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1 • Debian 8.0 EFI support? (by Brad on 2015-04-27 00:37:51 GMT from North America)
Just installed this on an old i386 laptop. It works very well, although I was surprised by the installation message informing me that the software had detected an EFI environment. I'm quite sure one does not exist for this laptop (Compaq nc6120). In any case, I let the installer do as it wished, and the install completed without issue. The laptop is very responsive, and I think I'll stick with this environment for a while.
2 • Debian 8 (by cykodrone on 2015-04-27 02:36:29 GMT from North America)
I have to admit I'm very tempted to download the netinst and try this...
http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/How_to_remove_systemd_from_a_Debian_jessie/sid_installation
...but all my USB sticks are 'busy' and I'm down to only one blank DVD (I may need it for something more important). Not only that, my spare SSD now has a slim install of Xubuntu 14.04.2 LTS stripped of Ubuntu's spyware (Ubuntu Mini CD install). To be a guinea pig or not to be a guinea pig, that is the question. Even if I do do this, I shouldn't have to surgically replace the init, it *should* be an install option, before the user picks the DE. I guess the little ginger cowgirl will just have to wait until I feel like it, sorry Jessie.
3 • @2: Make A Backup, Then Experiment On Live Install (by Serge on 2015-04-27 03:17:29 GMT from North America)
Hi cykodrone,
Do you have an existing Debian install somewhere already? I have a suggestion: make a backup of the file system, upgrade to Jessie, and then experiment away with no remorse. When you're done, restore the machine back to the way it was from the backup.
4 • Debian 8 Maté vs Cinnamon (by Somewhat Reticent on 2015-04-27 06:16:22 GMT from North America)
I can echo 'cykodrone' to a degree: I tried these two DEs Live on an old Intel box. For me, with Maté, testing HDMI sound circuits failed, even though system sounds worked. With Cinnamon, HDMI sound settings worked - and an icon labelled "Install Debian Sid" was on the 'desktop', which suggests minimized (non-critical, ignore) QA. I am reminded of the reason I prefer pulseaudio - heaps of confusion sabotage ALSA documentation, and I have yet to see a working GUI for its settings.
But surely it isn't major "surgery" to opt for a non-default init-daemon or process-manager?
5 • @2 No need of USB/DVD to install Debian (by bobzr on 2015-04-27 07:23:07 GMT from Europe)
I also like to test a lot of distros. Many of them have live CDs images (ISOs files) that can boot straight from grub2. It's just a matter of adding some lines to the /etc/grub.d/40_custom file and then update grub. You'll have them listed in the grub menu, load them to RAM and you have a live system up & running without using any USB stick or CD. You can install if you unmount the partition where the iso file is stored.
6 • @5 No need of USB/DVD to install Debian (by condor from Europe on 2015-04-27 08:34:29 GMT from Europe)
Excellent idea! Could you be more specific about the line/lines from /etc/grub.d/40_custom file ? Many thanks!
7 • how to boot iso from grub (by forlin on 2015-04-27 10:03:56 GMT from Europe)
http://www.howtogeek.com/196933/how-to-boot-linux-iso-images-directly-from-your-hard-drive/
8 • Vivid Kubuntu and Xubuntu (by jg on 2015-04-27 10:43:23 GMT from Europe)
I decided to be a guinea pig and installed first Kubuntu vivid. After a couple of hours I decided to wipe it out. It was like using an amateur student programmer work for perhaps an exam. There were fonts of uncoordinated size and type, cryptic icons of dubious style in all uncoordinated sizes and several color themes instead of one. Solution = make a fundraiser (I'll chip in 5$) and hire a professional to do it. Many applications would not work or work improperly, this was really an unpleasant surprise. One thing - the system was snappy - this one was a real positive thing. But this is still just a work in progress. So next come Xubuntu. All perfect for the first 3 days and then, the system starts to fail to mount partitions first from sdb, then randomly from sda. User permissions conflicts start to appear at random, then some launchers on the desktop stop working. Finally, the main boot option - Xubuntu with system.d would boot no more. Thanks to Distrowatch I found the upstart option - it works, hurrah, a miracle indeed. Just as a side note - Xubuntu Vivid boot times - with system.d - 27 sec., with upstart - 6 sec. This is what we call the advantage of system.d over other legacy init systems, as documented by my latest experience. "Quicker boot times and greater system stability". Indeed, you may count my experience as testimony that system.d, while brilliant in design, is creating problems where there were none. If you were running a nuclear power station, managed transportation vehicles, satellites or anything of use, would you use a system which more like windowz or Unix? I think Red Hat is going to see itself in big trouble, as customers will start questioning the sanity of its choices.
