• CFD,  openSUSE

    Installing Salome-Meca 2009 on OpenSUSE 11.1

    Salome® is a very powerful open source  integrated platform for numerical simulations, including an advanced computational code, called Code Aster®. My interest in Salome is due to its geometry generation capabilities, because it integrates a versatile CAD and a mesher, with automatic generation of hexahedral and tetrahedral meshes. The geometry generation is very useful also to create .stl files to use with tools like OpenFOAM® snappyHexMesh automatic mesh generator. Installing Salome from sources might be challenging, and packaging it for a specific distribution represents a lot of work. However, an alternative and easier way to install Salome on a Linux system is represented by the self-contained package Salome-Meca, which can…

  • CFD,  openSUSE

    Adobe Reader 9.1 on openSUSE 11.1 64 bit

    A new version of Adobe Reader is available from Adobe’s website. To download it select the English version, and Linux – x86 RPM to obtain the RPM package. No 64 bit version is available, as a consequence some additional work is necessary to make the browser plugin work. The procedure is very simple: Download the RPM and install it using the command: rpm -Uvh AdbeRdr9.1.0-1_i486linux_enu.rpm Type the following command in a root console: ln /opt/Adobe/Reader9/Browser/intellinux/nppdf.so /usr/lib/browser-plugins/nppdf.so At this point Firefox will use the browser plugin to open PDF files. Note: If you have a previous version of Adobe Reader installed, remove it before proceeding with the installation. To perform this…

  • openSUSE

    Geeko wants you!

    OpenSUSE has now a new page, dedicated to who needs help inside the community, and also to those looking for information on how to help and participate to the openSUSE project. The page is dedicated to the lovely chameleon, and as a consequence I called it Geeko wants you! The content and the design of the page are of Rémy Marquis (spyhawk on IRC), who actually reorganized the whole Task page. Thank you! On my side, I simply merged it with the new page, adding some explanation and modifying the structure here and there. Come, join openSUSE and enjoy! 🙂

  • Linux,  openSUSE

    OpenSUSE testing

    I have recently proposed the creation of a community-based openSUSE testing team, and prepared a short presentation to illustrate what are, in my opinion, the current situation and some of the problems, looking at how these could be fixed. My proposal came probably a bit late, because during the openSUSE 11.1 development phase, some step in the creation of a testing group was done, and I did not know of it. In particular, I would like to sum up the efforts already done: Testing wiki page. OpenSUSE testing mailing list: opensuse-testing@opensuse.org. Email here to subscribe. IRC channel: #opensuse-testing on Freenode servers. The idea of creating the testing team has been…

  • Linux,  openSUSE

    Installing Dropbox on openSUSE 11.1

    Dropbox is an online file storage and syncronization tool, that offers to its users 2GB of free space or a commercial option with 50GB of space. The service is managed using a small application, available for Windows, Mac and Linux, directly using the operating system file manager. On Linux, dropbox provides a plugin for the Nautilus GNOME file manager, and an applet for the GNOME panel. To install Dropbox under openSUSE 11.1, you simply need to follow this procedure: Install it from the openSUSE buildservice, using 1-click install. Open a terminal in your home directory and execute: cp .xinitrc.template .xinitrc Edit your ~/.xinitrc file Locate the “# Add your own…

  • openSUSE

    OpenSUSE 11.1 box arrived!

    The openSUSE team sent a very nice openSUSE 11.1 boxed version to me as a gift for some bugreporting activity I did during the release cycle. The box contains: One dual-layer DVD with the 32 and 64 bit version of OpenSUSE 11.1 and one additional CD with commercial software, both packaged in a single disk box. The openSUSE 11.1 start-up guide. Two openSUSE stickers. A very nice and powerful flashlight branded by our loved chameleon Geeko (batteries included). As an additional gift, a personalized T-Shirt with the openSUSE logo on the front part, and a recognition to contributors on the back (iContribute) was included. You can see it in the…

  • openSUSE

    OpenSUSE 11.1

    OpenSUSE 11.1 was released last week featuring a whole new set of applications and improvements, spread all over the distribution. The release is available as a DVD or an installable DVD, and can be downloaded from the official website. A complete list of new features can be found here. The release comes with GNOME 2.24, KDE 4.1, OpenOffice 3.0 Novell edition, and other major updates to the main applications. One of the most discussed novelties of the 11.1 version is the new licence agreement, which does not require to be accepted at the installation time (actually it is implicitly accepted at download time, as written in the first few lines…

  • openSUSE

    An example to follow

    When I started to use SuSE, GNOME was a second class citizen in the distribution, with very limited support and limited attention from the developers. After the creation of the openSUSE project, things changed positively in different ways, and I think the openSUSE community should consider the GNOME team and the way it grew and make the community grew around it as a model. I will sum up its history, for those that do not know it or just started to take part to the openSUSE community recently. When the openSUSE project was started, only a few developers were involved in GNOME for what concerns openSUSE, and the quality of…

  • openSUSE

    OpenSUSE seen by a long time user

    I have recently asked on suseitalia what the users know about the openSUSE board and its election process because I had the feeling many of the community users didn’t know anything about it. My suspect is confirmed, at least by the few answers received in the thread, which surely have no statistical value. However, in the same thread, a long time SuSE and openSUSE user, ferdybassi, made a more general comment about openSUSE and its community, pointing out some of the problems I believe are damaging the distribution myself. I will translated his comment (italic), and add my view. Surely they are chaotic in organizing resources, communication and work, and…