 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 895, 7 December 2020 |
Welcome to this year's 49th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The way we interact with computers is one of the most important aspects of an operating system's design. This is why there are so many different shells, desktop environments, themes, and interface extensions: everyone wants to be able to set up their computer so it interacts with them in a way which feels natural. It is a very personal experience and one which is important to get right since people often interact with their computers for multiple hours each day. This week we explore several projects which strive to make our computing experiences feel more natural. In our Questions and Answers column we discuss digital assistants and how to get involved in improving them. Do you use a digital assistant, either on your desktop computer or phone? Let us know about it in our Opinion Poll. First though we talk about Pop!_OS, an Ubuntu-based distribution with a streamlined desktop and focus on better performance. We also talk about FuguIta, a live desktop system running on top of OpenBSD that makes trying out OpenBSD more accessible. This week's Feature Story has the details on both of these projects. Plus we talk about elementary OS introducing multi-touch gestures to make navigating the desktop feel more natural. The elementary OS team is also testing their distribution on the Raspberry Pi computer and we talk about that below. Our News section also reports on Fedora splitting Xwayland into its own package and FreeBSD introducing support for WireGuard. Plus we report on RancherOS being bought by SUSE. We then talk about last week's distribution releases and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a terrific week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Pop!_OS 20.10 and FuguIta 6.8
- News: Fedora considers separate Xwayland package, FreeBSD introduces WireGuard support, RancherOS purchased by SUSE, elementary OS to get multi-touch gestures and Raspberry Pi build, Debian publishes updated Buster media
- Questions and answers: Using a Raspberry Pi to get started with a virtual assistant
- Released last week: GhostBSD 20.11.28, BlackArch 2020.12.01, Manjaro 20.2
- Torrent corner: Arch Linux, AV Linux, BlackArch, Debian, EasyOS, GhostBSD, Manjaro, Raspberry Pi OS, RebornOS, SparkyLinux, T2, Univention
- Opinion poll: Do you use a digital assistant?
- DistroWatch site news: Comparing a package version across all active distributions
- New distributions: oasis, Diamond Linux-TT, Fenix OS
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (24MB) and MP3 (17MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Pop!_OS 20.10
During the third week of October, immediately following the release of Ubuntu 20.10, I found myself downloading and testing, not only Canonical's flagship distribution, but also the various community editions of Ubuntu. One thing which kept drawing my attention, as I tested software and took screenshots, was that most of the community editions ran faster, smoother, and required less memory than Ubuntu's Desktop edition. Ubuntu MATE and Lubuntu in particular offered great performance, nice themes, and some friendly tools. At the time I was tempted to do a side-by-side comparison with Ubuntu 20.10 and one of its snappier community editions, but I was pressed for time and I wasn't sure any one-on-one comparison would be entirely fair since Ubuntu uses the comparatively heavy GNOME Shell desktop while most community editions use lighter desktops.
Later on though I thinking about Ubuntu again and realized there was an opportunity to do a fair comparison with one of its close relatives, Pop!_OS. The Pop!_OS distribution (or "Pop" as I will refer to it in this review) is based on Ubuntu, uses most of the same software, and ships with the same GNOME 3.38 desktop environment. The differences are almost entirely in the configurations of the two distributions - which extensions are enabled, the front-end applications for managing software, themes, and installers. The underlying nuts and bolts are the same and I believed this would make for a fair and straight forward comparison.
Pop!_OS does not list many changes on its website for version 20.10. It includes the ability to stack windows and to mark exceptions to make some windows free-floating. This provides users with a sort of hybrid tiling and free-floating window manager. The release announcement also mentions there is no need to reboot into NVIDIA graphics mode when in Hybrid Graphics mode if we wish to use an external monitor. Otherwise it does not look a though much has changed since we reviewed the distribution six months ago. In an attempt to keep this overview of Pop brief I will be focusing mostly on the differences between Ubuntu 20.10 and Pop!_OS 20.10 with the assumption most components and options will be the same.
