 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 885, 28 September 2020 |
Welcome to this year's 39th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Over the years there have been several attempts made at creating a Linux distribution that would offer a computing experience similar to Microsoft's Windows. Generally these projects aim to make transitioning from Microsoft's operating system to Linux easier by providing a similar interface and the ability to run some Windows applications. One of the more recent efforts in this space is Linuxfx, a distribution in the Linux Mint family which displays a very Windows-like interface. We talk more about this distribution and what it is like to run it in our Feature Story. Some readers have commented on how much Linuxfx looks like Microsoft's product and questioned the legal issues around this level of imitation. We talk about trademark concerns in this week's Questions and Answers column. What do you think of Linuxfx? Would you install it on computers for your friends and family to help ease their transition from Windows? Let us know in the Opinion Poll below. In our News section we are pleased to report Lenovo is now shipping consumer computers bundled with Ubuntu. Plus we share steps openSUSE is making to open up the development process with openSUSE Jump while Haiku seeks out new sounds. Meanwhile the Debian project has updated the distribution's install media for Debian Buster. Then we share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a terrific week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Linuxfx 10.6
- News: Ubuntu shipping on Lenovo PCs, openSUSE makes Jump more accessible to contributors, Haiku runs contest to gather new sounds, Debian updates install media
- Questions and answers: Legal concerns over cloning visual elements
- Released last week: UBports 16.04 OTA-13, Puppy Linux 9.5, Univention Corporate Server 4.4-6
- Torrent corner: Bluestar, Debian, Debian Edu, DragonFly BSD, EndeavourOS, Enso, KaOS, Nitrux, OpenMediaVault, Puppy, SystemRescueCd, Tails, Univention, Volumio
- Upcoming releases: Fedora 33 Beta, Ubuntu 20.10 Beta, FreeBSD 12.2-RC1
- Opinion poll: Would you install Linuxfx for friends or family?
- New distributions: Quark
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (14MB) and MP3 (11MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Linuxfx 10.6
The Linuxfx distribution, which is sometimes referred to as "Windowsfx" on the project's website and in various applications, is based on Linux Mint and appears to have one overarching goal: to look and act as much like Microsoft Windows 10 as possible. The distribution does this by adjusting the desktop, theme, icons, and settings panel to look as much like Microsoft's operating system as possible. The project then adds in WINE, a virtual assistant application, and adjusts application launchers to resemble those used by Windows. Under the hood though Linuxfx is still very much running Linux Mint packages as its base with the Cinnamon desktop environment.
I was surprised to find the distribution's recent stable release, 10.5, has been removed from the project's download mirrors. The only edition available to me was a new version labablled 10.6 which runs on 64-bit (x86_64) machines exclusively. The download for this live media is 3.8GB in size.
Note: Following writing this review, just before publication, the Linuxfx team removed the free downloads for version 10.6 (and earlier versions of the distribution) from their website. The distribution is now a commercial offering.
Live media
The live media begins by showing us a boot menu where we can launch the distribution, start it in compatibility mode, or begin an OEM install. When launched in Legacy BIOS mode there is also a hardware detection utility. Once we choose to start the distribution's live mode the system automatically performs an integrity check on the live media. Once this passes we are brought to the Cinnamon desktop.
Right away the resemblance to Windows is clear. Linuxfx dresses up the Cinnamon desktop with a very distinct theme and icons that will be familiar to Microsoft customers. The desktop's panel sits at the bottom of the screen and holds the application menu, a search bar, quick-launch icons, the task switcher, and a system tray. On the desktop we find icons for launching the file manager and starting the install process.
Once the desktop finishes loading a display settings tool opens and offers to help us change the desktop resolution. Once this window has been dismissed another configuration window opens and asks if we want to launch the system installer. I feel it worth mentioning again that some programs and tools refer to the distribution as Windowsfx and others call it Linuxfx. I plan to stick with the Linuxfx label for the duration of this review.
