 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 36, 16 February 2004 |
Welcome to this year's 7th edition of DistroWatch Weekly. The much awaited Fedora Core 2 Test 1 finally arrived last week and while it certainly isn't perfect, it comes with many interesting things to explore. If you have installed it and have taken a look around, please leave a comment about your first impressions.
Content:
Sex, lies and distributions
One of the main reasons I prefer Linux to proprietary operating systems is the inherent honesty that exists in our small world of Free Software. I still remember my early steps with Linux and its applications, particularly a friend's assertion that Linux has "The Gimp", a graphics editor as good as (if not better than) Adobe's Photoshop, except that it doesn't cost a penny. Having been "conditioned" by Microsoft's sales-driven web sites, I was later shocked to see the following paragraph on gimp.org:
"Warnings. The program(s) might crash unexpectedly or behave otherwise strangely. ... Many people do find GIMP very useful. But it is not a Photoshop killer (for professional Photoshop users, that is). Photoshop has lots of features that the GIMP lacks."
Now compare the above statement with the Photoshop product description from adobe.com:
"Get superior results faster with industry-standard Adobe® Photoshop® CS software, the powerful new upgrade from Photoshop 7.0. You're in control with indispensable new features for graphic and Web designers, photographers, and video professionals."
The shock came from the realisation that, in the world of Free Software, there is no need to claim that some software will enhance your life beyond recognition and produce incredible user experiences you had never before believed possible. In other words, there is no need to lie.
The times they are a-changing
But are things changing? The Linux world has now been invaded by proprietary software companies with great money-making ambitions. As a result of that, we are now seeing more and more of the old-style, self-congratulatory product descriptions and flowery marketing that plague the world of proprietary software.
Just take the latest Xandros newsletter, published last week, as an example. It's headlines read like this:
- New! Xandros Desktop Standard Edition
- Upgrade Now to Version 2 of the Xandros Desktop OS
- Xandros Business Solutions Make LinuxWorld Debut
- Computer Associates SVP Endorses Xandros Business Desktop
- Linux Breaks Desktop Barrier in 2004: Torvalds
- Xandros Crowned "King of Linux Desktop"
Even without the rest of the content, there is very little value in this newsletter. All we get is information about how great the product is, selective quotes from reviews that praise it, information about some corporate partnerships, awards, and several obligatory links to the company's online store. With sentences, such as: "Investors who came to the show saw our striking new display booth and witnessed another spectacularly popular $100,000.00 Xandros Giveaway." How exciting... (yawn).
Where are some useful tips and tricks for Xandros users? Examples of users reporting problems and solutions to those problems? How about including information on ways to take advantage of a great Xandros File Manager feature? Or an interview with a developer? A sneak peek at a next version? Information about new package releases/updates? Or some other truly useful info; a newsletter that every Xandros user will want to print out or save for future reference, instead of just glance through the headlines and hit the <Delete> button?
Xandros is not the only one. Other commercial Linux companies have been sliding towards this sort of communication with their users, replacing practical and useful newsletters with ones full of standard marketing drivel and links to their online stores. What's the point of such newsletters? Why can't these companies visit the web sites of some of the non-commercial projects and take a look at those newsletters? The ones put together by the Gentoo project (in 12 languages!) are hard to beat, while others, like the Debian Weekly News or the recently launched Arch Linux Newsletter are less flashy, but still useful.
Opinions, please
What do you think? Is it inevitable that we are going to see more and more product information produced by marketing personnel, rather than software developers? If you use one of the commercial Linux distribution, do you mind this trend? Or is there anything we can do to preserve that type of straightforward honesty and openness as demonstrated by gimp.org? Is there no way that a commercial company can be equally honest about their products without having to resort to marketing propaganda? Please discuss below.
(A note for Xandros fans: please don't waste your time to write that DistroWatch has become an anti-Xandros site. It has not. The above was written in the hope that perhaps a responsible person at Xandros, Inc (and other companies producing useless newsletters) will read it, think about it and implement changes to serve their user community better. Unless I am all wrong and people actually enjoy reading newsletters by Xandros, in which case please feel free to argue your case below.)
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| Released Last Week |
Buffalo Linux 1.1.3
The Buffalo Linux project continues its fast release cycle with version 1.1.3: "The changes in this version are directed towards sysadmins. It can now directly install RPM, DEB, and Slackware TGZ packages, and also supports bz2 and tar.gz on the fly. The kernel has been upgraded to 2.6.2. The 'newkernel' build feature has been ported to kernels 2.4.24 and 2.6.2. A new Buffalo ISO feature has been added for creating a specialised install CD incorporating both kernel and software package changes." The full announcement.
Vine Linux 2.6r4
The fourth revision of Vine Linux 2.6 has been released. This is mainly a security and bug-fix update, with patches to recently discovered vulnerabilities in cvs, lftp and the Linux kernel, as well as a correction of a bug in e2fsprogs found in the previous release. The new ISO image is available for download from several mirrors.
Bluewall GNU/Linux 1.1
Bluewall GNU/Linux 1.1, code name "space hands" has been released. From the changelog: "This release includes Linux 2.4.24 and 2.6.2 with ext2, ext3, Reiserfs, and XFS (only 2.6) support, Bluewall Perl installer scripts (bw-config, bw-post, bw-install) for making the installation easier and faster by only running three commands, 95 new Debian packages, and a preconfigured initrd to load modules at boot-time. The reboot command/scripts have been fixed and included in the ramdisk. The NetBSD package system (pkgsrc) has also been included." Read the rest of the announcement on the distribution's main page.
clusterKNOPPIX 3.3-2004-02-09
Following a new recent Knoppix release, the clusterKNOPPIX project has also produced a new release. From the changelog: "clusterKNOPPIX_V3.3-2004-02-09-EN-cl1 - 2004-02-12. Sync with latest Knoppix release; upgraded to openmosix 2.4.24-1; removed KDE locales; added own bootlogo; added lotsa modules (cipe, cdfs, shfs, lufs, bcm5700, drbd, arla, eagleadsl, hubcot, i2c, zaptel, thinkpad, vaiostat, userlink, unicorn, translucency, sl-modem, qce, lirc, openafs, lm-sensors) thanks to module-assistant."
