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1 • Portable package formats (by Leanne on 2021-07-19 00:36:49 GMT from Portugal)
I use a mix of snap and flatpak images on my linux install in addition to the traditional repositories. Some apps are better supported with a portable format so I tend to discount distros that don't allow me to install these formats.
2 • Re: Snap, Flatpak, AppImage (by Romane on 2021-07-19 00:40:53 GMT from Australia)
I use FlatPak for just the one package not in the Distro repositories that I consider necessary for my daily use.
As for the past, I have never had any success with anything from the Snap repositories, and no longer even consider Snap.
Appimage - have tried with mixed success (mostly success, but a few "dramatic" failures) various applications in the days before FlatPak and Snap. I just find that these days using FlatPak is easier, more reliable and simpler for me.
3 • On the waiting list (by DaveW on 2021-07-19 00:49:32 GMT from United States)
Another distro recently added to the waiting list is Archcraft. It looks interesting, and I would like to see a review of it.
4 • appimage of LibreWolf (by Andy Prough on 2021-07-19 01:47:13 GMT from Switzerland)
I use the appimage of the LibreWolf browser, of which I'm a big fan. It actually uses less resources to run than other modern browsers installed from a repo. Anyone looking for a greatly improved version of firefox with far less bloat should give the LibreWolf appimage a spin.
5 • AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap: Linux's universal package managers. (by Greg Zeng on 2021-07-19 01:52:57 GMT from Australia)
The 3 package types are the reasons why third party coders avoid the 274 Linux brands (in today's Distrowatch "Search" database). There are not yet any universal package managers for Linux. Debian announced their very new but poorly recognized DUR system, perhaps similar Arch's AUR, which tediously compiles raw source code into tight binary code, needing patience, & good hardware to do the compilation, determined by the "recipe".
If 3rd party coders do prepare binary code, they might choose DEB format, because the 125 Linux brand-names can use this format, without difficulty. https://distrowatch.com/search.php?package=DEB
Second favorite, RPM, has just 41 Linux brands. RPM is inferior also because most of these brands will not be able to use the RPM compilations. https://distrowatch.com/search.php?package=RPM
Other Linux package managers (also-rans) are:
Flastpak: 40. Snap: 35 Puppy (Pet): 3 Pacman: 23 Portage: 6 TGX (tarball, WINE ?): 18
The three competing "winners" share "features": poor usage by application coders, poor sensitivity to user's settings (theme, fonts, display settings, sounds, notifications), unpredictable handling of updates, breakages & integration into the system's menu listings.
6 • rlxos (by Andy Figueroa on 2021-07-19 03:32:27 GMT from United States)
RLXOS seems hardly worth reviewing. Looks like a security hot mess.
7 • Running AppImage, Flatpak, and Snap (by Gosh on 2021-07-19 03:33:36 GMT from Bulgaria)
I use simple Appimages only, without any additional framework service jam on my systems
8 • Portable Packages (by Andy Figueroa on 2021-07-19 03:46:42 GMT from United States)
In the poll I indicated that I do not use. I've actually been using an appimage occasionally for only one package, but I'm going to stop doing so. Trust is low.
I have, however, put together a flash drive with multiple versions of all the major Linux office suites in portable format; three LibreOffice, two OnlyOffice, and one FreeOffice. But, I don't actually use it. It's just been an interesting project.
9 • @3 Archcraft (by Jyrki on 2021-07-19 03:51:31 GMT from Czechia)
unfortunately this distro is runnnig systemd. I think they are contradicting themselves - lightweight vs. systemd...
As for the poll, I vote that I use none of the vote options. I don't see a reason why. Is there any killer soft that is not available in standard repositories?
10 • Portable Packages (by John on 2021-07-19 04:47:26 GMT from United States)
I use Flatpaks on my OpenSUSE Tumbleweed Gnome desktop home computer. Generally I've found Snaps to be dysfunctional and/or unreliable. But Flatpaks are almost flawless. They give me access to innumerable applications that I find critical in today's world. Love Flatpaks!
11 • appimage (by Hank on 2021-07-19 06:04:32 GMT from Ukraine)
Rub Librewolf as appimage on antiX, great browser, like firefox could be, light fast stable an not
pinging home like crazy and data sharing with google and others.
