DistroWatch Weekly |
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 13, 1 September 2003 |
Cool Linux - not just a cool name
Cool Linux is an excellent live CD. If you are getting tired of the endless stream of "new", modified Knoppix-based bootable CDs , then you might be pleasantly surprised by the latest release candidate of Cool Linux, version 2.3. It is based on Red Hat Linux, but it excludes KDE and GNOME, while providing the light-weight IceWM as its only graphical environment. As a result, the CD includes many applications that tend to be left out from other live CDs due to space limitations, such as Blender and VMware (trial edition). Cool Linux also includes the NVIDIA drivers, it has superior hardware auto-detection and it comes with a choice of two Linux kernels to boot from. Cool Linux is an expertly designed distribution for general purpose workstations.
And it comes from Russia. Created by Andrei Velikoredchanin, Cool Linux originally started as an after-hour Linux experiment on the computers that belonged to the author's employer. According to an older interview, Andrei couldn't afford to buy his own computer, so he stayed at work late to create what he called "Emergency CD", a command-line-only, bootable rescue tool kit based on Red Hat Linux. This he later expanded into a general purpose live CD with a cool name. You can find the project's descriptions, screenshots and download locations on this page.
Konnichiwa, LindowsOS
Those of you who find the Lindows.com marketing strategies and the company's constant barrage of press releases a little too omnipresent at times might not know that Lindows.com has recently turned its attention to the Japanese consumer. Yes, Lindows.com is expanding and Japan has been deemed fit for a mass migration to LindowsOS. These days, hardly a day goes by without a Lindows.com announcement in the Japanese Linux media with last week's launch of the Japanese edition of LindowsOS 4.0 dominating many headlines. As always, a picture is worth a thousand words so check out this photo essay to get the feel of the launch atmosphere and to see what the excitement is about.
Will Lindows.com succeed in generating a decent income from its Japanese operation? Japan is not the easiest market to conquer during the best of times, which these are clearly not, and many domestic Linux companies are struggling to attract paying consumers. Sure, Japan is a technologically advanced nation, so it is hardly surprising that Linux is so big over there; the country's publishing houses produce no fewer than six different monthly magazines with exclusive Linux content and accompanying CDs and DVDs. The bookstores are well stocked with books on Linux. But like most people in many other parts of the world, the Japanese are also more likely to download a free distribution from the Internet than to subscribe to Click-N-Run. Still, you have to give Lindows.com credit for boldly going where so many others have failed. We will keep an eye on the company's progress in the land of the rising sun and revisit the subject in a future issue of DistroWatch Weekly.
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Released Last Week |
Damn Small Linux 0.4.5
Damn Small Linux 0.4.5 was released. Changes: "For 0.4.5, there is now generic printer support. Fluxbox and most X applications are running under user 'damnsmall' instead of root. For convenience, I added sudo. I also added Microcom (a very small serial terminal emulator). And for the kids, I added Oneko. 0.4.5 has a bug fix; now the swap partition should be properly recognized which makes DSL more compatible with low ram systems. There is another browser added in 0.4.5, a tabs and frames enabled, patched version of Dillo (still only 335k and very fast!). Finally, there are a few small desktop enhancements...I remapped the icons so that they fit in the smallest resolution setting. I made the enhance feature smarter, so that it will not launch duplicate applications, but will bring bbpager into theme compliance. There is a new theme: FoggyNight..."" Find out more from the release notes and package list.
Kurumin Linux 2.02
A new bug fix release of Kurumin Linux came out last week. New in version 2.02 is the inclusion of ALSA 0.9.4 drivers, libraries and modules, updates to glibc 2.3.2, cdrtools 2.0a16, k3b 0.9 and xine 1-rc0a and a downgrade of samba to version 2.2.3a, among other changes. See the Kurumin 2.02 page (in Portuguese) for further information about what else is new in this version.
MoviX 0.8.0
MoviX 0.8.0 was released: "After exactly 8 months of tests and prereleases, the stable 0.8.0 version of MoviX is finally available! Hope it won't take 9 months for 0.9.0 ;-) There are a few important changes from 0.8.0rc2: better remotes support; reduced system size; Italian translations (thanks to Walter Sammarchi). Till now only Hauppauge and Logitech remotes are supported. Everyone is invited to send to me or post on the forums configuration files for more remotes. This should be trivial for (Win)Lirc users, and I'll post soon a tutorial for all others. A new pre-release series should be out by the weekend, less stable but with new nice features, so stay tuned!" Find out more on the distribution's project page.
