DistroWatch Weekly |
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 184, 8 January 2007 |
Welcome to this year's second issue of DistroWatch Weekly! This week DistroWatch continues its assessment of some of the more exciting events of the year 2006, with brief reviews of TrueBSD 0.1 and gNewSense 1.0 - two projects which were among the most pleasant surprises of the year. In the news section: Mandriva embarks on a large number of updates in its development repository, Xubuntu 'outgrows' its original target, Netwosix announces the start of a new development cycle, and PC-BSD updates users on some of the bugs that have crept into their recent release, version 1.3. Finally, don't miss the new release of elpicx, a great live CD/DVD with a collection of documentation, exercises and simulators to help you prepare for your LPI certification. Happy reading!
Content:
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Reviews |
TrueBSD and gNewSense - two promising projects of 2006 (by Andrei Raevsky)
The end of 2006 saw some very interesting developments in the realm of live CDs, one in the BSD world and one in the GNU/Linux world: the first release of the TrueBSD live CD by Belorussian developers and the release by the Free Software Foundation of gNewSense 1.0, an Ubuntu-based, 100% free distro. These two separate events, each of which are important breakthroughs in their own rights, attest to the tremendous vitality of the free software world.
TrueBSD 0.1
TrueBSD version 0.1 is the first release of a FreeBSD-based mini distro (200 MB). Unlike the other high-end Russian FreeBSD-based mini live CD, Frenzy, which I reviewed for DistroWatch in the past, TrueBSD is not aimed at the experienced system administrator, but at the general user. Thus these two distros wonderfully complement each other.
TrueBSD began as the college research project of a talented computer science student, Aleksei Sokolov, who is currently studying in the Belorussian capital city of Minsk (Aleksei also has two jobs, one as a system administrator and the other as a system administrator/software developer). For a long while, Aleksei could not come up with an interesting idea for his research project, and the projects of the other students appeared rather boring to him. Since he always has a personal need for a live CD he decided on creating one himself which he presented to his teachers as an early TrueBSD 0.1BETA1 for which he received the highest possible grade. Subsequently, he developed TrueBSD 0.1 almost entirely on his own.
TrueBSD has plenty of eye candy, including Xfce, a very cool looking desktop, and a catchy logo. Command line aficionados will delight in the advanced (Bash compatible) Zsh terminal. All the main applications, which include, AbiWord, Emacs, Xmms, MPlayer, Firefox, Sylpheed and Gaim, are accessible via one click on the panel), while others, including the super-fast Links browser, are accessible via a right-click. TrueBSD is easy and intuitive to use. The only thing which might confuse a newbie is the absence of a convenient mounting utility on the desktop (mounting is done either through the command line or with the basic, but functional, TrueConf utility). TrueBSD also has a couple of solid system administration tools (e.g. Nessus), a DOS emulator, a wide choice of text editors and some neat games (e.g. Doom2). The documentation includes the man and info pages and the official FreeBSD Handbook.
All-in-all, TrueBSD is already a stunning success, specially for a version 0.1. It offers a very comfortable choice of applications, a rock-solid operating system, and plenty of intuitive ways to familiarize newbies with FreeBSD. My only regret was the small size of 200 MB instead of a full-size (compressed) 700 MB distro. The good news is that Sokolov is planning to release the next version, planned for the second quarter of 2007, in two (200 MB and 700 MB) editions, and that this second release will be a major upgrade of the distro. Hopefully, Aleksei Sokolov's project will benefit from the help of other talented developers, testers and TrueBSD-specific documentation writers as this distro clearly has the potential to grow into the reference distro for BSD-based live CDs.
TrueBSD's creator can be contacted through the distro's website: www.truebsd.org.

TrueBSD 0.1: a general-purpose FreeBSD-based live CD with a graphical desktop (full image size: 164kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
gNewSense 1.0
gNewSense is the creation of two Irish free software advocates and developers, Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley. This Ubuntu-based distro's unique feature is that it is 100% free: there are no undocumented applications, no proprietary software of any kind and even the Linux kernel has been freed from the so-called "binary blobs", or executable code bits which are loaded into the kernel. gNewSense also has its own repositories which contains only free software.
The name gNewSense is, in part, in honor of the "Father of Free Software", Richard Stallman, whose is sometimes called "Chief GNUisance"; it is also, of course, in honor of the GNU project and its values. The project received the support of the Free Software Foundation which officially announced the release of gNewSense on November 2nd, 2006.
While gNewSense has some original (and beautiful) art work of its own, it is unique in that it deliberately offers less, not more, than most other distros. By removing all non-free components, Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley deliberately sacrificed functionality to the basic principle of using only free software. This can appear as a rather poor trade-off until one remembers that it is precisely these values and principles which made such things as the Linux kernel or the Wikipedia possible.
