 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 767, 11 June 2018 |
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Welcome to this year's 24th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Passing information between computers, whether it is downloading files, viewing web pages or streaming video, is a big part of modern computing. There are a lot of tools for transferring files between computers, but few are as flexible as OpenSSH. This week we share tips on copying files and using pipes with OpenSSH's secure shell. Android is typically used as a mobile operating system, but ports of it can be run on x86 workstations and laptops. This week we begin with a look at Android-x86 and report on how it runs on a laptop computer. Plus we link to a tutorial on getting Debian-style package management on Linux From Scratch and report on TrueOS's new plans. We also share stories about how OpenMediaVault and pfSense are reacting to Europe's GDPR rules, and ArchLabs leaving GitHub. This week we also celebrate Haiku getting a port of LibreOffice working. Plus we share the releases of the past week and provide a list of the torrents we are seeding. Speaking of torrents, we have made some improvements to our Torrent Archive page and the details can be found below. We wish you all a terrific week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Android-x86 7.1-r1
- News: Running Linux From Scratch with Debian package management, TrueOS changes course, OpenMediaVault and pfSense react to GDPR, ArchLabs leaves GitHub, Haiku ports LibreOffice
- Tips and tricks: OpenSSH, pipes and file transfers
- Released last week: Devuan 2.0.0, GeckoLinux 150
- Torrent corner: Archman, AUSTRUMI, Berry, Clonezilla, Devuan, Gecko, Live Raizo, Omarine, PCLinuxOS, SmartOS, Tails
- Opinion poll: Running Android on a desktop/laptop computer
- DistroWatch.com news: Navigating to a distribution's page from our Torrent Archive
- New distributions: Olu, Quick-Save-Live
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Android-x86 7.1-r1
Android-x86 is a port of the Android operating system for 32-bit and 64-bit x86 computers. In theory, Android-x86 make it possible to run the same Android operating system on a workstation or laptop computer as we might run on our phone. Android uses a version of the Linux kernel, much like GNU/Linux operating systems, but features different userland utilities and a different graphical user interface.
The latest release of Android-x86 (hereafter simply referred to as Android) is version 7.1-r1 which is available as a 809MB download. I grabbed a copy of this release in order to give it a test run in a VirtualBox virtual machine and on my laptop. When booting from the Android media, a boot menu is displayed, offering us the chance to try a live environment or install the operating system. My experiment with VirtualBox got off to a rocky start as Android failed to launch the live graphical environment. Sometimes the system would simply reboot when the live desktop option was selected and other times the system would lock up.
Installing
Taking the install option from Android's boot menu brought up a text console with a menu-driven interface. The installer asks us to partition the hard drive and tells us we should set up a partition with at least 4GB of disk space, though 8GB is recommended. Disk partitioning is handled by the cfdisk text-based partition manager. Once a partition has been created, we are asked to select a file system (FAT, ext4 and NTFS are supported). We are then asked if we want to install the GRUB boot loader to handle starting the operating system.
When the installer is finished we can restart the computer to try out our fresh copy of Android. Unfortunately, I could not get Android to boot and display a graphical interface in my virtual machine. I was able to get Android to boot in debug mode, but launching the system in debug mode would only get me to a minimal command line interface where I could run a few commands, like ls and top. From the command line I was unable to connect to any networks or launch the desktop environment.
Running Android on my laptop went more smoothly. The operating system was able to run its installer and boot without any tweaking on my part. Launching the new copy of Android the first time walked me through some configuration options. I was given the chance to select my preferred language, connect to a wireless network and optionally sign into a Google account to synchronize settings and contacts. With these steps completed we are presented with Android's desktop interface.
Android-x86 7.1 -- The default desktop
(full image size: 174kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Early impressions
The Android interface is roughly divided into four parts. There is a notification bar at the top of the screen which we can click to access recent notifications and settings. The bulk of the display is taken up with an empty desktop space where application icons can be placed. Below this empty space is a button that opens an application drawer. When the draw is open it shows us a large grid of icons for installed applications. At the bottom of the display are Android's customary Back, Home and Show Open Windows buttons.
