 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 78, 6 December 2004 |
Welcome to this year's 48th edition of DistroWatch Weekly. This week we'll talk about the Knoppix live CD, feature the Damn Small Linux mini distribution, and present several upcoming distribution releases, including Mandrakelinux 10.2 and NetBSD 2.0. Happy reading!
Content:
Knoppix topics, the MEPIS-based SphinxOS
 Although the developers of Knoppix have not released a new version of their popular live CD for nearly 4 months (certainly a long time by this project's standards), it continues to generate much interest in the media. Last week, we noticed not one, but three new, independently published articles about Knoppix. First, it was LinuxExposed which published a guide to installing Knoppix on hard disk: "Once you are comfortable using Knoppix for your desktop, you might find yourself booting onto the CD more often. While you can create persistent settings and a portable home directory to mount, at some point you might decide you would like to use KNOPPIX full-time by installing it to your hard drive."
Next, it was the turn of LinuxForums.org that posted a review of Knoppix Hacks, a new book by Kyle Rankin: "Knoppix Hacks is a collection of techniques and tips which can stand on their own. The book is divided into 100 hacks, which are separated into nine chapters by topic. The chapters include 'Boot Knoppix', 'Tweak Knoppix', and 'Repair Linux', among others. The book also covers repairing Windows installations, tweaking X to get your monitor how you like it, as well as creating and using Persistent Knoppix Settings." It is always nice to see that, besides Red Hat/Fedora, other great open source products are also starting to get the attention of publishing houses!
Finally, an excellent article, called True Stories of Knoppix Rescues, an extract from the above-mentioned book, as published on LinuxDevCenter: "One of my favorite stories of Knoppix recovery started when I was trying to reinstall grub on my laptop after moving around and resizing some partitions. The grub-install script didn't seem to work, so I went through the documentation to install grub to the MBR (Master Boot Record) using dd." Read the rest of the story here.
* * * * *
 The success of MEPIS Linux has created its first commercial offspring - a German commercial distribution called SphinxOS: "MEPIS LLC is pleased to confirm that MEPIS has partnered with Smartthink Ltd to produce SphinxOS 4.0, OEM boxed versions of SimplyMEPIS customized for the German speaking market. Many of the improvements contained in SphinxOS 4.0 will be included in ProMEPIS 2005, due in January, and SimplyMEPIS 2005, due in March. SphinxOS is a branded variation of SimplyMEPIS, so it shares the MEPIS foundation and improvements to MEPIS will also be available to SphinxOS users via the free MEPIS and Debian global package pools." This is the full announcement. The German-speaking readers can visit the SphinxOS web site, where they can view screenshots, learn about the distribution's technical aspects and order the product for €79.90 (including support).
* * * * *
 You can't always believe what you read, even if the article in question is published by a reputable news site. Our last week's story (based on this article by ZDNet) about the upcoming Gentoo graphical installer and full live CD turned out to be wrong and was denied by the Gentoo Project: "A recent article on the Gentoo 2004.3 and 2005.0 releases contained a few errors to which quite a few Gentoo users and developers reacted." Indeed, and the first reaction on the ZDNet article was quite sharp, although it was later re-written in a much milder manner. Unfortunately, this means that there will be no graphical installer in Gentoo Linux 2005.0, while the Knoppix-like Gentoo live CD, which was also mentioned in the article, will be of experimental nature and only available for x86 and amd64 ports. You can read about the above topics in more detail on gentoo.org.
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| Featured distribution of the week: Damn Small Linux |
Damn Small Linux
Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a name that no longer needs introduction. Constantly climbing in our page hit ranking statistics, Damn Small Linux is the original mini live CD designed for business card-size CDs that hold less than 50MB of data. In the very beginning, the developers took one of the 700MB Knoppix live CD releases and started removing applications. It wasn't an easy task since there was so much excellent software on the CD. But the DSL developers persisted until they removed some 93% of applications; yet they somehow still managed to end up with a highly usable and full-featured Linux distribution. No wonder they chose to call it "Damn Small Linux"!
The brain child behind this distribution is John Andrews. We published a brief DSL review and an interview with John back in August 2003 when the project was still relatively little-known (you can read it here.) Much has happened since the interview and numerous features have been added to the distribution in recent months. As an example, DSL now includes myDSL extensions - third-party scripts that download and install several popular applications that are not included on the DSL CD. Also, DSL can now be run from within MS Windows, or it can be installed on one's hard disk. The boot process has been automated to the point that DSL boots into a fully pre-configured graphical environment with VESA, no questions asked. A new control panel to access various configuration options (see screenshot below) has also been added.
Besides functioning as a portable live CD or live USB disk, one of the best uses for this distribution is to install it on an old computer. In fact, your DistroWatch maintainer was running Damn Small Linux on a 133MHz laptop until fairly recently when the machine finally gave up and was discarded. But despite the old processor's low clock speed, DSL was fairly usable for browsing with Opera and emailing with Sylpheed, and even for some light office work with the included Siag Office. We also used it to connect to the DistroWatch web server and to keep an eye on some of the logs. If you have an old laptop lying around, installing Damn Small Linux on it is a perfect way to bring it back to life.
To find out more about Damn Small Linux, please visit the project's web site.
Damn Small Linux 0.9.0.1 - a tiny, yet full-featured live CD that fits on a 50MB CD or a 128MB USB pen drive.
(full image size: 100kB)
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| Released Last Week |
Linux4all LiveCd 1.40
Linux4all, formerly known as "rpm livelinuxcd" or "basilisk" is a live CD based on Fedora Core. Version 1.40 was released yesterday: "This is a Fedora Core 3-based live CD with KDE 3.3.1, GNOME 2.8, OpenOffice.org, Firefox and Thunderbird, and a lot of other tools. What's new? Much more reliable detection of DDC capable monitors, better xorg.conf generation, still no VESA fallback; boot-up speed was improved - now ~1-3 minutes of which hardware detection takes most time; GNOME 2.8 now working; KDE 3.3.1 - user sessions are saved to and restored from USB storage (/dev/sda1); fancier menus in KDE; includes Fedora Core 3 network install kernel and images...." See the announcement for more details.
