 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 735, 23 October 2017 |
Welcome to this year's 43rd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Last week was an eventful one in the open source community. Early in the week developers were racing to push out security patches to fix a bug in wireless network encryption and later in the week we saw the release of Ubuntu 17.10 and its many community editions. In our News section we cover these events along with improvements to the Solus distribution, Parabola GNU/Linux-libre experimenting with OpenRC builds and Manjaro trying to make using the on-line version of Microsoft Office feel more like running a native Linux application. First though, Joshua Allen Holm takes the ArchLabs distribution for a spin and reports on his experiences. Plus we explore how to set up and use a new software build system called Ravenports. Ravenports is able to build the same software ports across multiple operating systems and we talk about its uses in our Tips and Tricks column. In our Opinion Poll we ask our readers if you use cross-platform port systems, like Ravenports or pkgsrc. Plus we share the distribution releases of the past week and provide a list of torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a terrific week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: ArchLabs Linux Mínimo
- News: Solus updates, Manjaro improving on-line MS-Office integration, Ubuntu's changing desktop sessions, Parabola creates OpenRC spin, information on the WPA vulnerability
- Tips and tricks: Building software with Ravenports
- Released last week: Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu MATE 17.10, DragonFly BSD 5.0.0
- Torrent corner: Artix, AUSTRUMI, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu
- Opinion poll: Cross-platform ports and packages
- New distributions: Retrobuntu, Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre, MultiBootUSB-Live
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (by Joshua Allen Holm) |
ArchLabs Linux Mínimo
ArchLabs is a lightweight Linux distribution designed to provide a BunsenLabs-like experience based on Arch instead of BunsenLabs's Debian base. While there are certainly many stylistic similarities shared by ArchLabs and BunsenLabs, the latest ArchLabs release, named Mínimo, is clearly something that is inspired by BunsenLabs, but not a straight port of BunsenLabs onto Arch. ArchLabs has forged its own path, resulting a distribution that is BunsenLabs-like, but very much its own thing.
To find out what ArchLabs had to offer I gave it a try inside a VirtualBox virtual machine and bare metal on my laptop. Below, I take a look at the desktop environment, the install process, a handy setup script called AL-Hello, and more.
Installing ArchLabs
The install disc for ArchLabs Linux Mínimo is 956MB. For users just wanting to try out the distribution, the image comes with VirtualBox guest additions pre-installed. Booting the ArchLabs image in a virtual machine or from a USB drive on bare metal should be a familiar experience for anyone experienced with any modern Linux distribution. The live desktop environment boots quickly and the installer can then be run from the live environment.
ArchLabs 2017.09 -- The Calamares system installer
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The installer for ArchLabs is called Calamares. While much easier than Arch's do-everything-yourself install process, Calamares works pretty much like every other standard Linux installer out there. There are really no surprises here. The installer asks for the same information and does the same things as all the other Linux installation programs.
The only issue I had with Calamares happened the first time I tried to install ArchLabs in VirtualBox. For optimal installation, Calamares needs an Internet connection, but it only checks to see if there is an active network connection. When I was installing, my host computer was not connected to the Internet. The virtual machine had an active network connection, but when it finally tried to get data from the Internet near the end of the installation process, the installer failed, and it did not do so cleanly. Since this problem might also occur in situations where the machine is connected to a LAN with no outside access to the Internet, the installer should really start by checking to see if it has Internet access, not assuming it has Internet access just because it has an active network connection. In situations were there was no network connection or there was a network connection with an active connection to the Internet, the installation process worked as expected.
ArchLabs desktop environment
The desktop for ArchLabs is based on Openbox with a Polybar panel at the top of the screen. This top bar has four virtual desktops; a small shortcut menu for accessing the default web browser, terminal, and file manger, and logging out and shutting down the system; a window switcher that displays a count of how many windows are open; a network connection manager; volume control; and a clock. The application menu is accessed by right-clicking on the desktop. While lightweight, the desktop is aesthetically pleasing with nice transparencies, polished icons, and clean window decorations. On my system, I found that the desktop with nothing extra installed and no applications running used between 160MB and 180MB of RAM, but the blog post announcing the release of Mínimo lists RAM usage closer to 260MB. Either way, much, much lighter than some of the alternatives.
