DistroWatch Weekly |
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 425, 3 October 2011 |
Welcome to this year's 40th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The Linux community is gearing up for the year's second release season, when we will see new versions of Ubuntu, Fedora and openSUSE. This week we saw a relatively short list of releases -- the calm before the storm -- and this quiet time seems like the perfect opportunity to look at a lesser known distribution. In this edition of DistroWatch Weekly Jesse Smith reviews ConnochaetOS, a project dedicated to free software. Also this week we bring you an interview with Kris Moore, the founder of PC-BSD, in which he talks about the desktop BSD project and how it compares to other operating systems. We also share some words of wisdom on project management from Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds and we cover the announcement of a brand new release from the GNOME project. This week we also have a guest appearance by Clement "Clem" Lefebvre, who has offered to give us a look into what goes on behind the scenes at the Linux Mint project. In last week's edition we talked about the threat of the BEAST, an exploit which breaks SSL/TLS security in web browsers, and this week Robert Storey returns with some practical advice on how to protect yourself from the BEAST. As always,
happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (12MB) and MP3 (17MB) formats
Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
ConnochaetOS 0.9.0
A few weeks back one of our readers posted in the comments section that they were looking for a distribution which would work on an old Pentium (i586) machine. Linux is often promoted as working on older hardware, but the truth is many modern distributions are targeting i686 (and newer) architectures. This can lead to frustrating cases where discs labelled as being i386 compatible are actually built for more modern processors. Bearing that in mind I decided we should take a look at a project which really is catering to hardware which, thankfully, just refuses to die.
The word "Connochaet" may not roll gracefully off the tongue, in fact it's a mouthful, but it is the name of a surprisingly small distribution with two goals in mind. ConnochaetOS, formally DeLi Linux, is designed to be small so as to work well on older machines, and it is put together with exclusively free (as in FSF-approved) software. The operating system is said to work on Pentium I (i586) machines with 64MB of RAM or more. A disk drive of 2GB or more is recommended.
I downloaded the ISO, which weighs 390MB, and gave it a try. Booting from the CD takes us straight into the installer, which is presented as a series of text menus. It's a pretty simple installer and contains little more than the bare minimum to get the operating system up and running. We start by setting the system clock and supplying our time zone. Next we move into partitioning, which can either be automated or we can choose to carve up the disk ourselves using cfdisk. The first time through I used cfdisk to create a root partition and swap space. The installer refused to accept these, saying it couldn't locate my partitions. Going back a few steps I opted to let the installer take over the entire disk and partition things the way it wanted. This worked and I was able to proceed. Next I confirmed my preferred language and provided my keyboard layout. A note of warning here, this installer doesn't try to provide sane defaults for keyboard settings, so if you grab a copy of Connochaet, read the options carefully. Our next steps are to set a root password and create a regular user account. Lastly we are given the option of installing a boot loader (GRUB Legacy). The whole process is quick and, aside from backtracking during the partitioning section, the whole process took about ten minutes.
Booting Connochaet from the hard drive brings up a plain, blue graphical login screen. Once we're logged in we're presented with the IceWM window manager and a pleasant blue background. At the bottom of the screen we find the application menu, a series of quick-launch icons for opening terminal windows, an e-mail client, a web browser and a graphical file manager. Over in the bottom-right corner is a clock and resource usage monitors. The first thing new users will probably notice is the responsiveness of the desktop. On a fairly modern machine the small distribution flies! It also has a tiny footprint, using between 50-60MB of memory when sitting idle in the GUI. If we look at the amount of hard drive space Connochaet requires we find it only uses about 500MB, yet the developers have managed to supply a good collection of useful software.
Connochaet OS 0.9.0 -- Exploring applications
(full image size: 504kB, resolution 1366x768 pixels)
Included in the application menu we find a small web browser (XXXTerm), the Sylpheed e-mail client, the wicd network manager and XChat. We're given Abiword and Gnumeric for handling documents and a PDF viewer. A copy of MPlayer is included, as is the SimpleBurn disc writer. We're given an image viewer, a small collection of games and system monitors. There are apps for changing the look and feel of the interface, a text editor and virtual terminals. We're also given utilities for managing printers and system services. I found that the distro would play audio and most video files without any problems through the MPlayer application, though the system's volume is muted by default. In following with their commitment to libre software, the developers haven't included Flash. I didn't find Java, nor the GNU Compiler Collection either, in keeping with the distro's lightweight nature. In the background the Linux kernel, version 2.6.32, keeps things running.
ConnochaetOS uses the pacman package manager to install, upgrade and remove software from the system. The pacman program is fast, terse and performed well during my trial. For users unfamiliar with handling software from the command line, the developers have provided manual pages on their website, which guide the user through the basics. My only issue when dealing with the distribution's software wasn't a problem with pacman, but rather with the small repositories. A quick glance at the repo revealed about 500 packages, quite a small collection. Of course, the distro is focused on being light on resources and completely libre, and this restricts the packages which can appear in the repositories, sometimes more than I would have expected. For instance, I can understand omitting Flash support, but I noticed Gnash is also missing. Aside from Gnumeric and Abiword I didn't find any office suite packages and, again with the libre restriction, some multimedia packages are omitted.
Connochaet OS 0.9.0 -- Syncing with the software repositories
(full image size: 554kB, resolution: 1366x768)
The libre aspect also shows up in the realm of hardware. Connochaet was able to get up any running on my desktop machine (2.5GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, NVIDIA video card) without any problems. It ran like lightning, not surprising since everything included in the install could fit nicely in memory. On my laptop (dual-core 2GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM, Intel video card) Connochaet worked quickly, but failed to handle my Intel wireless card. The Intel card requires non-free firmware with is, of course, stripped from the distribution. My laptop display worked, though I had to fiddle a bit to get the resolution I wanted.
While using Connochaet I was of two minds. On the one hand, the project does pretty much what it was designed to do. It uses very few resources and it delivers basic functionality using free software. I especially appreciate its performance and I'm impressed with the low memory usage I saw during my trial. But a big front has a big back and the same characteristics which make Connochaet a success also carry a downside. Namely, this distribution, being so compact and freedom oriented, probably won't appeal to people with modern (or semi-modern) equipment. What it really boils down to is that Connochaet is, as we can expect from a project targeting low-end hardware, focused on the essentials. And the essentials is something the distribution does well. We have a working graphical environment, software compiled to run on early Pentium machines, a web browser, a word processor, e-mail... Really everything we'd need to take that old machine out of the basement and get it running for the local school or library. And being so good at filling this niche means that people looking for additional features, such as wider support for video codecs, Flash, full-featured desktop environments and more development tools, won't find what they're after with this distribution. Connochaet isn't trying to be a one-size-fits-all product, it's targeting a specific audience and I think it's doing it well. Ideally I'd like to see a graphical package manager added to the system as a lot of users find it easier to install and search for software via a GUI. Otherwise, the distro provides a fairly friendly experience and provides a way to resurrect old equipment. Worth a try if medium-sized projects like Zenwalk have proven to be too heavy.
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Miscellaneous News |
Kris Moore explains PC-BSD, Linus Torvalds on project management and GNOME releases version 3.2
When we think of open source desktops we typically think of Linux distributions. However, in recent years, the PC-BSD project has been gaining notice for its easy to install and use approach to BSD. Kris Moore, the founder of PC-BSD, recently joined the FLOSS Weekly show to talk about PC-BSD, licenses and how the project compares to Linux distributions. The chat is available on the FLOSS Weekly website.
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Linus Torvalds, father of the Linux kernel, has had a lot of experience in project management and leading a diverse group of developers. Last week he shared some insight as to what goes into managing a large project and some of the issues to avoid. One of the gems he share is, "...even if you wrote 100% of the code, and even if you are the best programmer in the world and will never need any help with the project at all, the thing that really matters is the users of the code. The code itself is unimportant; the project is only as useful as people actually find it. The rest of the interview is available on HP's website.
Also in developer-related news, a new version of GTK+, the toolkit behind the GNOME desktop, has been released. Version 3.2 of the popular toolkit includes preliminary support for the Wayland display server and HTML5. The new HTML5 support means applications based on GTK+ can be run in a web browser. A demo of the GNU Image Manipulation Project running in a browser is
available on YouTube.
Hot on the heels of the GTK+ announcement came word that GNOME 3.2 has been released and is available for download. Improvements to the popular desktop environment include shorter buttons and title bars, contact management and integration with on-line accounts. If that wasn't enough, the developers are already looking forward to GNOME 3.4, which they report will include better extension support, social network integration and better HTML rendering in e-mail messages.
Rounding out the news from the GNOME project, one of the founders of the popular desktop environment spoke out recently about why he feels Linux has not gained a greater share of the desktop. Miguel de Icaza was quoted as saying, "To be honest, with Linux on the desktop, the benefits of open source have really played against Linux on the desktop in that we keep breaking things." He adds, "It is not only incompatibilities between Red Hat, Ubuntu, Suse, but even between the same distribution. Ubuntu from this week is incompatible with the one nine months ago." While Miguel's words have upset many in the Linux community who are quick to defend their favourite operating system, others acknowledge the long-term Linux developer raises a valid, and common, concern.
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Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
A look behind the curtain
A few weeks ago I received the following question:
"I'd like to know more about how a distribution works. I suspect the
answers differ across the spectrum, but how are they organized, why do
they do what they do, what are the costs and how do they meet them? I
guess I understand Red Hat, as a commercial venture, but what about
community projects?"
It's been many years since I was involved in the developing of a distribution and so, to better answer the question, I reached out to the developers of several community projects. The first response came from Linux Mint developer and founder Clem Lefebvre. Today he shares with us the story of how Mint got started, what drives the developers, their challenges and how they pay for their infrastructure.