Also has no sneaky hidden extensions.
12 • Package forms (by Moddit on 2021-07-19 06:09:53 GMT from Germany)
I now refer to snap as crap, seems to never work.
Agree with other user comments on LibreWolf. The only portable
application I an using at present.
13 • Flatpak (by Microlinux on 2021-07-19 06:13:00 GMT from France)
I'm using Flatpak on OpenSUSE Leap for all the potentially troublesome stuff like Teams, Skype and Spotify. The only downside (if you can call it that) is that is uses quite much disk space. On the other hand, all the potentially intrusive stuff like Skype gets sandboxed in the Flatpak subsystem, which is nice.
14 • portable packages (by Björn on 2021-07-19 06:50:08 GMT from Romania)
I switched to appimage from flatpak/snap, a single file to run something without runtimes and forced isolation is the way to go. Sick and tired of all the intrusiveness and bloat provided by the other "portable" options. I also never liked the idea of multiple package managers running on the same system, it makes things so confusing to new users.
15 • 3rd party programs (by Trihexagonal on 2021-07-19 07:09:06 GMT from United States)
I only use programs in the FreeBSD ports tree and with the exception of having used pkg to install programs during the build of a desktop on one occasion always compile all my programs using:
# cd /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portmaster && make install clean
Then use portmaster to compile everything else as it will pull in a list of dependencies for my perusal before I begin the build.
16 • re: portable packages (by Arve on 2021-07-19 07:12:18 GMT from Norway)
@14 Indeed, flatpak and snap seems to be less "portable" than even debs?
17 • try not to but flatpak last resort (by papapito on 2021-07-19 07:41:34 GMT from Singapore)
i use flatpak as a last resort for a few apps. The last few times I tried snap, it was slow and more cumbersome than it should be.
I like not being the only one using librewolf appimage. I felt cheap not compiling it on my laptop but it felt faster operating (I thought it was just me) and seeing others mention it, validating.
18 • Graphic failures (by denk_mal on 2021-07-19 07:49:41 GMT from Germany)
None of the portable packages have IMHO solved the integration with DE's . Neither the app icons problematic for Desktop and DE Menus nor the theme/font problematic has been solved in a way that I prefer a portable package over a package from the repository.
For now I use one (AppImage) app that is not in the debian repos.
I know that I can use tools like AppImageLauncher to minimize the drawbacks but portable packages are still not seamless integrated.
19 • Defeating good engineering. (by salparadise on 2021-07-19 09:08:01 GMT from United Kingdom)
The whole point of a distro using a specified repo was to maintain good security practice. This was a deliberate engineering choice. It is not en encumbrance. So no, from the first time of hearing about flatpacks, snaps, and appimages I've always thought the same thing - this defeats the "known and curated software source" feature and as such is, at best, poor engineering, and at worst, outright malice. It is not a surprise to me after the embrace of systemd, that such ideas are seen as acceptable.
Having said all that, the only time I've had a computer that has not had umpteen known and unpatched critical vulnerabilities was when I was running FreeBSD. Linux is a mess in this regard. The fragmentation that multiple distros creates helps this mess go unchecked. So much time wasted selecting wallpapers, themes and icons for "my brand new distro" (some respin of Arch/*buntu), instead of fewer distros receiving more bug/CVE fixing.
20 • auto update and other packages (by James on 2021-07-19 09:29:47 GMT from United States)
I use Ubuntu Mate which has a update manger that updates and upgrades automatically. One of the first things I do after installation is disable it. I prefer to update and upgrade when I want to do them.
I don't use app images, flat packs or snaps, but realize more and more software is only being packaged that way, and eventually I will probably be forced to use what I do not want.
21 • AppImage - Portable Apps (by Roger on 2021-07-19 10:08:41 GMT from Belgium)
On GNU/Linux I use only AppImage namely Etcher.
But I have always a USB stick with portable apps for Windows, which I update on a GNU/Linux machine.
This I use now for a long time, more than 15 years and is very helpful.
When I was in Australia in 2013 that was the only thing I was using on university because they did not have any GNU/Linux computers on site and they where using an image system of Win7 that was restarted every time on their computers.
