 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 156, 19 June 2006 |
Welcome to this year's 25th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! There is a lot to look forward to this week - a brand new release of Xandros Desktop is expected to start shipping on Wednesday, while the first test build of Fedora Core 6 should be available from Fedora mirrors on the same day. In other news: Slackware 11.0 nears its release point, OpenSolaris celebrates its first birthday, and SCO becomes a victim of a strangely believable hoax that excites some of the former users of Caldera OpenLinux. In the "First Looks" section you'll find a round-up of currently available BSD-based live CDs, while in the "Site News" area we present the list of packages that have been selected as new entries into the database of software packages tracked by DistroWatch. Happy reading!
Content:
 Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG format (4.2MB)
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in MP3 format (5.0MB)
(The Podcast edition is provided by Shawn Milo.)
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Miscellaneous News |
Fedora 6 Test1, Slackware 11.0, OpenSolaris birthday, Dapper sources.list, Caldera hoax
 With the release of the first alpha build of SUSE Linux 10.2 last week, the beginning of a new development cycle for the major Linux distributions is now officially in progress. This week, it's the turn of the Fedora Project which is expected to release Test1 of Fedora Core 6 on Wednesday. Although very little information has been published about the new release, looking through the package list of the Fedora development tree, we can see that parts of GNOME 2.15, a pre-release version of glibc 2.5, and the brand new X.Org 7.1 have all entered the testing branch. The Fedora developers have yet to move to the new kernel 2.6.17, while the KDE is the slightly older 3.5.2, but most other packages are highly up-to-date. Interestingly, a recent beta release of GnuCash 2.0 has now replaced the "behind-the-times" 1.8 series, which suggests that GTK+ 1.x libraries are likely to be removed from the distribution before the final release of Fedora 6. A word of caution: all recent Test1 releases of Fedora Core have been rather buggy and should only be installed by serious beta testers willing to report bugs.
* * * * *
 It shouldn't be too long before the fans of Slackware Linux are greeted with a new release of the world's oldest surviving Linux distribution. According to the latest Slackware Current ChangeLog, Patrick Volkerding believes that the "current" tree is very stable and almost ready for release: "Although there's still quite a bit in the TODO queue here I'm making my steps carefully as -current is very stable, and I think it should ship as a stable 11.0 soon so that we can get back to the business of breaking things in -current. :-)" Despite the major version number change, those who expect Slackware 11.0 to default to kernel 2.6 will be disappointed - the "current" tree still deploys kernel 2.4.32 (compiled with GCC 3.4.6), with kernel 2.6.16.20 stubbornly remaining in the "testing" directory. Among other important packages, glibc is the older 2.3.6, X.Org is version 6.9.0 and PHP 5 is also in the testing directory, but the rest of the system is up-to-date. For more details please check out the above-mentioned changelog and the Slackware page here on DistroWatch. The official Slackware 11.0 DVD is available for pre-order from the distribution's online store (US$59.95).
* * * * *
 The OpenSolaris Project is 1-year old. To celebrate the project's birthday, ZDNet has published an article entitled OpenSolaris one year on: Success or failure?, which looks at the events of the past year: "In June 2005, Sun Microsystems released core elements of its flagship Solaris operating system as open source software, making public more than five million lines of code. The announcement sparked intense interest among developers." The article quotes statistical evidence and several external contributors to indicate a growing developer community and general success of the project. Although released under a special license, OpenSolaris is considered Free Software. During the past year, several OpenSolaris-based distribution were listed on DistroWatch; these include the excellent BeleniX graphical live CD, the non-graphical SchilliX live CD, and the promising Nexenta OS, which is probably the best Solaris-based desktop distribution created to-date. There is little doubt that the availability of OpenSolaris has given us another great, free operating system, which can't be a bad thing. So happy birthday, OpenSolaris! We are glad you've joined the Free Software community!
* * * * *
 Several web sites have published entertaining interviews with major distribution personalities last week. Pro-Linux.de, a German Linux web site, has interviewed Anthony Towns, the current Debian Project Leader (DPL), and Steve McIntyre, one of DPL's deputies, about the current status and future plans of Debian GNU/Linux. In the meantime, the ever so busy Kevin Carmony of Linspire has answered dozens of questions for the Free Software Magazine about the new Freespire distribution. Finally, KDE Dot News has published an interview with Tomáš Matějíček, the founder and lead developer of the popular SLAX live CD. Enjoy!
