 DistroWatch Weekly |
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 1, value: US$3.45) |
|
|
|
 bc1qtede6f7adcce4kjpgx0e5j68wwgtdxrek2qvc4  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Linux Foundation Training |
|
| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Text installer (by Charlie on 2021-05-03 01:53:34 GMT from Hong Kong)
Text installers seem more and more irrelevant nowadays, people prefer either GUI installer or no installer. That being said, text installer is really an efficient tool.
The Debian installer is always safe and familar, yet a bit clumsy. The Void Linux installer,probably inspired by the FreeBSD one, is really impressive, swift and very configuable. The Slackware installer is a bit out-of-date, but at least it does the job well.
From the review it semms that the Arch installer has a far way to go. For new comers and Arch lovers the old way to install is always fun, but for people who just want to have a system to be quickly installed, an installer is always welcomed.
Looking forward to seeing it becomes matured.
2 • Ubuntu 21.04 (by Leanne on 2021-05-03 01:55:10 GMT from Ireland)
That's a pretty massive bug regarding the upgrade of Ubuntu. I'm not sure how early you're version of EFI needs to be so I'll hold off on upgrading in case I'm affected by it.
3 • Ubuntu 21.04 and Arch's installer (by Pumpino on 2021-05-03 02:20:53 GMT from Australia)
Yeah, the Ubuntu 21.04 EFI bug sounds bad. I know that when I attempted to install a previous Ubuntu release, it refused to allow a bios install (EFI only). The only way for me to do it was to install an older release and upgrade. I don't know if that's still the case.
Including Gnome 3.38 rather than 3.40 seems overly conservative. It's not Debian stable. You'd think they could test beta versions of 3.40 and include the final version in 21.04.
As for Arch's text installer, I've installed Arch many times over the years. I switched to Manjaro testing, and it's nice to have a graphical installer and a distro that's more polished.
4 • Arch Installer and Alpine Init (by Andy Figueroa on 2021-05-03 03:00:51 GMT from United States)
1. A question asking about the Arch installer seems kind of irrelevant to most people.
2. So, Alpine thinks OpenRC development has stagnated? I rather like the pace of projects that don't do updates for updates sake.
5 • Ubuntu & Fedora (by Mark on 2021-05-03 03:02:21 GMT from United States)
I have a new computer so I figured the upgrade from Ubuntu 20.10 to 21.04 would probably be safe, and it was. I didn't have any problems at all. I didn't notice a lot of differences between the two versions, but the cosmetic imrovements were good, I thought. However, I always prefer a fresh install so several days later I blew it away and did a clean install of 21.04. It's running great.
I was also curious about Gnome 40, so I installed Fedora 34 in a dual boot configuration. I didn't have any problems with it, either, and think it's a good release - well, except for Gnome 40. It reminded me again why I hate the Gnome developers: they clearly aren't interested in doing things that people like, but just in doing things their own twisted way.
Unfortunately for Fedora, they seem to have wanted to get their distro released with Gnome 40 as fast as possible, so the things that could have helped, such as apps and extensions, aren't ready yet. So you can't "fix" Gnome 40 in a way that makes it usable and useful. Sure, those things will come out pretty soon, but for now you're just stuck with the insane vision of the Gnome developers. I applaud Canonical for holding off until such things as extensions come out that can make Gnome 40 usable. Too bad Fedora's developers were seduced by the desire to get "bragging rights" to adopting Gnome 40 first: they should hang their heads in shame.
6 • Text installer (by Hoos on 2021-05-03 03:32:19 GMT from Singapore)
Granted it's been some time since I used it, but the Anarchy text installer is very good, in my opinion. Wide range of options, everything clearly laid out, even the text itself is in a tasteful layout with various colors used.
7 • Text installers (by Yoda on 2021-05-03 04:21:57 GMT from Spain)
The preferable way the text installers are.
To read taught was I.
Instead of fancy icons the text I prefer.
Much more flexible a text installer is.
GUI is the path to the dark side. GUI leads to laziness. Laziness leads to conformism. Conformism leads to suffering.
Listen to me not. In KDE (Knight's Desktop Environment) wrote this I.
8 • archinstall (by Scott on 2021-05-03 05:41:34 GMT from Australia)
It didn't work for me either. Very let down that Arch actually released this. After 10 plus years using arch I can honestly say I'm stumped. Go figure. This is one time when Arch beat me....
9 • archinstall (by Scott on 2021-05-03 05:46:23 GMT from Australia)
The calam arch installer I have found to be very good. Its here https://sourceforge.net/projects/blue-arch-installer/ I used it on a old desktop and laptop and was very impressed.
