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1 • Package Management - pkgsrc omission (by LOST on 2016-05-02 01:31:52 GMT from North America)
FreeBSD is not the only BSD OS out there. I realize it's the most famous, but I think you are doing the others injustice by omitting them. pkgsrc for one can be used not only with BSD but Linux as well. Please consider adding pkgsrc to the Package Management page.
2 • Compile a Kernel? Are you mad? (by Tom Joad on 2016-05-02 02:15:17 GMT from North America)
I have learned a lot piddling with Linux. I really started from scratch without any help; just me, a CD of Breezy and a blinding ignorance of Linux. That was it.
So for me compiling a Kernel is years down the road, if ever. My hat's off to those who do. But I suspect my group it way bigger.
The question, though, gave me a good chuckle.
3 • *untu reviews (by ariel on 2016-05-02 02:28:17 GMT from South America)
There should be hundreds of any *untu ending distribution reviews out there why to make one more..., I think there should be a lot of great unkwown distros waiting to be discovered and since distrowatch is by far one of the best site to spread the word about them it would be nice I think to see review of distros that are great but users simply didn't hear about them or are not yet fully convinced to install. That was my humble opinion, thanks for another great DWN.
4 • *buntu reviews (by ArkanabarTverrickIlarsadin on 2016-05-02 03:07:10 GMT from North America)
I personally was happy to have the Ubuntu review here on DWW. Truth be told, I don't bother reading many reviews elsewhere. This is the only site I check for reviews on a regular basis.
5 • This week's poll, "compiling your own kernel" (by Thomas Mueller on 2016-05-02 03:12:08 GMT from North America)
There is a flaw with the design of this week's poll in that it allows only one response where multiple responses might be appropriate and would not conflict with each other. For instance, one might run a source-based distribution and also add or remove features from the generic kernel config. It could also be an educational experience and might also be part of one's job; could even be fun at the same time. I would have liked to choose both source-based distribution and adding and/or removing features from the generic kernel config. Generic kernel config is likely to include lots of PCI and ISA SCSI cards long out of production. Kernel config for NetBSD or FreeBSD is simpler and much easier to edit than a Linux kernel config.
6 • DWW Poll (by Chris on 2016-05-02 03:23:35 GMT from North America)
As I do not do so on any of my production machines, I selected "I do not compile my kernel;" however, to be honest, I have been reviewing Minimal Linux Live (MLL) lately and have learned a great deal about compiling the kernel from source from that distros build scripts.
As a learning experience, I had initially intended to use Linux From Scratch (LFS) but I bumped into MLL on DW's Waiting List and choose to try it first. I am glad I did! Very simple and if one takes the time to analyze and possibly modify the build scripts, a person can learn a lot quickly. Now onto LFS for a similar but broader learning experience.
Referencing last weeks poll and discussion, I would recommend MLL for inclusion to DW's database; it appears to meet all the criteria. Note: Other than trying it, I have absolutely no ties to the MLL project.
7 • RE: Kernel Compiling (by Phoenix591 on 2016-05-02 04:06:41 GMT from North America)
While compiling a kernel itself may not gain much in the way of performance, you do gain boot time if you compile into the kernel itself enough (primarily your hard disk drivers) that you are able to skip using an initial ramdisk.
8 • Ubuntu (by More Gee on 2016-05-02 04:11:26 GMT from North America)
Ok I give up. How do I install this on a hard drive with Debian 8 using MBR without wiping the whole drive out and using GPT/VLM? I wanted to replace ArtistX with Ubuntu Studio 32 bit.
9 • Ubuntu 16.04 - GNOME vs. Unity (by M. Edward (Ed) Borasky on 2016-05-02 04:28:21 GMT from North America)
I wish Ubuntu would make GNOME the default desktop and ditch Unity entirely. I installed 16.04 GNOME and it's working great.
10 • Optimizing_Linux_kernel_vs_"need"_for_speed,_or_ego_greed (by k on 2016-05-02 07:05:07 GMT from Oceania)
@ "Compiling your own kernel" by Jesse Smith, and # 2 "... Are you "mad"?"(by Tom Joad)
First, Jesse, thank you for the really fair and concise overview of undertaking to compile one's own "custom" kernel. It seems a number of customized kernels for certain distros are really optimized and more stable, and that is much appreciated effort and result.
As for Tom's comment, by "mad", did you mean "insane" or "angry" :) . Perhaps most are these days :), but the educational adventure is a most worthwhile experience, yes?. After all, consider that Linus Torvalds's original kernel that started the great Linux revolution and evolution was an academic exercise.
Go for it, innovate and be happy.
11 • Kernels, Ubuntu & DEs (by M.Z. on 2016-05-02 07:11:43 GMT from North America)
As with most other desktop users I have never compiled any kernel. I do install the latest kernel depending on the distro. In PCLOS I'm always on whatever is newest in the repos & Mageia provides upgrades as well. I also update the kernel on my Mint KDE system, but I follow the more conservative approach recommended by the Mint update tools. I don't really see the point in doing anything custom with the kernel & think it's probably a lot more trouble than its worth.
On the Ubuntu front, I'm glad the turned off the the spyware by default. It was long overdue, though I'd like to hear more details. At any rate I may actually try putting this new spyware free version in a VM & toying with it a little.
@9
That's never going to happen, half the point of Unity is to do a better job of being friendly to the average user than Gnome 3. Not that Unity ever seemed to do a great job of user friendliness in my opinion, but it always seemed the better of the two odd ducks to me. If you like Gnome that's fine, but I really don't get why anyone would suggest moving to it as a default. Gnome is very obviously trying to be very different compared to other desktops, which could be a good thing for some, but it's not likely to be in the comfort zone for many users & just isn't a good default for too many distros. I have heard similar suggestions before from Gnome users that distro x should switch to Gnome by default, but I don't get how such fans don't see such a different DE as a niche desktop. What would be gained by putting such an unusual DE front & center in a big project like Ubuntu? Do you really think it would attract more users than it drives away? I recently heard a fellow college student express fear of Linux based software & I think most distros would be far better served by using a more mainstream DE, rather than making users more apprehensive by being out of their comfort zone.
