 DistroWatch Weekly |
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 0, value: US$0.00) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Calculate Linux (by Chanath on 2013-05-13 10:16:45 GMT from Sri Lanka)
"Basically what my time with Calculate really boiled down to is there wasn't any single large problem which kept me from enjoying the distribution,"
That is true. It has little problems, just like other distros. The only thing that troubles me with calculate Linux is that it won't come with the Gnome-shell--lately I started liking Gnome-shell.
My laptop is more than 3 years old, with Intel graphics and 3GB memory, but it booted Calculate Linux and installed it without a hitch. I would love to see a review of Sabayon 13.04, but would you try the Gnome-shell? If Gnome-shell is not to your liking, Jesse, let it be KDE or XFCE. I am really enjoying Sabayon 13.04 after so many years of Ubuntu.
2 • Sabayon (by Jesse on 2013-05-13 13:08:40 GMT from Canada)
@1:
I reviewed Sabayon just two months ago, I doubt it has changed a lot since then.. http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20130311#feature
3 • @ #1 (by Pierre on 2013-05-13 13:11:50 GMT from Germany)
I never tried Calculate. Sabayon used to be my girlfriend's favorite until I showed her Mint because Sabayon was really really buggy the time my girlfriend used it. I cannot say if that improved during the last 2 years I have not tested it again. But back then it even messed up the partition table once so I had to fix this - although I know what I am doing and fixing the partition table was easily done thanks to TestDisk, it's always risky to work at the partition table and it cost me some nervs honestly.
Although I still prefer openSUSE over all the others Mint does a great job and we never had serious problems with it. It's the reason why I keep to recommend Mint to less advanced or novice users. openSUSE is not much more complicated in my opinion. Nevertheless adopting openSUSE seems to be a little more difficult to novice users than Mint.
Maybe this is because Mint comes - other than openSUSE - with everything out of the box and not having YaST seems to be a little more logical as well.
With Sabayon it's ever worse. My girlfriend kept me asking everything. Updates and installs were my tasks. With Mint this seems to be more logical to her, too. She doesn't need me anymore for simply installs and updates.
4 • @2 Jesse (by Chanath on 2013-05-13 14:12:54 GMT from Sri Lanka)
What I meant was a review of Sabayon 13.04, considering Calculate 13.4. They are the only Gentoo based full distros available. You've been reviewing distros, so you'd see pluses, minuses, equalities etc. Would be nice to read a review like that.
Even though both are rolling releases, Sabayon 11 and 13 has a difference. There was a difference in Calculate 11 and 13. You are always reviewing KDE flavour, so how about Gnome 3? Good day!
5 • @3 Pierre (by Chanath on 2013-05-13 14:34:44 GMT from Sri Lanka)
2 years is a long time. There were at least 4 Mint releases for that time. Your GF must've used Sabayon 8 or 9. One of them was somewhat buggy, but it is now 13.04.
I prefer Ubuntu to Mint, as Mint is always slower than Ubuntu. Mint also keeps its user away from updating through the Ubuntu repos--check the sources.list. If you like Cinnamon, all you have to do is add the Mint repos to Ubuntu's sources.list and update and install Cinnamon. Right now, you can have Cinnamon 1.8.2+olivia. You may add that to Raring or Saucy and you'd be much further than Mint 15.
OpenSuse was always nice, but it has a grub problem with my laptop, don't know why.
6 • Calculate Linux review (by Cork on 2013-05-13 15:33:19 GMT from United States)
Many thanks for taking a look at this interesting distribution. I tried to run it several weeks ago on my HP netbook but gave up quickly when my touchpad was erratic and essentially unusable after the install completed. I too found the installation procedure a bit odd. I'm intrigued by the network management tools but finding time to set up Calculate on three or four boxes at home is a tall order after reading of your experience.
7 • Calculat-Linux (by Joachim on 2013-05-13 15:35:55 GMT from Uganda)
I'm running the Calculate-Linux 13.04 cldx (with XFCE) fine on my setup.
I find it is more Gentoo-like than Sabayon, emerge downloads everything from
source and compiles, I have not encountered any ready binaries unlike in Sabayon.
8 • Ubuntu experiments with portable packages (by anandarpm on 2013-05-13 15:38:11 GMT from India)
I believe this is a good development the ubuntu team has to carry forward as this would make installation of packages easier & solve dependency problem.
