 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 195, 26 March 2007 |
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Welcome to this year's 13th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! As expected, the developers of the Ubuntu family of Linux distributions announced their beta releases late last week, edging towards that last month of intensive debugging before the final release. Other distributions are also hard at work: Mandriva has announced details about the upcoming Mandriva 2007 "Spring", KNOPPIX has delivered a new CeBIT DVD to the attendees of the popular show in Hannover, and Fedora is expected to publish its third development build, version 7 test3, in just a few days. In other news, Red Hat unveils plans for a new desktop distribution, Ian Murdoch criticises the project he founded for lacking strong leadership, and François Bancilhon is dismayed by the decision of the French Assemblée Nationale to choose Ubuntu over Mandriva for its Windows-to-Linux migration. More details below, so enjoy this week's issue DistroWatch Weekly and don't forget to share your opinions in the forum!
Content:
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| Overview |
Overview of Top Ten Distributions (part 1)
One of the criticisms of this web site that was expressed in our recent discussion on the future of DistroWatch Weekly is the outdated information on the Top Ten Distributions page. The time has come to remedy the situation. In the following few issues of DistroWatch Weekly I will rewrite the information and bring it up-to-date with current developments. As always, there might be readers who will disagree with some statements, in which case you are welcome to leave a comment or suggest a correction. This way, we should have a good, up-to-date overview of the major distributions with their descriptions, pros and cons and other information of interest in just a few weeks. Please bear in mind that this list is intended for relatively newcomers to Linux, so the information presented should be clear and free of technical jargon.
The list will contain the following distributions: Ubuntu, openSUSE, Fedora, Mandriva Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, PCLinuxOS, SimplyMEPIS, Slackware Linux, Gentoo Linux and KNOPPIX, with an honourable mention of one BSD representative - FreeBSD. Some other distributions that seem to be growing in popularity will be mentioned as possible alternatives.
Today I'll start with the top three: Ubuntu, openSUSE and Fedora.
* * * * *
 The launch of Ubuntu was first announced in September 2004. Although a relative newcomer to the Linux distribution scene, the project took off like no other before, with its mailing lists soon filled in with discussions by eager users and enthusiastic developers. In the few years that followed, Ubuntu has grown to become the most popular desktop Linux distribution by far and has greatly contributed towards creating an easy-to-use and free desktop operating system that can compete well with any proprietary ones available on the market.
What was the reason for Ubuntu's stunning success? Firstly, the project was created by Mark Shuttleworth, a charismatic South African multi-millionaire, a former Debian developer and the world's second space tourist, whose company, the Isle of Man-based Canonical Ltd, is currently financing the project. Secondly, Ubuntu had learnt from the mistakes of other similar projects and avoided them from the start - it created an excellent web-based infrastructure with a Wiki-style documentation, creative bug-reporting facility, and professional approach to the end users. And thirdly, thanks to its wealthy founder, Ubuntu has been able to ship free CDs to all interested users, thus contributing to the rapid spread of the distribution.
On the technical side of things, Ubuntu is based on Debian Sid (unstable branch), but with some prominent packages, such as GNOME, Firefox and OpenOffice.org, updated to the latest versions. It has a predictable, 6-month release schedule, with an occasional Long Term Support (LTS) release that is supported with security updates for 3 - 5 years, depending on the edition (non-LTS release are supported for 18 months). Other special features of Ubuntu include an installable live CD, creative artwork and desktop themes, migration assistant for Windows users, support for the latest technologies, such as the 3D desktop effects, easy installation of proprietary device drivers for ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards and wireless networking, and on-demand support for non-free or patent-encumbered media codecs.
- Pros: Fixed release cycle and support period; novice-friendly; wealth of documentation, both official and user-contributed
- Cons: Some of Ubuntu's own software (e.g. Launchpad, Rosetta) are proprietary; the availability of non-free kernel modules is sometimes seen as going against the spirit of Free Software; lacks compatibility with Debian
- Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages
- Available editions: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu for 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; Ubuntu Server edition also for SPARC processors
- Possible alternatives: Linux Mint, Freespire, gNewSense
* * * * *
 The start of openSUSE dates back to 1992 when four Linux enthusiasts -- Roland Dyroff, Thomas Fehr, Hubert Mantel and Burchard Steinbild -- launched the project under the name of SuSE (Software und System Entwicklung) Linux. In the early days, the young company sold sets of floppy disks containing a German edition of Slackware Linux, but it wasn't long before SuSE Linux became an independent distribution with the launch of version 4.2 in May 1996. In the following years, the developers of SuSE Linux adopted the RPM package management format and introduced YaST, an easy-to-use graphical system administration tool. Frequent releases, excellent printed documentation, and easy availability of SuSE Linux in stores across Europe and North America resulted in growing popularity of the distribution.
