 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 • Ubuntu 14.04 (by Paraquat on 2014-04-07 11:17:39 GMT from Taiwan)
Yesterday I downloaded and tried to install Ubuntu 14.04-beta2. It turned into a real fiasco. I accepted the installer's default to install over an existing partition (as opposed to custom partitioning). It immediately (without asking to confirm) created a partition /dev/sda5 (an extended partition) on a hard drive with four existing primary partitions, which is supposedly impossible (since I use mbr partitioning, as opposed to GPT). Result - the Ubuntu installer rendered the entire hard drive geometry unreadable, and of course did not install anything.
I straightened out the mess with a GParted disk, and reinstalled Debian.
I'm not sure if previous versions of Ubuntu had this bug, but I would urge anyone to be very careful when installing Ubuntu 14.04. Do manual partitioning - don't trust the default. And of course, back up any existing data on the hard drive first (always a good idea before installing anything).
2 • Slacko (by Eamonnb on 2014-04-07 11:40:03 GMT from United Kingdom)
I agree with Jesse Smith's view that Puppy Linux seems to fit best in a secondary role...though obviously there is a community of users who use it as their primary OS. I really got to like the versions built from Ubuntu Precise. They felt solid yet snappy and never seemed to blink no matter what the demands. I have never felt the Slacko versions were as impressive. They don't seem as responsive and I've had various problems with dropped wifi connections and some other quirks.
I will give this version a try...but I still wish Puppy Precise was being continued.
3 • Installing Puppy (by Wine Curmudgeon on 2014-04-07 13:46:40 GMT from United States)
One of the distro's grand traditions is having difficulty installing it, which always leads to "spirited" discussion about whether it should be installed.
4 • Ubuntu, Ubuntu One (by Chris on 2014-04-07 14:08:29 GMT from United States)
First, you are installing a BETA. Bugs happen. Did you report this to the team? If not, then you are not doing correctly.
I am bummed that Ubuntu One is being discontinued. I used it for years.
5 • Flash for Puppy (by Glenn Condrey on 2014-04-07 15:03:03 GMT from United States)
I have made a patched version of flashplayer available for Legacy OS....which is in the Puppy family.
We used this patched version in Xandros 4.5 and for the ASUS Xandros for the Eee PC family of computers...and I have found that it works in every distro that I have installed it in. (Debian, Ubuntu, Trisquel, PCLinuxOS, Puppy)
John, the creative force behind Legacy OS has made the file available to all at https://sourceforge.net/projects/legacyoslinux/files/Legacy%20OS%202.1%20LTS%20Extra%20Packages/?
You can read a bit more about it at :
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/LegacyOS.
It is important to note that John also has made available an older case of flashplayer just in case the patched flashplayer file does NOT work in your Puppy distro...
6 • Puppy linux and Ubuntu One service (by DavidEF on 2014-04-07 15:21:41 GMT from United States)
I agree with Jesse, and Eamonnb, about Puppy's best use case. I like Puppy Linux, but not for everyday computing. I've tried various forms of Puppy throughout the years, but for things like system rescue or file tasks. I've even used Puppy to format partitions and set up swap for later installations of other Linux operating systems that couldn't even boot a live CD without swap, the RAM being too small. I've used Puppy live CD's to clean up malware off of Windows computers manually. There have been times, though, that I've installed Puppy on other people's computers as their primary OS. So, yes, it can be used that way too!
As for the Ubuntu One service, I am one of those people that relied on U1 to keep files synchronized between computers. I had used Dropbox for years, but U1 is just better in so many ways. I'll miss it and I can't just now fathom a replacement. Once I get over my loss, I suppose I'll start looking around.
7 • Flashplayer for Puppy (by Glenn Condrey on 2014-04-07 15:26:25 GMT from United States)
BTW...flash version is 11.2
8 • Ubuntu One (by Jesse on 2014-04-07 15:42:15 GMT from Canada)
For the past year or two I had been using Ubuntu One. It worked really well for me. However, I wanted more flexibility and most distributions/operating systems do not have support for the One client software. About a month ago I set up an ownCloud server and it has been syncing my files between multiple machines. I've been pretty happy with it. ownCloud may not be quite as seemless as Ubuntu One, but it is good enough and I have more control over the server-side now. I've been offering to rent out space on my ownCloud server to friends/family to help offset the cost of running the server. All in all, it worked out well and the timing was great. I got off One just weeks before they annouced the service was going off-line.
