Good news: Debian 7 is rock solid. Bad news: It's called Wheezy
Review If you want to be 20 miles from the bleeding edge, come on in
Debian, the daddy to many a Linux distro including Ubuntu and Mint, has been updated for the first time in more than two years.
Codenamed Wheezy, Debian 7 actually brings the GPL operating system up to speed with some of its more famous offspring, though, true to its roots, Debian's stable release continues to focus on just that …
Ubuntu 13.04: No privacy controls as promised, but hey - photo search!
A lot of stuff's missing, but the tweaks make a difference, honest
First the bad news: most of the big new features planned for Ubuntu 13.04, or Raring Ringtail, haven’t made it – they’ve been pushed back to 13.10, due in October. Despite this, the Ringtail is actually rather good.
Assuming you're a fan of the Unity interface and got past the privacy fiasco of last year - either because you’ve …
OpenSUSE 12.3: Proof not all Linux PCs are Um Bongo-grade bonkers
Review KDE looks slick, stuff works, no Ubuntu-style ad-ware
The openSUSE project is back on track. This week version 12.3 of the Linux operating system distribution was unleashed, right on time, as a free download.
This will be seen as good news after the organisational restructuring and delays that plagued the release of openSUSE 12.2 last year.
While 12.2 was delayed, it was worth the …
Ubuntu 13.04 beta touts search privacy - before it hooks in eBay, IMDb etc
Review Um Bongo boss Shuttleworth offers 'incognito' mode for your desktop PC
Linux distro Ubuntu 13.04, which hit its first beta today, is already showing promise: there are small but very useful usability tweaks planned for Ubuntu's Unity user interface.
Assuming you've managed to get past last year’s privacy fiasco, either by being comfortable with Canonical sending your search queries to Amazon and …
Ubuntu? Fedora? Mint? Debian? We'll find you the right Linux to swallow
Distro guide Go on: Stick a toothpick in the Penguin platter
Linux, it is said, is all about choice. Indeed, the ability to choose, well, pretty much everything, is probably the best thing about Linux. But the huge variety from which you can choose - ranging from distro and desktop to window manager - can also be overwhelming for newcomers.
If you've ever thought about abandoning Windows …
The Spherical Cow lands, spits out Anaconda
Review Fedora's Linux distro no slick alternative to Ubuntu - yet
Fedora 18, Spherical Cow, is here. Finally. The Fedora Project has never been one for precision roadmaps, but previously it has managed to stay pretty close to its official May and October release schedule. Spherical Cow, however, proved to be a difficult beast - it is nearly three months late.
The numerous delays can be chalked …
The year GNOMES, Ubuntu sufferers forked off to Mint Linux
Linux in 2012 It is only wafer-thin, and no cheque required
It's been a rough year for Linux on the desktop. More specifically, it's been a rough year for GNOME-based Linux on the desktop. But a glimmer of hope may have appeared thanks to a Mint-flavoured distribution of the open-source operating system.
KDE, XFCE and other desktop interfaces soldiered on in 2012 in their stolid ways, …
The LINUX TABLET IS THE FUTURE - and it always will be
The Penguin Xmas present that'll never be in the present
The year of the Linux tablet is, like the year of the Linux desktop, destined never to arrive.
That doesn't mean we won't see Linux on a tablet, but you'll see Linux on a tablet the way you see it on the desktop - clinging to a tiny percentage of the market.
There is of course Android, which does use a Linux kernel somewhere …
Apple's poisonous Touch silently kills the GNOMEs of Linux Forest
Analysis Penguin Ewoks slaughtered in the woods
If a major Linux desktop falls in the forest and no one is around to use it, does it make a sound?
That's a question the GNOME project would do well to contemplate. The once mighty Linux desktop has stumbled and looks like it might be poised to come crashing down after the release of GNOME 3.
Here's the problem: the radical …
Ay caramba, Ubuntu 12.10: Get it right on Amazon!
Review NSFW, laughable results - what were they thinking?
