 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 432, 21 November 2011 |
Welcome to this year's 47th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! This week's feature story is a first-look review of ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune" edition, a little known Linux distribution featuring the KDE desktop with a BeOS-like theme. Is it just a modified Debian with a BeOS face or is ZevenOS a project that could find its niche among certain users? See below to find out what we think. In the news section, users give the brand-new openSUSE 12.1 a warm welcome, Linux Mint founder reassures GNOME 2 fans about the project's continued support for a more "classic" desktop even after the switch to GNOME 3, and The H Open Source looks back at the Ubuntu project and wonders whether its current drive to establish itself on touchscreen devices is a smart move. Also in the same section we have links to two interesting interviews - Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth talks about the relationship between Ubuntu and Debian, while MINIX creator Andrew Tanenbaum regrets an old decision which prevented his operating system from taking over the world. Finally, we are pleased to announce that Haiku, an independently-developed open-source operating system inspired by BeOS, has now been listed on DistroWatch. Happy reading!
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
A first look at ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune"
 There are few subjects in operating system circles which will trigger as much nostalgia as BeOS. The operating system, perhaps best known for its responsiveness, led a relatively rocky and sheltered life. Yet it lives on in the hearts and minds of many and has spawned a number of modern projects in homage. One such project is Haiku, another is ZevenOS. Today we're going to look at ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune" edition, a modern Linux distribution which tries to recapture some of the BeOS spirit using Debian "Testing" as a base. According to the distribution's website, the project tries to be a BeOS style of Linux with a strong focus on performance and multimedia. At the time of writing there are several editions, a full KDE 4 edition, a LXDE-based minimal edition and a MATE (GNOME 2.x) edition. There's also a plain ZevenOS (without the "Neptune" suffix) which is based on Xubuntu. For my trial I decided to focus on the KDE edition of ZevenOS.
The download for the KDE ISO is approximately 1.3 GB in size. Booting off the ZevenOS "Neptune" DVD we're brought to a KDE 4 environment which is laid out in the classic desktop style. On the desktop we find icons for launching the installer and browsing the file system. There are two help files which explain the workings of the installer, one file is in English, the other in German. It is recommended that the hard disk be partitioned before launching the installer and, for this task, we're provided with a copy of GParted. I found running through the installer to be a quick process. On the first screen we set the root user's password and create a regular user account. Then we select which partition to use for the root file system. Next we tell the installer where to install the bootloader. Assuming we got our partitions in order ahead of time the rest of the process is pretty painless.
ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune" - system installer and documentation
(full image size: 272kB, screen resolution 1366x768 pixels)
When we first boot into ZevenOS we're brought to a graphical login screen which is themed to look like a desktop window. The layout is quite clean and the buttons to select users, power off the machine and change session settings are large and colourful. Logging in brings us back to the KDE 4 environment. On the desktop are icons for accessing the project's forum, opening the disk manager, launching the package manager and browsing the file system. The background is a subtle project logo. At the bottom of the screen we find the application menu, quick-launch buttons for the web browser and e-mail client, the task switcher and system tray. When we open applications we're presented with windows that have BeOS-style decorations.
ZevenOS comes with a large collection of software and there is a little something for everybody. The Chromium web browser is included as is Icedove (Thunderbird). The Konqueror web browser is provided, we also find the Kopete instant messenger program, KTorrent and network monitoring tools. LibreOffice is available in the menu, there are remote desktop applications, the K3b disc burner and a document viewer. We find the VLC multimedia player, a simple desktop recorder and the Eclipse developer environment. The GIMP and KolourPaint are provided. For people concerned with their privacy, the TrueCrypt device encryption application is included. We're given a full range of multimedia codecs, the Flash browser plugin, Java and GCC. Behind the scenes we find the Linux kernel, version 3.0. Being based on Debian "Testing", ZevenOS users will have access to over 30,000 software packages along with smaller collections of software provided by the distribution's own repositories.
Software packages are handled by the graphical application called Muon Software Centre. It's a fairly friendly program which bears resemblance to older versions of Ubuntu's Software Centre or the Mint software manager. On the left side of the screen we can choose viewing available software or installed packages. On the right side of the screen we're shown software categories and, as we descend into more specific categories, we're shown packages. Each package has an install/remove button next to it and a "more info" button. Clicking on the "more info" button presents to us a screen with detailed information about the selected package. Software packages are also given a rating out of five stars, helping users pick more popular (and hopefully more useful) software. When we click the install/remove button the package manager queues the action and leaves us to continue browsing the repositories. My only complaint about Muon Software Centre is the lack of progress reporting when multiple actions are queued. We can watch individual packages download and install, but there doesn't appear to be any way to watch and cancel pending events.
ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune" - package manager
(full image size: 178kB, screen resolution 1366x768 pixels)
Besides the Muon Software Centre, there is also the Muon Package Manager. This graphical program performs similar functions and has a similar layout to the Software Centre. The big difference I found was the Muon Package Manager, along with its slightly more cluttered interface, includes the ability to upgrade packages. In fact, aside from opening a console and using the apt-get command line program, this second package manager seems to be the only option for applying security updates. I did not find any dedicated update manager or update notification applet.
I tried ZevenOS on two machines, my HP laptop (dual-core 2 GHz CPU, 3 GB of RAM, Intel video card) and a generic desktop box (2.5 GHz CPU, 2 GB of RAM, NVIDIA video card). ZevenOS worked quite smoothly on the desktop machine. The screen was set to its maximum resolution, the interface was responsive, boot times were reasonable and sound worked out of the box. On the laptop the experience was similarly trouble-free. My Intel wireless card worked without any effort on my part, sound worked out of the box, my screen was set to an appropriate resolution and my touchpad worked as expected. Desktop responsiveness was above average for a KDE distribution on both machines.
ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune" - browsing the project's website
(full image size: 142kB, screen resolution 1366x768 pixels)
So far my experience with ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune" has been fairly uneventful. The distribution takes Debian's "Testing" repository, adds some packages, some custom repositories and hardware support, making for a smooth end-user experience. The installer doesn't have a lot of options, but it worked well enough on my equipment. The DVD comes with a good collection of software, covering a wide range of categories and the multimedia experience out of the box is solid. I'm still not won over by the Muon software handling tools. The Software Centre, while friendly, feels limited and the package manager's interface is a bit cluttered. Both tools I found to be a little sluggish, but they worked without any errors during my trial. Performance was about what I'd expect from a modern KDE desktop: good, but not amazing. For users trying the distribution there may be some concern with the heavy flow of package updates from Debian "Testing", but during my trial it didn't cause any problems. All in all the Zeven 2.0 "Neptune" edition has worked well for me and it presents a nice KDE desktop on top of Debian "Testing".
Aside from the window decorations I don't see any connection between this project and BeOS. One could get the same effect by taking a distro like SimplyMEPIS and changing the desktop theme. It's tempting to write off ZevenOS as just another Debian derivative with a different collection of artwork, but I'm not sure that's a fair evaluation. ZevenOS 2.0 "Neptune" doesn't just have nice artwork, but a good collection of programs and easy-to-access documentation. It does a good job of being user-friendly while staying out of the way -- desktop effects, for example, were not in evidence. ZevenOS may not be in the same class as some other Debian-based distros, such as Linux Mint "Debian" edition or SimplyMEPIS, but it's not doing badly for such a young project. Hopefully the developers will expand on the installer and add a dedicated update utility for future releases. If you're already happily using a Debian-based distro I don't think there is anything here to win over hearts and minds. On the other hand, new users, especially those seeking a distribution with a German-focused forum, may find what they're looking for in ZevenOS.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
openSUSE 12.1 feedback, Linux Mint's GNOME dilemma, Ubuntu health check, interviews with Mark Shuttleworth and Andrew Tanenbaum
 The long-awaited openSUSE 12.1 was released last week. Although it will take a while before the first in-depth reviews start appearing on Linux websites, it seems that the first impressions of the new openSUSE have been largely positive. Andreas Jaeger has summarised some of them in "openSUSE 12.1 Launch Feedback": "Looking over twitter messages directed to our @openSUSE account, here are just a few comments about openSUSE 12.1: 'Really impressed (I'm not impressed easily) with all of the added configuration and customization openSUSE 12.1 brings.' 'Hats off to the openSUSE folks - 12.1 is a solid release'. 'I've just upgraded my main workstation, everything looks so polished and well done!' Reviews by journalists included praise like: 'All in all, this looks like one of the most exciting openSUSE releases in some time.'" The author also provides some interesting statistical summary, noting, for example, over 93,000 downloads during the first 24 hours after launch. It's interesting to see that 47% of them were downloads of the various 64-bit editions, while by far the most popular medium to download was the installation DVD (rather than the KDE or GNOME live CDs). For German-speaking users a traditional boxed edition with documentation will be made available shortly: "Open Source Press is producing a German openSUSE 12.1 box which will be available soon, this retail edition is a version of openSUSE with a complete printed end-user manual, installation media, lots of vouchers and more."