Astaro Security Linux 5.1
Astaro Security Linux 5.1 has been released: "We are pleased to announce Astaro Security Linux V5.1. Updates and bugfixes: upgrade to SpamAssassin 3.0.1 with Razor2(online database spam check), DCC (online database spam check), SURBL (spam realtime blocklist); backend bugfixes for backup converter, licensing, logging, reporting; overall system performance increase; new kernel with bugfixed conntrack code. New features: additional features for better junk mail control - Greylisting (advanced spam blocking method); BATV reverse path signing (block virus and spam backscatter); checking SPF records (joe-job, phishing protection)...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further details.
Damn Small Linux 0.9.0 and 0.9.0.1
A new release of Damn Small Linux is now available: "Change Log for 0.9.0: added Firefox web browser; MediaPlayer, enjoympeg and ascd doc app replaces XMMS; Minimum Profit editor replaces Scite and Zile; added spell checking for Sylpheed email; update emelfm filetypes for multimedia; many space saving cuts were implemented; dropped Tuxnes and Mutella." See the complete changelog for further information.
Games Knoppix 3.7
Games Knoppix, a special edition of the upcoming Knoppix 3.7, has been released: "Finally, the first release of the Games Knoppix (St. Nicholas Day Release) is ready for download. The following games have been lately added: Castle-Combat, Globulation 2, Hatman, Kobodeluxe, Miniracer, Pingus, Rafkill, lotsof small games. If there is a graphics card with possible acceleration detected, you will be asked whether you want to use the NVIDIA or ATI drivers. To use this option, you need at least 400MB RAM. The joystick configuration tool is started via 'joystick-config' inside the console. We'll add a small HOWTO about how to turn your Linux box into a game console soon." Here is the full release announcement with additional details.
FreeSBIE 1.1
The second release of FreeSBIE, a FreeBSD-based live CD, is now available: "It's our honour and pleasure to announce FreeSBIE 1.1, a live CD based on FreeBSD 5.3-RELEASE. Some of the innovation since 1.0 include: a renewed series of scripts to support power users in the use of FreeSBIE 1.1; an installer to let users install FreeSBIE 1.1 on their hard drives, thus having a powerful operating system such as FreeBSD, but with all the personalizations FreeSBIE 1.1 carries; the presence of the best open source software, chosen and personalized, such as X.Org 6.7.0, XFce 4.2RC1, Firefox 1.0 and Thunderbird 0.9. Moreover, many bugs were solved thanks also to the help of numerous beta testers which we are honoured to thank." Read the official release announcement for additional details.
FreeSBIE 1.1 - a new version of the FreeBSD-based live CD was uploaded to mirrors over the weekend (more screenshots).
(full image size: 396kB)
Development and unannounced releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
NetBSD 2.0
NetBSD 2.0 has been tagged, which means that it won't be long before the final code is released: "Modified Files: src/doc [netbsd-2-0]: CHANGES-2.0. Log Message: Welcome to the 2.0 release (finally)." This mailing list post has more information.
FreeBSD 4.11
The FreeBSD legacy branch (version 4.x) will receive an update before the end of January 2005: "This is a specific schedule for the release of FreeBSD 4.11. For more general information about the release engineering process, please see the Release Engineering section of the web site." FreeBSD 4.11-PRERELEASE should be out later this week, while the final FreeBSD 4.11-RELEASE is scheduled for January 24th, 2005. This is the complete release schedule.
Mandrakelinux 10.2
The release schedule for Mandrakelinux 10.2 has been published, together with some preliminary ideas for new features. The first beta is scheduled for January 1st, 2005, which will be followed by another beta and two release candidates. Mandrakelinux 10.2 Community is currently scheduled for release on March 1st, 2005, while the Official edition should be out one month after that. More information is available here.
SUSE LINUX 9.2 FTP Edition
Several readers have written in to alert us that a new message has been published on the SUSE FTP server, giving details about the upcoming availability of SUSE LINUX 9.2 FTP Edition: "The SUSE Linux 9.2 FTP version is being worked on and will be made available in this directory in the middle of January 2005." You can read the full message here. There is no word about the ISO image of SUSE LINUX 9.2 Personal, but this company has surprised us before and we'll keep you up-to-date as soon as we hear anything.
Linux Caixa Mágica 10
Linux Caixa Mágica, a Portuguese Linux distribution based on SUSE LINUX, has announced a new upcoming release, version 10. The first beta test is scheduled for release on December 8th. A list of new features is listed in the announcement (in Portuguese).
grml 0.2
The grml Linux distribution is a recently launched Knoppix and Debian-based live CD designed for users of texttools and system administrators. After the initial release (version 0.1) from the end of October, the distribution's web site has now announced version 0.2, which will be released during the European Hacker Conference held in Berlin between 27 - 29 December 2004. Find more information on this at grml.org.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Web Site News |
On November donation, distribution newsletters
In last week's forums, several readers recommended Kile (an integrated LaTeX environment), for our next donation. We listened to your requests and the project will receive our November 2004 donation - a total of US$180. However, because of the recent server move and associated costs, we have found our PayPal account depleted. The donation will be made as soon as we have funds available.
As some of you noticed, today's news update on the main page included links to the latest Gentoo and Arch newsletters. We never used to publish them before, but we thought it might be a good idea - for two reasons. Firstly, these newsletters rarely make news headlines on general Linux news sites, so some readers might not be aware of their existence. Secondly, they often provide useful information about the current state of the distribution in question, and generally encourage community involvement. The "community involvement" part is perhaps one of the greatest strengths of most open source projects and therefore those distributions that make an effort to publish useful and regular newsletters will be in the headlines more often. Hopefully, this will encourage more distributions to do the same. At the moment, regular newsletters are published by Arch Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, Gentoo Linux, Lunar Linux, Mandrakelinux, Ubuntu Linux and possibly a few other projects - please let us know if we missed any.
Last week, the machine hosting DistroWatch.com collapsed with a faulty motherboard. It was quickly moved to a temporary machine where it continued serving web pages until Sunday, when a new motherboard arrived and the site was transferred back to its original box. We apologise for the downtime.
New distribution addition
- Project dEv (Project development Enlightenment verbose). The mission for Project dEv is to create a stable and secure Linux distribution based on the lightweight window manager Enlightenment, with the latest of hardware detection technology to make sure your hardware is detected and configured as quickly as possible with minimal amount of effort. dEv aims to use and extend the EFL. By this, the KDE and GNOME dependencies are made obsolete while the feature richness and speed of the window manager increases. dEv wants to bring all the eye candy and speed which Enlightenment gives to a more cleanly manner by placing Enlightenment inside its own directory.
