The “EeePC-optimized Kernel for Ubuntu” project
aims to produce a set of pre-compiled kernel
packages that have been specially tailored to the
EeePC’s hardware and power usage, and to deliver
these packages on a dedicated repository hosted by
the author. Delivering these kernel packages over
a Debian-style repository ensures that future
updates and patches can be automatically
downloaded to your EeePC as they’re released.
Current support is available for Ubuntu v8.04
(Hardy Heron) on the EeePC 700, 900, 900A, 901,
1000, and 1000H models.
License: GNU General Public License v2
Changes:
This version was released to coincide with Ubuntu v8.10 (Intrepid Ibex). This kernel has been upgraded to
Linux 2.6.27.4, and now features “eeepc” and “eeepc-lean” build flavors. Other changes include a fixed Bluetooth handle and upgraded ath5k, rt2860, and rtl8187se wireless modules.
safe-rm is intended to prevent the accidental
deletion of important
files by replacing /bin/rm with a wrapper which
checks the given
arguments against a configurable blacklist of
files and directories
that should never be removed. Users who attempt to
delete one of these
protected files or directories will not be able to
do so and will be
shown a warning message instead. Protected paths
can be set both at the
site and user levels.
License: GNU General Public License v3
Changes:
The main change in this release is a fix for a bug that was preventing the root directory from being added to the list of protected paths. Safe-rm is now able to protect you from the infamous “rm -rf /”.
Proxymini is a proxy server that fully supports
HTTP, HTTP CONNECT (for HTTPS and so on), SOCKS4
(TCP and TCP bind), and SOCKS5 (TCP, TCP bind, and
UDP). It’s designed to be small, and for being
used in trusted environments where there is no
need for complex or advanced options. Double-click
on it and it will work immediately. It supports
some options like the binding of a specific
interface for incoming or outgoing connections, a
custom port to bind (the default is 8123), and
stdout and file verbose logging.
wumwum is a window manager manager. The idea
behind wumwum is to turn any EWMH-compliant
window manager into a tiling manager a la “ion”
or “awesome”. wumwum works by using wmctrl, and
adapts itself dynamically to the active window
manager. All functionality from the underlying
window manager is kept when under wumwum making it
ideal for beginners.
License: GNU General Public License v3
Changes:
wumwum is operational under blackbox, fluxbox, openbox, kwin, and window maker. Other untested window managers may also be working.
Contentteller is a content management system designed for sites of all sizes and types. It is powerful but simple to use, and search engine friendly out of the box. It has support for multiple Web sites, caching for high traffic Web sites, the ability to import and update everything from RSS feeds, POP3 email accounts, news servers, PAD, CompatDB XML files, a powerful template and style system, integration with 3rd party applications such as vBulletin, UBB.threads, phpBB 3.0, MyBB, SMF, and IP.Board 2.x, and an optional Windows installer to install Contentteller without the need of a FTP client. It is fully extensible with modules.
License: GNU General Public License v3
Changes:
Over 50 smaller bugfixes. Support for vBulletin 3.8. Support for UBB.threads 7.4. An option to choose the session length for admin sessions. User names and bot names have been added to the online users block.
MiniTicTacToe is a one-or-two player Tic Tac Toe
game written for the console. It has an optional
computer player.
License: GNU General Public License v3
Changes:
The primary improvement is that now the user is able to select whether or not the computer goes first when playing MiniTicTacToe in single-player mode. The computer can now be defeated A feature has been added for laptop users: if a user does not have a numpad (as is normal on laptops), the user is able to select this, and the game play-field is altered for easier reading and selecting. There is also code cleanup with improved efficiency, and added comments for readability of the source.
News emerged recently that Qt Software (formerly Trolltech) were working on their first IDE for Qt, code named Project Greenhouse. Today saw the release of the first technical preview under the name Qt Creator. The initial release is binary only, and under the terms of the Qt preview license, but the final release will be released with source code under a GPL compatible license. The initial release is available for Linux, Mac OS X and MS Windows. Read on for a users review.
Intrepid Ibex, the codename for Ubuntu 8.10, has today finally reached the pinnacle, without hesitation. Although the new version of the popular Linux distribution hasn’t won any new altitude records, it still brings along a number of interesting features to make life easier for users and administrators. High among these features are some rejuvenated programs.
If there is one operating system that has a special place in my heart, it’s QNX. This microkernel operating system served as my main desktop operating system for months and months back in the day, during the short-lived QNX Desktop scene – which died out due to a lack of interest from QNX’ parent company, QNX Software Systems. The money is in the embedded and high reliability markets, and that’s where QSS – understandably – focused its efforts. QNX was sort-of open sourced in September 2007, and today the company has announced the release of QNX 6.4, the first major release since 6.3 in 2004.
Sun Microsystems came in just under the wire with its Solaris 10 10/08 update, squeezing it out on the last day of the month. The company had intended to do the launch a few days ago, but pushed it out to the other side of its Q1 financial results. The 10/08 update is not a major release, something that Sun has not put into the field since Solaris 10 came out in January 2005. Now that the OpenSolaris development edition of Sun’s Unix is out, after a few releases of this development code, Sun is expected to take an OpenSolaris snapshot and take it inside the corporate firewall and harden it and test the living daylights out of it to make what Sun calls “Solaris Next.”
