Open Recall: Snowlinux 3, KDE 4.9.3, RISC OS

Open Recall is a space on The H for those things that are too small to package as news but are worth covering. This edition looks at the latest release of the Ubuntu-based Snowlinux distribution, the recent update to KDE SC, RISC OS for the Raspberry Pi mini-computer, and updates to SystemRescueCd.

• Snowlinux 3 – The latest release of Snowlinux, version 3.0, is based on Ubuntu 12.10 and features MATE 1.4 as its default desktop; users can also choose to use the Cinnamon 1.6 or GNOME 3.6 desktop interfaces. The new version of the distribution includes its own custom menu (called snowMenu) and mount tool (snowMount), and uses the Nemo fork of Nautilus 3.4 as its default file manager. Overall speed and responsiveness are also said to have been improved. Snowlinux 3, code-named "White", is available to download for 32- and 64-bit systems from the project's site.

• KDE SC 4.9.3 – The KDE Community has shipped the third maintenance update to version 4.9 of the KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC). Its developers say that KDE 4.9.3, which fixes a total of 86 bugs, further improves the Kate editor as well as the Kontact email and groupware client. A number of translations have also been updated.

• RISC OS – Owners of the Raspberry Pi have been given another choice of operating system to run on the mini-computer: RISC OS. First released in 1987, RISC OS was developed specifically for ARM-based computers by the now defunct British firm Acorn Computers. Described as "very smooth" and "fast to boot" on the Raspberry Pi, the OS includes a command-line interface as well as a desktop environment with a windowing system. The latest version of RISC OS for the Raspberry Pi can be downloaded for free from raspberrypi.org. RISC OS is available under a variety of commercial licences from Castle Technology Ltd.
  

• SystemRescueCd – The live Linux distribution for administering and repairing systems was recently updated to version 3.1, and subsequently 3.1.1 a week later, with new kernel versions and updated tools. SystemRescueCd has had its standard kernel upgraded to 3.2.33, while the alternative kernel now uses the recent 3.6.6 kernel release. In addition to updating the btrfs-progs utilities for the Btrfs filesystem, the GParted partitioning tool and the e2fsprogs filesystem utilities, support for the Reiser4 filesystem has been re-introduced in the alternative kernels. A full list of fixes and updates in the new versions, which are available to download from the project's site, can be found in the change log.

(crve)