 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 234, 7 January 2008 |
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Welcome to this year's first issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Yes, this is the first full week of 2008, which means that in just a few days the long-awaited KDE 4.0 should be out and ready. Although the initial release might not be as stable and functional as the current KDE 3.5 series, it will lay down foundations for a truly modern desktop environment that could power many computers into the next decade. But how many of us will be using it by the end of 2008? Only time will tell. In the news section, Red Hat appoints a new Chief Executive Officer, Canonical drops long-term support goal in Kubuntu 8.04, PCLinuxOS announces new low-cost desktop computer and start of a 2008 release cycle, and Linux Mint and Elive promise new editions of their respective products. Finally, don't miss the feature story of this week's issue - a report about your DistroWatch maintainer's visit to the Mandriva headquarters and a brief meeting with Gaël Duval, the founder of Mandrake Linux. Happy new year and enjoy the read!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Reportage |
A glimpse at 43 rue d'Aboukir (the headquarters of Mandriva S.A.)
 Rue d'Aboukir is a rather ordinary Parisian street. Stretching diagonally from near the famous Palais de Louvre to Boulevard St-Denis, the street seemed rather deserted on a quiet December morning. Perhaps it was due to the sub-zero temperature and ice-cold winds, or maybe because the street itself is not nearly as commercial as some others in the quarter. Or more likely -- as I was to discover later that day -- because just about every resident of the French capital seemed to be on Boulevard Haussman and one of its grands magasins, picking up those last-minute Christmas presents. As for me, I had a single purpose - to reach the building which houses the headquarters of the largest European Linux company: Mandriva S.A.
It wasn't as easy as I hoped. While I certainly didn't expect to find any flashy banners announcing the presence of a company that based its business model on open source software, I was still slightly disappointed to see that no signs of Mandriva were visible from anywhere on the street. Instead, one has to enter a courtyard, where on the left there is a door with a neat range of doorbells. This is where I finally spotted several Mandriva logos, one for each of the five floors. One of them also carried a Firefox logo - that's because the same building now houses the offices of Mozilla Europe.
"Ah, DistroWatch," sad Mandriva CEO François Bancilhon in flawless English. "I am a bit busy right now, but Anne will show you around. I'll see you later." I didn't object; after all, I feel much more comfortable being around software developers than talking to businessmen. And besides, is there a man who would dislike the company of this pleasant young lady? Anne Nicolas, Director of Engineering and a person responsible for all the development work currently taking place at Mandriva, was happy to take me around the offices and introduce me to most of Mandriva's employees.
 It was an interesting tour. We visited the main development office, where I had the pleasure of meeting Pascal Rigaux (better known as "pixel"), David Barth and Blin Olivier ("blino"). We continued to the quality assurance floor, followed by the testing and debugging office. Often staffed by students and temporary help during peak testing periods, this office also gets to test some cool new gadgets, such as the Samsung UMPC (Ultra Mobile Tablet PC, pictured on the left and running Mandriva Linux 2008). We also visited the office developing products and providing support for the company's enterprise solutions.
 The executive office of the Mandriva CEO was next. "What advice do you have for Mandriva?" That was Mr Bancilhon's first question after we sat down in a small conference room. The question caught me by surprise; after a bit of thinking I was about to suggest to never withhold or delay the release of ISO images to the public, but I knew that this was something that Mandriva had figured out already. When it was my turn to ask questions, I was curious about the status of the Nigerian Classmate PC deal that arose so much controversy recently. "Yes, we did win the first round, after all, but whether we'll win any more contracts that is far from certain." On the subject of the open letter to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Bancilhon added: "That letter got me into a lot of trouble, but I still think it was the right thing to do." We also talked about DistroWatch, which seems to be held in high regard by the Mandriva CEO "DistroWatch is very good, very influential," he said.
