 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 373, 27 September 2010 |
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Welcome to this year's 39th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! The demise of OpenSolaris, following the project's acquisition by Oracle, has brought both anger and action from its developer community. As a result, OpenIndiana, a community fork of OpenSolaris, was born. The first development release hit the download mirrors early last week and Jesse Smith was quick to take it for a spin. How does it fare compared to desktop Linux or BSD? Read on to find out. In the news section, Fedora continues its march towards the next stable version with a public beta release, Ubuntu's "Maverick" version brings new questions about the suitability of 6-month release cycles, Mandriva reassures its user community that it will continue developing a free distribution, and PCLinuxOS and its founder get exposure in a mainstream tech publication. Also in this issue, a question and answer section that responds to those users who feel frustrated with the current state of desktop Linux. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Welcoming OpenIndiana
 Solaris holds a special place in my heart. It was my first taste of UNIX, back in my school days, and I probably wouldn't have become involved with the Linux community if I hadn't been searching for a free version of "this UNIX thing" so I could practise my shell scripting at home. I was thrilled when Sun announced they were releasing OpenSolaris for the community to play with, even if it was several years too late to help me with my homework. And I was very disappointed when Oracle executed OpenSolaris earlier this year. Fortunately for Solaris fans the OpenIndiana project is picking up where Sun left off. I had been itching to try a new version of OpenSolaris since February (when the last release was scheduled) and so I quickly grabbed the newly launched OpenIndiana, development build 147.
Installation and hardware support
Before diving into the contents of the DVD, first let me say that the project's web site is very much a work in progress. Many pages haven't been posted yet and the site is mostly an introduction to the project and a download page. No doubt these will be filled in later, but for now the web site is mostly bare. What we can learn in those few pages is that OpenIndiana is working with the Illumos project to make a binary compatible fork of OpenSolaris. Or what used to be OpenSolaris. Maintaining binary compatibility will allow people to freely test their systems and software with OpenIndiana prior to trying an official Solaris product.
The installation CD is an 870 MB download, which I burned to a DVD. The DVD kicks off with a GRUB (legacy) boot menu which allows the user to boot into the live environment, boot using the vesa driver or boot into a text console. The menu additionally has options for running a screen reader or magnifier. After an option has been selected, the system asks for the user's keyboard layout and preferred language. We then get a quick shot of a login screen followed by another prompt asking for our preferred language. We finally arrive at a beautiful blue-themed GNOME 2.30 desktop. The application menu, quick-launch bar and clock are at the top of the screen and the task switcher is placed at the bottom. On the desktop we find icons for the Device Driver Utility, a partition editor, the installer and Firefox. I feel the Device Driver program deserves a special mention.
When we first boot into the OpenIndiana desktop the system will check the status of our hardware drivers and, if there are any problems, will display a discreet warning in the corner of the screen. Opening the Device Driver Utility will show a nice itemized list of the hardware on our system with appropriate icons. Devices for which the operating system does not have corresponding drivers will be highlighted in a reddish-pink colour. Should we have, or know the location of, an appropriate driver package we can give its location in this window and OpenIndiana will install it. This process is so convenient, straightforward and user-friendly I think it should be a standard feature in all FOSS operating systems. It completely removes the guess work and testing phases of discovering whether the OS will run on a machine.
For instance, on my desktop machine, the utility found a (largely unused) modem for which it didn't have a driver. Everything else on the desktop (2.5 GHz CPU, 2 GB of RAM, NVIDIA video card) worked. My HP laptop (dual-core 2 GHz CPU, 3 GB of RAM, Intel video card) was also handled well. However, the utility let me know that my Intel wireless card wasn't supported. Most other things such as resolution, sound and networking worked without any trouble. My touchpad handled taps as clicks, but wouldn't scroll under the default settings -- a reverse from the normal order of things. The user has the option of using the utility to submit their hardware profile, similar to the way Fedora's Smolt does on Linux machines. I sent a profile for my desktop machine and found it interesting that the utility says the hardware information was sent to Sun. This seems out of date at best and I wonder who ended up with a list of my hardware.