Android-x86 7.1 -- The application drawer
(full image size: 122kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The interface was responsive on my laptop, but inconsistent in its appearance. Some buttons and icons were large while anything in the notification area was very small. The fonts in most applications are large and easy to read, but text in the settings area was very small. This gives the Android interface an imbalanced look. I found some pieces could be made to look smoother through the settings panel.
On the subject of settings, one issue I struggled with was Android uses inverse vertical scrolling. (Scrolling down takes us up the page, scrolling up moves down a page.) I found this jarring since it's the opposite of how most desktop environments respond.
Android-x86 7.1 -- The settings panel
(full image size: 43kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Another problem I had with the mouse pointer was items I moved the mouse over often got activated as though I had clicked on them. This resulted in a lot of apps and options being opened by accident. At first I thought this was due to an option which causes the interface to register a click after pointer movement, but this feature was turned off by default. In my case the mouse was just super sensitive.
Another issue which kept coming up was about once a every minute or two, a pop-up would appear, telling me the Play Services program had crashed. This did not appear to affect my tasks or my ability to install applications, but it did constantly interfere with my web browsing and typing.
Included software
One of my key concerns when I run Android on a desktop x86 computer instead of its native, mobile ARM environment is how well applications will run. The good news was I found that most programs included with Android (the photo gallery, application store, settings panel and so on) worked. Using them was sometimes awkward as they are designed to be run on small, touch-enabled displays. Attempting to navigate these apps with a mouse and keyboard is awkward at best.
Android-x86 7.1 -- Browsing the web with Chrome
(full image size: 549kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Trying to download and run additional software gave mixed results. Some programs worked as expected, others would crash at start-up. There does not appear to be any way to easily identify which programs will work and which will not, other than downloading and trying them.
One example of struggling with Android's software came about when I tried to watch Netflix. The Chrome browser which ships with Android worked really well for most things. I could browse websites, watch YouTube videos and check e-mail with it. But when signing into Netflix, any attempt to watch videos in the browser brought up a page telling me I had to use the Android app to watch Netflix. The Netflix app could be installed, but failed to launch, effectively blocking access to the streaming platform.
Android-x86 7.1 -- Installing an app from the Play store
(full image size: 243kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Other observations
Android ships with a terminal application for those of us who like to work from the command line. Many common UNIX utilities are included, making it easy to browse directories, monitor processes and manipulate files. One problem I ran into though was I could not get the secure copy (scp) and secure file transfer (sftp) programs to work. The former would always exit with an error saying “-x” was not a valid parameter (the -x flag was not being used). The latter program would not give any meaningful error, just exit. However, the secure shell (ssh) program did work and allowed me to login and manage remote machines. This left me in the weird position of performing file transfers through a pipe over secure shell rather than using the typical scp and sftp programs.
Android-x86 7.1 -- Monitoring processes from the terminal
(full image size: 154kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Android 7.1 ships with version 4.9.80 of the Linux kernel. This is a relatively modern kernel, not much older than the one I typically run on this laptop for work. However, while recent versions of Linux Mint, Ubuntu and MX Linux have typically provided me with two hours of battery life when listening to music or watching a movie, Android could not provide me with more than 40-50 minutes minutes of battery when browsing the web and adjusting settings. This puts Android at a disadvantage when we are on the go.
Conclusions
Android-x86 is a project which I think is interesting for its goal of getting Android onto more platforms and I can certainly see how it would be appealing for people who want to test Android applications across several types of devices. Unfortunately, Android is geared toward small, mobile devices and its interface, controls, applications and hardware support just do not translate well to larger personal computers. To me, trying to use Android on a laptop computer feels out of place, much like trying to use a word processor or virtual terminal feels out of place on a small, mobile device. It's possible to use, but not ideal and not entirely practical.
I think the Android-x86 team deserves a great deal of credit for getting Android working as well as it does - the system does boot, run and can launch several applications on my laptop. But the regular notifications of crashes, short battery life and limited number of applications make this operating system unappealing for daily use. I think Android-x86 is a good test platform for trying out Android and its apps on different sized screens and hardware, but it's not great for common desktop tasks.
