 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 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
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| Random Distribution | 
Anonym.OS LiveCD
Anonym.OS LiveCD was a bootable live CD based on OpenBSD that provides a hardened operating environment whereby all ingress traffic was denied and all egress traffic was automatically and transparently encrypted and/or anonymised.
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!
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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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