| Debian 6.0 debuts FreeBSD version, splits off suspect packages |
Feb. 07, 2011
 The Debian Project announced a stable Debian 6.0, code-named "Squeeze," available for the first time in a preview FreeBSD version. Debian 6.0 also offers a faster, dependency-based boot system, streamlines installation procedures, and segregates non open source firmware for separate download, permitting "free" installations.
Debian, which is seeing its first major release since Debian 5.0 ("Lenny") arrived in two years ago, forms the basis for a number of desktop, embedded, and server-oriented Linux distributions, most notably underlying Ubuntu. However, many technically minded users also prefer to use it in its native form, especially on servers.
Debian is prized for its purity and stability, not for its embrace of wild-eyed features, and Debian 6.0 is typically conservative in its release choices. For example, Debian 6.0 is based on the 14-month old Linux 2.6.32 and X.Org 7.5. Desktop environments include the default GNOME 2.3, as well as KDE Plasma Desktop 4.4.5, Xfce 4.6, and LXDE 0.5.0.
Debian 6.0
Source: The H
(Click to enlarge)
The release is said to offer compatibility with software developed for Linux Standard Base (LSB) 3.2, and complies with the related LSB Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) v2.3. Support has also been added for the Ext4 and Btrfs file-systems, says the project.
Debian includes more than 29,000 software packages, built from nearly 15,000 source packages, says the Debian project. Application updates are said to include OpenOffice.org 3.2.1, MySQL 5.1.49, Apache 2.2.16, and Xen Hypervisor 4.0.1. Squeeze also uses Iceweasel 3.5.16 and Icedove 3.0.11, unbranded versions of Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, respectively.
Some 10,000 of the packages are said to be new. These include the Chromium browser, the Icinga monitoring solution, the Wicd network manager, the Lxc Linux container toolset, and the Corosync cluster framework, says the project. Squeeze is also said to debut an Ubuntu-like Software Center package management front-end.
Debian 6.0 also debuts a dependency based boot system, "making system start-up faster and more robust due to parallel execution of boot scripts and correct dependency tracking between them," says the Debian project. In addition, a number of new features are said to focus on netbooks, including the use of KDE's Plasma Netbook shell.
Squeezing out proprietary firmware
Squeeze is touted as being the first Debian release to break off "problematic firmware files" from the Linux kernel, making it possible to run a completely free, open source version of Debian without proprietary drivers and other potentially unwanted packages. According to a first-look evaluation of Squeeze by The H, the kernel now ships only with software published under GPL or other OSI-compliant free licenses.
The problematic firmware have been split out into separate packages and moved out of Debian's default main archive into a special "non-free" section of the archive, says the project. The packages have also been left off the CD and DVD versions of Debian.
Newly optional firmware that did not make the cut include "some Advansys SCSI controllers, ATI and Matrox graphics cards, Ethernet adapters from 3Com and Broadcom, and various WLAN modules," says The H.
The Debian installation procedures have been enhanced in a number of areas. Improvements include a "greatly simplified" bootable USB installation, easier language and keyboard settings, and streamlined partitioning of logical volumes, RAID, and encrypted systems, says the project.
Debian 6.0 is also available in numerous custom versions, which are now called "Debian Pure Blends." New Pure Blends are said to include Debian Accessibility, DebiChem, Debian EzGo, Debian GIS, and Debian Multimedia. These are said to join popular custom versions including Debian Edu, Debian Med, and Debian Science.
Debian is available for Debian GNU/Linux: 32-bit PC / Intel IA-32 (i386), 64-bit PC / Intel EM64T / x86-64 (amd64), Motorola/IBM PowerPC (powerpc), Sun/Oracle SPARC (sparc), MIPS (mips (big-endian) and mipsel (little-endian)), Intel Itanium (ia64), IBM S/390 (s390), and ARM EABI (armel).
FreeBSD, meet Debian
The "Debian GNU/kFreeBSD" technology previews are currently available only on x86 platforms: 32-bit PC (kfreebsd-i386) and 64-bit PC (kfreebsd-amd64). The FreeBSD releases offer "strong" support for common server software, combining "the existing features of Linux-based Debian versions with the unique features known from the BSD world," says the project. However, the project goes on to note that "some advanced desktop features are not yet supported."
Like Linux, FreeBSD is an open source spin-off of UNIX. It is the most popular of a number of versions of BSD, and much of its code forms the basis of Mac OS X. Known for its reliability and stability, it is especially popular for use on web servers. According to a story in The Inquirer, one of the main draws of FreeBSD is its inclusion of the highly scalable, Zettabyte filesystem (ZFS).
Debian background
Debian 5.0 ("Lenny") added much-improved support for ARM-based devices, and a GoPlay! GUI for app discovery, among many other enhancements. Like Debian 6.0, Debian 5.0 took about two years to come out, following up on the April 2007 release of Debian 4.0 "Etch").
Debian 5.0 was followed by additional security-oriented updates in July 2009, which were released last June around the same time GNU founder and GPL author Richard Stallman blasted the Debian project for planning to include a version of GNOME with the Tomboy note-taking package. Including the Mono-based app runs the risk of Microsoft litigation over C# patents, he warned at the time. Tomboy still appears to be available with Debian, however.
Availability
Debian 6.0 ("Squeeze") is available now for free download in various forms. More information may be found in the release announcement, as well as the release notes, and an installation guide.
-- Eric Brown
Do you have comments on this story?
Talkback here
NOTE: Please post your comments regarding our articles using the above link. Be sure to use this article's title as the "Subject" in your posts. Before you create a new thread, please check to see if a discussion thread is already running on the article you plan to comment on. Thanks!
Related Stories:
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
