 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 211, 16 July 2007 |
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Welcome to this year's 29th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! As you might know Ladislav is taking a much needed vacation and we hope he is having a wonderful and relaxing time. I'm Susan Linton and some of you may remember me from when I filled in for Ladislav last summer. Perhaps some others might know me from my website or articles published here and there. Although I can't adequately fill Ladislav's shoes, I will be writing this and next week's DistroWatch Weekly. So here we go. Happy reading!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Featured Story |
Mini-Reviews: CentOS 5.0 LiveCD, Berry 0.82, and AntiX "Spartacus"
 The CentOS team released a liveCD based on version 5.0 on July 10. It's a 679MB download and was created so that a prospective user can test it on their hardware. It comes with enough applications that it could be used as a portable workstation as well.
After descending into the labrynth they call a boot menu, I gave up and just hit enter at the boot screen. The boot process locked up when trying to start the graphics on my Hewlett-Packard dv6105 laptop with NVIDIA Go 6150 graphics. I had a bit better luck on my desktop with an NVIDIA 6800 as the system didn't fully lock up. I was able to ctrl+alt+F2 and edit the xorg.conf file to start X. Afterwards, CentOS looked fairly attractive with a professional quality background and tidy desktop and menus.
The CentOS 5.0 liveCD ships with GNOME 2.16 and IceWM. In the menus one finds ample applications for basic tasks. For example for internet and communications we have Firefox and Thunderbird 1.5.0.10, gFTP, Gaim, Ekiga, and XChat. For graphics they have included gThumb, Xsane, and The GIMP. Server applications include php 5.16, MySQL 5.0, and Apache 2.2. Office tasks can be handled by OpenOffice.org 2.0 and Scribus. Multimedia apps are CDPlayer, K3b, Totem, and Sound Juicer. Some system tools include Baobab, Network Tools, NmapFE, QTParted, and Traceroute. Under the hood we have Linux 2.6.18-8, Xorg 7.1.1, and no GCC.
CentOS also ships with AIGLX and Compiz for those with graphics chips that are supported. NVIDIA owners won't be able to use it as neither the kernel source nor headers are included, and most of the booted system is read-only, precluding any hope of installing the NVIDIA 3D graphic drivers.
Hardware detection hit a sour note with me with its poor graphics detection and configuration. I found their boot menu very confusing even for an old Linux user like myself. There's no install option (that I could find) and given my luck with Anaconda, the installer is the main thing I'd like to test. Otherwise, it was fast performing and stable while providing a decent starter application stack to test. Some of the applications are quite long in the tooth, but the server apps are newer versions. All in all, I wasn't really impressed. For the Red Hat, Fedora, or CentOS fan, it might make a nice portable system. As far as newcomers, this liveCD will not likely result in new CentOS users.
CentOS 5.0 LiveCD Desktop
(full image size: 173kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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 Berry Linux is an installable liveCD based on Fedora. I've looked at Berry Linux several times in the past and always liked it. Berry .82 is no exception. Since I hadn't tested it in a while I couldn't resist looking at the latest released on July 10. Although I still like it, it doesn't seem to be evolving very much. This could be an advantage to true fans, but I believe they have gotten their money's worth out of that kitty cat wallpaper.
The fruity start sequence is still there as well. There are lots of boot options such as English, Rasp, or Vaio. Most of my hardware was detected properly and working including sound, but excluding my winnic. They include the NVIDIA 3D graphics drivers, but for some reason, I was still logged into a 1024x768 desktop. Thinking I could easily adjust that in the xorg.conf file and restart X backfired on me. Silly me clicked on "Logout" in the menu which proceeded to shut the computer completely down. Deeper in the menu is the "Restart or Change Desktop" option that I should have used. So, upon restart I used the cheatcode screen=1280x800 and was given just that. Then I was able to use Ndiswrapper, wpa_supplicant, and dhclient to bring up my internet connection. Inserting removable media results in an error, but are mountable at the commandline.