ArchLabs 2017.09 -- The default desktop
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Installing software
The default ArchLabs desktop does not come with much software. Firefox for web browsing, Geany for text editing, Audacious for audio, MPV for video, Thunar for file management, and a few other utilities come pre-installed. However, installing additional software is very easy using the AL-Hello script that runs after the system has been installed. This script asks dozens of questions, letting the user customize their system to their liking. To give just a few examples: the script asks if the user wants to add a dock, what office software they would like (if any), if they want to install Steam, if they want to install extra media codecs and fonts, and the list goes on.
ArchLabs 2017.09 -- The customization script
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While very thorough, the AL-Hello script is not perfect. Each question is just a single line in the terminal with no context. If a user is unfamiliar with a particular option, they have to look elsewhere to find out what the programs mentioned are and what they do. Because each prompt is a single line in a standard sized terminal window, there is plenty of room to provide more text explaining what various choices are. Another minor problem is that some of the options give multiple options and an “install all” option, but if the choices are A, B, and C, with D being install all, there is no way to just install A and C, for example. Don't get me wrong, the script is wonderful, but both of these issues are usability enhancements I would very much like to see in future releases.
ArchLabs 2017.09 -- The Pacli package manager
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The AL-Hello script does a great job of getting a system up and running with a large selection of packages, but it does not cover everything. After the initial setup, ArchLabs uses Pacli to handle installing and updating software. This text-based utility has options for installing software, updating the system, and all the other traditional package manager tasks. If the text-based interface is too spartan, Pamac is available as one of the many options available in the AL-Hello script. Pamac provides a graphic interface for installing and updating software, for users who prefer graphical interfaces to text-based ones. Either way, there are plenty of software packages available, so installing all of their favorite applications should not be a problem for most users.
Final thoughts
ArchLabs is a great combination of lightweight and, thanks to its Arch base, constantly up-to-date software. While probably not for everyone, ArchLabs is a polished distribution that anyone looking for an Arch-based distribution that has a pre-configured desktop and software selection should check out. The only drawback is that, like many lightweight distributions, selecting applications based on what is deemed best for an individual task can result in an odd hodgepodge of applications that all behave differently. Of course, the choice of what to install is up to the user, so that might not be a problem for some, but having applications from Xfce, GNOME, KDE, etc., can lead to a jumbled user experience.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a Lenovo Ideapad 100-15IBD laptop with the following specifications:
- Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core i3-5020U CPU
- Storage: Seagate 500GB 5400 RPM hard drive
- Memory: 4GB of RAM
- Networking: Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter
- Display: Intel HD Graphics 5500
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Visitor supplied rating
ArchLabs has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.9/10 from 16 review(s).
Have you used ArchLabs? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Solus updates, Manjaro improving on-line MS-Office integration, Ubuntu's changing desktop sessions, Parabola creates OpenRC spin, information on the WPA vulnerability
The Solus project published a newsletter this week which laid out several important changes and upgrades coming to the distribution. Among the key changes are an upgrade of the GNOME desktop to version 3.26.1 and getting the Control Centre to better integrate with the rest of the distribution. Behind the scenes, the LLVM compiler has been upgraded to version 5.0.0. Several changes have been applied to the Steam gaming portal too: "Linux Steam Integration has seen three releases this week and features a new 'liblsi-intercept', which controls the dynamic linking for Steam binaries, resolving some long-standing issues such as crashes on start, broken full screen views, and ensures that the Steam client uses OS-provided libraries. liblsi-intercept also provides a whitelist to allow Steam to continue to load its own private libraries and our intercept behaviour is controlled on a process-name basis. What does this mean? Well it means the Steam client is now using more system libraries, such as SDL, which fixes crashes as well as full screen issues when watching a game trailer in the store."
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The Manjaro Linux team is working to integrate the on-line version of Microsoft Office with the Linux desktop using the Jade Application Kit. The new functionality, which makes Microsoft's on-line productivity tools appear to run like native Linux applications, can be set up on Manjaro by installing the ms-office-online package. A discussion on the new functionality can be found on the Manjaro forum.
