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1 • Not a stable release, yet (by Jeppe on 2011-10-10 09:54:35 GMT from Denmark)
I just thought I would bring a correction to the review of OpenIndiana b151a. It is not a stable release yet, please see the announce e-mail: http://openindiana.org/pipermail/openindiana-announce/2011-September/000011.html
2 • OpenIndiana (by klanger on 2011-10-10 10:09:06 GMT from Poland)
Great review, that makes you open OI web site and download their live-DVD :)
Good job OI & DW!
3 • OI 151a (by Mathew John Roberts on 2011-10-10 11:22:57 GMT from United Kingdom)
OpenIndiana is getting there. It seems that when they finally release the stable version most of the hard work will be out of the way. One of the biggest things they have already tackled, to a great degree, is the transition to Illumos.
I have a few gripes though. The installer doesn't let you set usernames larger than 8 characters long (apparently some compatibility thing). Also, it uses gnome2 by default. That is likely no longer supported. There is mate (https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=121162) though if they want to stick to gnome2 (I prefer xfce). I'd prefer it if they went the way of pcbsd 9 and offered a choice of desktops at install time.
Anywho, I'm really looking forward to their next release.
4 • This is not a "quirk", it's severe flaw. (by os2_user on 2011-10-10 13:23:09 GMT from United States)
"One quirk of the system I ran into early on is that, upon installing OpenIndiana, the root password expires. This means trying to use any of the graphical admin tools won't work because we are prompted for the root password, which then isn't recognized. We're not told why it doesn't work, only that our access is denied."
Don't keep accepting these as charming bits to puzzle out when cripples the system.
5 • OpenIndiana admin passwd (by Alexandru Popa on 2011-10-10 14:09:49 GMT from Germany)
The best way to set up OpenIndiana admin password after installing it is to open a terminal and to type su command. OI will say your password is expired and ask to set up new one. Once it is done, no admin password issues will be.
6 • Flash available, SFE repos, password bug (by Fred K on 2011-10-10 14:49:29 GMT from United States)
Good review. "and it was no surprise that Flash is not included as I am fairly certain Adobe doesn't make a plugin for OpenIndiana/Solaris." Adobe does have a Flash player plugin for Solaris and Acrobat Reader too. http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Copy libflashplayer.so to the default Firefox plugin directory /usr/lib/firefox/plugins
"Users looking for a multimedia experience will be disappointed to find the operating system doesn't support popular audio or video codecs out of the box." OpenSolaris previously used Codeina & Fluendo for multimedia codecs. Some of the codecs conflict with US patents and the paid Fluendo was used by OSol. Fluendo no longer supports Solaris and Oracle is removing Codeina from Solaris 11.
OpenIndiana now has two Spec Files Extra repos. Additional software is being added. The encumbered repo includes mplayer2 and VLC media player
http://pkg.openindiana.org/sfe/en/catalog.shtml
http://pkg.openindiana.org/sfe-encumbered/en/catalog.shtml
Instructions for adding the repos can be found here: http://wiki.openindiana.org/oi/Spec+Files+Extra+Repository
The expired root password is a known bug. https://www.illumos.org/issues/1055
7 • OpenIndiana (by Jesse on 2011-10-10 15:04:15 GMT from Canada)
@6,
Thank you for pointing out that Adobe does indeed have a Flash player for Solaris. That's a pleasant surprise. And it's good to know extra repositories are being added for OpenIndiana users.
@4: "This is not a "quirk", it's severe flaw"
We have very different ideas of what makes a severe flaw. A file system bug that corrupts data I'd say is severe. An update script that wipes out the boot loader strikes me as severe. An expired password that can be fixed by typing "su" followed by a new password is a minor inconvenience.
