 DistroWatch Weekly |
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 0, value: US$0.00) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • I Agree (by Platypus on 2016-04-25 00:24:39 GMT from Oceania)
I agree with Jess regarding poor documentation on security and recovery tools.
I agree with Ivan regarding Elementary. If you are an experience Linux user and like to customize your set up then Elementary is not the distro for you. (Up until now I thought it was only me how that that.)
HTTPS is a simple addon for most browsers that uses HTTPS when offered.
2 • elementary OS crashes (by Will B on 2016-04-25 01:18:52 GMT from North America)
While I can't speak to elementary OS specifically, I have noted that some Ubuntu-based distros have serious reliability issues in regards to panels, such as Xfce. For example -- using xubuntu in testing would often give me crash notifications as shown in the elementary review. It's most definitely an Ubuntu issue, but can't even begin to tell you which library or component is causing it.
3 • RSS still uses HTTP (by FootBallHead on 2016-04-25 01:20:30 GMT from North America)
The main way I access the site is through the News and Updates RSS feed which still uses HTTP links. Otherwise I would definitely use HTTPS.
4 • RSS feeds (by Jesse on 2016-04-25 01:35:22 GMT from North America)
@3: You can acess our RSS feeds through HTTPS connections if you want to. Just change the URLs your feed reader access from http to https. The links in the https feeds all point to secure URLs. We provide both secure and non-secure to avoid breaking RSS clients that do not handle secure connections.
5 • RSS feeds again (by Jesse on 2016-04-25 01:40:26 GMT from North America)
As an update to my previous post, it might be easier to think of it this way: If you access our RSS feeds using HTTPS, then all the links in the feed point to our secure site. If you use plain HTTP to access our RSS feed, then the RSS feed contains plain HTTP links, for consistency. We kept the old feeds running to avoid breaking people's feeds, but all our feeds support HTTPS now too.
6 • Alleged Ubuntu instabilities (by mikef90000 on 2016-04-25 01:47:07 GMT from North America)
@2, if you have references regarding Ubuntu 'panel issues', I would like to compare it with my totally rock solid Linux Mint 17.3 Xfce daily driver install. Occasionally I fire up Xubuntu in a VM but can't remember any panel difficulties. Details, please!
WRT Elementary OS, I did find it crashy the last time I tested it. Steam might install better on the 32 bit version but the reviewer didn't make clear which version he tried. Using Midori as a modern browser, what a joke. As an alternative Qupzilla is a decent light weight browser.
Generally I believe that HTTPS is preferable, but I'm not concerned on this site as it doesn't offer downloads.
7 • RSS HTTPS (by FootBallHead on 2016-04-25 01:49:39 GMT from North America)
@5: Ah okay, makes sense. I'm using the secure feed now, thanks!
8 • Kali's target audience is... script kiddies? (by scritch on 2016-04-25 02:37:08 GMT from North America)
visit Kali forum and note all the noobish questions. Said differently, note that ALL the questions, all the discussion threads, involve noobish / clueless issues. I've repeatedly wondered whether the Kali iso is a honeypot of sorts -- backdoored or botnetted. Most of the kidz tripping through that forum likely wouldn't notice.
Maybe the advanced Kali users avoid the forum and use a mailing list instead? Even if that's the case, hard to believe serious users would willingly trust someone else to (pre)install tools, all of which are freely available and easily installed to whichever distro one cares to use. Login to desktop using root account? I just can't envision a saavy, security-minded user finding appeal in doing so.
9 • Kali Popularity (by elliott on 2016-04-25 03:03:01 GMT from North America)
I imagine the recent popularity surrounding Kali Linux is in part due to it's appearance/use on the new television show Mr. Robot.
10 • elementary OS review (by Hoos on 2016-04-25 04:57:36 GMT from Asia)
While I don't play games at all and have pretty standard usage, my general impression of elementary OS is similar to the guest reviewer's.
There is no denying its beauty: the Pantheon DE, icons, window theme.
But I feel like it's trying too hard to be a full-fledged distro beyond the interface and look/feel. So it created its own programs like Geary email client, Calendar program, its own music organiser/player, its own file manager and Scratch, its own text editor. It chooses to include Midori as the default browser, and spruces it up aesthetically.