This way I could have my on programs on those computers and easily save my work.
22 • Portable Software (by kc1di on 2021-07-19 10:29:09 GMT from United States)
Like others have mentioned here I only use Appimage of a couple programs not available via regular repositories. Snaps are just cumbersome and don't work well. Flatpacks are good but again I don't need them for most software. I still like to repository method but if I had to choose right now it would be appimages.
23 • I don't need Appimage, Flatpak and Snap packages (by Nero on 2021-07-19 11:30:20 GMT from Italy)
I use Debian Stable. I only install .deb packages from the official repositories. I've never had problems with unsatisfied dependencies. I don't need software updated to the latest version available and I don't feel any need to resort to Appimage, Flatpak or Snap packages.
24 • Snap, reluctantly (by uc50ic4more on 2021-07-19 12:41:44 GMT from Canada)
By default I use a small, small handful of snaps on Ubuntu systems; but much prefer the use of Flatpak when the opportunity/ necessity presents itself.
25 • snap as a last resort (by wally on 2021-07-19 12:55:13 GMT from United States)
Don't want to use any of them, but sometimes there is no alternative.
26 • Appimage, Flatpack and Snap (by Tech in San Diego on 2021-07-19 12:57:02 GMT from United States)
It's been so long since these alternative app managers were introduced that I don't seem to remember why they were developed to begin with. With that being said, I only used AppImage for one application, OpenShot, but have found a better alternative to video editing as my knowledge of multimedia as far outpaced that of what OpenShot provides.
All the Best!
Tech in San Diego
27 • Portable packages (by Cor on 2021-07-19 13:12:08 GMT from United States)
These are nice options but not solutions. If given an option, I choose my distros software over the portable managers.
28 • @26 Tech in San Diego: (by dragonmouth on 2021-07-19 13:41:02 GMT from United States)
"why they were developed to begin with"
Each was developed as THE "universal" software installers that would work on most, if not all, Linux distros. There already was a universal software installer. It was called AppImage. But, this being Linux with its "if one app is good, five apps are five times better" Red Hat and Canonical each created their version of THE "universal" installer, wanting their product to be take over. Unfortunately, all they did was add to the balkanization of Linux. So now we have three competing "universal" software installers. I would not be surprised if more are not developed and announced in the near future.
29 • only if necessary... (by Tad Strange on 2021-07-19 14:08:42 GMT from Canada)
....do I use the flat snap apps.
It's for if it's not in the repo. No different than some freeware utility distributed as a tar.gzp.
They have their place, and that place is not to replace existing methods, but to add options.
30 • steaming pile of portables (by fonz on 2021-07-19 14:21:56 GMT from Indonesia)
appimages are literally the only truly (ish) portsble format, not too much bloodshed if youre using a mainstream distro with many required libs already installed. flatpaks and snaps dont work the way appimages do so IMHO (and others) they arent even portable...
i feel steam shot themselves in the foot. interneting is the way to go, gaming on clouding (like nvidia now and gulag stadia). rumours have it amazon and facebook may hop on that bandwagon soon enough.
buying a PC in console form feels like buying a future console with PC features, i dont see much point in that.
now on the sinking ship. why buy a PC thats actually a phone? im so hoping gulag fuchsia, FUCHSIAS you good wandows *ba dum tsk* oh wandows you si11y goose -_-
31 • Portable packages (by DachshundMan on 2021-07-19 15:17:56 GMT from United Kingdom)
I agree with @19 in that I do not trust the security of snap, flatpack etc whereas the Mint team review the packages in the repository to make sure they are safe. Who knows what could be hidden in the portable packages ? Also, I think that they are bloatware as they package all required libraries even when 95% of the used libraries are already on my system. Like @25, I only use them as a last resort.
Of course, I can appreciate from a developers point of view it is really good to be able to package your software only once and be pretty sure it will work on many Linux systems. Also it takes less work by them and probably making packages is not what most joined the project for.
My satnav manufacturer say they do not provide a map updater that works under Linux because they do not want to have to produce versions for many different linux flavours and as a commercial decision it is probably reasonable and is the same one that others have made.
