Resources

Websites and Articles

Linux Distribution, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 26th July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distros
This link gives you a general overview of what Linux is and how you can know more about Linux.

Comparison of Linux Distribution, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 22nd July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions
This link helps you see the difference in functions and attributes of the various Linux distributions from a bird's eye view.

Tasque, The GNOME Project
Last Updated 31st March 2008
http://live.gnome.org/Tasque
This link contains the information on Tasque, a Task manager application discussed in the blog.

Midori, twotoasts.de
Last Updated 3rd July 2008
http://software.twotoasts.de/index.php?/pages/midori_summary.html
This link contains a summary of the application Midori mentioned in the blog.

Hotwire Shell, developer wiki
Last Updated 23rd March 2008
http://hotwire-shell.org/
This link contains the details of Hotwire Shell, a shell environment mentioned in the blog.

Brasero, The GNOME Project
Last Updated 2008
http://www.gnome.org/projects/brasero/
This link gives the information about Brasero, an application discussed in the blog.

What's New for Users, The GNOME Project
Last Updated 2008
http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.22/#rnusers
This link hold the details about the new features in Gnome 2.22, the latest Gnome release.

Fedora (operating system), wikipedia.org
Last Updated 15th July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_%28Linux_distribution%29
This link gives you information on Fedora, one of the many Linux distributions and contains links to other reliable website that discuss about Fedora and its functions.

Fedora 9 Beta Release Notes, Red Hat Inc.
Last Updated 29th May 2008
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/9/Beta/ReleaseNotes#head-eaadbfea30e5d3ca0b72a51953519d6f8fd53d3c
This link shows a overview of the Fedora 9 release and gives further sub-links to explore the various features of Fedora 9.

Fedora 10 Release Schedule, Red Hat Inc.
Last Updated 5th June 2008
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/10/Schedule?oldid=32396
This link shows a overview of the Fedora 10 release and gives further sub-links to explore the various features of Fedora 10. Fedora 10 is the proposed release of Linux from Red Hat Inc.

Fedora Documentation on docs.fedoraproject.org, Red Hat Inc.
Last Updated 13th May 2008
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/
This link gives a clear documentation of what is going on in the fedora project.

openSUSE Summary, Green Bay
Last Updated 22nd July 2008
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=suse
This link gives and overall summary of openSUSE distro and the minute details of its inner workings.

openSUSE Documentation, Novell Inc.
Last Updated 19th June 2008
http://en.opensuse.org/Documentation
This link contains the documentation for openSUSE Linux.

openSUSE 11.0, Novell Inc.
Last Updated 23rd June 2008
http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_11.0

This is the official site of the latest openSUSE from Novell.

openSUSE, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 22nd July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSUSE
This link holds a wikipedia article on openSUSE.

SUSE Linux Enterprise, Novell Inc.
Last Updated 2008
http://www.novell.com/linux/
This is the official site of openSUSE from Novell.

Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring Release Tour, Mandriva Community Wiki
Last Updated 9th May 2008
http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/2008.1_What's_New
This link has the information for Mandriva Linux and supposedly the official documentation site for Mandriva Linux.

Free Software/Open-source Software, Mandriva S.A.
Last Updated 2008
http://www.mandriva.com/en/community/free-software
This link contains a brief set of documentation for Mandriva Linux.

Mandriva Linux One, Mandriva S.A.
Last Updated 2008
http://www.mandriva.com/en/product/mandriva-linux-one
This link gives the latest updates on the newest Mandriva Linux, Mandriva Spring.

Mandriva, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 12th July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandriva
This is a wikipedia article on Mandriva.

Mandriva Linux, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 19th July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandriva_Linux
This is a wikipedia article on Mandriva Linux's latest distro.

Debian, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 22nd July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian
This is a wikipedia article on Debian and its distro.

DDP Users' Manual, Debian
Last Updated 27th June 2008
http://www.debian.org/doc/user-manuals
This link contains the documentation for Debian Linux.

Slackware, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 16th July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slackware
This is a wikipedia article on Slackware and its distro, Slackware Linux.

Ubuntu, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 22nd July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu
This is a wikipedia article on the Linux distro, Ubuntu.

Arch Linux, wikipedia.org
Last Updated 20th July 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archlinux
This is a wikipedia article on Arch Linux and its distro.

