 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 255, 2 June 2008 |
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Welcome to this year's 22nd issue of DistroWatch Weekly! One of the best-known and most widely-used features of FreeBSD, its CVS infrastructure designed to store all of the operating system's and userland's source code, was finally given boot last week when it was replaced with Subversion. What will this major switch mean for the FreeBSD user community? While on the surface not much will change in the foreseeable future, eventually everybody will need to get used to a new way of performing source updates. In other news, Novell reports better than expected revenue from its Linux business, Ubuntu plans universal connectivity in Intrepid Ibex, Fedora reports on the progress of integrating KDE 4 into the distribution, and BLAG's Jeff Moe explains why he continues to remove all non-free "blobs" from the Linux kernel. Also not to be missed, a first-look review of openSUSE's Zypper, probably the most advanced and comprehensive package management utility on the market. Finally, we are pleased to announce that the recipient of the DistroWatch.com May 2008 donation is the FileZilla project. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story |
openSUSE package management with Zypper
 Although openSUSE (and SUSE Linux before) has had a comprehensive package management infrastructure for years, a brand new package management option was introduced in openSUSE 10.3. Called Zypper, this command-line utility has all the ingredients of other successful package managers, such as apt-get, urpmi or yum. Not only is it much faster than any graphical tool can ever be, it has the additional advantage of being available for use in scripts. I tested the utility on the current development versions of openSUSE 11.0 by using it exclusively for synchronising an installed openSUSE system with the distribution's "Factory" tree in regular intervals.
The installed system was the third beta release of openSUSE 11.0, the i386 edition, installed from the standard installation DVD. I expected to be able to use the distribution's normal upgrade mechanisms for synchronising the installed system with Factory, but surprisingly, this didn't work as expected. The reason was that, unlike Ubuntu or Fedora which automatically configure their update utilities to point to their respective development branches, openSUSE's beta releases aren't set up to follow the development in this manner. Instead, the openSUSE update sources all point to an (as yet unavailable) 11.0 final update directory.
That said, it isn't particularly difficult to modify the relevant configuration in openSUSE in order to make it point to the Factory tree. First, remove all the existing repositories (type zypper repos to see a full list) with zypper rr alias. When done, adding the Factory repositories can be accomplished with the following commands:
• zypper sa http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/SL-OSS-factory/inst-source/ oss
• zypper sa http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/SL-Factory-non-oss/inst-source-extra/ non-oss
Now if you run zypper repos again, you should get an output similar to the one pictured below:
Zypper lists all package repositories in a nice tabular format.
Once setting up the Factory repositories is completed, updating the entire distribution to the latest development build is done with the following commands:
• zypper refresh
• zypper dist-upgrade
As is often the case with command-line package management tools, they come with a large number of options and arguments that can make the update process go so much smoother. As an example, if your installation includes non-free software, you will need to agree to their software licenses before installing (or upgrading) any such packages. This can be avoided with the zypper update --auto-agree-with-licenses command. Similarly, you can avoid having to confirm certain tasks with zypper --non-interactive update. Some of the other available options include searching for packages or exporting a complete package list into a text file in order to re-import it on another computer. Many of the commands come with extra options, which can be found in the program's comprehensive online documentation.
During my usage of Zypper over the past couple of weeks, I've learnt to appreciate the convenience it provides to the end user. There is not doubt in my mind that Zypper is the most powerful package management utility available today, with many useful options and arguments that do not exist elsewhere. While its apparent complexity could be seen as discouraging at times, once you take the time to learn the tool and to understand its intricacies you will undoubtedly appreciate the effort openSUSE developers have put into creating Zypper. It's an excellent tool for all those who wish to follow the development of openSUSE 11.0 without having to re-install the system after each alpha or beta release.
