 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 610, 18 May 2015 |
Welcome to this year's 20th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Much of the Internet runs on Linux. We're not just talking about the multitude of desktop computers and Android devices, but the millions of servers running various Linux distributions. This week we turn our focus to stable, server oriented distributions and their practises. We begin with a review of NethServer, a CentOS-based distribution that tries to make setting up and managing a server easier for system administrators. In our News sections we share an interview with Neil McGovern, the new Debian Project Leader, in which McGovern talks about how Debian is run, his role within the project and Debian's place in the Linux ecosystem. CentOS, another popular server distribution, has announced support for the 64-bit ARM architecture. We also report on Ubuntu maintaining unsupported versions of the Linux kernel, Fedora donating developer time to Mozilla and a Cinnamon spin of Fedora planned for later this year. Plus we say a fond farewell to Foresight Linux. Few licenses are more misunderstood than the GNU General Public License (GPL) and this week's Myths and Misunderstandings column discusses some of the finer points of the GPL. Then we provide a list of the distribution torrents we are seeding in our Torrent Corner and we share a list of the distributions released over the past week. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Server administration made easier with NethServer 6.6
NethServer is a Linux distribution based on the CentOS operating system. NethServer offers system administrators a "powerful web interface that simplifies common administration tasks, very easy/fast installation and a lot of pre-configured modules installable with a single click." The NethServer project provides service modules and web-based management tools for working with these modules. NethServer is available for the 64-bit x86 architecture exclusively and the ISO image for this distribution is 455MB in size.
Booting from the distribution's installation media brings up a menu. From the menu we can select whether we wish to perform an interactive installation or an unattended installation. We can also choose to perform a basic installation of CentOS, plus there are options for launching a rescue mode or opening a simple hardware browser. I decided to launch NethServer's interactive installer.
NethServer has a text-based system installer that walks us through a small number of steps. First, we are asked if we wish the installer to display prompts in English or Italian. Next, we are asked to configure the network interface and here we can mostly take default settings. Then we are shown the distribution's default password for the root account. The installer then lets us know it plans to wipe the computer's main hard drive and, once we confirm we are okay with this action, the system installer switches from a text console to a graphical interface. We can then watch a progress bar march across the screen as the installer copies its files and configures the operating system. The system installer sets up a LVM volume for us, formatted with the ext4 file system. It also creates swap space for us and a /boot partition formatted with the ext3 file system. When the system installer completes its tasks the computer automatically reboots.
NethServer boots to a text console where we are shown a login prompt. We can sign into the root (administrator) account using the password provided by the system installer. Exploring the operating system I found NethServer used approximately 700MB of hard drive space for its main partition. A little additional space was consumed for swap space and the /boot partition. While logged into the terminal NethServer used 114MB of RAM. Later I found the distribution would use approximately 190MB of memory when logged into the web-based interface and running the default services. From the terminal we have access to GNU's userland utilities and manual pages. There is no compiler present. In the background we find the Linux kernel, version 2.6.32. NethServer runs a few network services, including the OpenSSH secure shell service and the Postfix mail server.
NethServer 6.6 -- Status information from the dashboard
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At this point I was not sure what other services or utilities might be available to me and I found it useful to skim through a copy of the distribution's documentation. Through the documentation I learned we can access NethServer's web interface using a web browser and accessing the server on port 980. I found the distribution's web interface would only respond to HTTPS connections, insecure HTTP connections were rejected. Using our web browser we can log into NethServer's web interface using the account "root" and the password provided by the system installer. The first time we access the web interface we are walked through an initial configuration wizard. We are asked to set a new password for the root account, name our server and select our time zone from a list. We are then asked if we would like to change which port the secure shell server listens on for connections. The last screen asks if we would like to send usage data to the NethServer project.
After the initial configuration steps have been completed we are presented with the web interface's dashboard. The dashboard provides a general overview of the operating system, displaying disk usage, memory consumption and uptime. On the left side of the screen we find buttons for bringing up information and configuration pages. Each page typically has a simple layout and a nice, clean design. Some pages have multiple tabs for accessing further information or configuration options, but I found most pages just have one tab, simplifying navigation.
Let's take a quick look at the information and configuration pages available to us. One page acts as a log viewer. It displays a list of system logs and we can click on a log to see its contents. We can also search for text contained in any of our log files, making it much easier to find information we need. Another page in the web interface handles powering off or rebooting the operating system.
NethServer 6.6 -- Managing software modules
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One page contains the Software Centre and we find the Software Centre is divided into three tabs. In the first tab we can browse through modules the NethServer project provides. These modules offer the administrator backup solutions, install-and-go web server configurations, a FTP server, mail services and security features. We can click a box next to modules we wish to install and then download the items with a single button click. The second tab shows modules which have already been installed and we can use this second tab to remove installed modules. The third tab shows any available updates to low level software packages on the system. Clicking a button causes all available updates to be downloaded and installed. There does not appear to be any way to select specific packages to be upgraded while others are held back. I experimented with installing a handful of modules and installed all software upgrades. In both cases the Software Centre worked well for me.
One page in the admin interface shows us network services that are currently running. By default NethServer runs a fairly minimum configuration with just a secure shell, network time service and the web administration portal enabled. Another page of the web interface allows us to set white/black lists, indicating which remote computers can connect to our services.
Another page of the interface deals with OpenSSH settings and security. From this page we can change the network port OpenSSH listens on for new connections. We can also toggle whether to allow the root user to login from remote hosts and whether to enable password authentication when users login from remote locations.
NethServer 6.6 -- Securing the OpenSSH service
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I found a page which allows us to enable DNS servers. Through the web interface we can list up to two DNS servers NethServer will talk to for IP address resolution. We can also associate host names with IP addresses, short-cutting DNS look-ups. I found the web interface would only allow me to supply fully qualified domain names when matching a host to an IP address. In other words, "distrowatch.com" is seen as a valid host name while "backuppc" is not.
Other pages allow us to set the computer's clock, enable network time synchronization and change our network interface settings. Another page lets us input our organization's name, address and phone number. One page invites us to set the name of our server and another page allows us to enable static networking routes. A final page is available for viewing and generating server certificates for identification and security purposes.
NethServer's web interface locked up on me a few times and this always seemed to happen when I was accessing the Software Centre page. I found that when these lock-ups happened there was always a YUM package manager process running in the background. The web interface would be completely unresponsive until the YUM process either finished what it was doing or was manually terminated from the command line. I can understand software management not being available while YUM is running, but it struck me as odd (and inconvenient) that all web administration pages stopped working while YUM was running.
I installed a handful of modules, including a web server, FTP service, firewall configuration tools and a backup module. Once each module was installed it would appear in the list of installed software in the Software Centre. Options for removing or editing the module would appear next to each newly installed item. I found clicking the Edit button next to each module did not do anything. To configure a module (or activate it) I first had to logout of the web interface and then sign back in. When I logged in new tabs for each module would appear down the left side of the screen. Clicking these tabs brought up options or actions available to us. Some modules activate automatically (as with the web server) while others need to be manually enabled (as with the FTP server).
While experimenting with the various modules I found the FTP service worked as expected. I was able to enable the service, create virtual user accounts and specify custom home directories for the virtual FTP users. The Backup & Restore module worked, but it appears to only backup our NethServer configuration; user files and data are not backed up. There does not appear to be any way to transfer our configuration to another server, at least not through the web interface. I think this makes the Backup utility more of a snapshotting tool for configuration files than a proper backup service.