12 • Kernel compilation (by Andy Mender on 2016-05-02 07:58:41 GMT from Europe)
As I run FreeBSD -STABLE, and more rarely -CURRENT branches on most of my machines, compiling a new kernel together with the 'world' is part of the deal. I prefer to not include drivers I will never be able to use, like multiple Ethernet adapters on a laptop. Optional stuff goes as loadable modules. The process is so much simpler compared to GNU/Linux, as Thomas Mueller @5 mentioned.
People are often unnecessarily afraid of kernel compilation on GNU/Linux, because the ncurses menu is complex and unreadable. Honestly, the kernel dev team should drop menu entries for devices that don't even exist anymore, thus making kernel configuration and compilation more of an educational experience than chore.
Regardless, on modern machines the performance gain is minimal, unless one plays around with schedulers and RAM use as was mentioned by Jessie :). The decrease in boot and shutdown times is also minor.
13 • Lubuntu 16.04 did not install. Went to Devuan instead. (by buntublues on 2016-05-02 08:10:56 GMT from Europe)
I was unable to install Lubuntu 16.04 on any of my laptops. Jumped the bandwaggon (been running Lubuntu and elementary OS for a couple of years now) and tried Devuan instead. Worked like a charm. And they are a very friendly lot I must say! :) Check out their newly released beta at devuan.org!
14 • Ubuntu + Atheros wireless = no go (by Carlos on 2016-05-02 09:04:43 GMT from Europe)
I've tested Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on a USB stick, live.
To my amazement, it didn't load the driver (Ath9k) for my relatively old Atheros dualband wireless card, so no wireless, no network.
Wait, what?!
In 2016?!
I've never had one single distro that didn't load the wireless driver on this machine. It simply works, always.
As this is an LTS distro, it will probably remain like this for a long time, because on LTS distros, even the bugs are LTS. LOL
Scrap Ubuntu.
15 • Xbuntu 16.04 based releases (by GoonieGooGoo on 2016-05-02 09:10:31 GMT from North America)
Good to see a new release for Voyager and ChaletOS. Both use Xfce and tweaked out. Yay! Cheers. :)
16 • Ubuntu 16.04 server install + Cinnamon 3.0.1 (by James, NZ on 2016-05-02 09:13:09 GMT from Oceania)
I went ahead and did a ground up install on my laptop with Ubuntu server 16.04 - no major dramas at all. After this installed cinnamon from ubuntu repo (2.8.6), LightDM + restricted codecs - desktop very fast & stable and up and running within an hour. Added PPA for Cinnamon 3.0.1 and installed within desktop.
Only issue found was the switch over from ubuntu server /etc/network/interface file managing network to the GUI NetworkManager (taking the eth0 and wlan0 lines out of interface file solved it)
17 • To the reviewer (by Gday MATE on 2016-05-02 09:31:10 GMT from North America)
Just a note, mate - your processor is a dual-core, not quad core ;)
18 • Ubuntu 16.04 (by Zork on 2016-05-02 09:45:34 GMT from Oceania)
Running 14.04 LTS at the moment...
No intention of moving to 16.04 at LEAST until .1 update ( probably .2 )...
That should get any nasty bugs sorted that slipped through testing and hopefully a more secure snap package management... Snap seems like a perfect vehicle for installing "Malware for Linux" to me...
19 • @11: Unity (by dragonmouth on 2016-05-02 12:47:24 GMT from North America)
There are two main reasons why Unity is the default DE of Ubuntu:
1) Mark Shuttlesworth's fervent desire to make Ubuntu into a Linux version of Windows. Unity is his version of Modern.
2) Unity is a proprietary Canonical product, GNOME is not. Canonical has total control over what goes into Unity, it has very little control over GNOME, if any.
The rest of the Linux community is happy using Wayland. However, Canonical has very little say in its development, so they created proprietary Mir, a fork of Wayland that they can control. All the other Debian-based distros can and do use either apt or Synaptic for package management. Canonical has little input into the development of apt and Synaptic so they create the proprietary Snappy. Do you see a trend here? Shuttlesworth/Canonical are trying very hard to make Ubuntu as proprietary as Windows is. And then there is the latest collaboration between Microsoft and Canonical to allowi Linux (Ubuntu) programs to run under Win 10.
20 • proprietary Ubuntu (by Conan the Barbarian on 2016-05-02 13:00:59 GMT from Europe)
Is the snappy technology really proprietary!?
21 • Ubuntu 16.04- (by vaithy on 2016-05-02 13:53:44 GMT from Asia)
My installation on a 3year HP latop (AMD A8 quad core with radeon GC) exactly went as you described.. But, Suspend didn't worked out.. kernel is the culprit but same laptop 15.10 worked great upgraded to latest kernel 4.5.2..but the issue persist..any solution?
22 • complining kernels (by john on 2016-05-02 14:21:48 GMT from Europe)
The only time I compiled a kernel was with Slackware, but that was back in 2004 and I had little choice if I wanted it to work on my hardware.
Some people might compile kernels for fun, but most of us have a life outside of messing about with code.
I suppose it's the difference between using Linux because one loves computor programming or using Linux because it is the best tool to get other things done. I belong to the latter group.
23 • 16.04 (by Tim Dowd on 2016-05-02 14:23:40 GMT from North America)
I've been running Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 for about a month and a half now- I installed a daily build back in March. I've really liked the system- it's been stable, and when things have been buggy leading up to the release they were fixed quickly.
