Open Recall: Retro browsing, fresh distributions and Linux gaming

GitHub, as seen from the mid-1990s
Source: Alan Dipert

Open Recall is a space on The H for those things that are too small to package as news but are worth covering. In this edition: retro browsing with NCSA Mosaic on Linux, Netrunner 12.12.1, Descent|OS 3.0.2, Half-Life on Linux, SystemRescueCd 3.3.0, and a first release of the Consort Desktop Environment.

• NCSA Mosaic on modern Linux – The source code for a version of NCSA Mosaic 2.7 that runs on modern Linux systems is available on GitHub. For users who are curious what the current world wide web would look like as viewed with a time-travelling browser from the mid-1990s, instructions how to build and run the software on Ubuntu are provided.

• Netrunner 12.12.1 – The latest release of Netrunner, a Kubuntu-based Linux distribution that integrates GNOME applications and enables users to run Windows programs with WINE by default, updates the distribution with a 3.5 series Linux kernel and new versions of Firefox, VLC and WINE. Netrunner 12.12.1 also includes KDE 4.9.4. The distribution is sponsored by Blue Systems, the German company that has also taken over the stewardship of Kubuntu.

• Descent|OS 3.0.2 – With version 3.0.2, the distribution aimed at providing an easy-to-use classic GNOME desktop has been updated to include PulseAudio by default. The new version also uses Lubuntu's Software Centre for package management and comes with MATE 1.4 as its desktop environment. Currently, the distribution is only available for 32-bit systems.

• Half-Life available on Linux – Valve has released a beta version of the classic Half-Life game through its Steam on Linux beta. The game was originally released in 1998 and is one of cornerstones of the first-person shooter genre. The Linux port is based on the original GoldSrc engine. Half-Life does not officially have a Linux label in Steam yet and users are currently reporting some teething problems with mouse controls not working correctly.

• SystemRescueCd 3.3.0 – The latest update of SystemRescueCd ships with a new kernel based on the long-term support release Linux 3.4.37; alternatively, a 3.7.4 kernel is also available. SystemRescueCd 3.3.0 also includes updated XFS utilities, a new GTK frontend for rsync and a FUSE module for the exFAT filesystem. All changes are listed in the change log for the release. The distribution is designed as a bootable rescue disc that includes tools for filesystem recovery and other system maintenance.

• SolusOS 2 Alpha 7 – With the latest alpha release of the upcoming SolusOS 2, the developers have included a first preview of their new Consort Desktop Environment, a GNOME Classic fork. A 32-bit version of SolusOS 2 Alpha 7 is available from the project's servers.
  

(fab)