9 • Ubuntu review (by Jeff on 2015-04-27 11:08:42 GMT from Europe)
Thanks for an excellent Ubuntu review. I have one suggestion: since the positioning of menus was new, I'd like to see that in a screenshot. An old/new comparison would even be better.
Also a question, does Unity allow discovery of applications without having to think up a name of what you are looking for? It's just that I don't even know that something exists to even search for it, that I might like. I like to discover things by looking through menus/icons/categories.
10 • Kubuntu 15.04 Gorgeus!!! (by Ari Torres on 2015-04-27 11:11:49 GMT from North America)
I have never been a big fan of KDE always sticking with the big players,Ubuntu-Unity,Ubuntu-Mate,LinuxMint-Mate but after these waves of new releases a downloaded Kubuntu and went for a live boot on my desktop,nah! it was ok BUT and yes BUT and later on decided to try Kubuntu on my little ASUS X200CA laptop with a 64GB SSD and 4GB DDR3 and boy was I in shock!!! Kubuntu 15.04 Plasma 5 it absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! no other words and everything worked right out of the box,no errors just AMAZING!!! the eye candy effects,the glide,the air look,glass look I am using Kubuntu more and more everyday now.
Good job Kubuntu team,Kudos!!!
11 • Unity applications (by Jesse on 2015-04-27 12:15:19 GMT from North America)
@9: Yes, with Unity you can browse through applications just like you can with any other application menu. Click the dash icon and then click the application buttion. All installed desktop software is listed. You can filter it by category too.
12 • Debian 8.0 (by Rick on 2015-04-27 13:37:11 GMT from Planet Mars)
With the release of Debian 8.0 and live images again, I gave it a try. Alas, it still would not recognize my wireless setup. I tried to configure it but the screen froze and I simply had to shutdown. The same thing happened with Debian 7.0. In this age of very user friendly distros, Debian still continues to be difficult to use. As such, I will stick with Linux Mint.
13 • Kubuntu 15.04 (by kc1di on 2015-04-27 13:54:24 GMT from North America)
@ 10 I too love the look and feel of Kubuntu 15.04. it's working real well on my laptop but have been unable to get it going on my desktop machine (Nvidia drivers not working yet. ) anyway I concur with you that it's a very good release.
14 • Antergos Review (by Marco on 2015-04-27 14:37:36 GMT from Europe)
When shall we have a review of Antergos distribution on this site?
I am unable to sucessfully install from the live CD but i love the concept behind this distro: users can decide which desktop and packages to include in the system at installation-time.
15 • Debian 8.0 in Mars (by Uncle Martin on 2015-04-27 15:01:32 GMT from South America)
@12: Ask to Curiosity the driver for your laptop.
16 • comment # 12 (by Brad on 2015-04-27 15:34:20 GMT from North America)
FWIW, wireless never works out-of-the-box for me on Debian; however, it usually doesn't take too long to find the correct firmware package and install it. Google is your friend here.
17 • search vs select (by M.Z. on 2015-04-27 16:24:54 GMT from Planet Mars)
@9
All the times I've played with Unity versions of Ubuntu I came away with the conclusion that while menu based selection was possible, it was rather messy in Unity. I think that this is also a weakness in the default KDE kickoff menu, but there is more clicking & hunting in Unity's Dash than most other GUI driven menus. I do think Gnome 2 is worse in this regard, but Unity comes in second for most inefficient menu design. Personally I think the Dash GUI was made defective by design so Canonical could rake in more search money by getting users to rely on search almost exclusively while sending related data to third parties; however, their Dash search privacy issues have made me a cynic about all things Canonical.