After the tour ended, I was invited to join the Mandriva employees for a hearty Christmas lunch in the nearby restaurant serving delicious couscous and other Arab meals. In a relaxed atmosphere, we talked about all kinds of things - from patent protection deals to desktop Linux opportunities and coordination of development work between Mandriva's two big offices in France and Brazil. The company seems to be focusing its business activities on emerging markets, particularly those in Russia, Africa and Asia. As for Mandriva Linux, the arrival of Anne Nicolas has brought wonders to the quality control of the most recent release of the distribution, which has received universal praise from users.
Nevertheless, Linux is a tough business line to be in. With established players such as Red Hat and Novell, and new aggressive distributions such as Ubuntu now dominating the market, it will always be an uphill battle for any other Linux company to win serious market share. Still, Mandriva has survived tough times before and, as they say, what doesn't break you makes you stronger; in fact, the company will celebrate its 10-year anniversary later this year. And that's perhaps the main trait of this company: its ability to overcome difficulties and continue against all odds. A sense of cautious optimism, mixed with undying determination and pride should carry Mandriva safely into the second decade of its colourful existence.
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 A visit to Mandriva's headquarters in Paris wouldn't have been complete without meeting the person who started it all - Gaël Duval (pictured on the left). Although he is no longer with the company, parting under controversial circumstances in March 2006, he continues working with open source software. Ulteo, the project he launched in the same year, promises to deliver a radical computing solution through easy availability of software as service. I met Gaël, who lives in Caen in north-western France (about two hours by train from Paris), in a small coffee shop near gare Saint-Lazare.
"Ulteo is not really a distribution in the traditional sense of the word," explained Gaël while we sipped on the excellent espresso. "It's more like a service where the operating system doesn't matter at all." He continued: "With Ulteo, you can simply connect to a server from any operating system and start working - with applications available as a service and data stored on a remote server." Does this mean that Ulteo as a Linux distribution will no longer be developed? "Ulteo will also be provided as a downloadable, Debian/Kubuntu-based CD image, but that's just a small part of the entire picture."
So what's the business model? "These are still early days, even though our small team of 15 developers continues working day and night. But we have some ideas. The basic system with limited data storage will be free to anyone, but anything extra will require a payment. As an example, some people might need more server space or they might want to hire the entire remote server for storing their data. We are also thinking of making available some popular Windows applications, e.g. Adobe Photoshop, as an online service, but since this requires a commercial license, it won't be free." What about the competition? Google has been providing an online office suite, a photo sharing system and other services - all for free. Why should one choose Ulteo? "I don't think Google Office is powerful enough," explains Gaël, "in terms of features, it certainly doesn't compare well with OpenOffice.org, which we now provide as an online service."
The Ulteo concept certainly looks like an interesting idea, but will it succeed? If it weren't dreamt out by Gaël Duval, I would have my doubts. But this man has a reputation of creating successful solutions; those of you who have been around for a while will remember that in the first few years of the 21st century Mandrake Linux was to other distributions what Ubuntu is to them today - by far the most popular desktop Linux product. Being innovative often means that one has to entered uncharted territories, but this is exactly what Gaël did with Mandrake Linux back in 1998. Ulteo is also a new concept and a new product, but if it's executed as well as Mandrake Linux was a decade ago, it will certainly succeed. Good luck, Gaël!
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| Miscellaneous News |
Red Hat replaces CEO, Kubuntu drops LTS badge, PCLinuxOS announces $150 computer, Linux Mint and Elive offer new editions, LinuxQuestions.org votes in Members Choice Awards
 The unexpected change of CEO at Red Hat just before Christmas was the major discussion point in the Linux media during the holiday season at the end of 2007. The move seemed to have caught many enterprise Linux watchers by surprise as some complained about the poor timing of the announcement. But once the dust settled and panic subsided, it became clear that the change had been planned long in advance. Jim Whitehurst, the new boss at Red Hat, gave a brief interview at News.com where he disclosed his technical background. And the reaction of Red Hat employees? Max Spevack, the former Fedora project leader: "Matt Asay interviewed Red Hat's new CEO, Jim Whitehurst. I thought this was a great interview. A lot of the things that Jim says really resonated with me, and I think that all of the Fedora folks out there will find themselves nodding their heads as they read it too." So all seems to be well at Red Hat, after all...