There's much to admire in Canonical’s Quantal Quetzal, which continues to refine and improve the Unity desktop, but you'd be forgiven if you missed the positives thanks to the late injection of a little Bezos since Ubuntu 12.04.
As if the move to Unity hadn’t been contentious (and bumpy) enough, Canonical has dipped into …
Ubuntu 12.10: More to Um Bongo Linux than Amazon ads
Review But as of Beta 2, y'all better get used to web apps
A second beta of Ubuntu 12.10 has arrived and its biggest feature has proved its most controversial: the integration of Amazon.com search results on your desktop.
A new Lens in the Unity Dash will poll Amazon to find results relevant to your search terms. And yes, if you click the link and buy the item Ubuntu-maker Canonical …
Memo to openSUSE 12.2: More polish, less angst
Review Consumer transition a work in progress
Chameleon fans, rejoice: openSUSE 12.2 is finally here. This release, due more than two months ago, has been plagued with delays.
Ordinarily a few delays might not be a big deal; bugs happen and most users would agree a late, stable release is better than an on-time buggy one. However, with this development cycle the delays were …
Edgy penguins test-fly Ubuntu's Quantal Quetzal
Review Beta 'bongo bird sluggish, crash prone - but it's here
Forget colourful foliage and dropping temperatures, nothing says autumn for Linux nerds like the arrival of an Ubuntu beta. This season includes twice the fun, with Canonical plotting not one, but two betas for the coming Quantal Quetzal, or Ubuntu 12.10. The first arrived on Thursday.
Quantal Quetzal comes hot on the heels of …
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS: Like it or not, this Linux grows on you
Review Happiness is HUD+Unity
Ubuntu 12.04, the fourth major Long Term Support (LTS) release for Ubuntu, is serious stuff. LTS editions of Ubuntu are delivered every two years and have extended support from Canonical. They also set the look of the coming years' releases. And this LTS, codenamed Precise Pangolin, has had its support extended from three to …
Beefy Fedora could use a dash of miracle whip
Chunky between the buns, Btrfs-free
If you’re called Beefy Miracle, you better pack a punch. And when the Fedora crew christened their next Linux desktop, that was certainly the plan.
On the menu was “over and under the bun improvements that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing state of free software.”
While Fedora 17 is certainly beefy, what's …
Ubuntu 12.04 hits beta, brings smooth Unity for marching masses
Review But bugs still need a-snaffling for biz penguins
The beta for Ubuntu 12.04, or Precise Pangolin as Canonical’s Mark Shuttleworth would have it, is upon us.
This is the fourth major Long Term Support (LTS) release and the first featuring the Unity desktop: LTS.
That means that while the rank-and-file Ubuntu users may have already made the leap to Unity, many of Canonical's …
Sick of Ubuntu's bad breath? Suck on a Linux Mint instead
Unity rival isn't a monster frankengnome
If the jump from the GNOME 2 desktop to the new GNOME Shell or Unity desktop in Ubuntu has left you feeling dissatisfied, one increasingly popular distribution just might offer something that turns out to be the best of both worlds - Linux Mint.
Originally created as a spinoff of Ubuntu, Mint has long since come into its own and …
Year of the Penguin - el Reg's 2011 Linux-land roundup
This year we have mainly been copying Apple
It's been a tumultuous year for the Linux desktop. Anno domini 2011 saw the release of not one, but two major new desktops, the GNOME project's GNOME 3 shell and Ubuntu's rival Unity desktop. By the time most distros hit their stride in 2011, the GNOME 2.x line had been replaced with GNOME 3.
With change comes angst - especially …
Fedora 16: A GNOME lover's paradise
Review Verne triumphs over rough edges
After several delays, Fedora 16 has been delivered. While hold-ups are a characteristic of the distro's release cycle, these latest ditherings have put the latest version of Fedora a few weeks behind its main competitor, Ubuntu.
Fortunately for Fedora fans this release is well worth the extended waiting time, offering an updated …
Why GNOME refugees love Xfce
Thunar rather than later...