18 • Debian 8 and wireless (by Ralph on 2015-04-27 17:11:20 GMT from North America)
@12, 16 - if your wireless works with Mint but not Debian (out-of-the-box) chances are all you need to do is enable the non-free repo on Debian and the requisite firmware will be there. There is a firmware package called 'firmware-linux' which is a metapackage that includes most non-free firmware. Or you can install just the package for your specific wireless by locating it on Debian's website package search and typing in 'firmware'.
19 • Antergos (by Jesse on 2015-04-27 19:32:17 GMT from North America)
@14: We reviewed Antergos here last year. http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20140721#feature
20 • Ubuntu (by silent on 2015-04-27 20:04:15 GMT from Europe)
My first experience after upgrade from Utopic to Vivid was that Synaptic has rejected to run because of unavailable default Utopic repositories. However, the APT configuration files were correct. After some websearch I could find that a line in the synaptic config file in 'root' should be modified. It was a rather unfortunate bug: although I generally only use apt-get, but right after an upgrade synaptic is useful.
Another strange point was that unity-tweak-tool was missing something. After some search I have found the missing package. But it would have been more than 50MB download just for tweaking. I mean that a lightweight fully functional WM is less than 1MB with completely customizable and transparent text configuration files.
21 • grub ISO booting and DW reviews (by cykodrone on 2015-04-27 20:10:55 GMT from North America)
Re: grub ISO booting, thank you all for your suggestions, you're very kind, great info. :)
@14 DW reviews are listed in the reviews section of each distro's page on this site as themselves ('DistroWatch'), just below the description/introduction section (scroll down a bit). I read a lot of reviews, that is why I know this. ;)
22 • Debian 8 Live CD / Installers with non-free drivers (by Freddy on 2015-04-27 20:41:44 GMT from Europe)
if you would like to install Debian Jessie with working Intel WLAN drivers out of the box just use the unofficial Live CDs:
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/8.0.0-live+nonfree/amd64/iso-hybrid/
23 • GrUB4dOS ISO booting (by Somewhat Reticent on 2015-04-27 21:19:30 GMT from North America)
Another choice/option: http://rmprepusb.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/linux-script-to-install-easy2boot-to.html
allows multiple ISOs on one stick (space permitting, of course!)
Still handy for demo of multiple DEs, architectures, toolsets, distros, etc.
24 • This and that (by eco2geek on 2015-04-27 22:55:30 GMT from North America)
@2 wrote:
> a slim install of Xubuntu 14.04.2 LTS stripped of Ubuntu's
> spyware
What "Ubuntu spyware" is in Xubuntu?
@9 - You can install an "application indicator" named ClassicMenu Indicator, that puts a GNOME2-style hierarchical menu in the top bar of your Unity desktop. It's in the repositories, or you can download it from the author's web site:
http://www.florian-diesch.de/software/classicmenu-indicator/
Re: changing font sizes in Chapeau:
The Chapeau review complained about its using small font sizes. Probably the best way to change this is to use "gnome-tweak-tool". You can set the fonts used in the UI, their sizes, the hinting, etc. (along with a whole lot of other things). Many GNOME-based distros come with it pre-installed.
25 • @2 easily booting ISOs (by just Bob on 2015-04-28 02:08:36 GMT from North America)
You could also simply try grub-imageboot (a standard package)
Once installed, it lets boot ISO files by just putting them in /boot/images/
then run update-grub2
Another great solution (for USB, already mentioned above) www.easy2boot.com
26 • Booting image: RAM=ISO+OS (by Somewhat Reticent on 2015-04-28 02:27:30 GMT from North America)
Some methods require enough RAM to hold the entire image, plus enough to run the distro … sometimes this is not optimal.
27 • Worrying Package Management on Fedora (by Richard on 2015-04-28 07:16:31 GMT from Europe)
Am I the only one worried about naming the new Fedora package manager DNF, which I've always known from sporting events as standing for Did Not Finish?