SuSE Linux was acquired by Novell, Inc. in late 2003. Major changes in the development, licensing and availability of SUSE Linux followed shortly afterwards - YaST was released under the General Public License, the ISO images were freely distributed from public download servers, and, most significantly, the development of the distribution was opened to public participation for the first time ever. Since the launch of the openSUSE project and the release of version 10.0 in October 2005, the distribution became completely free in both senses of the word. The openSUSE code has become a base system for Novell's commercial products, first named as Novell Linux, but later renamed to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
Today, openSUSE has a large following of satisfied users. The principal reason for openSUSE getting high marks from its users are pleasant and polished desktop environments (KDE and GNOME), excellent system administration utility (YaST), and, for those who buy the boxed edition, some of the best printed documentation available with any distribution. However, the recent deal between Novell and Microsoft, which apparently concedes to Microsoft's argument that it has intellectual property rights over Linux, has resulted in a string of condemnation by many Linux personalities and has prompted some users to switch distribution. Although Novell has downplayed the deal and Microsoft has yet to exercise any rights, this issue remains a thorn in the side of the otherwise very community-friendly Linux company.
- Pros: Comprehensive and intuitive configuration tool; large repository of software packages, excellent web site infrastructure and printed documentation
- Cons: Novell's patent deal with Microsoft in November 2006 seemingly legitimised Microsoft's intellectual property claims over Linux; its resource-heavy desktop setup and graphical utilities are often seen as "bloated and slow"
- Software package management: YaST graphical and command line utility using RPM packages
- Available editions: openSUSE for 32-bit (i386), 64-bit (x86_64) and PowerPC (ppc) processors; SUSE Linux Enterprise for i586, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x and x86_64 architectures; also a non-installable live DVD edition.
- Possible alternatives: None
* * * * *
 Although Fedora was formally unveiled only in September 2004, its origins effectively date back to 1995 when it was launched by two Linux visionaries -- Bob Young and Marc Ewing -- under the name of Red Hat Linux. The company's first product, Red Hat Linux 1.0 "Mother's Day", was released in the same year and was quickly followed by several bug-fix updates. In 1997, Red Hat introduced its revolutionary RPM package management system with dependency resolution and other advanced features which greatly contributed to the distribution's rapid rise in popularity and its overtaking of Slackware Linux as the most widely-used Linux distribution in the world. In later years, Red Hat standardised on a regular, 6-month release schedule.
In 2003, just after the release of Red Hat Linux 9, the company introduced some radical changes to its product line-up. It retained the Red Hat trademark for its commercial products, notably Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and introduced Fedora Core, a Red Hat-sponsored, but community-oriented distribution designed for the "Linux hobbyist". After the initial criticism of the changes, the Linux community accepted the "new" distribution as a logical continuation of Red Hat Linux. A few quality releases was all it took for Fedora to regain its former status as one of the best-loved operating systems on the market. At the same time, Red Hat quickly became the biggest and most profitable Linux company in the world, with an innovative product line-up and other interesting initiatives, such as its Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification programme.
Although Fedora's direction is still largely controlled by Red Hat, Inc. and the product is sometimes seen -- rightly or wrongly -- as a test bed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, there is no denying that Fedora is one of the most innovative distributions available today. Its contributions to the Linux kernel, glibc and GCC are well-known and its more recent integration of SELinux functionality, Xen virtualisation technologies and other enterprise-level features are much appreciated among the company's customers. On a negative side, Fedora still lacks a clear desktop-oriented strategy that would make the product easier to use for those beyond the "Linux hobbyist" base.
- Pros: Highly innovative; large number of supported packages; strict adherence to the Free Software philosophy
- Cons: Less community-oriented than other major distributions; its priorities tend to lean towards enterprise features, rather than desktop usability
- Software package management: YUM graphical and command line utility using RPM packages
- Available editions: Fedora for 32-bit (i386), 64-bit (x86_64) and PowerPC (ppc) processors; Red Hat Enterprise Linux for i386, ia64, ppc, s390x and x86_64 architectures; also live CD and live DVD editions
- Possible alternatives: BLAG Linux And GNU, CentOS, Scientific Linux, Yellow Dog Linux
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| Miscellaneous News |
The Paris Spring, KNOPPIX 5.2.0, Red Hat desktop, Debian at the crossroads, PC-BSD updates
 Mandriva is set to become the first major distribution with a new product release this year. According to a press release the company sent out late last week, Mandriva Linux 2007.1, marketed as "Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring" will introduce a key new feature - Metisse: "Metisse, an innovative window management technology. Unlike the widely known 3D-accelerated desktops with the cube effect and other visual enhancements, Metisse offers an innovative way to manage windows: only the windows move, making the possible variations endless! Metisse is not a 3D-accelerated desktop but a Human-Computer Interface (HCI) technology that revolutionizes the user experience." The press release avoids any reference to a release date, but according to this schedule estimation, Mandriva Linux 2007.1 is expected to ship on April 4th, 2007.
