 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 877, 3 August 2020 |
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Welcome to this year's 31st issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Though Linux distributions tend to get the majority of the spotlight in the open-source community, there are many other open-source operating systems available. Haiku is one such small, open source project which continues on the legacy and look of BeOS while providing modern applications and hardware drivers. This week we begin with a look at Haiku and how the latest development release of the operating system functions. Have you tried Haiku? Let us know what you think of the latest beta release in the comments. In our News section we talk about DragonFly BSD getting improved support for the ext2 family of filesystems, thanks to an imported driver from FreeBSD, and we also mention the dramatic regression in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS systems that rendered many installations unbootable. Then we revisit the available Linux platforms for mobile phones in our Questions and Answers column. Do you own a phone that runs a GNU/Linux distribution? Let us know which one in our Opinion Poll. We also discuss how to identify the distribution and version of a Linux system you are logged into. Finally, we present two new projects for our distro-hopping clientele - the Arch-based RebornOS and a Debian-based Caprice Linux. We wish you all a terrific week and happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Haiku R1 beta 2
Haiku is an open-source operating system that specifically targets personal computing. Inspired by the Be Operating System (BeOS), Haiku aims to be fast, efficient, simple to use, and easy to learn. It is specifically geared toward desktop usage and maintaining a responsive desktop environment.
The Haiku project has been, to date, in perpetual development mode. Which is to say the releases to date have been labelled as being alpha or beta releases. I mention this because while the version label is R1 beta 2, the platform should probably be regarded a relatively mature project with the benefit of nearly 20 years of development behind it.
The R1 beta 2 release includes a number of new features such as improved font scaling and HiDPI support, along with the ability to work with mouse devices that offer more than three buttons. More applications have been ported and are now available through the project's software manager. The installer has mostly remained the same, however users can now exclude the installation of optional packages while setting up Haiku. New driver support has been added and there are some new options for keeping the Deskbar (a sort of combined desktop panel and system tray) out of the way.
The project's latest release is available in 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x86_64) builds. There are also builds for ARM, PowerPC, m68k, and SPARC architectures, however these builds are considered to be unsupported. I downloaded the 64-bit build which is available as a 955MB ZIP file. Unpacking the ZIP file presents us with a 1,108MB (1GB) ISO file we can write to optical media or a thumb drive.
Early impressions
Booting from the live media brings up a graphical interface with a welcome screen. The welcome screen invites us to select our preferred language and keyboard layout (the defaults are English with a US keyboard mapping). We can then click buttons that start the live desktop environment or launch the system installer. If we choose the live desktop option we can launch the installer later from an icon on the desktop.
The live environment presents us with a mostly empty desktop. The background is a neutral blue and there is a panel or dock in the upper-right corner. Along the top of the screen are icons for opening documentation, a quick-start guide, the system installer, and the file manager. As there are multiple documentation options I think it is worth talking about them a little more.
One of the documentation options on the desktop is the manual, called the Be Book. This seems to be an updated manual from what I assume BeOS shipped with in the past. There is a quick tour option which gives users a summary of desktop features and options. I like the quick tour guide as it includes screenshots and an overview of how the user interface works. There is a user's guide too which seems to focus more on lower level system functions such the filesystem layout and operating system settings. The documentation strikes me as being well organized and I appreciate the work that has been done to explain what Haiku is and how it works.
In the upper-right corner of the desktop is a small system tray and an icon decorated with a blue feather, the latter opens the applications and settings menu. Right below the menu is a list of open applications and we can click an application's entry to give its window focus. The menu includes demo programs, system utilities, settings modules, mount options, and shutdown options.
Haiku R1 beta 2 - reading the documentation and running a demo program
(full image size: 81kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Installing
Haiku's system installer is a graphical application which begins by telling us to set up a BeOS partition. From this initial screen we can click a button to launch a partition manager called DriveSetup.
DriveSetup is a fairly straight forward desktop partition manager. Its layout reminds me of GParted, though the menu options are a little different. Once a partition has been created of the BeOS type we can exit DriveSetup and return to the installer. At first the installer did not seem to recognize the new partition, even after I had closed and restarted the installer. With a little experimenting I discovered the installer needed us to not only created a partition of the BeOS type, but also format it with the BeOS filesystem. Then the installer would recognize the partition and agree to copy its files to this prepared location.
The only other thing the installer gives us to do is, optionally, we can choose to not install some non-critical components. The optional items are listed with their name and size only, without a description. This means we can choose to not install curl, bison, gcc, and other packages, but we need to know what they are based solely on their names. Most of the optional components appear to be development utilities. I chose to install everything.
When the installer begins copying its files the entire process, which placed 2.5GB of files on my drive, took approximately five seconds. (Not, as one might expect, five minutes. Just five seconds.) The installer reported it was then finished with no further configuration steps required. This means, in theory, an install (including boot time from the live media, partitioning, copying files, and rebooting) can be completed in well under five minutes.
Hardware
I tested Haiku in VirtualBox first and found the operating system to be highly responsive. Boot times were under five seconds and the desktop was always quick to react to input. My mouse pointer did not integrate with Haiku when I was running Haiku in a virtual machine on my laptop, but it did when I switched over to a desktop machine running the same host platform and the same version of VirtualBox. In either virtual instance, Haiku's desktop would not dynamically resize with the VirtualBox window, however I found a settings tool which would allow me to resize the desktop in the feather menu.
While in the virtual environment the mouse pointer was very touchy and would zip across the screen with the slightest provocation. This sensitivity could also be toned down in using a graphical configuration tool.
When I switched over to running Haiku on my physical laptop, the operating system performed beautifully. It was quick to boot, it shutdown almost instantly, and the interface was wonderfully responsive. All of my hardware worked flawlessly, including my wireless network card.
A fresh install of Haiku with all of its optional components took up 2.5GB of disk space. Not much memory was required, typically around 230MB of RAM while sitting idly at the desktop, according to the ActivityMonitor tool.