Top 4 New Feature Proposed for Fedora 10, Linux Loop, WordPress (Article)
Last Updated 9th July 2008
http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/07/09/top-4-new-feature-proposed-for-fedora-10/

Fedora 10 Release Schedule, Softpedia (Article)
Last Updated 19th May 2008
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fedora-10-Release-Schedule-85985.shtml

Sneak Peaks at openSUSE 11.0, openSUSE News (Article)
Last Updated 7th June 2008
http://news.opensuse.org/2008/06/07/sneak-peeks-at-opensuse-110-compiz-with-dennis-kasprzyk/

Linux Examined : openSUSE 11.0, PC World Communications (Article)
Last Updated 9th July 2008
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/148137/linux_examined_opensuse_110.html
Anatomy of the Linux Kernel, IBM, developerWorks, Linux (Article)
Last Updated 6th June 2007
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-linux-kernel/

Videos

What about it?
Friday, July 4 2008
"WINDOWS VISTA AERO VS LINUX UBUNTU BERYL" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5OzNQ

Not Just an Accesory : Red Hat
Saturday, July 5 2008
"Fedora Project leader on Fedora 9" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qFd_u_Piu6Q

Hats Off for Fedora 10
Thursday, July 10 2008
"One Laptop per Child (OLPC) XO Laptop 360 Degree View" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OotRUwrfNqU

Hats Off for Fedora 10
Thursday, July 10 2008
"A 9 year old reviews the OLPC XO laptop" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=McgheKrupxc

It's Not Susie : openSUSE
Friday, July 11 2008
"Novell Linux, Mac, PC" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pa1RCg-Ccp0

It's Not Susie : openSUSE
Friday, July 11 2008
"Second Novell Linux Spoof Ad" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GVOnFdMf0RU&feature=related

It's Not Susie : openSUSE
Friday, July 11 2008
"Mac, PC & Linux - Novell Commercial" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cldeHjFig_c&feature=related

Going SUSE : openSUSE 11.0
Monday, July 14 2008
"Opensuse 11" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IMX6kEYrrmU

Hilarious Moments : OS Wars - The Phantom OS
Thursday, July 17 2008
"Killer Tux ( Linux vs Windows )" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=W9_DQjQbtTY

Hilarious Moments : OS Wars - Attack of the Distros
Saturday, July 19 2008
"linux vs bill gates" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7KfbizHyGsE&feature=related

Miraculous : Mandriva 2008
Saturday, July 19 2008
"Mandriva 2008" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rjhib2DMcVA

Hilarious Moments : OS Wars - Revenge of the Windows
Sunday, July 20 2008
"Microsoft Surface Parody" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY

Hilarious Moments : OS Wars - Return of the Linux
Monday, July 21 2008
"IBM Supports Linux 100%" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KwEWxpOWOok

The hat, chameleon and the star
Monday, July 21 2008
"Penguins Linux Ad" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PLHjT5-XM9o

Down the distro road : Debian, Slackware Linux and ArchLinux
Tuesday, July 22 2008
"Debian Gnome + Beryl "3D-Desktop"" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=684OLRsTrrs

Down the distro road : Debian, Slackware Linux and ArchLinux
Tuesday, July 22 2008
"Slackware GNU/Linux 12.0 + Compiz-Fusion" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_qBGEmRn95g

Down the distro road : Debian, Slackware Linux and ArchLinux
Tuesday, July 22 2008
"My Arch Linux + Beryl :: Meu Arch Linux + Beryl" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nRgbN-BodGs

A journey of billion miles : CS2281
Wednesday, July 23 2008
"The Origins of Linux - Linus Torvalds" - YouTube Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WVTWCPoUt8w

Cool Grabz!

I want to thank all my readers for reading this blog and tolerating with the spelling mistakes and technical tragedies I might have in my blog about Linux and a few of its distros. I hope my OS WARS would have amused you. Above all, I wish to thank my lecturer, Sir Tok Wee Hyong for giving the CS2281 students an opportunity to show their creativeness in a module that is mostly made of programming languages. This is the finale and before the conclusive end, for Linux people and for the Windows people out there, I wish to dedicate all these random links and videos below just for gags! Once again, thanks to all!

This link gives you the coolest icons from GNOME and if you ever want to do a technical project for your schoolwork or just decorate your webpage, you can go to this link and save all the images that you like. There are pretty cool and classy.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:GNOME_Desktop_icon_theme

If you feel bored and filled to the brim with too much programming to study for and want a few out-of-the box videos to relax, check out these weird Mcdonalds commercials.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y9ajRIgTJNA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxlyWieYZsE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZrghaHZvjk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UohHp_AHMoA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVNVcZBWum8&feature=related

If you are a cool IT geek, and want to know up-to-date information on the Linux distros and their latest propsed features, these are the links for you.

http://www.linuxtoday.com/

http://www.reallylinux.com/links/links.htm

http://www.linuxinsider.com/

http://www.computerworld.com/

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5454

http://www.lib.ru/UNIXOID/sunsiteldp.txt

http://www.linuxworld.com/

http://www.foresightlinux.org/

http://www.linuxhq.com/about/latest.html

http://www.distrowatch.com/

A journey of billion steps : CS2281

When I first started this blog a few weeks ago, the first thought in my mind was, "I am not good in programming and the best thing I can do to compensate that disparity by doing well in what I can do well in." and so this blog was born and full in action.