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 Another major topic of online discussions during the Christmas break was the announcement by Canonical, saying that the upcoming release of Kubuntu 8.04 will not carry the LTS (Long-Term Support) label. The initial reaction of the Kubuntu user community was that of disbelief (yet another proof that KDE is treated as a second-class citizen by the project leaders), but as emerged later, the decision was purely technical. Scott Remnant explained it all in this mailing list post: "Will a bug in KDE 3.5 receive upstream attention in March 2011? In order for Canonical to make a commercial commitment to their customers, who have signed contracts and terms of service with them, they need to be sure that they can honour the terms of their agreements. The KDE upstream position appears clear, KDE 4 is the focus of developer attention; KDE 3.5 will be supported as long as KDE 4 isn't suitable for support." This decision means that the Kubuntu developers will be more free to focus on KDE 4 and on implementing new features than would have been the case if Kubuntu 8.04 was an LTS release. As always in any compromise decision, some win, some lose...
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 Low-cost desktop systems are all the hype these days, so if you live in the USA and are after a cheap computer, here is another option. Texstar, the lead developer of PCLinuxOS, has announced the availability of a US$150 computer with PCLinuxOS pre-installed: "Refurbished IBM Net Vista Desktop with PCLinuxOS 2007 installed. Intel PIII 900mHz, Intel chipset with onboard graphics and LAN. Also includes 256 MB RAM, 20 GB IDE HDD, 40x CD-ROM, 15" flat panel LCD, keyboard, mouse and a fresh PCLinuxOS 2007 live CD. A portion of each sale goes back towards the development of PCLinuxOS." The system is available from LinFX.com.
Still on the subject of PCLinuxOS, several readers have emailed DistroWatch about the new CD images that started to appear on the project's download mirrors over the weekend. PCLinuxOS 2008 "MiniMe" edition has yet to be officially announced, but it seems that a major new PCLinuxOS build is in the making. It contains Linux kernel 2.6.22.15, KDE 3.5.8, X.Org 7.2, the PCLinuxOS Control Centre and the Draklive-Install Enhanced system installer. Interested users can download the 300 MB live CD image from one of these mirrors or you can get the torrent file from LinuxTracker.
PCLinuxOS 2008 "MiniMe" - with a brand new kernel and desktop theme.
(full image size: 579kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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 Mandriva CEO François Bancilhon has published a summary of important events in the company during 2007 and outlined some of the challenges for the new year. On the subject of the Mandriva distribution, he sounded more upbeat than ever: "We drastically changed our traditional Linux distribution business: the product line was simplified, a strong focus was put on our free products (Mandriva Linux One and Mandriva Linux Free) and on their easy download, prices were drastically reduced, Mandriva Club membership became free, we invested a lot in improving our relationship with the community and our contributors and a complete new web site was put in place. We got a globally warm response to all these changes." And what's in the pipeline for 2008? "On the community side, we will increase our openness, listen to the community, strengthen our relationship, improve and consolidate the free Club."
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 Following the last issue of DistroWatch Weekly, many readers were curious about the upcoming community editions of Linux Mint, an increasingly popular, user-friendly variant of Ubuntu. As if reading their minds, the Linux Mint developers have published all the answer in this blog post: "I'll go straight to what most people want to know: The KDE edition will come as a 2nd BETA in the days to come. Although it's extremely stable, a few tiny issues need to be addressed prior to the release and it looks wiser to give this release a week of community testing. I've already installed it on my laptop and I can tell all the KDE fans among us, this is definitely among the best KDE desktops I've ever got to see. If you liked Cassandra KDE CE, you'll absolutely love this one. The Fedora-based ISO experimentation is likely to be postponed for another 6 months as focus is moving towards the upcoming Linux Mint 5 release, translation of all the 'mint' tools, the User Guide, and the development of an alternative to Giver (easy file-sharing across the network without any shares). The 64-bit ISO experimentation won't start during this release cycle."