# dnf install Shiney-New-Kernel
# Progress...10%...20%...30%..
# Error! dnf DNF!
28 • DNF, Kubuntu (by Johannes on 2015-04-28 10:57:24 GMT from Europe)
@ Richard on Fedora's 'DNF': as non-native speaker such mistakes are really difficult to avoid - in an international team probably no one did realize what DNF could mean. It remembers me the German city of Mannheim, near the frontier to France, which renamed its Opera 'NTM'. Fine for Germans, but it is so gross in French that I can't even mention it here.
Anyway, who cares about a bad name when the software works well enough?
29 • @27 Worrying Package Management on Fedora (by far2fish on 2015-04-28 12:02:16 GMT from Europe)
@27 Am I the only one worried about naming the new Fedora package manager DNF, which I've always known from sporting events as standing for Did Not Finish?
No, that was my first thought as well. And the first time I ran dnf, I was also behind a proxy that required authentication, so dnf timed out :)
(yum had of course the same problem)
30 • Kubuntu 15.04 (by Bernard Victor on 2015-04-28 16:44:10 GMT from Europe)
Why use Kubuntu when you get the same thing from Netrunner plus more applications. Rocksteady and beautiful.
31 • Re: Linux spyware (by cykodrone on 2015-04-28 16:57:39 GMT from North America)
Are you denying a certain distro is purposely writing many packages in to their default installs that 'phone home' to their and other corporate servers? I keep up with tech news and pick everything apart on my own machine just to see for myself, and sadly, it's true. Xuspyware removed, replaced with Salix 14.1 MATE. Salix is still very pure, ZERO traces of a certain unnamed init, Salix and Slackware should be worshipped like gods.
32 • Desktop Debian 8 without *any* systemd (by solt87 on 2015-04-28 17:21:47 GMT from North America)
Up until now, I didn't know how to replace Jessie's systemd with sysvinit *while* keeping my LXDE desktop. Now I found a solution.
1. Install Jessie as you would do normally.
2. Install sysvinit and purge systemd as per http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/How_to_remove_systemd_from_a_Debian_jessie/sid_installation
3. Add the "angband" repo as per http://lkcl.net/reports/removing_systemd_from_debian/
gpg signing key here: http://angband.pl/deb/archive.html
4. Do an apt-get update and upgrade
5. Check for any systemd leftovers (dpkg --get-selections | grep systemd), and purge them. (I had to purge libsystemd0 this way.)
It works for me on my LXDE desktop machine, I trust it may work for other non-Gnome DEs/wms too.
33 • DNF (by BlueJayofEvil on 2015-04-28 21:32:18 GMT from North America)
As a long time gamer, DNF will always be synonymous to me as "Duke Nukem Forever".
34 • DNF, APT, & RPM (by M.Z. on 2015-04-29 03:59:23 GMT from Planet Mars)
I've seen DNF fairly often at sports car races & in other auto racing. A fair amount of vehicles will DNF at say the 24 hours of Daytona or the other big 24 hour race held at Le Mans. Then again according to my dad APT is for programming at machine shops rather than managing Linux packages, and he is right it was associated with parts manufacturing long before Linux even existed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT_%28programming_language%29
Of course we all know that 99% of everyone associates RPMs with rotations rather than Red Hat family distros. I think most acronyms are probably used in at least two if not a dozen totally unrelated places, so I don't really see anything new here. In fact if you check acronymfinder.com all three Linux package management terms are associated with dozens of different things.
There are 30 different meanings for DNF:
http://www.acronymfinder.com/DNF.html
89 for RPM:
http://www.acronymfinder.com/RPM.html
and 110 for APT:
http://www.acronymfinder.com/APT.html
The only real surprise for an acronym would be to find one that's truly novel & unused elsewhere. Anyone who does any digging into such terms would likely realize how common acronyms are rather than make spurious associations.
