Linux Format 187 - Escape Windows.pdf

ESCAPE WINDOWS#1 for Free Software

TuxRadar.com

IS YOUR FREE DVD MISSING?Speak to your

newsagent now!

ROUNDUP: HD MEDIA PLAYERS

Full automaticEven Google doesnt run Android in self-driving

vehicles; its Ubuntu.Alison Chaiken on Linux-powered cars p40

Also insideArduino controls

Build a custom Kerbal controller for authentic Mission Control p78

Raspberry Pi: Build a wiki server

Deploy the world-famous wiki engine on your own Pi

Enjoy the power and freedom Safe and secure back up guide Dual-boot and keep all your files

Not emulationMaster WINE

Fire up Steam and get Windows gaming

Server securitySecure your VPS

Run and install your own virtual private server

AdministrationAdmin secrets

Learn the dark arts of the terminal and server admins

Your foolproof guide to installing Linux

Welcome

www.tuxradar.com Summer 2014 LXF187 3

This issue were encouraging people to jump from Windows to Linux, so we asked our experts what would be the rst thing they would show a newbie?

Who we are

Neil Mohr Editor [email protected]

Growing pains

What we do We support the open source community

by providing a resource of information, and a forum for debate.

We help all readers get more from Linux with our tutorials section weve something for everyone!

We license all the source code we print in our tutorials section under the GNU GPLv3.

We give you the most accurate, unbiased and up-to-date information on all things Linux.

This is the year of Linux on the desktop is the oft used battle cry from parts of the Linux community. A dive into comp.os.linux or if you dare into advocacy

(http://bit.ly/LXFusenet) and you can trawl all the way back to 2002 and see the same old cry hoisted high. But with Linux desktop use at around 1.5 percent (www.netmarketshare.com) and with the Steam Hardware Survey (http://bit.ly/LXFsteam) showing it at 1.1 percent, what happened?

I have my suspicions, but theyre largely pointless now, as the desktop for many consumers is an irrelevance. The reason behind that is the irresistible rise of Android and its beating Linux heart. People simply spend more time on touch devices, browsing and communicating, than with traditional expensive desktops and laptops.

Microsoft knows this, which is why it has misguidedly destroyed its consumer desktop and replaced it with the hideous Windows 8. Linux users with Gnome 3 could have told them that the remaining desktop users dont want a dumbed down desktop experience. But while Microsoft indignantly xes its desktop at glacial speed, now has become an ideal time to woo weary Windows escapees.

In many ways, it has been Linuxs year for a long time, just not on the desktop, but as an ecosystem everything is in place and with games coming to Linux, touch coming to Linux and an inexorable move to the amorphous cloud, the barriers that once stopped its adoption as a genuine choice keep toppling.

This issue were doing our part to tempt more Windows users away from their Microsoft OS and towards Linux with, we hope, an entirely comprehensive beginners guide written by Nick Peers for Linux newbies. Jump to page 32 to help your friends convert. If theres still a Windows program they cant do without, show them our Wine guide on page 44 and even the Good Doctor, Chris Brown is in on the act explaining Windows to Linux Samba networking on page 54. For the more advanced, turn your hand to Django and build a CMS, build an Arduino project or set up your own VPS. The grass is so much green this side of the fence, dont you think?

Welcome

#1 for Free Software

Subscribe todaySee p30 for awesome deals

Jonni BidwellI always favour demonstrating MPlayer outputting video in coloured ASCII-art form, using the amusingly-titled libcaca. Showing off wobbly windows in Compiz is equally frivolous. Perhaps more useful is to show new users some Pranayama breathing exercises to calm the rage that is so often the bedfellow of beginning Linux.

Neil BothwickId give them a live disc, preferably one of the Linux Format cover DVDs. Id show them how they can try a whole host of different operating systems, and how there are many different flavours of distribution to choose from all without even having to install anything until they have made up their mind which they prefer.

David HaywardA few years ago it would have been a revolving desktop cube, rain effects and drawing fire on the screen. These days however, its the incredible boot speeds, stability, customisable desktop and the wealth of software available via the Software Center or Package Manager Maybe Im getting old?

Les PounderFirst, I would show the user the wealth of free software available to them. Then I would work with them to replace their paid applications with open source alternatives. The alternatives would probably take some time to get used to, but after the initial learning curve they are far superior to their proprietary relations.

Mayank SharmaThe one thing thats unique to Linux is the spirit of the community the bonhomie among its users. Getting new users to sample this through a distros forums, blogs, IRC, podcasts and videocasts would be my top priority. In my experience its the partisan feeling that keeps people engaged and enthusiastic about FLOSS.

4 LXF187 Summer 2014 www.linuxformat.comwww.linuxformat.com

Talking heads

Dr Alison Chaiken on Linux and self driving cars p40

A lot of people love driving, but do they

enjoy parallel parking?

ContentsReviews

Red Star OS 3.0: Our Glorious Leaders favourite distro, apparently.

Escape Windows

Make the break from Microsoft with our guide p32

Raspberry Pi Compute .....16 Is the regular Raspberry Pi not small enough for you? Maybe youd be impressed with the Compute Module, which shrinks a whole Pi down to the size of a stick of RAM.

Red Star OS 3.0 .................18 We smuggled the official distro out of the secretive state of North Korea. Was it worth the risk?

Linux Lite 2.0 .....................19 With a name like Linux Lite you can probably guess what sort of distro it is. Doesnt mean it lacks features, though.

Scribus 1.4.4 ..................... 20 We review the latest version of the popular desktop publishing software.

Zbox EI730 Plus ................21 Zotac are back with another tiny PC filled to bursting point with some of the latest technology from Intel - and we like it a lot.

ASUS 280X ........................ 22 We test out a compact, yet powerful, graphics card thats great for small PCs.

Game reviews ................... 23 Floating Point and Inescapable reviewed.

Zbox EI730 Plus: a great little system for a living room PC.

Swapping Blue Screen of Deaths for Kernel Panics since the year 2000.

Roundup: Media players p24

Summer 2014 LXF187 5www.tuxradar.comwww.tuxradar.com

News ............................. 6Tesla patents for all! Plus Linux

employment is looking healthy and

virtual reality is coming our way.

Mailserver .................. 10A number of readers write in to tell us

how best to really annoy the NSA

and GCHQ and Chrubuntu gets a

shout out.

User groups ................13Les visits the outskirts of Oxford to

report on this years Oggcamp.

Roundup ....................24Fancy turning your Linux machine

into a home cinema? Then make

sure you check out our Roundup.

Tutorials

Answers .....................92YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED

Remove user accounts from Mint,

find your command history, change

USB permissions and more.

Next month ...............98 Linux in education, the best speech

recognition and much more.

Subscriptions ...........30The love that dare not speak its name

(although we print it a lot):

a subscription to Linux Format.

Sysadmin ...................54Dr Chris extolls the virtues of

shunning wizards in favour of doing it

yourself, just like Frodo.

HotPicks ....................58The recent heatwave was a direct

result of us writing and printing off

these pages. We apologise.

Back issues ...............64Collect all of our back issues so you

can try and sell them back to us at

a later date on Ebay. Our subscriptions team is

waiting for your call, comrade.

The Terminal Time savers ......................66Master the terminal and save time no matter what task youre performing.

Sysadmin Beginners guide .............. 68Mayank Sharma takes us back to basics with this guide.

Passwords KeePassX ...........................72Work smarter with your passwords with this handy management tool.

MediaWiki Build a wiki server ..........74Deploy the worlds most popular wiki software on a custom server.

Arduino Build a controller ..............78Luis Villazon explains how to build a custom controller for the Kerbal Space Program simulator.

Regulars at a glance

Coding AcademyDjango .................................... 84Jonni Bidwell goes CMS crazy, roughly casting Wordpress aside and going it alone with Django CMS.

Shell........................................ 88Dont be scared of Shell programming. Let Marco Fiorettis soothing prose guide you to getting complete control over the way Linux works.

p96

On your free DVDLinux Starter Toolkit

All the essential tools youll need

Media Players Top software for your home cinema

PLUS: HotPicks and tutorial code

Treat yourself or a loved one to an LXF subscription! p30

Wine .......................................44 Waiter! Theres some Windows in my Linux. Set up a Secure VPS ..........48 Make sure your virtual server is protected. Open Invention Network ... 52 Turning patent trolls to stone.

Dont miss...

KeePassX: Never forget a password.

THIS ISSUE: Open source cars Careers in Linux Virtual reality

ELECTRIC CARS

Tesla goes open sourceCar manufacturers gesture looks to foster cooperation, but is it completely altruistic?

Teslas electric cars certainly look the part, but will the freeing of its patents help drive sales?