Clement Lefebvre (Linux Mint) answers:
I can't say for other projects but I can try and explain Linux Mint a little. Whether it's in a large company or a small structure, projects reflect the organization, the behaviour, the ideas and motivation of the key people who are empowered to lead them. In a small structure, projects can be totally independent and lead by a very small number of people, or sometimes even just one person. We're all different and that makes each project and distribution unique in the way they are organized, their goals, and the way they achieve them. So with this said, how representative of a community project is Linux Mint? I don't know.
Why do we do it?
What drives us is passion; passion for software, development and Linux. It starts when you're not only using a technology but you feel the need to tinker with it. It goes beyond the technology and you're quickly seduced by the social aspect, the collaboration of so many, the free gift you're given, the idea of sharing and the political aspect of Free Software. You find yourself involved and like many others you feel like you're part of something big and you want to contribute back to it. You help out existing projects to improve the Linux desktop and other users to migrate to it. This is the fun part and something a lot of people experience within the Linux community. You're part of a community, the Linux community as a whole, made of millions of people, who together achieved something beautiful and decided to give it to the World. There's no real need to describe this, because it's all in here, in each and everyone of us. If you're reading me on DistroWatch right now, and you're taking the time to come here every week and follow this website, then you surely know what I mean. What you're doing is getting involved in something you feel a passion for.
Now, the important aspect of this, is that many people feel this way. To lead a project successfully, you need passion, time, skills, motivation, feedback, recognition, resources and most importantly you need to know exactly what you want to achieve. You don't wake up one morning thinking "I want to be successful, let's start today". I don't think projects start like that, and I don't even think companies start like that either. That process which leads to the creation of a project, is the same that drives so many people to contribute to our community. It starts with people, their passion, the time they invest and the skills they apply... give them some recognition and feedback and you'll see their motivation double. If they have a vision they'll achieve it and find ways to gather the resources they need and maximize the time they can spend. At the start of every project there's one person's vision and motivation which got lit by either early success, recognition or stubbornness.
In the case of Linux Mint it started with me. I discovered Slackware back in 1996 and I fell in love with it, with Linux and also at the time with Free Software (I'm not as radical as I used to be when it comes to Open Source and Free Software, but I was at the time). So like many others then, and many others now, I spent a lot time and passion in diverse activities related to Linux. I advocated and promoted Free Software, I helped people migrate to it, I wrote articles and tutorials, I spent a good part of my life on the IRC... and one day somebody came to me and offered to pay for my articles. I was getting good feedback from readers and with a little bit of extra money I had the recognition and resources needed to spend more time on this and to develop it more than just a hobby. That's when you start working at night and spending less time with the family... there's a fine line between a hobby and that thing you're doing so often, and if it keeps your attention while at work and takes time away from your social life, you need some level of recognition and success from it to be able to go further. So, I was lucky and from there I decided I would try and publish my own articles. I named my website Linux Mint and I wrote even more. I wrote a lot of reviews and continued to tinker with Linux.. and then some day I decided to learn a little more about live CDs, packaging, repositories and how distributions were made. It gave me an opportunity to use my skills as a developer, which I really enjoyed, I was full of ideas for the Linux desktop and motivated to implement them, and as what I was doing got popular, it was only a matter of time before I wanted to dedicate all my time to it.
So that doesn't explain why we do it, but you can see how it started, and you can see it started the same way it starts for people when they take the time and effort to contribute to Linux, and this is something many of you are doing on a daily basis.
Now, why do we continue to do it? Well... it's the best thing in the World isn't it? A vision, an implementation, feedback, improvement, success. You work at improving what you like best, and you get both a feeling of achievement and recognition from it. That would drive anybody so you can imagine how passionate we are, just as passionate as you when you give that time. We can see how Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS do, and we're confident about ourselves. We can feel the joy we give to people with everything we do, and the joy they give back to us. We're having fun messing with one of the most high-tech and open technologies there is, we invent new things, we're supported by a huge community of people, we love our project as much as they do and we can take over the World without a rush. These are some of the reasons we do what we do, and you can feel these with any contribution you make to Linux, plus the feeling of being part to something bigger. As a distribution we're at the center of this and we experience it on an even larger scale.
What are the costs and how do we meet them?
The biggest problem is to find time. That is the most costly resource in a project and the hardest to get. If you want to achieve what you want, at some stage you're going to need to do it full time. To you that means leaving your job, to the project that means buying your time. And it only gets worse, because sooner or later you want to do more and you simply can't do it by yourself anymore. That's where we're at, at the moment. Getting things done by volunteers is one thing, knowing you can reliably expect results is another. At some stage you need to get other people full-time into the project and that is the most costly resource. For them to leave their job and to join the project full-time you need to be able to guarantee you'll be able to gather an income for them, and you'll need to be sure it's going to work for the project. It's a complicated process to say the least, and unlike a company with an HR department, we're a project made of developers who share a passion, that means no experience in management, recruitment or the sort of skills you need to efficiently gather what is needed the most here: time.
Other than this there's a lot of costs but we're meeting them comfortably. What costs money is the infrastructure needed to serve such as large user base. Our business model grows proportionally with the size of our user base. So, as the user base gets bigger, the costs raise, but so does the income. When the project starts and the user base is small, the costs are insignificant, and so is the income. As things get bigger, they both rise in proportion. Now we're dealing with a network of dedicated servers, some of which are costly, and other IT related expenses (hardware, outsourcing, contracts..etc) but none of that matters as we're able to either use our income to pay for all of this, or use the project itself to reduce the bill (for instance via partnerships or sponsorships).
The reason we're successful is because we're driven by what we do and focused on the product itself, so it's extremely important we don't deviate from it. For this reason our business model comes almost entirely from the product's success and the Linux Mint community of users. Our most precious asset is our community, our most needed resource is time. Rather than engaging in activities we're not interested or specialized in, such as merchandising, support, and other areas that distributions and companies usually use within their own business model, we chose to focus solely on development and to raise the income entirely from the product. To achieve this we rely on one of the most passionate communities there is, a community which supports us every single day, with donations, sponsorships, and most importantly with time given to us. We're getting a lot of help from our community, whether it's support, artwork, promotion, development... at least half of the work that goes in each release comes from the community, it's like doubling the manpower and getting more done for free. You can look at the income generated by donations, sponsorships and you get an idea with a figure on it. Add to this the income we generate from people's activity and interaction with advertising, and above all, add all the time they're giving to the project which translates into more work done and less time for us to find.
In the end of the day, money is only a metric to measure time and power and it doesn't measure it all. Sometimes we spend money on things we can get for free, because the time we don't spend in getting them is more valuable than the money itself. So how do we do? We can tackle any problem and pay for what we need. We can engage in expensive projects (we recently decided to mirror Debian for instance and we're now confident enough in our new servers to have all LMDE users point to them). We're almost ready to scale up, to hire, to rent offices, the financial aspect of this isn't the main issue anymore. Our biggest problem is to buy time. Because unlike everything else in the project that's been getting better and better since the start, finding the time to achieve what we have in mind has become harder and harder. Do you achieve twice as much when you've got twice as many developers? What are big companies and their large IT staff doing wrong to let small projects like ours challenge them? How do we manage to become more productive and to take on bigger projects? We don't need to worry about the money, the community removes that problem for us and allows us to focus on what really matters, finding the time that we need. This is the real challenge.
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Security (by Robert Storey) |
Taming The BEAST: Java Unplugged
In last week's DistroWatch Weekly, I wrote a brief article about the BEAST, a proof-of-concept exploit that pokes a potentially serious hole in SSL/TLS, the technology that makes secure online shopping "secure."
Since the BEAST only affects SSL and TLS 1.0, my admittedly lame suggestion was to install the Opera browser and enable TLS 1.1 and 1.2. The suggestion was indeed lame because - as I noted at the time - it does no good to have TLS 1.1/1.2 enabled if the web site you're connecting to doesn't support it. And most don't. In fact, using TLS 1.2 on a site supporting only version 1.0 is more of a protest than practical advice. It was my hope that by installing Opera, we could at least shame Google Chrome and Firefox to add support for TLS 1.2, which would be a good start.
Despite the feelings of moral superiority that one might gain from a protest, it doesn't necessarily get us where we want to go. That is to say, we need a solution that works right now, unless of course you don't mind giving up online banking, credit card purchases, and possibly your bank account.
Fortunately, there appears to be a quick-and-dirty workaround that will thwart BEASTly attacks, and anyone who is even mildly tech-savvy can implement it. The BEAST relies on having both Java and JavaScript enabled in your browser. Disabling either or both is not hard to do - the question is, what are the consequences?
Much as I detest it, execrable JavaScript would be hard to live without. True, killing JavaScript has some immediate benefits that can actually improve your web experience (ie no more pop-ups or pop-unders). Unfortunately, that drastic action would render much web content inaccessible. While your online credit card transactions would no doubt be more secure with JavaScript turned-off, you probably wouldn't be able to make credit-card transactions at all. Online videos, commenting on blogs, or even the ability to use web-mail, would all come to a screeching halt in most (but not all) cases if you have JavaScript disabled.
Java, on the other hand, is another story. I speak here not of Java the programming language, which underlies much good software such as LibreOffice. Nor Java the coffee beans, or the island in Indonesia. Rather, it's the Java plug-in for your browser that you can probably live without. However, do note that nuking the Java plug-in will disable some web sites, notably Facebook video chat. Some corporate apps like Citrix are also Java-based, and thus are likely to halt in their tracks without the plug-in. However, the majority of Linux users will probably not even notice.
