Some weeks ago, Richard Stallman came to Barcelona and we had the occasion to ask him about what he thinks about Ubuntu and what are the distributions that he (and the fsf) recommends.

About Ubuntu, Stallman said to us that it is just a way to arrive to the free software, but it is not a real solution because Ubuntu includes a lot of privative software (towards the CD or the repositories).

So, that was the reason why next logical question was “which distributions do you recommend?”. Stallman told about UTUTO, MUSIX and the one in which development the FSF are actively involved: gNewSense. gNewSense is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Ubuntu.

Two days ago we knew that there was published a new beta release for gNewSense 2.0. This new release is based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron, the artwork has been changed, the default internet browser will be Epiphany and they removed some non-free GLX modules from X/mesa.

It must be clear that this is a distribution for a purist users. You have to think that even if this release is compatible with a lot of hardware, there are other hardware that will not be supported, so you will have to use some privative modules, so your system won’t be totally free… so maybe it’s better to use other distribution.

Of course the correct way is to buy hardware compatible with GNU/Linux. Anyway, if you want to try it, here are the links to download and the release announcement.

• Donwload | gNewSense 2.0 beta
• Link | Release announcement

One of the most important problems that GNU/Linux users encountered when they wanted to migrate from Windows was that there were no professional CAD software on this architecture.

Of course, when we talk about “CAD software” we are talking about AutoCAD. All engineering students use this program to design their buildings. But AutoCAD does not work on GNU. I was trying to install it one year ago and finally it was possible just to install AutoCAD 2000, and it did not work really well.

I have been trying installing AutoCAD on a virtual machine (on virtualbox). Even it works well without any bug, there is a rendering problem. A virtual machine can not provide the correct render acceleration, so when AutoCAD is running on it, mouse pointer moves faster than autocad pointer (it seems that the pointer on the application tryes to follow the mouse pointer).

What about free software?. Free CAD software is so limited and it is not professional software. There is an interesting webpage where are listed all CAD applications known on GNU but the most part are stopped projects or limited applicactions.

So, is there a CAD solution on GNU/Linux?. Yes, and its name is BricsCAD.

BricsCAD is compatible with AutoCAD and the GUI is quite close to Autocad’s interface. One or two years ago the company decided to make it compatible with GNU/Linux and there was a version that could be installed without any problems and it worked really fine.

But now we don’t really now if linux development was stopped. However, Windows version can be installed on GNU and the program still work fine. It’s quite simple to install it:

1. Go to the official website and download the windows version (it’s v8)
2. Install wine on your GNU distribution
3. Open a terminal and run:
wine BricscadClassic-V8.2.8-1-en_US.exe

It is possible that the terminal will show some errors, but there’s no problem: the installer will start and you’ll be able to install bricscad on you linux system. I have been trying it and, for the moment, it works really fine.

• Link | CAD software on GNU/Linux
• Download | BricsCAD v8

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is a free (as a beer, “a.a.b.”) video game developed by Activision reason by wich the graphical quality is pretty good. Originally, W:ET was a commercial extension pack to the well-known game Return to the Castle of Wolfenstein but finally it became a standalone game.

This is an online multi-player shot’n'up (as Doom or Quake) where the player is a soldier in the Second World War (in 1944). There are two teams: Allies and Axis and mission objectives are basically to defend or destroy mission objectives.

On internet it is possible to find thousand of online gamers playing everyday (and every time). Note that it’s really important not to play alone: we have always to play considering that the only way to win is to play together (with our team).

Players have certain abilities based on their class and they may earn experience points that will give them new abilities, weapons, girls…

This game represents how a free (a.a.b.) game could be an amused game with great graphics, and there are builds for Windows, GNU/Linux and Mac.

• Link | Project website
• Download | Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (installing guide on Ubuntu, however you can use it for whatever distribution)

In spite of the fact that I know how “usefulw” Compiz-Fusion is, sometimes I have to admit that the Expo plugin it’s really amazing and makes easy my life.

At this moment I’m doing my final project degree. It’s about the organization of an enterprise that is moving from one place to other. What’s the matter? Mmmmm… I need to use AutoCAD and, for that reason, I need to use Windows.

OK, I don’t want to get crazy (I don’t want to get a piece of action with Bill Gates), but I think there are other ways to be succesful: VirtualBox. And now I’m installing AutoCAD in my virtualised Windows system, I want to test it and decide if I can use AutoCAD in this way.

Well, returning to the topic, now I discover how useful can be Compiz-Fusion (well, just the expo plugin). And here is an screenshot (I just wanted to show you this, so here it go!):

Sometimes, when I’m working on Ubuntu or other distributions and I need to install a new program that asks me for add my user to a new group I usually go to System->Administration->Users and groups and I set my default group to the group that the program said.