It is also remarkable how little was really sacrificed. With some notable exceptions, in particular the "loss" of some wireless modules and the lack of some video libraries, very little is missing and it is rather amazing how much can already be achieved with only free software.
Another original feature of gNewSense is that it is not intended as a monolithic distro, but rather as a basis for the creation of many other, possibly more specialized, distros. Brazil and O'Malley have created a collection of scripts, called Builder scripts, which make it easy for anyone to create his or her own highly customizable and 100% free distribution. All that is needed is some disk space and a fast connection and in a couple of simple steps (outlined on the gNewSense.org website) you can create your own completely free distro.
Clearly, gNewSense version 1.0 already goes beyond the simple proof-of-concept stage and will become the reference implementation of a completely free GNU/Linux distribution. The real question is whether there is any demand out there for such product, and the simple answer is yes, very much so. The simple fact that four terabytes of gNewSense ISO images and packages downloaded in just one day from the Free Software Foundation's servers which host the gNewSense.org web site is the best proof of the interest generated. Furthermore, at a time when many major GNU/Linux distributions are being assimilated by the corporate world, a totally free distro, especially one running with a free LinuxBIOS can serve as the reference against which proprietary operating systems, such as Windows Vista or Mac OS X should be compared.
Volunteers and interested people are encouraged to visit #gnewsense at irc.freenode.net to join the gNewSense community.

gNewSense 1.0: an Ubuntu-based distribution built exclusively from Free Software (full image size: 197kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
TrueBSD and gNewSense are two very good examples of the vibrant dynamism of the free software world. While in the past BSD-based live CDs tended to lag behind the GNU/Linux ones, distros such a TrueBSD (or Frenzy) are showing that BSD is catching up very fast and that just a few talented and dedicated developers can make the difference. Neither TrueBSD nor gNewSense are fully finished products, but they form an excellent core for future developments which will dramatically increase the choice of operating systems available to the public.
Disclaimer: Andrei Raevsky is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.
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Miscellaneous News |
Mandriva Cooker updates, Arch Linux interview, Xubuntu "growth", return of Netwosix, PC-BSD 1.3 bugs, elpicx
Let's start with a few updates from Fabrice Facorat, one of the developers of Mandriva Linux. According to his Cooker: The Inside Man IV, the French distribution has started the new year with a flurry of activity that should ensure a timely release of version 2007.1 in a few months. Among the more interesting points of the post are the details about problems with the native 64-bit edition of OpenOffice.org, the upcoming switch from LILO to GRUB as Mandriva's default boot loader, Beryl issues with Mesa and X.Org, and the availability of KDE 4 alpha which can be installed alongside KDE 3. There is much more, so if you are following the development of Mandriva Linux or are looking forward to the distribution's next release, the Inside Man does an excellent job to keep us up-to-date.
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Arch Linux is a distribution that keeps getting positive reviews from the more technically inclined Linux users, especially for its excellent package manager and a simple, clean system. Last week, the project's founder and lead developer Judd Vinet agreed to answer a few questions presented to him by OSSBlog.it. He talks about the beginnings of Arch Linux and explains the philosophy of the distribution, but also hints at some new features in the upcoming release, version 0.8: "Voodoo (Arch Linux 0.8) will sport a new installation CD layout, as well as a new early user-space model mostly developed by Aaron Griffin. It employs the use of 'hooks' to enable various features at boot time, such as full hard disk encryption." Read the full interview here.
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Xubuntu is a Linux distribution that doesn't often figure in the news headlines, but as an official sub-project of Ubuntu, it has become fairly popular, especially among those users who want to run a Linux operating system on older, less powerful computers. Unfortunately, it seems that Xubuntu has been slowly making moves towards becoming a resource-heavy distribution, not much lighter than Ubuntu itself: "And so the 'Gnomification' rolls onward, and the weight of Xubuntu grows with each revolution. To me, that's a death knell for the underlying principle of Xubuntu: to make Ubuntu usable on older machines that lack the speed and muscle of modern rigs." The author of the above quote also mentions other worrying trends, such as Xubuntu's effort to turn the Xfce desktop into a GNOME "mockup" or the decision to replace the light-weight Sylpheed mail client with the heavy-duty Thunderbird. Read this post to learn more about Xubuntu's worrying development direction.
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Remember Netwosix? It used to be a great security-oriented Linux distribution designed for specialist tasks, such as penetration testing. That's until its founder, Vincenzo Ciaglia, decided to take a paid position with Guardian Digital, the developers of EnGarde Secure Linux, and abandoned the project. The good news is that Netwosix is now back: "Yes, Netwosix will be re-born! After I decided to leave Guardian Digital, I'm working on NETWOSIX-NG, with the primary goal of introducing complete support for SELinux. My goal is still to create one of the best secure-by-default GNU/Linux distribution. If you have comments or any kind of suggestion please let's discuss it together here." For more information please read this post on Netwosix.org.
