FreeImage

FreeImage is a library project for developers who would like to support popular graphics image formats (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, BMP and others). Some highlights are: extremely simple in use, not limited to the local PC (unique FreeImageIO) and Plugin driven!

Downlaod: FreeImage 

FreeCAD 3D CAD modeler

FreeCAD is a general purpose feature-based, parametric 3D modeler for CAD, MCAD, CAx, CAE and PLM, aimed directly at mechanical engineering and product design but also fits a wider range of uses in engineering, such as architecture or other engineering specialties. It is 100% Open Source and extremely modular, allowing for very advanced extension and customization.

FreeCAD is based on OpenCasCade, a powerful geometry kernel, features an Open Inventor-compliant 3D scene representation model provided by the Coin 3D library, and a broad Python API. The interface is built with Qt. FreeCAD runs exactly the same way on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux platforms.

Downlaod: FreeCAD 3D CAD modeler

FreeNAS 8.3.1

Josh Paetzel has announced the release of FreeNAS 8.3.1, an open-source storage platform that supports sharing across Windows, Apple, and UNIX-like systems: "The FreeNAS development team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of FreeNAS 8.3.1-RELEASE. FreeNAS 8.3.1 is based on FreeBSD 8.3 with version 28 of the ZFS file system, and features volume based encryption for ZFS. There have been no major changes between 8.3.1-RC1 and RELEASE, mostly bug fixes and minor usability improvements to the GUI. Please familiarize yourself extensively with the encryption features of FreeNAS before using them. Doing the wrong thing can end up in a state where the volume is hidden behind very difficult-to-break AES 256 encryption. Many modern CPUs feature hardware support for encryption. If hardware support is available FreeNAS will use it.

Download: FreeNAS 8.3.1

ClearOS 6.4.0 Beta 2 "Community"

Peter Baldwin has announced the release of the second beta of ClearOS 6.4 "Community" edition, a CentOS-based server, network and gateway operating system designed for homes, hobbyists and small organisations: "ClearOS Community 6.4.0 Beta 2 has arrived. Along with the usual round of bug fixes and enhancements, this release introduces a new reports engine, a storage manager, an anti-malware file scanner, RADIUS, a basic POP/IMAP server, mail retrieval (Fetchmail) as well as upstream proxy support. Over the last few weeks, there was a lot of focus on squashing bugs and improving little usability issues. From the modernized installer to the easy to use Marketplace, ClearOS 6 has matured to be our best offering. It's not only the core platform that has had a facelift, but also the individual apps and solutions. For example, Zarafa's solution with two great webmail interfaces, Outlook support, and out-of-the-box mobile synchronization.

Download: clearos-community-6.4beta2-x86_64.iso

openSUSE 12.3 RC2

 
Jos Poortvliet has announced the availability of the second and final release candidate for openSUSE 12.3: "The openSUSE release team has released RC2 to the mirrors a few hours ago. A large number of bugs have been fixed and a number of packages have been updated. Major changes include PulseAudio, the kernel and Firefox. This is the last opportunity to find and fix the last few bugs before the final release." Please do note that the openSUSE live images no longer fit on a 600 MB CD: "Starting with openSUSE 12.3, we have changed the structure of the live GNOME and KDE media. The live images are now designed to be written to, booted and installed from a USB disk rather than a CD; consequently, they are now about a GB each

Download: openSUSE-12.3-GNOME-Live-Build0094-x86_64.iso

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 Released

Red Hat, Inc. has announced the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.4, the latest update of the company's enterprise-class operating system: "Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced general availability of the next minor release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4. It has been optimized for performance, stability and flexibility, and designed to help organizations manage their workloads across physical, virtual and cloud environments. Red Hat Enterprise Linux introduces several new components that help enterprises meet these core business objectives. Red Hat has collaborated with its partners and the upstream community on the parallel Network File System (pNFS) industry standard.

Ubuntu for Android Phones

What is Ubuntu for Android?

How would you like a PC that fits in your pocket? For the lowdown on Ubuntu for Android, in terms your grandma could understand, watch this short video. And for news on Ubuntu for Android products, watch this space.

The full PC desktop for multi-core Android phones

Now multi-core Android phones can be PCs too. Ubuntu for Android enables high-end Android handsets to run Ubuntu, the world’s favourite free PC desktop operating system. So users get the Android they know on the move, but when they connect their phone to a monitor, mouse and keyboard, it becomes a PC.

See more: Ubuntu for Android

OpenSUSE 12.3 RC1

Jos Poortvliet has announced the availability of the first release candidate for openSUSE 12.3, scheduled for final release on 13 March, is out and ready for testing: "The openSUSE project would like to announce the first release candidate of version 12.3 of its popular Linux distribution. Major updates include the KDE desktop environment 4.10, GNOME 3.6 and Linux kernel 3.7.6. This preview includes a large number of fixes made to Factory since the beta, as well as the last major set of version updates. RC1 needs a real workout to ensure we fix any remaining issues in time, so don't wait for RC2, put it on your spare disk and give it a try now. Major changes include: PackageKit 0.8.7, Apper 0.8, fcitx 4.2.7, MariaDB replaces MySQL.

