 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 504, 22 April 2013 |
Welcome to this year's 16th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! The Enlightenment window manager might not be to everybody's taste, but it does have a decent following among the users who prefer a lightweight yet good-looking desktop with plenty of unusual effects. In today's world of free operating systems Bodhi Linux is probably the most popular project that attempts to integrate Enlightenment with one of the big Linux distributions. How successful is it? Jesse Smith takes a look at Bodhi's latest release to find out. In the news section, Ubuntu prepares for a busy week of "Raring Ringtail" releases that will include two new official flavours, Debian announces a target release day for "Wheezy", Slackware considers its option for main software components as it prepares for a new stable release, and Fuduntu contemplates its future after the project's founder calls it quits. Also in this issue, a link to an excellent article explaining how to build custom ports for OpenBSD, a Questions & Answers section that deals with opening large files without slowing down the system, and the usual regular sections, including the addition of Ubuntu GNOME into the DistroWatch database. Happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (19MB) and MP3 (36MB) formats
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
First look at Bodhi Linux 2.3.0
 Bodhi Linux is a Linux distribution which uses Ubuntu's long term support releases as its base. Upon this stable base, which will be supported for five years, the Bodhi developers add the Enlightenment desktop and up to date applications. The result is a small, very fast Linux distribution which, thanks to the malleability of Enlightenment, sports a highly flexible interface. Bodhi can run on three different architectures (both 32-bit and 64-bit x86 along with ARM) and, according to the project's website, Bodhi can be run on personal computers with just 128MB of RAM. The project has an attractive website which contains a good deal of useful documentation.
I downloaded the Bodhi Linux live CD which is approximately 570 MB in size. Booting off this CD brings up a menu that allows us to launch the Bodhi live environment in regular mode or in one of two safe graphic modes. The operating system boots up quickly and brings us to a graphical interface where we shown two configuration screens. The first screen asks what style we would like for our graphical interface. Possible options include Desktop, Laptop, Bare, Fancy and Tablet. Clicking on any of these options shows a small preview of how our desktop would be laid out with the given option. Mostly these different styles deal with the positioning of desktop components and, in some cases, the number of components or widgets displayed on the desktop. The second configuration screen asks us to select a theme for the desktop. Where the style deals with the positioning of components, the theme deals with colours and the desktop's background. Again we are able to see previews to help us make the selection. Once this second screen is dismissed we are shown the Enlightenment desktop. Each interface style is different, but I found I liked the Desktop arrangement best as it provided a nice, traditional layout.
Bodhi Linux 2.3.0 - project documentation and system installer
(full image size: 348kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
Bodhi Linux uses the Ubuntu installer which has a straight forward graphical interface. It starts off by letting us select our preferred language and we are shown a link which will open a local copy of the project's documentation. Next we get into partitioning the local hard drive and I found the installer supports a wide range of file systems. On the following screen we confirm our time zone and then confirm our keyboard's layout. The final screen of the installer asks us to create a user account and set the account's password. The installation completed quickly and, when it was finished, the installer offered to reboot the computer for me.
Running Bodhi Linux from the local hard disk quickly brings us to a graphical login screen. The first time we sign in using our freshly created user account we are again asked to select a desktop style and theme we like. Enlightenment provides an interface which is very light on memory and CPU usage, making it highly responsive. In addition, Enlightenment, by default, is quite dynamic. Window focus follows the mouse pointer and moving the pointer to the side of the screen switches to a different virtual workspace. Opening a terminal reveals a neon bright blinking cursor and notifications are accompanies by a brief red flash on the screen. This was all a bit loud for my taste and I headed for the Enlightenment settings panel to make adjustments. Enlightenment is highly flexible and allows the user to configure practically every aspect of the interface. There are many options and interface adjustments available and one could easily waste an afternoon trying them all. I found a combination of settings I liked and settled into my normal work routine.