However, I just found the Music program slow, buggy and limited. Getting it to scan or update your music bogs it down for a long time. It just didn't work well for me, with some crashes/hangs. So I uninstalled it. Midori? Doesn't work very well for video. Uninstalled and replaced with FF/Chromium. Geary and Calendar? I don't use them. Elementary has its own video app, I think. It's gone because I prefer VLC. Scratch? I didn't like its interface and options (or lack thereof). Files? It gave me the same vibe as Gnome 3's Nautilus - both had functions and options removed just to make it "simple".
Which elementary OS app do I actually use? Only the terminal, which admittedly is very pretty, and that's because I don't do much in terminal beyond apt-get update/dist-upgrade . So for me, elementary has indeed been reduced to me liking its DE and looks. Even then, I installed the third-party elementary tweaks package to restore the min/max buttons (another Gnome 3-esque move to remove options and make things "simple") and to give myself more control over some other things.
I liked it a lot at first, and still have it installed in a partition. But lately I find myself using it less and less. It is not because its packages are older now and I prefer a distro with newer, more cutting-edge packages; I use Mint 17 - also based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS - a lot. So I agree it's to do with elementary just feeling less flexible, customisable and versatile to me.
Of course, other users may find it suits their needs completely.
11 • HTTPS Everywhere (by phoenix00 on 2016-04-25 05:13:43 GMT from North America)
https://www.eff.org/HTTPS-EVERYWHERE
Case closed.
12 • DistroWatch Weekly feed is not HTTPS internally. (by Oracle on 2016-04-25 06:00:24 GMT from North America)
@4 & 5: Jesse you should double check the DistroWatch Weekly newsletter RSS feed because it still has internal HTTP links even when the feed was downloaded through HTTPS. All the other RSS feeds on this site have internal HTTPS links just as you said but the DistroWatch Weekly newsletter RSS feed still needs fixed. Thank you for all your hard work!
13 • re. 2 & 6 Xfce/'buntu crashes (by Someguy on 2016-04-25 07:09:56 GMT from Europe)
This issue is propagated into LM17 series with Xfce. There is an unresolved hardware-related (some machines but not all) issue with time-dependent crashes after 1/2-2hrs, often after a period of inactivity. It is NOT a screensaver problem. It is not a memory issue. It is not an HD issue. It is not a screen-related issue. Have reported on LM Forum, nil interest. Sadly beyond my power of diagnosis. Didn't happen on earlier series.
14 • elementary OS review, etc ... (by Greg Zeng on 2016-04-25 09:22:39 GMT from North America)
Thank you this week for a very informative review of the two distributions. It shows how this "elementary" brandname differs from the expectations, with Midori, Geary, etc. Most Linux distributions are unusual, but few (none?) dare mention how & why these are different.
Using standard DEs like XFCE, KDE, GNOME, etc, I found startling deviances from the defaults. But these are no or rarely commented. similarly the standard applications including web browsers often are different from default, but not noticed by reviewers. Comments on these reviews added more information as well.
15 • Both HTTP and HTTPS (by Dale Visser on 2016-04-25 11:50:16 GMT from North America)
RSS feed reading on my phone brings me to HTTP. Browsing on my desktop using "HTTPS Everywhere" gets me the secure site.
16 • RSS newsletter feed (by Jesse on 2016-04-25 11:51:41 GMT from North America)
>> "Jesse you should double check the DistroWatch Weekly newsletter RSS feed because it still has internal HTTP links "
It's been fixed, thanks for catching that.
17 • Pantheon is pretty, but elementary is elementary (by far2fish on 2016-04-25 11:56:44 GMT from Europe)
Very nice with two reviews in one issue ! Thank you for providing such a delightful start of the week, Both the Kali review and the Elementary review were highly interesting.
This is of course subjective, but imho Pantheon is the prettiest Linux DE around. Elementary however is just another Ubuntu derivate. Honestly I wish the elementary developers put all their effort into Pantheon and making sure it could run on as many Linux families as possible.
18 • Are you using HTTPS on DistroWatch? (by brain_death on 2016-04-25 12:05:48 GMT from Europe)
Other: I am directed to your HTTP offering by default...
:)
19 • HTTPS awareness (by tom0mason on 2016-04-25 12:18:08 GMT from Europe)
I note that when searching for 'distrowatch' on 'Google', 'Bing', 'Duckduck Go', and 'ixquick's Start Page', in all cases, the plain HTTP for DistroWatch is top of the list.
HTTPS for DistroWatch is not on the first page of the search if it appears at all.
If however I search for 'HTTPS on DistroWatch', the HTTPS site appears at the top of the list.
