Current happenings around the technology world:

Open Source:

Ubuntu Rescue Remix Released:

Ubuntu Rescue Remix is a small live CD that provides some of the best free and open-source data recovery and forensics tools available. Today Andrew Zajac announced the release of a new version: “Version 9.10 of the very best free/libre open-source data recovery software toolkit based on Ubuntu is out. This release of Ubuntu Rescue Remix features up-to-date versions of the most powerful free/libre open-source data recovery software, including GNU ddrescue 1.11, Photorec, LVM2, and GNU fdisk. The ISO image is compatible with the excellent USB Startup Disk Creator that is included with Ubuntu since 8.04. The live environment has a very low minimum requirement due to the fact that there is no graphical interface (powerful command line only).” Here is the complete release announcement.

Edubuntu is revived:

Edubuntu was labeled as “discontinued” ever since it became just an add-on to Ubuntu rather than a complete, installable operating system. As of October 29, 2009 its status is once again “active”: “For the past few releases, it has been an add-on CD to Ubuntu. Our users have made overwhelming requests for a full-blown installation CD again and we have listened. Edubuntu 9.10 is now a DVD that contains a full Ubuntu installation plus the Edubuntu packages and the LTSP server packages.” Other new features include: “Ubuntu users can install Edubuntu’s age-appropriate educational application bundles by searching for ‘Edubuntu’ in the Ubuntu Software Center; Sabayon, the GNOME user profile manager, has been fixed; LTSP Cluster, available from the Ubuntu repositories in 9.10, provides an easy to use load-balancing solution for LTSP servers.” Here is the release announcement. Edubuntu is the version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution geared towards Schools and kids.

Ubuntu Karmic Koala Released:

Canonical has announced the release of Ubuntu 9.10, the latest version of the project’s flagship operating system for desktops, laptops and servers: “Ubuntu 9.10 brings changes small and large that all have a common purpose – to make Ubuntu the most user-friendly operating system available. Ubuntu 9.10 features a redesigned, faster boot and login experience, a revamped audio framework, and improved 3G broadband connectivity, all of which contribute to a first-class user experience. Furthermore, the innovative ’100 Paper Cuts’ initiative organized with the Ubuntu Community allowed users to nominate minor annoyances that impacted their enjoyment of the platform. So far over 50 fixes have been committed, removing minor irritants such as inconsistent naming or poorly organized application choices.” See the press release, release notes and feature overview.

See here for a good review.

ClarkConnect is Now ClearOS:

Clear Foundation has announced the availability of the second beta release of ClearOS 5.1, a CentOS-based distribution for firewalls and gateways formerly known as ClarkConnect: “The second beta has arrived. Along with the usual bug fixes, the two significant changes from beta 1 are: updated base system to CentOS 5.4 (released just last week); updated Samba to prepare for improved Windows 7 support. Other changes: added new validation to make sure user, group and flexshare names do not overlap; fixed missing ‘allusers’ Samba group mapping; added missing file that broke some webconfig pages; exposed the Domain Admins group in the web interface; re-added most of the missing reports, still a work in progress; fixed logo on web server start page….” Read the release announcement and release notes.

Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.6 Beta 1:

The Mozilla Foundation has released the first official beta of the popular Mozilla Firefox 3.6 web browser. The new version brings with it a whole bunch of improvements to the open source web browser. It’s also, as with anything beta, missing a few features that one would initially expect to see in the new Firefox 3.6.

Read the rest of the release notes here.

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