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 Linux Mint was not the only project announcing interesting new editions of their product; the developers of Elive, a Debian-based live CD featuring Enlightenment 17, have also published news about some new releases coming out in the next few months: "Elive will be separated into three editions now - two will be based on Debian 'Testing' in order to have many updated applications and happy users! A new Enlightenment 17, better integration, more stuff working out of the box, complete rewrite of the WiFi support, complete rewrite of the live CD system, updated new kernel, many other features that we want to implement (like suspend and hibernation), and a lot more that we don't want to say because we like the element of surprise!" No info on when we might start seeing the new 3-edition Elive, but as always, DistroWatch will keep you posted.
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Finally, a quick note from the LinuxQuestions.org community which has started accepting votes for their annual LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards: "Welcome to the 2007 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards. The categories have been chosen and the polls will open soon. I am going to post the nominees now, to give members a couple of days to post feedback. This will allow additions and modifications to be made before the voting commences. If you have any suggestions, please post in the thread for the poll in question. Any general suggestions can go in this thread." On the distribution front, the voting has been split into Desktop Distribution of the Year, Live Distribution of the Year and Server Distribution of the Year. Happy voting!
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| Released Since 17 December 2007 |
Damn Small Linux 4.2
Robert Shingledecker has announced the final release of Damn Small Linux 4.2. From the changelog: "New mtpaint replaces xpaint; New black/blue theme with "Fractal Movements" background; New folder for better support of Visual Styles for JWM .jwmrc-theme and downloadable themes; New setTheme.lua, drag-n-drop or double click application style; New folder for better support of backgrounds, downloadable "DSL Classics"; New generic folder.xpm link for easier theme of folders; Updated wallpaper.lua, drag-n-drop or double click application style; Improved support for JWM keybindings with .jwmrc-keys; Improved support for battey names in torsmo, fetched from /proc..."
NetBSD 4.0
Geert Hendrickx announced the availability of the official release of NetBSD 4.0: "Major achievements in NetBSD 4.0 include support for version 3 of the Xen virtual machine monitor, Bluetooth, many new device drivers and embedded platforms based on ARM, PowerPC and MIPS CPUs. New network services include iSCSI target (server) code and an implementation of the Common Address Redundancy Protocol. Also, system security was further enhanced with restrictions of mprotect(2) to enforce W^X policies, the Kernel Authorization framework, and improvements of the Veriexec file integrity subsystem, which can be used to harden the system against Trojan horses and virus attacks." See the release announcement and the complete list of changes for more information.
ZenEdu Live "Christmas"
Pierrick Le Brun announced the availability of ZenEdu Live Christmas Edition, a special edition of Zenwalk Linux: "Zenwalk community, on the occasion of this festive season, is pleased to offer you a Special Edition of ZenEdu Live. A live CD based on Zenwalk snapshot and focusing on educational and fun contents which can be used independently by educational institutions, families, students and children alike. Along with the legendary speed, lightness and full multimedia support you can expect from a Zenwalk derived production, key features include the famed educational suite GCompris, the universal OpenOffice.org suite and the indispensable over-the-network teaching and viewing tool iTALC, already pre-configured with teacher/student parameters." Here is the full announcement.
VectorLinux 5.9
Robert Lange has announced the final release of VectorLinux 5.9: "The VectorLinux development team is proud to announce the release of VectorLinux 5.9 final GOLD edition. This is the fruit that has resulted from several months of coding, debugging and testing by the core development team and the VectorLinux community. It follows our legendary tradition of stability (inherited from Slackware 12.0), blazing speed on even modest hardware and simplicity of design and function. The release features fully working browser plugins including Flash, Java, mp3, Real media, Windows media, PDF and QuickTime. Additional features include: X.Org 7.3, Linux kernel 2.6.22.14, fully customized Xfce 4.4.2...." Read the release announcement for full details.
VectorLinux 5.9 - the default Xfce desktop
(full image size: 2,277kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
CRUX 2.4
Tilman Sauerbeck has announced the release of CRUX 2.4, an independent, i686-optimised Linux distribution designed for power users: "We're happy to announce that CRUX 2.4 has been released." Some of the new features include: "Toolchain updates: includes glibc 2.6.1, GCC 4.2.2 and Binutils 2.18; X.Org 7.3, note that Xprint isn't supported any more; a new ISO image with an initial RAM file system (initramfs) that allows for some convenient features: the boot sequence now tries to automatically detect the CD-ROM drive, the CD can be unmounted, install can be completed remotely." See the release announcement and release notes for more information.