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The recent release of PC-BSD 1.3, a user-friendly operating system based on FreeBSD, has turned out to be more troublesome than expected. Several serious bugs were reported by those who installed the new release and these were subsequently summarised in a blog post by Tim McCormick: "With the recent release of 1.3 we've seen (as always) a mixed reception. However, one of the largest gripes seems to be our apparently inexplicable decision to use HAL despite its slightly buggy nature. I'd like to take a moment to clear that up." McCormick believes that the decision to switch to Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) in PC-BSD 1.3 was correct and expects the problems to be ironed out by the FreeBSD developers in the near future. Besides HAL, one other issue that has come up since the release is an installer bug which can, in some cases, cause loss of data. If you are planning to install PC-BSD 1.3, please read this blog post before placing your installation media into the CD-ROM drive.
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Thinking about taking that long-delayed LPI certification exam in the new year? Then we have some great news for you: Karl Schock has emailed us to announce the release of elpicx 0.3, a KNOPPIX-based live CD with a collection of documentation, exercises, example solutions and simulators to help you prepare for the exams of the Linux Professional Institute (LPI). Available in English and German, the CD includes a number of LPI training manuals in PDF format, as well as entertaining exam simulators for LPI exams 101, 102, 201 and 202, where you can test your knowledge. Besides the live CD, the project has also released a dual-boot live DVD with KNOPPIX and CentOS as two available options to boot into. For more information please visit the project's web site at elearnit.de. Here is a quick link to download the elpicx 0.3 English live CD: elpicx_03_20060623_CD_EN.iso (691MB, MD5). Update: here is a link to the elpicx CD torrent: elpicx_en_cd.torrent.

The elpicx live CD provides a number of ways to prepare for the LPI exams. (full image size: 137kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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Released Last Week |
SystemRescueCd 0.3.1
An updated stable version of SystemRescueCd has been released. From the changelog: "Updated the kernel to Linux 2.6.18.6 with Reiser4; updated ntfs-3g to 20061218 (full NTFS read and write support); optimized space usage to reduce the size of the disc; added option 'dodhcp' to get a dynamic IP at boot time; added option 'dostartx' to run X.Org environment at boot time; added lshw (hardware listing); improved support for hardware."
Endian Firewall 2.1
A new community release of Red Hat-based Endian Firewall is now available. What's new in version 2.1? "GUI: check boxes instead of multi-select select boxes within network wizard, SSL certificate will only be generated if the host or domain name is changed; VPN: OpenVPN server displays CA certificate, gives the possibility to configure port and protocol, allows to configure multiple networks per user; rewrite of backup service: each backup can be downloaded with a single click, user can decide what to include; other changes: merged in changes of R*EL, updated SpamAssassin, p3scan, ClamAV and fcron, solved problem of gaps within graphs, installation, restores and factory default stores meta-information about the used archive...." More details in the release notes.
SabayonLinux 3.25
SabayonLinux 3.25 has been released, now with the latest X.Org 7.2, the new Kernel Virtual Machine, Beryl 0.1.4 and other enhancements. From the changelog: "Linux kernel 2.6.19.1; the first live implementation of the new Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM) supporting both Intel and AMD architectures; X.Org 7.2 RC3 with better LCD/CRT display detection, improved Intel graphics cards support and more stable ATI open source drivers; new NetworkManager stack that supports many wireless cards; Beryl 0.1.4 with a nearly perfect OpenGL auto-detection and configuration; NVIDIA drivers 1.0-9631 and latest ATI drivers; new Kicker menu picture and better default cursors...." Read the release announcement and release notes for more information.
Puppy Linux 2.13
Barry Kauler has announced the release of Puppy Linux 2.13: "The final release of version 2.13 has been uploaded. This build has the complete suite of kernel drivers. More compact builds with a subset of the full driver suite and different selections of applications will follow soon." From the release notes: "NdisWrapper upgraded to v1.33, which fixes the problem; Soxgui, a great little front-end for SoX and FFmpeg, which can perform various operations on audio files, including file format conversion; Geany text editor upgraded to v0.10; Isomaster ISO file editor tool upgraded to v0.6; SeaMonkey upgraded to v1.0.6...." Read the release announcement and release notes for further details.