Included applications
Looking through the list of available applications I find it interesting that there are a lot of familiar functions being provided, however the names and styles of the applications are different from what we see in the Linux and BSD families. There is a system monitor (called the ActivityMonitor), a PDF viewer, and DriveSetup to partition disks. Many programs have simple, descriptive names such as Media Player, Mail, and Terminal. The contact manager is called People. There is a web browser called, optimistically, WebPositive. One of the few oddly named applications was the IRC client which is called Vision. There are also some common small utilities such as a text editor and archive extractor.
Haiku R1 beta 2 - running the WebPositive web browser
(full image size: 133kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
For people who are new to Haiku there is a great list of default programs presented in the project's documentation which describes the available applications. People coming from a Linux or BSD background will be happy to learn Haiku ships with UNIX command line utilities such as ls, ps, and grep. These programs are bundled with manual pages.
Something which stands out about Haiku is its focus on desktop computing, that is to say graphical utilities. While there is a terminal interface and there are powerful command line tools, virtually every task can be performed through the desktop. This focus on graphics and visual touches shows up in Haiku's configuration tools. The time zone tool shows the flags of countries next to each region's entry in the list of locations. The input configuration utility shows a picture of a mouse. The tool for setting the time shows both digital and analog clocks to display the system's current time.
Haiku R1 beta 2 - adjusting settings in two configuration tools
(full image size: 71kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Haiku also shows off its focus on graphics in a sub-section of the feather menu which features demo programs. These demos test the screen's frame rate, show off simple animations, and show fractal images we can zoom in on. These tools don't do much, in a practical sense, but they are fun to play around with.
Software management
Managing software packages is handled by a tool called HaikuDepot. While most software managers take either a low-level package view of the system (the way Synaptic does) or a high-level view of desktop applications (as we see in GNOME Software), HaikuDepot tries to do a bit of both. The software manager has two tabs, the first shows a list of popular applications with their icon and a brief description. Entries in the list also have a rating out of five stars. We can click an item in this curated list and a longer description with a screenshot will appear in a pane at the bottom of the HaikuDepot window. Installing new packages can be achieved by clicking an Install button, followed by a confirmation prompt showing any dependencies the software needs. We can only install one new package at a time, but we can continue to browse available software while downloads are happening in the background.
Haiku R1 beta 2 - the HaikuDepot software manager
(full image size: 123kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The Depot's second tab lists all available, low-level packages in one long list. This approach is more in like with Synaptic or Pamac in the Linux community. Once again we can select and quickly install desired items.
HaikuDepot, while it straddles two approaches, manages to maintain a fairly simple user interface and does not overwhelm the user with a lot of options. It also works fairly quickly and in my experience, without fuss or problems. The one time I ran into a problem with HaikuDepot, I found out I had filled my operating system partition with new software packages and it caused HaikuDepot to give cryptic errors and bail out from installing new applications. Cleaning out my package cache directory to free up space corrected the problem.
A second utility, called SoftwareUpdater, handles updating installed packages. Here Haiku again takes a simple approach, displaying a list of new packages and giving us the chance to install them. Packages are listed with a brief description. Installing new updates is an all or nothing experience; as far as I can tell there is no way to only install some available updates.
Conclusions
Haiku is an interesting creation for several reasons. First of all, it does not generally feel like a modern operating system. The look of the desktop, the icons, the layout, the lack of user accounts - all of this feels very much a product of the 1990s. Which makes sense, Haiku is following in the footsteps of the BeOS legacy. In some ways the project has defied modernization, for better or for worse.
However, in disregarding many modern tools, Haiku has also stayed relatively small, fast, and efficient. It focuses on one market (the desktop) and strives to be responsive and consistent in its design which it accomplishes beautifully. It installs, boots, shuts down, and responds faster than about 95% of the Linux distributions I have used. The focus on providing graphical utilities and keeping a trim collection of utilities means Haiku is approximately on par in terms of user friendliness with such mainstream Linux distributions as Linux Mint or Pop!_OS, while being a fraction of their size.
However, there are some downsides to not modernizing. The application menu does not offer much in the way of organization or searching for programs, which means if we install a dozen new programs the feather menu soon becomes large and unwieldy. The lack of user accounts means Haiku is really only suitable for single-user systems and ones where the user does not wish to use passwords or encryption at that. This puts Haiku into a small, special niche. An important niche to be sure, but a relatively small one.
There are two more things I'd like to acknowledge. The first is that while Haiku does not have a huge collection of open source software in its Depot, it does have a lot and probably enough for many people to get by. There are web browsers, games, development tools, some rich text editing functions, e-mail clients, and so on. Perhaps not the same mainstream fare we are used to in the Linux ecosystem, but plenty of functionality is available to cover the basics.
My second point is that the big issue I run into when reviewing non-Linux operating systems, particularly the BSDs and MINIX, is the lack of hardware support. Even Linux distributions that ship without non-free firmware tend to cause me problems. Haiku is rare in that it worked with all of my laptop's hardware. This meant I could fire up the laptop and be on-line in under 30 seconds from the power button being pressed to the time I was checking my preferred news sites. Not many operating systems can balance that kind of efficiency with this level of hardware support and my hat is off to the Haiku team.
I will be honest in that, in the past, I did not feel I got much out of Haiku and its previous alpha releases. They were interesting from a design standpoint, certainly, but not practical operating systems I could use to get things done on real hardware. That has changed. Haiku can be used almost exclusively to accomplish my work on a day-to-day basis on my laptop now and I am impressed with what this light, responsive, desktop-oriented project has accomplished in recent years.
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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
Haiku has a visitor supplied average rating of: 7.3/10 from 23 review(s).
Have you used Haiku? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith and Ladislav Bodnar) |
DragonFly BSD gets updated ext2 driver, GRUB security update renders Red Hat and CentOS systems unbootable
 The DragonFly BSD team has announced new driver, imported from FreeBSD will be used in the future to work with the ext2 Linux filesystem. The new driver will also support reading ext4: "The new ext2 will replace the existing sys/gnu/vfs/ext2fs in future, which is known to have lots of issues. This is already better than sys/gnu/vfs/ext2fs in many ways, but will keep it as an option for now as there seems to be htree dirents and/or vop_readdir related bugs. The new implementation supports ext3 htree dirents. Read support for ext4 extents which exists in FreeBSD ext2 isn't implemented yet (to-do). ACL/xattr are unsupported, and likely never will be. With exception of DragonFly VFS specific part that can't reuse FreeBSD code (vfsops, many vnops, bread/getblk/bio i/f difference), the new ext2 is designed to be close to upstream as much as possible."