Time and again we have lamented patent disputes and their negative impact on innovation and advancing technology. Although patents are important for protecting peoples ideas and hard work, they can all too easily be abused, especially by larger companies that can afford to buy patents to block competitors. Its heartening, then, to see a company like Tesla proudly announce that it will cease to pursue lawsuits against other people who wish to use its technology. In a statement posted on the Tesla blog, CEO Elon Musk described some of the rationale behind the move. Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Fair playTesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then [we laid] intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others; we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.

The embrace of open source ethos (at least in some regards) got a mainly warm reception around the world, and we feel that it is definitely a step in the right direction. If electric cars and other renewable energy dependant vehicles are going to have a chance of success, then enabling companies and innovators to work together and share technologies could prove to be vital. As Musk pointed out Our true

competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the worlds factories every day. We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform.

Selfless motives?Were also pleased to see Teslas evocation of open source brings some positive attention and much needed respite from the slings and arrows that were thrown by some quarters after the Heartbleed SSL bug became public.

However, call us cynical old party poopers, but were going to have to keep some of our hopes and expectations in check when it comes to Teslas announcement. As we are all too well aware, it is very rare for huge companies to make completely altruistic moves. Not long after Musks announcement, shares in Tesla went up by around 10 percent no doubt putting a smile on the CEOs face thanks to his 23 percent stake in the

company, and will have netted him around half a billion dollars as a result. The Financial Times reported that Nissan and BMW were both interested in talking to Tesla after the patent announcement, and there is a clear benefit to Tesla in providing patents for free: the more companies that build their own electronic cars, the lower the costs of developing the technology will

It is very rare for huge companies to make fully altruistic moves.

6 LXF187 Summer 2014

be and if electric cars become the dominant energy efficient mode of transport, it will prevent companies working on competing technology such as hydrogen fuel cells.

None of this should come as a surprise, as Tesla isnt in the position to be making gloriously selfless acts. Earlier in the year there was concern that it would not be able to repay $2.2 billion in debt, while its bonds were assigned a junk rating by credit rating agency Standard & Poors. Considering Teslas economic position, the freeing of its patents may be more of a shrewd business move than it first appears. Nor is it clear whether all of Teslas patents will be made free, and what the conditions will be Forbes speculated that they could be subjected to Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (RAND) terms. Regardless of its reasons for the move, were still very pleased to see it happen, and well be following the results closely, especially whether other companies follow suit. See page 52 for how open source patents could help save the world.

www.linuxformat.com

The Linux Foundation commissioned a report to gauge the health of Linux employment.

The Oculus Rift is causing excitement could it be the next big thing in entertainment?

NewsbytesTime for a career changeThe Linux Foundation releases its annual report on the state of Linux employment in the technology industry.

EMPLOYMENT

ENTERTAINMENT

Nintendos failed Virtual Boy and dubious science fiction films from the 1980s and 1990s didnt do much to further the cause of virtual reality but that looks set to change thanks to the Oculus Rift, a VR headset that started life as a humble Kickstarter project. It has attracted big names for the games industry and has got huge corporations such as Samsung to sit up, take notice, and begin work on their own take on virtual reality. When Facebook bought Oculus VR for $2billion, it might have put a bit of a dampener on some peoples enthusiasm for the project, but it shows just how much confidence

Virtual reality gaming is coming to Linux Valve readies Steam for the arrival of the Oculus Rift.

Visually stunning game The Witcher 3 will be giving our Linux rigs a workout next year.

Just as we were going to press, it was announced that Red Hat has

acquired eNovance, a provider of open source cloud computing services, for around 50million plus 20million in shares. Last year, eNovance and Red Hat joined forces to deliver OpenStack implementation and integration with the goal of accelerating the adoption of the (take a deep breath) Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform (breathe out). Arun Oberoi, executive vice president of global sales and services at Red Hat, commented that eNovances deep OpenStack expertise, combined with Red Hats enterprise-class OpenStack offerings, can be a game-changer as a growing number of global organisations turn to OpenStack for cloud deployments.

Steam for Linux recently hit a significant milestone, with over

500 games now available for Linux. Its hoped that the library will encourage gamers to opt for the open source operating system instead of Windows. It was also recently announced that the highly anticipated game, The Witcher 3, will be coming to Linux. Meanwhile, gaming PC manufacturer Alienware is banking on its Steam machines gaming

PCs with Debian-based SteamOS preinstalled rather than Windows becoming hits. Talking to PCGamesN, Alienware product marketing manager Marc Diana explained how Steam Machines could lead to a huge Linux take-up. Theres more games that are Linux-powered today than have ever been available in the market, and that continues to grow. Its projected that whenever SteamOS comes out, theres going to be 700-plus titles on [it] that are OpenGL games. Imagine how many people are gaming today on Linux, and how many people will be gaming once Steam machines launch, its going to be 20, 30 fold [growth]. Overnight. Time will tell if Dianas predictions prove right, but weve been anticipating more gamers turning to Linux since Valve announced its plans.

Jobs in the IT sector have proved more resilient than most during the recession, and its particularly reassuring to see that the demand for people with Linux experience is continuing to grow. The Linux Jobs Report 2014, which was commissioned by the Linux Foundation, is a great example that shows that Linux-related jobs and the hunt for people with knowledge of Linux is increasing at an impressive pace, even compared against a solid backdrop of the IT sector, where salaries and employment numbers continue to grow.

The report surveyed over 1,100 hiring managers from organisations great and small, along with 40,000 Linux professionals from around the world to get an in-depth view of the state of Linux employment. One of the most interesting findings showed that 77 percent of hiring managers identify hiring Linux talent as priority in 2014, with nine in 10 hiring managers planning to hire a Linux professional in the next six months. Meanwhile, 86 percent of the Linux professionals polled thought that their knowledge

of Linux has given them more career opportunities an encouraging sign if youre job hunting at the moment. What really stands out for us in this report is how many organisations appreciate that Linux is integral to their business, be it in the form of desktop operating systems, servers or embedded devices, and this growth in Linux adoption has led to an almost inevitable rise in employment for Linux professionals. We say almost inevitable because as the last few years of economic instability has shown, nothing is ever that certain. Still, it is nice to hear encouraging news such as this. Elsewhere in the report, 64 percent of Linux professionals said that they chose to work with Linux because of its ubiquity in modern-day technology.

Summer 2014 LXF187 7

there is that virtual reality can be the next big thing in entertainment. Its great news, then, that the latest Steam beta client for Linux includes support for virtual reality. It means that us Linux users wont miss out on such potentially exciting tech, while encouraging other people to switch to Linux. We tried the first developer version of the Oculus Rift earlier this year when our sister magazine PC Gamer had one in. Though it was an early

prototype, with a much lower resolution than the final product, what we saw was impressive enough to make us very glad that it is heading to Linux.

Newsdesk

www.tuxradar.com

SEAMONKEY 2.26.1

DOCKER V1.0.0

ZENTYAL 3.5

Hitting the mirrorsWhats behind the free software sofa?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 is the flagship operating system for businesses. While an enterprise-orientated distribution wont be of much interest to some of us, well be taking a closer look at it next

Google has put its considerable weight behind Docker v1.0.0, with Eric Brewer announcing that Google and Docker are a very natural fit. We both have the same vision of how applications should be built. Docker is an open platform that includes the Docker engine (a runtime and packaging tool) and the Docker Hub. The Hub is a cloud service that hosts

and shares the apps, making it easy for creators to move them between multiple machines, no matter what OS theyre running. Dockers example explains a scenarious where the apps run on OS X and Windows laptops, while QA servers are running Ubuntu in the cloud, and production data centre VMs running Red Hat.www.docker.com

Formerly known as eBox Platform, this Linux distro is a unified network server aimed at small and medium sized businesses that are looking for an easy and efficient network administration. Its been designed as a drop-in replacement for Microsoft Small Business

Quickly and easily ditch Microsoft Small Business Server for Zentyal.

The latest version of this internet suite is available to download now (www.seamonkey-project.org). This suite which followed on from a similar package of Netscape Communicator includes an internet browser (which uses the

Patent sanity check

As a non-lawyer, it was deeply encouraging

this week to see the Supreme Court in the US taking another step in the direction of restoring sanity to its patent system. Thats important even for those in Europe who are (for now) still mercifully free of this runaway madness. Cloud computing dissolves jurisdictional boundaries and so can increase compliance risk in a world with disparate rules, and all software companies have global ambitions. So this ruling is a win for all, even before the next trans-atlantic trade agreement tries to slip in clauses foisting the US patent system onto others.

We fear changeThe Alice Corp judgement tackles the sadly common case of taking an abstract idea (eg. some simple software algorithm), and trying to glue it to something physical in order to monopolise an otherwise obviously abstract idea. The odious, acutely obvious, and recently worked around VFAT patents show this for example. The Microsoft 352 patent uses in a computer system or in a data processing system to create this connection. Other similar tricks attempt not only to claim the software but computer readable media containing the software.