10 • archinstall/fredoragnomenstein40 (by papapico on 2021-05-03 06:01:39 GMT from Australia)
for me the installer worked fine, I only needed a basic setup for a spare pc which was just going to be transferring data between drives.
was up and running in 15 minutes.
for a quick and dirty install, it's a good enough kit.
if you want more control, obviously spend more time with your install and go step by step. Or if you don't want to have to input each step of the install yourself, there are plenty of arch installers and minimal distros that are clean starting points. Archlabs is my go to.
I spun stable fedora up on a laptop I was hoping to use off site, gnome is still a mess. is it meant for tablet users? I honestly don't know. I know that rightclicking on the desktop doesn't bring up a useful menu like xfce/open/flux/etc, there are no usable taskbars like every other de and it wants to hide everything or obscure it to the point trying to set up a useful desktop is null and void.
in the end went with archlabs as it works makes sense with kde/xfce/flux/etc in most configurations.
11 • Arch installer (by Ghost 67 on 2021-05-03 09:10:51 GMT from United Kingdom)
Perhaps the Arch team should revisit the original installer that Arch shipped with way back in the day, the AIF - Arch Installer Framework. Failing that, why not just adapt Architect?
12 • Arch Installer (by manthropology on 2021-05-03 10:15:39 GMT from Australia)
I tried it on two machines. The first was a laptop and it worked very quickly and seamlessly, installing me a Gnome desktop with minimal fuss. However, when trying it on my desktop, the installer repeatedly crashed with pages of garbled error messages about it failing to mount the drive. No matter what I did, it wouldn't work.
13 • Arch installer (by César on 2021-05-03 11:06:27 GMT from Chile)
¡Hola a todos!
I tried to install with this installer, but the system will crash when try to format the disc, and i lost my dual boot.
Twice i tried, twice i die.
Nothing to do.
Saludos desde Santiago de Chile.
14 • Ubuntu and Fedora (by penguinx86 on 2021-05-03 11:44:49 GMT from United States)
I checked the Distrowatch Page Hit Rankings for the last 7 days. Ubuntu dropped to 8th place and Fedora rose to 4th place. I've been using Fedora 34 for and I think Gnome 40 is a big improvement over Gnome 3.x and the Gnome Shell that Ubuntu uses as the default desktop environment. In fact, Gnome 3 is why I quit using Ubuntu 10 years ago. I'm also interested in Pop! OS and the new Cosmic desktop environment that will be available next month. I plan to try that one too, but sorry, I'll pass on Ubuntu as long as Gnome 3 is the default desktop environment.
15 • Arch Installer (by Spitfire on 2021-05-03 12:31:04 GMT from United States)
Have not tried the Arch installer. I use Endeavor OS which is as near to pure Arch with a graphical install as is available right. Could not be happier with this distribution.
16 • "OpenRC maintenance has stagnated" is a lie (by RoestVrijStaal on 2021-05-03 13:27:41 GMT from Netherlands)
I wonder where those Alpine devs got that information from.
The list of recent commits (https://github.com/OpenRC/openrc/commits/master)
and the list of recent releases (https://github.com/OpenRC/openrc/releases) tell they are wrong.
17 • OpenRC (by Jesse on 2021-05-03 13:41:12 GMT from Canada)
@16:
The idea that OpenRC hasn't put out a new release in over a year wasn't wrong or a lie. Look at the timeline. Up until this past month OpenRC hadn't had a new stable release in about two years.
According to the OpenRC release page there was no activity between mid-2019 and April of 2021. Which means the Alpine developers saw no releases for almost two years and started planning their own service manager. Then, just last month, they happened to blog about their plans around the same time OpenRC put out a new stable release.
That doesn't make them wrong, it just means their announcement about why they were looking for an alternative came out around the same time OpenRC suddenly sprang back into life. We have the benefit of hindsight and can see the timing of their announcement lined up with OpenRC's new release, but they had no way of knowing that and their information was (at the time) true. Retroactively saying they were lying is ignoring the facts at the time they made their plans.
18 • Alpine Linux and OpenRC (by nanome on 2021-05-03 14:41:44 GMT from United Kingdom)
When I read the DW news article that Alpine Linux is planning to replace OpenRC with "something new" that is "systemd done right".
The plan seems to be to employ Laurent Bercot, author of the s6 init and supervision software, to "develop" the new system. I am not sure what is missing from s6 that requires major development.
Both OpenRC and S6 are small [16k and 18k lines of C code resp.]; compared to systemd's reported 1.2 million lines. Interestingly, Void Linux uses Runit for init and process supervision [author G. Pape], consists of 6k lines of C. It has required little "development" over the years.
Small projects like Runit, S6 and OpenRC require little ongoing "development" [aka tinkering]. Of course, it is good to have access to the original authors for critical projects.
