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KDE 2.1 Beta 2 and Nautilus PR 3 - are out
As the title says - KDE 2.1 Beta 2, and Nautilus Preview Release 3 are out. Both are in the last beta stages. So, if you like KDE or you like GNOME, then go ahead - download the source or binaries, install, test, torch it - and give bug reports. KDE announcment is here which includes LOTS of improvments, while on the Eazel side, there is a nice demo mode which you can test it here or download it here. Enjoy.
- kpr0nharvest v0.93b2 - A KDE application that mass-downloads material from the alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.* hierarchy of netnews
- ines2600 v1.0 - An Atari 2600 emulator implemented as a Nintendo Entertainment System ROM image, suitable for use in iNES or the Nintendo emulator of your choice
- gweatheraudio v0.23 - A GTK+-based application that downloads a JPEG of the North American cloud cover from the National Weather Service, converts it to PCM audio, and feeds it to
/dev/dsp
- qdildo v1.3 - A Qt-based program that uses your machine's serial port to control various household devices according to several preset patterns
- billbros v2.0 - An X11 parody of Super Mario Brothers featuring Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer working their way through eight wacky and wonderful words of destruction and mayhem
- budwm v0.3b2 - A new window manager that pipes "WAZZZZAAAAP" through your speakers every time you open a new application
- crap-b-gon v1.13a - A filtering package that blocks material written by BSD users
- kB1FF - A KDE application that pops up a window reading "Y0U H4V3 N3W M41L, D00D!" whenever a new mail message arrives in your mailbox
- ModeratorBuddy v3.3 - A curses-based program that takes your ZIP code as input and determines the nearest available dealer of $3 crack
It seems a shame that with all of this software being released, Slashdot seems to have ignored nearly all of it in favor of those packages that are perceived as being "high-visibility." Let's get out to Freshmeat, people, and start downloading.We're going down, in a spiral to the ground
All of the sudden, Konqueror got good! It used to have a LOT of Java, Javascript, SSL, etc. issues, athough it was good for lightweight browsing in KDE2. I've been using the new beta all day, though (including testing all the weird features), and its worked great. One crash while trying to load a netscape plugin so far, but thats not bad for 4+ hours of use. Java is slow to start, but otherwise works great. SSL is very good: fast and stable (so far).
If only they could support IMAP in KMail working properly, I'd be able to leave Netscape behind. . .
--JRZ
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To get the RPMs to install, I had to use --oldpackage with RPM to install both libghttp (as noted on their RH 7 install instructions) and also bonobo.
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After installing, it started with some "first time" configuration stuff, then promptly crashed. Trying to restart it resulted in an error about having to reboot or re-installing. Rebooting worked.
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Unfortunately, it insists on setting the desktop background color. Yay, just what we need, an Nth way to do this. Somehow, after launching Nautilus, trying to set the background with GNOME, Enlightenmnet, or even xsetroot fails. You have to go into one of the menus with pixmaps on it, select the "solid color" button to the left, and drag and drop it to your background.
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While it definitely looks better than PR2, it is unfortunately so far a lot more unstable for me. (Red Hat 7, PIII 400Mhz, latest Ximian everything). It crashed on first time after install; now it is refusing to startup.
Your mileage will vary, but while I am excited with a new release, and it does look a lot better---maybe even faster than PR2---I am surprised at the stability problems I've seen so far. (3:1 ratio of crashes to successful runs? Rebooting to fix problems? I feel like I'm in Windows...) I didn't use PR2 super extensively, but it definitely didn't have these problems. Especially when I've heard GNOME 1.4 is due in February, and Nautilus is supposed to be the included file manager. I would hate to see GNOME's excellent stability (yes, in 2000, GNOME became very stable) tainted...And yes, I do plan to contribute by filing lots of bug reports...
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In a real emergency, we would have all fled in terror, and you would not have been notified.
They scream, it's for geeks, no one can use it! It's for servers ACK!!
The coders code, the weak fall, and the mighty tremble.....an award winning GUI or 2 are born.
But you can't do that, GUI's are for desktops and Linux is a great server!!
the coders code, khttpd and better smp comes out, nicer memory handling, USB support. Databases that are so fast commercial apps are forced to go open source.
MS is so upset it says "Linux is going to die by the end of the year". Critics claim that "without better market penetration (i.e. Linux on the desktop) that the open source OS is going no where"
The truth is Linux can do a lot of things very well. Where you put your time coding is your choise. You choose to do something you like, or enjoy. There is no one "target" that works for the entire Linux market. It's simple too big. As far the detractors, keep bitching the coders are listening
.......and the coders code......
"Science is about ego as much as it is about discovery and truth " - I said it, so sue me.
Remember the Netscape Constellation project back in umm.. 1997 I think.. It was rumored to become a part of Netscape Communicator 4.0 and it was to integrate the OS shell, your browser, your push channels (heh) and your calendar. Netscape was going to build it with HTML, Java and JavaScript - a "platform" they called "Netscape ONE" as in Open Network Environment.
Then NS4 came but there was no Constellation. Instead, and I think it didn't even come right away, there was Netcaster, a crappy app put together in a hurry, made from signed JavaScript, Java applets and HTML, that received Marimba and HTML channels. Microsoft quickly followed with IE4 that had true desktop and OS integration to the browser, and a solid push implementation (not that it mattered, since push was dead at birth).
Desktop integration has never really been a big thing, though it lives on in Windows OS's. What HAS been successful is Windows OS's sharing the Explorer app (think "file manager") with the web browser. Directories can be customized using HTML files in just about any way you want.
Some 3 years later, Nautilus arrives on Linux. What I would like to know is what it does differently (better?) than IE/Explorer or Constellation. Does it also copy/inherit from other similar systems that I fail to remember and mention? I know it embeds Mozilla, which means it can probably also easily embed another browser Konqueror.. but then again, the same is true for the Microsoft shell, as IE is just an ActiveX component.. So.. what's new? What's good? What's better?
This is obviously my personal experience, but Nautilus PR 1 and 2 had some serious performance and stability issues. I've had PR3 crash a few times, and it still takes too damn long to open new windows, but its definitely worth trying. There is no comparison between this release and the previous two, IMHO.
Also, if you have a 500MHz computer, be sure to turn OFF "smoother but slower graphics"
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I like Nautilus. It feels good to use, and it's pretty to look at. But there's a few things that bother me.
Nautilus does some pretty spiffy anti-aliased text using libart; it should be even spiffer when GDK is set up to use the Render extension (slated for GTK 1.2.9, I think).
It would also be nice if Nautilus was using Gecko stripped of XUL and made to use GTK, rather than all of Mozilla embedded.
And it would be nice if Helix^W Ximian and Eazel would get together on their libs. Nautilus killed Evolution.
That said, it's looking good, actually installs, runs reasonably fast, and hasn't crashed!
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Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.