Feather Linux 0.3.5
A new version of Feather Linux is out. From the changelog: "Changelog from 0.3.4 to 0.3.5: added ntfstools, dosfstools, e2undel, iftop, gtkrecover, bbpager, utelnetd, picocom, bridge-utils, index and various dockapps to show the system status; included Busybox versions of dc and fbset; changed Firebird script to download Firefox instead; added menu options to play CDs and DVDs, and a documentation menu; made small changes to HD install script; added script to save config to HD (use knoppix hdrestore=hda1)."
Lorma Linux 4.1
Lorma Linux, a Fedora-based distribution recompiled for i686 processors, has a new release. Changes in version 4.1: "This new release fixes most of the bugs encountered on Lorma Linux 4.0; a new and improved GUI interface to synaptic when upgrading packages and problems were fixed; recompiled Mozilla 1.5 for a better look-and-feel in browsing; regrouped KDE menu items for easier navigation; removed xine-ui from the package for bigger disk space; added gFTP in exchange of KBear; added LinNeighborhood..." Read about the remaining changes on the distribution's home page.
INSERT 1.2.2
A new version of INSERT, the Inside Security Rescue Toolkit, has been released. From the changelog: "2004-02-13 v1.2.2. The latest virus database for clamav has been added; the floppy boot image has been removed; instead, a small script and syslinux provide the functionality to generate the boot disk from the files already on the CD; some minor corrections in the captive docu page have been made; wmnet has been removed."
Mandows 1.5
Mandows 1.5 has been released. The new version fixes several bugs from the previous release and includes support for ACPI and ECI modems. Many new packages have been added, including mmbox, gFTP, MPlayer, alsamixergui, GCDmaster, QTParted, Synaptic, Samba, Apache, Grip, xawtv, BitTorrent and others. See the full release announcement (in French) for further details.
Knoppix 3.3-2004-02-16
This is a new update of the Knoppix live CD. From the changelog: "V3.3-2004-02-16 (more updates and bugfixes). Updated /etc/X11/Xsession to fix X-Login on installed version; updated pcitable for nforce ethernet chipsets; timezone fix from Tim Pope; don't set DefaultColorDepth in XF86Config-4 if using fbdev module; fixed empty /etc/network/interfaces broadcast line in netcardconfig."
Puppy Linux 0.8.2
A new version of Puppy Linux is now available: "Puppy v0.8.2 released. Bluefish v0.7 is now in Puppy, not as an external package but in-built. Now there is an incredible choice of HTML editors. Bluefish is for people who like to work with the code, in contrast with Composer and Amaya that are WYSIWYG (though Amaya does have a very nice code window). Puppy now has scalerx, which is a lovely utility for scaling up the size of PNG images without jagged edges. Puppy has a new HOWTO page on multimedia..." Read the rest of the release notes for additional information.
AL-AMLUG Live CD 0.4.2
This new release from the AL-ALAMLUG Live CD project is based on a pre-release snapshot of Arch Linux 0.6 What's new? "Packages upgrade: KDE-3.2, kernel-2.4.24, etc; new packages: Mozilla (replaced Opera), Flash & Java plugins, gFTP, and MPlayer. (the full package list); bug fix: USB system, hd-install with X fonts cache, and LILO (lilo.conf)." Read the rest of the release announcement for further details.
Development releases
Other releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
ASP Linux 9.2
ASP Linux has announced that version 9.2 will be released on 1 March 2004, when it will also become available for download from its FTP servers and mirrors. Besides the standard product, the company will also produce a bootable live CD. See this page (in Russian) for further information.
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| Web Site News |
Advertising special: half price until the end of February
If you sign up and start advertising at any time between today and the end of February 2004, you will be eligible for twice as many impressions as normal. As an example US$25 will normally buy you 25,000 banner impressions, but the current special will get you 50,000 impressions instead. Similarly, US$500 will buy you 2 million impressions, instead of the standard 1 million. These are the special rates valid until the end of this month:
• $25 (50,000 impressions)
• $45 (100,000 impressions)
• $80 (200,000 impressions)
• $300 (1 million impressions)
• $500 (2 million impressions)
Just a reminder that we support geo-targeted and regional advertising, so if you offer Linux and Free Software related product and services applicable only to your country or region, you can still take advantage of the above offer and advertise exclusively for visitors coming from your target market. Please visit the advertising page for further details.
DistroWatch T-shirts
Order your own official DistroWatch T-shirt from Hackerthreads.
New additions
- eduKnoppix. eduKnoppix is an Italian educational distribution based on Knoppix, designed especially for teachers and pupils (age 12 up). eduKnoppix has two major features: it comes with a comprehensive range of various Mathematics packages, as well as resources to obtain the European Computer Driver's License ONLY with free software.
- X-evian. X-evian is a Spanish live CD based on Knoppix and Debian GNU/Linux.
- OGo Knoppix Live CD. The OpenGroupware.org (OGo) Knoppix CD is a bootable CD which contains a complete Debian GNU/Linux system, a fully configured OGo installation, a Cyrus server and some more Linux software. It's based on the original Knoppix CD created by Knopper.Net Consulting. It's certainly the fastest way to get a usable OpenGroupware.org demo up and running!
Screenshot: OpenGroupware.org's own live CD with the pre-configured OpenGroupware.org groupware client.
(full image size 124kB)
New on the waiting list
- Rox OS. Rox OS is a Linux distribution which is being designed around bringing a simpler experience to home users. Initially Rox OS will build upon the idea of application directories (AppDirs), that allow for easy drag and drop installation of applications and system utilities, and a simplified file system hierarchy.
DistroWatch database summary
- Number of distributions in the database: 259
- Number of discontinued distributions: 31
- Number of distributions on the waiting list: 57
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| Reader Feedback |
On reader suggestions
It's always interesting to read some of the suggestions that readers come up with. Like this one:
"How about adding a link to the latest changelog to each package in the 'latest packages' section? It would save me some time searching for it on the site's homepage each time a new software package is released."
