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Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Another Great week (by Nix_User on 2005-01-31 11:33:03 GMT from United States)
Always a quality issue. Thanks for the Links to building your own live boot cd.
Have a great week all.
2 • Xandros Security (by Anonymous on 2005-01-31 11:53:56 GMT from Germany)
I never would use a distribution which issues no security updates at all.
3 • The release of Debian Sarge (by Charlie on 2005-01-31 12:05:08 GMT from Hong Kong)
It has been delayed for a month.It will be the first and the biggest change of Debian since I began to use Debian.Also,I want to try the new testing branch.
Hope Debian will really release Sarge in February,I can't wait it anymore! :)
4 • Xandros Security (by Shawn on 2005-01-31 12:13:20 GMT from Canada)
I'm running Xandros 2.0 and I've got gotten security updates through the Xandros Networks utility.
5 • Xandros Security (by Fizzol on 2005-01-31 12:41:08 GMT from United States)
>I never would use a distribution which issues no security updates at all.
You are missinformed. Xandros offers security updates through Xandros Networks, I just installed a couple of new ones the other day.
6 • Has anybody done a Latin distro or language pack yet? (by just john on 2005-01-31 12:50:10 GMT from United States)
(By "Latin," I mean what they spoke in ancient Rome.)
And don't laugh too hard -- I met a guy who went on to be part of the project that translated -The-Wizard-of-Oz- into Latin.
I was inspired to ask 'cuz the desktop pic on that IndLinux blurb made me momentarily think you were talking about Native American languages.
7 • Latin (by SFN on 2005-01-31 13:25:08 GMT from United States)
"And don't laugh too hard -- I met a guy who went on to be part of the project that translated -The-Wizard-of-Oz- into Latin."
That actually makes me laugh harder. ;-)
The idea of a Latin language pack does sound cool though. They have Esperanto, after all.
8 • Slackware changes (by joe f. on 2005-01-31 13:37:07 GMT from United States)
It's just silly to take Pat Volkerding to task for how he runs his distro. It's how he makes his living, it's his baby, and he has an excellent -- and long -- track record. In a community that values choice people have the choice to use a distro that's strictly commercial, one that has a high-minded philosophy or they can be happy to use a distro run by one guy who really knows what he's doing. I saw the transcript of a chat session he was in, and when the Gnome faithful put in their bid to keep Gnome he asked if they'd heard of Ubuntu. It was the perfect answer. He's not Microsoft spreading FUD, he's not Apple telling users to learn to love the new way because it's really better. He's a Linux maintainer saying hey, if it's Gnome you're after, use a distro known for Gnome. If it's Slackware you're interested in, then you've still got KDE, XFCE, Fluxbox, etc., or a third-party Gnome such as Dropline. And remember, Slackware users aren't likely to balk at having to download a few extra packages, such as Java. If you're a Slackware user, you know it's worth it. If you're not, well, enjoy Ubuntu.
9 • Build your own live CD (by ShakaZ on 2005-01-31 13:37:45 GMT from Belgium)
You'll find scripts to make a livecd from any distro at http://www.linux-live.org/
10 • What about Fedora ? (by Marc on 2005-01-31 13:43:14 GMT from Canada)
What is the Alexa's rank of Fedora Core ? And which site is the most popular of all ? I would like to know !!! ( i Bet it must be Google )
11 • LATIN (by Agricola on 2005-01-31 14:38:22 GMT from Japan)
OK Folks, here is a start...
Latin computer vocabulary: http://www.obta.uw.edu.pl/~draco/docs/voccomp.html (sample: FAQ = Frequenter Allatae Quaestiones)
Perl in Latin: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~damian/papers/HTML/Perligata.html
12 • Slackware (by chucky on 2005-01-31 15:48:55 GMT from Luxembourg)
Well, as software gets bigger and CDs stay in size, we will end up with a CD just containing the kernel and a few goodies that are absolutely necessary. Gee, they told me Slack was best because it was managed only on technical decisions. Is the size of a CD a technical decision, when, as you say, "Slackware users don't mind downloading a few extra packages"? What kind of upgrade path does he provide when you chose Gnome (which was supported by Slack on 10.0) and now he just tells you "go and move to Ubunto"? How much more disrespect could he show towards his paying users? Is this a commercial distro? Maybe, but not one I would use in a professional environment.
13 • Build Your Own LiveCD (by anon on 2005-01-31 15:52:40 GMT from Netherlands)
How to build your own Live CD based on Mandrakelinux 10.1, 10.0 or 9.2, using the mklivecd scripts:
http://home.tiscali.nl/berenstraat/howto_en.htm
And the website of the mklivecd scripts:
http://livecd.berlios.de
14 • Re: Slackware (by Andreas Steffen on 2005-01-31 16:52:15 GMT from Germany)
"Is the size of a CD a technical decision?" No, but it is a technical fact. Whether to ship n or n+1 CDs is a judgement call, but not one that can be made while satisfying everyone.
Try to think from Mr.Volkerding's point of view on the two issues you mentioned: 1.) GNOME According to Mr.Volkerding, the GNOME build process is so shoddy that it requires a huge part of his time and substantial modifications in the base system to actually get it running. Also, recent GNOME _requires_ kernel 2.6 because of udev. Considering that one can only do so much, I can understand his decision to drop GNOME. I perceive it not as a snub to users, but as a rather vexed "sorry, it's not gonna work."
2.) Java SDK This is a bit more problematic, because the main reason is appearantly the decision to cut Slack down to one disc. While I cannot perceive what software people employ, I feel little pity for a Java developer who does not have a J2SDK lying around regardless of distro. Admittedly, getting it on your own is an inconvenience, but for most people, downloading a second ISO-image is much more of one. I am not enthusiastic about this, either (I have the bandwidth to download two ISOs, and I do dabble in Java programming), but I believe that the large majority of slackers will be happier for it.
Regardless of the above, it _would_ be nice if he was actually asking opinions of his users. I guess their opinion of the recent changes will soon show.
