Parsix GNU/Linux 4.0r1

Happy new year! The honour of the first release announcement of 2013 goes to Parsix GNU/Linux, a distribution based on Debian's testing branch and featuring the GNOME 3 desktop: "The updated 4.0r1 version has been synchronized with Debian's testing repositories as of December 29, 2012 and brings lots of updated packages compared to Parsix 3.7 aka Raul. Parsix Gloria is project's first release with the GNOME 3 series and ships with LibreOffice productivity suite by default. Gloria has a brand-new software manager package. Highlights: GNOME 3.4.2, X.Org 7.7, GRUB 2, GNU Iceweasel 17.0.1, GParted 0.12.1, Empathy 3.4.2.3, LibreOffice 3.5.4, VirtualBox 4.1.18 and a brand-new kernel based on Linux 3.2.35 with TuxOnIce 3.3, BFS and other extra patches. The live DVD has been compressed using Squashfs and xz. Main changes are: X.Org Server 1.12.4, glibc 2.13, GIMP 2.8.2, Grisbi 0.8.9, VLC 2.0.5, xFarDic 0.11.7." See the detailed release notes for more information and upgrade instructions. Download: parsix_4.0r1-amd64.iso (1,031MB, MD5).

How To Boot An ISO File From Your Hard Drive Via Grub2 Under Ubuntu/Linux Mint

In this tutorial, we will see how to boot an iso file stored in your hard drive via the Grub2 boot menu. This tip is useful for users who don't have a live CD/DVD/USB, only the iso file of Ubuntu/Linux Mint. In this example, we will see how to boot from Ubuntu 12.10 iso file.

Getting Started

Create a directory named iso in your root folder using this command:

sudo mkdir /iso

Now move your iso file (ubuntu-12.10-desktop-i386.iso) to this folder. Cd to the folder containing your iso file and run this command:

sudo mv ubuntu-12.10-desktop-i386.iso /iso

Identify now your hard disk with this command from the terminal:

 sudo fdisk -l

For my system, the hard disk is mounted as /dev/sda1:

Edit now the grub.cfg file with this command:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg

At the end of the file, add these lines:

menuentry "Ubuntu 12.10 LiveCD" { 

    set root=(hd0,1) 

    loopback loop /iso/ubuntu-12.10-desktop-i386.iso 

    linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/iso/ubuntu-12.10-desktop-i386.iso noprompt noeject 

    initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz 

}

You can change "Ubuntu 12.10 LiveCD" to any name of your choice. For the "set root=(hd0,1)" option, I inserted the number "1" referring to my hard disk (dev/sda1). If your hard disk is mounted as /dev/sda2, then set "2", for /dev/sda5, set "5" and so on.

Save your file and exit. Then reboot your system and hold down the Shift key to bring up the Grub boot menu. As you can see, I can now boot into the Ubuntu 12.10 iso file stored in my hard drive from the Grub menu:

That's it!

How To Install/Upgrade To GRUB 2.00 From PPA On Ubuntu 12.04/Linux Mint 13

In this tutorial we will see how to upgrade/install GRUB 2.00 from PPA on a system running Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) and Linux Mint 13. Installing from PPA will be easier than installing manually from source because you may get unresolved errors.

This latest version brings more improvements, bug fixes and corrections. You can check the full changelog of GRUB 2.00 here.

GRUB 2.00 Installation

Open the terminal and run these commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cjwatson/grub
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grub2

Update now the GRUB2 boot loader with this command:

sudo update-grub2

You can now verify your current grub2 version with this command:

grub-install -v

Outputs returned for Ubuntu 12.04:

grub-install (GRUB) 2.00-2ubuntu1~ppa2~precise

Here is a screenshot of the GRUB 2.00 boot menu:

For any bug encountered, you can report it here.

