Life without Windows or OS X

GNU/Linux is quite possibly the most important free software achievement since the original Space War, or, more recently, Emacs. It has developed into an operating system for business, education, and personal productivity. GNU/Linux is no longer only for UNIX wizards who sit for hours in front of a glowing console. Are you thinking about switching to Linux and want to learn how to use it? Have you been using GNU/Linux for some time and want to learn even more? This is the place for you.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Linux native programs

I have a list of the first 31 Linux native programs I fine very useful in a None Windows & Mac OSX world. Im not saying their the most important, only that they or the most useful for me. Many of these programs come in deb. or rpm. installation packages. However many GNU systems have most of these free programs pre installed.

20.Win4Lin

Win4Lin emulates an environment that is comparable to a usual Windows environment. First of all, Win4Lin adds some hooks add various places in the Linux kernel, like the scheduler. These hooks are utilized by the mki-adapter module, which provides an interface to the hardware for the Win4Lin BIOS. The BIOS and the kernel interface provide everything DOS needs to run.
In contrast with VMWare and innotek VirtualBox , Win4Lin does not use a hard drive image. Windows filesystem operations are translated to operations on the Linux filesystem. This means that Windows is installed on the Linux partition. This makes files from the Windows installation easily accessible.



19. Digikam

It is software for communicating with your digital camera and downloading pictures from it. Auto detects and works with USB cameras. Drag & drop support, plus a slide show mode.


18. GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. Photo editing application

17. innotek VirtualBox

Many people rely on certain Windows-based pieces of software and will either be prevented from switching or they will switch and have an immediate problem when they can't use a specialized program for work -- and that's where innotek VirtualBox comes in. VirtualBox allows users to run an unmodified operating systems, including the software embedded on them, directly in a special environment on top of the currently running operating system by forcing the guest OS to 'think' it's running on a real machine. Currently, VirtualBox supports the following guest operating systems: FreeBSD, Linux 2.4/2.6, OpenBSD, OS/2 Warp, Windows NT/2000/XP/Server2003/Vista.

16.Unreal Tournament 2004

Unreal Tournament 2004 makes a good case for the idea, as there's no doubt that this is a bigger, tighter, better game than the last. Best of all, UT2004 isn't simply a refinement of UT2003 with new maps; two new game modes, the returning Assault and the brand-new Onslaught, are alone more than enough to justify the new title.

Unreal Tourament 2004 took some of the best parts of the original UT and UT2003 and summed them together to make the complete package. The gameplay is more balanced than ever, as the developers took time to listen to the complaints people had about UT2003 and fixed almost everything. The end

15. Kaffeine

Kaffeine is a media that can handle all kinds of media. There are several buttons that let you listen music from the HDD or CDs, to encode music, to play DVDs, to watch digital television and more.

14. Envy & Xgl (desktop effects) Both 14th

Envy

is a video driver installation utility that helped to take the pain out of installing NVIDIA and ATI drivers for thousands of Ubuntu and Debian users alike. Always under constant development, the creator of this project has been able to provide a real model of open source software efficiency.

Xgl (desktop effects)

They turn the desktop into a malleable 3D environment with features such as 'wobbly' windows that can be stretched and pulled like rubber , with true real-time opacity, and treating the entire desktop as a multi-faceted rotatable 'cube'.


13. K9Copy

K9Copy which is a small utility which allows the copy of DVD, similar to the popular Windows application DVD Shrink. K9Copy reproduces the original structure of the DVD. The navigation packs as well as IFO files are modified to point on the compressed MPEG stream. Its very easy to use and understand. Lots of options to choose from in how a DVD will be backed up. Very flexible in its output.


12. Novell Evolution 2

Novell Evolution embraces mail, calendar and address book standards to ease data sharing. Novell Evolution connects to corporate communications architectures, including Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise. Users can create customized reminders for their events that open windows or play sounds. Users can organize their work by entering to-do items into the task component. Summary, description, due dates, priorities, and categories can be entered. Users can then view their items by date, priority, deadlines and other criteria or view tasks in the integrated calendar view.