Pop is unusual in that it ships with two 64-bit (x86_64) builds. One is for computers with Intel & AMD video drivers while a second download is supplied for people running NVIDIA video cards. The downloads are about 2.2GB in size.
Installing
Pop appears to skip the self-verification check Ubuntu and its community editions perform when booting from the live media. Once Pop boots it presents us with the GNOME desktop with Pop!_OS branded wallpaper. It then immediately launches Pop's custom system installer. The installer asks us to select our language from a list, our country, and our keyboard layout.
Pop!_OS 20.10 -- Adjusting the background using the GNOME Settings panel
(full image size: 1.2MB, resolution: 1360x768 pixels)
At this point we can either close the installer to use the live desktop or continue with disk partitioning. Guided partitioning, which sets up an ext4 partition, and friendly manual partitioning options are available. We also have the option of encrypting the hard drive and protecting the encryption with a password. The installer then copies its files to the hard drive and offers to restart the computer.
There are still some remaining configuration options to go through. The first time my fresh copy of Pop booted it brought up a first-run wizard. This wizard asks if we would like to add alternative keyboard layouts, enable location services, and we are asked to confirm our time zone by selecting it on a map of the world. The next page offers to link our local account to on-line services. Pop supports about twice as many on-line accounts as Ubuntu with options including Google, Nextcloud, Facebook, Microsoft, Flickr, Foursquare, Microsoft Exchange, IMAP e-mail, and Kerberos. Finally we are asked to make up a username and password for ourselves.
Early impressions
While Pop and Ubuntu both use GNOME 3.38 as the default desktop the theme and layouts are a bit different. Where Ubuntu features a lot of purple and orange, Pop sticks to mostly blue and black for its theme. The other noticeable difference is Ubuntu places a dock down the left side of the screen that provides quick-launch buttons and acts as a task switcher. Pop does not display this dock on the desktop directly. However, if we open the Activities screen then Pop's dock is displayed to the left. This essentially means Pop's desktop looks cleaner, though accessing the dock or application menu on Pop takes one extra step.
Pop!_OS 20.10 -- The Activities screen and application menu
(full image size: 1.0MB, resolution: 1360x768 pixels)
Another difference I noticed early on is that Ubuntu offers both Wayland and X.Org session options for GNOME with X.Org being the default. Pop simply supplies the X.Org session and there is no Wayland session option.
When new software updates are available Pop displays a notification at the top of the screen. Clicking this notification opens the Pop!_Shop software centre which can handle package upgrades. In comparison, Ubuntu automatically opens a minimal update manager which offers to download new packages.
Pop!_OS 20.10 -- Checking recent notifications
(full image size: 824kB, resolution: 1360x768 pixels)
Software management
On the subject of managing software packages, the Pop!_Shop software centre handles all elements of package management. The application has two tabs. The first, called the Home tab, displays a list of software categories. Unlike Ubuntu's software centre, Pop's categories mostly match common application menu categories (such as Internet and Office), making it easier to find items.
When we click on an application's entry in the Pop!_Shop we are shown a description and screenshots of the software. The software centre clearly indicates the source repository for the application, letting us know whether the package we are viewing is a portable Flatpak or classic Deb package. Ubuntu's software manager does this too, but the information is hidden further down in the description rather than in bold lettering at the top of the page.
Pop!_OS 20.10 -- The Pop!_Shop software centre
(full image size: 212kB, resolution: 1360x768 pixels)
Pop!_Shop seamlessly handles Flatpak and Deb packages and automatically provides access to the Flathub repository for portable packages. Snap support is not included, but can be installed through Ubuntu's repositories. Sometimes the software centre was a bit slow to respond while it was downloading new software, but always finished its tasks successfully.
Hardware
When I started out testing Pop in a VirtualBox environment the distribution performed well. The GNOME desktop automatically resized with the VirtualBox window and the interface was responsive. In fact, it was much more responsive than Ubuntu had been. When I switched over to running Pop on physical hardware I found the distribution lacked the annoying, network-related pop-ups I experienced with Ubuntu.