There is nothing wrong with a request like that and I appreciate the reader's time to write in with a suggestion for improvement. But... While it will certainly save him time, it will mean more work for your maintainer, which make me somewhat reluctant to implement the feature. The way things are at the moment, all new features, especially the ones designed to "save time" will go into the appropriately named Timesavers Programme and will only be available to those who join it.
An alternative solution would be to allow the reader requesting a feature to implement it. Consider the following email:
"May I suggest you implement a 'software' benchmark about distros? Such benchmark would state whether a distro implements (and I mean 'it works right away after the install stage'): Java, Flash, RealPlayer, all this integrated with any browser provided in the distro; multimedia capabilities, and DVD playback (yes, with libdecss, and divx); CD burning capabilities; proprietary video drivers (NVIDIA, ATI, ...); 'dependency hell' fix (urpmi, apt-get, ...); a decent control centre, with hardware authoring tool (such as to prevent directly writing into modules.conf, or fstab, or else); an home office productivity tool (KOffice, OpenOffice.org, ...); an account manager (gnucash, ...)."
This is a perfectly reasonable request and something that many readers would likely find extremely useful. Unfortunately, it is a lot of work. If we can get a group of people, each of whom will provide the necessary information for one or two distributions, and enter the data into a matrix for comparison, then we could end up with a very useful table. Is there enough interest in this? More importantly, is there anyone willing to lead this "distro benchmarking" sub-project, set up the table, collect the data and maintain the page? Any interested parties, please comment below or email me directly. Needless to say, any community-driven projects like this will be freely accessible to all visitors.
Luckily, not all email is of "request" type. This one was one of the more pleasant ones to read:
"My name is Jeff, and I'm a regular visitor to the Distrowatch site. In fact, it is the default home page for 2 of the browsers I use most frequently. I think you do an incredible job with the site, and wish that my current situation allowed me to financially support you in some measure. Unfortunately, that's not a realistic option at this time. What I can offer, however, is my time, and my services in writing, proofreading, reviews, webpage assistance, and in any other way which I might be able to support a very useful site while I am sitting at my computer. Please contact me if I can be of any help."
Thank you, Jeff, I appreciate your email and I certainly will take advantage of your generous offer!
That's all for this week, see you next Monday :-)
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • LOL (by Alex on 2004-02-16 17:55:40 GMT)
You're just an old fashioned Linux zealot who has lost track of things and is scared to see proprietary software enter the Linux market.
Your examples are ridiculous and show nothing but your ignorance in your over the top generalizations and distaste for all things proprietary.
What did Xandros say that was so bad? They said that at Linux world they had a new booth which people liked and a great sucess at their giveaway. How do you know that wasn't true? I for one would be glad to have a free copy of their distribution.
Even Adobe, have you tried PhotoshopCS? What Adobe said was all true, Photoshop is the best in its class, aka superior and it definitely is powerful/. The rest is debatable , maybe the new features are only essential to some, who knows, but it is a matter of opinion hence not a lie. If you do not believe them, than go ahead and downloat their trial version.
In addition there are many OSS projects which have quite good marketing, for example Mozilla. More OSS projects should learn and start marketing theirselves better, of course not with lying but by making their key features more clear and having more attractive website designs etc.
All you have showed is a flaw in some OSS software, not an advantage. GIMP.org should not even mention Phtoshop, last time I checked GIMP wasn't made by Adobe, there is no reason to endorse Adobe . Their statement is pathetic, it's as if I told you, well you know I'm kind fo good, but than of course I'm not half as smart or qualified as Jim for most jobs. Instead GIMP should list its key features, sucess stories, and other useful things to its users. If you are looking at the GIMP you obviously either can't properly run Photoshop CS or have some grudge against it so that statement was really irrelevant and just makes the project look bad.
Thank you for identifying this big flaw in the marketing of most OSS projects..
2 • No subject (by michael on 2004-02-16 18:46:55 GMT)
Marketing doesnt just have to be hype. While its nice to see xandros take such pride in themselves, such a newsletter doesnt really promote a sense of community, which is what i thought would be the main point of such an endeavour.
If all their going to do is push new products on you why dont they call it the "xandros weekly sales promotional tool", or "the list of amazing things xandros have done".
It seems to me what hes trying to say is its not so much a newsletter, as a set of adverts. No offence intended.
3 • Re: LOL (By Alex) (by FedUpPenguin on 2004-02-16 19:02:39 GMT)
I for one have complained here that every time somebody is reviewing Xandros they behave as if they were sucking a lollipop: Xandros is the best thing after sliced salami!
I have tried it, and apart from finding their EULA disgusting, their prices exorbitant, there is very little about Xandros that I like: it is incredibly shabby.
I have noticed a similar attitude with many Gentoo users (but not with the people in charge): there CANNOT be a distro better than Gentoo! Next I find them in another place as advocates of M$!
Then give me Lindows everyday (note that I AM NOT a Lindows user): it is very polished and Kevin Carmony is very open to any criticism.
Other are the distros which deserve my respect, and most of them don't cost a cent.
4 • No subject (by Dave Kluck on 2004-02-16 19:17:58 GMT)
I recall hearing somewhere (and the story may be apocryphal, I don't know) that Ian Murdock was inspired to start the Debian project based on his disgust with just such a lying proprietary linux advertisement claiming that WINE offered full linux compatibility for Windows apps. Look where that got us: it founded one of the most respected forces in the linux market today. Bottom line is, no matter who markets the software, it's still developed--for the most part--by good people who are interested in producing a good product, but are not afraid of admitting its flaws. I can't forsee that changing anytime soon.
5 • RE:LOL (by jlowell at 2004-02-16 19:20:35 GMT)
Oh, cow flop, Alex. Anyone with the sensitivities of a chimpanzee is capable of sensing a threat to something they value and Ladislav Bodnar's concerns over the Xandros-speak he illustates are well placed. Frankly, I share them. Spare us; your ad hominems don't make for an argument.
jlowell
6 • Evil Newsletters (by Bob from Accounting on 2004-02-16 19:20:50 GMT)
I bet Dogbert could put a stop to the evil newsletters. It is simply amazing how much material marketing can produce that says absoloutely nothing. It reminds me of the old ASCII stegano tools that would produce mad-libs style email. (sorta a stelthy ascii-armor, for those not familiar with it) The email was completely pseudo-random and would read normally.. perhaps such a tool exists for evil newsletters? :) If not, we could create one. The flame above demonstrates this technique by giving no opinions and drawing no conclusions of their own. It would be an excellent study for developing the algorithim.