SimplyMEPIS 7.0
Warren Woodford has announced the long-awaited final release of SimplyMEPIS 7.0: "MEPIS has released SimplyMEPIS 7.0. Some of the important packages included with the 7.0 release are: an updated and security-patched 2.6.22.14 kernel, X.Org 7.1, KDE 3.5.8, OpenOffice.org 2.3.0, Firefox 2.0.0.11, Thunderbird 2.0.0.6, Digikam 0.9.2, Sun Java 6, Amarok 1.4.7, MPlayer 1.0rc1.... Some of the additional packages in the MEPIS 7.0 pool include: Acrobat Reader 7.0.9, Evolution 2.10.3, NVIDIA driver 100.14.19, ATI driver 8.43.2, Compiz 0.6.3. This release contains a new desktop theme and a detailed user manual, both developed and contributed by the MEPIS community." Here is the full release announcement.
SimplyMEPIS 7.0 - a beginner-friendly distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux.
(full image size: 375kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Linpus Linux 9.4 "Lite"
Linpus Technologies has announced the immediate availability of Linpus Linux 9.4 "Lite", a specialist distribution designed for low-cost computers, such as Intel Classmate PC or Samsung UMPC: "Linpus Linux Lite is designed specifically to meet all low-cost PCs and mobile devices requirements: runs smoothly on a lower grade hardware unit; manages power efficiently; rich web applications supported; built-in networking - WiFi, WiMAX, HSDPA, HSUPA, Ethernet, BT, IR, UPnP; user interface designed specifically for handheld 4"- 7" screens; extensive collections of widgets to select from; two desktop modes - simple and advanced; fully supports UNICODE encoding and multilingual desktop environment in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese." Visit the company's product page for more information and screenshots.
Linpus Linux 9.4 "Lite" - daring to be different
(full image size: 536kB, screen resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
Nonux 4.3
Nonux is a Slackware-based Linux distribution optimised for office use in Dutch-speaking office environments. A new version, Nonux 4.3, was unveiled just before the holiday break. Some of the updates and new features include: upgraded Mozilla Firefox to version 2.0.0.11, upgraded OpenOffice.org to version 2.3.1; added GnuCash, an accounting software package; fixed bugs in scanner support; added improvements in default desktop theme; minor package updates (GParted, VLC); added Linux kernel source to the CD image; added support for automatic upgrades of existing Nonux installations to latest version. Please visit the distribution's news page (in Dutch) to read the complete release announcement.
Vine Linux 4.2
Daisuke Suzuki has announced the final release of Vine Linux 4.2, a Japanese community distribution designed for desktops and servers. Version 4.2 is a maintenance release, where the base system and most applications were left at their original versions (except for Firefox - updated to 2.0.0.11, LVM - updated to 2.02.28, and a few minor packages). Other changes include new or updated kernel drivers, updated X.Org graphics drivers, addition of Totem plugin for Mozilla and new usbutils package. Please read the full release announcement (in Japanese) for a more detailed list of changes and updates.
FreeNAS 0.686
FreeNAS 0.686, a FreeBSD-based operating system which provides free Network-Attached Storage (NAS) services, has been released: "FreeNAS 0.686 stable out. Changes and bug fixes: Refactor port makefiles; upgrade netbsd-iscsi (iscsi-target) to 20071221, fusefs-ntfs to 1.1120; disable firmware upgrade via WebGUI for 'full' installations, use the 'full' upgrade mode from live CD instead; changed boot splash screen and WebGUI logo images; try to fix AFP Time Machine problem; fix bug in 'full' upgrade / install routine (live CD); do not delete log files during boot process on 'full' installations; it is not possible to format a SoftRAID disk with MSDOS FAT16/32; it is not possible to encrypt a disk partition, only complete disks are supported." Here is the complete release announcement.
