 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 125, 7 November 2005 |
Welcome to this year's 45th issue of DistroWatch Weekly. As expected, the three main BSD releases stole the limelight of most open source news sites last week, with especially FreeBSD 6.0 looking like a truly excellent product. We will take a closer look at some of the issues discussed on the FreeBSD mailing lists shortly after the release and share our experiences with upgrading the DistroWatch server. Also in this issue: a comment on the events of the past week affecting SUSE Linux and Kubuntu, and a link to an interesting sub-project by Linux From Scratch - for the fans of cross-compiling. Our featured distribution of the week is the OpenSolaris-based BeleniX live CD, while the amaroK project is the one that gets our US$300 October 2005 donation. Happy reading!
 Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in ogg (5.47MB) or mp3 (6.31MB) format (courtesy of Shawn Milo).
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
Content:
FreeBSD 6.0 Released
 As expected, the final release of FreeBSD 6.0 was announced late last week. Originally scheduled for August, but delayed due to showstopper bugs, the new FreeBSD release has been greeted with much enthusiasm among the users of this popular open source operating system. Although it is a "point-zero" release, the first reactions among those who upgraded their systems were overwhelmingly positive, with many claiming that 6.0 is a huge improvement over the so-so 5.x series. FreeBSD 6.0 is considered a stable release and users are encouraged to upgrade their production machines.
However, FreeBSD is a complex operating system and an upgrade of this scale is bound to lead to problems in certain circumstances. The most often reported issue after upgrading to FreeBSD 6.0 concerned locales settings, which many users lost after the upgrade. The immediate solution is to recompile Perl to link to the new libc library, although it is generally recommended that you recompile all installed ports to eliminate any potential problems incorrect linking might lead to. This, of course, only applies to upgraded systems, not to new installations.
Another issue that came up frequently during upgrades from 5.x was the failure of "make buildworld" at various stages of compilation. It appears that deleting the /usr/obj/* directory before running "make buildworld" eliminates this problem.
Some users reported that the NVIDIA driver, downloaded and built from the graphics card manufacturer's web site, made the upgraded FreeBSD 6.0 system unbootable. The solution is to disable loading the driver before rebooting the newly upgraded system, then install it directly from FreeBSD ports, rather than using NVIDIA's way of compiling the module.
Other than these minor issues, general happiness with the new release seems to be the order of the day. It looks like that FreeBSD development team has done an excellent job and version 6.0 is possibly the project's best and most feature-full release to-date. Give it a try and let us know your impressions!
* * * * *
Miscellaneous news: SUSE rumours, Kubuntu status, Cross Linux From Scratch
 The peace in the world of Linux distributions was disturbed last week by a wave of what later turned out to be an unsubstantiated speculation about the future of SUSE Linux. A so-called Linux web site (which we won't link to and won't name here because it continues to cheerfully disseminate sponsored anti-Linux propaganda from its pages) published a story asserting that Novell is about to pull the plug on the development of SUSE Linux. This was apparently based on a recent announcement about layoffs at Novell. While the rumour was quickly denied by the networking giant, the company did admit that cost-cutting measures were being implemented and, as a result, the KDE desktop will be removed from future releases of Novell Linux Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. However, the measure will not affect Novell's openSUSE project which will continue to build SUSE Linux with KDE as its main desktop.
 The fans of Kubuntu had a reason to celebrate last week as their preferred distribution is gradually getting recognition it deserves from the Ubuntu founder: "In his opening remarks at the start of the conference, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth announced that he was now using Kubuntu on his desktop machine and said he wanted Kubuntu to move to a first class distribution within the Ubuntu community. The large number of Kubuntu users at the conference was evidence as the need for this. Free CDs for Kubuntu through 'shipit' should be available for the next release if the planned Live CD Installer removes the need for a separate install CD." Read the full story on the Kubuntu web site. On a related note, a rough feature list of the upcoming Kubuntu "Dapper Drake" is now also available for your reading pleasure.
 Have you ever wanted to build a Linux distribution from scratch for an architecture other than i386? If so, then here is some good news. In a move to expand to all popular processor platforms and to teach users about cross-compiling, the Linux From Scratch project has announced the launch of Cross Linux From Scratch (CLFS): "Building CLFS teaches you how to make a cross-compiler and the necessary tools, to build a basic system on a different architecture. For example, you would be able to build a Sparc toolchain on an x86 machine, and utilize that toolchain to build a Linux system from source codes." To find out more, visit the subproject's new web pages and start exchanging information on its already very busy mailing list.