New on the waiting list
- Flash Linux. Flash Linux is a compact distribution designed exclusively to run off 256MB USB keys or other bootable Flash-based media. It includes hardware detection (including LAN and modem), auto configuration, a GNOME desktop, and associated office tools.
- Fnord Linux. Fnord Linux is a Linux distribution designed to be built from source and maintained manually. This allows the administrator maximum control over the system. Unlike other built-from source systems, however, Fnord is not a toy; it is intended as a production Linux system (in fact, Fnord has been running on all of FnordNet's machines since 2000). Fnord includes a ramdisk-based utility system for initially configuring the target system, a pre-built environment that allows for building the system, full source code for the base system, and source for many other packages.
- Freeduc-sup. Freeduc-sup is a French live CD based on Knoppix designed for educational use, especially in the fields of physics and information.
- Groovix. Groovix is a Debian-based Linux distribution that seeks to provide the user with a smooth user experience where hardware and software work together seamlessly. Groovix targets a select set of hardware to ensure hardware/software interoperability. It is comprised of a tested, frozen repository of the Debian testing distribution and adds Groovix specific Open Source utilities for easy media access and Simultaneous Local Independent Multiple users. Pre-installed features like ReiserFS on LVM, HAL, and SHFS let the user have all the advantages of a Debian system without the work out of installation, configuration, optimization, and upgrading. Groovix is pre-installed on computers sold by Open Sense Solutions LLC, but can also be purchased separately with support.
DistroWatch database summary
- Number of Linux distributions in the database: 361
- Number of BSD distributions in the database: 9
- Number of discontinued distributions: 43
- Number of distributions on the waiting list: 84
That's all for today; see you again next Monday!
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • ZDNET (by Ewdi at 2004-12-06 15:34:36 GMT)
I wonder where did ZDNET gets the info about the graphical installer on gentoo linux :p
2 • No subject (by Rob on 2004-12-06 15:46:35 GMT)
Several weekly newletters might crowd the distribution release news. How about a newsletters side panel, like the latest packages side panel?
3 • Sorry Mandrake (by mdl on 2004-12-06 15:59:32 GMT)
From the front page:
"Those who have been patiently waiting for the FTP release of Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official Edition will be pleased to learn that it is finally available."
Sorry Mandrake, but I got tired of waiting. I have been a Mdk user since 7.2, but have enjoyed testing many other distros. I moved everything to Mepis a few weeks ago.
Mepis works for me and I couldn't be happier!
4 • re: Ewdi (by kimchi on 2004-12-06 16:59:30 GMT)
They interviewed Chris Gianelloni, the head of Gentoo RelEng team. But evidently the reporter mangled the comments. :-(
5 • Damn Small (by John Andrews at 2004-12-06 17:04:31 GMT)
As much as I'd like to take credit for the improvements in DSL the Distrowatch readers should know that Robert Shingledecker has improved many aspects of our project.. Also, our community is always hunting down bugs and suggesting changes. Damn Small is by no means a one man show!
Thank you Ladislav and the rest of the staff of Distrowatch for highlighting our project.
John Andrews
6 • Uh-oh (by Duh on 2004-12-06 17:50:16 GMT)
Damn I just finished installing 10.1 community
7 • RHEL 4 (by maceto on 2004-12-06 18:46:46 GMT)
For the people having problems with Fedora try RHEL 4 beta 2 it`s more stable, and think about what Red Hat has done for linux even if trying to make money from it, but comòn.. and don`t flame we for saying this, they have contributed to nptl,kernel,glib etc alot..
8 • sitecom wlan USB adapter WL - 012 (by roy at 2004-12-06 19:02:44 GMT)
are there any Linux Systems that will run this without me setting anything up . I am a Newbie to Linux .I do like the system's that i have tried . I can log onto the Net using a cable but dearly want to use a wireless setup.
Many Thanks
9 • Gentoo Installer (by Bahamut at 2004-12-06 19:04:04 GMT)
Why would you want to give such a great dist something like a graphical installer....as if not already that gank GIS project which used busybox to do an auto install for you. I think projects and suggestions like those lead to too many users that dont RTFM....something a number of us could do without.
10 • damn no graphic installer? (by speel at 2004-12-06 22:03:34 GMT)
damn i knew it was to good to be true :: smacks zdnet ::
11 • Sorry Mandrake (by JPM at 2004-12-07 00:18:59 GMT)
Sorry Mandrake, I too am happy with Mepis.
I may have weird hardware, but no Mandrake distro since 9.0 has been able to install if I have my MS Explorer mouse, my HP laser printer, or my SanDisk card reader plugged into any USB port.
Sorry Mandrake, you are the only ones to have difficulties in this that I have run into. Too many other distros work just fine to muck around with yours.
12 • Can we track Nvidia/ATI drivers (by Rob on 2004-12-07 00:54:29 GMT)
At least for those distros that include them? Currently I cant tell which ones come with what video drivers, its a small thing, but it would be very usefull to me, what do others think?
13 • Donation question (by Alex on 2004-12-07 02:25:07 GMT)
It's good that Kile got the donation, but I thought Slack had more votes..
Anyway, has GAIM received a donation yet?
14 • Comments (by Alex on 2004-12-07 02:29:08 GMT)
Also, is it posstble to have a comments area like this for every news item at Distrowatch?
15 • RHEL 4 (by Raimo Koski at 2004-12-07 02:50:49 GMT)
RHEL 4.0 Beta 2 is almost exactly the same as FC3, so there can't be that much difference. 1216 of the 1398 packages in Beta 2 are exactly the same as in FC3. Some are just customized to have a different product name etc. The biggest difference must be the RHEL kernel which supports smaller number of devices. So the real choice is between wider support with beta and alpha quality drivers and possibly no support with the rest functioning more reliably.
This turns interesting however when final RHEL 4.0 is released and after that the clones. Should FC3 users then upgrade to some RHEL clone?
16 • RHEL4 (by Alex on 2004-12-07 03:28:01 GMT)
When will RHEL be released?
17 • RE: Donation question (by ladislav at 2004-12-07 03:41:25 GMT)
It's good that Kile got the donation, but I thought Slack had more votes.