sidux 2007-04.5
The sidux development team has announced the release of sidux 2007-04.5, a special Christmas edition of the Debian-based live CD: "This updated release of sidux 2007-04.5 concentrates on additional hardware support and stability improvements for wireless and DVB devices, combined with newly available hardware support for various ATI graphics cards, in interaction with the new X.Org 7.3 / XRandR 1.2 X detection. A new feature is the combined DVD ISO which supports i386 and amd64 architectures. As a special Christmas present for our non English and German speaking users, sidux 2007-04.5 ships an xdelta to add initial localisations for all currently supported languages." Read the rest of the release notes for further details.
Debian GNU/Linux 4.0r2
The Debian project has announced the availability of the second revision to Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 "Etch": "The Debian project is pleased to announce the second update of its stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 4.0. This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustments to serious problems. The installer has been updated to use and support the updated kernels included in this release. This change causes old 'netboot' and floppy images to stop working; updated versions are available from the regular locations. Other changes include stability improvements in specific situations, improved serial console support when configuring GRUB, and added support for SGI O2 machines with 300MHz RM5200SC (Nevada) CPUs (mips)." Here is the full release announcement.
Debian GNU/Linux 3.1r7
Martin Schultze has announced the availability of the seventh revision of Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 "Sarge", the project's legacy (or "old stable") branch: "The Debian project is pleased to announce the seventh update of its old stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 3.1. This is the first time we update the old stable distribution during the lifetime of the stable distribution. This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the 'oldstable' release, along with a few adjustments to serious problems. With this release the installation system for sarge gains full support for installing 'oldstable' from network mirrors. This includes base-config. The installer also uses and supports the updated kernels included in this revision." Read the complete release announcement for further information.
GoboLinux 014
Happy New Year! Hisham Muhammad has announced the release of GoboLinux 014, an independent distribution whose main claim to fame is a radically redesigned file system layout: "We are pleased to introduce GoboLinux 014, the new major release of GoboLinux, the Linux distribution with an alternative directory structure. This release is the result of over a year of work. The live CD build environment is highly customizable and packages were built using a dynamically-generated sand-boxed environment which insulates the source code and its dependencies during compilation. Major upgrades include KDE 3.5.8, glibc 2.5 and X.Org 7.2, as well as new versions of the GoboLinux management tools." Read the release announcement and release notes for further information.
GoboLinux 014 - a project with a goal of creating a more logical UNIX file system layout.
(full image size: 85kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
SME Server 7.3
Ian Wells has announced the release of SME Server 7.3, a server-oriented Linux distribution based on CentOS: "The SME Server development team is pleased to announce the release of SME Server 7.3. This release is based on CentOS 4.6 and all packages have been updated to the latest releases. Changes in this release: using 'sme multipart' boot parameter now enables quotas on all LVMs; support for disconnect option in rhsbl plugin; support for disconnect immediately if dnsbl plugin rejects recipient addresses; newer version of ipsvd to resolve a few Thunderbird issues; support for configurable time-outs; now able to remove Corporate DNS setting; RAID reconstruction now finishes after using 'sme nolvm' passed at install time; ability to use console restore with CD or DVD recordable media...." Further details can be found in the release notes.
MEPIS antiX 7.01
MEPIS antiX 7.01, a lightweight derivative of SimplyMEPIS 7.0, was released as an update to antiX 7.0: "antiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member 'anticapitalista', as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32-bit PC hardware and is designed to work on computers with as little as 64 MB RAM and Pentium II or equivalent, but not AMD K5/K6 processors... This updated version of 'Lysistrata' is built using the MEPIS Linux 7.0 core, including the MEPIS 7 updated and security-patched 2.6.22.14 kernel and upgraded MEPIS utilities, Debian security upgrades and application upgrades since antiX-M7 was released on October 29. The Live CD scripts have been improved, extra 'cheatcodes' added and bugs squashed. Kernel headers are now included and antiX uses X.Org 7.2 from the Debian Testing repositories. This release contains the new GRUB menu theme developed and contributed by the MEPIS community." Check the full release announcement, the website of antiX, and its forum for more information.