Andreas
15 • Slackware (by Jurje Adrian on 2005-01-31 17:01:08 GMT from Romania)
I don't mind downloading extra packages i need for my Slackware machines... In fact i ocasionally build my own version of minimalistic CD (no X, no KDE, no XAP) from Slackware packages (current tree), with orher goodies i prefer to have on my CD, and packages compiled for my own use and by my own settings. And yes, i use them to into production environments, without any kind of problems. I've tryed many flavours of Linux, but i chose to use Slackware, not because of "shiny look", not even because of "powerful tools", but because of simplicity and stability. If something doesn't work in Suse (or other "easy" distro), it's because you didn' run the wizard, if something doesn't work in Slackware, well, you may need to study to make it work. Patrick put the 2.6 kernel in testing, as he should. I am using 2.6, and it is quite stable, but i made a Slack-based live cd and i've had issues with it. It works now, but i had to work quite much to do that. What would happed if somebody had same trouble in a production environment using the "updated" kernel?? Patrick does what he does, and i respect his decisions!
16 • Re: Slackware (by EdCrypt on 2005-01-31 17:16:39 GMT from Brazil)
""" 1.) GNOME According to Mr.Volkerding, the GNOME build process is so shoddy that it requires a huge part of his time and substantial modifications in the base system to actually get it running. Also, recent GNOME _requires_ kernel 2.6 because of udev. Considering that one can only do so much, I can understand his decision to drop GNOME. I perceive it not as a snub to users, but as a rather vexed "sorry, it's not gonna work." """
Why can't Mr. Volkerding call some people to haelp on GNOME? There are people who help him when he needs, I think that this people whould love to help know. And about Linux 2.6, it come on slack /extra or something like that. It's a to big project and used by to many people to keep being a "personal Pat project"
17 • impartial news (by Andrea on 2005-01-31 17:38:51 GMT from Italy)
I understand and accept advertising on distrowatch, i like the policy of giving 10% as a donation to various project, but i really don't want to have advertising mixed with information. I am referring to the xandros review, which to me sounds too partial. It really seems part of the xandros advertising campaign. distrowatch should always be distribution independent...
Let's see if this post is censored... Bye
18 • RE: impartial news (by SFN on 2005-01-31 17:49:45 GMT from United States)
"I am referring to the xandros review, which to me sounds too partial."
I'm pretty sure that Xandros would have preferred to not see this:
"Great as Xandros Desktop is, we still don't like the fact that the Debian-based Xandros is happy to make use of the many open source applications that are available on the Internet for free, yet it refuses to release its own code under GPL (or a GPL-compatible licence), and keeps all its applications developed in-house under a lock."
I'd hardly say the review is part advertising any more so than any other positive review.
And I would be STUNNED if Ladislav were to censor your post. I've never seen things work that way around here.
19 • Censorship.... (by Donavan Nelson on 2005-01-31 18:17:10 GMT from United States)
Never would you find your post here censored for offering valid or critical commentary. If Ladislav censored you, I'd ask to have my distro removed from his tracking system.
20 • Re: What about Fedora? (by grnchile on 2005-01-31 18:26:01 GMT from United States)
The Fedora project page is lumped in with redhat.com by Alexis and shows the same ranking (3,708).
I'd have thought that google.com was at the top of the list as well. We're both wrong. For English language sites, it's yahoo.com, msn.com, and then Google. It's a little disconcerting to see that passport.net and microsoft.com round out the top five.
MSN Hotmail (hotmail.com) is at the top of the Alexis worldwide list.
21 • Alexa data ... cum grano salis (by A.B.Leal on 2005-01-31 18:58:29 GMT from Portugal)
If I may apply to the the website ranking item a Latin tag (with a grain of salt ;-)
"Alexa computes traffic rankings by analyzing the Web usage of millions of Alexa Toolbar users" (in pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/traffic_learn_more.html)
Hardly an unbiased sample, then. No surprise it correlates better with Yahoo than Google ...
22 • wow (by typhen on 2005-01-31 19:15:50 GMT from United States)
This is the last site I thought I'd see people bash Slackware. That guy Pat works hard to make a very stable distro and this is what he get for it? Thats not right. Did you all forget that Pat sells Slackware? Maybe his decision to keep it only one cd is a buisness decision. CD's cost money, and the more CDs he makes Slackware the more he could have to charge for his product to make up for the cost of the CDs. As for GNOME, it may look nice, but it is a pain to build lets face it. Did anyone think that once GNOME starts getting easier to build that Pat might put it back in Slackware? If you really want more CDs maybe some of you should go try Fedora or Mandrake. They are both 4 CDs, and they have GNOME. As for the Java SDK, I find it hard to believe that all you people that really need it haven't downloaded it already and put on a CD so you always have it. Thats what I've done with software I must have. I think you just wanted something to bit** about.
23 • No subject (by just john on 2005-01-31 20:42:15 GMT from United States)
I wonder which language pack will be completed first, Latin or Klingon ...
24 • Slackware (by Ariszló on 2005-01-31 21:16:07 GMT from Hungary)
AFAIK, Slackware is a stability-concerned vanilla distro. If Gnome does not build well without personal hacking then there is no such thing as vanilla Gnome.
25 • Slackware - Debian the old fellows (by Sam on 2005-01-31 22:33:37 GMT from United States)
Well I do use Gnome and used it on Slackware 9.0, 9.1, 10.0, and 'current'. I played with Dropline and it was cool, but I prefer the pure release. KDE never worked on Slackware for me, I always got an error message. I never tried to fix it, since I found it amusing that it was yorked and a great source of humor. I'm sure it was some small change in a conf file. But to hear the only working out of the box DE is dropped I have to wonder. Perhaps it's culture-ware and it's not cool to work out of the box. I did purchase 9.0 and 9.1. I'm sad to hear about Slackware dude's uhem Patrick's health, but it shows a weak link in the chain that is Slackware. I'm as poor if not poorer than Patrick, so I couldn't pay his bills or purchase anymore releases. I didn't know if the Slackware vessel would sink, so I jumped ship. I switched to an old favorite Debian. And yes I've heard of Ubuntu, of course it's built on Debian. Ubuntu is not quite what I'm looking for in a distro, but Gnoppix/Ubuntu is a great live CD to take around with a key chain drive to do whatever. The latest beta, 0.9.90b1 has Gnome 2.9.2 and works great. I'm looking forward to the finished product and future releases. Also Debian's going stable, but it's so darn stable in testing to me that I don't have an issue on the desktop. For pro-server volatile.debian.net looks interesting over the regular stable release. I mean my firewall/gateway/router doesn't need to be software released yesterday. I often saw Debian and Slackware as the old guys on the block and tended to recommend one or the other. Get well Patrick and find some mates to help you.