 A remote computer rendered unbootable, a nightmare scenario for any system administrator, turned into a reality last week when a GRUB security update issued by Red Hat made some Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS systems fail to load the GRUB boot menu: "Applying the RHSA-2020:3216 grub2 security update and the RHSA-2020:3218 kernel security and bug fix update on a fresh 'minimal' installation of RHEL 8.2 renders the system unbootable. Actual results:
system hangs after POST and the GRUB menu never loads. Expected results: system should display kernel version selection menu and then boot to RHEL." One reported workaround was to boot a live Linux image, chroot into the installed system and downgrade the shim-x64 and grub2 packages. Red Hat was eventually able to resolve the problem on Saturday by updating shim packages: "Red Hat has fixed the bug in the shim packages. Updated shim packages are now available and can be used in conjunction with previously released grub2, fwupd and fwupdate packages."
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Evaluating available Linux mobile phones and checking system identification
Waiting for a call asks: When do you think we'll have a fully usable Linux phone?
DistroWatch answers: I suppose the answer to this question depends on how we define two criteria. What do you consider to be a Linux phone, and what do you need to have it do in order to be fully usable? I've been able to run pure open source, GNU/Linux on my mobile phone since 2016 and have enjoyed the experience. However, each person has different requirements.
If we look exclusively at open source, GNU/Linux operating systems for mobile devices then there are some attractive options available. The UBports platform has been around for several years now. It can make calls, send and receive text messages, take pictures, browse the web, connect to most social media networks, and so on. I ran UBports for three years and generally had positive experiences with it. The platform's one weak point, in my opinion, is that it doesn't run many applications available on iOS and Android devices. In other words, if you need any web browser then UBports has your needs covered. However, if you specifically want Firefox, then UBports is not the right operating system for you.
The Librem 5 phone is designed to be an open platform and works with a few different Linux-based distributions, including PureOS. I have not personally used this platform, however it appears to have similar capabilities (and limitations) when compared next to UBports.
When we move away from GNU/Linux distributions and cast a wider net to include free and open Linux-based operating systems, then there is some promising work being done, especially in the LineageOS and /e/ OS camps. These platforms are basically Android, which uses the Linux kernel, but with non-free and Google components removed. This gives the user more control over the experience and /e/ provides cloud and sync services that run on open source software.
The benefit to using products like /e/ is we can access virtually all the software one can run on Android, but with a greater focus on privacy in the base system.
Finally, I'd like to point out Android, while parts of it tend to be closed by the companies that ship it with their phones, does run on the Linux kernel, making Android the world's most common, Linux-powered mobile platform.
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Checking identification asks: Is there a way to tell what distro I'm running if I'm logged in to someone else's machine?
DistroWatch answers: There are a few ways to tell which Linux distribution you have logged into that work across most platforms. Even if you don't spot the distribution's logo or custom wallpaper on the desktop, there are ways we can check a system's identity. Linux is a diverse enough family that these tricks will not work on every single distribution, but they will give you a good idea of which distribution, or at least which family of distribution, you are running.
One easy approach is to run the lsb_release command. On most distributions this will give you the name of the distribution (or its parent) and its version number. Here is an example, being run from MX Linux:
$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
| Distributor ID: | Debian |
| Description: | Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) |
| Release: | 10 |
| Codename: | buster |
As you can see, lsb_release incorrectly identifies the system as being Debian 10, however since MX Linux is binary compatible with Debian it does correctly give us the proper family and version of the distribution for most practical purposes.
Another quick trick we can try is to check the menu entries for the GRUB boot menu, which usually lists the names of the distributions we can launch. We can check the boot menu on most distributions by running:
$ grep -i "menuentry" /boot/grub/grub.cfg
menuentry 'MX 19.1 patito feo'
menuentry "Memory Test (64-bit UEFI)"
The above command and output show us that the system is most likely MX Linux and there is a secondary boot option to perform a memory test.
Some families of distributions will place their name in the file /etc/issue. This file typically contains the name, and possibly version number, of the distribution you are running:
$ cat /etc/issue
Welcome to MX Linux! Powered by Debian
Most distributions also have a "release" or "version" file in the /etc directory. These files usually have the name of the distribution, followed by the word "release" or "version" in the name. For instance /etc/os_release or /etc/debian_version. You can check for this by running:
$ ls /etc/*release /etc/*version
If the above command turns up any matches you can open the file and read its text to get an idea of which distribution, and maybe which version, you are running.
Finally, you might want to try running the uname command. This command is usually used to provide kernel versioning information, but some distributions tag their kernel with the distribution's name, or the name of their parent distribution. For example, this command lets me know I am using a kernel built for the Debian family:
$ uname -a
Linux gwen 4.19.0-6-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.67-2+deb10u2 (2019-11-11) x86_64 GNU/Linux
These are a few quick and easy ways to check a Linux distribution's identity. Feel free to share your favourite approach to figuring out which distro you are running in the comments.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
OPNsense 20.1
Jos Schellevis has announced the release of OPNsense 20.1, the latest stable version of the project's open-source, easy-to-use, HardenedBSD-based firewall and routing platform. This version is based on HardenedBSD 12.1 and it ads several interesting enhancements to its web-based user interface: "For five and a half years, OPNsense has been driving innovation through modularising and hardening the open source firewall, with simple and reliable firmware upgrades, multi-language support, HardenedBSD security, fast adoption of upstream software updates as well as clear and stable 2-Clause BSD licensing. 20.7, nicknamed 'Legendary Lion', is a major operating system jump forward on a sustainable firewall experience. This release adds DHCPv6 multi-WAN, custom error pages for the web proxy, Suricata 5, HardenedBSD 12.1, netstat tree view, basic firewall API support (via plugin) and extended live log filtering, amongst other new features. Here are the full patch notes against version 20.7-RC1: system - syslog-ng RFC5424 on FreeBSD 12 needs flags (syslog-protocol); installer - welcome users as genuine 20.7 installer...." Read the full release announcement for a changelog and known issues.
