Welcome !

Use the drop-down menu to the left to navigate these pages.

This website is under constant construction. Some pages may be incomplete. But there have been requests, so I'm making the material available. What is here is correct, as far as I know, but may be missing supplementary information that will be added as time/energy permits.

Current

November, 2008

2008-11-12: Worldwide spam declines after McColo is taken off line

The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide dropped drastically today after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations allegedy engaged in spam activity was taken offline, according to security firms that monitor spam distribution online.

Full story [external link]:
Host of Internet Spam Groups is Cut Off
Spam Drops After Internet Providers Disconnect a California Hosting Firm
2008-11-12:    Free download of Solaris 10
Free Solaris 10 10/08 download:
Download Requirements:
   * 10 GB of free disk space required
   * High-speed Internet connection
   * DVD (recommended) or CD burner
   * 1 DVD+R or DVD-R or 6 700MB CD-Rs

Solaris description: from home page [external link]

The Solaris Operating System—supported on over 1000 x86 and SPARC platforms—delivers the performance, stability and security your users and customers demand. With more applications available than for any other open operating system, one OS can span your entire enterprise: the Web tier, the data warehouse, and the most demanding technical compute applications. Moving to Solaris 10 is easy, whether you're upgrading from an older Solaris release or migrating from another OS.

Link to free DL on this page: http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/get.jsp?cid=e7340a

What? No updates since August?

Sorry, but I've been too busy with other projects to keep the front page of SBLinux.org up-to-date. Please do stop by at the SBLinux Forums, where other members of SBLinux.org also post.

What's keeping me busy right now is the revision of the MEPIS Linux User's Manual for Mepis version 8.0, which is currently in Beta 4 testing. Documentation Project manager Jerry Bond started cracking the whip early enough that we are not in time trouble at this point, and so we're adding some more info, not just revising/updating the details from M7 to Mepis 8.

Another project I've been working on is The MEPIS Community Website. Mepis developer Warren Woodford is happy to let us use the Mepis name, but this is not an official website of his firm, Mepis LLC. This is the site where we bring together all of the current information not only about Mepis development, but also the various Projects that the Mepis user's community has organized.

Noteworthy is the Community Packaging Project, which maintains a repo with additional software packages that are not included in the official Mepis repository or in the corresponding Debian repository. In some cases we have more recent versions of programs, in some cases it's progs not in the Debian or Mepis repos at all. I'm not part of the Packaging team, but I think they're doing a great job. Check them out here: Packages and here: Packaging Project. Kudos to Brooko, Marcos and the rest of the crew!

You can find out more about other Mepis Community Projects here:
Mepis Community Projects directory

August, 2008

News:

11 August, 2000: Warning, Will Robinson! All your VM's are belong to us
As of tomorrow morning, VM's running on all hosts with ESX 3.5U2 in enterprise configurations will not power on. VMotion/HA/DRS will probably also not work.
Boom.
Apparently, there is some bug in the vmware license management code. VMware is scrambling to figure out what happened and put out a patch.
Running VM's will not be immediately impacted.
There is a major discussion going on in the vmware communities about the issue:
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/162377?tstart=0
Read more of this article in Matthew Marlowe's Blog:
All your VM's are belong to us
    Patrick Verner announced the 3.0 release of Parted Magic, a specialist live CD distribution designed to facilitate hard disk management tasks: “This new release of Parted Magic has the most aggressive changelog of any release to date. Almost everything has been updated and redesigned while doing our best to maintain the same user interface. The most significant changes are the additions of HAL and dbus, new Xorg server, basic wireless detection, FireFTP, udpcast, Linux-2.6.26, and many other updated and new programs. Parted Magic also has a new GRUB version of the iso and the USB version is GRUB-ready. People have been asking for a ‘Save Session’ function and we added it.”

Visit the project's news page and check out the latest changelog for a complete list of fixes and package updates.
DistroWatch has a nice mini-review here (right-click and open in a new tab or window).
>>        Parted Magic Home Page
>>        Download: pmagic-3.0.iso.zip (43.8MB, MD5sum here).

July, 2008

NEW LINUXTRACKER WEBSITE DESIGN !
If the logo to the left looks familiar to you. . . well, it will soon fade in your memory. LinuxTracker.org has a new graphic design!
Converting everything over to the new look has been full of headaches. Some for me, working on translating a graphic designer's vision into workable .css and xhtml. A lot for webmaster Mark Angeli, who also has had to make it all jibe with the javascript and database requirements of the tracker software he's running.

