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DistroWatch Weekly

A weekly opinion column and a summary of events from the distribution world

DistroWatch Weekly

DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 26, 1 December 2003

One year of number crunching

It has been exactly one year since implementing the IP-to-country logging and statistical data generation of visitors viewing pages on this site. Although the initial idea was to enable regional advertising for products and services, this was later expanded to gather information about the interest of visitors in various distributions based on their country of origin. A visual representation of these data is available on this page. Please note that it has not been optimised for speed or size - it will take a while to load if you are on a modem connection.

What follows below is an attempt to summarise and interpret the data. If you don't have interest in these statistics, just skip them; regular DistroWatch Weekly content will return next week. But judging by the feedback, there are many who find this type of information and country-specific statistics at least mildly interesting and, in some cases, useful.

Before we start, a couple of technical notes. Firstly, the IP-to-country conversion is powered by Maxmind and its GeoIP database released under GPL. It claims a 97% accuracy rate. Secondly, the "per capita" term referred in the tables is in fact a number of visits per one million inhabitants per day. Thirdly, a note for those who are concerned about privacy issues: the only data we log is the two-digit country code as returned by the GeoIP function from the Apache web logs. If you don't wish to disclose this information, there are ways to fool Apache, but the paranoid amongst you already know how to do this. And finally, a reminder that it is not a good idea to take these statistics very seriously....

Global statistics - countries. During the past 365 days, the main page of DistroWatch.com (excluding mirrors) was visited 6,342,563 times by visitors from 200 countries and territories. Nearly 40% of all visitors came from the USA, followed by Canada, Germany, UK and Japan. On the per capita basis, however, the numbers look a lot different with Northern Europe (Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Estonia) dominating the visitor ranking, while the United States is on the 14th position. In recent months, the site recorded its first ever visitors from Iraq and Myanmar.

Total Visits (all countries)
Rank	Country	Visits	Percent
1	United States	2,446,148	38.57%
2	Canada	410,403	6.47%
3	Germany	310,234	4.89%
4	United Kingdom	289,592	4.57%
5	Japan	262,675	4.14%
6	France	238,394	3.76%
7	Italy	178,413	2.81%
8	Netherlands	162,258	2.56%
9	Spain	140,119	2.21%
10	Sweden	131,100	2.07%
11	Australia	129,238	2.04%
12	Belgium	112,763	1.78%
13	Taiwan	105,814	1.67%
14	Finland	102,994	1.62%
15	Brazil	89,299	1.41%
16	China	80,452	1.27%
17	Poland	80,050	1.26%
18	Denmark	64,152	1.01%
19	Portugal	55,494	0.87%
20	Norway	46,764	0.74%

Per Capita Visits (all countries)
Rank	Country	Visits	Per Capita
1	Iceland	6,068	59.50
2	Finland	102,994	54.44
3	Sweden	131,100	40.46
4	Estonia	18,786	36.36
5	Canada	410,403	35.24
6	Denmark	64,152	32.74
7	Belgium	112,763	30.07
8	Luxembourg	4,869	29.74
9	New Zealand	40,992	28.74
10	Norway	46,764	28.31
11	Netherlands	162,258	27.67
12	Slovenia	17,541	24.86
13	United States	2,446,148	23.30
14	Monaco	262	22.44
15	Singapore	29,674	18.26
16	Australia	129,238	18.11
17	Hong Kong	44,931	16.86
18	Switzerland	43,669	16.38
19	French Polynesia	1,522	16.17
20	Israel	35,028	15.92

Global statistics - continents. On a per continent basis, the vast majority of visitors (82.7%) came from either North America or Europe. Disappointingly, visitors from Africa constituted less than 0.5% of all visitors on DistroWatch.com.

