 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 24, 17 November 2003 |
Fedora concerns
It was a very interesting editorial by Brian Proffitt, the Managing Editor of Linux Today. In Forcing a Choice, the author expresses his views about the recent policy changes at Red Hat and his dilemma over choosing a distribution now that his previous choice - Red Hat Linux - is no more:
"Fedora is the planned successor to Red Hat Linux and I sincerely hope this turns out to be the case. But it is never going to be exactly like Red Hat. This is not me speculating based on one or two reviews. This is me after hearing it straight from the horse's mouth, when executives from Red Hat told me directly that Fedora will indeed serve as the testbed for much of the enterprise line of Red Hat. Fedora is their chance to try things on the bleeding edge and get the kinks worked out before they bring some new functionality into RHEL."
There is ample evidence that Brian Proffitt is not the only one who feels the pain. Many Red Hat Linux users have been left in a state of limbo: the product they got to know and appreciate over many years is gone, while its replacement - Fedora Core - has yet to prove itself to be an adequate replacement.
What are your thoughts? If you used Red Hat Linux in the past, have you switched to Fedora or are you in search for a new distribution? Please discuss below.
Impi Linux
Impi Linux, Africa's first desktop Linux distribution was unveiled last week in Johannesburg (see more about the release in the "Released last week" section below). As one would expect from a 1.0 release, the distribution still needs a little polish before it can compete with the best, but it isn't bad for a first release. As you can see from the screenshot, the desktop icons are a little cluttered, both in their arrangement and in their style/size. The Impi Linux web site touts the fact that the distribution comes with a unique accounting package called Cubit, but hard as I looked, I could not locate it. The hard disk installation program is very limited in that it attempts to take over an entire hard disk - hardly the most flexible arrangement. Even worse, the web site lacks any user forums or mailing lists and the only support option is 24-hour local telephone support at premium rates. Nevertheless, Impi Linux is a promising start, especially as it plans to support all 11 official languages in South Africa. Good luck!
Screenshot: Impi Linux - Africa's first destkop Linux distribution (full image size 492kB)
My store - a story about a Linux-only computer store (Contributed by Benjamin Vander Jagt)
On November 2nd, 2003, Vander Jagt Computers opened up a new retail store in the middle of Berkeley Springs, WV. As you would expect, this store carries computer accessories, builds new systems, and provides in-shop and on-site computer service. You can find many a product, but one thing you will never find is Microsoft Windows.
"If it's fundamentally wrong, it can't be practically right. It's official company policy to sell no traditional copyright- or patent-restricted software. We will not sell systems with Windows preinstalled. Any new or used systems that we buy that include Windows will be wiped clean. Several people have called this a risky move, but the real risk would be to attach my name to systems that are equipped with shoddy software. Already, the majority of warranty-related service consists of reinstalling Windows or fixing Windows problems. Even a lot of commercial software is no match for the free Linux alternatives."
Granted, if a customer provides his own software and requests that it be installed, Vander Jagt Computers will comply, but in virtually all cases, free software is highly recommended over proprietary software.
Response has been overwhelmingly positive so far. Most customers who enter the store for the first time have heard of Linux but don't know what it is. On display for all to play and learn with is a sub $200 used system with Slackware 9.1 running. Slackware 9.1 is preferred for its standards compliance, speed, security, and support base. Every customer who has seen Slackware 9.1 perform on this system has become a Linux fan. Many ask if Linux can be installed on their old Compaq's. Some are interested in the most secure operating system available. Others like the performance of software. All are blown away by the far superior software. Of course, it takes several minutes to explain that it's actually, positively free.
Vander Jagt Computers has two more Linux projects in the works. Firstly, Benjamin Vander Jagt will try his hand at creating a Slackware-based Linux distribution. "Slackware is the best base that I've found so far, because of its standards compliance. The software packages are mostly vanilla, which is the ideal end result for my distribution. Slackware is only lacking in automation, such as hardware detection. LILO will be replaced with GRUB, and two entries will be created for boot, the default of which ending with 'telinit 4' to automatically boot into the GDM. Of course, the GNOME menu will be reworked in the Red Hat way, and ReallySlick Screensavers will be added."
Secondly, a web server will be established for the distribution of public-domain art. Art is where the free software movement is lacking most right now, and most artists need to discover that public-domain is the most profitable way to distribute their creations. This server will store any public-domain graphics, music, games, movies, 3D models, engineering diagrams, and more. Though this server is probably going to remain free, it could theoretically charge artists a fee in the future, when it's more widely accepted that public-domain saturation is worth much more than the meager sales that artists usually starve through to begin with.