Next up is the system installer. The first thing the user is asked to do is handle partitions. Compared to other graphical installers (and a few text-based installers) the OpenIndiana partitioner is a bit sparse and I found it easier to divide up the disk using GParted prior to running the installer. Next the user is asked for their time zone and preferred language. (This was the third time I'd selected my language preference since booting.) The following screen creates a user account, which we are told will have administrator privileges. The installer then copies over the required files and we reboot.
OpenIndiana dev-146 - administration tools
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First impressions and software applications
OpenIndiana does not boot quickly. The first time I started the system post-install, the system took about five minutes to reach the login screen. Later start-up times were improved, but still dragged compared to most Linux distros. After logging in, I found the installed system was much the same as the live DVD environment, though without desktop icons. A little poking around showed the system (once up and running) wasn't so much slow as heavy. Running on a physical machine with 2 GB of RAM, OpenIndiana did fairly well; however, trying to cram the OS into a virtual machine with 1 GB of memory caused a noticeable drop in responsiveness. I think a good deal of the overhead comes from the ZFS file system which is nicely integrated into the system. OpenIndiana has some slick GUI tools for dealing with ZFS and the file browser has a built-in "time slider" that allows quick access to file system snapshots. When using OpenSolaris last year I had stability issues with the snapshots feature, but I encountered no problems this time around.
The application menu is light for an operating system which comes on a DVD. Included are Firefox (3.6.8), Thunderbird, Pidgin, Rhythmbox, Totem for playing videos, GParted and Java. We also find the usual collection of applications, including a text editor, file archiver, CD ripper, disc burner, a document viewer and accessibility programs. Not to be found on the system are popular media codecs and Flash. Instead, when the user tries to open a media file, a codec helper pops up and offers to help the user purchase the required codec. The prices strike me as being a bit high and, for most regions of the world, unnecessary.
There were a few surprises regarding what was not available on the menu. OpenIndiana is a branch of OpenSolaris, which was managed by Sun Microsystems. I expected the OS would be used as a platform to show off other (former) Sun technologies. For instance there was no OpenOffice.org to be found on the menu, nor in the package manager. Java was pre-installed, but not the associated developer tools. Likewise, I didn't find a copy of VirtualBox. In fact when running in VirtualBox, OpenIndiana doesn't integrate with the host operating system the way some modern Linux distros do. I think it's a shame that more work hasn't been done to incorporate these projects into the platform. I think Sun, and Oracle, lost an opportunity there to show what they could achieve.
OpenIndiana dev-146 - searching for packages
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That's not to say there aren't some good tools which come with OpenIndiana. There are applications with nice interfaces for handling core files, services, the firewall, users and packages. For the most part, these tools are about what a user could expect to find on a Linux or desktop BSD system. I like their layout and I found them intuitive to use. The package manager especially mimics Synaptic both in appearance and behaviour. At the moment the project's repository is a bit light with just over 2,000 packages available. Hopefully that will grow as OpenIndiana matures. One item that stood out was the ZFS snapshot manager. It provides a nice interface for setting up what is included in a snapshot and when snapshots take place.
System administration and security
The thorn in my side as far as OpenIndiana was concerned was in relation to security, specifically root-level access. The system installer mentions that the user account created at install time will have root access. This does not appear to be the case as any admin-type action I tried to preform was met with a request for the root user's password. The first time I saw this and my password was rejected I realized no password had been set for root during the setup process. I created a root password and went back to change settings. At which point I found the root password was rejected as my user did not have permission to elevate my privileges to the root level. Next I went into the user account manager and changed my user's roles to include elevating my access to root-user level. And I realized I had just performed these account changes with my regular user account!
