 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 235, 14 January 2008 |
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Welcome to this year's second issue of DistroWatch Weekly! The release of KDE 4.0.0, the deepening crisis in Gentoo Linux and a series of announcements from the Fedora User and Developer Conference (FUDCon) dominated the headlines last week. As expected, the major new version from the popular desktop environment project received mixed reaction from distribution makers and users; while some distros were quick to release binary packages and special KDE 4 live CDs for users to sample the new code, it's clear that the first KDE 4 release is far from ready to take over our desktops. Also in this issue, openSUSE has published a roadmap leading towards the upcoming release of version 11.0 and VectorLinux has announced the first 64-bit edition of its Slackware-based distribution. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Featured Story |
Distributions and KDE 4
The long-awaited KDE 4.0.0 was released last week as scheduled. Even though the expectations -- following a couple of less than convincing release candidates -- weren't very high and the consensus was that the first release of KDE 4 would be more of a "technology preview" than a usable desktop environment for general deployment, it's hard not to see the enormous amount of good work that has gone into the new code. As Kubuntu's Jonathan Riddell put it, KDE 4 is the start of something amazing and this is possibly the best definition of the current release - it's here, it's available, but it's nowhere near ready for the prime time. It's a decent start, though. So let's give the KDE developers a round of applause for the courage to try something new and extraordinary, something that will eventually mature into a stable and reliable desktop environment we can all be proud to use on our computers.
Unsurprisingly, the reaction of distributions was a mixed bag. Although several major ones were quick to build binary packages for installation on their stable or development releases, or rushed to put together quick live CDs for easy testing, none seems to be in any particular hurry to switch its default desktop to the new KDE. Others are clearly not interested in making it available at all. Below is a summary of information about the availability of KDE 4.0.0 in various distributions.
The openSUSE project has a long history of directly supporting KDE development. As such, it is likely to be on the forefront of KDE 4 integration; in fact the current stable version, 10.3, comes with a few components from the new Qt/KDE 4 code base. As for the upcoming version 11.0, the KDE 4.0.0 packages are already in "factory" (openSUSE's development branch), but there is no word yet on whether KDE 4 will become the default KDE in 11.0. KDE 4.0.0 packages are also available for the stable openSUSE 10.3 and 10.2 via the openSUSE Build Service. As has become customary, Stephan Binner has created a new version of KDE Four Live, an openSUSE-based live CD featuring KDE 4; it can be downloaded from here: KDE-Four-Live.i686-1.0.iso (512MB, MD5, torrent).
Kubuntu is another distribution with a timely intent on providing KDE 4 packages for both its stable and development releases. Those running Kubuntu 7.10 or Kubuntu 8.04 Alpha 3 can install the new KDE by adding its repository to the sources.list and installing kde4-core; full instructions can be found here. This will install KDE 4 alongside the existing KDE 3.5 packages - perfect for a cautious test drive. The recently released CD images for Kubuntu 8.04 Alpha 3 still default to KDE 3.5.8 and so should the final release in April, but the Kubuntu development team has hinted that, starting from Kubuntu 8.10, it will concentrate on KDE 4 only. Those wishing to take an early peek at the KDE 4 integration with Kubuntu can also download a live CD containing Ubuntu 7.10 with KDE 4.0.0; here is the quick link: kubuntu-kde4.0-i386.iso (554MB, MD5).
A special live CD containing Kubuntu 7.10 with KDE 4.0.0 was made available last week.
(full image size: 579kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Mandriva Linux is a distribution that has -- at least historically -- often exhibited more preference for KDE than other desktop environments. As such, it's only natural that the new KDE 4.0.0 packages are available in "cooker" (Mandriva's development branch) and that they can be installed alongside KDE 3.5.8 in the recently released second alpha of Mandriva Linux 2008.1. Binary packages for the stable Mandriva Linux 2008.0 have also been released. The final release of Mandriva 2008.1 will still default to KDE 3.5 though.
The Fedora distribution has traditionally been focusing on GNOME as its preferred desktop environments, but with the increasing community participation in the project, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that KDE 4.0.0 is now included in "rawhide" (Fedora's development branch). Not only that, it also appears to be the default KDE (KDE 3.5.8 is present as well, but these packages have been renamed to kdebase3, kdelibs3, etc.). Moreover, the Fedora community has released an installable Fedora live CD containing a base system from the latest rawhide + KDE 4.0.0 - a good way to evaluate the progress Fedora has made since the release of version 8. The live CD is available for download from here: rawhide-KDE4-i686-20080109.4.iso (694MB, SHA1).
One other distribution that has put together a quick live CD image with KDE 4.0.0 is Shift Linux; however, this appears to be just a remastered Ubuntu with the latest KDE packages. More information is available here. Download: ShiftLinux-KDE-0.6.1.iso (481MB, MD5). (Please note that the above download link does not redirect correctly if accessed with wget or curl, so you'll have to rename the file after download.)