9 • Flash for Puppy (by Kazlu on 2014-04-07 15:55:06 GMT from France)
If you use Puppy to revive an old computer, chances are Flash player won't do any good. So I would like to point a - partial - alternative: Viewtube (https://userscripts.org/scripts/show/87011). It's not a Flash replacement, but it allows you to watch videos on major streaming sites without Flash. Using this I could watch videos without lag on an old Pentium III with 512MB RAM. But of course, this is relevant only if you wanted Flash just for those sites :) Besides, when I started using it there were few videos available in HTML5 on Youtube but it seems that more are available now. HTML5 is the way to go, particularly on old machines.
10 • Puppy Linux (Slacko and other flavours) (by Charlie on 2014-04-07 16:10:23 GMT from Canada)
NICE REVIEW !!!
Ever since support for Windows 98 ended, Puppy Linux became my primary O/S, but not installed. I boot Puppy (as my primary O/S) from CD, and only ever boot Windows (whatever flavour) as my secondary O/S of last resort (at most 4 times over the last year).
Why would I boot my primary O/S off CD? I'm a Puppy Distro hopper, regularly switching between different releases of the main distros and derivatives (including English and French language versions). I enjoy having, at the flip of a CD and a reboot, a whole different computer.
Barry K. has done such terrific work with Puppy, and I am some glad good folk are keeping this distro shining.
11 • Slax's problems (by Barnabyh on 2014-04-07 16:57:10 GMT from Germany)
Hmm, if there's a problem with which desktop to use why not ask the investors? I'm sure they'ld have an opinion on what they expect to be able to do with the project they support and how easy it should be.
Anyways, Xfce4 does not feel outdated to me and is probably the most similar to the old KDE3 now that's out there. If KDE4 is, in a way, too cutting edge because it's unstable and still a moving target after all this time then perhaps a conservative desktop like Xfce would be a good choice.
Apart from that, a customized version of Enlightenment may be good.
[Posting here because the Slax blog now apparently requires registration.]
12 • Puppy base distros, etc (by Somewhat Reticent on 2014-04-07 18:26:32 GMT from United States)
DistroWatch should mention up-front that different Puppies are 'based-on' different base distros - over the years, puppies have been based on Slackware, DebIan, Ubuntu, Arch, even Mageia, in addition to their historical T2 SDE base. It's instructive to put several of these on a USB flash drive for comparison
.
I see the April Fool variation of Trisquel's announcement still showing
"Abrowser upgraded to v28, with improved Facebook integration"
instead of
"Abrowser upgraded to v28, with improved privacy settings"
.
I recently tried a test version of 'buntu, and soon after found a swap partition flagged as Boot - don't know whether the two are related, but ...
Are we about to see a flood of OpenSuSe-Studio clones, much like recent 'buntu remixes?
.
13 • Puppy Linux is GREAT for Old Computers (by Charles on 2014-04-07 18:53:05 GMT from United States)
Like Charlie in Comment 10 above, I've been using Puppy Linux and, now, Wary Puppy for many years on a Windows 95 machine, and a Windows Me machine. I always boot from a CD, with the operating system running in RAM, and store applications and files on my hard drive. I've booted these CDs literally thousands of times, with no startup problems at all. Since I never install the software, I've had no "installation" problems over many, many version numbers of these OSs. I use Puppy for around 95% of everything I do on these computers, and use the archaic Windows distributions when I need to use certain specific packages that are no longer available anywhere. The use of Puppy is intuitive as Jesse Smith says, and it interfaces with a wide range of paleolithic hardware.
Does computing on older computers get better than this? Congratulations to Barry Kauler and his team for a job magnificently done.
14 • iwlwifi error during clonezilla startup (by Don on 2014-04-07 19:26:09 GMT from United States)
I have not had any luck posting to Clonezila so I will ask here.
During clonezilla startup I notice 5 error stating that they are unable to load microcode versions 1000,[1 thru 5].ucode. This machine has an I7 processor, and while this doesn't appear to apply to the processor, but instead to the "iwlwifi" chip, does anyone know if this should worry me?
TIA - DON
15 • Ubuntu One Service (by Ron on 2014-04-07 20:10:01 GMT from United States)
Yep, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.
This is a perfect example of why the cloud has no clothes!
Any time you depend on someone else or something else, you are always at the mercy of a fate you cannot control.
I know the cloud has many advantages in many circumstances, but from the day I first heard the idea of the cloud, I was repelled by that thought because of the above reasons.