Total Visits (continents)
Rank	Continent	Visits	Percent
1	North America	2,905,967	45.82%
2	Europe	2,339,226	36.88%
3	Asia	735,009	11.59%
4	Australia and Oceania	173,198	2.73%
5	South America	159,350	2.51%
6	Africa	29,813	0.47%

Per Capita Visits (continents)
Rank	Continent	Visits	Per Capita
1	North America	2,905,967	15.96
2	Australia and Oceania	173,198	15.17
3	Europe	2,339,226	7.89
4	South America	159,350	1.34
5	Asia	735,009	0.55
6	Africa	29,813	0.11

North America. Over 98% of all North America visitors came either from United States of Canada. Canada ranked higher than United States on the per capita basis. Of the smaller countries on the continent, Grenada, Barbados and Greenland were right behind the two powers in terms of per capita visits.

Total Visits (North America)
Rank	Country	Visits	Percent
1	United States	2,446,148	84.18%
2	Canada	410,403	14.12%
3	Mexico	27,843	0.96%
4	Puerto Rico	3,835	0.13%
5	Guatemala	3,776	0.13%

Per Capita Visits (North America)
Rank	Country	Visits	Per Capita
1	Canada	410,403	35.24
2	United States	2,446,148	23.30
3	Grenada	256	7.86
4	Barbados	647	6.42
5	Greenland	120	5.83

Europe. More than half of all European visitors came from Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy or the Netherlands. However, per capita ranking was dominated by residents of Northern Europe, with the first country from outside of that region being Belgium at number 6. Among the Central and Eastern European countries, Poland topped the number of visitors, while Slovenia won the per-capita ranking.

Total Visits (Europe)
Rank	Country	Visits	Percent
1	Germany	310,234	13.26%
2	United Kingdom	289,592	12.38%
3	France	238,394	10.19%
4	Italy	178,413	7.63%
5	Netherlands	162,258	6.94%
6	Spain	140,119	5.99%
7	Sweden	131,100	5.60%
8	Belgium	112,763	4.82%
9	Finland	102,994	4.40%
10	Poland	80,050	3.42%
11	Denmark	64,152	2.74%
12	Portugal	55,494	2.37%
13	Norway	46,764	2.00%
14	Austria	45,977	1.97%
15	Switzerland	43,669	1.87%
16	Hungary	42,555	1.82%
17	Czech Republic	41,396	1.77%
18	Romania	38,032	1.63%
19	Russia	34,007	1.45%
20	Bulgaria	21,257	0.91%

Per Capita Visits (Europe)
Rank	Country	Visits	Per Capita
1	Iceland	6,068	59.50
2	Finland	102,994	54.44
3	Sweden	131,100	40.46
4	Estonia	18,786	36.36
5	Denmark	64,152	35.24
6	Belgium	112,763	32.74
7	Luxembourg	4,869	30.07
8	Norway	46,764	29.74
9	Netherlands	162,258	28.74
10	Slovenia	17,541	28.31
11	Monaco	262	22.44
12	Switzerland	43,669	16.38
13	Austria	45,977	15.42
14	Portugal	55,494	15.08
15	United Kingdom	289,592	12.38
16	Hungary	42,555	11.57
17	Czech Republic	41,396	11.06
18	France	238,394	10.90
19	Germany	310,234	10.32
20	Faroe Islands	161	9.59

Asia. More than two thirds of all Asian visitors came from Japan or the Greater China area, while the small, but rich countries (territories) often referred to as "Asian tigers" ranked the highest on the per capita basis. It was slightly surprising to see South Korea ranking relatively low (11th in total visits and 14th in per capita visits), despite some well-known Linux companies (Hancom) coming from that country and regular content from DistroWatch.com appearing in South Korea's monthly Linux Magazine. Also, one would expect a lot more visitors from India, which is a renowned programming powerhouse, but this was not the case (26th in per capita ranking). China, the world's most populous country only came at number 24 in terms of per capita visits.