Linuxfx 10.6 -- The display settings module
(full image size: 357kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Installing
Linuxfx uses the Ubiquity system installer. It begins by asking us to select our preferred language and then offers us a link to the distribution's release notes. This link, like any link I found later to on-line Linuxfx resources, opens a web browser and directs us to the project's home page. Ubiquity then offers to install media codecs for us. Next comes partitioning and we can choose manual or guided partitioning. The guided option supports working with regular partitions or LVM volumes. The manual option provides a friendly partition editor and supports most Linux filesystems, including ext2/3/4, Btrfs, XFS, and JFS. The installer does not support working with ZFS, despite its grandparent (Ubuntu) now supporting ZFS volumes.
The installer wraps up by getting us to pick our time zone and create a user account with a password. Ubiquity then finishes copying its files to our hard drive and offers to restart the computer. So far the experiment had gone smoothly and, apart from the Windows desktop theme, had felt a lot like working with Linux Mint.
While using the live session I noticed a few things I feel worth mentioning. One is that the installer shows slides which advertise the distribution's features. One of these features is running on ARM-based computers. However, I was unable to find any download options for the ARM architecture. The other issue I noticed was that Linuxfx's live session did not shut down cleanly. It reported it could not unmount the live media and then appeared to lock-up. Pressing Enter resumed the shutdown process and the computer restarted without further issues.
Early impressions
Once Linuxfx has been installed, the distribution boots to a graphical login screen. Here we find three session options we can sign into. We can sign into the Cinnamon desktop, the Cinnamon desktop in software rendering mode, or a media centre.
The media centre option loads the Kodi media player interface in full screen mode. Kodi typically allows users to play music and videos as well a stream on-line content. Kodi, as it ships on Linuxfx, does not include any media add-ons and therefore, out of the box, does not do anything. We are given the option of browsing the on-line repositories for add-ons which would allow us to play content. However, any time I tried to browse the repositories an error message appeared saying a connection could not be made with the repositories. This, in effect, rendered Kodi useless as it had no add-ons and I could not download any.
Linuxfx 10.6 -- The Helloa assistant
(full image size: 472kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Signing into the Cinnamon desktop causes the display settings module to open the first time we sign in. The Helloa assistant also launches and offers to walk us through some initial setup tasks. First Helloa offers to launch a driver manager. This actually opened the update manager instead. Linuxfx uses the Linux Mint Update Manager which does a nice job of listing available new packages and downloading them.
The Helloa assistant then offers to launch the monitor settings module (again). I'd like to point out at this point that Helloa refuses to skip steps in the initial configuration. We need to click the launch button for a given tool before we can proceed to the next option, even if we have run Helloa before. Helloa next provides a button to open network settings. Launching the networking tool causes the system to report it had to reboot for its changes to take effect and immediately shutdown in the middle of downloading new updates. Later I found that clicking almost anywhere in the Helloa window besides directly on a link would trigger a reboot with no option to cancel the action.
In short, so far I had experienced a lot of pop-ups, an unusually restrictive customization wizard, and accidentally triggered three reboots in the first ten minutes. I certainly felt like the Windows experience was being faithfully recreated.
Speaking of Windows-like features, pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del brings up the shutdown/restart dialog window. This window features a Help button which, when clicked, opens a web browser and displays the Linuxfx website. This is not helpful, but consistent with the other tools offering documentation.
Applications and settings
The Linuxfx distribution ships with some common open source applications mixed in with lesser used programs and some proprietary options. The Chrome and Firefox web browsers are included along with the Transmission bittorrent client. Spotify, Zoom, and TeamViewer are pre-installed as well.
The GNU Image Manipulation Program, Kodi, and Inkscape are present. Audacity and the Celluloid media player are featured too. I also found the Evolution e-mail client, a calendar application, and Notepad. The OnlyOffice suite is installed for us, though its launchers are labelled "Word", "Excel", and "PowerPoint". The Nemo file manager is present, though it has been themed to look like the Windows equivalent.
Linuxfx 10.6 -- The application menu
(full image size: 527kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
There is a launcher which installs Steam. AnyDesk is available along with Java and the GNU Compiler Collection. Digging further we find Linuxfx uses systemd for its init software and runs on version 5.4 of the Linux kernel.