The GNOME desktop was more responsive on physical hardware too. All of my hardware was detected and the system ran smoothly. Pop uses a little more disk space for a fresh install than Ubuntu, 5.8GB compared to Ubuntu's 4GB. However, Pop used less memory, about 600MB next to Ubuntu's 780MB, when both distributions were running on the ext4 filesystem.
Speaking of filesystems, as far as I can tell there is no way to set up Pop on a ZFS volume, a feature I appreciated with Ubuntu.
Applications
Pop ships with mostly the same applications as Ubuntu. The Firefox web browser, LibreOffice, a calendar, contacts manager, and the GNOME Files applications are installed. There is a weather application, image viewer, document viewer, and the GNOME Settings panel are all included.
As Ubuntu does, Pop ships with the Videos (formerly Totem) video player. However, Pop does not include video codecs. When I tried to play videos a window would open and offer to download the necessary codec packages. However, once I had accepted this action and supplied my password, nothing happened. The codecs were not installed and re-opening Totem to play a video would just bring up the prompt to install codecs again. I got around this limitation by simply installing another video player, VLC in this case. On a related note, I found it odd the Totem player is placed under the Utilities group in the application menu, a spot mostly reserved for small utilities and system administration tools.
Unlike Ubuntu, Pop ships with the GNU Compiler Collection (version 10) installed. Like its close relative, Pop includes the GNOME Help application and uses systemd for init and service management. Both distributions ship with version 5.8 of the Linux kernel.
Conclusions
A few additional differences stood out during my trial with Pop. The LibreOffice window resize bug I mentioned encountering on Ubuntu does not occur on Pop. I also found Pop places more focus on using keyboard shortcuts to manipulate application windows. In fact, it is relatively easy to use Pop without a mouse a lot of the time. In comparison I found Ubuntu tended to rely more on the mouse for common window management.
One final piece I noticed which stood out was Pop does not offer to connect us with Active Directory domains at install-time.
The big difference though during my trial was that Pop!_OS does everything noticeably faster than Ubuntu, even when run on the same hardware with the same filesystem. The two are not even close in performance when opening programs, moving windows around the desktop, opening menus, dragging icons around. Pop consistently ran circles around Ubuntu despite both distributions running the GNOME 3.38 desktop.
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FuguIta 6.8
Another project which interests me and I wanted to take a quick look at this week was FuguIta. FuguIta is a live operating system designed to be run from a DVD or USB thumb drive in order to test or rescue systems. The operating system ships with an optional graphical user interface. The FuguIta project is unusual in that it uses OpenBSD as its base. OpenBSD is commonly used in areas where lightweight computing and security are the primary focus and it is not often we see live utilities or platforms with graphical interfaces based on this hardened operating system.
FuguIta is available in 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x86_64) builds. The project provides separate downloads for optical media and USB thumb drives. I downloaded the 64-bit build for both targets. The images are compressed and about 310MB in size when initially downloaded. Once the builds are unpacked they expand to around 960MB.
Setting up
Booting from the FuguIta media brings up a text console. The system lists available storage devices attached to the computer and asks us to confirm which one holds the FuguIta operating system. We are then asked some configuration questions such as what size we want to make the temporary filesystem and what is our keyboard's layout. The operating system can boot in a number of modes, including normal, read-only /usr, and running entirely from RAM. We can pick which one we want to use from a list.
We are then asked to make up a root password for the system and it must be a complex password or FuguIta will not boot. We are also asked to make up a hostname, select IPv4 or IPv6 networking (or a hybrid of both), and choose which networking device to use. We then go through manual or dynamic networking choices and are asked if we want to run FuguIta from a text console or graphical environment. With these steps completed we are presented with a login screen (text or graphical, based on our last choice).
Early impressions
I mostly used FuguIta in a graphical environment. Which meant that once I signed in through the login screen I was presented with the minimal fvwm interface. This lightweight window manager presents us with a virtual terminal, a widget to switch workspaces, and that is about it. We can click on the desktop to launch a small number of applications or exit the session.
