 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 883, 14 September 2020 |
Welcome to this year's 37th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Package managers, software ports, and distributions are all really various approaches for getting software tools into the hands of users. There are many different approaches to software distribution, whether it focuses on fixed operating system images, portable packages, minimal traditional packages, or source code. This week we explore a number of approaches to packaging and sharing software. We begin with a quick overview of GhostBSD, a desktop-oriented project based on FreeBSD which tries to make setting up the system as simple as possible. Then we talk about Finnix, a Debian-based Linux distribution which provides a minimal set of tools on live media. Another common approach to distributing software is using containers and Docker is one of the more popular tools for working with containers. We share an overview of Docker and what it is used for below in our Questions and Answers column. Do you use Docker? Let us know where in this week's Opinion Poll. In our News section we discuss improvements to Gentoo's Portage package management utility. Plus we talk about Fedora making Wayland the default display protocol for KDE Plasma and report on DragonFly BSD developers making it possible to grow a HAMMER2 storage volume. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: GhostBSD 20.08.04, Finnix 121
- News: Gentoo updates Portage, Fedora to enable Wayland for KDE, HAMMER2 can now grow to fit a partition
- Questions and answers: An overview of Docker
- Released last week: Zorin OS 15.3, NuTyX 11.6, deepin 20
- Torrent corner: ArcoLinux, Bluestar, deepin, Manjaro, MidnightBSD, KDE neon, NuTyX, Zorin OS
- Upcoming releases: Fedora 33 Beta
- Opinion poll: Running Docker containers
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (13MB) and MP3 (10MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
GhostBSD 20.08.04
About a month ago the GhostBSD team published a new release. The GhostBSD operating system is based on FreeBSD and focuses on desktop use. It has a graphical installer, some convenient desktop utilities for handling tasks such as installing updates, and ships with the MATE desktop. There is also a community edition of GhostBSD which runs the Xfce desktop instead of MATE. Both editions run on 64-bit (x86_64) machines exclusively.
Apart from updating MATE to version 1.24.0, the new snapshot of GhostBSD introduces one big change: automated boot environment snapshots during package upgrades. This allows the administrator to have snapshots of the operating system's filesystem taken prior to each package upgrade, ensuring that if something breaks, we can reboot and rollback the system to its previous state. This should make GhostBSD secure against broken updates in a similar fashion to openSUSE when the latter is installed on Btrfs.
Live media
I downloaded the MATE edition which is 2.6GB in size. Booting from the live media brings up the MATE desktop. At the top of the screen is a panel containing the Applications, Places, and System menus. The right side of the panel houses the system tray. There is a second panel along the bottom of the screen that features a task switcher. On the desktop we find icons for the file manager and system installer.
Hardware
I tried running GhostBSD in VirtualBox and on my laptop. The system performed fairly well in VirtualBox, responding quickly and running fairly smoothly. The desktop defaulted to a low resolution, 800x600 pixels, but this could be adjusted upwards in the Display module under the System menu.
When I switched over to my laptop, I found GhostBSD worked well with the hardware. My screen resolution was automatically detected, sound worked out of the box, and wireless networking functioned smoothly. The system used about 720MB of Active memory and 190MB of Wired memory when signed into the live desktop.
GhostBSD 20.08.04 -- Running the MATE desktop
(full image size: 133kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Installing
GhostBSD uses a custom, graphical system installer. The installer begins by asking us to select our preferred language from a list. Then we are asked to choose our keyboard layout and time zone from additional lists. When it comes to disk partitioning we have three basic options: take over the disk with ZFS, guided partitioning with UFS, or manual partitioning.
I ended up going through the installer four times and got to try each of the partitioning options. Taking the manual approach caused the installer to show me the layout of my disk and a partition manager similar to the one used in the Ubiquity and Calamares installers. Then the installer locked up. When I tried the guided UFS option the installer locked up and aborted. I went through the guided ZFS twice. This approach takes over one entire disk and gives us the chance to select GPT or MBR disk layouts, swap space size, and the name of the ZFS storage pool.
When selecting the guided ZFS option, the installer would continue, giving me the chance to pick boot loader settings and make up an administrative password. The last step is to create username and password for a regular user account. This screen gives us the chance to pick our command line shell with the default being fish. We can change this to another shell such as bash, tcsh, ksh, or zsh. The installer then copies its files to the hard drive and exits, returning us to the desktop.
