 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 229, 19 November 2007 |
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Welcome to this year's 47th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Following our review of Fedora 8 last Monday, this week's DistroWatch Weekly offers a few more observations about Red Hat's community distribution - this time from the perspective of your DistroWatch maintainer. While clearly an excellent product, it nevertheless suffers from a few annoyances and dubious design decisions. In the news section, Red Hat Magazine introduces GNOME Online Desktop, Ubuntu releases a specialist distribution for virtual appliances, Oracle's Larry Ellison fires more ugly shots at Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Kurumin's Carlos Morimoto considers the future of the popular Brazilian community project. Finally, for those interested in Computer Aided Engineering, don't miss the new release from CAELinux. Happy reading!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Reviews |
Impressions of Fedora 8
 Two weeks ago I switched my main production workstation from Sabayon Linux 3.4 to Fedora 8. This was part of my scheduled distro rotation plan that I started two years ago in order to better evaluate the different options on the market and to stay on top of the latest open source innovations. It was also the first time in years that I used a Red Hat product; as far as I can remember, I haven't installed any on a production box since Red Hat Linux 9 and even that was just a simple mail server. But the Fedora of today is a very different operating system - not only is it one of the most innovative distributions around, it is now also a well-oiled community project with increasing participation of third-party developers and volunteer contributors.
I performed a clean installation of Fedora 8 RC3 (a near-final build), x86_64 edition, on a machine with the following specifications: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ dual-core processor; GIGABYTE GA-M55S-S3 motherboard with AMD Socket AM2 (with on-board LAN and audio, one IDE and four SATA channels), 2 GB of DDR II RAM PC2-5300, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT video card, 2 x 250 GB SATA hard disks (Maxtor); Acer AL2016W 20-inch wide screen monitor supporting maximum resolution of 1680x1050 pixels. I used the standard installation DVD (rather than the newer live CD option). Things didn't go as smoothly as I expected; after completing the installation with a customised package selection (to include KDE, a web server and development packages), the system refused to boot with a "file system error". I repeated the exact same installation - with the exact same result (the fsck utility found no errors, though). On the third attempt, I reverted to the default package selection and this time the system booted fine.
As soon as the new operating system was up and running, the early troubles were quickly forgotten. Fedora's hardware detection was flawless (it configured even the screen resolution correctly) and the desktop looked exceptionally pleasant; I was particularly impressed with the new Liberation fonts. I don't have any benchmarks to support my claim, but the desktop and applications felt noticeably snappier than on Sabayon Linux 3.4. After installing the NVIDIA proprietary driver from Livna.org, I enabled CompizFusion and this too worked very well. I spent the following hours installing all my favourite applications from the standard Fedora repositories and media codecs from third-party sources. This was perhaps the only disadvantage of Fedora 8 when compared to Sabayon Linux, which comes pre-configured with all the media goodies and browser plugins a desktop Linux user could possibly need.
No Linux distribution is perfect and Fedora 8 is no exception. In the process of installing software and configuring the system I came across a number of issues; most of them minor, but one near show-stopper that almost made me abandon the distribution. Since DistroWatch uses the SQLite database to store news and some statistical bits and pieces, I was rather shocked to discover that PHP on Fedora 8 is compiled with the "--without-sqlite" flag. This was apparently done because the maintainer of the PHP package at Fedora considers SQLite support in PHP unsafe. I am not an expert on the issue, but if the upstream, as well as Debian, FreeBSD, Mandriva, openSUSE and Slackware are all happy to ship PHP with SQLite enabled, then I somehow doubt that Fedora has a valid case here. In the end I solved the problem by downloading the source RPM of PHP, removed the absurd "--without-sqlite" line from the php.spec file and recompiled the package. Luckily, this worked fine, so now I can load DistroWatch from my own workstation too.
The default package management infrastructure as represented by yum, Pirut and yum-updatesd was another part of Fedora 8 that I found unsatisfactory. The way a Fedora installation seems to be configured is that every time any of these applications is run, it connects to the Fedora Project web server to retrieve a mirror list, then automatically assigns a mirror from which to retrieve the package database. For some reason, I always found myself getting the database from what seemed like the slowest mirror imaginable, located somewhere in Russia - it sometimes took several hours just to retrieve the package database! During this time it was, of course, impossible to use any other package management application, not even for search. It also drove me insane to see how there was no way to sort searched packages in an alphabetical order in Pirut. It wasn't until I discovered yum-fastestmirror and yumex (Yum Extender) that package management on Fedora became an acceptable experience. Why aren't these two applications installed in Fedora by default?
