Thursday, 5 April 2012

Sabayon 8 Serves a Multitasking-optimised GNOME 3


When Sabayon 8 was released last month — something told me I should grab both the KDE and GNOME images. When it comes to KDE, I’m so much in my comfort zone with openSUSE, that any other implementation really ticks me off. The only other KDE implementation that really pleased me in the last couple of years was the Rosa UI layer in Mandriva 2011 — but I’m not sure if we’ll see a Mandriva 2012.
Anyway, as I write, I’ve been using Sabayon 8 GNOME version on and off for a few weeks now. You ask, why on and off? Well, I really dig the bells and whistles of GNOME 3; it’s just that when I need to get work done, I need to get back to my KDE — so I hit a reboot!
What exactly is so cool about the Sabayon implementation of GNOME 3.2 desktop environment is that they have just ended up making multitasking that much more easier compared to the vanilla GNOME Shell available in other distros. More about that later!

Grabbing, burning, checking, installing

The ISOs (both KDE and GNOME) are about 1.5 gigs each. What really pleased me was they are hybrid ISOs — and that makes burning the image to a USB as simple as running the following dd command as root (no unetbootin, no USB Creator required):
# dd if=/path/to/Sabayon_Linux_8_x86_G.iso of=/dev/sdb
…where /dev/sdb is my USB device (yours might be different).
The boot menu comes with loads of options — if fact, you can press the down arrow key to see more. I chose to get on with the default selected option. Booting off of USB took near about the same time it takes any other distro.
On the desktop you’ll notice the first GNOME Shell customisations the Sabayon team delivers. The clock has been moved to its old right-hand side position on the top panel (like we had in GNOME 2.x, instead of a centre position that we now have in GNOME 3.x). As always, Sabayon chose to go with a dark-coloured wallpaper — but then vanilla GNOME 3′s overall themeing is also black, so it goes with it. The wallpaper has the standard “open your mind” statement below the project logo dead centre on the screen. I really dig that!
There are three icons on this desktop: install Sabayon, donate, and Get Help. The latter two icons open an instance of Chromium (version 17), where Get Help takes you to the Web-based IRC window of #sabayonchannel. Gotta say this is a very intuitive addition to direct people straight to the support channel in case they are stuck somewhere. This, of course, provided the Internet is working; which in my case wasn’t, because it didn’t detect my Wi-Fi. The only option the NetworkManager suggested I should use was to plug in a wire. Who does that on a laptop?
Yes, mine is a Broadcom chip (that comes with my Samsung RV509) — but it has worked out of the box since the driver was integrated in kernel 2.6.38. So seeing it not working “out of the box” was bit of a shock. A bug?
Back to the desktop, the best thing to do is install and see where it leads me. But before that, something needs to be said about the icon placements. After logging in to the desktop, the top one — “Install to Hard Drive” — by default, is partially hidden under the top panel. However, the moment you click one anything the icons adjust and move downwards to align properly. Minor visual glitch — but should have been taken care of.
Installing it is a no-brainier, especially if you’ve ever used the Anaconda installer (courtesy, Fedora and co.). And there were no bugs to report in this area, but for one minor issue. The progress bar went from 0 to 100 very quickly — and then sat right there for what seemed like an eternity.
Anyway, while it was sitting there, I utilised the time to explore the software stack of the OS. The application dock, by default, only has icons for Evolution, Empathy, Shotwell, LibreOffice Writer, and Nautilus (in that particular order). Typically, you’d expect at least the browser to be present somewhere there — strange set of defaults I’d say.

Reboot, no wireless, reboot

This time around, the Install icon is replaced by the Entropy Store icon. Whoa, a store? Will come back to that later. First, let’s fix the Wi-Fi.
Oh my, it said the package manager is looking for updates and returned within moments to report that my system is up to date? Strange. It should have reported it wasn’t able to connect to the repository list or something similar.



Anyway… Connect the network wire, and hit the Get Help icon to launch the IRC chat. Maybe the time of the day when I had checked in everyone was asleep. Googling brought me to this thread on Sabayon Forum. Although this user was stuck with a worse kind of Broadcom wireless chip, my problem was solved by following the directives menitioned in this wiki — somehow I didn’t get there directly from Google, but via the forum post:
# echo "blacklist ssb" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
# echo "blacklist b43" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
# echo "blacklist brcmsmac" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
# echo "blacklist bcma" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
…and reboot. Wireless is back, although it takes 10 times more time to pick up an IP over DHCP compared to other distros. At least it works, eh?

Sabayon’s GNOME

Now that the Wi-Fi was in order, it was time to hit the Entropy Store. Wait, before that the system indicated I should update the system. And turns out I had like 212 updates.