The distribution's settings panel is set up to look almost exactly like the Windows settings panel. The layouts of most configuration tools are adjusted to look like their Windows equivalents too, like the account and network settings, system information, and update manager. We have the option of switching to the usual Cinnamon settings panel, though icons still have a Windows-like theme. The settings panel may have been what surprised (or impressed) me most when using Linuxfx. The attention to detail in making a settings panel so much like the one included in Windows 10 which launches Linux equivalent tools must have taken a lot of effort. Even the process monitor looks a lot like the Windows Task Manager, for better or worse.
Linuxfx 10.6 -- The settings panel and file manager
(full image size: 230kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
While poking around the interface I made a few other observations. For instance, the search bar works well enough. When we type words into the search bar in the panel it opens a web browser and performs the search through Google.
The desktop assistant does not do much, apart from the initial configuration options. However, it does have a file search option. I quite liked the speed and layout of the file search feature. I rarely search for files, as opposed to organizing them in a directory structure, but I did enjoy how Linuxfx set up its search functions which were straight forward to use.
Speaking of the assistant, another feature it provides is installing "Windows addons" which turn out to be WINE components, mostly, such as WINE Tricks. Bundling these as "Windows addons" feels a little deceptive, though perhaps there is a translation barrier at work in this case.
Hardware
I started out experimenting with Linuxfx in a VirtualBox environment. The distribution worked fairly well. My one serious issue was that Cinnamon was slow to respond in the virtual machine. This was somewhat helped by running Cinnamon in software rendering mode, though the desktop still lagged a bit. On a related topic, whenever I signed into my account in regular desktop mode a window would pop-up and offer to run the driver manager.
When I switched over to running Linuxfx on my laptop I found everything worked. My screen resolution was properly detected, sound worked, and wireless networking functioned without any problems.
Linuxfx 10.6 -- Exploring the settings panel and running OnlyOffice
(full image size: 143kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Linuxfx is heavier than its parent. Where Linux Mint used about 580MB of RAM and 8.5GB of disk space (including 1GB of storage used for swap), Linuxfx consumed 690MB of RAM and 13GB of disk space. As with its parent, 1GB of disk space is reserved for a swap file while the other 12GB is programs and associated dependencies. This makes Linuxfx one of the larger on-disk distributions I have used this year, and probably puts it in the top five for memory consumption.
Software management
The distribution uses Mint's software centre as its primary package manager. The software centre begins by presenting us with a list of featured items and categories we can browse. We can also search for packages by using keywords. When clicking on an application's entry we are shown a full page of information which includes a description of the software and a screenshot. To the right of the window is a button for installing (or removing) the software. When an application has been installed a second button appears that will launch the new application.
Linuxfx 10.6 -- The software centre
(full image size: 402kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The software centre worked well for me. It is quick, easy to navigate, and can handling installing or removing multiple items in the background while we continue to browse for more applications. Alternatively we can also use the APT command line tools to manage packages.
Since Linuxfx promotes its Windows compatibility, I tried hunting down Windows applications on-line and installing a few of them as though I were a regular Windows user who expected to download and run installers directly from a project's website. The results were mixed. For example, VLC downloaded and installed with no problems. It placed a launcher on the desktop and ran smoothly. On the other hand some programs failed to either install or run. For instance, the Slack messaging software required pulling in .NET packages which failed with a garbled error message.
In short, it is probably best to still try to use software from the software centre as much as possible. Some Windows programs can be installed, though their functionality is not guaranteed. WINE, the software that allows Linuxfx to run many Windows applications, is an amazing compatibility layer, but it is not perfect.
Trademarks and other concerns
A few people have asked me about Linuxfx and expressed concerns with how the project is able to function legally since it would appear the project uses trademarks, logos, program names, and wallpapers that looks to be either copied from (or heavily inspired by) Microsoft's flagship operating system. I have written about some of these concerns in another column, but I do want to acknowledge them here. Linuxfx, which appears to be rebranding itself as Windowsfx, uses a lot of names, layouts, and themes from Windows. This could be argued as being beneficial as it could make former Windows users feel more comfortable. There is something to be said for having a familiar environment for newcomers. Looking around Linuxfx's highly customized Cinnamon desktop, I have to admit, I could believe many less experienced users might not notice they were not running Windows when using this distribution.
