 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 19, 13 October 2003 |
The "New Releases" Season
It happens about twice a year that all major commercial distributions are lining up to entice us with their brand new releases. Red Hat will be a slightly late this year due to all the structural changes currently taking effect, but both MandrakeSoft and SUSE LINUX are expected to announce their latest and greatest later this week. Mandrake is rumoured to get their long awaited version 9.2 out of the door tomorrow, with priority access given to its Club members, but pre-orders are now also being taken by MandrakeStore. Three editions of Mandrake Linux 9.2 will be available - Discovery (US$39), PowerPack (US$69) and ProSuite (US$199). Also this week, SUSE will release its new SUSE LINUX 9.0 in Europe, while the rest of the world will have to wait slightly longer; in North America, the Personal (US$36.99) and Professional (US$64.99) editions can now be pre-ordered from Amazon.com. Whichever brand you prefer, the increasing competition between the main Linux integrators should result in some of the best product releases ever!
Vector Linux 4.0
In sharp contrast to all the upcoming excitement, last week was a particularly quiet one. From among the better-known distributions, only Vector Linux announced a new release - version 4.0. It is based on Slackware 9.0, a distribution which itself released a new version during Vector's 2-month beta testing period, making Vector 4.0 slightly obsolete in the process. Even more worrying though is the departure of Tony Brijeski, from the distribution's development team for family reasons. Tony Brijeski, also known as "tigger", was the Chief Architect of the SOHO branch of Vector Linux. As a result, Vector Linux is now looking for new developers; interested parties can find more information in this forum thread.
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| Released Last Week |
Vector Linux 4.0
Vector Linux 4.0 was released: "After two release candidates we have finally released the final version of Vector Linux 4.0. This release is based on Slackware 9.0 and the 2.4.22 kernel. It comes with auto hardware configuration and enough software to make your day to day computer chores a breeze. We think you will find our alternative desktop system easy to use and very quick. I'm not going to give the full run down here but see the features page for more information. Interested and want to try it out? Your wish is my command....:)" See the full release announcement of the distribution's web site.
Blin Linux 1.3 (GNOME2 Edition)
The developers of Blin Linux released Blin Linux 1.3 GNOME2 Edition. This is the distribution's first release based on GTK+2 and GNOME2, with updates of all GNOME applications. It is based on the 2.4.23-pre2 Linux kernel, glibc 2.3.2 and XFree86 4.3.0, a good combination for most modern hardware. Version 1.3 comes with office applications, support for popular printers, Java (jre-1.4.3) and Flash Player. See the full release announcement (in Russian) and the package list for further details. Blin Linux is an independent live CD distribution with excellent support for the Cyrillic alphabet, as well as English.
Unannounced Releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Mandrake Linux 9.2
It seems that the much awaited Mandrake Linux 9.2 will finally be available to members of the MandrakeClub later this week. From Mandrake's TWiki: "Mandrake 9.2 has been sent to manufacturer! ISO images will be available for Mandrake club members starting October 14th, 2003, and worldwide by the end of October.". The same source informs us that Mandrake Linux 10.0 is scheduled for release in March 2004.
Fedora Core 0.95
Expect a new Fedora beta release, version 0.95 and code name "Severn", which should be announced later today.
Freeduc 1.4
A new version of the Knoppix-based educational distribution Freeduc, currently in its 7th beta, is to be released at the end of this moth.
LRs GNU/Linux
Once again, the LRs GNU/Linux has been resurrected "LRs/GNU - Linux is alive, we have found a lot of Developers from www.linuxforen.de and we Develop again for one of the fastest distros ever seen :-). I think in one or two months we release 'Creme-13.'" The above comes from this mailing list post. As soon as "creme" is released, we'll add LRs back to the list of active distributions.
OpenNA 1.0
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| Web Site News |
Many thanks to Thomas Blechinger for updating the German translation.
New on the main page: news headlines are now clickable. The resulting page will display a single story, with further information related to the specific distribution - click on any of the headlines to see for yourself. As always, if you find any bugs, I'd appreciate your email telling me about them.