DNRC!!
7 • Speaking of great newsletters... (by madhunter at 2004-02-16 19:42:42 GMT)
You forgot to mention the DistroWatch Weekly Newsletter!!! I love this thing, and I don't ever miss it. It has become part of a ritual reading it... I know you couldn't exactly toot your own horn, but of the newsletters I read, this one is the best.
8 • Hahahaha... (by madhunter at 2004-02-16 19:54:00 GMT)
Alex's opinions remind me of a dirty, sleazy car salesman (not that all car salesmen are sleazy... just the one's that know who they are).
Ladislav was making a point that newsletters should be more than advertising. Hence the name- NEWSletter. If people want to advertise, call it ADvertising. Two different things.
9 • Alex (by None on 2004-02-16 20:22:29 GMT)
Did anyone ever think that Alex might work for xandros?
No, xandros has not said anything bad with in their newsletter, it is what they didnt say , which would be the problem. And thats the point that Ladislav Bodnar was trying to make.
Correct me if I am wrong (Ladislav Bodnar)?
10 • sourcemage (by seth on 2004-02-16 20:22:44 GMT)
the source mage site says that .9.1 was been Released , distro watch does not have it on the source mage.
http://news.sourcemage.org/article.php?story=20040205080123492
11 • Fedora core 2 test 1 (by Randy on 2004-02-16 20:51:00 GMT)
I downloaded and installed Fedora core 2 test 1.
The install is virtually identical to core 1 install.
Gnome seemed very slow and some of the features didn't work correctly(sound, controls).KDE ran exremely fast and stable but all the multimedia programs I tried were nonfunctional. As far as networking, it was flawless. I haven't tried much more of it than that, as I have only had it installed for 1 day.
12 • software benchmark (by MixMatch at 2004-02-16 21:39:17 GMT)
hey, I think that while the idea of a distribution benchmark, is neat, its a particular challenge to linux. First, you must consider that all the things listed were desktop linux features. Servers rarely have things such as flash players and such installed... Sure, it would be a nice thing to consider for those desktop distos though... I suppose that I am biased to disagree with the concept from the start because of the fact that I prefer using a source-based distribution like Sorcerer. While source-base distributions often do not have the configuration tools that other distros have, they come with other benefits, like the fact that there is no need to update the distro itself to newer versions, as software is updated daily in conjunction with their releases... All this leads to the fact that configuration tools and other such things are not as necessary because of the install-once nature of things...
As for the PR issues, this problem goes two ways. First of all, there are too many linux companies using this worthless advertizing. At the same time, there are many OSS projects that are not getting enough attention for the things they offer linux...
13 • New Gentoo Release (by Nathaniel at 2004-02-16 23:37:15 GMT)
There is a new Gentoo release coming in the next week or so. I believe the release date is Feb 23rd.
14 • FreeBSD (by Anonymous on 2004-02-17 00:14:49 GMT)
I know FreeBSD isn't Linux, but I think it would be useful (and great as well) if you included it on DistroWatch. There are lots of sites such as linuxiso.org that include FreeBSD. There's nothing wrong adding it.
Thanx!
15 • Wrong replies (by Alex on 2004-02-17 01:15:38 GMT)
People, I was replying about this part of his article:
"One of the main reasons I prefer Linux to proprietary operating systems is the inherent honesty that exists in our small world of Free Software. I still remember my early steps with Linux and its applications, particularly a friend's assertion that Linux has "The Gimp", a graphics editor as good as (if not better than) Adobe's Photoshop, except that it doesn't cost a penny. Having been "conditioned" by Microsoft's sales-driven web sites, I was later shocked to see the following paragraph on gimp.org:
"Warnings. The program(s) might crash unexpectedly or behave otherwise strangely. ... Many people do find GIMP very useful. But it is not a Photoshop killer (for professional Photoshop users, that is). Photoshop has lots of features that the GIMP lacks."
Now compare the above statement with the Photoshop product description from adobe.com:
"Get superior results faster with industry-standard Adobe® Photoshop® CS software, the powerful new upgrade from Photoshop 7.0. You're in control with indispensable new features for graphic and Web designers, photographers, and video professionals."
The shock came from the realisation that, in the world of Free Software, there is no need to claim that some software will enhance your life beyond recognition and produce incredible user experiences you had never before believed possible. In other words, there is no need to lie."
I thought the Xandros quote was a continuation of it.
I misunderstood you, I did not fully read what you were saying.
I agree that their newsletters have very little credibility as Xandros has never put a word in edgewise, all they say is positive and happy. But I remain in my opinions of the Sex lies etc part of the article.
And I don't work for Xandros, it is a good distribution, I use it, but of course it has its faults.
16 • RE: FreeBSD (by ladislav at 2004-02-17 01:29:11 GMT)
This has been covered before and the answer is "no". Unless you are willing to set up, maintain, monitor releases and reply to user feedback about all *BSD variants.
17 • Sex, lies and distributions (by Andrew on 2004-02-17 01:55:08 GMT)
Hi,
In general I agree with you on this, Ladislav. It does seem to me to be more PR or marketing, rather than useful news and information. Sort of like putting out some bait to attract attention, rather than offering a substantial meal. I prefer the meal.
It reminds me of my own weekly reports to my boss, on the occasions when I don't really have anything milestone-wise to report. I write in some drivel to be fed up the food chain while I continue on with my work.
However, for me at least, there is this exception in the OSS/Linux world, found at this site:
http://qhacc.sourceforge.net/index.html
While he does provide useful news about developments to his project, there is also a lot of additional promotional stuff. BUT; this is woven into the real stuff with tongue-in-cheek humour, which for me makes it a pleasure to read.
Comments like this one on stability - Generally pretty stable. (At least, more stable than many things which are less stable.)