Being a home user and not a commercial user with a bazillion bytes of data, I keep everything on my home machines with of course a couple backup external hard drives. At this time I am perfectly happy to have no need for cloud storage.
16 • @11 - Closest to KDE3 (by Uncle Slacky on 2014-04-07 20:12:17 GMT from France)
Surely Trinity is closest to KDE3? http://www.trinitydesktop.org/
17 • Puppy Slacko (by dhinds on 2014-04-07 20:36:03 GMT from Mexico)
I ran Puppy Slacko 5.6 for a time from a USB flash drive with no problems, meaning it's persistence capability is fully functional so all configuration changes, program additions and data were reliably saved to the USB flash drive and available after rebooting.
But as you suggested, I too considered it an excellent backup or secondary system and ran fuller OS's primarily from the computer's installed hard drives (a Lenovo ThinkPad W520).
18 • Trinity - Closest to KDE3 (by Bob on 2014-04-07 20:40:35 GMT from Austria)
TDE looks close to dormant.
19 • Wh1t3 C4t (by GNUday on 2014-04-07 20:52:40 GMT from Canada)
It's great to see youth involved in Linux, but if you go to their 'site' with NoScript and AdBlock enabled, allow the main site temporarily, you get a blank Wh1t3 page, kind of ironic, lol.
20 • @18 - Trinity status (by Uncle Slacky on 2014-04-07 21:53:55 GMT from France)
Well, there are still nightly builds being produced, though the last release was last July. Hard to improve on perfection, maybe?
21 • Slacko Puppy (by California Bob on 2014-04-07 22:48:45 GMT from United States)
Puppy is great for recovery or making an old PC speedy, but I also use it as my default OS for browsing, editing, etc. on my other PCs. I always load it into RAM from a USB flash with a "frugal (non) install" and it's much faster compared to any other OS, as well as much more secure, even though it defaults to root user. Slacko will run in 1GB of RAM but 2 or 4 GB lets you run WINE and your old Windows apps or even a VM (for any old-school "installed" OS you may still need to resort to from time to time.) Slax and Porteus can also be run from RAM and have a nice modular app scheme similar to Puppy's SFS files.
22 • Puppy Linuxes (by Mark Moon on 2014-04-07 23:02:39 GMT from United States)
Great review on Slacko puppy. I hoped you had tried the optins available for better security, though. The firewall option as well as the ability to run the internet programs as a restricted user were not mentioned. Was this an oversight or just space limitation? These 2 things make a more secure operation possible. I am not naive, however, and realize that these are not bullet proof. Show me something that is. As a hobbiest, I personally like the convenience of running root when I need to do something I can't yet do in my primary Linux (Solydx). Thank you, again for the review.
23 • Ubuntu 14.04 Mate (by fernbap on 2014-04-08 00:25:35 GMT from Portugal)
As the release of the new Ubuntu LTS approaches, i decided to install Xubuntu Beta 2 and add the Mate desktop environment 1.8, Compiz and Emerald, which will give me something close to the performance of the new Mint Mate LTS.
The result so far has been very good.
Many people here evoqued the "good times" of Ubuntu 10.4. Well, it was far from perfect and had a few issues, like a pulseaudio in its infancy.
In spite of being still beta and receiving updates on a daily basis, Ubuntu Mate has been performing very well, with a very good performance, fairly low RAM footprint and none of the issues 10.4 had.
I'm looking forward to the release of the new Ubuntu LTS and the few months after, when many distros nased on Ubuntu LTS will make new releases.
All i can say for now is that Ubuntu LTS and Mate 1.8 looks like a win.
24 • @18 Fedora 20 Trinity live ISO (by GNUday on 2014-04-08 00:59:05 GMT from Canada)
...found here: http://trinity.motivewellbeing.org/trinity/rpm/f20/ISO/
Tip: install the 'easylife' rpm for proprietary and codecs, etc.
25 • @18 and 20 (by Tony on 2014-04-08 01:06:39 GMT from Thailand)
@ 20 The latest nightly builds were from 22 March 2014.
They probably will appear again soon, as the interruption in builds was due to hardware failure of the cooling system
@18 : " TDE looks close to dormant "
Please look again,....on the right place this time :-)
26 • @24 (by Tony on 2014-04-08 01:12:48 GMT from Thailand)
This is 'fairly' old.
Better to look for an iso with " r14 " in the name.