8 • Flash player permissions (by Fred K on 2011-10-10 15:31:41 GMT from United States)
I just remembered the past couple of Flash plugin updates did not work. You can test here: http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ You may need to chmod 0755 libflashplayer.so and possibly chown root:bin libflashplayer.so
This issue was asked in the illumos help forum: https://www.illumos.org/boards/3/topics/722
9 • Openindiana (by GeekBoula on 2011-10-10 15:38:02 GMT from Canada)
Good small reviews of OI! I have been using a version 148 for 7 months without any problems on my netbook. At this moment I have too the problem with root password. We just open a terminal and change it. the process Installation is simple even for a beginner. Adobe Flash may be installed by the terminal. For me, this is difficult for the beginner do it. I also install cairo-dock from the terminal. My experience
about 7 months of OpenIndiana 148b was no crash. The difference between version 151 and 148b is important that the look has not changed. The boot is more
fast what is good. On my desktop Openindiana 151 does not support my hardware. the
148b version at this level had no worries.
I think the next version of OpenIdiana will be true for desktop use. Suggestion: Why
to have an icon on the desktop that would allow the installation automatic Flash in one click after read licence and accept the user clic ok and flash is install.
Good big work OI team.
10 • Lubuntu Beta 2 MultArch Support (Sweet) :) (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-10-10 21:23:44 GMT from United States)
Just three more days to the distribution release. It has been like watching the Big Bang theory at work form the Alpha 3 release to the stable developer's version. The system has really evolved so to speak. Help coming from Debian, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, and even Red Hat recently pitched in. What a work in progress. Simply amazing the transition from 11.04 Lubuntu with Ubuntu to what might be termed the Ubuntu version of Lubuntu with all the input that has come in. Only thing I noticed to be added since the LxPanel now lets you put the panel on top like the old Maverick version is to get the read-only kernel 3.0.0.-12-20 recovery menu to work. I wouldn't wanted to miss all the what I would call radical changes for the better. :)
11 • Ubuntu third most popular OS? (by Jb on 2011-10-10 23:16:40 GMT from United States)
Ubuntu third most popular OS? At first I thought, "yeah, it is, isn't it?"
Then I thought .. wait, the most popular linux distribution (and third most popular operating system) is Android isn't it?
12 • Popularity (by Jesse on 2011-10-10 23:26:37 GMT from Canada)
@11:
Which OS is the most popular depends a lot on context. In this case I think the Ubuntu team were referring to the netbook/laptop/desktop/workstation market. This would make Ubuntu the third most popular OS behind Windows and OS X. In the phone market Ubuntu would be practically non-existent, but Android would probably be number one (based on units sold). In the server market we would see very different numbers again.
I think they're trading accuracy for a decent slogan. "Third most popular desktop/workstation/lnotebook/netbook operating system" doesn't roll off the tongue.
13 • MultiArch Support and MultiDistro Support (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-10-10 23:58:19 GMT from United States)
I would take it that MultiArch exist and MultiDistro doesn't when comes to support? There really isn't a multidistro support? But I have seen some OSes with variations of others in them like Fuduntu and Zorin. I guess they would be called hybrids?
14 • Re: #10 • Lubuntu Beta 2 MultArch Support (Sweet) (by Candide on 2011-10-11 02:13:54 GMT from Taiwan)
Hi Roy, I'm a little confused by your statement: "Simply amazing the transition from 11.04 Lubuntu with Ubuntu to what might be termed the Ubuntu version of Lubuntu..."
Did you mean "LXDE" when you said "Ubuntu version of Lubuntu"? Not trying to be a troll or anything, I just wasn't sure what you meant. Maybe there have been some big changes introduced in Lubuntu 11.10, but I don't know because I haven't tried that version yet. I am looking forward to it.
From past experience with 11.04, I'm in agreement with you that Lubuntu is great. It's my favorite Ubuntu variation. Much more lightweight than even Xubuntu, and doesn't suffer from the recent Xfwm4 bug that has plagued Xubuntu 11.04. My understanding is that Lubuntu 11.10 will be the first Lubuntu officially incorporated into the Ubuntu family - All previous releases were a separate distro and not found on the Ubuntu servers or mirrors.
- cheers
15 • @12, popularity and what is an OS (by Jb on 2011-10-11 02:14:44 GMT from United States)
These days, when people think of the phrase "OS" they tend to think of a netbook/laptop/desktop OS.