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This past week there has been a lot of talk about a vulnerability in most implementations of WPA2 which could make it possible for attackers to break the encryption on wireless network traffic. The vulnerability is widespread and affects most major desktop and mobile operating systems. The FreeBSD team has a good summary of the issue: "A vulnerability was found in how a number of implementations can be triggered to reconfigure WPA/WPA2/RSN keys (TK, GTK, or IGTK) by replaying a specific frame that is used to manage the keys. Such reinstallation of the encryption key can result in two different types of vulnerabilities: disabling replay protection and significantly reducing the security of encryption to the point of allowing frames to be decrypted or some parts of the keys to be determined by an attacker depending on which cipher is used. We are actively working on a patch for the base system to address these issues. Current users who use Wi-Fi with WPA2 should use a wired connection as a workaround, and we strongly recommend using end-to-end encryption methods like HTTPS or SSH to better protect against this type of attack."
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With the launch of Ubuntu 17.10 this week, the distribution is making GNOME the default desktop instead of the formerly used Unity desktop. With this change, some people running Ubuntu and Ubuntu GNOME may be wondering about how to upgrade and which desktop sessions will be available. The DidRocks blog has some answers and a guide for navigating the various desktop options: "The 'Ubuntu' session corresponds to GNOME Shell experience with our modifications (Ubuntu Dock, appindicator support, our theme, small behaviour changes). You have probably seen those and followed their development on previous blog posts. This is the default session running under Wayland. The 'Ubuntu on Xorg' session, being similar to the previous one, but running on Xorg as the name indicates. Users who can't run Wayland (using NVIDIA proprietary driver or unsupported hardware) should be automatically fallbacked and only presented with that session."
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The developers of Parabola GNU/Linux-libre, a free software distribution based on Arch Linux, are experimenting with new spins of their operating system. The new spins will feature the OpenRC init software instead of systemd. A post on the project's news page reads: "Since a considerable amount of Parabola developers and users prefer to use the OpenRC init system instead of systemd, which is the default, we are proud to announce the first releases of Parabola GNU/Linux-libre OpenRC Edition ISOs! As of now they are still in beta, you can get them here. These are not official, yet, but we are working on fixing all their issues. You can help by testing them and giving us some feedback so we can improve them. Besides this, due to a bug in MATE, we are planning to replace MATE with LXDE in the graphical ISOs (available with systemd and OpenRC) and include the Calamares installer for a more user-friendly experience for newcomers."
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Tips and Tricks (by Jesse Smith) |
Building software with Ravenports
One challenge software developers and packagers constantly face is the effort required to get new projects packaged for the wide variety of operating systems and package managers present in the open source community. If I write a new utility and want to share it with the community, then I (or other packagers) need to create a variety of packages in various formats. Traditionally, I might need to make an RPM package for the Fedora family of distributions, a Deb package for the Debian family, and another package for the Arch family. If I want to support the BSDs, then each flavour (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc) has their own unique style of creating and testing ports & packages.
Portable package formats such as Flatpak and Snap reduce the effort package maintainers and developers need to put into supporting each separate platform, but we can still easily run into cases where we need to work with four or five separate package formats to support a wide range of open source systems. This results in a lot of duplicate effort, basically teaching each package manager how to build and install the software. Ideally, it would be nice to create just one package or port script for the software we write and have it work across all open platforms. This is where a young project called Ravenports shines. The Ravenports website describes the project as follows:
Ravenports is an integrated system designed to build packages of complex software on all UNIX-like platforms. It is considered "universal" because Ravenports is not anchored to any single operating system; once the build procedure for a particular software is created, that software is then available for all supported platforms. The simplest use case is to access the freely available prebuilt package repository for each supported platform.
What this means is I, as a developer, can create one set of rules for building my software on the Ravenports framework. That one recipe can then be used to build native packages that will install and run on DragonFly BSD, FreeBSD and almost all flavours of Linux. This has the potential to be a huge time saver for developers and people porting software. We do not need a separate build file or script for every operating system and package manager, we just need one Ravenports port and the software should build and run everywhere.
