 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 80, 20 December 2004 |
Welcome to this year's very last issue of DistroWatch Weekly. We will look at the newly launched Fedora Extras, newly released PCLinuxOS Preview 8, and newly introduced Ubuntu Rosetta internationalisation infrastructure. The featured distribution of the week is Linux From Scratch. Happy reading!
Content:
Fedora Extras, PCLinuxOS Preview 8, Ubuntu Rosetta
 The Fedora project has launched "Fedora Extras", or to be more precise, "Fedora Pre-Extras", since the concept is still in a testing phase. What is "Fedora Extras"? It is meant to be place to store and maintain third-party RPM packages for i386 and x86_64 ports of Fedora Core, merged from fedora.us and freshrpms.net. The idea is to create a central, yum-enabled repository of many third-party packages that are not available in stock Fedora Core, but are maintained by dozens of contributors.
The "Fedora Pre-Extras" packages are currently hosted at FedoraProject.org. This is just a temporary location and the repository will move to download.fedora.redhat.com as soon as the testing is completed. Looking through the i386 repository, there is indeed an impressive number of ready-made RPM packages for Fedora Core 3, including many popular software items, such as BitTorrent, Bluefish, ClamAV, Scribus, dozens of Perl and Python modules, and many other applications. However, multimedia stuff is still missing, so it seems that if you need MPlayer, Xine or mp3 support in XMMS, you will still need to configure and use one of the third-party repositories.
More information about Fedora Extras is available in this mailing list post.
* * * * *
 A new "Preview" version of PCLinuxOS hit the BitTorrent servers and download mirrors over the weekend. This was interesting news, especially because many consider PCLinuxOS to be one of the best Linux distributions for novice users. It was originally based on Mandrakelinux, but "Texstar", the distribution's lead developer, maintains many RPM packages independently and keeps most major components up-to-date. PCLinuxOS is an attempt to cure some of the ills of Mandrakelinux proper - it is free in every sense of the word, comes pre-configured with browser plugins, Java, NVIDIA driver, and multimedia support, and is very easy to keep up-to-date by retrieving new packages from one of the PCLinuxOS repositories. It also includes some of the Mandrakelinux utilities, such as Mandrake Control Centre (renamed to Master Control Centre). However, urpmi has been completely replaced with apt-get.
One of the nice things about PCLinuxOS (it shares this quality with MEPIS Linux) is that it also functions as a live CD. Users can download and boot the CD straight into a graphical environment with KDE (login as guest, with password "guest"), then, if they enjoy the experience, install it to a hard disk with a simple graphical installer. Synaptic is the preferred way to manage RPM packages. This powerful graphical utility not only provides ways to retrieve all the latest security updates, it also makes installing and uninstalling extra packages (not included on the CD, e.g. GNOME 2.8) an easy and painless task.
Although still labelled as a "development" release, PCLinuxOS has now matured to the point that it can be safely considered as a stable, quality distribution, perhaps one of the best-kept secrets of the Linux distribution world. Download and try it out - you are likely to be pleasantly surprised!
PCLinuxOS Preview 8 - finally released to mirrors over the weekend.
(full image size: 268kB)
* * * * *
 If you enjoy Ubuntu Linux, but are disappointed by the lack of support for a particular language or by the lack of multilingual documentation, here is your chance to get involved - through Ubuntu's Rosetta Project: "The Rosetta Translation Portal team is pleased to announce that the portal is now ready for widespread use. Rosetta's goal is to make the process of translating free software as easy as possible for both translators and software maintainers. Maintainers can send us PO Templates and PO Files, which will be published through the web for translation. PO Files can then be downloaded at any time. Rosetta is part of the Ubuntu Launchpad." More information about the Rosetta Project is available in the release announcement.
* * * * *
 There is a new entry on the Slackware's Current ChangeLog and it's good news - Patrick Volkerding is back, feeling much better: "Hi folks. Well, I'm back in California and I'm happy to let you all know that I'm feeling much better. :-) Here are a few updates so you can see that I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully 10.1 won't be too far off (I'm still trying to figure out just how far behind we are, and what other fixes need to get merged in), and then we can look at what exactly needs to be done to try to switch over to the new kernel series for 11, or sometime later on. I still don't think it's time for that yet (it will be best to wait until 2.4 can be abandoned)." Some of the updates include kernel (2.4.28), KDE (3.3.2) and ALSA (1.0.7). Find out more in the Current ChangeLog.