The lines are going to get blurry though. Tablets with keyboards, phones with mini projectors, etc. I love that Bodhi Linux (which is a child of Ubuntu) offers a version for an ARM tablet device designed to work with Android -- next I want libreoffice on my smartphone (with a screen projector and a keyboard)
16 • Ubuntu Third (by azurehi on 2011-10-11 02:14:49 GMT from United States)
I use a desktop primarily. Ubuntu was number one for me until unity. Zorin Lite LXDE meets all my needs now.
17 • OI, parsix (by walter on 2011-10-11 03:47:54 GMT from Canada)
I was always curious about OI - but perhaps mainly because of zfs. I also tried a live cd of open solaris at one time too, but couldn't get into it. Maybe if i get real desperate in finding a replacement for ubuntu 10.10 I'll give it another whirl.
I'm trying parsix and think it's a possibility. I'll have to do some tweaking to get it to look like 10.10 though...
Knoppix 6.7 really runs great. kde apps seem to work better then kubuntu 11.04 - and maybe look better too. It's moving to the top of the pile of cd's of distros I've looked at so far. I keep hoping distrowatch can help me find a replacement for ubuntu, but so far - no. What will you use jessie?
I'm definately going to give lubuntu a shot
18 • Chakra Linux (by FitzLT on 2011-10-11 06:23:40 GMT from United States)
I HIGHLY recommend chakra linux. Surprisingly stable and faster than most of the distros I have ever used. It is an amazing distro!
19 • Salix Ratpoison (by 狄文 on 2011-10-11 07:49:36 GMT from United States)
So far I really like the new Salix Ratpoison, the first distro (to my knowledge) that has my favorite wm as default! Never tried Slackware before but it's very solid, wireless works well unlike in Arch Linux, where i first tried Ratpoison. Slackbuilds are simple and very similar to the AUR; I can see how users would easily move between the two distros. The application selection for Salix Ratpoison is top-notch, all chosen to be used sans mouse, especially vimprobable2, the browser. I haven't figured out how to get flash to work on it yet, but maybe that's for the better. All in all, very commendable. I was planning on switching back to Arch, but I think I'll keep Salix a little while longer.
The only real problem I have with Salix is the /usr is a mess. I assume that is all legacy stuff (I admit ignorance so don't castrate me) but Arch has fewer directories floating around in /usr. This is not a deal-breaker but when I am installing from source I'm used to Arch, and so the standard install directories are different, and I haven't yet learned where to put what. But that is part of the learning curve I suppose.
20 • DVL updates? (by Chuck Hejkal on 2011-10-11 09:31:53 GMT from United States)
per thier website DVL2.0 was expected 'at the end of summer 2011'. Needless to say it hasn't shown up. Does anyone have info about when/if we will see it?
21 • Re: #10 • Lubuntu Beta 2 MultArch Support (Sweet) (by Candide on 2011-10-11 02: (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-10-11 13:16:13 GMT from United States)
LXDE common and LXDE core are still there but plain LXDE was dropped. 11.04 wouldn't let me take the Ace of Penquins and similar games out but 11.10 does. I like the Gnome games. Xfburn is on it. I found that LXDM doesn't have to have LXDE in it. The Nvidia driver is now 280.13. It has 5 different wallpapers to choose from. It has the Lubuntu Software Center which is quicker. It was a PPA. You have the option for Canonical Partners for source code and one for Canonical Partners packages under Software sources left unchecked. The two for Lubuntu are PPA there. Then there are two for third party listed as Independent- one source code and one Independent regular. I hope that helps. :)
22 • RE: 21 and other stuff (by Landor on 2011-10-11 15:49:59 GMT from Canada)
RE: 21
I'll be looking at Lubuntu for sure. I did give it a look last release, but found myself amazed by the Xubuntu release and lost my focus on Lubuntu. This time around I'm going to make sure I give it a good look and try it out a bit longer.
-----
Lately I've been testing some different projects. I'm finding the GNOME 3 Shell pleasant to look at and am more than willing to give it a try for a bit. I'm also trying out the very latest KDE, I find it mature enough for me to finally use it since the 3 series.