However, there is a distinction to be made between offering a very similar, yet distinct, tool versus tricking people into believing they are using the genuine product. Some distributions, like Zorin OS and Q4OS, do a pretty good job of being Linux distributions that are clearly Linux-based projects while presenting users with a layout and theme that is designed to be comfortable for Windows users. These projects made it obvious they are not Windows, just Windows-like in appearance. Linuxfx has branding, uses terminology, and borrows logos which make it seem like the user is actually running Windows 10.
My issue with this is I'm not sure why all this effort is being made to make it seem like we are actually running Windows. Is it a goal of the project to see how close they can make a Linux distribution to Windows? Is it an attempt to trick the user? Perhaps it is to help users who are greatly adverse to change? Is it a test to see how far an open source project can push before being sued? I don't have an answer to this and I don't see one on the distribution's website, so I'm curious and a bit wary as to why the lines are being blurred between this operating system and Microsoft's.
I had a similar wary reaction when I noticed opening either of Linuxfx's default web browsers automatically opens a second tab which loads the distribution's information page on DistroWatch. Maybe this is done to provide more information on the distribution or maybe it is a failed attempt to boost Linuxfx's page hit ranking. (DistroWatch filters such attempts from its statistics.) Either way, I question the motives and the usefulness to the user of having this second tab open.
Conclusions
I suppose whether a person is going to like using Linuxfx or not will greatly depend on how they feel about running an operating system that looks and acts very much like Windows 10. The desktop theme, settings, virtual assistant, much of the application menu, included applications, and terminology is very much Windows-like. Linuxfx reflects both some of the nice elements of Windows and its drawbacks. The accidental reboots, prompts to check drivers, and pop-ups come to mind as being too much like Linuxfx's inspiration.
Legalities aside and ignoring whether Linuxfx is able to continue the way they are without falling victim to a lawsuit, let's just look at the short-term practicalities of using Linuxfx. The distribution is probably best suited for people who very much desire to maintain a Windows-like desktop while running Linux. Or, alternatively, want to set up friends/family members to use Linux while making the transition as minimal as possible.
In short, Linuxfx, though it has a solid base in Linux Mint, seems to have one focus - to be a Windows clone running on a GNU/Linux base. If that appeals, then this project probably makes sense to use, at least in the short term. Though if one is not interested in maintaining a Windows-like desktop then they could probably be equally well served using other desktop-focused Linux distributions such as Mint, or a project that offers a Windows-like layout without the trademark concerns, such as Zorin OS.
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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
Linuxfx has a visitor supplied average rating of: 6.2/10 from 53 review(s).
Have you used Linuxfx? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Ubuntu shipping on Lenovo PCs, openSUSE makes Jump more accessible to contributors, Haiku runs contest to gather new sounds, Debian updates install media
Arstechnica is reporting that Lenovo is now selling personal computers with Ubuntu pre-installed. The announcement comes shortly after the company began shipping Fedora bundled with a selection of their machines. "Beginning today, Lenovo is offering a greatly expanded selection of OEM Linux PCs to the general public. Earlier this year, Lenovo began offering Fedora Linux pre-installed on laptop systems including Thinkpad P1 Gen 2, Thinkpad P54, and Thinkpad X1 Gen 8. Today's announcement makes Ubuntu Linux available on a considerably broader swath of both desktop and laptop PCs." These machines were previously available to enterprise customers and are now available (with support options) to consumers.
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The openSUSE project is striving to make it easier for contributors to work on openSUSE's Jump edition. "'We have some exciting news to share about the openSUSE Jump effort!' Kocman wrote. 'We will have a Jira partner setup (coming) for openSUSE this week!' Access to Jira will allow openSUSE Leap contributors to see updates on community feature requests and be able to comment on requested information or allow them to request information. The process will be tested initially by one of the community members to see if it works properly. Kocman also informed the project of a new OBS feature that will allow openSUSE Leap contributors to submit code changes 'directly' against SUSE Linux Enterprise without having Submit Requests rejected unless they failed review." The openSUSE news post has further information. Additional details on the Jump edition can be found on the project's FAQ page.
