 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 220, 17 September 2007 |
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Welcome to this year's 38th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! DistroWatch has a new Number One distribution and it's called PCLinuxOS. But how is it possible that this small, little-known project, built mostly by one enthusiastic developer, has reached the height that eludes many of the more famous and better established distributions? Keep reading to find out. In the news section: Ubuntu technical team votes for CompizFusion by default, openSUSE continues to show faith in KDE 4.0, Debian looks at new features in X.Org 7.3 and 7.4, Ulteo launches new beta releases, and Linux Mint develops a new update tool - mintUpdate. Finally, don't miss our featured article that introduces MACH BOOT, a Linux live CD that boots into a graphical desktop in as little as 10 seconds! Happy reading!
Content:
 Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in ogg (7.0MB) and mp3 (6.8MB) formats (many thanks to Jim Putman)
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Editorial |
PCLinuxOS - the new Number One distribution
 As many of you noticed, PCLinuxOS has overtaken Ubuntu in our Page Hit Ranking statistics and is currently occupying the top spot on the default 6-month view for the first time. Before contemplating on the reasons behind this "success", let me first serve the usual disclaimer. Being number one on DistroWatch does NOT mean that PCLinuxOS is the most popular distribution, nor does it mean that it is the best distribution; it simply means that during the past six months more people viewed the PCLinuxOS page on DistroWatch (on a one-IP-address-per-day basis) than pages devoted to any other distribution. Whether this translates into actual popularity or higher usage remains unclear, although it is reasonable to assume that new DistroWatch visitors are more likely to download one of the higher-ranked distributions than those occupying lower positions in the ranking.
There have been speculations and suggestions that the Page Hit Ranking statistics might have been manipulated by some overly enthusiastic PCLinuxOS fans. I don't believe so - for two reasons. Firstly, I have logged all visits to the PCLinuxOS page and analysed them for any signs of abuse, but I found none. (That's not to say that there was none, but if there was any, I couldn't find it.) Secondly, there seems to be a trend among the DistroWatch readers to visit distribution pages that are relatively high in the Page Hit Ranking statistics, but are otherwise not particularly well-known outside the scope of this web site; we have seen this not only with PCLinuxOS, but also with other similar distributions, such as Sabayon Linux and Linux Mint. Based on these two facts, everything seems fair and square and PCLinuxOS is on top simply because its page is the most visited one at the moment.
I wanted to use the occasion and publish an interview with Texstar, the founder and lead developer of PCLinuxOS, but disappointingly, he declined to talk to us. The closest thing to having him here is a quote from this thread on PCLinuxOS forum that talks about the status of PCLinuxOS as the new Number One on DistroWatch. Texstar: "What it all comes down to for me is I don't care if we are ranked #1 or #100 or even ranked at all for that matter. I will say it feels good to know that maybe I'm making a difference in helping people use their computers the way they want to use it. I just want to enjoy Linux technology and share it with friends who might like it too and try like hell to stay out of everyone else's way."
So congratulations to PCLinuxOS! If you haven't tried it yet, do give it a spin - it boots into a live CD mode with a graphical installer, it uses Mandriva's excellent Control Centre as a central configuration tool, and it is continuously updated with the latest software which can be installed via apt-get or Synaptic. All in all, a very nice distribution created by a developer who has at least 8 years of experience in building RPM packages and 4 years of experience in building a complete Linux distribution. In the world where many distros disappear after just a year or two of trying, it's nice to see this kind of persistence and never-ending effort from a guy who, perhaps apart from an occasional donation, doesn't get much more out of it than personal satisfaction. Well done, Tex!
PCLinuxOS 2007
(full image size: 157kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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| First Look |
MACH BOOT - a live CD that boots in 10 seconds
When Jun Okajima emailed me in April this year and asked me whether I'd be interested in beta testing his live CD, I was about to decline. I have barely enough time to keep up with 350+ distributions listed on DistroWatch, so there was no way I could possibly slot in any serious beta testing in between my normal work. But there was something in the email that suggested that MACH BOOT was unlike any other live CD I'd seen before - it was built to boot into a full graphical desktop in as little as 10 seconds!