11. Automatix

Automatix is a free graphical package manager for the installation, uninstallation and configuration many applications in Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Debian 4.0 i386, Mepis 6.0, 6.5 i386 and Linux Mint users. Its list of supported applications include a whole range of multimedia codecs, burning and ripping software, file sharing software, and much-much more.



End of Part II Part I

Thursday, July 19, 2007

SkipJack: The rise of Linspire 6.1

Linspire 6.1 “skip jack” will be built on Ubuntu 7.04. Previously, Linspire has been based on Debian. The next generation of Linspire&Freespire will also incorporate the will use the Linux 2.6.20 kernel, KDE 3.5.6, the new CNR and the latest third-party proprietary software, drivers and codices for better hardware and multimedia support. It is also compatible with Ubuntu software repositories. Soon with CNR.com you can search from tens of thousands of Linux software products, packages and libraries by title, popularity, similar software, category, author, or function, and then install the software with just one click of your mouse.


>

Publisher's Description:


Powered by Ubuntu


Linspire is a Debian-based Linux operating system, which uses the popular Ubuntu Linux OS for its baseline. Linspire starts with Ubuntu, then adds many additional features and software applications including proprietary software, codecs and drivers to provide provide you the world's easiest Linux-based operating system designed for laptop & desktop PCs.


Multimedia Support
Linspire comes pre-loaded and ready to support MP3, Real, Quicktime, Windows Media, Java, Flash, and more. No more hunting around, buying, licensing and then installing all the different multimedia support software. Everything is already licensed and ready to run.


Plug-N-Play Hardware Support
Linspire provides the most extensive hardware support available including drivers from ATI, nVidia, Intel, and others. Connect digital cameras, scanners, MP3 players and more. Linspire instantly recognizes USB and Firewire devices. Thousands of peripherals are supported without requiring the messy installation of drivers or other software. Just plug in the device and go.


Wireless Networking
Linspire supports the latest 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networking and an updated Network Control panel lets you customize profiles so you can effortlessly shift between home, work and other networks without bothering with any configuration screens.


Office Productivity Suite
Linspire's comes pre-installed with a complete office productivity software suite (Open Office 2.0) which includes Microsoft file-compatible word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, as well as new Open XML translators which enables bi-directional compatibility so that files saved in Open XML can be opened by OpenOffice, providing more interopability so you can easily read and share documents.


Internet Suite
Once connected to the web, the Linspire Internet Suite provides all you need to make the most of your online experience: An easy-to-use tabbed web browser with pop-up ad blocking, multi-account email program with SPAM filtering, an address book, calendar, and web page creator! And Linspire is compatible with Windows media, Flash, and Java and more!


Instant Messaging
Stay in touch with all your friends using Pidgin. Instant Messaging from Pidgin supports AOL, AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, and other messaging networks, and includes plenty of advanced features such as tabs, chat rooms and buddy notification.


Lphoto - Digital Photos
Linspire includes Lphoto, the best all-in-one photo manager available. Import, organize, edit, crop, enhance, and share photos from over 300 hundred plug-n-play supported digital cameras. Even use your photos as a screensaver and make video CDs!


Lsongs - Digital Music
Lsongs is an all-in-one music manager built-in to Linspire and ready to help you rip your favorite music, organize it, play it, sync it to portable players, and burn it to your own music mix CDs. Lsongs provides everything you need to easily manage and enjoy your music collection.


Nvu - Web Publishing Tool
The complete web authoring system for Linspire users, Nvu rivals other expensive programs such as FrontPage and Dreamweaver. Nvu makes creating web pages easy and then allows you to publish your web pages with just one click!


Free Internet Calling
The popular Gizmo Project VoIP software lets you talk to your friends all over the world for free with no long-distance phone charges. Call computer-to-computer, set up conference calls, and check voicemail - all at no charge. Or you can "Call Out" to land-line telephones for as little as a penny per minute, and automatic account creation makes Gizmo Project a snap to set up.