The operating system, when running fvwm, uses about 90MB of active RAM and 580MB total RAM. Not a lot is running on the system, about 40 processes hum away in the background. Two of these are an OpenSSH remote login service and a mail server. The former blocks root logins, preventing people from accessing the system unless we create new user accounts for them.
By default there are not many tools installed on the FuguIta media. Should we wish to add software to the live session we can run the pkg_add command line package manager. It is already configured to connect to an OpenBSD package mirror and will pull in new software and required dependencies for us.
FuguIta 6.8 -- Installing new packages
(full image size: 20kB, resolution: 1024x768 pixels)
Final thoughts
I don't have a lot to say about FuguIta. It is exactly what it advertises itself to be: live media using OpenBSD as a base. It looks and feels almost exactly like a fresh install of OpenBSD with the graphical packages enabled. This provides a very minimal, though also very light, live environment. It doesn't do much for us, apart from test OpenBSD's hardware compatibility, however additional software can be added to the live environment. I imagine this would be a good tool for rescuing, cloning, or investigating existing OpenBSD systems.
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Visitor supplied rating
Pop!_OS has a visitor supplied average rating of: 7.9/10 from 217 review(s).
Have you used Pop!_OS? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Fedora considers separate Xwayland package, FreeBSD introduces WireGuard support, RancherOS purchased by SUSE, elementary OS to get multi-touch gestures and Raspberry Pi build
Ben Cotton has shared a proposal for a change to the upcoming release of Fedora 34. The change, if it goes ahead, would decouple the Xwayland software from the rest of the X.Org software, allowing Xwayland to be upgraded independently from the rest of the display server. This will allow Fedora developers to import new features available in Xwayland without waiting for new X.Org releases. "Xwayland from upstream current code has interesting features missing from the stable branch, some are backported manually in the current Fedora package, but some others aren't. There are also existing COPRs trying to backport those features, but that can introduce bugs. Using the code from upstream would avoid the appeal or even the need for such backports." An overview of this proposed change and its benefits can be found in Cotton's mailing list post.
* * * * *
A small, yet significant, change has been introduced into the FreeBSD source code. The new code commit introduces WireGuard into the operating system. Much of the work follows the WireGuard implementation of OpenBSD. "Import kernel WireGuard support. Data path largely shared with the OpenBSD implementation by Matt Dunwoodie." The code and commit message have been posted to the FreeBSD code repository.
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The RancherOS community has been notified that Rancher has been acquired by SUSE. Though details on the deal and what this will mean for RancherOS users were vague ("Members of the new community will unleash the resilience, quality, agility and velocity that cloud native promises.") It seems there will be a focus on providing and managing Kubernetes-based solutions. "The new combined SUSE and Rancher Community will bring together developers, operators and DevOps teams to learn how to deploy and manage Kubernetes everywhere, apply cloud native principles and methodologies, and experiment with new ideas and technology."
* * * * *
The elementary OS team has announced that version 6 of their operating system will include support for multi-touch gestures. "One of the most hotly requested features for years has been to have multi-touch gestures in elementary OS, and with 6.0 I'm excited to say that we will deliver. Like the dark style preference, delivering a great multi-touch experience is a little more complicated than it seems on the surface. There have been some 3rd party tools to detect touchpad gestures and then trigger actions after-the-fact, but it wasn't until recently that we've had the technical ability to provide smooth, responsive animations that track 1:1 with your finger movement across a touchpad or touch screen." The new gestures will allow users to use multiple-finger gestures to navigate the desktop and perform such actions as switching workspaces and maximize windows. Details and examples of how these gestures will work are covered in the project's blog post.
The elementary OS distribution is being tested on Raspberry Pi single board computers. The desktop operating system runs on the latest Raspberry Pi computers and is currently available through the distribution's Early Access program. "We recommend Raspberry Pi 4 or Raspberry Pi 400 with 4GB RAM at a minimum - but the more, the better. (We don't even recommend less than 8GB for computers with much faster CPUs, graphics, and storage.) Older models of Raspberry Pi (like the original, Raspberry Pi Zero, Raspberry Pi 2 series, and Raspberry Pi 3 series) are not supported; elementary OS requires the faster processor, additional RAM, and 64-bit architecture of the Raspberry Pi 4 series." Further details can be found on the project's blog.