While Enlightenment has all the options and eye candy we might want, Bodhi takes a surprisingly conservative approach when it comes to the software provided in the default installation. We're provided with the Midori web browser and Network Manager for configuring our Internet connection. There is a text editor, an archive manager, a file browser and a virtual terminal. Behind the scenes the Linux kernel, version 3.8, keeps the system running. This makes for a small range of functionality out of the box.
Bodhi Linux 2.3.0 - changing settings and browsing package packages
(full image size: 233kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
Bodhi Linux comes with the Synaptic package manager to help us install software and apply updates. Synaptic isn't the newest or most attractive application available for working with packages, but it does work quickly and it is quite flexible. We are able to set up batches of add/remove actions to be performed on packages and Synaptic is not only reliable, it also does a good job of keeping us informed as to what actions it is performing. Less experienced users will appreciate a second method of package management provided by Bodhi's App Centre. Selecting the "Add Software" option from the distribution's application menu opens the Midori web browser and brings us to an on-line app portal built into the Bodhi project's website. This App Centre lets us browse through lists of applications or we can search for items by name. As an example, if we want to find a FTP client, searching for "FTP" brings up the gFTP client and Filezilla as possible solutions. Besides having many useful standalone applications the App Centre also includes bundles. These bundles allow us to install groups of popular software programs. The "Nikhila Application Set" bundle includes many commonly used programs, including the VLC media player, the Thunderbird e-mail client LibreOffice and Firefox. Both single applications and entire bundles can be added to our system by simply clicking an "Install" button on the package's web page.
I ran the latest version of Bodhi Linux on a desktop machine (dual-core 2.8 GHz CPU, 6 GB of RAM, Radeon video card, Realtek network card) and found the distribution performed very well. The system was surprisingly fast, my screen was set to its maximum resolution and the operating system remained stable throughout the week. I had a minor annoyance with sound at first. By default sound was muted on my desktop machine and all the software and hardware volume controls were set to minimum. This meant that simply turning up the main mixer control on the desktop wouldn't produce sound. Apart from the desktop machine, I also tried running Bodhi in a VirtualBox virtual environment. Here the distribution again showed itself to be fast and everything worked smoothly. Bodhi only used approximately 80MB of memory, living up to the project's promise of running smoothly with less than 128MB of RAM.
Bodhi Linux 2.3.0 - downloading software bundles from App Centre
(full image size: 194kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
It took me a while to get the Enlightenment desktop arranged the way I wanted it and a little longer to download all of the software I wanted to use. Luckily Bodhi makes both of these tasks easy. I feel it is important for a distribution to either provide the experience its users want out of the box or be easy to configure. I found Bodhi fits nicely into the second group, providing a responsive environment, lots of desktop configuration tools and an easy to use software portal. What was especially nice was that once the system had everything I wanted Bodhi remained fast and attractive. On a modern system it is remarkable how responsive the interface is. As Bodhi provides the latest versions of most end-user applications we have a good deal of functionality with all of the modern conveniences once a few bundles have been downloaded.
In the past I've been tempted to simply view Bodhi as another Ubuntu remix. We have Kubuntu and Xubuntu which present KDE and Xfce, respectively, on top of the Ubuntu base and it is tempting to look upon Bodhi as the Enlightenment Ubuntu remix. However, such an assessment would overlook two things. The first is the work Bodhi's team has put into the end-user experience, especially with regards to package management. The Synaptic package manager, while robust, is not particularly user friendly and the Ubuntu Software Centre is too heavy to fit in with Bodhi's approach. The Bodhi team deals with this issue quite nicely by adopting a light web browser and web-based package management. It's quite easy to find and download both individual applications and bundles of software. The other feature I think Bodhi brings, perhaps uniquely, to the table is a polished Enlightenment desktop.
