 DistroWatch Weekly |
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 2, value: US$11.56) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • The Poll (by Rev_Don on 2017-11-13 00:40:34 GMT from United States)
I prefer that a distro have fully functioning and stable editions. For some larger groups more than one would be fine as long as the quality remains high for them. But smaller groups with limited man power quite often struggle enough with a single edition so attempting multiple editions would lower the quality of all of them.
2 • Sparky Linux and more (by mikef90000 on 2017-11-13 01:02:31 GMT from United States)
A very timely review of Sparky as I had attempted to install both stable and rolling in Vbox about a month ago. Unfortunately that wasn't very successful as the Vbox guest utilities installer could not find sources, even though linux-headers was installed. Otherwise I like the default Xfce menu layout and that it feels lighter than Linux Mint and SolydX (my main desktop o/s).
As a 'panel focused user', I'm still not happy with LXQt or MATE yet; they haven't come up to the elegance of Xfce functionality yet. Monitoring and waiting ....
3 • The Poll (by JImmy_Dean on 2017-11-13 02:25:17 GMT from United States)
i like distros to offer at least one or two light weight window mangers as an alternative to their big desktop whether it is gnome or kde, or mate or trinity, it could be openbox, lxde, icewm, or fluxbox, anything that is lightweight and stable, and handles the windowing of apps good
4 • Sparky (by Sparkyuser on 2017-11-13 02:59:17 GMT from Australia)
Been using sparky rolling for over a year. I'm a fairly inexperienced Linux user but I like to tweak the look and feel etc.
Sparky (XFCE) has been rock solid for me with a good selection of apps. It's also blazing fast. I recommend it to Linux users looking to move from 'completely user friendly' into 'I like getting my hands a bit dirty.' I also game and have used Unreal Editor/Unity and Steam which worked well.
5 • Poll (by meanpt on 2017-11-13 03:49:48 GMT from Portugal)
Depends on the purpose of the distro creator and communities. If the main purpose is to provide a lean and functioning OS, as Bodhi, LXLE and Tory seek, or something very specific, like the rare but working implementation of Enlightenment as provided by Bodhi, it wouldn't make any sense to provide more than an optimized desktop for that specific purpose. In this case, the choice of a desktop serves a purpose. The implementation of KDE by the Kubuntu community also serves a purpose and have resulted in a damned good KDE. The developers of Cinamon and Mate also had and have a strict purpose of not using Unity nor the last iteration of gnome, which is shared by the distro communities implementing them. So, provided the distro communities have the knowledge and the resources to fill their purposes, they should optimize and implement their purposeful sought desktop environments.
6 • Poll Response (by david esktorp on 2017-11-13 04:04:21 GMT from United States)
Generally I prefer a 'distribution' to focus on 1 default interface. However, that depends on the number of users and developers, their needs / wants, etc.. For example, a one-man team should probably not be focused on multiple interfaces unless that's a primary feature of their project. There is also the matter of the core distributions vs those farther downstream. I would say the closer you are to the core distribution, the more excuse there is for preparing all those extra DE, WM, etc..
I'm surprised this poll was instigated by Sparky and not Ubuntu, which is notorious for dominating the entire Distrowatch news page every time they release a new version. Ubuntu gets away with it though, because Canonical has the resources to present their sauced up DE packages as separate distributions, simply by adding a letter and buying a few extra domain names.
Maybe if Sparky called their KDE edition SparKDEy and bought sparkdey.com, people would see a development team stretched too thin, but the expansion of a thriving brand!
The term 'distribution' has failed us, because it leads to weird apples and oranges discussions and also because many (most?) desktop linux distributions are barely more than theme packs. The copycat wannabe marketing has thankfully died down a little bit. Seems like everyone got a little tired of trying to redo the pretentious "linux for everyone" "linux for people" "linux for human beings" slogan.
I know there is lots of talk about choice and that's fine, but with each passing year, Linux seems to be about endlessly reinventing the wheel and providing bloated solutions for problems that do not exist. I don't know how you can judge whether Sparky or any other distribution is stretched too thin without having a somewhat accurate count of the userbase and then statistics of their usage. Then and only then could you know what is excessive and what is appropriate.