Going down through the menu of administration tools I found that about half would let me use them and change settings with the root password and the other half would deny me access saying my user account was not permitted to act as root, even with the root password. I'm sure there is some role I can change somewhere to make my account be able to effectively su in all cases, but it is a pain to have this kind of inconsistency. Why would security be configured in such a way that by default I can easily manage system packages and accounts, but not be able to change settings for core file dumps and system services? Speaking of services, as one might expect from an operating system which has its ancestry in servers, the OS runs secure shell and Sendmail by default. Under the default settings root is unable to remotely login to a shell.
OpenIndiana dev-146 - managing system processes
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Conclusions
Perhaps it's not fair to make a judgement call so early given that this is OpenIndiana's first release and they're just getting started, but this initial offering felt more like an early beta than a final release. The system is stable and there are some good features in place. I liked the installer and the Device Driver Utility is a great point in the operating system's favour. Hardware support was a little better this time around than it was a year ago on OpenSolaris. But the heavy nature of the operating system combined with the fickle privilege escalation and small package repository makes OpenIndiana an unappealing choice right now for a desktop system. Hopefully these matters will get ironed out as the project matures.
There is one other thing I feel should be addressed. OpenIndiana seems to be lacking a focus. It has its roots in server technology, but it has become memory hungry, runs a desktop and uses a graphical installer. On the other hand it lacks the range of applications and drivers one might expect in a desktop system. Some people have told me it's more of a testing ground for people migrating, testing and developing across platforms, but if that's the case where are the great development tools and virtualization software?
The wonderful tools which were previously attracting people to OpenSolaris (ZFS, DTrace) have been ported to other operating systems. OpenIndiana doesn't showcase Sun/Oracle technology; all it really does is give people an open source version of Solaris. And, if you're into tweaking operating systems or you're considering a migration to Oracle solutions, then I suppose that's all OpenIndiana needs to be. As a former fan of Solaris, I was hoping to find something which stood out, something the operating system could hang its hat on, and I didn't find that. OpenIndiana isn't a bad system by any means, but I haven't found a reason, besides curiosity, to run it either.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
Fedora prepares for beta release, Mandriva reasserts its continuity, Ubuntu and 6-month release cycles, PCLinuxOS - past and present
 Along with the final release of GNOME 2.32, this week will also see the delivery the last public development builds of Fedora 14 (beta) and Ubuntu 10.10 (release candidate) - the two most popular GNOME-centric distributions. For Ubuntu, this will be a near-final build, with just a minimum number of release-critical bug fixes expected to take place between now and the final release on October 10th. For Fedora, things are progressing in a slightly more leisurely manner as the project's next stable version is not expected until early in November. That said, the list of accepted features in Fedora 14 is now nearly completed. Some of the more interesting upgrades include Perl 5.12 and Python 2.7, while the KDE desktop has been brought up to version 4.5 and the NetBeans development environment is at version 6.9. Overall, it doesn't look like the new Fedora release is brimming with many cutting-edge features, but maybe that's a good thing - a little slowdown in the ever-evolving world of a Linux distro's development can't be a bad thing. Besides, it's entirely possible that many Red Hat developers are currently focusing their attention on the upcoming release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, but as soon as that's out of the way, expect Fedora development to pick up strongly once again.
Fedora 14 beta comes with new artwork and desktop theme.
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 Ubuntu's development cycle will culminate in two weeks when the project's "Maverick Meerkat" release is scheduled to hit the download mirrors around the world. Although this fast development rhythm has been the distribution's feature for several years, there are those, like ITWire's Sam Varghese, who question the reasoning behind such frequent release plans: "Over the last week, I've been playing around with the beta of the forthcoming Ubuntu release - 'Maverick Meerkat' or version 10.10 - which is scheduled to be officially unveiled on October 10. And I have just one question to ask: why is it being released at all? What major changes are present to justify an upgrade? If all that the new version has to show is incremental changes in version numbers of major applications, why is there the need for so much hoo-haa? Is Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, guilty of becoming a prisoner of its own hype, and unable to revert to some kind of commonsensical schedule that would reflect the correct state of affairs?" The author answers his own question: "We don't need the staged releases, we don't need to be given the impression that a great deal is happening when someone is basically running on the same spot. GNU/Linux has never resorted to hype to propagate itself - good software that does what it promises to do, never goes out of style. A yearly release is something that I could live with."