You may wish to let those who occasionally look at this site -- especially those from search engine links -- are made more aware, or directed via a link to the availability of HTTPS for DistroWatch on the HTTP page.
20 • Why not https (by Wiz on 2016-04-25 12:36:33 GMT from North America)
Hi All,
I generally don't start a 'PIG' browser unless I really have to.
I use Dillo.... Works GREAT, fast. Since the browser is so dumb, it is small and fast and doesn't bother with the latest flash video or whatever. Thank goodness.
Many web page developers seem to think bigger and more complex is better. I think the HARDEST thing of all is to make things simple and small and run on well on a really dumb old web browser.
The user experience with a dumb old browser is MUCH more friendly :).
Bitchingly yours,
An old guy
21 • Waiting List (by dragonmouth on 2016-04-25 12:39:53 GMT from North America)
The sites for at least 13 distros submitted before 8/15/2014 are either for sale or generate repeated server errors when accessed.
22 • HTTPS... (by Vukota on 2016-04-25 13:48:50 GMT from Europe)
If I type in the browser distrowatch, or distrowatch.com HTTP page opens, thus I do not use HTTPS due to that simple reason. Sites that do care, redirect you to their secure version (in example google.com).
23 • Countries in the Hardware Database (by Jonathan on 2016-04-25 13:53:51 GMT from Asia)
It's great to see an update to the hardware database, it would be even better if the country of the supplier was listed next to the name and a list of the countries they deliver to.
24 • Kali n00bs, Elementary (by mydearwatson on 2016-04-25 14:02:13 GMT from Europe)
Jesse wonders "why so many newcomers to Linux have been installing Kali as their first GNU/Linux distribution". I think it is obvious: to show off that they are 'l337 h4x0rz !!!!!!1111ONEONEONE'
There exists this misconception, esp. in Hollywood-style films, that Linux = hacker operating system. A desktop oriented (and possibly newbie friendly) distro would probably be a great disappointment to someone coming to Linux with such expectations. Kali, however, is the most popular security/penetration testing/forensics distro, so it naturally attracts all the wannabe hackers.
Concerning Elementary, I wonder how (besides the beautiful transparent panel) Pantheon differs from GNOME, especially in everyday usage. And is that beauty really unique to Pantheon? I seem to remember that most desktop environments can have transparent panels ...
Elementary is obviously minimalist - both in the software selection and in interface design. The user shouldn't have choice: if she/he doesn't like the Elementary way of doing things, no customisation - switch to some other distro instead.
25 • Kali (by Bonky on 2016-04-25 14:52:40 GMT from North America)
I used / played about with backtrack for a few years... and learnt a few things along the way.. truth is I never had time to research how to really use most of the different progs...and back then a lot seemed irrelevant as things had moved on a lot..
I havent looked for a while but i expect many of the same programs are still installed so i wonder what their worth still is.
But it was a great Distro and I guess Kali is as good if not better. though it troubles me when you see many people asking in forums etc on how to install it. .....hell if you cant install it you sure as hell won't be using much of it.
Https....I never even knew DW had it !!!!! over my selection of comps and different Browsers I usually type in "distro" and when it shows the full name i click on it...never yet has it had HTTPS.....i just tried it manually and it works so i Bookmarked it..
Elementary ..OK its is at least trying with new things which i give the devs a lot of credit for.....sadly it's on Ubuntu...so I wont take it serious.....
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.. personally i still prefer a basic openbox / fluxbox. i3 etc....
26 • Pantheon differing from Gnome 3 (by Hoos on 2016-04-25 14:54:38 GMT from Asia)
" I wonder how (besides the beautiful transparent panel) Pantheon differs from GNOME, especially in everyday usage. And is that beauty really unique to Pantheon? I seem to remember that most desktop environments can have transparent panels ..."
There was one very big difference when I was still on my previous computer: a 9 year old Pentium 4 with old ATI graphics card. I could never run Gnome 3 on it due to its need for 3D graphics. Elementary ran fine on it, complete with all the windows animation, expose and other desktop effects.
Other than that, I guess they are similar in that both remove minimize button and make it hard to customise without installing a separate package - elementary-tweaks and gnome-tweak-tool respectively.
The dock is not really part of Pantheon as it's the Plank dock.
27 • Pantheon (cont from @26) (by Hoos on 2016-04-25 15:01:24 GMT from Asia)
Pantheon is, or was (??), built on certain Gnome 3 or gtk3 elements, I think. So the fact that it could run beautifully on an old computer when Gnome 3 couldn't was impressive to me. I used the older version (Luna, v.0.2) a fair bit.