The end-of-the-year note
This is the final issue of DistroWatch Weekly for the year 2004. On behalf of the team of maintainers, contributors and translators, I would like to wish all our readers who celebrate it, a merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year. We are looking forward to bringing you more news, weekly summaries, features, reviews and interviews in 2005. With our readership up almost three times since the start of the year, there is little doubt that Linux, BSD, and open source software are on the right track and gaining increasing acceptance. We'll be here to cover all that excitement in the new year.
Thank you all for visiting us and happy holidays :-)
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| Featured distribution of the week: Linux From Scratch |
Linux From Scratch
What better distribution to feature in this year's final issue of DistroWatch Weekly than Linux From Scratch? Since many of our readers will be taking a break from work and perhaps have a bit more time on their hands than usual, why not spend some of the end-of-the-year holidays on building your own Linux distribution?
Of course, Linux From Scratch is not a distribution in the true sense of the word, but rather a book that teaches you how to build one. It guides you through some basic topics, including creation of partitions and file systems, describes how to obtain source codes for the Linux kernel, essential system libraries and packages, and offers detailed explanation on compiling them into a complete operating system that one can boot into and use. The book also explains the basics about bootscripts and initscripts, and provides instructions to setup networking, system logging, and other essential topics.
How long does it take to complete the entire book? Although, at over 300 pages, it might sound like a lot of reading and absorbing, but the truth is that much of the book consists of package listings and descriptions of the individual applications that make up a particular package. There is also a lot of introductory material, which adds up to the bulkiness of the book. However, depending on your prior Linux experience, it is possible to complete the book (i.e. build a Linux distribution from scratch) in as few as two days; add a day or two, if you are completely new to Linux. To follow the book, you will need either a pre-existing Linux distribution already installed on your computer (any recent release of a major distribution will do), or you can make use of a live CDs (such as Knoppix) for the purpose.
Much of the build process consists of copying and pasting of the individual build commands into a terminal application. While the package compiles, you can read up on the purpose of the package and find out why it is an essential part of any GNU/Linux operating system. Compiling most packages usually takes a few minutes, with the exception of the bigger ones, such as the Linux kernel, GCC, glibc and Perl. If you run into trouble, the Linux From Scratch project provides mailing lists where you can seek assistance and share your experiences.
Of course, the best part of this project is that you can go through an introductory Linux course at your leisure and absolutely free. If you get a little time during this holiday season, get the book and start learning all there is about Linux.
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| Released Last Week |
SAM Xmas Fun 2004
This is a special holiday edition of the SAM Mini Live CD:"At the end of the year here is a small gift to all game fanatics out there: SAM Xmas Fun 2004, a game-collection for your pocket with around 40 games. Only the best of the best in Linux games are included, like Supertux, Pingus, Frozen Bubble, Enigma, Gnocatan, Freeciv, Wesnoth, Slash'em, BZFlag, GLTron and much more. Also the basic things for having fun with Linux are there: Firefox 1.0, Gaim 1.1, Xchat, Totem, Leafpad... And again all together on a 210MB mini CD. Merry Christmas and have fun!" The release announcement.
Berry Linux 0.51
A new release of Berry Linux is out. Version 0.51 is the first Berry Linux live CD based on the recently released Fedora Core 3; some of the more visible changes include: "mini_fo 0.1; remove translucency 0.7 (original version for kernel 2.6); KDE 3.3.2 (Fedora Core 3/Stable); OpenOffice.org 1.1.3 (Japanese and English); Digikam 0.7; IPA Fonts; remove Kochi Mincho and Gothic fonts." Many other packages were updated to their latest versions; see the changelog and package list for more details.
SimplyMEPIS 2004.6
SimplyMEPIS 2004.6 has been released: "MEPIS LLC has released SimplyMEPIS 2004.06. This latest CD adds font support for Simplified Chinese and Japanese. Additional CJ support is planned. Other CD improvements include an updated GRUB bootloader for better hardware compatibility and updated parted and qtparted for improved disk formatting support during installation. An updated version of alsa-modules for kernel 2.6 is preinstalled and also available in the MEPIS pool. meauto and meauto-data have been improved for better hardware compatibility, especially for sound card support." Read the official press release for further details.
