 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 835, 7 October 2019 |
Welcome to this year's 40th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The freedom open source software provides to developers allows for a great deal of experimentation. Someone is always creating a new tool, a new desktop feature, or a distribution with a special focus. This week we explore a wide variety of programs, open source operating systems, and tools. We begin with three quick looks at young projects on our waiting list: Isotop, Mazon OS, and KduxOS. All three have completely different goals and designs and each is relatively new too, making for a mixed experience. Read on to learn more about these three projects. In our News section we talk about Solus developers updating the distribution's supported desktop environments while OpenMandriva manages to build the Linux kernel with an alternative compiler. We also talk about Linux Mint's new, proactive tools for system maintenance and Arch Linux's new mandatory base package. Then Matt Zand shares examples of the flexible find command in action. The find command locates files on the disk and Zand shows off ten ways to get the most out of this command line utility. Then we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. In our Opinion Poll we ask which Ubuntu flavour you think we should review when Ubuntu 19.10 and its community editions launch later this month. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Isotop, Mazon OS, and KduxOS
- News: Solus updates supported desktops, OpenMandriva compiles kernel with Clang, Linux Mint makes System Reports proactive, Arch Linux introduces new base package
- Tips and tricks: How to find files by multiple criteria in Linux
- Torrent corner: 4MLinux, Arch, AUSTRUMI, GParted, Project Trident, Raspbian, SparkyLinux, Volumio
- Upcoming releases: FreeBSD 12.1-RC1
- Opinion poll: Which Ubuntu flavour should we review?
- New distributions: OpenStage Linux
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (15MB) and MP3 (11MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
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Isotop, Mazon OS, and KduxOS
This past week I took the opportunity to browse three of the items on the DistroWatch waiting list to see what new and interesting ideas were being presented. I then experimented with the following intriguing projects.
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Isotop 651 - OpenBSD with desktop customisations
The first project I looked at was Isotop. Originally, Isotop began as a derivative of OpenBSD that ran the Xfce desktop and shipped its own installation media. The project's developer e-mailed me to say Isotop no longer spins its own media. Instead, Isotop provides a script which can be run on a vanilla install of OpenBSD (version 6.5 and higher are supported). The idea is that we install OpenBSD and then download and run the Isotop script. The script automates setting up the CWM window manager, CUPS for printing support; enables some command line aliases; installs a music player, the PCManFM file manager, and the doas utility for performing privileged tasks. A complete list of changes the script can make is listed in the project's documentation (available in French and English).
I began my experiment by installing OpenBSD's AMD64 (x86_64) build. I installed the base system, plus graphical packages. Then I downloaded the Isotop script and ran the file. One of the first things the script does is verify its checksum and this checked failed, causing the script to abort. I downloaded the script and its checksum file to another computer and confirmed that while the checksums and contents of the files on both computers were identical, the script was correct: its checksum did not match the ones published for verification purposes.
Usually this indicates a file has been corrupted or altered, but I suspect in this case it simply means the script has been updated while the verification data has not. At any rate, this correctly prevents the script from executing and brought my trial to a premature close.
My impression of Isotop at the moment is that the script does several nice, small configuration steps for the user. At least in theory. The script doesn't do anything really big, but it certainly offers some good time-saving options, according to the documentation. Hopefully the checksum bug is fixed soon as, at the moment, that is a barrier to trying out the customization script.
* * * * *
Mazon OS 1.4-3 Beta - Linux From Scratch with a banana
The next project on my list was Mazon OS 1.4-3. The distribution, which is currently in Beta development, is based on Linux From Scratch (LFS) and sticks to the Keep It Simple philosophy of system design. The distribution reportedly has a minimal base system, runs SysV init, and uses a custom package manager called BananaPKG.
The distribution's documentation lays out a series of installation instructions which are similar in style to those used by Arch Linux.
The distribution ships a 1.7GB ISO file which boots to a text console. I was able to sign into the root account using the password "root". At this point I ran into a serious problem: the distribution incorrectly mapped my keyboard, meaning the keys I typed did not result in the same characters appearing on the screen. This made it difficult to run some commands, and prohibited the running of several of the commands in the installation guide.
The distribution's manual offers a suggestion for changing the keyboard mapping, but it only works in desktop sessions, and was not useful when working from a text terminal. At first I had thought I could use steps similar to those used by Arch or Debian to change keyboard layouts from the command line, but those standard methods did not work.