But after just a few entries, this blog somewhat became a personal tutor to me. It was learning through research and self-study/self-learning. Self-learning was something that didn't occur to me the instant I stepped past the gates of the prestigious university. I was taught to learn and not taught to enquire till now. I hated it at first because it was a big boggy change from junior college. However, as time went by and grades began to reflect that self-learning is the only way to improve oneself, I realised it was afterall the first step in a long journey.


While searching for materials for this blog, it had opened a new avenue of interest for me to investigate - Linux. This blog was about Linux and the different distros of it. It was like one human being having split personalities, of course in the positive context. furthermore, I learnt that Linux was not alone. There are many well-known IT companies supporting Linux and using it as their default OS. The videos were the most useful. Especially when it came to explaining something without needing to type too much. Some of them were very creative ads and instigated me to appreciate them. A few of the videos were hilarious. I hope that would have added a little giggle and laughter to this blog. Above all, the videos that contained the demos of the different distros were the best, in my perspective. When you look through even a small magnifying glass, everything appears bigger and more accurate. Similarly, I believe that my little sparkles (i.e. my videos, spoken phrases, pictures and interesting facts) around the blog would have placed a high interest for my blog.



P.S. I did the penguin chain all by myself! Yipee! The exclusive picture in this blog not copied from any where else!

Writing this blog was something new to me, not because I am new to writing a blog but I am new to wrtiting a technical blog. I must say I was cautious and worried not to write the inaccurate things. Thus, sometimes, some of the entries may have been generic. But nonetheless, I believe I had provided my personal tags and opinions at many areas.

This is the first time I am doing a programming course that allows a creative component and it is greatly praise-worthy. It had allowed me to learn something in a positive notation and love what I am learning - something I have never got before at SoC....Oops...I hope my past lecturers skipped that line.

In a nutshell, CS2281 had intrigued me to self-learning, unleashing creativity and most importantly making me enjoy what I learn. CS2281 is a true billion-mile journey!

This is a video from Linus Torvald himself explaining about Linux and its origins, just like how Charles Darwin wrote about the origins of species. You would probably be wondering why I didn't post this video earlier in the first post itself. My reason is simple - I wanted this video to be some kind of a recollection and a memorable epilogue. This would be the last video for this blog and hope you like it! Enjoy! And, thanks for reading!

Signing off 'I'm not a paranoid student'

I really am not a paranoid student,

Just a little timid and crazy one.

Down the distro road : Debian, Slackware Linux and ArchLinux

Name :Debian (www.debian.org/)
Creator :Ian Murdork (while he was a student at the Pursue University)
Date Created :16th August 1993

Gotcha! :

From what I have browsed so far of Debian, it seems to have fantastic documentation of all the applications, tools, softwares and libraries that comes with this distro. You should take a look at it too at http://packages.debian.org/stable/.

'Uniquelity' :

Debian's AudioLink enables you to seatch for music and videos easily and Aumix tunes you to music mixers and total entertainment. Infact, Debian has over 20 entertainment softwares within its walls. To browse through all the sound fascilities in Debian, you can check out http://packages.debian.org/stable/sound/. You will be astounded! There is even a software to gear you up with Guitar playing! Plus, Debian offers all these for F-R-E-E. Can you believe that? It has in-built Python, Perl and Shell. So if you are a born programming and cannot go a day without programming then you got your right gear. There over a 100 softwares and tools in Debian that you can search for to learn about through the very tactful documentation at the website stated above. Meanwhile, you can watch the video below to get aquick glimpse.

_________________________________________________

Name :Slackware Linux (http://www.slackware.com/)
Creator : Patrick Volkerding
Date Created : 16th July 1993

Gotcha! :

It seems that Slackware Linux is the rumoured to be the primitive distro from which the others were build. I mean 1993 does spell ancient. Through this link, you can check out the various Linux distros based on Slackware Linux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions#Slackware-based.

'Uniquelity' :

One cannot live without entertainment and just because Slackware Linux might be primitive doesn't mean its entertainment services are primitive too. Infact, Slackware shows no slack-hood in deleivering cool entertainment fascilties. Slackware Linux distro comes with EsounD, the Enlightened Sound Daemon that accomodates several audio streams into one particular audio device for a properly synched playback. That means, a few or many sound applications can share the same audio device. Neat huh?

Something even more hair-raising about Slackware Linux is, it comes with Emacspeak with a speech interface software that comes in handy when you've forgotten to bring your spectacles and groop around the webpage for an hour to click the write icon. Infact. Emacspeak allows the visually impaired to interactive independently with the computer. This is something really praise-worthy. To peek into more applications in Slackware, you can use this search engine for softwares inside Slackware Linux and get the overall list of what you need to know. For example, suppose you want to know what games are stored inside Slackware, youc an type 'Games' in the search engine and get the results. Chekc it out! http://packages.slackware.it/search.php?v=current&t=1&q=games

______________________________________________

Name :Arch Linux (http://www.archlinux.org/)
Creator : Aaron Griffin
Date Created : 11th March 2002

Gotcha! :

ArchLinux is pretty interesting because it allows its users to have new applications/softwares updates on a daily basis through the rolling release system. A rolling release system means a simultaneously evolving software system. Thus, if you are person who wants new applications everyday, you can get ArchLinux bur beware of your memory space - make sure you have enough.