I ignored the Slackware requests because Patrick Volkerding explicitly said in his email that he was NOT looking for donations. I think the last thing he worries about right now is money.
18 • minor html breakage (by Chris on 2004-12-07 04:21:31 GMT)
ladislav, you link to the "#newsletter" section but that section actually has the section name "new", i.e.:
a name="new"
which is duplicated in the next section. You meant :
a name="newsletter"
I noticed this because that section seemed like the only thing that really interested me in this issue so I clicked on it :)
19 • kmLinux (by William Roddy at 2004-12-07 04:42:59 GMT)
Does anyone know if the newly-listed kmLinux can be used in English?
Thank you.
20 • RE: kmLinux (by ladislav at 2004-12-07 06:03:50 GMT)
Does anyone know if the newly-listed kmLinux can be used in English?
No, it's all in German.
21 • Gentoo installer (by Allan on 2004-12-07 06:13:23 GMT)
"Why would you want to give such a great dist something like a graphical installer....as if not already that gank GIS project which used busybox to do an auto install for you. I think projects and suggestions like those lead to too many users that dont RTFM....something a number of us could do without."
Don't start that argument again. We went over it in the last DW Weekly.
22 • Jet another "sorry Mandrake" (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-07 07:32:58 GMT)
It was my first love, but it didn't last for long. Soon I moved to SuSE and Libranet. Granted, it was mainly due to hardware issues.
Today I wouldn't go back to Mandrake for the following reasons:
1)I find the look and feel of Mandrake very ugly
2)They stubbornly refuse to adopt apt4rpm. They say Urpmi is just as good. Nonsense. Whoever says that should give a serious look to SuSE apt4rpm: it is always under active development and now has become a very advanced tool.
3)They (Mandrake) have become too greedy. This matter of the club has spoiled them completely. At least in the past everybody could download the same number of isos. Now it depends on your club membership, from non members (3 isos) to Platinum members ($1320 a year)
On a more practical level, no DVD in their Powerpack? You must fork an extra 54 Euros if you want one. No thanks.
23 • SUSE LINUX 9.2 Personal? (by Sven on 2004-12-07 08:27:04 GMT)
Ladislav wrote:
> There is no word about the ISO image of SUSE LINUX 9.2
> Personal, but this company has surprised us before and
> we'll keep you up-to-date as soon as we hear anything.
As far as I understood, SUSE LINUX Personal is history. There will be no such release.
24 • suggestion (by titiv69 at 2004-12-07 10:48:08 GMT)
Very please with your revue, I don't have to say more.
Except maby to to have a filter on the search engine, to get distro by type:
I mean: RH based, deb based, one cd live, gentoo etc....
It could be helpfull for newbies or testers...
Thanks
25 • Re: filter by type, etc. (by William Roddy at 2004-12-07 11:32:12 GMT)
On the DistroWatch home page, at the top, in the middle of three yellow boxes, is the choice, "Statistics." Click on that choice and you'll find numerous ways to see how various distributions fit into the Linux mosaic. It's fascinating reading!
26 • To the Mandrake Idiot/moron/Basher (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-07 15:57:35 GMT)
@ mdl
Glad to see you finally found a distribution you like, I dont see why you need to mention you switched its not like I or anyone else really care what a moron switched too.
@ JPM
I have my MS Explorer mouse, my HP laser printer, and my SanDisk card reader plugged into any USB port and it work just fine with Mandrake.Its also the case for million of other users I guess the problem is your an incompetent moron.
@ Anonymous Penguin
My favorite idiot of the bunch , astroturfing all over the internet ,
1) Are you retarded or something ? Mandrake as over hundreds of thousands of skins , wallpapers , look and feel , you cant pick one you like out of those ?
2) No, urpmi is better thats why Mandrakesoft whas not bought by IBM in 2000 and sold to novel in 2004 because its better and they make sale and they make some profit. SuSe dont exist anymore ...
3) Yes the BAstard they dont offer any free ISO of any of there product in the same period it whas released , OUPS they do , that make you look like a clueless moron , And btw on a practical level if you only whant the DVD from the powerpack just order that ...
Of course they are greedy 60$ for 2 distribution + upgrade + Mandrake move + contrib + investing in GNU/Linux. Your where dumped on the head 2 years ago when you where 5 ?
Also if you dont like dealing ( meaning paying them there due for there hard work ) with Mandrakesoft you can always get it from the cheap resellers or even the bittorent.
Why do all those fucking moron come out against Mandrake because they work for somebody else and they know they have an inferior product and overall offer.
Feel free , not to use or comment on it and speak of what you know and use.
27 • Re: To the Mandrake Idiot/moron/Basher (by Anonymous on 2004-12-07 16:45:22 GMT)
Wow, Realistic Bastard. You are in serious need of an anger management class.
I will not attempt to speak for the others, but in response to your comments to me: My post was in reaction to the front page article on Mandrake 10.1 finally being available to those who have been "patiently" waiting for it. As I said, I used Mdk since 7.2 and have generally thought that Mdk has done a good job. I like the distro, but I don't like their division of their community into "haves" and "have nots" based on joining their club. Sadly, I switched to another distro, Mepis. It was easy, I like it, and others here mention their preferrences. I see no reason for you to go off the deep end and call me a moron... Others who read this can form their own opinion about who is acting like moron here, but I don't think it is me.
If you are happy with Mdk, wonderful. Stick with it. Remember, it is all about choice.
And try to get that temper under control.
28 • Re: To the Mandrake Idiot/moron/Basher (by mdl on 2004-12-07 16:49:04 GMT)
Above post to Realistic Bastard was by me, mdl.
29 • old Mensa game (by Benjamin Vander Jagt at 2004-12-07 16:56:04 GMT)
Mensa magazine, the magazine for geniuses who are too stupid to believe in God, had a game wherein you change just one letter in a brand name and come up with your new slogan for the makebelieve product.
For example:
Advil - Fast relief for life's aches and pains
Anvil - Fast relief for all of life's problems
Pampers
Dampers - Economy diapers for less!
