Software

LINUX PICKS AND PANS

Cut Yourself a Tasty Slice of Gnome-Pie App Launcher

Gnome-Pie could be one of the best user interfaces for accessing menus on any Linux desktop. It is a radial visual application that keeps your hands on the keyboard or the mouse to quickly launch any application. Launching frequently used programs could not be easier or more fun. Gnome-Pie brings fu...

Jason Huggins took Web browser and website testing to new levels. Pushed by several Aha! moments, he recognized a pressing need for automation in applications testing. He also discovered that no existing proprietary software provided cross-platform features. What did not exist in a marketable box, H...

LINUX PICKS AND PANS

Ubuntu’s Raring Ringtail Is Kind of a Snore

The latest release of Canonical's Ubuntu Linux distro, version 13.04, or Raring Ringtail, comes with a big yawn factor. I get a growing sense that the company's rejections of users' criticisms of Ubuntu's native Unity desktop portray Canonical as Microsoft in a penguin suit. Regular Ubuntu users of ...

Luke Kanies has a passion for the Puppet language he created. He always wanted to start a software company with Puppet as its foundation. The problem he faced was how to make the open source model support his software innovation without getting lost in the process. After eight years as founder and C...

Pencil is an advanced drawing and animation tool that creates traditional, hand-drawn 2D animations and static sketches. Think of this animation/drawing application as an Etch A Sketch with colored sand on steroids. Pencil creates bitmap and vector images. Finished animations can be exported as a PN...

CAST Software is a software analysis and measurement firm that uses an automated approach to capture and quantify the reliability, security, complexity and size of business applications. A main company objective is increasing software assurance around reliability and security of applications deliver...

Canonical has released Ubuntu 13.04, also known as "Raring Ringtail," on the desktop. However, the release failed to thrill many reviewers, whose complaints included the point that Canonical had left out several features, including privacy protection and the Windows-based Ubuntu Installer. "In the r...

LINUX PICKS AND PANS

When It Comes to Installation, xPDF Has a Hex on It

If you are looking for a fast, reliable, trouble-free, lightweight PDF viewer, and you stumble upon xPDF in your distro's app listings -- keep stumbling. Chances are it will not run on your Linux configuration. In theory, xPDF is a promising alternative to PDF viewers available for the Linux deskto...

LINUX PICKS AND PANS

Knoppix Pulls a Lot More Than Its Own Weight

Knoppix is a lightweight Linux distro that is anything but light in its features and functions. It equals or exceeds the performance of all the desktop varieties I run in Ubuntu and Linux Mint. It also could easily replace the portability on a stick I get with Puppy Linux. Knoppix, much like Puppy L...

An attack of unprecedented proportions has been hitting sites using WordPress, a free and open source blogging tool and content management system that powers more than 60 million websites worldwide. Attacks have been launched from more than 90,000 IP addresses, according to HostGator. CloudFlare sai...

LINUX PICKS AND PANS

Need a Great Archive Utility? Give PeaZip a Chance

PeaZip is a handy utility for reducing the size of large files and archiving different files into one big container. Unlike most file compression tools for Linux, PeaZip's user interface makes it easy to manage. When it comes to zipping and unzipping files, simplicity counts for most everything. Pea...

LinuxInsider Channels