Finally, an announcement by Mad Penguin about a light-hearted contest to win a boxed edition of SUSE Linux 10.0, Xandros Desktop 3 and other prizes: "See that handsome penguin down there? His name is Vic and he's pleased to make your acquaintance. Vic, meet [insert your name here]. [and here] meet our beloved mascot, Vic. There, now you know each other. Here's the deal. Your mission is to take Vic here and create a work of art in the form of desktop wallpaper. He's big enough to allow you to scale him to fit your masterpiece. The trick is that you MUST do something that is funny or otherwise entertaining." If you have some artistic talent and a sense of humour, give it a try - the competition runs until the end of November. Learn more here.
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| Featured distribution of the week: BeleniX |
BeleniX
 The world of open source software is getting more and more exciting almost by the day. Only a couple of years ago nobody could possibly imagine that the venerable Solaris by Sun Mircrosystems would one day be a free operating system, in both senses of the word. Although burdened by an unusual license, the Open Source Initiative now assures us that Solaris is indeed Free Software, which anybody can use and enjoy without any strings attached.
Being a true UNIX, Solaris is certainly not the easiest system to run and administer. But since the OpenSolaris project opened up to public participation and the source code was released for all to examine and modify, several more user-friendly derivatives have emerged. One of them is called BeleniX LiveCD, developed by the India Engineering Centre of Sun Microsystems in Bangalore. Although the product comes from Sun, it appears to be more of a hobby project of a few developers than a real Sun product.
We tried out the BeleniX live CD on a spare computer. The operating system goes through the usual boot sequence before prompting the user to select the preferred language and keyboard, after which it tries to configure X.Org. If it succeeds, it will boot into a good-looking graphical desktop with XFce 4. While the number of included graphical applications is limited to Firefox (1.5 beta2), Gaim, SuperTux and the usual XFce utilities, the live CD does a fair job detecting and configuring hardware and network, so it is ready for use straight after boot.
BeleniX is probably the best and least intimidating way to learn the basic concepts of Solaris. Sure, many of the commands you know from Linux or BSD behave exactly the same way on a real UNIX, but there are also substantial differences that make the operating system look difficult to the uninitiated. Luckily, the BeleniX web site provides a page with quick links to documentation for those who wish to learn more about Solaris and its underlying technologies.
Products like BeleniX are a clear indication that momentum is building behind Solaris and that many people find the product interesting enough to join the rapidly growing Solaris developer community. And that, together with a growing number of free operating system options, can't be a bad thing.
BeleniX - the first OpenSolaris-based live CD that boots into a graphical desktop
(full image size: 890kB)
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| Released Last Week |
OpenBSD 3.8
OpenBSD 3.8 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.8. This is our 18th release on CD-ROM (and 19th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.8 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: Improved hardware support, including new aps driver for the built-in accelerometer found in some IBM ThinkPad laptops, new art driver for Accom Networks Artery T1 and E1 cards...." A detailed account of all changes can be read in the release announcement and on the product's features page.
RR4 Linux 2.60.4
A new version of the Gentoo-based RR4 Linux live DVD is out: "The fourth 'dot' release has hit the net in these hours. That's RR4 Linux 2.60.4 and sports a lot of changes, under the hood and not. Fixes: KDE Menu removed duplicates; SATA DVD readers support; Radeon 7000 Video detection; ATI Drivers 8.14.13-r5; cleaned Perl installation; speed-up in RR4 boot from hard disk. Improvements and additions: Linux kernel 2.6.14; added online live DVD installer update via a desktop icon; full support for IPW2100 and IPW2200 wireless cards; new boot theme; Ndiswrapper 1.5 rc3; updated GNOME to 2.12.1; Opera 8.50; OpenOffice.org 2.0; amaroK 1.3.5...." See the release announcement and release notes (in PDF format) for further details.
EnGarde Secure Linux 3.0.1
This is a new security and bug-fix release to EnGarde Secure Linux 3.0: "Guardian Digital is happy to announce the release of EnGarde Secure Community 3.0.1 This release includes several bug fixes and feature enhancements to the Guardian Digital WebTool, the SELinux policy, and the live CD environment. The following reported bugs are fixed in this release: users can not add/edit web files; WebTool can not stop MySQL; WebTool errors-out if resolv.conf is empty; users cannot upload files via FTP; PHP not built with GD library; WebTool should give the user some feedback upon errors; problem when creating a second Virtual Host on the same IP...." Find more details and download locations in the release announcement.