This was kind of a test to see if I liked GNOME shell. It is obviously a controversial piece of software and I wanted to form my own opinion about it. I liked it, but I didn't like it better than MATE.
The great innovation of GNOME shell is the super key (windows key/home key, etc.) That's an elegant way to manage windows, and I wish every desktop would adopt it.
What made me switch back was simply that the new version of Nautilus ("Files" I guess we're supposed to call it) isn't as useful as the old version, which is MATE's "Caja." I really like having all of the information about free space displayed in every file window. I know there's extensions and tweaks and things I can do, but MATE's pretty much what a desktop should be out of the box. Hence I'm back to it. I think it would be good for GNOME shell to install by default a set of extensions that's good for a traditional desktop and one that's good for a tablet and let one pick between them at the login menu.
Although honestly, that's what I've got now since I didn't bother to reinstall- I'm still running Ubuntu GNOME and I just have MATE installed alongside. I like Ubuntu 16.04 enough it wasn't worth the work or downtime to do anything else.
24 • Devuan (by Napoli Bona on 2016-05-02 14:39:55 GMT from North America)
So I thought I would try out Devuan and noticed that they suggested using the torrent.
I started the torrent and discovered that the file size is 10.55 GB! Is this the largest distro ever? Just saying...
25 • Post #19 . . @111 Unity by dragon . . (by Rainwood on 2016-05-02 14:58:58 GMT from North America)
Is there even one point in your biased rant that's remotely true? Well, I read it again, and no, there's not even a single point that's accurate.
If I'm ever charged with a crime, hope Dragonbreath isn't on the jury . . . . .
26 • Compile (by Bonky on 2016-05-02 15:22:51 GMT from North America)
I used to "play" at compiling kernels to little, no ,or disastrous results....
I haven't done one for quite a while as i haven't had a real need to and it wasn't really what i want to waste my life on
27 • @24 Devuan (by Paraquat on 2016-05-02 15:37:11 GMT from Asia)
>24 • Devuan (by Napoli Bona
> on 2016-05-02 14:39:55 GMT from North America)
> So I thought I would try out Devuan and noticed that they
> suggested using the torrent.
> I started the torrent and discovered that the file size
> is 10.55 GB! Is this the largest distro ever? Just saying...
Hi Napoli. At first I got confused by that too, but on more careful inspection, I saw that the torrent link included all the different versions of Devuan: ie i386, amd64 (both CD and DVD versions), Raspberry Pi, Odroid, various other development boards, etc. So you need to go through your torrent program and unclick the versions you don't want. I think I'll suggest to the mailing list that they separate these downloads to different .torrent files.
28 • Fedora 24 schedule clarification (by Saurav Sengupta on 2016-05-02 15:54:21 GMT from Asia)
Your Fedora 24 schedule information is wrong. The Beta and final have been rescheduled for 10th May 2016 and 14th June 2016 respectively. Pointing it out because the schedule was updated on https://getfedora.org/workstation/prerelease/ before this issue's publication date (2nd May 2016).
29 • Kernel compilation...FreeBSD (by Paraquat on 2016-05-02 15:59:07 GMT from Asia)
I'll add my voice to that of Thomas Mueller @5 and Andy Mender @12. That is to say, kernel compilation is one thing that is considerably easier on FreeBSD than on Linux.
30 • Other reasons for compiling a kernel (by azuvix on 2016-05-02 16:52:36 GMT from North America)
Running a Slackware system, there aren't very many things you need to remove to make it fully free. The hardest part is replacing your kernel with Linux-libre, which (if memory serves) you don't have to compile, but it's not a terribly involved task to do so.
As for why you'd want to do that, performance gains aren't at the top of my list. Maybe I'm just terribly ignorant, but I haven't noticed many dramatic changes in how this machine runs with a custom kernel. However, it's nice to know that a) your kernel contains only what you need, b) there are no proprietary blobs therein, and c) you have complete control over the boot process, whether you use an initrd, and so on. I've learned a lot about how the system works by delving in at this level, and it's always a good thing to increase your level of technical competence with your own computer.
31 • Replacing the Artistix with Ubuntu Studio asked by More Gee (by Bobbie Sellers on 2016-05-02 16:57:17 GMT from North America)
Well MG you have apparently a 32 bit MBR system.
Have you made yourself a boot-able disk of the Unbuntu Studio?
You might want to make a copy of live GParted for your processor.
Using the GParted you can reduce the size of the Debian 8 install after
you back up your data to a safe place i.e. not on the same disk as you
are running from.
Since you apparently are discarding ArtistiX you can format and re-use
the operating system partition aka "/" for your install of Ubuntu Studio.
Maybe you can reuse the "/home" partition as well.
Now if you find these matters confusing then it is time to use web
search tools to find a nearby Linux Users Group in order to get help
with your problem. That is what I did when I started using Linux some
14 years ago TBMR. I live in San Francisco and Googled for Linux User
Group San Francisco. I found the SF-LUG and have attended and helped
with their meetings since then. It has a mailing list as well and questions
can be asked there if they are concerned with Linux matters.
Membership in the LUG or the mailing list is not limited to San Francisco
residents.
sf-lug mailing list
sf-lug@linuxmafia.com
http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug
Information about SF-LUG is at
Hope this information helps you More Gee or anyone who
chances across it.
bliss
32 • @ 19 (by azuvix on 2016-05-02 17:09:31 GMT from North America)
... wut.
All the software that you talked about is under GPLv3 or LGPLv3. Now, I know there are plenty of people out there that don't consider that version to be a truly free license, but calling it flat-out "proprietary" doesn't really ring true. If Canonical were trying to make Ubuntu as proprietary as Windows, the things you talked about wouldn't be sufficient all on their own.