Berry comes with a limited control panel containing only options for changing the computer name and some simple networking details such as ip or nameserver. The main desktop is KDE 3.5.7, although not all the usual KDE applications are included. In the menus we find Firefox and Thunderbird 1.5.0.11, Gaim, Sylpheed, OpenOffice.org 2.2.1, Planmaker, and Textmaker. In Graphics we find DigiKam, Inkscape, KPDF, Showfoto, and The GIMP. There are a few games such as Miss Driller, Pacman on SNES, and Winemine. Multimedia applications include Audacious, K3b, Kaffine, MPlayer, TVTime, and Xine. I was able to play video files at will. The browser comes with most expected plugins such as flash and multimedia support. Also included in Berry is Wine and Beryl. I wasn't able to figure out how to actually use Beryl without Googling to remind myself of the files I'd need to manually edit, but surely the option was there... somewhere. Berry also ships with the Rasp desktop environment, which looks like a Windows 98 flashback. Under the hood we find Linux 2.6.21.6, Xorg 7.2, and GCC 4.1.2.
All in all, Berry is very much as I remembered. It's stable and has fairly good performance. I did experience a bit of menu hesitation when using the liveCD, but nothing more serious. Hardware detection was good enough and the software selection was adequate. Overall, it remains a solid and respectable Linux distribution choice.
Berry 0.82 LiveCD Desktop
(full image size: 224kB, screen resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
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 AntiX is an installable liveCD based on SimplyMepis geared toward older computers of lesser resources. The developers released "Spartacus" this past week, just little over month since their last. They have done a lot of work in this month. Although I was quite taken with AntiX, I expressed a few issues I had with "antics" and the developers have addressed most them. However, those issues aside, this release finds AntiX improved on many levels.
The most noticeable improvement is in the appearance of AntiX. With an updated background, hipper theme, and more complete menu, AntiX seems less like a distro for older computers than a major contender. The default background is a bit lighter in color than the previous making the desktop easier to use, and it has a much nicer bubble-like logo. In fact, AntiX ships with several background choices. The theme is updated to feature a much nicer 3D windec. The menu is more complete with most applications available listed, but its appearance is much more attractive as well. It has 3D highlighting of items and features translucency and rounded corners. Even the terminal emulators now feature pseudo-transparency to blend with the background of desktop. AntiX is looking great.
Being an off-spring of SimplyMepis, AntiX has superior hardware detection for the basic things. My sound worked at login, as did my touchpad and add-on usb mouse. My graphics were detected properly and I was taken to my desired 1280x800 resolution. But even more appreciated was the fact that my internet connection worked out of the box. This is inherited from SimplyMepis as well and to date they are the only two distros to enable my HP dv6105's winnic out-of-the-box. No fussing around at the commandline for that. However, cpu scaling is still not automagic. I still had to load the modules and set the profile myself. In addition, I'm still having to monitor battery life through the /proc file. Suspend/resume work from the commandline as well. None are a big deal. When installed I can set up the cpufreq to be enabled at boot and add battery monitoring to Conky. The important things are that support is available in the kernel and the tools are included.
But even if some application or utility wasn't included, it would probably be available through Synaptic. SimplyMepis repositories are already set up for the user. Also included are some of the Mepis tools such as the harddrive installer and user, X, and net configuration wizards. In that same area one finds lots of networking and system tools.
AntiX comes with lots of great software. The primary desktop is Fluxbox and it ships with applications to accommodate about any machine. From Firefox, through Dillo, to Links there are about five browsers available. It includes Sylpheed for email, Abiword for word processing, Gnumeric for spreadsheets, and The GIMP for image manipulation. Multimedia can be enjoyed through XMMS, Audacity, and Xine. There are CD/DVD creation tools too. There is Irssi, XChat, Gaim, Pan, gtk-gnutella, and Mutt. It even comes with a few games and much more. The undercarriage has remained the same with Linux-2.6.15-27, Xorg 7.1.1, and GCC 4.0.3.