As I mentioned before, I ran the through installer four times. It failed to finish when using either guided UFS or manual partitioning. I made two attempts at using ZFS, once with a GPT disk layout and once with MBR. In both cases, whether I was running my computer in UEFI or Legacy BIOS mode, the system failed to start after the installer had finished its work. The boot process would begin, then quickly report it could not find the boot loader on my fresh copy of GhostBSD. It seems as though the system is trying to find the boot loader in multiple locations and missing it each time. There is a screen in the installer that asks about boot loader settings and I made sure to confirm the FreeBSD boot loader was selected, so I'm puzzled as to why the software could not be found.
I was disappointed in my experience with GhostBSD this time around. I try out the operating system about once every year or two and, in the past, I've typically had positive experiences with it. The project evolves quickly and showcases a lot of good aspects of the underlying FreeBSD platform. I've often recommended GhostBSD to people who want to try a flavour of desktop BSD. However, this time I could not get GhostBSD up and running. I decided to move on to trying another project this week.
* * * * *
Finnix 121
The next project I decided to look at is Finnix. Finnix is a small, self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution for system administrators, based on Debian. It can be used to mount and manipulate hard drives and partitions, monitor networks, and rebuild boot records. The most recent version of Finnix is based on Debian's Testing branch.
Version 121 introduces a few changes, such as not shipping with the sl command which shows an animation of a train slowly moving across the screen when people mistype the ls command. The LILO boot loader has been removed. The non-zero exit codes of commands are now shown in the command prompt.
The release announcement says "Fixed SSH remote access" though without details as to what this means. That is, I can't tell if there was remote access and it was disabled, or now remote access is allowed, or if the tools to remotely access another computer were fixed. This release also introduces zRAM which uses 50% of the computer's physical memory. Basically, this feature allows Finnix to set aside half of RAM to act as compressed swap space. In theory this allows us to hold more items in RAM while compressing the lesser used pieces of data. Finnix 121 is available as a 509MB download for 64-bit (x86_64) computers exclusively.
In VirtualBox the Finnix distribution booted to a text console and automatically logged me in as the root user. As advertised, any error exit codes are displayed in the console's prompt, making it easier to troubleshoot commands that are misbehaving. The distribution is fairly light, using about 75MB of RAM. Well, 75MB of plain RAM is actively used while 50% of RAM is set aside for the zRAM compressed swap space.
Unfortunately, I found Finnix was unable to boot on my laptop. The distribution failed to show any signs of life at all when booted in Legacy BIOS mode. When I switched to UEFI the Finnix boot menu would appear, but the distribution would run into trouble early in the start-up process. A brief error would appear saying there was a problem concerning the "magic number" and then the system would restart.
Assuming we are able to run Finnix, either in a virtual machine or on physical hardware, the distribution ships with the usual collection of GNU command line tools. Manual pages are installed for us. The distribution runs the systemd init software and is powered by version 5.7 of the Linux kernel.
The interface is entirely command line driven. I tried to find out what specific, special tools might be included to help us troubleshoot problems and rescue crippled systems. There isn't much detail to be found in the project's documentation. It seems as though Finnix mostly provides common command line utilities and assumes the administrator can work out what to use and how to use the tools.
Should we need additional software, we can use the APT command line package management tools to install new programs from Debian's Testing branch. I tried installing a few utilities and they all downloaded and ran as expected.
Earlier I mentioned being intrigued by the "Fixed SSH remote access" bullet point in the release notes. I found no secure shell service running on Finnix. There are no network services running on commonly used ports. The OpenSSH client software is installed allowing us to connect to remote servers.
Finnix is a curious distribution in that it seems to mostly do what it sets out to do - be a minimal, rescue CD distribution - while not really presenting the user with any special tools, characteristics or documentation to help with those tasks. It pretty much just provides a text console, the basic command line tools, and minimal documentation that most distributions offer.
The main draw of Finnix appears to be its small size, it's just 509MB and therefore can fit on a CD, which might help explain its minimal nature. However, other rescue tools, such as GParted Live are smaller, ship more specialized tools, and offer graphical user interfaces. These shortcomings, along with the trouble I had booting Finnix on a platform I have successfully run other rescue tools, makes me hesitant to recommend this distribution.