With that said, I'm not an Ubuntu user and haven't been for some time since it became clear to me that Canonical didn't value privacy or software freedom anywhere near as much as I did. I tend to stick to distros which either start fully free or can be made fully free without much fuss. If that's important to you, great. Just don't make accusations that are clearly contradicted by the facts.
33 • Compiling a Kernel (by SilentSam on 2016-05-02 17:22:05 GMT from North America)
I don't know how to answer the question...
I have compiled kernels in the past, but haven't really attempted to do so since udev started modprobing kernel modules for me... Figured the gains of a compiled kernel were lost at that point.
34 • Compiling the kernel (by a on 2016-05-02 18:19:09 GMT from Europe)
I build my kernels since I started using Gentoo, but the configuration part is really tedious and more complicated than it could be. Still, it’s useful to do it in order to reduce significantly the compilation time (and of course add any missing driver). I was surprised the last time I build the kernel that it took less than 5 minutes on my i5.
Many years ago I also needed to build a patched speedstep module because the official kernel had broken speedstep support for my processor/laptop.
35 • @11 • Kernels, Ubuntu & DEs (by mandog on 2016-05-02 18:22:54 GMT from South America)
That is a very biased opinion about gnome and is not called for. As a gnome Openbox jwm or any of a number of WMs user they all have the same in common they are uncluttered and simple to use,
KDE is the worst user experience as it takes hrs a day just to decide which theme, icons, tablet, normal, or customised desktop to use the wallpaper on the cube takes the most time to decide, then the whole shebang plasma crashes?
XFCE 4 build is nothing but a joke take a look at the compositor its never worked correct in 10 years,
Cinnamon another buggy design. full of memory leaks. and crashes
Now I expect this upsets you and others that feel they have the right to slate anything they don't agree with constructive opinion is very welcome.
I don't have anything against any of these DEs mentioned its just a example of week after week the same old crap to the point you don't need to read the sender as this bios stands out a mile
36 • @35 (by a on 2016-05-02 18:32:00 GMT from Europe)
Stop spreading stupid FUD please.
37 • @36 (by mandog on 2016-05-02 18:50:53 GMT from South America)
I'm not spreading FUD just highlighting the fact that some users come here week after week, trying to enforce there biased opinions unto others.
This taints distrowatch for other users and destroys everything distrowatch is trying is trying to achieve that is a unbiased weekly round up of Linux.
38 • @ Own post (by azuvix on 2016-05-02 19:46:52 GMT from North America)
Point of clarification:
I do know that the GPL and LGPL are different licenses that serve different purposes. Apparently I hadn't had enough caffeine when I wrote that last post. :P
39 • Ubuntu, Cinnamon, Mint (by Johannes on 2016-05-02 21:12:47 GMT from Europe)
Thank you for reviewing Ubuntu. I haven't used it for years, but it doesn't seem to have changed very much in the past few years. I completely switched all the PCs I'm in charge of to Linux Mint in the past few years. Absolutely stable and reliable (partly thanks to Ubuntu's great work underneath).
Release of Cinnamon is a good news, even if there are not that many new features. Can't wait to install and use Mint 18 - hope DW will review it!
40 • Unity & Gnome (by M.Z. on 2016-05-02 21:57:26 GMT from North America)
@19 - Unity
As other have stated, that't just factually inaccurate. Don't get me wrong, I like an occasional well reasoned argument, but your statement doesn't meet the test. I personally have greatly disliked Unity & Ubuntu for years now because of the spyware thing, but I that was based on principles, facts & well reasoned opinions I had heard. Even a cursory check of the Wikipedia page on the Unity user interface turns up a link to the developers page clearly stating GPL & LGPL as the license, making the DE open source even if you dislike it as much as I have for the past few years:
https://launchpad.net/unity
@35 - Gnome
Someone gave an opinion I disagreed with & I tried to give a reasonable argument against them, what's the problem? I was trying to be reasonable, but it seems fairly blatantly obvious that, like it or not, Gnome doesn't want to be a typical desktop. Sorry if you don't like my opinion on switching everything under the sun to Gnome, but most of it flows quite logically from this simple fact about how different Gnome is trying to be. Gnome might be great for you, but isn't it reasonable to assume that most users would prefer a more traditional desktop as a default?
As a side note, I haven't seen very many plasma crashes lately. It used to be a bit of a common issue early in the 4.x run, but now it's generally very stable for me. Also users lacking the will to pick a favored setting once & forget it is their fault, now some massive inherent flaw in the desktop design.
41 • OpenElec not in the "Linux Family Tree"? (by Pearson on 2016-05-02 22:04:18 GMT from North America)
Perhaps I overlooked it, but I didn't see openelec listed. AFAIK, it's a fairly popular Slackware derivative for doing media.
42 • 40 • Unity & Gnome (by mandog on 2016-05-02 23:15:49 GMT from South America)
1st let me apologise I shot with both barrels and I should not of done that its my bad.
Sometimes we come across dictatorial we should always start "in my opinion" simply avoids confusion.
I like gnome no bones with that but my real thing is light WMs, JMW being my fav not that I have a low powered machine a 6 core and 8 gigs of ram is not a light machine its the speed programs open is instant, I do need a heavier more stable DE for a lot of things and gnome for me just works if it did not I would ditch it
I really can't remember the last time gnome broke may-be 3.06 just updated to 3.20 changed the theme as i don't like the gnome theme that was it.
XfCE4 openRC is another of my favs I just can't get it to break artoo does a great job. No kde I ditched it when it went to V4.00 and never missed it so I can't comment there.
I never use distro specific themes they tend to break next update and they have no idia about wallpaper and quality.