MoLinux 1.0
MoLinux is a new Debian-based Linux distribution developed by the regional government of Castilla la Mancha, the land of Don Quijote, in central Spain. The distribution is designed primarily for desktop use; it ships with GNOME 2.6 as the default desktop environment and OpenOffice.org 1.1.2 as its principal office suite. In line with other regional governments in the country, the goal of the MoLinux project is to introduce a Linux-based operating system into offices and schools around the region and to reduce cost associated with use of proprietary software. More information is available on the project's web site and in this discussion on Barrapunto (both links in Spanish).
MoLinux 1.0 - a new Spanish distribution based on Progeny Debian with the Anaconda installer.
(full image size: 848kB)
SuliX 2.0
SuliX is a Hungarian live CD developed by a small group of teachers and designed for use in schools. Unlike the previous releases, which were based on Knoppix, SuliX 2.0 is a remastered edition of Berry Linux with full support for the Hungarian language. It comes with kernel 2.6.9, KDE 3.3.0, Konqueror web browser, Hungarian edition of OpenOffice.org 1.1.2, GIMP 2.0.4, a wide selection of educational software and a digital school bag. More details are available in the release announcement (in Hungarian).
IPCop Firewall 1.4.2
A new bug-fix release of IPCop Firewall is now available. Some of the fixes include: "fix KA Advisory 0411291 in proxylog.dat; fix dhcp.cgi bug in header.pl; fix eciadsl-nortek to use correct USB alt interface in rc.red; fix insecure dependency related to Fritz DSL modems in rc.red; fix 'ends never' in DHCP lease; fix DOMAIN_NAME to DOMAIN_NAME_GREEN in rc.updatered rc.netaddressup; fix wireless.cgi when IP addresses in use; fix IBOD DOV deselection in pppsetup.cgi; fix doatmdial with STATICIP (start rc.updatered, reverse test with atmarp); fix status.cgi page menu without Java script; fix dhcp.cgi: read timesettings for correct test...." Read the release announcement for more details.
ParallelKnoppix 2004-12-16
This is a new version of ParallelKnoppix, a Knoppix-based live CD that allows setting up a cluster of machines for parallel processing. The latest version is based on the recently released Knoppix 3.7. What's new? "Same functionality, but newer packages; image size is somewhat larger (550MB) - too lazy to trim fat, but now you can play frozen-bubble; the script to copy to hard disk for remastering has been improved a bit." Visit the distribution's web site to find out more about the latest release.
QiLinux live! 1.1
A new live CD edition of QiLinux has been released: "QiLinux live! 1.1 is ready and available for immediate download. The main features of this release are the enhanced usability (no more root or user password required), a lot of bugfixes since release 1.0, and two new applications added: Wine and Tux Racer. Detailed changelog: Italian and English versions are two distinct CDs; no root and user password needed anymore; enabled screen saver (random); default gateway is now correctly configured when manually configuring network; lisa daemon is now correctly configured (lan:/ browsing); fixed root icon and volume label as seen from Windows...." Read the release announcement for more details.
ROOT GNU/Linux 1.4
A new stable version of ROOT GNU/Linux is out: "ROOT GNU/Linux 1.4 has finally been released! This is the most stable, well-polished version of ROOT ever released. The 1.4 generation of ROOT contains many major changes from the previous release 1.3. This is a small list of new features or other changes: ROOT now includes a much more advanced package system with many new features based on pkgutils from CRUX; the system installer has been updated, it fixes many bugs and is generally more stable; the latest stable KDE, version 3.3.2, is included; GNOME1 and GNOME2 libraries are included for compatibility with programs. However, the GNOME2 desktop is not included because it's hard to maintain and takes up too much space on the CD." Read the full release notes for more details.
INSERT 1.2.17
A new release of Inside Security Rescue Toolkit (INSERT) is now available: "Unlike planned, this release is another maintenance release with many updated packages and some tools added. The virus scanner clamav now comes in version 0.80 which makes use of all of the signatures of the new database format. The GUIavscan also has been updated to reflect this. The next major release is planned to come without the accelerated X-servers and instead delivering X from the KDrive servers. This would make room for exciting new tools and toys:) Also plans are to move to Linux kernel 2.6. Please give feedback on those two major issues!" See the full changelog for more information.
Development and unannounced releases
Kurumin Linux 4.0 - we just can't resist posting screenshots of the Kurumin desktop...