Hopefully the FSF, RedHat and other amicus briefs made an impact; at least the result significantly prunes this horror, and perhaps other lame attempts to pretend novelty. Another notoriously shameful example is to pretend that combining an existing piece of software with an OS (ie. just bundling them together) is an eligible patent.

Good to see the court unleashing innovation in all software, removing the impediments of tens of thousands of useless monopolies that were granted in return for no apparent benefit to society; some great news!

Comment

Michael is a pseudo-engineer, semi-colon lover, SUSE LibreOffice hacker and amateur pundit.

month, as many of its new features and innovations may find their way into CentOS and Fedora. Key features include a focus on open hybrid cloud infrastructures, virtual machines using XFS as the default file system.

Server and Microsoft Exchange, and promises that you can set it up in under 30 minutes. Highlights of the new release include a distribution upgrade from Ubuntu Server 13.10 to Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS, along with support for Microsoft Outlook 2010 and ActiveSync. www.zentyal.org

same rendering engine and application platform as Firefox), along with a mail and newsgroups client (which again shares a lot of code withThunderbird), an HTML editor, ChatZilla IRC chat application and a host of web development tools.

RED HAT EL 7

Newsdesk

www.linuxformat.com8 LXF187 Summer 2014


Write to us at Linux Format, Future Publishing, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW or [email protected]

Dual bootI am running a dual boot system of Ubuntu and XP. Whenever Im in Ubuntu and I want to go into XP, I have to restart and boot up XP. Is there a way to access the other OS without having to do this? Also, can I install other Linux OSs on the same drive?Phil LawMatt says: Unfortunately Phil, due to the very nature of dual booting youre going to have to restart and boot up each operating system whenever you want to switch. However, there are work arounds, such as running virtual machines. You could run Windows XP, and in it run a virtual machine with Ubuntu installed or vice versa. You can then switch between operating systems as easily as clicking between open programs. But here are a few caveats to using virtual machines.

The main one is that when youre running a virtual machine, you need to divert some of your PCs hardware to power it. Most virtual machine programs (I use VirtualBox, which can be run on either Windows or Linux) let you specify how much hardware to set aside for the virtual machine, such as amount of RAM and processor cores, which means youll need a reasonably powerful PC to run a virtual machine well. There are also a few restrictions with what you can do with a virtual machine versus a physical machine, but if

HavegedThank you for the discussion of the haveged Random Number Generator. Ive been concerned about the integrity of RNGs that, like grounding systems, fail silently. These concerns increased with the revelations that the NSA actively works to

Letter of the month

Crypto box

A respected opponent of the Spyocracy says we need a cheap box to encrypt all our connections with the internet.

In a recent article in the Guardian, Eben Moglen argues that we cant trust our governments, social networks or email providers to keep the spies out of our private affairs. The only solution is for all of us to use the best of modern technology to defeat the information thieves.

We need a simple, cheap box which sits next to our phone socket and encrypts/decrypts all traffic to the internet. Our tech gurus could use their expertise to create a SpyBlocker device instead of wasting their time building yet another identikit smartphone.

So heres the challenge: the entrepreneur who markets the best box could make a fortune. We need to teach the NSA, CIA, GCHQ and their Chinese equivalents that we will no longer allow them to invade our lives and destroy our liberties.Maurice George, Ormskirk, Lancashire

subvert the algorithms and the underlying silicon.

Even though haveged has a self-test, the man page shows how to use haveged with the dieharder test suite. So we can trust and verify that our cryptographic foundations havent been undermined.

[email protected]

you want to quickly switch between operating systems, its probably the best alternative.

As for your other question, you can indeed install other Linux operating systems on the same drive, although loading a drive full of different operating systems isnt recommended.

Can we create a SpyBlocker device with our very own anti-GCHQ box?

Matt says: Well, readers, you heard Maurice! Are you up to the challenge of a standalone, discreet encryption box? Get building! Or, if youve heard of something similar, let us know.


Mailserver

Apropos the spooks, a wizard wheeze is to volley large blocks of heavily encrypted b*llocks about the internet, which are then archived by the rotters thus exerting pressure on their storage capacity.Andrew SheadMatt says: Good points, Andrew, and if the recent revelations have taught us anything, its to not be complacent about our privacy. If youre relying on encryption then testing your safeguards against more than one test is essential.

With regards to your suggestion, Ive been spouting rubbish online for decades now, encrypted and not. Hopefully the NSA has decided its not worth the disk space to archive my ramblings about retro games, broken hardware and pet photos.

Hello from OzGday mate! Greetings from the Antipodes. Ive been a keen reader of Linux Format for a

number of years, and eagerly await each new issue. Theres always something new to whet ones interest, especially the distro reviews and your amazing cover disks. With that in mind, could we have a bit more on coping with UEFI? Ive read recently that a writer managed to install Linux Mint from bootable memory sticks without disabling UEFI.

Also, here are a couple of distro suggestions for your consideration: Makulu Linux 6.1 Xfce and RoboLinux.Peter DodwellMatt says: And a good day to you, sir, from the chillier end of the Commonwealth! UEFI is proving to be a big concern for many of our readers, but it might not quite be the portent of the End Times that some of us fear. There are ways to circumvent or even live with secure boot, and its not a bad suggestion to look at this in more depth.

Matt says: Peter, your crafty suggestion is very similar to Andrews (a few letters before this one)! Of course, wed never condone wasting the time of the good folks over at NSA/GCHQ, but if theres one thing the internet needs more of, its pictures of cats.

And also, Neil Bothwick wrote a very handy guide to email encryption [p72, LXF174]. If youre a subscriber then, 1) what an attractive, witty and intelligent person you must be. And 2) you can download the article straight from our online archive at www.linuxformat.com.

Chromebook USBExcellent Chromebook Linux article [p50, LXF185]. Can you have a Live USB distro? 99% of the time Im in the browser, but occasionally I would like a fully-fledged word processor and would like to boot from USB. PS: Keep up the good work!Gavin McKenzie Matt says: I always enjoy being the bearer of good news, Gavin. Sometimes it feels like it happens all too rarely these days, but Im happy to say, good news! You can indeed run a live distro from a USB memory stick for many of us its actually a more convenient way than burning a DVD.

My personal favourite tool for this is UNetbootin (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net), which is a program specifically designed for creating bootable DVDs for Linux distributions. And thanks for the sentiment!

Mobile broadbandIm at last catching up with my reading, and came across Galen Whites complaint [Mailbox,p10 LXF185]. If youd like to forward this message to Galen White, I can help him with a copy of Vodafone Mobile Connect (I run Linux Mint Debian Edition on my Aspire One).

I have to admit that I dont use it much nowadays, because my BlackBerry provides a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, and I have a generous data allowance on my contract SIM. But the last time I used it, it worked OK and that was on my big laptop, which runs Linux Mint 16.Ian Park

Were also always keen on looking at some of the less popular or downright obscure distros out there. Head over to the Review section (p18) for Comrade Jonnis review of Red Star OS.

Self denialRegarding the recent problem with NSA/GCHQ mass electronic surveillance data mining, I downloaded the Debian GnuPG2 (GNU privacy guard a free PGP replacement) source code and picked my way through it. No backdoors that I could see.

I suggest that everybody use this software to send an encrypted image of their cat to a friend every day. If enough people were to do this, the NSA/GCHQ would overload their own decryption servers trying to decode them. Thanks for a great magazine. Have you published a really elementary article on how to use email encryption?Peter Clark, North London

Chromebooks: better with Linux on them.


Mailserver

crashes every time we try to do an import, and it no longer detects when a camera is connected to the USB ports. Planner also now crashes when doing new plans. The list goes on not to mention the fact that when the update was done the 14.04 promptly lost all record of the printers connected to the system and took a long time to find all the drivers for them again.

Considering that 14.04 was supposed to basically be 13.10 with a few tweaks, it stinks. I could seriously get tempted to the dark side and go back to Windows were it not for the mess that is Windows 8.

Can it be that difficult for developers to make sure that when systems update, they keep the original settings that the previous version had? It shouldnt have to be a case of reinstalling everything just because you were rash enough to do an upgrade.Russell BoyceMatt says: Im sorry to hear your problems with the upgrade, Russell. On paper, the upgrade from Ubuntu 13.10 to 14.04 is relatively simple, by using the Update Manager. Of course, upgrading no matter what your OS is can often go wrong, and for every success story there is a tale of horror involving bad drivers, lost data and bitter recriminations. Its particularly awful that you encountered problems on two separate machines, and I cant blame you for being put off by the whole business. Unfortunately the best way to fix the problems youve now got is to back up your files and do a fresh install of 14.04. Its not ideal, but should rectify some of those error messages. LXF

Matt says: Thats very kind of you Ian, weve passed on your email. Always nice to see our readers helping each other out. Warms the cockles of this cynical heart.