This idea sounds good, at least for hardworking developers and package maintainers, but does Ravenports deliver on its lofty goals? I decided to test Ravenports on a copy of Manjaro Linux and find out.
Ravenports does have a few restrictions in its current form. Right now, Ravenports runs on 64-bit x86 systems exclusively. Some of the tools used to set up Ravenports are 64-bit executables and simply will not run on 32-bit computers. On Linux, there is a library dependency, but this should not be an issue for any mainstream Linux distributions.
The Ravenports project has documentation which explains how to set up the ports system on Linux distributions. The initial set up of Ravenports just takes a minute and, when it is completed, we essentially have two key tools available in our operating system's /raven directory.
The first significant tool is a native, statically-linked version of the FreeBSD pkg package manager. This package manager can be used to find packages in the Ravenports test repository, install packages (either from a remote source or locally), display package information and statistics and remove unwanted Ravenports packages. The pkg package manager is located at /raven/sbin/pkg-static. I like the pkg package manager, it is fast, has informative prompts and offers a fairly straight forward syntax.
The second tool we get when we install the Ravenports framework is a utility called ravenadm, which can be found in the /raven/bin directory. The ravenadm program can be used to discover what ports are available, whether we have installed a specific port or not, and build local copies of a port. The main function of ravenadm is to turn source code into binary packages and we can do this using the build keyword. For example we can fetch and package the curl application using:
sudo /raven/bin/ravenadm build curl
Ravenports has a much more elegant approach to showing us what it is doing than most other port build systems I have encountered. Most port systems flood the terminal with each instruction the build is performing and any output from the compiler or other build tools. This show-everything approach can be useful for debugging issues, but it is ugly and typically unhelpful in other situations as the user is not shown useful progress information or statistics. Ravenports takes a cleaner approach. Instead of being shown step-by-step instructions, we are given a general overview of what the build process has done and plans to do. While it is working, Ravenports displays a dashboard in the terminal which shows how many ports it is going to build (including dependencies), how many it has built and how many ports have been completed successfully. The messy step-by-step details are logged to text files in the /var/ravenports/primary/logs/logs directory in case we need to go back and investigate a port which failed to build. Each port gets its own log file which greatly reduces the amount of scrolling we need to perform when searching for problems in the build information.
Ravenports -- Showing build status information
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When my build process finished I was curious to see if my newly built software would run natively on my Linux box. However, it was not immediately clear where my freshly built packages had been stored. They were not in the /raven directory and the new software had not been copied into my user's path. I eventually found new packages were stored in the /var/ravenports/primary/packages/All directory. These packages could then be installed using the pkg package manager by running
sudo /raven/sbin/pkg-static add /var/ravenports/primary/packages/All/package-name
The above command installs our new package into the /raven directory. We can then run it using the program's full path or by adding /raven/bin to our user's executable path.
At this point it may be clear that installing software from Ravenports is not exactly convenient for end users. Which is fair, Ravenports is not attempting to make package management easier for end users, this is a framework for developers and packagers. Which means the questions we should be asking are whether or not Ravenports works and whether it makes packaging easier?
I am happy to report Ravenports definitely works. I tried installing pre-built software from the test repository and built three ports at random. All four packages installed and worked properly on my Manjaro Linux test box. And, assuming the framework is functioning as expected, I should be able to build the same ports on any other Linux distribution, DragonFly BSD or FreeBSD. This is a big step forward for people who maintain ports and packages. Typically I need to maintain separate build instructions for RPM- and Deb-based distributions as well as BSD ports. With Ravenports, I could use one set of instructions and have my software automatically packaged everywhere. It is potentially a huge time saver.
The only drawback I see with Ravenports is it requires each operating system to support it in some way, either by setting up a Ravenports software repository or linking to the Ravenports testing package repository. In theory, in a few years each distribution could compliment (or even replace) its existing build system with a Ravenports system and every upstream software project would only need one person to maintain the cross-platform port. But that would require each operating system to feature a way for users to easily install Ravenports packages. Historically it has been difficult to get open source systems to standardize on any one system, there is a lot of inertia when it comes to packaging open source software. Still, I think Ravenports holds a lot of promise as a cross-platform, write-once-package-for-everyone framework. It has the ability to do for packagers what Flatpak and Snaps have done for end users, reducing the effort required to create and distribute software packages.