GNOME 3 has become something of a polarising moment for the popular Linux desktop. In chasing visions of tablets, touchscreens and the mythical "everyday user", the GNOME 3 Shell has left many Linux power users scratching their heads, wondering why the GNOME developers decided to fix a desktop that wasn't broken.
The problem for …
OpenSUSE 12.1 delivers Fedora punch with GNOME 3
Review Linux herd joiner
The big news in openSUSE 12.1, whose first beta has recently dropped, is the arrival of GNOME 3 – in this case GNOME 3.2.
Unlike Fedora, which is already into its second GNOME 3-based release, openSUSE had – thanks to its release schedule – stuck with GNOME 2 for its last release earlier this year.
OpenSUSE 12.1 embraces GNOME …
Ubuntu's Oneiric Ocelot: Nice, but necessary?
Review Behind Unity's polish
Oneiric Ocelot, or Ubuntu 11.10 as it is known, has been delivered and refines the core of the Unity environment Canonical built at the expense of GNOME.
If you made the leap to Canonical's signature Unity Desktop when it arrived in Spring's Natty Narwhal edition of Ubuntu, version number 11.04, then October's update will be …
Fedora 16: Linux home for lost Ubuntu GNOMEs
Review What lies beneath the Jules Verne submarine art?
The Fedora Project has released the first beta of Fedora 16.
Dubbed "Verne" and sporting desktop artwork that echoes Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Fedora 16 is shaping up to be a worthwhile alternative to Ubuntu 11.10, particularly for those that aren't happy with Canonical's home-brewed Unity shell.
Among the big …
No pain, some gain: Ubuntu Oneiric Ocelot examined
Review Love it or leave it, Unity is here
Ubuntu 11.10, just released as its first beta differs only slightly in its looks from its 11.04 predecessor – a fact that will be welcome news to penguins still reeling from that earlier version's grand re-boot.
That earlier release shed GNOME 2.x, ignored GNOME 3.0 and set its brand-new Unity interface as the default. …
Fedora 15: More than just a pretty interface
Review GNOME emerges from last century
The Red Hat–backed Fedora Project has released the latest version of its Linux-based operating system, Fedora 15, into the wild.
Despite the similarities of the two leading Linux-based PC operating systems, Fedora has long played second fiddle to Ubuntu in the minds of many Linux fans. Now – for the first time – there are …
Natty Narwahl: Ubuntu marine mammal not fully evolved
Review One day, Unity will grow legs
Canonical has released Ubuntu 11.04, née Natty Narwhal. But this release is not your ordinary update with a handful of new features in the same basic Ubuntu you know and love. No, this marine mammal is an entirely new beast, with the Unity shell replacing everything familiar about the Ubuntu desktop.
After a bumpy ride with the …
Sanity saver: Fedora 15 answers Ubuntu's Unity
Review GNOME-3 leader for desktop Linux?
The Fedora 15 beta from the Red-Hat sponsored Fedora Project has dropped squarely into a moment of uncertainty and upheaval for the Linux desktop.
The planned new Unity interface for Ubuntu 11.04, that replaces GNOME, is rough start. And while GNOME 3 - Fedora's new default desktop - is considerably more mature than Unity, it's …
GNOME 3: Shocking changes for Linux lovers
Review Cleaner, simpler, button-free
At five years in the making, and with code contributions from more than 3,500 developers, the just released GNOME 3 is not a small upgrade: it's a radical departure with an entirely new approach.
GNOME 3 will no doubt prove polarizing for the GNOME community, at least initially. But, the reality is, love it or hate it, GNOME 3 …
Natty Narwhal with Unity: Worst Ubuntu beta ever
Review Nightmare KDE 4 scenario replayed
Last year, Mark Shuttleworth christened Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal", saying the disto would be stylish and create a good, lasting first impression.
While its debut in beta form is smart looking and definitely chases the fashion in operating-system design it's also the single worst beta release of Ubuntu I've ever tested.