Total Visits (Asia)
Rank	Country	Visits	Percent
1	Japan	262,675	35.74%
2	Taiwan	105,814	14.40%
3	China	80,452	10.95%
4	Hong Kong	44,931	6.11%
5	Israel	35,028	4.77%
6	India	33,942	4.62%
7	Indonesia	30,916	4.21%
8	Singapore	29,674	4.04%
9	Malaysia	25,717	3.50%
10	Philippines	21872	2.98%

Per Capita Visits (Asia)
Rank	Country	Visits	Per Capita
1	Singapore	29,674	18.26
2	Hong Kong	44,931	16.86
3	Israel	35,028	15.92
4	Taiwan	105,814	12.91
5	British Indian Ocean Islands	9	8.22
6	Japan	262,675	5.66
7	Kuwait	3,325	4.31
8	United Arab Emirates	3,610	4.04
9	Bahrain	847	3.54
10	Malaysia	25,717	3.11

Australia and Oceania. No surprises here; with a combined rate of 98.3%, Australia and New Zealand dominated the statistics of visitors from this region.

Total Visits (Australia and Oceania)
Rank	Country	Visits	Percent
1	Australia	129,238	74.62%
2	New Zealand	40,992	23.67%
3	French Polynesia	1,522	0.88%
4	New Caledonia	953	0.55%
5	Guam	294	0.17%

Per Capita Visits (Australia and Oceania)
Rank	Country	Visits	Per Capita
1	New Zealand	40,992	28.74
2	Australia	129,238	18.11
3	French Polynesia	1,522	16.17
4	New Caledonia	953	12.56
5	Guam	294	5.01

South America. Brazil is a Linux powerhouse in South America, with more than half of the continent's visitors coming from that country, while about a fifth came from Argentina. However, on the per capita basis, Brazil is only ranked at number 5, with Uruguay, Falkland Islands, Chile and Argentina all beating Brazil.

Total Visits (South America)
Rank	Country	Visits	Percent
1	Brazil	89,299	56.04%
2	Argentina	32,785	20.57%
3	Chile	15,162	9.51%
4	Uruguay	6,251	3.92%
5	Colombia	5,653	3.55%
6	Venezuela	4,998	3.14%
7	Peru	3,060	1.92%
8	Bolivia	1,477	0.93%
9	Paraguay	319	0.20%
10	Ecuador	309	0.19%

Per Capita Visits (South America)
Rank	Country	Visits	Per Capita
1	Uruguay	6,251	5.06
2	Falkland Islands	4	3.97
3	Chile	15,162	2.68
4	Argentina	32,785	2.34
5	Brazil	89,299	1.36
6	Venezuela	4,998	0.56
7	Bolivia	1,477	0.48
8	Colombia	5,653	0.38
9	Peru	3,060	0.30
10	Paraguay	319	0.15

Africa. While more than half of all African visitors came from South Africa, the country ranked only third on the per capita basis, behind Libya and Seychelles.

Total Visits (Africa)
Rank	Country	Visits	Percent
1	South Africa	17,557	58.89%
2	Egypt	3,184	10.68%
3	Libya	2,503	8.40%
4	Tunisia	1,393	4.67%
5	Morocco	873	2.93%
6	Nigeria	752	2.52%
7	Kenya	645	2.16%
8	Algeria	563	1.89%
9	Sudan	409	1.37%
10	Uganda	352	1.18%

Per Capita Visits (Africa)
Rank	Country	Visits	Per Capita
1	Libya	2,503	1.28
2	Seychelles	35	1.20
3	South Africa	17,557	1.13
4	Mauritius	348	0.79
5	Tunisia	1,393	0.39
6	Gambia	140	0.26
7	Guinea-Bissau	81	0.17
8	Namibia	86	0.12
9	Egypt	3,184	0.12
10	Morocco	873	0.08

Individual distribution pages. All of the above data refer to the number of visits on this site's main page, but it is also interesting to see which distribution-specific pages where most popular in which country. Here is the ranking of most visited distribution pages in each of the top 24 countries.

