Vector 6.0-SOHO beta 3 is out for testing

[vector]

The VectorLinux development crew is proud to announce the beta3 release of VL-6.0-SOHO. The SOHO project is VectorLinux for the small office or home office (thus SOHO) as such is larger than our other releases. The challenge is to keep SOHO as fast and as stable as the rest of the Vector family and we think we have met that challenge!

The SOHO beta3 release is based on the latest KDE-4.3.4 with many graphical and system enhancements. We have included all the productivity software one would need like Digikam, koffice, the gimp, k3b, scribus, OpenOffice and Inkscape to name a few. The kernel is version 2.6.31.11 which adds new wireless network possibilities along with greater speed and stability. The GUI installer first introduced in the VL standard 6.0 release has seen futher refinements since our last beta release. Support has been added for a wider range of graphic chipsets and both lilo and grub bootloaders. Importing user accounts from previous installs is now possible provided a seperate home partition is used.
X.org has been upgraded to version 7.4 to expand the useable hardware base for SOHO.

We have included out of the box multimedia support so that all of the popular formats play without the need for searching for third party downloads to play a certain format. We also have the latest amarok 2.2.2 for your music appreciation.

The beta3 release includes several installer fixes and updates as well as package updates to OpenOffice. Amarok, Inkscape and several other system improvements. Anyone that had installer problems with the beta2 release is encouraged to give this a try so we know the installer bugs are corrected. Please post your results to the forum topic below so that we can evaluate our progress. Please remember no posts mean that everything is perfect and we can stop and go final. If thats not the case then you need to tell us so we can fix issues and get to the final release.

http://forum.vectorlinux.com/index.php?topic=11214.0

The two install iso's are here:

http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3.1.iso
http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3-CD2.iso
http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3.1.md5sum
http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3-CD2.md5sum

Enjoy,
Vec and the Crew

[prince]

Slow down, please.  Still, no Compiz by default, on a Linux system, why not?  There is a little wanderlust with the mouse pad awhile resting finger on pad.
Why so fast when the next KdE 4.4 beta is just around the corner?
When might the 64bit dreams come true?  Even-though, the Gateway MT3707 still struggle with bootup speed, the
Vector Linux Soho 6.0 is so good I'll definitely give the Beta 3 a try!   

[prince]

Well, the biggest problem I had with the Soho B2 is when I clicked on this (red icon) update-package-notifier the mousepad stopped working after auto installing a hibernate/sleep mode package.

[MikeCindi]

B2 was working well for me; looking forward to working with B3.
Posting checksums with the iso link would be helpful.
Mike

[vector]

B2 was working well for me; looking forward to working with B3.
Posting checksums with the iso link would be helpful.
Mike

OK good point the checksums are up.

Cheers,
Vec

[MikeCindi]

Thank you (the files are not showing up yet so I'll check later).

update: still no checksums showing up on the server.

[newt]

Try here:
http://140.211.166.134/pub/vectorlinux/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3.1.md5sum   
http://140.211.166.134/pub/vectorlinux/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3-CD2.md5sum   

Not sure why this occurs but same thing happened to me when VL6 Light Live was released.

[MikeCindi]

Thanks newt.

[kirby]

Tried to install B3 on a machine with 4 existing partitions.

I wanted to install to hda3 which has 20G free

hda1 - CentOS 5.4  (Red Hat Enterprise Build)
hda2 - swap
hda3 - free - 20G <-- where I wanted to install B3
hda4 - Vector 5.9.1-SOHO

Graphic installer got to the screen which read:

Disc Partitioning Option

There were two selections available through a selection button:

Help Me Resize  (this one was available - but this is not what I wanted to do)

Partitioned Install VL to existing partitions   (this one was grey and not selectable - which is what I wanted to do)

I guess 20G is plenty to install the B3 version?

I went ahead and selected the Help Me Resize just to see if I could get an install done but GParted said near the bottom of the screen "No Device Detected."

One thing different on this machine is that CentOS put a 'Label' on hda1 when installed called '/1'. This is only seen if using cfdisk but not fdisk. I've never had a need to use 'Labels' when defining partions but just thought I might mention that in case it is a problem.

[alextaylor]

The VectorLinux development crew is proud to announce the beta3 release of VL-6.0-SOHO. The SOHO project is VectorLinux for the small office or home office (thus SOHO) as such is larger than our other releases. The challenge is to keep SOHO as fast and as stable as the rest of the Vector family and we think we have met that challenge!