Sam
26 • RE: impartial news (by ladislav on 2005-01-31 22:48:44 GMT from Taiwan)
Yes, it is always a dilemma - should I ever write anything about a distribution that sponsors DistroWatch? Or should I just ignore it as if didn't exist? If I do decide to write, can I possibly be objective?
The main reason I chose to write about Xandros was that I really like their products. I don't use them because I prefer a distribution which is free in both senses of the word and which offers more choice (like Debian). But I like what Xandros has done in terms of bringing more users to Linux by offering a product that doesn't need excessive tweaking to get it work to your taste.
As for the link to the Xandros store, I thought of this as a service to readers - as far as I know, you can't get a 33% discount on Xandros products anywhere else; this is a unique offer for DistroWatch visitors only. Yes, it does sound like an advertisement, but if I was interested in buying a certain product, but was hesitating because of its price, I would certainly be happy if somebody told me about a place which sells it at two thirds of the original price.
Anyway, sorry if the Xandros feature sounded like an advertisement. It wasn't meant that way.
27 • Slack "dictator?" (by Matt on 2005-01-31 23:17:12 GMT from United States)
While I disagree with Volkerding's decision to stop building the latest GNOME (for now? forever?) a lot of the criticisms of the project on this board are way out of line.
One concern has been the "one-man" distribution model. But experience has shown that a corporate or community model is not necessarily longer-lived. There are market problems, personality problems, groupthink, coordination of development problems and sometimes all of these at once. if Pat died tomorrow, nobody using Slackware would be stuck with an inoperable or unstable system. They would however have a system that would remain quite up-to-date compared to others for at least a couple of months. Since Pat has said that there is a line of succession in place, maybe someone would care to dispute this as a matter of fact before offering conjectures. As for this model being "dictatorial," the fact that Debian (my other favorite) refuses to release x.org packages until--at least--when sarge goes gold (might as well wait on the messiah), shows that a community can also get stuck in its ways even when it inconveniences users.
As for how Pat runs the distribution, I think that it would be pretty safe now to make 2.6 the default, but there are systems that still run better on 2.4. Given limited space on the #1 install CD, and assuming that I couldn't fit both on the CD, I can't tell you for sure which way I would go, unless you told me something about the typical user of the system. Although Pat should probably give the choice of kernel some more thought, it's GNOME that abandoned the 2.4 kernel, not Pat who abandoned GNOME. And you know what? If he just shipped the same version of GNOME that was in 10.0, he'd still be running neck and neck with SUSE in product version.
Pat has not always been "dictatorial" in his decisions, either. He made the switch to XORG 6.7 against what appeared to be his own preference at the time for XFREE86 4.4, after an informal poll showed Slack customers leaned about 3 to 1 in favor of XORG. In all the strength of the distro has been that he's made very few changes in the package assortment over the years. That's also a liability for some users. If you like GNOME 2.8, wouldn't you also rather use Mozilla Firefox and Evolution anyway? Ubuntu or Fedora have a very polished GNOME desktop, and if they don't run on your hardware, it's doubtful that a 2.6 kernel GNOME 2.8 Slack would do it either.
28 • slackware and the changes (by SoliTear on 2005-01-31 23:37:21 GMT from United States)
I am a Slackware user that is jumping ship. I am a Gnome user and I don't feel it is too much to ask of a distribution to carry the 2 most important desktop environments. I chose Slackware because it gave you the user the choices and didn't restrict you. I figure that if today Gnome is dropped, then later other things will be dropped for other reasons. I am not confident of Slackware being managed by a group. I am betting that Pat has some "legal" stuff to make sure no one can take the Slack name. I am skeptical of Slackware "passing" into another person(s) hands.
I understand that Pat has the right to make choices, well, we, the users also have the right to make choices by starting to use another distribution.
Time to install Debian.
29 • Featured Distro: Xandros Desktop OS (by Bill on 2005-02-01 00:55:28 GMT from United States)
Your article is misleading in regards to Xandros history. The question was not, "How will it fare compared to the more established Linux distributions?" Rather the question was, "How will Xandros improve upon Corel Linux, already rated a top distro for ease of use, which Xandros is based on."
30 • RE: Featured Distro: Xandros Desktop OS (by ladislav on 2005-02-01 01:33:26 GMT from Taiwan)
Rather the question was, "How will Xandros improve upon Corel Linux...
I am not sure that I agree with you. If you look at release dates, Corel Linux 1.0 came out in November 1999 and Xandros 1.0 in October 2002. That's almost 3 years! (Yes, there was Corel 1.2, but it was just a minor upgrade to 1.0). Three years is a long time in a fast moving Linux development world and I think the priority for Xandros was to catch up with the existing Linux distributions. Try installing those two distributions today - they are like day and night! Sure, Xandros reused some code from the old Corel distro - I think the boot manager and the Corel file manager, perhaps some other ideas. But I believe that Xandros was almost certainly looking at other distributions, learning from their mistakes, rather than attempting to improve or revive a long dead horse that nobody was using any more.
31 • Dictatorship (by fiksve on 2005-02-01 01:38:36 GMT from Norway)
We all love the democratic model, but lets face it: Dictatorship is far more effictive in many ways. When we speak in terms of goverments it certainly has its flaws, but were not. Were talking about a piece of software! If you love GNOME you can easily install dropline or build it on your own, same for whatever else you might be missing, and if you think this is too inconvenient you simply change distro!