That' …
openSUSE 11.4 rocks despite missing GNOME
Review Speed, LibreOffice, and more
openSUSE 11.4 brings a host of KDE and GNOME updates, the first release of OpenOffice fork LibreOffice, and numerous speed improvements.
Perhaps the biggest news, though, is what's not included. That would be GNOME 3.0.
Unfortunately for openSUSE fans, the distro's release schedule just didn't quite mesh with GNOME's, so GNOME …
Debian 6: Have your Debian and eat your Ubuntu too
Review GNOME, KDE, and beyond
A new version of Debian was once cause for celebration in Linux circles - no doubt it still is in some quarters. Debian's offspring Ubuntu, though, has managed to steal much of the thunder lately.
Of course without Debian, Ubuntu would cease to exist. Part of the reason Ubuntu has been able to focus on polishing the Linux …
RHEL 6: serious Linux built for growth
Review Excitement? We've heard of it
Red Hat has released Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, the first major update for RHEL in over three years.
RHEL 5 debuted in March 2007 and used the Linux 2.6.18 kernel. Although incremental updates have added a number of kernel updates and new features, RHEL5 is starting to look aged. Of course much of the appeal of an enterprise …
Linux life savers for paranoid penguins
Best of Linux When one safety net isn't enough
So far, in my look at Linux compared to Mac and Windows, I've covered music players, photo organizers, and video editors. But all those apps – and all the documents they create – are lost if your hard drive crashes, your laptop takes a spill, or some other catastrophe strikes.
If you have documents, you must have a backup …
Fedora 14: haven for Ubuntu's homeless GNOMEs
Review A real performer. But will it love you back?
Fedora 14, released Tuesday, has quite a bit of new stuff under the hood - things you probably won't notice most unless you're a systems admin or use Fedora for development.
For Fedora this is business as usual and, many would argue, the way it should be. After all, the latest UI bling is useless if the underlying system isn't …
Ubuntu 10.10: date with destiny missed
Review Cosmetic polish ignores partition pain
Canonical delivered the latest version of its Ubuntu Linux distribution on October 10. Releasing Ubuntu 10.10 on 10/10/10 might seem an auspicious idea, but after the overhaul that was Ubuntu 10.04, the latest release looks tame by comparison.
While there is little in Ubuntu 10.10 that will knock anyone's socks, it makes for a …
Fedora 14 beta takes MeeGo for a spin
Review Fast without the Ubuntu fancy
The competition between Ubuntu and Fedora's entered a new phase, with Tuesday's release of the Fedora 14 beta.
Final releases of each Linux distro's next update are due next month, and Fedora - the duller cousin - shadows Ubuntu in two areas where the Canonical team are pushing hard: netbooks and cloud computing.
Fresh from …
Ubuntu 'Maverick Meerkat' erects own App Store
Review Beta mongoose flaunts new face
Ubuntu fans, fire up your virtual machines. The beta release of Ubuntu 10.10 is here. Maverick Meerkat, as this release is known, is actually several weeks ahead of the original schedule, and that means Ubuntu 10.10 is on track for its final release October 10.
We wouldn't suggest using the beta in a production environment, but …
OpenSUSE 11.3 delivers spit, polish and niggles
Tabs, windows and hiccups
The latest version of openSUSE hit final code last week and is not due for official release until July 15, but The Reg is here to give you a tour of its pros and cons.
The free operating system has been somewhat maligned for its association with Novell, the Linux company that partnered with Microsoft and is now touting itself …
Pictures of Ubuntu: Linux's best photo shots at Windows and Mac
Best of Linux F-Spot, Shotwell, RawTherapee in the frame
When it comes to photo applications it seems Windows and Mac have things nailed down, with plenty of individual applications and several packages packed with tons of features.
In this second look at how media and storage applications for Linux, and particularly Ubuntu, compare, I found the Gnome camp has plenty of options too - …
Linux game-time refined with latest Wine
Review Otherwise pointless?
Wine, the project that lets Linux users run Windows apps within Linux, has released a major update that fixes a number of bugs and includes 64-bit support.