(full image size: 831kB)
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Vidalinux Desktop OS 1.1
The developers of the Gentoo-based Vidalinux Desktop OS (VLOS) have announced that version 1.1 will be released on December 20th: "The release date for VLOS 1.1 will be December 20 2004, this version include lots of changes and fixes including: Udev, NPTL, Kernel 2.6.9, Gnome 2.8, KDE 3.3.1, a new beautiful look and feel, and much more... So stay tuned for more updates regarding VLOS 1.1." Find out more in this announcement.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Web Site News |
New distribution addition
- MoLinux. MoLinux is a Progeny-based Linux distribution developed by the government of Castilla la Mancha in Spain. It uses the Anaconda port for Debian and Componentized Linux packages as the base of the operating system.
- T2. T2 is an open source system development environment (or distribution build kit if you are more familiar with that term). T2 allows the creation of custom distributions with bleeding edge technology. Currently, the Linux kernel is normally used - but we are expanding to Hurd, OpenDarwin and OpenBSD; more to come. T2 started as a community driven fork from the ROCK Linux Project with the aim to create a decentralised development and a clean framework for spin-off projects and customised distributions.
New on the waiting list
- Arcane Linux. Arcane Linux is a distribution developed by the former developers of EvilEntity Linux. It is currently in early devlopemnt.
- DeadCD. DeadCD is minimalistic Linux live CD, based on Debian GNU/Linux. Its goal is to provide a small (the maximum size is 100MB), fast, feature-rich, and versatile operating system.
- StrongBox Linux. StrongBox Linux is a Linux-based operating system, incorporating tight version control, digital signatures, high security, and built-in change management.
Discontinued distributions
- EvilEntity Linux. A reader pointed out that, according to this post, EvilEntity Linux is no longer in development: "Yes, it's true, EE is dead. It is dead because we have lost our leader. The distro was ready for a new release, except for a few key scripts. But after more than 3 months of waiting for our leader to return, those of us that remained and worked so long and hard have given up. EvilEntity is copyright Kloss Korban. If he ever returns, he may continue work on EvilEntity. However, those of us that were working with him are now working on arcanelinux (www.arcanelinux.org). It will have a new release every 6 months. It also has a decentralized developement system so that it doesn't die off like EvilEntity did." EvilEntity Linux has now been moved onto the discontinued distributions page.
DistroWatch database summary
- Number of Linux distributions in the database: 364
- Number of BSD distributions in the database: 9
- Number of discontinued distributions: 45
- Number of distributions on the waiting list: 84
That's all for today and for the year 2004. We will be back with the next issue of DistroWatch Weekly on January 3rd, 2005. In the meantime, enjoy your holidays!
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Merry Xmas to you too Ladislav... (by Aussie on 2004-12-20 09:59:50 GMT)
and also the folks of DistroWatch ;-P
2 • Merry Christmas (by Honaby at 2004-12-20 10:11:32 GMT)
Merry Christmas and a happy Linux!
3 • Merry Christmas (by Anonymous Penguin on 2004-12-20 10:59:06 GMT)
Merry Xmas to you Ladislav, you truly deserve it! :-)
4 • Seasons Greetings (by Mark at 2004-12-20 11:12:09 GMT)
Seasons grettings everyone, especially Lalislav for his truly outstanding coverage of distributions. May next year be a great year for GNU, linux and BSD.
5 • Merry Christmas (by FreeBSD daemon on 2004-12-20 11:19:36 GMT)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
6 • Well Done (by Max on 2004-12-20 11:23:06 GMT)
Keep up the good work Ladislav
A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to you and all DWatchers...
7 • Merry Xmas... (by Nico at 2004-12-20 11:49:21 GMT)
...and big THANX for your support here on this great distro-page!
More from SAM next year,
Nico
www.sam-linux.org
8 • keep up the good job.....! (by Usman on 2004-12-20 12:03:30 GMT)
You are doing a tremendous job!! Keep it up.!!
The featured distribution..' Linux from Scratch ' is definitely one of the best project around. I am thinking about making my own distribution in these holidays.
And good to hear that Patrick Volkerding is better :)
Have a question...anybody know which are the oldest distributions still under active development...?
