mirror of
git://slackware.nl/current.git
synced 2024-12-27 09:59:16 +01:00
b76270bf9e
Wed May 19 08:58:23 UTC 2010 Slackware 13.1 x86_64 stable is released! Lots of thanks are due -- see the RELEASE_NOTES and the rest of the ChangeLog for credits. The ISOs are on their way to replication, a 6 CD-ROM 32-bit set and a dual-sided 32-bit/64-bit x86/x86_64 DVD. We are taking pre-orders now at store.slackware.com, and offering a discount if you sign up for a subscription. Consider picking up a copy to help support the project. Thanks again to the Slackware community for testing, contributing, and generally holding us to a high level of quality. :-) Enjoy!
96 lines
5.1 KiB
Text
96 lines
5.1 KiB
Text
|
|
Slackware 13.1 release notes. Wed May 19 04:40:19 UTC 2010
|
|
|
|
Hi folks,
|
|
|
|
Historically, the RELEASE_NOTES had been mostly technical
|
|
information, but once again Robby Workman has covered the important
|
|
technical details in CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT. Thanks! If you are
|
|
upgrading an existing installation, don't miss the section on the LIBATA
|
|
SWITCHOVER.
|
|
|
|
I'll mention a few technical items here. Slackware's userspace does
|
|
require a recent 2.6.x kernel (I believe 2.6.27.x is a minimum for
|
|
udev), and as usual unless your needs are specific you're probably
|
|
better off running the included kernels that we've tested things
|
|
against. The best kernel to run (even on a one CPU/core machine) is the
|
|
generic SMP one, but that needs an initrd, so be sure to read the
|
|
instructions in /boot after installing with a huge* kernel if you plan
|
|
to switch. We have chosen to use the 2.6.33.4 kernel after testing the
|
|
2.6.33.x kernel branch extensively. I would not suggest trying to run
|
|
without udev. Consider it the userspace portion of the kernel. It *is*
|
|
possible, but if you must do that you'll have to tweak a couple things
|
|
here and there. The specifics are left as an exercise for the advanced
|
|
user. Wait, an advanced user would just use udev. Really, it works and
|
|
makes things a lot easier.
|
|
|
|
Slackware 13.1 contains version 4.4.3 of the KDE Software
|
|
Compilation. In the nearly 8 months since the release of Slackware
|
|
13.0, the KDE team made some huge improvements, including better
|
|
handling of netbook screen resolutions, a new authentication framework
|
|
based on standards from freedesktop.org, and a new tabbing feature that
|
|
allows applications to be grouped in a tabbed interface. You'll notice
|
|
a snappier feel, helped also by the improved performance of Qt version
|
|
4.6.2.
|
|
|
|
Several Xfce components have been updated as well. Xfce continues
|
|
to be a great lightweight desktop that doesn't get in your way. If you
|
|
haven't looked at this great desktop environment lately, you might want
|
|
to give it another try. Thanks to Robby for tracking the Xfce
|
|
development closely and making sure everything was just exactly right in
|
|
the Slackware Xfce packages.
|
|
|
|
If you prefer GNOME, there are teams online producing GNOME for
|
|
Slackware. Here are a few places to look:
|
|
|
|
http://gnomeslackbuild.org
|
|
http://www.droplinegnome.net/
|
|
http://www.gware.org/
|
|
|
|
If any of these replaces some system components, using them voids
|
|
your warranty. ;-) But it should work, *if* you absolutely must have
|
|
GNOME. I'd suggest Xfce instead if you want a GTK+ based desktop. If
|
|
you do want to use GNOME, remember that there may be some updates needed
|
|
after 13.1 is released, so it might be best not to rush into it.
|
|
Thanks to these teams for making the GNOME desktop a viable option for
|
|
Slackware users.
|
|
|
|
Need more build scripts? Something that you wanted wasn't included
|
|
in Slackware? Well, then check out slackbuilds.org. Several of the team
|
|
members work on the scripts there.
|
|
|
|
Thanks to the rest of the team (and other contributors) for the
|
|
great help -- Eric Hameleers for major work on the KDE SC packages, init
|
|
scripts, installer, documentation, and all the extra packages like
|
|
multilib compilers (read more here: http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/),
|
|
Robby Workman for following X.Org, udev, wicd, xfce, and tons of other
|
|
projects, building and testing all that stuff, writing documentation,
|
|
his work with the team at slackbuilds.org, and lots of package upgrades
|
|
(like the switch to the bluez4 bluetooth stack), Piter Punk for udev and
|
|
slackpkg work, updating the shadow password system, writing the initial
|
|
patch for polkit to use a shadow authentication backend so we could
|
|
consider using KDE 4.4.3, and making tap-to-click work with Synaptics
|
|
touchpads out-of-the-box, Stuart Winter for more updates to
|
|
linuxdoc-tools, and for all kinds of fixes throughout the installer and
|
|
system (he finds my bugs all the time while porting packages to ARM for
|
|
the ARMedslack port: http://www.armedslack.org/), Alan Hicks for
|
|
testing the installer on Apple hardware, Vincent Batts for keeping Ruby
|
|
working well and other miscellaneous fixes, Andrew Psaltis for work on
|
|
the polkit/shadow patches, Heinz Wiesinger for Qt (and other) fixes,
|
|
Amritpal Bath for various bugfixes and helping with release torrents,
|
|
mrgoblin for testing RAID, bluetooth, and well, everything (and fixing a
|
|
lot of it, too), other very honorable mentions go to Erik Jan Tromp,
|
|
Mark Post, Karl Magnus Kolstoe, Fizban, Fred Emmott, and NetrixTardis,
|
|
and anyone else I'm forgetting (including the other team members who
|
|
contributed little fixes and suggestions here and there along with
|
|
general moral support), and all the folks who emailed in bug reports
|
|
(and especially fixes). Thanks for the technical assistance (*you* make
|
|
this possible), and for keeping the project a good time. And, of
|
|
course, thanks *much* to the upstream developers for such nice building
|
|
materials. As always, thanks to my wife Andrea and daughter Briah (who
|
|
is becoming a surprisingly good beta tester already!)
|
|
|
|
Have fun!
|
|
|
|
Pat Volkerding <volkerdi@slackware.com>
|
|
|