'Uniquelity' :

If you are the big cheese in webcam photography and videography but love Linux, you might want to consider ArchLinux distro because it comes with an application called Cheese that allows great play with photos and videos. Infact, with Cheese, you can finally put your webcam to work and take some cool photos or videos and add zanny special effects to it. Cheese can be your simplified photoshop on Linux! Cheese is a Gnome product and you can check out this website to see what Cheese can do : http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.22/#sect:cheese.

If you are project maniac and love to write scripts and do lots of projects for the betterment of the openSource-hood, maybe you want to conside ArchLinux also because it comes with this tool called Git that helps you to filter out what GNU calls 'stupid' content. Git is a project covered by GNU general public licence and was initially started by Linus Torvalds himself. Git helps you to identify abnormality in your project or what the GNU people call, non-linearity in your project. This would be particularly handy for software developers who are in tight schedules to submit their projects or risk their boss' wrath. Git has a convienient toolkit with many C scripts and nice wrapper programs. If I went on talking about Git, I would probably be copying the whol chuck from the website (that means trouble for me) so see it for yourself : http://git.or.cz/. There is a whole bunch of softwares and packages in ArchLinux so you might want to consider pepping into http://www.archlinux.org/packages/search/?arch=all&repo=Extra&q=&limit=50.

Hilarious Moments : OS WARS - A New Hope

Linux triumphs the battle and rejoices over the victory. Distros from all over the world join at the headquaters to celebrate and recollect their memorious moments.



Linux : My dear distros! Today is an important day for us!
Distros : Hail the Linux! Hail the Penguins!
Linux : Today will be the day I announce my special troop to move with me in the battles to come.
Distros : Who our lord?
Linux : KDE, Gnome and openOffice.org will join in my standard contingent.
Distros : Good choice!
Linux : Beryl and Compix Fusion will lead the graphics march!
Distros : Yeah!
Linux : And my dear distros, you are free to choose your system applications and tools. Be sure to fight with the troop when you are needed!
Distros : We will!
Linux : There is an empire to build and protect! There is a mission to keep up! There is a whole world of computers to change!
Distros : YES!
Linux : All for the betterment of the bytes and bits of our silicon valley!
Distros : Hail to our lord Linux!
Linux : YOUR LINUX IS READY!

The end.....or just the beginning.....

Hilarious Moments : OS WARS - The Distros Strikes Back

Staggered by Windows' threat, Linux was forced to retreat back to the den to discuss with the distros their next move. Windows had something that could defeat Linux and Linux wanted to know what it was bad! The only way was through th firewalls of Windows. But Linux needed more wits to get through the firewalls. Now that Windows know who is striking them, their firewalls were made more secure and difficult to break through-thanks to Window Defender. There had to be a way.

Linux : Dear distros! We are faced with a threat!
Fedora : What threat? From who? The sleeky Mac?
Linux : No. From Windows.
openSUSE : Windows? What threat? Are you sure it is true enough to be believable?
Linux : Yes. They were so happy about it and there was no more fright in their faces. We've to know that it is.
Madriva : How about we use a little tact to get into their system?
Linux : What do you mean?
Mandriva : Windows Defender. We can do something to him.
Linux : Are you serious? hwat can we do to him? He is the right hand of Windows.
Mandriva : We won't do anything to him. The viruses will.
Fedora : What viruses?
Madriva : The viruses that had been building up all these years inside his defend cells. It is only a matter of time before they break out.
Linux : Oh my! Mandriva, give me a hug! That was so brilliant.
openSUSE : So now, what do you propose we do?
Linux : Wait for the right time to strike - when Windows is weak. Muahahaha!
Distros : Oh Hail to the Penguin-hood!
Linux : Hail to open-source!

To be continued....

Hilarious Moments : OS WARS - Return of the Linux

From the time Windows threatened Linux, and after Linux left, Windows Defender fell sick suddenly. All the time, the viruses that had grown in his vault and all the viruses he had tried so hard to prevent from escaping were now taking charge of his system. They were ruining his tools and killing him slowly. The Windows Defender was no longer able to control the outflow of viruses. It was this such time that Linux had been waiting for. So, they returned to strike - Linux and the distros.