United States
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	109,139	7.42%
2	Red Hat	108,806	7.40%
3	Gentoo	86,342	5.87%
4	Knoppix	80,057	5.44%
5	Yoper	61,848	4.21%

Canada
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	19,734	8.21%
2	Red Hat	16,833	7.01%
3	Debian	16,830	7.01%
4	Knoppix	14,078	5.86%
5	Gentoo	12,908	5.37%

Germany
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	14,955	8.19%
2	Red Hat	11,165	6.12%
3	SUSE	10,452	5.72%
4	Gentoo	9,721	5.32%
5	Knoppix	9,297	5.09%

United Kingdom
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	13,528	8.74%
2	Red Hat	11,548	7.41%
3	Gentoo	8,705	5.63%
4	Knoppix	8,273	5.35%
5	Yoper	7,581	4.90%

Japan
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Vine	18,387	13.35%
2	Red Hat	14,012	10.17%
3	Mandrake	9,467	6.87%
4	Gentoo	8,310	6.03%
5	Debian	7,071	5.13%

France
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	22,437	12.87%
2	Debian	13,610	7.81%
3	Red Hat	12,089	6.94%
4	Knoppix	8,733	5.01%
5	Gentoo	8,621	4.95%

Italy
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	9,773	9.32%
2	Red Hat	7,201	6.87%
3	Knoppix	5,613	5.35%
4	Debian	4,744	4.52%
5	Slackware	4,714	4.50%

Netherlands
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	7,022	8.03%
2	Red Hat	5,836	6.68%
3	Gentoo	4,718	5.40%
4	Yoper	4,135	4.73%
5	Knoppix	4,045	4.63%

Spain
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	8,045	8.68%
2	Red Hat	5,997	6.47%
3	Knoppix	5,801	6.26%
4	Debian	4,412	4.76%
5	Yoper	4,350	4.69%

Sweden
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	6,372	8.17%
2	Red Hat	5,858	7.51%
3	Gentoo	5,059	6.49%
4	Debian	4,472	5.73%
5	Yoper	4,212	5.40%

Australia
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	6,828	9.73%
2	Red Hat	4,991	7.11%
3	Gentoo	3,860	5.50%
4	Knoppix	3,708	5.28%
5	Yoper	3,391	4.83%

Belgium
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	5,336	9.77%
2	Red Hat	4,093	7.49%
3	Gentoo	3,310	6.06%
4	Knoppix	2,899	5.31%
5	Yoper	2,831	5.18%

Taiwan
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Red Hat	8,970	15.13%
2	Mandrake	6,707	11.32%
3	Gentoo	2,981	5.03%
4	Debian	2,647	4.47%
5	Knoppix	2,315	3.91%

Finland
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	5,873	10.93%
2	Red Hat	5,228	9.73%
3	Gentoo	3,555	6.62%
4	Debian	3,422	6.37%
5	SUSE	3,115	5.80%

Brazil
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Kurumin	11,824	19.02%
2	Mandrake	4,108	6.61%
3	Red Hat	3,368	5.42%
4	Slackware	2,927	4.71%
5	Knoppix	2,438	3.92%

China
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Red Hat	4,270	9.08%
2	Mandrake	3,520	7.49%
3	Knoppix	2,030	4.32%
4	Yoper	1,865	3.97%
5	Debian	1,780	3.79%

Poland
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Aurox	7,715	13.94%
2	Mandrake	4,083	7.38%
3	Debian	3,050	5.51%
4	Slackware	2,731	4.93%
5	Red Hat	2,459	4.44%

Denmark
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	3,575	10.13%
2	Red Hat	2,788	7.90%
3	Gentoo	2,081	5.89%
4	Yoper	1,865	5.28%
5	Debian	1,703	4.82%

Portugal
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Slackware	3,010	9.39%
2	Mandrake	2,470	7.70%
3	Red Hat	2,086	6.51%
4	Knoppix	1,646	5.13%
5	Debian	1,618	5.05%

Norway
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	2,342	8.76%
2	Red Hat	2,316	8.66%
3	Gentoo	1,463	5.47%
4	Debian	1,349	5.04%
5	Yoper	1,272	4.76%

Austria
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	2,220	9.19%
2	Gentoo	1,895	7.84%
3	Debian	1,819	7.53%
4	Red Hat	1,780	7.37%
5	Yoper	1,348	5.58%

Hong Kong
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	2,206	8.46%
2	Red Hat	2,093	8.02%
3	Debian	1,199	4.60%
4	Knoppix	1,170	4.49%
5	Gentoo	1,111	4.26%