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More tips can be found in our Tips and Tricks archive.
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| Released Last Week |
DragonFly BSD 5.0.0
The DragonFly BSD project has announced the release of a new version of their operating system. The new version, DragonFly BSD 5.0.0, introduces a number of new features and improvements. In particular, version 5.0.0 features the advanced HAMMER2 file system, updated video drivers and the IPFW firewall has gained improved performance. "Preliminary HAMMER2 support has been released into the wild as-of the 5.0 release. This support is considered EXPERIMENTAL and should generally not yet be used for production machines and important data. The boot loader will support both UFS and HAMMER2 /boot. The installer will still use a UFS /boot even for a HAMMER2 installation because the /boot partition is typically very small and HAMMER2, like HAMMER1, does not instantly free space when files are deleted or replaced. DragonFly 5.0 has single-image HAMMER2 support, with live dedup (for cp's), compression, fast recovery, snapshot, and boot support. HAMMER2 does not yet support multi-volume or clustering, though commands for it exist. Please use non-clustered single images for now. IPFW has gone through a number of updates in DragonFly and now offers better performance. pf and ipfw3 are also still supported." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement.
Ubuntu 17.10
Adam Conrad has announced the availability of a new version of the popular Ubuntu distribution. Ubuntu 17.10, which carries the codename "Artful Aardvark" switches the default desktop from Unity to GNOME. "Codenamed "Artful Aardvark", Ubuntu 17.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technology into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. As always, the team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs. Under the hood, there have been updates to many core packages, including a new 4.13-based kernel, glibc 2.26, gcc 7.2, and much more. Ubuntu Desktop has had a major overhaul, with the switch from Unity as our default desktop to GNOME3 and GNOME Shell. Along with that, there are the usual incremental improvements, with newer versions of GTK and Qt, and updates to major packages like Firefox and LibreOffice." Additional information can be found in the release announcement and in the release notes.
Ubuntu 17.10 -- The GNOME application menu
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Ubuntu MATE 17.10
Martin Wimpress has announced the release of Ubuntu MATE 17.10. The new version features a number of desktop changes, including a global menu bar placed at the top of the screen. The 17.10 release also features an improved Heads-Up Display (HUD) which makes it possible to search through application menus using only the keyboard. "This is something we started during Ubuntu MATE 16.10 and never perfected, but is now ready for prime time. A favourite of Unity 7 users is the Heads-Up Display (HUD) which provides a way to search for and run menu-bar commands without your fingers ever leaving the keyboard. So if you're trying to find that single filter in GIMP but can't remember which filter category it fits into or if you can't recall if preferences sits under File, Edit or Tools on your favourite browser, you can just search for it rather than hunting through the menus. Just like Global Menus the HUD is currently only available via the Contemporary, Cupertino and Mutiny [layouts]." Further information on this release, along with screen shots, can be found in the project's release announcement.
Xubuntu 17.10
The Xubuntu team has announced the release of Xubuntu 17.10. The new version includes significant improvements to accelerated video playback on Intel video cards. The distribution also includes support for driverless printing and includes the GNOME Font Viewer by default. "The GNOME Font Viewer is now included by default. This application simplifies viewing and installing fonts. Client side decorations (CSD) now consume much less space with the Greybird GTK+ theme. New device, mimetype, and monochrome panel icons have been included with the elementary-xfce icon theme. We usually link directly to the Ubuntu release notes, but there are several significant improvements that affect all flavours and our users: Accelerated video playback with Intel hardware should now work more reliably out of the box. The changes might also bring some performance improvements for Parole and Chromium users. Bluetooth and USB audio devices should now work better by default due to changes in BlueZ and PulseAudio. Driverless printing has been added to Ubuntu. This provides support for most modern printers: IPP Everywhere, Apple AirPrint, Mopria, PCLm, and Wifi Direct as supported. Other printers can still be added from the Printers dialog." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement.