If Alpine Linux come up with a replacement for OpenRC which is at least as small, fast and robust as the alternatives, then I would be impressed.
19 • @17 OpenRC (by Andy Prough on 2021-05-03 16:36:37 GMT from Switzerland)
@Jesse - "That doesn't make them wrong, it just means their announcement about why they were looking for an alternative came out around the same time OpenRC suddenly sprang back into life. We have the benefit of hindsight and can see the timing of their announcement lined up with OpenRC's new release, but they had no way of knowing that and their information was (at the time) true. Retroactively saying they were lying is ignoring the facts at the time they made their plans."
Alpine updated their blog post on April 27th, 25 days after openRC 0.43 was released (followed by 3 additional point releases by April 15th), but Alpine did not update their blog post to reflect that point. The updated blog post still says that "the last [openRC] release was over a year ago."
At the same time, Distrowatch has had this information for over a month, and still your page is repeating Alpine's incorrect information - "Unfortunately, OpenRC maintenance has stagnated: the last release was over a year ago."
There's no reason that DW cannot post a note below the Alpine quote that says that openRC 0.43 was released one week after Alpine's original blog post on March 25th.
20 • opinions (by Tad Strange on 2021-05-03 18:36:59 GMT from Canada)
@5 Re: bragging rights - I remember when Fedora did that with the (then) new KDE years back, delivering a DE that was utterly and literally unusable.
I walked away from Fedora at that point and never returned. Pre-alpha concept software isn't my thing.
Not sure why Arch wouldn't adopt an existing installer, other than out of the desire to continue to have a 20th century install experience, but with a few more prompts. If it actually left me with a functional VM it might be different, but instead I was left with a very 20th century hit-but-mostly-miss linux install experience.
Also - loved the "Bug for Bug" comment
21 • Lubuntu 18.04 EOL (by pmller on 2021-05-03 20:10:53 GMT from Germany)
This EOL announcement is a bit irritating.
It is valid or might be valid only for the universe software which can be found in Lubuntu (it is certainly valid for the LXDE software packages in Lubuntu, of course).
But all software in Lubuntu which belongs to Ubuntu main (and this means the whole basis software of Ubuntu/Lubuntu (e.g. the kernel)) is still supported by Canonical. So therefore, most of the software packages in Lubuntu 18.04 will be supported with updates until spring 2023.
So for most people there wil be no need for an upgrade, if they still want to use LXDE as a desktop, because up to now there are no severe security holes known in LXDE software and Ubuntu main is still supported until 2023.
22 • @18: Re: Alpine Linux and OpenRC (by Tony Agudo on 2021-05-03 20:59:12 GMT from United States)
There's a few features that systemd has that should definitely be implemented in whatever Alpine Linux comes out with:
1. A bootup analyzer.
2. An interface for control groups.
3. An interface to create, run and manage containers that meshes well with the service manager.
23 • Ubuntu 21.04 - waht can Ubuntu do? (by Kaczor on 2021-05-03 21:00:32 GMT from United States)
Ubuntu does release a snapshot of its always-in-development system once every April and October with different names and numbers, and always with bleeding edge packages for a Debian based distro. But, this time Ubuntu failed with the April release. It simply didn't have Gnome 40, while all other self-respecting distros had. What can Ubuntu do, when Debian doesn't have Gnome 40 in either Debian Testing or Unstable (Sid) repos?
Debian 11 is already frozen, but would come out with Gnome 3.38 and no one really knows when Debian 12 would be released. No one really knows, when Gnome 40 packages would arrive in either Debian Testing or Unstable. So, what can Ubuntu do, but fail?
24 • Arch installer (by Toran on 2021-05-03 22:09:55 GMT from Belgium)
Works only UEFI. Which I can understand. But I have MBR still.
25 • Gnome 40 on Ubuntu (by Buntuboy on 2021-05-04 00:39:22 GMT from United States)
For those wanting Both Gnome 40 and Ubuntu 21.04 and bemoaning the lack of Gnome 40 on Ubuntu, (@3, @23), 40 is available on a PPA. I have it running on VBox. Runs fine after a couple of minor hiccups. Won't go into details here. Just google "gnome 40 ubuntu" and plenty of youtubers and others will be happy to instruct. Aside from the new "activities" screen, most of the benefit seems to go to heavy users of touchpads. I spend most of my time on a desktop, so I don't see a worthwhile benefit.
That said, I run 20.04 dual boot with Kubuntu of the same vintage on my desktop and laptop. Both desktops are modified to my liking, and they resemble each other. On Gnome, I have the Dash to Panel extension, which is almost as configurable as KDE's panel. Panel on top, Plank on the bottom, on Xorg.
