 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 312, 20 July 2009 |
|
Welcome to the 29th issue of DistroWatch Weekly for 2009!
Leading the news this past week is Mandriva, who has released several
new projects including updated 2009 Spring USB and MLO Live CD editions,
as well as Enterprise Server 5. We also take a look at the issues and difficulties
involved in making CentOS 5.3 run on a netbook. Elsewhere this past week, Moblin
benefits with contributions from HyperSpace, while version 4 of ULTILEX
is released - a new distro which ships several other distros on a
single live CD or USB stick. We also include interviews with Richard
Stallman and Mark Shuttleworth, and finally a case study which looks at
the relationship between distributions and upstream projects. Have a
great Monday and the rest of the week!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
|
| Feature Story (by Caitlyn Martin) |
Installing CentOS 5.3 on a Netbook - A Cautionary Tale
For a number of years my business and indeed my career have largely been
focused on Linux and one distribution in particular: Red Hat
Enterprise Linux (RHEL). When I consulted for Red Hat, the company, in 2004 and
2005 and for sometime thereafter I had RHEL 4 installed on my old
Toshiba Satellite laptop and it ran reasonably well.
Last month Radu-Cristian Fotescu, who writes the Planète Béranger blog,
posted
about running CentOS 5.3 on the desktop, describing his experiences as
"simple pleasures". Mr. Fotescu has a well
earned reputation for negativity, particularly when it comes to Linux
distributions. He has been positively effusive about CentOS 5.3, going
so far as to create his
own repository of additional or updated desktop software for CentOS
and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x, and sharing it with the community. As a
result I began toying with the idea of running CentOS on my
Sylvania g
Netbook Meso. CentOS is a 100% compatible rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise
Linux without support or cost.
I knew from my experience with the Toshiba laptop with both RHEL 4.x and
5.x that this wasn't going to be straightforward. Nobody has ever
accused CentOS or Red Hat Enterprise Linux of being easy to install and
configure. The reasons Red Hat has all but captured most of the corporate
server and Linux workstation market are reliability, stability, security,
and support. It's a professional operating system intended for Linux
professionals. Generally most larger business and organizations do
some sort of automated network installations. Doing a one-off installation
of CentOS on an odd piece of hardware involves some work.
In the case of my netbook "some work" is quite the understatement. CentOS
5.x is based largely on Fedora 6, now more than two
and a half years old and largely viewed as obsolete. The folks at Red Hat
famously backport support for newer hardware into their enterprise
releases which, in turn, show up in CentOS so I had hoped for fairly good
results out of the virtual box. While it certainly is true that netbooks
and nettops (mini desktops) have found their way into the corporate world
it turns out they really are not at all well supported by CentOS just yet.
In many ways making this work was analogous to putting a square peg in a
round hole. I was, in effect, trying to do something that CentOS really
just isn't designed to do.
This article should not be seen as a critical review of
CentOS or Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Both are very, very good at what they
set out to do, which is to provide an extremely secure and stable
environment with tried and tested (usually meaning older) software. Rather
it is a cautionary tale of what happens when you try to use this
particular distro in a way that really wasn't intended. After all, when
CentOS 5 first appeared there were no netbooks on the market yet. Even when
the Asus EeePC first became popular nobody would have imagined netbooks
in an enterprise environment. It took a combination of improved
netbook specs and a severe global economic crisis to make that happen
even on a small scale. Netbook support simply wasn't seen as something
important to backport into to an enterprise OS.
While making CentOS work on a netbook is certainly possible it isn't for
the faint of heart. I decided to document and share some of my
experiences.
Installation Process
CentOS 5.3 uses Red Hat's venerable anaconda installer. Since my
intention was to install to the hard drive I used the standard CentOS
DVD iso image, not the live DVD. In effect what I was installing was all
but identical to the upstream (Red Hat) product.
The first sign that this wasn't going to be easy showed up as
soon as the graphical part of the installer loaded. anaconda does not
support the 1024x600 resolution popular on netbooks with 8.9" and 10"
screens. Instead the installer ran at 800x600 but rather than stretching
to fit the screen as some distros do it left a large black space on the
right hand part of the display. This really didn't present a problem in
and of itself.