I have no interest in accounting, but I check this site every week or so for the humour. OSS can be a dry subjuct, and this style of light-hearted writing can add some fun!
I especially enjoyed his 'story' on why he began QHACC.
Perhaps if more distro or project sites stuck to factual reporting, and added in their PR with this kind of humour, they might get greater exposure for the enjoyment of reading them?
Just thought, even if it is a bit oblique.
Andrew
18 • Xandros and the Register (by FedUpPenguin on 2004-02-17 02:08:12 GMT)
Eventually a breath of fresh air!
A good, objective review of Xandros.
Good, old Register!
19 • Mail Server Down? (by jlowell at 2004-02-17 02:09:15 GMT)
Is the Distrowatch mail server down?
jlowell
20 • Xandros, for example (by Benjamin Vander Jagt at 2004-02-17 04:01:47 GMT)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Xandros more of the same copyright-restricted software? If so, then Xandros is being unethical and immoral in its very business practices, and you can't expect their newsletters to be any wiser. I don't use Linux for its ease of use, reliability, logical construction, and free availability. I use Linux because it's *right*! I don't call Xandros a Linux. I call it immoral software that also comes with a version of Debian.
http://www.engrish.com/recent_detail.php?imagename=propagandaboard.jpg&category=Engrish%20from%20Other%20Countries&date=2004-02-05
(But like I said, correct me if I'm wrong.)
21 • No subject (by MixMatch at 2004-02-17 05:09:41 GMT)
"I don't use Linux for its ease of use, reliability, logical construction, and free availability. I use Linux because it's *right*!"
I use it for all those reasons... I could care less if windows was *right*, I still wouldn't want to use it... I've never used Xandros myself, but it obviously offers something other linux distributions do not give, as it is still around...
22 • BSD, Unix and you... (by madhunter at 2004-02-17 05:31:09 GMT)
And if Ladislav were to post information about the *BSD variants, what's to say he should stop there? I mean, Unix isn't Linux but it's as close as BSD is. There's got to be a limit, and I think keeping it Linux works, or the line starts to get greyer as you move out.
23 • Distrowatch & Xandros 2 (by etnaale at 2004-02-17 05:31:14 GMT)
Kudos to Distrowatch. I scan through it every day. It is the best linux source web page I have seen. Good stuff.
Xandros 2. As one of the 90 - 95% of all computer users (24 years) who could care less about programming, servers, and a gazillion options, I find Xandros 2 the best Linux I have used. I have used 5 versions of Mandrake, 3 of SUSE, 2 of Red Hat and MEPIS, Windows and MAC. They are all good to a specific end user. But, not for me. I use my computer to work, play some games when I have a chance, communicate via the internet and play some music. Xandros 2 is the first distro that has worked correctly right out of the box. It is simple, elegant, secure, stable, fast and easy to update. I don't have time to spend hours & hours messing with an OS.
All of the comments made are correct about each distro. Correct to the reviewer, whatever his or her agenda might be. Xandros might not be a programmer's or high end user's "cup of tea" but don't beat the hell out of it just because it dosen't meet your specific requirements. Xandros 2 meets my requirements beautifully. I do agree about their newsletter. It does not have a lot of news. I have contacted them and voiced my opinion about it. They responded within 12 hours. Not like Mandrake (average of 3 days) or SUSE (never did respond to an installation problem inquiry).
Also, in my opinion, if Linux is to compete with the masses of Windows and MAC users, it had better be simple, elegant and work right out of the box and be far superior to each. Linux does that well. But, until Linux consistently gets to the mainstream users, it will just be like any other cult, small and essentially irrelevant.
Such is my opinion. Thank you for letting me voice it.
24 • No subject (by MichiganMud on 2004-02-17 05:39:43 GMT)
Ladislav, you are a sensible man. I agree with your points on the growing blather coming from certain distributiions. But, I am more offended by the relentless astroturfing engaged in by some distributions. The new astroturf champ is Xandros, which has easily deposed last year's (Lindows). At one point, I considered buying Xandros, out of curiosity. However, the lack of respect the company has for community forums is deplorable. If I never buy a copy of Xandros, it will be far too soon.
25 • Xandros, Schmandros (by jlowell at 2004-02-17 06:24:22 GMT)
I have some real agreement with B. Vander Jagt when he states, "I don't call Xandros a Linux", although I'm not prepared to explore some of his follow on remarks about software morality. Ever since Knoppix there has been a surge of copy-cat CD "distros", some with KDE, some with Gnome, some with both, some with neither. There are also special purpose distros given coverage at this site, of course, some stressing server features, some security utilities, etc. I think a case can be made that all of these are, perhaps, pseudo distros and that it may now be important to define a distro as something that is intended by its architech to be operated as installed. Searching the site for new light weight distros on the order of, say, Crux these days, one runs into considerable trouble. Virtually everything new is a CD "distro". Many of us do not have a need for portability and, therefore, don't share the excitement of so many for the Morphixes. Why not redefine the word distro. It seems to me that the time has come to do that.
jlowell
26 • Xandros comments (by Alvin on 2004-02-17 08:40:38 GMT)
First I will like to clarify that i am no xandros fan. What the author comment on the sex, lies, distribution is not entirely false. But reading the comments keep making me has the impression that the author is gear towards more on the technical side of the OSS. Yes it true that in near future, linux/oss will be a force not to be reckon on the os market. On the view the author, he mention on the newsletter mailed by commerical distro and there is defintely one channel of their marketing strategic. Bear in mind that for a commerical distro, they are a company of it own and they have headcounts under them. They will have to gear towards the marketing way to generate more sales. I agree that in their newsletter, they will have to use sales tatics to generate interest for those first linux users or timer. No company will want to follow the footstep of manfrakelinux right. They file for bankrupty last year and it is also after much marketing strategic before they breakeven and profit. Did you guys ever receive their newsletter, they have to emphasis on their product more than explaining how their product wok. Just my 2cents worth
27 • Re: Xandros,Schmandros (by jlowell) (by FedUpPenguin on 2004-02-17 13:17:47 GMT)
Doing what you suggest would be very difficult, considering that most of the Live CDs can be installed as well.