Pumpers - With a new system for removing wetness
Skippy Peanut Butter
Skimpy - Low fat peanut butter
Slippy - Doesn't stick to the roof of your mouth
Well, we've been joking around at the shop, making fun of distributions here and there, like Winblows, Mandrunk Linux, and the like. So I thought I'd make a list of some of the best ones that follow the Mensa game rules:
Mandrake
Manbrake - They got the brakes working just fine
SUSE
Fuse - Blows under load
Slackware
Slackbare - A trim distribution
Slackwars - Debian or Slackware? The battle is on!
Gentoo
Gettoo - Linux for da hood
Damn Small
Damn Smell
FreeBSD
FeeeBSD - Once Macintosh gets a hold of it...
FreeBod - Liberteen edition
PCLinuxOS
PoLinuxOS - as in, not very rich
Yoper
Doper
Roper
Vine
Fine - It's okay
Wine - It's very okay
Mine - It's great!
Vice - It's not just a city anymore
Vile
Red Hat
Bed Hat
Red Cat
Red Hay - Don't eat the red hay.
SLAX
Slay
Gnoppix
Groppix - Pervert!
Vector
Hector - Linux made for just one guy
Turbolinux
TurdoLinux - sorry, had to make a poop joke
Arch
Argh - Ugh!
Aach - Ekh!
Feather
Heather - Linux made for just one gal
Vidalinux
Vitalinux - It's good for you
Puppy
Yuppy - *nod*
Conectiva
Corectiva - You spelled it WRONG
Onebase
Onebash - Who needs ash, sh, csh, and all those?
GeeXboX
GeeXboY - That's me!
Yellow Dog
Fellow Dog - It's a dog, just like my Mac.
White Box
Whity Box - For the super-race.
Ark
Ork
Ack
Mandows
Mancows - Radio hosts, now available for free download!
CRUX
Clux - What, are you chicken?
Astaro
Astard - Ucking Astards!
tinysofa
Tinysoft - We're here to defeat Microsoft
ROCK
Lock - Even MORE secure
30 • BTW (by Benjamin Vander Jagt at 2004-12-07 16:58:24 GMT)
by the way, it was Damn Small that reminded me of it. the post isn't totally unrelated to this week's DWW
31 • @Realistic Bastard (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-07 17:38:24 GMT)
My main issue with Mandrake is that they don't listen and they don't care.
Don't believe me? Visit their forum, that is the most common complaint.
With other words, they are arrogant bastards, and you have proven my point, thank you very much for doing that.
32 • Re: mdl (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-07 18:38:36 GMT)
"I don't like their division of their community into "haves" and "have nots" based on joining their club."
My point, exactly. Beautiful example of equality in the true spirit of FLOSS.
33 • No subject (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-07 18:59:39 GMT)
@mdl
"but I don't like their division of their community into "haves" and "have nots" based on joining their club."
Its not because you have a skewed view of reality , that what you say is what really happens with Mandrake , Mandrakesoft and MandrakeClub.
MandrakeClub whas created to save Mandrake from Mandrakesoft Management , they cant close the company if it makes money and its making enough money that it covers most or there incompetence , there is about 200 Millions download of the distribution ( 4 X 50 languages) at each release if everyone of the user only sent 5$ back to the distribution they would be able to spend as much on development as what Red Hat does because of there financial support from wall-street. They need money to be able to stay afloat its a reality its not happening so the need for MandrakeClub.
With Mandrake when you contribute you can get access to all there software as a reward , nothing is free in life.Unless its using someone else work without much contribution like mepis who use Debian.
"see no reason for you to go off the deep end and call me a moron... "
You attack me personnaly and you think I should say oh please insult me some more ? The work Mandrake as done in he past whas done by me and others like me , when you attack my work its personnal , think about it sometimes Mandrake dont appear out of thin air. Its made by someone.
"but I don't think it is me"
Sorry to say but yes you are.
@Anonymous Penguin
"My main issue with Mandrake is that they don't listen and they don't care."
No, its that they exist and do whats good for everyone without listening to you as I said I read you all over the place and your my favorite idiot of the bunch , astroturfing all over the internet , you have no real point to make , and you keep rehashing the same thing over and over and over.
" Don't believe me?"
No , I dont listen to cowards.
"Visit their forum"
But I do , even created some of them. Some retards like you repeat themself but the most common thread I read is people think there is some place for improvment or that they dont know even 5% of whats included or is offered.
"they are arrogant bastards"
Yes , they contribute more then the others ( with the money they got ) and give away free stuf as in both price and freedom the bastard !!
" and you have proven my point"
You dont have a point , if you did you would back them with arguments.
34 • Sorry Ladislav (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-07 19:06:44 GMT)
BTW Ladislav ,
Sorry If I am insulting to some of your board user and on your board , but sometimes enough is enough.
35 • @Realistic Bastard (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-07 19:54:13 GMT)
"You dont have a point , if you did you would back them with arguments."
I have done that. Is $1320 a year for Platinum Membership not an argument?
And once again, 54 Euros for a DVD, because it is not bundled with the Powerpack, is it just peanuts? A blank DVD here costs less than 1 Euro.
If you were a reasonable person you'd have a look at SUSE Pro Update Edition and tell me in all fairness who offers value for money.
I am not a Mepis user, but I admire them because they are making money in the right way(s)
And why exactly I am a coward? Because I don't use my real name? Then I am in good company.
And what exactly are your points other than shouting and insulting?
You say you are a Mandrake developer. Yes, I believe it, because your behaviour is in the true spirit of Mandrake, as I have known it for years.
36 • No subject (by datebro on 2004-12-07 20:10:22 GMT)
Hey there, Kanotix Bughunter X is out for days now, so don't complaint about the lacks of any Distri, download kanotix. Support may be better in german language than english, but what hell, learn german (This is Joke!!) and enjoy the best Debian you 've ever seen (This not)
Greetings, Datebro.
37 • Re: No subject (by datebro on 2004-12-07 20:10:22 GMT) (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-07 20:24:17 GMT)
Hi friend
English support for Kanotix is absolutely fine, thanks.
Beautiful distro indeed.
38 • FreeSBIE - What an exciting surprise (by William Roddy at 2004-12-07 21:21:55 GMT)
At my age and in my health, I had often wanted to try BSD but didn't think I had the stamina, after working so hard to learn about Linux. Still, I thought, what a wonderful thing is was that it existed and that others were enjoying it.
Then, this week, I read that FreeSBIE was a "live" BSD distribution. So with a hope-filled heart, I downloaded the ISO and burned the image (that's all still pretty new and neat to me, at age 63).