Switzerland
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	2,255	9.01%
2	Red Hat	1,909	7.62%
3	Gentoo	1,533	6.12%
4	Debian	1,468	5.86%
5	SUSE	1,279	5.11%

Hungary
Rank	Distribution	Visits	Percent
1	Mandrake	2,716	8.74%
2	Red Hat	1,897	6.10%
3	Debian	1,822	5.86%
4	UHU	1,583	5.09%
5	SUSE	1,574	5.06%

Top distributions. With the exception of a few brief periods, the Mandrake page was the most visited page of all distribution-specific pages on DistroWatch.com. This is also reflected in the individual country statistics, where Mandrake took the top spot in most, though not all, countries. The table below only lists the 56 countries where the total visitor count exceeded 5,000 during the year.

Top distribution in countries
No of countries	Distribution	Countries
36	Mandrake	Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Yugoslavia, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay
12	Red Hat	Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Greece, India, Israel, Malaysia, Romania, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela
3	Gentoo	Lithuania, Singapore, Ukraine
1	Aurox	Poland
1	Kurumin	Brazil
1	Slackware	Portugal
1	Vine	Japan
1	Yoper	New Zealand

Conclusion. There is none. You can interpret the data any way you want to and come to your own conclusions. Or even better, don't come to any conclusions at all. Whatever you do, please do not try to influence the results by reloading the pages or the counter repeatedly (like the person in Poland who made an effort to generate more than 4,000 extra hits on the Debian page during November). This is immature and easy to detect, so all your extra hits will be deleted from the logs. Just enjoy the fun and accept that there is no such thing as "the best Linux distribution".

Released Last Week

Devil Linux 1.02b

A new updated version of the Devil-Linux live firewall has been released: "Version 1.0.2b of Devil-Linux is available, which fixes a bunch of bugs and adds support for older computers which require ISAPNP support." Changes: "Added missing file upgrade-config; updated iptables to v1.29-cvs-20031119 (fixes problem with stack smashing protector)." This announcement includes a more complete changelog.

clusterKNOPPIX 3.3-2003-11-19

A new version of clusterKNOPPIX has been released. From the changelog: "clusterKNOPPIX_V3.3-2003-11-19-EN-cl1 - 2003-11-26. Sync with latest Knoppix release; upgraded to OpenMosix 2.4.22-2; MFS enabled again (OpenMosix tmpfs oops fixed); chpox upgraded to 0.6b; nforce2 chipset support added; xfs support added; ipsec support added (freeswan 2.03); tyd from CHAOS added."

MEPIS Linux 2003.10

MEPIS Linux 2003.10 has been released: "Today, MEPIS LLC announced the release of MEPIS Linux 2003.10 for Pentium processors. MEPIS Linux is a desktop Linux that is designed for both personal and business users. MEPIS Linux offers a live/installation/recovery CD, advanced automatic hardware configuration, XP/NTFS support, ACPI power management, WiFi support, personal firewall, KDE 3.1.4, OpenOffice 1.1, Mozilla 1.5, and much more. With release 2003.10, MEPIS has expanded the functionality of the MEPIS Installation Center to allow the user to install MEPIS or repair the boot loader, Xconfig, make a floppy, or test the hard drive all while running from the Live-CD." See the rest of the press release and the distribution's product page with screenshots for further details.

Kurumin 2.10

The Kurumin developers have released a new version of Kurumin - 2.10. New in this release: updated Linux kernel 2.4.22 with support for more hardware and improved hardware auto-detection; fixed problems with Flash, replaced gtkam with flphoto; removed kopete for space reasons; included drivers for winmodems; Gqview replaced with Kuickshow; included Python 2.3 and BitTorrent 3.3; bug fixes in KDE icons and file associations. Read the full release announcement (in Portuguese) for further details.

DeLi Linux 0.4

DeLi Linux version 0.4 has been released. Changes: "New delisetup; changed /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny; patched pppsetup (usepeerdns); some bugfixes." See the rest of the changelog and the distribution's web site for more information.

