Phoronix Test Suite 4.0.1 Available for Download

Phoronix Test Suite 4.0.1, codenamed Suldal, has been announced today, August 21st, by Michael Larabel.

Phoronix Test Suite 4.0.1 is a maintenance release of the Suldal release, bringing the following changes:

• Shortened test profile versions inputted by user to be expanded to matching latest version in stream is now allowed;
• list-unsupported-tests option for debugging purposes has been added;
• Subversion as a PTS External Dependency has been added;
• git as a PTS External Dependency has been added;
• Memory RAM DIMM count detection in select configurations has been fixed.

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

The Phoronix Test Suite allows individuals and organizations to carry out automated and quantitative test cases and benchmarks in a fully automated and standardized manner using a unique open-source testing architecture.

 Download Phoronix Test Suite 4.0.1

How to Install Firefox 15 on Ubuntu

The following tutorial will teach Ubuntu users how to "unofficially" update their systems to the Mozilla Firefox 15.0 web browser.

Mozilla Firefox 15 has not yet been released, it is in Beta state at the moment, but it will bring features such as initial native support for PDF files, support for SPDY networking protocol v3, better performance by enchancing WebGL (including compressed textures), better memory usage for add-ons, and much more.

Canonical will most likely update its supported Ubuntu operating system to Firefox 15 as soon as Mozilla releases it at the end of the month, but if you want it now, follow our step-by-step (with screenshots) tutorial.

Mozilla Firefox 15.0 can be installed in the following Ubuntu operating systems: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin), Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot), Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx).

Step 1 - Add the Firefox 15.0 repository

No matter what Ubuntu operating system (see above supported OSes) you are running, open a terminal and paste the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-next


Hit the Enter key, type your password when asked and hit the Enter key. Hit Enter again when asked.

Don't close the terminal window! Proceed to the next step.

Step 2 - Install Firefox 15.0 on Ubuntu

Now paste the following command in the same terminal window:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y firefox

Your current Firefox installation will be overwritten. Wait for the installation to finish and close the terminal window.

That's it! The new Mozilla Firefox 15.0 is now fully installed in your Ubuntu machine. You'll need to restart Firefox for the changes to take effect.


In time, your Mozilla Firefox web browser will automatically upgrade to newer versions, so make sure you update your system regularly.

If you have problems with the tutorial, do not hesitate to comment below!

Manjaro Linux 0.8.0

Philip Müller has announced the release of Manjaro Linux 0.8.0, a user-friendly desktop distribution based on Arch Linux and featuring the latest Xfce desktop: "We are proud to announce our default Manjaro edition featuring Xfce 4.10, Linux kernel 3.4.9, X.Org 7.6 with X.Org Server 1.12.3 and GCC 4.7.1. Manjaro Linux targets beginners and advanced users at the same time. We provide user interface tools and scripts to make life easier. Manjaro supports NVIDIA's Optimus technology out of the box. You can choose between Nouveau/Intel or NVIDIA/Intel drivers combination. Manjaro hardware detection tool will configure your graphic cards automatically and with help of Bumblebee bbswitch it is possible to switch to your desired graphic mode." Here is the release announcement. Download (MD5): manjaro-xfce-0.8.0-i686.iso (633MB), manjaro-xfce-0.8.0-x86_64.iso (692MB). Separate editions showcasing the GNOME 3 desktop with the Cinnamon shell and KDE 4.8.4 are also available.

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).

Frugalware Linux 1.7

Frugalware Linux 1.7, the latest version of the general-purpose distribution designed for intermediate Linux users, has been released: "The Frugalware developer team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Frugalware Linux 1.7, our seventeenth stable release. No new features have been added since 1.7rc2, but 157 changes have been made to fix minor bugs. Here are the most important changes since 1.6: updated packages - Linux kernel 3.4.8, X.Org Server 1.12.3, GNOME 3.4, KDE SC 4.9, LibreOffice 3.5.4, Mozilla Firefox 14.0.1; slocate was removed and replaced by mlocate; Catalyst has dropped support for all ATI Radeon HD hardware before the 5000 series; cpupower has replaced all CPU scaling daemons; all packages that still used SysVInit have been converted to use systemd; GRUB 0.x has been replaced by GRUB 2...." The release announcement. Download (SHA1): frugalware-1.7-i686-dvd1.iso (4,278MB), frugalware-1.7-x86_64-dvd1.iso (4,284MB).

Install Wine 1.5.11 On Ubuntu 12.04/11.10/Linux Mint 13

Wine 1.5.11 has been released recently which comes with more features, bugfixes and improvements. Here are some of the key features and changes in this latest development release:

• Adding multi-channel support for the ALSA driver

• Big X11 lock removal

• Adding support for pair positioning adjustments in Uniscribe

• More I/O stream implementations in the C++ runtime

• Various bug fixes

You can find the release notes of Wine 1.5.11 here. You have to bear in mind that this is a development release which is not recommended for production machines. To install Wine 1.5.11 from PPA on Ubuntu 12.04/11.10 or Linux Mint 13 or older, run the following commands from the terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.5 winetricks

If you want to install the stable version of Wine (currently 1.4.1), run the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.4 winetricks