7 • Slax (by david esktorp on 2017-11-13 04:18:36 GMT from United States)
Why is he even bothering with this? There are already too many poseurs 'lead developers' running around with this "so long as somebody else packages it for me" attitude. Dude, if you're reading this, go contribute to one of the gajillion of existing distributions instead of clogging up the works with your withered husk of a product. Geez, at least call it something else. Why are you calling it Slax if it's based on Debian? Let sleeping dogs lie, slaxguy.
8 • Sparky Linux explained (by dhinds on 2017-11-13 04:57:22 GMT from Mexico)
I've used Sparky since v. 3.2 and consider it to be the best Debian derivative.
Offering three versions is a recent development. Sparky was based on Debian Testing.
The main version was LXDE but of course LXDE forked, and worked on developing LXQt jointly with Razor Qt.
Both LXDE and LXQt use Openbox as their window manager.
The other flavors were added on as additional programmers joined the team.
Sparky Ultra Openbox (no longer offered) was a far better distro than CrunchBang, IMO.
Sparky's forums are excellent and I have received as many as responses in a single day from Sparky's main developer in spite of his being in Warsaw.
Sparky's Multi-Media edition is based on Openbox alone with neither LX. (The GameOver edition may be also, I'm not sure).
Like Xfce, the LX desktop environments are modular and all are compatible with each components of each other. (I use the Xfce4-panel with all four, for instance).
Like all derivatives of Debian Testing it can break, but that is rare and is quickly repaired.
I an glad to see Sparky attracting more attention but feel that the review was a bit unfair.
9 • Poll (by argent on 2017-11-13 05:19:54 GMT from United States)
Odd question to ask and more difficult to give a good answer. Most distributions that are a single distribution and maintained by many are seldom polished and also among the highest ranking on DW.
Guess the real question should be what is considered a polished distribution, in the 10 years with Linux can say that only a few are in that terms of being polished.
There are many very good to excellent distros that are basically maintained by one developer. However, many others are in direct collaboration with each other's derivatives, etc. Believe there is some confusion that one person by their lonesome is responsible for a multitude of distributions. Perhaps in rare cases, someone might have many distributions they maintain. There are a few that I do know of. The honest answer is all developers collaborate their builds. All of them ask questions too!
The build in which distros are compiled maybe a mystery to some, and there are various build configurations. Switching from an Openbox Wm to a Lxde DE and then to E17 might be a simple process using any base.
To ask a question without really knowing what is involved or capable explaining could leave someone very confused.
The real question these days to me is "does it work" which leaves out most of those so-called polished distros.
10 • Err, about poll, it depends on the very definition of multiple version. :) (by BeGo on 2017-11-13 06:20:44 GMT from Indonesia)
Yes, I don't like Linux Mint approach for different DE, but,
https://linuxmint.com/download.php
I like Bodhi approach for "thin" distro and "App Pack" distro, or
http://www.bodhilinux.com/download/
I like Ubuntu Studio approach that every version for Photography, Image, 3D Design, etc, or
I like Lakka approach for different installable system. :)
http://www.lakka.tv/get/windows/
11 • Poll (by zykoda on 2017-11-13 08:18:14 GMT from United Kingdom)
The poll sweeps with a very broad brush, Multiple editions allows for architechure, hardware and software requirements, Version caters for stability, leading/edge, support time..usw. Distribution (distro) is often dictated by package support (eg cuda, anbox, CAD, IDEs ...what you want to do). Thus, I distro hop, running usually 3 versions of Debian, Mint(LTS) and 2 of Centos, sometimes a newish Ubuntu. With the advent of a recent fibre optic FTTH connection (250Mbit down) whole distros are now easily downloaded in a few minutes...installation and setup takes considerably longer ...but a GRUB2 booted iive CD/DVD is quickly checked out once the GRUB2 stanza is figured out (Is there a convenient source?).
12 • Sparky Linux (by lenn on 2017-11-13 08:24:46 GMT from Canada)
Sparky Linux is more than a mainline distro. It has more DEs than any other "mainline" distros, and everyone of them is done very well. There is no company behind Sparky. All distros are done with love by Pavroo and his team.
13 • @ Robert Rijkhoff - Sparky and other DEs (by OstroL on 2017-11-13 08:39:15 GMT from Poland)
Manokwari is a DE available in Sparky repos. Manokwari is created by Blankon developers, not by Sparky devs. It is just a DE you can try at your risk. You can get rid of any bugs by yourself or by discussing it in the forums, that is, if you find another guy trying out Manokwari.