Things are pretty much under control by now, so stop in and see the new look. While you're there, you could also join and help seed a few Linux Distros. . . maybe even contribute financially to LinuxTracker's upkeep!
>> LinuxTracker.org . . . the Premier Linux BitTorrent Website!
20 July, 2008
The SBLinux Forum is down. . . along with everything else at freeforums.org.
This also affects the antiX Forum at the same site. For antiX questions, please go to the antiX forum section at MepisLovers.org
This may be temporary, associated with freeforums' upade to the new version og phpBB software. I'll post a notice here when I have more information.

Sorry for the inconvenience,
--SilverBear
UPDATE!
A few hours later: SBLinux member wcc1776 reports all is well and we're back on line at the forum.
Thanks, Wayne!
09 July, 2008: Internet-wide DNS bug Story:
Here is the story: The Internet Gets a Patch, As DNS Bug is Fixed
This article indicates:
“Although this flaw does affect some home routers and client DNS software, it is mostly an issue for corporate users and ISPs (Internet service providers) that run the DNS servers used by PCs to find their way around the Internet, Kaminsky said. "Home users should not panic," he said in a Tuesday conference call.”

This is not legal or technical advice from SBLinux.org! Purely as an opinion: if you want to run the test available at http://www.doxpara.com/ it will check what DNS server you use —or more likely what your ISP uses— and see if the patch has been applied or not. If it has not, you can then “bug” your ISP, if you want to.

The official US-CERT vulnerability note is here: Vulnerability Note VU#800113: Multiple DNS implementations vulnerable to cache poisoning
My suggestion is to do nothing if you are just a regular computer user. As Robert Anton Wilson says: "Everything is under control." ;)

June, 2008

26 June, 2008: Sidux 2008-2 Έρεβος [Erevos]

A little later than planned due to a number of library transitions in Debian/ sid, we now have the pleasure to announce the immediate availability of sidux 2008-02 "Έρεβος", shipping in roughly ≈470 MB kde-lite flavours for amd64 and i386 (i686), a combined i386+amd64 release with ≈1.5 GB KDE for kde-full and, as usual, an xdelta to add initial localisations for all currently supported languages. Enhancing the sidux family, a roughly ≈420 MB large XFCE variant has been added for amd64 and i386 (i686) for the first time.
sidux is a full featured Debian sid based live CD with a special focus on hard disk installations, a clean upgrade path within sid and additional hard- and software support. The ISO is completely based on Debian sid, enriched and stabilized with sidux' own packages and scripts.
>>      Release Notes
>>      Torrent download: Sidux 2008-02 KDE full (i386 + AMD64 + language packs) 1.99GB ISO
>>      Torrent download: sidux ver. 2008-02, liveDVD "Erebos" with KDE for i386 & amd64 1.47GB ISO
>>      Torrent download: sidux 2008 02 erebos xfce i386 408.57 MB
>>      Other sidux ISO torrents
27 June, 2008:       One more step for freedom: Pardus 2008
New version of the Pardus project, Pardus 2008, improved by the latest technologies and up-to-date applications, has been released. As always, Pardus 2008, is being freely distributed under the terms of GNU General Public License (GPL). In compliance with the main goals of the Pardus project, Pardus 2008 has lots of new features for ease of installation and use, both at the infrastructure and interface level. In addition Pardus 2008 provides enhanced hardware support, stable and reliable Linux infrastructure and numeruous applications on a single CD. You will go through a brand new experience of freedom, using Pardus 2008
>>      Release Notes
>>      Bit-Torrent download
“We wish you days in freedom, using Pardus 2008...”
24 June, 2008: New Kubuntu Community Forum