Development Releases
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Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Aurox Linux 9.1
Aurox Linux has been expanding its web site, creating multi-lingual user forums and translating parts of it into other languages, including English. A new version is currently under development: "Aurox Linux is a European Linux distribution, published in 5 languages and available in 11 countries. Aurox Linux 9.1 will be available in September."
Red Hat Linux Beta
Red Hat has announced that new information concerning the Red Hat Linux project will be made available before 15 September 2003. This came as a reaction to a lengthy thread on the beta mailing list where some testers expressed dissatisfaction with Red Hat's failure to adhere to the original beta release schedule and lack of openness about the delay, despite the initial intent. According to some comments on the list, one of the reasons delaying the second beta version, originally scheduled to be released on 18 August, was a planned inclusion of the new GNOME desktop environment, version 2.4.
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Web Site News |
RE: Page Hit Ranking changes
Thank you all for comments regarding the Page Hit Ranking changes. The idea of only ranking those distributions which have been around for at least one year has met with plenty of resistance and has been discarded. Everything is back to the original format. But the experiment did serve a useful purpose - if in the future there are still people who complain that the ranking is unfair, at least I have a page where I can direct them to read your opinions.
Discontinued distributions
- Beehive Linux is no more: "If you got redirected here trying to get to beehive.nu, well it's gone. For good. Really. Probably. My primary reason for starting a Linux distribution at the time (late 2000) was simply that RedHat, SuSE, and yes Debian were full of crap in the base install that we didn't need or want when building servers in a server farm. That and darn little was optimized for hardware built in this millennium. So fine, I'll make my own. It was a huge amount of work for one guy (you have no idea how much), but it was mostly fun - except for compiling Gnome, which is a tangled nightmare. And it was rewarding to steadily climb up the world rankings at distrowatch.com to a high of #9 in the world. My reasons for stopping Beehive are 1) Mac OSX simply kicks ass as a desktop. Been using it as my only desktop since 10.0 came out. No more futzing with configs, things just work. 2) Gentoo works well enough, and it's reasonably easy to mod the build configs for a given package (Apache, MySQL, Postgres, etc) to put the install where I want it. Overall it's 'good enough' and the Portage tool is really nice. So there you have it. It was fun, but I have better things to do with my life."
- Dynasoft Linux, a Chinese distribution has also been moved to the "Discontinued Distributions" section. It's web site has been inaccessible for several weeks.
New additions
- Freepia is small GNU/Linux distribution designed to run on VIA EPIA-M mainboards. It currently only runs on the M-9000 and M-10000 (ezra and nehemia CPU) but with some modifications like kernel and X11 modules it should run on others too. The main goal of this project is to build a full-featured, low-noise media box to play movies, MP3s, images, etc. It uses freevo as its media viewer, but in the future there may be support for others, like mythtv or vdr.
New on the waiting list
- DebToo is Debian, Gentoo-style or Debian recompiled for your system. Why?
You get Debian's benefits, like their stellar package management, with *completely* optional optimization.
- Gentoox is Gentoo for the Xbox.
- Navaho Linux is a Linux distribution, loosely based around Red Hat Linux, that has been tuned to provide a platform with the highest performance, stability and security to support the Navaho Server Suite.
- Overclockix is a new Knoppix-based live CD.
- Plan B is a bootable Linux environment based on a basic, stripped installation of Red Hat Linux and the fundamental workings of the SuperRescue CD.
DistroWatch database summary
- Number of distributions in the database: 169
- Number of discontinued distributions: 24
- Number of distributions on the waiting list: 63
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Reader Feedback |
Reader's comments will return next week.
That's all for this week, keep well and see you next Monday :-)
Ladislav Bodnar
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Archives |
• Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
• Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
• Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
• Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
• Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
• Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
• Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
• Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
• Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
• Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
• Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
• Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
• Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
• Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
• Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20 |
• Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
• Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
• Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
• Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
• Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
• Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
• Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
• Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
• Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
• Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
• Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
• Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
• Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
• Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
• Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
• Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
• Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
• Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
• Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
• Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
• Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
• Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
• Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
• Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
• Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
• Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
• Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
• Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
• Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
• Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
• Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
• Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
• Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
• Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
• Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
• Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
• Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
• Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
• Full list of all issues |
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View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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Random Distribution | 
Star
Star is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Devuan GNU+Linux. Star is available in a range of editions, each featuring a lightweight desktop environment. Star is small enough to fit on a CD and uses SysV init software.
Status: Dormant
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Star Labs |

Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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