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Helix Code Launched, Gnome Packages Available
From Nat:
Hello everyone!
We are proud to introduce "McKinley," the first preview of the Helix GNOME desktop. This is a beta release of the Helix Code GNOME distribution. The URL for Helix GNOME is:
http://www.helixcode.com/desktop/
The purpose of this distribution is to simplify the task of installing a fully featured, up-to-date version of GNOME on your favorite GNU/Linux distribution. You can now experience all the joy and all the excitement that goes into the wonderful world of GNOME without agonizing through long, arduous build processes.
Helix GNOME includes all of the core GNOME packages and a number of extras. The entire Helix GNOME desktop is pre-configured to be as attractive and simple as possible. You can see some screenshots here:
http://www.helixcode.com/desktop/screenshots.php3
Currently the Helix GNOME desktop is available for the following operating systems:
- Red Hat Linux 6.0 and 6.1
- SuSE Linux 6.3
- LinuxPPC 2000
- Linux Mandrake 6.1 and 7.0
- Caldera OpenLinux 2.3
In the next few weeks we will be releasing an updated version that will include support for other Linux distributions and other Unix systems. And of course, we're constantly adding packages to the build system and releasing new packages as new versions of the GNOME software become available.
How to install
--------------
We have made installing the full Helix GNOME desktop as easy as
possible. You just need to download the Helix installer program, and
it will take care of it for you:
You can find installation instructions at:
http://www.helixcode.com/desktop/download.php3
Mailing lists
-------------
If you want to subscribe to our announcements mailing lists, drop a message to:
announce-request@helixcode.com
And in the subject of the message put "subscribe". If you want to join the list of beta testers for the Helix GNOME distribution, send mail to:
beta-request@helixcode.com
A complete list of our mailing lists is available at:
http://www.helixcode.com/about/lists.php3
Questions and Answers regarding the Helix GNOME Desktop
------------------------------------------------------
Q: What does Helix Code do?
A:Helix Code is an open source software company devoted to improving GNOME, the leading desktop environment for Linux. We want to make GNOME the best desktop on the planet, and make it available to everyone.
Helix Code believes strongly in the importance of free software, which is why all of our software is licensed under the GNU GPL, and why all development is done in the public GNOME CVS repository.
Our main task is producing free applications for GNOME. Evolution is our first project: a groupware communications suite which includes an advanced mail client, calendar software and address book service.
We are also developing and improving the Gnumeric spreadsheet. Besides that, we maintain a number of core and peripheral packages of the GNOME system.
Q: What is the Helix GNOME Desktop?
A: Helix GNOME is a service offered to the GNOME user community by Helix Code, Inc.
The purpose of this distribution is to make it easy for end-users to install a fully-featured GNOME desktop on their favorite Unix system.
Q: Is this "Helix GNOME Desktop" another GNU/Linux distribution?
A: No, Helix GNOME is an add-on to your existing GNU/Linux distribution. You need an existing GNU/Linux system to run Helix GNOME.
Q: Is Helix GNOME free?
A: Yes, Helix GNOME is completely free. We are just packaging the latest and greatest versions of the various GNOME tools and making them as easy as possible for people to use.
As with other free software, you get the freedom to copy the software, modify the software, redistribute the software, and redistribute modified versions of the software.
Q: Can I buy a copy of Helix GNOME on a CD?
A: Helix GNOME will be available on CD in April.
Q: Does Helix GNOME distribution include support for Debian/Corel Linux?
A: Not yet, but we plan on supporting these systems in the near future.
Q: Does the Helix GNOME distribution include support for BSD?
A: The initial release of the Helix GNOME distribution does not include support for the free BSD systems, but we are on it.
Q: Will you provide timely updates to the various GNOME packages?
A: Yes, we will. GNOME is constantly under development. Whenever a new version of any piece of GNOME software is released, the dutiful hackers at Helix Code will do our best to make a packaged version available to you as quickly as possible.
Better still, the "Helix Update" application allows you to automatically update your GNOME desktop from the Helix web site whenever new packages become available. You can read more about Helix Update here:
http://www.helixcode.com/desktop/updater.php3
Q: Are you improving GNOME, or just shipping binaries?