* * * * *
 Perhaps the most awaited upcoming distribution release is Linux Mint 12, the first release candidate of which has been out for over a week. However, the new stable Mint is likely to arrive with a much more noticeable delay than the project's previous releases, while the testing periods are also expected to last longer. The reason is, of course, the new GNOME 3 desktop which requires substantial "mintification", as well as the integration of the as-yet-little-tested GNOME 2 fork called MATE. And although the work is progressing fast, Clement Lefebvre has detected some apprehension among those Linux Mint users who do not wish to switch to GNOME 3: "I understand the fact that some GNOME 2 users are extremely concerned. Whether it's GNOME 3 or MATE, these technologies are recent and they're not as mature as GNOME 2. It's important to understand that they represent our future though, and that sticking to GNOME 2 would make the situation in terms of packages and runtime conflicts with both GNOME 3 and Ubuntu completely unmanageable. In other words, if we were to stick to GNOME 2.32, Linux Mint would no longer be compatible with Ubuntu and you would not be able to run GNOME 3 in Linux Mint. We were one of the last distributions to support GNOME 2, we're amongst the very few to support MATE and we're innovating on GNOME 3 to ease this transition and make people feel at home on this new desktop."
* * * * *
 Ubuntu's determination to establish itself as a viable operating system on touchscreen devices has left many desktop users wondering about the distribution's future on their computers. Richard Hillesley from The H Open Source has written an excellent article summarising the evolution of the project, starting with a tentative approach to improve Debian for desktop use and now reaching a state where the goal is to provide a simplified user interface that would work across multiple devices. But will this gamble pay off? From "HealthCheck Ubuntu - The search for unity": "The issue for existing users is whether the minimalistic demands of a netbook or smartphone interface, which may use a keyboard, a click or a touchscreen, are equal to the demands of a conventional desktop user with a different set of priorities. ... Shuttleworth's gamble is that users will change their minds as they gain familiarity, that Unity will gain traction as a universal interface, scalable across all devices, and that it will be as attractive to a certain class of user as Apple claims to be. Only time will tell whether Oneiric Ocelot, and the advent of Unity as the only choice for the Ubuntu desktop, marked the moment when Ubuntu began to scale the heights of universal acceptability, or fell back to earth with a bump."
* * * * *
  In the meantime Debian developer Raphaël Hertzog reminds us that Mark Shuttleworth (pictured on the right) is not just the Ubuntu founder and developer, he is a Debian developer too. Here is a brief extract from an interesting interview entitled "People Behind Debian: Mark Shuttleworth": "Many people are starting to understand this: Ubuntu is Debian's arrow, Debian is Ubuntu's bow. Neither instrument is particularly useful on its own, except in a museum of anthropology ;) So the worst and most frustrating attitude comes from those who think Debian and Ubuntu compete. If you care about Debian, and want it to compete on every level with Ubuntu, you are going to be rather miserable; you will want Debian to lose some of its best qualities and change some of its most important practices. However, if you see the Ubuntu-Debian ecosystem as a coherent whole, you will celebrate the strengths and accomplishments of both, and more importantly, work to make Debian a better Debian and Ubuntu a better Ubuntu, as opposed to wishing Ubuntu was more like Debian and vice versa."
* * * * *
  Finally, a quick link to another excellent interview. This one is with a well-known and highly respected computer science personality who doesn't often talk to media - Professor Andrew Tanenbaum, the creator of the MINIX operating system. Although MINIX has been around since 1987, its use is still largely confined to universities and computer laboratories. So why is it so and why isn't MINIX one of dominant operating systems in the world today? "The reason MINIX 3 didn't dominate the world has to do with one mistake I made about 1992. At that time I thought BSD was going to take over the world. It was a mature and stable system. I didn't see any point in competing with it, so I focused MINIX on education. Four of the BSD guys had just formed a company to sell BSD commercially. They even had a nice phone number: 1-800-ITS-UNIX. That phone number did them and me in. AT&T sued them over the phone number and the lawsuit took 3 years to settle. That was precisely the period Linux was launched and BSD was frozen due to the lawsuit. By the time it was settled, Linux had taken off. My mistake was not to realize the lawsuit would take so long and cripple BSD. If AT&T had not brought suit (or better yet, bought BSDI), Linux would never have become popular at all and BSD would dominate the world."