NetBSD 2.1
NetBSD 2.1 has been released: "The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce that release 2.1 of the NetBSD operating system is now available. NetBSD 2.1 is the first maintenance release of the netbsd-2 release branch. This release provides numerous functional enhancements, including support for many new devices, hundreds of bug fixes, patches and updates to kernel subsystems, and many enhancements to the user environment. In addition, all of the security fixes and critical bug fixes from the NetBSD 2.0.3 update are included as well." Read the rest of the release announcement for a detailed list of changes.
ClarkConnect Gateway/Server 3.2
ClarkConnect Gateway/Server 3.2 has been released. What's new? "The full list of changes is available in the developer change log -- highlights include: Multi-WAN; user login access for changing passwords; sub-administrator login access; network diagnostic tools. Version 3.x supports upgrades from ClarkConnect 1.1 and later. When you run the ClarkConnect installer, make sure you select the upgrade option (see adjacent screenshot). As with any upgrade, please backup any critical data. Some software required conversion utilities and name changes. You should double check the following after your upgrade...." Read the rest of the release notes for known issues and software package notes.
FreeBSD 6.0
It's official: FreeBSD 6.0 is here. "It is my great pleasure and privilege to announce the availability of FreeBSD 6.0-RELEASE. This release is the next step in delivering the high performance and enterprise features that have been under development in the FreeBSD 5.x series for that last several years. Some of the many changes since 5.4 include: significant performance improvements to the filesystem and direct disk access layers of the OS; expanded support for wireless networking adapters and new support for the WPA wireless security protocol; experimental support for the PowerPC platform." Read the complete release announcement and release notes for more information.
T2 2.1.0
The first stable version of T2, a Linux distribution build tool kit originally forked from ROCK Linux, has been released: "After a year of very hard work, we are happy to announce the immediate availability of our first stable release of T2. T2 2.1 is our first stable branch, forked out of ROCK Linux 2.0 one year ago. It has lots in common with that release, like ROCK Net, ROCK Plug, .gem file format, devfs, monolithic kernel and x11, but far more robust and improved to fulfill our goal of making a clean and stable framework for spin-off projects and customized distributions." See the release announcement for a more detailed description of the project.
Kaella 2.1
Kaella is, effectively, a French edition of the popular KNOPPIX live CD. After many weeks of testing, version 2.1 has now been released for download. The new version is based on the CD edition of KNOPPIX 4.0.2, but it comes with OpenOffice.org 2.0.0, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird 1.0.7, and a corrected French language module for KDE. Other improvements include several cosmetic changes in KDE, new French translation of the KNOPPIX menu, addition of French documentation, and addition of new ADSL modem drivers. For a full list of changes please see the release notes (in French).
BeleniX LiveCD 0.2.1
This is bug-fix release of BeleniX LiveCD, an OpenSolaris-based distribution with an option to boot into a graphical user interface with XFce: "This is primarily a bug-fix release with the addition of a few utilities like a Volume Control and mixer utility and a GUI tool to manage services or daemons. Thunderbird did not work in 0.2 due to some missing files which have been added. Another item of interest is the addition of DTrace Toolkit that consists of various useful DTrace scripts and documentation." See the full release announcement and a more detailed changelong on the project's home page.
GoblinX Mini 1.2.1
The GoblinX project has announced the release of GoblinX Mini 1.2.1, a bug-fix update to the 1.2 series: "The GoblinX Project is proud to announce the release of GoblinX Mini 1.2.1. GoblinX Mini 1.2.1 brings some small bug and error corrections: an upgraded kernel (2.6.13.2); Linux live and Unionfs, added Gxine, Xine-lib, Gdhcpd, Zmixer, Xarchive and Graveman; removed Wv2, Jfsutils, Eye of Gnome, Lame, Flex, LVM; added a better log system; firewall does not send log messages to console, added a new bootsplash theme, ebona_goblix, based on the beautiful Ebona wallpaper of ViperV6; removed NVIDIA drivers - the Mini edition does not have any applications that need 3D acceleration...." See the latest GoblinX Newsletter for more details.