Though dpkg/apt-get can handle dependency problem well, the novoice users who comes from windows world are uncomfortable in using dpkg, particularly when they are told about dependency errors.
I believe making installation of third party packages easier in linux attracts some more people to use linux.
9 • Not just desktop tests, please (by Thom on 2013-05-13 15:50:26 GMT from Sweden)
Jesse wrote: "Calculate comes in a variety of flavours giving us the opportunity to choose between Desktop, Directory Server and Media Centre editions."
Here's an idea; why not test, say, media centre editions when they are available either alone or in connection with desktop versions?
While I have no criticism to add to the weekly feature of such-and-such a distribution, I do feel looking beyond the desktop could add new interest and broaden the appeal of DW.
10 • Old Unwanted Computers (by gavin on 2013-05-13 18:00:55 GMT from United Kingdom)
Another idea for old computers is to give them to a school, I know the school I teach at would accept old parts for various computer clubs after school
11 • RE: Used Computers (by Michael Ross on 2013-05-13 19:13:28 GMT from Canada)
Free Geek is a very popular recycling centre found in many North American cities. They are Ubuntu centric but will recycle old computers and most hardware without a fee.
A great source for hard to find parts acquired inexpensivley.
They also have help nights and volunteers learn how to dis-assemble and them assemble computers. They are an invaluable resource and are open to opening in other cities.
They may have a presence in countries outside of North America.
I am very pleased to have given away and recycled over 30 computer in the past 8 years.
12 • old hardware (by mz on 2013-05-13 19:24:07 GMT from United States)
I've been using a firewall distro on a junky old 400MHz IBM for the past few years. My old pfSense box gives me a little extra added security, and it can be extended with things like snort. That BSD distro goes for ever 24/7 and almost never complains or goes down, unless there is a power outage. I could spend a few extra bucks on a UPS, but that would defeat the purpose of having cheap box. I've also got a 2.5 GHz single core machine that I switch distros on every now and then and use for making online purchases. I just switched it to Debian 7, and other than the graphical installer on Wheezy working poorly I'm enjoying the switch. It's fun to try something new on an old PC every now and then.
13 • Re used computers (by Earlybird on 2013-05-13 19:42:06 GMT from Canada)
10) & 11) Excellent ideas. Locally, we have government run "Ecocenters" where you can bring old electronic equipment. Some of the local "big-box" stores such as Staples (Bureau en Gross in Que.) also have free drop-off for recycling. Equipment deposited at these locations (both at the Ecocenters and the big-box stores) goes to local companies that have a contract with the local government to recycle as much as possible of this equipment. This is funded through a local (provincial) "eco-tax" which is applied to the purchase of all electronic goods in the province. Also, the companies contracted to do the recycling, are funded to train out-of-work people in electronics and recycling. This not only helps the environment, it also helps the unemployed upgrade their skills and become productive members of society again.
Personally, I've recycled tons of stuff by arranging to bring usefull stuff down to the local universities (Engineering and physics departments). Even a prehistoric 386 can be used in a lab for doing some elementary data-logging for geophysics (as an example). And parts from printers and floppy drives are useful for robotics.
For anyone interested, you might also check on Amazon for the titles: "Made to Break", and also "High Tech Trash". Really a sad commentary on capitalism, and our continuous need to grow society (Note: I am NOT saying Capitalism is all bad; just that there are some aspects that can be "improved" by borrowing some "socialist" ideas as outlined above).
14 • Portable Package Formats (by Scott Dowdle on 2013-05-13 21:22:00 GMT from United States)
The GNOME developers have been talking about producing a portable package format for a while now. The first I became aware of it was from watching a video entitled, "What are we breaking now?" by Lennart Poettering, Kay Sievers, and Harald Hoyer back in March. (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rrpjYD373A around 38:20).
The KDE folks say they were actually first with the concept but I don't know the specifics of that.
15 • What to do with old computer equipment (by Paolo on 2013-05-13 21:26:39 GMT from Italy)
Fist of all thanks to Jesse for this week Q and A.