The main Sparky desktop is LXDE, not LXQT.
"In general, Sparky is not targeted to Linux beginners, rather to users with some amount of Linux knowledge."
"Anyway, the Linux beginners are welcome too – our forums is open for any question."
14 • Poll response/Slax news (by Steve on 2017-11-13 10:05:52 GMT from United Kingdom)
I personally would rather a distribution focus on one thing, and to do it well. Why bother having loads of different DE's when they are all a bit 'meh' - just focus on one DE/WM and do it well!
Side note: Slax, what on earth is the dev thinking? smh...
15 • LXQt (by Dojnow on 2017-11-13 12:01:40 GMT from Bulgaria)
LXQt is quite suitable for old PCs or for users of Qt-programs (Konqueror, Kile, Calligra, ...) - it uses only 64--67 MB (on 32b Debian) and does not require SSE2 instruction set whereas some components in KDE5, even in 32b Debian, require SSE2 thus discarding otherwise capable Athlons.
16 • Never blame Sparkylinux! (by Gerhard Goetzhaber on 2017-11-13 12:06:35 GMT from Austria)
More than ever, this time seeing Ubuntu desparately shifting towards GNOME as well as splitting their development sources into too many in-between-editions we should think back towards the good old Debian and it's closest relatives. The more pure Debian herself has not ever been easy to deploy a universally usable (especially concerning multimedia matters) system out of the more we should be happy about being able to meet a few fine and pretty complete derivatives built on top of pure Debian - as there is Sparky! The more Debian by establishing Stretch has closed up to the state of time in general Linux development, too.
Me, I always hold one Sparky installed on my disks, the rolling edition with Xfce which I would strongly recommend to everybody. It really works great! The lonely deficiency I myself can report is the fixing for Ext4 at setup time - for I would prefer Xfs evenly on the system partition. But this is just peanuts ...
17 • Linux FreedomISO (by pavroo on 2017-11-13 12:32:37 GMT from Poland)
a "Linux Freedom" ISO / a "Linux Freedom" edition - it is only one of the official mirrors which host Sparky iso images, not a separated edition.
18 • Sparky (by Frank on 2017-11-13 13:32:15 GMT from Canada)
I've been using Sparky for awhile, (LXQT Debian testing). LXQT is stable but needs some polishing around the edges, e.g. you have to install lxappearance to make GTK apps follow your theme. Yes their are alot of choices on the website but is that a bad thing? If you do a net install of Debian you also get a choice of desktops. I agree about the 11pt font, I installed the noto fonts for a better look. On a Quad-Core machine with 6G RAM it's blazing fast.
19 • Poll question - supported editions (by TheTKS on 2017-11-13 14:10:07 GMT from United States)
I like projects that offer and stick to a clear mandate, and offer as many editions as they are willing and *able* to support, but no more.
20 • Poll (by dragonmouth on 2017-11-13 14:12:44 GMT from United States)
What is the difference between a system of various "editions" as provided by Sparky and the system of "re-spins" provided by the Ubuntu family (Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Zorin, Elementary, Mint, etc, etc, etc)? To me, the Sparky way present a more coherent and a more controlled approach. In the Ubuntu universe any script kiddie can change an app here or there and regurgitate a new respin. Canonical doesn't seem to care about the quality of or the need for all these respins.
21 • Poll questions - supported editions - continued (by TheTKS on 2017-11-13 15:01:27 GMT from United States)
Further, I like projects that are clearly different from others that came before. I would rather the people supporting "just another me too" projects either direct their energy to fixing and improving those earlier projects, or come up with something actually original.
But the proliferation of weapons of mass DISTRACTION seems inherent to open source. What’s “me too” and what’s original is endlessly debatable. To get the good stuff, I’ll take the noise and do my sorting and selecting. Many thanks and a few of my dollars to Distrowatch for helping me with that. But still – I really, really wish that each project would clearly state their reason for being.
And finally, I want at least one of those projects to just work. I see nothing wrong with distros that regularly break, if bleeding edge with breakage is part of their clearly stated mandate, I see nothing wrong with distros with lots of ***FLASH!!!***, but I’ll mostly use my stable and non-distracting distro(s) to get my stuff done and play with a few of the others from time to time, because I also like to explore what’s different and new.