ChrubuntuCould you please do an article on the alternative way to install Linux on a Chromebook? Chrubuntu is much faster and, with the proper tweaks, Minecraft runs at or above 60 fps (frames per second) every time on my Acer C720. Ive maxed out at 72fps but I only play with mods, so mileage will be better for most.David WankMatt says: I have to admit, when I first reviewed a Chromebook a few years ago I wasnt too impressed. Back then ChromeOS was little more than a full screen Chrome window there was no desktop, and any tools were opened as a new tab. And it was also pretty much useless without an internet connection. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then, and ChromeOS is a far better proposition than it was, but it still pales in comparison to fully fledged Linux distros.

Thanks to the low price of Chromebooks, and the relative ease of installing Linux on them, I think they could become very popular and as with all things Linux, there will be plenty of alternatives, so well do our best, David, to cover as many as we can in the future.

A Pi alternativeI have just purchased my last copy of Linux Format (No. 185) from the newsagent My subscription doesnt start until next month.

product is now readily available here in the UK, I hope that some more will be forthcoming. I would certainly love to hear from any of your readers who have purchased one of these, and to learn how they are getting on with it.

If anyone reading this is looking for the best distros or OSs to use, and the right places to go for the latest information on the Cubieboard2, then I would be delighted to share my experiences with them.

Thanks again for a producing a great magazine.David RolfeMatt says: Thanks David, glad you enjoy the magazine and thanks for subscribing! By the way, youre looking very attractive/witty/intelligent these days. Ah yes, we have heard word of this other Linux magazine, Linux Sight or something? Joking aside, were always looking to feature Raspberry Pi alteratives I have a healthy looking pile on my desk as I type this. There are enough nuances and differences between these SoC devices that a group test probably isnt the way to go about it, as its not really fair to compare devices that arent really that comparable, so were going to be doing a big feature on the alternatives, looking in depth at the pros and cons of each one.

Could do betterI have been a long time fan of Linux, particularly Ubuntu, and have had all the versions on my system right back to 7. This time, though, Im afraid that Canonical seems to have shot itself in the foot with 14.04.

I installed it on both my machines as an update to the existing 13.10 installation. Both machines promptly lost the graphics and went into low resolution mode. After much effort by my son we got the graphics back, despite only having a fairly basic Nvidia graphics card in both machines.

Even with the correct drives re-installed, boot up is by no means a guaranteed thing as sometimes the machines lose the graphics unless rebooted. We receive error reports several times a day, Gthumb now

I was very interested to read the letter from Trevor Cushen in which he asks for less coverage of the Raspberry Pi, and a bit more on other small single board and SOC computers.

Your reply was also encouraging, especially as you state you that are planning to look at some Raspberry Pi alternatives in the next few issues. Although I have a lot of respect for the Pi, and also for the Foundation, it has been around for a year or so now, and since then other products have become available for enthusiasts to experiment with.

One of these which, following a recent review in a rival Linux magazine (the title of which I had better not mention!), a number of your readers may well have purchased, is the Cubieboard2. This little board features a dual-core Cortex A7 chip, 1GB of DDR3 RAM and even a SATA 2 connector complete with 5v header, for which the power and data cable are already included but you probably knew all that anyway!

Hopefully this is one of the alternatives you will be mentioning. Of course, as is the case with all devices of this type, they can stand or fall on the amount of support available from the manufacturers, the experts and indeed the community itself, which is something that has undoubtedly helped the Raspberry Pi to become the success story it has already become, and indeed is still currently enjoying.

In the case of the Cubieboard2, the support is still there, but is not perhaps as easy to find as it should be. But as the

Write to usDo you have a burning Linux-related issue that you want to share with the community? Want to vent about those distro upgrades? Dont be shy write to us at Linux Format, Future Publishing, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW, or email [email protected].

The upgrade from Ubuntu 13.10 to 14.04 can be far from smooth.

Linux user groups


O ggcamp is back for 2014 and this time the event has moved to a new venue in a new city. Oxford plays host to Oggcamp for the first time in its five-year history, and with tickets already available via a free or pay what you want system, the event is going to be another success.

The lead organiser for 2014 is Mark Johnson, one of the presenters of the Ubuntu UK podcast. Mark has kindly offered to lead the ragtag bunch of podcast presenters and community members onto another massive open source event. For those who have never been to Oggcamp, its a weekend-long unconference where attendees provide the talks. Past talks have included

Oggcamp 2014The biggest UK celebration of free culture returns.

Oggcamp, the weekend long unconference returns.

Community events news

Freakyclowns How to rob a bank and an interesting versus debate where Canonicals Ubuntu phone OS was compared against Mozillas Firefox OS. The mix of talks is extensive and shows off how creative the community is. As well as talks there have been great workshops hosted by open hardware enthusiasts and even the Raspberry Pi Foundations Ben Nuttall.

The biggest draw of Oggcamp is the community of great people that supports it and people travel from across Europe to attend. For 2014, The Oxford Hotel, just on the outskirts of Oxford is the venue so put October 4 and 5 in your diary and head over to oggcamp.org to book a ticket. LXF

Find and join a LUG Bristol and Bath LUG Meet on the 4th

Saturday of each month at the Knights Templar (near Temple Meads Station) at 12:30pm until 4pm. www.bristol.lug.org.uk

Blackpool Makerspace Meet every Saturday, 10am to 2pm. At PC Recycler, 29 Ripon Road FY1 4DY. http://blackpool.lug.org.uk

Edinburgh LUG Meet on the first Thursday of each month at the Southsider pub, West Richmond St. www.edlug.org.uk

Hull LUG Meet at 8pm in Hartleys Bar, Newland Ave, 1st Tuesday every month. http://hulllug.org

Lincoln LUG Meet on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:00pm, Lincoln Bowl, LN4 1EF. www.lincoln.lug.org.uk

Liverpool LUG Meet on the first Wednesday of the month at the Liverpool Social Centre on Bold Street http://liv.lug.org.uk/wiki

Manchester Hackspace Open night every Wednesday at their space at 42 Edge St, in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. http://hacman.org.uk

Surrey & Hampshire Hackspace Meet each Thursday, 6.30pm, Games Galaxy, Farnborough. www.sh-hackspace.org.uk

Surrey & Hampshire Hackspace Meets every week on Thursday from 6:30pm at Games Galaxy, Farnborough. www.sh-hackspace.org.uk

Barcamp ManchesterPlanning for this event is still at a very early stages in fact the organisation team is still being finalised. Historically, Barcamp Manchester was a key event and it kickstarted the Barcamp movement in the north of the UK. In recent years, however, the event has been mostly missing from the calendar but no longer! Keep an eye on Ian

Forresters tweets (@cubicgarden) for details of the new team and devlopments.

PHP NWPHP the popular web development language is the backbone of many websites and has many fans around the globe. Arguably one of the biggest fans is Jeremy Coates, the managing director of Magma Digital and PHP North West. Jeremy has run the North West event since 2008 and each event has grown in attendance numbers and stature. Each year the event draws the best and the brightest from the PHP world to share their projects and skills across a weekend of talks and workshops. Tickets are currently on sale via the official website.http://conference.phpnw.org.uk/phpnw14

PyConUKThe Python conference is back for 2014 and this year the education track, where both teachers and children can learn more about Python, is bigger and better than ever.

Teachers will have the opportunity to learn how to use Python in their classrooms with the help of other experienced teachers and expert developers. Kids will learn how to use Python to exploring its use with robots, Raspberry Pi, Minecraft and take part in fun workshops, presentations and lots of other fun technological surprises. Head over to website for more details.http://pyconuk.org/education

The intrepid Les Pounder brings you the latest community and LUG news.

United Linux!

Ph

oto

cred

it: L

es P

ound

er

or nd us in your nearest supermarket, newsagent or bookstore!

DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR Order online at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

REVOLUTIONISE THE RASPBERRY Pi


Its not like us Linux users to sagely stroke our chins and smugly smile inwards at

ourselves, but sometimes it just cant be helped. Many people claim they would leave the comforting familiarity of Windows or Mac OS X to dip their toes in the vast ocean that is Linux, yet they rarely realise that theyve been using Linux, or relying on devices that run Linux, all these years. Some might be using Android smartphones or tablets, while others might have a smart TV running on a pared-down version of Linux. The number of connected devices in our home continues to grow: from fridges to cars running embedded Linux. On page 40 we talk to Dr Alison Chaiken about the future of Linux in vehicles.

Linux everywhereThis means that the leap to Linux wont be as large as many people fear. People who have been weary of using it in the past may find the transition much smoother once they realise theyve been using Linux already and without any major calamities or changes to their way of life. It also demonstrates how integral Linux is to some of the latest technology and with the news that virtual reality support is coming to Linux, this is the place to be to be at the forefront of this brave new future. Exciting times are ahead.