The claim piqued my curiosity. I remember the last time I booted the KNOPPIX live DVD it took more than 5 minutes to get from the boot prompt to KDE. And although many live CDs available today boot much faster than that, none of them gets anywhere near the 10 second claim made by the developer of MACH BOOT. Needless to say, I did sign up for the (non-public) beta test, then waited with anticipation for the first live CD to download. Finally, after some 5 months of testing, the project released the first public ISO image demonstrating the new "mach boot" technology.
Although the CD never managed the promised 10 seconds on any of my test systems, the boot speeds were nevertheless impressive. On my 6-year old Pentium 4 box it takes 17 seconds to get from the GRUB boot prompt to the IceWM window manager. On the much newer Toshiba Satellite with Intel Dual Core T2300 processor the same takes 22 seconds. Mr Okajima himself has succeeded in reducing the boot speed on his test system to 10 seconds, while one of the beta testers apparently claimed that his machine was able to boot in astonishing 7.22 seconds! Besides booting, the CD also sets up the Ethernet card and xorg.conf, using the proper X driver (rather than vesa).
MACH BOOT is based on Debian and uses kernel 2.6.16. The graphical subsystem is powered by X.Org 7.0 and, as mentioned above, the window manager is IceWM (1.2.28). Besides the usual Debian tools and a handful of simple utilities, the only other software package worth mentioning is Mozilla Firefox (version 1.5.0.7).
I emailed Mr Okajima, asking him about the licence, availability of source code and status of patents (if any), but he declined to answer any of these questions: "These issues are being discussed with my business partners at this very moment. The answers will only be published after all negotiations are concluded." The developer of the MACH BOOT CD made it clear that he intended to monetise his invention in one way or another and was currently looking into various options. But aside from the business prospects of the project, one thing is clear - MACH BOOT, from a purely technological point of view, is a remarkable achievement. It is simply the fastest booting live CD by a considerable margin.
More information: http://www.machboot.com/
Direct download link: MB_20070911.ISO (241MB)
MACH BOOT - a fast-booting live CD
(full image size: 48kB, screen resolution: 1024x768 pixels)
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| Miscellaneous News |
Ubuntu shows faith in Compiz, openSUSE in KDE 4, Debian reveals X.Org plans, Ulteo and Linux Mint updates
 Ubuntu has announced that the project's upcoming release, version 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon", will ship with CompizFusion enabled by default - at least on hardware that supports 3D desktop features: "The Ubuntu Technical Board voted yesterday to ship Ubuntu 7.10 with Compiz enabled by default. Compiz is a compositing window manager that includes a number of highly sophisticated visual effects like window shadows, transparency, and desktop zooming. In the Tribe pre-releases, basic visual effects are enabled by default on supported hardware, and more sophisticated visual effects—like wobbling windows—can be enabled with a configuration utility. A compositing window manager was originally planned for inclusion in Ubuntu 7.04, but it was delayed because the software wasn't considered mature enough."
* * * * *
 The recently released X.Org 7.3 has barely made it to download mirrors, but some distribution developers are already talking about the next major version - X.Org 7.4. This is the case with Debian GNU/Linux whose next release is tentatively scheduled for September 2008, some 6 months after the expected release of X.Org 7.4. As is often the case these days, the RandR and Composite features get all the attention: "People having Intel, ATI or recent NVIDIA boards learnt to love the RandR 1.2 extension which provides the ability to enable/disable, resize, rotate, move outputs within a single big virtual screen. More transformations should be possible with RandR 1.3. ... Compositing still gets a lot of attention. EXA (the new acceleration architecture that has been designed for compositing) got improved a lot in X server 1.4. Several drivers, including Intel and ATI r300, already work great with EXA which means Compiz works very smoothly, even when resizing windows. There are also several videos available online, like this one."
* * * * *
 Another much anticipated event on the free software release calendar is KDE 4.0. Although most distributions seem to be having second thoughts on including it in their upcoming stable versions, the openSUSE project has been confidently shipping bits an pieces from KDE 4 in their recent beta releases and has stated that many of these will be included (and enabled by default) in openSUSE 10.3: "It has always been suggested that openSUSE would be among the earliest adopters of KDE 4, and the KDE team began working on this very early with a regularly updated KDE:KDE4 repository in the Build Service, allowing users to have an up-to-date development snapshot of KDE. With this repository Stephan Binner, another KDE developer at openSUSE, created the popular live CD 'KDE Four Live' using KIWI. The packages have been created so that you can seamlessly have both KDE 3 and KDE 4 applications installed and used by each user. The user's configuration files for KDE 4 applications are stored in ~/.kde4 to avoid any conflicts. The Oxygen style, though available, is not enabled by default."