22 • Systemd (by pfbruce on 2017-11-13 15:02:05 GMT from United States)
From a Slax post:
And I believe that the end users of Slax are even less affected by systemd. I didn't notice any single place where systemd would affect the end user's experience (except the fact that the system boots up faster).
This may be true, but I frequently encounter:
"A start/stop job is running for..." These events make the system extremely slow. Fedora often starts with start jobs for every drive on my system. And I have many. Opensuse often shuts down with stop jobs for users who are not logged in or even allowed. There is a workaround that allows me to shorten the time interval for start/stop jobs but I haven't had much success trying to make it work.
This does not make me a systemd hater, but it certainly is inconvenient.
23 • SLAX, THE REVENANT (by Szulejmán on 2017-11-13 15:12:11 GMT from Canada)
Truly delighted to hear that SLAX is making a come back after being dormant for so many years .....
And, hey Tomas, please do not forget to add the built-in USB persistence feature as you had done previously. ....
24 • The Sparky Advantage (by dhinds on 2017-11-13 15:14:19 GMT from Mexico)
No other distro includes so many useful additional tools as Sparky.
This saves a considerable time and added functionality.
Furthermore, support is readily available for the rare glitch or confusion that may develop.
It is an usually functional and reliable distro.
25 • 16 • Never blame Sparkylinux! by Gerhard Goetzhaber (by lenn on 2017-11-13 16:17:47 GMT from United States)
>>The more pure Debian herself has not ever been easy to deploy a universally usable (especially concerning multimedia matters) system out of the more we should be happy about being able to meet a few fine and pretty complete derivatives built on top of pure Debian - as there is Sparky! <<
Sparky had been there for so long, and while others struggled, Pavroo kept at it, making it better and better.
In his own words,
"Why is Sparky free?
Love?
Stupidity?
Masochism?
Madness?
I think, all of the above!"
26 • Distro Editions (by rdaniels on 2017-11-13 16:50:42 GMT from United States)
I tend to think distros should limit themselves on the number of "editions" they release. Package managers exist, users don't need a KDE edition, GNOME edition, MATE edition, Ratpoison edition, etc. They can install what they like themselves. Distros can polish and optimize whatever desktops they want whether that's one or 10, they just don't need to bother with a separate ISO for each.
I think Fedora does the idea of "editions" right, along use-case lines. Workstation, Server, and whatever they're calling their container thing this month.
27 • ubuntu spins (by Tim Dowd on 2017-11-13 17:28:58 GMT from United States)
The conversation always seems to spiral back towards whether Ubuntu should have multiple re-spins, and I think the review of Sparky shows why the Ubuntu approach makes sense.
People want to think of Ubuntu-MATE, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc as just "different desktops." But they aren't. They're a complete default install from a single iso of unique collections of packages from the Ubuntu archives. Because they're done by different teams, the packages are checked to make sure they work together, and that the default experience works. They use the Ubuntu archive, but they're internally coherent. At this point there's pretty significant difference between them, including using X or Wayland, etc.
Of course you can install any set of packages on most systems. That doesn't mean that they work well or even will install without crashing. And if the desktop isn't the primary focus for the distro, it is more likely to have bugs that haven't been noticed. By treating the different flavors of Ubuntu separately, it means communities get built around similar user experiences. "I had this problem with Lubuntu" is an easier starting place than "I had this problem with base Ubuntu and these are my packages and I installed these recommends but not those..."
28 • multiple and polished editions (by matt on 2017-11-13 18:28:59 GMT from United States)
The poll needs another option: I prefer a distro that has multiple editions that are polished and stable. It isn't necessarily either/or. (Having multiple editions versus polished and stable.)
I use Debian exclusively. On my Desktop and newer laptop, it is with the Cinnamon desktop. On my older netbook, it is with the MATE desktop. On my wife's very slow Acer Aspire with limited memory, it is with the LXDE desktop. All of them work well and are stable.
Sometimes you need installation media with a desktop environment that matches the abilities of the hardware. My wife's Aspire came with Windows 7 and it was literally unusable because it was so slow. It is at least functional using LXDE. If all Debian provided was Gnome or KDE, I probably would have never been able to install it at all.
