[yellowdog-announce] Terra Soft Launches Most Polished Yellow Dog to Date: Press Release 2006 01/05

[yellowdog-announce at lists.terrasoftsolutions.com]

TERRA SOFT LAUNCHES YDL V4.1

PHOENIX, Arizona - 5 January 2006 - Terra Soft Solutions, the leading 
developer of integrated Power Architecture Linux solutions is pleased to 
announce the release of Yellow Dog Linux v4.1.

This next evolution of Yellow Dog provides an incredible array of updates and 
improvements, the foundation for the most complete, integrated release to 
date:
    - Support for backlit keys.
    - PCMCIA cell phone and modem support.
    - Support for Atheros wi-fi cards.
    - Dual head config via the GUI.
    - Install direct to and boot from FireWire drives.
    - USB device auto-mount under both KDE & GNOME.
    - Greatly improved sound support.
    - Graphical Up2Date package install and update tool.
    - Support for the latest Apple PowerBooks.
    - Beta support for Apple G5 PowerMacs with dual core CPUs.
    - Basic 64-bit development and runtime support.

... and a completely rebuilt KDE and Gnome "start" menu for vastly improved 
navigation of the graphical user interface.

Terra Soft's co-founder and CEO offers, "Looking back I count eight years and 
a dozen releases since we powered-on Terra Soft. An additional six months 
prior were our first experiments with MKLinux ... [It would be] two years 
before the graphical installer was common-place. The following year we 
shipped our first pre-installed Apple computer.

"Over the years we integrated support for USB cameras, FireWire drives, 
wireless, 970 CPUs, SATA, InfiniBand and BlueTooth. They said it would never 
be done, but this fall a dedicated few produced beta support for Airport 
Extreme. A dizzying array of challenging complexity made simple in order that 
we may, through Linux, further our knowledge of the human DNA, improve the 
safety of our commercial aircraft, and deliver an email to a friend.

"And now from the top of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix Arizona, I am launching 
this press release via a PCMCIA cell phone, incorporating a digital photo 
taken just moments ago, and editing HTML on a server one thousand miles to 
the North.

"While internet connectivity via a cell phone is not new, consider that the 
individuals who made it possible for Linux were not likely paid to do so, or 
the company for which they work released the result of their effort as a 
contribution --a clear demonstration of the power of the open-source 
community.

"While press releases typically follow a template for self-promotion and 
product availability, I desire to instead give credit to the Linux community 
for what I am able to do here today. While our six months labor in producing 
this highly integrated, refined release was tremendous, it is the open-source 
developers world-wide that have provided the components to make it possible.

"Perhaps moved by my perch from this early morning vantage, I invite those 
Windows and OSX users world-wide who have not tried Linux to experience the 
pleasure of a rich, full-featured operating system developed by a community 
of people motivated by creative expression and desire for continual 
improvement of the operating system ... And yes, you can use your mouse."

Yellow Dog Linux v4.1 is immediately available from YDL.net Enhanced accounts, 
will ship from the Terra Soft Store and Resellers by the close of January, 
and will be available from public mirrors two weeks thereafter.

     To learn more about YDL v4.1, visit: 
     www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/ydl/


About Terra Soft Solutions, Inc.
Terra Soft is a leading Integrated Solutions Provider with proven expertise in 
the Power Architecture and Linux OS platform. As a Mercury, Apple, and Genesi 
VAR, and IBM Business Partner, Terra Soft provides turnkey and build-to-order 
portables, desktop workstations, HA servers, and HPC clusters. Terra Soft's 
Y-HPC 64-bit OS and cluster construction suite is widely accepted as a 
preferred platform for Xserve clusters.

Terra Soft's recent product launches include Y-Bio, a cross-architecture life 
sciences package; and completion of the world's first commercial Linux Board 
Support Package for the Cell processor in collaboration with Mercury 
Computer.

For more information, visit www.terrasoftsolutions.com


IBM(R), Power and Power Architecture are trademarks and/or registered 
trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Apple, Power Book, 
and OSX are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, and Windows is a 
registered trademark of Microsoft. Additional product and company names 
mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective 
holders.