* * * * *
 If you are looking to enhance your Ubuntu and Kubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake installation with extra packages from external repositories, this web log post is the most comprehensive list of available software for Dapper we've seen. It includes repositories for the Opera browser, Penguin Liberation Front packages, the latest KDE, KOffice and amaroK, up-to-date packages for VLC, Compiz, Skype, Freevo, MythTV and other popular software, as well as a number of unofficial and experimental repositories created by volunteers all over the world. As always, these packages are unsupported and some might even break your system, so proceed with caution. But if you absolutely need a package for your Ubuntu or Kubuntu system, getting it from the repositories listed in the above-mentioned link might be a better option than compiling the required package from source code.
* * * * *
 Development of Tao Linux, a distribution built by re-compiling the source RPM packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, has been terminated. As explained by the project's founder David Parsley, a change of employment means that he will no longer have the time to maintain the distribution, which was originally launched with a promise to deliver 5-years' worth of security updates for each new release: "After nearly three years of the Tao Linux project, I'm undergoing an unexpected change in employment that will effectively take away my time for working on Tao Linux." As a result, all Tao Linux users are now encouraged to migrate to CentOS, a community project with similar objectives as Tao Linux. For more information and instructions about how to switch to CentOS please visit the project's web site at TaoLinux.org.
* * * * *
 Finally, a little late for April Fool's, but nevertheless an entertaining hoax announcing that SCO will resume the development of Caldera OpenLinux, a Linux distribution first launched back in 1996. Although Caldera OpenLinux never reached the popularity of Red Hat Linux, it was the first distribution incorporating a graphical installer and its eDesktop 2.4, released in February 2000, was widely considered to be one of the best desktop-oriented and stable Linux operating systems at the time. Unfortunately, after merging with SCO, the company changed its strategy from developing software to pursuing dubious copyright and patent violation claims against IBM and other companies in courts. While SCO still offers a range of UNIX products for sale on its web site, the company's income and share price have dropped considerably in recent years.
Caldera OpenLinux 3.1.1, released in January 2002, was the last distribution version released under the Caldera brand name
(full image size: 203kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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| First Looks |
A comparison of BSD live CDs (by Andrei Raevsky)
GNU/Linux live CDs are increasingly playing an important role in the free software community. They serve as advocacy tools, they make it possible for newbies to try out software without having to install anything and they make fantastic rescue disks. While all the best known live CDs are GNU/Linux variants, there are also several *BSD live CDs out there. I decided to give them a test run.
I tested all the BSD live CDs I could get my hand on: FreeSBIE 1.1, FreeBSD LiveCD 1.2, Frenzy 0.3, AnonymOS 2006, OliveBSD 3.8 and NetBSD Live! 1.6 (editor's note: a newer release of NetBSD Live!, version 3.99.7, is available from here). Each distro was tested on two desktops (a home-built AMD Duron 850MHz, 256MB RAM with generic components and a Hewlett-Packard Intel Celeron 500MHz, 256MB RAM) and two laptops (a Dell Inspiron 8200, Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz and 885MB RAM and a Quantex N30W, Intel Pentium 3 450MHz and 192MB RAM). I pre-tested all my computers for possible problems with a KANOTIX 2005-04 live CD before beginning my evaluations.
First, I wanted to see how these distributions would perform in terms of hardware recognition (in particular video configuration) and smooth installation, ease of use, documentation, speed and overall versatility (capability to dial-up, software choice, etc.). My second goal was to see whether these live CDs would be adequate advocacy tools for free software in general and for *BSD in particular.
FreeSBIE only booted properly on the home-built machine and the Quantex laptop. When it can successfully boot, FreeSBIE offers a great choice of applications on the XFce desktop (Fluxbox is also available), runs rather fast and comes with some good configuration scripts. On the down side, the documentation is minimal and the video configuration is less than stellar.