29 • Poll - Depends on definition of "distribution" (by Andy Prough on 2017-11-13 21:33:44 GMT from Asia/Pacific Region)
I can't think of any real distributions that have only a single desktop. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubunto, Mint, Bodhi, etc are all just respins sitting on a Debian base. Debian is the community that puts the actual work into creating the massive software repositories - Debian is the distribution.
Others that qualify as a distribution are Slackware, Fedora, Gentoo, Arch, Solus, openSUSE - all of which have options for a wide variety of desktops.
30 • @ 29 Debian (by OstroL on 2017-11-13 22:15:17 GMT from Poland)
>> Debian is the distribution.<<
No, Debian is the Universal Operating System.
31 • @30 (by Andy Prough on 2017-11-13 22:45:02 GMT from United States)
>> No, Debian is the Universal Operating System.
Brought to life because Ian was tired of dealing with buggie Slackware.
32 • Sparky Linux appearance (by mikef90000 on 2017-11-14 03:07:48 GMT from United States)
Forgot to mention above, their default icon set used on Xfce is Terrible !!
Stimpy meme: "Ugly. Flat. Icons."
They also have excessive 'white' space around them so they appear absolutely tiny. Hard to think this passed some kind of QA .....
Easily fixed by changing the icon set though.
33 • sparky linux (by rohan on 2017-11-14 03:37:17 GMT from Indonesia)
I used sparky linux for couple years. Until it dump flash player. So I moved to ultimate edition 5.5. It's run slow on my 2gb notebook, but it has dozen of software and flash player. Even hassle free install of google chrome.
So goodbye sparky for me, I'm happy with ultimate now.
34 • Number of comments (by sglnx on 2017-11-14 07:51:02 GMT from Singapore)
Off topic.
The number of comments indicated is not tally to the actual number of comments published.
It's been like this for quite a while.
35 • Wrong impression. (by Scott on 2017-11-14 08:39:31 GMT from United States)
A project that is focused on one distribution seems to come across as a smaller, one-person show. It gives the impression that not many people are working on it, and therefore, support and development will be slow. I am sure someone can find me an example where this does not apply, but overall, single projects give off the wrong impression.
Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying either way that projects that are focused on single distributions are the smaller ones. I am only implying that most of time, they come across that way.
36 • multiple edition (by zcatav on 2017-11-14 10:29:34 GMT from Turkey)
I use Debian Testing for new hardware,
MX Linux on older hardware,
antiX on oldest hardware.
37 • SparkyLinux (by William Purkis on 2017-11-14 11:24:36 GMT from United Kingdom)
Forced to find a new Distro when my long term preference dropped 32bit, I spent time trying-out some on offer. I quickly learned that I had to have xfce with Wiskersmenu (which is by far the best desktop once you stop it calling for signing-in every three minuets) and Synaptic. Anything Ubuntu or suggesting that CLi existed was to be avoided. I am just a home workstation user, not a gamester or Linux hobbyist, and I need a reliable easy to use computer for the family. Sparky came out head and shoulders above the rest in all respects, highly recommended.
38 • Poll (by rooster12 on 2017-11-14 11:41:27 GMT from United States)
@9 Argent: Great point, who has a "polished" distribution? Never used one myself, something is always amiss but that is the fun of Linux!
Found the more the distro is a minimalist release and sporting a Window manager the better chances it being error free.
39 • Poll / Post # 33 / Ultimate Edition (by Winchester on 2017-11-14 15:53:30 GMT from United States)
As far as the poll goes,I would say a few editions can be well maintained. Korora Linux is an example. Void Linux is another example. But,once you go beyond a few,things usually are spread too thin.
Regarding post # 33, in most cases the Adobe Flash Player plug-in is not really needed. Most flash based content plays fine under Solus Linux via FireFox WITHOUT the Adobe Flash Player plug-in. Likewise,the same is true in PALDO using Epiphany (Web).
If you like "Ultimitate Edition" , the MATE LTS versions run faster than the KDE Plasma editions such as version 5.5. In any case,support for version 5.5 of Ultimate Edition ends in early 2018 based on the information in the release announcement. The MATE LTS Ultimate Editions are nice if you want the Ubuntu base,and if you do a little bit of fine tuning to the appearance. There are quite a few pre-installed themes to choose from.
