Mageia 4, Firefox 27 & 29, and a Linux Language Barrier
Mageia 4 was released on schedule last weekend and got the full treatment by friend Jamie Watson at ZDNet while Sean Kerner posted a screenshot tour and brief introduction. Firefox 27 and 29 are getting some attention. Red Hat's Chris Mendler is planning to open a run distillery in his spare time. And Jack Wallen thinks geek speak is keeping Linux out of the mainsteam.
Mageia 4 was released actually a day ahead of schedule last weekend. Patricia Fraser wrote in the announcement, "We’re still having a grand time doing this together, and we hope you enjoy this release as much as we’ve enjoyed making it." Some of the major new features include KDE 4.11.4, GNOME 3.10, Linux 3.12.8, Xfce 4.10, Mate 1.6, Cinnamon 2.0, Libreoffice 4.1.3.2, and Xorg X Server 1.14.5, experimental UEFI Support. In addition, the new Mageia Welcome was completed for this release. See the full release notes for more details, check the errata, and get your copy at Mageia.org.
eWeek.com's Sean M. Kerner posted a nice screenshot slideshow of Mageia 4 earlier in the week. However, ZDNet's Jamie Watson has posted a full review saying Mageia 4 is "another excellent release." After extensive testing, Watson said, "Overall I would say that this looks like a really good new release. It has installed very easily on the three laptops I have tired so far, and all of the hardware was recognised and configured and works with no problem."
Two articles on Firefox caught my attention this week. First up is Firefox 27 which is said to be "faster, more secure and more social." Released February 4, "the major new feature is support for the Firefox SocialAPI. Mozilla describes the SocialAPI as "a new API to make it easier for web browsers to integrate with social media services." Next up is this early look at Firefox 29 in which the writer remembers to mention the Linux version. He says the orange corner button is gone but a new drop-down menu/panel is added. "The redesign is expected to play a large role in Mozilla's ongoing struggle to parlay its desktop success," said cnet.com's Seth Rosenblatt.
In other news, North Korea's latest Red Star Linux has taken on the rough appearance of Mac OS X. A few sites covering it are Macgasm.net, Computerworld.com.nz, and PCWorld.com.
Additionally, Rum-making Red Hatter eyes distillery in downtown Raleigh, Picking a Flavor of Linux? (hint: Mint), and Jack Wallen wonders if "a simplified, standardized language for Linux is the solution?"