Any way I hope this clears things up I was out of order
43 • The word "Proprietary" (by dragonmouth on 2016-05-03 00:15:54 GMT from North America)
To all those that called me on the use of the word "proprietary" when referring to some Ubuntu packages, you are right. "Proprietary" was an incorrect word for me to use. Mir, Snappy and Unity, like the vast majority of Linux software, have been released under GPL. However, this does not change the fact that they were developed by Canonical. I used the word "proprietary" in the sense that Canonical has the final say on any permanent changes to those packages. Mark Shuttlesworth, in an interview referred to by DW, IIRC, that Mir was forked from Wayland, so that Canonical can have control over the protocol.
44 • I like Unity (by Jack on 2016-05-03 00:31:47 GMT from Europe)
I find Unity to be a very efficient DE and, although I disliked the earlier versions of it I quite happily use it now and would not want to see it replaced with Gnome Shell. The dash and the launcher (which I have kept on the left) are an efficient way of finding and launching software, I have online searches turned off, HUD is efficient in programs like GIMP and Libre Office where there are lots of options in the menus and you know the name of the command you want.The keyboard shortcuts are... efficient. You get the idea, it's heavy, but efficient to work with.
Gnome shell is pretty and I like the way the multiple workspaces work, but switching windows is long winded.
KDE is great, but I find the sheer volume of options leaves me tinkering when I should be working, and I've found multiple monitors don't work too reliably on both Kubuntu and Opensuse (and the quality of the desktop on both these distributions was miles apart despite being the same version)
Mate is great and I use it on another computer which runs Fedora. Unity would be too heavy for that computer anyway.
XFCE is great but again, I end up wasting time configuring it when I should be working, and it just never felt solid to me even though I can put my finger on no problems with it. Perception is everything.
Anyone else having problems with this page this evening? My firefox just crashed twice while posting this due to some script not behaving properly. Only on this page, never had this problem with distrowatch before though. Or with Firefox for a long time.
45 • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / XFCE (by Wil Barath on 2016-05-03 01:47:42 GMT from North America)
Has anyone determined yet whether Ubuntu 16.04 has finally addressed the ongoing bugs with XFCE to do with GTK and HAL which result in UI lockups, delayed launch of the Alt-F1 and Alt-F2 menu/command popups, failure of many apps to show an icon in the notification area (nm-applet being a prime example) ?
I really miss having a stable XFCE desktop :-(
46 • XFCE (by erinis on 2016-05-03 02:49:53 GMT from North America)
@45 Voyager Live 16.04.
47 • Post #43 - Proprietary . . by Dragonmouth (by PlainOl_Farmer on 2016-05-03 04:09:48 GMT from North America)
Yes, your posts have been ill-researched and off base regarding the status of several major projects . . . not exactly a small error . .
And re Canonical . . . what in the "ell" is wrong with any company that's trying to pay the bills and provide salaries to their employees? Why would you expect anything else? I know my company does the same, and if it didn't, I'd start looking for another company to work for. If Canonical - just like RedHat and Suse can't make a profit, who gains? Not Linux - - even Linus gets a more than decent salary.
Canonical walks the for profit - - sustainable business model and open source model about as well as can be done. It's not easy OR straightforward. That's why all 3 commercial Linux OS providers have made agreements with many other tech companies including MS. It's called "Due Diligence" . . . .
48 • Software Centre (by Mark D on 2016-05-03 12:02:09 GMT from Europe)
I've installed Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and it mostly works well, but I've not been able to install anything using the Software Centre. It's nice and fast, but doesn't actually work!
Either it displays "pending..." when installing a package and doesn't complete, or it seems to finish installing a package but then the button still displays "Install". I check via the command line and it isn't installed. So I have to use apt-get to install packages instead.
Has anyone else had this issue with the new Software Centre?
49 • Very quickly, easily install ANY Linux kernel. Multi-boot any. (by Greg Zeng on 2016-05-03 12:31:29 GMT from Oceania)
Kernel compiling is last century. As soon as any Linux kernel is developed, into alpha, beta or final release, it is immediately available for double-click entry into ANY Ubuntu-based operating system, including Mint.
Generally I prefer the low-latency kernels. The advantage of the latest kernels is increased hardware compatibilies: SSD optimizations, USB3, USB 3.1, wifi of many types, etc. Any incompatibilities caused by kernels, hardware or applications can easily, quickly tested by switching kernels and/ or operating systems.
If you want to install ANY Linux kernel into most Ubuntu-derived distributions, double-click the appropriate downloads (usually 3 files) from:
http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D
From kernels:
v2.6.24-hardy/ 09-Jun-2015 10:57
To:
2016-05-03-wily/ 03-May-2016 03:15
Some Ubuntu-based distributions include Grub-customizer, by default.
with this GUI app, you can choose any of all kernels you have installed.
Using Grub-customizer, without CLI but using its primitive line-based GUI, you can easily choose the order of the Linux operating systems, and the kernels of your choice. My Grub-customizer menu presents me with any of two Windows operating systems, or any of ten Linux operating systems.
Each Linux operating system has any number of kernels to select, if I need to select any kernel. Windows-10 systems need about 40 GB, and the Linux systems need much less than 10 GB of storage space.
W-10 operating system does not include third-party applications. Each Linux operating system fits all its applications within the 10GB of space. Data and archive files are shared & accessed by all operating systems. These are on W-10 NTFS-compressed partitions. WINE is on all the Linux operating systems.
All my Linux partitions include Libre-Office, RecordMyDesktop, OpenShot, etc. So hopefully I'll show how this works, easily, reliably and repeatedly on my lightweight notebook computer. The Dell XPS-15 is not an ultra-book, with its dual GPUs, internal TB SSD & TB HDD, DVD, 16 GB DDR3, i7, etc. But it moves easily from my nursing-home bed to my common-room armchair.