You will find a well working beta on exeGNUlinux website.
note: testing and debugging will probably go on for another 2 to 3 months, for those who want to know.
27 • TDE downloads - beta (by Tony on 2014-04-08 01:35:57 GMT from Thailand)
for your convenience
http://trinity.motivewellbeing.org/cdimages/ubuntu/
http://exegnulinux.net/downloads/wheezy/tde-r14/
28 • @27 exe Wheezy = wrong kernel (by GNUday on 2014-04-08 02:33:25 GMT from Canada)
From the exe r14 package list:"linux-image-3.2.0-4-686-pae". Sorry bud, 64 bit or nothing. ;)
Posting this from FC20 Trinity live x86_64. Is it just me or does yumex suck or what? Much prefer the command line for yum, oddly enough I prefer Synaptic in my native Debian based SolydX install. I'm getting an odd error trying to open my NTFS HDD in FC20 Trinny, even though ntfs-3g is installed, "The option 'locale=en_US.UTF-8' is not allowed for uid=1000", hmmph. Kinda liking Trinity, it's a KDE lite blast from the past, complete with the old system sounds, brings back sweet memories, lol. :D
29 • TDE (by Jeff on 2014-04-08 03:24:30 GMT from United States)
Another option for a Debian TDE distro is Sparkylinux
http://sparkylinux.org/download/
It is at the bottom of the page.
Available in both i386 and amd64.
30 • PCLinuxOS 'unofficial' Trinity (by GNUday on 2014-04-08 05:18:16 GMT from Canada)
http://mirror.ntmm.org/trinity/trinity/rpm/pclinuxos/ISO/
More pretty and flashy (nice transparent panel, too wide out-of-the-box tough, good thing it's adjustable) than the FC20 Trinity, 2 downsides, way less available packages compared to FC20 (FC20=40Gs+, PCLin Trin=14Gs+) and like exeGNU, i686. Comes preloaded with tons of software though, it should, it's a 1.7GB download. It didn't correctly set up my HDMI 1920x1080 correctly either but that was quickly fixed.
31 • spam ads (by mr on 2014-04-08 07:38:58 GMT from Portugal)
Not good when ads here are potentially malicious, definetly misleading. On a site which champions on secure free operating systems and pc security.
32 • @4 Bugs happen (by Koroshiya Itchy on 2014-04-08 08:16:08 GMT from Belgium)
"First, you are installing a BETA. Bugs happen."
Yes, bugs happen and, if they do not have the time to fix them before the deadline, they will happen all the way from alpha to LTS release.
And that is the difference between Ubuntu and a serious operating system...
33 • @32 bugs @15 backup? (by greg on 2014-04-08 08:44:31 GMT from Slovenia)
@32 are you implying that on a most used PC system, (MS windows) all bugs are solved before the deadline? are you too young to remember XP bluescreening on a regular basis way after it's release?
@15 backup - for home backup that is really a descnt option. providing your home ("server room") doesn't get flooded, destroyed in a fire or some other smaller accident that owuld destroy the main data as well as backups.
businesses can't afford this so there are some backup guidelines for them. among one of themis that a backup should be kept at elast 50 km away from main data. so either setup your own server center offsite or pay someone to host data. to pay someone (rent space) that is already hosting data is cheaper. for example we still do it in the old paper way. we have two arhives. they are not so far away (about 5km). one is like a normal archive, the other one is a vault with fireproof doors etc. documents have to be kept for 10 years in case of any tax audits.we are now moving into digital backups. so we have one backup on main server and the rest are offsite at a company that specializes in backups.
34 • Ubuntu not up to expectation (by rahulkay on 2014-04-08 08:45:27 GMT from India)
Earlier I used t refrain from "UBUNTU" but after long gap I decided to give it a try.
First it didn't correctly evaluate my hard disk. By default it wanted to create an extended partition instead of 'primary' partition. After some fiddling I were able to create desired partitions(I had to boot from the cd & choose 'INstall Ubuntu' from menu rather installing from live boot didn't work).
After installation, I was confronted with almost 10yrs old bug. Even after giving the time zone 'It' expected my system was set to 'UTC' rather than local time. This resulted in showing time incorrectly. There is no option to correct the problem but only to set my system to 'UTC'! That's ridiculous because I have to boot to 'win7'.
This model of time setting is continued last 10yrs. WHY, when we have other flavors of 'linux' just easily settle with current time system.