40 • distro family trees (by Tim Dowd on 2017-11-15 16:29:10 GMT from United States)
@ 29 I don't dispute what you're saying, and I once thought exactly the same way. But I think it misses the point. Debian and Ubuntu are not competitors with each other, they're upstream and downstream from one another. Ubuntu is part of the Debian community.
Everything in the apt world is based on Debian Unstable (sid.) Most people don't use sid as a daily driver because it constantly changes and stuff breaks, unbreaks, and dependencies change and packages disappear and reappear. So we use a distribution that is frozen from sid and brought to stable enough condition.
Which distro is that? This is where I think it's important to lose the "Ubuntu is just a copy of Debian" or "Mint is just a copy of Ubuntu" mindset. The most important choice for the end user is "which snapshot of sid makes this particular computer work the best.?"
In my usage of the Debian family, the most important questions are:
1.) What version of the Linux Kernel and drivers do I need? For newer computers, you want a version with a newer kernel. For older computers, especially ones with relatively rare hardware, you might want a version with an older kernel and drivers that you know work well with your device
2.) What version of a particular package do I need? This for me has only really been important when a piece of software gets major improvements (like the jump from LibreOffice 4 to 5.) It also matters if a package you like is being removed.
3.) Does the frozen distribution have a package you need with a major bug in it? If so, report it, but probably the easiest thing for you is to pick a different distro.
4.) How much do you want to update this computer?
For my life right now, these 4 questions have resulted in 2 computers that are not connected to a network running Debian 8, 3 daily driver computers using Ubuntu MATE 17.10, one computer running Linux Mint 18.1, and a virtual machine running Debian 6. My primary distro has ping-ponged from Debian Stable to Ubuntu LTS to Debian Testing to Ubuntu interim to LMDE and then back to Ubuntu. They're essentially interchangeable based on my current needs, and that's the mindset I think people ought to have. You can be a productive member of all of these communities, and given their interdependence, it's good to be.
41 • Nr of supported editions (by DipDiDu on 2017-11-15 17:55:09 GMT from Netherlands)
I have voted in the OpPool;
I like a project to offer one focused edition.
Choosing LMint I pick Cinnamon..Any other D.Offering Cinnamon Env. I do not care for.
LMint;
Thanks G. Mint finally started to boot up fast, from the
version 18.2, so I can present it to others. But who knows, there is 18.3 now, maybe they have screwed it up all over again. Fast boot Time and the fact what you can do with it in daily task, is very important to most of us. Desktop Env.I use is Xfce and Cinnamon.
But for Xfce I do not pick LMint. By the way, Linux Mint Distribution I really did like allot, was the "Isadora9", based on Ubu10.4...Till the version 18.2 I never did like this Distro, now I am
coming back to it, who knows for how long, wish they keep on the current Track of 18.2
upwards, it starts to look good again and being productive in daily tasks.
Opinion Pool;
I have strong Hope, that D.Watchs OpPool, will lead towards something constructive, and
is not just Infohording, for who knows who.
Thank you Distrowatch for your Work.
42 • Desktop Environment (by Harry Hopper on 2017-11-16 05:19:59 GMT from Canada)
I do not any particular preference for DE. Just for change, I hop DE too. I am using KDE, GNOME. MATE, Cinnamon, Enlightenment, LXQt, XFCE and LXDE. Till last year I have used UNITY as well.
43 • @ 42 Unity (by OstroL on 2017-11-16 08:58:31 GMT from Poland)
Unity 7 is not dead. You can find a fresh ppa on ubuntu-unity-desktop in https://code.launchpad.net/~unity7maintainers/+archive/ubuntu/unity7-desktop
It is on 18.04 development branch.
44 • burning iso to usb. (by Stone L on 2017-11-16 09:40:36 GMT from United States)
We need a better way to burn(record) an iso to USB.
So far I know 2, one is unetbootin and the other is Sudo dd; both have a lot of limitations.
some isos can be handled with unetbootin, some other with sudo dd but is chancy.
45 • burning iso to usb (by argent on 2017-11-16 11:21:34 GMT from United States)
Personally prefer dd, never an issue and test a lot of different distros. Works perfectly with Arch, Debian, Devuan, Void, Manjaro and a host of others. Don't use or test Ubuntu, but like LMDE2.
There is Mintstick, works well on Debian based distros, used it in the past and currently maintained with a new release this month. You can find it at the link below.
