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Issue #32 Tuesday, 26 February 2002
Welcome to the Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter -- dedicated to
keeping you up-to-date with the latest Mandrake-related news & info.
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This Week's Summary: Beta3 has been released; PPC Beta1 is now
available; Mandrake in the News; Introducing the new "Mandrake
Corporate Club"; Desktop Fun; MandrakeClub News; Business Case of the
Week; Security-related Software Updates; Headlines from MandrakeForum
Top Stories
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Mandrake Linux 8.2 Beta3 is now available.
Many of the bugs from the previous two betas have now been fixed, but
we need your help to find even more. Everyone is invited to join the
fun and report bugs so that Mandrake 8.2 can be the best release ever.
Read the official announcement here;
Learn how and what to test by reading this brief article;
Then post your comments and suggestions in the appropriate
story at MandrakeForum.
Special thanks to everyone who tested and submitted reports for the
first two betas.
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8.2 PPC Beta1 has been released.
On Feb. 22nd, the first Mandrake Linux 8.2 PPC Beta was made available.
This beta is roughly equivalent to Beta2 of the i586 version, so
there's lots of new things to discover when compared to last year's 8.0
PPC version. Since MandrakeSoft has a very limited supply of Apple
hardware, we need your help. To ensure that 8.2 PPC Final works nicely
on YOUR Mac, please give this beta a try and report your experiences.
Learn all the details.
Mandrake in the News
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UnixReview.com -- Firewall Roundup: Offerings from SuSE, Mandrake, and
Coyote Linux.
Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier takes a look at SuSE Firewall on CD, Mandrake
Single Network Firewall, and Coyote Linux to see how they stack up
against each other. Some of the topics discussed about MandrakeSoft's
firewall product include the Web-Based Interface, Logging and Intrusion
Detection, Easy Backup, Proxy Server, Configuring Firewall Rulesets,
and Connection Scheduling.
"Configuring the network interfaces was easy, and there were options
for several types of Internet connections. If you have dial-up, a cable
modem, or DSL or ISDN, you're all set.
Product News
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MandrakeSoft announces the new Mandrake Corporate Club.
The Corporate Club was created in the same spirit as the Mandrake Linux
Users Club so that businesses can help "boost" the development of the
Mandrake Linux distribution while also receiving exclusive privileges
such as direct access to MandrakeSoft servers, logo placement during
the Mandrake Linux installation and on the MandrakeLinux.com Corporate
Member's page, and much more. Learn all the details.
Desktop Fun
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MandrakeSoft employee Ayo is the graphic artist who created the
wonderful graphics for the Frozen-Bubble game (featured in Newsletter
#30), but in his free-time he also makes some great looking desktop
wallpaper which has been recently integrated into a dazzling
Theme/Style for KDE 2.2. Check out some screenshots of the Young Jedi
Theme at KDE-LOOK.org.
Visit Ayo's personal site at http://www.73lab.com/
MandrakeClub
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Denis Havlik, the webmaster of MandrakeClub, announces that he is
merging the MandrakeClub membership accounts into a central user
database, and that any Club members who want to change their current
"club nickname" can do so by creating an account at MandrakeExpert.com
with the same email address, then wait for a few days while the change
is put into affect.
In the past, members were given a MandrakeClub "nickname" based on
their real names (like Jan van. Oien => Jan_Van_Oien, and Kadjo n'Doua
=> Kadjo_N_Doua), which leads to some awkward nicks. This is being
changed so that new users will be able to choose a nickname, get a
unique CUSTID, and use the same nick/pass "everywhere" on the
MandrakeSoft family of websites.
If any of this sounds confusing, Denis will soon post a story at
MandrakeClub.com with all the details.
--
Due to popular request, MandrakeClub membership can now be paid in
Euros for people located in the Euro-zone.
Not yet a Mandrake Club member? To learn more, please visit:
http://mandrakelinux.com/en/club/
Business Case of the Week
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Cybird Computers uses Mandrake Linux for reliable Games/Internet server.
A computer center in the Philippines offers Internet access, Games and
computer rentals to the public -- with Mandrake Linux handling the
Internet and Game server. The Mandrake box serves Counter-strike,
Red-Alert, Diablo, Quake and many others which are played with a
virtual-CD from the Mandrake server's hard disk. Even though the
workstations quickly grew to 26 units, one Mandrake server is all
that's needed to handle the load.
"My small business is running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and my
Linux-Mandrake 8.0 worked without major problems. The only time that it
ever stops is when there is an extended power failure which my UPS
cannot cope or when it is accidentally switched off by my staff. Even
so, I am not at all worried of corruption caused by improper shutdown
because I have installed the Reiser File system which works wonderfully
in such cases without the long fsck." says owner John Wilson.
For many more examples of Mandrake in the workplace, see MandrakeBizcases.
Software Updates
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Security-related software updates have been released for:
squid -- fixes several insecurities
ucd-snmp -- fixes multiple vulnerabilities
cups -- fixes potential buffer overflows
View the complete list at MandrakeSecure.net.
Headlines from MandrakeForum
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Where to Submit Package Requests?
TinWeasil wants to know how to submit a "wishlist" of applications to
be added to the distribution. Tom provides some helpful tips, and
readers offer their own suggestions.
What does "no acceptable cc found" mean?
Mandrake Linux user Newmie2002 has a problem when trying to compile
programs. Do you know the answer to his question?
Installing SUN's Java Runtime Environment.
If you've ever wondered how to install the Java VM (for apps such as
Staroffice and Limewire), Tom provides a quick answer.
Read these and other stories at MandrakeForum.
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