Where would you put, for instance, Mepis and PCLinuxOS, loved and installed by so many users?
I tend to visit many forums, linux and 'general purpose' (like ExtremeTech) and this of making the first CD of a distro 'LIve' is a growing trend, which I applaud, because you can try before you install and because LiveCDs can be invaluable work tools:
they are available in minutes, you can still have an OS when your HD has failed (it happened to me)....
28 • RE: Xandros, Schmandros (by jlowell at 2004-02-17 14:53:14 GMT)
FedUPPenguin inquires:
"Where would you put, for instance, Mepis and PCLinuxOS, loved and installed by so many users?"
A touchy area, undoubtedly, but if we are to adhere to a definition of the word, "distro", that requires of it's author a specific, primary intention that it be operated as installed I think we have a solution. Knoppix would not fall into this category, of course. It was designed to be used principally as a portable, that not precluding it's use as an installed affair. So I think we have a workable solution to the point you raise, a good one no doubt.
FedUpPenguin goes on:
"I tend to visit many forums, linux and 'general purpose' (like ExtremeTech) and this of making the first CD of a distro 'LIve' is a growing trend, which I applaud, because you can try before you install and because LiveCDs can be invaluable work tools"
This proliferation, as it were, is what I see as the problem. As you describe it there is even the sense of trying-to-be-first with these things, an unfortunate fact in my opinion. In such an environmnt the whole idea of what it means to be a Linux distro tends to be trivialized. With little thought, someone can slap together a "distro" based on, perhaps, Debian, and other, purely arbirary criteria and voila. Looking at the documentation even of the most mature of these "distros", one is struck with the slapdash nature of their instructions for a hard drive install, if, in fact there are any at all. That's a bit schlok either for my tastes or my sense of comfort. While I have no doubt that these CDs represent a real convenience for many, the standards applied to them when installation is a consideration are hardly as high as those applied to, say, a Gentoo or an Arch. They are not properly called distros in my estimation, but something else, maybe "Cdistros" (my apologies for that one).
jlowell
29 • To jlowell (by FedUpPenguin on 2004-02-17 15:28:55 GMT)
I don' t have a lot to disagree with what you are saying, but just one last (from my part) consideration, maybe slightly offtopic: I can't count in how many forums I have read that people had tried linux for the first time with a LIveCD.
Who says that they won't be the power users ( or just 'ordinary' users, for that matter) of tomorrow?
30 • RE: To jlowell (by jlowell at 2004-02-17 15:54:22 GMT)
Yes, their value as a tool to introduce newcomers to Linux is beyond question. The command line now a distant memory if a memory at all for those familiar only with DOS based OSs, the Linux CD with its simplicity and verve, serves a very useful purpose. You're quite right. I can remember the days when I felt that openning the case to add a memory module was a little scarry. We all start somewhere.
Regards.
jlowell
31 • Who said Linux can't change your sex life? (by GP at 2004-02-17 22:53:15 GMT)
http://www.programgeeks.net/downloads/cartoons/switch_linux.swf
GP
32 • Mepis hard disk install is more than an afterthought.. (by gnobuddy at 2004-02-18 00:02:31 GMT)
jlowell wrote of Live CD Linux distros:
the standards applied to them when installation is a consideration are hardly as high as those applied to, say, a Gentoo or an Arch.
------------------------------
Never having installed Knoppix to a hard drive, I can't speak for it. But I'd like to assure you that the Mepis distribution has a very well designed hard-drive installer that was clearly no afterthought. To my knowledge, this is one of the many things that sets Mepis apart: being a great Live-CD, and also having a great installer. (Mepis has done better with hardware recognition on my hardware than the $89 Xandros 2 Deluxe did, when it came to the usb Wacom Intuos graphics tablet).
Not intending to flame, or anything like that, but I find it rather funny that you'd choose Gentoo as an example of a well-designed installer. In many ways the Gentoo installer does less work than most other installers, after all: it doesn't configure X, much less KDE, or Gnome, or Mozilla, or any of a hundred other things. Again, in direct contrast, the Mepis installer leaves you not only with a working and configured KDE desktop, but also with Nvidia drivers (if you have an Nvidia card, obviously), Realplayer and Flash plugins installed, antialiased fonts, all network printers auto-detected, etc, etc, etc.
-Gnobuddy
33 • RE: Mepis hard disk install is more than an afterthought (by jlowell at 2004-02-18 02:49:02 GMT)
gnobuddy remarks:
"Not intending to flame, or anything like that, but I find it rather funny that you'd choose Gentoo as an example of a well-designed installer. In many ways the Gentoo installer does less work than most other installers, after all: it doesn't configure X, much less KDE, or Gnome, or Mozilla, or any of a hundred other things."
Not in any way considering your comments a flame, gnobuudy, I'd point out that they nevertheless presuppose the desirability of an installer's configuring X, KDE, Gnome or Mozilla. Not everyone has all that in mind, of course. All that some require of an installer is getting base packages including a compiler and appropriate libraries, a decent editor, a text-based browser and source code for the kernel on properly. They'll take it from there, thank you. While I realize that my own preferences are hardly universal, they do run along the lines of this last so what a Gentoo or an Arch or a Crux offer in this connection is more than enough for me. One doesn't need KDE, Gnome or XFCE4 to run programs.
Regards.
jlowell
34 • I have a tendence to hit nerves (by Benjamin Vander Jagt at 2004-02-19 03:07:17 GMT)
maybe I could produce an occasional controversial piece for DW? :-D
and BTW, from reading the comments here, it surprises me that even many in this crowd don't realize that Linux isn't going to be a force to reckon with someday. it's the leader and reigning king already. the only reason that fact isn't widely accepted is that we accept so much of the major media to be the ultimate truth of the world...if you only see Microsoft ads, then Microsoft must be the only choice... but then, look at Intel and AMD...
you can't expect Linux to get any television advertisement time, since there's no money involved in its development. even so, long time Microsoft rival (and battered wife) IBM has been producing some quite intriguing Linux ads.
here's a cute anagram I came up with that never made it into gnu.org: Red Hat Linux = Nerd Hail Tux
35 • Mepis hard drive install (by Mistshadow at 2004-02-19 13:49:27 GMT)
Mepis is very much on the right track, but it's not ready for prime time yet. What do I mean? Apt-get upgrade; that breaks it. Of course, one could say the Debian guaranteee applies to this, but you can't upgrade at all. That definitely needs to be fixed.
