An up-to-date look at free software and its makers

PROJECTS ON THE MOVE

Article from Issue 59/2005

Author(s): MARTIN LOSCHWITZ

Free software covers such a diverse range of utilities, applications, and other assorted projects that it can be hard to find the perfect tool. We pick the best of the bunch. This month, we discuss Ubuntu, Debfoster, and Deborphan.

Don’t expect the software patent directive to disappear from your screen just because the EU parliament rejected it; new initiatives have been announced by both friends and opponents of software patents. Ubuntu and Debian Debian [1] is not considered a newbie-friendly distribution. The install is too complex, and despite attempts at automatic hardware detection, even something as simple as attaching a USB stick poses a seemingly impossible task for non-experts.

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