Immunix Secured OS 7.3

Immunix Secured OS 7.3 has been released: "Immunix, Inc., is pleased to announce its Immunix Secured OS 7.3 release based on the 2.4 Linux kernel, 2.2.5 glibc, and 2.96 GCC. This release includes the SubDomain mandatory access control module, StackGuard buffer overflow mediation, and FormatGuard format string mediation." Unlike previous versions of Immunix, version 7.3 is not available for free download: "Immunix Secured OS 7.3 is not free software. Immunix does employ many GPL components, among other licenses, and source code for GPL software is available under the terms of the license. Some portions of Immunix Secured OS 7.3 are Immunix Proprietary, available under the Immunix Commercial License." Find out more on the distribution's home and product pages.

ThePacketMaster Security Server 1.0.1

A new version of ThePacketMaster Security Server has been released: "As many of you already know, the new release of the TPM security server, 1.0.1, is finally out. This release is based on the 2.4.20 kernel. Major changes from 1.0.0 are: new revisions of software packages; more extensive testing of packages for proper functionality; improved support for wireless cards based on the TI chipset and the Atheros chipset; changes to bootup process." Read the rest of the announcement.

ClarkConnect Broadband Getaway 2.1

ClarkConnect Broadband Getaway version 2.1 has been released: "ClarkConnect Home Edition 2.1 is available. Office Edition 2.1 will be released December 2. What's new: added content filtering; added wireless support; added bandwidth upload and port limiter; added DMZ support (by configuration file only); added German language; improved Samba support (home directories, permission checking, default shares); improved network configuration; cleaned up installer graphics; simplified wireless configuration; fixed various bugs." This product page has more relevant information and links.

Development Releases

LRs GNU Linux "Creme-13" RC1, the release announcement

Upcoming Releases and Announcements

CollegeLinux 2.5

It seems that the release of CollegeLinux 2.5 will be delayed by about a week: "We are not done yet (I know. very late but..) we are adding a modified version of slapt-get with a gui-way to handle package upgrade via Konqueror. Looks pretty nice. My forecast is a final release for the 7 December. Could be some days before or some days after. We are also redoing the site completely."

e-smith SME Server 6.0

Some interesting news regarding the future development of SME Server (also known as e-smith). It appears that, after the upcoming SME Server 6.0, Mitel will no longer provide freely downloadable developer releases: "Mitel is a commercial enterprise and has decided to focus our developers on our commercial products. Some of our developers may choose to continue to stay involved with whatever community effort emerges, doing so on their own time and outside of their regular responsibilities within Mitel." The SME Server 6.0 will be released within the next few weeks: "We will be preparing a 6.0 unsupported developer release in the next week or two that will essentially be 6.0beta3 plus a few recent security updates. This will be the last 'official' unsupported developer release that we have planned. Any future releases are really up to you." Read the complete message for further information.

Linux-Live 3.9.1.0

Slackware-Live has been renamed to Linux-Live, due to trademark issues with the word "Slackware": This project's name will change. The old name Slackware-Live is breaking some trademark laws or something I don't understand much, so this LiveCD will be called 'L i n u x - L i v e'." A new version 3.9.1.0 is currently under development.

Libranet GNU/Linux 3.0

The latest Libranet newsletter has some interesting information regarding the upcoming Libranet 3.0 and Libranet archives: "We are building a new archive to be maintained by us which will be 'upgrade safe'. The intention is that users can upgrade individual packages or the entire system without running into the problems mentioned above. Users with Libranet 2.8 systems and up will be able to use this archive to keep up to date. With the release of version 3.0 a new archive will be built, and so on. This feature will help keep Libranet systems stable and make running a Libranet system even more beneficial to Libranet users. This new archive will still use packages from the Debian archive and Libranet systems will remain fully compatible with Debian."