FreeSBIE 1.2 - the original live CD based on FreeBSD
(full image size: 700kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
FreeBSD LiveCD immediately showed its major drawback: it is wholly CLI which is a show-stopper for the newbie I assumed. On the positive side I noted good hardware recognition and a solid choice of CLI software. On the FreeBSD live CD website it says that "we had even made a Live CD ISO that could run as a desktop environment - with lots of graphical applications. This version was a first one that could even be used as a FreeBSD demonstration disk". Sadly, I was unable to obtain this version.
Frenzy is the only distribution which seamlessly booted up on all my computers. Frenzy is fast, comes with an excellent choice of software including games, word-processing (AbiWord), network and security applications and can be booted in either of two languages: English and Russian (the latter is the default and English speakers have only 5 short seconds during the boot up process to hit the "e" key to select English). Frenzy also features a simple but very good documentation. But the most amazing thing about Frenzy is that it completely fits on a 200MB 3" mini-CD. Developed by on person, Sergei Mozhaisky, Frenzy version 1 should be released in the near future (editor's note: Frenzy 1.0 was released in early June 2006) with, hopefully, a 'toram' cheatcode making it possible to load it completely into the RAM and free the CD drive.
Frenzy 1.0 - a FreeBSD-based live CD with tools for system and network administrators
(full image size: 882kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
AnonymOS is, like FreeBSD Live CD, a specialized distribution whose sole aim is to make surfing private and safe. After an (endless) boot-up process, AnonymOS correctly loaded up on only two out of four computers (the home-built machine and the Dell laptop). While AnonymOS offers some otherwise very interesting software, such as Tor and Privoxy, its highly specialized goal makes it inadequate as distribution aimed at BSD newbies.
AnonymOS - an OpenBSD-based live CD with tools for anonymous web surfing
(full image size: 166kB, resolution: 1024x768 pixels)
OliveBSD was the biggest disappointment of all my tests. It was unable to boot-up on any of my computers: each time it simply froze and only a manual reboot could unlock the machine. After seeing that there are quite a few very happy OliveBSD users on the distribution's discussion group I decided that the problem with OliveBSD was probably simply due to bad luck and that another set of computers might have yielded better results.
OliveBSD - a general-purpose live CD based on OpenBSD
(full image size: 118kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
NetBSD Live! booted on two of my machines, the home-built computer and the Quantex laptop. The choice of software is excellent as NetBSD Live! is the only BSD live CD which comes with the complete KDE desktop suite, something which, I guess, any user would very much appreciate. NetBSD Live! is not the fastest distro I tested (Frenzy won in this category too), but it runs at a decent speed. Another strong point for NetBSD is that it did a great job automatically configuring the video.
NetBSD Live! - the only BSD live CD using the KDE desktop
(full image size: 399kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
My overall impression was that BSD live CDs are not on par (yet) with their GNU/Linux cousins, but that they are catching up fast. The clear winner from my, admittedly unscientific, evaluation was Frenzy, which was the only distribution to perform (almost) flawlessly on all my machines. Although clearly intended as a security/rescue tool for administrators, Frenzy is certainly the distribution which would offer the most to the newbie (including very good documentation).
I hope that the final version of Frenzy 1.0 will iron out some of the remaining issues (such as not quite perfect video configuration) and will offer the 'toram' cheatcode. Considering how solid Frenzy 0.3 has proved to be so far I would also hope that Sergei Mozhaisky would consider developing a less specialized 700MB version of his distro.
One small improvement which, I believe, all these distros could make to help newbies would be to add a simple mount/unmount tool like, for example, what is found in the Damn Small Linux distribution.
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| Released Last Week |
Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Server SPARC64
A specialist server edition of Ubuntu 6.06 designed for high-end SPARC64 processors has been released: "The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS server for Sun SPARC 64-bit architecture. Highlights of this release include: new kernels targeted at server platforms, the server kernels are tuned differently than the desktop kernels (providing better performance for server applications); turn-key LAMP installation for this common deployment scenario; improved support for clusters and SANs." Please refer to the release announcement for further information and download links.