And guess what. I booted up the disk and it was everything they said it would be. I had FreeBSD running on my computer, I was surfing the Web, had my old friend OpenOffice.org handy, and many other bells and whistles. Some tips I badly needed were right there in plain sight and the thrill of it all made me very, very happy.
For certain reasons, my life will be shorter than it might have been. Because of this, each day is a precious gift. I really wish I could get across to you all, my friends, my community, you, at this place I come to find surprise after surprise at the enormity of human ingenuity: choice is not a liability, it is a gift. Few places is the gift of choice greater than in the open-source community.
We live at the very leading edge of Time, as it plows through space. And from our unique vantage points, our shouts should not be of anger, but of excitement. Of joy.
To attain peace in the world, we must first find peace within ourselves.
Thank you all for leading me to another exciting day.
39 • Monthly & weekly distro news (by Penguin on 2004-12-08 05:37:09 GMT)
I think it might be a good idea to continue publish news at least about the more important weekly or monthly news of Debian, Gentoo, Arch, Ubuntu, Lunar etc. communities on DistroWatch regularly. I think that those great community efforts would deserve that extra publicity.
Of course, if almost every distro starts to have their own (maybe poorly edited?) weekly news, it might turn out to be too troublesome to publish news about all of them on a regular basis but that will probably never happen anyway. Probably only those distros that have most active communties will have resources and interest to publish news on a regular basis.
Much distro work go also into their news and documentation projects, not only into software development, and newletters etc. are very good documentation for users too.
And yes, I was also thinking the Page Hit Ranking. Distros will, of course, get more page hits when there are more news about them on Distrowatch. However, distros are not equal at all in that respect, some have new releases almost every month while others like Debian and some source-based or server distros have new releases only rarely. Also I wouldn't mind if true and active community distros get more advertising and thus maybe a bit better position in the Page Hit ranking too.
40 • Mepis and other Debian based distros (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-08 07:49:14 GMT)
Absolutely impressed with the latest Mepis beta. *Great* improvements since SimplyMepis, especially in overall look and feel. Soon they can count me among their fans :)
On the other hands we have been overwhelmed by the number and quality of Debian based releases. Overclockix among the most impressive (not tried the latest Kanotix yet, but I am sure I'll love it)
And then Xandros 3 sounds very promising...
What to say? Debian, live long and prosper :)
41 • @Anonymous Penguin (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-08 10:06:46 GMT)
"I have done that."
No , but then argumention for you must be you write and it magically become truth and precise because your the author of it when in fact its pure modified FUD and bulshit ...
"Is $1320 a year for Platinum Membership not an argument?"
No its a price of one of there offer , its not the base entry and its not even forced on anyone , its 100% volontary. And it dont explain why you mention that price and greedy , in the windows world one server with nothing else but one software on a disk can be valued by there vendor at 10 000$ or more , Mandrake basic pack include minimum 3 server ( example among many others).
"And once again"
If only it where true, its not the second time you spit out that insanity.
"54 Euros for a DVD, because it is not bundled with the Powerpack"
Powerpack + ... oups its bundled right there.
229,90$ - 199.90€
and they sell the dvd alone for 54$ , the bastard !! its worth thousand more but they made it available for the price of one good game so that those who whant only the DVD and nothing else can get it cheaper , you truly are a moron ...
"is it just peanuts"
Yes , 3000 software on a profesionnaly made dvd for 54$ is peanuts , its 0,018 cent per software. See no real arguments on your part ...
" A blank DVD here costs less than 1 Euro."
Your blank DVD dont come with 3000 software wich whas professionaly made , and buy in bulk it gets cheaper then that for Blank DVD.
"have a look at SUSE Pro Update Edition "
SuSe as stopped to exist as a single company since 2000 , it whas bough by IBM who sold it in 2004 to Novell , they dont exist anymore its now called Novell/SuSe.
"and tell me in all fairness who offers value for money."
Mandrakesoft , thats why they are still called Mandrakesoft ...
"but I admire them because they are making money in the right way"
Of course Rebranding Debian + other software made by other company and not contributing anything back is the right way to do things ... Sorry but thats not the case.
"And why exactly I am a coward?"
You cant face Mandrakesoft on the market so you have to resolve at trying to discredit them and there product by lying and making FUD on many Board all over the internet.
"Because I don't use my real name? "
You dont have a real name ... otherwise you would use it.
"Then I am in good company."
Nope , I just dont whant to use my good name to add value to your FUD , lies and insanity.
"And what exactly are your points other than shouting and insulting?"
I guess , Reading is to be added to your lack of ability.
"You say you are a Mandrake developer."
Nope , Mandrakesoft contributor you would not know what it means either way.
" Yes, I believe it"
You have shown to believe in a lot of stupid things wich are false.
"because your behaviour is in the true spirit of Mandrake"
Well thank you contributing help , software , bug report , translation , money to pay for developper to work full time on the distribution , contributing my free time to organize how-to and doing instalation for those who cant is a noble cause , you should try it sometime.
"as I have known it for years."
If you have been doing this , for years , no wonder you dont Like Mandrakians , lol. Instead of insulting other people work , making FUD , and looking like an ass
you might whant to try another aproach , describe YOUR real problem to the developper in charge in a polite and respectfull way , you will get what you whant I promise , even more faster if you offer money for it.
See you on another board astroturfer.
42 • Chill out on Mandrake (by MateoGWJ at 2004-12-08 15:09:10 GMT)
Man, this is some heated discussion. I agree with RB on Mandrake as a whole.
Mandrake is a great product, and it's still free, if you feel like waiting. If you don't, then subscribe.
It's what I call the public library model: if you absolutely gotta have the book the day it hits the shelf, then there's always Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Borders. You pay for the privilege, though. If you can wait, the local public library will have it for free in a coupe of weeks.
If you can't wait, there are 150 or so other distributions to look at. Pick one.
No need to get so worked up.
43 • No subject (by CJ on 2004-12-08 15:33:37 GMT)
Take a chill pill.
(I'm sure I'll get called a coward or similar for saying that)
44 • William Roddy (by CJ on 2004-12-08 15:55:08 GMT)
You have a nice attitude about this. Nice to see someone out there still is as amazed and amused at all of this as I am. I also was glad to see the FreeSBIE 1.1 come out (because I never could get xinit to work in 1.0). I like it very much and plan to do a hd install this weekend.