For more information:
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| Miscellaneous News |
FreeBSD moves to Subversion, Novell reports growing Linux business, Ubuntu plans universal connectivity, Fedora outlines KDE plans, BLAG and Granular interviews
  There can't be many FreeBSD users who are not familiar with the project's omnipresent CVS infrastructure, including its famous "cvsup" and "csup" commands. Times are changing, however. Last week, after some 12 years of usage and nearly 180,000 commits, the FreeBSD project officially switched to Subversion: "The day has finally come - FreeBSD is using Subversion instead of CVS for the base source tree! Congratulations to everyone involved, especially Peter Wemm. This move was discussed extensively during the DevSummit at BSDCan 2008; there have been many issues with CVS over the years, most of which are minor enough to be overlooked, but some of which are just nasty (the inability of CVS to move/rename files, bad handling of branching in the event of constant new development and additions to the directory tree, non-atomic commits) and have frequently required manual interventions in the CVS repository." Of course, the big bang switch to Subversion doesn't mean that "cvsup" and "csup" will stop working instantly, but those users who are just starting with FreeBSD or those who wish to move ahead with times should start learning about "svnsync" and other, more modern tools.
* * * * *
 Reporting the financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2008, Novell announced that its Linux business was up by 31% when compared to the same period of the previous year: "Novell saw its Linux business top US$29 million in its second fiscal quarter of 2008 (US$30 million in total Open Platform Solutions revenue), up 31 percent over the same period a year ago, with other business units also seeing healthy growth. Only its Workgroup business unit continues to founder, down 1 percent in the period that ended April 30." In the meantime, the continued rivalry between Novell and its main Linux competitor, Red Hat, continued to generate some interesting exchanges. Replying to a question about Red Hat's exit from the desktop market, Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian remarked last week: "I wouldn't attribute any of it to them exiting the market because technically, they would have had to put a product out there to enter the market, which they never got done." Both vendors continue to focus on the established enterprise business, rather than attempting to develop offerings for a mass-market, commercially-supported Linux desktop for consumers, concludes InternetNews in its report.
* * * * *
 Barely a few weeks have passed since the release of Ubuntu 8.04, but ITWire has already launched a discussion about the likely features in Intrepid Ibex, Ubuntu's next release, due in October 2008: "Ubuntu, arguably the most popular Linux distribution today, came out with its 8.04 release last month, dubbed Hardy Heron. That's passé now; here's the low down on what the future holds this October with Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex." So what is likely to receive plenty of attention? Universal connectivity: "The intention of pervasive Internet access on trains and the like also suggests support must be included for increasingly-popular 3G modems. I struggled to make my Telstra NextG modem work with my ASUS Eee PC; it required a lot of 'modprobes' and recompiling of kernel sources. Imagine how tremendous it would be to replace the custom ASUS edition of Xandros with Intrepid Ibex and have a tiny super-light ultra-portable laptop that works anywhere."
* * * * *
 The KDE desktop implementation in Fedora has been a hit and miss in all of its recent releases, but never more obvious than in Fedora 9 where the only option is the feature-incomplete KDE 4.0.3. Luckily, the Fedora developers are aware of the problems and keep working on acceptable solutions. Rahul Sundaram: "The many interface changes bring their own set of problems. Icons and files on the desktop only have rudimentary support by design, yet there is no better replacement ready. You cannot drag and drop or copy paste files, nor can you use the context menu to open a file with a alternative program. When you delete icons from the desktop, they are not actually deleted but merely hidden for the current session and reappear on your next login. Panel widgets cannot be relocated within the panel easily. There is no way to remove the plasmoid handler from the desktop. With the Oxygen theme, the difference between an active window and the passive windows are too subtle."
* * * * *
 Finally, two interviews with the project leaders of two distributions which don't often find themselves featuring in the headlines, but which certainly have their dedicated followers. The first one is a talk with Jeff Moe, the founder of the Fedora-based BLAG Linux And GNU: "Jeff Moe is a 37-year old self-employed father. Better known as 'jebba', he is the main developer behind the 100% free distribution BLAG (for BLAG Linux And GNU). He is also leading a couple of other Free software projects." One of the special features of BLAG Linux And GNU is its kernel, specially modified to remove any non-free "blobs": "Q: gNewSense has just released a new version based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron. They chose to replace Ubuntu's kernel with 'linux-libre'. Has any other distribution (Ututo maybe?) shown interest in using your kernel? A: Alexandre Oliva (Red Hat compiler engineer) has shown interest in getting it into Fedora. I'm not sure what's up with Ututo, but dyne:bolic will almost certainly use it in their next main release. I talk to 'jaromil' from dyne:bolic and Brian Brazil from gNewSense frequently."