KubuntuWay.net is the latest project that the Kubuntu users' community has launched: a full-feature Forum for people who like their Ubuntu Linux with the distinctive KDE desktop. While the focus is on shared support among users of Kubuntu, site admin Johnny Utah stresses that he'd like to see users make it a distinctively relaxed and community-oriented site, not just another tech-support site.
Hey, it's no secret SilverBear is a KDE kind of guy. . .so it should be no surprise for you to hear me say: "GO. . .go, Johnny, GO!"
24 June. 2008:      Archlinux 2008.06 - "Overlord"
Simo Leone reports:
The 2008.06 images are out. This release introduces many changes.
- 'base' category is always installed
- Use of UUIDs for persistent device naming
- Availability of USB disk images alongside traditional ISOs
- True live Arch installation environment
- Inclusion of the beginner's guide from the wiki
- Documentation updates
- Includes the current stable kernel, 2.6.25.6
Read the original here: http://www.archlinux.org/news/398/
>>      Torrent download: archlinux-2008.06-core-i686.iso 290.67 MB
>>      Torrents for other 2008.6 ISOs
21 June, 2008: Happy Summer Solstice to you!
I promise I'll update the site by the end of the month.
17 June, 2008: Wine 1.0 Released
The Wine team is proud to announce that Wine 1.0 is now available. This is the first stable release of Wine after 15 years of development and beta testing. Many thanks to everybody who helped us along that long road!
While compatibility is not perfect yet, thousands of applications have been reported to work very well. Check http://appdb.winehq.org to see the details for your favorite applications.
The source is available now. Binary packages are in the process of being built, and will appear soon at their respective download locations.
07 June, 2008: Wedding Bells

Not much has been done at SBLinux.org lately because my daughter was married on June 7th! For some pix, including SilverBear walking her down the aisle in pic #2, go here: Wedding photos of Jade and Dave

May, 2008

16 May, 2008:

Asus to embed Linux into all motherboards
Asus is to embed a lightweight, instant-on version of Linux called “Splashtop” into all its motherboards, following good feedback from customers.
On Wednesday, DeviceVM, the company behind the distribution, said the hardware manufacturer would be putting “Splashtop” — which Asus calls “Express Gate” — into a million motherboards a month. Splashtop includes a Firefox-derived browser and the Skype internet-telephony application.
09 May, 2008: antiX 7.2 has been released!
And here is a bit-torrent download from LinuxTracker.org: bit-torrent DL for antiX 7.2 full ISO from LinuxTracker.org
So far the only announcements:
anticapitalista's announcement on mepislovers.org
SilverBear's announcement & torrent link on antiX.freeforums.org
05 May, 2008: Puppy Linux 4.0 released Announcement and release notes for Puppy Linux 4.00:
“Finally it has happened! The last official release of Puppy was version 3.01, released October 15, 2007. Version 4.00 is happening 6 months later, which is an incredibly long time considering the previous frenetic schedule of releases. Anyway, here it is: the live-CD file is 'puppy-4.00-k2.6.21.7-seamonkey.iso' and is just 87.1MB.” Download from http://puppylinux.com/download/.
02 May, 2008: Patrick Volkerding has announced the release of Slackware Linux 12.1:
Well folks, it's that time to announce a new stable Slackware release again. So, without further ado, announcing Slackware version 12.1! Since we've moved to supporting the 2.6 kernel series exclusively (and fine-tuned the system to get the most out of it), we feel that Slackware 12.1 has many improvements over our last release (Slackware 12.0) and is a must-have upgrade for any Slackware user.
This first Slackware edition of the year combines Slackware's legendary simplicity (and close tracking of original sources), stability, and security with some of the latest advances in Linux technology. Expect no less than the best Slackware yet.
Order the official installation DVD from Slackware store (US$49.95)
or download it
via BitTorrent: slackware-12.1-install-dvd.iso (3,862MB)
The Arch Linux Experience is a new SBLinux section that has three contributed articles, in addition to an intro to the Arch Experience by me, and an article I'm writing bit-by-bit concerning my experiences installing and configuring Arch, with plenty of grousing and tips along the way.

Recommended recent distro releases [listed alphabetically] :

64 Studio is a GNU/Linux distribution tailor-made for digital content creation, including audio, video, graphics and publishing tools. A remix of Debian, it comes in both AMD64/Intel64 and 32-bit flavours, to run on nearly all PC hardware. Our tweaks to Debian include simplified installation and default settings which help get production underway quickly. It's our target that users should be able to get from a blank hard disc to a fully hardware-optimised and usable creative desktop in just half an hour.
> Home Page > Manual
> Download Links page
> 64Studio 2.0 version DESIGNED FOR 32-BIT COMPUTERS [bit-torrent]
Many GNU/Linux distributions define themselves as “simple”. However, simplicity itself has many definitions.
Arch Linux defines simplicity as a lightweight base structure without unnecessary additions, modifications, or complications, that allows an individual user to shape the system according to their own needs. In short; an elegant, minimalist approach.
A lightweight base structure does not mean that the base system is small. Rather, the base system is devoid of all clutter that may obscure important parts of the system, or make access to them difficult or convoluted. It has a streamlined set of configuration files that are arranged for quick access and editing, with no cumbersome graphical configuration tools that tend to hide possibilities from the user. An Arch Linux system is therefore readily configurable to the very last detail.
> Arch Linux Home Page
> forums > wiki
> Latest Core Installation ISO: base system only [bit-torrent]
SilverBear tip: Not for Linux newbs! And you will need the Beginner's Guide and Installation Guide from their Wiki page. There is an FTP installation ISO that is even smaller than the Core, but I don't recommend it.
2008-04-22 Robert Shingledecker has announced the final release of Damn Small Linux 4.3 Run your computer off a business-card sized Live CD! What else is there to say? It's 48.56 MB
. . . damn small!