GeckoLinux 999.200729.0
The GeckoLinux "Rolling" edition, which is a desktop-oriented distribution based on openSUSE's "Tumbleweed" branch, has been updated to version 999.200729.0. It brings a new set of installable live images with a choice of Cinnamon, Xfce, GNOME, KDE Plasma, MATE, LXQt and IceWM desktop environments. From the release announcement: "GeckoLinux is pleased to announce the 999.200729 update to its 'Rolling' editions, thus completing the current refresh cycle of the entire GeckoLinux line-up. GeckoLinux 'Rolling' spins are generated directly from unmodified openSUSE Tumbleweed and Packman repositories, and the installed system can be updated directly from those official sources. This design decision has allowed GeckoLinux 'Rolling' users to install and update their systems in a constant rolling fashion over the past two years from the cutting-edge and highly-stable openSUSE Tumbleweed distribution."
ALT Linux 9.1
Michael Shigorin has announced the release of ALT Linux 9.1, an updated version of the project's independently developed distribution for workstations, servers and educational institutions: "BaseALT Ltd announces the availability of an update to its family of Linux distributions, ALT 9.1. The stable Platform 9 repository supports 8 architectures (ppc64le, aarch64, armh, mipsel, e2k, e2kv4 in addition to i586 and x86_64) and the releases published cover all of them as appropriate; riscv64 support stays in Sisyphus development repository until production hardware is on the market. ALT Workstation is now available for armh (armv7hf) too, with Elvees Mcom02 CPU/board being the first supported one; both Workstation and Education are available for aarch64 CPUs, namely Baikal-M, Huawei Kungpeng Desktop and Raspberry Pi 3/4. A new gpupdate utility and tooling was introduced to make use of Active Directory group policies. ALT Server for x86_64 got Jitsi Meet videoconferencing. Most of the architectures were moved to the Linux 5.4 kernel." Here is the full release announcement (in Russian).
BunsenLabs Linux Lithium
The BunsenLabs development team has announced the release of BunsenLabs Linux Lithium, a major new version from the project that offers a lightweight and customisable Linux distribution based on Debian's "stable" branch and featuring the Openbox window manager: "BunsenLabs Linux is pleased to announce Lithium, the latest release of our Debian stable (currently 'Buster') derivative. Core components include the Openbox window manager, tint2, a highly configurable panel, and jgmenu - a menu replacement for the Openbox menu, featuring menu auto-updating when new applications are installed and type-to-search for finding apps in the menu. Some major features of BunsenLabs Lithium: new dark default theme, featuring custom-colored Papirus icons; more modularity and flexibility, eg. the BunsenLabs session can coexist with a default Openbox or Xfce session; Openbox can be replaced with another window manager and keep BunsenLab's auto-started apps, menu and key bindings...." See the release announcement and release notes for further information.
The long-awaited BunsenLabs Lithium introduces "jgmenu" for Openbox
(full image size: 2,554kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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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) |
Do you own a Linux-powered phone?
In our Questions and Answers column we talked about mobile phone options that run the Linux kernel. There are several options available these days, including devices running UBports, Purism's Librem, /e/ OS, and Android phones. We would like to hear what Linux-based mobile operating system you use, if any.
You can see the results of our previous poll on open source alternatives to Linux distributions in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Do you own a Linux-powered phone?
| I run /e/ OS or LineageOS: | 123 (7%) |
| I run PureOS/Librem: | 9 (0%) |
| I run UBports: | 250 (14%) |
| I run an Android phone: | 962 (53%) |
| I run another Linux-base mobile OS: | 73 (4%) |
| I do not run a Linux-based mobile OS: | 391 (22%) |
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| Website News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
New distributions added to database
RebornOS
RebornOS is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. Although the RebornOS live image provides a GNOME desktop only, the installation process offers a choice to install one of the many popular desktop environments and window managers. Other interesting features of the distribution include support for Flatpak packages, optional installation of Anbox for running Android applications, a capability to rollback the system to a previous date, and graphical system configuration and maintenance tools.
RebornOS 2020.07.30 features a customised GNOME desktop
(full image size: 2,554kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
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New distributions added to waiting list
Caprice Linux. Caprice Linux is a lightweight, minimalist desktop Linux distribution based on Debian's "stable" branch and featuring a customised Xfce desktop.
Caprice Linux 1.0 with a customised Xfce desktop and Whisker menu
(full image size: 2,255kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 10 August 2020. 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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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Linux Phone (by Sam Crawford on 2020-08-03 03:52:15 GMT from United States)
The survey asked if I run a linux phone. While I own one, running UBports, I use an iPhone as my daily driver.
I purchased an old phone from Ebay and installed UNports just to see if it worked. It's not ready for prime time by a long shot.
2 • TempleOS (by Dr. Darius Esktorp on 2020-08-03 03:53:42 GMT from United States)
Our research team uses TempleOS to research Bioluminescence.
None of us have Linux-powered smartphones, but we are working to port TempleOS to 20 year old Nokias.
3 • PinePhone (by Trevor McKnight on 2020-08-03 04:20:39 GMT from United States)
I am amazed that you didn't mention the PinePhone by Pine64 when talking about Linux phones. They've managed to ship thousands of handsets. I use mine as a daily driver with the Mobian operating system. It's much cheaper and generally-speaking more ready for mainstream use than the Librem 5. I recommend you look into it.
4 • The Pinephone. (by R. Cain on 2020-08-03 05:51:31 GMT from United States)
I am very much interested in pure, unvarnished objective facts on this subject, and *NOT* personal opinion, which is what the subject--unfortunately--turns into on most open forums.
Rather than have this turn into a free-for-all (which it could very easily become, and sometimes does in other venues), why don't we let the powers-that-be at DistroWatch--who are much more privvy to 'insider' information than almost all of us--comment on the lack of mention of the PinePhone in this issue of DistroWatch.
5 • Sailfish (by Michael Shigorin on 2020-08-03 05:56:09 GMT from Russia)
I know that Sailfish OS isn't free software (a set of critical components are still proprietary) but that's what at least works for me; an older Jolla 1 handset, a newer INOI R7 one and INOI T8 tablet. And I know some guys who make it (or made it back in Maemo days).