Download: openSUSE 12.3 RC1

Linux Deepin 12.12 Alpha

A preview version of Linux Deepin 12.12, a popular Chinese community distribution, has been unleashed for testing. This is the first version that ships with the brand new Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE), which replaces GNOME Shell as the default desktop. DDE along with its Deepin System Settings (DSS) is regarded as a milestone for the Deepin project. DSS is implemented with the Deepin UI library and it features automatic screen brightness adjustment, support for the Chinese lunar calendar, convenient network configuration, and so on. Also included in Deepin 12.12 Alpha is Deepin Software Center 3.0 Alpha, where the software applications are reorganized with better classification. Multimedia utilities for video and audio playback as well as screenshots have been upgraded to new versions for testing.

Download: Linux Deepin 12.12 Alpha

SystemRescueCd 3.3.0

François Dupoux has released an updated build of SystemRescueCd, version 3.3.0. SystemRescueCd is a Gentoo-based live CD with an extensive collection of data rescue and disk management utilities. The project's changelog reports the following new features and improvements: "Standard kernels are the long-term supported Linux 3.4.27 (rescuecd and rescue64); alternative kernels updated to latest stable 3.7.4 (altker32 and altker64); fixed 'waiting for uevents to be processed' by upgrading udev to 197-r4; updated XFS file system utilities: - xfsprogs 3.1.10 and xfsdump 3.1.2; updated dar 2.4.9 (Disk Archive 2.4.9); added grsync 1.1.1 (a GTK+ frontend to rsync); added fuse-exfat 1.0.0 (exFAT file system FUSE module); fixed Network-Manager applet in the graphical environment; re-based genkernel on latest upstream version; updated NTFS-3G to 2013.1.13.

Downlaod: SystemRescueCd 3.3.0

How to Install Binary Files and Scripts (.BIN/.SH)

Binary files such as (.BIN) and shell scripts (.SH) are another popular format for distributing applications, particularly in the commercial, closed-source world. A good example of this are the Quake 3 and Doom 3 games from id Software. Basically all these files are is a list of commands that are run inside a terminal to copy, move, and create files in your file system. You can run these files like so:

For BIN files:
1. Make sure the file is set to "executable" by running this command:
chmod +x xyz.bin

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openSUSE 12.3 Beta 1 Released

The first beta of the upcoming openSUSE Linux 12.3, scheduled for final release on 13 March, is out and ready for testing: "According to plan, today openSUSE 12.3 beta sees the light. The beta comes with mostly smallish changes as we're in serious testing waters now – we hope you're out there to help us clear the way to the final release. The beta comes with 4.10 RC2 of KDE's workspaces and applications. KDE has announced a third RC due to some late changes and this version is part of a testing sprint organized by the KDE Quality team. openSUSE KDE packagers have build a special live image to test this release but we urge you to get the beta packages from software.opensuse.org as they are of course newer.

Download: openSUSE-KDE-LiveCD-Build0348-x86_64.iso - openSUSE-GNOME-LiveCD-Build0348-x86_64.iso

Fedora 18 Final Relase

Fedora 18, the latest stable version of the Red Hat-sponsored community distribution of Linux, has finally arrived: "The Fedora project is incredibly delighted to announce the release of Fedora 18. What's new? The user interface for Fedora's installation software, Anaconda, has been completely re-written from the ground up. Making its debut in Fedora 18, the new UI introduces major improvements to the installation experience. It uses a hub-and-spoke model that makes installation easier for new users, offering them concise explanations about their choices. Advanced users and system administrators are of course still able to take advantage of more complex options. The general look and feel of the installation experience has been vastly upgraded, providing modern, clean, and comprehensible visuals during the process.

Download:
Fedora 18 x86_64 DVD    
Fedora-18-i386-DVD
Fedora-18-x86_64-Live-KDE    
Fedora-18-source-DVD
Fedora-18-i686-Live-KDE   
Fedora-18-i686-Live-Desktop    
Fedora-18-x86_64-Live-Desktop

CentOS 5.9 Released

Karanbir Singh has announced the release of CentOS 5.9, a Linux distribution built from the source code of the recently-released Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.9: "We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS 5.9 for i386 and x86_64 architectures. New features: the UOP added native MySQL support to Postfix, you might consider moving from the postfix-mysql package from the centosplus repo to this package if you are using the centosplus package only for MySQL support; java-1.7.0-openjdk (Java 7) support has been added in CentOS-5.9, java-1.6.0-openjdk (Java 6) is also still available and most things java in the distribution still use Java 6; ant17 (Ant 1.7.0) has been added to CentOS-5.9, the older ant (Ant 1.6.5) is also still available; Microsoft Hyper-V drivers have been added to allow CentOS to be more efficient as a virtual machine when installed on Microsoft Hyper-V server.