The web server module worked for me. I found the web server had to be configured entirely from the command line as the web interface would only enable/disable the web server. One module which did not work for me was the firewall module. NethServer divides working with firewalls into two tabs. In the first tab we can define units the firewall will work with. For example, we can declare hosts and define services in the first tab. In one instance I defined a unit called "ftpd" which represented services working on network port 21. The second firewall tab then uses the units we created in the first tab to build firewall rules. I tried setting up rules to block my network services from external Internet connections. Despite my efforts, connections from the outside world continued to get through. I eventually tried creating firewall rules that blocked all incoming traffic from any other computer to my local services. Connections from the outside world continued to get through. I checked the project's documentation and while its steps listed appear straight forward, I was unable to get the rules I created to function as expected.
NethServer 6.6 -- Creating firewall rules
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Conclusions
Despite the problems I ran into getting the firewall module to work, my experiment with NethServer generally went well. The distribution is fairly easy to install and there are few configuration steps. For the most part, new users can take the default settings and end up with a working server. The distribution is based on CentOS 6 and the current version should continue to receive security updates for about five years. Some of the software packages may be a bit old compared to other distributions, even other stable server offerings like CentOS 7 or Ubuntu Server LTS, but I do not think the distribution is lacking in functionality due to the age of its software.
For the most part, I liked NethServer's web interface. The interface is clean and well organized. I found most items were easy to locate and there was a good deal of information presented in a well organized manner. There were two minor issues I ran into with the web interface. One was that I had to logout and then log back in again to see newly installed service modules. The second concern was that accessing the Software Centre sometimes made the web interface lock up. The lock-up usually resolved itself once the YUM package manager process had completed its background work.
I think NethServer generally does a good job of being an easy to set up server distribution. Plus I like its long term support and stable base. I don't think NethServer is quite as newcomer friendly as a product like Zentyal, but NethServer is probably a close second when it comes to ease of use and may be lighter and have a longer support cycle than Zentyal.
Despite a few rough edges, my opinion of NethServer is generally positive and I think this distribution is worth examining. Especially if you're an administrator who prefers to work from a web-based interface rather than the command line.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Interview with Debian's Neil McGovern, CentOS offers AArch64 images, Ubuntu extends support for Linux 3.19, Fedora helps Mozilla and plans Cinnamon spin and Foresight Linux has been discontinued
Neil McGovern is a Debian developer and was recently elected to the position of Debian Project Leader. Linux.com shares an interview with McGovern in which he discusses personal package archives, Linux containers and the job of a Debian Project Leader. In response to how Debian fits into an ecosystem where Docker containers are becoming more popular, McGovern had the following to share: "The key issue is trust - when Debian distributes a package, you know that it's met various quality and stability standards. There's a risk in moving to an entire container based model that people will simply download random applications from the Internet. If a security problem is found in a shared library in Debian, we can fix it once. If that library is embedded in hundreds of different 'apps', then they'll all need fixing independently. This would certainly be a challenge to overcome. Mind you, in our latest release we had over 45,000 binary packages, so I don't think that there's a lack of choice of software in Debian!" The entire interview can be read on Linux.com.
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The ARM architecture is popular in many markets, particularly where energy efficiency is important. Recently we have been seeing an increased interest in 64-bit ARM processors and a few open source operating systems are providing support for the new ARM architecture. Jim Perrin announced last week that CentOS now offers support for 64-bit ARM (AArch64) processors. "We've produced a disk image intended to help hardware vendors and enthusiasts who are interested in bringing CentOS to their AArch64 based platform. This allows a vendor to bypass the installer or to edit the disk image before booting in order to test kernel modules or options. It is intended for development purposes only, and will only continue through the alpha and beta test phases." Perrin's mailing list post provides download links and instructions for unpacking and using the new CentOS images for AArch64.
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Often times organizations which offer long term support releases, such as Red Hat or Ubuntu, find they must continue to support software long after upstream projects have ceased supporting their own creations. As an example, it was announced that the most recent maintenance release of the 3.19 branch of the Linux kernel would be the last from the kernel developers. The Ubuntu distribution uses the 3.19 kernel and so the Ubuntu developers are now maintaining the 3.19 kernel branch, both for their own products and for the greater open source community.
As Kamal Mostafa wrote, "Canonical's kernel team will pick up stable maintenance where Greg KH left off with v3.19.8 (thanks, Greg!). Canonical's Ubuntu kernel team is pleased to announce that we will be providing extended stable support for the Linux 3.19 kernel until July 2016 as a third party effort maintained on our infrastructure. Our linux-3.19.y{-queue,-review} stable branches will fork from v3.19.8 and will be published here. We will use the same stable request/review workflow and follow the standard upstream stable kernel rules." A list of all kernels maintained by Ubuntu can be found in the project's wiki.
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Each year Google sponsors computer programming students from around the world to work on open source projects. The program, called Google's Summer of Code, gives students an opportunity to work on real world solutions and gain experience while open source projects gain new features and bug fixes. This year the Mozilla organization did not receive any of Google's sponsored positions. However, the Fedora Project obtained multiple sponsored positions. In an effort to support the Mozilla foundation, Fedora will be directing one of their students to work on Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail application. "Mozilla Thunderbird is a fully-featured email client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Regrettably, this year the Mozilla Foundation was not itself selected as a participant in the Google Summer of Code. However, thanks to our long-standing relationship, the Fedora Project has selected to provide one of our Google Summer of Code participation slots to them to support this mutually-beneficial email client. Suyash Agarwal will be spending his summer vacation working with the Fedora Project under the tutelage of R Kent James, a long-time Mozilla contributor. His efforts this year will be to enhance Mozilla Thunderbird to support the JMAP protocol for synchronizing the client with a mail server. Throughout the summer, Suyash will be blogging regularly." Further information on Fedora's sponsored projects can be found on the Fedora Magazine website.
Fans of the Cinnamon desktop will be pleased to know the Fedora community is working on a new spin which will use Cinnamon as the default graphical interface. The proposal for the new spin states, "Cinnamon is a Linux desktop which provides advanced innovative features and a traditional user experience. The desktop layout is similar to GNOME 2. The underlying technology is forked from GNOME Shell. The emphasis is put on making users feel at home and providing them with an easy to use and comfortable desktop experience." The new spin is expected to be released with Fedora 23, probably near the end of 2015.
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Sadly, not all distributions continue to grow and evolve. Last week Michael Johnson posted a formal notice that the Foresight distribution will be shutting down at the end of May. "The Foresight Linux Council has determined that there has been insufficient volunteer activity to sustain meaningful new development of Foresight Linux. Faced with the need either to update the project's physical infrastructure or cease operations, we find no compelling reason to update the infrastructure. Therefore, around the end of May, the following will be shut down: Software repositories (Foresight Linux and legacy rBuilder Online repositories); JIRA and Confluence servers; Shared development infrastructure; Mailing lists, including these lists. The foresightlinux.org domain will remain as an informal "alumni association" for an indefinite amount of time, along with the
project IRC channels for as long as they are in use." The rest of the notice is available on the Foresight developers' mailing list. We wish Foresight's developers the best of luck in their future endeavours.