Ive also been busy kitting my PC out with powerful components (such as an extra Titan Black GPU from Palit) for testing out 4K screens as well. Ill be seeing how well Linux scales and will report back soon. [email protected]

MATT HANSON has been squinting at tiny fonts and GUI buttons at a silly resolution.

Our pick of this months releases:

Create your own professional looking posters, newsletters and more.

Media players p24

All the latest software and hardware reviewed and rated by our experts

Modern Linux

Scribus 1.4.4 Red Star OS 3.0

Clementine

UMPlayer

Kaffeine

VLC

MPV Player

If you use your Linux machine for watching videos or listening to music, then check out or roundup of five of the best open source media players for your viewing pleasure.

We test out Red Star OS so you dont have to. Unless you live in North Korea.

Pi Compute ............16 It might look like a stick of laptop RAM, but the Raspberry Pi Compute module has a lot more going for it.

Red Star OS 3.0 .......18 Everyone loves Linux distributions sanctioned by oppressive military dictatorships, but is Red Star OS any good?

Linux Lite 2.0 ..........19 We put this super lightweight distro through its paces. Will it breathe new life into old hardware?

Scribus 1.4.4 .......... 20The latest version of the popular desktop publishing software is out.

Zbox EI730 Plus ......21 Weve been fans of Zotacs small form, Linux-ready, PCs for a while, and we like what weve seen of its latest release.

ASUS 280X ............ 22 Is this powerful, yet compact, graphics card the perfect fit for a Steam Machine? We run it through the mill with Metro Last Light.

Game reviews ........ 23 This month we made a sizeable dent in our productivity playing the free indie game Floating Point and retro-flavoured platform puzzler Inescapable.

Raspberry Pi Compute: A professional alternative to the regular Pi.

Reviews Compute module

16 LXF187 Summer 2014 www.linuxformat.com

In brief... A more

expansive and robust base for commercial and serious product development, all based on the stable, yet flexible Raspberry Pi.

flash storage, which is used to store the operating system.

The Compute does not use any SD card storage as per a typical Raspberry Pi. Instead, the operating system is installed on to the eMMC via a micro USB connection on the CMIO board. Looking around the CMIO, you can see the familiar micro USB for power and one full USB 2.0 socket. You will also see another micro USB socket labelled USB OTG this is a USB On The Go connector, and its used to hook up the CMIO to your computer for installing an operating system. Well cover this in more detail later.

Ports aplentyMoving around the CMIO, there are four wide ports labelled CAM0, CAM1, DISP0 and DISP1. These ports are for the official Raspberry Pi camera and the soon-to-be-released display. These ports are not the same as those found on the standard Raspberry Pi, and in order to use them with the camera and display, you will need an adaptor. Its not too much of a worry as these adaptors will be made available via many retailers and will be bundled with all future purchases of the camera or display.

Earlier, we mentioned the micro USB OTG port, and how it is used to connect

The Raspberry Pi is well loved in the open source community, and many thousands of hackers and makers have powered their projects with the credit card-sized computer. During its short life, many commercial tasks have been powered by the Raspberry Pi for example, the production line in Wales uses a Raspberry Pi to QA other boards on the line. For these commercial undertakings, the Pi has been adapted as required by a company, but modifying an existing project is not always the most elegant solution. This is where the new Compute Module comes into its own.

The Compute Module looks just like a typical laptop SODIMM memory module, but its actually a full Raspberry Pi Model A that has been squeezed into this new form factor. The SODIMM configuration enables the Compute to be employed in all manner of projects because its designed to be used with an accompanying expansion board. As part of a kit, the Compute Module comes with a breakout board called the Compute Module IO board, or CMIO.

The CMIO board gives access to the GPIO pins provided by the BCM2835 chip all 120 of them. The Compute Module also contains 4GB of eMMC

the Compute Module to your computer. This port connects via USB to your computer using a special software tool downloaded from the official Raspberry Pi website, and you can access the eMMC flash storage in the same manner as a typical SD or USB flash drive. The CMIO requires both of the micro USB ports to be connected USB OTG to your PC and the other to a power supply. Once your CMIO is connected and the tool configured and running, you are free to dd an image of your favourite distro directly to the eMMC. For this review, we chose to dd the stock Raspbian image, because this is the most stable and well supported distro for the Raspberry Pi. At the time of writing, the Compute does not support the NOOBS method of installation, so users must install using dd. But given the target audience, this is by no means difficult.

With Raspbian installed on the Compute, we set up the CMIO with a USB hub, keyboard, mouse and a screen, then booted the Module for the first time. On first boot we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly the Compute Module started up. This is mainly down to the onboard eMMC storage, which is directly available rather than via an SD card on the USB

Really serious about your Pi projects? Then this brand new iteration of the diminutive computer could be what you need, says Les Pounder.

Raspberry Pi Compute Module

The Compute Module is a small SODIMM-sized PCB that is designed to be integrated into industrial applications.

Generous GPIOThe RPi Compute Module has an extensive series of 120 GPIO pins for even the largest of projects.

eatures at a glance

Double displayThe opportunity to use two cameras and two displays is a tantalising prospect for media-savvy developers.

Compute module Reviews


Its the CMIO expansion board. This breaks out the GPIO pins all 120 of them!

The CMIO is larger than the Raspberry Pi and this increase in size results in more expansion possibilities.

Features 9/10Performance 9/10Ease of use 8/10Documentation 9/10

RPi Compute Module

The price will drop sharply over the next few months, but for those keen to develop larger projects, this is for you.

Rating 9/10

Manufacturer: RPi FoundationWeb: www.raspberrypi.orgPrice: 142/$239

bus. After the boot was completed, we were presented with the raspi-config menu, asking us to configure the Compute to meet our needs. Once completed, we rebooted the Compute to ensure that the changes were made, and after a few seconds we were presented with the standard login screen, and duly entered the now well-known username and password. Because the Compute uses the same Raspbian distro as the standard Raspberry Pi, well skip along to the biggest change: the GPIO.

Pins and PythonThe CMIO breaks out all of the GPIO pins available to the BCM2835, which totals 120 pins in two banks of 60. Of these, 45 pins can be controlled in software, using the RPi.GPIO library in Python. The remaining pins are reserved for power (1v8, 3v3 and 5v0), ground (GND) and specialist pins for external devices such as cameras, displays and USB OTG. The original Raspberry Pi uses the same BCM2835 chip, but can only handle a small selection of GPIO pins; the CMIO has the space to afford the full selection of GPIO pins for some seriously large projects. To test the GPIO, we wanted to use pins that were not present on the Raspberry Pi, so that we could prove the RPi.GPIO Python library worked with the CMIO. We wrote a quick Python script using IDLE remembering to precede the command with sudo, as only sudo or root can use the GPIO which cycled through four LEDs that were attached to sequential pins. We then breadboarded the project and pressed [F5] to run the script. It worked first time and the LEDs lit up in turn,

proving that the standard Python library works with the Compute.

The CMIO GPIO pin layout is not the same as the Raspberry Pi. In fact, you cannot directly attach any add-on boards made for the Raspberry Pi to the CMIO. You can, if you wish, breakout the pins that your add-on board will require by using female to male jumper cables, but this is not officially supported. The CMIO uses the Broadcom layout for pin mapping, and the board is conveniently labelled so that you can find the exact pin that you need. If you want to use this in Python you will need to key in:GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)

instead of the usual: GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)

This change is minimal but can catch you out if you didnt realise there were different types of pin layouts.

The Compute Module is not for the occasional hobbyist; in fact, the initial price tag of around 140 puts this outside of the reach of casual users. The first batch of boards are priced for accomplished developers who want to use the CMIO in their next commercial project. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is very keen for serious development to take place on their well-supported and stable platform. It also has a view for the Compute Module to be used in custom designed PCBs that breakout the functionality in much the same way as the CMIO does, but in new and interesting directions. For example, on Kickstarter we have OTTO, a hackable camera that is built around the Compute. OTTO links with your smartphone to enable you to take creative photographs in timelapse and photo booth modes, and all of this is

possible due to the new form factor of the Compute Module. After the initial development run, the Foundation is aiming to mass produce the CMIO so everyone can have the chance to purchase the kit. The goal is still to educate children in computing, and the revenue generated by the Compute Module will be channelled back into the Foundation to further this goal.

