, such as gaim, the instant messenger already support minimizing to the system tray. So if you click the close button in gaim when you are logged in, the app disappears from the list of windows, and an icon appears in the system tray, which you can then click to bring the main window back to life.
Turns out, with AllTray, you can minimize any app to the system tray. To install, you can use this repository that is linked-to from the alltray homepage. This is probably one of the few cases when the software I wanted wasn’t already in the Ubuntu reporsitories.
The above screenshot from the AllTray website shows it working in GNOME. Don’t you love it?