trixbox 2.4.0
The developers of trixbox, a CentOS-based specialist distribution that enables the user to easily set up a VoIP Asterisk PBX, have announced the release of version 2.4.0: "This set is the latest version of trixbox CE. This is a major change from trixbox 2.2 in that it is based on CentOS 5.1, Asterisk 1.4, and FreePBX 2.3. One problem with trixbox CE 2.x is the lack of hardware support for current systems, especially newer Dell platforms. The vast majority of this has been solved because trixbox CE 2.4 is now based on top of the latest CentOS 5.1 kernel. This now provides support for a much larger number of motherboards, network cards and components, such as hardware RAID controllers. CentOS 5.1 also has high resolution timers built into the kernel so the need for hardware timers on the PCI bus should no longer be required." Read the full press release for further details.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
- Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu 8.04-alpha2, the release announcement
- GoblinX 2.6-rc1 "Mini", the release announcement
- SAM Linux 2008-rc1, the release announcement
- Sabayon Linux 3.5-beta1, the release notes
- Zenwalk Linux 5.0-beta, the release announcement
- Parsix GNU/Linux 1.0r0-test2, the release announcement
- grml 1.1-rc1, the release announcement
- PCLinuxOS "GNOME 2.21.2", the release announcement
- FreeBSD 7.0-RC1, the release announcement
- VectorLinux 5.9-beta "Live", the release announcement
- FreeBSD 6.3-RC2, the release announcement
- Musix GNU+Linux 1.0r3-test4, the release announcement
- Endian Firewall 2.2-beta2, the release announcement
- KANOTIX 2007-rc7, the release announcement
- Linux Mint 4.0-beta "Fluxbox", 4.0-alpha "Debian", the release announcement
- Damn Small Linux 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3
- RIPLinuX Linux 4.3
- AUSTRUMI 1.6.5
- LinuxTLE 9.0-beta1
- m0n0wall 1.3-beta6, 1.3-beta7
- PapugLinux 07.2
- LFS LiveCD 6.3-r2160
- JackLab Audio Distribution 1.1-alpha1
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
December 2007 donation: Zenwalk Linux receives €200.00
 We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the December 2007 DistroWatch.com donation is the Zenwalk Linux project. It receives €200.00 in cash.
Slackware Linux is a reliable and rock-solid distribution, but its reputation for being hard to configure has probably contributed to its lack of deployment on the desktop. Luckily, third-party integrators seem to be more than happy to step in and to deliver custom solution. The Zenwalk Linux developer team has been working hard to produce a solid desktop based on the latest Slackware, together with the light-weight Xfce window manager, popular desktop applications and a large repository of extra software packages. Formerly known as Minislack, the project has been around since 2004.
Zenwalk Linux 5.0 Beta - a major new version of the Slackware-based desktop distro
(full image size: 260kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Jean-Philippe Guillemin, the founder and lead developer of Zenwalk Linux, emailed DistroWatch after receiving the donation: "Thank you very much for your contribution. This money will be used to rent the main web server and repository (and eventually buy some devices for contributors who need them)."
As always, this monthly donations programme is a joint initiative between DistroWatch and two online shops selling low-cost CDs and DVDs with Linux, BSD and other open source software - LinuxCD.org and OSDisc.com. These vendors contributed US$50.00 each towards this month's donation to Zenwalk Linux.