The primary one is still S40-based Nokia with SFOS providing me with a (Firefox-based) browser, 4G/wifi router, GPS/maps and the "out-of-band" channel (different cellular operator). It's usable enough for me and new releases tend to bring in improvements (running 3.2, don't even remember what came with Jolla 1 originally, some 1.x IIRC).
6 • Haiku & Version (by Sondar on 2020-08-03 06:48:38 GMT from United Kingdom)
Been keeping a watching brief on Haiku since it's rebirth was announced. Always impressed by speed and clarity, albeit severe limitations in early alphas (like instructions!). Intend to swap to it entirely if/when the crooks & clowns intercept or otherwise hobble present distros (MX & Mint). [Notwithstanding, developers of Mint seem to have pressed self-destruct button on v.20 with so many things not working, drivers missing, limited hardware swapabilty - long list.]
What version? Hardinfo: top line.
7 • Haiku (by Man D. Tory on 2020-08-03 07:04:54 GMT from United States)
I'm glad that the new Haiku release got a thorough review here. Of all the non-Linux systems, this is the one that interests me the most. Perhaps I'll have to give it a real go when systemd-linuxd launches in 2025 and everyone will be forced to use snap packages for all applications "for your own safety."
@2
I have to thank you for your very important research. I remember when the findings came out about the correlation between individuals in intelligence agencies and bioluminescence. Fascinating stuff. Keep up the good work.
8 • Caprice Linux (by Joseph on 2020-08-03 08:10:25 GMT from Iran)
Although the project seems YALD (Yet Another Linux Distribution), but they had some cool ideas. In their website, they talked a lot about their BSD influences. I don't know why DistroWatch limited explanation to one line and told people this is only a Debian stable with XFCE?
9 • This weeks opinion poll, linux powered phone (by ChrisRG on 2020-08-03 08:21:47 GMT from United Kingdom)
Currently running ubuntu touch OS on pine64 pinephone. Not as daily driver.
and eOS on two other phones, both as daily drivers
10 • Opinion Poll (by penguinx886 on 2020-08-03 10:58:16 GMT from United States)
I love these Opinion Polls. Keep them coming! I have a Firefox OS phone that I bought on eBay a few years ago. It's sad that Firefox OS never had a chance. The OS itself is pretty good, but the app store was lacking most mainstream apps. Of course the app store is gone now and there are no more Firefox OS updates. The phone hardware is very outdated with a 1ghz processor, 256mb of RAM and only 4gb of storage. The 3.5 inch screen is tiny by today's standards and the camera is horrible. It's amazing Firefox OS can run so well on such low spec hardware. I think it will be difficult for any alternative OS phone to compete with the Android and Google Play. Amazon Fire tablets are a good alternative to Android tablets, but Amazon gave up on the Fire Phone long ago. Ubuntu Touch phones are history too. When I go shopping for a new smartphone, most stores only carry Android phones and possibly a few iPhones. When I ask about alternative OS smartphones at a phone shop, they buy behind the counter usually has no idea what I'm talking about.
11 • Haiku - great for old netbooks (by Uncle Slacky on 2020-08-03 11:08:50 GMT from France)
Haiku runs really well (and fast) on my Asus eeePC 701 4G, although the screen resolution is less than the "offically supported" quoted minimum. Even the wifi works!
12 • Haiku (by MikeOh Shark on 2020-08-03 11:58:08 GMT from France)
I tried the original BeOS back in the 90's and was impressed that it supported my external Microcomm 28.8 modem out of the box. The lack of a then intuitive interface and poor documentation caused me to look into Linux. Even the QNX boot floppy seemed superior.
Now I consider Luks, iptables, firejail, and Conky as essential. It seems that everyday I find more about Linux to love. It's likely that with the competition for attention and ideas and rapid improvements, Linux will always have a big lead.
13 • Linux phones (by ego on 2020-08-03 12:44:21 GMT from Netherlands)
I have two phones that meet your description.
Ubports on a Nexus 5, which I use to play around with. I like it quite a lot as a phone with limited distractions. It has almost everything I need as I'm not big on apps and has a way to run android apps (via Anbox) and desktop apps (though highly limited because of the CPU architecture). The structure is there for something great if it were more powerful (Anbox is slow) and a different architecture (so more native apps). Skeptical about security though.
The other is along the Lineage or /e/ lines, Graphene OS, effectively degoogled stock android massively hardened. If you have a Pixel 2-4 series, it is amazing. Top of the line security and privacy, all android apps available, incredible battery life because you have no google services running in the background. And ability relock the bootloader so banking apps etc work. Unbelievably good.
14 • @Jesse Haiku Review: (by dragonmouth on 2020-08-03 12:51:15 GMT from United States)
How does Haiku handle system security? Anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall, etc.
15 • Haiku (by Otis on 2020-08-03 13:42:09 GMT from United States)
I'm glad it's there, but I won't use it. I don't listen to Oingo Boingo anymore either, but I'm glad they were there.
16 • Phones (by Dave Postles on 2020-08-03 14:03:04 GMT from United Kingdom)
I bought a ZTE FirefoxOS phone when they were first available. Unfortunately, the internal parts are disintegrating. It will no longer support a SIM card or a micro-usb. Basically, the ZTE build was poor. I basically use it now to listen to the radio or play chess.
My other phone is a WileyFox Cyanogen. I do not access Google for apps as I regard Alphabet as a cheat (Double Irish tax avoidance). Instead, I use F-Droid.
17 • Linux phone (by Mark E on 2020-08-03 14:04:22 GMT from United Kingdom)
Got a UBports Nexus 5 and a Nexus 9 tablet with Lineage - both great and make good use of older hardware that would otherwise be unsupported by their makers.
On Lineage you can install the Google apps too, if you want.
Not bothered about those on the Ubuntu phone, though, as it does everything I need.
18 • linux phones (by dogma on 2020-08-03 14:08:09 GMT from United States)
Omitting mention of PinePhone — and postmarketOS, IMO — seems quite odd.
19 • toughest security ever (by Ram on 2020-08-03 16:02:00 GMT from India)
+
"GRUB security update renders Red Hat and CentOS systems unbootable"
What is more tough security than this !!
if you can not boot, you can not write or steal data from the system, also can not damage other systems from that system ;)
Red Hat (IBM) -- the most security focused company in this world,
anyway, GNOME3 is good enough to prevent anybody to use the system unless he/she is being payed good enough ...