A: The Helix GNOME desktop includes a number of improvements and patches that have been posted to public mailing lists, or have been committed to the GNOME CVS repository (but might not have been yet released to the public in source package format). This is all in the interests of making the best possible desktop experience available to GNOME users.
The Helix hackers are also constantly improving GNOME and the various GNOME tools, libraries and components and submitting patches to the various maintainers of those packages.
Helix Code employees actively maintain a huge number of GNOME packages, including: Bonobo, Achtung, Gnumeric, Go, Erdos, libzvt, gnome-terminal, gnome-core, gnome-applets, bug-buddy, gmc, gdk-pixbuf, eof, gnome canvas, evolution, gb, gtkhtml, gnome-vfs, camel, gnome-pim, glade, libibex, and others.
Q: Ok, I give up. What's spidermonkey?
A: Yes.
Enjoy!
The Helix Code Team
http://www.helixcode.com
There's an Eazel mirror at http://mirror1.eazel.com/helix. Bart
Their server was struggling when "gnome.org" posted the link. With Slashdot posting as well they're down for the count. Did anybody get any mirrors? Please post-em if you have-em.
It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. - Abraham Maslow
I agree that a decent browser is important, but keep in mind that Linux distributions will start shipping with a kick-ass browser (Mozilla) within a few months. Windows users will have to struggle through a download in order to get a state-of-the-art browser.
I suppose streaming media is important for some people, but I don't really care. A non-proprietary standard for streaming media will emerge (maybe already has - I don't follow this stuff) and Linux will support it well.
For my personal use Linux is a great desktop. My business clients will start switching to Linux desktops once 1) Mozilla is released, 2) Corel Office Suite is released.
Average home users will switch when either 1) Linux gets more games, or 2) Playstations become so popular that people don't bother with PC games anymore. I suspect that both of these will occur to some extent over the next year and by next summer Linux will be in homes in a big way. If 1999 was the year of the iMac, 2001 will be the year of Linux Desktops.
It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. - Abraham Maslow
In that case, I have to conclude that it's possible to create an RPM by staring at the screen and willing it into existence.
Daniel
Hurry up and jump on the individualist bandwagon!
RealPlayer on linux is a joke
RealAudio is a joke anyway, so the player being a pile of clinker is no great loss. The real lingua-franca for audio on the web, MP3, is very well supported under Linux.
As for IE5, I have to admit it is a pleasant experience using it ... Mozilla has a lot to catch up with in this department, but I'm confident that it will. At that point it will be MicroSoft who will be playing catch up, as I'm sure IE is going to be held up by it's origins in the pre-HTML 4.0 era.
Chris Wareham
Wow, Nat, you made the front page of Slashdot! (And a wicked cool app, but I've got weird priorities.)
/. hell, some ObContent:
OK, so that this doesn't get moderated to
Helix Code was originally known as "International GNOME Support."
Hey, that counts as content, right?
-Waldo
Go check it here: http://helixcode.com/desktop/faq.php3
--
GroundAndPound.com News and info for martial artists of all styles.
According to the article Helixcode is only available for certain Linux distributions. This shows the need for Linux to be standardized. Without standardization Linux will suffer the same fate as Unix and will lose the advantages that it has had.
Also I see that the site has been Slashdotted. Will Helixcode look exactly the same as GNOME? Or has the interface radically changed?
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
Okay, Helix is a commercial concern. But I continue to fail to understand how they are going to make money with GNOME.
Do they plan to sell a shrink wrapped box on the shelves of Fry's? Why in the world should I buy it when it already comes with (insert distro here)? Even if it didn't come with my distro, I can still download it. Are they only counting on the ignorant for sales? And if it seriously becomes so bloated that people won't download it, why not just get a $2 CD from Cheapbytes instead?
Or do they plan to go IPO and rake in cash from ignorant investors instead?
Or do they plan to make money through support? I don't think so, unless they're truly machiavellian. Consider that the better they make their product the less support it will need. If this is to be the easiest to use desktop, simple enough even for your grandmother, who's going to need support?
Or are they going to create closed source addons for GNOME and sell those instead? This would be highly unusual (and hypocritical) since the founder of Helix is a member of GNU.
