PCLinuxOS 2014.12 released

PCLinuxOS 2014.12 released

PCLinuxOS has been updated to version 2014.12, and you can download it in a variety of flavors including the super-humongous 4.8 GB Full Monty version that comes with tons of additional software.

The PCLinuxOS site has details about this release:

PCLinuxOS

PCLinuxOS 2014.12 isos have been released for Full Monty, KDE, MATE and LXDE. Highlights include kernel 3.18.1, ffmpeg 2.5.1, mesa 10.4.0, SysVinit (no systemd) and all popular applications such as Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice and VLC have been updated to their latest versions. Please note if you have been keeping up with your PCLinuxOS software updates then there is NO NEED to install fresh from a 2014.12 iso. These ISOS are final releases based on legacy technology. Future releases will default to grub2 and support uefi and gpt partition formats.

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PCLinuxOS 2014.12 downloads:

PCLinux OS 2014.12 Full Monty 64-bit

PCLinux OS 2014.12 KDE 64-bit

PCLinux OS 2014.12 LXDE 64-bit

PCLinux OS 2014.12 MATE 64-bit

If you aren’t familiar with PCLinuxOS, you might want to browse the About PCLinuxOS page for general information about it:

PCLinuxOS is distributed as a LiveCD, and can also be installed to your computer. The LiveCD mode lets you try PCLInuxOS without making any changes to your computer. If you like it, you can install the operating system to your hard drive. Locally installed versions of PCLinuxOS utilize the Advanced Packaging Tool (or APT), a package management system (originally from the Debian distribution), together with Synaptic, a GUI frontend to APT for easy software installation. PCLinuxOS has over 12,000 rpm software packages available from our software repository.

PCLinuxOS has a script called mylivecd, which allows the user to take a ‘snapshot’ of their current hard drive installation (all settings, applications, documents, etc.) and compress it into an ISO CD/DVD image. This allows easy backup of a user’s data and also makes it easy to create your own custom live CD/DVD.

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Is Linux on ARM different?

While most people run desktop Linux via x86 based computers, it’s quite possible to run it on ARM-based systems as well. A redditor asked if the experience of using Linux is any different on ARM processors.

Mighty_Mac sought feedback about ARM and Linux from his fellow Redditors:

So I’m going to be running Linux on an ARM processor and got to wondering, can I still run the same programs on it as regular desktop versions or do I have to find a special ARM version? Are there any other differences I should know about?

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Potatoriffic notes that applications need to be compiled for ARM:

The applications need to be compiled for ARM, but typically that’s it.

Edit: that is, if you run a distro that has an ARM port, like Debian’s arm-hf, you get essentially all the same packages on ARM as you’d use on your x86-64 desktop installation of Debian.

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Iggy_Koopa notes that some popular applications like Steam might not be available:

Most programs that you get through normal repositories will work fine. They do need to be compiled for arm, but most distros have an arm repo. Some software doesn’t have an arm version, mostly 3rd party stuff like steam. In general I haven’t had too many problems, my main issues have been graphics support (depending on the board a lot of them only do OpenGL ES, not regular OpenGL), and kernel updates can be a little behind.

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Android Studio 1.0 released

Google wants to make it easier for developers to build Android apps. So it has released Android Studio, a new tool that goes beyond the previous one called Eclipse.

ReadWrite reports on the release of Android Studio:

Android Studio improves on Eclipse, the previous Android software tool, in some significant ways—in part by offering simpler startup, a intelligent code editing and more options for “building” apps from the underlying code. The new environment is built on a popular Java tool, the IntelliJ IDEA (Community Edition) Java development environment, and offers both cosmetic and analytical improvements over its predecessor.

Features include a first-run setup wizard, sample importing and code templates, emulators and a “User Interface Design,” which lets developers preview Android Layouts in various screen sizes, languages and API versions (see our API explainer).

More at ReadWrite

You can download Android Studio or get more information on its site:

At the core of Android Studio is an intelligent code editor capable of advanced code completion, refactoring, and code analysis.

The powerful code editor helps you be a more productive Android app developer.

More at Android Studio

You can also read the official announcement on the Android Developers Blog:

Today we are excited to introduce Android Studio 1.0. Android Studio is the official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) from the Android team. It is built on the popular IntelliJ IDEA (Community Edition) Java IDE.

If you are currently developing for Android or thinking about getting started, now is the time to download Android Studio 1.0 (or upgrade if you are using an earlier version). Similar to the Chrome release channels, Android Studio will continue to receive updates on four different release channels: Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary. Canary builds are at the bleeding edge of development, while the stable release is fully tested. With this range of release channels you can choose how quickly you want to get the latest features for Android Studio.

More at Android Developers Blog

What’s your take on all this? Tell me in the comments below.