I am a member of the Milano's association for social promotion "Pcofficina" ( http://www.pcofficina.tk/ )
We are all volunteers and we follow the "I fix it manifesto" (http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto)
We repair old pc/notebook, install Gnu/Linux (mostly *buntu, pure Debian, Crunchbang,Bodhi,Puppy,Slitaz and now Antix) and we give the refurbished computers to school, free charity group and people without too much money to spend.We also teach them how to use linux for basic work at home.
The pc's are coming from factory and office (mainly) and from private donations.
We have a small laboratory in Milano in wich the member meets thursday evening from the 20:00 to midnight circa. Also sometimes the members meets tuesday evening at the same hours.
Also we as association sometimes have a place in some fair like the linuxday ( http://www.linuxday.it/) in october and some other fair about ethical living.
Personally I use Antix on a 2001's Dell Latitude C600 laptop and on a 2003's Acer 1355LM laptop, both with profit
16 • Calculate Linux plus coments (by LLO on 2013-05-13 21:37:52 GMT from Hungary)
1) Calculate
I believe Calculate Linux has some outstanding features of letter size and readability features that many distros lock . With advancing of age one's eyesight is not likely 20/20 forever. When you deal with critical issues using the command line, the least thing you need is fighting undersized purely shaped letters, translucency and other disturbing factors. Once I had to use a 2.5”-by-1.75” x-term window with something like four point size letter just to start the graphic interface that thought me to appreciate properly sized text windows. Calculate however also has a major shortcoming the lock of ability to configure non network printers.
2) OpenSUSE Edu 12.3
Internet through a modem does not work. The previous version 12.2 has worked. Improvement?! I hardly believe.
3) Auto updates
Firefox and Thunderbird have undergone some auto updates in UHU (Hungarian/English 32/64-bit distro). As a result, I cannot watch Distrowatch on Firefox anymore, and the Hungarian Language ad-on of Thunderbird has been declared incompatible. Do they really know what the hell are they doing?
17 • old computers (by zykoda on 2013-05-14 08:14:45 GMT from United Kingdom)
The relative energy cost of running old (5/10 years?) computers compared to a contemporary design is significant (typically £1 per watt p. a.). That Rpi consumes so little energy (24/7) for a capital outlay of say £40, there is no significant cost in using the most modern equipment (should it suffice to do the job!) over a time as short as one year. That most old equipment needs refurbishment (new efficient PSU, more RAM, new OS and apps, display, etc) often outways the cost of brand new. That the deferred disposal of the old contributes significantly to global energy "consumption" needs careful consideration.
18 • @ #16 (by Pierre on 2013-05-14 12:08:08 GMT from Germany)
@ #16
1) Font sizes can always be adjusted. So I see this hardly as an advantage over others.
2) openSUSE 12.3 no matter what edition works great for me. But modem connections are very rare and I haven't tested this, so I cannot judge this. Nevertheless openSUSE 12.3 saw many improvements over it's predecessor.
3) Don't know about UHU yet. On openSUSE and other distros I know not a single app runs auto updates on it's own. Can't tell about Hungarian Language add-ons here either, but normaly it should be up to the distro too to handle language packs and language pack updates.
19 • @17, old computers (by Jon Wright on 2013-05-14 12:15:20 GMT from Vietnam)
That's what I was going to say. Utilizing a high-powered-monster-that-was as a fileserver is only for those that live in an extremely cold basement - note that if the ambient temperature is on the cold side then that 'waste' electricity is what you would have spent on heating your home anyway - whereas if you live somewhere hot and steamy then it's making your aircon work harder so you lose out twice.
20 • @19, and I know it was partly in jest (by Marco on 2013-05-14 14:15:45 GMT from United States)
> 'waste' electricity is what you would have spent on heating your home anyway.
If you heat you house with electricity, yes, but otherwise, if you use as more efficient energy source, you still lose something. For example you can burn natural gas at home or in the electrical power plant, generate electricity, then transmit and distribute the electricity, only to convert it back to heat, something must be lost along the way. I will leave it to others to estimate the loss.
21 • Energy @20, 19, 17 (by fernbap on 2013-05-14 18:19:46 GMT from Portugal)
There is a lot of angles considering electricity as a source of energy, but the main issue here is how that electricity is generated.