The only thing I can think of is so they can sell manuals. So why then are they a software company instead of a publishing house?
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
There are still a few shreds of intelligible meaning left in this "FAQ", let Hemos edit it up a little.
Seriously, I read the whole thing about three times and I can't figure out what "Helic Code" is. Here are some quotes:
"Helix GNOME is a service..."
"Helix GNOME is an add-on..."
"Helix GNOME will be available on CD..."
As far as I can tell, it's an automatic package updater for GNOME only...? Yeah, that sounds useful.
--
Here is the result of your Slashdot Purity Test.
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
The helix-sites are swamped right now,
but there is a mirror of the distribution
at RPMfind:
ftp://rpmfind.net/linux/helix/distributions/
I don't understand why so many people are giving these guys flack.
A) They are improving GNOME.
B) They are polishing it so it doesn't look like some hacker project that's still in development. That may be the case, but face it, in the real world, polish counts for a lot.
C) They're making it easy to install. You click on the exe, it runs the installer, you choose your options and you install the damn thing. It may not be the best way to distribute a system to hundreds of users over a network, but is the best way for the average user to install it. Say what you will, but clicking on the setup program is a lot easier than opening up an xterm and compiling it, or gathering all the dependencies, putting them into a directory, typing rmp -U *.rpm, then fucking with GDM to get the thing working. While we are on the topic of dependencies, PEOPLE HATE DEPENDENCIES. Sure the sysadmin might appreciate the flexiblity, but the average user with only a 56K connection to the internet is going to hate having to hunt for all the packages and dependencies and install them individually. Whats wrong with putting them all in one rpm? Its harder to hunt for all the dependencies, then sit there and click on each one to download it, than it is to hit download on one big rpm, and have it just not install duplicate stuff when setup is run. You might save a few megs of dl on the first way, but most people will want to just leave the thing on overnight. (15 meg on a 56 K modem takes HOURS) They're doing all these good things, so whats your (collective) problem?
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
This is a great chance for people to try out the latest gnome-core....including such "enhancements" as the gnome-weather applet and a Macintosh-like menubar (the legendary foobar). Slurp it down boys and girls!
-nulity-
I am nothing.
I don't know if everyone understood the last question, but maybe I can add something.
At linuxworld in NYC last Feb, I hung out at the Helix Code booth. I was chatting with some of the dudes from there and asked him what he did. He said he works on Spidermonkey. Whats that? I asked. Well he wouldn't tell me for anything. nadda info.
So I took the rest of the conference to ask them whenever I saw someone new at their booth. They really clam up when you mention spidermonkey, start mumbling about NDA's and asking where I heard that name.
So now everyone knows the name, can anyone find out anything more about this secret project? Whatever it is they have a few developers working full time on it.
kfort
Linux users need to insist on secure binaries which cannot be tampered with by rogue government agencies!
Without the obscurity that binaries provide, how can linux hope to become a trusted server platform when facing competition from products such as Windows 2000 ? It cant!
Insist on binary only releases today!
Umm... here's their installation procedure for newbies seeking a simple upgrade:
/; rm -rf *' to the code?
The simplest way to install the Helix GNOME Desktop is to use the Helix GNOME
Installer. You can automatically download and start the installer in three easy steps:
1.Open a terminal window.
2.Using the su command, become superuser:
$ su
Password: [Enter your root password here]
3.Start go-gnome by typing the following command or cutting and pasting it
into your terminal:
lynx -source http://spidermonkey.helixcode.com/go-gnome |sh
In other words: Become root, download some file from an insecure web address, and pipe it through 'sh'. I'm no security guru, but this is THE WORST LINUX SECURITY ADVICE I'VE EVER HEARD. You should NEVER, EVER run untrusted code as root without examining it first. What if some malicious cracker breaks into one of the mirrors and adds the line 'cd
They need to use a secure certificate to transmit the first part of the script, which should then download the packages AND test their MD5 checksums. Average users can be excused from testing MD5's for every package, but this is an automatic script that is backed by Helix Code's reputation, so they should go the extra mile (it's more like a tenth of a mile in this case). If the user doesn't have MD5 or support for secure certificates, then you can fall back to something simpler, with a warning message.
--JRZ