Slackware 13.0 is released!

After one of the most intensive periods of development in Slackware's history, the long awaited stable release of Slackware 13.0 is ready. This release brings with it many major changes since Slackware 12.2, including a completely reworked collection of X packages (a configuration file for X is no longer needed in most cases), major upgrades to the desktop environments (KDE version 4.2.4 and Xfce version 4.6.1), a new .txz package format with much better compression, and other upgrades all around -- to the development system, network services, libraries, and major applications like Firefox and Thunderbird. We think you'll agree that this version of Slackware was worth the wait. Also, this is the first release of Slackware with native support for the 64-bit x86_64 architecture! Major kudos to Eric Hameleers for all of his work, especially on the 64-bit port. More details may by found in the official announcement and in the release notes. Please consider supporting the Slackware project by picking up a copy of the Slackware 13.0 release from the Slackware Store. The discs are off to replication, but we're accepting pre-orders for the official 6 CD set and the DVD. The CD set is the 32-bit x86 release, while the DVD is a special edition dual-sided disc with the 32-bit x86 release on one side and the 64-bit x86_64 release on the other. And, we still have T-shirts and other Slackware stuff there, so have a look around. Thanks to our subscribers and supporters for keeping Slackware going all these years. Thanks are again due to the Slackware crew, the developers of slackbuilds.org, the community on linuxquestions.org, Slackware IRC channels, and everyone else who helped out with this release. Have fun, and enjoy the new stable release! Pat and the Slackware crew Source: http://www.slackware.com

Enabling color support of "ls" in Bash

I have noticed that executing ls command in "Terminal" and "Xterm" does not give me colorful output as in "Konsole". To get colorful output in these X terminals in bash, add below lines to your ~/.bashrc file and restart X terminal. # enable color support of ls and add handy aliases if [ "$TERM" != "dumb" ]; then eval "`dircolors -b`" alias ls='ls --color=auto' alias dir='ls --color=auto --format=vertical' alias vdir='ls --color=auto --format=long' fi To enable the same function for your root shell, add above lines to /root/.bashrc file.

Booting Slackware with GRUB (GNU Grand Unified Bootloader)

GRUB is an alternative bootloader to LILO. As you know, Slackware comes with LILO as default. Slackware has legacy version of GNU GRUB package in /extra section. This package also includes Ken Robotti's 'grubconfig' tool similar to 'liloconfig' tool. Now we are going to simply remove LILO package and install GRUB package (I assume that you have configured 'slackpkg' utility). # removepkg lilo # slackpkg install grub Run grubconfig by: # grubconfig I prefer expert GRUB setup menu. Start to create GRUB config file with a GRUB header. Choose frame buffer console size. Select GRUB target location. I had installed LILO onto the master boot record of my hard drive. Choosing GRUB install location as MBR overwrites LILO. Choose the GRUB files save location. This is the location where /boot directory is located. In my case, /dev/sda1 is the root partition of my Slack and consists of /boot directory. Add your Slackware partition with Linux option. Using Linux and Other options, you can add other operating systems you have to GRUB configuration file. Finally install GRUB with Install option. You can change GRUB VGA resolution for more readable booting by editing /boot/grub/menu.lst file. # nano /boot/grub/menu.lst # GRUB configuration file '/boot/grub/menu.lst'. # generated by 'grubconfig'. Sun Jul 19 01:55:59 2009 # # The backup copy of the MBR for drive '/dev/sda' is # here '/boot/grub/mbr.sda.3676'. You can restore it like this. # dd if=mbr.sda.3676 of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1 # # Start GRUB global section #timeout 30 #color light-gray/blue black/light-gray # End GRUB global section # Linux bootable partition config begins title Slackware-current on (/dev/sda1) root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=794 # Linux bootable partition config ends title --- For help press 'c', type: 'help' root (hd0) title --- For usage examples, type: 'cat /boot/grub/grub.txt' root (hd0) Find vga=xxx part in /boot/grub/menu.lst file and replace xxx with a suitable VGA code from the below table.

Slackware for ARM

Slackware has a new official port for the ARM architecture, by the name of ARMedslack, which has recently released the port of Slackware version 12.2. ARMedslack began in 2002 by Stuart Winter, with the primary goal of providing a full Slackware port for ARM desktop machines - initially targeting the Acorn StrongARM RiscPC, and later embedded devices. Slackware ARM now supports native installation using the regular Slackware installer on the ARM Versatile board (via the QEMU emulator) and the recently announced embedded device: the Marvell SheevaPlug. Slackware ARM version 12.2 is built for armv4, little endian, "legacy" ABI. A new port to the EABI is already underway and expected to be available in "-current" form within a few months. The project's homepage has more details. Source: http://www.slackware.org/

VNC Based Free Remote Control Software "TightVNC"

VNC (Virtual Network Computing) is a client/server sotfware which allows you to view desktop of a remote computer (VNC server) and control it from your computer (VNC viewer) with your local mouse and keyboard. VNC can be installed on any type of operating system (Unix, GNU/Linux and Windows). VNC also has a java viewer package for viewing a remote computer's desktop within a browser without installing software. It does not matter whether two computers have the same OS or not, VNC viewer and VNC server interact regardless of OS type. Picture Source: http://www.realvnc.com/ VNC Based Free Remote Control Software "TightVNC" TightVNC is a free, GPL licensed and enhanced version of VNC sofware. For detailed information look at TightVNC information page. Currently Slackware-curent has TightVNC package in /extra section. You can also obtain TightVNC slackbuilds for Slackware 12.0, 12.1 and 12.2 versions on Slackbuilds.org. Now I am going to explain how to establish desktop connection between two Linux machines on the same LAN. TightVNC server machine: GNU/Linux Ubuntu (192.168.2.5) TightVNC client machine: GNU/Linux Slackware Install TightVNC server and TightVNC viewer on Ubuntu by: sudo apt-get install tightvncserver sudo apt-get install tightvncviewer After installing TightVNC package on both machines (server and client), execute below command from user terminal of server machine (the computer you want to view its desktop) to start VNC server. vncserver After executing above command you will be prompted to create server access password for first time. Create a secure password and start server. After starting VNC server, an X desktop will be started with a specified number. user@ubuntubox:~$ vncserver New 'X' desktop is ubuntu:1 Starting applications specified in /home/user/.vnc/xstartup Log file is /home/user/.vnc/ubuntu:1.log user@slackbox:~$ VNC server started an X desktop with number "1". Now server computer is ready for clients. To have desktop access on server machine through TightVNC, execute below command on your computer (client machine). vncviewer local_ip_of_vncserver_machine:desktop_number For my case; vncviewer 192.168.2.5:1 After executing above command you will be prompted to enter server's access password. Enter password and enjoy!