I have fallen behind the schedule of adding new distributions due to my working on the LindowsOS review, which should have been done a long time ago, but there was always something more important to do. I'll hope to catch up with adding Burapha Linux, NBROK ZIP-drive-Linux, Zeus Linux, AbulEdu, ThePacketMaster, Drinou-Linux, guadaLINEX, Berry Linux, Locust Mesh AP Linux, BlackRhino GNU/Linux, Kix and Pilot Linux by the end of this week.
New additions
- Pequelin. Metadistro-Pequelin is a Knoppix-based Spanish live CD distribution designed specifically for children and educational use.
Discontinued distributions
- According to this story at MozillaZine.org, OEone has discontinued its Linux distribution called HomeBase Desktop: "OEone, the company that gave rise to Mozilla Calendar and Mozilla Sunbird, has ended distribution of their Homebase DESKTOP product, the UI of which is written entirely in XUL. While they had said earlier that development was being frozen for a time, and they are still selling the full distribution HomeBase SUITE, I hate to see this truly-different desktop vanish. Any chance they could open-source the full desktop without killing the Homebase ANYWHERE (server storage space) revenue stream?"
New on the waiting list
- CEMF Linux is a new Brazilian distributions based on Slackware.
- PHLAK is a modular security distribution, geared to be used as a live CD.
- Viper Linux is an operating system that is perfect. No flaws, no cracks in the code, just perfection.
DistroWatch database summary
- Number of distributions in the database: 180
- Number of discontinued distributions: 24
- Number of distributions on the waiting list: 69
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| Reader Feedback |
- "I wanted to let you know that the font size is a tad too big now. I adjusted my font size on my browser to accommodate, but I have to change it back after leaving your site because the other site's words are then way too small."
- "Why all of a sudden has the fonts gotten so big? I can't see the whole page with out reducing my font size. Happens only on this site."
I am afraid to report that the font experiment turned out to be a disaster. Those who used to complain about the font sizes being too small were happy after all font-size specifications were removed from CSS files, but as you can see from the above comments, a new, fonts-are-too-large group of complainants quickly replaced them.
I looked at other web sites using UTF-8 encoding to see how they solve the problem. MandrakeClub.com goes around the font issue by specifying the font size at 12 pixels. I did the same here, so everybody who hasn't overridden the font size in their browser preferences should get the same font size - 12 pixels high.
Please let me know how things look now. This is yet another experiment on the road to a perfect, flawless and bug-free web site full of useful information and no reasons for any complaints what so ever :-)
That's all for this week, keep well and see you next Monday :-)
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • Issue 1032 (2023-08-14): MX Linux 23, positioning new windows on the desktop, Linux Containers adopts LXD fork, Oracle, SUSE, and CIQ form OpenELA |
| • Issue 1031 (2023-08-07): Peppermint OS 2023-07-01, preventing a file from being changed, Asahi Linux partners with Fedora, Linux Mint plans new releases |
| • Issue 1030 (2023-07-31): Solus 4.4, Linux Mint 21.2, Debian introduces RISC-V support, Ubuntu patches custom kernel bugs, FreeBSD imports OpenSSL 3 |
| • Issue 1029 (2023-07-24): Running Murena on the Fairphone 4, Flatpak vs Snap sandboxing technologies, Redox OS plans to borrow Linux drivers to expand hardware support, Debian updates Bookworm media |
| • Issue 1028 (2023-07-17): KDE Connect; Oracle, SUSE, and AlmaLinux repsond to Red Hat's source code policy change, KaOS issues media fix, Slackware turns 30; security and immutable distributions |
| • Issue 1027 (2023-07-10): Crystal Linux 2023-03-16, StartOS (embassyOS 0.3.4.2), changing options on a mounted filesystem, Murena launches Fairphone 4 in North America, Fedora debates telemetry for desktop team |