About Canonical and Ubuntu

Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, is a global organization headquartered in Europe committed to the development, distribution, and support of open source software products and communities. World class commercial support for Ubuntu is available through Canonical's Global Support Services team and partners. Since its launch in October 2004 Ubuntu has become one of the most highly regarded Linux distributions, with millions of users around the world. Ubuntu will always be free to download, free to use and free to distribute to others. With these goals in mind, Ubuntu aims to be the most widely used Linux system, and is the centre of a global open source software ecosystem.



About Linspire & Freespire

Linspire, Inc. (http://www.linspire.com) was founded in 2001 to bring choice into the operating system market. The company's flagship product, the Linspire operating system, is an affordable, easy-to-use Linux-based operating system distributed primarily pre-installed on PCs for home, school, and business users. Linspire pioneered CNR Technology, which allows Linspire users access to thousands of software programs, each of which can be downloaded and installed with just one mouse click. The thousands of software titles available in the CNR Warehouse (http://www.linspire.com/cnr) include full office and productivity suites, games, multimedia players, photo management software, accounting tools, and more. Freespire (http://www.freespire.org) is a community-driven, Linux-based operating system that combines the best that free, open source software has to offer (community driven, freely distributed, open source code, etc.), but also provides users the choice of including proprietary codecs, drivers and applications as they see fit. With Freespire, the choice is yours as to what software is installed on your computer, with no limitations or restrictions placed on that choice. How you choose to maximize the performance of your computer is entirely up to you.

About CNR

CNR is a one-click digital software delivery service for desktop Linux applications, libraries and packages developed by Linspire, Inc. CNR allows desktop Linux users to find, install, uninstall, manage, and keep updated, thousands of free open source, as well as commercial software programs, on their desktop Linux computer, all with just one click. CNR is so easy to use, literally anyone can use it, of any age or computer skill level.

For more information and interview requests:


Canonical Limited
Christina Armstrong
+44 (0) 207 590 2551


Linspire, Inc.
858-587-6700 ext 183
858-587-8095 Fax
pr@linspireinc.com


Saturday, July 14, 2007

Free game:Nexuiz 2.3

8"> As I said once before...Nexuiz is no replacement for a well-made proprietary game. How ever It is available on a single download for Windows, Mac, and Linux . Its released entirely GPL and free over the net. Let it be known, that it is the first for a project of its kind. Since ver. 1.0 it has been downloaded over half a million times (should be more if you ask me), and the game is still being updated and developed all the time. It is using Quake3 format levels, and is based on the Darkplaces engine, built on OpenGL technology.Another thing is, Nexuiz 2.3 does not require a dual core system. Video cards such as a Geforce2 will be able to run Nexuiz, while newer video cards will be able to take advantage of some features such as real-time lighting and bump-mapping. I see a lot of that with my Geforce 4. There is more eye candy with reduced graphic memory usage. Things like transparent console background, new Nexgun effect, bullet impacts, and animated most jump pads.

The offline singleplayer campaign offers improvement over 1.5 , more human-like bots while the new maps add a fresh thrill to both offline and online play. But I can only seem to find one offline singleplayer campaign map.

Last: Nexuiz 2.3 runs faster and renders more much better. I think forced team balance works better than it did in the last ver. It just over all introduces sharper effects taking advantage of an improved engine with reduced graphic memory usage and better compatibility with quake3 maps.

  • If you're still playing Quake 3 Arena, you may like Nexuiz.
  • Its “Free”
  • It can be played on any platform.

System Requirements
200 MB of hard drive space
Windows 2000/XP/Vista (32-bit or 64-bit)
Mac OS X 10.4 or better (PPC or x86)
Linux Kernel 2.2 or better with glibc

High Quality - Realtime lights and shadows on, bloom on, high detailed maps, 1024x768 or higher res
- A 1.5 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 1500+ or better
- 9600ati or 5700fx or better
- 512 MB of ram or better

Low Quality - no realtime lights, no bloom
- 1 Ghz Pentium III or AMD Athlon
- Geforce2 Video card
- 512 MB of ram