> Home Page

> Damn Small Linux 4.3 [bit-torrent]
Mandriva Linux One: Spring!
Spring has sprung in France and it is beautiful! One of the most impressive things about firing up the newest Mandriva release —and it comes on a LiveCD so you can try it without installing— is how good you feel just looking at it. Polished graphics in a harmonious overall design make it seem exciting to be with this Mandriva KDE desktop. I found the LiveCD had excellent hardware detection for both my 6-month old custom-made desktop machine, as well as my 2004 Toshiba portable computer. The correct widescreen video resolutions, automatically. One-click connnection to my home network by ethernet, and also on my laptop's wifi. I was so impressed I installed it on my Toshiba. No problems so far, and with just a little tweaking I've used it to contol my desktop machine [the Klingon] via a remote buffer interface [KDE's software on both ends.] I'll go into more detail after some time and, no doubt, some kind of problems. But for now, its a Mandriva Spring . . .and I'm in love!
> Home Page
> Mandriva linux One 2008 Spring KDE international ISO [bit-torrent]
MEPIS 7.0 is based on Debian 4.0 [“Etch”], and has long been a pioneer, offering a LiveCD that includes an installer. The combination of user-friendliness, variety of software, and power-user potential is unrivalled, IMHO. Add to that the most friendly and helpful User Support at MepisLovers.org, and there you go!
> MEPIS FTP Download mirrors here > MepisLovers.org Forums
Don't junk your old junker! antiX is a MEPIS-derived distro that is designed to give new life to older, low-power spec computers. In most cases it will run faster today on antiX than it did on MS-Windows when you bought it!
> All active, seeded MEPIS Torrents, including antiX
3/03/08 - Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna KDE Community Edition release.
Daryna KDE is nearly as minty as the main edition now. The packages are (safely) upto date and the kernel is the Gutsy Gibbon kernel 2.6.22-14.
See release notes for known issues with the KDE version: > release notes
> download Linux Mint 4.0 KDE [bit-torrent] The ISO is 996.49 MB; you'll need to burn it on a blank DVD.
    Patrick Verner announced the 3.0 release of Parted Magic, a specialist live CD distribution designed to facilitate hard disk management tasks: “This new release of Parted Magic has the most aggressive changelog of any release to date. Almost everything has been updated and redesigned while doing our best to maintain the same user interface. The most significant changes are the additions of HAL and dbus, new Xorg server, basic wireless detection, FireFTP, udpcast, Linux-2.6.26, and many other updated and new programs. Parted Magic also has a new GRUB version of the iso and the USB version is GRUB-ready. People have been asking for a ‘Save Session’ function and we added it.”