So without further ado, here is how to kill the Java plug-in on the three most popular Linux browsers:
Opera
Type "opera:plugins" in the address bar and hit Enter
Chrome
Type "about:plugins" in address bar and hit Enter
Firefox
Tools-->Add-ons-->Plugins
When attempting the do the above, if you find no sign of the Java plug-in, that would indicate that it was never installed on your system, in which case you were safe from the BEAST all along. Indeed, my current distro of choice, AntiX, does not have it by default. But you needn't make any assumptions - check to see if your web browser is Java-enabled (or not) by going to the Java Tester web site.
Meanwhile, browser vendors are working on quick fixes of their own. Actually, Firefox has proposed killing Java by default. Chrome is working on a more convoluted solution that would allow the Java plug-in, but it's still in the testing phase and may have issues with some web sites. It appears that every solution but the best one (using TLS 1.2) will be tried first.
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Released Last Week |
Tiny Core Linux 4.0
Robert Shingledecker has announced the release of Tiny Core Linux 4.0, a major new version of the world's smallest graphical desktop Linux distribution: "Team Tiny Core is proud to announce the release of Tiny Core Micro Core 4.0. Change log: updated Linux kernel to 3.0.3, udev to 173, glibc to eglibc 2.13, e2fsprogs base libraries to 1.41.14, GCC base libraries to 4.6.1, util-linux base libraries to 2.19.1; updated eglibc for 486/586 support; updated base Xlibs (Micro Core users need to get new Xlibs.tcz); updated all the custom core utilities to use the new repository area; new loadcpufreq to handle module loading; updated ondemand for console-based extensions via Freedesktop Exec=cliorx prgname; updated tce-load and tce-audit for dynamic kernel dependency processing; adjusted .xsession to handle X start-up failure...." Read the rest of the changelog for further technical details.
Clonezilla Live 1.2.10-14
Steven Shiau has announced the release of Clonezilla Live 1.2.10-14, a new stable version of the project's Debian-based live CD designed for disk cloning tasks: "This release of Clonezilla Live (1.2.10-14) includes major enhancements and major bug fixes: the underlying GNU/Linux operating system was upgraded, this release is based on the Debian 'Sid' repository as of 2011-09-22); Linux kernel was updated to version 3.0; Partclone was updated to version 0.2.29; gDisk was updated to version 0.8.0 and compiled without Unicode support; iPXE was updated to 20110910 from iPXE Git repository; German language files were added; by default when a GNU/Linux system is restored, the udev hardware records in the restored OS will be removed; source tarball for all the packages in Clonezilla Live was added...." See the release announcement for additional info.
DoudouLinux 1.1
DoudouLinux 1.1, an updated version of the Debian-based distribution designed for young children, has been released: "After three months of intensive work, we are very pleased to announce that our first update of DoudouLinux 'Gondwana', version 1.1, is now out! Thanks to the involvement of many new contributors, it is available in 25 officially supported languages, instead of 15 previously. The 10 new languages are Czech, Danish, German, Hungarian, Latvian, Malay, Norwegian (Bokmål), Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal) and Telugu. This release also brings minor fixes and a new tool to easily set the user name on the local network for Empathy, the instant messaging application. Other changes: Songwrite is now in its latest version to solve language issues; translation issues with Stopmotion and Vkeybd (the piano keyboard) have been solved...." See the release announcement and release notes for more information.
FreeNAS 8.0.1
Josh Paetzel has announced the release of FreeNAS 8.0.1, a new stable version of the project's FreeBSD-based operating system providing free Network-Attached Storage (NAS) services: "On behalf of the FreeNAS development team I'm pleased to announce FreeNAS 8.0.1-RELEASE. Changes since 8.0-RELEASE: divorced the volume members in the database from the FreeBSD devices; support exporting ZFS zvols (virtual devices) as device extents via iSCSI; the GUI now has an event notification system; the email backend has been refactored; many many changes in the GUI to help it validate and sanitize inputs that are passed to the backend daemons; added UPS functionality; added rsync client and server functionality; added the ability to schedule cron jobs in the GUI; vastly improved and reworked snapshot replication." Read the rest of the
release announcement for further details and some errata notes.
Calculate Linux 11.9
Alexander Tratsevskiy has announced the release of Calculate Linux 11.9, a Gentoo-based distribution set for a variety of uses: "Calculate Linux 11.9 has been released. Major changes: Calculate Linux now has a new flavor - Calculate Media Center; local user profiles will be updated in a new way - changes will be made only when programs are installed; installation on a soft RAID partition and LVM partition supported; support added for Btrfs and NILFS2 and we've fixed the problem with installing on JFS; ext4 comes as the default file system at install; single-user installation mode added to allow login without entering the password...." See the full release announcement for a full list of main changes.
ArchBang Linux 2011.10
Willensky Aristide has announced the release of ArchBang Linux 2011.10, an Arch-based desktop distribution featuring the lightweight Openbox window manager: "ArchBang 2011.10 is out in the wild. You don't need it if you already have ArchBang running smoothly on your system. It's basically 2011.10 RC2 with the following following changes: updated DOC; urxvt scrollbar color adjusted; Jumanji replaced by Firefox Nightly; icons in the applications menu; clarity icon theme instead of GNOME; 2 pixels top desktop margin so you can right-click on the desktop even when a window is maximized; you can edit keyboard layout configuration while installing ArchBang. Note: NetworkManager was updated today so you can remove it from 'autostart' once you update it since it will launch the applet automatically." Here is the brief
release announcement with a screenshot.
ArchBang 2011.10 -- The latest ArchBang desktop
(full image size: 406kB, resolution: 1024x768 pixels)
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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DistroWatch.com News |
DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 10 October 2011.
Jesse Smith and Robert Storey
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Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Incompatibility (by macias on 2011-10-03 07:15:58 GMT from Poland)
Good point "It is not only incompatibilities between Red Hat, Ubuntu, Suse,...", and another story is WM/DM. KDE is really not compatible with Gnome, because for WM/DM what counts is visual appearance. So you can run of course an app, but user experience can be summarized in one word "odd".
Developers/companies forgot about crucial principle -- the fact you can morph Linux into gazillion of variations, does not mean you should.
2 • I am sad too, and agree with Miguel (by manmath sahu on 2011-10-03 08:13:19 GMT from India)
Miguel told the right thing. But sad it's too late to collect the unruly horses in to the ranch. Linux kernel is great in every aspects but the outer layers that make up a distribution is good only in bits and pieces. Multiple standards, multiple API, multiple DEs, multiple WMs and multiple applications, plus the ever changing base. It worsens the ecosystem.
3 • Mint - GNOME 3? (by ix on 2011-10-03 08:16:57 GMT from Romania)
I am curious about what Mint will use. I don't believe it will use Unity. I believe it will use GNOME 3 (they don't really have a choice). If anyone can tame the beast that is GNOME 3, it's the Mint team. Good luck!
4 • Java, JavaScript and secure browsing. (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-03 08:34:57 GMT from Spain)
The article wrote: ------------------------------------- The BEAST relies on having both Java and JavaScript enabled in your browser. Disabling either or both is not hard to do - the question is, what are the consequences?
[...]
Online videos, commenting on blogs, or even the ability to use web-mail, would all come to a screeching halt in most (but not all) cases if you have JavaScript disabled.
Java, on the other hand, is another story. -------------------------------------
Yeah, I work with no Java and have never have any problem with that.
It is worth noting that NoScript extension can be used to block JavaScript content in a selective manner. This can allow a user to block any unknown JavaSript stuff while allowing only the stuff he needs. NoScript can stop many JavaScript exploits (even zero-day ones), and in addition kills a lot of adds, has https enforcing capabilities and some other features. Security conscious people should have a look at NoScript and RequestPolicy, as one protects against evil JavaScript and the second against evil redirections.
Certificate Patrol is a nice thing to have too, as it offers a limited defense against MITM (Man-In-The-Middle) attacks performed on a secure connection (remember DigiNotar and the stolen certificates?).
5 • incompatibility (by meanpt on 2011-10-03 09:15:42 GMT from Portugal)
That's ridiculous. Anyone who reads it may think hardware and software are still in the 80's of the last century and Linux should be dying with them.
6 • MeeGo (by mechanic on 2011-10-03 10:07:03 GMT from United Kingdom)
I thought the story of last week was the Intel/Meego thing - no comment on Distrowatch?
7 • ConnochaetOS (by Vakkotaur on 2011-10-03 10:19:34 GMT from United States)
Some years ago I put DeLi on a 90 MHz Pentium and was pleasantly surprised by the results of a purposely minimal system and icewm. I'd been watching DeLi on and off since and was disappointed to see it seem to fade until now. Interestingly, someone has decided to carry it on s the fork DeLiCate, which is more focused on older hardware (and an older kernel) than the 'free' software issue.
I have recently used ConnochaetOS to resurrect a Compaq Armada 7800 (new in 1998, I think...). As I didn't have to re-partition anything(I re-used the old partitioning from its Wolvix days) I didn't run into any issues there. Overall it works well though I have it connected by cable rather than wireless. One thing impressed me: This is the first time the audio volume buttons on the laptop worked under Linux that I can recall.
It took a little bit of tweaking (which was expected) to get everything working. I had to snag an old X config file to get decent video, and had to figure out how to add menu items. When I mentioned the solution on the forum I was told I had taken the 'wrong' way and should repackage things. Uh, I am not a package maintainer nor do I intend to become one. My one-off works for me - and means any other similarly set up package will not need further tweaking. If I were making packages for the distribution, then it would make sense to change things.
The 'free' libre thing while well intended does get to be rather strident and irritating to me at times (I find it difficult to take seriously any Linux that prepends GNU/ to the name, myself). It's downright weird to be considering moving to Bodhi (an Ubuntu and therefore Debian derivate) to get less of that. I only wonder if the audio volume controls will still work and simply haven't had time to try it yet - and possibly got back to ConnochaetOS if need be.