Secondly, while playing any 'mp3', 'mpg' or any or any other contemporary media file results in error of no codec found. Here again most of the flavors like 'mint' support all the media types.
Why ubuntu is lagging behind? While other distros are advancing by leap & bounds.
I expected 'UBUNTU' to apt for 'flexibility' instead of 'stubbornness'.
35 • Ubu One (by reg on 2014-04-08 11:28:15 GMT from Brazil)
A pity, a very good service, even bought some MP3 from them.
But that's it, as mentioned above i too have a backup machine and usb drives.
You should always trust yourself after anyone.
36 • Ubu One (by reg on 2014-04-08 11:30:53 GMT from Brazil)
ops: "You should always trust yourself BEFORE anyone."
37 • @34 Ubuntu (by Kazlu on 2014-04-08 11:31:32 GMT from France)
Local time is not better than UTC, it's just the Windows way. And actually your problem is strange since every installation of Ubuntu I've processed set the time to local time. As did openSUSE, for that matter. The first distro I met that was set to UTC by default was Manjaro, which makes sense for a rolling release distro needing accurate timing, in which case UTC is better than local time.
Secondly, about codecs: if you read the instructions of the installer or the precisions from the Linux Mint website, you would know that codecs are non included in most major distributions because that would be illegal in some countries (like USA and Japan), where codecs are covered by patents. So yes, the main Linux Mint version is illegal in the USA and in Japan, that's why they have also compiled a codec free version of Linux Mint. Ubuntu has another method: in the installer, you may check a box to install Fluendo's codecs pulled from the Internet, an installation that will be processed after the distro itself is installed. That way, the *user* decides to install the codecs, which are *not included* in the distro itself, making the process of having the codecs in Ubuntu legal everywhere and still quite easy. If you missed that, either you did not read the text of the installer, or it's not included in the 14.04 installer (which I doubt since it has been for several past versions), but maybe it will when the actual 14.04 release will occur. I can't be sure since I did not try the last Ubuntu ISO, I fail to see why it would have been removed, but you never know.
If you want to test drive, don't use beta ISOs and wait for the actual release. Until then, no testdrive is relevant. And care reading the instructions of the installer, in your case that would solve your second problem.
38 • @34 Ubuntu expectations and reality (by DavidEF on 2014-04-08 13:46:00 GMT from United States)
If you missed the offer in the installer to include codecs for popular media types, then I guess you shouldn't be expected to find a way in the installer to change from UTC to local time either. Perhaps someone near you who is Linux literate can come over and help you get Ubuntu installed properly so you can test it?
Also, I hope you're not trying the 14.04 beta. Try a previous release, or wait until the 14.04 final release in a couple weeks, for the best results.
39 • #38 (by jaws222 on 2014-04-08 15:43:18 GMT from United States)
I put the 14.04 final beta in a virtualbox a week ago. I had an initial problem with the guest additions where it stubbornly wanted to keep my resolution at 640x480. After a few uninstall/reinstalls of the guest additions I finally got it to work and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I went away from Ubuntu in favor of Debian mostly because of Unity, but Unity has definitely improved. I still like Debian better, but the new Ubuntu is pretty damn good IMO.
40 • GnuPG key formats shown in Tips & Tricks are obsolete/deprecated (by Gort on 2014-04-08 22:59:51 GMT from Romania)
Gnu Privacy Guard
Key Generation
To use GPG to encrypt your communications, you need to create a key pair.
Launch your terminal and run the following command to get started:
$ gpg --gen-key
You will be prompted back with the following:
Please select what kind of key you want:
(1) DSA and Elgamal (default)
(2) DSA (sign only)
(5) RSA (sign only)
Your selection?
Select number 1, as it can be used for encryption and decryption, the second
and third choices are only allowed to sign messages. To do so, press the
number 1, and then press Enter.
You then will be prompted with the following:
1 DSA key-pair will have 1024 bits.
2 ELG-E keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
3 What key-size do you want? (2048)
Reading this, I am forced to wonder what version of GnuPG Mr. White is using. The key generation options listed above in the Tips and Tricks article do not conform with current standards, nor with currently available software (i.e. GnuPG 2.0.20 / 1.4.16)
If I recall correctly, the last version of GnuPG to feature DSS/Elgamal as default was 1.4.9, which dates from Spring 2008, some six years ago now. In the fall of 2009, the DSS/Elgamal key format was deprecated, being replaced with a dual-RSA key format. Furthermore, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) ordered that 1024-bit keys NOT be used after December 31st, 2010.