To be perfectly frank, I don't like Enlightenment. I feel its approach is awkward and outdated. That being said, if I have to use Enlightenment, Bodhi's treatment of the interface is by far the best I have seen. The defaults, themes and documentation are of huge benefit to Enlightenment users and Bodhi has a much nicer implementation of Enlightenment than its parent, Ubuntu, ships. Bodhi is very bare bones, we start with a pretty sparse foundation and this might turn off some users (especially those with slow network connections), but the performance and the tiny memory footprint more than make up for any short comings. I think Bodhi makes for an attractive option for people running older computers or for those who want to squeeze the most performance possible out of their operating system.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
Ubuntu 13.04 features, Debian 7.0 release date, Slackware updates, future of Fuduntu, OpenBSD ports
 Ever since the launch of Ubuntu back in 2004, the distribution's stable releases have always arrived at regular 6-month intervals - usually in April and October, with the only exception being Ubuntu 6.06 which was released in June. This predictability is one of the standard features of Ubuntu. Now, as we find ourselves at the end of April 2013, we can look forward to another busy week of Ubuntu releases. What can we expect in "Raring Ringtail"? OMG! Ubuntu! summarises the ten best Ubuntu 13.04 features - from social lens to window snapping: "Next week sees the release of Ubuntu 13.04 - the latest iteration of the world's most popular Linux distribution. But what can you expect to find in it? Unlike the last few releases Ubuntu 13.04 features few dramatic changes, instead bringing some much need polish and performance-boosts." The article is accompanied by screenshots and videos to illustrate some of the subtle improvements in the new release.
Ubuntu 13.04 - arriving on Thursday, 25 April
(full image size: 1,470kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
On a related note, Ars Technica has published a hands-on review of Dell XPS Linux ultrabook, one of the very few mainstream computer systems that ship with Ubuntu (version 12.04, to be precise). While author Lee Hutchinson expresses the usual thoughts of doubt over the "readiness" of Linux for the desktop that are so common in the mainstream tech media, he also concludes that the ultrabook is rather unremarkable in the sense that it "just works": "If you're content to stay with Ubuntu 12.04, then the XPS 13 Developer Edition is an absolute 'just works' experience. Dell has done it -- and has done it right -- taking its work and contributing it all back upstream for the betterment of the community. The company has elected to put a friendly Linux distro on an attractive piece of hardware with good specs, including a beautiful display and a quick SSD. Moreover, the price isn't at all unreasonable."
* * * * *
 Unlike Ubuntu, the Debian project doesn't subscribe to the philosophy of fixed release schedules, choosing instead to release the product when it's ready (i.e. without any known show-stopper bugs). Still, even Debian isn't immune to planning; after all, producing a stable release of the world's largest Linux distribution does need some coordinating and plenty of internal communication. So, as of last week, we have a "target day" for the release of Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 "Wheezy": "Once again, and hopefully for the final time for this cycle, we are writing to you with a release update. We now have a target date of the weekend of 4th/5th May for the release. We have checked with core teams, and this seems to be acceptable for everyone. This means we are able to begin the final preparations for a release of Debian 7.0 - 'Wheezy'. The intention is only to lift the date if something really critical pops up that is not possible to handle as errata, or if we end up technically unable to release that weekend (e.g. a required machine crashes or d-i explodes in a giant ball of fire)."
Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 - almost ready
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 Slackware Linux is another distribution that doesn't plan its stable releases. That said, the increased activity on its development changelog recently (as well as some hints when reading between the lines) does indicate the imminence of a new beta cycle. Last week the changelog brought us Patrick Volkerding's commentary explaining the preferences for certain versions of important system components, including the kernel, GCC and X.Org: "1. Linux kernel - stick with 3.8 for now. It remains a concern that the NVIDIA 6150SE and nouveau could be broken with kernels above 3.6.1, however. Does anyone know if the blob fixes the issues? If not, there may still be a compelling reason to switch to the 3.4 kernel for the release. 2. GCC - I really have not run into any compiler bugs with this. There was a single report of issues with the radeon R300 when the kernel was compiled with 4.8.0, and it wasn't reported on any bug trackers or anywhere else. 3. X.Org Server - here, it does appear that going with the better supported branch (1.13.x) is a good idea to help support external drivers."
