Debian 4 Released
Debian is one of the major Linux distributions available today. With some recent changes in the Debian leadership with Sam Hocevar getting elected as its leader, version 4, code-named "Etch", has officially been released. Some updated packages included in this release are:
- GNOME 2.14 desktop
- KDE 3.5.5a desktop
- Xfce 4.4 desktop
- GNUstep 5.2 desktop
- X.Org 7.1
- OpenOffice.org 2.0.4a
- gimp 2.2.13
- Iceweasel (an unbranded version of Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3)
- Icedove (an unbranded version of Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5)
- Iceape (an unbranded version of Mozilla Seamonkey 1.0.8)
- PostgreSQL 8.1.8
- MySQL 5.0.32
- GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) 4.1.1
- Linux kernel version 2.6.18
- Apache 2.2.3
- Samba 3.0.24
- Python 2.4.4 and 2.5
- Perl 5.8.8
- PHP 4.4.4 and 5.2.0
- Asterisk 1.2.13
If you are using one of the Debian-based distributions such as Linspire/Freespire, Knoppix and Ubuntu, I recommend that you wait for the update. It is inevitable.
One comment, though, I wish that it included kernel 2.6.20 – with virtualization. 
Comments
Comment from mikey
Time April 20, 2007 at 2:38 pm
This is for the Linux nOOb’s like me. I just began the migration from Windows to Linux a week ago, and I’ve not had much sleep since (or gotten any real work done). I’ve installed many recent distro’s like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Opensuse, and Puppy. Puppy is quick, but I don’t think you could use it for a production machine. A bit too limited. At least for me, there were many hardware issues.
One simple benchmark to bring folks from Windows to Linux…the time it takes to launch Openoffice, the Linux version of Microsoft Office. Yes, I understand there are ways to get the process to speed up a bit, but this is for the nOObs. Out of the box, Debian 4 and Opensuse 10.2 present the Office behemoth in about 10-13 sec. The others come in around 20-30 sec. Way to long to wait for an app to open in opinion. My system is a P4 2gb 256mb. Debian and Suse are solid, no screen lag or flicker. Not so for the others. Ubuntu and it’s derivatives just are not as polished as Debian and Suse. Suse’s method of downloading stuff is a bit strange, and not too stable. And their recent deal with MS may lead you to believe that their inclusion in the “open-source” arena is reaching the end (I know nothing of this deal, just what I’ve read between distro installs…no flames please). The Debian newsgroups could be a bit more newbie friendly.
So there’s my two cents…
mikey
Comment from mikey
Time April 20, 2007 at 2:34 pm
This is for the Linux nOOb’s like me. I just began the migration from Windows to Linix a week ago, and I’ve not had much sleep since (or gotten any real work done). I’ve installed many recent distro’s like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Opensuse, and Puppy. Puppy is zippy, but I don’t think you could use it for a production machine. At least for me, there were many hardware issues. One simple benchmark to bring folks from Windows to Linux…the time it takes to launch Openoffice, the Linux version of Microsoft Office. Yes, I understand there are ways to get the process to speed up a bit, but this is for the nOObs. Out of the box, Debian 4 and Opensuse 10.2 present the Office behemoth in about 10-15 sec. The others come in around 20-30 sec. Way to long to wait for an app to open in opinion. My system is a P4 2gb 256mb. Debian and Suse are solid, no screen lag or flicker. Not so for the others. Suse’s method of downloading stuff is a bit strange, and not too stable. The Debian newsgroups could be a bit more newbie friendly.
So there’s my two cents…
mikey