If you use a coal, oil, wood or gas to generate electricity, there is a theoretical limit of the efficiency in the process. It typically is around 20-25%, which means that for each Kw you consume you need 4 or 5 Kw to generate the corrsponding electricity. Much more efficient would be to burn that coal, wood, gas directly in order to produce heat.
There is an issue of proportion here as well. You are discussing a few watts and comparing that to the watts needed to heat a room in the winter (2 Kw typically).
In most of the countries, electricity is still in a large portion produced by burning oil.
22 • old computers in schools (by linuxuser on 2013-05-14 21:47:32 GMT from Greece)
Old computers ( even PII 400 MH or PIII 600MH machines ) can be used in school laboratories as thin clients (terminals). A relatively modern computer must be used as server. More details in ubuntu WIKI pages (LTSP - the Linux Terminal Server Project)
So we can donate old computers to schools.
23 • Recycling used computers (by dace on 2013-05-15 02:29:35 GMT from Kuwait)
Most recent versions of Linux require a processor that supports Physical Address Extension (PAE). My laptop with a Pentium M processor doesn't support PAE. I can't even boot from a Mint 14, Lubuntu 13 or Debian 7 CD. I had to use older CDs for Mint 13 or Ubuntu 12.04 to make it work.
24 • Recycling used computers @23 (by fernbap on 2013-05-15 05:06:42 GMT from Portugal)
Several distros make 486 and 686 builds.
I would recomend Crunchbang, 486 build. Had excelent result with it.
Puppy is always an option, of course.
25 • @ #23 and the energy related posts (by Pierre on 2013-05-15 06:12:09 GMT from Germany)
@ #23
As fernbap already posted, there are many distros out there that are delivering 486 and 686 builds and don't require PAE. So you definitely have alternative to using old distros.
Crunchbang is really great and worth a try here. You could use antix or Puppy as well. Debian delivers 486 or even 386 builds - if I am not wrong here - which you can give a try, too.
Or if that is not enough, make a search here on distrowatch for 'older computer'. This will give you plenty of choice.
@ energy
Energy consumtion is always a topic especially on older and once powerful hardware. But for most of the tasks you might use these older PCs at home, you could let it run for a few years until it has consumed the costs of a new and more energy efficient / low voltage PC. Especially if we assume that it's not running 24/7. You could shut it down at night when you go to bed and start it in the morning after you woke up. Additionally the time it is not used it will be in power safe mode - even old(er) hardware is capeable of that. And maybe we should start to learn again that it had cost energy and resources to build that (now old) hardware, too.
Greetings from Germany!
26 • too many spare computers? (by jay on 2013-05-15 13:01:33 GMT from Canada)
set up a huge cluster
or set up a big network of servers
I love crunchbang! I've been building crunchbang on various *buntu's for about a year now. Crunchbang Linux has some great documentation on their wiki and forum! It's sightly tedious at first but if you keep a back up of your config files and using a bash script it's pretty easy to set up on most any distro!
27 • old computers (by Jon Wright on 2013-05-15 14:05:35 GMT from Sweden)
I just worked out, 50w 24x7 gets you a nice new $400 laptop after 100 months. My choice would be to unplug the old machine and get the new $400 laptop as my main machine and follow Jesse's first suggestion of occasionally booting up the old machine just to do a bit of testing.
#26: "... building crunchbang on various *buntu's ... pretty easy to set up on most any distro"
Care to expand?
28 • #27 (by zykoda on 2013-05-15 17:03:08 GMT from United Kingdom)
If energy continues to increase in cost at the present rate, the 100 months will shrink to 50. But I have no idea about electricity tariffs in Sweden. My experience with laptops also suggests that 100 months is a long life for such. Admittedly, I may be entirely wrong.