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
File systems for USB flash drives
Files-to-go asks: What is the best open-source file system for a USB flash drive?
DistroWatch answers: Assuming you're running a Linux distribution you'll find all the file systems available to you are implemented using open-source software. Even technologies like NTFS, which started its life as proprietary technology, have been re-implemented under open-source licenses. So rather than concern ourselves with the specific license involved I think it's best to focus on compatibility vs capabilities.
If you're planning to access your flash drive from a variety of computers and operating systems the best file system choice is probably FAT. While not impressive in its capabilities, FAT is widely supported and most operating systems can both read and write to FAT partitions. The next option down my list would be NTFS. Linux supports reading and writing to NTFS, it's well supported in big name, closed-source operating systems and the BSDs can read (though typically not write to) NTFS.
On the other hand, if you're accessing your flash drive on Linux systems only, then you can look at file systems with better performance and capabilities. The ext3 file system is solid, well tested and supported across distributions. It also has the benefit of having a journal, providing a little protection for your mobile data.
* * * * *
This week's Q&A was short, so I would like to share something else with you. Do you ever find yourself on the command line and suddenly wondering how many files are in a directory and how much space they use in total? Do you find yourself opening a graphical file manager, browsing to the directory in question, right-clicking on the folder and looking up the properties of the folder to see the disk usage and file count? I used to do that and I quickly got tried of it and wrote a small script which would provide the information for me.
The following script will search through the current directory (and sub-directories) looking for files. It keeps a running total of the size of the files and the number of files it finds. In case you are interested in a different directory, the script will accept the name of a directory as its one argument. The script, written for the tcsh interpreter, is as follows.
#!/bin/tcsh
# usage: treesize (This prints the space used by the current dir tree.)
# usage: treesize /home/myhome (Print space used by myhome tree.)
if (${#argv} == 1) then
set target=$argv[1]
else
set target=`pwd`
endif
echo -n Space used by ${target}:
find "${target}" -name "*" -type f -printf "%s\n"| awk 'BEGIN{total=0}; {total+=$1}; END{printf(" %d\nFiles: %d\n", total, NR)}'
Saving the above script to a file in your user's path will allow you to quickly find out how many files are in a directory tree and how much space they consume.
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| Released Last Week |
openSUSE 12.1
openSUSE 12.1, a brand-new version of one of the oldest and most prominent Linux distributions on the market, has been released: "Time to present to you openSUSE 12.1. This release represents more than eight months of work by our international community and brings you the best free software has to offer. Awesome improvements include the latest GNOME 3.2 desktop as well as the newest from KDE, Xfce and LXDE; your own Cloud made easy with mirall; Snapper-shots of your file system. openSUSE 12.1 comes with the new GNOME Shell 3.2. We presented you with a taste of GNOME Shell on openSUSE 11.4; since then, many bugs have been squashed and numerous small improvements have made life on the Shell more comfortable." See the release announcement and release notes for further information.
openSUSE 12.1 - the KDE edition featuring KDE 4.7.2
(full image size: 479kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
Incognito Live System 0.9
A new version of Incognito Live System (also known as "Tails"), a Debian-based live distribution with the goal of providing complete Internet anonymity for the user, has been released: "The Amnesic Incognito Live System, version 0.9, is out. Notable user-visible changes include: Tor upgrade to 0.2.2.34, this fixes CVE-2011-2768 and CVE-2011-2769 which prompted for manual updates for users of Tails 0.8.1; suppress Tor's warning about applications doing their own DNS lookups; Linux 3.0.0-6, which fixed a great number of bugs and security issues; upgrade Iceweasel to 3.5.16-11; Torbutton upgrade to 1.4.4.1-1, including support for the in-browser 'New identity' feature; FireGPG upgrade to 0.8-1+tails2, users are notified that the FireGPG Text Editor is the only safe place for performing cryptographic operations and these operations have been disabled in other places." Read the rest of the release announcement for a complete changelog.