As the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) relies on 1024-bit keys as part of the standard, the DSS/DSA/Elgamal key format was also deprecated by NIST.
The current default key format is RSA/RSA, with a default size of 2048-bits each. The primary key is used solely for signing/certification, while the encryption sub-key is used solely for encryption.
Gort
41 • Wh1t3 C4t distro (by LinuxMint user on 2014-04-08 23:02:49 GMT from Poland)
I've just gone to the Wh1t3 C4t web site because I was intrigued by its name. The creators of the distro and the web page are only 14 years old! These boys are amazing. I'm definitely going to check that distro out if only for the fact that these boys need more support for the work they do.
42 • Puppy (by computergeek97308 on 2014-04-08 23:55:23 GMT from Mexico)
Puppy is my primary OS on a desktop that once ran Windows ME. I use it primarily for data recovery off old floppies and other menial tasks. Sadly Puppy stopped supporting wireless/wpa2 after version 4.3.1, so my quest for a linux version/distro compatible with my laptop's integrated video (and two different internal pci wifi cards) continues.
What really irritates me is that I had working wifi on 4.3.1 for several years in a dual boot 7/pup situation. After I upgraded the hard drive, upon reinstall the same version of Puppy was no longer compatible with wireless because some of the developer's as well as third party repositories had disappeared and I couldn't find the patches I needed.
:-( sad face.
43 • Puppy install (by David Poole on 2014-04-09 02:26:46 GMT from Australia)
75 year old, always looking for the easy way. From Puppy CD, make your new partition using the partitioner on disc.Do the install but don't do anything about a boot loader. Just reboot to your usual Linux,(usually Grub 2 loader) Open terminal. Type sudo update-grub .Press enter. close terminal, Reboot, choose to boot from list that now includes Puppy. DP
44 • @16 re. TDE (by Barnabyh on 2014-04-09 12:11:33 GMT from United Kingdom)
Hi Uncle, TDE is buggy on Slackware and Red Hat EL, not an option for the main desktop in Slax. It's better in EXE GNU/linux which is a nice distribution but I do not think the Slax man would want to go back or he would have already done so.
45 • @33 bugs (by Koroshiya Itchy on 2014-04-09 14:07:17 GMT from Belgium)
All software, as any man-made product, has bugs. That is not the point. When a professional-grade OS is released it is not bug-free and the developers are typically aware of the existence of several bugs. But, typically, these are just minor bugs. If a major bug is detected prior to the release date and it cannot be fixed on time, the release is postponed. Only hobbyist OS such as Ubuntu are released in spite of having known major bugs. "Known" is the key word.
46 • Puppy (by Woof Fan on 2014-04-09 17:25:27 GMT from United States)
I have used puppy over 4 years now. My office laptop is audited all the time. So I got an old 1 gig thumbdrive and installed puppy on it. After office work is over, Just reboot from the thumbdrive, have automount off and I'm free to browse, play and whatever without worries and like the article said at lighting speed. I'm glad puppy is still alive and barking !!!!!
47 • Linux Mint Rules! (by Penguinx64 on 2014-04-09 21:59:12 GMT from Netherlands)
I used to look at the Distrowatch website every day. I tried dozens of distros and burned even more CDs and DVDs. But, I always came back to Linux Mint. Linux Mint just works with no hassle 'out of the box'. Ubuntu and Fedora still need lots of tweaking after you install them. Other distros have problems with wifi and video drivers. No thanks! I still look at Distrowatch every now and then, but I haven't found any distro better than Linux Mint. The only other Distro I'd even consider is Lubuntu, because it still supports non-PAE kernels for older 32 bit hardware. Keep up the good work Clem and the Linux Mint Team!
48 • #47 (by zykoda on 2014-04-10 06:49:29 GMT from United Kingdom)
So many HPD can't be wrong. Easy install, good OOTB experience, maybe not the best overall performer with the lowest footprint, but with so little else to do , there is plenty of time to try competing distros. Still have mint 9 running alongside13 and 16.
as boot options with many other distros. I agree totally with you at present. Would be my choice to replace obsolescent XP. which I inherited on "scrap" machines.
49 • @47 Lubuntu non-PAE support (by Kazlu on 2014-04-10 07:27:07 GMT from France)
Just a note: Lubuntu 12.04 is the last release that ships with a non-PAE kernel. Good to know if you ever need that. After that it will be necessary to look for specific distros of something like Ubuntu minimal CD.