I prefer KDE on my desktop, so after a brief moment exploring the latest GNOME, I logged into KDE. This I always do with some apprehension; it is interesting to note that while the traditionally KDE-centric distributions, such as openSUSE or Mandriva, now treat GNOME as an equal desktop, the traditionally GNOME-centric distribution, such as Ubuntu or Fedora, still consider KDE a second-class citizen. That's not to say that the KDE desktop on Fedora is broken, but it's rather obvious that some of the new features as well as the new artwork were designed for and fully integrated with GNOME only. Also, while CompizFusion run without problem in GNOME, I couldn't start it in KDE - not until I came across a brief tutorial that included a list of extra packages that needed to be installed before CompizFusion would run in KDE. An occasional Arts error message also suggested that KDE had not receive the same amount of testing as GNOME.
The only other bug I found was in gFTP, which is my preferred application for uploading files to the DistroWatch server due to its support for the SSH2 protocol. It's an upstream bug that gives a "permission denied" error on world-readable files when in SSH2 mode; however, this bug was fixed in Debian and Gentoo almost two years ago, so I was disappointed to see it still present in Fedora 8 (it is also unfixed in the current release of Mandriva). I suppose it's just a matter of reporting the bug in Red Hat's Bugzilla, which -- as a good open source citizen -- I promised myself to do as soon as I find a bit of spare time.
With the exception of the PHP/SQLite issue and perhaps also the default package management infrastructure (which just isn't anywhere near par with Debian's APT), I found Fedora 8 a very usable and complete distribution. Besides all the innovation and generally trouble-free computing, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the community part of Fedora now functions - the Livna.org packages were already in testing repositories before Fedora 8 final was released and I found them to be of very high quality. Even better, the Livna.org package maintainers are extremely fast with updates - I was impressed with the almost instant release of Livna.org kernel modules shortly after the recent Fedora 8 kernel update.
I also appreciate the fact that many of the more visible packages in Fedora get updated to their latest versions after the distribution's stable release; as an example the original Fedora 8 shipped with GIMP 2.4.0rc3, but it has since been updated to GIMP 2.4.1 via the normal update mechanism. I know that openSUSE does this too sometimes, but Ubuntu and Mandriva generally do not. With the exception of those who need a desktop with a mission-critical stability (in which case Red Hat Enterprise Linux or CentOS would be better alternatives), most users will probably appreciate that the distribution is kept up-to-date with well-tested packages throughout its lifespan.
Overall, nothing (except for the occasional work needed to recompile PHP after any future updates) indicates that I won't be a happy Fedora 8 user for the next six months. It is considerably less buggy than Sabayon Linux 3.4 was and the existence of Livna.org makes adding media codecs and non-free drivers a painless experience. I didn't encounter any problems with using the 64-bit edition of Fedora - like in recent Mandriva and Sabayon Linux releases, the 32-bit and 64-bit libraries are seamlessly integrated into the system. Although Fedora 8 isn't perfect (which distribution is?), it comes a lot closer to delivering a superb desktop experience than one would expect from a company whose business is focused almost exclusively on the server market. Great job overall and a well-deserved 8.5 out of 10.
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| Statistics |
Windows versus Linux
Will 2008 be the Year of Linux? While it doesn't look likely that Linux will become a dominant operating system for some time yet, the gap between Windows and Linux is definitely narrowing. That's at least according to the DistroWatch web server statistics, which collects information about the operating systems used to visit this web site. While in late 2004 the percentage of Windows-using visitors hovered at around 65% of all readers, this figure has since dropped to around 55%. At same time, the percentage of visitors using Linux has risen from around 28% in late 2004 to 36% today. In reality, the percentage of Linux-using readers is probably still higher, but the sheer number of search and spam bots which access the web site daily and which invariable identify themselves as arriving from a Windows client make the result look overly flattering for the Microsoft operating system.
The narrowing gap between the usage of Windows and Linux
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| Miscellaneous News |
Fedora's GNOME Online Desktop, Ubuntu JeOS, Oracle vs Red Hat, future of Kurumin Linux, CAELinux 2007
 One of the little advertised new features in Fedora 8 is the GNOME Online Desktop, an experimental variant of GNOME that offers quick access to popular Internet services. Red Hat Magazine offers a tour of the new desktop layout and its features: "GNOME Online Desktop is an alternate 'mode' or flavor of the GNOME desktop. We're experimenting with a few different things here. 1. The overall concept of tightly integrating the web into the desktop, as described here. 2. Specific user interface ideas, such as a desktop sidebar called BigBoard. 3. A set of platform components that support web integration - these can be used with any application or UI, including the more traditional GNOME desktop flavor. The platform components are hard to see in the screenshots, of course. But this tour shows off some of the user interface ideas."