AntiX now has their very own webpage for announcements and important information, including user and password. Opening any of the browsers takes one to their forum. Helpful Tips appear on the desktop at login.
I just really like this mini-Mepis. It looks great and works really well. It comes with a well-rounded suite of applications and it did exceptionally well on my hardware. Two thumbs and two big toes up!
AntiX 6.5 "Spartacus" LiveCD
(full image size: 208kB, screen resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
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| Miscellaneous News |
Mandriva 2008 details, Gobuntu announced, Sabayon tidbits, Debian Menu, Fedora 8 Features, and CUPS
 The Mandriva Wiki has been updated with the latest information on the upcoming 2008 release. Not only will Mandriva 2008 ship with the latest GNOME in the 2.20 development tree and KDE 3.5.7, but also a preview of KDE 4. They are planning on using Linux 2.6.22 for their kernel-base, Xorg 7.3 with RandR 1.2, and GCC 4.2.0. Other tidbits include OpenOffice.org 2.20, Compiz Fusion, IcedTea, and complete XDG menu migration. We can expect beta releases to start appearing by the end of the month with final being planned for September 27, 2007.
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 Mark Shuttleworth announced a new project on his blog that will produce an all open sourced version of Ubuntu in the ilk of gNewsense. The first priority will be drivers and hardware support, but he is hoping to rally developers for all aspects of distribution production. Of course the announcement soon brought the freedom vs. functionality argument that could have been the precursor to Mr. Shuttleworth's next challenge. After the Gobuntu news, he then announced a project to create a high-end laptop that will run free software perfectly including suspend and hibernate. Softpedia ran a nice story on how to install Gobuntu.
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 There have been quite a few exciting developments in the Sabayon camp this past week. First is the announcement that Sabayon Linux 3.4 should be released within the week now featuring Linux Kernel 2.6.22. I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to that. In other news, they are now including a Sabayon Linux Core Install Method. This will allow users to install a very minimalistic system. As they put it, "Just you, our super fast and stable kernel, and a VT." They have also updated their screenshot gallery with lots of 3.4 screenshots. And in related news, Wine-Doors, a package management tool for windows software on Linux systems, has discreetly announced a partnership with Sabayon Linux. No word from Sabayon yet if and when it will appear in the distro, but community reactions are overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
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 The Fedora Project has been taking suggestions over the last six weeks for the upcoming Fedora 8. The list is beginning to come together and look exciting. Joining OpenSUSE and Mandriva, Fedora plans to include KDE 4 in its next release, with the goal being not as an aside, but as the only KDE desktop. There are currently some test packages in Rawhide for those brave early testers. Another interesting development is improved laptop support. Their main concentration is on making suspend/resume "just work" out-of-the-box for every laptop possible. Developers are also planning to use Pulseaudio as the default sound server. There are packages available currently for this as well, but there are still issues. Another development in discussion is the idea of using the YUM plugin Presto to download deltarpms by default to decrease package download size. Some other areas of improvement include the Startup process, Network Manager, and the elimination of XFS. See the full Feature List for more details.
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 Debian developers have been revamping the Debian menu system lately. Software developers are now trying to update their programs to correspond accordingly. Some of the changes include the removal of Apps > Tools, Games > Sports, and Screen > Root-window. Some of the new sections are Applications > File Management, Applications > Science > Science/Astronomy, Applications > Video, and Games > Tools. Several sections have been renamed or split as well. You can review this debian mailing list post for more specifics.
In other Debian news, the Debian GNU/kFreeBSD porters are pleased to announce that there is now a Debian GNU/kFreeBSD amd64 machine available to the Debian developers. See that announcement for more details. Developer accounts are now being reviewed for "inactive" status. If you are a developer, please see this post for more information.