I dont know why people hassle up on Java SDK tough, Java development doesnt seem to be very popular in the Linux community, nor has it ever been. And conserning the liability of a oneman distro, we have a shiny tower to prove doubters wrong: The oldest surviving distro, Slackware Linux.
32 • Pretty shock about the drop of J2SDK(in Slackware) but... (by koyi on 2005-02-01 02:43:11 GMT from Japan)
I am using linux, windows, mac os x at the time and if I would like to develope a software I will surely do it in java. That's why I felt a little shocked by Pat's decision to drop it. But I think a developer should be able to install a J2SDK with no problems so it doesn't matter much for me either.
In fact, I think no matter what is dropped from the distro, if there are good documentations that show you how to add them back, nothing is actually a problem. I am expecting the new project by MadPenguin(http://www.slackersbible.org/) can fit in this place :) Its aim is to create a book like the FreeBSD handbook and I like the FreeBSD handbook.
33 • RE: Slackware (by Lawman153 on 2005-02-01 02:53:44 GMT from United States)
People need to remember that most people use Slackware for it's lack of "bloat", and tend to be experienced users. Everything has always worked for me "right out of the box", and I have never encountered any problems. I would bet money that this is because of the amount of work that Patrick does to ensure a working distribution. If there is something that he feels is not up to snuff, or is too much hassle for him to put in to the distribution, I am fine with that.
In my opinion, Slackware is the finest Linux distribution. No, it does not have everything that I want either, but I can add those packages myself. If you want to download six CD's full of crap, half of which you will never use, then download Fedora or Suse. Besides, if you aren't smart enough to install Java, you probably don't need Java. I prefer a lightweight distribution that I can tailor to my needs. I would never dream of whining that "Fedora should have this, or Suse should have that," and I would appreciate the same consideration from everyone else. If you don't like Slackware, use something else, or better yet, make your own distribution the way you see fit. If you do it well enough, someday you may be in charge of one of the oldest Linux distributions, and may even make a couple of dollars doing it.
I think that Patrick has done a wonderful job, and I appreciate everything he has done for the Linux community. Not because he had to, or could get rich doing it, but because he wanted to.
34 • Slackware dictatorship (by wouter on 2005-02-01 03:15:27 GMT from Belgium)
That Slackware is a dictatorship, and one of the oldest and most used distributions, is a testament to Patrick Volkerding's vision and capability. A dictator model can create a system that easily compares those born of group efforts; and I don't think users' input is less appreciated in these distributions than in some community or especially corporate-backed distributions. At least with Slackwares way of doing things, you know the system is as consistent and secure as Patrick Volkerding makes it, and you don't have to cross your fingers hoping some rather newbie developer didn't scew up something important. I'm happy there are also distro's that are made in this way, and I believe that in some cases, a wise dictatorship can have better results than the rule of mob which can drag things down to the rule of averageness and mediocrity.
It really is quite simple. If you like it, use it. If you don't like it, find something that you do.
35 • LiveCD creation using Gentoo: (by Vishruth on 2005-02-01 03:35:44 GMT from India)
Here are some links:
http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/ (catalyst - gentoo's liveCD creation tool).
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=119669 (official catalyst thread in the gentoo forums)
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=244837 (a more manual approach to livecd creation in gentoo... also from the gentoo forums).
36 • Slackware & Gnome (by Ariszló on 2005-02-01 07:40:22 GMT from Hungary)
In fact, one of the best built Gnome distributions is only available for Slackware. Dropline Gnome is mainly refused to be included in Slacware official because it uses PAM and FAM but many other Gnome distributions that some Slackers consider to switch to also use them:
http://www.dropline.net/gnome/
There is also a solution for Slackers who prefer a non-intrusive Gnome install. Follow the link posted by Ap0 last week's DistroWatch Weekly:
http://antesis.freecontrib.org/mirrors/slack-fr.org/packages/slackware-10.0/gnome/
37 • On future of Slackware (by Chris on 2005-02-01 09:13:57 GMT from Australia)
1. Slackware is the oldest surviving Linux distro for good reason. If that is the fault of a dictator then Pat should be praised rather than flamed. 2. How many of the 'others' who 'were critical' actually use Slackware. 3. Here is an email from no one: "Perhaps you might consider subscribing to Slackware and support someone who has dedicated a large part of their life to promoting the Linux/GNU operating system - and in the process produced one of the best Linux distros out there." 4. Having used Gnome for the last three years I recently tried KDE and was pleasantly surprised. It was good enough for me to switch desktop manager. PS. What has happened to file-roller (rhetorical question, no need to respond - I have a nose) 5. Windows users could download and install Java - and do if they want to use it. Get Real! 6. What's wrong with JRE instead of Java SDK? Java SDK probably isn't needed by most people. 7. Again with the "dictatorial". Isn't it interesting that when someone gets something to work really well everyone else starts trying to tell them how they should do it. 8. Decisions "made arbitrarily"? That is just an outright abuse of your column inches! It is clear that a reasoned decision was made concerning all changes to Slack - you just cannot please everyone. 9. The beauty of Linux is choice. If you don't like Slackware you can choose Unbutu; you can even choose Ubunto (no I don't think you can). I choose to use and subscribe to (support) Slackware because I have found it to be the best Linux distro for me. I don't go 'round spitting on other Linux distros because I don't like them and their decisions.
38 • Another way to build your own live-CD (by Barry on 2005-02-01 09:41:04 GMT from Australia)
Puppy Unleashed Beta2 is out. I have kept a low profile on it so far ...to keep the traffic on the Puppy Forum manageable!
What this does is it is a collection of packages and a build script, to create a custom live-CD. The script is very sophisticated, with dependency checking and automatic menu generation and help index.
You need a working Puppy Linux, or any distro running the same kernel as Puppy. Then download the Unleashed tarball, expand it in a ext2/3 or reiserfs partition with 500M free space, open a terminal in it, then run the "createpuppy" script. Of course, do read the README.txt file first.