GParted LiveCD 0.2.5-1
Patrick Verner has announced the availability of an updated version of GParted LiveCD: "GParted LiveCD 0.2.5-1. I think this might be the best version of the live CD released so far. Many issues have been fixed and I spent some time making it look better. Junel Mujar made a very cool wallpaper for the desktop. Changes: updated to Linux kernel 2.6.16.20, Parted 1.7.1, e2fsprogs 1.39, GTK+ 2.8.19, Fluxbox 1.0rc, udev 094; Added xfce4-panel 4.3.90.1 to Fluxbox, Thunar 0.3.0beta1; rebuilt X.Org to be smaller; the source for the CD is located in /usr/src/." Read the rest of the changelog for further information.
STUX GNU/Linux 0.9
Giacomo Picconi has announced the release of STUX GNU/Linux 0.9, a Slackware-based live and installation CD designed desktop use: "STUX GNU/Linux 0.9 released. Main changes: Linux kernel upgraded to 2.6.12 from KNOPPIX CD 4.0.2; based on Slackware current as at 10 June 2006; added KNOPPIX hardware autodetection; Unionfs: with Unionfs it's now possible to use STUX from Live CD without the read-only limitation; all STUX utilities fully debugged and reviewed; multimedia keyboards now working and configurable; added WINE; installed remastering tools; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support...." Read the complete changelog on the project's news page.
* * * * *
Development and unannounced releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Xandros Desktop 4
Xandros Corporation has created a pre-orders page for the upcoming Xandros Desktop 4, expected to start shipping later this week. Despite the imminent release, details about the new versions are hard to come by - the Xandros product pages have yet to be updated, while the pre-orders page only lists general features, such as "integrated security suite" and "updated included applications". On a positive side, those readers who pre-order their copy of Xandros Desktop 4 before the release date will qualify for a $5 discount on Xandros hats and T-shirts. See the pre-orders page for full details.
PC-BSD 1.2
The PC-BSD project has published a release roadmap for the upcoming versions 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5, with an outlook towards version 2.0. Among the changes in PC-BSD 1.2, scheduled for release in July 2006, are: "Incorporate DBSD network / user toolset into Control Panel; convert PC-BSD specific tools to Control Panel modules; change default wallpaper / splash screen to something more professional; update KMenu / merge PBI with KDE application categories; set up Windows key to launch K-menu; bind ctrl-alt-delete with KDE System Guard; improve printing support with CUPS." There will be four new releases before the end or 2006, with version 2.0 planned for the first quarter of 2007. For more information please see the PC-BSD roadmap.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
The annual package database update
Our call last week for suggestions to add new packages to the list of software tracked on DistroWatch met with surprising apathy, especially given that this time last year we were flooded with requests for new packages. Nevertheless, we evaluated the few comments and emails we received and this is the final list of packages that will be added to distribution tables later this week:
The following packages will be removed from the tables: bin86, bochs, galeon, ipvsadm, licq, webalizer and xcdroast.
Many thanks to all who have made the effort to email us and who posted requests in the forum!
* * * * *
New distributions added to database
- BU Linux. Boston University Linux (or BU Linux for short) is a Fedora-based distribution specifically tailored for the Boston University environments. Among the more interesting enhancements are network installation, Kerberos authentication, tight default security, automatic security updates, apt-get package management front-end, OpenAFS file system, and extra software applications.
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- Sharif Linux. Sharif Linux is a bilingual English/Persian operating system. It is based on GNU/Linux and is customized for the computing requirements of Iran and the Persian language, specially for enterprise-level and educational uses.
- Swecha LiveCD. Swecha LiveCD is a Knoppix-based distribution with support for Telugu, the official language of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
That's all for today. The next issue of DistroWatch Weekly will be published on Monday, 26 June 2006. See you then :-)
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
Nobara Project
Nobara Project is a modified version of Fedora Linux with user-friendly fixes added to it. The distribution comes with certain features that do not ship with the regular Fedora, such as WINE dependencies, OBS Studio, 3rd party codec packages for GStreamer, NVIDIA drivers, and some package fixes. Nobara aims to fix most of those issues and offer a better gaming, streaming and content creation experience out of the box. The project's official release comes with a custom-themed GNOME desktop, but it also offers separate editions with standard GNOME and KDE desktops.
Status: Active
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