35 • April releases (by forlin on 2015-04-29 04:56:44 GMT from Europe)
As usual, April was a month of great releases, this time with the added bonus of Debian.8.0. Sometimes a look into the DW's PHR disclose the rising stars and give an idea about user curiosity on new launches, in this case if using 7 day data span. It's what I did right now and found a massive number of hits in the top 10 with *buntu adding 5700+. This is very good. Not to Linux, because Linux was/will always be fantastic. It's good for the regular computer user, because more and more people are now finding what's better for them to use. Regarding Ubunto, though many criticism all over the world is still the preferred distro.
36 • Zen_in_the_art_of_ArchLinux (by k on 2015-04-29 09:30:10 GMT from Europe)
Many like Debian, and Tails, for fine and free qualities, security and privacy, Ubuntu for some of same and customization, so how about trying the one that offers all those attributes, with steep Zen 'learning curve', ArchLinux. Remember Dennis Brown's wisdom, "take it easy, take it slow, just enough now, just enough". :)
37 • DNF (by Anglican on 2015-04-29 09:33:47 GMT from Europe)
From Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit":
DNF = Do Not Forget
38 • Chromixium? (by frank on 2015-04-29 17:21:45 GMT from North America)
"Announced" on the distrowatch homepage. I've never seen it listed on the "waiting list". Somebody paid to jump the line and get immediate exposure on distrowatch?
39 • Chromixium (by RichJack on 2015-04-29 21:32:07 GMT from Europe)
@38 I actually submitted my distro back in November when Chromixium was still in testing stage. There was no queue jumping or money changing hands. I was pleasantly surprised to be listed so soon after releasing the stable version.
See http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20141124#waiting
Anyway, thanks Distrowatch for listing Chromixium it's much appreciated :)
40 • Chromixium (by forlin on 2015-04-29 22:17:37 GMT from Europe)
Good note, RichJack. I've been following DW since a few years and learned by myself and others long before me, that Distro entrance in DW is about merit, nothing else. As DW is weekly, I guess it would no be fair to drop the announcement of a new release of a new Distro due to a mere timing issue. That said thanks both, for the opportunity to bring fore and test a relative novelty (Chrome based) in distroland.
41 • Ubuntu MATE (by Tim Dowd on 2015-04-30 11:55:24 GMT from Planet Mars)
I'm a bit religious about keeping old hardware going and out of a landfill, and I'm so excited about Ubuntu MATE 15.04. My two old Pentium 4s are running quickly and so far bug-free in one of the best looking desktop environments I've seen in years. The default software is well curated, the customization to the vanilla MATE desktop improves efficiency, and I think it's a distro you can just give to someone who wants to "try Linux" that will keep them using it. Great Job, Ubuntu MATE team.
42 • MATE (by M.Z. on 2015-04-30 18:31:24 GMT from Planet Mars)
@41
The Mate DE has been available in Mint for the past three years or so & I think LMDE 2 Mate seems like a perfectly decent choice for a semi-light distro. Sorry to be negative but I really don't see what any Ubuntu respin brings to the table at this point besides mistrust & the fear of spyware. Canonical have just been far too underhanded toward users for me to use anything released under the Ubuntu label, at least not until all privacy concerns are remedied. There are also plenty of other Distros like Mint & PCLOS, and if the DW search filter is to be believed over two dozen others that ship Mate versions, so why use an untrustworthy Distro vendor when there are so many good choices out there?
43 • Not all Martians wear blinders (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2015-04-30 20:54:10 GMT from North America)
Even a sociopathic purely-proprietary distro can be brought to heel and trained (usually when the would-be master is trained in tandem); even a distro that proclaims great virtues has its seamy underbelly. If you choose to see only the unattractive aspects, you miss the rest - persist in that practice, and eventually you see nothing good anywhere, become depressed, lose hope, and despair.
Open your mind; just make sure you don't let your brains fall out…
44 • please be specific about privacy concerns (by Tim Dowd on 2015-04-30 22:35:52 GMT from North America)
@42
Correct me if I'm wrong about this, but the only privacy concerns I've ever heard with regards to Ubuntu are from the unity 7 dashboard searches. As Ubuntu MATE by definition doesn't use Unity, I don't see how it can be considered tainted. Are there other concerns? I tend to agree with the criticism of the Amazon searches, but I don't think that smears the entire Ubuntu family tree.
