Open Recall: A Linux gun, Steam fun and Slax's new boot

Open Recall is a space on The H for those things that are too small to package as news but are worth covering. In this edition: A linuxy gun, Steam fun, Fuduntu, Slax, Samsung source and rekonq.

• Linux-powered gun – TrackingPoint was sighted by Ars Technica at CES offering customised rifles with a Linux-powered scope that automatically compensates for temperature, humidity and wind. And it has Wi-Fi to broadcast what the scope sees to an iPad. All this for $17,000.

• Steam powered fun – The end-of-year numbers from Valve's Hardware and Software Survey for December 2012 show Steam for Linux debuting with a 0.8% share of players, which isn't bad for software freshly out of beta. Ubuntu 12.10 64-bit and 12.04.1 LTS 64-bit led the way with a combined 0.55% share.

• Fuduntu 2013.1 – The latest release of Fuduntu, 2013.1, now has the Steam Linux client available in its repositories, along with Enlightenment 17, updated WINE (1.5.18), and QEMU 1.0.1. Using the latest WINE, the Fuduntu developers have got Netflix working and simple to call up. They've also switched docks, from the abandoned AWN dock to the Cairo dock.

• PiXiE boots for Slax – The 7.0.3 release of the Slackware-based Slax Linux added PXE booting support to the distribution. The author explains how users can start Slax to "Act as PXE Server" and allow other machines on the network to boot from it.

• Samsung sourcery – If you collect the many variants of the kernel and drivers that go along with Android phones and tablets, you'll find the GPL source for the Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 2 7 are now available. Though little use on their own, these files should contain the drivers and other information needed to put custom ROMS and other modifications onto those devices.

• Rekonquering tabs – The light browser for KDE, rekonq got a first stable release for its 2.0 version just before the new year. It brings a new, cleaner UI with tabs on top for exploring the web and running webapps, and brings inline spellchecking, new incognito and webapp modes, pinnable tabs and improved error pages.

(djwm)