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| Myths And Misunderstandings (by Jesse Smith) |
Myths and Misunderstandings: GPL
As someone who sets up, maintains and trouble-shoots computers, one of the most interesting (and often time consuming) aspects of my work is trying to understand and correct the misconceptions people have when it comes to technology. Calls to my phone and messages to my inbox frequently show that people carry with them a great deal of misinformation about what technology is and how it works. For instance, many people believe their computer cannot be infected with malware if they run anti-virus software. Many people use cloud synchronization software in place of backups, not realizing an accidental file deletion will remove the file from all their devices. Many people do not understand copyright and software licensing restrictions. I try, whenever possible, to clear up these misunderstandings in the hope of making computers less confusing to the people who use them. With this in mind, I present the second of a series of columns dedicated to common questions and misunderstandings I encounter on a regular basis, particularly in the open source community.
One of the more important documents in the GNU/Linux community, and one of the more discussed documents in the open source community as a whole, is the GNU General Public License. The General Public License (GPL) is available in a few different versions, the two most widely used are versions 2 and 3 of the license. These two versions of the license are applied to most of the key components in a Linux distribution, including the GNU command line tools, the Linux kernel, most often the default compiler along with most open source desktop environments. The GPL is an unusual software license in that it tries to encourage developers and users to share software and the source code which is used to create the software. The GPL is a "free software" license and attempts to uphold the Free Software Foundation's ideals and the four essential software freedoms.
Basically, the GPL encourages people to share software and the license allows people to gain access to the source code of the programs they use. The license allows programs to be modified and redistributed. This is generally seen as a good thing as the GPL encourages collaboration and sharing.
Unfortunately there are a lot of misunderstandings about what exactly the GPL requires and does not require. Almost any forum discussion about the GPL will unearth incorrect assumptions about what the GPL does and does not do. Part of the problem, I believe, is in the label "free software". Software licensed under the GPL is said to be free software and people tend to confuse the concept of "freedom of expression" with "no monetary cost". Software licensed under the GPL is "free" in the sense of giving the user freedom, allowing users to read and redistribute source code. Software licensed under the GPL has no requirement to be free of cost. This misunderstanding surfaces so frequently that the GNU website has multiple pages clarifying the subject. The GNU website has the following to say about charging for software licensed under the GPL:
Many people believe that the spirit of the GNU Project is that you should not charge money for distributing copies of software, or that you should charge as little as possible -- just enough to cover the cost. This is a misunderstanding.
Actually, we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can. If this seems surprising to you, please read on.
The word "free" has two legitimate general meanings; it can refer either to freedom or to price. When we speak of "free software", we're talking about freedom, not price. (Think of "free speech", not "free beer".) Specifically, it means that a user is free to run the program, change the program, and redistribute the program with or without changes.
Free programs are sometimes distributed gratis, and sometimes for a substantial price. Often the same program is available in both ways from different places. The program is free regardless of the price, because users have freedom in using it.
Another common misconception is that developers or companies which take GPL software and modify it must then make their changes public. This is not quite true. If I modify a program licensed under the GPL I can keep the modified copy for my own private use without giving back the changes. However, once I sell or otherwise distribute my modified copy to someone else, then I must be willing to make my modified source code available. Companies will often create modified versions of Linux distributions or optimize the Linux kernel without giving back their changes or making their modifications public. The GNU GPL's Frequently Asked Questions page explains:
The GPL does not require you to release your modified version, or any part of it. You are free to make modifications and use them privately, without ever releasing them. This applies to organizations (including companies), too; an organization can make a modified version and use it internally without ever releasing it outside the organization. But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users, under the GPL. Thus, the GPL gives permission to release the modified program in certain ways, and not in other ways; but the decision of whether to release it is up to you.
A similar misunderstanding I often encounter is people assume that because a software project is licensed under the GPL the project must make the program or the source code available to the public. While many projects do make their source code publicly available, they are not required to do so. Once again, the GNU website explains:
Q: If I know someone has a copy of a GPL-covered program, can I demand he give me a copy?
A: No. The GPL gives him permission to make and redistribute copies of the program if and when he chooses to do so. He also has the right not to redistribute the program, when that is what he chooses.
Even once a developer has distributed a binary or executable copy of their program, they may not need to share their source code unless the person receiving the program specifically asks for a copy of the source code. The specific requirements regarding the publishing and sharing of source code are covered under section #3 of the GPL version 2 and section #6 of the GPL version 3.
The GPL is a very interesting license and a powerful concept. The license has encouraged sharing and collaboration in many software projects. Unfortunately, its unusual nature also means it is often misunderstood. I definitely recommend reading the GPL as it is a cornerstone document in the free software community.
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
Bittorrent is a great way to transfer large files, particularly open source operating system images, from one place to another. Most bittorrent clients recover from dropped connections automatically, check the integrity of files and can re-download corrupted bits of data without starting a download over from scratch. These characteristics make bittorrent well suited for distributing open source operating systems, particularly to regions where Internet connections are slow or unstable.
Many Linux and BSD projects offer bittorrent as a download option, partly for the reasons listed above and partly because bittorrent's peer-to-peer nature takes some of the strain off the project's servers. However, some projects do not offer bittorrent as a download option. There can be several reasons for excluding bittorrent as an option. Some projects do not have enough time or volunteers, some may be restricted by their web host provider's terms of service. Whatever the reason, the lack of a bittorrent option puts more strain on a distribution's bandwidth and may prevent some people from downloading their preferred open source operating system.
With this in mind, DistroWatch plans to give back to the open source community by hosting and seeding bittorrent files for distributions that do not offer a bittorrent option themselves. For now, we are hosting a small number of distribution torrents, listed below. The list of torrents offered will be updated each week and we invite readers to e-mail us with suggestions as to which distributions we should be hosting. When you message us, please place the word "Torrent" in the subject line, make sure to include a link to the ISO file you want us to seed and please make sure the project you are recommending does not already host its own torrents. We want to primarily help distributions and users who do not already have a torrent option. To help us maintain and grow this free service, please consider making a donation.
The table below provides a list of torrents we currently host. If you do not currently have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found here. All torrents we make available here are also listed on the very useful Linux Tracker website. Thanks to Linux Tracker we are able to share the following torrent statistics.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 59
- Total downloads completed: 31,912
- Total data uploaded: 6.6TB
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| Released Last Week |
Black Lab Linux 6.5 SR 1
The Black Lab project has released its first service release to Black Lab Linux 6.5. The new service release completes the project's migrating to using one standard desktop environment (KDE), but the project reports community members are working on alternative spins, including a spin for the legacy CDE desktop. "Black Lab Linux 6.5 SR1 is the first service release of the free release of our distribution. This included all security and bug fixes from our initial release until May 6, 2015 which includes several important bug fixes. Along with security fixes Black Lab Linux 6.5 SR1 completes our transition to one standard desktop, KDE. Black Lab Linux 6.5 SR1 will not have separate ISOs of the different desktops but you can download and install alternative desktop environments from the repositories. Re-spins: We have community members who will be producing re-spins of Black Lab Linux with Xfce, MATE and we have one working on a CDE re-spin." More information on the service release can be found in the release announcement.