I guess now that I have a new computer with modern hardware, that ability was no longer a big selling point to me and I could look more deeply into the "meat" of elementary. And my conclusion is that Pantheon itself is great and very pretty, but that's all I liked about elementary.
28 • Re; elementary OS review (by Bill on 2016-04-25 15:13:57 GMT from Europe)
I used to use Elementary OS as my main OS, that was until Freya was released, I found too many problems and it was not as accomplished as it was before.
ChaletOS is my main go to OS, it is better than even Elementary was before Freya. It just works and customization is a breeze.
29 • everybody is different (by Elementary User on 2016-04-25 17:51:06 GMT from North America)
Obviously people's experiences differ, but I've standardized my house on Elementary OS (4 laptops) and it is the best Linux I've used. yes, I've tweaked it (removed Midori, added other stuff) but it works perfectly for me & my wife for everything we want (music, videos, Steam, WPS Office, web development...) and in my opinion, Pantheon is the best looking desktop out there.
30 • Yes_HTTPS-Everywhere_Encrypt the Web! (by k on 2016-04-25 18:20:13 GMT from North America)
The answer to the poll was I am using the HTTPS connection for DistroWatch, using Tor Browser's add-on HTTPS-Everywhere, intended to "Encrypt the Web! Automatically use HTTPS security on many sites".
This time on Tails, but the torbrowser-launcher is so simple to download and install, and reliable -- even from Firejail on other distros, just 8 bytes leaked according to panopticlick --, that it is used for nearly all internet browsing. Kudos to Tor, Tails, and EFF.
31 • correction_to_bits_of_data_leaked_from_Tor_Browser_in_Firejail (by k on 2016-04-25 18:36:36 GMT from Europe)
Re: comment # 30
Sorry, I typed "... 8 bytes leaked according to panopticlick" (test), but it is actually 8.78 bits.
32 • tails-2.3 (by tails on 2016-04-25 18:41:30 GMT from Europe)
http://dl.amnesia.boum.org/tails/stable/tails-i386-2.3/
33 • @6 (by Will B on 2016-04-25 19:40:20 GMT from North America)
You know what? I'm wrong. Instead of Xubuntu I meant to say it was Lubuntu that was having the problems. Sorry about that.
34 • ubuntu(s) 16.04 (by More Gee on 2016-04-25 20:15:17 GMT from North America)
What is with all the buntu wanting me to erase my disk and use GPT? There should be a warning and/or a conversion routine if you are using MBR. I currently does not detected and the only option is to erase the whole drive.
35 • @6,@33 (by MrData on 2016-04-25 20:43:05 GMT from North America)
Lubuntu has always had panel problems, in my experience. Xubuntu's problems lately have involved the Thunar file manager.
36 • Elementary review (by Simon on 2016-04-25 22:35:10 GMT from Oceania)
Distrowatch loves its pros/cons lists: the summaries of major distributions are full of them. Sometimes, they include really helpful points. In this latest review of Elementary OS, here's what we're told are some of the strengths and weaknesses of Elementary OS:
Pros: "Less pre-loaded software".
Cons: "Lack of pre-loaded software".
If reviewers don't have room to explain the different implications of a feature for different groups of users, they should simply report on the feature ("it does things this way..."). Assigning it to a simplistic "pro" or "con" category may look as though it's being helpful...but listing something as a point in favor of an OS and then immediately contradicting yourself by listing it as a point against the OS is not providing readers with useful information.
37 • beauty (by Mike T on 2016-04-26 01:46:56 GMT from North America)
Beauty in a distro is subjective. I personally don't like a lot of flashy stuff that distracts from the main purpose of the PC, working on it. Too much eye candy can make it difficult to get things done, especially when the windows jump between translucent and solid because I move the mouse. I often have multiple documents open and I like to be able to see them without straining these tired old eyes.
Which brings up another question, why are themes either too dark or just a shade of grey. IIRC, the old Gnome allowed setting the window colors, but getting this effect is difficult with newer GTK desktops. I personally prefer consistency on the desktop and this can be difficult to achieve. I suppose I could use the K desktop, but I just don't care for it, never really have.
Sorry for the rant...
Cheers,
Mike T.
PS, Does anyone else have problems with seeing the comment box in the Chrome browser? Had to jump to FF to post this.