29 • too many computers (by RyanEpod on 2013-05-16 05:08:22 GMT from United States)
Reminds me of when I had 40 IBM Netiva's laying around I got them all for 4$ so I kind of felt compelled at the time. about 3-4 months I realized the horrible mistake I made now this was back in 2008-09ish and they all had Pentium 4's (about 30 of them ran and had Ram and harddrives the other ones ran but didnt have ram a harddrive or both) but 30 working systems was pretty good for 4$ I got pretty good use out of about 5 of them for various projects I had a BSD box, Open Solaris Box, Solaris 10 Box, one of them ended up being my firewall box, and my last one was an experimental box which had off shoot BSD (like dragonfly) I decided to put Windows 3.11 on it for a little bit which was funny i dabbled briefly in trying to keep a Debian Sid/Experimental box which was most Debian Experimental I used Minix on it which is interesting and I even tried React OS on it which has good intentions i guess but manages to fall completely flat in execution for the 35+ Machines I didn't use I mostly ended up selling the Ram out them first ( for some reason in 2008 DDR ram was all the rage ) i sold the Pentium 4 processors for like 2$ not sure why anyone would have wanted one of those but I didn't ask and almost all of them had AGP video cards ( Nvidia somethings) which people bought up for seriously unknown reasons I know they here pretty lowend even for 2008 after I finished parting them out I just sold them to the melter I got like 40$ and my 5 machines I used I eventually installed Ubuntu ( 9.04 i think ) on all of them and sold them for 10$ a piece w/ Maxed out ram that was the last time I took someones bargain PCs though I mean all in all there pretty limited I felt like I was working as a A+ Techie again and was happy to see them all go the only bargin PCs ill still take nowadays are Highend Power Mac G4 ( mostly just Quicksilvers though Ill take anything Zif-Digital Audio if the processor is aftermarket ) I'll also take Power Mac G5's with atleast dual processors but prefer G4's I'll even take B&W G3's as long as the chipset is Rev B and has a Zif G4 processor or aftermarket G3 processor PowerPCs are just a hobby though I like running BSD on them I'm just sitting on 3 Computers at the moment though an iMac Intel, a Toshiba Satellite with the newish APU processor that dual boots Windows 7 and Xubuntu 12.04 LTS and I have a Yikes! G4 lol I overclocked it to 387 MHz but it currently resides in my closet with an undiagnosed problem that I'm probably never going to fix. and I'm done rambling on here..... .. Laters -Epod.
30 • old computers? (by Dean on 2013-05-16 11:03:06 GMT from United States)
Jesse, the Fire Department of the little town you live in has 17 old donated computers running various flavors of Linux, mostly Peppermint 3 modified with remastersys and a few Lubuntu 13.04's. Small world, huh. You can borrow one if you want...[vpn will probably show me from Chicago area...]
31 • Mint 14 - Ext4 errors (by Verndog on 2013-05-16 18:03:09 GMT from United States)
I installed Mint 14, and have experienced Ext4 journal erros. It only happens using the Mint partition. Using Ubuntu's partition , Ext4 is clear.
I read the Distrowatch's message: "http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20121105#qa", and many other sites, but I'm thinking its Mints shutdown timing that may be the issue.
The only way to know if your having the issue is to either boot from another partition or use a live cd, then "sudo fsck /dev/sdaX" on the Mint install. Otherwise you may not know your having issue as well.
Another command to check is "cat /var/log/syslog | grep -i recovery".
I would like to know if anyone else has this problem.
BTW, I did install several kernels hoping it was fixed. All the way up to kernel 3.10. Stall errors. Which leads me to believe its Mints shutdown timing.
32 • Donated computers (by Jesse on 2013-05-16 18:23:20 GMT from Canada)
@30:
Dean, I am impressed. The local fire department is quite small, 17 computers would be just about enough for each firefighter to have their own machine. Glad to hear they have found a home and new life running light distributions.
33 • old computers? (by Dean on 2013-05-16 20:22:54 GMT from United States)
Jesse, the Fire Department of the little town you live in has 17 old donated computers running various flavors of Linux, mostly Peppermint 3 modified with remastersys and a few Lubuntu 13.04's. Small world, huh. You can borrow one if you want...[vpn will probably show me from Chicago area...]
34 • Linux Mint 15 RC (by Chanath on 2013-05-17 10:53:43 GMT from Sri Lanka)
I was thinking, whether I should write about this this week, or in the next DWW, maybe I'd do that in both.
It says it is Linux Mint 15 RC, but what is this not-yet-ready RC here? Mint 15 is based on Raring, which is already released. So, whatever parts of Ubuntu, which is anyway largest part of Mint is already ready. What might not be ready would be the Mint parts of it. So, if you mark out (#) the Mint repos and leave the Ubuntu ones, when updating and upgrading, you'd not break the distro.