There is an alleged GUI front end to the package manager, but it seems not to be useful as it's seemingly indecipherable. It would be nice to at least be able to easily see available packages (what's in the repository) and installed packages. More than once I've mis-interpreted the help for the command line version and thought something was not available as what I'd actually checked was 'is it installed?' The switch may be obvious, but obvious is perhaps the most dangerous word/concept in all computing as what is obvious is very subjective - and I am NOT blaming ConnochaetOS for that. They went with a package manager that fits.
That said, ConnochaetOS *does* do what it sets out to do: Work well on older hardware.
8 • HTML5 support (by farsaid on 2011-10-03 11:13:50 GMT from Italy)
'...applications based on GTK+ can be run in a web browser'
As a web designer, I have to say this is great news and possibly the future of Gnu-Linux/BSD. Being able to run FLOSS software in a browser will open up a lot of interesting possibilities.
Maybe one day we'll see a distro entirely based on HTML5 for what concerns its interface?
That would be great!
9 • Old hardaware (by Geekboula on 2011-10-03 11:14:42 GMT from Canada)
Many people have a old hardware and there are some Linux Distro that can be used by those users. But that's not all Distro are easy to use and stable. I think for the old Hardware is VectorLinux the best Distro. Both easy to install, relatively simple use, good forum reactive, good documentation and excellent stability based on Slackware. difficult to find a better distro for old computer and old laptop. VectorLinux is underestimated in my opinion! It should be seen by all users looking for an operating system that is fast, stable and easy to use. For me VectorLinux is in the top 10 best LinuxDistro for newsbie.
10 • VectorLinux (by petras on 2011-10-03 11:31:31 GMT from Switzerland)
+1 about VectorLinux: fast, state and easy to use. One point disappoint me about Vector: Freedom. I'm not talking about paying 30$ for download the release, but about free software: where is the source code behind VecorLinux?
11 • #2 and #3 (by zykoda on 2011-10-03 12:19:41 GMT from United Kingdom)
How does one cope with such multiplicity? As M$ win[95/98/XP/Vista/7/8] [did/does/will]... Non-uniformly. It's just that M$ has a lesser richness, apart from $s.
Mint is currently in decline, possibly because of Unity/Gnome3 and the Ubuntu base. It's still IMHO the all round easiest to get started with for an average windows switcher. I have switched to the Debian base with LXDE or XFCE..don't need Gnome, Unity or KDE, but that's just me!
In other words, look around and choose what you must have or need. M$ contributes a greater percentage to the price of a modern machine than ever before. This will be eventually unsustainable, as I am sure they are abundantly aware and current acquisitions and law and patent suites sustain this belief. M$ is dangerous, defensive and dominated and looking for a safe overnight perch.
12 • Useful software? (by Anonymous on 2011-10-03 12:27:15 GMT from United States)
You are going to have to explain how minesweeper is useful, Jesse.
13 • Re:11 ( zykoda) Mints decline (by Michael J king on 2011-10-03 12:49:22 GMT from United Kingdom)
Not sure that Mint is quite in decline... It is certainly a time of change.. but it made me look at the stats to see:
Looking at Google insight it appears to be on the rise still, though searching for "Linux" if we take it seriously is in a decline itself, which isn't quite the case is it? looked at Distrowatch to compare...The often anticipated year of the Linux Desktop if we go with Distrowatch Stats (at the onset of the Windows Vista dissatisfaction) appears to have come and passed us in 2006
14 • Re: 9 (by Vakkotaur on 2011-10-03 13:22:07 GMT from United States)
I really should give Vector a look again. Last I tried it, some time ago now, it was using KDE which was likely why it felt so sluggish. I do certainly appreciate the Slackware ancestry.
15 • The ups and downs (by Jesse on 2011-10-03 13:30:21 GMT from Canada)
>> "You are going to have to explain how minesweeper is useful, Jesse."
Why would I do that? I don't recall ever claiming that minesweeper (or its clones) were useful. At least not for anything other than passing the time.
>> "Mint is currently in decline, possibly because of Unity/Gnome3 and the Ubuntu base."
Since the Mint project is reporting growth I don't think they can be said to be in decline. Also Mint doesn't use Unity or Gnome 3. At least not yet. Further, while Mint's main edition is based on Ubuntu, most of their editions are now based on Debian.
16 • @Myself (by Wil Barath on 2011-10-03 14:21:12 GMT from Canada)
Okay, the new article is slightly more informed. Slightly. At least it identifies that the BEAST is not Javascript, but in fact a Java applet, which I was just about to point out.
I am amazed by the number of sites suggesting that TLS 1.1 be enabled. Instead, webmasters and system administrators should disable the block ciphers AES and TripleDES which are exploited by this Cipher Block Chaining + Man in the Middle attack, and rely on RC4 (128 bit), which is isn't vulnerable.
Sorry to flip on you Robert, but that first article...
17 • What is Chntwd? (by pearsonpf on 2011-10-03 16:44:13 GMT from United States)
The announcement for the newer version of PartedMagic states: "Chntwd was added to the boot menu". Google isn't turning up anything -- it wants to suggest "chntpw".
So, is that a typographical error in the announcement or am I missing out on a cool utility?
18 • Some Thoughts (by Mike Thomas on 2011-10-03 17:02:32 GMT from United States)
Linux & GNU: I think there is still a basic misunderstanding here. Linux is the kernel. Yes, it may be the heart of the distribution but it is the rest of the software which makes the actual OS. IMHO the GNU label is still relevant if for no other reason than it's historical value. It's our history which makes us what we are today.
Vector Linux: An excellent choice. IME, the only distribution which can access a WinXP oriented network out of the box. Testing the beta right now. I still prefer Nautilus to Thunar which was easy to fix. Overall the XFCE environment is easily customizable and stable on the systems I've installed it to. The package manager GUI is not as sophisticated as Synaptic but still usable. Sadly, no 64 bit version available.
Linux Mint: I think they could adapt an XFCE desktop and still do well. Alternately, use a custom environment with GTK3, Compiz and Cairo but this would require 3d acceleration.
Gnome 3: If this is the future of the Linux desktop I fear I will not be following along. I'm glad there are currently other options as I'm not a social network oriented person. The Internet/web is not my primary computing experience and it won't be for any foreseeable future. It's a shame they killed a great desktop for this project simply to use the name recognition.
Lastly a personal opinion and this is not a personal attack on anyone. It is really lame to express your dislike of other software and/or companies with labels (for example M$ or Micro$oft.) It makes the writer seem petty and it distracts from the point you are trying to make. Perhaps if we as a community show more respect we will get more in return.
Cheers, Mike T
19 • Re: Minesweeper (by davemci on 2011-10-03 17:04:06 GMT from United States)
I have heard that the inclusion of minesweeper and solitaire in Windows was in part to help users that might be unfamiliar with mouse double-clicking (mindsweeper) and click-and-drag (solitaire) practice those operations. Whether this is true or just urban legend, I don't know.
20 • Tizen (by Anonymous on 2011-10-03 17:11:15 GMT from United States)
I agree the announcement that Intel and Samsung will be developing tizen at the expense of meego is the biggest news of the week. time to forget about the year of Linux on the desktop and make the year of Linux on mobile--but with an open userspace, not just kernel.
The world needs a true open source mobile distribution.
21 • Java (by Bob on 2011-10-03 17:12:34 GMT from Canada)
I don't install java or the java browser plugin and I've only run across a handful of sites over the years that don't work because they need java. I just don't use those sites. If I really needed to, I'd install it, use the site, then uninstall it. I never had a problem with open/libreoffice either, but that I haven't been using those for a couple of years. I use Abiword/Gnumeric now.
22 • chntpw (by Jesse on 2011-10-03 17:17:48 GMT from Canada)
>> "The announcement for the newer version of PartedMagic states: "Chntwd was added to the boot menu". Google isn't turning up anything -- it wants to suggest "chntpw"."
I suspect that might be a typo. In case people aren't familiar with it, the chntpw program is used to reset Windows account passwords. A handy feature to have on a live CD.
23 • GNOME 3.2 improvements? (by silent on 2011-10-03 18:15:07 GMT from Hungary)
Sure, it is a joke. Just looking at the fallback interface with the default Adwaita theme: gtk2 and gtk3 themes are still not matched (it can be easily solved with the Aldabra theme or others) and in the panel half of the applets uses black font, the other half white font (again it is solved easily by another theme), but there is no way to change the color like with gnome-color-chooser in Gnome 2. Gdm is broken.
24 • Re. 2 (by uz64 on 2011-10-03 18:34:46 GMT from United States)
"..., multiple DEs, multiple WMs and multiple applications"
You talk as if choice and preference are bad things...
25 • kernel.org (by bwd on 2011-10-03 18:48:14 GMT from United States)
...is still not up and running. Anyone have the latest, or can point to up-to-date info?
26 • Old hardaware VectorLinux (by GeekBoula on 2011-10-03 19:27:10 GMT from Canada)
@14 18 When I speak of VectorLinux is for all of these qualities. At some level, I agree that other tools, package manager synactic is better finished. Another example would Vasm need a work * to clarify and polish *. But overall VectorLinux Distribution offers versatile, flexible in terms of hardware recognition, stable, fast. VectorLinux managed that as well as the turtle slow KDE. This is not an easy task
27 • Reply to #16 (by Robert Storey on 2011-10-03 21:50:22 GMT from Taiwan)
16 • @Myself (by Wil Barath on 2011-10-03 14:21:12 GMT from Canada) Okay, the new article is slightly more informed. Slightly. At least it identifies that the BEAST is not Javascript, but in fact a Java applet, which I was just about to point out.