Black Lab Linux 6.5 SR1 -- Running the KDE desktop
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Rocks Cluster Distribution 6.2
Philip Papadopoulos has announced the release of Rocks Cluster Distribution 6.2, the latest stable version of the project's CentOS-based specialist distribution designed for building real and virtual clusters: "The latest update of Rocks, code name Sidewinder, is now released. Sidewinder is a 64-bit only release and is based upon CentOS 6.6. The Rocks-supplied OS rolls have all updates applied as of May 10, 2015. Support for ZFS has been updated to version 0.6.4.1. Condor is now the HTCondor roll release 8.2.8. Also included is support for perfSONAR where cluster builders can decide to install the full GUI (recommended for a standalone perfSONAR host) or just the command tools. Customizing what is installed for perfSONAR gives four attributes that control which elements of perfSONAR are installed on hosts. New to 6.2 is the ability to reconfigure the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your cluster. There are some caveats to the process. When building a frontend on networks with jumbo frames, the cluster builder can specify the MTU on the 'build' command line." See the release announcement and release notes for further information.
Univention Corporate Server 4.0-2
Univention has announced the launch of its second point release of Univention Corporate Server (UCS) 4.0. The new release offers a new, less restrictive license for individuals running UCS in commerical settings along with the additional of Docker container technology. "We are pleased to announce the availability of UCS 4.0-2 for download, the second point release of Univention Corporate Server (UCS) 4.0. It includes all errata updates issued for UCS 4.0-1 and comprises the following highlights: The Free for personal Use licence was replaced by the UCS Core Edition license. This allows the usage of UCS in commercial settings without charge. The upgrade of the licence is described in SDB 1324... The container virtualization Docker was added to UCS. This allows to run Docker containers on UCS systems. First Docker images of UCS itself are also available." Further highlights can be found in the company's release announcement and more detailed information can be found in the distribution's release notes.
ConnochaetOS 14.1
ConnochaetOS, a desktop distribution based on Slackware, has recently reached version 14.1. The project's developers announced the new release on the distribution's forum: I'm happy to announce the release of ConnochaetOS 14.1. The installation ISO image comes with Kernel GNU Linux Libre 3.10.77, IceWM 1.3.7, Iceweasel 31.6.0esr libre. Compared with RC2 Icecat was replaced by Iceweasel libre because Iceweasel needs lesser resources. ConnochaetOS is a fully free/libre GNU/Linux distro for x86 computers with limited resources, based on Slackware and Salix OS. `Fully free' means, that ConnochaetOS does only contain free software and no proprietary, non-free software, blobs or firmware. Non-free parts of the upstream distros were removed and - where possible - replaced by free counterparts. ConnochaetOS retains full backwards compatibility with Slackware and Salix OS."
Tails 1.4
Tails, The Amnesic Incognito Live System, version 1.4, has been released. The new version of the Debian-based live disc offers users a number of new features, including an updated copy of the Tor Browser and the Tor anonymity software has been upgraded to version 0.2.6.7. Tails 1.4 also ships with Paperkey, a program which allows users to print physical copies of their security keys. "Tor Browser 4.5 now has a security slider that you can use to disable browser features, such as JavaScript, as a trade-off between security and usability. The security slider is set to low by default to provide the same level of security as previous versions and the most usable experience. We disabled in Tails the new circuit view of Tor Browser 4.5 for security reasons. You can still use the network map of Vidalia to inspect your circuits. Tails OpenPGP Applet now has a shortcut to the gedit text editor, thanks to Ivan Bliminse. Paperkey lets you print a backup of your OpenPGP secret keys on paper." Further information is available in the distribution's release announcement. It is recommended users upgrade to the latest version of Tails and read the project's list of known issues in order to achieve the highest level of on-line safety.
Tails 1.4 -- Running the GNOME desktop
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NuTyX 15.05
The NuTyX project has announced the release of NuTyX 15.05. The distribution is based on Linux From Scratch (LFS) and features a custom package manager, called cards. A revised version of cards (version 1.0) is present in NuTyX 15.05. Another new feature is the ability to work with JFS file systems. "The kernel used is a 3.19.6. A LTS release (Long Term Support) is also available in Version 3.18.12. The ISO is now translated to 100% in the following languages: French, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian and German. The file system JFS has been added as possible format. It seems that this is not the best file system we can find today. Performance level, there is the Btrfs, stability and control level there is XFS. If you want to install on a formatted NuTyX Btrfs partition, you must install GRUB on a separate and especially not install GRUB partition (again) on the partition of NuTyX. For example /dev/sda1 formatted in ext2 will be set to boot from the machine and /dev/sda2 formatted in Btrfs will be used for install NuTyX." More information on the new version of NuTyX, and instructions for using the cards package manager, can be found in the project's release announcement.
HandyLinux 2.0
HandyLinux is a Debian-based distribution for French speakers. The distribution is designed to be lightweight and fast. HandyLinux's developers have simplified the graphical user interface, making the distribution easier for novice users. The latest release of HandyLinux, version 2.0, is the first to be based on Debian 8.0 "Jessie" and features a unified ISO that runs on both i586 and i686 computers. HandyLinux 2.0 supplies the Orca screen reader to assist the visually impaired. The BTshare data sharing tool, based on bittorrent, is also included in this release. The release announcement (in French) provides links to the project's updated documentation, a series of tutorial videos and frequently asked questions. The announcement further supplies a release video, changelog and multiple screenshots. The release announcement also links to the project's new forum where users can get assistance and share information.
HandyLinux 2.0 -- Default desktop and application menu
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Netrunner 16
Clemens Toennies has announced the release of Netrunner 16, a Kubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring the KDE Plasma 5.3 desktop: "This is the release announcement of Netrunner 16 Main Edition (Ozymandias) 64-bit. 'Why Ozymandias?' you might ask? Here is how it goes: I met a traveler from an antique land... And he told that there once was a mighty king in the land of ancient desktops, called KDE - The King of DEsktops! And though the name and places have changed, its stories are still told and memories recalled. As it is known, there comes a point in time, where all things present must become a thing of the past to make way for the new and shiny. Much like sand exposed to heat is transformed into something new called silicon, Plasma was formed out of the building blocks of its ancestor KDE 4. And so the old king is back – in its new incarnation called Plasma Desktop 5! The Plasma Desktop carries all the DNA of its predecessor and moulds it into something new - a thing of the future, for the next generation to come." Here is the full release announcement with screenshots and several screencasts.
Netrunner 16 -- Running Plasma 5.3
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Parsix GNU/Linux 7.5
Alan Baghumian has announced the launch of Parsix GNU/Linux 7.5. The Debian-based distribution for desktop computers ships with GNOME Shell 3.14 as the default desktop environment, offers UEFI boot support and runs atop version 3.14 of the Linux kernel. "Parsix GNU/Linux 7.5 (code name Rinaldo) brings the stable GNOME 3.14 desktop environment, a new kernel built using our modernized kernel build system, updated installer, a new version of systemd and an upgraded X.Org Server. This version has been synchronized with Debian Wheezy repositories as of April 26, 2015. Parsix Rinaldo ships with GNOME 3.14 and LibreOffice 4.3.3 productivity suit by default. Highlights: improved desktop performance thanks to X.Org 1.16.4, updated installer system with better UEFI support, GNOME Shell 3.14.4, GRUB 2, GNU Iceweasel (Firefox) 37.0.2, GParted 0.12.1, Empathy 3.12.8, LibreOffice 4.3.3, VirtualBox 4.3.18 and a kernel based on Linux 3.14.41 with TuxOnIce 3.3, BFS and other extra patches. Live DVD has been compressed using SquashFS and XZ." Further information is available in the release notes.
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
Distributions added to waiting list
- Lakka. Lakka is a lightweight Linux distribution that transforms a small computer into a full blown game console. The distribution runs on desktop computers, the Raspberry Pi, Hummingboard, CuBox-i and a range of other hobbyist boards.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 25 May 2015. To contact the authors please send email to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, suggestions and corrections: news, donations, distribution submissions, comments)
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • ARM (by Rel on 2015-05-18 03:08:35 GMT from North America)
Firs time being first!