* * * * *
Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a de-branded HP laptop with the following
specifications:
- Processor: Intel i3 2.5GHz CPU
- Display: Intel integrated video
- Storage: Western Digital 700GB hard drive
- Memory: 6GB of RAM
- Wired network device: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast
- Wireless network device: Realtek RTL8188EE Wireless network card
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Visitor supplied rating
Android-x86 has a visitor supplied average rating of: 4.5/10 from 4 review(s).
Have you used Android-x86? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Running Linux From Scratch with Debian package management, TrueOS changes course, OpenMediaVault and pfSense react to GDPR, ArchLabs leaves GitHub, Haiku ports LibreOffice
Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a project which provides step-by-step instructions for creating a minimal operating system from source code. While LFS can be used to create a small, Linux-based operating system, running LFS is not practical for most users, in part because the operating system lacks a package manager. This means LFS users end up compiling their software and manually handling dependencies. A new project, called Debian From Scratch offers a solution. The Debian From Scratch documentation shows users how to set up Debian's package management tools on a new LFS install, greatly automating software management and future upgrades. "This project intends to be a community resource to help those interested in creating their own custom system from the ground up, while fully taking advantage of the Debian suite of package management, dpkg and apt, in order to solve the problems of package dependency installation and management."
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TrueOS is an operating system for desktops and servers based on FreeBSD's development branch. TrueOS uses FreeBSD at its core and is perhaps best known for making it possible to quickly install a FreeBSD-based desktop system. The focus of TrueOS is changing now, with the project forking further from FreeBSD. "TrueOS will become a downstream fork that will build on FreeBSD by integrating new software technologies like OpenRC and LibreSSL. Work has already begun which allows TrueOS to be used as a base platform for other projects, including JSON-based manifests, integrated Poudriere / pkg tools and much more. We're planning on a six month release cycle to keep development moving and fresh, allowing us to bring you hot new features to ZFS, bhyve and related tools in a timely manner. This makes TrueOS the perfect fit to serve as the basis for building other distributions." In the place of TrueOS's desktop edition, the team has reported a separate project, called Project Trident will become available. Further information ca be found in the project's blog post.
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Last week we shared a story in which, in an effort to avoid coming into conflict with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Bodhi Linux team shut down their support forum. At the time, Bodhi users were advised they could still get support on social media sites, such as Reddit. This week, OpenMediaVault took similar action, deactivating their Facebook page where users could keep up with announcements and request support. The decision follows a court ruling which states administrators of Facebook pages share responsibility with Facebook in complying with the GDPR. OpenMediaVault continues to maintain a support forum on their website.
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On June 4th the popular source repository and development platform GitHub announced they were being purchased by Microsoft. The news was generally not welcomed by open source developers, many of whom feared vendor lock-in or mistreatment from Microsoft. Several projects quickly made plans to move to other web-based development platforms. The ArchLabs team, for example, immediately transitioned to BitBucket. Meanwhile, pfSense moved in the other direction, taking documentation from their wiki and placing it on GitHub's servers. The pfSense announcement lists several reasons for the move, the first one being trying to find a way to comply with the GDPR. "Ultimately, we made the switch because it was the right thing to do. Specifically, there were several reasons for this move, including: GDPR Compliance - We don't have to worry about storing any personal information about contributors and contributors don't have to worry about creating an account with a limited use case (assuming they use their GitHub account for other projects)."
* * * * *
The Haiku team had lots of progress to report in their latest monthly newsletter. There were a number of upgrades to the Haiku build system and more drivers were imported from FreeBSD to provide better hardware support. The most visual change though was the port of the LibreOffice productivity suite to Haiku: "There are still a few caveats and bug fixes still going on; for details see this forum thread. But it is entirely usable for day-to-day work. As of writing, it's already in the x86_64 package repository, and hopefully coming soon to the 32-bit one."
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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) |
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OpenSSH, pipes and file transfers
In a few recent articles I have referred using the secure shell (ssh) command with a pipe to transfer data or files from one computer to another. For those not familiar with these two pieces of technology, let's start with a quick overview.