Linux From Scratch 7.2

Bruce Dubbs has announced the release of Linux From Scratch (LFS) 7.2, a book of instructions on how to build a base Linux system from scratch by utilising an existing Linux system or a live CD: "The Linux From Scratch community is pleased to announce the release of LFS Version 7.2. It is a major release with toolchain updates to both glibc 2.16.0 and GCC 4.7.1. In total, 28 packages were updated from LFS 7.1 and changes to boot scripts and text have been made throughout the book." Other updates in this release include Linux kernel 3.5.2, GRUB 2.00, Perl 5.16.1, udev 188 (extracted from systemd 188), Coreutils 8.19 and most other GNU utilities, switch from module-init-tools to kmod. Visit the project's news page to read the release announcement. As always, the book is available as an online resource, but it can also be downloaded in PDF and HTML formats. The 352-page publication serves primarily as an educational exercise for those who would like to learn about Linux internals in a hands-on, practical manner.

Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.08

Anke Boersma has announced the of Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.08, a major new release incorporating the KDE 4.9.0 desktop: "The Chakra project team is proud to announce the first 'Claire' release; this codename will follow the KDE SC 4.9 series and will be dedicated to the memory of Claire Lotion. Claire 2012.08 is bringing some exciting new features, like the port of the excellent Pardus tool 'Kaptan' to Chakra named 'Kapudan', it will allow the user to easily make all kinds of selections on first boot into their newly installed system. We are also very proud to show the excellent work the Art team has done with the new 'Dharma' theme, which even carries over into the latest GRUB 2, which now has a graphical theme. A Simple Pacman update notifier named 'spun' was also added." Check out the release announcement if you need more details or if you'd like to see the distribution's new default look. Download (64-bit computer systems only): chakra-2012.08-Claire-x86_64.iso (1,576MB, MD5).

Parsix GNU/Linux 4.0 Test 2

Alan Baghumian has announced the availability of the second test release of Parsix GNU/Linux 4.0, a desktop Linux distribution based on Debian's testing branch: "This is the second test version of the upcoming Parsix GNU/Linux 4.0 release. Parsix GNU/Linux 4.0 (code name 'Gloria') brings tons of updated packages, faster live boot and updated installer system. This version has been synchronized with Debian testing repositories as of August 12, 2012. Parsix 'Gloria' is the project's first release with GNOME 3 and it ships with LibreOffice productivity suite by default. It also has a new software manager. Highlights: GNOME 3.4.2, X.Org 7.7, GRUB 2, GNU Iceweasel 14.0.1, LibreOffice 3.5.4, VirtualBox 4.1.16 and a new kernel based on Linux 3.2.23 with TuxOnIce, BFS and other patches." See the release notes for more details. Download: parsix_4.0r0-test-2-i386.iso (1,027MB, MD5), parsix_4.0r0-test-2-amd64.iso (1,024MB, MD5).

Bridge Linux 2012.8 Has GRUB2

Bridge Linux, an Arch derivative distribution that includes a GUI and standard applications, is now at version 2012.8.

According to the developers of Bridge Linux, this distribution has a feature that has been requested by a lot of users. GRUB2 is the default bootloader in Bridge Linux 2012.8.

Highlights of Bridge Linux 2012.8:

· The /etc/hosts file has been fixed;
· Xfce X respawn error has been fixed;
· Some mkinitcpio issues have been repaired;
· The installer has been repaired;
· French and Turkish language support in the installer have been added;
· A menu item to run post-install script after first run has been added;
· Terminator is the default for some DEs;
· Enabled regular users to mount drives without password in the file manager.

A complete list of changes can be found in the official announcement.


Download Bridge Linux 2012.8

Bridge Linux 2012.8 "Xfce"

Dalton Miller has announced the release of Bridge Linux 2012.8 "Xfce" edition, an Arch-based distribution and live CD: "Bridge 2012.8. It was requested a lot, and now it's here: GRUB 2 is the default bootloader in Bridge Linux 2012.8. There are a few notes about this - first, the bootloader install should detect all operating systems on the system, but it will change the root kernel parameter of Arch installs with a vanilla kernel. There are quite a few changes: fixed the /etc/hosts file; fixed the Xfce X respawn error; fixed some mkinitcpio issues; fixed the installer; added French and Turkish language support in the installer; added menu item to run post-install script after first run; added instructions for proprietary GPU drivers...." Read the rest of the release announcement for a complete list of changes. Download (MD5): bridge-xfce-2012.8-i686.iso (637MB), bridge-xfce-2012.8-x86_64.iso (658MB).

