 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 206, 11 June 2007 |
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Welcome to this year's 24th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! This week marks the start of a slower season on the distribution release calendar; all major new versions are now out and many users have been enjoying their newly updated Linux desktops. But is there still anything exciting going on the distro scene? You bet! This week's DistroWatch Weekly asks the readers to comment on their "distro hopping" habits, reports about Linux Format's annual distribution mega-test, links to an open source software article in The Economist, and reports about the new linuX-gamers live DVD. Finally, don't miss your chance to suggest new packages to be tracked after the upcoming DistroWatch's package database update later this month. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Featured Story |
Distro hopping
How many distributions have you run on your main desktop system during the past two years? If your answer is "more than one", then you are probably not alone. It seems that the current trend among Linux users -- or at least among those of you who frequent DistroWatch -- is to change a distribution every few months.
Take a look at this piece of statistical evidence from this site's web logs:
The two tables compare the percentage of distributions used to visit DistroWatch.com during the last month (May 2007) and the first 10 days of this month (June 2007), as logged by the web server. The last column of each table represents the percentage of visitors using a certain distribution; as an example, among the Linux users who visited DistroWatch during May 2007, 28.7% used Ubuntu to browse these pages.
Now let's observe the trends. As we can see, some distributions recorded significantly higher market share during the first 10 days of June than during May; most notably Fedora (up from 3.6% to 6.0%), PCLinuxOS (up from 5.6% to 6.5%) and Linux Mint (up from 1.8% to 2.8%). It can't be a coincidence that all three of them released new major versions towards the end of last month (PCLinuxOS 2007 was released on 21 May, Linux Mint 3.0 on 30 May and Fedora 7 on 31 May).
These figures seem to suggest that many of you who visit DistroWatch regularly switched to a new distribution in the last couple of weeks. openSUSE seems to be the biggest victim of this trend (down from 5.8% to 5.3%), but all other distributions that did not release a new version recently also dropped in terms of market share.
So here are a few questions for this week's discussion: Did you switch to a new distribution recently? If so, why? Did you just test one of the new releases and liked it so much that you decided to keep it? Or did you find it exciting to run an operating system with more up-to-date software? If you switched from openSUSE to Fedora or PCLinuxOS, what was your main reason? Are there any readers who have used the same distro for the past two years? Please discuss below.
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| Miscellaneous News |
Distributions enter "shoulder season", Linux Format's distro showdown, The Economist on Ubuntu, Xandros - business as usual
With the release of Fedora 7 in late May, we have now entered the "shoulder season" of the distribution release calendar. With the possible exception of Slackware 11.1 (or will it be 12.0?), no major project is expected to publish a new version before around late September or early October 2007. Last week was a perfect example of this slow-down - only two stable versions (one of which was a regional distribution catering for a specific language group) were announced during the week. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to look forward to before the next major release wave generates new excitement; the upcoming SabayonLinux 3.4 is in heavy development and should be out before long, while the openSUSE project is about to complete its fifth development build of the forthcoming version 10.3. So don't stop visiting DistroWatch even if things are slightly slower than usual - we'll keep bringing you news about any interesting ideas and exciting projects as we learn about them!
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  Linux Format has published its annual "distro showdown", a comprehensive test of the most popular desktop Linux distributions available today. This year's evaluation included eight distributions -- Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, Fedora Core 6, Mandriva Linux 2007, PCLinuxOS 2007 TR4, SabayonLinux 3.3, Slackware Linux 11.0, openSUSE 10.2 and Ubuntu 7.04 -- and covered various aspects, such as security, hardware compatibility, performance, community and software selection. The review gives preliminary standings in each category before concluding the test with a final ranking. And the winner? Ubuntu, which won three of the five categories, finished as the top distribution, ahead of openSUSE and Debian. The only categories that Ubuntu did not win was security (openSUSE was rated the best here) and performance, where the top prize was snatched by PCLinuxOS.
It is always a pleasure to see a mainstream, non-technology publication reporting about Linux and open source software. The latest issue of The Economist caries a long article entitled Bringing free software down to earth, in which the author introduces the readers to Mark Shuttleworth and his vision of the world of software: "Rather than seeing open-source software as one of two competing ideologies and focusing on the struggle, Ubuntu thinks about the user. Ubuntu is a complete bundle of software, from operating system to applications and programming tools, that is updated every six months and, says Mr Shuttleworth, will always be free. Taking the hassle out of open source is intended to move adoption beyond politically motivated enthusiasts and encourage mass adoption of the software on its merits." Read the rest of the article here.
