FOSSwire

As is traditional with development Ubuntu releases, whenever the first alpha (or in this case, Tribe) is released, I download and install it in a virtual machine. This release is no different. And if you have a dying ambition to install it right now, I suggest you hold back. You won't find too much different from Feisty.

Of course, the main thing to note for this release is it is ("was" by now) an exact copy of Debian unstable. Which means you have the bleeding-edge versions of:

• GNOME
• KDE
• XFCE
• The Gimp
• Pidgin

and all of the packages currently in Universe. It's all new.

However, even though everything is new, you won't see anything too new. Notable upgrades are Pidgin and Gimp, but thats about it. GNOME for now pretty much looks the same, however do note that we are still very early in the development phase.

Gimp is probably the big upgrade here. It seems to have had quite a bit of a usability overhaul. The default windows and toolbars are much more organized.... and well, I'll save the rest for my next posting. ;)

One thing I do want to note was how surprisingly stable it was. It never crashed once on me. Granted, by tomorrow when I update it, it will probably start to kernel panic, but for now it is very fast and stable.

That does not mean you should be out downloading and installing it on your main desktop. No no no, people would be mailing me to no end if I recommended that.

Use a virtual machine, or an old machine. Just not your main one.

Update: Shortly after I posted this, I received three emails about GTK 2.12, which has been decided to integrate into GNOME. The feature list is quite massive to say the least, but it looks like we'll be getting a lot of theme and usability upgrades.

A bit late of a posting, but an announcement was made in Ubuntu Dev Announce about a new version of Ubuntu, in addition to the "Free" version:

Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded Edition: designed for mobile devices, possibly Pocket PC or Palm style.

This means we now have:

• Ubuntu
• Kubuntu
• Xubuntu
• Ubuntu "Free" (no name)
• Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded Edition

Whether the Mobile and Embedded and Free editions will also have Kubuntu/Xubuntu variants remains to be seen, but the possibility is there and it could happen.The full announcement for UM&E, which at the time of writing has not made it out of the development list yet onto any official Canonical-sponsored site:

At the heart of the Ubuntu project lies a belief that open source software
and technology can play a key role in enabling individuals to achieve their
potential. A central goal has been the creation of a world-class, free and
open source operating system that we have worked to make accessible across
notebooks, desktops, thin clients and servers.

Three years on, it is clear that new types of device -  small, handheld,
graphical tablets which are Internet-enabled are going to change the way we
communicate and collaborate. These devices place new demands on open source
software and require innovative graphical interfaces, improved power
management and better responsiveness.

Intel, specifically, have announced a new low-power processor and chipset
architecture which will be designed to allow full internet use on these
mobile Internet devices.

To fulfil the aims of our mission and in response to the technical
challenges that these devices pose, we are announcing the Ubuntu Mobile and
Embedded project.

We will start more detailed planning at the Ubuntu Developer Summit next
week in Seville and the first release of this edition will be in October
with Ubuntu 7.10. If you are interested in the project, please get involved.
We will be working through our normal development processes on Launchpad,
the developer mailing lists and IRC.

Finally, we are delighted to be working with Intel on this version of
Ubuntu. Intel are making significant contributions of technology, people and
expertise to the project. We hope that others who are interested in
producing an easy-to-use and open source environment for this class of
device will join us in making this a success.

If you own a website, chances are that you need to use a database to run many site operations. For the most part, people use MySQL.

Most hosts offer a solution to manage your database. A common choice for this is phpMyAdmin. But, for many, phpMyAdmin can be slow or feel bloated on slower connections.

Then, there is the group of people who aren't offered the luxury of phpMyAdmin or even SSH. There is no way to access the database unless you install your own software.

I was one of those unlucky people working on an unnamed server without a MySQL management area. At first, I tried to install phpMyAdmin. While powerful, it is a massive download and takes a lot of configuration to get working.

I googled for a PHP MySQL manager. One of the results that I got was a sweet little app called tinyMy.

Installation was simple. All I had to do was upload the file. (If your MySQL server is not 'localhost', you will have to change that before you upload.)

The front page greets you with a simple login box. I typed in my database username and password, and it instantly opened and showed all of my databases. I clicked on a database and table, and it listed the structure and contents. This was the perfect lightweight solution I needed.

The only caveat with the script is the fact that there is no GUI interface for managing tables and fields, only to view. You will need to know MySQL to manage the database, but if you have the MySQL documentation ready it should not be a problem.
If you are a MySQL user who needs a way to manage your databases from the web, then this application is perfect for you. At 7 KB, how can you go wrong?