'I am amazed by the number of sites suggesting that TLS 1.1 be enabled. Instead, webmasters and system administrators should disable the block ciphers AES and TripleDES which are exploited by this Cipher Block Chaining + Man in the Middle attack, and rely on RC4 (128 bit), which is isn't vulnerable.'
First off, thank you for your comment. I appreciate all comments, even when we aren't in total agreement. Keeps me on my toes.
But I'm sticking to my guns on this. Implementing TLS 1.2 would be the best overall solution to slay the BEAST and potential future exploits. With all the rip-offs out there in cyberspace, we need to keep several steps ahead of the black hats. TLS 1.2 became available in 2008 - it's crazy that in 2011 we're still using version 1.0, especially since the BEAST is based on an exploit that was first theorized in 2004.
On the other hand, implementing TLS 1.2 would require thousands of webmasters and millions of web surfers to upgrade their software. Maybe that will happen eventually, but I'm not holding my breath. Kudos to Opera for implementing versions 1.1 & 1.2, brickbats to Chrome and Firefox for not doing so.
Disabling AES and TripleDES, relying on RC4 - yes, that would work, but again requires the cooperation of thousands of web masters and sysadmins (but not end users). Again, I'm not holding my breath. Furthermore, RC4 is considered a weaker encryption system than AES and TripleDES, though it is invulnerable to the BEAST exploit.
Comparison of ciphers: http://www.javamex.com/tutorials/cryptography/ciphers.shtml
Again, thank you for your comment.
28 • ConnochaetOS (by subg on 2011-10-03 22:27:11 GMT from Canada)
Thanks for the review, Jesse. ConnochaetOS might fly on your more recent hardware, but it was buggy and slow on my old pentium 200, which is closer to its intended purpose. I've had much better experience with OpenBSD running a desktop on such old hardware. (Vectorlinux doesn't run on Pentium l's, if I recall.)
It's a preTty small niche ConnochaetOS is trying to fill. Anything like a Pentium ll or higher would perhaps best use something better crafted like Antix.
@18 Have to agree with showing some maturity when referencing Microsoft.
On the other hand, I'm actually looking forward to seeing what Mint might do with implementing Gnome 3. I've been using it and don't mind it so far.
29 • Legacy OS 2 comes with all Codec's and Plugins (by John Biles on 2011-10-03 22:56:10 GMT from Australia)
Those looking for a Distro to bring back an old PC / Laptop with Flash, Java Media and Codec's preinstalled as well as being packed with over 150 Apps all on one live / install CD should take a look at Legacy OS 2.
30 • pc/os linux - website unreachable? (by gnomic on 2011-10-04 04:37:44 GMT from New Zealand)
Anybody able to reach the pc/os website? All I can get after attempts over a couple of days is the message below.
'Firefox can't find the server at www.pc-os.org'
Last time I looked, there hadn't been anything new on the front page since March 2011 or thereabouts.
31 • Chakra and KDE; No Java for me (by FitzLT on 2011-10-04 05:43:00 GMT from United States)
I'm using Chakra Linux right now and it is amazingly fast(especially for a KDE distro) and easy to install/uninstall software(without all the bloat dependencies).
On another note, I use Konqueror without Java or Javascript running(in fact, Java is not installed on my system) and I haven't run into any issues with websites at all.
32 • kernel ... (by Mike Thomas on 2011-10-04 07:01:15 GMT from United States)
Latest kernel was 3.0.4. IIRC Linus is taking a small break.
It turns out that the folks at Vector are working on a 64 bit. Don't know the specifics but I have an alpha to check out. From the comments I read it might be useful.
I'm sure that Gnome 3 will appeal to many folks. I'm just not one of them at least for now. I just think it would have been better to keep Gnome 2 and develop Gnome 3 separately. Gnome 2 seemed to be stable enough to not need a lot of maintenance support but when the developers axe a product it essentially kills it.
Cheers, Mike T
33 • Miguel is an idiot (by Anonymouse on 2011-10-04 13:48:41 GMT from United States)
Does anyone else see that he's got a vested interest in hyping .NET? He created Mono, of COURSE he's going to jump on anything that matches its freakish blend of "cross platform" and Microsoft dependency.
Personally, I like GNU/Linux largely BECAUSE of freedom and choice. I use a tiling window manager some days, a floating window manager some others. I run both Gtk and Qt-based applications, as well as tons of stuff in terminal windows. It's trivial to use qtconfig (or ship a default ~/.config/Trolltech.conf) to make Qt applications look exactly like Gtk+ ones, and that covers the *vast* majority of X11 applications on GNU/Linux. What more does he want?
34 • Linux Mint LMDE KDE version (by Mike on 2011-10-04 14:44:43 GMT from Netherlands)
I love Clem's work on Linux Mint, but I am a bit sad today. Clem has time for an interview? While the masses are waiting for the KDE version of LMDE? Unbelievable!
Just kidding of course.......keep up the good work on Linux Mint! Although I hope to see this KDE version soon ;-)
35 • @33. Where his heart is. (by Eddie on 2011-10-04 15:45:40 GMT from United States)
He does push the Microsoft agenda quite a bit. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't end up working for MS at some time in the future. I don't believe he gives the open source world a fair shake. Anyway that's the way it appears to me. Also if the truth be known MS Windows has had its share of problems with backward compatibility. How trustworthy can he be as far as the open source world is concerned? Something to think about.
36 • more on Miguel de Icaza (by Anon on 2011-10-04 15:50:05 GMT from United States)
Let's quote some more of that article:
" Oddly, de Icaza was more positive about Windows, saying he expected it to be a success, and that rules around app APIs should help "finally fix the security problems on Windows".
"I have to say, I actually like Windows 8," he told Anderson. "I am not a Windows user. It’s probably the first time that I would use a Windows machine." "
Funny, but I don't find this comment "odd" from someone who has defended OOXML and Mono (a project that basically copies Microsoft's .NET).
37 • #30 re. PC/OS (by Barnabyh on 2011-10-04 16:49:35 GMT from United Kingdom)
Looks like it's dead. I was looking at the website earlier this year as I was interested checking it out and writing something about it. The last release was in March 2010. They were talking about a new project on the front page that never materialized it seems, and the last posts on the forum were also about a year old (disregarding some spam nobody cleaned up). To me it looks like they were into the pay for support model and tried to build a business mostly around their geographical area and it didn't work out financially.
38 • compatibility (by breakme on 2011-10-04 17:11:58 GMT from United States)
It's good when DWW posts important opinions about compatibility. Your decision to post Miguel de Icaza's remarks is welcome.
However, in light of the sentiments of your readers, it's clear that DWW can't go very far to support compatibility. Hence, you passed on the opportunity to mention the correlation between Mr de Icaza and Mr Torvalds' opinion.
Mr Torvalds says...
"Way too many projects seem to think that the code is more important than the user, and they break things left and right, and they don't apologize for it, because they feel that they are ‘fixing’ the code and doing the right thing."
But what Mr de Icaza & Mr Torvalds leave alone is the reason that developers get away with the incompatibilities and breakage.
There no loud objection, for example, about grub2, which renders some already installed distros unusable. It's OK for Open Source code to break installed distros. (It's OK only when Open Source breaks Open Source, but not when Proprietary breaks Open Source.)
Incompatibility... breaking things... is OK with this community, for whatever reasons. Hats off to DWW for at least registering some of the objections.
39 • Mr. de Icaza and Grub2 (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-04 19:03:31 GMT from Spain)
I think that Icaza's words have opened the doors to a lot of "Trollware". Just have a look at the comments linked by Distrowatch.
breakme wrote: ---------------------------------------------- There no loud objection, for example, about grub2, which renders some already installed distros unusable. ---------------------------------------------- I did switch to LILO some time ago and recommend anyone frustrated with Grub2 to give it a try. LILO is simple as a sword, yet it is capable for simple tasks.
Anyway, even being a Grub2-disliker, Grub2 is not so disrupting. It might cause some problems, but they should be easily fixable in not much time.
breakme wrote: ------------------------------------------------ "Way too many projects seem to think that the code is more important than the user, and they break things left and right, and they don't apologize for it, because they feel that they are ‘fixing’ the code and doing the right thing." ------------------------------------------------ Coders seem to be deprecating software faster that it can be adopted by the distributions themselves. Remember when HAL was going to be the ultimate hardware handler? I agree that the way many GNU/Linux components are pushed into use is not serious at all. However, I have never experienced outstanding issues because of this, only some wasted time relearning.
I think Mr Icaza is right in some points he made, but the overall impression I get from this guy is that he is showing some bitter feelings because his MS-like work has been not very appreciated, and in some cases openly rejected by the GNU/Linux crowd.
The points Icaza made are, mainly, two:
-- Lack of standardization. Commertial software publishers won't bother with GNU/Linux, as it is a moving target and is difficult to develop for it. Any distribution has its own way of doing things and, as pointed out, this way of doing things changes from a month to another. -- Lack of "killer apps". Existing Windows users are not going to switch from their OSes because there are no Linux apps able to convince them (the same way that games could convince a Linux user to use WIndows, for example).
Distrowatch's writers have shown that they are very brave. This thread is likely to bring a whole army of trolls here! It may be time to start learning the "Melf's Acid Arrow" and the "Fireball" spells...
40 • Just in case (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-04 19:06:20 GMT from Spain)
I hope that everyone understands that I am not refering to breakme with the "Trollware" word. I just was talking about the discussion that is taking place here:
http://www.osnews.com/comments/25199
41 • Netflix on PC-BSD (by PG on 2011-10-04 23:46:00 GMT from United States)
Did anybody else find it, um, curious(?) that the Twit episode on PC-BSD was sponsored by Netflix, preceded by a "play now" spiel for Netflix, even as the guy was sitting in front of a computer with an Ubuntu sticker talking about BSD, on which Netflix "play now" doesn't work and probably won't ever work? I'm feeling cognitive dissonance.
