Although it’s really aimed at new users, anyone can download and use it, so With the launch of the new distribution of RISC OS for the Raspberry Pi, called RISC OS Direct, existing users of the operating system may be wondering what’s in it and whether or not they should consider switching to it for use on their own Pi, in place of the standard distribution from RISC OS Open Ltd (ROOL).
The RISC OS User Group of London (ROOL) will be looking at this at their next meeting, which takes place on Monday, 16th March, at their new, regular venue:
The Duke of Sussex (upstairs, in the Chichester Room),
23 Baylis Road,
London,
SE1 7AY.
Bernard Boase will be presenting the meeting, with a tour of a RISC OS Direct installation to investigate what it contains, how useful will it be for new users, and just how it differs from the standard ROOL distribution. The group will be able to discuss those contents and offer their own thoughts and ideas about whether or not it is ideal, or how it can be improved, and so on.
The distribution has been released by RISC OS Developments in collaboration with Wi-Fi Sheep, and as part of that collaboration a video series – with the same name, RISC OS Direct – is also in the works. The aim of this is to offer guidance to new users (and possibly some old hands as well) about how to use the operating system, covering some of the standard features and paradigms that most of us now take for granted. The first episode was launched at the Southwest Show, and if time at the meeting allows, there may be an opportunity to play some or all of it.
Bernard also expects to have his own Raspberry Pi connected to the pub’s WiFi via PiFi 3, and will also be able to demonstrate the latest beta release of the Iris web browser. This is one of the browsers that is being developed on behalf of RISC OS Developments – which was initially formed with the aim of bringing a more fully featured browser to the platform – and the latest beta version was released at the time of the show to people that have contributed to the cause.
The meeting kicks off at 7:45pm, although the room itself is open from 6:30pm, giving people time to investigate and sample the range of food and drinks on offer at the Duke of Sussex. The pub is easy to reach by public transport, being just a couple of minutes walk from Waterloo Station, and for drivers there is parking outside on Coral Street.
If you need any help reaching the venue, or any other information about the group, its meetings, etc, then please contact ROUGOL on Twitter, by telephone on 07970 211 629, or by by email.
The RISC OS London Show
ROUGOL also organises the London Show, and the date to put in your diaries for this year is 24th October. As usual, the venue will be the St Giles Hotel, Feltham.
BBC Micro Lives presentation
The group’s February meeting saw Jason Nicholls from the Acorn and BBC User Group (ABUG) who spoke to them about some of the modern upgrades for the 8-bit platform, allowing people who have BBC Microcomputers to breathe new life into them – or in some cases, address problems that may occur with such old equipment. The slides from that presentation can now be viewed online, along with a comprehensive set of links to further information about the various items covered, and other useful resources – though beware that they are on a Google Docs page, which may affect your ability to use them from a RISC OS browser unless that browser is something like Iris!