38 • @37 - GTK and comment box in Chrome (by Will B on 2016-04-26 02:49:02 GMT from North America)
Re: GTK: I write small / medium apps for Linux and I'm very sad how things have gone with GTK 3. I've posted (a few times now) on here about how memory usage skyrockets when you go from plain X11 to Qt and all of the toolkits in-between. Stinks. I've been looking into writing apps in FLTK, but I'm still mulling that over.
Re: Comment box in Chrome: Yes, I've seen that too. I've been in other non-Firefox browsers and wondered "Did Jesse ban me or something??" :-P
39 • Ivan's review (by PePa on 2016-04-26 08:02:19 GMT from Europe)
Really enjoyed Ivan's style of reviewing, very informative!
40 • HTTPS chose other (by Gee on 2016-04-26 16:08:21 GMT from North America)
I can not use HTTPS on my Mesh network, our government does not allow us to use encryption on wireless Mesh networks unless it is to login to the configuration page of the dish and has to be configured over local Ethernet. I also can not get RSS feeds over the Mesh if they are encrypted.
41 • @36 pros and cons (by Jordan on 2016-04-26 16:39:24 GMT from North America)
I have to agree with the disdain for (unexplained) pros and cons. Even at CNET and other sites the device reviewers have that habit. Sometimes the explanations are not convincing enough to assign the pro or con label at all.
I very often find myself 180 degrees in disagreement with which mentioned aspect is a pro or a con, with the notable exception of course of true discovered flaws or other serious issues.
42 • the_safe_way_to_download_verify_and_install_Tails... (by k on 2016-04-26 17:47:02 GMT from Europe)
... is probably NOT to follow and download from the http: link provided by comment # 32 • tails-2.3 (by tails... )
This issue of DistroWatch Weekly as well as issues 652 and 654 have included focuses on security. This week's poll, just in case someone missed it, is about using safer https:.
So, if you are interested in Tails, start here https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html , or at least https://tails.boum.org/doc/get/verify/index.en.html , both with explicit (guided) instructions, as usual excellent standard set by the developers of Tails, Debian -- on which Tails is built --, and the Tor Project.
Happy private and secure browsing to all.
43 • Kali confusion? (by Jeff on 2016-04-26 18:28:33 GMT from North America)
For a long time I have been confused by the Kali distro.
Why build a security penetration distro which mostly runs command line tools and use a bloated pig of a desktop environment like Gnome?
Wouldn't something like antiX or CrunchBang be more to the liking of the sort of user the maker claims is the intended user?
44 • @43 • Kali confusion (by mandog on 2016-04-26 20:04:31 GMT from South America)
No wonder you are confused you name two distributions Antix and Crunchbang 1 being discontinued but can't name the WMs they use then treat gnome as a distribution when its a DE with a shell.
45 • @37 - beauty (by Juan on 2016-04-26 22:45:04 GMT from North America)
The themes in GTK3 are black, dark and dull flat gray because GTK3, it's engines and it's themes are made by ex-windows users like you who come from the windows way of doing things were "PROFFESSiONALiSM" and "PRODUCTIVITY" were the end-all-be-all of computing. These kind of EMO, DEPRESED users HATE BEAUTY AND EYE-CANDY AND COLOR because to them it's UNPROFFESSIONAL, which is why Gnome 3 and Windows 10 are so flat and ugly. THEY ARE MADE BY WRIST-CUTTING EMOS FOR WRIST-CUTTING EMOS.
46 • pentesting confusion (by kiked on 2016-04-27 00:46:06 GMT from Oceania)
Pentesting distros like Kali are confusing. They advertise themselves as "offensive security" and that they know all about hacking. So noobies might think that they are good for securing their puters. But they are not actually "security" distros and have few defensive tools. So ironically noobies can be hacked while using hacking distros.
47 • beauty (by Mike T on 2016-04-27 02:45:54 GMT from North America)
@45 Please don't be rude just because I don't like a lot of flash. I have been using, installing and pushing Linux since 1998. I could care less if YOU or anyone else likes the eye candy, that is fine with me. In fact, I often use this as a reason for people to try Linux systems. I just think it would be nice if I could colorize the desktop like it used to be done. Thankfully, this is still possible with MATE, but it can be a difficult task with most other desktops.
My other problem is actually with the way that people design color schemes. It can be very difficult to read gray or light colored text if the background color isn't right. This has become a serious problem on the WWW and some desktop themes have it as well.
