 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 184, 8 January 2007 |
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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 |
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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 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 |
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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.
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| Random Distribution | 
Tanglu
Tanglu was a Debian-based Linux distribution which aims to provide the best desktop experience for regular users and enthusiasts. Compared to Debian GNU/Linux, Tanglu plans to offer a number of user-friendly, desktop-oriented features such as availability of newer software, inclusion of extra firmware by default, and a regular, time-based release cycle.
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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