9 • Merry Christmas (by Michael_Valentine on 2004-12-20 12:18:35 GMT)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)
10 • Merry Christmas (by Michael Magua at 2004-12-20 12:33:41 GMT)
and keep up the good work ;-)
11 • Merry Christmas (by Capnkirby at 2004-12-20 12:39:41 GMT)
and a Happy GNU Year!
12 • Thanks For All Your Hard Work (by Old_Man_Newbie at 2004-12-20 13:10:31 GMT)
I am now entering into the second year of exploring Linux and Open Source Software. I tell everyone about Linux and Open Source Software and I tell everyone about DistroWatch. Thanks For All The Hard Work and For Teaching Old Dogs (Like Me) New Tricks.
13 • Have a Snappy Solstice! (by just john at 2004-12-20 13:28:01 GMT)
(wayans_bros)MoLinux, MoLinux, MoLinux!!(/wayans_bros)
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I have a question for the congregation: What's a good online forum (bbs, newsgroup, whatever) for distro addicts? I got questions and such, and googling finds me places where people make claims like "You can't read from an .iso file!" (Which I know is untrue, since a Mac Roxio product will happily mount such a file as a disk, and I found that out without even looking for it.)
14 • re:keep up the good job.....! (by Usman on 2004-12-20 12:03:30 GMT) (by maceto on 2004-12-20 13:28:09 GMT)
Slackware is the oldest,debian pretty old, lots of others but not active anymore
15 • A Brazilian Merry Christmas!!! (by Flavio at 2004-12-20 13:38:20 GMT)
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a 2005 with a lot of good Linux surprises...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pt_BR:
E para os leitores de língua portuguesa... Boas Festas!!!
16 • Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (by SyntaxError at 2004-12-20 13:58:25 GMT)
Ladislav,
Thanks for a wonder work on DistroWatch.
May you and your family have the greatest and joyous holidays!!!!
17 • Seasons Greatings (by CJ on 2004-12-20 14:42:14 GMT)
Everyone have a safe and wonderful holiday (however you wish to celebrate it).
Thanx Ladislav for all the info you have provided to us.
18 • Happy New Linux Year (by Ibrahim Eusof at 2004-12-20 15:14:28 GMT)
Merry X'mas and Happy New Year. Enjoyed your site tremendously and my source of information. I started Linux this year just after my 59th birthday and my knowledge about Linux has grown by leaps and bounds. Thanks to your page.
19 • Merry Christmas!!! (by Porti at 2004-12-20 15:21:44 GMT)
Ladislav and Distrowatch team... and all readers!
"Imagine all the people, living life in peace..." (J. Lennon)
Thanks for your fantastic site!
Best regards from Seville (Spain).
Porti.
20 • Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (by Lino on 2004-12-20 15:26:29 GMT)
圣诞快乐! 新年快乐!
(Greetings in Chinese that I managed to input from FC3 and, of course, Firefox)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Ladislav and every one here! I have been using Linux since 1998 and in the last two years or so DistroWatch has been the first page I go every day. Please accept my wholehearted thanks!
21 • MEPIS (by Anonymous on 2004-12-20 16:24:01 GMT)
I seem to be unable to get a clue about the difference between SimplyMepis and ProMEPIS except that the included packages vary slightly in selection and versions. Can anyone enlighten me please?
22 • Merry Christmas and Happy New Linux (by Zlaja at 2004-12-20 16:26:50 GMT)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Linux Year to all who love the best OS on the Earth.
23 • no no no (by sn0n at 2004-12-20 16:50:03 GMT)
who said you can have next monday off? certainly not me.. i want my monday issue!! its like the only thing i look forward to on mondays.. cuz it certainly isnt work im lookin forward to...
;-)
no.. really thou.. what up with next monday.. ;-)
24 • No subject (by Swistak at 2004-12-20 16:54:51 GMT)
Wesołych świąt i szczęśliwego nowego roku! (greetings in Polish :-)
25 • Mepis content (by Colnago at 2004-12-20 17:12:28 GMT)
The pro version has kde 3.3.x and some servers and development tools that are not on the simply version. In general. pro seems to be more for the bleeding edge type. ..
"ProMEPIS includes Kdevelop3 and the QT development tools. Also a number of servers are preinstalled including Apache, MySQL, ProFTDd, TFTP, DHCP3, Rsync, Bind9, and eXim4."
26 • No subject (by Abel at 2004-12-20 17:26:31 GMT)
merry christmas all... keep up the great work next year guys!!!