Anyway, clicking the notification brought up the Entropy Store. Selected all and hit update. This is where I realised out how slow this package manager’s backend is compared to apt-geturpmiyum… heck, even zypper seems to be on steroids compared to this one. To install all those updates of probably four or five hundred megs it easily took more than a couple of hours.
This was a good time to check out what the rest of the system had for me. First, setup the Online Accounts. They should have called it Online Account (without the s) because the only option was Google — I thought Twitter was also added to the list in GNOME 3.2; nonetheless, it wasn’t there. So be it. I set up Google for Mail, Calender Contacts, Chat, and Documents. While Google mail, calender and contacts were now available from Evolution, I noticed a separate GNOME app for contacts that kept indicating how I should connect to an account. Couldn’t really figure out this puzzle.


Also, it would have been great if Empathy picked up the Google account for chat automatically. Alas, up on it’s first launch it still asked me to set up account(s). I’m still not sure where I should check the documents synchronication available in the Online Accounts application. Anyway, for all I know these actually might be GNOME issues — but as I’m not a regular user, I can’t pin-point.
Either way, I was simply picking on them — I don’t really use an email, chat or contacts client to communicate. The browser is enough for me.
Meanwhile, the absolute killer customisation that the Sabayon team has done with GNOME is what you can see in the following screenshot.






As you can see, all the currently open application windows are listed on the top panel — compared to availability of only the currently-focussed one in case of default GNOME Shell or Unity. This is indeed a nice and essential hack by the Sabayon team that eases the job of multitasking between apps that much easier. Now, you know why the clock’s been moved to the RHS position :-)

Default set of apps

Gotta say, the set of apps the distro comes with are pretty adequate. Some of the handy ones by category are as under:
  • Accessories: Brasero (disc burning app) and Gnote (the note-taking app similar to Tomboy) are in there. The Archive Manager is fully-baked by essential backend utilities/libraries like, for example, the unrarpackage, thus its ability to support most common archive formats out of the box.
  • Games: The default set of useless GNOME games that I don’t play. (I don’t really play any computers games, so don’t take the word “useless” to your heart.)
  • Graphics: Shotwell takes care of your digicam and photo management activities, while GIMP is also there for obvious reasons. The version of GIMP is 2.7.3 (development branch) compared to 2.6.x (stable branch) which is available in all other distros. This version has got some pretty neatly reworked features. The only annoying thing is, you can’t just “Save as” a picture to any other format… “Save as” only saves a file in .xcf (GIMP’s native file format). For everything else, you gotta export from now on.
  • The Internet stack has XChat and Transmission included, besides Chromium and Empathy I talked about earlier.
  • Office has the full LibreOffice suite, including Base. Although still no sign of the newer v3.5.1 — Sabayon is still stuck at 3.4.5, as of this date. Then again, this is the case with all other distros I suppose, except for Ubuntu with one of its PPAs.
  • Under the Other section there is a pretty neat (and user-friendly) firewall application called Uncomplicated Firewall. I gotta say this application lives up to its name. Besides, you have the Deja Dup backup app that’s all the rage nowadays. For some odd reason, even Adobe Flash Player is also listed here (shouldn’t it be under Sound & Video?).
  • The Sound & Video section includes Exaile (instead otherwise of the players the GNOME world is divided between — Banshee and Rhythmbox). Exaile is kind of like Amarok 1.4.x. I used to use it long time back, and was quite impressed even back then. The strange inclusion is GNOME’s default Totem Movie Player, instead of the mass-favourite VLC. The good thing is, the distro includes all the A/V codecs installed, so Totem should play everything VLC does. But of course, XBMC is available too. You can log into a XBMC-only session instead of GNOME even from GDM (can do the same from the LIVE USB before booting, too). The obvious glitch is the GDM menu lists two XBMC sessions — one labelled XBMC, and the second, Sabayon Media Center — both of which lead you to the same setup







Motorola Turning Android Into Desktop OS







Wednesday, April 04, 2012 Think Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich can replace your desktop PC? Well, the answer much to your delight is Yes. The Motorola Droid RAZR is soon expected to get an Android 4.0 update shortly that will give it a Web top experience. When Motorola unveiled its Webtop software at the CES 2011, which allowed users to plugin their phone into a smart dock that initiated a custom Linux desktop with Firefox browser. However, when tried it proved to be pretty frustrating.


According to an online report, a leaked copy of the Android 4.0 update for the Droid RAZR reveals a new “Webtop 3.0 beta” that does away with the limited Linux desktop and provides users with a full Android 4.0 tablet UI when a device is docked to a larger display.

Android enthusiasts are now eagerly waiting for the feature to arrive on all new high-end Android phones.





Source# http://news.efytimes.com/e1/81258/Motorola-Turning-Android-Into-Desktop-OS

Google Chrome Web Store Gets Updated








Thursday, April 05, 2012 Google's Chrome Web Store should be a bit easier to navigate now. The company has introduced new features to its store with an aim to make it easier to discover new apps and extensions.

The new features include a 'Trending' section, which lists the hottest offerings, ranking each from "warm" to "on fire" to indicate popularity among Chrome users. The store now also offers app subcategories, which allow users to dig deeper into each app category. For example, in the "Entertainment" category you can click on the "Music & Radio" subcategory to only view music related apps.