As for the rest, it seems that the policy is to hold back the introduction of KDE 4.0.0 into most distributions. Debian has had binary KDE 4 packages in the experimental branch for a while, but there seems to be no rush to move them into unstable in the foreseeable future. The developers of Gentoo Linux have hinted that KDE 4 might only enter the Portage tree with the release of KDE 4.1 - that is, at least six months from now (update - the KDE 4.0.0 packages were added to Portage on 18 January). The same is true for Arch Linux. As for Slackware, given its highly conservative attitude towards anything remotely experimental, there is virtually no chance that KDE 4 will make the "current" tree any time soon (third-party KDE 4.0.0 packages for Slackware 12.0 are available from here). Likewise, there are no signs of KDE 4.0.0 in the development trees of other independent distributions, including Frugalware Linux and Ark Linux (the latter has, however, promised a speedy integration of KDE 4 into the upcoming alpha version of 2008.1), while FreeBSD's ports tree still only lists KDE 3.5.8.
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| Miscellaneous News |
Fedora's new project leader, Gentoo's deepening crisis, VectorLinux for 64-bit processors
 Following the recent resignation of Max Spevack as the Fedora Project leader, many Fedora fans were left wondering who would take over the responsibilities for the upcoming release of Fedora 9. The answer finally emerged last week: "I am very pleased to announce that Paul Frields has accepted a job with Red Hat, and he will be taking over as Fedora Project Leader in February. Many of you already know Paul. He has been part of the Fedora community since 2003, not long after the Red Hat Linux Project officially merged with the original Fedora.us. Paul has worked with Fedora's documentation, packaging, marketing, news, and artwork teams. He also served as one of the inaugural members of the Fedora Project Board." The above was published in Max Spevack's Fedora's way forward, a mailing list post summarising the discussions during the first day of Fedora User and Developer Conference (FUDCon), which took place in Raleigh over the weekend. Apart from announcing the name of the new Fedora project leader, the author also lists some of the project's achievements over the past two years and introduces Jack Aboutboul who has recently been transferred into a full-time job in Red Hat's marketing and brand communications group.
* * * * *
 Gentoo Linux made the headlines last week and once again it was for the wrong reasons. It appears that the Gentoo Foundation's charter as a non-profit organisation was revoked several weeks ago, when it was discovered that all except two trustees had resigned or were unreachable: "There has not been any public explanation from the Foundation's trustees as to why this was allowed to happen, or what steps are being taken, if any, to fix this. This is very bad for the morale of the Gentoo community." The founder of Gentoo also offers a solution - his return as President of Gentoo Foundation: "If I return as President, I will preserve the not-for-profit aspect of Gentoo. Beyond this, you can expect everything to be very, very different than how things are today." The response by the Gentoo community was mixed - some launched a petition supporting the return of Robbins as the project's benevolent dictator, but others seem to be against the idea. Whatever your opinion, one thing is clear: a radical solution is needed to take Gentoo Linux out of the current quagmire. Failing that, the latest news item on the Gentoo Linux home page -- announcing the October 15 weekly newsletter -- could be the project's very last news release.
* * * * *
 The VectorLinux development team has announced a new breakthrough - the first ever release of a 64-bit edition of the Slackware-based desktop distribution. VL64 5.9 Beta 1 is built on top of Bluewhite64 Linux, a project that recompiles Slackware source packages for the 64-bit architectures, but includes all the latest VectorLinux goodies, including Xfce, Fluxbox and JWM window managers, and the usual range of web browsers: "The VectorLinux team is pleased to announce the first public beta release of VL64 5.9-beta1. This is a true 64-bit Linux OS, that is based on BlueWhite64. The build has excellent 32-bit compatibility with Flash working out of the box. We have done our best to duplicate the look and features of the 32-bit edition. We have included the latest Xfce 4.4.2, Fluxbox and JWM window managers. Basically all has been recompiled from scratch to make 64-bit machines scream. We need to warn that this may be too fast for the average user so don't blame us if your PC goes up in flames!" Interested beta testers can download the installation CD image from here: VL64-5.9-STD-B1.iso (699MB, MD5).
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| Released Last Week |
PCLinuxOS 2008 "MiniMe"
Texstar has announced the release of PCLinuxOS 2008 "MiniMe" edition, a minimalist live CD with KDE: "Here is a little MiniMe 2008. It comes with 2.6.22.15 kernel, ALSA 1.0.15 and a very basic KDE 3.5.8 desktop. This is a minimal live CD that is bootable, plus it can be installed. Add in your own background, window decoration, localizations, preferred applications and supporting libraries to fully trick out your desktop. Other changes: I moved Internet and Clock setup to a Utilities folder on the users desktop. Only one question at boot to select the keyboard. Other utilities include ALSA sound configuration, ATI/NVIDIA installation tool, Make Live CD GUI, Make Live USB key and Redo-MBR with OS-probing utility for adding other GRUB boot entries into the GRUB menu. Root password and user setup moved to first boot after installation to hard drive. Also included are NdisWrapper support files." Here is the full release announcement.