Windows Manager :"We can no longer hang on!"
Windows Defender :"Oh no! Linux!"
Linux :"It's me again Windows! Muahahaha!"
Windows Manager :"What are you going to do now Linux?"
Linux :"Oh boy oh boy! Windows is scared!"
Windows Defender :"Yeah right! What can you do? Scare me with your multi-face?"
Beryl :"Hahaha! Not bad...not bad...they know our weapons..SNAILS!"
Windows Manager :"You dare call us snails?"
KDE sergent 4 : "Yeah! What do you expect from big bulky Windows? Poor thing....Muhahah!"
Windows Control Paneller : "You dare! Just because you burn away your dialog boxes doesn't make you a lean mean fighting machine!"
Linux :"Yes it does. Only you don't realise that people love me and will love ME!"
Windows Exceller :"Save yourself before I shoot macros at you!"
Compix Fusion Leader : "That is all you can do! Muahaha....I make my boxes dance around you and burn you down!"
Windows Defender :"Oh no you dont!"
Linux : "Yes we will!"
Windows Manager : "NOoooo!"
KDE sergent 4 :"Smash off Windows! Muahahah....Penguins Rule!"
Linux :"HAIL OH PENGUINS! WE ARE GAINING TROOPS!"

Beryl :"LOOK! THERE'S IBM! They are coming to join us!"
Linux :"What do you say now Windows? Hahahaha! Look at you!"
Windows Defender (defeated) :"You....w..w..wi..win...What did you do? I am getting myself hung...Oh nooooo...!"



Linux and troop : "Muhahahahah!"

Blog Writer : Ok you can give the weird look now. What am I actually doing? Since this blog has been mostly technical and little pinches of humour here and there, I thought why not dedicate this one saga to the 'funnyness' of the world and for the betterment of the ever dull society. What you might see might be totally academically unethical and never expected from a computer engineering student. But if it adds colour and interest to you, then, stay gripped to your seats and watch the 'funnyness' unfold.

A new hope.....

The hat, chameleon and the star

I can suppose that this is the last entry or rather the last technical entry before we can say goodbye. This post will help you highlight the special features in each of the distros that we've discussed so far. Before that, catch this cool video! (because you would be missing an important and decision-making overview if you doze off!)




Fedora 9, Fedora 10, openSUSE 11.0 and Mandriva Spring all come with the latest KDE, Gnome and Linux Kernel, no doubt about that. As for networking and internet browsing, Fedora 9, Fedora 10 and openSUSE 11.0 comes with Firefox beta 3.0 while Mandriva Spring comes with Firefox 2.0 and Firefox Thunderbird 2.0. All three distros come with the latest version of openOffice.org.

Interactive graphics wise, all three distros are similar with minor differences. For example, openSUSE 11.0 has different types of multi-desktop animation/visuals while Mandriva, Fedora 9 and Fedora 10 have the regular cube-shaped multi-desktop.

Fedora 9 and Fedora 10 have a new feature called the liveUSB boot. This feature allows you to boot up your Linux system using an USB which is particularly useful when Linux users are travelling or use different computers each time they want to boot up Linux. Especially for students and business men who tend to travel or use different computers from their usual. Moreover, bluetooth networking is pretty reliable in these Fedora distributions of Linux. Sending and receiving files from a variety of bluetooth devices is now much more at ease. The Fedora distributions use rhythmbox as their default media player. Fedora 10 has improved web camera functions, finger-print reader and has been proposed to be tablet-friendly too.

openSUSE 11.0's default media player is Banshee 1.0. This is something different from Fedora and Mandriva. Banshee 1.0 is a all in one control centre for entertainment and even assists you in CD burning and podcast management. Another different feature in openSUSE 11.0 is Tasque which is a all-in-all task manager that manages your online and offline daily tasks.

Mandriva's name itself came with a surprise to me. It was interesting to know that Mandriva was formerly known as Mandrake and Mandrake was named after a famous magician. With the usual KDE and Gnome, Madriva comes with another desktop environment called Xfce. Xfce gives another cool desktop environment that is graphically and visually appealing. Mandriva also comes with unique software and applications. For example, Abiword which is a word processor where you can do your documents just like in openOffice.org. Another unique software is HomeBank which allows you to keep track of your daily/monthly financial tasks and management. Mandriva has more than one media centre/entertainment portal, namely, Amarok, Elisa and PulseAudio. Though Mandriva doesn't have Forefox best 3.0, it comes with Midori for web browsing, Hotwire which is an alternative for shell and Conduit that helps you manage uploads into your favourite websites like Picassa.

Thus, that would be the overview of the distros that we’ve seen these weeks. I hope this entry would help you to zoom into one distro that you like and would suit you best. In the last last technical entry, we would glance through the other available distros in town and that would be the finale!

Meet the features : Mandriva 2008

Previously we looked at the history of Mandriva and how 'magically' it started off. Now, time for some techno matter.

Mandriva Spring comes with KDE 3.4.9 and Gnome 2.22. For your web surfing, you can use the Mozilla Firefox web browser 2.0 and Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0. Now, we all know what is Mozilla Firefox. Let's look at what this thunderbird is for.





Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open-source cross-platform email and news client developed by Mozilla Fountain and it had been modelled after Mozilla Firefox. It acts like your regular news feeder and email service provider.