Hope this helps!
http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/main/m/mintstick/
46 • Burning iso to usb. (by William Purkis on 2017-11-16 14:14:31 GMT from United Kingdom)
@44 There is a truly simple and precise utility for doing just that on SparkyLinux xfce. Go to 'USB Disc Formatter' to clean up and prepare the USB stick, then open 'Live USB creator'. Have your Iso ready (I put it on the Desktop beforehand) then move it across as it's called for. 3 or 4 minutes, all done
47 • Burning ISO's to USB (by Winchester on 2017-11-16 14:45:58 GMT from United States)
There are plenty of tools to burn ISO files to USB.
I have found the most reliable to be "ROSA Image Writer". It handles both clearing and formatting the USB stick as well as writing the ISO to the stick. (Linux,Windows,Apple Mac)
Another application which I use for this task is "Etcher".
"Rufus" for Windows only.
There is also the "OpenSUSE Image Writer" and the "Gnome Disks Utility".
There's one pre-installed in RedCore Linux as well.
All better and more reliable than Unetbootin.
48 • Slax : New Version (by Winchester on 2017-11-16 14:54:15 GMT from United States)
Basing the new version of Slax on Debian does not seem like the best idea to me. (Should the name of the distribution not be changed ??)
There is already Knoppix , E-Live based on Debian. Refracta based on Devuan.
I think that basing the new version on PClinuxOS would have been a better idea.
49 • Slax (by rooster12 on 2017-11-17 07:05:51 GMT from United States)
@48 Winchester: Slax should be changed, maybe something more Debianish, like Slacker!
50 • Burning ISO to USB (by Bunty Buntu on 2017-11-17 07:37:27 GMT from Canada)
I usually buy pre-installed USB from locally. If I have access to windows machine, I use Win32 Disk Imager which worked well for all Ubuntu's flavors.
For Ubuntu lovers:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Win32DiskImager/iso2usb
51 • rename Slax @48, @49 (by curious on 2017-11-17 09:03:08 GMT from Germany)
The new Slax is obviously very different from the old one. And since it has nothing to do with Slackware anymore - neither in packages nor in philosophy - its name should be changed, perhaps to Debix or Dex?
The old Slax was interesting because it had a very LIGHT (yes, really!) version of KDE4 as desktop. I can't imagine that the new version still has the same combination of lightness, simplicity and ease of use.
52 • Rufus versus Win32DiskImager (by Winchester on 2017-11-17 12:55:00 GMT from United States)
I have used both "Win32DiskImager" (once about a year ago) as well as "Rufus" and I would say that "Rufus" wins hands down.
The main reason is that it was a huge hassle to get the USB stick re-formatted back to a usable state after using "Win32DiskImager". Maybe better now in newer versions?? I don't know .... as I have had no reason to try it again because there is "Rufus" for Windows and since I use GNU / Linux operating systems and the iso writers mentioned in post # 47.
53 • Reformatting USB (by Fillo Pucker on 2017-11-17 14:28:04 GMT from Canada)
On linux, while using linux most of time storage media is getting worse and worse by FUSE which kicks-in at almost every file operation. While inspecting hidden files, one may realize that storage space is getting almost full by .fuse_hidden files.
Check it out : what is a .fuse_hidden file and why do they exist?
https://askubuntu.com/questions/493198/what-is-a-fuse-hidden-file-and-why-do-they-exist
I have some .fuse_hidden files which are hard-linked 256 times.
54 • Slax rename (by Ubuntu and Gnome user on 2017-11-17 15:17:42 GMT from United States)
To most people Slax name was a play on the Slackware name, just as the Slax distribution was a derivative of the Slackware distribution.
So retaining the name may be good for the Slax devs, but seems slightly confusing to everyone else. Now we have to stop and think about the Slax not anymore being a derivative of Slackware.
Number of Comments: 54
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
| | |
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Archives |
| • Issue 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.
|
| Random Distribution | 
Trustix Secure Linux
Trustix Secure Linux was a Linux distribution targeted at companies, of all sizes, in need of a low footprint and high security server operating system. Trustix Secure Linux includes the open standards based SoftWare UPdater, SWUP, which keeps all software packages up-to-date, resolves library dependancies and integrates public key cryptography to ensure safety and security.
Status: Discontinued
|
| 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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