* * * * *
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
* * * * *
Visitor supplied rating
Finnix has a visitor supplied average rating of: 9.5/10 from 2 review(s).
Have you used Finnix? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Gentoo updates Portage, Fedora to enable Wayland for KDE, HAMMER2 can now grow to fit a partition
The Gentoo project has announced a new, stable version of the Portage package management software. "We have good news! Gentoo's Portage project has recently stabilized version 3.0 of the package manager. What's new? Well, this third version of Portage removes support for Python 2.7, which has been an ongoing effort across the main Gentoo repository by Gentoo's Python project during the 2020 year. In addition, due to a user provided patch, updating to the latest version of Portage can vastly speed up dependency calculations by around 50-60%. We love to see our community engaging in our software!"
* * * * *
The Fedora project is shifting focus to the Wayland display protocol from X.Org in the upcoming release of the Fedora KDE spin. Starting in Fedora 34, the KDE Plasma desktop will default to using Wayland. "With KDE Plasma 5.20, the KDE Plasma desktop environment has reached a point where nearly all commonly used features in the desktop and all major applications function in the Plasma Wayland environment on all major GPUs (including NVIDIA with the proprietary driver). Starting with Plasma 5.20 in Fedora 34, we will change the default configuration for Wayland and X11 Plasma sessions so that Wayland is preferred and used by default, while permitting the X11 session to be selected as the alternative desktop environment option." Details on this change can be found in the Fedora wiki.
* * * * *
The advanced HAMMER2 filesystem offers a lot of useful features such as snapshots and multi-volume support. The filesystem now has another helpful feature that is especially useful when running the operating system on virtual machines where storage requirements may increase over time: the ability to grow a HAMMER2 volume to match its host device: "HAMMER2 now has a 'growfs' directive, so if there's room in the partition, you can expand your HAMMER2 volume to fit." Details on the 'growfs' feature can be found in this mailing list post.
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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) |
An overview of Docker
Thinking-inside-the-box asks: I'm finding lots of projects are using Docker, which is completely new to me. Can you give me a quick overview of Docker, some of its pros and cons, and a basic how-to?
DistroWatch answers: Docker is a brand of container technology. A container is an isolated collection of applications and their dependencies. The idea is that we can make a container that includes a program or service, along with everything it needs to run. Then we can copy that container, sending it to other people (or other computers) and it will work exactly the same way on those computers as it did on ours because the software inside the container is isolated from the rest of the operating system.
Containers are especially useful in situations where a software developer wants to make sure their product runs the same way on their computer as the production environment. They put their software, its dependencies, and their configuration into the container. Then they can copy it to a server, or a thousand servers, and the software should work exactly the same on each server as it did on their own machine because it has the exact same, isolated environment.
You can read more about what Docker is on their "What is a Container?" page. A container is similar to a virtual machine in that it contains isolated software that runs somewhat independently from the rest of the operating system. However, a container is lighter (and less flexible) in that it shares the same kernel as the host system. A virtual machine runs a whole, entirely separate operating system while a container typically includes just a collection of userland applications or services. This can mean less overhead, but somewhat ties the container to its host in a way virtual machines do not.
You may be thinking that a Docker container sounds a lot like portable package software such as AppImage, Snap, and Flatpak. The concept and benefits from the end-user's point of view are similar. In each case these packages (and Docker) provide all of their dependencies in a self-contained bubble and are kept separate from the host distribution's libraries and configuration. Snap, Flatpak, and Docker all use a common framework to run their portable, isolated bundles of software.
The big difference is mostly from the developer's point of view. With portable packages the developer places their application in a bundle and ship the package as a fixed product. The bundle is intended to remain static until the next version is deployed. With Docker there is the idea that the developer can create layers of software. We might start with a low-level, minimal operating system in the container. Then we can build services and custom configurations in additional layers within the container. For instance, we can start with a minimal Ubuntu install. Then add a layer for the Apache web service. Then add a PHP layer to add more web features.
The idea here is that each layer can be shared and distributed with other developers and customers. People can then build upon the layers and use those layers as a base to create their own containers. You can learn how to get started with Docker by following their Quickstart guide.