* * * * *
Development and unannounced releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Fedora Core 5 delayed
As has become tradition in the development of Fedora Core, the release of "test1" of the upcoming Fedora 5 has been postponed. Originally scheduled for release today (Monday), Fedora Core 5 test1 is now expected on November 21 instead. Subsequently, all following releases have also been delayed by two weeks. No reasons for the delay are given, but the preliminary schedule now reflects the new dates, with the final release of Fedora Core 5 now scheduled for 27 February 2006.
SimplyMEPIS 3.4
After many months of waiting for Debian "sid" to stabilise from the post-"sarge" upgrade mess, the developers of MEPIS Linux have finally announced a new upcoming release, version 3.4. A test version should be out within the next few days: "SimplyMEPIS 3.3.2 was replaced with Simply 3.3.3, which is a great build and includes OpenOffice.org 2.0 and Mozilla Thunderbird. I'm sorry most of you won't have the chance to use it, as Simply 3.4 is now in the works and should be available as a test in a few days. This new version will incorporate some new stuff: KDE 3.4, OpenOffice.org 2.0, and X.Org." Read the rest of the announcement for further information.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Web Site News |
DistroWatch server upgraded to FreeBSD 6.0
Following the release of FreeBSD 6.0 last week and many overwhelmingly positive early reports about the new version, we decided to upgrade the DistroWatch server over the weekend. Although we didn't have any major problems running FreeBSD 5.4, our "geeky" hearts simply demanded that we ran the latest and greatest whenever possible. As always, upgrading a remote server located half-way across the world does bring a considerable amount of anxiety (will the new kernel boot at all?), especially because upgrading FreeBSD requires two reboots. Luckily, everything went fine and the server was never down for more than a minute on two occasions last Saturday.
Two minor issues came up during the upgrade. As reported by others, a "rm -f /usr/obj/* might be necessary prior to "make buildworld" to eliminate some compile problems down the line, and this was the case with our upgrade too. The second issue was the "pf" firewall which, for some reason, refused to allow any traffic through the SMTP port after the upgrade. However, after disabling the firewall and re-enabling it again, without changing any of the firewall rules, everything was back to normal. Other users also reported similar problems on the FreeBSD mailing list, so it looks like we were not the only ones affected by this issue.
As always, these types of upgrades (and the anxiety they bring) tend to lead to inevitable comparisons between FreeBSD and Linux (and even Solaris, now that it is free) as a web hosting solution. We switched to FreeBSD from Debian "woody" about a year ago and had mostly positive experiences. Unfortunately, a FreeBSD system does seem to require much more baby-sitting than a Debian-based server would ever need - virtually all FreeBSD security updates, rare as they are, require that either the kernel or the userland (or both) be recompiled and the system rebooted. On the other hand, we have enjoyed the ability to keep the system and software up-to-date by compiling the latest applications from FreeBSD ports - a big advantage over any stable Debian.
There is, of course, no such thing as a perfect operating system. That said, FreeBSD has proven itself over the years as one of the most reliable workhorses powering an enormous number of mission critical web servers around the world. To a large extent, our experience is in line with this fact. We are currently entertaining the possibility to award the November 2005 donation to the FreeBSD Foundation. Are there any objections among our readers? Please agree or disagree in the forum below.
* * * * *
October 2005 donation: the amaroK project receives US$300
amaroK is the second multimedia application in a row (after MPlayer) that receives our monthly donation. Gaining many new fans and supporters over the last few months, this KDE-based music player is a great addition to the increasingly powerful desktop. amaroK is one of the most feature-rich media applications available today and the project's recent drive to generate further development funds has prompted several readers' emails recommending amaroK for a donation. We are pleased to oblige.
amaroK - a media player for the KDE desktop
Our monthly donations programme is a joint initiative between DistroWatch and two online shops selling low-cost CDs and DVDs with Linux, BSD and other open source software - LinuxISO.co.uk and LinuxCD.org, each of which contributed US$50 towards this month's donation. Both stores have an excellent selection and latest releases at very reasonable prices. Next time you need to order your favourite Linux or BSD CDs, get them from LinuxCD.org or, if you are in the United Kingdom, from LinuxISO.co.uk.
This is the PayPal receipt for the donation to amaroK:
Dear DistroWatch.com,
This email confirms that you have paid muesli (-at-) gmail.com $300.00 USD using PayPal.