I'll have to look a bit more into Unity as well, it's hard getting to everything when there's so many amazing releases coming up, and just great projects in general. Good times ahead for GNU/Linux.
Keep your stick on the ice...
Landor
23 • Arch & OI package failure (by me on 2011-10-11 17:01:56 GMT from Thailand)
Re: 19
In my opinion Arch's poor Wifi support is a showstopper but otherwise it's so good.
So try CTKarch linux which has arch but a properly configured base with good wifi out of the box. As with any arch system you can install any arch package.
Slackware is sold and oi disappointed as I could not install the extra package for codecs - got some message saying they had been disabled. This is so typical of the difficulty of using any solaris system as a desktop I am tempted just to stop trying
24 • 22 • RE: 21 and other stuff (by Landor on 2011-10-11 15:49:59 GMT from Canada) (by Roy H Huddleston on 2011-10-11 22:34:42 GMT from United States)
Two days to the release and the recovery menu still doesn't work. I was mystified by the translation-en in the updates and upgrades. I am wondering how the translation-en is different than the translation index. Xubuntu stuff has been included in the changes I noticed as the updates and upgrades progressed.
25 • @23 (by Thomas on 2011-10-12 03:23:35 GMT from United States)
Suggesting an arch derivative to fix a PEBKAC issue is not the way to go. Arch's power comes with being able to understand and set up your system perfectly.
What happens if he has an issue with CTKarch on another laptop? Avoiding the issue will not fix it. Pick a distro you like and stick with it *not* ignoring the bugs. This is also one of the strengths of arch and why it has been more stable than at least fedora and ubuntu for me.
26 • @25 (by me on 2011-10-12 07:09:00 GMT from Thailand)
So let me get this staright. I have only wifif access to the internet at home but as arch cannot connect I am supposed to understand and fix the issue how? Remember Arch may need to download the wifi drivers for your card as they are not on the dvd. Hmm download how?
This is a little bass akward no? And I am all for configuring an setting up my system once I can do so.
The derivative is arch with wifi set up so we can use it..
Surely getting on the internet must be the first priority of any desktop distro. Fedora and Mint come out winners here.
27 • @22, Surprised and Pleased (by Eddie on 2011-10-12 13:26:23 GMT from United States)
That is one of the most mature comments that I've read in a while. Sometimes people are too fast to judge a project before trying and learning it. It's good to see someone willing to give something a chance. You are correct that there are good times ahead for GNU/Linux, and even the BSD's. :)
28 • Sabayon 7 and Vectorlinux 7RC3 (by geekboula on 2011-10-13 00:21:49 GMT from Canada)
I would like to acknowledge the big work of the Sabayon team has the gnome 3 version 7. I test this version yesterday and I must say congratulations for your great work. Also This is a good move with the new version XFCE production. Great Job.
VectorLinux 3.4 RC 7 IS Simply WoW! Really fast, support for WiFi driver is excellent! A new installation tools for selection games work perfectly. The upcoming release of version 7 will be one of the major lines. Really great work too !
29 • Re#26 (by 123 on 2011-10-13 01:05:43 GMT from United States)
"So let me get this staright. I have only wifif access to the internet at home but as arch cannot connect I am supposed to understand and fix the issue how? Remember Arch may need to download the wifi drivers for your card as they are not on the dvd. Hmm download how?"
If you only have wifi and can't connect, then how did you get Arch in the first place?
Arch had to come from somewhere. Wouldn't the wifi drivers for Arch be much smaller than another distro ISO cd? And therefore easier to get or aquire?
I do agree that a lack of network connectivity is a major show stopper.
But how would the first part of getting a new distro be accomplished?
For me I used to buy pre-made cd's back in the 1990's.
Then I later had friends download and burn cd's for me.
Now I have internet access and can download what I want.
I see the convenience of having built in drivers, but surely downloading drivers is way quicker and easier than downloading another distro's ISO.