I began going through the normal install process, answering the usual
questions. I chose to do a highly customized installation, reusing an
existing partition and picking and choosing what to install on an
application-by-application basis. While selecting packages the display
went black. This wasn't the usual screensaver blanking as I was
actively working with the system when it happened. I could use CTRL-ALT and
the function keys to get to the virtual terminals and see what appeared
to be normal installer progress but I couldn't get the graphical installer
to reappear no matter what I tried.
I could have started over with the old text based installer which is
still offered as an alternative with CentOS 5.3. Partly because I
wanted to understand why this was happening and partly because I am more
than a bit stubborn at times I decided to try anaconda again. I never
did get an error in the log and on the third try it did get all the way
through the installation process. I never did figure out what caused the
problem. If you intend to try installing CentOS on a system with an
Intel Express Graphics 945 video chipset I do recommend using the text
based installer.
Initial Configuration
Once I had CentOS 5.3 up and running I decided to
install any security patches and updates before doing anything else. I
saw no sense in running an insecure system even for a short while.
Since I was planning a feature article on CentOS for DistroWatch Weekly
(actually a review of CentOS 5.3 on the desktop rather than what I've
published today) I decided to do things the user friendly way and use
pirut, the graphical update tool, rather than yum at the command line.
It turned out that these decisions may not have been the best.
I had never seen this particular netbook run slowly before. After the
initial installation everything was creeping. Even filling in the icons
in the Applications menu on the default GNOME desktop took time. That should have
been my first
order of business. Pirut ran but it was painfully slow. It showed a
large list of necessary upgrades. I went ahead and clicked on the button
to apply the upgrades. The result had the appearance of a fly trapped in
amber: the system was trying to move but it just couldn't. I walked
away, made a cup of tea, and did see some very slow progress when I returned. Opening the
system monitor made clear that part of the problem was a poor connection
to the CentOS repository or mirror with only intermittent network
traffic. Even when the downloads were completed pirut still ran
incredibly slowly. The upgrade process did successfully finish, more than
three hours later. My recommendation here is not to repeat my mistakes.
Tweak first and patch later. I know the security paranoid folks who are
reading this are shaking their heads and with good reason. At the very
least if you must patch first use yum rather than pirut.
With my system now patched but still excruciatingly slow I decided to start looking
at the cause. I went into the System menu and took a look at what
services were running. CentOS starts a lot of things by default that
make sense in a large enterprise environment but which really aren't
needed on a netbook. I expected that I'd have some services to disable and
that I'd see improved performance once I'd done that. What I didn't
expect to see was that everything I had deselected during install had
been automagically reselected by anaconda. I had a long list of
daemons running services that I had deliberately tried not to install.
The best explanation I have for the cause is that for the packages I wanted
anaconda had resolved dependencies and deemed that all the cruft was
somehow necessary. CentOS packages are built for maximum features and
functionality, not streamlined for efficiency. This is a philosophical
choice which makes sense for the target audience: enterprise customers
with large, diverse networks. The result outside such an environment is
bloat.
I first stopped and then disabled all the services I just do not need.
The increase in performance was immediate and obvious. My system was no
longer slow at all. A further review of what processes I still had
running allowed me to do a bit more cleanup and the final result was a
responsive system.
Missing Drivers and Other Issues
When I reviewed the services I actually added one: Network Manager. Once
I had that running it became very clear that WiFi wasn't working. CentOS
is the first current distro which I've tried on the netbook that didn't
recognize my RaLink wireless chipset and load the rt73 driver. That
driver wasn't part of the 2.6.18 kernel and hasn't been backported into
the CentOS kernel as of yet. I visited all of the third party
repositories I know of for RHEL/CentOS and couldn't find a package for
the driver. The only available solution was to get the legacy source
code from CVS on SourceForge and compile it.
My webcam was also decidedly non-functional, also due to a missing driver.
This was despite the fact that anaconda had seen fit to install video
conferencing software I had specifically deselected: software which is
useless without a functional webcam. Once again my only choice was to
download and compile source code. I actually haven't found time to do
this yet.