42 • Netflix (by Jesse on 2011-10-04 23:55:06 GMT from Canada)
@41 The placement might not be that far off. There have been rumours of late that Netflix is planning on supporting Linux (and by extension FreeBSD) in the near future.
43 • @41, 42 On Netflix (by Eddie on 2011-10-05 11:37:24 GMT from United States)
The rumors, which seem to be true, would be a good business move for Netflix since their new business model went into effect. There is no reason Netflix could not support other operating systems and they will have to do so in order to be viable. In order to complete with other streaming services they cannot be a MS Windows only service anymore. To expand to others is just good business, and not that hard to do.
44 • Fedora 16 (by Molasses on 2011-10-05 13:34:24 GMT from Germany)
Fedora 16 KDE works very well. I hope when the distribution release comes, I don't have to re-download it, as I'd be updating it every day from now on.
45 • @11, Mint's decline (by Alessandro di Roma on 2011-10-05 17:34:10 GMT from Italy)
Really Mint is in decline? IMHO Mint 11 is today the best distribution on the planet, practical, complete and stable! If you install it without swap (1 GB of RAM is more than enough for common desktop use) and you login with "Gnome (no effects)" option then you get a very fast system too. But maybe bells & whistles are for somebody more important than speed...
46 • Not FOSS news but should still be said here (by stuckinoregon on 2011-10-06 00:34:17 GMT from United States)
RIP Jobsy. He is truly a legend.
47 • a bought the Implementation of secure boot (by lott on 2011-10-06 02:54:38 GMT from Colombia)
I was wondering what DW thinks on the subject of implement secure boot by windows. And what it implies for Linux users in the future. Also from all I have read on the subject there are quite a few people angry over it including me. This registry key on the BIOS means that Linux users will no longer be able to install Linux.
48 • Beta 2 Lubuntu 11.10 is working great (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-10-06 03:44:07 GMT from United States)
The 10/5/11 daily build made the difference. Before that the Alphas and Betas were a real challenge. I think they just a few more tweaks but the Kernel 3.0.0.-12 does fine. When the 3.0.0.-11.19 kernel comes I am sure the bugs will be worked out.
49 • Beta 2 Lubuntu 11.10 is better (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-10-06 04:05:06 GMT from United States)
The recovery mode still is read only and the lx panel just works on the bottom. Other than that the 10/5/11 daily build came out well.
50 • @27 TLS 1.0 vs 1.1 vs 1.2 (by William Barath on 2011-10-06 04:10:26 GMT from Canada)
I would like to agree with you, but no Enterprise is going to switch to TLS 1.2 until 2 things happen:
1) 99.9% of UA's support it (more on this later) 2) It has a track record (which is far and away from the case)
TLS 1.1 has a poor track record. Shortly after release there were exploits found and almost all responsible commercial hosts ended up rolling back to TLS 1.0, for a variety of reasons. Anyone involved in ECommerce and trying to achieve PCI compliance in the last 3 years knows what I am talking about. Even if your platform was not vulnerable to the exploits the ASV scanning vendors would report a failure if you were running TLS 1.1.
Relying on TLS >1.0 is _pure_fantasy_ with the current level of support in user agents. Both Firefox 7 and Chrome 12 do not yet support TLS 1.1, which is now a combined market share near 50%. If you leave AES and 3DES enabled, you leave half the market at risk on your site, period.
Research is important, especially if you are making security recommendations, and especially if you hold out the notion that the community has (or should have) any respect for what you write. If they follow your directions without doing research themselves, well they deserve what they get I guess.
*Please* adjust your article or post a responsible followup.
51 • Belated Chaka praise... (by KevinC on 2011-10-06 04:22:51 GMT from United States)
After Jesse's review I was once again compelled to try Chakra again. Went in w/ expectations of decent distro but would be discouraged again by bugs and lack of packages. Was a pleasant surprise. Running the 64 bit version and after 3 days...it's a nice and responsive (after a few tweaks) distro. Have been using Kubuntu 11.04 32 bit (64 bit and both of the 11.10 betas were crash city for me) as my KDE 4.x distro of choice. I have tried many and OpenSUSE 11.4 was on a partition, but Chakra 2011.9 64 bit will replace that. Chakra may have finally grown up and be ready for primetime. Nice job to Chakra team---have been holding out hope for this distro for a long time.
52 • Ciphers and data security in general (by William Barath on 2011-10-06 05:08:56 GMT from Canada)
As a side note to this issue, yes RC4/RSA 128 bit is weaker than AES, but I don't believe it is weaker than 3DES. 3DES has a theoretical 112 bits of entropy, only under the right circumstances. It's a hot topic, well beyond my scope.
If we are going to induce panic in the masses, here's how it should be done:
Last fall, 128-bit quantum computers became commercially available. These are capable of decoding SSL packets (even in excess of 128-bit ciphers) which have been stored for later analysis. In other words, your passwords, cookies, etc are readable by anyone who has the money to buy these computers, the technical expertise to implement SSL-decrypting software using quantum computers, and the access to the IT infrastructure to record consumer bandwidth.
Today, not in some sci-fi fantasy future, the government, corporations, and any hackers who can raise the capital and get access to major peering networks (it would not be worthwhile for wifi, these computers cost millions) can have your SSL secured data. It is just a matter of whether they expend the effort/resources to do so.
This can be mitigated. The problem however is what we have seen with TLS 1.2 adoption. Even if all browser makers decided to support TLS 1.2 today, it would be at least 5 years before an acceptable number of end-users actually upgraded their software to the new standard, such that Enterprises could rely on it to communicate with their customers and drop TLS <1.2 support.
Inside 5 years I fully expect that decoding TLS 1.2 on the fly from intercepted traffic will be a reality, and I expect that some parties are recording consumer bandwidth, after all it presents very lucrative possibilities for when they can get around to decoding it.
We don't merely need to adopt TLS 1.2, we need to change the whole way the public thinks about security and get them to update much more regularly, so that Enterprise has a hope to stay ahead of the curve and protect its users, but even so the consumer has to recognise that data transported over a public network is not secure forever.
Consumers are safe using their Visa today, because it will expire long before it is likely that their data is decrypted and could be used fraudulently. However the data about the products they purchased with it, the entities with whom they conducted their business, their private emails, etc are all up for grabs in the very near future.
53 • Steve Jobs (by Alex on 2011-10-06 06:59:14 GMT from Canada)
Comment deleted (off-topic).
54 • BIOS secure boot. (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-06 13:01:55 GMT from Spain)
lott wrote: ----------------------------------- I was wondering what DW thinks on the subject of implement secure boot by windows. And what it implies for Linux users in the future. -----------------------------------
I think that this is not a so concerning problem. As long as the BIOS vendors offer the option to turn the "secure" boot feature off, this is not a real problem for GNU/Linux users that do not need to dual boot with MS-W.
The problem comes if you want to dual-boot. You will be able to, but it will become less straight forward. In addition, if BIOS vendors stop providing the option to disable the "secure" boot feature, then users will have to:
a) Flash the BIOS, then install another one. b) Return the whole unit to the manofacturer, then buy another one.
My favorite is b). These measures should be combined with "Talk badly about that BIOS and any OEM that supports it."
However, those who build their computer from spare parts are free to chose their motherboard and, thus, their BIOS. It is worth remembering that. Many pre-built computers are already shipped with a very crappy BIOS, anyway.
55 • On Secure Boot. (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-06 13:32:41 GMT from Spain)
I have made some further investigation. Those who can understand Spanish can have a look at this site and read the post made by razhan: http://www.genbeta.com/windows/microsoft-aclara-confusiones-acerca-del-secure-boot-de-windows-8
A fast translation of the most important points: ----------------------- --Como instalo linux en mi máquina si el CD no va a venir firmado por una entidad de confianza? La especificación de UEFI menciona un modo Setup que el usuario puede marcar. Este modo esta pensado para la instalación/reparación del sistema y permitiría arrancar linux--
How do I install Linux in my machine if the CD is not signed by a trusted entity? The UEFI specification mentions a Setup mode the user can check. This mode is designed in order to install/recover and would allow Linux booting.
--Como hago para arrancar linux con secure boot una vez instalado? El procedimiento sería que durante la instalación se generará un nuevo par de claves aleatoriamente para el usuario. La clave privada se utilizaría para firmar el bootloader (como grub).--
How do I boot Linux with secure boot once it is installed? You would generate a new key pair for the user during install. The private key would be used to sign the boot loader (i.e:grub). -----------------------
I have not tried the full procedure, so I have no idea of how does it translate to facts.
56 • RE: 1- 7 -38 (by Landor on 2011-10-06 15:18:30 GMT from Canada)
#1 'Developers/companies forgot about crucial principle -- the fact you can morph Linux into gazillion of variations, does not mean you should.'
That's exactly the reason why people should, reason to. If it exists, use it. If it fills a need, do it so there's no longer a need. If you want to test a theory, do so and know the answer. If it can help some in some way, help them. When people start to ignore FLOSS in all its varied possibilities they take the chance that those options might not be available to them tomorrow.
#7 Could you explain why you can't take a project with GNU/Linux in their name seriously? I think that everyone should acknowledged for their efforts. Also, Debian is the second oldest existing project, as well as the largest in our community, that uses that in their name. Surely Debian can be taken seriously. I am honestly various curious to know why you see it like that.