Web Site News

New additions

AL-AMLUG Live CD. AL-AMLUG Live CD is a pre-installed Arch Linux with latest packages, developed by AMLUG (Ananda Margiis' Linux User Group). This live CD can act as a temporary workstation, be used as a demo, rescue ailing machines, test linux compatible hardware and install Arch Linux on HD. The main aim of this live CD is to act as a workstation for members using temporary computers to access e-mail and to work with their documents, accounts and files. Data are stored on floppy disk or USB memory card. Those who are not familiar with the purpose of "live CD", it's a GNU/Linux distribution that boots and runs completely from CD. Depending on the developers, it includes recent Linux software and desktop environments, with programs for office, Internet, multimedia and graphics. All are quality open source programs. AL-AMLUG live CD selection of software aims to include one software of each category.
Aleader. Aleader is a bootable live CD based on Knoppix. The Aleader software combines a video player, affective indexing, and psychometric tools into an easy to use GUI. Aleader can already test how consistently you can witness what is going on in a film. However, empirical verification of our methods is still in the early stages.
BrlSpeak. BrlSpeak is a Braille and speech mini-distribution of GNU/Linux based on Debian. Characteristics: installable on a FAT partition without having to repartition the hard disk; no longer UMSDOS as by the past but in a loopback; no longer Slackware-based but Debian-based; available in 3 versions: basic (mini), braille and vocal (= braille + some speech applications).
INSERT. INSERT is a complete, bootable Linux system based on Damn Small Linux. It comes with a graphical user interface running the Fluxbox window manager while still being sufficiently small to fit on a credit card-sized CD-ROM. INSERT contains a multitude of useful tools to be at your hand in a variety of situations: network analysis (e.g. lcrzoex, tcpdump); disaster recovery (e.g. gpart, partimage, testdisk); virus scanning (Clam Antivirus); computer forensics (e.g. chkrootkit); surf the internet (e.g. links, AxY FTP).
NordisKnoppix. NordisKnoppix is a version of Klaus Knopper's Knoppix, supporting Nordic and Baltic languages, and maintained by Conrad Newton. Presently, the supported languages include Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Faroese, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Northern sami, Norwegian bokmål, Norwegian nynorsk, Swedish and US English, to the extent that Debian packages for these languages are available, and that they fit on the CD. Aside from the Nordic/Baltic language components, NordisKnoppix is the same as standard Knoppix.

New on the waiting list

Adelie Linux. The Adelie Linux Project will build solutions based on Gentoo Linux for Single System Image, High Performance Computing and other related fields.
Feather Linux. Feather Linux is a Knoppix-based Linux distribution which runs completely off a CD and takes up under 50Mb of space. It is suitable especially for business-card sized CDs. It tries to include software which most people would use every day on their desktops.
JoLinux. JoLinux is a new Brazilian distribution based on Slackware; the web site is in Portuguese.
Knoppel. Knoppel is a Greek variant of Knoppix; the web site is in Greek.
Linux Live-CD Router. The Linux Live-CD Router allows you to share your broadband connection and use WIFI. You can use DSL, ADSL, cable modem, T1, fixed IPs, ISDN, dial-up and more.

Revived distributions

LRs GNU Linux. With the release of Creme-13 RC1, LRs GNU Linux has been moved back onto the list of active distributions. The project was discontinued and resurrected several times during the past two years.

DistroWatch database summary

Number of distributions in the database: 205
Number of discontinued distributions: 24
Number of distributions on the waiting list: 69

Reader Feedback

Reader feedback will return next week.

