Christmas comes early for Enlightenment users…well at least Unity Linux Enlightenment users! Enlightenment just announced and released an alpha version for their “EFL” Enlightenment Foundation Libraries.  On Unity Linux in the past to get the most recent stuff from e17, the HUMANity remaster would use the easy_e17.sh which would go out and download an SVN [...]

Christmas comes early for Enlightenment users…well at least Unity Linux Enlightenment users! Enlightenment just announced and released an alpha version for their “EFL” Enlightenment Foundation Libraries. On Unity Linux in the past to get the most recent stuff from e17, the HUMANity remaster would use the easy_e17.sh which would go out and download an SVN snapshot of Enlightenment and install it to your computer. The problem you run into with this way of installing is that the package management system is not aware of what you’ve installed…after all, they’re not RPMs.

Wouldn’t it be great if the latest and greatest were available IN THE REPOSITORY for Unity users to install? The Unity developers wave a magic wand above smart repositories. IT IS NOW! Currently in unstable repository for your testing pleasure are all of the packages that easy_e17.sh would download to build and install for you. We’ve made it so that smart can manage things for you. Once things are tested a bit we’ll shuffle it back to the e17 channel…but until then it will remain in unstable.

To install, enable the unstable repository and look for task-17 2010.2.

Plenty more goodies on the way of course…we’ve got some under our belt and are getting ready to make a few more notches on said belt. Currently in the PLF repository is the google-talk-plugin. A recent addition is Wicd and we need people to test it out. On the heels of wicd, we’re working on network manager AND testing functionality with it plugged into the drakxtools from Mandriva as a replacement for net_applet (Mandriva is also testing this). So, lots of interesting things happening…not just cutting edge Enlightement goodies Thanks for using Unity and have fun!

The Pre Beta Release of Synergy Linux Code Named “Identity Crisis” has been released. The official announcement is here: Identity Crisis

I’ve never really updated an entire OS in the strictest sense. When I say I have an up-to-date OS, that means I’ve all the major applications (mostly UI-based) in their latest versions. But this time I decided, having gotten back by beloved EV-DO, to go for a full OS update for my Fedora 11 (Leonidas). The command was as simple as:

yum update –skip-broken

Issuing the command showed there were approx. 1 GB worth of updates to be installed. But why think twice about the download size when you have an EV-DO with an unlimited data plan? Also, that gave me a reason to keep the EV-DO busy. I love downloading. I simple love it!

I’ll post some screenies of my updated Fedora as soon as it gets updated fully.

Synergy-Linux.com Synergy-Linux.com is back up. I was using a home machine to to host my site, however with the latest Alpha releases and the latest builds of KDE 4.5 RC 3 I have decided to try and make my home machine more the work horse and less the file provider. This is better for my [...]

The Unity Linux project is pleased to announce the final 2010 release. Check the Downloads page to get the 32 bit and 64 bit LiveCDs.

Changelog:

• The usage of Plymouth for the boot graphics.
  
• New kernel version 2.6.33.5.
  
• New Unity theme
  
• Added the smart-applet for automatic package updates.
• All around updates of all major DE as well as supporting libraries.
  

The repositories now contain many full fledged up to date Desktop Environments which can be installed with the use of the “task” meta-packages. Recent additions include:

• KDE 4.4.3 from Synergy Linux,
• Gnome 2.30.0,
• Openbox 3.4.11.2 from TinyMe,
• XFCE 4.6.2 from Qua It,
• E17 0.16.999.49898 from UnitE17

Our resources are now focused on cleaning up of our documentation and the continued bug squashing to complement the final release.

Known issues:

• Autologin feature in main control center does not work properly with other DesktopManagers besides GDM, for use with KDM4 or Slim, use the DesktopEnvironment provided method.
• Broadcom firmare is not provided due to licensing issues, please use firmware provided on the cdrom you received with your broadcom card. This can cause issues with udev trying to constantly re-spawn.

About Unity Linux:
Mandriva-based Unity Linux utilizes the MkLiveCD project, which allows developers to create their own distribution on top of a Unity Linux core (or “trunk”). Unity Linux thus strives to provide a solid, well maintained foundation that developers can use as a starting point to build their own “remastered” distributions, or as we like to call them, “branches.” Currently, Unity Linux offers both 32-bit and 64-bit LiveCDs. Over 8,500 packages are available after installation. In an effort to give distribution developers maximum flexibility, the core is kept small and usable, but not too basic. Unity Linux provides developers with the bare minimum– just enough to make use of remaster tools, the smart package manager, a 2.6.33.5 kernel, and rpm5. To facilitate easy access to packages, Unity Linux utilizes an SVN repository for packages and internal projects. All the necessary tools as well as a basic tutorial for building packages are already provided. An automatic build system to work with the SVN repository is in progress along with many other tools to make Unity the most functional project to start a personal or professional branch.

So, what’s keeping me busy these days? It’s office work, of course. Working on quite a challenging and bigger project has its side-effects as well (working till late and missing daily fruit juice doses in my case). Other than that, I am enjoying the work as it has to do with web development, my area of interest.

Being a strong advocate of open-source and Linux, I read a lot of articles on these topics daily. And I hate when people use words like “switch”, “migrate”, etc. when referring to making the move from Windows to Linux. Why do people, who try to compel people to switch from Windows to Linux, forget that there is always an option called “dualbooting” and that Windows still has the astronomically largest market share? I really hope people use the word “dualboot” more when advocating the use of Linux to others. By the way, I am also writing an article highlighting this matter (Why Switch? Dualboot!), which I intend to share pretty soon.

Talking about Linux, the latest Ubuntu release (10.4; Lucid Lynx) has been getting good reviews from all around. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it. I am planning to install it on my home PC (the one currently in use by my Dad and sister).

Also, two of my good friends, Chandan Puggal (working in Aricent) and Amritpal Singh (working in Accenture) recently joined me in Gurgaon (my present work location).

Finally, I did mention it earlier also, but it really is a frustrating life without a proper Internet connection. (Looking upward) God, please me my EV-DO back. Amen.

Synergy-Linux.com is gone Well Synergy-Linux.com is down and will be for a while. At the time renewal came up, though not costly I couldn’t part with the moneys for various reasons. However Synergy-Linux.com was really just a portal for packaging work that was being done for KDE 4, Synergy Linux, and Unity Linux. Synergy-Linux.net is [...]

I was quite surprised this morning whilst reading my RSS feeds to discover that Ubuntu has named their most recent ‘lite desktop‘ Unity.  Surprised because we have our project, Unity Linux.  Strange that both our ‘lightweight distribution and desktop’ and Ubuntu’s ‘lite desktop’ should share a name together.
While I’m not really sure why no one threw [...]

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