Frugalware Linux 1.7 RC1

James Buren has announced the availability of the first release candidate for Frugalware Linux 1.7, code name "Gaia", an independently-developed general-purpose Linux distribution designed for intermediate and advanced Linux users: "Frugalware 1.7rc1 (Gaia) released. The Frugalware developer team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Frugalware 1.7rc1, the first candidate of the upcoming 1.7 stable release. Here are some of the major improvements, fixes and updates since 1.7pre2: package updates - Linux kernel 3.4.4, GCC 4.7.1, KDE 4.8.4; new features - installer now supports Btrfs as an experimental feature, installer now supports JFS, grubconfig (our front-end to GRUB 2 installation) can now install to itself to RAID1 mdadm and raw drives with a single option. Please refer to the Frugalware Testing ChangeLog for more information." Here is the very brief release announcement. Download the installation DVD image for the x86_64 processor architecture from here: frugalware-1.7rc1-x86_64-dvd1.iso (4,262MB, SHA1).

Super Grub2 Disk 2.00 Is Based on GRUB 2

On July 4th, Adrian Raulete announced the immediate availability for download of the first Beta release of his super fantastic Super Grub2 Disk 2.00 Linux distribution for booting broken operating systems.

Super Grub2 Disk 2.00 is now based on the newly released GRUB 2.00 software, offering support for Linux distributions which have GRUB 2 installed as the default bootloader.

This release also adds support for SunPC partition tables and for the BSD operating systems. Moreover, support for i18n was rewritten to bring special characters and * for using gettext.

Last but not least, Super Grub2 Disk 2.00 Beta 1 gathers all the Enable options under a single submenu, called "Enable extra GRUB2 functionality."

 Download Super Grub2 Disk 2.00 Beta 1

Download GRUB 2.00 / 1.99

GRUB, Multiboot boot loader.
GNU GRUB is a Multiboot boot loader. It was derived from GRUB, GRand Unified Bootloader, which was originally designed and implemented by Erich Stefan Boleyn.
GNU GRUB is a very powerful boot loader, which can load a wide variety of free operating systems, as well as proprietary operating systems with chain-loading1. GRUB is designed to address the complexity of booting a personal computer; both the program and this manual are tightly bound to that computer platform, although porting to other platforms may be addressed in the future.
One of the important features in GRUB is flexibility; GRUB understands filesystems and kernel executable formats, so you can load an arbitrary operating system the way you like, without recording the physical position of your kernel on the disk. Thus you can load the kernel just by specifying its file name and the drive and partition where the kernel resides.
GRUB 2 is the next generation of GNU GRUB. GRUB 2 is a complete rewrite and is at a developmental phase. The most important goal is to make GNU GRUB cleaner, safer, more robust, more portable and more powerful.

Download GRUB 2.00

Canonical Will Dump GRUB 2 on UEFI Systems

We live under the threat of UEFI and Microsoft for some time, even if we understand the necessity of a secure boot, but things are starting to be put in motion.

Canonical is a Contributor Member of the UEFI Forum and is trying to be actively participating into the UEFI specification process, aiming to preserve users’ ability to install whatever operating system they desire.

The negotiations are not complete and it's unsure how UEFI will affect the relationship between Canonical and its OEM partners, but Ubuntu 12.10 will have a revised bootloader in order to ensure an “it just works” experience.

Moreover, GRUB2, a Canonical project that has a lot of development behind it, will not be used on UEFI-enabled systems because it would create legal problems due to its GPLv3 license.

“In the event that a manufacturer makes a mistake and delivers a locked-down system with a GRUB 2 image signed by the Ubuntu key, we have not been able to find legal guidance that we wouldn't then be required by the terms of the GPLv3 to disclose our private key in order that users can install a modified boot loader,” said Steve Langasek, a developer for Canonical.

More technical details about this problem and about the future of Ubuntu can be found in the official mailing list from Canonical.