| • Issue 1026 (2023-07-03): Kumander Linux 1.0, Red Hat changing its approach to sharing source code, TrueNAS offers SMB Multichannel, Zorin OS introduces upgrade utility |
| • Issue 1025 (2023-06-26): KaOS with Plasma 6, information which can leak from desktop environments, Red Hat closes door on sharing RHEL source code, SUSE introduces new security features |
| • Issue 1024 (2023-06-19): Debian 12, a safer way to use dd, Debian releases GNU/Hurd 2023, Ubuntu 22.10 nears its end of life, FreeBSD turns 30 |
| • Issue 1023 (2023-06-12): openSUSE 15.5 Leap, the differences between independent distributions, openSUSE lengthens Leap life, Murena offers new phone for North America |
| • Issue 1022 (2023-06-05): GetFreeOS 2023.05.01, Slint 15.0-3, Liya N4Si, cleaning up crowded directories, Ubuntu plans Snap-based variant, Red Hat dropping LireOffice RPM packages |
| • Issue 1021 (2023-05-29): rlxos GNU/Linux, colours in command line output, an overview of Void's unique features, how to use awk, Microsoft publishes a Linux distro |
| • Issue 1020 (2023-05-22): UBports 20.04, finding another machine's IP address, finding distros with a specific kernel, Debian prepares for Bookworm |
| • Issue 1019 (2023-05-15): Rhino Linux (Beta), checking which applications reply on a package, NethServer reborn, System76 improving application responsiveness |
| • Issue 1018 (2023-05-08): Fedora 38, finding relevant manual pages, merging audio files, Fedora plans new immutable edition, Mint works to fix Secure Boot issues |
| • Issue 1017 (2023-05-01): Xubuntu 23.04, Debian elects Project Leaders and updates media, systemd to speed up restarts, Guix System offering ground-up source builds, where package managers install files |
| • Issue 1016 (2023-04-24): Qubes OS 4.1.2, tracking bandwidth usage, Solus resuming development, FreeBSD publishes status report, KaOS offers preview of Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1015 (2023-04-17): Manjaro Linux 22.0, Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0, Arch Linux powering PINE64 tablets, Ubuntu offering live patching on HWE kernels, gaining compression on ex4 |
| • Issue 1014 (2023-04-10): Quick looks at carbonOS, LibreELEC, and Kodi, Mint polishes themes, Fedora rolls out more encryption plans, elementary OS improves sideloading experience |
| • Issue 1013 (2023-04-03): Alpine Linux 3.17.2, printing manual pages, Ubuntu Cinnamon becomes official flavour, Endeavour OS plans for new installer, HardenedBSD plans for outage |
| • Issue 1012 (2023-03-27): siduction 22.1.1, protecting privacy from proprietary applications, GNOME team shares new features, Canonical updates Ubuntu 20.04, politics and the Linux kernel |
| • Issue 1011 (2023-03-20): Serpent OS, Security Onion 2.3, Gentoo Live, replacing the scp utility, openSUSE sees surge in downloads, Debian runs elction with one candidate |
| • Issue 1010 (2023-03-13): blendOS 2023.01.26, keeping track of which files a package installs, improved network widget coming to elementary OS, Vanilla OS changes its base distro |
| • Issue 1009 (2023-03-06): Nemo Mobile and the PinePhone, matching the performance of one distro on another, Linux Mint adds performance boosts and security, custom Ubuntu and Debian builds through Cubic |
| • Issue 1008 (2023-02-27): elementary OS 7.0, the benefits of boot environments, Purism offers lapdock for Librem 5, Ubuntu community flavours directed to drop Flatpak support for Snap |
| • Issue 1007 (2023-02-20): helloSystem 0.8.0, underrated distributions, Solus team working to repair their website, SUSE testing Micro edition, Canonical publishes real-time edition of Ubuntu 22.04 |
| • Issue 1006 (2023-02-13): Playing music with UBports on a PinePhone, quick command line and shell scripting questions, Fedora expands third-party software support, Vanilla OS adds Nix package support |
| • Issue 1005 (2023-02-06): NuTyX 22.12.0 running CDE, user identification numbers, Pop!_OS shares COSMIC progress, Mint makes keyboard and mouse options more accessible |
| • Issue 1004 (2023-01-30): OpenMandriva ROME, checking the health of a disk, Debian adopting OpenSnitch, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1003 (2023-01-23): risiOS 37, mixing package types, Fedora seeks installer feedback, Sparky offers easier persistence with USB writer |