As for pros and cons, I suppose that depends on what you are trying to accomplish. From an end-user's point of view there is probably never a situation where you'd want to use Docker over a portable package format such as Flatpak, AppImage, or Snap. Those formats are all intended to be run by the end-user while Docker is more geared to developers and system administrators.
Developers tend to enjoy Docker's "building blocks" approach, being able to add layers of functionality to their containers, and customize a Docker container to suit their needs. Docker can be quite flexible in allowing developers to modify or update a container and then published it. System administrators can appreciate pushing out a new container to multiple hosts, knowing it will work exactly the same way on each server. Then, if something goes wrong, they can roll back to the previous snapshot of the container.
Should you want to learn more about Docker and how it can be used, I suggest reading the guides and resources section of the Docker documentation.
* * * * *
Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Zorin OS 15.3
Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based distribution which features themes which are designed to imitate other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. The project's latest release is Zorin OS 15.3 which provides updated hardware compatibility, refreshed software for connecting with Android devices, and an updated version of LibreOffice. "Many of the built-in system technologies have seen improvements for better security, compatibility, and performance. Zorin OS 15.3 is now powered by the Linux kernel version 5.4 - the same version as in Ubuntu 20.04. In addition to performance, stability, and security improvements, it brings support for more hardware such as Intel's newly-announced 11th generation Core processors, upcoming AMD processors & GPUs, and other peripherals. This means that Zorin OS will 'just work' with even more computers and devices." Further details can be found in the distribution's release announcement.
Zorin OS 15.3 -- Exploring the live desktop and application menu
(full image size: 530kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
NuTyX 11.6
NuTyX is a French Linux distribution (with multi-language support) built from Linux From Scratch and Beyond Linux From Scratch, with a custom package manager called "cards". The project's latest release is NuTyX 11.6 which features version 2.4.122 of the cards package manager, along with version 5.8.7 and 4.19.143 of the Linux kernel. The release announcement states: "I'm very pleased to announce the new NuTyX 11.6 release. The 64-bit version contains more than 1,000 packages upgraded. The 32-bit version of NuTyX, still actively supported. In the newest release, base NuTyX comes with the Long-Term Support (LTS) kernel 4.19.143 and the latest stable 5.8.7. Changelogs for the kernels are available here: kernel 4.19.143 changelog, kernel 5.8.7 changelog. The GNU C library, glibc, is now glibc 2.31. The graphical server is xorg-server 1.20.9. The mesa lib is 20.1.7, GTK3 is 3.24.22, and qt has been updated to 5.15.0. Python interpreters 3.8.3 and 2.7.18 have been included in this release. The MATE Desktop Environment comes in 1.24.1, the latest version. The Xfce Desktop Environment comes in 4.14.1, the latest version. The KDE Plasma Desktop is now 5.19.5, the Framework is now 5.73.0 and applications are now 20.08.1. Available browsers are: Firefox 80.0.1, Falkon 3.1.0, Epiphany 3.36.4, etc. Many desktop applications have been updated as well like Thunderbird 78.2.1, Scribus 1.5.5, LibreOffice 7.0.1.2, GIMP 2.10.20, etc."
deepin 20
The deepin team has published a new version of their Debian-based desktop distribution. The new release, deepin 20, features an updated Deepin Desktop Environment, upgrades the base packages to Debian 10.6, and provides newer kernels for better hardware support. "deepin 20 (1002) comes with a unified design style and redesigns the desktop environment and applications, bringing a brand new visual look. Besides that, the underlying repository is upgraded to Debian 10.5, and the system installation supports dual kernels - Kernel 5.4 and Kernel 5.7, which greatly improve system stability and compatibility. What is more, it provides a new launcher, the latest preinstalled applications, enhanced fingerprint support and system security, all of which ensures better user experiences. The new design introduces ingenious colorful icons, fresh graphics interface, natural and smooth animation effects, unique rounded-corner windows, and exquisite multitask view. All of them build a fashion and user-friendly desktop environment." Further details can screenshots can be found in the project's release announcement (Chinese, English).