Problems with Gnome 40: The tweak tool no longer controls extensions. Can only be done from the Extensions app. The Dash to Panel extension is not compatible. Although there is a Dash to Plank extension The Extensions app will not run on Xorg, and Plank will not run on Wayland. Foiled again!! I'll stick to old fuddy-duddy 3.38 for the foreseeable future. I don't see what all the hoo-haw is about.
Don't care for Fedora, but should I feel emasculated without Gnome 40, I would use one of the Arch-based distros that already provide it: RebornOS and Garuda, for example
26 • What can Ubuntu do? (by Kaczor on 2021-05-04 08:10:21 GMT from United States)
There's nothing Ubuntu can do, until Gnome 40 arrives in Debian Testing/Unstable. A PPA is not going to help the "mighty" Ubuntu developers. It has to come officially from Debian. The last Ubuntu "stable" release is a disaster, with a 'snapshot' that was not ready, and still not ready today. The 21.10 daily is available, but how many are installing it? Yes, what can Ubuntu do?
27 • @26, Those who can, do. . . (by Buntuboy on 2021-05-04 09:35:24 GMT from United States)
Those who can't, stay with Gnome 3. The idea of the PPA is not what Ubuntu can do for you. It's what you can do with Ubuntu.
28 • @27 what those, who can't do... (by Lin on 2021-05-04 10:21:25 GMT from United States)
Exactly, that's all Ubuntu can do, stay with Gnome 3 until, some day, Debian might allow Gnome 40 in. End of an era! Ubuntu is dead or dying fast.
29 • No one cares anymore (by Mark on 2021-05-04 10:43:11 GMT from Singapore)
Lately there had been a call to get the community back at Ubuntu, even had a livestream, only the 'developers' talked between themselves, but had cheerless faces. The 'community' as such got disintegrated for last 3-4 years, without any new members coming in. They a talking about that at their "community hub", but among themselves. Three years ago, Ubuntu betrayed their community, so the majority moved on, most of them to Arch Linux.
Mark Shuttleworth didn't announce the new Impish this time like those days, only a mention at the Launchpad. How many had started testing it? Betrayed users won't come back.
30 • Ubuntu @28, @29 (by Buntuboy on 2021-05-04 11:58:31 GMT from United States)
@28. Ubuntu was dead when it changed to Gnome #. No, wait! When it changed to Unity. No, wait! When it changed back to Gnome 3. No, wait! But somehow it's still kicking. It never was about the latest and greatest. Still isn't. Rolling distros fill that role.
@29, The Ubuntu forum still has millions of members and lots of activity, so some people do care. Sorry you were betrayed! Wish you happiness in your new relationship.
Here are results for Google Trends. Still looks like a lot more people are interested in Ubuntu than in any other Linux, regardless of DW page hits. Yes, Searches tended down, but Ubuntu is still way ahead of others by far.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/164785504@N08/
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=Ubuntu,mx%20linux,Manjaro,linux%20mint,Arch%20Linux
31 • @30 (by Andy Prough on 2021-05-04 13:55:54 GMT from United States)
A lot of distros set up duckduckgo as the default search engine, and a very large percentage of users of non-Ubuntu distros are going to be using duckduckgo, searx, swisscows, metager, startpage, and other non-google search engines.
Showing a google trends line in favor of Ubuntu is simply confirmation bias in action - Ubuntu is the favored distro of the type of users who would be sticking with google for search.
32 • arch installer (by aurel on 2021-05-04 14:11:17 GMT from Moldova)
The guys from Arch have NIH syndrome, why on earth they didn't check what manjaro architect or other arch based text installers have to offer before writing a new installer for arch.
Maybe it is beneath them to even try those child distros :)
p.s:
the comments in this Weekly are heated, surprisingly there are a lot of "ubuntu is dead people",
but Ubuntu was, is and will gonna be the distro number 1
it terms of active user base.
It is hard to believe for distro hoppers and distrowatch folk, but people care for stability, and Ubuntu in 20 years was always the most stable distro.
So thats why they are using Gnome 3.38 in Gnome 40 era. And will switch to Gnome 42 when Gnome will be usable again.
Gnome never was usable until Ubuntu switched to it, and a lot of bugs were fixed by them.
In Gnome 2 era -> ubuntu was the main stability driver for that DE too.
Thats why people choose Ubuntu, and thats why it is Linux distro nr. 1
33 • GNOME yada yada (by Cheker on 2021-05-04 16:46:27 GMT from Portugal)
Buntu looks alright, I guess. I don't blame them for sticking with GNOME 3, but then, maybe they never had the choice to begin with.