50 • Installing_Linux_kernels_keyrings_and_verification (by k on 2016-05-03 14:36:37 GMT from North America)
@49 (by Greg Zeng), and Jesse Smith
Thank you Greg for the informative and reassuring comment.
Still, I have frequently wondered:
1. About Liquorix .dmz kernels, what exactly does the .dmz denote?
2. How exactly is the authenticity/security of kernels verified, as at least Liquorix provides a keyring, presumably for signing and verification purposes?
Much thanks in advance for any insight and advice.
51 • @50 (by Jake on 2016-05-03 15:53:02 GMT from North America)
kernel.org provides signatures and signs its source. You verify you have the right source, then when you build yourself, it should be good.
Distributions sign their package releases, so when you download from Debian, Ubuntu, etc., etc., the packages are signed, so if you trust them, you trust that they built the kernel and went through the steps above.
52 • Number of i3 cores and kernel compiling (by cykodrone on 2016-05-03 15:55:27 GMT from North America)
@17 You are technically right but, 2 physical cores plus 2 fake hyper-threading cores = 4 'cores', just sayin'. It will show as 4 cores in a CPU monitoring application.
Kernel compiling, I have in the past but I can't be bothered anymore. If you want a super lightweight, lean and mean kernel, learn how. Compiling your own leaves out tons of unnecessary bloat.
53 • installing_vs_building_kernels_images_and_verification (by k on 2016-05-03 16:25:17 GMT from Europe)
@51 (by Jake)
Thank you for the answer but, actually, my questions (comment 50) refer specifically to Greg Zeng's comment 49 "Very quickly, easily install ANY Linux kernel", "install" not "build". Please "clarify" if I misunderstood the gist of Greg's comment.
Also, "exactly how" to "verify you have the right source". Did you mean as Jesse Smith described at https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20160314#tips for verifying ISO images? And the kernel header file?
54 • @12 Andy Mender Kernel Compiling (by Arch Watcher 402563 on 2016-05-04 09:31:48 GMT from North America)
Compilation complexity is not a function of devices. Blame monolithic design courtesy Linus.
Kernel devs should NOT drop devices, because all of them still exist. Embedded devices still use RS-232. Some BIOSes need PS/2 and some gamers want it. An entire third-world industry revamps old computers. We've also reached a point in Moore's Law where an "old" computer is "good enough" for lots of things.
Some third party can just make a nice GUI to bypass Linus's menus. He won't need Linus's blessing. The new GUI tool can preprocess user choices (metaflags?) for translation into proper Linus kernel flags. A tool that's any good will gain traction and devs quickly.
Devices could be assigned age brackets. Age flags could be fuzzy, from "archaeology" to "relevant" to "shiny new"; or precise, say the year of final OEM shipment. In any case a single flag can strip whole classes of devices without walking Linus's ncurses menu tree. I would like to see an ALLCIPHERS metaflag with all crypto baked in except known bad/broken/obsolete ciphers; and NOSYSTEMD and NOPULSEAUDIO too.
55 • @53 (by Jake on 2016-05-04 17:43:27 GMT from North America)
For verifying the source, yes, that's what I had in mind. It looks like they sign the zip file, and you verify that per the DW tips you cited.
For installing, not building, sorry if I wasn't clear. I was merely saying that you get the kernel verification by downloading from your distro's repo. In the case Greg mentioned where you download the file directly, you can still do a gpg verification. The CHECKSUMS file is signed with gpg, so you verify that and then verify the match when you download the ISO. That's how you know the deb you downloaded is what they intended (per the same DW tips). After that, it's just "dpkg -i " and it's installed (you may need to update grub as well; I don't normally do this, but Jesse's instructions look good).
Personally for everyday use, I find that a bit of a hassle. If you really wanted to use that particular link, you can add the PPA yourself to your install, and then the verification stuff happens behind the scenes (the same way your repos work now). You can set particular versions, etc., and configure things just like you handle any other package.
56 • Re: clarification_of_kernel_verification (by k on 2016-05-04 18:17:55 GMT from Europe)
@55 by Jake
Much thanks, I have installed kernels the way you described, from "distro's repo", but did not notice verification happens automatically. That is reassuring. Not sure about "everyday use", usually the customized kernel included with distro is fairly compatible with security and privacy measures such as sandboxing, TOR network, stable and fast. Just occasionally testing distro's customized updated kernel, but curious about Liquorix kernels.
Do you know what the .dmz denotes of Liquorix kernels?
57 • Kernel Play (by nolinuxguru on 2016-05-04 18:50:00 GMT from Europe)
I compile the Linux kernel for some computers and purposes. I have run Devuan [Debian without systemd] for about 1 year [I forget], starting it with my own port of the "sinit" init system, with the Openbox window manager/desktop environment. I run my main machine with the default Devuan kernel for everyday work, and restrict experimentation to a second machine.
The default Devuan kernel is 3.16.0, but I sometimes compile 4.4.1 so that I can use recent features such as Overlays. I also sometimes use a modified version of the CRUX Linux kernel configuration [.config file] which builds all necessary modules into the kernel and avoids the initrd step.
As you can see I am playing [retired, injured], but the Devuan/Debian base provides a reliable environment for this [never crashes except if I am experimenting]. I can only really do this because I wrote a custom GRUB grub.cfg file to allow booting different partitions and kernels. Not for everyone.
58 • In response to the feature story by Joshua Allen Holm (by Sal on 2016-05-04 20:04:44 GMT from North America)
Not to debunk Joshua's review of Ubuntu 16.04, but, he must not have used it the OS for very long. I have found that 16.04 is very unstable. The launcher when set to hide, stops functioning after awhile. It will not slide back out. So access to anything is virtually impossible.