* * * * *
 The unexpected death of Fuduntu in its current form, as noted in the project's most recent blog post, epitomises the trouble with "forking" a major Linux distribution by an individual (or a small group). Initially it doesn't take much to download the upstream code and promise to deliver regular updates. However, sooner or later the GCC compiler is likely to start spitting out errors and that's when despair tends to dishearten even the most dedicated developer. Fuduntu is hardly the first distribution that has been driven to the ground by the slow erosion of the initial enthusiasm; after all, the DistroWatch's discontinued distribution list now stands at 360. Still, Fuduntu might yet survive, probably without its founder and possibly in a very different form, but there is still hope. Lee Ward explains the future of Fuduntu in "this interview at My Linux Rig": "Those of us moving on to the new distro have been discussing and evaluating our options. Right now, we are leaning heavily on going with an openSUSE base. Our developers have been working with openSUSE the last few days to see how viable it will be and things are going well. While a final decision has not been made, that is how we are all leaning at the moment."
* * * * *
 OpenBSD plays an important role in the open-source ecosystem as a project with very strict security guidelines. But as always, security might occasionally be in conflict with flexibility, e.g. when you'd like to install an application that is not in OpenBSD ports (perhaps due to lack of manpower to package it or to audit its source code). What can you do? Simple. Write an OpenBSD port yourself. OpenBSD developer Peter Hansteen explains how in "You've Installed It. Now What? Packages!": "The ports system consists of a set of 'recipes' to build third party software to run on your system. Each port supplies its own Makefile, whatever patches are needed in order to make the software build, and optionally package message files with information that will be displayed when the software has been installed. So to build and install a piece of software using the ports system, you follow a slightly different procedure than the classical fetch - patch - compile cycle. You will need to install the ports tree, either by unpacking ports.tar.gz from your CD set or by checking out an updated version via cvs." This is an updated article that originally appeared in BSD Magazine in 2008.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Opening large files without slowing down the system
Taming-textzilla asks: I deal with large text files (often hundreds of megabytes in size) and opening these files in a text editor can make my system really slow. How can I view massive log files without slowing down my system?
DistroWatch answers: Depending on which text editor you are using to view the files the editor may be creating a backup of the existing file or, in the case of the Vim text editor, it may be creating a swap file to track changes. Both of these features assist in the recovery of data should unwanted changes be made or should the editor crash while you are using it. Alternatively it is possible the file being opened is so large it's causing the operating system to move data from memory into swap space. Whatever is causing poor system performance there are ways to view log files (even huge ones) in a way which won't bring the operating system to its knees.
The first thing you might consider trying is splitting the existing file into smaller chunks. Let us assume for a moment that you have one large text file called mylog.txt and this file contains one million lines of text. We can break this file into smaller pieces using the split command. In this example we make smaller copies of mylog.txt and each of these smaller pieces contains 10,000 lines of text:
split -l 10000 mylog.txt tinylog
The above command results in a collection of smaller files named tinylogaa, tinylogab, tinylogac, etc. Each file contains 10,000 lines of text. The original large log file is left untouched. These smaller log files can be opened in whichever text editor you prefer.
Alternatively we might consider rotating the log files more often. Most programs which use log files provide scripts to rotate the logs every day/week/month in order to avoid the files becoming too large. It might be easier to manage these massive log files if they are rotated more frequently. This will result in more log files being generated, but each one will be of a more manageable size. The directory /etc/logrotate.d will, on most distributions, hold these scripts which will contain the rules governing the rotation of log files. For details on how to get the best results from these rotation scripts I recommend reading your distribution's manual page on the logrotate program.