The Compute Module and its IO board are great development tools for serious work, such as industrial control and home automation projects. For home or school users, though, we would stick with the standard Raspberry Pi models. LXF

Verdict


Reviews Linux distribution (born of heaven)

Verdict

In brief... The update to

North Koreas operating system is thankfully not widely available.

no-one was looking, and paying no heed to attracting the wrath of editor Alan Dexter, he installed it on one of PC Formats machines. The first thing the installer did was demand a CD key, but mysteriously any validation of this was circumvented in the downloaded version. From here the installation process was fairly labyrinthine thanks to the language barrier, but mostly just involved setting up a secure root password and a fairly standard partition setup. There are a choice of packages to install, some denoted with Chosongul characters and others not. It offered a choice of three GUIs: KDE, Qt3 and Qt4, but these options are apparently of little consequence.

A cursory analysis suggests that Red Star Server is a derivative of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, most likely some kind of mutant CentOS. No kernel headers or sources were provided on the disc, but it is running a patched kernel from the 2.6.32 line built in May 2013, if the version string is to be believed. Despite the disappointing lack of the svelte launcher and Finder-style file manager (maybe its not part of the server distribution or didnt like PCFs machine), the Mac-inspired elements were certainly present, including the

The Red Star operating system is the brainchild of the Korea Computer Center (KCC), and is the official OS of the secretive nation state. The KCC has been developing Red Star since 2002, but it remained unknown to the outside world until 2010, when a Russian student managed to get hold of a copy of version 2.0. That version featured a largely vanilla KDE 3 desktop which, except for the big red star menu button, possessed a vaguely Windows XP sort of appearance (according to some people, anyway).

Screenshots released in January by American computer scientist Will Scott show that the new editions appearance has taken on a distinctly fruity twist, replete with left-hand traffic light-style window controls, brushed metal windows and even an OS X-style dock. Scott is a graduate student at the University of Washington and spent last autumn as a guest lecturer at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, during which time he managed to obtain a copy of the shiny new OS from a KCC retailer. You can find albums with many more screenshots of the operating system along with a good selection of its picturesque desktop backgrounds at https://wills.co.tt. The one pictured here is part of a series entitled Eight Scenic Views of the Songun Era. Indeed.

All in a nameThe custom version of Firefox is entitled Naenara (my country), allowing denizens to access the countrys Kwangmyong (walled garden) intranet so they can consume news, propaganda and other information that makes it past the Norths thorough vetting process. It was reported that in version 2.0 also available in some of the murkier corners of the internet the text editor bore the friendly moniker My Comrade, the antivirus was called Woodpecker and the firewall was Pyongyang Fortress.

With flagrant disregard for any possible legal repercussions, your intrepid author acquired an ISO purporting to be a copy of Red Star OS 3.0 Server Edition. Furthermore, while

gaudy beach ball of despair and the aforementioned window controls. The web browser is based on Firefox 10, while all of the applications seem to be straight outta Gnome 2: Evince, Nautilus and Gedit are all represented. GDM is used to log in, we have the Metacity WM and, come to think of it, the whole GUI experience suggests that Gnome 2 is alive and well in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Update: some Korean gentlemen just took Alan away. Hopefully the re-education will cure his wanton Western decadence. LXF

Comrades! You are running inferior operating systems. Jonni Bidwell requires you to upgrade to glorious Red Star OS 3.0 immediately.

Red Star OS 3.0

The window controls appear to be Mac influenced as is the beach ball.

Features +/10Performance +/10Ease of use +/10Documentation +/10

Red Star OS 3.0

You probably shouldn't install this on your co-worker's PC and hide when the officials come a-knockin.

Rating +/10

Developer: KCCWeb: www.korea-dpr.comLicence: Err?

Linux distribution Reviews


In brief... A delightful,

tasteful distro that makes Linux feel like a breath of fresh air.

on a black background theme going, so despite the emphasis on new users, a regular distro junkies will appreciate Linux Lite just as well.

The menu layout is clean and uncluttered, as are the desktop and interface, which helps improve the already minimalist nature of Linux Lite. Everything has been carefully planned from the wording of the programs and tools in the menu, to the well-documented support and help manual.

Former Windows XP user will have no trouble getting to grips with Linux Lite, but its not exclusively dedicated to bringing new Linux members into the community. The right-click context menu, for example, houses such additions as Create Launcher, Task Manager and even a screenshot option. These combine to form a great entry point to Linux, but a few tweaks here and there can turn Linux Lite into a desktop powerhouse, and one that will appease the more advanced user.

Looks aside, the clever combination of Xfce and the minimalist approach of the overall system make Linux Lite an exceptionally sprightly desktop. It boots in seconds, is quick to open programs, can switch between workspaces rapidly, and adds a sense of style to what is effectively yet another lightweight distro. Its also very stable and didnt

L inux Lite is a distro that finds favour wherever its installed, but for some odd reason is often left to one side, or forgotten completely when the talk turns to fresh, lightweight and manageable desktops. Weve no idea why, but suffice to say that the new version 2.0 of the distro is an exceptionally good example of what can be achieved when the right combinations of desktop, tools, programs and ideas come together.

If the emphasis or rather the selling point of a Linux distro these days is its user friendliness and gentle learning curve, then Linux Lite should by all rights be top of the shopping list. Based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, this Xfce-installed distro is loaded with everything you could want from a modern PC.

Gimp, Firefox, Thunderbird, Mumble (a high quality voice chat program), and VLC are the standard fare. LibreOffice is included too, but theres more to this distro than the inherent programs.

There are pre-built and configured tools to help install extra software or even remove it via the Lite Software feature, which runs via a set of well-designed scripts. Theres also a pre-made user manager in the form of Linux Lite User Manager, which makes account management a little easier to understand for newcomers to Linux.

The more common tools and administrative programs are readily accessible, and for the hardened user theres always the terminal, which has a rather natty and retro looking green text

crash when we treated it to an intense Steam session or a spot of video editing. In fact, it remained lively throughout the entire time we tested it, which is a testament indeed to its quality construction and development.

Its not often we come across a distro that takes our breath away, but Linux Lite has done so through its ease of use and stylish approach.

To conclude, were very impressed with the work that has been done to deliver Linux Lite 2.0. Its a great desktop and addition to our collection of worthy installations, and for this we applaud the development team and Linux Lite community. LXF

David Hayward explores a fresh distro thats as light as a feather.

Linux Lite 2.0

Linux Lite presents a clear and uncluttered entry point to the world of Linux.

Verdict


Linux Lite 2.0

One of the best Linux distros weve tested and used in a very long time. Highly recommended.

Rating 9/10

Developer: Linux Lite dev teamWeb: www.linuxliteos.comLicence: GPLv 2

Monitor resourcesThe Resource Usage Monitor is especially good. The usual suspects, such as Firefox, are all present.

Features at a glance

Install softwareThe Install Additional Software scripts are easy to read and understand. Theyre a nice touch.

Reviews DTP software


Verdict

In brief... With some new

developments, Scribus is rapidly becoming a valued and more mature contender for other popular DTP software.

to get excited about. What matters most to them is that the version 1.4.4 update is a far more stable program thats committed to improving itself.

More friendlyIts good to see that these added elements arent simply thrown in to tantalise a prospective new user; theyre well implemented, easy to find, and perform superbly when applied. The CMYK colour set is easily located in the Extras top menu, for example, and springs up instantly when selected.

One more thing worth mentioning is the improvement of the documentation, and in particular the translation to and from various global languages. This shows commitment to making Scribus a more friendly program and is perhaps a knock-on effect from the number of new users leaving Windows XP for open source alternatives. Regardless of motive, this is an improvement worthy of praise.

There have been some issues in the past where trivial elements have caused frequent crashes. Spellchecking, XPS import, importing ODT files and even changing preferences have been known to trigger a fatal crash. Thankfully, version 1.4.4 plugs the leaks, and from what we can see has also improved the performance of the program. The load times and interface feel a lot snappier than the previous version, and moving

Scribus has been the backbone of desktop publishing software for quite some time now, despite the addition of more recent office suites, such as LibreOffice. The newest release, Scribus 1.4.4 is essentially a bug-fixing solution, but there are some notable new features that signify a potential turning point for this mature program.

The bug-fixing team has been hard at work filling in the gaps identified by the community. The user interface has been spruced up and issues regarding multiple image importing, undo and redo fixes, and ghost entries in the Outline window have all been resolved.

The Autoquote script has also been rewritten and enhanced to provide more options, and the barcode plugin has been updated to better reflect some of the new features implemented since the 1.4.3 update last July.

The likes of PDF/X-1a export, various scripts, a new colour palette for professional geographers and improved page borders that act as guidelines make for a more rounded and suitably enhanced experiences. However, one of the more significant additions is the implementation of the latest version of the CMYK colour set, as created and recommended by the Newspaper Association of America. Scribus is the only DTP software that provides the latest version of the official NAA colour set a credit thats certainly going to improve its prospects.

For most home users though, the official NAA colour set isnt something

images around doesnt feel like wading through treacle or waiting for the graphics of the ZX Spectrum version of The Hobbit to load line by line.