GNOME is a weird one. Like I think I get what they're going for but it just feels weird on a desktop. Where's my minimize button?!
I have not tried the Arch installer and after reading all of this I'm not sure there's a point. I've played around with Anarchy before and I think it fills the "pure Arch install but easy" void pretty well. And this is to say nothing of all the Arch children like Manjaro, Endeavour and Artix.
Excited to look into Rocky one of these days.
34 • Arch Installer (by Justin on 2021-05-04 21:18:18 GMT from United States)
I made archinstall work in a VM with the basics. I'm not really impressed, but I appreciate the sentiment. Visual feedback when installing packages would really help. I liked Anarchy except that it changes my default shell colors and installs its own branding. I'll probably stick with pacstrap. It didn't feel "easier" to use, and I felt a loss of control for anything other than quick and dirty installs. Generally I just use the live disc with a VM unless I need something with a GUI. Then I use a Mint live disc.
35 • Ubuntu (by Otis on 2021-05-04 22:42:04 GMT from United States)
Good point made up there (@31) about search trends; it's THEM searching on THEIR fave.. mostly. That pans out for Windows, as well.
Meanwhile the OpenRC discussion scared me a bit as to the lag in development. Am I wrong to think it's going to go away, or worse, change in some horrid (systemd-like) way? I'm hoping the Artix devs don't let that happen, or again am I wrong to assume distro developers also develop init systems? Yes I'm that ill informed.. need to read about these init systems more.
36 • OpenRC (by Jesse on 2021-05-04 22:46:44 GMT from Canada)
@35: "Am I wrong to think it's going to go away, or worse, change in some horrid (systemd-like) way?"
OpenRC is not going to go away or change into something like systemd. Its development is just slower now between major releases because there isn't much to do. OpenRC is mostly "done" and just needs minor updates to keep it current. SysV init and runit are the same: mostly finished projects that just need a little maintenance once in a while.
" I'm hoping the Artix devs don't let that happen, or again am I wrong to assume distro developers also develop init systems?"
Distro developers don't work on the init systems. All the major init implementations are developed independently. The distros just package the init software developed elsewhere.
37 • DEs & Distros (by M.Z. on 2021-05-05 01:58:14 GMT from United States)
@5
"...adopting Gnome 40 first: they should hang their heads in shame."
Fedora isn't about being the most polished or user friendly, it's about being fairly cutting edge & the makers expect most users to know that & be able to figure out when to hold off a while upgrading. I feel like that's long been a known thing if you want RPM fusion repos which generally lag behind Fedora version releases. This is a similar situation for Gnome users, which probably see these breakages all the time on Fedora. Some people may like vanilla Gnome & want to upgrade fast, even if most Linux users don't want any part of that. I know I wouldn't want any kind of vanilla Gnome, but I fully expect Fedora to offer the option first & to break functionality in the process & that's fine with me as a former Fedora user because that's who they are.
@31
"Showing a google trends line in favor of Ubuntu is simply confirmation bias in action..."
I'm definitely not a fan of Google or Ubuntu, but let's be real - Google has the market share in terms of all searches. Their trends are simply more reliable overall. Trying to ignore the largest search engine on the planet is a kind of confirmation bias in its own right. I may prefer Mint, but most of the good info I've seen indicates Ubuntu has more users even if it's not searched on DW in the proportions of other Distros.
38 • @37 Google market share (by Andy Prough on 2021-05-05 02:19:03 GMT from Switzerland)
> "let's be real - Google has the market share in terms of all searches"
I highly doubt that Google has top market share among users of most distros.
Clearly Google is the favorite of the Windows crowd, and probably among those who dual boot Windows and Ubuntu, or use Ubuntu as WSL on Windows.
But since you were trying to correlate Google search trends with users of various distros, I just felt it was important to point out that most of them are probably not using Google for search.
39 • Ubuntu boot bug (by NeverGoogle-UbuntuUser on 2021-05-05 12:58:47 GMT from United States)
What does "older EFI" mean relative to the Ubuntu boot bug?
From what I can tell from the Ubuntu "bugzilla," the boot problem after update to 21.04 occurred on a MacBook from 2012 (although another user reported the bug with a PC). I have 20.10-upgraded-to-2104 on a 2017 Dell XPS13: So far so good.
40 • Google (by penguinx86 on 2021-05-05 20:37:54 GMT from United States)
It's easy to change your browser's default search engine to something else. In Firefox, I can switch from Duckduckgo to Google in 5 mouse clicks. I don't think the default search engine is a good metric for operating system statistics.
I like the concept of Duckduckgo, but the top search results aren't as relevant to me. The first 5 search results are usually ads, then I have click on "More Results" before I find what I was really looking for. Yahoo and Bing aren't any better. Google just provides better faster more relevant search results.
