1.2 Release Notes
Foresight Linux 1.2 released!
We are pleased to announce the latest stable release, Foresight Linux 1.2. It includes the latest 2.18.1 GNOME Desktop, released April 11, 2007. This is an update of the latest stable major Foresight Linux 1.1 / GNOME 2.18.0, released March, 2007.
Highlights from Release 1.2
- GNOME 2.18.1
- Linux Kernel 2.6.20.6
- Better Wireless Driver and overall hardware support
- Fixes for some Digital Cameras and Scanners to allow importing/scanning of images.
- Added Japanese support (fonts and keyboards)
- A new GNOME Display Manager theme. (guess what: it’s green! ;-) )
- New Epiphany Extensions: Greasemonkey, Tab States & Push Scroll.
- OpenOffice.org 2.2
- Thunderbird 2 RC1
Highlights from Release 1.1
To make it easier to browse the web Epiphany is now the new default web browser. Epiphany is a fast, lightweight and resource friendly web browser integrated with GNOME. Epiphany includes Smart Bookmarks that search your bookmarks while you type in the address bar, a customizable interface and extensions to add additional functionality. If you prefer, you can alternatively use Firefox 2, also installed by default on Foresight Linux, with all its extensions.
For users with visual impairments, Foresight comes with a flexible, extensible, and powerful assistive technology: Orca. Orca uses a combination of Braille, speech synthesis and magnification to make it easier for users with visual impairments to use their computer.
With the Evince document viewer you now have a more advanced presentation mode. Evince will also stop the screensaver if one is detected. Evince supports many popular formats: PDF, Postscript Multi-Page TIFF, DVI, DjVu, Impress.
Tomboy note taking application now supports: bullet points, search, pin notes and backlinks.
Foresight is providing a faster search with the combination of Beagle via the Deskbar that now supports Drag & Drop and Firefox 2.0 search engines. By typing search terms into the Deskbar entry in your panel you are presented with the search results as you type.
Seahorse lets you manage many kinds of keys and passwords. Seahorse enables you to encrypt, sign, decrypt and verify the contents of the clipboard.
And last but not least, GnomeScan, a scanning application. Gnome Scan was started as a Google Summer of Code 2006. This now replaces Xsane.
Miscellaneous
The GNOME Power Manager can now control processor frequency scaling, and save additional battery power, in addition to using less system memory.
The Volume Control now has a reasonable layout for advanced sound cards, such as the Audigy 2. System Preferences has also received a major cleanup – autostart applications are now easier to find and much more.
Fun
There are two new GNOME games:
a Chess game (glChess)
and a Sudoku game (GnomeSudoku)
Internet multiplayer support have also been added to Gnibbles, Iagno and Four-in-a-Row!
Post Installation Suggestions
It is recommended to run “sudo conary updateall” after a fresh install to get the newest changesets. Be informed that this can take up to 15 minutes the first time you run updateall. If you have any questions please visit our website at http://www.foresightlinux.org.
If you choose to update from the Foresight System Manager after a clean installation, the default login is:
- User Name: admin
- Password: password
Getting Help
Help is available in many forms, and you can choose what you’re most comfortable with.
Chat: Visit the Foresight IRC channel, #foresight on Freenode, and ask questions. We have one of the most friendly IRC channels you’ll come across with everyone from users to developers reaching out to help answer questions.- Forums: Our forums continue to grow, and can be a good source of information in seeing if a specific problem or question has come up before.
- Wiki: Documentation on the wiki is growing on a daily basis, with updates often to the Frequently Asked Questions and other how-to’s to get you going with Foresight Linux.
- Mailing Lists:
o General List: General discussion around Foresight Linux
o Commits list: (high traffic): All package commits are emailed to this list
o Packagers List: Discuss packaging applications for Foresight using Conary and rBuilder
o Developers List: Discuss topics related to Foresight development projects
Contribute to Foresight Linux
Foresight Linux needs you! Contributing is much easier than you think. Help answer questions on IRC, triage bugs, submit patches, become a package maintainer using the Conary and rBuilder toolsets or join the security team.
Contribute to the wiki, including:
- Joining the Marketing team
- Writing documentation
- Artwork
- Translating Foresight into other languages
Contributions make open source work, and the community is made up of people just like you.
Get it & use it
All in all Foresight 1.2 builds on the success of the 1.1 release, and should be more usable, less resource intensive and more fun than any previous release. You can download Foresight Linux at:
Visit our screenshots section to see what Foresight looks like.
The Foresight Linux Team
April 11, 2007