32 • appImages (by gplcoder on 2021-07-19 15:56:04 GMT from Canada)
I don't trust or use any so-called portable format. @30 you are forgetting about the giant flaw in appImage that no one wants to fix. Any appImage that is a packaged Electron app (there are tons of these) flags a sandbox error (Google imposed) when launched from a Debian (and siblings) older kernel. I have encountered this with Joplin, Standard Notes and SpiderOsk Crossclave. This design flaw has been around for years and no one wants to fix it and very few want to talk about it. There is a work around which consists of suppressing the security (not recommended for obvious reasons).
33 • When I have to (by mvario on 2021-07-19 16:22:33 GMT from United States)
I'll use appimage or flatpak when the program I want to use isn't in the repository, or when the version in the repository is out of date. Ideally I wouldn't have to.
34 • Poll (by mchlbk on 2021-07-19 16:48:03 GMT from Denmark)
I use whatever is available, ie. all of them. My daily OS is MX, fortunately it's possible to boot it in systemd mode in order for snap to work.
35 • nope (by dave on 2021-07-19 17:37:15 GMT from United States)
I tried AppImage a couple times, years ago, just to see how it worked. Wasn't impressed. I think I also tried Flatpak once when I first started using MX, again-- just to try it out. And again-- not impressed.
Of the three attempts I remember, only 1 program successfully installed and then, on top of being enormous, it had crash-inducing bugs; insecure, bloated and buggy is what I expect from AppImage, Flatpak and Snap.
When I really want something not provided by the repositories, I have better luck compiling from source. And I'm very far from being an expert in that field. I can understand the allure of convenience, but are these 'solutions' really that convenient?? What is the cost for this (illusion of) convenience??
I agree with @19
Every year, I feel the same urge to jump ship to BSD, as I was feeling back when I left Windows XP for Linux, but I know if a quasi-normie/brainlet such as myself is considering BSD, then the absolute dregs of society won't be far behind and the same problems that are destroying Linuxland will migrate to BSDtopia. Plus, I don't know enough about BSD to really be confident that the same design mistakes don't already exist there.
36 • Re-inventing the wheel... (by Friar Tux on 2021-07-19 18:10:26 GMT from Canada)
@35 (dave). And here I am totally the opposite. I see "compiling from source" as reinventing the wheel. Why not simply grab an AppImage, Snap, or Flatpak (if they work) that someone has already put together. By the way, I added the bracketed "if they work" as I have found that some don't always work for everyone. In my case AppImage seems to be the best of the lot for two reasons - both out-of-box. AppImage, on my laptop is the only one of the three that will take on my global theme. Flatpak and Snap do their own theme, usually not what I'm using. AppImage works every time with no issues. Flatpak and Snap sometimes don't even install correctly.
Re: Q & A - Running auto-updates... in our house, I've trained folks to manually update every Friday right after turning on their computers. Yup, manually. There ARE times when you need to uncheck a recommended update before running the Update Manager (in our case - Linux Mint/Cinnamon). Case in point:- with the upgrade to Mint 20.2 the Orage Calendar update pulls in a wrong file version, which breaks the calendar. To save a lot of hassle, we simply, manually, uncheck that update (xfce4-panel 4.16.2-1~20.04) before clicking on the update button. (I believe the actual program is looking for ver. 4.14.) Anyway, my point is that manual updates are just a habit like most other things in life.
37 • external packages (by Titus_Groan on 2021-07-19 19:15:26 GMT from New Zealand)
given the choice, I would always install from repos over external.
However, when not given the choice, I have installed an Appimage from a reputable supplier: Ultimaker_Cura for my 3D printer.
Do I care that it does not match my desktop theme?
No!, because my computer is a tool to do a job (or many).
38 • Portable packages. (by Tuxedoar on 2021-07-19 19:33:59 GMT from Argentina)
So far, the only portable package format I've used, is the AppImage one. I did it once and I don't even remember for which software. In general, I don't have a need for using these alternative package formats. In fact, I haven't even tried the other ones. I didn't participate on poll, since it'd give the wrong impression that I use any of those regularly, which as I've said, is not the case at all!.