#38 It was nice to post the quote of Linux Torvalds, but you have to look deeper to find the truth of things. Most times people say things without thinking of the implications of their words, or how legitimate they are. An example, Linus Torvalds has himself arbitrarily removed hardware from the kernel that is old by any standards. He believed he was doing the right thing, but many people who used such hardware still were left with no support in newer kernels. In essence, he moved forward the best way he knew how with the kernel, just as other developers are moving forward the best they know how. They have to make different choices based on their own projects. I don't think it's for use to judge any project based on the words of any other project developer/leader, that's wrong. What we should be doing is ignoring the more prominent figures comments for the most part and relying on our own experiences and opinions. They're what fits us the best, and gives whatever we're trying out the fairest shake we can. Purely my opinion though.
Keep your stick on the ice..
Landor
57 • @7, 56 (by Patrick on 2011-10-06 15:32:36 GMT from United States)
"""Could you explain why you can't take a project with GNU/Linux in their name seriously? I think that everyone should acknowledged for their efforts."""
Agreed. Take a look at Android for an alternative. It's "Linux": it runs on a (somewhat customized) Linux kernel. But how different it is from a standard Linux system from a user's point of view! That system could be called Android/Linux, as opposed to GNU/Linux. Linux is what talks to the hardware. GNU is what talks to you as a user. They both are important.
58 • @54 (by Jeff on 2011-10-06 16:56:32 GMT from United States)
Saying you can build your own computer is all well and good for desktops, but try to build your own laptop. Laptops are more than half of all computers sold in recent years. If Linux or BSD is no longer usable on laptops ? Remember that Microsoft got where they are by exclusionary contracts.
59 • Linux on laptops (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-06 20:17:37 GMT from Spain)
Jeff wrote: -------------------------------- Saying you can build your own computer is all well and good for desktops, but try to build your own laptop. --------------------------------
I invested some time investigating on that subject. Results were no good. At least, in the USA there are some OEMs that make laptops and netbooks specifically for Linux (and are offered with Linux preinstalled and preconfigured). In my country, the best you can find are laptops with no OS (bad prices) or second hand computers (good prices, quality varies).
Remember that the UEFI thing won't make the installation of Linux impossible, just a little more technical, and only if you avoid disabling the "Secure" Boot feature. Linux and *BSDs are safe for now. The only side effect will be that distributions will have to include one or two pages in their install documentation to cover such a thing as the secure boot.
I don't find it to be a great thing, but I can live with it. After all, I spend more time using my operating system that installing it.
60 • @ 57 (by Blue Knight on 2011-10-07 00:58:23 GMT from France)
I'm sorry but Android can run on a Linux kernel, it is not really open source. The last time I have looked at, the sources of Android 3 were not available.
For instance, you can read this: Android Is Not Open Source And Why That's Good (http://www.osnews.com/story/25060/Android_Is_Not_Open_Source_And_Why_That_s_Good):
"Google has finally acknowledged that its characterization of Android as open source is false..."
61 • on the UEFI (by lott11 on 2011-10-07 05:26:36 GMT from Colombia)
The point of this was to rise awareness. Yes that is how it starts, and Ms just bribes the manufacture. Just like it was just stated there are no OEM laptops. And there are just 15 manufactures in the world for laptops thats all. Most do not supply OEM unless you order 10,000 units. I know I order some in 2009 the minimum 3000 , 5000, 7000, to make a OEM order 15,000 units. And that took 4 months for a delivery. So I do know what it takes to get OEM models. MS and a propitiatory Linux have a minimum 300 to 500 units order. So this is a market lock up. One if this dose go on will it make a difference? Yes. Dose MS have a bested interest? yes. How many Linux mother boards are out there none. How much hardware truly supports Linux. Just look at the market on less it is and embedded device, it's not supported and most are propitiatory software. Most devices don't have Linux drivers, every driver that is out there is ether hacked or it's in the kernel. How many manufacture supply drivers for Linux. And what is the most innovative software in the market today it's Linux. all the information on market chair, are based on how many are sold with a installed OS. How many off you install Linux on your new PC, or even format and install your favorite distribution. Now I only have one use for windows that it's x controllers in other words Games that is it. And soon not even that, I shall not have any need for MS at all. Just have a look at http://fossforce.com/2011/09/can-penguins-dance-on-a-dell-will-reiser-file-again-are-samsung-and-intel-going-to-the-prom/
62 • RE:Safe Boot or a RED HERRING! (by Eddie on 2011-10-07 12:02:34 GMT from United States)
So are you saying the only problem there will be is with laptops. The comments about how many Linux motherboards or how much Linux hardware exist is really irrelevant. There has always been a few items that will not play nice with Linux but not so much now. There has been no indication that the safe boot system, if installed, will not be able to be turned off. On this subject all I've read so far has been FUD and scare tactics. The ramifications would be too severe to lock down all computer systems in that manner and I don't believe that it would even be possible to do so. Even if it is attempted it will be dealt with but realistically I don't see how a lock out can happen. This is my opinion on the issue and there is nothing I see at this time that would change it. It's best to deal in facts and not maybes.
63 • @60 (by Patrick on 2011-10-07 13:46:04 GMT from United States)
"""I'm sorry but Android can run on a Linux kernel, it is not really open source. The last time I have looked at, the sources of Android 3 were not available."""
Yes... Isn't that the point I was trying to make? That GNU/Linux is the thing that is desirable to most of us, not something like Android/Linux. The environment we love to work in is more GNU than Linux, since our main interaction is with the GNU part. GNU defines the experience more than Linux does, as Android shows so clearly. So how anyone can have an issue with the GNU/Linux name is beyond me.
64 • Multimedia in 100% Free GNU/Linux distros (by Magic Banana on 2011-10-07 18:13:04 GMT from Brazil)
@Jesse
You write: "with the libre restriction, some multimedia packages are omitted". FSF guidelines ( https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html ), adopted by the 100% Free distros, do not "condemn" the shipping of any codec or application as long as it is Free software (a copyright issue) and does not recommend non-free software. In particular, codecs to read patent-encumbered formats are allowed and 100% Free GNU/Linux distributions usually install them by default. For instance, I have still to find a multimedia format I cannot read from the default install of Trisquel GNU/Linux (certainly the best 100% Libre distribution for fairly modern hardware).
To be more precise, here is the FSF stand w.r.t. the inclusion of applications or codecs that may infringe patents: "It is effectively impossible for free software developers and distributors to know whether or not a given piece of software infringes any patents: there are too many of them, they vary from country to country, they're often worded so as to make it hard to tell what they do or don't cover, and it isn't easy to tell which ones are valid. Therefore, we don't generally ask free system distributions to exclude software because of possible threats from patents."
To sum up, I believe you if you write that some "multimedia packages" are missing from ConnochaetOS but I really doubt it has anything to do with the FSF guidelines. If I am right, a correction to the (otherwise very interesting) review would be nice.
65 • RE: 57 - 62 (by Landor on 2011-10-07 18:21:22 GMT from Canada)
#57
I've always be on the developer's side of this, and like you believe that overall there's more work done on the GNU side of things than the kernel, though in all truth the kernel is a core piece of the system, which doesn't mean the others are not.
I found it disappointing to find that Linus Torvalds was upset that Google wouldn't include Linux in the operating system's name, only because he made a big thing about the inclusion of GNU with the Linux name. I've talked about this earlier, and in my opinion all I can say is I hope on all levels, all groups get the credit they so rightly deserve. For me it will always be GNU first and foremost.
#62
I can see one way how this would easily come to pass and actually wonder why OEMs haven't done something similar yet. All they have to do it create an EULA, similar to one from Microsoft, where the (key word here) user doesn't own the system, they only license it. They could then easily lock anyone, or anything, from that system, as they see fit. People could say it would never happen, nobody would buy such a system, but they'd be wrong, how many people buy a computer with Windows and believe they actually own their copy of Windows. No, they'd still buy what they either found fits for them, or is the cheapest price. Something that's very possible. Sadly.
Keep your stick on the ice...
Landor
66 • Multimedia (by Jesse on 2011-10-07 19:01:59 GMT from Canada)
>> "To sum up, I believe you if you write that some "multimedia packages" are missing from ConnochaetOS but I really doubt it has anything to do with the FSF guidelines. If I am right, a correction to the (otherwise very interesting) review would be nice."
I didn't mean to imply the missing multimedia packages in Connochaet was due only to the FSF guidelines. Some distributions don't ship packages which, while they might be technically okay in the eyes of the FSF, are licensed in such a way that shipping them could cause legal/freedom issues.
As you correctly pointed out Trisquel is FSF compliant and ships (as an example) mp3 codecs. Fedora is not FSF compliant and omits (or used to omit, I think they still do) various codecs because of legal/freedom/patent issues. What I'm getting as is there are multiple ways in which a package may not be deemed "libre", the FSF's guidelines are one, but there are other parameters too.
Take the following statement from the Gstreamer project: "GStreamer Ugly Plug-ins is a set of plug-ins that have good quality and correct functionality, but distributing them might pose problems. The license on either the plug-ins or the supporting libraries might not be how we'd like. The code might be widely known to present patent problems."
I think the Connochaet project takes these sorts of things into consideration, as well as the FSF guidelines, when determining what is "free enough" to be included in their distro.
67 • Evil EULAS (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-07 19:21:06 GMT from Spain)
Landor wrote: ----------------------------- All they have to do it create an EULA, similar to one from Microsoft, where the (key word here) user doesn't own the system, they only license it. -----------------------------
I have seen some discussion in this regard. I have even heard about selling the system without giving the administrator password to the user (what sense makes this?).
Want to know something? When something is released under a stupid license, two things can happen.
1) Nobody uses that thing. 2) Nobody complies with the license.
Yes, Activision does not sell you the games they make, it only license them to us. Nobody cares, because there are no practical consequences. People uses the game as it was theirs. If Activision was to take any legal action against a buyer, in some countries the buyer could claim "Miss informed buy contract" and "crunch" Activision. I think the same thing would happen if a computer itself was "licensed" instead of "sold".