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 Mandriva is fighting back. Following a series of bad publicity reports about the state of the company's finances, employee lay-offs, and a new fork founded by well-known former Mandriva developers (Mageia), the company has published an announcement on its official blog. The article, written by current CEO Arnaud Laprévote, insists that Mandriva (the company) is alive and well and that Mandriva Linux (the distribution) is certainly not about to be discontinued: "The next version of the Mandriva community distribution will be available in the first quarter of 2011. The community version of the Mandriva distribution is the one on which the Powerpack distribution, the Corporate Desktop distribution and the Mandriva Enterprise Server distribution are based upon. From a desktop point of view, Mandriva intends to be the best KDE distribution in the world: easy-to-use, stable, rich-featured and with excellent localization. Even if the community distribution will be KDE-focused, we will encourage the community to build GNOME, LXDE, Xfce, E17, etc. editions as value options. The infrastructure to help the community to do that will be put in place." In related news, Per Øyvind (one of the developers still in Mandriva's services) writes that rumours about Mandriva's demise have been greatly exaggerated, while an official press release, published by Vanessa Wall, provides minutes from Mandriva's annual general meeting which took place on September 17th, 2010.
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 Those Mandriva users who are still perturbed by the continued uncertainty surrounding their favourite distribution might consider another option (besides Mageia) - PCLinuxOS. Although the project hasn't been making many headlines recently, the developers continue to work quietly on the distribution. ITPro's Richard Hillesley reports in PCLinuxOS - Rolling on a river: "The inspiration behind PCLinuxOS, also known as PCLOS, is Bill Reynolds, who is known to fans of PCLinuxOS as Texstar. PCLinuxOS began as an offshoot of Mandrake/Mandriva, to which Texstar had been a long time contributor of third-party packages. The objective was to build a fast, reliable distribution of Linux, that was both a Live distribution on the model of Knoppix and a fully installable and flexible Linux desktop, driven by Reynolds' passion to make the perfect software package. 'I love to package,' he explained. 'It is like a puzzle where all the pieces have to fit together or the code doesn't work. That is my favourite part of doing PCLOS.'" The 4-page article investigates the history of PCLinuxOS before concluding that "PCLinuxOS exists unapologetically to satisfy the demands of its own community, but in doing so reaches a much larger audience. As Reynolds sees it: 'We're just enjoying Linux technology and sharing it with friends who might like it too. We hope you have enjoyed the ride as well.'"
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Linux frustrations
Frustrated-with-the-state-of-Linux asks: What are Linux distros doing right? I'm saying, nothing is ever solved, nothing moves to a usable state (I fear accessing my NTFS drives, who knows if Samba, FUSE, etc. are actually in working order). There is no information centralized that is actually relevant, only information that is out of date. (I've learnt to never ask anything on a forum, even after "googling", but to re-install instead.) Are there actual "eyes on the code"? Or just a cycle of buggy alphas and orphaned packages? Who's putting out these 101 distros and what kind of back-ends are they building into them to steal data or track users? Linux seems worse and worse the more I learn about... Any thoughts on these points?
DistroWatch answers: Before I get into the point-by-point questions, I want to address the over-all sense of disappointment in this e-mail. When people are first introduced to Linux it's easy to have high expectations. A lot of people in the GNU/Linux community are all too happy to declare the virtues of their favourite operating system while ignoring flaws. As a result, I think a lot of people enter into the Linux community with the thoughts that Linux systems don't have to protect against malware, that the systems are 100% reliable, that open source is a large, friendly commune full of people perfecting each other's code and helping everyone. The unfortunate truth is that there is no perfect operating system, no perfect development model and all communities are made up of individuals. And, for that matter, all operating system environments are made up of individual components.