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| Released Last Week |
RUNT 3.0
A new version of the ResNet USB Network Tester, or RUNT, is now available: "RUNT 3.0 has been released! RUNT 3.0 is based on Slackware 9.1 including kernel 2.4.22. New additions include iptraf for network monitoring, iptables, allowing RUNT to be used as a firewall, and CD/DVD writing tools. SCSI controllers are now supported through hotplug. To use CD burning tools with an IDE drive, you must use ide-scsi by identifying your drive at the boot prompt. For example put 'usb hdc=ide-scsi' at the end of the boot prompt if your CD burner is your secondary master. I'm not certain the usefulness of CD burning abilities on a 128 MB drive, but I had the space, so I left it in. You can remove the package if you don't need it. Because of increased kernel size, memtest had to be removed from the boot disk, but it can still be run if you are able to boot directly off of the USB drive." See the announcement on the project's home page.
Damn Small Linux 0.5
Damn Small Linux 0.5 has been released. From the changelog: "Local .xinitrc, Save/Restore user settings menu option, boot time "restore" option (type "knoppix restore" at boot), mount.app program now recognizes the USB drive. Firebird now runs as user damnsmall, added sqlite, removed ispell, flwriter and replaced them with Ted-gtk w/ US English spell check, removed option to set frequency (didn't work quite right) and added option to set dpi. Thank you to Robert Shingledecker for the major code and debugging contribution in this release."
Freeduc 1.4.1
A bug fix version of a recently released Freeduc CD is available for download. Changes include the following: "WIMS fully working; GCompris sound and Python board working; Italian XFce Desktop back in good shape; DrGeo 0.9.11prerelease." Find out more on the distribution's web site.
Knoppix 3.3-2003-11-14
A new Knoppix build, version 3.3-2003-11-14 is available. From the changelog: "V3.3-2003-11-14 (Updates/Bugfixes). Euro symbol works again in konsole, but font scanning at startup is slow (fontconfig?); added bittorrent ncurses client; ALSA package update; 'knoppix testcd' option is now more verbose; changed default timings in monitor detection (may give better results with DDC-capable monitors, but you will probably have to use 'knoppix vsync=60' for non-DDC-capable TFT displays); the usual bunch of Debian package updates."
Mandrake Linux 9.2 ISO images
The much awaited Mandrake Linux 9.2 ISO images are now available for free download from various mirrors worldwide. Please note the warning regarding the LG CD-ROM drives: "Warning: Some LG CD-ROM drives have a firmware bug and should be updated before any installation attempt. Please consult lgerrata"
Bonzai Linux 3.1
A new release of Bonzai Linux is out: "After hard and long nights of development, version 3.1 of the Bonzai Linux distribution has been released. Bonzai Linux is optimized to fit on a 180MB mini CD. It is based on the current stable Debian distribution called 'woody', containing a customized version of boot-floppies and an easy to use installer. Bonzai uses Kernel 2.4.20 and includes the light-weight windowmanager XFce4 to make installation on older machines possible. Login.app allows you to log in to your system. Synaptic has been added to make package installation easier. Bonzai Linux should be used as a strong and stable base for your Debian based Desktop PC and can be enhanced with all your favourite Debian packages." Read the complete announcement in English or German.
Impi Linux 1.0
Impi, a Zulu word for describing a group of warriors, has given the name to Africa's first desktop Linux distribution - Impi Linux. Version 1.0 has just been released: "Created by the Gauteng Linux Users Group in Johannesburg, Impi Linux is mainly based on Debian GNU/Linux with components borrowed from Knoppix. The desktop window manager is GNOME and the OS comes complete with OpenOffice.org as the office productivity suite, Cubit as the business accounting application and Mozilla as the web browser. Impi Linux was created from the best software available in the open source world, to give South African users a stable, virus free and very cost effective business operating system. Impi Linux is not just an operating system, it comes bundled with every application that you need to run your business. Impi Linux will eventually support all of the eleven official languages in South Africa." More information on the Impi Linux web site and in Africa's own Linux distribution by Tectonic.
Development Releases
Unannounced Releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Debian GNU/Linux 3.0r2
Martin Schulze has posted an update on the upcoming Debian GNU/Linux 3.0r2 release: "I am preparing the second revision of the current stable Debian distribution (woody) which will probably be released soon. This report is to allow people to comment on it and intervene whenever this is required. If you disagree with one bit or another, please reply to this mail and explain why these things should be handled differently. There is still time to reconsider."
ASP Linux 9.2
The developers of ASP Linux have announced a new upcoming release - version 9.2. This will be based on Fedora Cora 1 and will be available for purchase or download in the middle of December. This announcement is part of an open letter to ASP Linux users published on the distribution's web site (in Russian).