If you don't mind viewing log files from the command line there are several additional options. One is to use a read-only utility to view the log file. The less command is ideal for viewing and searching through logs as it allows us to browse forward and backward through the text and will not make changes to the file. The less command can be used as shown below and pressing the 'q' key closes the less browser:
less mylog.txt
The Vim editor is available to users of almost all distributions and can be ordered to run without creating a swap file for recovery. Assuming we are not planning to edit the file this is a good way to open the file without creating additional files or using too much memory. To run vim without creating a swap file we can use the "-n" command line option:
vim -n mylog.txt
In addition you can use the sed command along with the less command to display specific sections of the log file. For instance, if we wanted to view lines 10,000 through to 20,000 we could run the following command which will print out only the lines we request and let us browse those lines using the less command:
sed -n '10000,20000p' mylog.txt | less
Last, but not least, the grep utility is useful if we know what we are looking for, but not where in the file the important information is. For example, if we only want to see lines in our log file which contain the word "error" we can tell grep to print those lines only:
grep -i error mylog.txt
In case the grep command prints out more lines than we can see on the screen at one time we can turn to the less command again to buffer the text and let us read it one page at a time:
grep -i error mylog.txt | less
Another possibility is the large file you are viewing is stored on a network share and is being transferred from the remote machine to your own computer's memory. This can be a lengthy process. If you find you are trying to view large files on a network share it may be beneficial to copy these files to your local computer to cut down on unnecessary network traffic.
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| Released Last Week |
pfSense 2.0.3
Chris Buechler has announced the release of pfSense 2.0.3, an updated version of the FreeBSD-based operating system for firewalls: "I'm happy to announce the release of pfSense 2.0.3. This is a maintenance release with some bug and security fixes since 2.0.2 release. You can upgrade from any previous release to 2.0.3. Changelog: updated to OpenSSL 0.9.8y; fix XSS in IPsec log possible from users possessing shared key or valid certificate; fix obtaining DNS servers from PPP type WANs (PPP, PPPoE, PPTP, L2TP); fix captive portal redirect URL trimming; voucher sync fixes; captive portal pruning/locking fixes; fix problem with fastcgi crashing which caused CP issues on 2.0.2; clear the route for an OpenVPN endpoint IP when restarting the VPN, to avoid a situation where a learned route from OSPF or elsewhere could prevent an instance from restarting properly...." See the detailed release announcement for a complete list of security and bug fixes.
Rebellin Linux 1.5
Utkarsh Sevekar has announced the release of Rebellin Linux 1.5, a set of commercial, desktop-oriented distribution based on Debian "Stable" (the "Synergy" edition) and Debian "Unstable" (the "Adrenalin" variant): "It gives us immense pleasure to announce the latest Rebellin Linux release - version 1.5. Although this is a minor version update, it brings a host of fixes and upgrades to both of the Rebellin Linux flavours. The Rebellin Project was started to provide top-notch email support at affordable price so that everybody can enjoy a reliable distribution designed for daily use. A lot of people shy away from Linux due to lack of personal level support and that's the niche Rebellin fills up! While Rebellin is a brilliantly crafted distribution suitable for users of any skill level, it is perfectly suited for newbies just entering the Linux world as it comes with personal email support that lasts for the lifetime of the product!" Read the rest of the release announcement for a list of improvements, fixes and known issues.
OpenELEC 3.0.1
Stephan Raue has announced the release of OpenELEC 3.0.1, an updated version of the specialist Linux distribution built around XBMC, the open-source entertainment media hub: "The OpenELEC team is proud to release OpenELEC 3.0.1. Changelog: update to XBMC 12.1.6 (XBMC Frodo 12.1 with many bug fixes which will be released with the upcoming XBMC Frodo 12.2), this includes various fixes for Audio Engine, Raspberry Pi and other; update RPi patches; update to Boost 1_53_0; update to DVB firmware 0.0.33; update to alsa-lib 1.0.27; update to GCC 4.7.3; update to systemd 200; added support for TechniSat SkyStar S2 card with CX24120-13Z front-end; XBMC - readd Hi10p patches; Linux kernel - add ALSA upstream patches, backported from 3.8.7; Linux kernel add network related upstream patches, backported from 3.8.7; fix for issue #1987, the problem exists in the jmicron 1.0.8.5 source...." Here is the full release announcement.