Another thing is permissions. Mepis is one of those distros that's set to revert all permissions to root on every reboot. Fixable, but not entirely because of all the bugs. I know, I tried. I don't bother with those distros that revert permissions on reboot now because of my awful experience with that on Mepis.
36 • RE: Mepis hard drive install (by jlowell at 2004-02-19 14:46:03 GMT)
Mistshadow,
These are very interesting comments and add real shoe-leather to the suspicions I've had about the honest-to-goodness capabilities of these CD "distros". To this point, the lack of any or of trust-inspiring documentation respecting hard-drive installation has been enough to discourage my even making the attempt at it.
B. Vander Jagt,
Interesting concept, IBM as "battered wife". :-)
jlowell
37 • Mepis hard disk install is more than an afterthought.. (by gnobuddy at 2004-02-19 17:27:48 GMT)
jlowell wrote of Live CD Linux distros:
the standards applied to them when installation is a consideration are hardly as high as those applied to, say, a Gentoo or an Arch.
------------------------------
Never having installed Knoppix to a hard drive, I can't speak for it. But I'd like to assure you that the Mepis distribution has a very well designed hard-drive installer that was clearly no afterthought. To my knowledge, this is one of the many things that sets Mepis apart: being a great Live-CD, and also having a great installer. (Mepis has done better with hardware recognition on my hardware than the $89 Xandros 2 Deluxe did, when it came to the usb Wacom Intuos graphics tablet).
Not intending to flame, or anything like that, but I find it rather funny that you'd choose Gentoo as an example of a well-designed installer. In many ways the Gentoo installer does less work than most other installers, after all: it doesn't configure X, much less KDE, or Gnome, or Mozilla, or any of a hundred other things. Again, in direct contrast, the Mepis installer leaves you not only with a working and configured KDE desktop, but also with Nvidia drivers (if you have an Nvidia card, obviously), Realplayer and Flash plugins installed, antialiased fonts, all network printers auto-detected, etc, etc, etc.
-Gnobuddy
38 • Re: Mepis hard drive install (by Gnobuddy at 2004-02-20 01:54:21 GMT)
Jlowell wrote:
Not in any way considering your comments a flame, gnobuudy, I'd point out that they nevertheless presuppose the desirability of an installer's configuring X, KDE, Gnome or Mozilla. Not everyone has all that in mind, of course. All that some require of an installer is getting base packages including a compiler and appropriate libraries, a decent editor, a text-based browser and source code for the kernel on properly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Agreed; different horses for different courses, and all that. That said, even if you like bicycles better than BMW's, it's hard to make a convincing argument that a bicycle factory is more complex than the factory that makes the 750i. Likewise, you may prefer a minimal installer, but that still doesn't mean it's as sophisticated as an installer that adds all the trimmings.
BTW, Mepis is not the only distro I've ever used. I have in the past used FreeBSD, with almost everything built from source except the basic system, and I have also used Gentoo 1.4, likewise almost entirely built from source.
--------------
Mistshadow wrote:
Mepis is very much on the right track, but it's not ready for prime time yet. What do I mean? Apt-get upgrade; that breaks it.
--------------------
I've experienced this too; apt-get upgrade on a Mepis box clobbered enough config files to make it difficult to get everything working well again.
Then again, I just totalled my Gentoo 1.4 install by using emerge to update everything after a delay of a few months. Enough config files were clobbered to make it easier to re-install from scratch than to try to diagnose and repair the damage.
Food for thought: time to restore everything after a hosed Mepis install: approx 40 minutes, including fresh install and any manual tweaking. Time to restore everything after a hosed Gentoo install: at least two days. KDE 3.2 alone took over 9 hours to compile on my Athlon XP 2400+ box...
-------------------------------
Mistshadow also wrote:
Another thing is permissions. Mepis is one of those distros that's set to revert all permissions to root on every reboot.
----------------------------
Mistshadow, could you clarify what permissions you're referring to? I have not experienced the problem you refer to. I have also not seen any permissions reset to root on every reboot. I'm assuming you're referring to a hard-drive install; if you're running from a Live CD, of course, all permissions will revert on every boot because all the configuration information is read-only on the CD...though I still haven't encountered your problem even when running from a CD.
If you've found a genuine problem, it's worth reporting on Mepis.org. Warren is more responsive than most when it comes to fixing any problems.
-Gnobuddy
39 • Re: Mepis hard drive install (by Mistshadow at 2004-02-20 05:55:08 GMT)
The permissions problem is with your devices; cd-roms, cd-rw, floppy, and so on. Very, very bad if, say, you want to mount a second hard drive as /home.
The problem I had was that it would revert all my devices to root even after I had just changed them and had *not* rebooted. In other words, log in as root, change device permissions to my user account, log out, log in as user, and find that the device permissions are all root-only again.
I posted about this at the Mepis forum, but I didn't get an answer. I hope Warren read it. I frankly think it might be a Debian problem with Sid because I'm hearing of this elsewhere. Perhaps Warren and others should consider keeping it almost entirely Sarge-based, except for drivers.
Also, Mepis isn't the only one with this problem; SuSE is almost as bad. I couldn't change the device permissions on SUSE at all; it was like my keyboard quit working when I tried to edit the config files.
Frankly, the permissions problems on so many distros are a major hindrance to new users, and a continual pain in the backside of experienced users. It's high time someone coded a prog to set the permissions once and for all until you *deliberately* change them yourself.
40 • Xandros propaganda (by Kelly at 2004-02-20 06:00:02 GMT)
I'm in total agreement with Ladislav on this one, and I like Xandros. To me it looks just the MS ads (ugh!). Please, if anyone working for Xandros might read this, cut the nonsense and supply us users with info and tips.