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 Our last week's featured article contrasting the popularity fortunes of Ubuntu and Fedora have resulted in a few nasty comments in the forum, but Max Spevack, the Fedora project manager, was rather pragmatic on the subject: "To win a survey like the Dell or Lenovo one requires you to have lots of users, who care enough about the distribution to go and vote for it. But what does it actually MEAN to win a survey like that, from a corporate and financial point of view? Once you are talking about selling machines with a distro pre-installed on them, then someone, somewhere along the chain is getting paid something. The question is who makes the money, how much are they making, and what is the margin? By margin I mean 'how much money do you have to spend in order to make 1 dollar?' Are you spending 50 cents? 80 cents? 95 cents? And how do you make the margins tilt as far in your favor as possible?"
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 Some nine months have passed since the first public release of Ulteo, a promising, but somewhat mysterious distribution being built by the founder of Mandrake Linux, Gaël Duval. Has the project progressed since its initial release? Yes, says Gaël Duval in this blog post published last week: "Starting from now, we're going to progressively release several parts of the global Ulteo system, through closed beta, and then open beta programs. Many of the people who have subscribed will receive an invitation to test Ulteo. When we feel it's ready for production use, we will release the beta publicly. You will certainly enjoy each part as a standalone product because you will find that it delivers nice features and makes your digital life easier. But you will get the full meaning and benefits of our vision once all these components get interconnected. From now on, we will also post news about the project, on this blog." If you are interested in helping to beta test Ulteo, follow the instructions in this mailing list post.
* * * * *
 Linux Mint, an increasingly popular, user-friendly distribution, is going full steam ahead with the development of its upcoming releases - Celena (3.1, based on Ubuntu "Feisty") and Daryna (4.0, based on Ubuntu "Gutsy"). One of the interesting new features in Daryna will be mintUpdate, a trouble-free software update tool that will replace Ubuntu's Update Manager: "A new tool called mintUpdate is being designed at the moment as a replacement to the Ubuntu Update Manager and its notifier. The purpose of this tool will be to give automatic security updates to users without letting them perform uneducated upgrades. In Cassandra and previous releases the Ubuntu Update Manager was bringing security updates but this could potentially break Linux Mint. In Celena, stability was improved and the Ubuntu Update Manager was removed. In Daryna we'll introduce mintUpdate and provide the best out of both worlds: stability and security."
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| Released Last Week |
KnoppMyth R5F27
A new version of KnoppMyth, a KNOPPIX-based distribution with the goal of simplifying the installation of GNU/Linux and MythTV, has been released: "I'm happy to announce the release of KnoppMyth R5F27. R5F27 includes the latest version of MythTV 0.20.2 fixes, in addition to other goodies that you've come to expect from KnoppMyth." From the changelog: "Changed sources to Etch; remove software suspend2 from kernel; updated V4L/DVB modules, MadWifi to 0.9.3.1, LIRC to 0.8.2-CVS, Webmin to 1.350; more updates for our Australian users; updated NVIDIA drivers (71xx, 96xx and 9755); updated NVIDIA installation scripts; updated MythWeb; added Myth2XviD and MythWebFlash; updated ffmpeg to 20070329 and xine-lib to 1.1.7; added WINE; updated MPlayer; added r8180/8187 wireless modules; added KnoppMyth Radio...." Please visit the project's home page to read the release announcement.
Pioneer Explorer 1.1 Server
Pioneer Explorer 1.1 Server has been released: "Technalign, Inc. has announced the release of Pioneer Explorer 1.1 Server. Pioneer Explorer 1.1 Server is a community based distribution for those wishing to run a server or those learning Linux server management. Explorer Server is a live CD that allows an individual to load the CD and test the server before installation. As all Technalign operating system releases, Explorer 1.1 Server includes a KDE desktop. Those wishing to remove the desktop may do so at will. As with the new Explorer Desktop releases, Explorer Server has a minimum of a 1-year life cycle for those in the community with a planned upgrade path. The new server continues to support Webmin for a graphical interface and SSH." Read the full press release for further information.