Another mildy annoying issue is the way my SD cards are handled by
CentOS. Instead of getting one icon on the desktop when I insert the
card I get two. In addition, I can't unmount the card without
forcing it as root at the command line. Right clicking on one of the icons and
selecting unmount doesn't work. One icon does disappear but the
card is still mounted and the system thinks the card is still in
use. Unmounting by right clicking on the second icon doesn't solve
the problem. Nothing happens at all. I haven't had time to
troubleshoot this problem yet either.
Conclusions
Getting CentOS working correctly on my netbook has turned into a long and
somewhat arduous process. Fortunately I am very, very familiar with this
distro and I'm willing to get under the hood and fix things. Everything
I've described can be solved and had I been slightly less stubborn and
had I made some better decisions I probably would have it all done by now.
I do expect that, in the end, CentOS will work properly on my system. It
just takes a lot of work to get there.
By now I'm certain some if not most of you are asking why I just don't
go back to a distro that "just works" on my hardware. Most do. My
compelling reason for getting CentOS working and working well on a system
where Windows XP would be sluggish is impressive to some and a good
selling point. It's also nice to be able to successfully replicate much of
my business computing environment on my itty bitty laptop, particularly
when I travel. For the typical home user or Linux hobbyist the effort
I've gone through probably isn't worthwhile.
Even under the best of conditions making CentOS into a desirable desktop
environment for the home user takes significant work and visits to third
party repositories and upstream sources for additional packages and
upgrades. CentOS just doesn't have the software selection that popular
desktop distros have. While I have no objection to tried, tested and
reliable if somewhat older applications I do object to having apps with
known and serious security vulnerabilities even after patching. I've
also been known to complain about the amount of work I have to do after initial
installation with Slackware. Slackware seems
mild when compared with what I had to do with CentOS and I'm still not
finished.
On the other hand, if you plan on taking a netbook or any notebook into
a business or organizational environment where security is a
paramount concern you'd be hard pressed to do better than CentOS.
Almost every authentication scheme you are likely to encounter is
natively supported, as is SELinux. Stability and reliability are
outstanding.
There is no one size fits all Linux distribution. For use on a netbook
CentOS needs considerable tailoring. I thought it would be worthwhile
to share just how much.
CentOS
5.3 running GNOME on my netbook with some customization
(full image size: 832kB, screen resolution 1024x600 pixels)
|
| Miscellaneous News (by Chris Smart) |
Mandriva releases several updated products, Moblin to benefit with HyperSpace technology, ULTILEX a multiple live CD distro project, interviews with Richard Stallman and Mark Shuttleworth, distro and upstream relationship case study
 Things are steaming ahead in Mandriva land with a few new products recently announced. The first comes from the Online team who has released the second version of the MLO Live CD (announcement in French only). The Live CD itself is available in both French and English and brings several important new features, the most important of which is the focus on migrating Windows users. It also comes with updated versions of key pieces of software such as Linux 2.6.29 and version 4.2.4 of popular desktop KDE. There is a script on the desktop to automate the installation of a Flash player and audio-video codecs. Elsewhere, Mandriva has announced the release of its new Enterprise Server 5 product. The product is optimised for speed and ease of use, offering a 15 minute install time and the ability to easily configure email, file, print and directory services. Finally, the project has also announced the very latest Mandriva Flash 2009 Spring edition. The product can be purchased on a USB key from the online store, and comes in 6GB and 8GB versions. "Take your desktop wherever you want and let your friends share the Mandriva Linux experience by inserting your USB key into their PCs in the knowledge you are protected completely from viruses."
* * * * *
 Phoenix Technologies who makes embedded systems, has announced plans to "align" its fast-boot "HyperSpace" technology with the Moblin project. HyperSpace is a highly optimised minimal Linux environment which includes a web browser, wireless network manager, booting from a cold start in under a second. Interestingly, HyperSpace can load Windows simultaneously in the background and let users switch between the two. Although targeted at Windows machines, the advanced in the Linux technology are to be further developed for the benefit of the wider free software community. President and CEO of Phoenix Technologies, Woody Hobbs said: "Moblin provides OEMs with an optimized framework for Intel Atom processor-based systems. HyperSpace enhances this platform with a unique, easy-to-use and fun interface and the ability to bring any application to life instantly." It will be interesting to see how this technology is adopted in the wider Linux community and indeed the Moblin operating system, as Intel prepares to do battle with ARM based systems.