I have only uploaded it about an hour ago, so no feedback yet ...hopefully I didn't do anything wrong... it should just work!
Note, this is beta2, intended for experimenting, it's not yet an "official" release, as there is still more stuff to do.
Puppy home page: http://www.goosee.com/puppy/ There's a link to the Forum (see the Cutting Edge section of the Forum for discussion on Unleashed).
Regards, Barry
39 • Slackware - Debian the old fellows (by Sam on 2005-02-01 17:35:02 GMT from United States)
Well I do use Gnome and used it on Slackware 9.0, 9.1, 10.0, and 'current'. I played with Dropline and it was cool, but I prefer the pure release. KDE never worked on Slackware for me, I always got an error message. I never tried to fix it, since I found it amusing that it was yorked and a great source of humor. I'm sure it was some small change in a conf file. But to hear the only working out of the box DE is dropped I have to wonder. Perhaps it's culture-ware and it's not cool to work out of the box. I did purchase 9.0 and 9.1. I'm sad to hear about Slackware dude's uhem Patrick's health, but it shows a weak link in the chain that is Slackware. I'm as poor if not poorer than Patrick, so I couldn't pay his bills or purchase anymore releases. I didn't know if the Slackware vessel would sink, so I jumped ship. I switched to an old favorite Debian. And yes I've heard of Ubuntu, of course it's built on Debian. Ubuntu is not quite what I'm looking for in a distro, but Gnoppix/Ubuntu is a great live CD to take around with a key chain drive to do whatever. The latest beta, 0.9.90b1 has Gnome 2.9.2 and works great. I'm looking forward to the finished product and future releases. Also Debian's going stable, but it's so darn stable in testing to me that I don't have an issue on the desktop. For pro-server volatile.debian.net looks interesting over the regular stable release. I mean my firewall/gateway/router doesn't need to be software released yesterday. I often saw Debian and Slackware as the old guys on the block and tended to recommend one or the other. Get well Patrick and find some mates to help you.
Sam
40 • Live Puppy (by rage on 2005-02-01 18:53:13 GMT from United States)
I suggest everybody try out Live Puppy. It really does kick some serious butt. Sorry Barry if this puts a strain on your servers.
41 • Ladislav mixing of comment and usual Slack bulshit (by Realistic Bastards on 2005-02-01 18:59:38 GMT from Canada)
Ladislav ,
I dont really like your mixing of comments. Personnaly when I whant to offer a counter opinion I take the people entire comment as to not put them out of perspective. Your mixing make me look like I said Slackware is dead when I said its dying.
Slackware is not a thriving distribution its even dying , it as less users , its as less software and it as become an appliance ( offering one WM make you an appliance and not a real distribution in my book , both WM are free as in cost and freedom if your too lazy to include both you dont offer a real distribution in my book ). and it as less developper as before and even is supported by less and less GNU/Linux support company. The worst part is its sold by even less people then before removing visibility from it.
In short Slackware is not great anymore and its mostly due to the bad decision the dictator is making.This distribution users are not even supporting there distribution of choice so where not going to ask them to contribute to anything else.
------
I had a really great laugh reading the same idiocy and insanity from the Slackware users :
- Its great because its the oldest ... - Its alive because of the great decision Pat made ... - Your not happy you can leave ... - he is all alone cut him some slack .. - He whas sick you cant discuss is work for the past 12 years - Slackware is stable and simple ... - The cost of a 1/2 a cent CD is why he dont include gnome anymore he would have to charge 30$ more for another CD ... - No , no , your not discussing Slackware your bashing it - It would survive because Pat said so ... - The system is up to date. - People use Slackware for is lack of bloat ( learn what bloat mean first ) - Slackware work "right out of the Box" for me - I prefer a lightweight distribution that I can tailor to my needs , even if it does not have everything that I want either. - Patrick Volkerding's as vision and capability - Slackwares way of doing things, you know the system is as consistent and secure. - It really is quite simple. If you like it, use it. If you don't like it, find something that you do. - Slackware is not a commercial distribution ...
-----
Note : BTW before some idiot start bashing me , I sale , Buy and use Slackware and most of the profit go back into the project. And I have been doing so for a very long time , I could do more but no thanks.
Did you know that at one time in 1993 -1994 Slackware add 10 million user worldwide ? ( because thats pretty much what whas availaible to everyone), down to what ? 300 thousand worldwide ?
Did you know that most people working on SuSe at Novell , for Red Hat , Mandrake , Debian and all the others they all started on Slackware ?
Did you know that over the 12 years of it existence Slackware whas bought/promoted by at least 3 different company ? who all failed. That over the same 12 years Slackware as add more then 50 million invested in them by many people ? ( 50 million is the same money Dell made on its IPO ). all that money is gone.
Did you know that at one time Slackware ad more then 50 Paid developper on many platform , down now to 1 for only one platform and more then 20 thousand community contributor now down to not even a thousand.
Did you know that at one time Debian add less platform then Slackware add ?
Did you know that many big commercial server all used to run Slackware but since it became so insecure they all dropped it ? To this day there is even a login that as existed in many version of Slackware that enable you to take over remotely as root.
Did you know that the robotic field use to only use slackware for teaching and programming due to its stability but dropped it recently because its too old and unstable in the newer versions?
Did you know that Slack Marketing used to be the most prominent and visible Gnu/Linux promoter ?
Slackware is where its at today because of the dictator, nobody else is to blame for its dying form.
Slackware can be helped to get back to where it whas before , you just have to do the job and help ...
42 • Re: Ladislav mixing of comment ... (by Rob Morehouse on 2005-02-01 20:42:14 GMT from United States)
wow what a jerk, This guy left out the Realism in Realistic Bastard.
Commenters seem to be attacking Landislav for this issue. Personally I think the articles were excellent. There was a very clear disclaimer at the bottom of the Xandros article which should have avoided such excessive commentary.