27 • Merry Christmas (by Jared at 2004-12-20 17:37:45 GMT)
You're a good man, Ladislav!
Thank you for all you do.
Have a Merry Christmas and good New Year.
28 • Merry Christmas (by Haldir at 2004-12-20 17:58:16 GMT)
Merry Christmas Ladislav and a Happy New Year.
Thanks for all the work you do keeping this one of the best sites that I go to.
29 • Uber Merry Christmas To Ye All (by Ross at 2004-12-20 18:20:04 GMT)
It's been a good year for GNU/Linux and OSS on the whole, we have seen many improvements in the Linux kernels, the SCO attack go down in flames, Firefox hitting in big time in the browser market, new innovative distributions, alot of inroads being made across the industry and a flurry of new members into our Open Source community.
Kudos to everyone involved, from the kernel developers to the distribution teams, the corporations backing the rise to glory (at least for now...), all the users helping each other out, sharing knowledge and spreading the word, and all the site admins bringing us the latest news and information, and helping us download the latest and greatest Open Source software. Everyone has helped out in their own way and this is what makes the community so strong.
Personally, we would like to thank DW.com and Ladislav for not only providing the best source of Linux distro information and news on the net, but also for being so helpful and kind regarding our advertising partnership, long may it continue. We wish you a happy festive season.
No one knows what the new year will bring or take away, but I think the future looks good for the community, popularity is soaring and shows no sign of stopping. Keep up the good work.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all from TLMP.
Ross & Matt
The Linux Mirror Project
30 • Greetings and Shana Tovah!! (by Isaac at 2004-12-20 18:20:26 GMT)
Happy Holidays and a Good New Year from Israel!!
Keep your wonderful job, Ladislav !!
Your site is simply the Linux Reference Site by excellence !!!
DistroWatch Rules!!!
31 • Kurumin (by CJ on 2004-12-20 18:34:59 GMT)
Does Kurumin support the english language?
32 • Happy Holidays (by x at 2004-12-20 18:49:18 GMT)
May the comming year be better than the prior.
Thank you for making this available to everyone, Distrowatch has come a long way over the years.
Perhaps an article on what prompted you to put this together, and the trials and tribulations encountered along the way to this point might be an interesting read. I have noticed quite a few changes, some almost unnoticed others glaringly obvious.
I believe Distrowatch has had a positive impact in the spread of the open scource operating systems and associated software. One location with a general description of the distributions' packages and versions, links to reviews, forums, ect..., this is a valueable contribution to the advancement of general computing usage. Without Distrowatch, choosing the right distribution for a particular task would be a more difficult task, not everyone has the time or ability to tryout every o/s under the sun or in the dark,just to find what they need. The well intentioned recomendations of friends and associates are not always the best fit. Here you have provided every one with convenient access to research and choose what will fit our needs.
Our thanks to you and all who participate with Distrowatch.
33 • Merry Xmas (by Zor on 2004-12-20 20:16:19 GMT)
Thanks for another year of great info and
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
to you and all your readers
34 • X.org 6.8.1 in PCLinuxOS, FC3 (by ATI and Nvidia User at 2004-12-20 20:33:58 GMT)
Now here is another problem for me and others, the two distributions I am most familiar with have upgraded to xorg 6.8.1. ATI's proprietary drivers will crash it when dri is enabled. You can not get 3d working on newer ati cards unless you downgrade to xorg 6.7.0 at least or wait for, possibly a very long time, for ATI to release new drivers.
Downgrading xorg 6.7.0 is a lot of work. I myself will resort switching to debian or perhaps even gentoo because gentoo lets you hold back one package while keeping the rest updated and debian is still with XFree86. Perhaps all my new machines will just have to use Nvidia cards. I have no trouble from them.
I have to go to http://www.stanford.edu/~fenn/linux/radeon.shtml just to get some improved ati drivers that do not wipe out my libraries (Nvidia's don't do this). If ATI wants to leave there drivers closed source they need to keep up to the upstream. It has been about three months or something since 6.8.1 was released.
35 • ATI (by MixMatch on 2004-12-20 21:11:24 GMT)
I've always used NVidia cards, and have never had problems getting 3d to work... its great.
36 • Merry Xmas (by Andrew on 2004-12-20 21:12:10 GMT)
Merry Christmas!