Perhaps my mistake is the intended audience is turn-key only, not knowing or wanting to know how to setup wifi drivers. I am sorry if I misunderstood this.
Best regards...
30 • how...arch (by @29 on 2011-10-13 06:52:28 GMT from Thailand)
I had an aprtmentment with ADSL built-in. I downloaded arch and derivatives from there.
Then I movied to an apartment with only wifi service. And arch is a no-go.I think having extra drivers would not add signifignatly to the size of arch(see CTKarch for proof) and yes we would still configure some things should we want or need to.
That's how and why.
31 • Re: 25-30 (by bwd on 2011-10-13 12:36:09 GMT from United States)
Not sure if this is a defense of Arch or not, but their documentation is very clear about preparing ahead of time to configure wifi drivers. Their assumption appears to be that you have _some_ kind of access to the internet at some point before installation. At that stage, it's smart to either cache the installation guide, or print it. They also assume you know what your hardware is, and have checked to see if/how it is supported. This may be a pain, but if there's criticism of Arch, _that's_ where it is. But 'being a pain' to one person is 'having control' to another, so...
32 • Re#30 (by 123 on 2011-10-14 00:49:53 GMT from United States)
I now understand your Arch adventure.
I know Arch by itself is a no-go.
But what i was referring to, is to simply download the additional wifi driver as needed.
Surely this would be a very tiny download to add the needed functionality.
Since you are posting here, then I am assuming that you already have a working distro.
Good luck & have fun.
33 • Beginner's guide (by tom on 2011-10-14 10:19:31 GMT from Finland)
I have been trying to find a gnome 2 guide for an absolute beginner, i.e., someone who does not how to use any computer.
Suggestions?
(Linux for Dummies is for not for beginners, it is for Windows users.)
34 • @32 (by me on 2011-10-14 11:47:41 GMT from Thailand)
Yes I have a working distro because I am distro hopper and was lucy enough to have burned CTKarch(atch with wicd and drivers setup in the install cd) before miving. I still don't fully understand your point.- if you only have access to the net via wifi then how can you donload the driver? And if you are on ADSL why would you want to download wifi drivers?
35 • @34 (by TobiSGD on 2011-10-14 15:45:25 GMT from Germany)
"if you only have access to the net via wifi then how can you donload the driver?"
Since you are a distro hopper I bet that you have one or more Live distros available, so downloading drivers should really be no problem.
36 • Seems abckward (by Jesse on 2011-10-14 20:30:41 GMT from Canada)
>> "Since you are a distro hopper I bet that you have one or more Live distros available, so downloading drivers should really be no problem."
If you have a distro which just works with your hardware and does what you want it to do, why would you continue to run a distro which makes you jump through hoops to get basic functionality up and running? That seems awfully backward. Especially if they're in the same family, like CTKarch and plain Arch. That would be like booting Parsix so I could download non-free firmware for a Debian install.
37 • Sabayon 7 Gnome (by John on 2011-10-15 02:20:09 GMT from United States)
I must say that I did not hate Fedora's Gnome 3 but was not crazy about it either. I will say this, Sabayon has definitely made a nice version with 3.2 Gnome.
38 • @36 (by KevinC on 2011-10-15 02:45:47 GMT from United States)
Amen, brother. Could never have said it better. And what is incredibly ironic to me is those who want to give someone s**t for running a "unpure" version of Linux. Who really gives a damn? They're not running Windows. I think it's this attitude that really keeps Linux from becoming bigger than it is. If Arch or Gentoo or LFS is your thing, great for u. But if you love Ubuntu...good as well. It's all Linux.
39 • minor bug-fix releases of DEBIAN (by LAZA on 2011-10-15 07:02:32 GMT from Germany)
Today i'm surprised to read about the 6.0.3 release from Debian.
Hope, to hear something about it in the next DW weekly news...
Have a nice and suntrap WE
40 • Re#34&36 (by 123 on 2011-10-15 17:53:30 GMT from United States)
A Clarification Example:
First you had an ISO CD for Arch Linux, several hundred mega-bytes.
Now since you moved to a wifi only location, Arch is useless.