Mandriva includes openOffice.org version 2.4. This version of openOffice.org comes with improved chart drawing and multiple language support too. The multiple language support sounds new doesn't it? So, what we could deduce now is, openOffice.org is becoming more and more like Microsoft Works/Excel/Powerpoint/Word. Looks like someone's got competition.



Though this version of openOffice is a norm in most distros, the fact that Mandriva has one which can do multi-language options is remarkable especially when the community of Linux users come from all over the globe.



Apart from having openOffice to do your documents and presentations, Madriva Spring has a new application called Abiword 2.6 which is a free software word processor licenced under GNU general public licence and was first created by SourceGear Corporation in 1998. This software functions just like any regular word processors with an niche for working most operating systems including Windows.



Another interesting improvement from the previous version and something that is not yet available in the other distros is the HomeBank software that would replace the GNUCash application in previous versions of Mandriva. This tool helps you manage your finances at the comfort of your home or where ever you might travel. It helps you manage your accounts with incredible graphical tools and visual applications. HomeBank has been around since 1995 and has been used for several of Windows' desktops too.

Let's put the serious stuff aside. Entertainment on Madriva is cool too and play up to its maximum capabilities.





Amarok is a free software music player for Linux and Unix-like platforms. It makes use of core components from the K Desktop Environment but during release, it is released without using the centre KDE release cycle. It supports upload and music playing from most devices like the iRiver, iPod, Creative Zen and many more. Interestingly, Amarok also had podcast support.



Another portal for entertainment and photo/video browsing Elisa. Elisa is a free software that gives you a media centre-like portal to upload your photos, music and videos. Using Elisa, you can manage your entertainment needs all at one place. Elisa works on all Unix-platforms and now aims to work with Windows. Elisa has the latest graphics and visual structure that is appealing to use and enjoy.



Another music entertainment application is PulseAudio. Pulse Audio is particularly interesting because it allows scripting capabilities through the command-line interface. It has the ability to synchronize multiple playback streams. This wuld be really useful when you want to play a favourite music of yours but do not know what type of stream it is. Infact, some music players cannot play all types of streams. Overall, Pulse Audio is a sound server that has the ability to accept sound input from one or more sources.

An OS is nothing without meeting entertainment needs of the user. More importantly is the capacity of networking it can provide. We will now see what are the networking capabilities that Madriva Spring provides.

Mandriva has better bluetooth functions compared to its latest versions. Receiving and sending files through bluetooth is better at ease now. Furthermore, more types of bluetooth devices can be synchronized with the system. In my opinion, bluetoothing shouldn't be problem with Mandriva Spring. Hail to the wireless world!



Madriva includes a software called Midori which is a web browser that works using WebKit as the rendering engine. Midori comes with your regular tabs, bookmarks and search engine box. WebKit is just an open-source application framework from Apple that provides the foundation upon which you will build a web browser. Above is the logo of Midori.



Hotwire is another simple but useful feature in Madriva. Hotwire is am object-oriented hypershell that allows you to do systems programming with files and processes. It has the same concept and design as a regular Unix shell but Hotwire is better in the sense that it gives you a better graphical user interface display that you may not get from Unix shell.



Last but not the least, Mandriva Spring comes with Conduit, a software that allows you to synchromize information between your system and various other destiantions. One particular use would be to synchronize photos from your computer to various photo-hosting websites such as Picassa and Flickr. You can also synchronize files, folders, contacts, calendar and tasks. Conduit gives you a easy to user interface with the drag-and-drop feature so that you get a proper visual representation of what is going to be done and what is being done. Above is a snapshot of Conduit in action.

That must be a lot for you to read and digest but that is Madriva. This OS comes with unique applications and the usual KDE, Gnome and Linux Kernel. However, thought the other distro have updated to Firefox Beta 3.0, this latest version of Mandriva has choosen to stick with Firefox 2.0 and Thunderbird 2.0.

With that, I conclude my Mandriva talk. I hope that you would have gained some useful insight of Mandriva here. If you would love to know more about the distros that I've discussed thus far, you can always click on the 'Acknowledgements ~ Citations' post that would be uploading no later than 24/7/08. All the links and books from which I've gathered my resources for this blog would be cited there.

So, gear up for a little more from this blog before we call it a blog-end and meanwhile, keep reading my 'OS WARS'!

P.S. It is so beautiful to share knowledge that I have with people who read this blog. Sometimes or always, all good and fun things must come to an end. When it comes, I would be missing this blog and the module so much. But there is still at least another 5 entries before I close my 'bloggings'! Rejoice my readers!

Hilarious Moments : OS WARS - Revenge of the Windows

After the attack of the Linux distros, the Windows troop gathered at the planning table to strike the next move to outplay Linux. This as a crucial time for Windows. They had to try something new and keep up with the fight. They needed something strong. Something new..something out of this world and something nobody else would ever think of or copy...even with open-source.