45 • Privacy Concerns (by Chris on 2015-05-01 01:15:39 GMT from North America)
@44 Even if Ubuntu hasn't infected with spyware its entire product family YET, they have shown that they are willing to do so. 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.'
Ubuntu's amends, you can now opt-out of their spyware instead of opting into it... Gee, thanks Canonical.
There are too many quality, ethical, distros today to tolerate such behavior. As such, I now avoid all Ubuntu distros, even independent respins (e.g. Linux Mint (not LMDE), Linux Lite, etc.). And I love what Linux Lite is doing, but I won't risk upstream spyware.
YMMV
46 • Privacy (by M.Z. on 2015-05-01 01:54:38 GMT from Planet Mars)
@45
I agree with much of what you said wholeheartedly; however, I don't really think that Mint should be defacto grouped in with any of the Ubuntu family distros. If anything the Ubuntu based versions of Mint provide an outside auditor who is far more trustworthy & could potentially point out a privacy breach deeper in the Distro if one were to exist. That being said I can respect wanting to avoid the entire Ubuntu family tree, even if I personally draw the line at direct members of the Ubuntu family. Canonical has done too much to destroy trust & privacy rights for me to use anything with the label Ubuntu, but I have a fair degree of trust in Mint & their intentions. I also think that given the blow back against Canonical over the _relatively_ benign spyware in Unity they would not be likely to put anything deeper into the Ubuntu base. Of course trusting a distro vendor or even their base product is a personal decision. I personally will treat anything with the Ubuntu label as toxic until I'm confident that their behaviour has changed, though I won't treat Mint as guilty by association unless I see a compelling reason to distrust the Ubuntu base.
47 • Privacy Concerns 2 (by Chris on 2015-05-01 03:14:14 GMT from North America)
@46 Thank you for the feedback. The third-party audit function is an excellent point; however, such requires one: 1. Trust the third-party; 2. Know that the third-party has the time/resources to adequately investigate any upstream spyware infestation; and 3. Know the third-party can fully purge any upstream spyware infestation.
Many Ubuntu respin distros, such as but not limited to Linux Mint and Linux Lite, likely meet requirement numbers one and two listed above (I know via Linux Lite forum discussions that the removal of Ubuntu's known spyware (zeitgeist and Firefox extensions) is attempted). However, due to various software dependencies (see gedit, etc.), small parts of Ubuntu's zeitgeist remain as requirements or are introduced by users adding common apps, and every user update of Firefox from Ubuntu's repositories reintroduces Ubuntu's browser extension which must be manually purged each time by the user. While an Ubuntu respin could use a different repository to provide a clean Firefox, Ubuntu's zeitgeist cannot be completely eradicated or avoided while being based upon Ubuntu. Therefore, condition number three listed above is practically impossible even for the most diligent of Ubuntu respins.
Ultimately, it comes down to each individual's or organization's level of trust. A trust hopefully rooted in knowledge over hope.
48 • Privacy (by M.Z. on 2015-05-02 21:53:15 GMT from Planet Mars)
@47
After checking though most of the stuff you mentioned on my Mint systems I only found one minor annoyance. A single library related to zeitgeist is present on Mint 17.1 Cinnamon, while the 17.1 KDE & LMDE 2 versions of Mint seem to not have any of the software you mentioned. It's really only a single library & not all of zeitgeist & I believe its related to the Gnome media player Totem & allowing media playback on Firefox. I never particularly liked the 'recent documents' functions built into most desktops I've used since some old version of windows started doing it long ago, & I think recent applications is nearly pointless. That being said I'm no too worried about one annoying internal software usage monitoring package on my system especially since the rest of zeitgeist is listed as uninstalled by Synaptic.