43 • Slackware's future and development decisions (by Ezra on 2005-02-01 22:27:53 GMT from United States)
Slackware is a one-man-show, it always has been and will continue to be until Patrick Volkerding stops working on it and passes the project to someone else. However, if Slackware changes ownership, it will cease to be Slackware and become what the future developers decide. Slackware has become what it's user's know and love it to be because of Patrick and the decisions he has made over the years. Slackware philosophy has always been KISS, along with stability and adaptability. The user has always been in control of a Slackware box. Whether Patrick includes the full J2SDK or just the JRE should be irrelevant to users since they are capable of adding components as needed. Slackware makes it reletively easy for the user to adapt and adjust the system to his/her exact needs. The installation CD is just a starting point. Users who demand that a Linux distribution's installation routine include every possible preference (scenario, option, etc.) under the sun is not someone who should be using Slackware in the first place. Patrick has given the Linux using community a wonderful distribution that provides a rock solid base upon which the user then decides how to adapt this system to the task at hand. All the tools and documentation is in place for adding, removing, customizing, and building software packages. The user has access to the source code and the ability to make their Slackware box into what they need. Patrick has done his job well, and for a very long time. He deserves credit, respect, and gratitude for his contributions to the Linux community. If Patrick decides to take Slackware in a direction that any one user does not agree with, then that user has the ability to adapt Slackware to their needs. Judging from past performance, as long as Patrick is in charge of Slackware, users can trust the system to be stable, responsive, current, and adaptable.
44 • slackware (by Matt on 2005-02-02 07:45:01 GMT from United States)
I question the expertise of the anti-Slack evangelist above, "realistic." Here in the real world, it is doubtful he's edited a single config file. How could he, when he types like a three year old? It must have been frustrating trying to 'cddd' or use 'jfoe' to edit 'XFConig8 6!"
45 • Ladislav bashing Slack (by Linux Fan on 2005-02-02 09:00:03 GMT from United States)
"Dictator." Apparently Ladislav knows better than anyone else what Slackware *OUGHT* to be. Ladislav, lay off and realize that it is CHOICE. *You* may not like it, but guess what? Patrick chooses to do what *he* wants. That is the beauty of choice in Linux and Open Source.
Ladislav often is very objective, unless he doesn't like something, in which case he voices personal opinion as fact. Sure, he might like Xandros, and gives pros and cons. He doesn't like the direction that Slackware takes, so Patrick is immediately villified as a "dictator" (by others, Ladislav notes, but then agrees with them).
Democratic decisions would be more, well, democratic, not more acceptable. Patrick chooses to run *HIS* company *HIS* way. Apparently that's not the democratic thing to do, since Ladislav obviously disagrees. Now Ladislav isn't out there in the trenches making his own version of Linux, he's busily commenting people into oblivion. He takes potshots at other Linux companies (who are ALSO churning out their versions of Linux and Ladislav isn't!) by pointing out how miserable their rankings are, and that Distrowatch gets more traffic. Wonder why he chose the bottom three? Just curious.
He doesn't censor, at least that's in his favor.
Grow up, Ladislav. Your voice is one opinion, hardly fact whatsoever. If you can do better, do so. If you can't, then stop your sniveling. Show neutrality rather than going with sensationalism. You used to be a lot more neutral.
46 • Re: Ladislav bashing Slack (by Lanx on 2005-02-02 09:06:22 GMT from Germany)
Sorry, this is nonsense. It was not Ladislav who was calling Patrick "dictator", this was the wording of "Realistic Bastard", which Ladislav was quoting was quoting in his article.
47 • No subject (by Anonymous on 2005-02-02 09:40:07 GMT from Hungary)
This is what Ladislav wrote: But those readers who have expressed the sentiment that Slackware is managed in a "dictatorial" manner might be right, after all.
And this is what Linux Fan wrote: so Patrick is immediately villified as a "dictator" (by others, Ladislav notes, but then agrees with them).
Lanx's conclusion is wrong.
48 • Re: Ladislav bashing Slack (by Lanx on 2005-02-02 09:46:30 GMT from Germany)
Please note the use of "might" and "seem", not "are" and "is".
49 • Xandros (by Ariszló on 2005-02-02 10:10:07 GMT from Hungary)
Ladislav is not partial toward the sponsors of DistroWatch. Judge it yourself in DistroWatch Weekly 12: http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20030825
PS. The previous comment was mine, too.
50 • Slackware, lies and videotapes (by ladislav on 2005-02-02 13:27:21 GMT from Taiwan)
Strange how the world has turned around in one week....
In the previous DWW, I commented on how superb Slackware Linux is and why it will survive no matter what happens to its maintainer. In response, many readers came out complaining about various aspects of Slackware and calling Patrick a dictator.
So this week I decided to give the critics a bit of space and let their opinions be heard. What do I get now? "Ladislav, lay off, grow up, stop vilifying the greatest distro on earth." Great.
I am forced to conclude that no matter what I say, I am always wrong.
Maybe I should stop writing and stick to dry facts - continue providing nothing but version numbers of packages and links to reviews of those writers who have much more insight that I do.
51 • Re: Realistic Bastard (by ladislav on 2005-02-02 14:09:52 GMT from Taiwan)
I've just checked Realistic Bastard's browser string and guess what - not only he cannot type, he is, in fact, a Windows/MSIE user:
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Now we know where Realistic Bastard's superior Linux expertise come from....
52 • Re: Realistic Bastard (by Lanx on 2005-02-02 14:39:04 GMT from Germany)
Which is very strange given his often articulated preference for Mandrake Linux. But today is a sad day for him since Ubuntu for the first time has outnumbered Mandrake Linux in the PHD-Ranking and is the new #1 Distro ... ;-)
53 • Realistic Bastard is an Ewok (by Realistic Bastards on 2005-02-02 17:39:47 GMT from Canada)
Oh no ! I have been found ! I am in fact Steve Balmer ( developper , DEVElopper , DEVELOPPER ! ) I got fed up of the futility of spending my billions on exotics and expensive OS made by the compnay I run and wanted to see for real what this Linux whas about ,then seeing it whas so superior from coming to Distrowatch and learning from Ladislav, I add to start and make FUD about it ... or am I ?