Cheers to the Centos crew for an ARM port. This is huge and I wanted to congratulate them here.
rel
2 • Tails already has their own torrent (by rja on 2015-05-18 04:30:21 GMT from North America)
Assuming that this link will post, here is the one provided by Tails:
https://tails.boum.org/torrents/files/tails-i386-1.4.torrent
3 • GPL misconceptions (by M.Z. on 2015-05-18 06:58:20 GMT from Planet Mars)
I've tried to do enough reading that I didn't have those sorts of GPL misconceptions, but I ran into a big one a while back from a friend of mine. He seemed to think that all of the BSDs were licensed under the GPL because they were free/open software and were a lot like Linux. I told him about how the BSD license was different from the GPL & more permissive, which allowed Mac to turn BSD licensed code into their proprietary OS X. Oddly enough he was the guy who not only helped me get into computers in the first place, but also the guy who first introduced me to the FreeBSD based firewall distro pfSense. He's a real 'under the hood' sort of guy who plays with an awful lot of computer stuff & blows me out of the water in most every way when it comes to hands on experience with computers, but up till then he never bothered to learn the differences between BSD & Linux. He just picked up what he found useful & ran with it. I guess some open source users just want to dig in & get things going without getting bogged down in the details. I'm more interested the philosophical thinking behind the GPL & the whole free/open source thing so I dug into those bits of Wikipedia more. Its nice that open source has so much appeal both philosophically & practically.
4 • DW_weekly_brings_the_Finns_and_Francophones_freedom_and_fun_back (by k on 2015-05-18 09:56:47 GMT from Europe)
Excellent issue, very infomative and interesting: plus de liberté, égalité, et fraternité for our Francophone sibs, and the comment (#3) about licensing and the philosophy (reality) behind free/open source, thank you MZ. And thank you Linus for rolling it out for the rest of us. By the way, Lakka (cloudberry) also to be enjoyed from Linus's original Northern woods, num-num. :) Still, not sure about jumping into Linux From Scratch's sandbox, bit too fine, gets stuck to everything.
5 • Tails torrent (by Jesse on 2015-05-18 10:08:32 GMT from North America)
@2: The torrent you linked to is the same one we provide here. I posted a copy of their torrent file because a lot of people were interested in finding a torrent for tails.
6 • Read GPL v2 (by massysett on 2015-05-18 10:24:17 GMT from North America)
If you've never read the GPL, start with version 2. It's much more readable than version 3.
7 • Foresight (by César on 2015-05-18 10:38:04 GMT from South America)
It's a sad new the end of Foresight, once upon a time i install this distro in my Jurassic PC, and i liked the software management, but i have problem with my "prehistoric" Nvidia graphic card and the minimal information about the distro on the web, it's very hard maintain a stable system in this way.
Greetings from Santiago de Chile.
8 • Goal of the GNU GPL: preventing man-in-the-middle attacks (by Magic Banana on 2015-05-18 12:44:30 GMT from Planet Mars)
I liked the clarifications on the GNU GPL. However, it would have been useful to start with the problem the copyleft (and its implementation in the GPL) tries to solve: preventing man-in-the-middle attacks, where someone receiving the software can strip out the freedoms she was granted before redistributing it.
E.g., Apple redistributes (a sightly modified version of) FreeBSD's code under a proprietary license. Even if most of the work comes from FreeBSD, Apple's users are denied the essential freedoms defining "free software". They did not receive them. They received a backdoor for the NSA in compensation.
9 • nethserver (by greg on 2015-05-18 13:16:26 GMT from Europe)
my experience was very similar. i think they need to brush it up just a tad bit and it will be perfect. clean interface makes it easy for newbie to learn. and i also think they need to slowly move to 7.0..
10 • Semantic note (by Fossilizing Dinosaur on 2015-05-18 13:27:04 GMT from North America)
"Part of the problem, I believe, is in the label 'free software"."
Specifically, the deliberate use of the ambiguous word 'free'? Try 'freed' instead. As in 'Liberated'.
The ambiguous phrasing may have been a deliberate ploy for interest at the expense of clarity.
11 • ARM (by Semiarticulate on 2015-05-18 13:34:32 GMT from North America)
Nice to see another ARM port. It's interesting to see an architecture that was spawned in the early 80's finally come to the forefront. And it's mind-blowing to see technology shrink at the rate it is. I have an IBM Model M keyboard that weighs much more than my Raspberry Pi setup. Interesting times indeed.
12 • GPL (by john mitchell on 2015-05-18 14:17:01 GMT from North America)
I have found this page helpful when trying to sort out the different licenses:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html
13 • Torrent Corrner and Tails torrent (by rja on 2015-05-18 15:18:58 GMT from North America)
I was pointing out that Tails already has a host for its torrents.
From the Torrent Corner:
"When you message us, please place the word "Torrent" in the subject line, make sure to include a link to the ISO file you want us to seed and please make sure the project you are recommending does not already host its own torrents. We want to primarily help distributions and users who do not already have a torrent option."
When the next version of Tails is released, the download page for Tails will be updated with the correct torrent.
If you are trying to help readers find the torrent for Tails, then IMHO, adding a link to the Tails download page to your Released Last Week section should suffice.
14 • different licenses (by Tim Dowd on 2015-05-18 15:22:56 GMT from North America)
@3
I have to sympathize with your friend a little bit. I think knowing the difference between the licenses is important when people are buying new hardware because it lets them purchase hardware that is as compatible with freedom as possible.
Where I think the difference becomes less important is when you've got old hardware. There's an ethical imperative with this as well, because our disposal of e-waste is literally poisoning hundreds of thousands of people. Thus whether something is a BSD license or a GPL license or even a proprietary binary blob seems less important to me if it's the only option that keeps the device out of the landfill.
15 • GPL (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2015-05-18 16:30:30 GMT from North America)
"The one exception is in the case where binaries are distributed without the corresponding complete source code."
Except … this "one exception" is the most common practice.
To save bandwidth, tool-chains and source-code are commonly left out.
It's rare to get source for tool-chains involved. Even rarer is full commenting for code.
So what remains is that, to guarantee cost recovery, all development costs should be charged for the first copy distributed. (Along with transmission/distribution costs, of course)
How will this produce a robust market platform?
16 • GTK_QT_and_the_Wayland_wave_from Hawaii (by k on 2015-05-19 04:39:37 GMT from North America)
Hey Jesse. Please, I'm begging the question on this Arch user's boggled mind: What apps based on the different tool kits will REALLY WORK (stably and speedily) on different desktops run on Arch (X), and relating to the much written about topic of licensing, does MIT's license of Wayland present a further complication?? Wikipedia has an excellent article on Wayland at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_(display_server_protocol). I would love to see a comparison table of stability and speed of different GTK vs QT apps on different desktops officially supported and unofficially supported by Arch. It's chaos don't you know. That reminds of Kaos, you recently wrote (issue 560) of it: "I suspect the distribution will appeal to fans of the Arch Linux philosophy who would like to have a way to get their desktop operating system up and running quickly", but where's that leave Wayland and Hawaii, on the wayside?
