 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 698, 6 February 2017 |
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Welcome to this year's 6th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
A large part of what defines an operating system and its usefulness is the software it can run. This means the methods by which we find, install and maintain software on our systems are significant and we spend time this week talking about different approaches to bundling and deploying software. In our News section we discuss Snap packages being backported to Ubuntu 14.04 and our Questions and Answers column explores the differences between containers and modern packaging formats such as Flatpak and Snap. We invite our readers to weigh in on the subject of packages, containers and virtual machines as ways to distribute software in our Opinion Poll. Also this week we talk about delays in getting Ubuntu 16.04.2 released to the public and Debian preparing to launch Debian 9 "Stretch". Plus we discuss running Steam on TrueOS and the Tails distribution migrating from 32-bit to 64-bit builds. First though, we share a review of Solus by guest author Alwan Rosyidi. We are also pleased to bring you a list of last week's distribution releases and we share the torrents we are currently seeding. Plus we welcome the Arch-based OBRevenge OS distribution to our database. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (32MB) and MP3 (20MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Alwan Rosyidi) |
Solus 2017.01.01.0: Impressive newcomer
Solus is an independent Linux distribution where the rising Budgie desktop was born. Despite the fact it is relatively a new Linux distribution, Solus brings many stunning features. The most interesting feature is, of course, the superstar Budgie desktop that has catalyzed another important project called Ubuntu Budgie. The newest version of Solus, Solus 2017.01.01.0, was released on January 2017 and offers us plenty of new and interesting things to look around.
1. Technical overview
Solus 2017.01.01.0 is built on top of the Linux kernel version 4.8.15. It only supports 64-bit architecture, which has been a new trend among other Linux distributions today. It's said that 64-bit operating systems consume more memory and run poorly on slow computers. Is this true or not, and happening in Solus? This is another interesting thing we have to find out.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- The Budgie desktop
(full image size: 1.9MB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
2. Budgie desktop
Budgie desktop is a new desktop which has been created by the Solus developers. It is a built on top of GNOME libraries. Solus 2017.01.01.0 uses Budgie desktop version 10.2.9 built on top of GNOME stack version 3.20.3.
Budgie desktop consists of five parts:
Main menu - Placed at the left top corner panel, there is a main traditional menu similar to the main menu of elementary OS.
Pinned shortcut - Beside the main menu, there are pinned application shortcuts. You could pin your most used applications here. To pin the applications shortcut, you have to open the application, then right click on the taskbar, and then select Pin to panel.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- Pin to panel
(full image size: 187kB, resolution: 543x369 pixels)
Taskbar - Right after Pinned shortcuts, there is a taskbar of running applications.
Applets/Indicators - At the right of the panel, there is an applets bar offering important functions such as: Network Manager indicator, notification indicator, battery/power indicator, sound indicator, shutdown indicator, date indicator, and at the right corner of panel there is a shortcut to access Budgie desktop settings.
Budgie desktop settings - Budgie's desktop settings panel is hidden in the right corner panel. It's a complete settings panel with options to move the desktop panel position, arrange the panel's items, applets, and change desktop themes. At the bottom, there are shortcuts to shutdown the computer, lock the computer, and a shortcut to GNOME's system settings.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- A collection of snapshots of the settings panel
(full image size: 262kB, resolution: 848x768 pixels)
3. Built-in apps - Solus 2017.01.01.0 comes with a minimal number of built-in apps. There is no LibreOffice office suite or GIMP image editor. The good news is, there is the VLC media player and Rhythmbox music player to enjoy your multimedia collection.
4. Package management and software repository - Solus has its own package manager called eopkg. It is very similar to Debian's dpkg with apt and quite easy to use. We can install an application easily by executing the command: sudo eopkg install app_name. We could find popular Linux apps in default Solus 2017.01.01.0 such as GIMP, Inkscape, SMPlayer, and more. Unfortunately, the very popular Chromium browser isn't included yet in this Solus version. Alternatively, you could use the AppImage version of the Chromium browser.
