dpkg is pretty slow in Debian-based systems, usually because of the many files which are stored in the /var/lib/dpkg/info folder. To speed up things, Luca Bruno created a project called tdpkg which uses an sqlite3 or tokyocabinet database for loading the dpkg .list files in the /var/lib/dpkg/info folder which makes dpkg a lot faster.

The author (Luca Bruno) says that:

Some time ago we told you about Keryx, an amazing cross-platform (yes, it also works on Windows - so you can download the packages from Windows and install them in Ubuntu/Debian, etc.) application which can be used for offline package download and installation for APT-based systems (Ubuntu, Debian, etc.)

Let's say you want to do a fresh install of Ubuntu (or Debian) and you want to install all the packages you currently have installed on the fresh installation.

The first method of doing this is very easy:

Finch is a powerful text user interface instant messaging client based on libpurple, and it comes included in the Pidgin source, the popular GNOME IM client.

In this article, I will cover installing and configuring transmission-daemon in a headless (but should work on a normal Debian / Ubuntu install too) Debian or Ubuntu machine. You can then use Transmission Remote GUI to control transmission-daemon, remotely.

"Sushi, huh?" is an application which serves the same purpose as the command we posted about two weeks ago, to get a list of packages and dependencies for offline installation in Ubuntu, but many will love it since it comes with a - I almost wanted to say GUI - an web-based interface which runs on your machi

Axel is a command line application which accelerates HTTP/FTP downloads by using multiple sources for one file. For example, some FTP sites limit the speed of each connection, therefore opening more than one connection at a time multiplies the allowable bandwidth.

KernelCheck is a a program that automatically compiles and installs the latest Kernel for Debian based Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.). The program also allows for automatic installation of proprietary video drivers via EnvyNG.

You may have heard of Andrew Wyatt, a lead developer for Eeebuntu which recently posted  on his personal blog that he is fed up with Ubuntu and he will abandon the project...

Some people cannot get used to the polished Ubuntu / Debian fonts, especially if they used Windows for a long time and are just switching to Linux. Installing sharp fonts in Ubuntu is easy, but you must follow these steps each time you install Ubuntu or when installing Ubuntu to friends (I do that a lot) so a script for this would be most welcomed.

Using the same ALSA upgrade script as for 1.0.20, but with some minor tweaks, you can upgrade to ALSA 1.0.21 by running a simple sh file.

1. Stable
Any application needs time to be used and tested enough time in order to make it stable. One of the greatest goals of Debian is stability. It's released when it's ready and applications included in the repositories have enough time to be tested through.

KernelCheck is a a program that automatically compiles and installs the latest Kernel for Debian based Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.). The program also allows for automatic installation of proprietary video drivers via EnvyNG.

Wine 1.1.28 was released on August 21 and it comes with new features and improvements like support for IRDA protocol, faster wineprefix creation, more image formats in WindowsCodecs and various other bug fixes.

Where most time-based distributions have a schedule of round and about six months, Debian takes another approach, obviously because Debian is more about stability and longevity than about the latest and greatest features in each release.

Lethe is a Deep Freeze-like partition freezing software for Debian GNU/Linux and Lihuen GNU/Linux (May work on other Debian-based GNU/Linux distributions).

Several months ago I created an article with 5 APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) tips for both Debian and Ubuntu available here. APT is the package manager in Debian and Debian-based distributions, like Ubuntu. Here's part two of that article, with 5 more tips and tricks for APT.

The Battle for Wesnoth is a free turn-based strategy game licensed under the GPL. After over one year of constant development, a new stable version, 1.6, was released on March 22, 2009, featuring many graphics and gameplay improvements.