I had hoped to try Mazon OS, if for no other reason than I was curious to try the BananaPKG package manager. I like low-level tools that maintain a simple, UNIX-style approach, but this distribution will need to wait for another time.
* * * * *
KduxOS 0.1.2 Alpha - Arch with an installer
At this point in my week I was, as they say, oh-for-two, and cast about for another project to try. KduxOS caught my eye. The project is still in its very early stages (version 0.1.2 Alpha is the latest release at the time of writing). KduxOS is an Arch-based project available in two editions: Standard and Desktop. The Standard edition provides a minimal, console-only environment while the Desktop edition provides a lightweight graphical interface.
KduxOS is a lightweight Linux distro based on Arch Linux, it aims to provide a better out-of-the-box installation. It comes with terminal based utilities like neovim, tmux, and ranger. There are currently two editions - Desktop and Standard. The Desktop edition comes with a graphical session using Openbox, polybar and jgmenu. The standard edition is a text-based release that gives users the most basic experience with KduxOS.
There are several distributions which try to make it easier to install Arch Linux, but most of them run a full featured desktop environment, such as Xfce. I was curious to see what it would be like to run an Arch-based system that, after installing, would stick to a bare minimum of tools.
I downloaded both editions of Kdux which are built for 64-bit (x86_86) machines exclusively. The ISO files weigh in at 664MB (for the Standard edition) and 1.3GB (for the Desktop edition). I got started with the Desktop edition first.
KduxOS 0.1.2 -- Running the KduxOS Desktop edition in a virtual machine
(full image size: 49kB, resolution: 800x600 pixels)
The Desktop edition boots to a graphical interface and presents us with the Openbox window manager. There are just a few tools installed in the live environment, such as a terminal, Firefox, and text editor. We can access these tools by right-clicking on the desktop. The Openbox interface is pleasantly responsive and the included tools seemed to be working. I then went looking for the system installer, but was unable to find it. I explored the menu and checked the project's website, but did not find any clues for running the installer from the live session.
I switched over to the Standard version of Kdux, which boots to a text console where we can sign into the root account without a password. The Standard edition (like the Desktop edition) uses zsh as the default shell. The text console provides access to some basic GNU/Linux tools, and runs the systemd init software, but otherwise is quite bare and uncluttered.
Once again I ran into the problem of figuring out how to install the distribution. There was no "install" or "installer" file and I didn't find any documentation to explain how to get the operating system onto the disk. After a while I discovered that the message of the day file (/etc/motd) contains one line which tells us to run the command kdux-install-cli to launch the installer. Usually the message of the day is displayed when a user logs in, however the first thing Kdux does when we sign in is clear the text console, thus preventing this tip from being shown. (The Desktop edition does not have the kdux-install-cli program and the Desktop message of the day file is empty.)
Installing
The Kdux installer is a text-based program which begins by showing us the GNU Public License (GPLv3) and asking us to accept it. Then we are asked to provide the name of our "target disk". No hints are given here as to our options so I typed in /dev/sda which was accepted. We are then asked if we want to use UEFI support. At this point the Pacman package manager is used to download packages over the network and install them to our hard drive without any further questions being asked. We are not given a chance to partition the drive, select a filesystem, or confirm we want to proceed. The disk is wiped and assigned one ext4 partition for Kdux. A boot loader is also installed for us without first asking for confirmation. In other words, be careful with Kdux, it may wipe out existing operating systems when you try to install it.
The installer does ask us two more questions. We are asked to type our time zone's name (for instance "America/New York". We are also asked to type our preferred language and country code, for instance "en-US". We need to know these and type them, there is no list or default selection to choose. The total install time was, according to zsh, 12 minutes. When the installer is finished we can reboot to try out the local copy of Kdux.
Early impressions
Kdux boots to a console environment where we can once against sign in as the root user without a password. (Passwords can be set once we login.) The default installation is fairly minimal. The operating system uses just 2.5GB of space and consumes 35MB of memory. The GNU command line tools and manual pages are installed. The systemd init software and an up to date Linux kernel are installed. There is no compiler or development tools.
By default there is no network connection enabled. We can run the dhcpcd command to get a dynamic, wired address. Otherwise we need to manually set up networking. Once we get on-line, the Pacman package manager can be used to install and upgrade packages. Pacman connects to the Arch Linux repositories.
