Pinguy OS Gives Good GNOME, Is Unity Bad, and Lotsa Coming Games

There were some nice items in the feeds on this unluckiest day of the month. Jack Germain says Pinguy OS is about as good GNOME as you can get. Andrew Powell asks Is Ubuntu's Unity Really All That Bad Nowadays? And GamingOnLinux.com says Linux is "heating up" over at Steam. These stories and more on this Friday the 13th.

Over at LinuxInsider.com today, Jack M. Germain said the tweaking done in Pinguy OS makes for "a more pleasant experience than it otherwise would be in Gnome 3." He says it is "tricked it out suitably with a Docky bar combination. The quick launch bar at the bottom of the screen and a hidden Places bar on the left edge make up for the loss of icon launchers from the desktop itself, thanks to Gnome." It doesn't come with a lot of different software choices, but most tasks are covered by at least one application. Germain said Pinguy OS may look too basic, but he found it "much easier to use than other desktop environments" and "much less frustrating to set up."

Andrew Powell at The Linux Rain is saying he used to hate Ubuntu's Unity, but has had a change of heart recently and is wondering if others experienced this. He says, "Since Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Unity finally showed it had matured and become much more cohesive. I believe Unity as it stands today is a much, much improved desktop interface and if you give it a chance you may find it to be quite a pleasure to work within."

GamingOnLinux.com today reported on a bunch of new indie games "greenlighted" for release on Steam. They list 30 games and link to the full list. As I perused the choices on Steam last night the role playing retro Tex Murphy series, an exploration adventure mystery called Gone Home, and the terrified toddler horror adventure spoke of earlier caught my eye. The number of games on Steam has been reported to be over 500.

Speaking of games, Techgage.com compares the Linux version to the Windows version of Sid Meier’s Civilization V while reviewing the game today. While the antialiasing option is missing from the Linux version, the Linux version renders richer colors and and more realistic objects although the reviewer prefers the Windows look of some. He concludes though, "I bet you wouldn’t have imagined that the Linux version actually looks better in some cases, would you? I sure didn’t expect it."

In other news today:

* How to Rescue a Non-booting GRUB 2 on Linux
* CentOS 7 Now Under Public QA
* Silicon Valley embraces open source as a moneymaker
* The People Who Support Linux: Engineer Thanks Father for His Linux Career
* LXQt: A Lightweight Linux Desktop Environment Built With KDE Technologies
* Gentoo Linux Step by Step Installation Guide with Screenshots – Part 1, Part 2