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 OpenSUSE developers recently took a survey to find out how much some proprietary applications are used. As a result, ARCAD will be removed completely and Planmaker, SEPsesam, TextMaker, TeXlive, and Moneyplex will likely be removed. Andreas' response to the survey results sparked lots of discussion on the subject of TeXlive. The (tentative) final deposition was that TeXlive would remain in the DVD9 box set and in the ftp tree, removed from the 1 CD images, and determinant on space in the 5 CD/DVD5 format. On another topic Andreas asked, "What's the point of still creating the 5 CDs / DVD5 if we now have the 1 CD GNOME/KDE images?" Yikes.
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Another development in the Free and Open Source Software world that gave me a moment of pause was the announcement that Apple Inc. had purchased CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System). We are assured that the lead developer, Michael R. Sweet, now in the employ of Apple, will continue to develop, update, and provide code to the community under the existing GPL2/LGPL2 licensing terms. The frequently asked questions page was updated with some further information as well. Perhaps this is the time for a fork.
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| Released Last Week |
antiX MEPIS 6.5
Warren Woodford has announced the release of antiX MEPIS 6.5, a light-weight MEPIS derivative designed for older computers: "MEPIS has announced the 'Spartacus' release of antiX, a lightweight derivative of MEPIS. AntiX is built and maintained by MEPIS a community member, as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32-bit PC hardware. AntiX is built using the MEPIS Linux 6.5 core including the MEPIS 2.6.15 kernel and utilities, but mostly it has a different set of default user applications: Fluxbox and IceWM, AbiWord, Gnumeric, Leafpad, Scite, Nano, GIMP, Firefox 2, Sylpheed-claws, Dillo.... AntiX is designed to work on computers with as little as 64 MB RAM and Pentium II or equivalent AMD processors." For more information please read the press release and visit the project's web page.
Berry Linux 0.82
Yuichiro Nakada has announced the release of Berry Linux 0.82, a desktop live CD based on Fedora: "Berry Linux 0.82 released." This is the first Berry release based on the new Fedora 7, with corresponding package updates. The distribution uses kernel 2.6.21.6 with SMP, ndev/udev and bootsplash patches, while glibc has been updated to version 2.6, GCC to version 4.1.2 and Busybox to version 1.5.1. The desktop is powered by X.Org 7.2 with optional Beryl 3D desktop features and KDE 3.5.7. Other notable package upgrade include K3b 1.0.1, Digikam 0.9.1, OpenOffice.org 2.2.1, Flash Player 9.0.31, ATI driver 8.33.6, Samba 3.0.25, WINE 0.9.39, NDISwrapper 1.47 and MadWiFi 0.9.3.1. See the complete Berry changelog for more details.
CentOS 5.0 Live CD
Johnny Hughes has announced the availability of CentOS 5 Live CD for i386 processors: "The CentOS Development team is pleased to announce the availability of the CentOS 5 i386 Live CD. This CD is based on our CentOS 5.0 i386 distribution. It can be used as a Workstation, with the following software: OpenOffice.org 2.0.4, Firefox 1.5.0.10, Thunderbird 1.5.0.10, Gaim 2.0.0, Scribus 1.3.3, XChat 2.6.6, K3b 0.12.17 and GIMP 2.2.13. It can also be used as a rescue CD with the following tools: full set of LVM and RAID command line tools; QTParted; Nmap and NMapFE; graphical traceroute; Samba 3.0.23c with CIFS kernel support to connect to Windows file shares; system log viewer; GUI hardware device manager." For more details please read the full release announcement.
EnGarde Secure Linux 3.0.15
Guardian Digital has announced the release of EnGarde Secure Linux 3.0.15: "Guardian Digital is happy to announce the release of EnGarde Secure Community 3.0.15. This release includes many updated packages and bug fixes, some feature enhancements to Guardian Digital WebTool and the SELinux policy, and a few new features. What's new? Due to popular demand, we've made mod_proxy for Apache available via the 'libapache-mod_proxy' package; we addressed a bug in the Snort graph generation subsystem which would cause high CPU load; three new instructional documents were written by Ryan W. Maple and added to the EnGarde Secure Linux Wiki; several new packages such as Dovecot, MySQL++, pptpd, rkhunter...." Please read the release notes to learn more about the latest version.