| • Issue 1002 (2023-01-16): Vanilla OS 22.10, Nobara Project 37, verifying torrent downloads, Haiku improvements, HAMMER2 being ports to NetBSD |
| • Issue 1001 (2023-01-09): Arch Linux, Ubuntu tests new system installer, porting KDE software to OpenBSD, verifying files copied properly |
| • Issue 1000 (2023-01-02): Our favourite projects of all time, Fedora trying out unified kernel images and trying to speed up shutdowns, Slackware tests new kernel, detecting what is taking up disk space |
| • Issue 999 (2022-12-19): Favourite distributions of 2022, Fedora plans Budgie spin, UBports releasing security patches for 16.04, Haiku working on new ports |
| • Issue 998 (2022-12-12): OpenBSD 7.2, Asahi Linux enages video hardware acceleration on Apple ARM computers, Manjaro drops proprietary codecs from Mesa package |
| • Issue 997 (2022-12-05): CachyOS 221023 and AgarimOS, working with filenames which contain special characters, elementary OS team fixes delta updates, new features coming to Xfce |
| • Issue 996 (2022-11-28): Void 20221001, remotely shutting down a machine, complex aliases, Fedora tests new web-based installer, Refox OS running on real hardware |
| • Issue 995 (2022-11-21): Fedora 37, swap files vs swap partitions, Unity running on Arch, UBports seeks testers, Murena adds support for more devices |
| • Issue 994 (2022-11-14): Redcore Linux 2201, changing the terminal font size, Fedora plans Phosh spin, openSUSE publishes on-line manual pages, disabling Snap auto-updates |
| • Issue 993 (2022-11-07): Static Linux, working with just a kernel, Mint streamlines Flatpak management, updates coming to elementary OS |
| • Issue 992 (2022-10-31): Lubuntu 22.10, setting permissions on home directories, Linux may drop i486, Fedora delays next version for OpenSSL bug |
| • Issue 991 (2022-10-24): XeroLinux 2022.09, learning who ran sudo, exploring firewall tools, Rolling Rhino Remix gets a fresh start, Fedora plans to revamp live media |
| • Issue 990 (2022-10-17): ravynOS 0.4.0, Lion Linux 3.0, accessing low numbered network ports, Pop!_OS makes progress on COSMIC, Murena launches new phone |
| • Issue 989 (2022-10-10): Ubuntu Unity, kernel bug causes issues with Intel cards, Canonical offers free Ubuntu Pro subscriptions, customizing the command line prompt |
| • Issue 988 (2022-10-03): SpiralLinux 11.220628, finding distros for older equipment and other purposes, SUSE begins releasing ALP prototypes, Debian votes on non-free firmware in installer |
| • Issue 987 (2022-09-26): openSUSE's MicroOS, converting people to using Linux, pfSense updates base system and PHP, Python 2 dropped from Arch |
| • Issue 986 (2022-09-19): Porteus 5.0, remotely wiping a hard drive, a new software centre for Ubuntu, Proxmox offers offline updates |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
Volumio
Volumio (formerly RaspyFi) is a Debian-based distribution originally made for the Raspberry Pi single-board computer, but later expanded to other embedded devices, including CuBox, BeagleBone Black and UDOO. It aims to fully integrate Music Player Daemon, an open-source music player server, into the current Debian releases and to optimise it for Audiophile-quality music playback. Volumio also makes it simple to play music library directly from a USB storage device or from any network-attached storage and it also enables users to listen to web-based radio stations from Spotify, Last.fm and SoundCloud. Starting in October 2014 the project no longer provided a complete Linux distribution; instead it develops Volumio as a music player application only which it makes available for various platforms. The Volumio distribution resumed development in 2016 and is available for x86 computers as well as several ARM devices.
Status: Active
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Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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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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