Cheers for another great year!
37 • A Good Xmass Gift... (by EdCrypt at 2004-12-20 21:46:41 GMT)
...may be a kurumin subscription ( http://www.guiadohardware.net/kurumin/assine/ - in portuguese)
BTW, Merry Xmass Ladislav!
38 • Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (by FreeBSD User on 2004-12-20 22:10:14 GMT)
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everybody, and I don't want to see any more Linux distributions discontinued next year!
39 • Merry Xmas from Québec (by Marc on 2004-12-20 22:32:18 GMT)
A Merry Christmas and Happy new year to you Ladislav
and to all DW readers.
You will make my dream come true, one day ....
One world who share a free OS.
Cheers !!!!
40 • Up and down... (by andrew at 2004-12-20 22:38:29 GMT)
This week I was delighted by the return of Root Linux - a distro I was pretty sure was dead, since their last release was in 2002. It was also interesting to see little known source based distro called LRS discontinued a while ago now return as equally obscure MyGeOs... But I am very sad about Evil Entity. I wanted to see that one continue! Well, perhaps some of it will live on in Arcane Linux.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Distrowatch readers, and Ladislav - thank you for all your work!
41 • Fedora Project (by MixMatch on 2004-12-21 01:52:13 GMT)
I went to FedoraProject.org and didn't see any packages... is it just me?
42 • @MixMatch (by andrew at 2004-12-21 03:49:47 GMT)
It's just you :)
http://fedoraproject.org/pre-extras/3/i386/
43 • last of 2004? (by EEDOK at 2004-12-21 06:18:42 GMT)
What no dww next week?
44 • Can't edit posts.. (by EEDOK at 2004-12-21 06:27:10 GMT)
One thing about Arcane linux, it's not based on another distribution(it's being made from the ground up), it's utilising apt and kudzu though.
45 • Happy Holidays, Ladislav (by SFN on 2004-12-21 13:59:57 GMT)
The work you do provides the world with the best possible insights into Linux. Thanks for everything.
46 • Happy Holidays (by William Roddy at 2004-12-22 03:32:18 GMT)
Happy Holidays to Ladislav and to all the rest of you who have been so kind to me while I explore open source.
Opening DistroWatch is like Christmas morning, every day.
47 • usual (by im_ka at 2004-12-22 03:38:08 GMT)
merry christmas and a happy new year to everyone involved in open source!
48 • Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday! (by Vic on 2004-12-22 08:07:41 GMT)
Wishing all Linux fans (Linus Torvalds included) and Ladislav in particular for a bleeding edge and inforich website. I visit this site several times a day in search of new/improved distros. Keep up the good work, Lad, and may we all live to see the next generation of Linux.
49 • Feliz Navidad ! (by pegaj_oso at 2004-12-22 14:20:47 GMT)
Feliz Navidad y un Prospero Año Nuevo para todos los entusiastas de Linux y Ladislav en especial, por su sitio lleno de lo último en distribuciones.
50 • Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday! (by Moe Bergeron at 2004-12-22 15:21:01 GMT)
Ladislav,
Your site makes Christmas come throughout the year with every new LiveCD and Distro announcement.
Isaiah 42:6,
Moe
51 • Merry Christmas (by Darth Yoshi at 2004-12-22 22:19:38 GMT)
Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks for introducing me to the world of Linux. Christmas truly is every morning now!
52 • Merry Christmas (by Tom on 2004-12-22 23:27:33 GMT)
Merry Christmas Laydislav and everyone else.
You do a great job!
53 • Question on Recent LFS Article (by Vijay at 2004-12-24 13:40:59 GMT)
Season's Greetings to Ladislav and all regulars at Distrowatch.com
I have been reading reviews here for more than a year. This is the first time I am posting here.
1. Is it really true that one can build an entire LFS system from scratch if one is familiar with Linux in about two days or so ? I have a Pentium 333 MHz machine and a few informed me that a build of LFS takes about 6 months or so. I was very discouraged and put the project for very long term.
2. For starters it would be very helpful if there was an LFS manual specifically to build Damn Small Linux from scratch. This would be very helpful to try quickly and get a practical good working grasp of LFS for newbies. This will be like a great working example.