Manjaro Linux 20.1
Philip Müller has announced the release of Manjaro Linux 20.1, an updated build of the project's desktop-oriented Linux distribution featuring Xfce, KDE Plasma and GNOME desktops: "We are happy to publish another stable release of Manjaro Linux, named 'Mikah'. The Xfce edition remains our flagship offering and has received the attention it deserves. With this release we ship Xfce 4.14 and have mostly focused on polishing the user experience with the desktop and window manager. Also we have switched to a new theme called Matcha. The new Display-Profiles feature allows you to store one or more profiles for your preferred display configuration. We also have implemented auto-application of profiles when new displays are connected. Our KDE edition provides the powerful, mature and feature-rich Plasma 5.19 desktop environment with a unique look-and-feel, which we had completely re-designed." See the complete release announcement for more details.
Manjaro Linux 20.1 -- Exploring the KDE Plasma desktop and welcome screen
(full image size: 440kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 2,136
- Total data uploaded: 33.7TB
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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) |
Running Docker containers
In our Questions and Answers section we talked about Docker, a container technology that makes it easy to build new container applications and services on top of existing foundations. Docker has become quite popular in recent years, especially when it comes to deploying and testing new versions of software. Do you use Docker, either at work or at home? Let us know what you find Docker useful for in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on using the Nix package manager in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Using Docker containers
| I use Docker at work: | 134 (11%) |
| I use Docker at home: | 108 (9%) |
| I do not use Docker: | 1009 (81%) |
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| Website News |
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 21 September 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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| Archives |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • Issue 1032 (2023-08-14): MX Linux 23, positioning new windows on the desktop, Linux Containers adopts LXD fork, Oracle, SUSE, and CIQ form OpenELA |
| • Issue 1031 (2023-08-07): Peppermint OS 2023-07-01, preventing a file from being changed, Asahi Linux partners with Fedora, Linux Mint plans new releases |
| • Issue 1030 (2023-07-31): Solus 4.4, Linux Mint 21.2, Debian introduces RISC-V support, Ubuntu patches custom kernel bugs, FreeBSD imports OpenSSL 3 |
| • Issue 1029 (2023-07-24): Running Murena on the Fairphone 4, Flatpak vs Snap sandboxing technologies, Redox OS plans to borrow Linux drivers to expand hardware support, Debian updates Bookworm media |
| • Issue 1028 (2023-07-17): KDE Connect; Oracle, SUSE, and AlmaLinux repsond to Red Hat's source code policy change, KaOS issues media fix, Slackware turns 30; security and immutable distributions |
| • Issue 1027 (2023-07-10): Crystal Linux 2023-03-16, StartOS (embassyOS 0.3.4.2), changing options on a mounted filesystem, Murena launches Fairphone 4 in North America, Fedora debates telemetry for desktop team |
| • Issue 1026 (2023-07-03): Kumander Linux 1.0, Red Hat changing its approach to sharing source code, TrueNAS offers SMB Multichannel, Zorin OS introduces upgrade utility |
| • Issue 1025 (2023-06-26): KaOS with Plasma 6, information which can leak from desktop environments, Red Hat closes door on sharing RHEL source code, SUSE introduces new security features |
| • Issue 1024 (2023-06-19): Debian 12, a safer way to use dd, Debian releases GNU/Hurd 2023, Ubuntu 22.10 nears its end of life, FreeBSD turns 30 |
| • Issue 1023 (2023-06-12): openSUSE 15.5 Leap, the differences between independent distributions, openSUSE lengthens Leap life, Murena offers new phone for North America |
| • Issue 1022 (2023-06-05): GetFreeOS 2023.05.01, Slint 15.0-3, Liya N4Si, cleaning up crowded directories, Ubuntu plans Snap-based variant, Red Hat dropping LireOffice RPM packages |
| • Issue 1021 (2023-05-29): rlxos GNU/Linux, colours in command line output, an overview of Void's unique features, how to use awk, Microsoft publishes a Linux distro |
| • Issue 1020 (2023-05-22): UBports 20.04, finding another machine's IP address, finding distros with a specific kernel, Debian prepares for Bookworm |
| • Issue 1019 (2023-05-15): Rhino Linux (Beta), checking which applications reply on a package, NethServer reborn, System76 improving application responsiveness |