Windows Manager : What do you think?
Windows Defender : It's a great plan sir but I thought we wanted to keep this till Mac striked.
Windows Manager : We cannot wait till then! We need to beat Linux!
Windows Defender : SIR! They are coming here!
Windows Manager : How did they find out this place?
Windows Defender : Oh now! The firewalls are down sir!
Linux : Hahah! I see you are planning something?
Windows Defender : That is none of your business!
Linux : Oh yeah? Just wanted to tell you that I've gathere 30 million supporters with over thousands of new weapons and tools in the creation!
Windows Manager : Hahahaha!
Linux : Going crazy huh? No wonder you are laughing!
Windows Manager : Fool! You can have many new weapons and tools but I have something that will bring you down for good and will not let you even raise your head for another 10 years!
Linux : W...W..What? What is it?
Windows Defender : Why should we tell you?
Windows Manager : Take these laser shots...Lienux! Hahahaha!
Linux : Let's see who will get the last laugh! I'll be back!

To be continued.....

Hilarious Moments : OS WARS - Attack of the Distros

After challenging the Windows Defender and prooving its wits, Linux takes it to the next level of war. Linux gathers power and strength from all over the planet and pulls through in creating more armies of distros. Bytes and bits who support Linux join in the force and give their full support contributing the essentials tools and weapons Linux needs to stay in the game.

Linux : My dear distros! I've gained power! Thanks to you.
Distros : Hail oh Linux!
Linux : Today, we rise!
Distros : YES!
Linux : Today, we rejoice!
Distros : YES!
Linux : Today, we fight as one for the betterment of open-source and the community of bytes and bits!
Distros : Fight! Fight! Fight!
Linux : Let's break down the Windows empire and hail to open-source!
Distros : Hail to open-source!
Linux : ATTACK!



Windows Defender : Sir, they are coming!
Windows Manager : Who? What? Where?
Windows Defencer : Linux and his distros! There is a whole army of them!
Windows Manager : He gathered troops so fast! When we are here? We have the best minds in the whole of silicon valley!
Windows Defender : Sir, not anymore. He gathered troops through open-source.
Windows Manager : Open-source? But that is technically unethical! No byte or bit would support that!
Windows Defender : They have sir. And they have contributed every of the best weapons and tools to Linux.
Windows Manager : NO!
Linux : Muahahahah! I'm back!
Windows Defender : You dare be back!
Linux : Fedora, shoot that liveboot at them!
Windows Manager : What liveboot! You can't have that!
Linux : SUSE, blast then through that Banshee!
Windows Defender : Shut that thing! It's killing my chips!
Windows Manager : No! The viruses! There are coming in!
Linux : Muahahah! I told you not to mess with me!
Windows Defender : Sir, we need to save what is left! Let's leave!
Linux : Muhahahah! Run! Run! Run! Hail to the brave new world of Linux!

To be continued.....

Miraculous : Mandriva 2008

So far, we've seen Fedora 9, Fedora 10 and openSUSE 11.0. Fedora from Red Hat and openSUSE 11.0 from Novell, both with unique features and cool enhancements from their previous versions. I hope, you would have enjoyed 'Hilarious Moments - OS Wars' episodes too. Why I even bothered to spend time on that, you will know as you keep up with the episodes. I promise, no computing machines were harmed in the making of OS Wars. After some of those 'un-technical' aspects that you had to read, let me now take something IT geeks love. Today, we will be looking at the star, Mandriva Linux. The latest version of Mandriva would be 'Mandriva Linux 2008 1. Spring' and I call it shortly the Madriva Spring version.

Let us now peek into what the lastest version of mandriva has got to offer.

Something new in Mandriva Linux is that now you can flip and shuffle your dialog boxes. Other than that, the graphics remain similar to the previous distros we've looked at. Let me now go about my history lesson as usual.

Mandriva Linux was created by Mandriva S.A formerly known as Mandrakesoft. Mandrakesoft was founded in 1998 in Paris. Mandriva Linux was first created by Gaël Duval in July 1998 based on the Linux release by Red Hat. Gaël Duval was also the co-founder of Mandrakesoft.

Did You Know? :

A mandrake is some kind of a plant that is believed to be used for magical rituals and witchcraft in the past. This plant was even mentioned in Shakepere's Romeo and Juliet - "Shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth." . If memory strikes you, this plant has been mentioned in the famous story book of a young wizard, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone also. Cool huh? The fact that this plant shrieks when its roots are pulled out of the Earth puzzles me.

Some say Madriva was inspired by a famous comic in the 1930s called 'Mandrake the Magician'. No wonder the logo is a star or rather a spark.
Now, back to talking sense.

Mandriva Spring comes with the usual KDE and Gnome desktops, plus also includes other desktops, anmely the Xfce and twm.