Here is the list of projects that received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the programme (figures in US dollars):
- 2004: GnuCash ($250), Quanta Plus ($200), PCLinuxOS ($300), The GIMP ($300), Vidalinux ($200), Fluxbox ($200), K3b ($350), Arch Linux ($300), Kile KDE LaTeX Editor ($100) and UNICEF - Tsunami Relief Operation ($340)
- 2005: Vim ($250), AbiWord ($220), BitTorrent ($300), NdisWrapper ($250), Audacity ($250), Debian GNU/Linux ($420), GNOME ($425), Enlightenment ($250), MPlayer ($400), Amarok ($300), KANOTIX ($250) and Cacti ($375)
- 2006: Gambas ($250), Krusader ($250), FreeBSD Foundation ($450), GParted ($360), Doxygen ($260), LilyPond ($250), Lua ($250), Gentoo Linux ($500), Blender ($500), Puppy Linux ($350), Inkscape ($350), Cape Linux Users Group ($130), Mandriva Linux ($405, a PowerPack competition), Digikam ($408) and SabayonLinux ($450)
- 2007: GQview ($250), Kaffeine ($250), sidux ($350), CentOS ($400), LyX ($350), VectorLinux ($350), KTorrent ($400), FreeNAS ($350), lighttpd ($400), Damn Small Linux ($350), NimbleX ($450), MEPIS Linux ($300), Zenwalk Linux ($300),
Since the launch of the Donations Programme in March 2004, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$15,893 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- Damn Small BSD. Damn Small BSD (DSBSD) is a small (50MB or less) FreeBSD-based live CD desktop environment geared toward developers and system administrators, but it also includes applications that the average user may find handy. DSBSD comes with Fluxbox window manager, Firefox, XMMS, an SSH server, a mini web server, a VNC viewer, and many other applications.
- MIB Live Games. MIB Live Games is a Mandriva-based live DVD featuring the best open source games available on the market. It is maintained by Mandriva Italia, an unofficial Mandriva Linux user group in Italy.
- p30x. p30x is a Slackware-based distribution designed for a live CD or bootable USB storage device.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 14 January 2008.
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1168 (2026-04-13): pearOS 2026.03, EndeavourOS 2026.03.06, which distros are adopting age verification, Arch adjusts its firewall packages, Linux dropping i486 support, Red Hat extends its release cycle, Debian's APT introduces rollbacks, Redox improves its scheduler |
| • Issue 1167 (2026-04-06): Origami Linux 2026.03, answering questions for Linux newcomers, Ubuntu MATE seeking new contributors, Ubuntu software centre is expanding Deb support, FreeBSD fixes forum exploit, openSUSE 15 Leap nears its end of life |
| • Issue 1166 (2026-03-30): NetBSD jails, publishing software for Linux, Ubuntu joins Rust Foundation, Canonical plans to trim GRUB features, Peppermint works on new utilities, PINE64 shows off open hardware capabilities |
| • Issue 1165 (2026-03-23): Argent Linux 1.5.3, disk space required by Linux, Manjaro team goes on strike, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA driver support and builds RISC-V packages, systemd introduces age tracking |
| • Issue 1164 (2026-03-16): d77void, age verification laws and Linux, SUSE may be for sale, TrueNAS takes its build system private, Debian publishes updated Trixie media, MidnightBSD and System76 respond to age verification laws |
| • Issue 1163 (2026-03-09): KaOS 2026.02, TinyCore 17.0, NuTyX 26.02.2, Would one big collection of packages help?, Guix offers 64-bit Hurd options, Linux communities discuss age delcaration laws, Mint unveils new screensaver for Cinnamon, Redox ports new COSMIC features |
| • Issue 1162 (2026-03-02): AerynOS 2026.01, anti-virus and firewall tools, Manjaro fixes website certificate, Ubuntu splits firmware package, jails for NetBSD, extended support for some Linux kernel releases, Murena creating a map app |
| • Issue 1161 (2026-02-23): The Guix package manager, quick Q&As, Gentoo migrating its mirrors, Fedora considers more informative kernel panic screens, GhostBSD testing alternative X11 implementation, Asahi makes progress with Apple M3, NetBSD userland ported, FreeBSD improves web-based system management |
| • Issue 1160 (2026-02-16): Noid and AgarimOS, command line tips, KDE Linux introduces delta updates, Redox OS hits development milestone, Linux Mint develops a desktop-neutral account manager, sudo developer seeks sponsorship |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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OB2D Linux
OB2D Linux (formerly B2D Linux) is a Debian-based Linux distribution developed in Taiwan, with user environment and read/write support for traditional Chinese.
Status: Dormant
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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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