FOSSPICKS Sparkling gems and new releases from the world of FOSSpicks Free and Open Source Software Mike Saunders has spent a decade mining the internet for free software treasures. Here’s the result of his latest haul… Image editor LazPaint 6.2 azPaint is an image editor Like Gimp, LazPaint is a bitmap somewhat akin to Paint.NET image editor with various tools for Lon Windows. Its name stems creating shapes, transformation from the IDE used to build the effects (such as rotation and program – Lazarus – which lets resampling) and multiple-level developers write applications in undo/redo. Extra dialogs for Object Pascal. Unusually, Lazarus managing layers, colours and can build the same program using additional tools are available via the different graphical toolkits, so in the View menu – and from here, you downloads section for LazPaint can also enable a grid that’s (hosted on SourceForge) you can displayed over the image when fi nd pre-compiled binaries using Gtk zoomed in. This is particularly and Qt. This helps the app to fi t in useful if you’re making per-pixel better with your desktop, so it won’t edits to an image, as is common in look ugly in Gnome, Xfce or KDE. video game sprite work. We used the Gtk version, and our Also like Gimp, LazPaint has a main gripe with the interface is the bunch of fi lters including blurs, LazPaint can import 3D models, such as this sinister Mario head. tiny toolbar buttons and other sharpen, emboss and contour. The controls. On a high-resolution range isn’t as extensive as Gimp’s, and some of them threw up bizarre display, they’re almost comically error messages in our testing small and hard to make out. Still, “Like Gimp, LazPaint is a bitmap (“Access violation” anyone?) but on they all have decent tooltips, so the whole they work well. It’s also after a few minutes of hovering the image editor with various tools possible to render various textures mouse and making mental notes, for creating shapes and effects.” from inside the program, and even the interface becomes usable. import 3D models. Along with its native .lzp format, LazPaint can also save images to PNG, JPEG, TGA, TIFF, BMP and other formats. In all, LazPaint isn’t as feature- packed as Gimp, which might lead many to ask: what’s the point of it? Well, if you’re happy with Gimp’s interface, fair enough. But we know that a lot of people don’t like how Gimp looks and works, and LazPaint provides a great deal of the same functionality with a simpler (and arguably more approachable) design. So we’re glad there’s some more variety in our choice of Linux The teensy-tiny toolbar is really fi ddly to work image editings. with at fi rst, but at least the buttons have PROJECT WEBSITE www.facebook.com/LazPaint tooltips. 68 www.linuxvoice.com FOSSPICKS Operating system ReactOS 0.3.16 or all its successes, Free albeit with plenty of rough edges Software is especially good and various missing pieces. Fat cloning existing projects. Most of the standard Windows This doesn’t mean there’s a lack of tools are available though: a imagination – just that it’s often command line prompt, text editor, better to re-use an existing design Paint-like program, Control Panel rather than re-invent the wheel and so forth. And while many of every time. Richard Stallman took these have been created from this exact approach when creating scratch for ReactOS, a great deal of GNU, which is famously “not Unix” code has been taking from the Wine but based very closely on the project, which helps to cut down on design and structure of that OS. duplication of effort. Now, ReactOS is a Free Software In many parts, clone of Windows, aiming to be In the last couple of years, the How’s your luck? ReactOS’s interface is a compatible with that OS’s So, the big question is: how good is pixel-perfect clone of ReactOS team has tried to boost applications and hardware drivers. the compatibility? It’s a mixed bag, Windows 9x/2000, interest and contribution from the It’s debatable whether Windows is a and programs that don’t run well on which could get wider open source community with sensible design to copy, but in any Wine (see https://appdb.winehq. Microsoft grumbling fundraising projects. Ultimately, we case, the goal is that we’ll all have a org) tend to break on ReactOS too, one day. think it would progress more free (as in freedom and beer) OS on in our experience. You’ll have more quickly with some solid commercial which to run legacy Windows luck with early-2000s applications, backing – but we can understand applications. ReactOS has been in as support for the Windows API of that many companies don’t want to development since the late 90s, and that time is more complete – many touch it with a 50ft barge pole, in we take a peek at it every few years recent programs simply won’t start case Microsoft tries to stomp it to see how it’s shaping up. at all. Still, ReactOS isn’t short of down with legal action. Helpfully, the development team software, thanks to an Application Nonetheless, ReactOS is an makes it available in various Manager that downloads (mostly impressive effort and deserves formats: a live CD image, an open source) Windows programs more fame. Hopefully it will reach a installation CD image, and virtual from the web and installs them. So level of sufficient stability and hard drive images for VMware and you can get Firefox, AbiWord, chat completeness to run most older VirtualBox. We took the latter for a clients, various games and other Windows XP programs without spin, which worked fairly well, system tools with just a few clicks. problems, to help those who don’t although it booted into a terrible want to “upgrade” to Windows 16-colour mode that looked “ReactOS isn’t short of software, 7/8/10 and can’t switch to Linux for completely pants. A quick tweak in whatever reasons. the Control Panel soon sorted that thanks to Application Manager that out, however. By and large, ReactOS PROJECT WEBSITE downloads programs from the web.” www.reactos.com looks and feels like Windows 2000, How it works: Adding applications 1 Menu 2 Searching 3 Install ReactOS isn’t supplied with a web browser, Go into the Internet & Network category on the After you’ve selected a version, click Install in so go to Start > Programs > ReactOS Applications left. Various versions of Firefox are available – in our the top-left and the program will be retrieved from Manager to bring up the software exploration tool. experience, the older ones tend to work more reliably. the web. You’ll then find it in the Start menu. www.linuxvoice.com 69 FOSSPICKS Window manager Window Maker 0.95.6 teve Jobs will be extra graphical fluff including remembered for many themes and gradients. This window Sthings: shiny iGadgets by manager hasn’t seen a great deal of most people, and a purveyor of activity in recent years, but given walled garden “digital prisons” by that it was one of our favourites in some in the Free Software camp. the early 2000s, we’re glad to see But one of Jobs’s lesser known it’s still receiving minor updates. creations is Next, a computer Window Maker is all about the company he built after being dock in the top-right corner. Try booted out of Apple. Next sold right-clicking on the desktop to tremendously powerful (and equally bring up a program menu, launch Window Maker is highly expensive at $9,999) workstation something, and then drag its icon Window Maker is fast, fluid and customisable, and easy machines that never achieved (usually found in the bottom-left of to tweak thanks to the attractive, providing a genuinely widespread popularity, but left their the screen) onto the dock. This will supplied confi g tool. fresh approach to the desktop. It’s mark on the industry. The fi rst ever save it as a launcher for later. You way less demanding on the RAM web browser was written on a Next can slide the dock around by banks than the big desktops such box, for instance. clicking and dragging on the top as KDE and Gnome, but is still more Anyway, the Next operating icon, and change launch settings approachable and easy to system had an attractive and novel for the icons via right-click context customise than the ultra-minimal interface that’s signifi cantly menus. A confi guration tool is window managers. We hope it different to the usual taskbar-plus- provided for setting up the window stays around for years to come. program menu approach we’re all manager – so you can customise it familiar with. Window Maker apes without having to manually edit PROJECT WEBSITE www.windowmaker.org this very closely, while providing confi g fi les. Trimmed-down systemd alternative uselessd 2 espite the fact that Systemd resource limits – but that’s it. Unlike has been adopted by almost Systemd, Uselessd won’t keep Devery major distro, internet growing and taking over other parts debates are still raging about it. of the core system, such as logins Proponents say it simplifi es and and network management. streamlines the Linux boot process, There are some other changes providing extra features for process too.