IPCop 2.0.2
A bug-fix update of IPCop, a specialist Linux distribution for firewalls designed primarily for home and SOHO users, was released yesterday: "IPCop 2.0.2 is released. Version 2.0.2 can be installed using the installation images or as an update from version 2.0.1. You need to reboot to use the new kernel after upgrading to 2.0.2. In addition to a few updates to software used in IPCop, version 2.0.2 fixes creating CA certificate which did not correctly work in 2.0.1. Noteworthy: the GUI uses 8443 instead of 445; SSH uses 8022 instead of 222; access to IPCop and to the Internet from internal networks (aka Green, Blue, Orange) is very much different - spend some time with the various options you will find under 'Firewall Settings' and the online admin manual; several translations are complete, other languages are work in progress; backups from 1.4 series can not be used; add-ons made for the 1.4 series will not work." Here is the full release announcement with relevant links.
Puppy Linux 5.2.2 "Wary", "Racy"
Barry Kauler has announced the release of Puppy Linux 5.2.2 "Wary" edition, a bug-fix update of the project's mini-distribution designed to run efficiently on older and low-resource hardware: "I am pleased to announce the release of Wary Puppy version 5.2.2, our build of Puppy Linux that targets older hardware. This is a minor upgrade and bug-fix release of Wary 5.2. Although if you look in the release notes you will might not think it so 'minor'. This is also the début of Racy Puppy, which we think of as 'Wary on steroids'. Racy enhances Wary to run on recent hardware, with X.Org 7.6 and 3.0.7 Linux kernel. Here are the release notes specific to the Wary and Racy builds: GTK+ 2.24.8, fixed slow drop-down lists and SM insert-key crash; new applications: Planner project manager; Wary is built with 2.6.32.45 uniprocessor kernel, Racy with 3.0.7 multiprocessor PAE kernel...." Read the release announcement and release notes for further details.
Tiny Core Linux 4.1
Robert Shingledecker has released Tiny Core Linux 4.1, a mini-distribution featuring the flwm window manager with a custom package manager and configuration utilities: "Team Tiny Core is proud to announce the release of Tiny Core and Micro Core 4.1. Change log: updated pcmciautils 018, sudo 1.7.7, FreeType 2.4.7, imlib2 1.4.5, libpng 1.2.46, BusyBox 1.19.3; updated tc-config new boot code pretce for raid and LVM support; updated tc-config dropped default TZ=UTC as such default (UTC) is embedded with no need to set TCZ; updated tc-config for better detection of /dev/rtc and handling of loadcpufreq; updated tc-config for microcore without X; updated tce-setdrive improved error handling; updated tc-terminal-server for new kernel; updated ab, fixed OnDemand bug; updated mnttool, added -g option for user defined initial position when used in .xsession...." Read the rest of the release announcement for a detailed technical changelog.
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
New distributions added to database
- Haiku. Haiku is an open-source operating system, currently in development, that specifically targets personal computing. Inspired by the Be Operating System (BeOS), Haiku aims to become a fast, efficient, simple to use, easy to learn and yet very powerful system for computer users of all levels. The key highlights that distinguish Haiku from other operating systems include: specific focus on personal computing, custom kernel designed for responsiveness, fully threaded design for great efficiency with multi-processor/core CPUs, rich object-oriented API for faster development, database-like file system (BFS) with support for indexed metadata, and unified, cohesive interface.
Haiku R1 Alpha 3 - an open-source operating system inspired by BeOS
(full image size: 65kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
- Liquid Lemur Linux. Liquid Lemur Linux is a desktop Linux distribution based on Debian's testing branch. It comes in two editions - the default one featuring the Xfce desktop environment, while the alternative comes with the WindowMaker window manager. Other features include a customized Cairo-Dock, the Liquorix kernel and Debian kernel options, including support for older PCs via the i486 kernels, and lots of custom scripts and artwork.
Liquid Lemur Linux RC1 - a Debian-based distribution with a customised Xfce or WindowMaker
(full image size: 331kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- SmartOS. SmartOS is an OpenIndiana-based operating system for servers, incorporating Zones, ZFS, DTrace and KVM into a single unit.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 28 November 2011.
Jesse Smith and Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
AV Linux
AV Linux is a versatile, Debian-based distribution featuring a large collection of audio and video production software. Additionally, it also includes a custom kernel with IRQ threading enabled for low-latency audio performance. AV Linux can be run directly from a live DVD or a live USB storage device, though it can also be installed on a hard disk and used as a general-purpose operating system for everyday tasks.
Status: Active
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| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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0x969CD4E778C7b6549A2B00e34114e0168c86A542 