Whatever that might be not up to the release level is with the Mint Olivia repos, and not with the Ubuntu Raring repos, so, the user could wait until the final day and take off the # in front of Mint Olivia repos and would have a perfect Mint 15, without downloading it again.
By the way this is the same with all other Raring based distros.
35 • @ #34 and Linux Mint 15 RC (by Pierre on 2013-05-17 15:04:26 GMT from Germany)
@ #34
Although Mint is based on Ubuntu and Ubuntu got already released does not mean it is really ready.
Ubuntu is pushing out distros in time always and sees very buggy releases from time to time. Additionally the Mint team does not only highly customize the Ubuntu base but also are sometimes fixing bugs etc.
If you ask me it's no good idea commenting out the Mint Olivia repos. If you do so you could install Ubuntu and use that instead. Furthermore I think it's no good idea to use operating systems in RC state in productive environments either.
It isn't so hard to wait for the final and stable release.
@Mint 15 RC
I personally like the changes and new features. At least this release is much more exciting than the Ubuntu release - well, shouldn't be hard to beat that anyway, should it?
Whatsoever, one thing I don't understand that Mint somewhat takes the same direction like Ubuntu in redeveloping many things on it's own, that already has really good options available.
One good example at this point is the MDM.
Why develop a completely new display manager if there are so many out there already, like GDM, KDM, LightDM, LXDM, SDDM and even more... Reminds me a little about the Wayland/Mir-thing that Canonical started.
Anyway, looks like a nice and exciting release.
Just my two cents... Greetings from Germany.
36 • @35 Pierre (by Chanath on 2013-05-17 23:00:34 GMT from Sri Lanka)
Thanks for commenting. Just because Ubuntu releases distros on given days doesn't mean it is buggy. If you look at Mint sources.list, you'd find nothing there. The sources had been moved to the folder sources.list.d If you want to add a ppa, even after installing missing apps to enable adding ppa, you'd still have a problem after adding the ppa. Why?
It'd come as olivia main, not raring main. You'd never get any successful updating to install a ppa. You have to go into that folder and change a lot, so apt-get would recognize it. That's not tweaking by the Mint devs, but spoiling the works. If I am to use Mint, I always change mdm to anything else. Now it had become so large, it looks ancient.
I've been playing with Mints for sometime, and know where their problem lurk. It is not a big deal to make a Mint any more, when you have the released Ubuntu and the new Mint repo.
There are only 2 Ubuntu based Mints, Cinnamon & Mate. These are made just not to use Unity or Gnome shell. Mate is Gnome 2, so it is staying in the past. Cinnamon is Gnome 3, but still trying to stay in the past. Let's say, Mint is somewhat polished than Ubuntu, so one likes to use it, but neither Unity nor Gnome shell is there. I can't get used to Unity yet, maybe to Unity Next. But, I am quite fond of Gnome shell, which is getting better and better.
So, download the Mint 15RC, mark off Mint Olivia repo, as nothing in it is needed for further use or update, leave the Ubuntu repos as it is, install Gnome 3.6 or 3.8, you have a "polished" Gnome shell distro. Mint Update, Mint Software Manager, Mint Updater, Mint Sources, MDM etc are not needed for the distro's work, neither is Cinnamon.
I don't like the thickness of top bars in Gnome shell Firefox, but like the thinness of Firefox in Mint, but don't like to work with old fashioned menus, panels etc, so I get myself a semi Mint based, more Ubuntu based Gnome 3shell distro. I hope you understood, what I am trying to say, Pierre.
37 • Writing again after an 8 month break (by Caitlyn Martin on 2013-05-18 01:01:06 GMT from United States)
I've started writing about Linux again after a much needed 8 month break. (I had been writing for 8 years straight before that.) I've started in my own blog, which I just revived, by following up on a Linux Advocates article which expressed one, but by no means all, the reasons I recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the various free clones: CentOS, Scientific Linux and Springdale Linux. The post is business-centric, but if anyone is interested you can find it at: http://thelinuxworks.blogspot.com/2013/05/linux-standards-and-enterprise-why-red.html
I've also been invited to write for Linux Advocates. I may even submit the occasional review or how-to here if Ladislav will have me back :) Don't worry, I'm no threat to Jesse and his excellent reviews. I'd just be here now and again given the chance.
