Bodhi Linux 2.0.0 Release Candidate

A little over six weeks ago I posted about the first Bodhi Linux 2.0.0 public image. We have had three other builds release since then and today I would like to announce the availability of build 5 for download. I am stamping this build as our "release candidate" meaning that is is a stable working environment and something extremely close to this release will become our "stable"/final 2.0.0 release by the end of this month.

What is missing from this release still? Of note our AppCenter is still in the process of being transitioned over to work fully with this new release. Meaning a few of the packages there might not be found yet in the 2.0.0 repositories. If you do find an application there that doesn't install properly I encourage you to let us know on our user forums. Also worth noting is that none of the current .BOD files obtained via the "Download" buttons are functional with 2.0.0 and they should not under any circumstance be installed on a 2.0.0 system. There will be an announcement posted here when they are ready.

Finally - you can find the 32/64bit disc images for download via source forge here.

~Jeff Hoogland

HOWTO: Make your QT Applications Blend In

Since Bodhi Linux includes GTK applications by default, you will find they have a fairly neutral tone that blends fairly well with the rest of the system. Beyond this Enlightenment has a built in tool for changing the look of GTK applications.

What is a person to do though when they install VLC or some other QT application for the first time and it looks like this:

First off - don't panic! It is a fairly simple/quick fix to get your QT applications to blend in with the rest of your desktop. You first simply need to install the QT theme manager - on Debian based systems such as Bodhi this can be done from the command line via:

sudo apt-get install qt4-qtconfig

Once this package is installed a new option should appear in your menu under "Preferences" labeled "Qt 4 Settings". Launching this will present you with a window the looks something like this:

Only your "GUI Style" will be something other "GTK+" by default. To change this simply select "GTK+" from the drop down menu and then close the settings manager.

You should now be all set with nicer looking QT applications:

Cheers,

~Jeff Hoogland

E17 heading towards a Stable Release - No Really!

I've been pushing the Enlightenment desktop for some time now and for as long as I've been promoting it I've also been warning folks that it is under heavy development. Well folks - Duke Nuke'em Forever might have beat them to a release, but E team is prepping for a major (stable!) release themselves.

The E release manager has setup a wordpress you can find here to follow more specific details about the upcoming release. What can you do to help out with getting E17 on the road to release as a end user? Why filing bug reports of course! One thing worth noting is that if you are filing bug reports you should be keeping as close the latest SVN version as possible.

Finally - if it has been awhile since you've tried the Enlightenment desktop now is the perfect time! If you aren't inclined to be compiling software from source Bodhi Linux provides one of the best default implementations of E17 around. Arch Linux and Gentoo also provide fairly current builds of E17 in their community supported repositories.

2012 - the year of an E17 Release!

~Jeff Hoogland

Some Bodhi Linux Video Goodness

I'd like to take a moment to share a few wonderful videos one of the Bodhi team members has taken the time to put together. This first is a short sound byte/advertisement for our upcoming 2.0.0 release:

These next two show case the winners of our Desktop of the Week contest:

2nd Quarter Winners 2012

1st Quarter Winners 2012

Enjoy!

~Jeff Hoogland

Is Blizzard banning Linux Users?

While some companies like Valve are working on porting their software to run natively on Linux, it appears some other large companies are going to the extreme to prevent users from running their software on free operating systems.

The company I am talking about? None other than Blizzard Games. Late last month users started reporting on the Wine APPDB page for Diablo 3 that their user accounts where getting banned simply for running their games using Wine! So this is me providing a fair warning to everyone else out there running Diablo 3 via Wine - don't. Unless of course you feel like having wasted 60$ spent to buy the game.

To quote some of the frustrated Linux gamers:

"Well I've had Diablo running on my FreeBSD machine now for a couple of weeks and have a level 53 Wizard.

I just got notice while trying to log in last night that I was banned, and when I checked my email, I hadn't received anything from Blizzard.

After I opened a support ticket with them, a short while later, this is what I received in email:

Account Action: Account Closure
Offense: Unapproved Third Party Software
A third party program is any file or program that is used in addition to the game to gain an unfair advantage. These programs may increase movement speed or teleport heroes from one place to another beyond what is allowed by game design. It also includes any programs that obtain information from the game that is not normally available to the regular player or that transmit or modify any of the game files.

I don't run any programs as described above.

I kite, I die, and then I repair. But hey it's fun."

And a second:

"I got banned last night as well. Other than running under Wine I can't imagine why. Level 30ish char and not so much as a gaming keyboard.

I also have a ticket open. We will see..."

And a third:

"Ditto. I suddenly got a banned email last night, and I'm more or less in the same position. I think they're getting a bit trigger-happy with this, considering I've been running WoW for years under WINE, too.

Ah well, ticket's up."

Please stop the madness Blizzard. You should try focusing your banning efforts on people actually cheating instead of those simply trying to play your games on their OS of choice. If you are looking for more information on this topic there is a fairly good write up about it here.

~Jeff

Bodhi Linux ARM Alpha Release for RaspBerry Pi

Edit/Update: You can find the latest release here -> http://www.bodhilinux.com/downloads_mobile.php

I've been busy with lots of different Bodhi things of the late. The latest of my many projects has been getting the Bodhi desktop functional on the RaspBerry Pi:

This first release while having some rough edges does give you a fully functional Enlightenment desktop on top of a Debian Wheezy ARMEL base. I am providing two different downloads which you can find on our source forge page here. The first is an easy to use .img file that can be written to 4GB or larger SD card.

If you dislike .img files I've also provided tar files that contain the boot partition (which should be written to a vfat partition at the start of an SD card) and the root file system (which should be written to the second partition on a card that is extX).

The default logins for this image are:

bodhi/bodhi

root/raspberry

The "bodhi" user has sudo rights by default.

If you hit any snags or find bugs with this image please let us know in the RaspBerryPi section of our user forums (not the comment section of this blog!) so we can improve this release.

~Jeff Hoogland

Bodhi Linux ARM Release Candidate for Genesi

Edit/Update: You can find the latest release here -> http://www.bodhilinux.com/downloads_mobile.php

Early this year I posted about our beta release of Bodhi on ARM for the Genesi Smartbook. Today I would like to finally follow up that beta release with something that I consider "release candidate" quality. The hardware is 99% functional with this release including the ability to suspend the system. Other small improvements include functional "plug and play" for flash drives and a mostly functional AppCenter!

There are three different downloads provided that you can find here. It is recommended you use one of the provided .img files (and check the md5sum after such a large download!). For developers interested in seeing the raw file system you can also download it in .tar.xz form.

The default login information for this release image are:

bodhi/bodhi

If you run into any issues please let us know in the Genesi section of our forums.

~Jeff Hoogland