* * * * *
 The second interview is with Anurag Bhandari, the founder and project leader of the PCLinuxOS-based Granular Linux: "Q: What exactly is Granular Linux? What does the name Granular signify?A: Granular is an easy-to-use Linux distribution aimed at desktop users and newbies in the world of Linux. It can also be a good choice for regular Linux users. The name 'Granular' signifies one of the reasons behind the creation of this distro, that is, 'customizability'. Granular was intended to be able to get easily customized by the end user. An overall customization can only be achieved by customizing the individual components (granules). And for that, KDE is an excellent option, combined with the various options provided with Granular. Hence the word Granular." And a little personal info about the founder of Granular Linux: "I am a computer engineering student heading towards my fourth and last year at the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India. I am pursuing my B.Tech degree there. I am a resident of Jalandhar, Punjab."
Granular Linux 1.0 preview offers a sneak peek at the upcoming version 1.0, due for release next month.
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| Released Last Week |
Bluewhite64 Linux 12.1 "Live DVD"
Attila Craciun has announced the availability of the "LiveDVD" edition of Bluewhite64 Linux 12.1, an unofficial port of Slackware Linux to the x86_64 architecture: "I am delighted to announce the availability of Bluewhite64 Linux 12.1 'LiveDVD' and Bluewhite64 Linux 12.1 'LiveUSB'. The new Bluewhite64 Linux 12.1 LiveDVD includes the stable SMP Linux kernel 2.6.24.7 with advanced features and performance. The LiveDVD is designed to bring a modern Linux desktop to the AMD64/EM64T architectures; it includes a modularized X.Org 1.4.0.90 (7.3) with Compiz, the award-winning KDE 3.5.9 in 65 languages, OpenOffice.org 2.3, Firefox 2.0.0.14 (Flash-ready) and Konqueror (Flash and Java-ready) web browsers, Thunderbird 2.0.0.12 and KMail 1.9.9 mail clients, Swaret 1.6.3 and Qtswaret 0.1.5 package managers, IA32 emulation to run 32-bit programs, and many more server and desktop programs and tools." Here is the full release announcement.
SystemRescueCd 1.0.3
SystemRescueCd 1.0.3, a Gentoo-based live CD designed for disk partitioning and data rescue tasks, has been released. From the changelog: "Updated the default kernel to Linux 2.6.25.4 with Reiser4; updated the alternative kernel to Linux 2.6.24.7 with Reiser4; switched from Unionfs to Aufs (another union file system); boot from network via PXE or with docache now works with as little as 256 MB of RAM; updated the btrfs file system support to 0.14 (kernel patch and utilities); updated the graphical environment to xorg-server version 1.4; updated NTFS-3G to 1.2506 (NTFS full read and write support); updated GParted to 0.3.7; improved fonts in the graphical environment (X.Org and Xvesa); added support for 256-byte inode in ext3 file system in GRUB 0.97; added a PDF viewer (ePDFView); fixed shell problem with the serial console."
Epidemic GNU/Linux 2.1
Epidemic GNU/Linux is an easy-to-use, Debian-based desktop distribution created in Brazil. An updated version 2.1 was announced yesterday. With this release, the project's developers focused primarily on bug fixes, stability and speed improvements, and general polish. Some the improvements include: Easy Channel, a graphical utility for installing proprietary applications and non-free media codecs; Enetwork, a network configuration tool; a new version of the Epidemic installer; integration of Compiz Fusion with several 3D plugins; an i686-optimised Linux kernel 2.6.24 with a number of patches for wireless network cards and other hardware devices; improved support for webcams; Aufs file system on live CD; read-write support for NTFS partitions; various artwork and theme updates. Please visit the distribution's home page (in Portuguese) to read the release announcement and to take a look at some screenshots.