38 • Selling the product (by Ben Myers on 2013-05-18 02:07:38 GMT from United States)
The people who announce their products need to sell what the product is and what the product does. Not to pick on Mint, which is a very nice distro, the Mint announcement says: "The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 15 'Olivia' RC. Linux Mint 15 is the most ambitious release since the start of the project. MATE 1.6 is greatly improved and Cinnamon 1.8 offers a ton of new features, including a screensaver and a unified control center. The login screen can now be themed in HTML 5 and two new tools, 'Software Sources' and 'Driver Manager', make their first appearance in Linux Mint. MDM now features 3 greeters: a GTK+ greeter; a themeable GDM greeter for which hundreds of themes are available; a brand new HTML greeter, also themeable which supports a new generation of animated and interactive themes."
That's all well and good. But tell me and others what sets Mint apart from the thousands of other distro. SELL the darned thing! Even just a couple of sentences would suffice. Same thing with most of the distro home pages, which pre-suppose that you know what the product does. And we all wonder why all the Linuxes have not had greater success? Even with Windows 8 to compete against! ... Ben
39 • 38 • Selling the product Ben Myers (by Chanath on 2013-05-18 02:34:37 GMT from Sri Lanka)
What sets Mint apart from others--Ubuntu based distros--is the Cinnamon and Mate desktops. Maybe also the Mint apps like Mint Update, Mint Software Centre, MDM etc. Moving into Cinnamon, when Ubuntu went Unity and Gnome went Gnome3 was good business point at that time, when both Unity and Gnome3 were just trying to crawl, but now?
There was such criticism against Unity & Gnome3, even Clem joined that.
Unity is coming out with Unity Next, Gnome 3 is evolving so fast, would the old-fashioned panels and menus keep up with that? Cinnamon is mostly a menu and a panel and with some 3D effects. What else?
I installed Gnome 3.8 in Mint 15RC. I don't need Cinnamon, so do I need Olivia repos?
40 • Linux Mint Saucy Gnome 3.8 (by Chanath on 2013-05-18 06:22:44 GMT from Sri Lanka)
Uninstalled Cinnamon, Nemo went with it, not a big deal as Nautilus had come with Gnome 3.8. Changed Raring to Saucy In the sources.list, marked off Olivia repos, updated and upgraded. I have now the bleeding edge Linux Mint Saucy Gnome 3 edition with Linux kernel 3.9. Don't know how to call it, maybe Mint 16 RC or just Saucy-Mint. So far so good! It works. It is bleeding edge. It can break any time, but I won't believe it would do that. I was with Raring all the way until it was finally released. Nothing broke down in that, so I'm sure nothing would break in Saucy-Mint. It'd be fun!
41 • Latest kernel on all my 'buntu distros, incl Mint 16 RC, easily. (by gregzeng on 2013-05-18 13:19:47 GMT from Australia)
Multiboot from a choice of 6 distros, on two hardware drives. The 'buntus, including Mint 16 rc, allow installing the compiled version of the latest kernel. These latest kernels appear a few days after the pre-compiled version appears.
Had to remove the last Mint, because it is inflexible, compared to Zorin and XFCE-based distros. My 24-inch landscape screen favors the task bar on the left (a la Unity). Mint only allows space wasting the top and/ or botton areas, mocking my slit-eyed look of my East-Asian face. Ergonomically, it is easier to speed-read text in vertical columns, than in forcing the text into 16:9 landscape mode.
Now trialling the non-Debian distros, such as the 'rolling releases' based on Slackware, etc. When I allow updating after installing, they seem not to install the latest version, unlike my 'buntu experiences.
42 • old computers (by knsridhar on 2013-05-18 16:20:23 GMT from India)
Puppy linux performs very good on any old computer including 486 , P1 etc .it has got all what a desktop needs
Number of Comments: 42
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
| | |
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
|
| Random Distribution | 
MEPIS Linux
MEPIS Linux was a Debian-based desktop Linux distribution designed for both personal and business purposes. It includes cutting-edge features such as a live, installation and recovery CD, automatic hardware configuration, NTFS partition resizing, ACPI power management, WiFi support, anti-aliased TrueType fonts, a personal firewall, KDE, and much more.
Status: Discontinued
|
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| 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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