At this point, as far as I could tell, there is virtually no difference between running Arch Linux with the zsh shell and running Kdux. We have the same base packages, the same repositories, the same Arch documentation seems to be relevant. We are given the bare minimum building blocks for a distribution and left to build whatever operating system we want from the pieces.
Hardware support, out of the box is limited. Kdux was unable to detect my laptop's wireless card, preventing me from getting on-line. The distribution ran smoothly in a VirtualBox instance, but was unable to use more than a 800x600 resolution.
I'm not sure I see many benefits to using Kdux instead of plain Arch. The install process is less flexible and at least as cryptic, but once it is up and running, Kdux and Arch appear to be virtually identical. The one perk to using Kdux seems to be the Desktop edition which allows us to test our hardware prior to installing. However, this benefit is somewhat balanced by the apparent lack of installer on the Desktop edition, meaning I had to download the Desktop edition to test Kdux on my hardware and then use the Standard edition to install the distribution. I could have set up Arch in a similar amount of time with one download and without wiping out the contents of my hard drive.
* * * * *
Each of these projects is fairly young and they do not have many resources. Some, particularly Isotop, are working with some interesting ideas, and all of them seem to seek to add value to their parent distributions. However, at this stage they all have issues to work out in key areas before I would recommend trying to use them.
* * * * *
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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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Solus updates supported desktops, OpenMandriva compiles kernel with Clang, Linux Mint makes System Reports proactive
The Solus team has announced a series of updates and improvements to each of the distribution's supported desktop environments. In particular, Budgie received several enhancements, gaining improved menu handling, new font options, and the ability to work with multiple modern versions of the GNOME software stack. "Budgie 10.5.1 introduces a few new goodies to make your Budgie experience, as well as those of our Budgie theme authors, even better! Budgie 10.5.1 introduces hinting and anti-aliasing settings in our Fonts section of Budgie Desktop Settings, allowing you even more flexibility with how document, interface, monospace, and window title fonts render. For font hinting, you can choose between a range of options ranging from no font hinting to full font hinting. For anti-aliasing, you can choose between subpixel anti-aliasing, standard grayscale, and no anti-aliasing." Details on these improvements and updates to Solus's other desktops can be found in the project's blog post.
* * * * *
Most Linux distributions use the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) to translate source code into binary programs that our computers can run. However, one distribution has been using the Clang compiler to build packages. Clang is generally well known in the BSD communities for having a more liberal license and clearer diagnostic messages, but it has not been widely adopting in the Linux community. In fact, until recently, Clang was unable to build the Linux kernel because Linux uses many GCC-specific features. This is changing as OpenMandriva can now build the Linux kernel using the latest version of Clang. Since GCC and Clang produce slightly different code and warnings, testing both on the same software package can reveal bugs or potential logic problems which would otherwise go unnoticed when just one compiler is used. Getting the kernel, and other packages, compiled with Clang is likely to result in more robust software for all Linux users.
* * * * *
The Linux Mint team is improving their distribution's System Reports tool. The System Reports utility is a desktop application for browsing system information. Originally, it was used to browse through basic information and crash reports, but now System Reports is taking on a more proactive role: "Going forward it will run in the background and let you know when issues require your attention. This allows us to communicate with you and to help you in a way we couldn't before. Unlike the documentation and the release notes which are generic and targeted at all users, this tool allows us to show information and solutions which are relevant to you specifically, and if we know how to fix them, to provide you with a button you can click to solve things easily. So far the tool checks: If a new version of Linux Mint is available. If your version of Linux Mint is getting close to EOL. If your Timeshift configuration is set up (the Update Manager won't care about this anymore). If there are drivers available. If you are missing language packs. If you are missing multimedia codecs." Further information on System Reports and the upcoming MintBox 3 hardware can be found in the project's monthly newsletter.
* * * * *
The Arch Linux team has published a notice about a change to the distribution which requires manual intervention. The announcement reads: "The base group has been replaced by a meta-package of the same name, we advise users to install this package (pacman -Syu base), as it is effectively mandatory from now on. Users requesting support are expected to be running a system with the base package. Addendum:
Be aware that base as it stands does not currently contain: a kernel; an editor; filesystem tools (e.g. e2fsprogs); and other software that you might expect. You will have to install these separately on new installations."
* * * * *
These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Tips and Tricks (by Matt Zand) |
How to find files by multiple criteria in Linux
Back in August we explored several ways to locate files on a Linux system. This week we are taking a more detailed approach to locating files on the system using the find command.