 "Searching for a particular app has also improved. Our search box now sports autocomplete suggestions that guide you to the app or extension you are looking for, faster. And for those of you looking for apps with a particular functionality - e.g. apps that work offline - our new app badges can be of help. Just look for them on the top section of an app's landing page in the store and click on them if you want to see other apps that have the same functionality. They now come in two flavours--playable on Google+ and offline--and more will follow," the company explained in a blog post.

Google believes that these enhancements should be helpful as more apps and extensions launch every day.



SOURCE# http://news.efytimes.com/e1/81311/Google-Chrome-Web-Store-Gets-Updated

Sunday, 1 April 2012

Linux Mint Debian Edition Gets Gnome Shell, Cinnamon


Clement Lefebvre, the creator of Linux Mint, has announced the updates to the Linux Mint Debian Edition. With this update, for the fist time, Linux Mint Debian users will get access toGnome Shell, MATE and Cinnamon. This update brings Linux 3.2 kernel, MATE 1.2 (with mintMenu and mintDesktop now fully ported to MATE), Cinnamon 1.4, KDE 4.7.4, Gnome Shell 3.2.2 and Xfce 4.8.
With this edition Linux Mint is dropping the support for the aging Gnome 2. Major distributions have already dropped support for Gnome 2. The Linux Mint's Ubuntu-based edition also dropped it last year. "Gnome 3 conflicts with Gnome 2 and so most distributions lost Gnome 2 about a year ago. Linux Mint 12 lost it in November and LMDE is about to lose it as well with this update pack," says Clem.

The reason behind this decision is not surprising. It was not a matter of why, but when. Fabian Scherschel writes in H-Online, "LMDE is dropping GNOME 2 because of underlying dependency issues that result from Debian Testing's switch to GNOME 3-based libraries."
Linux Mint is trying to support those users who wanted something similar to Gnome 2. "...we’ve been worried about the lack of satisfactory alternatives to Gnome 2. Looking towards the future of LMDE and the upcoming Linux Mint 13 release, our top priority was to get to the stage where we can provide our users with something most people would find as good or better than Gnome 2."
The Linux Mint team is hard at working on Mate and Gnome Shell extensions which brings the familiar UI to the Gnome 3 stack. LMDE was initially planned as a rolling release version but due to the problems that come with any rolling release, it was changed to monthly update cycle. But the last update to LMDE came almost 7 month ago in September 2011.

Clem explains why we did not see any update after pack 3, "LMDE was frozen at Update Pack 3 with a Gnome 2 desktop until we reached the point we are at today, where both MATE  and Cinnamon are ready. MATE is basically Gnome 2 renamed. The more the Mate team works on it, the more stable it gets. What it looks like and how it behaves is exactly like Gnome 2. So for most people, this is probably the best alternative."

Linux Mint project is fast becoming a favorite of those who want a familiar interface of Gnome 2 on top of the stability and ease of use of Debian. You can download the Debian edition of Linux Mint from this link ...

Linus Torvalds Awarded Arch Linux As The Most Consumer Friendly Distribution


April 1, 2020: Arch Linux has won the Free Software Award for the Most Consumer Friendly Linux Distribution. Aaron Griffin recieved the award from Richard M. Stallman and Linus Torvalds at the LibrePlanet conference at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
"The purpose of a GNU distribution is to make it easy for users to use GNU systems. It's a stupid idea when you have to compile everything from scratch," said Linus Torvalds at the event."The reason I never liked or used Ubuntu was that you have to compile everything from scratch."

"The purpose of a GNU distribution is to make it easy for users to use GNU systems. It's a stupid idea when you have to compile everything from scratch," said Linus Torvalds at the event."The reason I never liked or used Ubuntu was that you have to compile everything from scratch."
Arch Linux beat Gentoo this year. Last year Gentoo won the coveted 'Most User friendly Linux Award."
"I think Arch was the best choice this year as it respects user's freedom and keeps its repositories free from any proprietary or non-free packages. Arch-GNU/Linux was our first choice because it discourages practices like DRM or Tiviozation. I think other distributions must follow this practice. If you can't respect free, go release your sex-tapes or commit suicide, leave the morbid GNU/Linux world alone."
When the reporter of c2050 asked about Ubuntu, Linus said, "I think Ubuntu crowd is a bunch or masturbating monkeys obsessed with KISS principle, forcing users to use the stupid command line."

                                          Linus Torvalds with Richard M Stallman at the event.

Richard M Stallman congratulated Arch for their achievement but also pointed out the areas where he thinks Arch needs improvement, "Arch's lack of support of DRM is the only area where I see hurdles in the wide-spread adoption of Linux. We have elevated the DRM implementation project on FSF to boost work on it. Today Arch is the second most popular operating system and this gap is only due to Arch's bad philosophy of pure Free software. I think they should start offering proprietary and patented applications in their repositories."
Gentoo Linux won the second spot and CRUX Linux grabbed the 3rd spot as the most user-friendly distribution of the year. Ubuntu and Linux Mint could not qualify for the award due to their overly complicated Unity and Cinnamon interfaces.

source#http://www.muktware.com/c2050/3487/linus-torvalds-awarded-arch-linux-most-consumer-friendly-distribution