Hardware makers are no likely to do such a dumb thing because THEY WANT TO SELL THE HARDWARE. They are going to sell it anyway, so they don't need to use a license that brings no benefits for them at all, while taking legal risks and trouble. How would be maintenance and repairs handled with that license? What about the second hand market? Too much hassle to end up selling the same amount of stuff they were going to sell in the traditional way. Or even less.
68 • Etc, etc... (by KevinC on 2011-10-08 04:23:43 GMT from United States)
If u want Linux on a laptop, try Zareason...they offer plenty of options, tho I have never had problems in the past 5 yrs or so w/ Linux on laptops or netbooks. Also, wondering who read this: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/mageia-1.html Usually all about his reviews, but I did not have this experience w/ Mageia. I will grant that I went w/ Gnome install and was in V'Box, but it ran great for me. Was considering doing a full install to hdd. I haven't read much negative about this distro until now. Anyone else having bad experiences???
69 • Tiny Core (by Greets on 2011-10-08 06:52:30 GMT from United Kingdom)
I am pleasantly surprised at the versatility of Tiny Core Linux. I have a i3 laptop. I tried to install Arch and then install Nvidia, but it died there straightaway. Ubuntu mini didn't make any problem, but it took so much time to get things done.
Multicore, which was just 47MB, and booted up in a bang. Whatever I needed, for example Firefox was 7.0, downloaded quite fast. Tiny core is just 11,2 MB. That's pretty amazing!
How come, Shingeldecker can do such wonders?
70 • Evil EULAS (by lott11 on 2011-10-08 09:36:43 GMT from United States)
To 67 • Evil EULAS {Anonymous Coward} your are missing the hole point it is not that laptops are going to be locked up. It is possible, who has more pull you, me, the public in general. Just like Lander stated on # 65 people are not generally smart, or for that matter even look at the fine print before they put there signature down. Ms has the pull to make manufactures to do as they please, and what a bought the retailer like HP, Dell, and Acer, and so on. It is the control that they have and will use. Like I stated at http://fossforce.com/2011/10/secure-boot-whats-microsofts-agenda/ The agenda for Ms is to stop all implementation of other OS. That includes other tech devices like any mobile device since that is the future. Home computing is changing so fast that most PC'S are going to become the entertainment centers. Because you will have soon your server at home, by limiting only to use windows they do not loose any market shares. Anyone can make a NAS server using BSD, and entertainment center using Linux like Myth box and know that it will be secured. So it is not just the laptops that they are stopping, it's all the licenses that they will sell do to limitations. Plus they have the logical scape goat the manufactures. Most electronics in your home are being geared to run on the net or in a network. Most corporations do not fill comfortable with the expenses that MS tolls , so a great deal of them are moving to Linux and BSD. So who is left out there the public, Ho those poor suckers they are thinking right. That is the agenda same old market but new limitations, just think out side of the box that is the answer. Lets not forget that all cash cash to certify any software, plus the that 1% of manufactures for use of the UEFI keys. What does it all mean to any one that builds there own PC, think of it there is an added cost to the hardware. And what do you think that MS is going to loose any sleep over this no. They are doing the same thing that they did to all the work on VR In Novel. Did Suse get and of the credit not they just purchase a very cheap license. And now they are bragging of it. They will be cashing on licensing.
71 • Evil EULAS (by lott11 on 2011-10-08 10:28:50 GMT from United States)
The game now days is not the software per say OS. It is the pattens and legal right of licensing of them, or any limitations that are stated do to pattens. Think the 1% is how Bill got rich, not the OS. IBM paid through the nose for it at 1%. So how much is MS getting from all the cell phones. You say it's no big deal now, it is nothing to worry of. OK let see in 6 months if you can say the same thing. Better yet lets wait one year and see. That is why I am making a big deal of it. Companies that have a future look in how to survive with out doing a thing. Do you? Do you plan on your future! Not to speak bad of the dead. But was Mr. Steve Jobs fired! Did he get rehired! Did he bring the company back to its glory, and went be on to do more.
72 • Evil EULAS (by Anonymous Coward on 2011-10-08 11:14:28 GMT from Spain)
lott11 wrote: --------------------------------- your are missing the hole point it is not that laptops are going to be locked up. --------------------------------- My reasoning can be applied to any computer, be it a laptop or a server.
lott11 wrote: -------------------------------- Just like Lander stated on # 65 people are not generally smart -------------------------------- I agree. That is why few people would know about weird licensing. That's why that license would be not applied in practice, even if it was used.
Know, you can talk about placing physical impediments in the Hardware instead of legal ones. Believe it or not, designing and putting hardware micro-code to prevent Linux from working would cost a Lot Of Money. They would have to break many standard specifications to do so and redesign them (and, by the way, UEFI is not a so bulling standard). Vendors, as I have said, are already selling their hardware, they don't need to invest another Lot Of Money if they can sell the same hardware without investing it.
You talk about third party pressures. Keep in mind that Microsoft is mainly forcing the OEM to install only their software, and that is something that costs Not Very Much Money to the vendors, so they agree to that condition. If MS made hardware locking mandatory in order to allow an OEM to pre-install Windows, OEMs would become really angry, and, in addition, the responsible for such a locking could be easily traced and "crunched". One thing is to prevent the OEM from pre-installing no-Windows stuff. Other very different is to prevent the OEM from running no-Windows stuff. Remember that the UEFI standard is not even required for Windows 8 distribution: is only required in order to enter a marketing program.
73 • @68 Mageia (by Blue Knight on 2011-10-09 03:37:04 GMT from France)
I use Mageia on two desktops and probably on a laptop soon. On at least one of my desktops I even use Cauldron with no problems. I know someone who uses Mageia Cauldron 32 and 64 bit on a laptop, and also who has created repos (32 and 64 bit) for Cauldron, with no problems too.
There are some reviews of Mageia for now, almost all are quite good. My use is also quite good, even with the development version Cauldron which is relatively stable for a such version. Plus, I don't agree with some of his points.
Mageia is a quite nice and stable distro.
74 • @73 (by KevinC on 2011-10-09 05:18:28 GMT from United States)
That was my experience as well...tho I dl'ed but have not tested the KDE version. The Gnome version ran great in vbox and install guest-additions, so I ran it full resolution under LMDE. Few packages missing that I normally install, but nothing I can't live w/out and that will come w/ time. It was tons better than the latest Mandriva, IMHO.
75 • @74 (by Blue Knight on 2011-10-09 11:35:48 GMT from France)
> but have not tested the KDE version.
Personally, I use *only* KDE in Mageia, no other desktops. But it's installed systems, I didn't try in VirtualBox.
76 • @72, locking Linux out (by TobiSGD on 2011-10-09 14:34:41 GMT from Germany)
The hardware vendors will implement the secure boot feature, regardless of the costs. That feature is necessary if they want use the "Designed for Windows 8" for their hardware, and of course they want that logo. Since the secure boot feature is an optional feature of the UEFI platform you also won't break a standard with that.
77 • That's Irrelevant (by Eddie on 2011-10-09 18:17:49 GMT from United States)
It doesn't really matter if some of them implement the secure boot feature. Many will not and besides, you will be able to turn it off. There is no other legal way to implement that feature. If it can be turned off, it is a no issue. Microsoft is not the only game in town anymore and anyway we are talking about not having an option to disable that feature. Of course a person will be able to disable that feature one way or another. :)
78 • Parsix (by fernbap on 2011-10-09 20:09:52 GMT from Portugal)
Parsix is one of the no-nonsense debian based distros with the Gnome 2 desktop. Nowadays, it is a great choice for those that don't like (or don't have hardware to) Gnome 3. Any gnome user will feel entirely at home.
79 • @75 (by KevinC on 2011-10-10 03:31:29 GMT from United States)
I dl'ed both 32 bit and 64 bit variants. I fully intended to test KDE version in v'box, but during install went w/ Gnome on a whim---it's been awhile since I had done Mandriva w/ Gnome and, tho it's not Mandriva anymore, I was wondering how the Gnome side was fairing. Personally, I am comfortable w/ most of the DE's so just tried a different path. If I decide to commit to hdd, I'll prolly go w/ KDE. But I can attest the Gnome install was solid and I would expect the KDE would be likewise. The problem is which of my installs to dx---I now have Kubuntu 11.04 32 bit, Salix 64 XFCE, LMDE 64 bit and Chakra 64 bit w' all being very cooperative and stable. And it hurts to dx one of those, Guess I need to add more partitions for testing, but I thought 4-5 would suffice---being that I have ltd. time and can only juggle so much. I had up to 10-11 partitions set up at 1 time but that turned out to be hard to manage for me. Keeping everything up to date w/ grub2 detecting the latest kernel. Neway, I paired that down...d/t working 10 hr days and wanted something more manageable. I know I will get bore tho and redo something. So many distros I want to try and so little time.
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• 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 |
• Full list of all issues |
Star Labs |
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Oracle Solaris
Solaris is a computer operating system, the proprietary Unix variant developed by Sun Microsystems. Early versions, based on BSD UNIX, were called SunOS. The shift to a System V code base in SunOS 5 was marked by changing the name to Solaris 2. Earlier versions were retroactively named Solaris 1.x. After version 2.6, Sun dropped the "2." from the name. Solaris consists of the SunOS UNIX base operating system plus a graphical user environment. Solaris is written in a platform-independent manner and is available for SPARC and x86 processors (including x86_64). Starting from version 10, the Solaris licence changed and the product was distributed free of charge for any system or purpose, but after the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle in 2009, the product is once again proprietary with a restrictive licence.
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!
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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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