Ultima Linux 8.3
Martin Ultima has announced the release of Ultima Linux 8.3, a user-friendly, Slackware-based live distribution with an automatic update tool: "Announcing the Ultima Linux 8.3 release! I'm not even going to pretend to write all this marketing rubbish, because quite honestly I'm not much good at it and it's a senseless waste of time. Really there's no point anyway, on the surface there's really nothing new - most of the changes are upgrades (kernel 2.6.23.12, KDE 3.5.8, Firefox 2.0.0.11, Thunderbird 2.0.0.9, OpenOffice.org 2.3.1), although you will probably see some really nice new wallpaper images in KDE. There have been a few fairly major changes with this release, so expect bugs, but then again that's what you get with pretty much any new software release... it seems to be stable on my machine anyway." See the release announcement and release notes for more information.
Ultima Linux 8.3 - featuring mostly package updates
(full image size: 148kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
DARKSTAR Linux 2008.1
The DARKSTAR Linux development team has announced the release of DARKSTAR Linux 2008.1, a beginner-friendly, Slackware-based distribution for the desktop: "We have the great pleasure to announce the version 2008.1 of the DARKSTAR Linux distribution. DARKSTAR Linux 2008.1 is a desktop oriented Linux operating system, which is easy to install, configure and use and which targets the beginners in Linux. It has many easy-to-use graphical tools, and a range of applications for office, multimedia and gaming. DARKSTAR Linux 2008.1 is published in a DVD ISO format; it can be run as a live system, or it can be install to hard drive. DARKSTAR Linux 2008.1 includes: Yet another Linux Installer (YaLI), Disk Manager, X.Org Setup, Network Configurator, Package Manager, Time Configurator, Services Configurator, Linux Kernel 2.6.23.8, KDE 3.5.8, OpenOffice.org 2.3.0, Firefox 2.0.0.9...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further details.
DesktopBSD 1.6
DesktopBSD 1.6, a user-friendly desktop operating system based on FreeBSD, has been released: "It is my great pleasure to announce the availability of DesktopBSD 1.6 final. This release is the first stable release of the 1.6 branch and comes with a great number of new features and improvements. It is based on the second release candidate of FreeBSD's upcoming production release 6.3 and provides the user with an enhanced KDE 3.5.8 desktop environment. The most notable new features are: X.Org release 7.3; live CD/DVD feature for testing the system without installation; revised installer supporting upgrades from 1.0 and previous 1.6 release candidates; improved package manager; inclusion of the NVIDIA graphics driver for hardware 3D rendering...." Read the release announcement and release notes for more details.
DesktopBSD 1.6 - based on the stable FreeBSD 6.x code
(full image size: 740kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Voltalinux 2.0
Voltalinux is a server-oriented GNU/Linux distribution based on Slackware Linux and the "pkgsrc" package management system from NetBSD. Voltalinux 2.0 "Viareggio", a new major update, was released yesterday: "Voltalinux 2.0 is out. Voltalinux 2.0 is based on the 2.6.21 kernel, Slackware 12.0, and pkgsrc-2007Q3. The big new feature is the installer. 120 packages ready to be installed (even those for Slackware 12.0). Like all the previous releases, Voltalinux 2.0 has no graphical user interface and is more server oriented as most of the packages are for server use. These include Postfix, Dovecot, SpamAssassin, Pure-FTPd, MySQL, Hylafax, Quagga, Exim, MaraDNS and many more." Here is the brief release announcement.
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
openSUSE 11.0
The openSUSE project has published the development roadmap for the upcoming release of openSUSE 11.0. The new version will go through three alpha phases (the first of which is scheduled for later this week) and three beta ones before it reaches a release candidate status in late May. openSUSE 11.0 final will be released publicly on 19 June 2008. For a detailed listing of all dates please check out the openSUSE roadmap page.
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
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New distributions added to database
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New distributions added to waiting list
- Doppix. Doppix is a Mandriva-based Linux distribution developed in Uzbekistan. The project's web site is yet to be completed at the time of writing, but the first test CD images are available for download from its FTP server.
- Linguas OS. Linguas OS is a PCFluxboxOS-based live CD adapted to translation work. It includes OpenOffice.org, Omega T (translation memory program), CAT software, Evince (PDF reader), and other basic tools that can be used for translation work. The main purpose of Linguas OS is to demonstrate to professionals in the translation industry that it is possible to use free and open source software to do their work.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 21 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 |
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Evernight Vista
Evernight Vista is Fedora-based desktop Linux distribution featuring the KDE Plasma desktop. The project's goal is to develop a user-friendly operating system accessible even to non-technical users. Some of the distribution's features include complete support for Chinese (the simplified variant), inclusion of CJK input method for Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages, support for Linyaps and Spark App stores for easy installation of popular Chinese software, and inclusion of a performance-enhanced Linux kernel from the CachyOS project.
Status: Active
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