Cheers,
Mike T.
48 • @ 45 (by blah on 2016-04-27 08:14:38 GMT from Europe)
I guess your flashy linux has no spell checker.
49 • OpenIndiana (by Dave Postles on 2016-04-27 13:00:37 GMT from Europe)
Any chance of a review?
50 • HTTPS (by Ford Terrill on 2016-04-27 13:35:05 GMT from North America)
Make HTTPS default and I'll use it every time. I have no reason not to, but it's easier to get to whatever the page defaults to.
51 • Pen Testing Distros (by dhinds on 2016-04-27 22:03:51 GMT from North America)
Since pen test distros based on Debian (i.e. Kali), Arch (BlackArch), Slackware (WifiSlax), openSUSE (Urix), Gentoo (Pentoo) and Fedora (Network Security Toolkit) exist, why not compare them (for the benefit of DW readers)?
52 • HTTPS - depends on the browser or add-ons (by ddalley.ca@gmail.com on 2016-04-28 16:08:33 GMT from North America)
Chrome/Android doesn't tell me if the connection is secured. FireFox has HTTPS Anywhere added and is secured, so it depends on which browser is being used.
53 • Poll - HTTPS (by JDNSW on 2016-04-28 21:59:09 GMT from Oceania)
I wasn't using it because my bookmark (supplied with Mint) did not use it. It does now.
54 • @49 OpenIndiana (by Thomas Mueller on 2016-04-29 05:15:41 GMT from North America)
I believe OpenIndiana was reviewed on this page perhaps a couple years ago. I tried in fall 2011, Firefox ran well, but OpenIndiana couldn't read anything on my hard drive for lack of GPT support. Also, neither Linux, NetBSD nor FreeBSD could read the USB stick where I installed OpenIndiana to. I look for updated information on openindiana.org on each new release, no information about GPT support, so I haven't tried any newer versions of OpenIndiana since late 2011. If OpenIndiana lacks GPT support, they ought to say that clearly on their website since that is now an important consideration, instead of having to infer that information by their instructions for installing Windows, Linux and OpenIndiana on the same hard disk.
55 • Midori is notorious for crashing! (by RJA on 2016-05-01 01:33:15 GMT from North America)
Randomly and frequently, Midori gets terminated when browsing, especially The Weather Channel's web site, weather.com...
I think a lot of them were segfaults...
I dunno if there's anything that segfaults more than Midori...
56 • L33t distros (by M.Z. on 2016-05-01 05:41:12 GMT from North America)
@24
I agree with you about Kali very much being attractive to those who want to become L33t hacker types, regardless of how successful they will be at such efforts. I think that kind of thinking also drives the popularity of distros like Arch so high on the distorwatch hit rankings. Some people like the idea of a challenging OS that scares away non technical users & will gravitate toward either rolling systems with extra fresh software or security focused distros like Kali. I have to admit being in the 'L33t 1%' of PC users has a bit of appeal to me as well, but I'm quite happy to settle for easy to use systems like Mint & PCLOS. I do however try to tell anyone interested that I think my OS is very easy to use, & has other benefits like added security. Regardless of how easy it is to use any version of Linux I think trying it out very much puts you in a slightly more elite class of users who dig into the open secret of just how good Linux is on the desktop & there is a certain satisfaction in that to me.
Number of Comments: 56
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
| | |
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Archives |
| • Issue 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 |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
|
| Random Distribution | 
Uruk GNU/Linux
Uruk GNU/Linux is a free software desktop distribution based on Trisquel. It follows the licensing guidelines of the Free Software Foundation. Uruk primarily uses .deb package files, but strives to support a wide range of package formats, including .rpm files.
Status: Dormant
|
| Tips, Tricks, Q&As | | Tips and tricks: Fix filenames, manage networks from the command line and more command line tips |
| Tips and tricks: An overview of hard and soft links |
| Tips and tricks: Dealing with low-memory performance |
| Tips and tricks: (Xfce) interface woes |
| Tips and tricks: Check free disk space, wait for a process, command line spell-check, shutdown PC when CPU gets hot |
| Questions and answers: Remotely wiping a hard drive |
| Tips and tricks: Basename, for loop, dirname, aliases, bash history, xsel clipboard |
| Questions and answers: Adding updates to the install process |
| Questions and answers: Ubuntu phone follow-up |
| Questions and answers: Splitting up and merging files |
| More Tips & Tricks and Questions & Answers |
| 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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
