Hasta La Gadget!

Remember that Steam for Linux beta we told you about a while back? It launched today, giving a selection of users a first glimpse at Steam running on Linux. The beta is limited-access, so users needed to sign up to get an invite. Even if you signed up, there’s still a pretty good chance you weren’t selected as a participant with this first round of invites – if that’s the case, then sit tight, because Valve will be sending out more invites to the beta soon.

Valve has been working on this beta for quite some time, testing it internally over and over again before finally letting some of its users in on the action. Team Fortress 2 comes included with the client download (it is free-to-play after all), but if you want to play some other games, you’ll be pleased to know that there are a total of 26 Linux games now available on Steam. Most of these titles are indie games, but there is one full-fledged retail game – Serious Sam 3: BFE – that sticks out from the bunch.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the indie games that are available for Linux on Steam have been featured in the Humble Indie Bundle before – one of the big draws of the Humble Indie Bundle is that it supports Windows, Mac, and Linux. You’ve got titles like World of Goo, Space Pirates and Zombies, Dungeons of Dredmor, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent to pick from, so it sounds like it’s time to get to playing.

At the moment, the Steam for Linux beta is only compatible with Ubuntu 12.04 and above. Steam for Linux team member Frank Crockett says that Valve will eventually release Steam for more Linux distros, but since an “overwhelming majority” of applicants said they’re running Ubuntu, that’s the distro that got it first. The Steam for Linux beta also includes big picture mode, and Valve assures that at some point in the future, the beta will be open for all Steam members to try. Stay tuned.

[via Valve]

Steam for Linux beta launches with 26 games is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It would appear that the folks at Google – or at least one of their ranks – wants to prove the versatility of the hardware behind the newest Chromebook on the market with a port of Ubuntu as an operating system. We’ve reviewed the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook in full and can say with some confidence that it’d be amazing to have more options than just Chrome as an OS, especially given the undeniably low price point of the unit at $249 USD. The process has already begun with Google’s Olof Johansson, right on down on the case – with a dirty port going strong here right as the Chromebook is arriving in mailboxes!

What Johannson has shown thus far is that he’s been able to do a “messy” dump of Ubuntu to his ARM-based Chromebook thus far, starting with putting the device in devmode. For those of you that wish to enter devmode, you can do it via instructions provided by The Chromium Projects – but KNOW THIS: you could seriously mess up your device if you do anything wrong inside this very fragile state. This mode is made for developers (and hackers) only, not the general public, and Google will most certainly not be apt to give you a new unit if you bust yours up from the inside out.

Johansson moved forward with a tarball Ubuntu filesystem he created himself with the “rootstock” tool – this available in a Ubuntu-distributed Ubuntu-core tarball if you like as well. The process requires a full-sized SD-card (which you’ll be popping in to the device in its handy-dandy full-sized SD card slot), and a few code tappings along the way. Of course it’s much more complicated than that, and you’ll want to check the full instructions over on the Google+ post that Johansson made just last night to make it all work.

It would appear that Johansson is essentially done with his part of the work here, pushing others to continue on at this point. If you’re a lover of the Ubuntu universe or just straight up want to get some other sort of operating system working on your Chromebook, let us know! We’ll be following this hacking project as long as there’s interest, folks!

[via Google+]

Samsung Series 3 Chromebook gets Ubuntu hack via Google itself is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’d rather not let your Nexus 7 live out its life as a Jelly Bean-toting device, Canonical’s freshly minted Ubuntu Nexus 7 Desktop Installer can help. Instead of allowing Ubuntu to ride shotgun with Android, the installer requires unlocking the device’s bootloader, which wipes the slate clean. Once the Nexus 7 is unlocked, started in fastboot mode and connected to an Ubuntu machine, the one-click installation software takes care of the rest. Roughly 10 to 15 minutes later, your tablet will be running full-blown Ubuntu. Since development is currently focused on getting the core of the desktop OS up and running, there’s no tablet-specific Unity UI to see here. However, Raring Ringtail is set to flesh out the mobile experience with an emphasis on sensors, memory footprint and battery life, among other features. Those who regret ousting Google’s confection-themed operating system can simply reload their device with stock Android. For the entire walk through, hit the first source link below.

[Thanks, Keith]

Filed under: Tablets, Software, Google

Ubuntu lands on Nexus 7 slates with Canonical’s one-click installer originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubuntu does seem to have shifted their attention to the tablet and mobile market, where you can check it out in the video above that shows off Ubuntu running on a Nexus 7 (yes, the Asus-manufactured tablet for Google). From Ubuntu 13.04 onwards, one will see Canonical devote more time as well as resources in order to measure the ‘core platform’ function against ‘mobile metrics’ including battery life, memory consumption, and the likes. It makes sense actually, considering how the PC is giving up its space to other devices which are touch sensitive and more importantly, portable.

Mark Shuttleworth, after announcing the name of Ubuntu 13.04, did send a plea to developers to attend the upcoming Ubuntu Developer Summit that is happening in Copenhagen Denmark, while urging them to pack their Nexus 7s along as it would be the ideal ‘reference’ point.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nexus 7 tablet is best selling Android tablet in the UK, Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal is out now,

An Ubuntu release is always a momentous occasion for a large portion of the Linux community, although it’s coming with a mild share of controversy this time around. Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) is finished and brings with it support for pinning web apps to the Launcher as well as search that includes web results, detailed photo results and quick previews. They’re all appreciated upgrades — what’s raising hackles is the development strategy for 13.04, or Raring Ringtail. Company head Mark Shuttleworth wants a “skunkworks” approach that will silence pre-release discussion of some features outside of key, trustworthy community members. While there will still be open-source code and only a light layer of secrecy, Ubuntu’s progress in the near-term won’t be quite as transparent as we’re accustomed to with Linux. There’s a good chance that most end users won’t mind the difference enough to skip the download.

Filed under: Software

Ubuntu 12.10 launches with web apps and search, Canonical plans for more secretive 13.04 development originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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