17 • What stability/speed issue? (by M.Z. on 2015-05-19 08:02:12 GMT from Planet Mars)
@16
I run Qt apps on Cinnamon and Gtk apps on KDE all the time & haven't ever noticed any stability or speed issues. I think the only real difference is that things load different sets of libraries depending on if they use Qt or Gtk & the only real penalty is a bit more memory & perhaps bad looks if something is heavily Gtk & proper themes aren't in KDE. I find Qt apps always look good regardless of DE or even OS though, at least they seem good on Windows on the rare occasion I use them there. I could easily be wrong but that's how I thought it worked & like I said the only real difference I've noticed is the Qt apps always seem to look fairly good.
As for the license of Wayland, well its intended to replace X.Org, which is released under the same MIT license. See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.Org_Server
Also Wikipedia says that MIT & GPL are compatible & links in reference #2 to a statement from the Free Software Foundation that also says they are compatible. See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License
It's just a stripped down & simplified product built by the same folks working on X & under the same license from what I've heard. I don't see how that could chance anything legally, though there are a number of other likely benefits to Wayland once it's starts to really get improved & shipped.
18 • top-turns_off_Arch_wave (by k on 2015-05-19 09:34:19 GMT from Europe)
Dear MZ, MUCH thanks for sharing your experience (comment #17) with QT and GTK apps on Cinnamon and KDE, respectively. Trying to keep to Arch's recommended (official) repos, and using carefully curated and culled mirrors for pacman, I have tested both the desktops you specified, and four others, and managed to have key apps: firewall (ufw), browser (Firefox) and email client (Claws) with Gnome desktop, and browser (Qupzilla) and email client (Trojita) with LXQT only. I suppose that is how I got the probably erroneous impression that certain tool kits run more stably and speedily with certain dekstops. The Gnome desktop seemed "useable enough" until a Firefox upgrade dropped a mirrors pacnew file on us and, holy moly, that ended the "bleeding edge" and all. :) How do those Tails developers do it(?), everything -- key, office and graphics apps -- humming along, stable and smooth as silk, off a uSD. Okay, we can't have internet radio with Tails, but there is humming to oneself. :)
19 • X vs Wayland (by Kragle on 2015-05-19 10:36:17 GMT from North America)
While the MIT license for Wayland may be 'compatible' with the GPL license X.org uses, it is also 'permissive', the difference being that it incorporates the possibility of a proprietary fork. This may attract wider support - for a time.
20 • NethServer (by David Harper on 2015-05-19 12:24:27 GMT from Oceania)
NethServer is a fork of SME Server, which has been having development and governance issues recently. Regarding the comparison to Zentyal, NethServer inherits CentOS' long release cycles, whereas the open source "development" edition of Zentyal generally uses the latest Ubuntu release, regardless of LTS status, requiring upgrades every six months.
21 • @7 • Foresight (by G.Savage on 2015-05-19 17:00:25 GMT from North America)
+1
I hope those folks go on to help out on other Linux/BSD projects; both PC and mobile.
22 • Foresight & lack therof (by Kragle on 2015-05-19 18:55:28 GMT from North America)
The Foresight Linux "Council" didn't accurately foresee their websites' life expectancy - foresight.org was gone well before the predicted "end of May". Some in the community were unpleasantly surprised; a few are scrambling to salvage valued codebase. Application of Conary package management to CentOS (and .deb packages) was in development. JIRA and Confluence were dear to some.
gmane.org still shows related mailing-lists.
23 • bleeding edge issues (by M.Z. on 2015-05-19 19:08:34 GMT from Planet Mars)
@18
Yeah those do seem like they are basically a bleeding edge issues that require more testing to iron out than you get in a always fresh to a fault distro like Arch. I mostly run PCLinuxOS & Mint & notice very few issues, but PCLOS is a more conservative sort of rolling distro & Mint takes a fairly conservative point release approach under the moniker 'ship when its ready'. The only significant issue I've seen was in the release notes of Mint 17.1 Cinnamon, which basically said to upgrade the KDE libraries if you run into trouble. I never actually experienced the issues so I never ran the command, though I still use a fair amount of KDE apps on Cinnamon.
As for Tails, well that's just good old Debian stable as a base, which takes a good long time to shore everything up between releases & is an excellent base if you ever get burned out on the bleeding edge. Of course you could also moderate your approach by rolling more gently with PCLOS or just rolling the latest & greatest Cinnamon/MATE DE with Mint Debian. Linux offers an awesome amount of choice & I can certainly see the appeal of something as fresh & new as Arch, but I've felt that PCLOS was always fresh enough for me & I think Mint is a nice reliable work horse that gets things done. I guess if you want something as fresh as Arch you've got to live with the consequence of choice & deal with those occasional hiccups or really dig through info to figure out how best to admin your systems. I'd like to run Arch at some point just to try it & experience the bleeding edge, but I think I still prefer simplicity & stability for most of of systems. It all goes back to that eternal question, is it better to have newer stuff or not have to worry too much about your next upgrade.
24 • Nerhserver (by More Gee on 2015-05-20 03:53:23 GMT from North America)
I've had really good luck with Superb Mini Server, running non stop for about 2 years. Rarely have I had to use the command line. I need to figure out how to get Wordpress running.
25 • instability (by linuxista on 2015-05-20 15:15:52 GMT from North America)
@18 @23 "The Gnome desktop seemed "useable enough" until a Firefox upgrade dropped a mirrors pacnew file on us and, holy moly, that ended the "bleeding edge" and all."
What does this even mean? It has nothing to do with Gnome or Firefox, and if it means a pacnew file for repo mirrors, then this is totally normal and has nothing to do with breakage, fresh to a fault or bleeding edge or anything else.
26 • 25•• 23•18 interpretations (by Kragle on 2015-05-20 16:37:03 GMT from North America)
Does what 'k' wrote mean that 'k' and Arch were not a suitable pairing?
On-The-Other-Hand, if one app's 'upgrade' results in a domino-effect catastrophe, is that an instance of 'dependency-hell'?
27 • RE: 8-14, and of course, my blurb. (by Landor on 2015-05-20 20:25:22 GMT from North America)
#8
When I read someone spouting off about the GPL (and/or RMS) being this kind of ogre that's forcing them to comply with something "when they just want their computers to work", I just shake my head. People forget the one simple thing you pointed straight out and explained perfectly, the license is there in an attempt to ensure that the software remains available.
#14
While I understand the plight of the landfill, and toxicity is a terrible thing, I don't think we can ever marginalize the license in that way. In fact, a far better scenario would be to champion the loosening up of the restrictions on the hardware through a better license so there's not only solutions for these people, but ones that are up to date and worked on by a community of millions that do care as well.
-----
I'm still running a Libre build to this day. I intend to continue as well. The GPL can only really mean something if it means something to people. Freedoms, whatever they may be to you, have to matter enough. If they don't matter enough then why would anyone agree they're needed?
A lot of you may not care enough to miss out on some functionality, and that's your choice. I care, and if there's no viable workaround then so be it, it matters enough.
Keep your stick on the ice...
Landor
28 • Arch Qt & Gtk (by M.Z. on 2015-05-20 20:38:00 GMT from Planet Mars)
@25 & 26
As I said above I'm not an Arch user, so I really don't understand all of the details. If it helps I think I'm starting to remember something from some podcast awhile back that basically said what k reported about Arch, which is to say that Qt apps on Gtk desktops or vice versa create instability. I believe it was Linux Action Show or something like that & one host was saying he really liked Arch & all the freshness & bleeding edge nature, but mixing different app types was an issue in a way not found on any of the more stable distros. I could be entirely wrong or it may just be apps developed for specific DEs like Dolphin/Nautilus filemanagers, but it jives with something I thought I heard.