3. Also, is LFS good for rpm type as well as slackware type distros ?
4. How does The recently reviewed T2 differ from Gentoo and LFS ? T2 Site: http://www.exactcode.de/t2/about.html
Eagerly looking forward to responses/clarifications.
Thanks for the great site and looking forward to a great 2005 in regards to more Linux Reviews.
Vijay
54 • Holiday Wishes (by RC Nelson on 2004-12-24 21:12:00 GMT)
Thanks to Ladislav and all the people that work on DistroWatch. A very Happy New Year to one and all.
55 • Conectiva - most overlooked distro ? (by mikkh at 2004-12-25 10:32:09 GMT)
Having spent the last year or so trying dozens and dozens of distros, some impress immediately, some require minimal tweaking to get the best out of them, and some are just so far ahead of others, it makes me wonder why they aren't more popular.
One in particular also qualifies for one of the oldest distros around, and it's no surprise that the older distros are not only more stable, but more usable and quicker in operation - like Slackware for instance.
So why is Conectiva so often overlooked?
A notoriously hard install? Nope, it's probably the easiest distro to install of all of them
Lack of multimedia support? Nope, Conectiva is the only distro I know that plays DVD's automatically.
Badly configured desktop? Nope it's pretty as a picture and better than Mandrake and Suse in that respect IMO
Actually I know what the problem is, this Brazilian masterpiece has a non english homepage and people assume the install will be non english too - It's NOT
Just click the American flag on the first screen you see and Robert is your fathers brother !
Conectiva is right up there with Red Hat/Fedora, Mandrake, Suse and Slackware. but is languishing in the also rans in the top 100. It's definately a top ten contender and if I had to stick to only one distro, it would be a hard choice between Conectiva and Slackware, with Yoper and Mepis also in the running for a top five place.
If you haven't tried it yet - do
Merry Christmas Everyone
56 • Quake (by Leo on 2004-12-28 17:25:55 GMT)
Dear All
I just wanted to express my condolences to the victims of the horrible quake and floodings. I know this is off-topic, but some of the readers of this page might live in the affected areas.
All the best,
Leo
57 • Re: Conectiva - most overlooked distro? (by Ariszló at 2004-12-28 20:53:49 GMT)
I agree that Conectiva would deserve to be among the top ten distributions for several reasons, including its richness, stability, unrivalled beauty, the Crystal icon set and apt-rpm.
My own subjective top ten in alphabetical order would be:
Conectiva: http://distrowatch.com/conectiva
Debian: http://distrowatch.com/debian
Fedora: http://distrowatch.com/fedora
Gentoo: http://distrowatch.com/gentoo
Knoppix: http://distrowatch.com/knoppix
Mandrake: http://distrowatch.com/mandrake
Munjoy: http://distrowatch.com/munjoy
Novell: http://distrowatch.com/novell
Slackware: http://distrowatch.com/slackware
Yoper: http://distrowatch.com/yoper
58 • PCLinuxOS (by Mr. Nitpicky on 2004-12-29 21:02:57 GMT)
Actually, by virtue of the fact that PCLinuxOS includes nVidia drivers, Java, MP3 codecs, etc., it is not "free in every sense of the word." But, it IS freely distributed and redistributable. The fact that so much non-free software is included can be seen as an advantage, since so many things work "out of the box." Highly recommended! (And, don't forget to drop a bit of cash in the PCLOS fund, if you like it.)
Number of Comments: 58
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| • Issue 1173 (2026-05-18): Sylve on FreeBSD, the benefit of BleachBit, Debian commits to reproducible builds, Debian publishes updated install media, Haiku introduces SMP support on ARM64 processors, Rocky Linux creates opt-in security repository, Fedora reconsiders AI tools, KDE receives generous donation |
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| • Issue 1165 (2026-03-23): Argent Linux 1.5.3, disk space required by Linux, Manjaro team goes on strike, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA driver support and builds RISC-V packages, systemd introduces age tracking |
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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 |
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| • 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 |
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iDeal OS
iDeal is an MX Linux-based distribution, with various privacy and security settings enabled by default. Privacy and security are the main stated goal of the project, offering to surf, shop, trade and bank online with peace of mind, without advertisements, tracking, logging, bugs, viruses or unwanted disclosure of personal information. iDeal OS was formerly available in two editions, "Emerald" and "Diamond", but these were merged into a single product in 2026, with the extra features of the "Diamond" edition now only available to users who contribute financially to the project.
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