blacklist rt2800usb

iwconfig wlan0 power off

Why go lean when you can go leaner?

Ok, there are smaller, leaner distributions out there like Tiny Core or these two if you prefer a system that's in many ways similar, but PCLinuxOS Openbox is pretty good while still providing a full set of applications for the consumer desktop, incl. flash, multimedia codecs, wireless. More on that later. I thought of that line while deciding whether to go for the Openbox or the Lxde version. I've had a look at both, but Lxde (short for the light weight desktop environment) is always the same set of apps and the panel strikes me as not quite as elegant. I like the flexibility of modularity and in this case dropped for the Openbox version with the Tint2 panel. Apart from this both spins are almost identical, and for those that don't know, the Lxde desktop is also using Openbox for window management.

"Error: ./default_policy.sh does not support version"

Light weight Slackware derivatives Part 2 - Absolute Linux

Welcome to Part 2 of my loose series of reviews on light distros based on good old Slackware. After the first roundup in DWW #343 several readers expressed disappointment that Absolute Linux was not included and requested a review. So here we are. At the time it was all about comparing Xfce4 based distros. While we are waiting for both Wolvix and Vector Linux for a stable new release which I will eventually cover to conclude this series (both were more than a year old by the end of February 2010) I am going to take a look at the exciting blend that Absolute Linux is offering in its present incarnation, version 13.1.2.

This site is not a news or link aggregator but today I'll make an exception as earlier today news broke that the upcoming Debian 6.0 is now in feature freeze. Although not my main operating system any longer Debian is always one to watch for stability and the number of architectures it supports.

In consequence this means that no more new features will be added and
all work will now be concentrated on polishing Debian “Squeeze” to
achieve the quality Debian stable releases are known for.
The upcoming release will use Linux 2.6.32 as its default kernel
in the installer and on all Linux architectures.

This is a short guide on how to upgrade your SalixOS to the latest version, 13.1. I'm mirroring the instructions here in case it gets lost in the mist of time and for my own perusal. Please note this was not written by me. All credits go to the SalixOS user documentation team.

If you've had enough of First-person shooters, racing simulations and other high-octane gaming for a while and are looking for some peace and relaxation instead you might like this. I discovered Osmos thanks to this Debian guy's blog. As he says, it's not free software, but it's cross-platform and for only $10 you get the Mac, Windows and Linux versions. We'll probably never use the first two but hey. There's also a demo for each platform on the site.