Jan 3, 2011 22:01 GMT  ·  By

Welcome to the 130th and the first issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly for 2011!

The following Linux-based operating systems have been announced last week: Parted Magic 5.8, Puppy Linux 5.0 Wary Edition, VortexBox 1.7, Grml 2010.12 and SystemRescueCd 2.0.0. In other news: Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, signed a government document for the transition of federal executive bodies and agencies of the federal budget to use free software between 2011 - 2015. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the new/updated Linux distributions, and the development releases. Softpedia Linux wishes a happy and prosper 2011 to all of its readers!

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Parted MagicOn December 28th, Patrick Verner announced the release of Parted Magic 5.8, which comes with a bunch of updates and some new packages. Parted Magic 5.8 is mostly a bug-fixing release and doesn't really add any new features. It comes with a brand-new Linux kernel and the latest version of the Gnome Partition Editor. Parted magic 5.8 also allows the entire ISO image to be loaded into RAM.

Highlights of Parted Magic 5.8:

Updated packages:

· Linux kernel 2.6.36.2; · Clonezilla 1.2.6-40; · Plop boot manager - plpbt 5.0.11; · Psensor 0.4.4; · BusyBox 1.17.4; · Nwipe 0.03; · SimpleBurn 1.6.0; · Syslinux 4.03; · ClamAV 0.96.5; · e2fsprogs 1.41.14; · Gparted 0.7.1.

New packages included:

· Zerofree 1.0.1; · CmosPwd 5.0; · Open-iSCSI 2.0.871; · Hfsprescue 0.1; · SciTE 223.

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Parted Magic 5.8

Download Parted Magic 5.8 now from Softpedia.

dots PuppyOn December 29th, Barry Kauler, the father of Puppy Linux, has announced the immediate availability for download of the Wary edition of the Puppy Linux 5.0 operating system. This edition of Puppy Linux is intended for older hardware! Puppy Linux 5.0 Wary is an operating system based on Ubuntu OS, but it will allow users to install applications from the Ubuntu software repositories.

It is powered by an old Linux kernel, version 2.6.31.14, and X.Org 7.3, in order to provide better support for older hardware components. Puppy Linux 5.0 Wary is a separate development project to the flagship Puppy operating system, Luci Puppy (also known as Lupu or Lucid). It is also an LTS (Long Term Support) release. Therefore, Puppy Wary will see only minor updates, for bug fixing and application upgrades.

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Puppy Linux 5.0 Wary Edition

Download Puppy Linux 5.0 Wary Edition now from Softpedia.

dots VortexBoxAlso on December 30th, Andrew Gillis announced the immediate availability of VortexBox 1.7. The big new feature for this release is the possibility of ripping DVDs along with audio CDs for streaming. This feature has been highly requested and is now included in VortexBox 1.7.

The new version also brings an updated SqueezeBox Server 7.4.2 along with the usual array of fixes and smaller updates. The addition of DVD ripping significantly expands the capabilities of VortexBox and turns the music streaming distro into a media streaming server. The ease of use that has characterized VortexBox is also applied to DVD ripping, just insert the disk in the drive and the software will do everything else.

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VortexBox - Image courtesy of VortexBox

Download VortexBox 1.7 now from Softpedia.

dots GrmlOn December 31st, Michael Prokop announced the immediate availability for download of the Grml 2010.12 distribution. The latest update to the Debian-based live CD distro brings plenty of changes and new features including an up-to-date kernel, automatic configuration of the X server and improved custom tools and scripts. Grml 2010.12 also come with a smaller selection of window managers, many of the niche ones having been removed.

Highlights of Grml 2010.12:

· Linux kernel 2.6.36.2 with additional patches and modules including support for Aufs, OpenAFS, SquashFS and others; · Support for X.org's automatic configuration; · grml-x has been rewritten to support the config-less X; · Support for Kernel Mode Setting (KMS); · grml-rescueboot / loopback.cfg feature and grub-imageboot for ISO boot; · Improved serial console on multiple devices; · A 'vnc_connect' boot option useful for devices behind firewalls; · grml-terminalserver no longer needs to rebuild the initrd - the default initrd/initramfs now fully supports PXE booting; · Updated manifold boot features - for booting from USB disks rather than a burned image; · Network configuration via /etc/network/interfaces supported during boot-up; · Several window managers are no longer included: fvwm/fvwm-crystal, ratpoison, dwm, twm, w9wm, evilwm, jwm, pekwm; · Switched from live-initramfs to live-boot.

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Grml 2010.12

Download Grml 2010.12 now from Softpedia.

dots SystemRescueCdOn January 1st, François Dupoux announced the immediate availability for download of the SystemRescueCd 2.0.0 Linux distribution. Despite the big jump in version number, it's not necessarily a revolutionary update. It does come with a longer list of changes and updates than usual though, including updated Linux kernels, newer Parted and GParted builds, and other newer packages.

The standard Linux kernel has been updated in SystemRescueCd 2.0.0 to Linux kernel 2.6.35.10 which comes with long term support. The alternative kernel has also received an updated, so users wanting a more recent build can run Linux kernel 2.6.36.2.

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SystemRescueCd 2.0.0

Download SystemRescueCd 2.0.0 now from Softpedia.

dots Other NewsOther News:

· On December 17th, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed a government document for the transition of federal executive bodies and agencies of the federal budget to use free software between 2011 - 2015. According to the document signed on December 17th, 2010, the Russian government will have to dump proprietary software and move to free and/or open source alternatives, such as GNU/Linux. Read more about it here.

dots Video Clip of the WeekVideo Clip of the Week: Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal Alpha 1 Video (Unity)

· For this week we've posted a 480p high-definition video clip that showcases the Unity launchbar of the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) operating system. The video has 2 minutes and 39 seconds, and it was posted by nilarimogard. Enjoy!

Download from SoftpediaNew Distributions:

· Zorin OS Lite 4 · Saline OS Beta 3

Download from SoftpediaDistributions Updated Last Week:

· Tor-ramdisk 20101227 · ttylinux 12.3 · Pinguy OS 10.10.1 · Hakin9 Live 3.1.2 · LinuxShark 0.0.1 · moonOS Main Edition 4.0 · Linux Mint Debian 201101 · Tiny Core Linux 3.4.1 · Upstream OS 6.0 · Matriux Xenon · BG-Rescue Linux 1.1.1 · Quelitu 1.10.10 · Debian Live 5.0.7 · Linvo 2010.12 · CHAINSAWLINUX 0.0.3 · BG-Tiny Linux Bootdisk 2.0

Download from SoftpediaDevelopment Releases:

· ZorOS 4.0 Beta · APODIO 8 RC5 · MEPIS AntiX M11 Test 1 · OpenELEC Beta 1 · Chakra GNU/Linux 0.3.1 Pre1 · VectorLinux 7.0 Alpha 4.2

See you again on January 10th for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.