Bluewhite64 Linux 11.0 Live CD
A 64-bit Slackware-based live CD, Bluewhite64 Linux 11.0, has been released: "Bluewhite64 11.0 Live CD runs entirely from CD and includes almost all packages from Bluewhite64 11.0, including updated packages from the patches directory. The Live CD was created using Linux Live 5.5.0 scripts and uses the Unification File System. You will not see any differences between running this live CD and installing Bluewhite64 11.0 Linux on your hard drive. You can run the same software from the Live CD, for your server or workstation, in just a few seconds. Bluewhite64 11.0 Live CD main features are: Linux 2.6.17.13 SMP-ready kernel, GCC 3.4.6 with NPTL support, X.Org 6.9, KDE 3.5.4, Firefox 1.5.0.9...." Here is the full release announcement.
trixbox 2.0
Fonality has announced the release of trixbox 2.0, a CentOS-based distribution featuring the Asterisk open source PBX software: "Fonality today released trixbox 2.0, a free, easy to use, open source telephony and application platform. The new version, available for immediate download, can be installed in less than 15 minutes, supports multiple languages and provides increased reliability and stability, flexible user customization, and support for a wide-range of hardware vendors. The software also allows the community to upgrade individual deployment components versus having to reinstall from scratch with each upgrade. trixbox.org will also be hosting its first ever training Webinar entitled 'Building An Open Source IP-PBX With trixbox 2.0' on January 30, 2007." See the press release for more information.
LG3D LiveCD 3.0
LG3D LiveCD 3.0, a bootable CD featuring the recently released version 1.0 or the Java-based 3D Desktop known as Project Looking Glass, is now available for download: "Finally LG3D LiveCD 3.0 has been released. Based on SLAX 5.1.8, this LG3D LiveCD 3.0 showcases Sun Microsystem's stunning 3D desktop Project Looking Glass 3D (LG3D). New in this release: includes the first stable LG3D release (1.0); improved stability and reliability; early prototype of hard disk installer; updated and simplified project homepage." Read the release announcement and release notes for further information.
KNOPPIX 5.1.1
Klaus Knopper has released a bug-fix update to KNOPPIX 5.1, with corrections to the Kicker bug and update to Firefox. From the changelog: "V5.1.1 2007-01-04. Updated Kicker and kdebase (while fixing a nasty bug that made Kicker 'disappear' in all but the first desktop; updated ntfs-3g (writing speed improvements); sudo helper for kdesu; X.Org updates from Debian unstable; IceWeasel and IceDove (Firefox and Thunderbird) updates; kwlan for WLAN with WEP/WPA in Knoppix menu; added VLAN configurator; fixed '2nd reboot fails' bug when installing Knoppix with ReiserFS by downgrading GRUB; added French translation to mkbootdev; removed KDE documentation and Java demos from CD...."
Dreamlinux 2.2
Dreamlinux 2.2 is out: "The final version of Dreamlinux 2.2 Multimedia Edition has been released. Having many improvements compared with the previous version, Dreamlinux 2.2 Multimedia Edition brings countless new features. The kernel is 2.6.18, and the distro uses Debian 'testing' repositories. A greater number of applications for multimedia have been added, allowing to open and manipulate many different types of audio and video files. Beyond the many updates, other refinements have also been incorporated: upgrade assistant, new control panel, and the 'Easy-Install' application that allows the user to install non-Debian programs like Google Earth, Picasa, Opera, etc." Please visit the distribution's product page to learn more about the new release.
Zenwalk Linux 4.2
Jean-Philippe Guillemin has announced the release of Zenwalk Linux 4.2: "Version 4.2 of Zenwalk Linux is officially released. This version comes with the Linux kernel 2.6.18.6 and X.Org 7.1.1, along with new features and hundreds of updated packages. Some of the more noticeable changes include 'Zenpanel' which is Zenwalk's new system configuration panel that makes customizing your Linux system easy. Zenwalk 4.2 desktop introduces a new panel layout and RSS feed reader that was added to Xfce. Howl has been replaced with the more modern and supported Avahi Zeroconf subsystem. Python has been upgraded to version 2.5 to bring new features and stability to the overall system." More details in the release announcement.
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Development and unannounced releases
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Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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DistroWatch.com News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- BOSS GNU/Linux. BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions) GNU/Linux is a Linux distribution developed by C-DAC for enhancing the use of free and open source software in India. Made specifically for the Indian environment, it consists of a pleasing desktop environment coupled with Indian language support and other packages that are most relevant for use in the government domain.
- elpicx. elpicx is a KNOPPIX-based Linux distribution with the goal to prepare users for the exams of the Linux Professional Institute (LPI). The CD includes documentation, exercises, example solutions and simulators.
- Turanid Linux. Turanid Linux is a new Turkish Linux distribution. That's about all we know about it at this stage.
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DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes our latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 15 January 2007. Until then,
Ladislav Bodnar
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Archives |
• Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
• Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
• Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
• Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
• Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
• Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
• Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
• Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
• 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 |
• Full list of all issues |
Star Labs |

Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
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Random Distribution | 
Hakin9 Live
Hakin9 was a magazine about security. It was read by people responsible for computer systems security, programmers, security specialists, professional administrators, as well as people taking up security issues in their free time. Hakin9 Live was a bootable distribution, based on Gentoo Linux or Fedora, containing all the tools and material needed to practice methods and techniques described in the articles.
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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