 In a separate development, Mandriva's CEO François Bancilhon has published an open letter (in French; an English translation is available here) expressing a dismay over the recent decision by the French Parliament to migrate its 1,000+ computers from Windows to Ubuntu. According to Bancilhon, Ubuntu is "a Linux competitor of Mandriva, 100% financed by a South African billionaire -- hence using a business model no company can compete with -- and flooding the market." He argues that Mandriva, the only European Linux company according to the Mandriva CEO, is based in Paris and is therefore better suited to supply the needs of the French National Assembly. He also speculates that the decision to deploy Ubuntu over Mandriva was based on price, rather than technical merits. He concludes: "I don't understand this choice and I don't understand how a French company, which can ensure a local support of its product thanks to its engineers based in France, was not appointed."
* * * * *
 Klaus Knopper has announced the release of KNOPPIX 5.2.0, a special, German-only edition designed for the CeBIT exhibition. He has also revealed that a public release, version 5.2.1, will follow soon, probably in April. What can we look forward to? "Stable kernel 2.6.19, KDE 3.5.5 with Beryl as a 3D window manager and GNOME 2.14; QEMU, including the accelerated kernel module KQEMU; KVM for CPUs supporting hardware-accelerated virtualization,; VirtualBox OSE; Xen 3.0.4; VServer; Knoppix WLAN configurator with WEP and WPA-PSK as an easier-to-use alternative to KWifiManager; first version of 0wn (Zero Work Needed) installer." For more information please read the full release announcement. Those of you who understand German can download the KNOPPIX 5.2.0 DVD from LinuxTracker: Knoppix_5.2.iso (4,379MB).
KNOPPIX 5.2.0 was unveiled last week during the CeBIT exhibition
(full image size: 917kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
* * * * *
 Is Red Hat planning a desktop Linux strategy? Those of you who have been following the distro scene for a while will remember the infamous words of Matthew Szulik, the then Red Hat CEO, who was once quoted as saying that "...for the consumer market place, Windows probably continues to be the right product line." That was back in 2003, though, when desktop Linux didn't appear particularly appetising to the executive of the world's largest Linux company. But, as was reported by eWEEK last week, less than four years later things look rather different: "Red Hat is planning a packaged Linux desktop solution that it hopes will push its Linux desktop offering to a far broader audience than exists for its current client solution." Has Red Hat adopted a new, more ambitious line of thinking or is it merely trying to catch up with the current product lines from Novell and Ubuntu? We should be able to find out later this year.
* * * * *
 The widely publicised words of Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian GNU/Linux, criticising the lack of strong leadership in the world's largest Linux distribution, has surprised the Debian community. He argues that despite its status as a non-commercial, community project, Debian should behave more like a company, with an ability to make unpopular decisions, if necessary. He also cites the example of Ubuntu as a project that has done extremely well exactly because of a strong leader. But not everybody agrees with the Debian founder. In Debian at the crossroads, ITWire's Sam Varghese argues that any radical change could actually do more harm than good to the project: "The temptation to chase behind commercial shadows is indeed great but in the end, Debian is unique among Linux distributions and too much of change would hurt the project rather than help it progress."
* * * * *
 Finally, some news from the PC-BSD project. Following a long IRC meeting last week, the developers of the FreeBSD-based operating system have announced a number of important decisions that should increase the attractiveness of their product. Chief among them is the decision to focus on improving the PC-BSD documentation that will likely please many technically oriented PC-BSD users. Also, PC-BSD now has a clearly-defined support period: "Each major release (1.x, 2.x etc.) will be supported for additional 12 months after the release date of the final point release." And lastly, a brand new major release of PC-BSD, version 1.4, has been tentatively scheduled for June 2007. For more information please read this blog post by Tim McCormick, the PC-BSD lead developer.