| • Issue 1018 (2023-05-08): Fedora 38, finding relevant manual pages, merging audio files, Fedora plans new immutable edition, Mint works to fix Secure Boot issues |
| • Issue 1017 (2023-05-01): Xubuntu 23.04, Debian elects Project Leaders and updates media, systemd to speed up restarts, Guix System offering ground-up source builds, where package managers install files |
| • Issue 1016 (2023-04-24): Qubes OS 4.1.2, tracking bandwidth usage, Solus resuming development, FreeBSD publishes status report, KaOS offers preview of Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1015 (2023-04-17): Manjaro Linux 22.0, Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0, Arch Linux powering PINE64 tablets, Ubuntu offering live patching on HWE kernels, gaining compression on ex4 |
| • Issue 1014 (2023-04-10): Quick looks at carbonOS, LibreELEC, and Kodi, Mint polishes themes, Fedora rolls out more encryption plans, elementary OS improves sideloading experience |
| • Issue 1013 (2023-04-03): Alpine Linux 3.17.2, printing manual pages, Ubuntu Cinnamon becomes official flavour, Endeavour OS plans for new installer, HardenedBSD plans for outage |
| • Issue 1012 (2023-03-27): siduction 22.1.1, protecting privacy from proprietary applications, GNOME team shares new features, Canonical updates Ubuntu 20.04, politics and the Linux kernel |
| • Issue 1011 (2023-03-20): Serpent OS, Security Onion 2.3, Gentoo Live, replacing the scp utility, openSUSE sees surge in downloads, Debian runs elction with one candidate |
| • Issue 1010 (2023-03-13): blendOS 2023.01.26, keeping track of which files a package installs, improved network widget coming to elementary OS, Vanilla OS changes its base distro |
| • Issue 1009 (2023-03-06): Nemo Mobile and the PinePhone, matching the performance of one distro on another, Linux Mint adds performance boosts and security, custom Ubuntu and Debian builds through Cubic |
| • Issue 1008 (2023-02-27): elementary OS 7.0, the benefits of boot environments, Purism offers lapdock for Librem 5, Ubuntu community flavours directed to drop Flatpak support for Snap |
| • Issue 1007 (2023-02-20): helloSystem 0.8.0, underrated distributions, Solus team working to repair their website, SUSE testing Micro edition, Canonical publishes real-time edition of Ubuntu 22.04 |
| • Issue 1006 (2023-02-13): Playing music with UBports on a PinePhone, quick command line and shell scripting questions, Fedora expands third-party software support, Vanilla OS adds Nix package support |
| • Issue 1005 (2023-02-06): NuTyX 22.12.0 running CDE, user identification numbers, Pop!_OS shares COSMIC progress, Mint makes keyboard and mouse options more accessible |
| • Issue 1004 (2023-01-30): OpenMandriva ROME, checking the health of a disk, Debian adopting OpenSnitch, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1003 (2023-01-23): risiOS 37, mixing package types, Fedora seeks installer feedback, Sparky offers easier persistence with USB writer |
| • Issue 1002 (2023-01-16): Vanilla OS 22.10, Nobara Project 37, verifying torrent downloads, Haiku improvements, HAMMER2 being ports to NetBSD |
| • Issue 1001 (2023-01-09): Arch Linux, Ubuntu tests new system installer, porting KDE software to OpenBSD, verifying files copied properly |
| • Issue 1000 (2023-01-02): Our favourite projects of all time, Fedora trying out unified kernel images and trying to speed up shutdowns, Slackware tests new kernel, detecting what is taking up disk space |
| • Issue 999 (2022-12-19): Favourite distributions of 2022, Fedora plans Budgie spin, UBports releasing security patches for 16.04, Haiku working on new ports |
| • Issue 998 (2022-12-12): OpenBSD 7.2, Asahi Linux enages video hardware acceleration on Apple ARM computers, Manjaro drops proprietary codecs from Mesa package |
| • Issue 997 (2022-12-05): CachyOS 221023 and AgarimOS, working with filenames which contain special characters, elementary OS team fixes delta updates, new features coming to Xfce |
| • Issue 996 (2022-11-28): Void 20221001, remotely shutting down a machine, complex aliases, Fedora tests new web-based installer, Refox OS running on real hardware |
| • Issue 995 (2022-11-21): Fedora 37, swap files vs swap partitions, Unity running on Arch, UBports seeks testers, Murena adds support for more devices |
| • Issue 994 (2022-11-14): Redcore Linux 2201, changing the terminal font size, Fedora plans Phosh spin, openSUSE publishes on-line manual pages, disabling Snap auto-updates |
| • Full list of all issues |
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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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