I merely assumed that downloading via another machine or friend's help:
Simply, just the wifi driver for your wifi card for Arch,
would be much smaller than an ISO and quicker online access,
than downloading another several hundred mega-byte distro.
Since the wifi only location is useless without distro wifi connectivity,
if you only had an Arch CD,
then you would either have to get a wifi driver or another whole distro's ISO CD.
Either option requires one to have access to a way to obtain the necessary data.
I myself would have pursued the smaller wifi driver and continue on with my original distro.
Once the driver worked then I could utilize my current distro's package system to expand it to my liking.
As I previously said, apparently you are already way past getting something working with wifi.
Therefore enjoy it.
Sorry for the distractions...
41 • @35 @40 (by me m on 2011-10-15 18:48:13 GMT from Thailand)
I think @35 that is exatly my point. Why would you? Well thanks to ctkarch there were no hoops to jump through so I've kept with it.
@40
You could do that. From my broadband in myold home CTKarch downloaded very fast despite being somewhat biggger than standard arch. Arch would be better for someone with just a modem to connect to the internet I suppose.
42 • @41,38,36 (by TobiSGD on 2011-10-16 13:10:05 GMT from Germany)
Arch is known to be a distro that isn't "install and forget", so I wonder why you were using Arch in the first place. If you don't want something that is built up from scratch and is known to require some work, then simply don't use it, simple as that.
Would be the same if using a source based distro, but complaining that you have to compile.
If you are fine with CTKArch, OK, use it. But I don't see a reason to complain about Arch.
43 • Arch wireless (by Barnabyh on 2011-10-16 13:28:07 GMT from Germany)
The secret is planning ahead of time, and getting wifi working even if you don´t need it yet, cos you surev will need it one day if you keep the distro around.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless
You need wireless_tools and wpa-supplicant. You may already have the drivers. I don´t know what chip you have, but editing rc.conf to enable it to load at startup may already be sufficient if it is there. Similarly, you can have all the drivers in the world installed, if the module is not loaded it will not work. Take a look at the wiki link above.
44 • @43 (by KevinC on 2011-10-16 17:14:27 GMT from United States)
Fair enough and reasonably put...if one takes on Arch or Gentoo or LFS, then it does require some effort and forethought. I've done the 1st 2 back in the early part of the 'aughts when they 1st came out and Linux, across the board, was a much more difficult proposition. I can recall setting up Arch and getting everything working...was quite proud of the accomplishment. Did have a working Gentoo install as well, but quickly tired of waiting for large packages (read KDE 3.x) to compile. Anyway, the main thing I learned was that, as an educational experience I think Arch is overrated. By this I mean, an Arch install is not a great way to learn about the inner workings of Linux/ Unix...but a good way to learn about Arch and the Arch-way of doing things. When I tried to translate what I had learned to other distros at that time...it often-times was not helpful (i.e, Fedora, Mandrake/ Mandriva, Ubuntu, etc would place system files in different locations, config files were way different and so on). Though I did enjoy the experience. I have dl'ed Arch and perused the Wiki w/ intentions of installing Arch again, but simply lack the time. My point being is not that Arch (or other so-called expert distros) are bad. I think they're great and it's great we have this choice. It's just counterproductive to slam ppl. who use, for example, CTKArch and it works for them. I, myself, have never tried CTKArch, but have used ArchBang and Chakra w/ success. My life is pretty full w/ work, the gym, family and just getting outside and doing s**t. For me it's nice to have distros that work oob. Right now I'm playing w/ Kubuntu 11.10 and Xubuntu 11.10 and so far liking what I see. For me (and I stress this part), if I only had the choice of distros like Arch or Gentoo, then I'd be using Windows. And how is that a win for the community? IMHO, the more ppl. using Linux, the better it is for all of us and I think it's silly to judge, whether one uses a plug and play distro like Zorin or prefers LFS or Crux. The beauty of Linux is this wide spectrum of choice and variety. How does MS counter that? The only choice is a crippled to less-crippled version of their OS.