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| Released Last Week |
Pioneer MigrationSERVER
Technalign has announced the release of Pioneer MigrationSERVER, an easy-to-use, Ubuntu-based Linux distribution for servers: "Technalign, Inc. has announced the release of Pioneer MigrationSERVER. Pioneer MigrationSERVER replaces previous versions. MigrationSERVER includes functions such as RAID, DHCP, Samba to mention a few, which install simply by clicking a button on the web interface. Users can use either SSH or Webmin to manage their servers and both have been included as options for server management. Technalign's MigrationSERVER allows customers to drive down their server and acquisition costs." Please read the complete release announcement and visit the MigrationSERVER product page for more information and screenshots.
CRUX 2.3
Matt Housh has announced the release of CRUX 2.3, an independent, light-weight, i686-optimised Linux distribution designed for advanced Linux users: "CRUX 2.3 has been released." What's new? "CRUX 2.3 includes glibc 2.5 and GCC 4.1.2; the monolithic x11 package has been replaced by the new modular X.Org distribution - as the results of this update, crux.nu now hosts a dedicated 'xorg' ports repository, installed by default; the netkit-base port has been replaced by inetd and iana-etc; by popular request we included iproute2 and iputils in the core collection." For more information please read the release announcement, release notes and changelog.
Frugalware Linux 0.6
Miklós Vajna has announced the release of Frugalware Linux 0.6: "The Frugalware Developer Team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Frugalware 0.6, our sixth stable release. Here are the most important changes since 0.5: up-to-date base system: glibc 2.5, binutils 2.17.50.0.6 with DT_GNU_HASH support, DBUS 1.0 and Python 2.5; up-to-date desktop packages: KDE 3.5.6, Xfce 4.4, Beryl 0.2.0, OpenOffice.org 2.1, Firefox 2.0.0.2 and GNOME 2.18; all installed-by-default packages using Java are now built using gcj/ecj, the original binary javac is only provided as an alternate compiler; setup: speed improvements, support for more custom action, TFTP installs and USB sticks are now supported; full support for Xgl/Beryl in KDE." Here is the full release announcement.
SAM Linux 2007
SAM Linux 2007, a PCLinuxOS-based live CD featuring the Xfce desktop, has been released: "After two test releases I am happy to give you the final version of SAM 2007. SAM comes with the latest Xfce 4.4 desktop, support for more than 20 languages, Beryl/Xgl, and contains a complete home desktop with office, Internet, games, multimedia, graphics, system, security and rescue-Software, and nice additions like WINE, Flash 9, Java and RealPlayer. Now it is possible to boot from a USB stick using the CD as start medium, and the export of the 'home' folder to an USB flash device is back on the live CD. Changes: OpenOffice.org updated to 2.2 RC, changes in the games section, added GParted...." Read the full release announcement for more details.
SAM Linux 2007 is a PCLinuxOS variant featuring the Xfce desktop
(full image size: 917kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
SabayonLinux 3.3 "miniEdition"
The single-CD "miniEdition" of SabayonLinux has been released: "I'm proud to announce that SabayonLinux 3.3 miniEdition (live CD) have been released. New features and bug fixes since SabayonLinux 3.20: K3b updated to 1.0; SabayonLinux installer fixes (including the ones reported in 3.3); added VIA OpenChrome GFX drivers; updated GPU detector to the work accordingly to the new feature listed above; updated to Beryl 0.2.0; updated IVTV driver to 0.10.0; updated rt2500 driver to CVS snapshot; fixed pppoe-setup scripts; updated NdisWrapper to 1.39; binary packages support through a simple binhost (alpha release)." Please read the full release announcement for more details.
* * * * *
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
- Kiwi Linux. Kiwi Linux is a Romanian variant of Ubuntu with proprietary media codecs, support for local ADSL providers, and improved localisation for Romanian, Hungarian and other languages.
- myOS. myOS is a minimalistic OpenGL-capable GNU/Linux system without X. It is a bare bones Linux system, stripped down of everything, but the necessary files to compile and run OpenGL/C code.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes our latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 2 April 2007. Until then,
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Full list of all issues |
| 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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| Random Distribution | 
OpenNA Linux
OpenNA Linux was a GPL-licensed Linux operating system with rock-solid stability and industrial-strength networking. Highly secure, very fast, and modern Linux operating system, it was intended for those who want to install and run a Linux server for mission critical tasks in a high secure environment. With OpenNA Linux, you have the choice to install different pre-defined types of servers which will install only what was required for the server to run with the required service. If you want to run a web server in your network, then OpenNA Linux will install at your demand the required packages to provide this service. In this way your server will never keep software that you don't know or you don't need for the services you want to provide.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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