Planet Lowyat

Another mile stone for Canonical teams. Good jobs!

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop and Server, continuing Ubuntu’s tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

Features:

Productivity tools: Ubuntu supports all of your favourite web-based mail programs like Yahoo(TM) or Gmail (TM). But for the office, Evolution provides all the calendering, contacts and full function office email you need. Pidgin IM also puts you in instant touch with colleagues and integrates with your personal IM services simply and easily.

Browsing: Includes Mozilla’s Firefox 3 as the default browser. Faster, safer and themed browsing for users.

Photos: Upload from your camera or phone to F-Spot and manage, tag, share and sort your photos and upload easily to you favourite social networking sites.

Music and video: Plug in your PSP, iPod, MP3 player; share playlists with your friends; buy in the creative commons online music stores, stream more live radio and content from the BBC and plug in more devices with UPnP.

Office applications: Word processing, spreadsheets and presentations can all be delivered through Open Office. And, they completely integrate with the proprietary office applications out there. The big difference is that they are free.

Accessibility: At the core of the Ubuntu philosophy is the belief that computing is for everyone and access should be free and complete whatever your economic or physical circumstances. Ubuntu is one of the most accessible desktop operating systems around.
Read more about the features of Ubuntu 8.10 in the following press releases:

Desktop edition http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-8.10-desktop
Server edition http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-8.10-server

Ubuntu 8.10 will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers. Users requiring a longer support lifetime may choose to continue using Ubuntu 8.04 LTS rather than upgrading to or installing 8.10.

Ubuntu 8.10 is also the basis for new 8.10 releases of Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and UbuntuStudio:

http://kubuntu.org/news/8.10-release
http://xubuntu.org/news/intrepid/release
http://ubuntustudio.org/8-10_release_note
Read more »

WinSCP is an open source free SFTP client and FTP client for Windows. Its main function is safe copying of files between a local and a remote computer.

Main Features:
- Graphical user interface
- Translated into several languages
- Integration with Windows (drag&drop, URL, shortcut icons)
- U3 support
- All common operations with files
- Support for SFTP and SCP protocols over SSH-1 and SSH-2 and plain old FTP protocol
- Batch file scripting and command-line interface
- Directory synchronization in several semi or fully automatic ways
- Integrated text editor
- Support for SSH password, keyboard-interactive, public key and Kerberos (GSS) authentication

Using WinSCP, it is possible to connect to a SSH (Secure Shell) server with SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) or SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) service or to a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server.

For SFTP, the only requirement beyond the server requirements above is to run SFTP on the server. For SFTP, the only requirement beyond the server requirements above is to run SFTP on the server.

- Integrates with Pageant (PuTTY authentication agent) for full support of public key authentication with SSH
- Windows Explorer-like and Norton Commander-like interfaces
- Optionally stores session information
- Optionally supports standalone operation using a configuration file in place of registry entries, suitable for operation from removable media

Read more »

Are you serious? Are you kidding? VMware plan to buy Redhat?

According to MSNBC, open source software supplier Red Hat is racking up growth figures that much of techdom might envy. Sales rose 32%, to $157 million, in the quarter ended May 31, and profits climbed a respectable 7%.

One possible suitor is virtualization software company VMware (VMW), which some industry executives says is on the lookout for an operating system to add to its portfolio. Former VMware CEO Diane Greene, ousted by her board in July, had set up meetings with Red Hat in part to position VMware as friendly to open source and possibly as a prelude to a buyout discussion, according to a person familiar with the conversations. Representatives of both companies declined to comment.

Read more »

KDE 4.1 packages are available for Kubuntu and several other popular distributions. If there are no prebuilt binaries yet for your distro of choice, you can compile the software from the available source packages. A live CD image is also available should you wish to try the new desktop without altering your existing installation.

The introduction of KDE 4 marked the introduction of the new Plasma desktop, which provides not only the panel that you interact with, but also widgets (or “plasmoids”) that extended the desktop further. In KDE 4.1, one of the most welcome changes to Plasma is the return of multiple and resizable panels from KDE 3. Now you can configure your panels by clicking on the Plasma icon (by default it’s on the right edge of the panel), which brings up a series of sliders for adjusting the panel’s height and position. Also within this configuration control is the return of a way to reposition panel contents by simply grabbing objects with your mouse and pulling them to where you’d like them.

One of the most controversial announcements during the KDE 4.1 development cycle was the reported removal of icons for the desktop. In actuality, desktop icons are not missing from the new version, they’re just handled differently. This version introduces a Folder View plasmoid, which is a container you can place on the desktop that can show the contents of any directory. Most distributions set one up in the default configuration to show the contents of the desktop folder, but you are no longer limited to having the contents of just the desktop folder displayed on your desktop — you can add several instances of Folder View, each showing a different directory.

Read more »

ASUS confirmed it would be loading the quick-launch Express Gate Splashtop Linux OS onto all of its upcoming motherboards, the software developers behind the distro, DeviceVM, have announcedthat several ASUS notebooks will also include it.

The Asus M70T, M50V, M51T, F8Va, and F8Vr will be the first laptops on the market to include the “rapid-start platform.”

Splashtop comes to ASUS Notebooks

Complete range of ASUS notebook models provide ‘instant-on’ Internet and media access
May 29, 2008 - SAN JOSE, CA - DeviceVM today announced the release of their award winning Splashtop™ software on numerous ASUS notebooks. Splashtop is a light-weight operating system that allows consumers to use their computers seconds after hitting the power button. Models spanning a wide range of segments are to ship with Splashtop pre-installed by ASUS starting in June this year.

“The integration of Splashtop into notebooks represents a big step forward in portable computing, where instant ‘on’ and ‘off’ is essential,” said Mark Lee, co-founder and CEO of DeviceVM. “We are pleased to introduce Splashtop to portable computing together with our partner ASUS.”

Branded “Express Gate” by ASUS, Splashtop software enables users to browse the web, watch videos, listen to music, chat with friends, share photos, and more - just seconds after turning on their PC. Express Gate is already available on a wide range of PC motherboards from ASUS. The notebooks announced today are the first to integrate Express Gate for the broad consumer market, including the M70T, M50V and M51T multimedia series and the stylish F8Va/Vr series.

“ASUS is always committed to bring customers the most innovative solutions,” said Henry Yeh, General Manager, ASUS Notebook Business Unit. “With Express Gate, users will experience a new, fast, and secure way to surf, chat and play on ASUS notebooks for a new computing experience”

**ASUS booth will showcase Express Gate at Computex in Taipei International Convention Center TF1L & 101B, June 3 - 7. Please come by for more information.

Read more »