* * * * *
 Ubuntu has remained in the spot light, and this week we provide a link to an interview with Mark Shuttleworth, founder and leader of the project, discussing the future of the GNOME desktop. Ubuntu uses GNOME as its default operating system and the proposed changes to make up version 3.0 has been drawing much attention. Following a successful migration to new technology for the KDE desktop, GNOME is also looking to shake things up. One important new piece of the puzzle is GNOME Shell, about which Shuttleworth says: "We participate - although at some distance - in the GNOME Shell stuff, our design team was part of the User Experience Hackfest that sort of laid out the principles for GNOME Shell. Although we don't have dedicated people working on it at the moment." When it comes to improving the desktop experience, Shuttleworth points towards their recent "100 Papercuts" initiative and working with other specific projects: "A lot of the stuff we do is very public, like the "100 papercuts" and the design stuff we are doing engaging with apps like F-Spot, Empathy, Pidgin, Thunderbird and others." The next Long Term Release is scheduled for April 2010, when GNOME 3.0 is expected to be released. Will Ubuntu ship the new and potentially unstable desktop, or revert to the previous branch? When KDE 4.0 was released they did not release a LTS version, which turned out to be the right move.
* * * * *
Are you a fan of live Linux distributions? Always carrying around several on numerous sets of optical media? ULTILEX could help ease that burden! It is a Linux meta-distribution which combines several other distros on a single Live CD/DVD and USB devices. "When you boot ULTILEX, the first thing you'll see is a beautiful startup screen with menu from which you can choose the exact live Linux distribution to run. The current version of ULTILEX is 4.0.0 and it contains the following live Linux distributions: Slax version 6.1.1, Puppy Linux, version 4.2.1, Tiny Core version 2.1, System Rescue CD version 1.2.2, Parted Magic version 4.3." The latest version is now available for download. "One interesting feature of ULTILEX is that you can install it with ease on USB flash device and save the changes you've made during the live session on it. You can modify files and even install/remove modules and all your changes are saved on the USB flash." Is this a worthwhile project for you?
* * * * *
Richard Stallman (the father of the free software movement) has been making lots of news lately with comments on the use of Mono in distributions. He has also given an interview with technology website Neowin, in the current state of GNU/Linux. They discuss the availability of commercial products making use of free software and comparisons between closed source and open source software in terms of functionality, he says: "I have never used Photoshop, and just touched the GIMP once, so I can't compare them from personal experience. I have heard people say the GIMP is better, but the lack of a restricted color-matching feature hampered certain uses. I have used OpenOffice Writer occasionally, but I can't compare it myself with Microsoft Word. Large organizations have moved to it; whatever its imperfections may be, it is clearly adequate. Any conclusion about comparing free and proprietary programs depends on the values we judge them by. If we judge solely in terms of practical convenience, either one might be better, depending on specifics. But if we value freedom highly, the program that respects our freedom is always better than the one which takes it away." Finally, he finishes with a message for users of non-free operating systems, saying: "My message for anyone that uses Windows or MacOS is to notice that using them means that Microsoft or Apple controls your computing. They decide what you can do, and what you can't do. So escape! Join us in the Free World! We have worked 25 years to build it, for freedom's sake. Now all you have to do is choose freedom."
* * * * *
Linux distributions track upstream projects, releasing a particular version with each official release. But how far behind the latest versions do these releases linger? Scott Shawcroft aims to find out. He wrote to tell DistroWatch about his interesting new study into this relationship between distributions and upstream projects. Shawcroft says: "Over the last 10 months I've been working on Linux evolution research. Similar to distrowatch, I track the current versions of packages in a number of distributions and the current upstream version. Based on that data I then graph a number of metrics to understand the relationship between upstream and downstream." His presentation on the topic scheduled for next week's open source convention, OSCON, should provide an interesting insight into that relationship. Currently he is tracking 20 projects including the Linux kernel and GNOME on Arch, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, openSUSE, Sabayon, Slackware, and Ubuntu. It's a very interesting study and well worth a look!