Xfce is a free software desktop environment for UNIX-supported platforms and aims to provide a simple and fast desktop environment which is also graphically/visually appealing. For more information on this desktop environment, you can go to http://www.xfce.org/.

On the other hand, twm is a standard tab window manager for the X Window System, created by Tom LaStrange. It was first released in 1987.

With very little technical aspects and more entertainemnt matter, I leave you here to enjoy the glimpse at Madriva. In the next entry, gear up for the techno talk. Till then...well you know what to do - Stay tuned!

Hilarious Moments : OS WARS - The Phantom OS

In the war-torn silicon valley, bytes and bits which had survived struggle to revive their old life. This was the result of the war. A war that tore the world apart and forced predation - the war between two OSes. One will succeed. One will survive. One will win the hearts of many and become history. But which?

Windows Defender : Face me intruder! Who are you?
Phantom OS : Muahahahah! Intruder? Me? What do you call those viruses then?
Windows Defender : Intruder! You are talking beyond your limit! Show yourself!
Windows Manager : What's going on here?
Windows Defender : We have an intruder.
Phantom OS : Hahaha! Intruder? I'll give you a better word - ENEMY.
Windows Manager : *shivers* Enemy? You surely aren't Mac...Who are you?
Phantom OS : I have multi-faces and split personalities. Make a guess.
Windows Defender : There is no time for play now! We have a silicon valley to save and build!
Phantom OS : The name is Linux, multi-faced, Linux. Muhahahaha! And the valley is MINE!
Windows Manager : YOU! I thought we got rid of you years ago!
Phantom OS : Got rid? Hahaha! You only chased me away. What made you think I won't be back?
Windows Defender : With what guts do you come here?!
Phantom OS (Linux) : Guts? I have more than that! Want to see?



Linux : I'll be back to chuck you out of your own Windows!Muhahahaha!

To be continued .....

More to Reveal : openSUSE 11.0

In the last post, we looked at some of the major features of openSUSE 11.0 such as the KDE, Gnome and Linux Kernel versions and applications that come with it. Let's travel further down the SUSE tunnel to look at the other exhilarating features of openSUSE 11.0. I promise this entry would definitely give you a reason to choose or not to choose openSUSE against Fedora 9.

Something interesting about openSUSE 11.0 is that it comes with openOffice.org version 2.4 that promises to provide users with an office suite that comes with a word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc) and presentation tool (Draw).

This latest version of openOffice.org has updated features such as the improved chart drawing, rectangualr text selection and drag-drop rows and columns in Calc. Infact, it now has the Gstreamer Integration through which you can add embed music and videos into your presentation and othe documents. Sleek huh? (and free too!)

And guess what? openSUSE 11.0 has firefox 3. Firefox 3 has seen major improvements including the impressive tabbing of internet pages (something you got with windows browser is not in firefox!). You can also zoom text or the entire site with firefox 3.0. - this is particularly very handy for easy viewing of websites (especially when you've forgotten your spectacles).

openSUSE 11.0 also had Banshee 1.0 which the application that assists you in video, podcast management and CD burning. Banshee's support for a wide range of devices - from iPods to any kind of mass storage devices makes it pretty impressive.

Banshee functions like your regualry music/video manager and enables you to listen to songs in the shuffle mode and even manage your videos like you do for your songs. CD burning is now possible with Banshee's integration with Brasero. Brasero is an application to burn CD/DVD for the Gnome desktop. You can find out more about Brasero and its distinct functions at : http://www.gnome.org/projects/brasero/

Tasque is a another impressive application in openSUSE 11.0. It is a simple application used for task amangement for the Linux desktop. Tasque even works with another web service that handles to-do lists online. It is simple to use and manages your daily tasks with ease.

Certain applications in openSUSE 11.0 is impressive like the Tasque and Banshee 1.0. The graphics are pretty cool too as they differ from the regualr six-faced cube multi-desktop. What openSUSE 11.0 doesn't have that Fedora 9 has is the liveUSB boot function and the bluetooth applications. Somehow, the liveUSB boot function gives the user more versitility in embracing Linux especially when travelling and the bluetooth applications that now have been stabilised better than before gives the user adequate connectivity to a wide array of bluetooth devices. Though openSUSE 11.9 does have applications like Tasque and Banshee 1.0, in my opinion, these applications could be made graphically/visually more appealing and bluetooth could be the next thing that openSUSE would want to have. So, my verdict is, if you an avid bluetooth user, you have to go with Fedora 9. if you are looking out for a simpler Linux just to manage your files, tasks, videos, photos, music and so on, then you can bravely go with openSUSE 11.0.

Thus, fear not and try out both distros and see which fits you better - just make sure you have a backup of your files before each installation!

P.S. openSUSE has an ongoing event called Hack Week where developers work on projects that they find interesting but not anything related to their reguar work. If you are lucky, you may find some cool new applications/applets for your openSUSE. Or you must just end up together with the community of openSUSE users in creating your own applications!