Imagine your new project or task at work is to find files that meet multiple criteria, then you wonder how you can achieve it. In this tutorial, I walk you through some hands-on examples to give you a better idea on how to run find commands in Linux for search for files.
As a reminder, beginner knowledge of Linux OS is required to proceed. If you are not familiar with Linux filesystem, here is a good article to learn it in depth.
You can combine many of find's options to find files that match multiple criteria. Here are two examples that show you how to combine multiple criteria.
Example 1: To list files in your home directory whose names begin with the string 'boy', and that are newer than the file '/etc/motd', type:
find ~ -name 'boy*' -newer /etc/motd
This command will search all directories on the system to which you have access; without execute permission for a directory, find will report that permission is denied to search the directory. Also, the '-name' option is case sensitive; use the similar '-iname' option to locate a file by name regardless of case.
Example 2: To compress all the files in your home directory that are 3 megabytes or larger, and that are not already compressed with gzip (having a '.gz' file name extension), type:
find ~ -size +3000000c -regex '.*[^gz]' -exec gzip '{}' ';'
Example 3: To list all files on the system whose names begin with the characters 'boy', type:
find / -name 'boy*'
Example 4: To list all files whose names begin with the four characters 'alex' followed by exactly two more characters, type:
find / -name 'alex??'
Example 5: To list all files whose names begin with the two characters 'up' followed by four or more characters, type:
find / -name 'up????*'
Example 6: To list all files in your home directory that end in '.png', regardless of case sensitivity, type:
find ~ -iname '*.png'
Example 7: To list the files in the '/usr/var' directory that were modified exactly 24 hours ago, type:
find /usr/var -mtime 1
Example 8: To list the files in the '/usr' directory tree that were modified exactly 10 minutes ago, type:
find /usr -mmin 10
Example 9: To find all files in the '~/html/' directory with an '.html' extension, and output lines from these files that contain the string 'book', type:
find ~/html/ -name '*.html' -exec grep book '{}' ';'
In this example, the command "grep book" is executed for each file that find finds, with file being the name of each file in turn.
Example 10: To find files in the '/etc' directory that are newer than the file '/etc/motd', type:
find /etc -newer /etc/motd
Additional information on the find command can be found in its manual page and in the simplified manual page.
* * * * *
About the author
This tutorial is written by Matt Zand who is the founder of High School Technology Services, DC Web Makers and Coding Bootcamps. He has written extensively on advance topics on web design, mobile App development and blockchain. He is a senior editor at Touchstone Words where he writes and reviews coding and technology articles. He is also senior instructor and developer living in Washington DC. You can follow him on Linkedin.
* * * * *
Additional tips can be found in our Tips and Tricks archive.
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| Released Last Week |
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: 1,640
- Total data uploaded: 28.4TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
Which Ubuntu flavour should we review?
In a few weeks Canonical will launch Ubuntu 19.10 and it will be accompanied by about half a dozen community editions, featuring various alternative desktops and utilities. Which of the many Ubuntu flavours would you like to see us review when 19.10 becomes available?
You can see the results of our previous poll on reasons for using portable packages in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Which Ubuntu flavour should we review?
| Ubuntu: | 399 (17%) |
| Kubuntu: | 436 (18%) |
| Lubuntu: | 223 (9%) |
| Ubuntu Budgie: | 152 (6%) |
| Ubuntu Kylin: | 33 (1%) |
| Ubuntu MATE: | 411 (17%) |
| Ubuntu Studio: | 179 (8%) |
| Xubuntu: | 548 (23%) |
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| Website News (by Jesse Smith) |
Distributions added to waiting list
- OpenStage Linux. OpenStage Linux is an Arch-based, rolling release distribution. The project features the KDE Plasma desktop and is available in two editions: systemd and OpenRC. The OpenRC build is based on Artix.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 14 October 2019. 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 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
Neptune
Neptune is a GNU/Linux distribution for desktops. It is based on Debian's Stable branch, except for a newer kernel, some drivers and newer versions of popular applications, such as LibreOffice. It also ships with the latest version of the KDE desktop. The distribution's main goals are to provide a good-looking general-purpose desktop with pre-configured multimedia playback and to offer an easy-to-use USB installer with a persistence option.
Status: Active
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| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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0x969CD4E778C7b6549A2B00e34114e0168c86A542 