Epidemic GNU/Linux - a Brazilian desktop distribution based on Debian's testing branch
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Foresight Linux 2.0.2
Ken VanDine has announced the release of Foresight Linux 2.0.2, an rPath-based desktop distribution featuring the latest GNOME technologies: "Announcing the release of Foresight Linux 2.0.2 GNOME edition. Some highlights: GNOME 2.22.2; GNOME Display Manager 2.22; 2.6.25.4 kernel; NetworkManager, more stable than ever; Mono 2.0 beta (now uses less memory); Banshee 1.0 beta. Foresight GNOME edition is a Linux distribution for your desktop that features a rolling release schedule that always keeps your desktop up to date; a revolutionary package manager, Conary; the latest GNOME desktop environment and an innovative set of excellent, up-to-date packages." Read the release announcement and release notes for further details.
DeLi Linux 0.8.0
Henry Jensen has announced the release of DeLi Linux 0.8.0, a light-weight desktop distribution designed for computers with as little as 32 MB of RAM: "DeLi Linux 0.8.0 is the next big step and the first release of the 0.8.x branch. The main focus of the 0.8.x series will be internationalisation. The biggest changes are: switched to UTF-8 as the default encoding; dropped GTK+ 1.x, switched to GTK+ 2.x (2.10); switched to the 'pacman' package manager (from Arch Linux); Netsurf or Skipstone as web browsers; AbiWord 2.4.6 with ODT plugin and Gnumeric 1.6.3; Linux kernel 2.4.36.4, now with LSI Logic support (important for VMware guests). Unfortunately, the hardware requirements had to be raised: for running the GUI at least 32 MB of RAM are recommended; a MMX capable processor is recommended for multimedia applications; a full installation with all applications requires about 750 MB space on hard disk." Here is the full release announcement.
Myah OS 3.0
Jeremiah Cheatham has announced the release of Myah OS 3.0, a complete desktop Linux distribution with Xfce and a variety of administration tools: "The long-awaited Myah OS 3.0 is here. 3.0 has been in development since 2006 right after the release of version 2.3. This release is a complete Linux solution for personal computers. It is created to do just about anything right out of the box without any hassle. There is full support for watching and editing videos. If you like music you can tune into online stations or even record your own. You can also write you own web pages or even use the IDE to start developing software. Myah OS also comes with a complete set of system tools to help with administration. Adding packages is a simple and easy task. Myah will also let you know when there are updates available." Read the rest of the release announcement for more information.
Myah OS 3.0 - a complete desktop Linux distribution with excellent package management infrastructure.
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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 |
May 2008 donation: FileZilla receives US$400.00
We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the May 2008 DistroWatch.com donation is FileZilla, a cross-platform, open-source FTP client for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, released under the General Public Licence. It receives US$400.00 in cash.
Developed in Germany by Tim Kosse, the FileZilla client provides an impressive list of useful features, including the following: "Support for FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) and SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP); available in many languages; supports resume and transfer of large files (4 GB and above); powerful site manager and transfer queue; drag and drop support; configurable speed limits; file name filters; network configuration wizard; remote file editing; keep-alive; FTP proxy support." FileZilla is an excellent replacement for some of the traditional open-source FTP clients which are no longer in active development, such as gFTP. Linux.com published a good overview of FileZilla in August 2007.
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 FileZilla.
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)
- 2008: VLC ($350), Frugalware Linux ($340), cURL ($300), GSPCA (Linux webcam support) ($400), FileZilla ($400)
Since the launch of the Donations Programme in March 2004, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$17,683 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- BSDanywhere. BSDanywhere is a bootable live CD image based on OpenBSD. It consists of the entire OpenBSD base system (without compiler) plus graphical desktop (Enlightenment), an unrepresentative collection of software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and USB devices as well as other peripherals. BSDanywhere can be used as a productive UNIX system for the desktop, educational CD, rescue system or hardware testing platform.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 9 June 2008.
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • 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 |
| • 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 | 
Biadix
Biadix was Knoppix-based Linux live CD with support for the Catalan language.
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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