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The Haiku team is running an unusual contest. The developers of Haiku would like to have people submit sounds that can be used as notifications and feedback by the Haiku desktop. Have you ever wanted to redefine what it sounds like when a window closes or an error is displayed? Haiku would like to hear from you: "It wouldn't be wrong to say that, Haiku is a unique operating system. It takes its roots from BeOS, the OS everyone envied back in the day. Haiku continues to follow its footsteps, trying to deliver that same experience. What could be better than complementing this unique operating system with a set of unique system sounds? As R1 steadily approaches, we are looking for contestants (amateur, professional, enthusiast) to produce system sound effects for Haiku." Details on the contest can be found on the project's website.
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The Debian project has published refreshed install media for Debian 10 "Buster". The new media includes bug fixes for packages released with Debian 10, but doesn't represent a new version of the distribution. "The Debian project is pleased to announce the sixth update of its stable distribution Debian 10 (codename Buster). This point release mainly adds corrections for security issues, along with a few adjustments for serious problems. Security advisories have already been published separately and are referenced where available. Please note that the point release does not constitute a new version of Debian 10 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away old buster media. After installation, packages can be upgraded to the current versions using an up-to-date Debian mirror."
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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) |
Legal concerns over cloning visual elements
Concerned-for-copy-cat asks: This week I looked at a Windows look-a-like called Linuxfx. This one is pretty close to Windows 10 from a visual point of view, closer than Ubuntu Kylin and Kali's undercover mode. Is this not flying too close to the sun? I was wondering at what point can Microsoft go "You're using our logos and mimicking our display, stop that," and shut said distro down legally. Can they do that? Do they want to do that, given how they're currently pretending they love Linux?
DistroWatch answers: From a historic point of view there is basis for concern when it comes to Microsoft taking a Linux distribution to court in multiple countries over trademark issues. Long-term Linux users may remember the famous Microsoft versus Lindows court cases in which Microsoft argued that "Lindows" was too close to their trademarked "Windows" name. The legal battle lasted for about three years and ended in Lindows changing its name to Linspire.
Microsoft has also threatened legal action in the past over patents which it claims Linux-based products, such as Android and enterprise Linux distributions, use. Might we see a repeat of such a legal scuffle?
In my opinion, I don't think Microsoft is likely to take most projects, like Zorin OS, to court. There are a few reasons for my view on this situation. One of them is that Lindows was a commercial product and its sale arguably competed with Microsoft in the market of operating systems. There was a financial incentive for the company to legally protect its trademarks. Zorin OS, at least the community editions of Zorin OS, can be downloaded free of charge. They may look similar and may provide WINE software, but there isn't much financial motivation for Microsoft to challenge the projects. Linuxfx, which is now a commercial offering, does look much more like a possible target for legal action.
The second reason for my idea that Microsoft is likely to "sit this one out", at least where most look-alike distributions are concerned, is that, as the question asker pointed out, Microsoft has learned to co-exist with Linux distributions. Back in 2001, when the Lindows case was raging, Microsoft was still referring to Linux as a cancer and was battling to maintain their desktop dominance. These days Microsoft has learned to profit from Linux. Microsoft's royalties from Android outpaced its income from Windows phones, most (60%) of Azure virtual machines run Linux distributions, Microsoft has added the ability to install and run popular Linux distributions in a compatibility layer on the Windows desktop. In other words, Microsoft makes more money these days from working with Linux developers and projects than from fighting them. It's not that Microsoft "loves" Linux (companies don't love or hate), but Linux is a financial source for the company and they are not likely to do anything to disrupt that cash flow.