EvilEntity Linux 0.3
A new release of EvilEntity Linux is under preparation: "DR-0.3.0 is coming along. Base6 is complete and we now need developers to build XGN packages to expand upon Base6. There are a number of things that would help us out tremendously. Maintaining, supporting, and advancing a top notch operating system is an overwhelmingly massive task. Currently EvilEntity is understaffed in the most explicit and drastic sense of the word. To help develop EvilEntity you need, 2-4 hours a month free time, to be able to follow simple directions, to be reliable, and to be able to research and solve problems. If you want to help, e-mail me." Find out more on the distribution's web site.
SUSE LINUX 9.0 FTP install
A message on the SUSE FTP server promises to have SUSE Linux 9.0 ready for FTP install before the end of this week: "This directory is the placeholder for the upcoming SUSE Linux 9.0-ftp distribution. As usual, it will be published some days after the product is available on CDROM/DVD media. The SuSE Linux 9.0-i386-ftp distribution will be available during the weekend of November 22/23 on the mirrors and on ftp.suse.com."
Turbolinux 10 Desktop, English edition
The world-wide release of Turbolinux 10 Desktop, originally scheduled for last week, was postponed until 25 November. Find out more on the distribution's product page.
Aurox Linux 9.2
Aurox Linux has announced a new release, version 9.2, the first beta of which should be available for testing this week: "We are very close to brand new Aurox Linux - 9.2 (Water). We're now testing our work, a beta version should be on FTPs in a couple of days. The most 'visible' changes are: OpenOffice.org 1.1 (with many dictionaries included), brand new GNOME 2.4.1 and Light Desktop - new group of packages for slower machines (Fluxbox, Mozilla Firebird, rox-filer and Sylpheed) - so no heavy environments are necessary. We have included NTFS support (built as a separate package) and several additional libraries. There are also some applications included in this version - the full list will be published with the beta release."
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| Special Announcements |
LinuxInstall.org now supports Fedora Core 1
LinuxInstall.org now supports Fedora Core 1 by offering 3 CD-SET or 1 DVD for $10 anywhere in the world including shipping cost from http://linuxinstall.org/fedora.php.
2003 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards
The 2003 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards have begun. There are awards for Distribution of the Year, Browser of the Year, Multimedia App of the Year and many other categories. Winners will be able to pick up their awards at LinuxWorld. Last years winners include Red Hat, PostgreSQL and Mozilla.
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| Web Site News |
The truth about DistroWatch Timesavers
The Timesavers idea came about in January this year. It was meant to replace the donations button and give those who join some real value and extra features not available to non-members. Unfortunately, as the time progressed and the site expanded, I found myself severely short of time to code the promised features. With every day bringing in more and more work, it is extremely unlikely that I will be able to find the necessary time to do the work.
Also, the idea hasn't been all that well received - on average, we get about 2 new members per week. This brings in some US$30 odd every week, so you can see why Timesavers has not been a priority, especially since advertising and writing is a lot more lucrative. Granted, with lack of promised features, there isn't much incentive to join, but still.
In short, I need external help to implement the Timesavers features. Here is the deal: anybody who wishes to do the work, please email me. You'll get complete freedom to implement the features, including the choice of a coding language (PHP, CGI, Python, Ruby, whatever) and you'll get to keep 75% of the income generated by the new Timesavers Programme, which you helped implementing. You can even set the Timesavers admission fee. The promised features include custom comparison tables, search engines and other features, please see the Timesavers page for all the details.
If nobody is interested in helping, then we'll officially discard the idea. Those of you who have joined, but wish to have your joining fee refunded, please email me. Some of the planned features will still be implemented, but they will be free for all.
Site translations
Many thanks to Luis Fonseca Carvalho De Matos to translate parts of the site into Portuguese (Portugal) and to
Jens H. Kruuse for corrections to the Danish translation. If you are interested in translating the site's introduction and navigation menus into your language, please see this page for details.
New additions
- Penguin Sleuth. Containing many useful tools, Penguin Sleuth is an adapted version of the Knoppix Linux Live CD. It includes tools that are useful when performing a forensic computer analysis.
- Plan B. Plan-B is a bootable Linux environment without the need for a hard drive, it runs entirely in ram or from the CD, based on a basic, stripped installation of Red Hat Linux and the fundamental workings of the SuperRescue CD. A list of tools and utilities are also included for projects such as: forensics/data recovery, system/network analysis and security scanning temporary network device/server, IDS/NIDS system, network status report creation.