------------------------------
Payment Details:
------------------------------
Transaction ID: 0KH8523573841532G
Total: $300.00 USD
Item/Product Name: amaroK fundraiser
Item/Product Number: amaroKfunds
Buyer: DistroWatch.com
Here is the list of projects that received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the donations programme:
Since the launch of the DistroWatch Donations Programme in March 2004, we have donated a total of US$5,605 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
New distribution additions
* * * * *
New on the waiting list
- DeveLinux. DeveLinux is a live Debian-based distribution designed for developers and programmers. It includes useful development software on a single live CD.
- Grafpup Linux. Grafpup Linux is a desktop Linux operating system based closely on Puppy Linux. Its goal is to be as useful to graphic designers and other imaging professionals as possible while still remaining extremely small and fast.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And with this we'll say good-bye until next Monday. We hope you've enjoyed this issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • Issue 1032 (2023-08-14): MX Linux 23, positioning new windows on the desktop, Linux Containers adopts LXD fork, Oracle, SUSE, and CIQ form OpenELA |
| • Issue 1031 (2023-08-07): Peppermint OS 2023-07-01, preventing a file from being changed, Asahi Linux partners with Fedora, Linux Mint plans new releases |
| • Issue 1030 (2023-07-31): Solus 4.4, Linux Mint 21.2, Debian introduces RISC-V support, Ubuntu patches custom kernel bugs, FreeBSD imports OpenSSL 3 |
| • Issue 1029 (2023-07-24): Running Murena on the Fairphone 4, Flatpak vs Snap sandboxing technologies, Redox OS plans to borrow Linux drivers to expand hardware support, Debian updates Bookworm media |
| • Issue 1028 (2023-07-17): KDE Connect; Oracle, SUSE, and AlmaLinux repsond to Red Hat's source code policy change, KaOS issues media fix, Slackware turns 30; security and immutable distributions |
| • Issue 1027 (2023-07-10): Crystal Linux 2023-03-16, StartOS (embassyOS 0.3.4.2), changing options on a mounted filesystem, Murena launches Fairphone 4 in North America, Fedora debates telemetry for desktop team |
| • Issue 1026 (2023-07-03): Kumander Linux 1.0, Red Hat changing its approach to sharing source code, TrueNAS offers SMB Multichannel, Zorin OS introduces upgrade utility |
| • Issue 1025 (2023-06-26): KaOS with Plasma 6, information which can leak from desktop environments, Red Hat closes door on sharing RHEL source code, SUSE introduces new security features |
| • Issue 1024 (2023-06-19): Debian 12, a safer way to use dd, Debian releases GNU/Hurd 2023, Ubuntu 22.10 nears its end of life, FreeBSD turns 30 |
| • Issue 1023 (2023-06-12): openSUSE 15.5 Leap, the differences between independent distributions, openSUSE lengthens Leap life, Murena offers new phone for North America |
| • Issue 1022 (2023-06-05): GetFreeOS 2023.05.01, Slint 15.0-3, Liya N4Si, cleaning up crowded directories, Ubuntu plans Snap-based variant, Red Hat dropping LireOffice RPM packages |
| • Issue 1021 (2023-05-29): rlxos GNU/Linux, colours in command line output, an overview of Void's unique features, how to use awk, Microsoft publishes a Linux distro |
| • Issue 1020 (2023-05-22): UBports 20.04, finding another machine's IP address, finding distros with a specific kernel, Debian prepares for Bookworm |
| • Issue 1019 (2023-05-15): Rhino Linux (Beta), checking which applications reply on a package, NethServer reborn, System76 improving application responsiveness |
| • Issue 1018 (2023-05-08): Fedora 38, finding relevant manual pages, merging audio files, Fedora plans new immutable edition, Mint works to fix Secure Boot issues |
| • Issue 1017 (2023-05-01): Xubuntu 23.04, Debian elects Project Leaders and updates media, systemd to speed up restarts, Guix System offering ground-up source builds, where package managers install files |
| • Issue 1016 (2023-04-24): Qubes OS 4.1.2, tracking bandwidth usage, Solus resuming development, FreeBSD publishes status report, KaOS offers preview of Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1015 (2023-04-17): Manjaro Linux 22.0, Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0, Arch Linux powering PINE64 tablets, Ubuntu offering live patching on HWE kernels, gaining compression on ex4 |
| • Issue 1014 (2023-04-10): Quick looks at carbonOS, LibreELEC, and Kodi, Mint polishes themes, Fedora rolls out more encryption plans, elementary OS improves sideloading experience |