-----
If I cant type why are your replying to me ? how can you read me ? How do you even begin to understand me ? I am the first to admit I dont have your talent for writting Ladislav , writting is actually one of my flaw , I am bad at it , not extremely bad , but bad , but then I have a diagnosed problem explaining part of it. I am told it doesn't show.
Some people wrongly assume that Microsoft people dont know about Unix or about Gnu/linux or about Mac OSX.
Some People wrongly assume that Mandrakians are inferior but when put to the task of prooving this very point no other group come even close to what the Mandrake community put out.
Some People assume that Because one use or promote Mandrake he cant use any other GNU/Linux Distribution or appliance or even be a Guru or former Guru for those other Gnu/Linux based product or even worst they cant see the fact that this person can be selling and supporting the others with funds and contributions.
But then again I cant type and I cant use Gnu/Linux right , and off course I am no expert at anything because I cant type at Ladislav level of satisfaction ?
------
- Linux IP Masquerade :
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/IP-Masquerade-HOWTO/
http://www.e-infomax.com/ipmasq/
http://membres.lycos.fr/raguet/mandrakeuser/connect/cipc_fr.html
http://www.computerbits.com/archive/2004/0400/schroder0404.html
http://www.opera.com/features/index.dml
http://www.pgts.com.au/pgtsj/pgtsj0208c.html
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031205072548753
http://www.ericgiguere.com/articles/masquerading-your-browser.html
There whas a time when Gnu/linux whas considered nothing where you add the choice between crying for something which whas not availaible or not working and move back to Windows or Mac OS 9 or working around it or building what whas missing. In those days I worked around will I built the solutions.
To this days most financial site do not support Gnu/linux , some even block some earlier windows version wich they consider flawed or a security risk.
Now I must bow my head in shame and go shoot my self in the backyard because some Unbuntu users came here and rigued the PHD-Ranking for the last 1 month and claim to be the #1 distribution of Distrowatch.
http://www.google.com/search?...Ubuntu+distrowatch
- I am an Ewok I defeat the empire in battles where all the republic , rebels , Jedi , Jedi Master have all failed before.
54 • SymphonyOS Alpha (by Dark Leth at 2005-02-02 22:32:40 GMT from United States)
Hello, all.
I've been a requent reader for some time now, and have made a few random posts here and there. Now, I would ask for your help in a project.
A few weeks ago, SymphonyOS was shown on here as on the waiting list. We know have an alpha going on at the moment. If you would like to participate, please go to www.symphonyos.com/atest.html and fill out the specified areas. We really need your help!
-Alex
55 • Mr Mandrake(aka Realistic Bastards) (by EEDOK on 2005-02-03 05:49:58 GMT from Canada)
Please excuse me if I'm underinformed or anything like that, so correct me if I'm mistaken. Would the first and foremost step towards showing your support and promoting a project be actually using it?
To get my stance put out on this distribution issue, I'm 100% for distro surfing, but against sticking to a single distribution, in favor of everyone having their own custom distribution build(in what suits them).
56 • What's all the bickering about? (by Robert Lindsay on 2005-02-03 05:56:27 GMT from Australia)
And what's with all "the glass is half-empty" type of comments lately?
Also the Dictator/Democratic labels don't make any sense when applied to distros.
What kind of dictator does all (or most) of the work himself (often at their own expense) and then gives the product of their labours away?
What kind of democracy is it when someone (or more) does all the work and then others want to determine how it should be done and what it should consist of?
Sounds like many people don't want a distro maintainer(s) but a personal (unpaid?) IT servant. Do this! Do that! Just do it to suit me! etc. Blah!
The first distro I used was Slackware, later I tried others before settling on Debian. My point is - all distro no matter how big or small is a potential pathway for someone into Linux. At any stage of using/exploring linux you can look for something else which suits you better or you can make a distro of your own. This is a good thing!! Lastly - remember why you came here in the first place. Put the fun back into computing! :)
Cheers rob
57 • Never Quit (by Layne on 2005-02-03 06:19:29 GMT from United States)
Ladislav,
I hope your last comment about not writing was just from frustration. I've enjoyed your writings for many years and would hate for you to stop expressing your opinions. My daughters stopped writing because they hated the insanely rude posts. Now they do absolutely nothing with Linux. Worse, this sort of nonsense here reinforces their opinion that the Linux community is just filled with losers who whine. Personally, their decision to not write reviews any longer was a great loss. While the site laid dormant this past year until destroyed by a worm variant they'd have prefered it all be wiped and removed from their memories too. Just ignore the storm and enjoy Linux.
Layne www.tuxreports.com still PR 6 ;)
58 • distrowatch generel comment (by Klavs Klavsen on 2005-02-03 14:35:43 GMT from Denmark)
Hi guys,
I'd just like to voice my opinion of a severe need, that no one fills (and for which distrowatch would be perfect ;)
I have an USB cdrom drive (as I own several servers and laptops such as the IBM X-series without builtin cdrom), and I have found that MANY live cd's and distro-installers do NOT work with an usb cdrom drive :(
It has taken me great pains (and wasted cd's :) to find some that do. Mandrake 10.0 and 10.1(I suppose only tested 10.0) supports booting from USB drive. SimplyMepis 2004.6 does not (it appereantly did one time in 2003- but I have not confirmed this). Many livecd's using GRUB fails utterly, when booted from an USB cdrom. Some Knoppix versions did too.
I was bitten by this today, wanting to install a new distro on my wife's computer (was using Gentoo - but I haven't got the time to install new things -and as it's a P3-600mhz it simply takes too long to compile KDE :( )
It would be very nice, if one could select to list distro's/livecd's that fullfill this or that requirement (one being "Boot from USB cdrom"). I hope you like the idea :)
59 • alt tags in distrowatch and webpages generally (by Nitroushhh on 2005-02-03 15:46:39 GMT from United Kingdom)
Hi Ladislav,
I've been doing some web development recently and came across the discussion regarding alt= and title= to display a yellow box with text in a web browser.
Mozilla doesn't display 'alt's as this is not a w3c standard. but does display 'title'. Which is a w3c standard.