We like the new features, and the bug fixes make for a better experience than before. But are these additions enough to catapult Scribus to the forefront of more office-led programs?

Admittedly, weve not used Scribus for some time as other DTP software has taken over the daily routine of producing the desired effects. With the new stability and improvements in performance and features though, we think Scribus could well be entering a new phase of appreciation with both the home and professional user. LXF

New features and bug fixes are bringing the venerable program into a new phase of desktop publishing, as David Hayward finds out.

Scribus 1.4.4

Scribus 1.4.4 fixes many issues and adds some neat new features as well.


Scribus 1.4.4

Scribus is improving rapidly, and with these new features and bug fixes it could soon enjoy a new lease of life.

Rating 7/10

Developer: Scribus development teamWeb: www.scribus.net/canvas/ScribusLicence: GPL

Barcode creationThe performance of the Barcode creation plugin has been vastly improved since the last version.


CMYK supportCMYK palette support will pique the interests of professional publishers or amateur DTP enthusiasts.

Small form factor PC Reviews


In brief... Zotacs latest

small form PC that comes without an operating system, so youre free to install the distro of your choice. See also the Zotac Zbox Nano ID68 Plus, reviewed in LXF183.

As with Zotacs previous Zboxes, the EI730 comes without an operating system, so youre free to install your preferred distro. The small form factor makes it easy to tuck away in your living room, and its an excellent candidate for a distro designed around media or games with a TV-friendly user interface, such as SteamOS or OpenELEC.

However, the star of the E series is the graphics subsystem. The i5-4570R has an integrated Intel Iris Pro 5200 (Haswell GT3e) chip with 128MB of eDRAM. Intels integrated graphics have been the butt of many a joke over the years, but thats all changed with Iris Pro. Weve only seen it in expensive mobile i7 form so far, so its refreshing to see it in i5 silicon.

Fan danceHowever, the consequences of stuffing a tiny box with a 65W TDP CPU and impressive hardware become apparent when the system is taxed. The cooling fan goes from being practically silent to really letting you know its working for a living. At 66C the Zbox isnt crazy-hot, but the fans need to be roaring to keep it that way under heavy load.

The rest of the EI730s features show just how much hardware can be crammed onto a mini motherboard. You get dual Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, plus dual

Small form factor PCs have come a long way in the last couple of years, mostly thanks to the rise of the mini-ITX motherboard. But it also needed some bright spark to think of supporting those boards with decent, up-to-date desktop or laptop components, instead of the old mobile bits they were once saddled with. Zotac is one company that kept faith in the concept, even through the dodgy component years, and its range of Zboxes have become more powerful and feature-rich with each new launch. The last one we checked out was the Zbox Nano ID68 Plus [see Review, p16, LXF183] and we were pretty impressed.

Not one to rest on its laurels, Zotac has recently launched a brand new series of Zboxes, so how well do the new kids stack up against the ID68?

Currently, the E range offers two Haswell processor choices. Theres the EI750 with an Intel Core i7-4770R (3.2GHz up to 3.9GHz with Turbo) and this EI730 powered by an Intel Core i5-4570R (2.7GHz Turbo up to 3.2GHz) on Intels HM87 chipset. Zboxes normally come in two flavours: the barebones version and the Plus version, which includes memory and a hard drive. Our EI730 Plus came with 8GB of 1,600MHz DDR3L RAM, upgradable to 16GB with a pair of SODIMM slots, and a 1TB 5,400rpm HDD installed. The E series H87M board supports 2.5-inch SSDs and mSATA drives too, and is easy to access if you want to upgrade its components.

DisplayPort, DVI and an HDMI adapter. You also get four USB 3.0 ports, two audio ports and a four-in-one card reader thrown in for good measure. If you want to tuck your Zbox out of the way, theres a VESA mount too.

The new E series is light years ahead of the ID68, and its graphics performance stands out in particular thanks to Iris Pro. Unfortunately the price of this performance is a very audible fan when the system is pushed hard. Its also rather costly when you fill out the rest of the component list. That said, its still one of the most impressive wee boxes weve seen, and perfect for a discrete Linux machine or for running SteamOS in the living room. LXF

Zotac releases an update of its powerful mini PC with Intels latest tech. Simon Crisp gives it a whirl.

Zbox EI730 Plus

Features 9/10Performance 9/10Ease of use 8/10Value for money 7/10

ZOTAC ZBOX EI730 PLUS

It might be pricey with a loud fan under full load, but this is one of the best little boxes weve seen so far.

Rating 9/10

Verdict

Developer: ZotacWeb: www.zotac.comPrice: 570

Zotacs latest mini PC would make a smart media box for your living room.

ConnectivityAs you can see, the EI730 Plus isnt lacking in ports, making it an ideal media centre machine.


VESA mountYou can easily attach the EI730 Plus to the back of a monitor or TV with the included VESA mount.

Reviews Graphics card


In brief... A mid to high-

end graphics card that will handle the latest games with ease. We reviewed its cheaper little brother, the Asus R9 270X, in LXF182.

cards weve tested, and while its far from silent, the fans arent too invasive.

Fitting and installing the graphics card was relatively simple, though the DirectCU heat pipes make it slightly bulkier than GPUs with standard fans, so you might have trouble in smaller PC cases. We used the proprietary ATI/AMD graphics drivers, which provided stability and enabled us to keep an eye on the graphics cards temperature by using the aticonfig --odgt command.

Stunning resultsWe tested the card with Metro: Last Light, which is one of the most graphically intensive games that you can get on Linux at the moment. We wanted to see just what the Asus 280X DirectCU II Top could do, so we whacked the games graphics options up to the highest settings. Were glad we did the game looked stunning and at 1080p resolution we were seeing an average of 95fps, dropping down to 83fps during particularly busy scenes with explosions and enemies crowding the screen. In quieter moments we saw peaks of 115fps, which is impressive when you consider that the next gen consoles struggle to maintain or even achieve 60fps at 1080p resolutions. The card comes with 3GB of GDDR memory. At the moment 1-2GB of GDDR is the average for mid-range graphics cards, with higher amounts of memory needed for running very-high resolutions, or multiple monitors. We didnt want to see the extra memory go to waste, so we also ran Metro: Last

Since Valve announced SteamOS, its Debian-based gaming-oriented distro, weve been keeping a keen eye on components that we can use to create a compact Linux box that can sit underneath the TV, powerful enough to blow the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 out of the water. With the Asus 280X DirectCU II Top we might have found the ideal graphics card. While the name doesnt exactly roll off the tongue, it references a few key features that made us consider it for a Steam Machine in the first place. The DirectCU II part of the name refers to the 10mm copper heat pipe that directly touches the GPU, rather than going through a copper base plate like more traditional heatsinks. According to Asus, this grants the card a 220 per cent larger dissipation area for more efficient heat removal, meaning that it performs 20 percent colder than similar cards with a regular stock cooler.

Keeping the graphics card as cool as possible is always important, and even more so when housed in a compact PC case. A chillier GPU is not only more stable, but quieter too, with the fans having less excuses for whirring at full speed, which is important if youre after a living room system. We found that when this card was under a light load, with the PC either idle or undertaking day-to-day tasks such as browsing the internet and working on documents, the temperature remained at 36C with a sound level of around 36 decibels. On paper, this is quieter than other

Light at a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440. This is sometimes referred to as WQHD and is an increasingly common resolution that offers almost twice as many pixels as 1080p. This results in a more impressive visual experience, though it requires the card to work a lot harder. At 1440p resolution the frame rate dropped to a minimum of 46fps, while the average was just shy of 63fps. That might be quite a drop on paper, but its still a perfectly playable frame rate, and the visual fidelity is better. During play the graphics card reached 59C, which is well within the safe zone.

Overall, this an excellent graphics card for playing the latest games. Its not the most powerful, but is future-proof for a good few years thanks to the 3GB GDDR memory. The Linux support is pretty decent, its just a pity that its monitoring and overclocking software is Windows-only. LXF

Matt Hanson fancies building his own Steam machine is this the perfect graphics card for it?

280X DirectCU II Top

Verdict

Features 8/10Performance 9/10Ease of use 8/10Value for money 8/10

Asus 280X DirectCU II Top

A mid to high-end card that can handle the latest games. We reviewed its little bro, the R9 270X, in LXF182.

Rating 8/10

Developer: AsusWeb: www.asus.comPrice: 250

DirectCU heat pipesThe 10mm DirectCU heat pipes directly touch the GPU, keeping the card much cooler when in use.


ConnectionsThe card boasts two DVI, one HDMI and a DisplayPort connection for hooking up a display.

Specs AMD Radeon

R9 280X graphics engine

PCI Express 3.0

GDDR5 3GB video memory

384-bit memory interface

1,070MHz boost clock

970MHz base clock

300W power consumption, additional 6+8 pin PCIe power required

This card has been factory overclocked by Asus. Out of the box,

the core clockspeed is 1,070MHz, compared to 1,000MHz of stock AMD

280X graphics cards.