+
20 • Huawei Android Phone (by Roy on 2020-08-03 16:08:06 GMT from United States)
Huawei protects me from Google and Google protects me from Huawei. I find that hilarious since remembering when first using Microsoft and it telling me that it uses cookies but collecting no data from me. I like how Android handles apps. After getting the Chromebook and running Beta Linux and it telling me I could use my Linux apps it made me wonder what Linux apps were.
21 • Pinephone (by Tim on 2020-08-03 16:28:06 GMT from United States)
I've been using the Pinephone since the UBPorts CE phones shipped in June. It's not my daily driver, but I do use it as a mini tablet. The furthest along system for phone use appears to be the Mobian blend of Debian. I'm mostly interested in it as a convergence device, and the Fedora offering is nice for this: you can choose librem's phosh or GNOME on login so it can be phone or tablet. I don't like GNOME on the desktop but it is nice on a touchscreen.
22 • PinePhone? (by James on 2020-08-03 17:48:39 GMT from United States)
You can't seriously just NOT mention the PinePhone in a Q&A about Linux on phones. AFAIK they've sold and shipped more handsets than Purism. Their first "Braveheart" batch came without an OS, but their recent Community Editions (CEs) featured UBPorts and postmarketOS.
On that note, how can you NOT mention pmOS? It's the premier Linux distro for previously-Android phones besides UBPorts.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to start listing mobile-focused OSes on Distrowatch? UBPorts, PostmarketOS, Mobian, PureOS, SailfishOS, Maemo Leste, Nemo Mobile, Sxmo, AVMultiPhone... There are even ports of Fedora, Arch, OpenSUSE, and Manjaro for the PinePhone!
23 • Linux Phone (by nanome on 2020-08-03 18:56:03 GMT from United Kingdom)
My 3G Doro "feature phone" runs Linux [I think], and I trust it: it has never crashed, never been attacked with malware. I suspect there will never be 4G and 5G feature phones.
I wouldn't trust an Apple iOS or Android smart phone further than I could throw it [bin]. However, the Linux powered phones out there do not inspire confidence. I would expect a phone to be at least as secure as my Linux laptop. Am I wrong?
24 • Haiku (by Roger on 2020-08-03 20:10:36 GMT from Belgium)
I used BeOS in 1998 for the first time and was really impressed with the quality of the OS.
There was no problem with my hardware and I was able to go on the internet thou a dial-up modem.
It was visually a lot better than Win98 and ran quicker on the same hardware and important no blue screens.
Computer used was a Celeron 300 with 128MB SDRAM and a 8MB PCI video card.
25 • KaiOS (by K.U. on 2020-08-03 20:31:10 GMT from Finland)
KaiOS is an interesting choice for low end phones ("smart feature phones"). KaiOS has Firefox OS inheritance and there are some cheap KaiOS based phones in the market. https://www.kaiostech.com
26 • KaiOS (by K.U. on 2020-08-03 21:51:35 GMT from Finland)
I should have mentioned that KaiOS has closed source for the most part. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KaiOS
27 • @25; @26--KaiOS (by R. Cain on 2020-08-04 00:01:26 GMT from United States)
Thanks very much for the information on KaiOS. I just purchased a smart 'feature-phone' after a VERY long and painful search. Got a good one, but I wish I had had this information you just provided; it would have saved me an immense amount of time.
KaiOS is *very* impressive group, with a lot of partnerships. I didn't know, for example, that the Nokia 8110/4G 'Banana Phone' is a KaiOS device.
Am waiting for the JioPhone 2 smart featurephone with qwerty keypad to become available in the US; its USD price is 39.87 (2999 Rupees).
28 • @13, Phone privacy (by Angel on 2020-08-04 07:07:47 GMT from Philippines)
"Top of the line security and privacy, all android apps available." Privacy is relative. If hiding from Google makes you feel private, that's great! But, as many on this side of the world are finding out, the only way to be acceptably private on a cellphone is to remove the sim card and connect on WiFi through a VPN.
29 • Mobile phones... (by OstroL on 2020-08-04 10:39:37 GMT from Poland)
Nexus 5 for UBPorts, to check on the development of Linux distro. Too small to use. Nexus 6 with the lovely Colt OS (Android 10) with security updates every month for daily use. Colt OS is created and maintained by highly energised youngsters from India. Colt OS for N6 is done by Nitin Chobhe from Pune. The N6 was manufactured in 2014, and still doing well with the original battery -- battery health at 92.3%! With its stereo speakers, N6 is still the best. :)
30 • KaiOS and GerdaOS (by K.U. on 2020-08-04 13:07:20 GMT from Finland)
Here is bit more information on the open source status of KaiOS including link to GitHub page:
https://support.kaiostech.com/en/support/solutions/articles/35000078432-can-i-access-your-source-code-
May be, there is more open source than I thought after reading the Wikipedia article I referred above @26.
Then, there exist GerdaOS, which claims to "liberate the heart of Kai" for KaiOS phones. Gerda is currently in alpha development stage.
https://gerda.tech
31 • screenfetch / neofetch for finding out distro name info (by Jimbo on 2020-08-05 08:18:02 GMT from New Zealand)
Hi Jesse, I like the colourful / ASCII art approach provided by screenfetch and neofetch. Works well in most popular distro's (I use in both debian and Arch at home)
32 • regret buying a phone (by fonz on 2020-08-05 13:30:52 GMT from Indonesia)
after doing a quick search of ubports, there were actually quite a bunch of stuff in the works like postmarket os (pmos) and stuff. after a week of miui 12 i got bored and straight up rooted and rommed it to cm (ill always remember it as cm instead of los). found out it was only a shadow of its former glory thanks to gulag. after about another week i got bored of rekting my phone trying to port pmos and hoping someone else can make magic.
its now collecting dust while i search for a newish used phone supported by pmos and co. hopefllyi can find something within reach...
33 • Pinephone (by Bo Meson on 2020-08-05 13:56:17 GMT from United Kingdom)
Another happy user of Mobian on the Pinephone, here, daily driver.