The SOHO beta3 release is based on the latest KDE-4.3.4 with many graphical and system enhancements. We have included all the productivity software one would need like Digikam, koffice, the gimp, k3b, scribus, OpenOffice and Inkscape to name a few. The kernel is version 2.6.31.11 which adds new wireless network possibilities along with greater speed and stability. The GUI installer first introduced in the VL standard 6.0 release has seen futher refinements since our last beta release. Support has been added for a wider range of graphic chipsets and both lilo and grub bootloaders. Importing user accounts from previous installs is now possible provided a seperate home partition is used.
X.org has been upgraded to version 7.4 to expand the useable hardware base for SOHO.

We have included out of the box multimedia support so that all of the popular formats play without the need for searching for third party downloads to play a certain format. We also have the latest amarok 2.2.2 for your music appreciation.

The beta3 release includes several installer fixes and updates as well as package updates to OpenOffice. Amarok, Inkscape and several other system improvements. Anyone that had installer problems with the beta2 release is encouraged to give this a try so we know the installer bugs are corrected. Please post your results to the forum topic below so that we can evaluate our progress. Please remember no posts mean that everything is perfect and we can stop and go final. If thats not the case then you need to tell us so we can fix issues and get to the final release.

http://forum.vectorlinux.com/index.php?topic=11214.0

The two install iso's are here:

http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3.1.iso
http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3-CD2.iso
http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3.1.md5sum
http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/iso-test/VL6.0-SOHO-B3-CD2.md5sum

Enjoy,
Vec and the Crew

Vector 6.0-SOHO BETA 3.

I used a COMPAQ Presario desktop I have used since 2006. AMD 64 Processor-3500-2GB-120GB hard drive-NVIDIA GeFORCE
6150 LE Graphics.
 
Installation and post-install setup:  Installing the system was quick and painless. It installed less than thirty minutes.

My formatting options:
I utilized my existing partitions using / exl4-reiserfs /dev/sda1-115GB and /dev/sda5 4919 MB Swap.
I used the full / total install default software selection and 1024/768 resolution. Dic #1 finished, and than put in
Dic #2.
I answered the usual questions and setup an adm. password and user info. / password. I removed Dic#2.
No problems @boot. The Desktop loaded very quickly  initial boot took about thirty seconds.  The wired network defaulted automatically.
I set the local time, reduced the desktop icons to 32. I don't like much on a desktop. It was necessary to open the sound mixer and adjust the channel configuration. I increased the PCM to the volume level I needed. This needs to be done with most all distros.

That was the setup.  Done.

I followed my usual routine: Secure the updates using Gslap, opened Firefox, Google, Msnbc, a music Dvd.
Everything worked 100%. I held off my usual hacking and used all defaults.  The Desktop loaded very quickly.
The web page renderings were sharp, clear and very pleasing on my eyes. This is not a geek only OS, Vector 6.0-SOHO is every one's desktop. I only looked @ it as a desktop user.
This is a polished desktop offering more than all the necessary applications.

I works flawlessly No problems. Sorry, nothing to report. Is it Vector 7.0 yet?

Regards,
Alex

[Dweeberkitty]

Slow down, please.  Still, no Compiz by default, on a Linux system, why not? 

KDE4 includes window composting by default. You can find it by going to System Settings-->Desktop-->Desktop Effects. Then you can enable the Desktop Effects which is the equivalent of Compiz on KDE. I was a bit skeptical at first about KDE writing their own composting effects but by my experience, they made a good choice since so far it has proved much more stable and integrated than compiz. But of course we can argue that KDE doesn't include nearly as many composting features as compiz, but the inclusion of compiz would seem somewhat redundant and by my books is not much loss since KDE has plenty of composting effects.

[Dweeberkitty]

VL6 SOHO is looking good!!! Here are some screenshots of my system:

[prince]

Vector is looking very good, Dweeberkitty. Are you using Compiz ... or KDE to get that cube?

[prince]

X.org 1.8 is just around the corner 

[Dweeberkitty]

Vector is looking very good, Dweeberkitty. Are you using Compiz ... or KDE to get that cube?

Prince, that is KDE you are seeing. I also have all the wobbly window business and all the other important effects turned on. It is quite smooth actually; but I can't wait to see how KDE 4.4 performs!