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 The Ubuntu development team has announced the inaugural release of Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced "juice"), a customised Ubuntu operating system layer designed for VMware virtual appliances: "Canonical Ltd., the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, today announced the availability of its Ubuntu JeOS (Just Enough Operating System) edition. Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced "Juice") is an efficient variant of the popular desktop and server operating system, configured specifically for virtual appliances. ISVs looking to develop virtual appliances will have a compelling platform in Ubuntu JeOS, an OS optimised for virtualisation that greatly reduces the complexity and maintenance overhead normally associated with general purpose operating systems. Ubuntu JeOS Edition has been tuned to take advantage of key performance technologies of the latest virtualisation products from VMware."
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 The big business once again demonstrated its ugly face last week when Oracle's Larry Ellison attacked and derided Red Hat and its enterprise Linux distribution: "Oracle has been in the Linux business for a year now. With the Red Hat code all we did for the first year was fix bugs." Just to recap on the events, Red Hat released Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4 in February 2005, while Oracle announced the availability of its "own" build of RHEL 4 in October 2006, attempting to undercut Red Hat's support business by offering a cheaper alternative. In March 2007, Red Hat released RHEL 5, a much improved version of its flagship product with many enterprise-class features - a challenge that Oracle has yet to respond to. But why does Larry Ellison dislike Red Hat so much? CNET's Matt Assay offers an answer: "Larry doesn't understand open source. Oracle desperately wants open source to be 'just another tool' that it uses for IT domination. It's not. It actually has the opposite effect."
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  "Fim do Kurumin?" This was a question many Brazilian Linux web sites asked last week. The Debian-based Kurumin Linux, created by Carlos Morimoto (pictured on the right), has become one of the most widely used Linux distributions in Brazil since its launch in 2003, largely due to its compact size, attractive artwork, custom configuration tools, and excellent support for popular Brazilian hardware (e.g. "winmodems" and USB ADSL modems). But in a forum post last week, Morimoto hinted at a possible change in direction or even a complete closure of the project. As the main reasons he cited lack of time and availability of well-localised, easy-to-use distributions, such as Mandriva Linux or Ubuntu. As expected, the announcement was greeted with mixed reactions in the Brazilian Linux community. If you understand Portuguese, you can follow the discussion in this thread, with additional commentary and reaction by BR-Linux and MaxINFO.
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"People are often looking for a CAD solution for Linux but don't know that there is a full distro." This was a message sent to DistroWatch by the developers of CAELinux, a PCLinuxOS-based distribution with a collection of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) software. CAELinux is still on the DistroWatch's waiting list, but those readers who find this distribution useful will be pleased to know that a new version was released last week: "This first stable version of CAELinux is now officially released. Thanks to the new PCLinuxOS 2007 distribution base and the unique Salome_Meca 2007 FEA suite, CAELinux 2007 represents a jump in stability and ease of use, and we hope that you will enjoy it. As usual, this release is available either as a installable live DVD distribution or under Windows with our pre-configured VMware edition." The CAELinux 2007 live DVD image is available for download from here: CAELinux2007.iso (2,361MB, MD5).
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| Released Last Week |
StartCom Enterprise Linux 5.0.1
StartCom Ltd has announced the release of StartCom Enterprise Linux 5.0.1, a distribution rebuilt from source RPM packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and enhanced with additional software: "StartCom is pleased to announce the availability of StartCom Enterprise Linux AS-5.0.1. StartCom Linux is using the latest in open source technology and with its known stability, reliability and security allows for mission-critical server deployments. This update release provides improved support for virtualization - the running of multiple instances of operating systems on one physical hardware unit. The Global File System (GFS) provided in AS-5.0.1 allows the building and maintaining of high availability computer clusters, mainly used for data centers." Read the release announcement for further information.
BLAG Linux And GNU 70000
Jeff Moe has announced the release of BLAG Linux And GNU 70000, a single-CD desktop distribution based on Fedora 7: "BLAG 70000 (sugarwater) released. BLAG is a 100% Free Software distribution with all the tools you want from a desktop computer, plus more. It comes on a single CD, is easily installed, and user friendly. Power users have the resources of a repository that combines bits from Fedora, freshrpms, Dries, ATrpms, Livna, Planet CCRMA, and our own special brews. BLAG 70000 (sugarwater) is a new series with a new base (F7) and many new applications. It is released under the GNU GPL v3." Optimised for the i686 processor architecture, BLAG 70000 uses Linux kernel 2.6.22.9 and GNOME 2.18 as the default desktop. Read the complete release announcement for further details.