Linux Games Reviews


In brief... A free game

from Tom Francis, whos first game was the critically lauded Gunpoint though that isnt out on Linux yet. Boo.

In brief...

A hark back to the old Amiga and ST days of gaming, but is it any good?

The fact that Floating Point serves as a breath of fresh air is perhaps down to Francis experiences with the current state of the games industry. Where many modern games are action packed romps that would give Michael Bay a headache, Floating Point is a quiet, relaxing, fun game. You control a dot the art style is minimalist, yet attractive that swings from floating blocks.

The aim of the game is to use the physics to propel the dot around the levels, passing through pillars of light to rack up points. Controlling the dot is simple use the mouse to aim the grappling hook from which the dot swings, while the left mouse button shoots the grapple, then reels up the dot. Pressing the right mouse button releases the grapple. Using this control scheme you can build up momentum to propel the dot around each level. As the levels progress they get divided into halves, one above water, and one below. As you dive under, the sound effects

civilisation, into which you must delve deep to piece together the mystery. Its engaging stuff, and progresses well as you move through the game.

The pixel artwork is lovely to view, as are the locations. The size of the game world is good too, and a lot of thought has gone into making the game as immersive as possible through the retro-feel visuals and audio.

However, there are some glaring negatives. The first is the poor choice of fall distance. Having a platformer where you can die from a drop of two feet is extraordinarily off-putting. This effect is negated later on through a spacesuit upgrade, but much of the audience will switch off before getting to that point.

Secondly, having to trudge through screen upon screen of bleak and otherwise empty landscape soon becomes thoroughly boring.

And lastly, the same key is mapped to use and enter doorway. This means

For many Linux Format readers, seeing the words Floating Point will conjure up images of mathematics and computing, but dont start wondering why were mentioning floating points in the review section, rather than in Tutorials or as a Dr Chris special. This Floating Point is a free game for Linux, created by Tom Francis, who has eschewed games journalism in favour of actually making the games.

Inescapable is a game with a retro 16-bit look and feel, even down to the CRT filter in the options. Its a Metroidvania platformer that Atari ST and Amiga owners will recognise.

This is a side-scrolling action adventure, with scattered progression puzzles together with plenty of platform jumping and clever use of discovered objects. The story follows a mining facility thats uncovered an ancient alien

Matt Hanson takes a welcome break from violent games.

David Hayward gets his 16-bit gaming hat on.

Floating Point

Inescapable Be the king of the swingers with this fun game.

Its a throwback to a more civilised era of gaming.

Verdict

Gameplay 7/10Graphics 7/10Longevity 6/10Value 9/10

Floating Point

A relaxing and fun game thats a break from the norm and free to download as well.

Rating 7/10

Developer: Tom FrancisWeb: www.pentadact.comPrice: Free

Verdict

Gameplay 6/10Graphics 8/10Longevity 5/10Value 6/10

Inescapable

Generally a good game. Flawed in places, with a niche entertainment value that wont last very long.

Rating 6/10

Developer: Magnetic RealmsWeb: http://bit.ly/1nlPTPYPrice: 3.59

if youve just entered a door and need to shoot at an enemy, youll zip back through the door again very annoying.

Inescapable is a game that will appeal to a niche audience; however, an audience that will probably argue that its not a true Metroidvania title. LXF

become muffled (a nice touch) and the physics are inverted with the dot floating upwards. The mixture of graphics, music and gameplay creates a relaxing experience thats a nice antidote from many modern games. For a free game, this is a fun diversion from a talented developer. LXF


One of the more popular features of Linux, and the one that pulls in the most new users into the Linux

community, is its ability to play high quality video and other media straight out of the box.

The Linux love affair with media hasnt always been so harmonious, and there are still regions of the world where legal issues mean distros cant be released with the correct codecs pre-installed. However, the community has, as always, risen to the challenge and offered the best possible solutions to these problems.

Every month we compare tons of stuff so you dont have to!

Roundup

Trying to understand the legalities of codecs gives us a headache, so lets comfort ourselves with the actual media players themselves and pit them against each other to see which one comes out on top.

Naturally, choosing and using a media player is a very personal affair, much like the type of distro you use. We all have our favourites just as we all

have the ones we love to hate. VLC, Kaffeine, Clementine whatever your particular poison is when it comes to audio and visual entertainment, the media player can unite a community while at the same time creating food for trolls. So feel free to take our findings as guidelines only and, if your experience and use case varies, let us know which media player hits the spot for you.

HD Media players

Choosing a media player is a very personal affair, much like the type of distro you use.

Our selection Clementine Kaffeine MPV UMPlayer VLC

David Hayward takes a look at a selection of media players, to see which best delivers the modern AV experience.

How we tested...Weve a wealth of Linux distros to choose from for testing purposes. Theres definitely a crowd of new Linux users who could do with a little more information regarding media players for their newcomer-friendly distro of choice. But theres also the die-hards, and subsequently more advanced Arch-like users among you who could also benefit from a brief recap of the state of media players.

In the end we decided to opt for a more middle-of-the-road OS and even keel of operating systems, our trustworthy and well-worn Linux Mint 16 Cinnamon build.

Weve packed Mint into a decent hardware setup: AMD FX-8350, with 8GB RAM and a Radeon HD7870, all hooked up to our big screen TV. We tested a variety of 720p and 1080p HD media from DVD, AVI, MP4 and MKV to several MP3s, Oggs and CD-based music.

Media players Roundup


Installing a media player isnt particularly taxing, and in recent years its been made considerably easier to locate and install a new media player. Generally, most top media players are packaged with the OS VLC is a prime example. As a result they are maintained and updated via the core repositories of the distro itself.

With VLC, naturally, you can opt for more specialised repos for getting hold of the beta versions, but for the most part it works out of the box. Should you wish to install VLC not as a part of a fresh OS build, its not difficult at all thanks to its popularity. On the official VLC site (www.videolan.org/vlc), there are plenty of options for Debian, OpenSUSE, Arch and Red Hat-based distros. Simply follow the links and instructions from the Downloads section along with options for compiling from source.

Another of our selections, Kaffeine, may well be the default media player for KDE-led distros, but that doesnt mean

T heres a lot more to a modern media player than dishing out the latest Game Of Thrones or listening to classic dance tracks.

VLC does pretty much everything you can possibly think of, and then

Installation

Default settings

How easy are they to add to your distro?

What works out of the box?

Gnome or anything else cant enjoy its benefits as well. Installation may not be quite as simple as the other media players via a website and easy-to-follow links but nevertheless, installation through software and package managers will accommodate 99% of distros.

In comparison, MPV is a little more complex to install. Building the package from source is the best method, but there are packages available for different distros you just have to make sure you have all the dependencies in place beforehand. This is easy enough for the more advanced user maybe, but for a new user its something of a turn-off. There are some fairly monumental hoops to jump through to get MPV up and running, although following the Git instructions and accompanying readme file should yield success.

Clementine, on the other hand, is extremely easy to install either via the website with pre-built packages, via the

some. Playing media, audio or visual, is superb from optical disc or data storage, but you also get the ability to stream, share, convert and so on.

Kaffeine also has excellent support for digital TV signals and streaming.

Terminal or software centre/package manager. Of course, you can always compile from source, and theres a handy list of instructions and dependencies from the website, along with links to the development community and bleeding edge packages, should you wish.

UMPlayer too is a simple installation. Both RPM and Deb packages are available from the website, along with a source tarsal or via Subversion. For ease of use, though, the Deb and RPM packages are the best approach and function perfectly well.

MPV, on the other hand, although a superb high definition player, doesnt offer anything quite as spectacular or as cutting-edge as the rest. However, its remarkably streamlined and offers greater control through the command line options.

Clementine lists many notable features, including the ability to search cloud storage services for uploaded content, transcoding, album art downloading and MP3 and iDevice support. Also, lyrics and artist biographies and photos are downloadable, plus there are a plethora of smart and dynamic playlists available to toy around with.

Finally, UMPlayer offers YouTube searching, subtitles searching, SHOUTcast searching and enough support to make even VLC hang up its coding coat in defeat. Many AV outputs and filters put it ahead of the game along with its ultra-light interface and friendly aspect.

Because of its complexity, MPV isnt for newcomers.

UMPlayers impressive features and wealth of support tops this round.

Verdict

Verdict

Clementine+++++Kaffeine+++++MPV+++++UMPlayer+++++VLC+++++

No clear winner, but MPV is by far the trickiest to install.

Clementine+++++Kaffeine+++++MPV+++++UMPlayer+++++VLC+

Linux Format 187 - Escape Windows.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Linux Format 187 - Escape Windows.pdf