Kubuntu 17.10
The Kubuntu team has announced the release of a new version of their Ubuntu Community Edition featuring the Plasma desktop. The new release features Plasma 5.10, version 4.13 of the Linux kernel and upgrades to most of the operating system's desktop software. "Kubuntu 17.10 has been released, featuring the beautiful Plasma 5.10 desktop from KDE. Codenamed 'Artful Aardvark', Kubuntu 17.10 continues our proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs. Under the hood, there have been updates to many core packages, including a new 4.13-based kernel, KDE Frameworks 5.38, Plasma 5.10.5 and KDE Applications 17.04.3. Additional information and screen shots can be found in the distribution's release announcement and release notes.
Ubuntu Budgie 17.10
David Mohammed has announced the release of Ubuntu Budgie 17.10, a desktop Linux distribution featuring the simple but elegant Budgie desktop (originally developed by the Solus distribution). The new release comes with a refreshed look as well as a number of new desktop applets: "We are pleased to announce the release of a new version of our distribution, the second only as an official flavor of the Ubuntu family. Based on 17.04 experiences, feedback and suggestions we have received from our users, the new release comes with a lot of new features, fixes and optimizations: more customisation options via Budgie Welcome; complete desktop look and feel changes - more options; lots more Budgie applets available from independent developers; the best from the GNOME family as well as the fantastic Tilix terminal emulator with Quake mode enabled; stylish new login screen; latest upstream Budgie desktop version 10.4; Nightlight and Caffeine applets as standard." Here is the brief release announcement, with further technical details provided in the release notes.
Ubuntu Budgie 17.10 -- The welcome screen
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Ubuntu Studio 17.10
Ross Gammon has announced the release of Ubuntu Studio 17.10, the latest version of the project's official Ubuntu variant designed for audio, video and graphics professionals. This is routine release with the usual round of software updates and a new experimental feature for improved performance during recordings: "We are happy to announce the release of our latest version, Ubuntu Studio 17.10 'Artful Aardvark'. As a regular version, it will be supported for 9 months. Since it's just out, you may experience some issues, so you might want to wait a bit before upgrading. The Ubuntu Studio Controls package has been updated to provide an experimental option to set the CPU governor to performance mode. This is important for recording. At the moment, the setting is not persistent, and needs to be reset at every reboot. BIOS settings may need to be changed for this setting to take effect. Audio - removed zynjacku as this software is no longer maintained by the original developer." See the release announcement and release notes for further information.
Lubuntu 17.10
Simon Quigley has announced the release of Lubuntu 17.10, a desktop distribution built from Ubuntu packages, but featuring the Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment (LXDE) which is suitable for older computers: "Thanks to all the hard work from our contributors, Lubuntu 17.10 has been released. With the code name 'Artful Aardvark', Lubuntu 17.10 is the 13th release of Lubuntu, with support until July of 2018. What has improved since 17.04? We now ship with Linux kernel 4.13; general bug-fix release as we prepare to switch to LXQt; LXDE components have been updated with bug fixes; the artwork has received an update; the latest release of Audacious, version 3.9, is included by default; Hardinfo has been updated to the latest upstream snapshot." Also available is the Lubuntu "Next" variant, an experimental build of Lubuntu with the LXQt desktop: "Alongside Lubuntu 17.10 featuring LXDE, the Lubuntu team is proud to announce an early adopter's release of Lubuntu Next, featuring the LXQt 0.11.1 desktop environment which is the Qt 5 port of LXDE." Read the release announcement and release notes for more details.
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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 in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 612
- Total data uploaded: 16.1TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll |
Cross-platform ports and packages
In our Tips and Tricks column we discussed Ravenports and how it can be used to build packages cross multiple operating systems. Ravenports is not the only cross-platform ports system and other projects, such as pkgsrc, assist users in installing applications on a variety of platforms.
This week we would like to know if you use a cross-platform ports framework or cross-distro package manager, like Ravenports. Please leave us a comment letting us know which one you use on your computer(s).