Cheers!.-
39 • to get new features - repo vs snap/flatpak/etc (by a newer version exists on 2021-07-19 20:12:33 GMT from New Zealand)
I run a distro that depends on the Debian/Ubuntu line. This tends to be rather conservative upstream, apart from weekly Firefox version updates.
In several cases I would find the standard repos have say v1.45, but the software's website says the latest is 4.16, and I want some new feature or they fixed something important to me. No ppa, but maybe you find a flatpak, snap or worse, appimage of v4.08 in the software manager.
This leads to a crossroads. I dont necessarily want to engage with snap/flatpak/appimage but I have work that needs done and the only way to reach the features is to compromise. So much for "user choice" in Linuxland.
And then you have the contrast to the Arch family. For that hypothetical software, you can find v4.15 in AUR and it might need quite a massage before working.
40 • Oh Snap! (by penguinx86 on 2021-07-19 21:57:50 GMT from United States)
I really hate the way all the Snaps show up when I type the 'df' command in Ubuntu. 'df' is supposed to show disk space usage, not a bunch of running processes. This is why I use Linux Mint instead of Ubuntu. No Snaps!
41 • AppImage (by StephenC on 2021-07-20 04:05:30 GMT from United States)
On main system - AppImage with Firejail when the package manager doesn't have an up to date version
On USB stick - AppImage of KeepassXC + Windows portable KeepassXC + password file. That's portable, not something you can do with flatpak or snap. I've never bothered with flatpak, I don't see any advantage over AppImage. I helped a friend who had installed Ubuntu 20.04. Icky! (both Ubuntu and snaps).
42 • rlxos (by tuxy on 2021-07-20 04:33:49 GMT from Indonesia)
Really curious with this immutable distro, however I am unable to open heir website since last month..
Suggest if Distrowatch may host the iso file in its torrent archive.
43 • pacman / dnf + nix + AppImage (by Terry Wang on 2021-07-20 04:46:36 GMT from Australia)
Distro's own native package manager, nix package manager (CLI utils) and AppImage (for desktop GUI apps mainly).
44 • Opinion Poll... (by Tech in San Diego on 2021-07-20 04:54:49 GMT from United States)
Being the curious type I decided to do some research on the topic of these portable package managers and came across this interesting comparison in the GitHub Wiki.
https://github.com/AppImage/AppImageKit/wiki/Similar-projects#comparison
All the Best!
Tech in San Diego
45 • Portable packages... (by Vukota on 2021-07-20 10:15:53 GMT from Serbia)
I try not to run them, unless there is no other option and I really need that application/version and there is low risk exposing my system by using particular package. These portable packages often have at least some problems with my local settings/configuration/customizations/system services and are security concern (who can ensure me that their dependencies are being updated with same agility as underlying distribution I am using).
46 • Portable packages (by Cheker on 2021-07-20 14:55:08 GMT from Portugal)
I use flatpaks and snaps on Debian. That's where I'm most likely to want something that the repos have too old of a version for my tastes. Specifically, I want the latest Firefox, not ESR, and if I want Brave then the only non-PPA option is the snap. They *are* slower, but I can't say I've ever had problems regarding their functionality.
I favor flatpaks over snaps where possible. I've played around with AppImage before as a curiosity and it worked. I favor the native repos over all of these.
47 • + (by Cheker on 2021-07-20 14:57:12 GMT from Portugal)
@46 should note that they're slower TO START, and only the first time. After that they feel the same as everything else.
48 • Missing option in survey (by Will on 2021-07-20 15:16:06 GMT from United States)
I despise *pack *snap and remove any and all from any system I manage. Litter everywhere. I didn’t see an option for hating it, but would have picked it if I had :)
49 • Portable packages (by Robert on 2021-07-20 15:50:42 GMT from United States)
I like the idea of flatpak and would like to use it more. It's just lacking a bit in applications and reliability.
I use flatpak versions of vlc and libreoffice, which work well for me. Also gkraken to control my aio.
Failure cases have been firefox and steam. Firefox worked, but I couldn't figure out how to migrate my profile and open tabs from a native install so I reverted. For flatpak steam I couldn't get my controller to work so I gave up on that as well.
None of the other applications I use have flatpak versions.