45 • X11 (by ringzero on 2011-10-16 19:27:00 GMT from United States)
Slightly off topic, but relevant to the usual reviews which involve fiddling with xorg.conf (Caitlyn seems to have all the bad luck with xorg), xkcd.com comic about X11:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/x11.png
Number of Comments: 45
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1172 (2026-05-11): Fedora 44, dealing with extra fonts, Fedora plans to provide AI tools, problems with Ubuntu's new coreutils, TrueNAS extends its development cycle, postmarktetOS improves the boot splash screen, Redox ports tmux |
| • Issue 1171 (2026-05-04): Xubuntu 26.04, extending memory with VRAM, Ubuntu plans AI features, Devuan developer forks GTK2, Mint introduces hardware enablement builds, Linux running on a PlayStation 5, local kernel exploit found in Linux |
| • Issue 1170 (2026-04-27): ENux 5.2.1, picking a second distro, AlmaLinux expands CPU support, FreeBSD publishes Status Report, Ubuntu MATE skips 26.04 release |
| • Issue 1169 (2026-04-20): Lakka 6.1, free software and source-based distributions, FreeBSD Foundation publishes compatible laptop list, Debian holds Project Leader election, Haiku progresses ARM64 port, Mint to extend development cycle, Linux 7.0 released |
| • Issue 1168 (2026-04-13): pearOS 2026.03, EndeavourOS 2026.03.06, which distros are adopting age verification, Arch adjusts its firewall packages, Linux dropping i486 support, Red Hat extends its release cycle, Debian's APT introduces rollbacks, Redox improves its scheduler |
| • Issue 1167 (2026-04-06): Origami Linux 2026.03, answering questions for Linux newcomers, Ubuntu MATE seeking new contributors, Ubuntu software centre is expanding Deb support, FreeBSD fixes forum exploit, openSUSE 15 Leap nears its end of life |
| • Issue 1166 (2026-03-30): NetBSD jails, publishing software for Linux, Ubuntu joins Rust Foundation, Canonical plans to trim GRUB features, Peppermint works on new utilities, PINE64 shows off open hardware capabilities |
| • Issue 1165 (2026-03-23): Argent Linux 1.5.3, disk space required by Linux, Manjaro team goes on strike, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA driver support and builds RISC-V packages, systemd introduces age tracking |
| • Issue 1164 (2026-03-16): d77void, age verification laws and Linux, SUSE may be for sale, TrueNAS takes its build system private, Debian publishes updated Trixie media, MidnightBSD and System76 respond to age verification laws |
| • Issue 1163 (2026-03-09): KaOS 2026.02, TinyCore 17.0, NuTyX 26.02.2, Would one big collection of packages help?, Guix offers 64-bit Hurd options, Linux communities discuss age delcaration laws, Mint unveils new screensaver for Cinnamon, Redox ports new COSMIC features |
| • Issue 1162 (2026-03-02): AerynOS 2026.01, anti-virus and firewall tools, Manjaro fixes website certificate, Ubuntu splits firmware package, jails for NetBSD, extended support for some Linux kernel releases, Murena creating a map app |
| • Issue 1161 (2026-02-23): The Guix package manager, quick Q&As, Gentoo migrating its mirrors, Fedora considers more informative kernel panic screens, GhostBSD testing alternative X11 implementation, Asahi makes progress with Apple M3, NetBSD userland ported, FreeBSD improves web-based system management |
| • Issue 1160 (2026-02-16): Noid and AgarimOS, command line tips, KDE Linux introduces delta updates, Redox OS hits development milestone, Linux Mint develops a desktop-neutral account manager, sudo developer seeks sponsorship |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Full list of all issues |
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AcademiX GNU/Linux
AcademiX GNU/Linux is a Debian Stable-based distribution which works with software which can be used at all levels of education from grade schools through to university. AcademiX includes an installation utility (called EDU) that can be used to install a variety of applications in mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, statistics, electronics, amateur radio, graphics, office, programming - which are accompanied by virtual interactive labs. The distribution uses the MATE desktop by default.
Status: Dormant
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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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