That's all for today, keep well and see you next Monday :-)
Ladislav Bodnar

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Archives
• Issue 1173 (2026-05-18): Sylve on FreeBSD, the benefit of BleachBit, Debian commits to reproducible builds, Debian publishes updated install media, Haiku introduces SMP support on ARM64 processors, Rocky Linux creates opt-in security repository, Fedora reconsiders AI tools, KDE receives generous donation
• Issue 1172 (2026-05-11): Fedora 44, dealing with extra fonts, Fedora plans to provide AI tools, problems with Ubuntu's new coreutils, TrueNAS extends its development cycle, postmarktetOS improves the boot splash screen, Redox ports tmux
• Issue 1171 (2026-05-04): Xubuntu 26.04, extending memory with VRAM, Ubuntu plans AI features, Devuan developer forks GTK2, Mint introduces hardware enablement builds, Linux running on a PlayStation 5, local kernel exploit found in Linux
• Issue 1170 (2026-04-27): ENux 5.2.1, picking a second distro, AlmaLinux expands CPU support, FreeBSD publishes Status Report, Ubuntu MATE skips 26.04 release
• Issue 1169 (2026-04-20): Lakka 6.1, free software and source-based distributions, FreeBSD Foundation publishes compatible laptop list, Debian holds Project Leader election, Haiku progresses ARM64 port, Mint to extend development cycle, Linux 7.0 released
• Issue 1168 (2026-04-13): pearOS 2026.03, EndeavourOS 2026.03.06, which distros are adopting age verification, Arch adjusts its firewall packages, Linux dropping i486 support, Red Hat extends its release cycle, Debian's APT introduces rollbacks, Redox improves its scheduler
• Issue 1167 (2026-04-06): Origami Linux 2026.03, answering questions for Linux newcomers, Ubuntu MATE seeking new contributors, Ubuntu software centre is expanding Deb support, FreeBSD fixes forum exploit, openSUSE 15 Leap nears its end of life
• Issue 1166 (2026-03-30): NetBSD jails, publishing software for Linux, Ubuntu joins Rust Foundation, Canonical plans to trim GRUB features, Peppermint works on new utilities, PINE64 shows off open hardware capabilities
• Issue 1165 (2026-03-23): Argent Linux 1.5.3, disk space required by Linux, Manjaro team goes on strike, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA driver support and builds RISC-V packages, systemd introduces age tracking
• Issue 1164 (2026-03-16): d77void, age verification laws and Linux, SUSE may be for sale, TrueNAS takes its build system private, Debian publishes updated Trixie media, MidnightBSD and System76 respond to age verification laws
• Issue 1163 (2026-03-09): KaOS 2026.02, TinyCore 17.0, NuTyX 26.02.2, Would one big collection of packages help?, Guix offers 64-bit Hurd options, Linux communities discuss age delcaration laws, Mint unveils new screensaver for Cinnamon, Redox ports new COSMIC features
• Issue 1162 (2026-03-02): AerynOS 2026.01, anti-virus and firewall tools, Manjaro fixes website certificate, Ubuntu splits firmware package, jails for NetBSD, extended support for some Linux kernel releases, Murena creating a map app
• Issue 1161 (2026-02-23): The Guix package manager, quick Q&As, Gentoo migrating its mirrors, Fedora considers more informative kernel panic screens, GhostBSD testing alternative X11 implementation, Asahi makes progress with Apple M3, NetBSD userland ported, FreeBSD improves web-based system management
• Issue 1160 (2026-02-16): Noid and AgarimOS, command line tips, KDE Linux introduces delta updates, Redox OS hits development milestone, Linux Mint develops a desktop-neutral account manager, sudo developer seeks sponsorship
• 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
• Full list of all issues

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Random Distribution

SENTINIX

SENTINIX was an operating system (or a so called Linux distribution) designed for monitoring, auditing, intrusion detection and anti-spam. It's completely free; free to use, free to modify and free to distribute. SENTINIX includes the following software installed and pre-configured; Nagios, Nagat, Snort, SnortCenter, ACID, Cacti, RRDTool, Nessus, Postfix, MailScanner, SpamAssassin, openMosix, MySQL, Apache, PHP, Perl, Python and lots more. SENTINIX was shipped with a lot of programs, not all licensed under the same license (e.g. GNU GPL). SENTINIX contains (and will only contain) software whose license has been approved by the Open Source Initiative. Compledge Sentinel was the predecessor of SENTINIX.

Status: Discontinued

Tips, Tricks, Q&As
Tips and tricks: Shell switching, battery charge, getting the system's IP address and dealing with stubborn processes
Tips and tricks: Konqueror & Kate make an excellent remote admin team... and a killer casserole
Questions and answers: Separate /home partition and dual booting performance
Questions and answers: Verifying a disk's contents was copied properly
Questions and answers: Accessing ZFS snapshots
Questions and answers: Getting a Linux tablet PC
Tips and tricks: Combining commands in the shell
Questions and answers: Getting notification of security updates
Questions and answers: Checking the health of an external drive
Tips and tricks: Copying a VCD
More Tips & Tricks and Questions & Answers

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