You can see the results of our previous poll on keeping utility discs on hand in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Cross-platform ports and packages
| I use multiple cross-platform ports systems: | 50 (5%) |
| I use one cross-platform ports system: | 83 (8%) |
| I do not use a cross-platform ports system: | 921 (87%) |
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| DistroWatch.com News |
Distributions added to waiting list
- Retrobuntu. Retrobuntu is a Linux distribution based on Xubuntu 16.04 LTS. It features the RetroPie gaming software and Kodi media player.
- Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre. Hyperbola GNU/Linux-libre is an Arch-based distribution featuring free (as in freedom) software only. The distribution uses OpenRC as the default init software.
- MultiBootUSB-Live. MultiBootUSB-Live is a portable, live desktop distribution based on Debian. It can be used to write multiple Linux distributions to a USB thumb drive.
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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, 30 October 2017. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Article Search page. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • Issue 1032 (2023-08-14): MX Linux 23, positioning new windows on the desktop, Linux Containers adopts LXD fork, Oracle, SUSE, and CIQ form OpenELA |
| • Issue 1031 (2023-08-07): Peppermint OS 2023-07-01, preventing a file from being changed, Asahi Linux partners with Fedora, Linux Mint plans new releases |
| • Issue 1030 (2023-07-31): Solus 4.4, Linux Mint 21.2, Debian introduces RISC-V support, Ubuntu patches custom kernel bugs, FreeBSD imports OpenSSL 3 |
| • Issue 1029 (2023-07-24): Running Murena on the Fairphone 4, Flatpak vs Snap sandboxing technologies, Redox OS plans to borrow Linux drivers to expand hardware support, Debian updates Bookworm media |
| • Issue 1028 (2023-07-17): KDE Connect; Oracle, SUSE, and AlmaLinux repsond to Red Hat's source code policy change, KaOS issues media fix, Slackware turns 30; security and immutable distributions |
| • Issue 1027 (2023-07-10): Crystal Linux 2023-03-16, StartOS (embassyOS 0.3.4.2), changing options on a mounted filesystem, Murena launches Fairphone 4 in North America, Fedora debates telemetry for desktop team |
| • Issue 1026 (2023-07-03): Kumander Linux 1.0, Red Hat changing its approach to sharing source code, TrueNAS offers SMB Multichannel, Zorin OS introduces upgrade utility |
| • Issue 1025 (2023-06-26): KaOS with Plasma 6, information which can leak from desktop environments, Red Hat closes door on sharing RHEL source code, SUSE introduces new security features |
| • Issue 1024 (2023-06-19): Debian 12, a safer way to use dd, Debian releases GNU/Hurd 2023, Ubuntu 22.10 nears its end of life, FreeBSD turns 30 |
| • Issue 1023 (2023-06-12): openSUSE 15.5 Leap, the differences between independent distributions, openSUSE lengthens Leap life, Murena offers new phone for North America |
| • Issue 1022 (2023-06-05): GetFreeOS 2023.05.01, Slint 15.0-3, Liya N4Si, cleaning up crowded directories, Ubuntu plans Snap-based variant, Red Hat dropping LireOffice RPM packages |
| • Issue 1021 (2023-05-29): rlxos GNU/Linux, colours in command line output, an overview of Void's unique features, how to use awk, Microsoft publishes a Linux distro |
| • Issue 1020 (2023-05-22): UBports 20.04, finding another machine's IP address, finding distros with a specific kernel, Debian prepares for Bookworm |
| • Issue 1019 (2023-05-15): Rhino Linux (Beta), checking which applications reply on a package, NethServer reborn, System76 improving application responsiveness |
| • Issue 1018 (2023-05-08): Fedora 38, finding relevant manual pages, merging audio files, Fedora plans new immutable edition, Mint works to fix Secure Boot issues |
| • Issue 1017 (2023-05-01): Xubuntu 23.04, Debian elects Project Leaders and updates media, systemd to speed up restarts, Guix System offering ground-up source builds, where package managers install files |
| • Issue 1016 (2023-04-24): Qubes OS 4.1.2, tracking bandwidth usage, Solus resuming development, FreeBSD publishes status report, KaOS offers preview of Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1015 (2023-04-17): Manjaro Linux 22.0, Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0, Arch Linux powering PINE64 tablets, Ubuntu offering live patching on HWE kernels, gaining compression on ex4 |