Third, Q4OS, Zorin OS, and other projects that mimic the look of Windows and macOS hold a relatively small market share. Microsoft (or Apple) would spend a lot more money challenging these distributions than they could hope to make from a court battle. A few developers working on a free product in their spare time are not going to be a threat to Microsoft's market share and suing them won't yield profits. It does not make much sense for either commercial company to send out the lawyers without hope of a profit. Large companies may sue to protect their trademarks, forcing a project to change their name or logo, but they're unlikely to try to go to the effort to wipe out a Linux distribution.
Getting back to the original questions... Can Microsoft sue Linuxfx (or a similar project) over trademark issues? Yes, they can. Just about anyone (or any company) can launch a lawsuit for almost any reason. In this situation, where Linuxfx is a commercial distribution that appears to infringe on trademarked material, Microsoft would probably have a good chance of winning the suit or forcing a settlement. However, is there enough motivation for such a lawsuit in this scenario? Small Linux distributions offer almost no threat in the marketplace, no financial competition, and there is unlikely to be any profit in it. One of the few arguments for bringing a lawsuit would be to protect Microsoft's trademark rights.
Where projects risk legal action is usually when they, as the original question put it, fly too close to the sun. That is what came to mind when I saw Linuxfx's name change. I have noticed that recently the project has rebranded itself Windowsfx in some areas. The project not only copies the desktop layout and icons of Microsoft's product, they also use the same logos, a similar product name, and related trademarked images. At this point the project seems to be actively trying to confuse people on the distinction between their Linux distribution and Microsoft's product. It wouldn't surprise me if the distribution receives, if they have not already, a cease and desist message from Microsoft's legal department. Other projects however, like Zorin OS and Q4OS, seem to be able to walk the line between offering a Windows-friendly environment (with a familiar look and layout) without producing a platform that flies too close to the sun.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
UBports 16.04 OTA-13
The UBports team have announced the launch of Ubuntu Touch 16.04 OTA-13, the latest version of the project's mobile operating system. The new release includes support for six new devices, including the OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, and four editions of the Sony Xperia. QtWebEngine has been updated too which offers better web browser performance. "QtWebEngine 5.14 is here. The system QtWebEngine has now been updated to version 5.14.2 from 5.11. This brings a newer version of Chromium to our included Morph Browser and all webapps. The browser is now 25% faster across all devices in the JetStream2 JavaScript and WebAssembly benchmarks, demonstrating much faster webapp performance. You are no longer limited to selecting a single word, or an entire line, or an entire paragraph of text to copy! Now you can use the touch handles provided to pick only the text you want. It is now possible to open downloaded PDFs, MP3s, pictures, and text files in the browser via the 'Open' button in the top-right corner of the 'Open with' page. This UI will improve with future releases." Further information can be found in the release announcement.
Puppy Linux 9.5
Philip Broughton has announced the release of Puppy Linux 9.5, a major new update of the project's lightweight distribution with JWM as the default window manager. This is the first Puppy based on the Ubuntu 20.04 "Focal Fossa": "The Puppy Linux team is proud to release Puppy Linux 9.5, also known as 'Fossapup64', version 9.5. This is the fourth official release of an Ubuntu-based 64-bit Puppy. Fossapup64 Puppy, is built from Ubuntu 'Focal Fossa' DEB (64 bit) packages, hence it has binary compatibility with Ubuntu and access to the Ubuntu 'Focal Fossa' repositories. Puppy Linux is small, runs in RAM, is lightning fast, very versatile and good fun. Has everything a novice will need while giving full control to the experienced user. Features include: Linux kernel 5.4.53; modular build means you can swap out the kernel, applications and firmware in seconds; a minimal barebones Puppy available by removing a single file and rebooting; Joe's Window Manager (JWM); Rox-Filer; Hexchat; Palemoon browser...." Please see the release announcement and release notes for further information.