* * * * *
The Debian project has published new install media for Debian 10 "Buster". The new media does not represent a new version of the distribution, but does provide updated packages to make post-install updates easier to manage. "The Debian project is pleased to announce the seventh 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." The new media carries the version number 10.7.
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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) |
Using a Raspberry Pi to get started with a virtual assistant
Sharing-Pi-with-my-assistant asks: I'm interested in getting started with AI, more specifically, digital assistants for Linux. I just purchased a Raspberry Pi 4B and need some help getting started in this field. Can you point me in the right direction?
DistroWatch answers: To get started with running software on the Raspberry Pi in general my suggestion is to visit a Raspberry Pi forum, like the official users forum or this Reddit group.
Both sites are full of people who can get you started with Pi projects and there are all sorts of links and conversations in both locations which can help you find information on running software on (and programming on) the Pi.
To get into developing a virtual assistant on any platform, including the Raspberry Pi, I'd suggest heading over to the Mycroft AI website. Mycroft is a digital assistant with a focus on running on Raspberry Pi computers. There are also forums and Reddit groups dedicated to talking about both using and improving Mycroft.
* * * * *
Wanting-more-Pi asks: Do you do any cool projects with a Raspberry Pi? Any tips for someone looking for a project?
DistroWatch answers: I do own a Raspberry Pi (version 2). I have experimented a little with it, but I mostly use it for just two things: running a backup server and testing new Pi-focused operating systems. The Pi makes for a great backup system or lightweight NAS if you attach an external hard drive to it. I recommend getting a drive with its own power source as the early Pi computers had trouble powering external devices.
As for suggestions for someone starting a project, apart from the digital assistant idea talked about above, my suggestion is to identify a problem you have and work toward fixing it. Necessity is the mother of invention. There must be something you need done - a backup server, a way to stream music through the house, a script that lets you know when your computer goes off-line, a minimal platform to test websites, a cool alarm clock that quotes Spock every morning, a service that monitors news sites for any reference to your home town? Start with anything you might find useful and start working on it.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
GhostBSD 20.11.28
Eric Turgeon has announced the release of GhostBSD, the latest stable build of the project's desktop operating system based on the development branch of FreeBSD and featuring the MATE desktop: "I am happy to announce the availability of GhostBSD 20.11.28. This release comes with a new live system that leverages ZFS, compression and replication first introduced in FuryBSD by Joe Maloney. The 20.11.28 release contains numerous improvements, including OS fixes for Linuxulator to improve Linux Steam performance, an updated kernel and GhostBSD userland updates. Userland updates include a MATE desktop upgrade to version 1.24.1, Software Station performance improvements and numerous application updates. Issue and feature completed: asks for Restart no matter what the update; update manager hangs when running twice; build.sh can't find ghostbsd-common-settings; xdg-user-dirs-update push in ISO bad locale...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further information and upgrade instructions.
BlackArch 2020.12.01
BlackArch Linux is an Arch Linux-based distribution designed for penetration testers and security researchers. The project has published a new snapshot, version 2020.12.01, which includes many new tools and updated packages. The project's blog post states: "Today we released the new BlackArch Linux ISOs and OVA image. Many improvements and QA went through all packages and tools BlackArch Linux offers! For details see the ChangeLog below. Here's the ChangeLog: added more than 100 new tools; renamed 'Live ISO' to 'Full ISO'; updated blackarch-installer to v1.2.16; included Linux kernel 5.9.11; adapted ISO creation to the new archiso version (work in progress);removed unnecessary files from the ISO env; QAed and fixed a lot of packages (runtime exec, missing dependencies, etc.); updated all vim plugins and improved vim config options; updated all BlackArch tools and packages including config files; updated all system packages; updated all window manager menus (Awesome, Fluxbox, Openbox)."