Tilix 2.1
Tilix 2.1 has been released. Tilix is a Bulgarian desktop Linux distribution based on Kubuntu and completely localised into Bulgarian. The latest release comes with the following changes and new features: based on "Feisty Fawn"; includes Linux kernel 2.6.20, X.Org 7.2, KDE 3.5.7, OpenOffice.org 2.2.0; Beryl 3D desktop; support for Zeroconf and Strigi desktop search; includes popular KDE applications, such as Digikam 0.9.1, Amarok 1.4.7, K3b 1.0.3, Kopete and KNetworkManager; support for read and write to NTFS partitions with ntfs-3g; new game - Scummvm. Please read the full release announcement (in Bulgarian) for further details (the project's web site is being redesigned and will be updated in a few days.
Tilix 2.1 - a Bulgarian distribution based on Kubuntu
(full image size: 1,620kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
JackLab Audio Distribution 1.0
The first stable release of JackLab, an openSUSE-based distribution designed for musicians, producers and media creators, was announced today: "The technical manager of the JackLab project, Oliver Bengs, released the final 1.0 version of the JackLab Audio Distribution (JAD). JAD 1.0 is based upon openSUSE 10.2, with the addition of a realtime kernel for fast audio processing and a professional audio server - JACK. JackLab 1.0 is the most comprehensive selection of open source audio and multimedia software to date. The Enlightenment D17 window manager (with 'KDE-lite' tweaks) is used by default. Unlike other existing Linux audio distributions (64 Studio, Ubuntu Studio, Musix, dyne:bolic) JAD 1.0 offers complete support for ASIO. In addition, native VST for Linux is supported by JOST, a small modular host." Read the rest of the press release for further details.
* * * * *
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 hit by a DDoS attack
As many of you noticed, DistroWatch was offline for much of the weekend. The reason? A crippling Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that made the site (and server) inaccessible since about 14:00 GMT on Saturday until about 12:00 GMT on Monday. The attack wasn't particularly sophisticated (it still goes on as I write this), but the large flood of packets directed at port 80, combined with the fact that it happened on a weekend, meant that it took some time to resolve the situation and to bring the site back online. Additionally, the server also became unresponsive and the operating system had to be re-installed (this is still being investigated; although there were no obvious signs of compromise, the possibility of the attacker finding a way into the server can't be ruled out).
I don't know who was behind the attack and doubt that I'll ever find out. This is the first time the site was subjected to a DDoS attack, so it caught us all by surprise (why would anybody do this to an innocent tech site?). It's a long story and I could write a detailed account of what happened and what steps were taken to fix the problem, then add some speculative thoughts on why the site was attacked. In the end, the first priority was to restore the web site, repel any remaining attacks and get everything up and running as soon as possible. There are still a few issues that need to be resolved, but the site is pretty much where it was before the weekend (except that it now runs on Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, rather than FreeBSD 6.2).
Many thanks to all concerned readers who found the time to email words of encouragement - I certainly needed them during the last four days of much work and barely any sleep!
* * * * *
New distributions added to database
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- LivEPICS LivEPICS is a Fedora-based Linux distribution with EPICS (a control software framework), extensions tools, introductory documents and manuals. It has a complete functionality to develop a small control system, although it is mainly intended for training classes or to monitor and supervise an EPICS network.
- Vixta.org. Vixta.org is a Fedora-based Linux distribution designed to be user-friendly and eye-catching, similar in look and feel to Windows Vista.
- Geubuntu. Geubuntu is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring the Enlightenment desktop. It attempts to complete the missing parts of the Enlightenment 17 desktop shell and window manager with a certain number of tools and applications from the GNOME desktop.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 24 September 2007.
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • 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 | 
Swecha
Swecha LiveCD was a Debian-based Linux distribution localised into Telugu, one of the official languages of India. Common tasks such as writing and printing documents, browsing the web, sending and receiving emails, chatting and editing graphics can all be accomplished in Telugu directly from the live CD. The system also contains a Telugu text-to-speech software integrated with the desktop; this makes it possible for even illiterate persons to use the operating system, access the Internet, read documents, etc. While Swecha LiveCD can be run directly from the CD, an option to install it to a hard disk was also provided.
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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