34 • Android is not exactly Linux (by CS on 2020-08-05 20:54:07 GMT from United States)
Saying an Android phone is a Linux phone is quite a stretch, the Android kernel is Linux plus tens of thousands of lines of mobility features like the energy aware scheduler.
You can't just slap Linux on a phone and expect it to be anything other than a trainwreck relative to current state of the art.
35 • Fully functional Linux phone (by woodydewar on 2020-08-05 21:42:13 GMT from United States)
I need a privacy phone that can run Craigslist, Snapchat, Tinder and other social networking apps to hook me up.
36 • Defining Linux (by M.Z. on 2020-08-05 22:33:33 GMT from United States)
@34
"Saying an Android phone is a Linux phone is quite a stretch..."
I'd argue that very much depends on how you define Linux, which given it's open nature can easily get very messy. The core component of anything that could be called Linux is very much the Linux kernel, which is entirely core to how Android works even if it has been forked & modified in various way. It's also of note that there have been efforts underway at Google for some time to make the Android kernel more like the mainline version of the Linux kernel. At any rate if you take away all the Linux bits out of a Droid phone you basically get a useless paperweight, so It's far harder to claim that Android is definately not Linux than it is to admit that Android is a type of Linux. Thus it's more reasonable to say Droid phones are Linux than to say they are not.
All that being said desktop versions of Linux based on the GNU project are a very different thing, so Android is not GNU/Linux even if it is a different sort of Linux. Given the huge gap in privacy expectations between most GNU/Linux distros & Android/Linux I can certainly see the appeal of wanting a phone based of more traditional forms of Linux over a Droid phone.
37 • Linux (or such) phones (by Vakkotaur on 2020-08-06 09:53:34 GMT from United States)
I'd LOVE to have a *useful* *stable release* Linux (or at least non-Android, no-Google.... sheesh sounds like non-A non-B hepatitis...) phone.
What I fear is not being able to run a few apps (my bank is likely NOT properly Linux-friendly, damnit). De-Googling and non-Apple-ing both seem quite desirable. I feel Google seeks to spy on my and Apple seeks to lock me in. Linux just.. *is*.
But I've been bit a time or two going for 'bleeding/cutting' edge (I have a not-a-laptop meant to be a smartphone-adjunct that ALMOST works... and I'm one of the lucky ones who got hardware!).
The future? A right proper LINUX phone.. running a DESKTOP distribution that can do/emulate phone form-factor AND when 'dropped in' to a laptop/desktop dock acts JUST LIKE a regular full install because that is what it is. That day is NOT today... but I can see it happening.. alas "Real Soon Now." (RSN: Obvious as all get-out, but will take far too long to happen for real. ESR saw this AGES before I did).
38 • "Safe" OS for ... (by Otis on 2020-08-06 16:26:20 GMT from United States)
... banking? Are you kidding? I'll get disrespected out of here, but I have to say it: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DEALING WITH YOUR BANK ON YOUR PHONE OR COMPUTER?
Or any other security sensitive dealings. I can't believe my eyes when I see, "my bank is likely NOT properly Linux-friendly.." etc. What?! Why are you banking on your phone or computer?
Put on a mask and go to your bank, or have someone you trust do it for you.
39 • alt phones, 2 try or ! 2 try... (by yrotadnam on 2020-08-06 22:50:55 GMT from New Zealand)
I've been eager to try an alternative to Android. I run into several roadblocks:
i) supported models. Never the one I have, always some other model number, usually not available. Information is scarce to sketchy.
ii) would it even work with one of our locked networks - Vodaphone, 2 degrees, Chorus? Especially if you have a phone that is network locked. Even for completely unlocked phones, would it work? Information on this is rare to non-existant.
iii) the install guides I've seen are a cowboy programmers No.8 wire job, it shows. Not reassuring.
So why would I risk even $100 on a used phone if it bricks up and goes in the landfill after that? I need more assurance of all this working. Importing a Pinephone or something to NZ is out, Customs slap you 30% including the shipping cost. And then you still face the hurdle of "will it even work here?"
40 • @38, OS for banking. (by Angel on 2020-08-07 01:52:28 GMT from Philippines)
Sorry! Had to laugh at that one. In normal times I could go mask-less to the bank/investment house where I keep my funds, but it would take over 30 hours and cost maybe $2000 or so. Now, masked or not, assuming I could get passage, which is not yet in the cards, I would probably spend over a month in assorted quarantines. Get the picture? Without online banking, I would be SOL.
I've been doing online banking and other transactions online for 15 years or more. Today I have 3 banking apps on my Android phone, plus other apps where transactions are made. While I prefer to use my home PC, I have no problem using those apps. I bank online to transfer funds, pay credit cards, pay my ISP, load my cellphones, etc.
I have traveled extensively. I had a phony charge put on a credit card about 18 years ago in Colombia. That was when they were still using those slide thingies that copied the card. A hotel employee did it. It was quickly resolved. I have more concern about being pick-pocketed or mugged on the way from the bank, or going though Customs with wads of cash, or dishonest bank employees here and in other countries, or about any of the banks where I do business being hacked because of some desk jockey's carelessness, than I have about online banking.
41 • @38 offline/online? (by Monroe on 2020-08-07 04:42:02 GMT from United States)
When you visit your bank offline, in person and ask for any transaction, where does the teller go; to a ledger? No, she/he goes online at your bank to complete your transaction. You trust her server more than your online access? Might as well do it in the comfort of your home. Been doing it that way for decades. I can count on one hand how many times I visited a bank in person. Never been hack, or robbed.
42 • Banking (by Otis on 2020-08-07 13:23:23 GMT from United States)
@41 Don't bank online. I think you understand why.
43 • Online banking, etc.. (by Friar Tux on 2020-08-07 13:53:56 GMT from Canada)
@38, Otis, you're way off on this one. @40 and @41 are spot on here. Online banking is no more 'dangerous' than in-person banking. I do ALL my banking and bill paying online. About the only thing I do not do online is buy stuff. While I like the idea, I also like actually going to the store and physically checking out the article I want to buy. This usually leads to finding something better on the next shelf.