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 Xandros, a company which was created from the ashes of Corel Linux in 2002, but which has failed to excite the Linux community in recent years, has finally entered the headlines of Linux publications. Unfortunately, for the wrong reasons. After concluding a business, technical and Intellectual Property collaboration deal with Microsoft, many free software enthusiasts expressed their dismay over the agreement (see this article by Groklaw or this one by ITWire). But even before this deal, Xandros had never been a community player (it has failed to release a single piece of its own software under a free licence) and the only raison d'être of this Canadian company was to profit from free software. And while its first two releases of Xandros Desktop brought some interesting advancements into desktop Linux, the company later abandoned its innovative spirit and desktop enthusiasm to focus on business Linux instead. Disappointing, to say the least, from a company that held so much promise in its early days....
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Here at DistroWatch we have talked about the so-called Linux web sites that happily disseminate sponsored anti-Linux propaganda from their pages. Last week, the Free Software Magazine published a parody on the subject of Microsoft's ongoing smear campaign against Linux, targeting Linux news sites: "...you want to place your ad on articles and pages that relate to your competitors, so you can have that juxtaposition sitting right there. An article about your opponent? YOU NEED TO BE THERE. My suggestion is to target all of your opposition sites as well, and offer huge sums for advertising space on their sites. Some of them will go for it because they can't afford not to." Even if you disagree with the DistroWatch position that accepting such advertisements for publishing on Linux news sites is an insult to the community of Linux developers and users, this is still an entertaining article to read. Enjoy!
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| Released Last Week |
STUX GNU/Linux 1.0
STUX GNU/Linux 1.0, a live CD based on Slackware's "current" tree, has been released: "STUX GNU/Linux 2007 (version 1.0) released." From the changelog: "Upgraded to Slackware current as at 1 June 2007 and KNOPPIX live CD 5.1.1 (kernel 2.6.19); fixed problem with installation on SATA hard disks; all STUX utilities deeply reviewed; NVIDIA proprietary driver updated to 1.0-9755 + legacy driver 1.0-9631 for old cards; save live CD persistent configuration on ReiserFS partitions; install compressed image on ReiserFS partitions; Acx wireless firmware upgraded; fully integrates with other pre-installed operating systems; Compiz 0.5.0; fully VMware/QEMU compatible." Visit the project's news page to read the release announcement and changelog.
Càtix 1.3
Càtix is a Debian-based live DVD with support for Catalan, a widely-used language spoken in Spain's Catalonia and some neighbouring regions. Càtix 1.3 was announced earlier today; some of the important changes and new features include: read and write support for NTFS partitions; X.Org 7.2, pre-configured for 3D desktop effects with AIGLX and Beryl; use of Unicode as the default character encoding; Unionfs 2.0 overlay file system compressed with Squashfs, providing 4.5 GB of software on a 1.6 GB DVD images; auto-detection of USB storage devices; Linux kernel 2.6.21 with KDE 3.5.7, GNOME 2.18.1, OpenOffice.org 2.2.0, Iceweasel 2.0.0.3 and many other applications. Please read the comprehensive release notes (in Catalan) for detailed information about the new release.
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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 |
The annual package database update
As has become customary, June is the month when the list of packages tracked by DistroWatch gets updated to include new packages that you would like to see listed in the distribution tables. If you have a package that you believe is worth tracking on DistroWatch, please either email us directly (email address at the bottom of this page) or leave a comment in the forum below. Please note, that not all requested packages will be added, but those that receive the most requests will be considered for inclusion.
One set of packages that have been requested frequently during the past few months are the various 3D desktops, especially Compiz and Beryl, but also Metisse. However, with the ongoing merge between Compiz and Beryl, it isn't quite clear what the end result will be; will Compiz and Beryl still exist after the two projects have merged or will there be a new package? Maybe some of our readers who follow the project can provide suggestions as to which package(s) to track. Also, does anybody use Metisse? Is it worth listing?
Several packages have undergone a name change or have been forked due to various issues and these will be renamed in the DistroWatch tables shortly; here is the list:
The new package list will be finalised and announced next Monday, 18 June.
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New distributions added to database
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New distributions added to waiting list
- Enlisy. Enlisy is a Linux distribution optimised for i686 processors (Pentium II or better), with InitNG as its init system and Apport as its package manager. It is currently aimed at the more experienced Linux user.
- Linux For Clinics. Linux For Clinics is an Ubuntu-based distribution with the goal of providing a Linux-based OS with a complete software package aimed at medical professionals and hospitals as a free and complete alternative to proprietary software.
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DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 18 June 2007. Until then,
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Ussye 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 |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Full list of all issues |
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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 | 
Foresight Linux
Foresight Linux was a desktop operating system, based on rPath Linux, featuring an intuitive user interface and showcasing the latest desktop software. As a Linux distribution, Foresight sets itself apart by eliminating the need for the user to be familiar with Linux, combining a user-focused desktop environment on top of the Conary package management system. As the most technically innovative software management system available today, Conary ensures that users can efficiently search, install, and manage all the software on the Foresight system, including bringing in the latest features and fixes without waiting for a major release.
Status: Discontinued
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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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