ROSA 2012 RP2 "Enterprise Desktop"
Konstantin Kochereshkin has announced the availability of an updated release of ROSA 2012 "Enterprise Desktop" edition, code name "Marathon" and supported with security updates for five years. From the release announcement: "ROSA is pleased to announce the second update pack for ROSA Marathon 2012 operating system with an extended (5 years) period of technical support. The pack includes the up-to-date (as of April 2013) versions of applications as well as critical security fixes and updated kernel with extended hardware support. Also, we have re-branded this update pack, which is now called ROSA Enterprise Desktop X1. 'Marathon' is kept as a short code name synonym for the enterprise desktop product line. Marathon RP 2 contains most important backports from ROSA Desktop Fresh development branch that proved to be reliable and stable."
Manjaro Linux 0.8.5 "KDE", "LXDE", "MATE"
The Manjaro development team has announced the release of three community editions of Manjaro Linux 0.8.5, featuring the MATE, LXDE and KDE desktop environments: "We are happy to announce three new Manjaro community editions featuring MATE 1.6, LXDE 0.5.5 and KDE 4.10.2. The community editions of Manjaro Linux are released as bonus flavours in addition to those officially supported and maintained by the Manjaro team, provided that the time and resources necessary are available to do so. Yusuf and Cumali from Manjaro Turkey released Manjaro KDE 2013.04 based on Manjaro stable repositories. It features the brand new KDE SC 4.10.2 point release." Read the full release announcement for more information and screenshots.
Scientific Linux 6.4 "Live"
Urs Beyerle has announced the availability of live CD and DVD images with the recently released Scientific Linux 6.3: "Scientific Linux 6.4 LiveCD, LiveMiniCD and LiveDVD are officially released. They are available for 32-bit and 64-bit systems and come with following window managers: LiveMiniCD - IceWM, LiveCD - GNOME, LiveDVD - GNOME, KDE, IceWM. Software was added from RPMForge, EPEL and ELRepo to include additional file system support (NTFS, ReiserFS), secure network connection (OpenVPN, VPNC, PPTP), file system tools (dd_rescue, ddrescue, GParted, gDisk), and better multimedia support (GStreamer, FFmpeg, Flash plugin). Software: Linux kernel 2.6.32, X.Org Server 1.13.0, GNOME 2.28, Firefox 17.0.5, IceWM 1.2.37, LibreOffice 3.4.5, KDE 4.3.4." More details in the release announcement.
Calculate Linux 13.4
Alexander Tratsevskiy has announced the release of Calculate Linux 13.4, a Gentoo-based distribution for desktops (with KDE, GNOME 2 or Xfce), servers and media centres. The biggest news is the removal of GNOME 3 and the assertion that GNOME will no longer be supported in future Calculate releases. From the release announcement: "We are proud to announce the final release of Calculate Linux 13.4. Main changes: UEFI support added on 64-bit systems; hibernation is TuxOnIce by default; BFQ I/O scheduler supported; Calculate Utilities can now backup configuration files; the installer provides more advanced auto-partitioning options; networked Linux clients should now boot faster when the network is down; the IRC client in CLDG and CLDX is HexChat instead of XChat; CLD now uses GParted as the GUI partition manager...."
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
New distributions added to database
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- PALADIN. PALADIN is an Ubuntu-based live Linux distribution that simplifies the process of creating forensic images in a forensically sound manner. PALADIN was designed with the understanding that many of those tasked with creating forensic images are not comfortable with using the command line but still want to use the power of Linux.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 29 April 2013. To contact the authors please send email to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, suggestions and corrections: news, donations, distribution submissions, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (feedback and suggestions: podcast edition)
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Full list of all issues |
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BEERnix
BEERnix was a lightweight Linux live CD based on KNOPPIX.
Status: Discontinued
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| Tips, Tricks, Q&As | | Questions and answers: Devuan and systemd |
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| Questions and answers: Detecting Screen sessions |
| Tips and tricks: Konqueror & Kate make an excellent remote admin team... and a killer casserole |
| Questions and answers: Tracking local changes |
| Questions and answers: When is the year of the Linux desktop? |
| Tips and tricks: Improved package stability coming to FreeBSD/PC-BSD |
| More Tips & Tricks and Questions & Answers |
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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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