As for mobile phones, linux-based or otherwise, I'm with @39 (yrotadnam) on this one. I do not own a cell/mobile phone as I find they are WAY over-priced for what you get. I would, maybe, pay $75.00, tops, but then it better do my dishes, my laundry, and wash my car, too.
44 • online banking (by dmacleo on 2020-08-07 17:29:45 GMT from United States)
@38 one way to bank (credit union in my case) is 28 miles and 25-30 minutes.
thats just the drive one way.
its also one of the closer institutions to me, closest is 20 miles one way.
45 • Online banking .. (by Otis on 2020-08-07 21:21:44 GMT from United States)
It's just very strange seeing for so many years linux enthusiasts talking about the nuances and tweaks to more security in the OS. And THEN to see that some are actually arguing FOR banking online and on phones!
Hello.
Why are we worrying about systemd and now homed and firewalls and on and on if we're going to give away our private info to the world by (trumpets) ONLINE AND PHONE BANKING.
Jeesh!
46 • Banking (by Cheker on 2020-08-07 21:29:55 GMT from Portugal)
I half agree with Otis here. Banking online, yes, but only on a desktop linux. Phones, absolutely not.
47 • Bank security (by Angel on 2020-08-07 23:57:59 GMT from Philippines)
Privacy, security and anonymity are not the same. You can be public and secure, private and not secure; or you can be anonymous, in which last case you'll be private and secure, but you can't do anything pertaining to your identity. Some people are so concerned with online privacy, that they overlook worse offline security holes such as ATMs, point of purchase and bank employees.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/nyregion/bank-tellers-with-access-to-accounts-pose-a-rising-security-risk.html
As far as privacy, the Equifax hack affected more than half of Americans whether or not they banked online. Don't be lulled into believing you are private because you don't bank online. Your information will still be out there in hackable databases. (google Exactis)
I ran a business which provided computer services to some local businesses, and I know what appalling security practices are kept. Yet many people who are afraid on online banking use credit and debit cards in local business outlets. Ironic that one piece of advice on keeping debit cards secure is to get an online account so you can keep daily track of your activity and balances. I will not use a debit card. I keep a prepaid no fee, zero balance card for rare use. I also will use credit cards sometimes. Less risk.
Most malware aimed at end users banking online is not that sophisticated, and can be kept away with a modicum of common sense. Linux users, who tend to verge on the paranoid, should have little problem. I have no fear of Android phones. I also don't install or side-load any shiny app I see, and I don't let kids download games, or anyone except my wife touch my phone. As it is: If a withdrawal is made on any local account, I get a text. From US accounts, I get a daily email with transactions and balances, and a call if any large amounts are asked for. Sure, I can be hacked. I can also be hit by lightning, run over by a car, or maybe there could be some viral pandemic which will not let me go anywhere. Sh*t happens.
48 • I use a BSD-based smartphone OS + smartphone privacy (by Nono on 2020-08-08 16:51:30 GMT from France)
Once upon the time i used to use an Android smartphone. But it progressively failed after 18 month : it overheated and éventually crashed each time i plugged it for power recharge. The same problem affecting my acquaintances with different brands, i decided to give up Android. Not its Linux-derived kernel's fault. It's just that Android smartphone manufacturers have tended to compete at the expense of hardware quality (at least at the time).
So 7 years ago, i swith to an iPhone, that still runs. AFAIK, iOS like macOS uses a FreeBSD-derived OS. Like Google did with Android, Apple modified it and it certainly is not open source. But Apple just sells something that works. And it's a bit more secure and privacy-respectful than Android.
Yet i do not expect much more form iOS than from Android when it comes to smartphone privacy :
- The first weakness is the ability to download third-party apps. The smartphone may be delivered with the best privacy protection, it doesn't matter much because of the apps the user downloads from app stores. And even worse, lots of apps are just web-service renderers, with just add another-level of privacy weakness.
- When you sign Google or Facebook usage conditions, you explicitly accept that all your data be salable to third parties cxalled partrners or clients (privacy parameters are only relative to other free users), Cambridge Analytica being a famous caricatural example - but most companies buy their data (how do you thing those companies can thrive with free users, but if the free users are the product ?).
- Since George W. Bush's PATRIOT act and all horrors of this kind that followed, states legally spy everyone. NSA monitors all network traffic crossing USA borders, and has the right to monitor every communication traffic from and to any device connected to a terrorist's by up to 7 indirect coimmunications links. That means they can monitor almost all the planet, since - mind you - almost all of us are connected to terrorist by just 2 indirect communication links (the one between the terrorist and Google/Microsoft/Apple/Facebook/Amazon/eBay..., and the one between these companies and your device, and these companies traffic ignores borders. Others are not better and can do worse. Russia and China demand that all Internet/Web service deploy a tap for their secret services, this concerns servcies like Yandex, RT, Telegram, Kaspersky, AliBaba/AliExpress, TikTok, GearBest and so on).
For real privacy, go off-grid and move and clandestinely to the North Sentinel Island (but immigrant life expentancy there is usually quite short - look up for 'North Sentinel Island' in Wikipedia).
49 • OhNo, NoNo! (by Somewhat Reticent on 2020-08-09 01:04:44 GMT from United States)
@48 Invading any prohibited district is a suicidally-foolish criminal & hostile act.
The Sentineli learned the hard way about foreign diseases and defend themselves.
…
Just as Linux was not Minix, iOS is not BSD.
…
As long as all our hardware is secret, we're all insecure. But then, wasn't the internet designed for sharing data … including with the government?
50 • Android security flaw (by Angel on 2020-08-09 10:45:17 GMT from Philippines)
In case there are people still here, and in the interest of fair play after my posts, here's a new tidbit from Ars about flaws on Snapdragon.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/snapdragon-chip-flaws-put-1-billion-android-phones-at-risk-of-data-theft/
Seems I've dodged that bullet, since my phone has a Media Tek-Mali combo. I still only have to share my data with the PLA. Whew! :-)
Number of Comments: 50
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| • 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 |
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| • 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 |
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| • 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 |
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| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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YunoHost
YunoHost is a Debian-based distribution which strives to make it easy to quickly set up a server and host web applications. The distribution can be managed through a custom command line utility or through a web-based administration panel.
Status: Active
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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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