Endian Firewall 2.1.2
A bugfix release of the Red Hat-based Endian Firewall is now available, with several minor yet significant new features: "The 2.1.2 is built up from the 2.1.1 version, fixing the SATA support system and allowing for a wizard after installation that asks to set up the passwords (root and administrator). In addition, this new release enables the possibility of restoring a backup directly after installation, and of blocking incoming connections coming through the VPN. Moreover, the Endian Firewall Community now includes a 1:1 NAT (for ALL port-forwarding protocol types) and provides added support for EFW as a XEN domU instance. Kernel, glibc, clamav and havp have all been upgraded, and the proxy authentication can now be bypassed for specific ip/mac addresses." More details in the release notes.
Pardus Linux 2007.2
The Pardus developers from Turkey have announced the availability of Pardus Linux 2007.2: "Pardus 2007.2 Caracal caracal released! It is possible to install Pardus 2007.2 in French, Italian and Catalan besides Turkish, English, Spanish, German, Dutch and Brazilian Portuguese. Pardus 2007.2 now introduces KDE 3.5.7 for better stability, translations and eye candy for Pardus users. Network manager application now comes bundled with PEAP-MSCHAPv2 support. Now Pardus clients can authenticate with wireless devices using this protocol, benefiting from strong encryption possibilities." Read the release announcement and release notes for further details.
Bluewhite64 Linux 12.0
Linux, a complete pure 64-bit GNU/Linux distribution that can be deployed on a single or multi core 64-bit AMD64 Athlon, Opteron, Sempron, Turion and Intel EM64T based servers and desktop computers, now reaches version 12.0: "Bluewhite64 Linux 12.0 includes the Linux 2.6.21.5 kernel with the IA32-emulation enabled, the testing Linux 2.6.22 kernel in the testing/ directory with support for IDE, SATA, SCSI and RAID controllers, Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, XFS and IBM's SGI filesystems, SCSI and ATA RAID volume, Software RAID, LVM2 (the Logical Volume Manager), KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and encrypted file systems." Find more on the news page.
BeleniX 0.6.1
A bugfix release of the OpenSolaris Live CD BeleniX is available: "This is primarily a bugfix release fixing some of the bigger bugs in 0.6 though there remains some more to fix in 0.6.2. Here is a list of the changes that have gone in: Upgraded to OpenSolaris Build 67; Upgraded GIMP to 2.2.16; New revamped ddcxinfo utility that can uses Xorg to probe the Monitor and extract EDID information from the logfile. So ddcxinfo now works again; A solution to the Math library SSE2 issue that haunted earlier BeleniX releases has been put in place..." Read the rest of the release announcement for more information.
Helix 1.9
Helix is a KNOPPIX-based live CD with a large collection of tools dedicated to incident response and forensics. Drew Fahey has announced the availability of version 1.9: "Version 1.9 has been officially released. This is not a large update due to work going on for version 2.0 but many of the tools have been updated. NTFS-3g has been update to 1.710, Sleuthkit 2.09, Autopsy 2.08, Scalpel 1.60 to carve data, EnCase Linen 6.01, AFFlib 2.3.0 and libewf-20070512 for image acquisition. The Kernel was also updated to 2.6.18.7. In addition several tools on the Live Windows side have been updated/added: WFT 3.01 and Nigilant32." Read the announcement and changelog for more information.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix 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 |
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. Please remember that the opinions expressed in this week's DistroWatch Weekly are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of DistroWatch.com or its owner, Ladislav Bodnar. The next installment will be published on Monday, 23 July 2007. Until then,
Susan Linton
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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 |
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| Random Distribution | 
ArcheOS
ArcheOS stands for Archaeological Operating System. It was a GNU/Linux live DVD distribution (versions 1.x based on PCLinuxOS, versions 2 and 3 on Kubuntu, version 4 on Debian GNU/Linux), with specialist software for archaeological purposes.
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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