41 • Google vs Duckduckgo Ads (by nanome on 2021-05-05 22:27:30 GMT from United Kingdom)
@40 I never see adverts in duckduckgo search results as I switch them off [4 mouse clicks]. Also, it produces deterministic search results, rather reinforcing "bias" from remembered search history. I am sure that Google, with all their AI, can produce more results..
42 • Google vs DuckDuckGo, @41 (by Justme on 2021-05-05 23:22:36 GMT from Philippines)
"it produces deterministic search results, rather reinforcing "bias" from remembered search history"
What you call "bias" others might call relevance. Example: I just entered "Indian restaurant" in the search box. Google gives me three within a few kilometres, with maps and available directions, DuckDuckGo's first result is in Boca Raton, Florida, which is just a tad too far. It does show one in this country off to the side, but it's in another province requiring a 6 hour ferry and bus trip.
Yes, Google knows where I am, and keeps track of my searches and preferences. In return it offers relevance and convenience. I have a public web persona. I also value privacy when I need it, so I use other search engines, VPNs, and other things to remain anonymous when I wish. But that is less convenient for everyday use.
In any case, the discussion was about search term frequency, not results.
43 • Better Metric (by M.Z. on 2021-05-06 02:23:21 GMT from United States)
I may not like Google or Ubuntu, but I'm not going to pretend they aren't both at the top of their prospective fields in terms of user base. A little search on Alexa.com traffic ranking reviled these numbers for global internet engagement rankings:
google.com - #1
duckduckgo.com - #161
ubuntu.com - #3,671
linuxmint.com - #13,634
debian.org - #14,822
mxlinux.org - #117,906
Feel free to find a more objective or thorough source & let us know why it would be better to use, but I feel that is a fairly definitive indicator. I'm pleasantly surprised by the duckduckgo bit & the fact that a fair amount of people seem to actually care about their privacy, though I would would prefer if the Mint number were closer to the one for Ubuntu. That being said I try not to go out of my way to find confirmation bias, & try to accept what is over what I would prefer.
44 • Don't forget about Startpage (by Elcaset on 2021-05-06 06:37:42 GMT from United States)
When discussing privacy focused search engines, don't forget about Startpage.com. I like that it has the Anonymous View option for each result (using a proxy).
45 • @43 Better Metrics: (by dragojnmouth on 2021-05-06 11:32:09 GMT from United States)
Lies, damn lies and statistics.
The way Google has things rigged, it would be surprising if they were not #1 and by a large margin.
46 • Search engines (by Cheker on 2021-05-07 09:35:52 GMT from Portugal)
@45 You don't need rigging to justify Google being #1. It's the default search engine of the most used browser. Google is so big that it's a verb synonymous with "search online".
@44 I heard Startpage got sold a while back. Not saying it shouldn't be trusted anymore but you should at least know of it and make your decision from there.
47 • Arch Linux installer (by Thomas Mueller on 2021-05-07 10:08:57 GMT from United States)
I never got to Arch Linux installer. Eight years ago, almost to the day, I subscribed to Arch emailing lists but found the moderators too hostile. I asked how an Arch system could be built or rebuilt from source as is well-known in NetBSD and FreeBSD, but the moderator rejected my post, saying I could find the answer from the wiki in one minute (or was it five minutes?). I still never found the answer. Feeling unduly tongue-tied, I became an infant mortality by unsubscribing from all Arch lists. Arch became the only OS or distro that I rejected for sociological reasons. Now I see (Mozilla) Seamonkey flags "distro" with a wavy red underline as a spelling error.
48 • @46: (by dragonmouth on 2021-05-07 11:48:34 GMT from United States)
Thank you. You have just proven my point. The numbers M.Z. quotes are for ALL Google hits on the 'Net, not just its search engine. But since you mention it. Google is so big that it made itself the default search engine of the computing world. An 800 lbs gorilla does whatever it wants.
49 • @46 search engine privacy (by Elcaset on 2021-05-07 19:10:17 GMT from United States)
Thank you for mentioning that Startpage was bought by another company. I hadn't heard that. After some searching, I found many articles critical of Startpage & DuckDuckGo's privacy. It looks like Searx is the best option out there. There are many instances of Searx. Metasearch.nl is one instance of Searx that's working well for me.
50 • Alpine, s6 & OpenRC (by Jeang3nie on 2021-05-07 19:25:00 GMT from United States)
I seriously doubt that very many of the people who have posted about this here went on to fully read and absorb the linked articles, or the related content on skarnet.org. There is more afoot than the pace of OpenRC development. There are features that Alone wish to have that are not provided by OpenRC, and may never be.
