| Symphony debuts new Debian-based beta |
May 19, 2006
The two-year-old Symphony OS Project released a new beta version of its Symphony OS 2006-05 on May 18, its first release in nearly six months. The Debian-based distribution, which ships as a live CD with a hard drive installer, utilizes a 2.6.16 Linux kernel and the Mezzo desktop environment.
The Dubuque, Iowa-based distro includes the improvements and bug fixes from the late-2005 limited release 122, distribution founder Ryan Quinn said in the release announcement.
New features, according to the project team, include: - OneClick software installation system -- this is a simple tool which can be used free of charge to install software from the OneClick software store
- Debian "testing" base system -- a major change for the project is the move away from the Knoppix base system used in previous releases. 2006-05 is based purely on Debian testing with only minor changes made to accommodate the needs of the project and branding, Quinn said.
- Multiple scripting language support -- some minor changes in the Orchestra server code base are going to make a major difference for developers, Quinn noted; orchestra applications using the .orc file extension can now be written in any scripting language that includes a shebang (#!/usr/bin/something) line
- Multiuser capability -- the 2006-05 beta release is also the first release to be truly multiuser, Quinn said; the system loads to the GDM login manager and allows different users to have different desktops and settings just as any other standard Linux distribution does
Symphony 2006-05 also includes OpenOffice.org 2.0.2 (office suite), Firefox 1.5.0.2 (browser), GAIM 1.5.1 (instant messaging), GIMP 2.2.8 (graphics editor), and Thunderbird (email client) 1.5.0.2.
The 2006-05 Symphony beta (685 MB) is now available for download from the project's mirror sites, Quinn said. You also can order the CD-ROM at On-Disk.com for $12.99, which contributes some of the proceeds to the project's hosting and development expenses.
Symphony 2006-05 beta screenshots are available from OSDir.com, here.
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