Skip to Content

Submit your nominations for the Luxist Awards' Best in Decor
AOL Tech

distribution posts

Filed under: Games

1 in 5 UK gamers prefer to download their games

Findings in a recent report presented at the London Gaming Conference last night show that 7% of console - and 14% of PC-gamers prefer to download their games in digital, no-box-or-paper-instruction-booklet format.

This isn't as big news as it seems though, as many PC owners also own consoles, and vice-versa -- and I bet there's some cross-over in the demographics.

But, with the recent take-off of digital-only download services like Direct2Drive, Valve's Steam, and Microsoft's LIVE Marketplace, it's no surprise that gamers have been enjoying the lower prices and quicker delivery times inherent to such services. As game developers continue to jump on-board with these services and reap the higher profit margins, we can expect the trend to continue.

As always though, when there's a shift in sales, someone has to lose out -- even if it's not the customer.

In this case it's the real-world shops like EB Games and Game. They've often relied on value-added deals to turn a decent profit -- buy two games, get a third free, that kind of thing -- and with more and more people staying home (really, the number of reasons to leave your home is getting quite low...), I think game stores will soon have to mix things up, or die.

[via Neowin]

Filed under: Linux, Open Source

Gentoo to celebrate tenth birthday with new live DVD


Venerable Linux distro Gentoo will hit the decade mark this December, and they're celebrating the milestone with a new live DVD release.

Born as Enoch Linux in 1999, the distribution has slipped a bit in popularity over the years, yet it still provides a solid foundation for other distros. Like Debian was supplanted by Ubuntu, Sabayon - which is Gentoo-based - maintains a spot in the top ten on Distrowatch.

The anniversary build will be the first (and likely only) Gentoo release of 2009. A sneak peak of the release is already available via the US and EU mirrors for those who want to check it out now. As Phoronix points out, there aren't yet any 10th anniversary customizations in the snapshot builds. You'll just be getting a look at the current default packages for now.

[via Phoronix]

Filed under: Business, Developer, Adobe

Adobe gets into advertising biz, teams up with Gigya

After Adobe's recent acquisition of analytics giant Omniture for $1.8 billion, there was a lot of speculation that Adobe was beginning a foray into the advertising. Now we've got some more clues, since Adobe's partnering with Gigya, a company that distributes widgets and advertising. Now, Adobe's got its fingers in every part of the process, from content creation to ads to analytics.

Adobe's new Distribution Manager lets developers share their Flash widgets on 70 sites, tracks traffic for the widgets, and serves ads. Destinations include Facebook, MySpace and iGoogle, amongst others. It also supports mobile devices, including Windows Mobile and Symbian phones. The iPhone is also (sort of) supported, but without Flash, the widgets have to be part of approved app store apps. Developers can follow their traffic and ads with - what else? - an Adobe Air app.

[via Techcrunch]

Filed under: Features, Linux, Open Source

Flipping the Linux switch: The distribution maze

Who doesn't love choices? You can "have it your way" at fast food restaurants. No two cars ever cost the same, because of add-ons and price negotiations. We like choice. It's a good thing.

Right?

Choice, really, is a double-edged sword. We get too many choices, and we can get easily overwhelmed. "Oh crud, another option..." leads to "What do I care?" leads to "Forget it." We either select our options without thinking through (or understanding) the consequences, or we drop what we're trying to customize without ever getting all the way through.

Choosing a Linux distribution is tough. We're not kidding. There are a lot of them out there... some wonderful, some not so wonderful, and some that are designed to fit very specific needs you may (or may not) have.

So how are you supposed to sort through them all?

Here's a hint. You don't. Not all of them, anyway.

Read more →

Filed under: OS Updates, News, Linux, Open Source, Beta

Zenwalk 5.0 beta is available for testing

ZenwalkWe have a confession to make. We are secretly, deeply, head over heels in love with Zenwalk Linux. Zenwalk is a Slackware-based distro. It's lightweight, it's modern, and though it may not be the easiest distribution to install, we've certainly had worse experiences.

Zenwalk 5.0 beta was released for testing yesterday. The 5.0 release has some major changes: the use of HAL in place of its own hotplugging system, updates to the Xorg X servers, and the Wicd wifi-browser. Zenwalk still uses Xfce (4.4.2) as its default desktop environment, along with the Icedove email client and Iceweasel browser (both Thunderbird and Firefox compatible).

We've been playing with Zenwalk 5.0 beta for a day now. It's everything we've come to expect from Zenwalk, the speed and stability, the flexibility, and the nice interface. There were a few little problems at install (needed to boot with the "noapic" kernel parameter to avoid a panic) and beyond (video card driver installation is hardly ever fun). These little issues aside, the beta bugs seem minimal.

Zenwalk may not be the best choice for a first Linux distro, but we'd highly recommend giving this beta a try if you're comfortable with a more text driven install process. Meanwhile, our hearts are pounding and our palms are sweaty, waiting for the final release of Zenwalk 5.0. Love is so hard.

Filed under: Business, Developer, Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Commercial, Freeware

Install creator makes installs easy

I have a large project for work that I have been developing for over three years now. A while back I needed a way to quickly and easily install the application on a user's PC's from a remote location. I have users in six states, and while I wouldn't mind visiting Hawaii, the company doesn't think I need to do so to get my app installed. The Install Creator program from Clickteam offers a free alternative. Unfortunately for me, this means I won't be going to Hawaii anytime soon, at least not on the company's dime. Clickteam's light-weight but fully featured solution does a great job. Everything is modifiable, including the image placement, icon settings, and even the installer's text prompts. This installer is much easier to use than Nullsoft's Installer, which requires a bit of scripting knowledge. The only catch is that the free version displays a text ad promoting the installer maker on the install creator at the end of each install, so your unsuspecting users know how you did it. A small price to pay for being able to save the company some money. Too bad my boss already bought a ticket to Hawaii and didn't tell me...yeah right.

Filed under: Audio, Business, Internet, Utilities, Web services, Google, Mozilla

Google and Mozilla have another distribution partner

google firefox real playerGoogle and Mozilla know how to push their software out to the masses. People love their software, and do pretty much anything to get it out there, either through word of mouth, or through distribution deals with the likes of Dell and other major players in the technology industry.

Google and Mozilla have teamed with RealNetworks to distribute their popular software even further. For the past few years Google has already had a partnership with Real for software distribution. Now another multi-year deal was recently struck between the three companies, giving users the option of downloading and installing Firefox, and the Google Toolbar when they are downloading RealPlayer. Hooray for Google and Mozilla! More exposure for these killer applications.

Filed under: Linux, Commercial, Open Source

Linspire announces community-driven Freespire

FreespireLinspire, the Linux distribution criticized by some for being full of proprietary drivers and software, is trying to go the way of Fedora with a new "community-driven" distribution called Freespire. Two version of Freespire will be released, one with proprietary software and one without. The really-free version won't, for example, come with DVD playback, which users will instead have the option to purchase. Groklaw calls it "nauseating," saying, "this is what happens when proprietary folks who are not from the community show up prospecting for gold. They can't change their thinking, which is that they want to make money by hook or by crook." Freespire will be released in August, likely at San Francisco's LinuxWorld West.

[Via Slashdot]

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio

Joystiq

TUAW

Daily Finance

Autoblog

Urlesque

Engadget

WoW

Switched.com

FanHouse