The reason I bring this up is that the questions presented here sound to me like they're painting the entire GNU/Linux community with the same brush. I think that's not an entirely fair way of looking at things. There are millions of Linux users in the world and, as with any large group, one shouldn't judge the herd by the actions of a segment. For every handful of projects that never become stable there are some which mature and become rock-solid and useful. For all the poorly maintained manual pages, there are a few which are kept current. Certainly there are projects where little or no code review is done, but some projects take code quality and security seriously. And this is generally true across operating systems. Spend enough time observing any large OS community and you'll find a mix of precious gems and mediocre mud.
The overall tone of the questions indicates to me that there is a concern with quality and stability. So I would recommend examining some of the Linux distros which focus on those areas. Debian GNU/Linux, CentOS and Slackware Linux come to mind as platforms which have been around for a long time and have well-deserved reputations for quality. You might also consider looking at the BSDs, which tend to focus on security and stability rather than pushing new features. There may be more of a learning curve with BSDs, but they're solid systems.
On to the individual questions. What are Linux distros doing right? The big name distros are creating solid, polished operating systems that many people can use on their main computer system on a day-to-day basis. Sure there are dozens of small projects that appear and disappear with the seasons, but there are some really great distributions available. There's a good list of quality systems here on DistroWatch. Technologies such as Samba, FUSE and NTFS drivers have been stable for years now. I use them almost on a daily basis and have, for quite some time, without any problems. However, as with any storage technology on any operating system it's a good idea to keep regular backups.
Forums really aren't all that different from everyday life. I find that people often respond in the same way they're approached. So be nice when asking questions on forums. It doesn't always work, on forums as with physical interactions, some people will be rude. Ignore them and focus on the people who do have the desire to help. Also, are there eyes on the code? Most of the core projects have occasional review. The smaller, lesser-known projects often do not. There's no hard and fast rule about peer review. The key difference between open and closed source is that people have the option to examine open source code. Whether that option is used varies with the project.
If you're worried about who is making the hundreds of minor Linux distributions floating around the net, don't use them. Pick a well-known operating system with a good reputation. Developers can put anything they want into their products, so do a little research before you download. Again, the DistroWatch's Top Ten page is a good place to start.
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| Released Last Week |
VortexBox 1.5
Andrew Gillis has announced the release of VortexBox 1.5, a Fedora-based Linux distribution that can turn an unused computer into an easy-to-use music server or jukebox: "We are pleased to announce the release of VortexBox 1.5. As always our goal it to make VortexBox work with any media player. The recent release of iTunes 10 does not work with the old VortexBox DAAP server. We took this opportunity to replace the DAAP server in VortexBox with a better one. The new DAAP server not only works with iTuens 10 but it can server FLAC files to iTunes by encoding them as WAV files inline. This reduces the need to keep a mirror of your music files in MP3 format. We also updated the latest Squeezebox server and added a control panel to control the services on VortexBox. Thanks to everybody who helped with features and bug fixes for this release." Here is the brief release announcement.
VectorLinux 6.0 "SOHO Deluxe"
Robert Lange has announced the release of VectorLinux 6.0 "SOHO DELUXE", a commercial edition with KDE 4.5.0 as the default desktop, out-of-the-box multimedia support, and extra application on the second CD: "The VectorLinux development team is proud to announce the release of VectorLinux 6.0 SOHO Deluxe. This release is based on the KDE 4.5.0 Plasma desktop and latest Xfce as a secondary desktop. Updates from the public release include Digikam 1.4.0, GIMP 2.6.10, K3b 2.0, Scribus, OpenOffice.org, Amarok 2.3.1, KMyMoney, GnuCash and additional games and system updates. Kernel version is 2.6.31.11 which adds new wireless network possibilities. There have been speed and stability improvements. The GUI installer has seen further refinements and is the default installer." Read the rest of the release announcement for more information.