A pipe is a way for two programs to communicate, with one handing data to the other. One program creates a pipe and sends information into the pipe. Another program can then open the pipe and read this same information in the order it was sent. Pipes allow us to string a series of commands together to share and manipulate data. For example, the grep command finds lines matching a pattern in a text file and the sort command rearranges lines in alphabetical order. Using a pipe, we can use grep to find something, like names in an address book, and then use sort to put those names in order. Here is an example of a pipe gathering up the information from a search of an address book and passing the names to the sort command:
grep "Name:" address-book.txt | sort
The OpenSSH secure shell program is typically used to log into a remote computer and interactively run commands on the remote machine. In its simplest form, the secure shell (ssh) command accepts our username and the name of the remote computer we are going to log into and then runs a normal, interactive shell session over the network. Running ssh typically looks like this:
ssh jesse@example.com
Sometimes, if we just want to run one command on the remote computer and then immediately quit, we can specify the command to run at the end of the line. For example, here we get the amount of time the remote computer has been running using the uptime program:
ssh jesse@example.com uptime
One very nice feature of ssh is that we can pass information from it through a pipe on our local computer. For example, if the address-book.txt file I mentioned earlier is on the remote computer, we can search through it for names on the remote computer and then sort the results locally. For instance:
ssh jesse@example.com grep "Name:" address-book.txt | sort
Using pipes we can also run commands locally and then send the output to a file on another computer. Here we get a list of processes running on the local computer using the ps command and then save it in a log file on a remote computer for safe keeping. This works because secure shell passes the piped information from ps to the cat command running on the remote computer. The data is finally dumped into logfile.
ps aux | ssh jesse@example.com 'cat > logfile'
Note the command we run on the remote computer is placed inside single-quote marks. This separates the command run remotely from what we are doing locally. Without the single-quotes we would end up creating logfile on our local computer.
Apart from passing small pieces of information from local commands to remote commands, the ssh utility can be used to transfer files from one computer to another. Normally, we would use a command like secure copy (scp) to transfer a file from one place to another. However, if we do not have access to scp or we want to do some processing on a file's contents during the transfer, ssh becomes very useful. Here is an example where we perform a straight forward transfer from the local computer to a remote computer, backing up a tar archive:
dd if=archive.tar.gz | ssh jesse@example.com dd of=backup-archive.tar.gz
In the above example, we use the dd command, which copies data from one location or file to another. Here, the dd command loads archive.tar.gz as its input file (if) and sends the file over a pipe to the remote computer. On the remote machine we use the dd command again to create an output file (of) called backup-archive.tar.gz. This simple copy works, but is more cumbersome than the more commonly used scp version of the same action, which requires just the name of the file to copy and its destination. Using scp, the process would look like this:
scp archive.tar.gz jesse@example.com:backup-archive.tar.gz
Where using ssh with pipes really shines is when we want to perform an action on data during the transfer. For instance, what if there is a log file on a remote server and we want to compress it and then download a copy of the compressed log, all in one action? We can use pipes on the remote computer to compress a log file using gzip and then pass the compressed file through dd to our local computer. The command looks like this:
ssh jesse@example.com 'cat /var/log/error.log | gzip | dd ' | dd of=error.log.gz
Once again we see the string of commands on the remote computer is placed in single-quotes to isolate the remote processes from commands performed locally. After the above command runs, we end up with a compressed copy of the error log file.
Some people might look at the above example and wonder why the first instance of the dd command is run without any parameters. It seems somewhat pointless when gzip can compress the data and pass it along to our local computer. The reason for the empty dd command is gzip will refuse to dump compressed data to the console (aka standard output) as it would look terrible. However, gzip will pass compressed data out to another pipe. In the above example, the first dd command is there just to accept the compressed data from one pipe and then pass it along to the next step so that gzip will agree to run in this unusual set up. Once the data comes through the pipe to our local computer, the second dd command writes the compressed information to an output file (of) called error.log.gz.
These are just a few examples of how we can pass information and files from one computer to another using pipes and secure shell. There are lots of other ways to string commands together to get data from one computer to another over secure shell. These methods may look more complicated than using a simple copy command, but it's one way to string programs together to form one big command line rather than breaking data processing and file transfers into separate processes.
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More tips can be found in our Tips and Tricks archive.