Puppy Linux 9.5 -- Puppy's welcome screen and menu
(full image size: 2.0MB, resolution: 1920x1200 pixels)
Univention Corporate Server 4.4-6
Univention Corporate Server (UCS) is an enterprise-class distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. The distribution's latest release is Univention Corporate Server 4.4-6 which improves upon existing features. "We have released the sixth point release: UCS 4.4-6 contains bug fixes, security updates and improvements as well as new features. For example, our developers have enhanced the Self Service, the App Center and the UCS Portal. In this article I would like to offer a look behind the scenes and present the most important new features. UCS Self Service: New Features for the App. View of the account creation interface of the UCS app (version 4.4-6) Creating an account has become even easier than before with the new UCS version. A great advantage of Univention Corporate Server is that users can use their credentials to log into completely different computers and also have access to all services in the UCS domain. With the initial 4.4 release, we introduced the new app Self Service, which allows users to make changes to their personal data - they don't need admin rights for that. This includes changing and resetting the password as well as editing the contact information. The new UCS version 4.4-6 lets administrators customize the texts which users see in the corresponding dialog boxes." Additional information is in the distribution's release announcement (English, German).
EndeavourOS 2020.09.20
An updated build of EndeavourOS, a rolling-release distribution based on Arch Linux and featuring the Xfce desktop, is now ready for download. Besides updated kernel and packages, version 2020.09.20 also brings an improved Welcome app: "We're proud to present to you our latest release. The ISO image contains Linux kernel 5.8.10, MESA 20.1.8, Firefox 80.0.1, Calamares 3.2.26. The Welcome app has received major updates: received Chinese translations; new button to change display resolutions - this function is only available in the Live environment, especially for virtual machine installs; the button Update mirrors now ships with a check if reflector-simple is installed; two link buttons that each brings the user to the Arch repository page or the AUR page to browse for packages; an Arch Linux ARM button link; buttons that add our DE-specific wallpaper by default, so no more pop-ups that ask for permission any more; a new button to select one of our wallpapers...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further information.
EndeavourOS 2020.09.20 -- The welcome screen offering help setting up the distribution
(full image size: 641kB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
KaOS 2020.09
KaOS is a rolling desktop distribution which focuses on providing a polished KDE Plasma desktop with Qt-based applications. The project has published a new snapshot, KaOS 2020.09, which provides many package updates. "With almost 60% of the packages updated since the last ISO and the last release being over two months old, a new ISO is more than due. News for KDE Applications 20.08 included Dolphin adding thumbnails for 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) files, you can also see previews of files and folders on encrypted file systems such as Plasma Vaults now remembers and restores the location you were viewing, as well as the open tabs, and split views you had open when you last closed it.Yakuake now lets you configure all the keyboard shortcuts that come from Konsole and there is a new system tray item that shows you when Yakuake is running. Elisa now lets you display all genres, artists, or albums in the sidebar, below other items. As always with this rolling distribution, you will find the very latest packages for the Plasma Desktop, this includes Frameworks 5.74.0, Plasma 5.19.5 and KDE Applications 20.08.1. All built on Qt 5.15.1." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement.
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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: 2,157
- Total data uploaded: 33.9TB
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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) |
Would you install Linuxfx for friends or family?
Our review of Linuxfx this week touched on some of the project's features and efforts to resemble Microsoft Windows. The distribution further tries to provide binary compatibility through WINE in an effort to provide new Linux users with a familiar environment. What do you think of Linuxfx, would you install it for friends and family migrating from Windows? Or would you suggest they start with another Linux distribution?
You can see the results of our previous poll on how you downloaded your latest distribution ISO file in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Would you install Linuxfx for friends/family?
| I would install Linuxfx: | 185 (11%) |
| I would recommend another distro: | 1292 (77%) |
| Unsure at this time: | 194 (12%) |
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|
| Website News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Quark. Quark is an Ubuntu-based distribution featuring utilities from Q4OS. The distribution offers both KDE Plasma and Trinity desktop environments.
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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, 5 October 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 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 |
| • Issue 993 (2022-11-07): Static Linux, working with just a kernel, Mint streamlines Flatpak management, updates coming to elementary OS |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
4MLinux
4MLinux is a miniature Linux distribution focusing on four capabilities: maintenance (as a system rescue live CD), multimedia (for playing video DVDs and other multimedia files), miniserver (using the inetd daemon), and mystery (providing several small Linux games). The distribution includes support for booting on UEFI-enabled machines.
Status: Active
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TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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