45 • My last post on this subject (by mdl on 2004-12-08 17:08:13 GMT)
I am now sorry to have made the post that started the whole Mandrake brouhaha. I never dreamed it would set off such an angry, irrational, meanspirited and virtually unintelligible stream of unrelated garbage as that spewed forth by "Realistic Bastard", who seems to have gotten his screen name half right.
For the record: I was a longtime Mdk user. I liked it. I still like it and think it is a great distro. I was sad to leave them, but got tired of waiting for 10.1, so I switched and like my new distro. Apparently RB thought my comments insulted his manhood (assuming here that RB is male) and blew up. Glad his problems are ot mine.
For Anonymous Penguin: I am reminded of the old saying "Never argue with an idiot; they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." You can't win.
For RB: Get help with your anger problems! And remember that "Profanity is a crutch for conversational cripples." I personally don't care, but others may find your choice of language objectionable.
For Ladislav: Sorry for my part in this.
46 • Re: mld (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-08 17:54:11 GMT)
"For Anonymous Penguin: I am reminded of the old saying "Never argue with an idiot; they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." You can't win."
Thanks, very good. That is what I am going to do, I am going to shut up (God, he can't even understand that I represent only myself and not "the competition").
And my apologies to Ladislav as well.
47 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2004-12-08 19:35:54 GMT)
As I read this morning, this is what came to mind:
A man rediscovered raindrop,
And how, like diamonds, they fell.
He'd somehow stopped noticing them,
And other things as well.
He rediscovered sunshine, and joy
In the eyes of a child;
The way mountains dim with distance,
And flowers that grow wild.
He told this to his rediscovered friends,
Who'd really always been by his side.
He shared his rediscoveries with them
On the day before he died.
The greatest act of bravery is to live in peace.
William Roddy
48 • Ta - Linux (by Hillbilly on 2004-12-08 19:56:46 GMT)
i like his philosophy about having just a base install then building from there, sounds like Gentoo done right...
one thing about his website - he states he only has a DSL internet connection, so i opted out downloading an ISO, he needs to upload a ISO to a BIG server with a "big fat / fast pipe" and then the admin of this BIG server release a bittorrent then distribution would not be a issue...
49 • freebsd/freesbie question (by im_ka at 2004-12-08 21:10:28 GMT)
how do i mount cd's (or anything else)?
my cd is at acd1 or acd0
i've read through "man mount" but i'm not succeeding.
i've tried this: "mount /dev/acd0 /cdrom cd9660"... doesn't work.
otherwise it looks nice, but wanna try to play some audio/video but since it can't handle reiser, i wanna do it from cd.
the people on the freebsd channel only tell me to rtfm
50 • re: myself (by im_ka at 2004-12-08 22:02:32 GMT)
resolved
mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0 /cdrom
i really enjoy playig with freesbie, but i don't have the time or even the need to install freebsd... but i'll definetly keep an eye on *bsd, i might get more into network at some point.
51 • Mandrake, Fedora, Knoppix, SLAX, FreeSBIE and all. Linux and BSD ROCK! (by BigLinux and BSD Fan on 2004-12-08 23:21:29 GMT)
Mandrake is a great Distribution. I like it very much! I understand the issues of developing a distro especially the time. It is still free just be patient.
Fedora is great too. It has many packages and it is free also.
Knoppix, without question is the king of Linux Live CD's. I like it too!
Slax is not second class to Knoppix, if you have 256 MB of Ram or More use copy2ram option and eject CD. It is great!
Linux is great.
FreeBSD is great, although it is harder to learn and get used to.
FreeSBIE is great it works, but how do I make/install flashplayer!
Most of the distros are awesome! BSD is awesome even though hard. Thanks to all the opensouce community for making Linux and BSD. I am learning alot and I make alot of people turn and take a look at Linux and BSD.
My students like Knoppix, SLAX and FreeSBIE. They say for Knoppix, it has frozen bubble and a lot of games. For SLAX(el penguinito) to play and burn CD/DVD's and BSD(el diablito).
52 • No subject (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-09 09:14:53 GMT)
@ mdl
"it would set off such an angry, irrational, meanspirited and virtually unintelligible stream of unrelated garbage as that spewed forth by "Realistic Bastard", who seems to have gotten his screen name half right."
Its always funny to see people like you who get what they deserve feel like victims.
"For the record:"
I still dont care.
""Never argue with an idiot; they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." "
Unless they are met with the truth and facts , then they are showed to have add nothing meaningfull to say in the first place. only knowledge can eliminate the idiot.
"Profanity is a crutch for conversational cripples"
Knowledge without understanding is a waste. You can probably quote a thousand line of wisdom because you think that the wisdom in them is knowing them and where to place them in a text , when in fact its understanding them.
It whas fun telling you of what you are , but unlike you I have others to help and thing to do and improve.
53 • No subject (by MixMatch on 2004-12-09 14:10:26 GMT)
The only 'truth and facts' about RBs comments is that hes angry because there are people that don't like Mandrake.
For people like RB, that think that this equation is correct:
Good Linux = Mandrake, there is this really good web site:
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/
For people like myself, and 99% of other people I have met here where:
Good Linux = My choice, whatever it may be. There is this really good site:
http://distrowatch.com/
RB is simply an idiot. He doesn't seem to understand that Mandrake is just one way to package the GNU world. He talks all this trash about Mepis taking Debian and not giving anything back. I'm certain that Makdrake gives a cut of their profit to EVERY piece of software that they package in their distribution. Oh, wait, they probably just get them all for free.
Mandrake is a great product, and I probably will try 10.1 But I'm fairly certain that it is not inherently any better than other distributions. SuSe has a better configuration utility. Debian has more software availability. Source-Based distros are more configurable.
What is more, Distrowatch is an appropriate place to voice our opinions on a distro's attributes, be they good or bad. I don't believe saying, "I use this distro over this other one because..." is wrong at all. Thats one of the reasons I come to this site. I like to see what people think of the latest distro and how it holds up to what else is out there. GNU/Linux is a world that grows and changes continually. You are only a moron if you close your eyes to these changes and developments.