I've been running Mint 17.x on the same since it came out & nothing ominous has spread, so I'm still not worried about it even if Ubuntu is a bad actor upstream of Mint. I'm also fairly confident that zeitgeist is just giving those still using Gnome a little bit more convince in their odd ball DE & giving Unity users the same, though I wouldn't put bad use of the software past Canonical. I suppose giving up on privacy all goes back to the words of The Dead Kennedys "give me convince or give me death", though they weren't being serious when they said it. I guess Ubuntu users have simply taken that notion to heart.
49 • 48 • "Hardcore Punk" quote (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2015-05-03 06:36:50 GMT from North America)
"Give Me Liberty\\\\\\\Convenience or Give Me Death" was indeed intended as parody (of a line from a speech given by a legislator from the first colony of the British Empire) suggesting consumerism displacing patriotism. The reference is an apt application of such satire, however crass.
I was born before suitable devices were available for people dependent on them for smart began appearing in the gene-pool, though I suspect the gene involved was rampant before technology began to accommodate those affected. I don't know whether this is a beneficial mutation, but it does seem to be associated with privilege or artistic talent.
I would expect any normal business to be unabashedly sociopathic (amoral) in separating such individuals from their funding. I would be concerned if government allowed excesses in such practice, or if they failed to confine the same to those particular persons.
Certain OS+DE versions may be aimed primarily toward that demographic, and understandably so. I suggest Truth-in-Labeling laws should provide sufficient notification to allow the rest of us to keep a safe distance, but should not be required to prevent intended customers from happily enjoying their services. Such labels should not be over-generously applied to other versions, DEs, OSs, remixes, spins or derivatives, of course. (TL;DR?)
50 • Privacy Concerns 3 (by Chris on 2015-05-03 18:20:45 GMT from North America)
@48 As previously noted, I have no doubt that Linux Mint and other quality Ubuntu respins do their best to eliminate/reduce Ubuntu's 'convenience' spyware (I appreciate The Dead Kennedys quote), but questionable upstream dependencies tie their hands. Mint Cinnamon 17.1 stock shows such with the single lib noted. Mint KDE 17.1 stock obviously avoids it based upon default app choices, but beware any dependencys of newly added apps. LMDE, being based on Debian, avoids it and therefore would be my choice of Mint distros (YMMV).
BTW, make sure to check your Ubuntu respin's browser addons. It has been quite awhile since I ran Mint, etc. and things may have changed, but 'Ubuntu's Appearance' addon is nothing but their tie to various search engine's for revenue, etc. It can be disabled/removed if you choose.
@49 Ubuntu certainly is a useful addition to the Linux community, if for no other reason than their product's 'convenience' to new Linux users. I agree with your Truth-in-Labeling proposition, but would also like to see an Opt-In philosophy (e.g., Debian's Popularity Contest) and better dependency limitations (but such a discussion is a bigger can of worms).
51 • Ubuntu/privacy (by Dave Postles on 2015-05-03 18:52:21 GMT from Europe)
I expect that I should post this on the Trisquel forum, but does anyone know whether Trisquel strips out all the Ubuntu spyware (as a proprietary add-in)? It would be an issue for FSF.
52 • Ubuntu Privacy (by Chris on 2015-05-03 23:06:26 GMT from North America)
@51 I have never tested Trisquel, but as an Ubuntu respin it is possible such spyware is lurking in the repos. Easy way to know, start Trisquel, fire up the package manager, and search for 'zeitgeist'. That should tell you if it is installed by default, not installed but in the repos, or clean of zeitgeist. Be sure to also check the browser addons as discussed above.
BTW, Richard Stallman commented on this a couple of years ago... https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do and https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.html
Number of Comments: 52
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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.
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| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • 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.
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| Random Distribution | 
YES Linux
YES Linux was an idea started by Arthur Copeland, CEO of Saphari.com. The idea was to build a low cost suite of products and services that could enable a Mom and Pop Store (MaPs) to quickly and easily build an internet presence. It was understood that not all MaPs need to have an internet presence, thus the suite would also have to work while not being connected to the internet. To the MaPs, it should be transparent. Thus, YourESale was born... and the rest was history. MaPs - MaPs are defined as companies that have between 1 and 20 employees or total gross revenue of less than $200,000.00 per year.
Status: Discontinued
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| 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.
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