Wine 1.2 includes a new set of icons, a number of fixes for video rendering – improving Windows gaming – and better font anti-aliasing and handling of desktop link files. …
Ubuntu v iTunes: the music playoff for Applephobes
Best of Linux Rhythmbox, Banshee, Daemon unleashed
With Ubuntu 10.04, Canonical delivered a good-looking Linux distro that just works. Mark Shuttleworth's outfit has put together an impressive user interface to solve its famous bug number one - luring people away from Windows.
But good looks and great hardware support are just the beginning. If Ubuntu really wants to help people …
Mozilla's next Thunderbird gives Gmailers hope
Review Sync-challenged. But faster and more searchable
Thunderbird 3.0 was a less than stellar piece of software. Mozilla's email client was marred by some pretty serious bugs, such as the failure to import mail from past editions, which meant the suite had a habit of becoming unresponsive while indexing large mail stores.
And while Thunderbird 3.0 had a number of nice new features …
Fedora 13 – Linux for Applephobes
Review Polish without the Ubuntu
With its music store and cloud syncing services, Ubuntu 10.04 tends to eclipse Fedora in the minds of many.
Not that Fedora project leader Paul Frields minds. He's told me in the past that Fedora is intended "first and foremost for users interested in and capable of contributing to open source."
And when I spoke to Frields …
RHEL 6 - your sensible but lovable friend
Review Ubuntu it isn't
The first major update for Red Hat Enterprise Linux in more than three years hit last month, and judging by the traffic that took down Red Hat's download servers, it's long over due.
RHEL 5 came out in March 2007 with the Linux 2.6.18 kernel and while incremental updates have added kernel updates and new features, it's showing …
Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx: A (free) Mactastic experience
Review Command-line interfaces are for nerds
Ubuntu 10.04, officially available as of Thursday, is an important update for this popular Linux distro. It's a Long-Term Support (LTS) release - the first since 8.04 two years ago - and it wraps social network with media capabilities and a brace of online services in a brand new look.
As an LTS edition, Lucid Lynx will be …
Fedora 13 - Ubuntu's smart but less attractive cousin
Review Inner refinement
Number 13 is indeed an unlucky number for the next release of Fedora. Unfortunately for this popular distro, its beta arrives at almost the same time as the next release of Ubuntu, Lucid Lynx.
The Fedora 13 beta could get eclipsed by Ubuntu 10.04, later this month, because it lacks some of the flashy new features found in …
Nerd alert: First Lucid Lynx Ubuntu beta fun
Review Shuttleworthian style and substance
Lucid Lynx, Ubuntu 10.04 that Friday entered the beta stage, looks to be taking the popular distro to an entirely new and very consumer-oriented level.
Between Canonical's web-based syncing service Ubuntu One - unveiled last year - the coming U1 music store, and the new Me Menu, Lucid Lynx is looking less like the stoic Linux …
RHEL 5.5 - extra lube for your KVMs
Review CentOS for grown ups
Red Hat's Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 5.5 has reached the beta stage with downloads available for those with a subscription to the Red Hat Network.
Typically, most news involving Red Hat's familiar, free Linux distro Fedora comes from the client software - such as GNOME updates and other desktop tools. But with the new RHEL …
OpenOffice 3.2 - now with less Microsoft envy
Review It's 2010. And 2007 is finally here
OpenOffice 3.2 - now now available for Windows, Mac and Linux - boasts faster start-up times than before. But the really big news is that now - finally - this open-source suite offers full compatibility with files created using Microsoft's Office 2007.
If you've ever tried opening or converting .docx and other Microsoft Office …
Fedora 12 - it's a horse, not a camel
Review Design by committee makes good
The Fedora Project has announced the latest version of its popular open source Linux distribution. Nicknamed Constantine, Fedora 12 has quite a few impressive new features and demonstrates that the project has gained a renewed sense of direction.
In the build-up to the release of Fedora 12, the Fedora community has focused its …