54 • @MixMatch (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-09 17:55:47 GMT)
"The only 'truth and facts' about RBs comments is that hes angry because there are people that don't like Mandrake"
No , thats because I dont get angry , I can be very insulting to mandrake basher , people who dont like Mandrake and say why I have a tendancy to respect. People who make accurate comparaison I also tend to listen to and be polite in my reply.
"For people like RB"
Of course whe know each other very well.
"Good Linux = Mandrake"
Oh yes you know me , moron , good linux for me = www.kernel.org because Linux for me is the Kernel.
"My choice, whatever it may be."
so to resume
Moron = My choice, whatever it may be.
RB = Gnu/Linux OS
"He doesn't seem to understand that Mandrake is just one way to package the GNU world. "
Mandrake is not like Mepis , they have paid developper working everyday on GNU/Linux ... And Mandrake is sooo stupid they forget to package hurd too ... its not like they do GNU/Linux ... So to resume the point : Mandrake Community and Mandrakesoft are GNU/Linux builder with a proven track record that show them as such.
"He talks all this trash about Mepis taking Debian and not giving anything back. "
http://www.mepis.org/book/view/1272
"Like several other flavors of Linux, the MEPIS core is built on the excellent work of the Debian team."
Stiil looking for there line where it say "whe also contribute back all our change to the Debian project"
Like say Knoppix does ...
or "whe have those people who are paid to work on GNU/Linux " like say all the real distribution do ...
" I'm certain that Makdrake gives a cut of their profit to EVERY piece of software that they package in their distribution. "
Yes , every changes that they do to a software they send the change to the developper for them to include.
"Oh, wait, they probably just get them all for free."
Like I said there not Like Mepis , they have paid developper who work on GNU/Linux everyday. some they get for free as in no price most of them they paid to built or paid someone to help them get built faster, they cant realistically give money to all of them no, but they try there best to.
"But I'm fairly certain that it is not inherently any better than other distributions."
Thats why you need 2-3 distrbution to try and make them look weak. I am sure your Fair , you dont even know your subject ...
"SuSe has a better configuration utility. "
No , simple fact is everything SuSe as Mandrake as too and they have more tools then SuSe as. How I know this a SuSe expert showed me ... And since YAST became GPL because of Novell, dont worry some Mandrake developper is going to included that in there too.
"Debian has more software availability. "
Yes , off course with the proprietary software that they include , they have more , dont forget all the Debian based who remove software in order to make it easier for the newbie so they claim ...
" Source-Based distros are more configurable. "
Mandrake-Linux is a Source-Based distro , everything they built you can get the source and its GPL ...
"I don't believe saying, "I use this distro over this other one because..." is wrong at all. "
No , but then thats not what they did ...
"GNU/Linux is a world that grows and changes continually."
Built by the Mandrake developper and there community everyday. Something that people like you tend to forget.
"You are only a moron if you close your eyes to these changes and developments."
Your a moron then ...
MixMatch : I'm fairly certain that Mandrake-Linux is not inherently any better than other distributions.
RB : Why the heck whas it in the #1 spot on Distrowatch all next year then ?
Answer : Its the best or second best in EVERY good category.
55 • Re MixMatch (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-10 05:12:08 GMT)
"What is more, Distrowatch is an appropriate place to voice our opinions on a distro's attributes, be they good or bad. I don't believe saying, "I use this distro over this other one because..." is wrong at all. Thats one of the reasons I come to this site. I like to see what people think of the latest distro and how it holds up to what else is out there. GNU/Linux is a world that grows and changes continually. You are only a moron if you close your eyes to these changes and developments."
Well said. Can you imagine if we all talked like: "Distro A? Beautiful. Distro B? Wonderful. Distro C? Fantastic. Distro D? Outstanding.."
Wouldn't we all sound like a bunch of idiots? But I am afraid that this is the way we'll have to express ourselves from now on if we want to avoid the wrath of the (un)realistic bastards of the net. Such "unrealistic bastards" don't even realize that they don't really love their distro, because by shouting, insulting, talking nonsense they only manage to annoy people and to put their own distro in a bad light.
56 • @Anonymous Penguin (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-10 14:08:01 GMT)
"Wouldn't we all sound like a bunch of idiots?"
You just described 80% of the comments made above and called those who made them idiot for doing it that way , its not funny , you are pathetic.
"they don't even realize that they don't really love their distro"
I prefer to love my GF , the many distro I use are just thing I like and care about. Mandrake broke your hearth ? get over it its not a person , shisssh , and you can choose 361 others from here to like and speak of in a positive way, try some new one, broaden your horizons.
"because by shouting, insulting, talking nonsense they only manage to annoy people and to put their own distro in a bad light."
Why do you do it then ? You assume you can crap over other people work , make FUD ,without having to answer for it? what make you so special ?
Feel free to Bash mandrake , I will feel free to nuke you out.
Again , I appologize to others who have to endure this.
57 • @rb (by im_ka at 2004-12-10 20:24:52 GMT)
"Again , I appologize to others who have to endure this."
yes, you should
58 • Realistic ramblings? (by mikkh at 2004-12-11 00:45:14 GMT)
I'm finding it hard to believe English is "realistic bastards" first language, in much the same way I'm doubting his preferred method of thinking is via the normal brain and not his arsehole.
Obviously likes the sound of his own voice though
Psychic too, apparently Mandrake " whas it in the #1 spot on Distrowatch all next year then ?"
59 • @mikkh (by Realistic Bastard at 2004-12-11 13:52:49 GMT)
"Why the heck whas it in the #1 spot on Distrowatch all next year then ?"
should have read :
"Why the heck whas it in the #1 spot on Distrowatch all last year then ?"
Number of Comments: 59
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| • Issue 1160 (2026-02-16): Noid and AgarimOS, command line tips, KDE Linux introduces delta updates, Redox OS hits development milestone, Linux Mint develops a desktop-neutral account manager, sudo developer seeks sponsorship |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Sun Java Desktop System
Sun Java Desktop System was a comprehensive, secure, highly affordable enterprise desktop solution that was simple to use and works with existing infrastructure. The software consists of a fully integrated client environment based on open source and standards including a GNOME desktop environment, StarOffice productivity suite, Mozilla browser, Evolution e-mail and calendar client, Java 2 Standard Edition, and a Linux operating system. Future releases of Java Desktop System are planned to support workstations and Sun Ray thin clients running the Solaris Operating System.
Status: Discontinued
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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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