There is also a graphical Software Center very similar to Ubuntu Software Center or GNOME Software. There is also very nice documentation about using eopkg package management in Solus's wiki.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- The software manager
(full image size: 191kB, resolution: 952x695 pixels)
5. Installation - Solus comes with a modern, easy to use graphical installer very similar to Ubuntu's Ubiquity which comes with guided installation, replacing all existing Linux installations, and advanced partitioning. However, the advanced partitioning isn't as complete as Ubuntu's Ubiquity. There is no option to mount NTFS/FAT32 partitions so, if you have one, you have to mount these partitions manually after installation. However, the installer is still relatively easy to use.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- Partitioning with the system installer
(full image size: 48kB, resolution: 768x553 pixels)
6. Memory Utilization - RAM is now cheaper and is not a big issue among today's users. But in case you are curious about the distribution's resource utilization, it consumes about 700MB to 800MB of RAM in an idle mode.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- Checking memory usage
(full image size: 46kB, resolution: 702x545 pixels)
7. Desktop theming - Solus uses the Arc GTK theme and Arc icon theme. It is good looking and modern. The desktop wallpapers can be changed by right-clicking on the desktop. There are plenty beautiful wallpapers available in Solus-2017.01.01.0.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- Selecting new wallpaper
(full image size: 452kB, resolution: 843x466 pixels)
8. Solus 2017.01.01.0 MATE - Solus 2017.01.01.0 also comes with a MATE edition that uses MATE desktop version 1.16.1. Solus 2017.01.01.0 MATE brings a brand new application menu called Brisk Menu which looks very similar to the Cardapio menu. It is a simple, fast, traditional menu that resembles the look and functionality of Xfce's Whisker Menu.
Just like Linux Mint MATE, Solus 2017.01.01.0 MATE only provides a single panel at the bottom of the desktop, with the Brisk Menu at the left corner, and a system tray applet in the right corner.
Solus 2017.01.01.0 -- Running the MATE desktop
(full image size: 1.2MB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
9. Overall performance and conclusion - Installed on an old, dual core Intel Pentium with 4GB of RAM, Solus 2017.01.01.0 runs quite well, without lags or crash issues. If you are starting to feel bored with your current distro, Solus 2017.01.01.0 is an impressive alternative you can try. It's fresh, fast, good looking, and easy to use. The lack of some of the most popular Linux apps like the Chromium browser is an issue and I hope Solus developers will put it in Solus's official repository in the future releases. Overall, I could simply say Solus 2017.01.01.0 is impressive. It could be, in the future, a fair rival to the good looking elementary OS.
As the conclusion, here is my personal scoring for Solus 2017.01.01.0:
- Build quality : 8/10
- Performance : 8/10
- Ease of use : 8/10
- Artwork : 8/10
- Installation : 7/10
- Software Management : 9/10
- Software Repository : 6/10
- Overall score : 8/10
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Tails migrating to 64-bit, Debian Stretch freezes, Ubuntu backports Snap, Ubuntu 16.04.2 delayed again, running Steam games on TrueOS
The Tails distribution is a Debian-based project which is used to anonymously browse the web, scrub meta-data from files and securely transfer files. The Tails project has announced their distribution will soon shift from providing 32-bit builds to 64-bit builds exclusively. "Tails 3.0 will require a 64-bit x86-64 compatible processor. As opposed to older versions of Tails, it will not work on 32-bit processors. We have waited for years until we felt it was the right time to do this switch. Still, this was a hard decision for us to make. Today, we want to explain why we eventually made this decision, how it will affect users, and when..." Tails 3.0 will drop support for 32-bit computers on June 13, 2017, according to the project's roadmap. The change is being made to take advantage of 64-bit security features and improve package compatibility. Details on this change can be found in the Tails announcement.
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The Debian project is well known for releasing new stable versions of the distribution when they are considered ready rather than on a set schedule. Though Debian does not have a specific schedule, the distribution does appear to be nearing the release of Debian 9 "Stretch". Jonathan Wiltshire reported Debian has entered its final freeze leading into the release of the next version: "The Release Team is pleased to announce that Debian 9.0 "stretch" has entered the final phase of development and is now frozen."