As for what is wrong with s6 as it is, nothing really. The proposal is to use s6 as the backend and to code an easy to use service manager and init system that can be configured with something similar to Systemd unit files. Currently, s6-rc is definitely not that. It works, and quite well, but is definitely geared towards power users and those who don't mind taking a deep dive into the docs, or even the source code. Because really, having used it in the context of setting it all up from scratch, it's just not a turnkey solution right now.
The proposal is to turn s6 into something that is a easy to use as systemd, which is frankly what is required if ever its going to actually challenge systemd. I believe that is possible, especially with the person chosen to do the work. And I believe that what we get in the end would be a massive improvement over the status quo due to having an overall much better architecture and being completely decoupled from corporate interests. It's a massively worthwhile project.
51 • file labels (by just curious on 2021-05-07 21:32:57 GMT from United States)
has arch removed the use of file labels from their install?
or are they still stuck in 1972?
because all the distros that won't install using unetbootin and demand it be written with dd (or similar), you have some high high hopes of getting me to devote an entire usb stick to your crappy app. not happening
BONGware, because you have to be high to think its a good idea
Number of Comments: 51
Display mode: DWW Only • Comments Only • Both DWW and Comments
| | |
| TUXEDO |
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.
|
| Archives |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • Issue 1032 (2023-08-14): MX Linux 23, positioning new windows on the desktop, Linux Containers adopts LXD fork, Oracle, SUSE, and CIQ form OpenELA |
| • Issue 1031 (2023-08-07): Peppermint OS 2023-07-01, preventing a file from being changed, Asahi Linux partners with Fedora, Linux Mint plans new releases |
| • Issue 1030 (2023-07-31): Solus 4.4, Linux Mint 21.2, Debian introduces RISC-V support, Ubuntu patches custom kernel bugs, FreeBSD imports OpenSSL 3 |
| • Issue 1029 (2023-07-24): Running Murena on the Fairphone 4, Flatpak vs Snap sandboxing technologies, Redox OS plans to borrow Linux drivers to expand hardware support, Debian updates Bookworm media |
| • Issue 1028 (2023-07-17): KDE Connect; Oracle, SUSE, and AlmaLinux repsond to Red Hat's source code policy change, KaOS issues media fix, Slackware turns 30; security and immutable distributions |
| • Issue 1027 (2023-07-10): Crystal Linux 2023-03-16, StartOS (embassyOS 0.3.4.2), changing options on a mounted filesystem, Murena launches Fairphone 4 in North America, Fedora debates telemetry for desktop team |
| • Issue 1026 (2023-07-03): Kumander Linux 1.0, Red Hat changing its approach to sharing source code, TrueNAS offers SMB Multichannel, Zorin OS introduces upgrade utility |
| • Issue 1025 (2023-06-26): KaOS with Plasma 6, information which can leak from desktop environments, Red Hat closes door on sharing RHEL source code, SUSE introduces new security features |
| • Issue 1024 (2023-06-19): Debian 12, a safer way to use dd, Debian releases GNU/Hurd 2023, Ubuntu 22.10 nears its end of life, FreeBSD turns 30 |
| • Issue 1023 (2023-06-12): openSUSE 15.5 Leap, the differences between independent distributions, openSUSE lengthens Leap life, Murena offers new phone for North America |
| • Issue 1022 (2023-06-05): GetFreeOS 2023.05.01, Slint 15.0-3, Liya N4Si, cleaning up crowded directories, Ubuntu plans Snap-based variant, Red Hat dropping LireOffice RPM packages |
| • Issue 1021 (2023-05-29): rlxos GNU/Linux, colours in command line output, an overview of Void's unique features, how to use awk, Microsoft publishes a Linux distro |
| • Issue 1020 (2023-05-22): UBports 20.04, finding another machine's IP address, finding distros with a specific kernel, Debian prepares for Bookworm |
| • Issue 1019 (2023-05-15): Rhino Linux (Beta), checking which applications reply on a package, NethServer reborn, System76 improving application responsiveness |
| • Issue 1018 (2023-05-08): Fedora 38, finding relevant manual pages, merging audio files, Fedora plans new immutable edition, Mint works to fix Secure Boot issues |
| • Issue 1017 (2023-05-01): Xubuntu 23.04, Debian elects Project Leaders and updates media, systemd to speed up restarts, Guix System offering ground-up source builds, where package managers install files |
| • Issue 1016 (2023-04-24): Qubes OS 4.1.2, tracking bandwidth usage, Solus resuming development, FreeBSD publishes status report, KaOS offers preview of Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1015 (2023-04-17): Manjaro Linux 22.0, Trisquel GNU/Linux 11.0, Arch Linux powering PINE64 tablets, Ubuntu offering live patching on HWE kernels, gaining compression on ex4 |