Quirky 1.3
Barry Kauler has announced the release of Quirky 1.3, a small desktop distribution similar to Puppy Linux, but built with a different toolset: "Quirky 1.3 released. This is built from the 'forked' Woof that I have been discussing recently, and is an opportunity to evaluate the changes in Puppy files and streamlined searching in the 'init' script. A small amount of package upgrading since 1.2, but mostly this release is a test bed for the advances in Woof. In particular, 1.3 is built with the 'simplified file names'. Apart from simplified names, there is also an id-string appended to the files, plus streamlining of the search-code in the 'init' script. 'Rerwin' has also made many advances in analog and 3G modem detection, configuration and usage, that are in Woof. Build 1.3 is for us to thoroughly test these new ideas." See the release announcement and release notes for further details.
ArchBang Linux 2010.09
Willensky Aristide has announced the release of ArchBang Linux 2010.09, a variant of Arch Linux featuring Openbox as the default window manager and a selection of lightweight applications: "ArchBang Linux 2010.09 'RELOADED' is out. It's entitled 'RELOADED' because we went back to our original combination (ArchBang = Arch Linux + Openbox). The 64-bit edition is the only one available at this time but by the end of the week the 32-bit edition should be available as well. Changes: no more LXDE; removed xdg-menu for dmenu (dynamic menu); Thunar is back and PCMan File Manager is out; new theme; just VLC for your media needs (removed Exaile and GNOME MPlayer); added GIMP; Xfburn instead of Graveman; Gnumeric added; Evince instead of Xpdf; places pipe-menu; Linux kernel version 2.6.35.5." Visit the project's home page to read the release announcement.
ArchBang Linux 2010.09 - an interesting variant of Arch Linux with Openbox
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Chakra GNU/Linux 0.2.2
Phil Miller has announced the release of Chakra GNU/Linux 0.2.2, an Arch-based distribution and live CD featuring the KDE desktop: "We did it! Now with our new page layout and CCR open for public we also have 0.2.2 ready - our second point release of 'Jaz'. This time tribe got a rework to fix bugs we found during last week. We improved CInstall to handle packages and bundles better. Packer will build packages from our community repository now. Your all welcome to add your packages there - we might add them to our binary repositories. Some users reported some issues with VLC and MPlayer. Those are gone now. NVIDIA and ATI drivers got updated and hardware-detection-scripts will find them properly now." Read the rest of the release announcement for more details.
Clonezilla Live 1.2.6-24
Steven Shiau has announced the availability of a new stable release of Clonezilla Live, a free Debian-based live CD designed for disk cloning tasks: "Stable Clonezilla Live 1.2.6-24 has been released. This release includes major enhancements, changes and bug fixes: the underlying GNU/Linux operating system was upgraded, it is based on the Debian 'Sid' repository as of 2010-09-21; new file system support, Btrfs, was added in this release - it has been tested successfully with Ubuntu 10.10 beta and openSUSE 11.3 restoration; Russian language was added; program makeboot.sh was improved to allow running with full path; option '--force' was added for grub-install (grub2); the Linux kernel was updated to 2.6.32-23; Partclone was updated to 0.2.15; gPXE was updated to 1.0.1...." Read the full release announcement for a complete list of changes.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Upstream OS. Upstream OS is a full-featured, openSUSE-based distribution with no-branding. Its primary feature is the ability to clone it and to build a custom distribution with the tools provided.
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 4 October 2010.
Jesse Smith and Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
antiX
antiX is a fast, lightweight and easy-to-install Linux live CD distribution based on Debian's "Stable" branch for x86 compatible systems. antiX offers users the "antiX Magic" in an environment suitable for old computers. The goal of antiX is to provide a light, but fully functional and flexible free operating system for both newcomers and experienced users of Linux. It should run on most computers, ranging from 256 MB old PIII systems with pre-configured swap to the latest powerful boxes. 256 MB RAM is recommended minimum for antiX. The installer needs minimum 2.7 GB hard disk size. antiX can also be used as a fast-booting rescue CD, or run "live" on a USB stick, with or without persistent file storage.
Status: Active
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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.
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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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