| • Issue 1013 (2023-04-03): Alpine Linux 3.17.2, printing manual pages, Ubuntu Cinnamon becomes official flavour, Endeavour OS plans for new installer, HardenedBSD plans for outage |
| • Issue 1012 (2023-03-27): siduction 22.1.1, protecting privacy from proprietary applications, GNOME team shares new features, Canonical updates Ubuntu 20.04, politics and the Linux kernel |
| • Issue 1011 (2023-03-20): Serpent OS, Security Onion 2.3, Gentoo Live, replacing the scp utility, openSUSE sees surge in downloads, Debian runs elction with one candidate |
| • Issue 1010 (2023-03-13): blendOS 2023.01.26, keeping track of which files a package installs, improved network widget coming to elementary OS, Vanilla OS changes its base distro |
| • Issue 1009 (2023-03-06): Nemo Mobile and the PinePhone, matching the performance of one distro on another, Linux Mint adds performance boosts and security, custom Ubuntu and Debian builds through Cubic |
| • Issue 1008 (2023-02-27): elementary OS 7.0, the benefits of boot environments, Purism offers lapdock for Librem 5, Ubuntu community flavours directed to drop Flatpak support for Snap |
| • Issue 1007 (2023-02-20): helloSystem 0.8.0, underrated distributions, Solus team working to repair their website, SUSE testing Micro edition, Canonical publishes real-time edition of Ubuntu 22.04 |
| • Issue 1006 (2023-02-13): Playing music with UBports on a PinePhone, quick command line and shell scripting questions, Fedora expands third-party software support, Vanilla OS adds Nix package support |
| • Issue 1005 (2023-02-06): NuTyX 22.12.0 running CDE, user identification numbers, Pop!_OS shares COSMIC progress, Mint makes keyboard and mouse options more accessible |
| • Issue 1004 (2023-01-30): OpenMandriva ROME, checking the health of a disk, Debian adopting OpenSnitch, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1003 (2023-01-23): risiOS 37, mixing package types, Fedora seeks installer feedback, Sparky offers easier persistence with USB writer |
| • Issue 1002 (2023-01-16): Vanilla OS 22.10, Nobara Project 37, verifying torrent downloads, Haiku improvements, HAMMER2 being ports to NetBSD |
| • Issue 1001 (2023-01-09): Arch Linux, Ubuntu tests new system installer, porting KDE software to OpenBSD, verifying files copied properly |
| • Issue 1000 (2023-01-02): Our favourite projects of all time, Fedora trying out unified kernel images and trying to speed up shutdowns, Slackware tests new kernel, detecting what is taking up disk space |
| • Issue 999 (2022-12-19): Favourite distributions of 2022, Fedora plans Budgie spin, UBports releasing security patches for 16.04, Haiku working on new ports |
| • Issue 998 (2022-12-12): OpenBSD 7.2, Asahi Linux enages video hardware acceleration on Apple ARM computers, Manjaro drops proprietary codecs from Mesa package |
| • Issue 997 (2022-12-05): CachyOS 221023 and AgarimOS, working with filenames which contain special characters, elementary OS team fixes delta updates, new features coming to Xfce |
| • Issue 996 (2022-11-28): Void 20221001, remotely shutting down a machine, complex aliases, Fedora tests new web-based installer, Refox OS running on real hardware |
| • Issue 995 (2022-11-21): Fedora 37, swap files vs swap partitions, Unity running on Arch, UBports seeks testers, Murena adds support for more devices |
| • Issue 994 (2022-11-14): Redcore Linux 2201, changing the terminal font size, Fedora plans Phosh spin, openSUSE publishes on-line manual pages, disabling Snap auto-updates |
| • Issue 993 (2022-11-07): Static Linux, working with just a kernel, Mint streamlines Flatpak management, updates coming to elementary OS |
| • 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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| Shells.com |
Your own personal Linux computer in the cloud, available on any device. Supported operating systems include Android, Debian, Fedora, KDE neon, Kubuntu, Linux Mint, Manjaro and Ubuntu, ready in minutes.
Starting at US$4.95 per month, 7-day money-back guarantee
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| Random Distribution | 
Inquisitor
Inquisitor was an open-source hardware diagnostics, stress testing, certification and monitoring system, suitable for both enterprise and home use. Based on Debian/GNU Linux, it was customizable, modular and available in both serverless live CD/DVD format and server-controlled network boot production system.
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.
|
| 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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