Furthermore, upon install, it will recognize and mount external drives, but will not give read/write access to them until you reboot manually.
At times, after a rebooting, the panel itself is unresponsive and doesn't show any icons or the clock. A hard shutdown is in order to get it responsive again.
I did a fresh install of 16.04, from a freshly downloaded ISO. this morning and indeed, the problems persist. Upon first reboot, you are notified of an update for the core OS itself. After install of said update, the problems are by far worse than without the update.
Maybe Joshua's hardware is more compatible with 16.04 than mine is.
Hardware used for physical install:
AMD Processor FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz
Motherboard: SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0
Storage: SSD 850 EVO 500GB
Memory: 16GB of DDR3
Networking: Realtek® 8111F, 1 x Gigabit LAN
Display: nVidia GTX 960
59 • Canonical's strategy (by dave on 2016-05-05 05:13:35 GMT from North America)
The guy complaining about Canonical is basically right though. Look at what they did to Compiz. They developed the 0.9x branch in to a corner case that only worked properly with Unity. The proper thing to do would be fork the project, but instead they just took it over. That's why so many people go back to the 0.8x branch and why development will probably start over from that point if it ever gets going again.
60 • #56 (by anticapitalista on 2016-05-05 09:30:14 GMT from Europe)
#Do you know what the .dmz denotes of Liquorix kernels?
It is an abbreviation of the the liquriox creater's username - damentz.
61 • @55 (by Jake on 2016-05-05 15:20:16 GMT from North America)
All packages are verified using the pre-installed keyring from your original installation CD. That's how your local "web of trust" starts. Package signing and verification is part of Linux's claims to being more secure and why people always recommend to download from your distro's repository and not use random programs from the Internet (like I always had to do with Windows). It's one of my favorite parts of Linux, and now that I'm used to it, I never download and install debs unless I can find them through an official repository.
@60: I'd never heard of Liquorix, but I figured it had to be something like that. Glad you found it for me--I wasn't having any luck.
62 • value_in_answers_and_perhaps_humour (by k on 2016-05-05 18:49:01 GMT from Europe)
@ 60 (by anticapitalista) and 61 (by Jake)
First, what the .dmz denotes in the names of Liquorix kernels, "damentz", possibly related to the name of a liquor, creme de menthe? By the way, antiX is super value.
Then, Jake, thank you very much for that really valuable and reassuring information, I will follow your example.
63 • @14 lack of wireless support. (by imnotrich on 2016-05-06 05:50:49 GMT from North America)
I've had issues with Debian, Puppy, Ubuntu, Mint and other distros in the past few years that have poor or nonexistent wireless support, You'd think that would be considered basic functionality just as wired networks once were.
Only once in 20 years have I met a distro that lacked wired network drivers, but that was an outlyer,
Wireless support is improving though, and I know eventually even the open source drivers will do a great job at supporting the vast number of different cards out there.
What gets annoying though are how those developers decide which hardware they're no longer going to support. I restore lots of older PC's, and for various reasons I still use serial, parallel, isa cards, ata-133 and sata pci controller cards, rs-232, zips, 3" and 5" floppies plus some other hardware. So many hours wasted trying to install distros on these older machines that don't support the hardware. In some case Windows 98 or XP has better driver support! While I lack sufficient expertise to compile a custom kernel to fit my needs, it WOULD be nice if when downloading stuff we have options to add/remove support for hardware this or that. One person's obscure piece of hardware is another person's business lifeblood. Like the 486 PC I restored for a Doctor whose practice included some hardware that would only run in an ISA slot. I get not everybody needs obsolete hardware support but at the same time I don't need support for some $400 gamers video card.
SO how do we resolve this?
64 • Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial and ATI graphics cards (by mirix on 2016-05-06 08:27:01 GMT from Europe)
I have upgraded 3 computers to Ubuntu 16.04:
- In two of them with Nvidia graphics cards and using proprietary drivers the upgrade completed without major issues. One was previously running Ubuntu 14.04 and the other 15.10.
- However, with the third one, running 15.10 and the fglrx ATI proprietary driver resulted in X not being able to start until I removed the custom xorg.conf file. Given that the fglrx is no longer supported by Ubuntu (or, better, Ubuntu is no longer supported by ATI), those who, like myself, need the proprietary driver should refrain from upgrading. Canonical suggest using the open source driver but that is not an option for many (I use scientific software for work that does not even start without full glx support).
In my case, I preferred to roll back to 14.04 rather than staying with 15.10. 16.04 is just not an option.
I might also try Devuan or antiX.
65 • Mainstream vs other stream reviews (by Andy Mender on 2016-05-06 16:22:56 GMT from Europe)
@64,
Devuan and antiX are good choices, if one wants to avoid systemd and other digital idiocracies.
Per the Ubuntu 16.04 review, I think more emphasis should be put on less mainstream distributions, like Arch Linux, Manjaro, etc. We all know Ubuntu is going to be a hit and that it will have a load of bugs, because that always happens when one tries to please a too broad audience. Lesser GNU/Linux and BSD distributions really have a lot to offer in terms of getting the job done ;).
66 • @63 - lack of wireless support (by Carlos on 2016-05-06 20:15:28 GMT from Europe)
The problem is that I've never had any problem with THIS wireless card, with any distro.
Only Ubuntu 16.04 doesn't load the drivers. It's the Ath9k drivers for Atheros cards.
That is why I'm so surprized.
But I don't seem to be the only one to think that Ubuntu 16.04 is a lemon:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/ubuntu-xerus.html
67 • security (by tux on 2016-05-07 01:32:55 GMT from Europe)
Here's a site I'd like to share.
It's about securing linux by removing unwanted systemd boot, startup services.