29 • @26 @28 instability (by linuxista on 2015-05-21 02:38:15 GMT from North America)
>Does what 'k' wrote mean that 'k' and Arch were not a suitable pairing?
It evidences a lack of interest in trying to learn the simplest thing about Arch. Any type of basic troubleshooting is necessary for any distro, and we are used to the ones we develop some skill in and have less tolerance for distros that do things a different way.
>On-The-Other-Hand, if one app's 'upgrade' results in a domino-effect catastrophe, is that an instance of 'dependency-hell'?
There is nothing that he said that even evidences anything other than a normal, successful upgrade, let alone a catastrophe or hell.
>Linux Action Show or something like that & one host was saying he really liked Arch & all the freshness & bleeding edge nature, but mixing different app types was an issue in a way not found on any of the more stable distros.
I can't think of any theoretical basis for why Gtk and Qt apps would behave any differently on Arch than any other system. I use some Qt apps on my Arch Gnome desktop and have never had any issue. Recently on LAS the host, Chris, and other contributors have been talking about how Arch is the most stable distro they've run on their machines, and Chris just wrote over Ubuntu on his studio audio production machine with Arch for this very reason. But it's not for everybody. I find that the combination of Arch being cleaner (less patched) with the exceptional troubleshooting resource of the Archwiki is easier and more stable to run than Release Upgrade distros.
30 • probably a different issue (by M.Z. on 2015-05-21 06:37:55 GMT from Planet Mars)
@29
Yes its more likely to be something else entirely, but the need to do all the extra troubleshooting and reading of the Arch wiki are down sides to the Arch way. The combo of bleeding edge & heavy user knowledge requirements are bound to lead to a few issues here & there, which could easily create incorrect user perceptions. Of course human memory is a funny thing, & can corrupt just as easy as a user on a expert level distro can make a mistake. At any rate Arch certainly has an appeal, even if has a few users baffled.
31 • @30 (by linuxista on 2015-05-21 18:44:57 GMT from North America)
>but the need to do all the extra troubleshooting
I don't think Arch requires extra troubleshooting, just different troubleshooting. In my experience the OS is easier to fix and responds to fixes better than other more "stable" OSes, I suppose because of the absence of extensive patching.
>and reading of the Arch wiki are down sides to the Arch way.
I use the Archwiki as an extensive, well-written resource to access; there's no need to read the whole thing like a textbook, especially if you don't start from a core install.
>The combo of bleeding edge & heavy user knowledge requirements are bound to lead to a few issues here & there
Heavy user knowledge requirements is overstated in my opinion. People don't realize all the user/admin knowledge they have developed from running Debian based systems over time (see pinning and repo management for example which is totally unnec. with Arch). If one installs Arch from a child distro like Manjaro (sort of), ArchBang, Antergos, etc. It's probably only slightly more difficult than Mint or Ubuntu and definitely less of a pain than plain Debian. Certain things about Arch make it easier to admin than all of these, such as aur vs. ppas and rolling vs. release upgrades.
32 • Re:Proliferation of new distros (by A-Style on 2015-05-21 20:24:28 GMT from North America)
I've been reading DW for at least 5 years now. During that time, DW has welcomed a long list of new distros, and some have departed from the scene for lack of developer availability. Most of them read like "Ubuntu-based distro with some new/custom packaging.". It sounds like people are not finding what they want in the main distro, so they take the base, tweak it to include their own custom package(s), and re-release it as a wholly separate distro. A successful example of that is Ubuntu (it's based on Debian, as most of DW readers probably know). At this point, however, the distro market is really saturated, IMHO, and trying to replicate the success of Ubuntu is pointless, that train has left the station. As I see it, Raspbian showed some promise of being new and interesting and worthwhile to follow. But others? it's like the userland programs. A quote I see often: "Any given person only needs about 10% of the software out there. But for every person that 10% is different.". The point of this post, let's cut down on complexity of choice. Yeah, it's good to have choices, and it's good to be able to find something that fits you like a glove, but having too many options, one quite similar to the next, is not necessarily a good thing.
33 • Arch (by jsmith on 2015-05-22 11:16:10 GMT from North America)
One of the things that makes Arch Linux truly exquisite is its documentation. I have learned so much from the Arch Wiki documents -- they are so complete and up-to-date. Even when I'm configuring or troubleshooting another distribution, I often find myself referring to the Arch Wiki for guidance. If you're something of a beginner and you're interested in taking your game to the next level, you can't do better than to play around with Arch Linux.
34 • choice is good (by subg on 2015-05-22 16:39:49 GMT from North America)
@32 What's complex about choice? We're free to make one and stick with it - or not. What gets complex is being told what to choose.
@34 best wiki out there, even for those of us who no longer use Arch.
35 • Arch & Choice (by M.Z. on 2015-05-22 19:02:01 GMT from Planet Mars)
@31
One point that struck me while looking through some Arch reviews the past week, if you start with a bare bones install, add a desktop & restart the DE doesn't automatically load like in some other distros. Having to manually set the DE to load is one of the 'Arch way' things that sets the Distro apart for better or worse depending on how hands on you are. I can't speak that much to your other comments about my impressions, but Arch looks like a very uber nerd/ next level distro for those who are beyond newbie status. I've also heard some great things about the Arch wiki as #33 & 34 point out, so if you RTFM to being with I get the impression many competent Linux users could make the transition.
@32
The thing of it is the only opinion that matters on that topic is the opinion of those who create the new Linux Distros. Although some projects like Foresight die others like Mint & PCLinuxOS become stable & long lived projects that live for many years with the support of users. All the forks & new projects out there are trying to do something specific for their users & some will inevitably fail to gain any traction; however, the right to try doing your own thing with Linux is embedded in the GPL license & a core value of Linux. I think DistroWatch does a reasonably good job showing you the best side of tip of the Linux iceberg. To my understanding there are literally thousands of distros out there if you really go looking, but you can easily reduce that to a handful of top choices & it could be as simple as clicking 'Major Distributions' at the top of the DW page. Why criticize what the distro makes do with their free time when it's so easy to remedy these sorts of complaints?
36 • freedom (by Tim Dowd on 2015-05-22 21:07:53 GMT from North America)
@27
I think you might have misread #8. They're not attacking RMS or the GPL. They're suggesting DW focus on why "share alike" is such an important freedom.
As for me, please don't misunderstand my position. The Free Software Foundation's efforts over the years have resulted in amazing development and research into libre software and if it weren't for those efforts we'd all be worse off. When I buy new hardware, I consider very carefully whether the new hardware I'm buying can be run using a completely libre distro and make choices based on that fact. That's what makes a difference, because it rewards companies that support libre software.
That said, it doesn't make a difference to insist on no non-free firmware for an old computer that's no longer in production and happens to become availible to a curious person. The best thing that can happen for that computer, the environment, the people who live in China or Ghana, and for the free software movement is that someone gets it running any free OS and then uses it for many years. We have to recognize that one of the major routes into GNU/Linux is people who like their older computer and were dismayed when Microsoft or Apple dropped support for it. The moment you plunk something like Mint or openSuse onto a computer that's been running like a slug under windows for 2 years and it just works is the moment when you can really have a discussion about libre, and freedoms, and planned obselecense, and why open-source software matters. You might make a convert from someone who's just thrilled they don't have to buy a new computer... and when they do buy a new computer, they contribute to the cause of libre software by buying one that will work with it.