But I’m not sure if this method is really the right method. For that reason, after a few hours working on Gentoo I discoverd a nice and simple way to add a user to an specific group. And you can use this for every GNU/Linux distribution.

As a root, just type:

gpasswd -a user group

That’s all. No more problems, no more “Users and groups”, no more ignorance. If you want to learn something about GNU/Linux, you should try Gentoo. It’s hard… but you’ll have fun!!.

(I needed to write it down because I always forget it)

Since Saturday, it is possible to download the first OpenSUSE 11 beta that brings as a main change from the last alpha the new kernel version 2.6.25 including completely ext4 support (note that Ubuntu Hardy will maintain kernel 2.6.24).

This beta version already includes the latest KDE4 and GNOME versions (4.0.3 and 2.22.1 respectively). Furthermore, YAST has been migrated to Qt4 platform (you’ll note on the visual style that it is now better).

Package management has been one of the most important features that the openSUSE team wanted to improve. On this version they’re using libzypp and it seems that they’ve been succeed and finally package management is faster than previous versions.

But, above all, the most well-known change is the newly styled green installer. However, development has to continue and the team is fixing some issues and bugs including the final ISO image size for amd64 and other problems with the gtk-installer crashing.

Links to download are at the bottom of the article. You can download it and report some bugs or problems you encounter…

• Link | Beta announcement
  
• Download | OpenSUSE 11 beta

In the past few days some news about OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta have been published. Those who install this new version will check out that in some places there is the word “beta”.

It isn’t a beta version, actually. You can read “Development Snapshot” on the splash screen. The real beta will be available on April, 30th, and what is currently being called “beta”, it really isn’t. Well then, this means that this version will be close to the beta one.

We are not writing about OpenOffice.org 3 new features because we already did and because there are are some months left (in Catalan) for the release. Anyway, you’d probably like to know that there will be support to import documents from PDF and a tool that will help us a lot: native mediawiki export support.

• Link | Article in “De l’Holocè estant” (with lots of links and interesting notes)
• Link | OpenOffice.org official website: download

As of yesterday it is possible to request Ubuntu CDs from Ubuntu Shipit. There is one important difference in comparison with last shipit campaigns: this time it’s possible to request just one cd (if you remember it was only possible to order 10 at once??.

In one week Ubuntu Hardy will be published. The day before yesterday the release candidate should have been released, but it seems there was a problem with some kernel modules that were not working well. Finally Canonical published Ubuntu Hardy RC yesterday.

Anyway, the release schedule is going on and in less than six days the final stable release is going to be published (meanwhile you can try the beta release).

Also, if you take a look at the schedule, on April 6th another revision (8.04.1) will close the final Hardy structure. From that point on, Ubuntu Hardy will be maintained during the next five years (for free!).

• Link | Shipit Ubuntu
• Download | Ubuntu Hardy RC

Yesterday AMD published a new revision of their ati proprietary drivers, Catalyst 8.4.

One of the most important features of this version is basically the whole support for Ubuntu Hardy Heron that is going to be published at the end of April.

There are some important issues that have been resolved. For example, the problem with a black screen when switching to the console or leaving the X window system when a Vesa framebuffer console driver was used has been resolved. Also, video playback won’t display incorrect colors or additional shadow images when cropping or expanding anymore.

If you want to upgrade your drivers to this version, is very simple.

1. Download the driver from here.

2. Update your system and install required packages:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install module-assistant build-essential
sudo apt-get install fakeroot dh-make debconf libstdc++5 gcc-3.3-base dkms

3. Open a terminal, go to the folder where you downloaded the driver and create the specific packages for your distribution:
sudo bash ./ati-driver-installer-8-4-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/hardy # Hardy
sudo bash ./ati-driver-installer-8-4-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/gutsy # Gutsy

4. That will create four .deb files that you have to install with dpkg:
sudo dpkg -i file.deb

5. Finally, just execute the ati configuration tool and restart your computer (but first it would be a good idea to backup your xorg.conf file):
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.back
sudo aticonfig --initial --force
sudo reboot

And that’s all.

• Link | Driver release notes

Two days ago we were talking about the problems that the Gentoo Foundation has been suffering during the last year and how all this affected the normal development.

But now, finally, we know there is a new release. Gentoo 2008.0 beta is here and, it seems, nothing can’t stop again its development to the final version. However, we don’t know when the final version is coming.

The release announcement is very short and they don’t explain what are the features of this new release. At least we find out they are using 2.6.24 kernel in this release. But, actually, this is not really important.

The most important announcement is that developers are seriously thinking about changing Portage 2.1. It will adopt the RPM format for all packages moving forward. So Gentoo is changing and we think it is important: after 1 “problematic” year is normal they have to think about some changes in the distribution development. [[Of course, just joking]]

Now, we can tray this new realease and report any functionality issues we encounter.

• Link | Official announcement
• Download | Gentoo Linux 2008.0