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| Released Last Week |
GeckoLinux 150
GeckoLinux is a distribution based on openSUSE with a focus on providing a friendly, desktop platform with multimedia codecs out of the box. The project has published two new versions: Static 150 which is based on openSUSE's stable Leap edition, and GeckoLinux Rolling 999 which is based on openSUSE's rolling release Tumbleweed edition. "The GeckoLinux project is pleased to release updated spins of both Rolling and Static editions. GeckoLinux spins are based on the openSUSE distribution, with a focus on polish and out-of-the-box usability on the desktop. A large variety of customized desktop options are available in Static (based on openSUSE Leap) and Rolling (based on openSUSE Tumbleweed) editions. After installation to the hard disk, a GeckoLinux system will continue to receive updates from the openSUSE and Packman infrastructures. An installed system can even be upgraded smoothly to future openSUSE releases while at the same time retaining its unique GeckoLinux configuration." There are several desktop spins and a BareBones minimal spin of each edition. More information on both editions can be found in the release announcements (Static, Rolling).
Devuan GNU+Linux 2.0.0
The "Veteran UNIX Admins" have announced the release of Devuan GNU+Linux 2.0.0, a new stable build from the project that forked Debian in late 2014 to build a systemd-free variant of the popular community distribution. Devuan's second release is based on Debian 9.0 and carries a code name of "ASCII": "We are happy to announce that Devuan GNU+Linux 2.0 ASCII stable is finally available. Devuan 2.0 ASCII runs on several architectures. Installer CD and DVD images, as well as desktop live and minimal live ISO images, are available for i386 and amd64. Ready-to-use images can be downloaded for a number of ARM platforms and SOCs, including Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, OrangePi, BananaPi, OLinuXino, Cubieboard, Nokia and Motorola mobile phones several Chromebooks, as well as for VirtualBox, QEMU and Vagrant. The Devuan 2.0 ASCII installer ISOs offer a variety of desktop environments including Xfce, KDE, MATE, Cinnamon, LXQt, with others available post-install." Read the release announcement and release notes for full details.
Devuan GNU+Linux 2.0.0 -- Running the Xfce desktop
(full image size: 83kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
* * * * *
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: 889
- Total data uploaded: 20.1TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll |
Running Android on a desktop/laptop computer
This week we talked about Android-x86, a port of the Android operating system for consumer desktop and laptop computers. We would like to know what our readers think of running the Android operating system, typically used on phones and tablets, on a laptop or workstation. Would it be helpful to you to have a mobile-style OS running on desktop hardware, or is Android's design unsuited to your workstation habits?
You can see the results of our previous poll on openSUSE's key features in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Running Android on a desktop/laptop computer
| I like the idea of having Android on my workstation/laptop: | 312 (17%) |
| I prefer a desktop-oriented OS for my workstation/laptop: | 1348 (75%) |
| No strong preference: | 149 (8%) |
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| DistroWatch.com News |
Navigating to a distribution's page from our Torrent Archive
For a while now DistroWatch has maintained an archive of distributions' torrents. These torrents are mostly ones we have seeded and shared with the world, but also include torrents other people are seeding on behalf of a distribution. Up until now, the Torrent Archive simply listed the available torrents and the date they were uploaded.
This past week we updated the Torrent Archive page. Now each torrent is listed along with the date it was uploaded, the name of the distribution which provided the media and a link to the distribution's information page. This is intended to make it easier to find more details on a distribution before downloading its torrent. Our system tries to find a distribution match for a torrent based on information in the torrent, which works most of the time, but a few unusually named ISO files or inactive projects may not be recognized.
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Distributions added to waiting list
- Olu. Olu is a re-spin of Ubuntu which features the Unity 7 desktop environment in place of GNOME Shell.
- Quick-Save-Live. Quick-Save-Live is a minimal (50MB) live CD with a graphical interface which can be used to rescue files or repair an operating system. It is based on Tiny Core Linux.
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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, 18 June 2018. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Article Search page. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews/submissions, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, donations, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (podcast)
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| Archives |
| • Issue 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 |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Elastix
Elastix was a Linux distribution that integrates the best tools available for Asterisk-based Private Branch Exchanges (PBX) into a single, easy-to-use interface. It also adds its own set of utilities and allows for the creation of third-party modules to make it an excellent software package available for open source telephony. Based on Debian since version 5.0.0 released in November 2017 (previous versions were was based on CentOS).
Status: Discontinued
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Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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