Blag Linux And GNU 70000 - a Fedora-based desktop distribution containing Free Software only
(full image size: 714kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Linux Mint 4.0
Clement Lefebvre has announced the final release of Linux Mint 4.0, code name "Daryna": "Linux Mint 4.0, codename Daryna, was officially released today in both Main and Light editions. What's new in Daryna: mintUpdate - get automatic updates without compromising the stability of the system; mintInstall & the Software Portal - interact with mintInstall without starting from the Portal; mintDesktop improvements - major improvements in terms of usability; Liberation fonts; CompizFusion; upstream improvements - Gnome 2.20, Linux kernel 2.6.22; new repository structure. What makes Daryna ideal for the desktop? Out-of-the-box multimedia support; Windows integration (dual-boot, NTFS read/write support, migration assistant); one-click install system; easy file sharing (mintUpload)...." See the release notes for more detailed information about the product.
Linux Mint 4.0 - "Daryna" comes with many subtle improvements
(full image size: 937kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.6
Red Hat has announced the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4.6, the 6th update to its legacy Red Hat 4.x product line: "Red Hat is pleased to announce the availability of the release of 4.6 (kernel 2.6.9-67.EL) for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 family of products. This release includes the following enhancements: availability of a full set of updated installable CD ISO with OS package updates and install-time support for new hardware; availability of updated Extras ISO images with third party package updates. New kernel features include: added getcpu system call on ia64; added /proc numa maps support; updated Infiniband OFED support to 1.2; added ability to disable out of memory killer; added smaps functionality; updated CIFS client to version 1.48aRH...." Read the release announcement and release notes for further details.
Zenwalk Linux 4.8 "Live"
Michael Verret has announced the release of the "Live" edition of Zenwalk Linux 4.8: "With great joy the Zenwalk Live team presents Zenwalk Live 4.8. New or improved features of Zenwalk Live include automatic wide-screen resolution adjustments, the ability to read and write to the NTFS file system, a LiloFix GUI tool, wireless free drivers and much, much more. This release also comes complete with enhanced localization and user guides translated into more languages than ever before so that you feel right at home, no matter where you are as you learn all of its features and just what this thing can really do for you. Weighing in at under 500 MB, this baby packs a punch!" Here is the full release announcement.
PC-BSD 1.4.1
The PC-BSD development team has announced the release of PC-BSD 1.4.1, an update version of the FreeBSD-based operating system for the desktop: "An update to PC-BSD was released today, version 1.4.1. This new version may be obtained from our download page, additionally users who are running version 1.4 may download a patch to upgrade. This version of PC-BSD has several important fixes: upgrades Compiz 0.5.2 to CompizFusion 0.6.0; switches from HPIJS to HPLIP for better printer / scanner support; adds extra screen savers with XScreenSaver package; updates NVIDIA drivers to latest releases from NVIDIA; fixes issue with 'tar' extract error during install when using custom partitioning; switches ISO to LZMA compression, speeding up the install and reducing the size of the CD ISO image." See the release announcement, changelog and release notes for further details.
ArtistX 0.4
Marco Ghirlanda has announced the release of ArtistX 0.4, a Debian-based live DVD with a collection of audio, video and 2D/3D graphics software: "ArtistX 0.4 is ready for download. It comes in two flavours (GNOME and KDE) and both include the Powua client and Powua tutorials. Powua is the Super Internet Computer and has been created to speed up CPU intensive tasks. For example you can realize an animation with Blender and directly from ArtistX upload and render it on Powua (more info on the Powua Wiki and in the DVD). ArtistX is based on the Debian Live initiative and includes the 2.6.22 kernel, GNOME 2.20, KDE 3.5.7, and includes about 2,500 free multimedia software, nearly everything that exists for the GNU/Linux environment." Visit the project's home page to read the full release announcement.
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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 |
New distributions added to database
- gOS. gOS is an easy-to-use, Ubuntu-based distribution designed for less technical computer users. Its main features are the use of Enlightenment as the default desktop and tight integration of various Google products and services into the product.
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New distributions added to waiting list
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DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 26 November 2007.
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
LinuxInstall.org Project
LinuxInstall was a distribution based on Red Hat Linux 8.0 with personal desktop packages (Mozilla, Evolution, OpenOffice); latest Kernel; latest software updates; auto hardware detection; auto root account creation; auto hard drive Partitioning; auto network setup using DHCP; auto package selection; no questions asked during installation; completely automated installation done in 15 minutes and best of all, it's all in ONE CD!
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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