|
| Released Last Week |
Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS
Steve Langasek has announced the release of Ubuntu 8.04.3
LTS, the third update of the distribution's special version with
long-term support (3 years on the desktop and 5 years on the server):
"The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the release of
Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS, the third maintenance update to Ubuntu's 8.04 LTS
release. This release includes updated server, desktop and alternate
installation CDs for the i386 and amd64 architectures. In all, 80
updates have been integrated, and updated installation media has been
provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after
installation. These include security updates and corrections for other
high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and
compatibility with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS." Read the full
release
announcement for a complete list of changes.
Pardus Linux 2009
Onur Küçük announced the official release of
Pardus Linux 2009: "The
international CD of Pardus 2009, containing 11 languages to choose from,
is also available from FTP servers. This new release contains many bug
fixes and enhancements. A new, shiny KDE 4 desktop environment, improved
hardware support, latest releases of Pardus Manager tools, up-to-date
software repository, and performance improvements are among the many new
features of Pardus 2009. Pardus 2009 has also been improved graphically
in every part of the distribution. All splash systems, from bootloader
to login screen, have been revised. The latest version of Pardus
contains up-to-date packages like KDE 4.2.4, Linux kernel 2.6.30.1,
OpenOffice.org 3.1.0.6, Mozilla Firefox 3.5.1, GIMP 2.6.6, K3b 1.66,
X.Org 1.6.2 and Python 2.6.2." Here is the complete
release
announcement.
sidux 2009-02
Stefan Lippers-Hollmann announced the release of
sidux 2009-02, a desktop Linux distribution based
on Debian's unstable branch: "A little later than
originally planned, we now have the pleasure to announce the immediate
availability of sidux 2009-02 'Αether', shipping with kernel 2.6.30 and
KDE 4.2.4. The ISO is completely based on Debian 'sid', enriched and
stabilized with sidux' own packages and scripts. 'Aether' mostly
concentrates on integrating KDE 4 into sidux and implementing the
changes caused by kernel 2.6.30. We strongly recommend against allowing
'ia32-apt-get'." Read the detailed
release
notes for further information.
ExTiX 7.0
Version 7.0 of ExTix a desktop Linux distribution
from Sweden based on paldo GNU/Linux, has been
announced: "ExTiX has full Swedish language support
and many more programs installed than paldo. This new version of ExTiX
Linux live DVD includes the 2.6.30 -extix kernel by default, GNOME
2.26.1, OpenOffice.org 3.0.1, all development tools, GIMP 2.6.6,
Skype 2.0.0.72 (free Internet telephony), Apache, all win32 codecs,
VLC 1.0.0, GParted 1.3.6, aMule 2.2.2 (file sharing), Firefox 3.0.11,
WINE 1.1.20, GNU Emacs 22.3.1 and Epiphany 2.26.1. Unionfs stacks your
ExTiX ramdisk on top of a read-only file system on the DVD, the effect
being that one can upkg-install, and otherwise modify all of the files
on the running system. The standard GNOME and system language is
English." Check for more information on the
ExTix website.
ExTix
7.0 with the default GNOME desktop
(full image size: 606kB, screen resolution 1024x768 pixels)
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
|
| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
|
Summary of expected upcoming releases
|
| DistroWatch.com News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Browserpuppy.
Browserpuppy is a fast and small (66MB) distribution based on Puppy
Linux strictly for surfing the web. Office software is not included.
- Ice-Z Linux.
Ice-Z Linux is an Ubuntu-based distribution with new dark default
themes. Other differences include the removal of games and the addition
of functional packages. .
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 27 July 2009.
Caitlyn Martin and Chris Smart
|
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
AnNyung Linux
AnNyung was an i686-optimised, server-oriented Korean Linux distribution based on the Red Hat/Fedora technology with added security features. Starting from version 2.0 AnNyung only exists as an add-on to CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, not as a complete and installable operating system - hence the "Discontinued" status.
Status: Discontinued
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TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
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| 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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0x969CD4E778C7b6549A2B00e34114e0168c86A542 