Univention Corporate Server 4.4-7
Univention Corporate Server is an enterprise-class distribution based on Debian. It features an integrated management system for central administration of servers. The distribution's latest release is Univention Corporate Server 4.4-7 which improves single sign-on security and introduces a customizable cookie banner for administrators working within the European Union. "The new UCS version 4.4-7 also supports this feature when a user is logged in via SAML using single sign-on (SSO). While we were at it, we added some extra security - after all, SSO is a central service that allows access to all authorized programs and services. Users with an expired password who enter an incorrect password in the password change dialog used to receive a corresponding message. This allowed unauthorized persons to find out whether a password for a particular account had expired. With UCS 4.4-7, this is no longer possible. In addition, certain files created by the listener on the server now receive correct file permissions. This way they're available for the SAML service, but not for other users. Cookie Banner for the UCS Portal - cookies may only be stored on users' computers if they have explicitly agreed to it." Further details can be found in the release announcement.
Univention Corporate Server 4.4-7 -- The Univention admin panel
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NethServer 7.9
NethServer is a CentOS-based Linux distribution for servers. The project's latest release is NethServer 7.9 which replaces its original user interface with Cockpit, introduces a new panel to sync e-mail over IMAP, and brings the distribution up to date with its CentOS base. "Release highlights Many new features were added since the last NethServer ISO was released, they are all available within NethServer 7.9 based. Let's see the most important improvements. NethGUI is dead. Welcome Cockpit: The old Server Manager (namely NethGUI) is not available by default on new installations. To configure the system access the new Server Manager on port 9090 . Old Server Manager can be still installed from Software Center. Web applications are still on port 980: CGP (Collectd Graph Panel), EveBox, Rspamd UI, Lightsquid and Ntopng are still available on HTTPS port 980, even if the old Server Manager has not been installed. Security improvements: On new installations, SSH weak ciphers are now disabled by default. Default TLS policy is 2020-05-10 . TLS 1.1, TLS 1.0, SSL v3, and SSL v2 are disabled." Additional information is available in the project's release announcement and in the release notes.
Manjaro Linux 20.2
Philip Müller has announced the release of Manjaro Linux 20.2, the latest update of the project's rolling-release distribution with a choice of Xfce, KDE Plasma and GNOME desktops: "We are happy to announce our latest release of Manjaro we call 'Nibia'. The GNOME edition is the epicenter of new exciting features. It received a major overhaul, possibly the biggest update thus far. GNOME 3.38 provides performance enhancements, significantly improved application grid, parental controls, excellent welcome tour as well as many other features. The new OEM style installation makes the installation process extremely simple, and Gnome-Initial-Setup lets you easily install Manjaro for other people. Manjaro's Application-Utility got also many improvements, letting easily choose your favorite browsers, office suites and password managers. We also included two excellent forms of automatic window tiling." Here is the full release announcement as published on the project's user forum.
Manjaro Linux 20.2 -- Running the Xfce desktop
(full image size: 2.1MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
Raspberry Pi OS 2020-12-02
Simon Long has announced the availability of a new version of Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based distribution for Raspberry Pi computers. The latest version includes an updated Chromium web browser, a graphical front-end for configuring printers, and the PulseAudio audio control software. "We've updated the Chromium browser to version 84. This has taken us a bit longer than we would have liked, but it's always quite a lot of work to get our video hardware acceleration integrated with new releases of the browser. That's done now, so you should see good-quality video playback on sites like YouTube. We've also, given events this year, done a lot of testing and tweaking on video conferencing clients such as Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom, and they should all now work smoothly on your Raspberry Pi's Chromium." The release announcement has additional information.
