Linux Mint Debian 2 release candidate available

Linux Mint Debian 2 release candidate

Linux Mint Debian 2 has an official release candidate available for download. Linux Mint Debian 2 RC offers the Cinnamon or MATE desktop environments.

The Linux Mint blog has full details about the Linux Mint Debian 2 release candidate:

LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) is a very exciting distribution, targeted at experienced users, which provides the same environment as Linux Mint but uses Debian as its package base, instead of Ubuntu.

LMDE is less mainstream than Linux Mint, it has a much smaller user base, it is not compatible with PPAs, and it lacks a few features. That makes it a bit harder to use and harder to find help for, so it is not recommended for novice users.

LMDE is however slightly faster than Linux Mint and it runs newer packages. Life on the LMDE side can be exciting. There are no point releases in LMDE 2, except for bug fixes and security fixes base packages stay the same, but Mint and desktop components are updated continuously. When ready, newly developed features get directly into LMDE 2, whereas they are staged for inclusion on the next upcoming Linux Mint 17.x point release.

Consequently, Linux Mint users only run new features when a new point release comes out and they opt-in to upgrade to it. LMDE 2 users don’t have that choice, but they also don’t have to wait for new packages to mature and they usually get to run them first. It’s more risky, but more exciting.

More at Linux Mint Blog

You can use these torrent links to download Linux Mint Debian 2 RC:

Linux Mint Debian 2 RC 32-bit

Linux Mint Debian 2 RC 64-bit

Be sure to read the list of known problems with Linux Mint Debian 2 RC. If you hit any snags you can also check the Linux Mint forum for feedback and assistance.

Best Android Wear apps

Android Wear watches are proving to be increasingly popular with many users. Amazon even has a list of the best selling smartwatches on its site. But how do you know which apps are worth trying on your Android Wear smartwatch? Tom’s Guide has a list of the best Android Wear apps to date.

David Murphy reports for Tom’s Guide:

Android Wear smartwatches do a good job of delivering notifications and other alerts to your wrist, but the fun really starts when you start downloading apps that add even more functionality. Although the selection of Android Wear apps is small for now (just more than 200), there are already some pretty compelling options in the Google Play store. You can order food, control the lights in your home, keep tabs on your fitness and more — right from your watch.

Before you get going, you’ll need to download the full apps to your Android phone. The best part is that most of these options are free. You’ll need to make sure you’ve set up an account in each service before you open the apps on the smartwatch. Here are the best Android Wear apps so far.

Wear Aware

At Work

Advanced Wear Visualizer

Slumber

Hue Control

Calculator for Android Wear

List

Flopsy

InstaWeather

Authenticator Plus

Bubble Cloud Launcher

Pizza Navigator

IFTTT

Duolingo

The Guardian

Eat24

Facer

Coffee for Android Wear

Tinder

Runtastic

LookBehind

Wear Mini Launcher

Wear Audio Recorder

More at Tom’s Guide

BioShock Infinite released for Linux

BioShock Infinite is a 3D shooter that should hold wide appeal for many dedicated gamers. The game has finally been released on Linux, and you can get it today on Steam.

Marius Nestor reports for Softpedia:

2K Games promised at the end of 2014, on their Twitter account, that the awesome BioShock Infinite game would arrive on Linux starting early 2015. Today, we can confirm that BioShock Infinite is available on Steam for Linux, but it appears that the game only works with the proprietary video drivers from Nvidia or AMD. Intel video cards are out of the question for the moment!

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter (FPS) video game that has been developed by Irrational games and published by 2K Games. In this game, you play the role of U.S. Cavalry veteran Booker DeWitt, a hired gun, wants to wipe his slate clean while attempting to rescue the mysterious Elizabeth girl who is locked up in the flying city of Columbia.

More at Softpedia

Liam Dawe at GamingOnLinux shares his thoughts after playing BioShock Infinite:

Performance wise it’s actually quite solid. I was surprised at how smooth everything was, and it has put VP up in my books a lot. We always place credit where it is due, and the porting this time around was fantastic. The main issues with TW2 were the terrible performance of the initial port, and the poor communication at the start, so it seems they have worked some magic here. Testing it initially on High, at 1080p has been giving me a very smooth game, and some solid framerates.

It’s really nice to be able to enjoy the game, especially as I’ve never played it before and the graphics are really quite good as well. The story seems pretty interesting, and the world is vibrant and full of people chatting away for you to listen in on. I have literally no idea what is going on, but it’s keeping me very interested to find out more.

As you progress further into the game, you will note some parts get a bit grim. Picking up a fire “Vigor” will show your fingers melting away which is both horrible and awesome at the same time. The jumping mechanic from hook to hook was pretty fun too, and I had no idea this game had elements like that in it. While above on a hook you can do a special strike on enemy soldiers too, and that was awesome to fly down and pulverise them.

More at GamingOnLinux

Here’s a video preview of BioShock Infinite that will give you an idea what to expect from the game:

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