50 • @45 insects (by greg on 2014-04-10 09:40:09 GMT from Slovenia)
are you talking about LTS releases or other intermitent ones? LTS bug crushing basically starts a lot earlier and it doesn't seem like they have too many bugs left for this LTS.
what would be an example of a much less buggy system (that has all critical/major bugs patched) that is also up-to-date? LTS when they ocme out give you 2 years before you need to move to them. in two years even those major bugs that were left there after introduction will likely not be present anymore. probably a lot sooner.
MS just issued a patch fixing plenty of things in win8. for some those issues could be major (as in i am not buying that OS kind of thing) - for others - they didn't care about them. even the payed for OS get either get out with big bugs in them the difference is they are not known to general public before release (usually). or sometimes they are since MS now offers beta versions to get user feedback.
51 • Ultimate Edition (by Leo on 2014-04-10 12:23:35 GMT from United States)
Anybody else noticed the release notes of UE 3.9?
http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=08373
Basically, the mantainer is saying "I don't really have much time for this, let me get it out". Who could possibly use a distro like that? Interesting!
52 • @45, Impossible! (by Garon on 2014-04-10 12:25:39 GMT from United States)
The fact of the matter is when you put out an OS the performance of that OS will lots of times be determined by the hardware that it is installed on. Only an OS that is made for specific hardware can ALMOST be bug free, but even then some bugs will creep in. You're not an Apple man are you? :O
53 • Wh1t3 C4t (by RollMeAway on 2014-04-10 18:10:15 GMT from United States)
Wh1t3 C4t ... kind of rolls off the tongue and falls flat on the floor?
What distro do you use?
Oh, I love
bb1e3553-6298-4488-a688-fb6a6beb4815
it is the best.
What IS in a name?
Think about it !
54 • A Wh1t3 C4t by any other name... (by DavidEF on 2014-04-11 13:57:31 GMT from United States)
@53 RollMeAway,
I'm sure the Wh1t3 C4t name is a lot harder to type than it is to say - seeing as how it's probably pronounced "White Cat" by most people. And as such, it seems to also a be a play off of "Red Hat" Linux, which makes people think happy thoughts of enterprise grade Linux O/S. I think it's a little goofy, but not any more so than some of the others around here.
55 • Point Linux (by rwk on 2014-04-11 14:30:45 GMT from United States)
Try Point Linux.
After distro hopping for a few years I have found several distros that work pretty well for me with a minimum of issues such as Mint(s), Linux Lite. Lubuntu, Puppy, Bodhi, Antix & ....
But for several weeks now I have been using Point Linux and it is performing better for me than any other distro. I don't understand why it is not high up on the Distrowatch list.
R Kerns
56 • @55 Point Linux (by Kazlu on 2014-04-11 15:28:35 GMT from France)
Point Linux is fairly new in the distro landscape. It's community is still small and it has yet to be known by more GNU/Linux enthusiasts. You've got to give it time. The Point Linux team is composed of only 1 guy according to its website, maybe that's scaring some people. Although in practice, since it is basically Debian with MATE, the Debian and MATE teams could count as contributors to Point Linux... Another reason can be the documentation that is not so large and only in English, but again it is linked to the age and the size of the community of this project.
I don't use it personnally but I've only heard/read good from it. It seems to be of very high quality and I suppose it will rise in popularity as more and more people cross its way while distro hopping and find themselves comfortable with it, like you did. Out of curiosity, what makes you prefer Point Linux over Linux Lite for example, since the two seem to have similar objectives? Or over Linux Mint?
57 • @55 @56 (by jaws222 on 2014-04-11 16:26:12 GMT from United States)
"It's community is still small and it has yet to be known by more GNU/Linux enthusiasts. You've got to give it time. The Point Linux team is composed of only 1 guy according to its website, maybe that's scaring some people"
That could be it. I'm running Point (stable) on a partition and Point (Jessie) in a vbox and they are both rock solid. I'm a big Debian fan so I may be biased, but if you're looking for a good solid Debian distro that has a track record you could go with Crunchbang. Solydxk is another, but again it's fairly new.
58 • @51 yep... (by Jordan on 2014-04-11 19:28:49 GMT from United States)
..attitude.
I do recall trying out "Ultimate" a time or two when distro
hopping. Big ole heavy thing it was. Slow and goofy menus.
Etc.