- Impi Linux. Impi Linux is South Africa's first desktop Linux distribution. Created by the Gauteng Linux Users Group, Impi Linux (Impi is a Zulu word for describing a group of warriors) is mainly based on Debian GNU/Linux with components borrowed from Knoppix. The desktop window manager is GNOME and the OS comes complete with OpenOffice.org as the office productivity suite, Cubit as the business accounting application and Mozilla as the web browser. Impi Linux was created from the best software available in the open source world, to give South African users a stable, virus free and very cost effective business operating system. Impi Linux is not just an operating system, it comes bundled with every application that you need to run your business. Impi Linux will eventually support all of the eleven official languages in South Africa.
- Pingwinek. Pingwinek is a modern Linux distribution made in Poland. The main desktop is GNOME and it currently supports Polish and English languages. The project also provides a Live CD edition.
- PCLinuxOS. PCLinuxOS is a community based non-profit distribution initially based on Mandrake Linux. Just think of it as Mandrake Linux enhanced by Texstar on a single bootable live CD with 1.5GB of desktop applications and the ability to install right to your hard drive with everything ready to work out of the box. NVIDIA drivers, Flash, Java, urpmi setup, and of course all the cool application updates by Texstar. And if we get all the bugs out of the mklivecd program then YOU can make your own Mandrake-style bootable CD as well.
- SystemRescueCd. SystemRescueCd is a linux system on a bootable CD-ROM for repairing your system and your data after a crash. It also aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system utilities (parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic ones (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It aims to be very easy to use: just boot from the CD-ROM, and you can do everything. The kernel of the system supports most important file systems (ext2/ext3, reiserfs, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs, iso9660), and network ones (Samba and NFS). SystemRescueCd is based on the Gentoo Live CD.
Discontinued distributions
- The SuperRescue CD. According to SuperRescue's developer H Peter Anvin, the SuperRescue CD is no longer in development: "At this time I don't see myself having time to work on SR, so unless someone takes it over I don't really expect to see another release." Those who found the SuperRescue CD useful might be interested in H Peter Anvin's Plan B rescue CD instead: "Plan B is not a continuation of SuperRescue, although it's to some degree a 'spiritual descendant' -- it borrows a fair number of concepts from SR. Plan B is more heavily focused on recovery and forensics."
New on the waiting list
- Dappix. Dappix is a Danish variant of Knoppix. The web site is in Danish.
- Echelonlinux. "Echelon Linux is a distribution which is able to monitor and to manage your network. It is based on Knoppix."
- Kalango Linux. Kalango Linux is a new Brazilian (or Portuguese?) distribution based on Kurumin.
- KDLC. KDLC (Khởi Động Là Chạy) is a Vietnamese variant of Knoppix. The web site is in Vietnamese.
- White Box Enterprise Linux. "This product is derived from the Free/Open Source Software made available by Red Hat, Inc but IS NOT produced, maintained or supported by Red Hat. Specifically, this product is forked from the source code for Red Hat's _Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3_ product under the terms and conditions of it's EULA."
- X-evian. X-evian is a Spanish variant of Knoppix. The web site is in Spanish.
Removed from the waiting list
- Edunix due to product unavailability.
DistroWatch database summary
- Number of distributions in the database: 199
- Number of discontinued distributions: 25
- Number of distributions on the waiting list: 69
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| Reader Feedback |
On categorising distributions
Thank you all for suggestions about how best to categorise the distributions. This is taking shape and we'll probably have several categories and sub-categories to choose from:
- Package management (RPM, DEB, TGZ, SRC...)
- Parent distribution (Red Hat, Debian, Slackware...)
- Architecture (Intel, PowerPC, Alpha, AMD-64...)
- Target hardware (i386, i586, i686, old hardware...)
- Target focus (Server, Desktop, Firewall, Security, Multimedia...)
- Language (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese...)
- Installation type (text mode, graphical, live CD, floppy-based...)
- Free download (yes, no)
If we left out any category that you would like to see included, please comment below.
On Red Hat/Fedora split
Counting the votes of those who commented about the issue of splitting Red Hat and Fedora, it seems that most posters (7) are in favour of creating a separate Fedora page, while 3 were against it and 6 voted in favour of delaying the split. As always, there are many valid arguments either way, so let's just keep things unchanged for the time being, but we will create a new Fedora page as soon as the project enters its next beta stage.
That's all for today, keep well and see you next Monday :-)
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| 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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| Random Distribution | 
Fuduntu
Fuduntu, originally Fedora-based, but later forked, was a Linux distribution that earns its name by its ambition to fit somewhere in-between Fedora and Ubuntu. It was designed to be aesthetically pleasing, and was optimized for netbook and other portable computers, as well as general-purpose desktop machines.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
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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