41 • Re: Mepis hard drive install (by jlowell at 2004-02-20 08:17:04 GMT)
Gnobuddy writes:
"That said, even if you like bicycles better than BMW's, it's hard to make a convincing argument that a bicycle factory is more complex than the factory that makes the 750i. Likewise, you may prefer a minimal installer, but that still doesn't mean it's as sophisticated as an installer that adds all the trimmings."
Recalling your initial comment,
"Not intending to flame, or anything like that, but I find it rather funny that you'd choose Gentoo as an example of a well-designed installer. In many ways the Gentoo installer does less work than most other installers, after all: it doesn't configure X, much less KDE, or Gnome, or Mozilla, or any of a hundred other things."
it had been my purpose in making the remarks I did not to assert the universality of my own preferences but rather to point out the adequacy of any installer as long as it achieves the end for which it was designed. I'm afraid I did that rather poorly. Your initial remarks concerned themselves with the fact that you'd found it remarkable that I'd chosen Gentoo as an example of a well-designed installer. It would have been decided more helpful if I'd said from the outset that since the Gentoo installer limits itself to the installation of base packages, a kernel and a boot loader and achieves that purpose admirably in the eventmprovement had I simply pointed, it would be hard to consider it anything but well-designed. Sorry to bring you to the table twice on that one.
jlowell
42 • Re: Mepis hard drive install (by jlowell at 2004-02-20 08:23:55 GMT)
Gnobuddy,
Please ignore the "mprovement had I simply pointed" abasement I'd made of the next to last sentence of my post. It doesn't belong there and we have no editor sadly.
jlowell
43 • Mepis device permissions, cont'd (by gnobuddy at 2004-02-21 02:07:06 GMT)
Mistshadow wrote:
The permissions problem is with your devices; cd-roms, cd-rw, floppy, and so on. Very, very bad if, say, you want to mount a second hard drive as /home.
The problem I had was that it would revert all my devices to root even after I had just changed them and had *not* rebooted. In other words, log in as root, change device permissions to my user account, log out, log in as user, and find that the device permissions are all root-only again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I see. I have a second hard drive that I use as a backup device on my Mepis box, and it is accessible to non-root users, but I did this by editing the permissions of the mount-point to allow my normal user account to write to it:
su
passwd:
mkdir /backup
chgrp myuser /backup (where "myuser" is my regular user name)
chmod ug+rwx /backup
chmod o-rwx /backup
(/backup now has permissions rwxrwx---, so that "myuser" has full read and write access.)
I'm the only user on this system; if I had multiple users, I'd probably create a new group called "backup" and add myself and other users needing to use the backup drive to it, and use "chgrp backup /backup" instead of "chgrp myuser /backup" in the code above.
I then edited /etc/fstab to automatically mount /dev/hda2 (my backup IDE drive) to /backup:
/dev/hdb1 /backup reiserfs noatime,notail 0 2
I've never tried to directly edit the ownership or permissions of the actual /dev files, since I would imagine those sorts of changes could upset a lot of programs that require read or write access to those devices, and possibly create security holes in the system.
After a couple of years using Linux, I still consider myself a newbie because there is so much to learn. So tell me, are there pros and cons in doing things the way I did (alter permissions of the mountpoint) versus altering the permissions of the underlying devices themselves?
-Gnobuddy
44 • Mepis device permissions (by Mistshadow at 2004-02-21 22:28:39 GMT)
Yes, what I tried was much the same, except the second hard drive was mounted as /home.
When I tried a second installation, using only the one hard drive, it still kept reverting permissions to root on my devices. I couldn't even mount a floppy unless I was logged in as root.
It would also do this anytime I used the su command. Once when I did that with my regular account and then logged out and logged back in to find that my regular account's /home had changed to root only. When I had fixed this, I still couldn't get the audio system to be usable to my regular account even after I had edited the files and made sure my account was in the audio group.
To summarize, it was a constant headache with Mepis, having to constantly change permissions back to my account, and then seeing it not even work sometimes, so I gave up on it.
45 • If Linux wants to succeed.... (by Brandon on 2004-03-03 07:14:19 GMT)
Most people will not like this post... or should I say disagree with it. As long as linux is considered "many' distros, then it will never become main stream. For linux to become mainstream, it needs to be come an "OS", and IMO, that means some stuff proprietary. Take for example, Xandros, Lycoris, and Lindows... if you ask ANY of them if they consider their product(s) distros they'd flattly say no. Linux needs to be more than a distro. It needs to be an OS, a platform.
46 • so called "OS" distro's (by Nick Borrego at 2004-04-28 02:41:29 GMT)
It's too bad xandros, lycoris and lindows all suck.
The only difference between them and other distro's
is the owners are only looking for a quick buck...
sure they add a couple of utilities like a lot of other distro's do,
but since when did paying for them make them better?
They don't even work as good as free distro's
and just create more bloat.
linux doesn't need to become proprietary, it needs
standards... mainly when it comes to issues
like package management. I'm sorry if you feel otherwise
but RPM's, apt, tgz.... none of them quite cut it...
This is one of the reasons why gentoo has thrived
so well recently. It basicly eliminates the need for pkg's
and replaces it w/ a system which works off of the original
way linux handles programs: source.
gentoo has it's problems too, but the way things are going,
gentoo's going to progress much faster than everyone
else until package management systems get their
act together, or someone steps up w/ a newer, better
system to capitalize on the faults of existing management
systems. (I havn't used arch just yet but it seems to
be heading in that direction w/ ABS)
Number of Comments: 46
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| • 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 |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • 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.
|
| Random Distribution | 
IPCop Firewall
IPCop Linux was a complete Linux Distribution whose sole purpose was to protect the networks it was installed on. After seeing the direction certain Linux Distributions were heading in, a group of dissatisfied users/developers decided that there was little reason for the idea of a GPL Linux Firewall Distribution of such potential to be, simply, extinguished. By implementing existing technology, outstanding new technology and secure programming practices IPCop was the Linux Distribution for those wanting to keep their computers/networks safe. The IPCop Linux Team was dedicated to doing the very best job possible to keep your systems safe, as you can see on our site. "The Bad Packets Stop Here!"
Status: Discontinued
|
| 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.
|
| 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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