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Snap packages have been supported by the past couple of Ubuntu releases. Snap packages handle their own dependencies and offer a number of security features which make them appealing, particularly for distributing software not available in Ubuntu's official repositories. The Snap technology has recently been backported to Ubuntu's previous long term support release, Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty Tahr". This allows people running older copies of Ubuntu to experiment with Snap packages. The OMG Ubuntu website offers further details: "While most people reading this post will be doing so from a more recent version of Ubuntu than Trusty, the arrival of Snapd in the Trusty archives means even more folks can fool around with the new software deployment and package management system." Instructions for installing the Snap software can be found in the announcement.
The Ubuntu team pushes out updates to the distribution's long term support (LTS) releases on a regular basis to provide fresh installation media for users. These updated builds are not brand new versions of the operating system, but include additional drivers and packages with security fixes. The most recent update, Ubuntu 16.04.2, has been delayed twice now and the team plans to hold it back until February 9th to allow for further quality assurance testing. Leann Ogasawara explained the reason for the delay: "We would like to formally request an extension for 16.04.2's release. We have just identified a serious boot regression on arm64. The resolution looks to require landing changes to the kernel, flash-kernel, and possibly d-i. While we can likely physically get those changes into the archive in time for the release, there would be next to no time to test this nor provide appropriate regression testing on other platforms. We would be much more comfortable giving that some proper testing before releasing and therefore would like to request an additional extension for the point release date."
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Josh Smith has published a tutorial which explores how gamers can get some of their favourite gaming titles running on TrueOS and, by extension, related operating systems such as FreeBSD. The tutorial walks readers through setting up the Windows version of Steam on TrueOS using WINE and an application called PlayOnBSD. "If you're a PC gamer, you should definitely give PlayOnBSD a try! You may be surprised at how well it works. If you want to know ahead of time if your games are well supported or not, head on over to WineHQ and do a search. Many people have tested and provided feedback and even solutions for potential problems with a large variety of video games. This is a great resource if you run into a glitch or other problem." The tutorial includes detailed installation instructions and screen shots of Steam games running on TrueOS.
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
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Comparing containers with portable applications
They-are-all-portable asks: I recently read your piece in DistroWatch Weekly 668 comparing Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage. I found it very interesting, but one question came to mind as I was reading it: What functionally differentiates these newer packaging formats from container formats such as Docker?
I don't know much about any of these except that containers are marketed more as an alternative to virtualization rather than alternative packaging, but from my perspective they all seem to do the same thing. Install a framework (except AppImage), download a bundle containing the application and relevant libraries, and run it. Are they just marketed differently, or perhaps accomplishing the same end goal, but going about it in completely different ways under the hood? Or is there something big and important that differentiates these technologies that I just don't know?
DistroWatch answers: Let's talk about AppImage first. I would like to point out that AppImage is relatively old, compared to Docker, Snap and Flatpak. AppImage was first launched back around 2004 while Docker arrived on the scene in 2013. (Flatpak and Snap are about the same age, or just a little younger than Docker, respectively.) AppImage provides a way for developers to bundle up an application and its dependencies into one package file. The end user downloads the package and runs it and, from the end user's point of view, the application and its dependencies are one big file.
AppImage, from the end user's perspective, is very convenient. The user does not need to have administrator/sudo access to download and run AppImage packages. No package manager is required either. While AppImage does not provide any sandboxing security on its own, tools like Firejail can be used to isolate AppImage programs with little to no configuration or effort on the part of the user.
Flatpak and Snap, while they have their differences, both provide a framework that either comes pre-installed on the operating system or is set up by the administrator. Then the administrator can install applications and services on the system. Flatpak and Snap programs are somewhat isolated from the system and provide some potentially nice security features. Dependencies are handled by the framework and/or the developer so the administrator does not need to worry about them.
What each of these three (AppImage, Snap and Flatpak) have in common is they are designed with a single application or service in mind. I might download the Krita AppImage, Apache Snap or a Firefox Flatpak, but chances are I am after just one specific application when I use these technologies. When I download a program bundled with one of these technologies, I get just the program and its immediate dependencies.