I see quite a mix of title and alt in distrowatch but mostly alt tags. This means that people using standards based web browsers don't see all the work you've put in.
Do we think that we should all use 'title' for our webpages ???
As alts seem only to display in Internet Explorer I had considered changing all my alts to 'Have you considered using a standards based browser like Firefox?' :-) But i thought that was a bit mean.
Nitroushhh.
60 • @Layne (by Realistic Bastards on 2005-02-03 15:54:28 GMT from Canada)
Sorry to see that the comment I made make you relive again the pain of loosing your great website.
"their decision to not write reviews any longer was a great loss. "
It whas also a great Loss to the entire GNU/Linux community , but life goes on as they say , people have a tendancy to focus only on the bad thing and forget that the majority of people are silent and just appreciate your great work without commenting.
Say hello to Lizzy and Birdie ( hope I got there nickname right ) from a former admirer of there great work , tell them that to this day some people still remember there great work and miss it a lot.
Its always fun to be judged by the minority , people forget that the majority of Gnu/Linux users are the ones who contribute help , how-to , review , code and funds.
61 • Re:distrowatch generel comment (by EEDOK on 2005-02-03 17:49:30 GMT from Canada)
I remember being able to do this with DSL, I just got the bootusb.img floppy and it worked like that. The other way was in some mobo's it lets you boot from external zip disk, choose that option and see how it goes.
62 • User agent switcher (by Distrowatch reader on 2005-02-04 00:04:26 GMT from United States)
The browser user agent string "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1...." looked familiar so I checked mine for IE Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1) or for Netscape Mozilla/4.8 [en] (Windows NT 5.1; U)or even Opera/7.54 (Windows NT 5.1; U) [en] the Default choices Of User Agent Switcher 6.1 for Mozilla and Firefox
63 • The Alexa Stats/Slackware (by Arron Downunder on 2005-02-04 15:35:24 GMT from Australia)
Hi Guys
On the Slackware issue - I have used a no of linux distros since 1996. If it is stable and configurable and has the ability to download/install whatever you want, what is the problem?
Ladislav: I greatly respect and enjoy your views, but people can misread anything. BTW, what happened to the "original" girl logo for Distrowatch that Microsoft seemed to pinch? Just curious.
Now, the Alexa Stats. For a lot of techheads, you all seemed to miss the two points.
1) Ladislav commented that he had passed ratings of the Linux site which had anti linux advertising from Microsoft. Congratulations Ladislav! I am glad sanity is glacially working. Selling out principles is never a good move.
2) Anyone using anti spyware/trojan (Spybot S & D in my case) on Windows will remove Alexa on installation. Any Sys Admin without anti spyware should be fired for incompetence. I have never detected Alexa on any linux distro (mind you, behind my minimalist firewalls with maximum protection/detection, how would it get in?). In other words, any reasonably secure system (and almost all corporate networks) will not register at all in the Alexa stats. Google does not use Alexa, Yahoo and MSNxxxxx does. For Google to appear, these must be insecure machines with alexa installed - and it comes third! For Hotmail to top the worldwide list is showing how trustworthy computing has helped MS's level of security.
Greetings from Downunder. Now if Patrick can get better and DebIan can actually release 3.1.... that will be a great week. In the meantime, I can smile at hotmail. No 1 on insecure machines - go MS what a stat, what an achievement.
64 • What happened to BeatrIX (by Distrowatch Reader on 2005-02-04 20:23:46 GMT from United States)
What happened to BeatrIX? It looks like a real nice Distro to try. Parts of the site seem to work. I am posting this in the hope that the operators read this post and re enable the site, Just a thought after the christmas defacement Did the defacers do more than just deface your site. You are using a security poor php engine just ask pclinux os about getting hacked Resolving download.watsky.net... 217.31.49.244 Connecting to download.watsky.net[217.31.49.244]:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 191,264,768 [application/octet-stream] ~: Permission denied~/BeatrIX_2005.1F.iso: No such file or directory I tried every thing I could think of posting email no response.
65 • Slackware's future and development decisions (by Adrian Bob on 2005-02-04 23:47:03 GMT from Romania)
I've tryed many flavours of Linux, but i chose to use Slackware, not because of shiny look, not even because of powerful tools, but because of simplicity and stability. I don't mind downloading extra packages i need for my Slackware machines As for GNOME: GNOME build process is so shoddy that it requires a huge part of his time and substantial modifications in the base system to actually get it running. Also, recent GNOME _requires_ kernel 2.6 because of udev. Considering that one can only do so much, I can understand his decision to drop GNOME. In my opinion, Slackware is the finest Linux distribution. No, it does not have everything that I want either, but I can add those packages myself. If you want to download X CD's full of crap, half of which you will never use, then download other distributions. Besides, if you aren't smart enough to install Java, you probably don't need Java. I prefer a lightweight distribution that I can tailor to my needs. If you don't like Slackware, use something else, or better yet, make your own distribution the way you see fit. I appreciate everything that Pat has done for the Linux community. Not because he had to, but because he coud. Pat it`s your way i will go`
Best regards
sorry for my bad english i`m from romania ...
Number of Comments: 65
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• Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
• Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
• Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
• Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
• Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
• Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
• Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
• Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
• Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
• Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
• Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
• Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
• Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
• Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
• Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
• Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
• Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
• Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
• Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
• Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
• Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
• Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
• Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
• Full list of all issues |
Star Labs |

Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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Random Distribution | 
Morphix
Morphix was a derivative of Knoppix, another live CD distribution. Morphix was modular; this means that it consists of a number of parts which together form a working distribution. What does this mean to a normal user? Well, that's the good part: it doesn't even know about the modules. They are invisible to it, save the startup-output on the console. So, if you don't care about how it works, just grab one of the combined ISOs and boot it! There are different pre-made cd images with a whole range of (currently GUI-centered) software. It has an easy-to-use installer, if you wish to install it to your harddisk, but it doesn't need to be installed. It doesn't touch the rest of your system without specifically asking you.
Status: Discontinued
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TUXEDO |

TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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Star Labs |

Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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