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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 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched
• Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base
• Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued
• Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5
• Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released
• Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS
• Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone
• Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched
• Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD
• Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers
• Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework
• Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
• Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support
• Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base
• Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop
• Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation
• Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut
• Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools
• Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl
• Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media
• Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments
• Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade
• Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy
• Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images
• Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions
• Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding
• Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard
• Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports
• Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary
• Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition
• Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd
• Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features
• Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support
• Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core
• Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots
• Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1
• Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update
• Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features
• Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support
• Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project
• Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model
• Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support
• Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware
• Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6
• Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat
• Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6
• Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work
• Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication
• Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops
• Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw
• Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer
• Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule
• Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings
• Full list of all issues

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Myrinix Myrinix was smart and centralised operating system for the home. Its main feature was the ability to connect a plasma TV or large LCD screen to a central server that can record and play DVD or surf the Internet on the big screen. Myrinix was a live CD based on Debian GNU/Linux and sidux. Status: Discontinued

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