Docker is quite a bit different. As the original question pointed out, Docker is a lightweight alternative to virtualization, not to packaging. Docker provides a container which people tend to use to make little, portable operating systems with a small number of applications or services. While an AppImage might include a single desktop application and its immediate dependencies, a Docker container is likely to include (for example) a copy of the Debian operating system, a network service and maybe development tools.
Docker shines when it is being used to build layers. The Docker website has a helpful diagram which shows how Docker containers can be used to stack independent pieces. The host system really just provides the Linux kernel and Docker framework. The containers then can hold an operating system and any specific tools we want. A Docker container might hold an entire development environment which can be shared among coders in an organization, or it might hold an Apache, database and PHP stack for web hosting.
It might be easiest to think of it this way: AppImage provides portable applications, with no framework required, that can be installed by end users. Flatpak and Snap provide a framework administrators use to deploy a program or service. Docker offers a way to deploy and share operating systems and complete development or production environments. They all bundle dependencies to make software portable, but their use cases and approaches vary quite a bit behind the scenes.
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For more questions and answers, visit our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
OPNsense 17.1
The OPNsense operating system is a FreeBSD-based specialist operating system (and a fork of pfSense) designed for firewalls and routers. The project has released a new stable version of the OPNsense operating system, version 17.1. "The OPNsense team is proud to announce the final availability of version 17.1, nicknamed Eclectic Eagle. This major release features FreeBSD 11.0, the SSH remote installer, new languages Italian / Czech / Portuguese, state-of-the-art HardenedBSD security features, PHP 7.0, new plugins for FTP Proxy / Tinc VPN / Let's Encrypt, native PAM authentication against e.g. 2FA (TOTP), as well a rewritten Nano-style card images that adapt to media size to name only a few. We would like to encourage everyone to supervise this major upgrade physically. As such, it cannot be performed from the GUI. Instead, go to the root console menu, choose option 12 and type '17.1' at the prompt. The process will download a full set of updates and reboot multiple. All operating system files and packages will be re-installed as a consequence." Additional information can be found in the project's release announcement.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found here. All torrents we make available here are also listed on the very useful Linux Tracker website. Thanks to Linux Tracker we are able to share the following torrent statistics.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 291
- Total data uploaded: 55.6TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll |
Virtual machines, packages and containers
This week we talked about virtual machines, containers and packages. As a follow-up we would like to find out if you use any of the technologies we talked about to run applications or services. Do you use packages that bundle dependencies such as AppImage, FlatPak and Snap? Or do you run services in a Docker container or a virtual machine? Feel free to share your preferences in a comment.
You can see the results of our previous poll on running alternative phone operating systems here. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Virtual machines, packages and containers
| I use virtual machines: | 947 (54%) |
| I use bundled packages: | 54 (3%) |
| I use containers/Docker: | 41 (2%) |
| I use a combination of the above: | 174 (10%) |
| I use none of the above: | 534 (31%) |
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| DistroWatch.com News |
New distributions added to database
OBRevenge OS
OBRevenge OS is a desktop operating system that is based on the Arch Linux distribution. OBRevenge features a live DVD and offers users the Xfce desktop environment with the Whisker menu as the default login session. The distribution includes a welcome window and the Pamac graphical software manager to help users get set up with the software and drivers they need. The distribution can be installed using the Calamares system installer.
OBRevenge OS 2017.01 -- Displaying the welcome screen and application menu
(full image size: 130kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 13 February 2017. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Article Search page. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews/submissions, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, donations, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (podcast)
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • 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 | 
JAMD Linux
JAMD Linux was a distribution based on Red Hat Linux aimed for the end user. It has the following features: recompiled for i686 and above processors; single CD, yet full featured; includes OpenOffice, Mozilla web browser, Evolution PIM, GnuCash personal finance, The Gimp graphics editor, games, educational software, and more; 4 step install (mouse, timezone, administrator password, user account creation); 13 minutes from install to desktop; end user friendly customizations.
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.
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| 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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