Visit the project's news page and check out the latest changelog for a complete list of fixes and package updates.
DistroWatch has a nice mini-review here (right-click and open in a new tab or window).
>  Home Page
>>        Download: pmagic-3.0.iso.zip (43.8MB, MD5sum here).
Slax 6.0.5 is ready
Tomáš Matějíček has announced the release of Slax 6.0.5
Slax is a modern, portable, small and fast Linux operating system with a modular approach and outstanding design. Despite its small size, Slax provides a wide collection of pre-installed software for daily use, including a well organized graphical user interface and useful recovery tools for system administrators.
[Despite the impression the green 4-leaf clover logo might give you, Slax is based in Czech Repuplic, not Eire.]
Slax is a Slackware-based bootable LiveCD containing a Linux operating system, designed with a modular approach. Despite its small size, Slax provides a wide collection of pre-installed software for daily use, including a well-organised graphical user interface and useful recovery tools for system administrators. It also comes in a tarball that can be extracted directly to a USB flashdrive for a bootable system. Slax 6.03 uses KDE 3.5.9, and the ISO is still only 191.06MB!
> Slax home page > Download Page
> The Slax Torrent page at LinuxTracker [bit-torrent]
Ultimate Edition 1.7 is based off Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon: a Live & Installation DVD with many pre-loaded softwares using Reconstructor, ease of use, customized look & feel, extended hardware support (3D graphics, wireless) & custom repository with many additional softwares, games & updates.
> Home page
> Ultimate Edition 1.7 Gnome & KDE [bit-torrent]
This release features fully working browser plugins including Flash, java, mp3, real media, Windows media, pdf and Quick time. Additional features include: X.org 7.3, Linux kernel 2.6.22.14, fully customized Xfce 4.4.2, Fluxbox, Jwm, SeaMonkey Internet Suite 1.1.7, Firefox 2.0.0.11 and Opera 9.5.0 beta1 (so you'll be sure to have your favorite browser!). Abiword and Gnumeric for your office tasks. We include our own suite of gui configuration and support tools such as Vasm, Vwifi and Gslapt. There is a full set of the latest wireless drivers and configuration tools, support for read and write to ntfs via fuse and ntfs-3g. We have games lots of games. Printers, scanners and cameras are supported as well. Popular programs like amarok, openoffice, kde-3.5.8 and many others are available in our repository which currently boasts well over a thousand of the most popular linux applications and support software. Other news with this release is VLpackager, an easy way to package source code into usable binary packages and at long last a GUI control center dubbed VasmCC. We also have a modified version of cruxports for those wishing to easily build software that may not have made it to the repository yet.
> Home Page
> Vector Linux 5.9 GOLD edition [bit-torrent]

Celebrity News:

Tux has a summer job selling Linux Ice Cream in Irving, NY.

some thoughts:

What is “SilverBear Linux?”

Not a new Distro. It doesn't need to be. All versions of GNU/Linux are adaptable to SilverBear Linux. SilverBear Linux is a style, a plan, a way to approach secure and efficient personal computing. SilverBear Linux is cool. Cool in it's real meaning: do it right the first time. . . and then sit back and enjoy.

You start with a GNU/Linux distro that you like. But be cool: make sure you like it because it works, not because of hype or nostalgia. Then use the features of GNU/Linux to make your personal computing secure, convenient, and [saving the best for last] your style.

Too many Linux users are stultified by years of Microsoftening of the brain, or by holdover concepts that suit Unix on a mainframe but have less relevence to a desktop PC. SilverBear Linux is akin to what Joe Sobran calls Reactionary Utopianism. You make sure of the solid, basic, time-tested principles, and then make the best world you can from that starting point. Chuck all the junk that has grown up over the years. Be loyal to the real thing, and to the real you.

Key concepts

Computers are supposed to make life easier, not harder. . . [“Duhh!”]
It's your computer!
The mind is free, and so is knowledge. Drop your chains.
The operating system, your installed applications and your personal data are three different things. So treat each according to its nature.
If you do it right the first time, you're done. Work is over, the Weekend starts early. . .and —face it— life is short!
Back it up or lose it, idiot. Now.
I'm talking to you!
The only thing you have to fear is premature ossification. Stetch your body and your mind every day.
There is always another aspect to things which is not included in any list you are given. Learn how to figure it out, and you will become happy. At least for a while. . .

legal stuff

filename: http://www.sblinux.org/index.html
XHTML and CSS design is Copyleft 2008 by John G. Boice under the GNU General Public License
for the text of the GPL :
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt or http://sblinux.org/pages/gpl.txt
Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Briefly: this means you can freely use the content, specifically this CSS and XHTML layout, or a modified version of it, or incorporate a part of it in another document, but not without including this Copyleft notice in it's entirety at the end of the copy, modified document or other derivative document which includes this Copylefted material. You may not charge a fee or price for this document nor any document that is a modified version of it nor any document which contains a portion of it. This summary is for general information purposes: the Copyleft is governed by the actual text of the GPL, a link to which is included in this notice.

How-to articles and software guides are Copyleft 2007 by John G. Boice under the GNU Free Documentation License. Basically this means the same as above, but this documentation Copyleft is legally governed by the actual text of the FDL, which may be found here, if thou need'st it:
http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/fdl.txt or http://sblinux.org/pages/fdl.txt

SilverBear Linux and SilverBear's Linux Pages names and logos are protected marks of John G. Boice.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Tux the Penguin is the Official Linux mascot. Permission to use and/or modify this image is granted provided you acknowledge Larry Ewing: lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP as the software used to design him.
Microsoft, Internet Explorer, and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
All other names of Operating Systems are most likely registered trademarks or copyrighted names, too. They are used here to publicize the corresponding legitimate product of their respective companies and organizations.