No developer in the world is going to waste time working on libre firmware for a 2007 laptop. Nor should they. So if a proprietary binary blob that gives that laptop wifi or printer access exists, even if it's a non-free license, it's still supporting the cause of free software because if you don't use it, that laptop goes in the trash and gets replaced with something else containing non-free firmware and a copy of Windows 10.
I know this isn't idealogically pure. I appreciate all those who use libre only for their efforts. But slightly impure distros have been the gateway from Windows to libre for many a free software advocate.
37 • @35 Arch (by linuxista on 2015-05-22 23:37:45 GMT from North America)
Your comment about Arch "bare bones install" and "uber nerd" seems to completely overlook the point I made about installing Arch from a child distribution. It was:
>If one installs Arch from a child distro like Manjaro (sort of), ArchBang, Antergos, etc. It's probably only slightly more difficult than Mint or Ubuntu and definitely less of a pain than plain Debian. Certain things about Arch make it easier to admin than all of these, such as aur vs. ppas and rolling vs. release upgrades.
38 • Proliferation of new distros (by frodopogo on 2015-05-23 02:30:58 GMT from North America)
I think 32 is overstating things.... there are several reasons for alternatives to Ubuntu, one being different desktop interfaces and the other is concerns about corporate spyware.
However, the basic idea that every new distro is competing for attention and users with distros already out there is a good one. I think creators of new distros need to consider whether there is something already out there that is already covering the same bases, and that supporting that project MIGHT be an alternative, rather than competing with it.
Also, the Distrowatch rankings conceal the fact that some of those projects are not competing for the same users at all. Ubuntu Studio and AV Linux are both competing for musicians and video creators, likewise many other distros have specific uses and hence specific clienteles they are catering to. Zorin is trying to cater to Windows refugees, elementary to former Mac users or Mac users that somehow acquired a PC and want to use it for a second computer without having to relearn how they use a computer.
If you aren't aiming for the same purpose and the same clientele, then you aren't in competition with that distro. But if you ARE aiming for the same purpose and the same clientele ( or perhaps user base would be a better term) then the previously existing distro has set a bar that you are going to have to exceed, or you are wasting your time.
That seems so obvious that it shouldn't need to be said, and yet I don't think some people really stop to consider it. (I think people of focusing on the "trees" of specific features or the lack of them rather then the "forest" of who would actually support their distro.)
Another factor in all this is the compatibility of communities. I think some communities shoot themselves in the foot, because no matter how great the basic ideas are, if someone can't ask questions without getting flamed, they aren't going to participate and support that distro. Civility matters.
39 • Arch (by M.Z. on 2015-05-23 04:16:58 GMT from Planet Mars)
@37
Yes there are easier ways to get an Arch type system; however, I think half the point of running straight Arch would be the learning process & nerd cred. I think it's a good thing that some distros can guide you to that next level & I thought of Arch as one of them. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I would have put Arch between Slackware & Gentoo as a deeper level distro that you could get your hands dirty with & really learn on. What else is a better option for that besides Slackware & Arch that still falls below the compile it all style of Gentoo & the really hands on style of Linux From Scratch?
I tried some Slackware made easy distro a while back & found it was too easy (Absolute Linux I think). I guess my question about Arch would be if straight Arch would be a better learning tool than Slackware. Which has the best combo of hands on & easy to learn, yet still takes you deeper? I was thinking I should try to use one of those more hands on distros some time relatively soon & was leaning toward Arch because of the wiki & some of the buzz, but maybe Slackware would be a better choice.
40 • @39 Arch (by linuxista on 2015-05-23 05:01:00 GMT from North America)
>I think half the point of running straight Arch would be the learning process & nerd cred.
It might be for some, but that's not why I use it. I use it because I've always had 3 or 4 distros going on my laptop and went through a period of distro hopping over the years. Distros would get written over b/c of 1) catastrophic breakage, 2) running into limitations or hassle, 3) software unavailability, 4) dependency conflicts (ehem, Debian), and 5) maybe general lack of interest or advantage.
I installed Archbang about 5 years ago and never expected it to last, but lo and behold, even after installing and uninstalling a host of software and various desktop environments, transitioning to systemd, and cloning it to various partitions, it just keeps running as clean as the day it was installed. And because it's rolling I never have to reinstall and reconfigure all my settings, etc. I get the newest software, yet my experience is that breakage and bugs are minimal --- no worse, and maybe better, than Ubuntu or even Debian stable. And software availability is unsurpassed and you don't have to screw around with ppas.
It's been my primary distro for at least 3 or 4 years. I still keep a couple as backups (like an install of Mint I never boot into), but I never need them. I don't really distro hop any more because I can't see any advantage. If I want KDE or Budgie or LXQt I just install it.
You might be right that Gentoo and Slackware force you to learn things whereas with Arch, if you don't start from a core install, it's optional. I gave up trying to install Gentoo one time, and Slackware, though I might be wrong, has some things I don't want to deal with, such as cfdisk, lilo, or software availability. If I had the time I would look into these distros as well. They certainly have nerd cred with me and probably run cleanly without many patches. But my advocacy of Arch comes from a different direction: that it's actually the easiest and most stable distro in the long run for a good portion of linux users.
41 • Proliferation and Freed'em (by Kragle on 2015-05-23 06:52:11 GMT from North America)
38 • Proliferation • The tightening global economy has motivated several developers to scale_down from supporting a full_distribution and focus on what parts they want to bring to the table. Long_term, this may be a Good_Thing. Choice can be not_so_good, as in [Yet_Another "package_manager", "software_manager", "app_store" or "desktop_environment"], or frequent_churn in [library_set or distro_base] - symptoms of small-pond monopolism, Some tails want to wag the dog. If a standard can be improved, shouldn't it be improved for all?
…
New and shiny isn't always better (enough).
…
Never trust an update(/upgrade); test your backup copy first.
36 • freedom • I suspect that's why DebIan, respected champion of Freed-Software, accommodates driver binaries for older hardware. After all, many computer purchasers are swindled (by marketing that puts the hardware before the software before the task) long before they become aware of better options, and merciless zealotry rarely wins them over. (That said, perhaps we'll see licensing overtly presented in, say, Apper and Synaptic, in Basic and Advanced levels, someday.) As Freed Open_Source Software drivers out_perform proprietary development, and customers become aware of this, won't market forces force vendors to adapt?
42 • @ 37 An alternative Arch installer (by Arch User on 2015-05-24 22:00:31 GMT from North America)
Or just cut to the chase and install Arch straight up with Evo/Lution.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/evolutionlinux/
This comes as a Live CD and is essentially an updated version of their former ncurses based installer. Makes installing Arch a quick painless experience for all the Linux users that fall below a computer of science degree level.
As I understand it, his is being developed outside the Arch community due to Arch wanting to maintain their "barrier of entry" no installer philosophy.
43 • @31 Debian innstall a pain? (by solt87 on 2015-05-24 22:01:37 GMT from Europe)
>> and definitely less of a pain than plain Debian
I've installed plain Debian many times (both on real and virtual machines), and I never noticed any difficulty or problem; I find the so-called "expert install" to be as straight-forward as it can get, even setting up LUKS and LVM is easy.
If that's "more pain" than e.g. writing your vconsole.conf manually, then we have very differing ideas about what "pain" is.
Number of Comments: 43
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