Download: CentOS-5.9-x86_64-bin-DVD-1of2.iso , CentOS-5.9-x86_64-bin-DVD-2of2.iso

How to INSTALLING SOFTWARE RPM

RPM stands for RedHat Package Management, but is pretty universal and used in modern linux Distro's. In many cases a simple click on the RPM icon will open a GUI for easy installation. Sometimes you can even do a test-install to see if all dependencies are correct.

For the commandline we have: ( assuming we want to install samba-2.2.1a-4 )

# rpm -ihv   samba-2.2.1a-4.rpm  ( Will install the package )
# rpm -Uhv samba-2.2.1a-4.rpm   ( Will upgrade the package )
# rpm -e samba-2.2.1a-4.rpm   ( Delete the package )
# rpm -l samba-2.2.1a-4.rpm   ( Will list the files in the package )
# rpm -ql samba-2.2.1a-4.rpm  ( Will list the files and state the installed version of the package )

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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.9

The legacy 5.x branch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has moved to version 5.9, incorporating all recent feature and security updates: "Red Hat, Inc. today announced the next minor release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.9. This release marks the beginning of Production Phase 2 of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and demonstrates the company's continuing effort to promote stability and the preservation of customers' investments in the platform. It maintains Red Hat's commitment to a 10-year life cycle through the introduction of several new features, including hardware enablement, security, standards and certifications, developer tools, virtualization, and more. As with all minor releases, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.9 maintains backwards compatibility with hardware and software platforms across the life cycle of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Download: download center

The Difference of SU AND ROOT

There have been many questions about, what is the difference between “su” and “root” . . well, the difference is minimal but still very important.

As you login as “root” right from booting the system, all the privileges are set to root, what makes your system more vulnerable to your own mistakes and those wishing to enter your system.
As you login as normal user, the privileges are limited, thus it´s safer. To be able to do administrative tasks you can temporally login as root using “su” in a console/terminal, that way the root privileges are limited to the actions you do in the console. So the rest of the system is still in “normal user” mode, and this makes it safer.
We do use the same password for “su” and “root”, but once you are logged in as normal user, typing “root” in terminal will only give you “bash: root: command not found”.

The software Installation of (configure, make, make install)

This tutorial is for those who have just started using Linux. Generally when users from the Windows background enter the Linux world, they are totally stumped by the software installation method. They were used to the luxury of double clicking on a single file and getting their software installed. But now they have to type cryptic commands to do the same.

Though the installation instructions tell them what to do, they have no idea what those steps actually do. This article shall explain the basics of software installation. After reading this article you would feel more at home when installing your next software.

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Parsix GNU/Linux 4.0R1

The honour of the first release announcement of 2013 goes to Parsix GNU/Linux, a distribution based on Debian's testing branch and featuring the GNOME 3 desktop: "The updated 4.0r1 version has been synchronized with Debian's testing repositories as of December 29, 2012 and brings lots of updated packages compared to Parsix 3.7 aka Raul. Parsix Gloria is project's first release with the GNOME 3 series and ships with LibreOffice productivity suite by default. Gloria has a brand-new software manager package. Highlights: GNOME 3.4.2, X.Org 7.7, GRUB 2, GNU Iceweasel 17.0.1, GParted 0.12.1, Empathy 3.4.2.3, LibreOffice 3.5.4, VirtualBox 4.1.18 and a brand-new kernel based on Linux 3.2.35 with TuxOnIce 3.3, BFS and other extra patches. The live DVD has been compressed using Squashfs and xz. Main changes are: X.Org Server 1.12.4, glibc 2.13, GIMP 2.8.2, Grisbi 0.8.9, VLC 2.0.5, xFarDic 0.11.7.

Download:Parsix 4.0R1-i386   Parsix 4.0R1-x64

Dovecot installation and configuration

Dovecot is an open-source IMAP and POP3 server application which was designed specifically for Linux/Unix Operating Systems. Dovecot retrieves emails from Postfix and delivers them to the relevant mailbox on the server.

You can get your mail through Dovecot using either of the POP3 or IMAP protocols.

Installation

The first thing we will need is to download the Dovecot package. This command will install it:

#yum install dovecot

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FreeBSD 9.1

FreeBSD 9.1 has been released: "The FreeBSD Release Engineering team is pleased to announce the availability of FreeBSD 9.1-RELEASE. This is the second release from the stable/9 branch, which improves on the stability of FreeBSD 9.0 and introduces some new features. Some of the highlights: new Intel GPU driver with GEM/KMS support; netmap(4) fast userspace packet I/O framework; ZFS improvements from Illumos project; CAM Target Layer, a disk and processor device emulation subsystem; optional new C++11 stack including LLVM libc++ and libcxxrt; jail devfs, nullfs, zfs mounting and configuration file support; POSIX2008 extended locale support, including compatibility with Darwin extensions; oce(4) driver for Emulex OneConnect 10Gbit Ethernet card.

Download: FreeBSD-9.1-RELEASE-i386-dvd.iso FreeBSD-9.1-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso