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Ubuntu Dapper Adds Graphical Installer Goodness

Tectonic brings us news that the next testing version of Ubuntu 6.04 “Dapper Drake” has been released. Flight 4 includes some major changes, including a graphical installer on the LiveCD named Espresso. This means it’s now possible to browse the web with Firefox while installing Ubuntu.

Not LiveCD related, but cool anyways, is that after installation the Universe repository includes packages for the experimental XGL 3D desktop.

CD images for Flight 4 of Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Edubuntu are available.

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The “Rundfunker”

Mini-itx.com reviews a custom made computer whose purpose is to scan the local network for audio files and play them. The little computer boot from a modified version of Knoppix called Troubadix loaded on a compactflash card.

Troubadix is a specially customized linux (Knoppix-derivative) that differs from other mini-distributions by containing the complete Knoppix kernel 2.6, MySQL 4.1, Apache2, PHP5, OpenSSH and Sun’s JRE 1.4.2 – however no X and thus no window-manager. Since Troubadix is booted from a compact flash card, no moving parts are installed in the housing that could be damaged during transport.

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SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3

Linux.com has a review of the shiny new SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3.

The SimplyMEPIS installer is a bit different from other installers you might be used to. Rather than using an Anaconda-like installer or a text-mode installer like Debian’s or Ubuntu’s, you install SimplyMEPIS using a custom MEPIS installer after you boot into a live CD environment.

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First Look: BackTrack 3.0

DistroWatch.com has one of the first reviews of BackTrack, the results of WHAX (Whoppix) and Auditor security LiveCDs joining together.

Once on the desktop, you will immediately notice the “BackTrack” submenu on the KDE panel. This is the most exciting part of this distribution, a place were all the specialist utilities can be accessed from. It is pointless to list them all here, but let me assure you that the collection is truly astonishing and includes tools for sniffing remote router traffic, cracking Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), “bluesnarfing” (a method of hacking into Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones), scanning networks for vulnerabilities, uncovering weaknesses in the Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocol (PPTP), decrypting SSL traffic and recovering passwords.

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Fixing Windows with Knoppix

ExtremeTech has a chapter of Hacking Knoppix on their site about using Knoppix to fix Windows. Included is useful information on partitioning, making changes to Windows, and Backing up data.

You or someone you know will encounter a seemingly unfixable problem with a Microsoft Windows operating system environment at one time or another. When this occurred in the past, most users would reinstall their operating systems, sometimes wiping out significant amounts of data that was needed on the system. Now you can use Knoppix to (often) correct your Windows system problems without losing any data and save the time associated with reinstalling all of the operating system files and applications.