It may also enable faster boot times and a slightly faster computing.
http://www.ihackforfun.eu/index.php?title=improve-security-by-removing-services&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
68 • @63 support of older hardware (by Thomas Mueller on 2016-05-07 06:12:41 GMT from North America)
In order to support older hardware, you can't depend on a canned fancy graphical Linux distribution. You need to be able to build a kernel from source using the kernel config. With NetBSD and FreeBSD, you can copy and edit the GENERIC kernel config, check files ALL (NetBSD) and NOTES (FreeBSD) in the source trees for additional parameters and drivers not in the GENERIC. In the case of Linux, you could use a source-based distro such as Gentoo, build on a newer computer and install on the old computer, or search Distrowatch for a Linux distro good on older computers.
69 • @67_security_by_tux (by k on 2016-05-07 17:54:38 GMT from Europe)
MUCH thanks for the empowerment, knowledge is the key starting point
to optimizing security.
Hoping to soon read about your tips:
have more than one mitigation in place against a certain attack
patch and upgrade
try to add defenses when new types of threats arise
Now able to verify "back to udev since eudev version causes long startup delay
on some newer laptops with bluetooth".
70 • Re: removing unwanted systemd boot, startup services (by k on 2016-05-08 06:50:21 GMT from Europe)
@67 security, by tux
So far, it seems the commands you provided for analyzing (blaming) startup processes
and times might be most securely performed with Tails 2.0 and newer, BUT it is certainly
NOT RECOMMENDED to remove any services the developers of Tails have tested
and added to it. VERY RISKY.
71 • gNewSense_4.0_ISO_and_verification_files... (by k on 2016-05-08 06:56:26 GMT from Europe)
bit dispersed, somewhat timely and fussy to sort through for secure download and verification.
72 • gNewSense timing (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2016-05-08 08:16:58 GMT from North America)
Ah yes, just after DebIan 7 Wheezy security went from active to LTS-team.
73 • ghostbsd (by joji on 2016-05-08 13:54:13 GMT from Europe)
GhostBSD 10.3-ALPHA1 is not perfect but a nice occasion to get in touch with FreeBSD. Especially the choice of programs is nearly perfect (in my eyes).
I would like to ask some questions on their forums but am not able to answer their question to be allowed : "What is the current version number of GhostBSD?" Tried all available possibilities. without success.
Any help please?
Thank you.
74 • Ubuntu 16.04 (by Lone Gunman on 2016-05-08 15:21:45 GMT from North America)
Really surprised that the new RTL8192EU wireless chipset isn't supported in 16.04? And it's not that new as I ran 16.04 development versions that didn't support it either. Pretty much all the USB wireless adapters you see on Ebay now have this new chipset.
75 • gNewSense timing (by k on 2016-05-08 18:00:29 GMT from North America)
@72 by Kragle von Schnitzelbank
Thank you for that really important point. If you were referring to my comment 71, I meant finding
the ISO hash sum and signature for gNewSense 4.0 download is relatively time-consuming
not "timely", but it is likely my ego-mind distorting the reality of it.
Nevertheless, your point about poor timing of release of this version based on Debian 7 "Wheezy" 7 just over a week after regular security support for Wheezy comes to an end is very useful information. Now I shall not try to download and test gNewSense 4.0.
76 • to x (by tux on 2016-05-08 19:13:55 GMT from Europe)
70 - Really don't know, x
Hope you sort out bluetooth and happy you, others find some use of the link.
Share was due to didactic quality and consciousness ethics approach.
77 • Debian 7 conspiracy? (by nolinuxguru on 2016-05-08 19:34:13 GMT from Europe)
@72 and @75: I don't understand the connection between Debian 7 LTS and gNewSense 4.0, what am I missing?
78 • gNewSense (by Jesse on 2016-05-08 19:55:46 GMT from North America)
@77: I believe they are making reference to gNewSense being based on Debian 7 packages. If you read through the release announcement mailing list thread, it would appear the latest gNewSense is based on Debian 7 which just transitioned from full support to limited LTS security support. http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/gnewsense-users/2016-05/msg00002.html
79 • gnewsense 4.0 (by nolinuxguru on 2016-05-08 20:57:26 GMT from Europe)
@78 sorry, I was aware of the Debian 7 LTS migration but not the significance of gnewsense being based on it [rather than Debian 8] other than avoiding the imposition of systemd.
80 • LTS security support (by Kragle on 2016-05-08 21:23:38 GMT from North America)
This gives perspective on DebIan LTS security support:
http://assets.amuniversal.com/3de1f300ea4e013355e9005056a9545d
and for ubuntu LTS,
a related discussion is at:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/ubuntu-lts-many-vulnerabilities-despite-long-term-support.385386/
so
it might be best to monitor security reporting for every source/repo.
81 • semplice development report (by greenmedinfo on 2016-05-08 21:56:39 GMT from North America)
Presently, and as far as I have tested, only Tails and Semplice (both Debian-based) are the only distributions to not produce excessive fan use, or run like treacle, on my powernow_k8 machine. Compiling a kernel requires skill and, apparently, few persons possess that skill.
I consistently run them from a manual, frugal installation to USB flash drive, using syslinux as bootloader.
Semplice development report:
http://semplice-linux.org/community/viewtopic.php?id=1198
Semplice development image:
http://cdimage.semplice-linux.org/semplice64/723.0/lh/
Number of Comments: 81
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| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
MINIX
MINIX was a UNIX-like computer operating system based on a microkernel architecture. It was extremely small, with the part that runs in kernel mode in about 5,000 lines of source code, while the parts that run in user mode are divided into small, insulated modules which enhance system reliability. Originally designed as an educational tool, the latest versions of MINIX are also targetted at embedded systems and low-power laptops. By the project's own admission, MINIX was work in progress and was nowhere near as mature as BSD or Linux. It was released under a BSD-type licence.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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