Dev over his head? Heck I don't know, but he seems to
be saying something like that.
59 • torrent links (by John Cherry on 2014-04-12 05:50:02 GMT from Australia)
It seems to me that links to torrents for ISO files are becoming less common in Distrowatch
Is that right, or just my imagination?
60 • Linux torrents (by Somewhat Reticent on 2014-04-12 07:08:43 GMT from United States)
... are not always given by the distro devs; you might check http://LinuxTracker.org (or your favorite torrent site)
61 • @1 , Paraquat (by Fools Hunter on 2014-04-13 07:06:07 GMT from Mexico)
The epic fiasco is yours, NOT Ubuntu.
First, Installing any Operating System is a serious task, the very first step is reading the MANUAL/GUIDE.
In this case, you was tried to install a BETA, there is NOT a MANUAL, but you should have resorted to the previous manual:
https://help.ubuntu.com/13.10/installation-guide/
ALL installation Steps are described, inclusive the default's partitions scheming.
"I'm not sure if previous versions of Ubuntu had this bug"
Is not a BUG, and you can't compare BETAS with RELEASES, read, read, read the DOCS, please.
"but I would urge anyone to be very careful when installing Ubuntu 14.04."
Missing the term BETA, again, READ the DOCS.
62 • @57 -solid Debian distro (by Hoos on 2014-04-13 09:26:35 GMT from Singapore)
" I'm a big Debian fan so I may be biased, but if you're looking for a good solid Debian distro that has a track record you could go with Crunchbang. Solydxk is another, but again it's fairly new."
You can try MX-14 as well. It's a special edition of antiX with some Mepis influence, using Debian Stable and XFCE but with antiX and Mepis tools/utilities.
Fast, stable, efficient use of RAM (see this review for comparative RAM consumption of various XFCE distros, where MX14 does really well - http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.sg/2014/04/antix-mx-14-symbiosis-review-truly.html ).
In terms of track record, MX14 has the antiX developers and antiX/Mepis community behind it, the helpful and friendly Mepis forum, and the Mepis Community Repo for updated and requested packages.
63 • Betas and Solyd, etc. (by GNUday on 2014-04-13 11:27:24 GMT from Canada)
I agree with what you suggested, although, I had to switch back to Debian Jessie from SolydX because I have a dual SSD Raid 0, sadly, and like LMDE, it doesn't support Raid 0, which is weird because the SolydXK home editions are based on Jessie, the biz editions are based on Wheezy (just a general info tid bit for other people).
Ironically, Jessie, aka Debian testing, is beta, so I guess I'm a beta-head in a constant state of beta, lol. ;D
I did run SolydX for a while, I dismantled the Raid and had one SSD host root and the other host home, but sooner than later I got 'itchy feet', my machine should run the way I built it. I'm currently trying to find a way of layering SolydX on top of my current Debian Jessie Xfce, keep grub and the kernel intact.
64 • RTFM? Really? (by Fairly Reticent on 2014-04-13 12:20:57 GMT from United States)
Breaking a partition table is far too serious for a beta release; reminds me of the antics of corporate trolls.
Perhaps a link to the Full Manual should be obligatory?
65 • Torrents (by Landor on 2014-04-13 16:02:38 GMT from Canada)
I personally won't test or use a distribution that doesn't have a torrent option. A distribution I was a fan of stopped using them some time ago and I stopped using it.
Oh, and btw, it's good to see that Oracle's still producing their distribution regardless of Red Hat's attempts to block them.
Keep your stick on the ice...
Landor
66 • Re: 64 always use custom install (by hobbitland on 2014-04-14 08:33:22 GMT from United Kingdom)
You should always use custom install for any OS. Whether its Linux or Window.
I use gparted by hand to partition a ne PC and never re-partition ever again. I use Three partitions for OS. Also never upgrade a production OS as you cannot go back if its screwed up.
Best to test new distros in a VirtualBox. If it fails testing in VM it does not deserves to touch the physical hardware. Only production OS gets to touch my hard disks on my PCs.
Number of Comments: 66
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 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 |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • 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 | 
eduKnoppix
eduKnoppix was an Italian educational distribution based on Knoppix, designed especially for teachers and pupils (age 12 up). eduKnoppix has two major features: it comes with a comprehensive range of various Mathematics packages, as well as resources to obtain the European Computer Driver's License ONLY with free software.
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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
0x969CD4E778C7b6549A2B00e34114e0168c86A542 