| • Issue 1014 (2023-04-10): Quick looks at carbonOS, LibreELEC, and Kodi, Mint polishes themes, Fedora rolls out more encryption plans, elementary OS improves sideloading experience |
| • Issue 1013 (2023-04-03): Alpine Linux 3.17.2, printing manual pages, Ubuntu Cinnamon becomes official flavour, Endeavour OS plans for new installer, HardenedBSD plans for outage |
| • Issue 1012 (2023-03-27): siduction 22.1.1, protecting privacy from proprietary applications, GNOME team shares new features, Canonical updates Ubuntu 20.04, politics and the Linux kernel |
| • Issue 1011 (2023-03-20): Serpent OS, Security Onion 2.3, Gentoo Live, replacing the scp utility, openSUSE sees surge in downloads, Debian runs elction with one candidate |
| • Issue 1010 (2023-03-13): blendOS 2023.01.26, keeping track of which files a package installs, improved network widget coming to elementary OS, Vanilla OS changes its base distro |
| • Issue 1009 (2023-03-06): Nemo Mobile and the PinePhone, matching the performance of one distro on another, Linux Mint adds performance boosts and security, custom Ubuntu and Debian builds through Cubic |
| • Issue 1008 (2023-02-27): elementary OS 7.0, the benefits of boot environments, Purism offers lapdock for Librem 5, Ubuntu community flavours directed to drop Flatpak support for Snap |
| • Issue 1007 (2023-02-20): helloSystem 0.8.0, underrated distributions, Solus team working to repair their website, SUSE testing Micro edition, Canonical publishes real-time edition of Ubuntu 22.04 |
| • Issue 1006 (2023-02-13): Playing music with UBports on a PinePhone, quick command line and shell scripting questions, Fedora expands third-party software support, Vanilla OS adds Nix package support |
| • Issue 1005 (2023-02-06): NuTyX 22.12.0 running CDE, user identification numbers, Pop!_OS shares COSMIC progress, Mint makes keyboard and mouse options more accessible |
| • Issue 1004 (2023-01-30): OpenMandriva ROME, checking the health of a disk, Debian adopting OpenSnitch, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1003 (2023-01-23): risiOS 37, mixing package types, Fedora seeks installer feedback, Sparky offers easier persistence with USB writer |
| • Issue 1002 (2023-01-16): Vanilla OS 22.10, Nobara Project 37, verifying torrent downloads, Haiku improvements, HAMMER2 being ports to NetBSD |
| • Issue 1001 (2023-01-09): Arch Linux, Ubuntu tests new system installer, porting KDE software to OpenBSD, verifying files copied properly |
| • Issue 1000 (2023-01-02): Our favourite projects of all time, Fedora trying out unified kernel images and trying to speed up shutdowns, Slackware tests new kernel, detecting what is taking up disk space |
| • Issue 999 (2022-12-19): Favourite distributions of 2022, Fedora plans Budgie spin, UBports releasing security patches for 16.04, Haiku working on new ports |
| • Issue 998 (2022-12-12): OpenBSD 7.2, Asahi Linux enages video hardware acceleration on Apple ARM computers, Manjaro drops proprietary codecs from Mesa package |
| • Issue 997 (2022-12-05): CachyOS 221023 and AgarimOS, working with filenames which contain special characters, elementary OS team fixes delta updates, new features coming to Xfce |
| • Issue 996 (2022-11-28): Void 20221001, remotely shutting down a machine, complex aliases, Fedora tests new web-based installer, Refox OS running on real hardware |
| • Issue 995 (2022-11-21): Fedora 37, swap files vs swap partitions, Unity running on Arch, UBports seeks testers, Murena adds support for more devices |
| • Issue 994 (2022-11-14): Redcore Linux 2201, changing the terminal font size, Fedora plans Phosh spin, openSUSE publishes on-line manual pages, disabling Snap auto-updates |
| • Full list of all issues |
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kmLinux
kmLinux was a German Linux distribution intended for schools and other educational establishments. It was based on SUSE LINUX and was developed by the Association for Free Software and Education for the school authority of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Status: Discontinued
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