| • Issue 1014 (2023-04-10): Quick looks at carbonOS, LibreELEC, and Kodi, Mint polishes themes, Fedora rolls out more encryption plans, elementary OS improves sideloading experience |
| • Issue 1013 (2023-04-03): Alpine Linux 3.17.2, printing manual pages, Ubuntu Cinnamon becomes official flavour, Endeavour OS plans for new installer, HardenedBSD plans for outage |
| • Issue 1012 (2023-03-27): siduction 22.1.1, protecting privacy from proprietary applications, GNOME team shares new features, Canonical updates Ubuntu 20.04, politics and the Linux kernel |
| • Issue 1011 (2023-03-20): Serpent OS, Security Onion 2.3, Gentoo Live, replacing the scp utility, openSUSE sees surge in downloads, Debian runs elction with one candidate |
| • Issue 1010 (2023-03-13): blendOS 2023.01.26, keeping track of which files a package installs, improved network widget coming to elementary OS, Vanilla OS changes its base distro |
| • Issue 1009 (2023-03-06): Nemo Mobile and the PinePhone, matching the performance of one distro on another, Linux Mint adds performance boosts and security, custom Ubuntu and Debian builds through Cubic |
| • Issue 1008 (2023-02-27): elementary OS 7.0, the benefits of boot environments, Purism offers lapdock for Librem 5, Ubuntu community flavours directed to drop Flatpak support for Snap |
| • Issue 1007 (2023-02-20): helloSystem 0.8.0, underrated distributions, Solus team working to repair their website, SUSE testing Micro edition, Canonical publishes real-time edition of Ubuntu 22.04 |
| • Issue 1006 (2023-02-13): Playing music with UBports on a PinePhone, quick command line and shell scripting questions, Fedora expands third-party software support, Vanilla OS adds Nix package support |
| • Issue 1005 (2023-02-06): NuTyX 22.12.0 running CDE, user identification numbers, Pop!_OS shares COSMIC progress, Mint makes keyboard and mouse options more accessible |
| • Issue 1004 (2023-01-30): OpenMandriva ROME, checking the health of a disk, Debian adopting OpenSnitch, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1003 (2023-01-23): risiOS 37, mixing package types, Fedora seeks installer feedback, Sparky offers easier persistence with USB writer |
| • Issue 1002 (2023-01-16): Vanilla OS 22.10, Nobara Project 37, verifying torrent downloads, Haiku improvements, HAMMER2 being ports to NetBSD |
| • Issue 1001 (2023-01-09): Arch Linux, Ubuntu tests new system installer, porting KDE software to OpenBSD, verifying files copied properly |
| • Issue 1000 (2023-01-02): Our favourite projects of all time, Fedora trying out unified kernel images and trying to speed up shutdowns, Slackware tests new kernel, detecting what is taking up disk space |
| • Issue 999 (2022-12-19): Favourite distributions of 2022, Fedora plans Budgie spin, UBports releasing security patches for 16.04, Haiku working on new ports |
| • Issue 998 (2022-12-12): OpenBSD 7.2, Asahi Linux enages video hardware acceleration on Apple ARM computers, Manjaro drops proprietary codecs from Mesa package |
| • Issue 997 (2022-12-05): CachyOS 221023 and AgarimOS, working with filenames which contain special characters, elementary OS team fixes delta updates, new features coming to Xfce |
| • Issue 996 (2022-11-28): Void 20221001, remotely shutting down a machine, complex aliases, Fedora tests new web-based installer, Refox OS running on real hardware |
| • Issue 995 (2022-11-21): Fedora 37, swap files vs swap partitions, Unity running on Arch, UBports seeks testers, Murena adds support for more devices |
| • Issue 994 (2022-11-14): Redcore Linux 2201, changing the terminal font size, Fedora plans Phosh spin, openSUSE publishes on-line manual pages, disabling Snap auto-updates |
| • Full list of all issues |
| 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.
|
| Shells.com |
Your own personal Linux computer in the cloud, available on any device. Supported operating systems include Android, Debian, Fedora, KDE neon, Kubuntu, Linux Mint, Manjaro and Ubuntu, ready in minutes.
Starting at US$4.95 per month, 7-day money-back guarantee
|
| Random Distribution | 
MirOS BSD
MirOS was an operating system based on OpenBSD and synchronised with the ongoing development of its parent. The most important differences between OpenBSD and MirOS include a completely rewritten bootloader and boot manager, a slim base system without NIS, Kerberos, BIND and i18n, binary security updates for stable releases, and current versions of the GNU developer toolchain.
Status: Discontinued
|
| TUXEDO |
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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