T2 SDE 20.10
René Rebe has announced the release of T2 SDE 20.10, a new stable version of the project's distribution build kit (originally forked from ROCK Linux) designed for advanced Linux users who wish to build custom Linux distributions. This version arrives after ten years of development: "After a decade of development, we are proud to announce the availability of the new T2 Linux Source and Embedded Linux distribution build kit stable release, version 20.10. The 20.10 release has received updates across the board, while a major working target was adding new architecture support for arm64, and RISCV as well as further improving cross compilation - all official ISO images are now fully cross-built. Over 13,800 Subversion revisions indicate the magnitude of the release, with over 1,000 new packages, new features and various other improvements and fixes, including the latest Linux kernel, GCC, LLVM, Clang, Rust, X.Org, Wayland, Firefox, KDE, GNOME and everything in between." Here is the complete release announcement as published on the project's mailing list.
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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: 2,254
- Total data uploaded: 35.1TB
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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 use a digital assistant?
Digital assistants became largely popular thanks to products such as Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. These days there are many more interfaces which will try to parse natural text or speech in order to perform tasks and look up information. There have been efforts to create open source digital assistants too, such as Mycroft. We would like to know if you use digital assistants and, if so, where? Let us know which digital assistants you use, if any, in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on whether free software covers all of your needs in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Digital assistants
| I have a digital phone assistant (OK Google/Siri): | 216 (12%) |
| I have a dedicated digital assistant (Alexa/Nest): | 70 (4%) |
| I have a PC digital assistant (Mycroft/Cortana): | 14 (1%) |
| I have a combination of the above: | 86 (5%) |
| I have none of the above: | 1357 (78%) |
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| Website News |
Comparing a package version across all active distributions
One feature we have been asked to implement for a while now is the ability
to see the versions of a specific package across all tracked distributions. This would allow visitors to compare, at a glance, which distributions have a recent version of the Linux kernel, the Qt library, or the GNOME desktop.
Up to this point we have offered a number of approaches to finding out which distributions have a given version of a package. Our Search page provides a way to see all projects which contain a selected package. We also have a page that allows all the tracked packages from two different distributions to be compared side-by-side.
We have now added a third page which provides a listing of all active distributions with the version of a specified package next to each one. This allows people to browse through the database of projects and compare a single package across all distributions. We hope you find it useful.
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New distributions added to waiting list
- oasis. oasis is a statically linked Linux distribution with minimal tool set and no package manager. It uses the velox display server and BearSSL crypto library.
- Diamond Linux-TT. Diamond Linux-TT is a Debian-based desktop distribution featuring the KDE Plasma desktop. It is designed to provide a familiar interface for former Windows users.
- Fenix OS. Fenix OS is an Ubuntu-based distribution which runs on Raspberry Pi and x86_64 personal computers. It is designed to resemble proprietary operating systems such as Windows and macOS.
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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, 14 December 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 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 |
| • Issue 992 (2022-10-31): Lubuntu 22.10, setting permissions on home directories, Linux may drop i486, Fedora delays next version for OpenSSL bug |
| • Issue 991 (2022-10-24): XeroLinux 2022.09, learning who ran sudo, exploring firewall tools, Rolling Rhino Remix gets a fresh start, Fedora plans to revamp live media |
| • Issue 990 (2022-10-17): ravynOS 0.4.0, Lion Linux 3.0, accessing low numbered network ports, Pop!_OS makes progress on COSMIC, Murena launches new phone |
| • Issue 989 (2022-10-10): Ubuntu Unity, kernel bug causes issues with Intel cards, Canonical offers free Ubuntu Pro subscriptions, customizing the command line prompt |
| • Issue 988 (2022-10-03): SpiralLinux 11.220628, finding distros for older equipment and other purposes, SUSE begins releasing ALP prototypes, Debian votes on non-free firmware in installer |
| • Issue 987 (2022-09-26): openSUSE's MicroOS, converting people to using Linux, pfSense updates base system and PHP, Python 2 dropped from Arch |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Linux Loco
Linux Loco was an Argentinian GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. Its objective was to offer a simple installation, an up to date desktop, and a secure base. However, the most ambitious objective of Loco Linux was to create consciousness about Free Software in Argentina, and generate a framework for the development of Free Software in public and private environments. Linux Loco was based on Progeny Componentized Linux and shares some components with gnuLinEx.
Status: Discontinued
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