50 • building from source (by salparadise on 2021-07-20 18:06:02 GMT from United Kingdom)
@35
As a rough yardstick - my machine is a Dell Precision T5500 with an SSD as primary drive and 4GB of memory. FreeBSD - from install to a system running something like windowmaker/fluxbox with a file manager, firefox, text editor and a media player, built from source code, took me about 17 hours. Firefox took the longest by far.
You can install the base system and then use pkginstall package.name and build the system that way - far quicker obviously. Gnome, Plasma, xfce, openbox, fluxbox, blackbox, MATE and Cinnamon are all available. There's a ton of Linux stuff that can be added. Lots of similarities, many differences.
In terms of the config of the system it's very simple - Slackware is the same, as is Arch if you go pure.
GhostBSD offers a "linux distro-like experience". It has MATE as Desktop and comes with most basic, day to day, type apps you'd need. Based on FreeBSD.
Get a spare hard drive and give it a go.
I went back to Linux because functionality. There are some good BSD channels on youtube and some great step by step guides on the FreeBSD forums.
51 • Questions and answers - automatic updates (by Chris Whelan on 2021-07-20 20:04:01 GMT from United Kingdom)
MX Linux offers users the chance to permit automatic updating by setting a checkbox in MX Updater.
18 months ago I set up a machine in this way for a family. Due to the pandemic, I have been unable to get back to the machine until last week. It has performed perfectly in the intervening period, and all updates have been successfully completed.
52 • Updating (by Moddit on 2021-07-21 07:28:11 GMT from Finland)
Found adding a bash alias helps to get users to update, they just
enter that word in the terminal, press enter, key in password.
Failed updates, using antiX which very rarely has any issues,.
Versions 19 and the new runit beta have been extremely reliable in all respects
up to now, I expect that to stay the same. Have a number of happy users.
53 • Portable formats (by Kazlu on 2021-07-21 08:14:02 GMT from France)
When I really want a piece of software that is not in my distro's repositories (extremely rare, thank you MX/Antix/Debian), well I use whatever is available cause this is necessarily a niche. Should I have the choice of any portable format though, I would go for Flatpak.
54 • Haiku (by Quazatron on 2021-07-21 16:58:58 GMT from Portugal)
Seems a bit weird to me that Haiku is spending the few resources it has on porting to RISC-V instead of providing a Raspberry Pi port.
Think about it, a ultra-lightweight desktop like Haiku seem like a perfect match for those tiny machines.
And before you ask, I do support Haiku, and they are free to spend their resources as they see fit.
55 • Automatic Updates (by Paul on 2021-07-21 17:13:29 GMT from United States)
For what it's worth...
I have been running Debian Stable for almost a decade and have never had anything break during an update. Debian Stable is rock solid.
OTOH, when I was running Ubuntu.... the updates would frequently break something - ranging from programs crashing to having a unbootable system!
56 • @54 (by Denethor on 2021-07-21 21:51:05 GMT from Bosnia and Herzegovina)
RISC-V is open archtecture! Glad they are porting to it.
57 • Haiku & others (by Fairfielder on 2021-07-21 23:52:54 GMT from Canada)
the trouble with alternative OS's - haiku, reactos, redox, minix, kolibri, etc - is that they need many contributors and a fan base to get significant desktop usage. Otherwise they are just tinkering OS's.
58 • Portable(ish) (by TheTKS on 2021-07-22 00:41:53 GMT from Canada)
I don’t use portable formats if I don’t have to.
Some snaps are forced on the *buntus, the only ones and places I use them. I think there’s a way around that for some to install a .deb, but I couldn’t be bothered. They are still slower to load than native packages - but also not enough that I could be bothered to switch.
Tried Flatpak for awhile, but like Snap found no advantage to them for. Couldn’t be bothered.
I still have one AppImage on a *buntu derivative (but haven’t run it in awhile) for a package I wanted to try out but didn’t want on my drive (AppImages aren’t installed, they’re executables that you launch when you want to run them.) I think that package is now available as a .deb.
Other / none of the above:
Nothing portable on my Slackware installations. If a package is not in the base installation and not in AlienBob’s repository (a source I trust,) then I’ll install it using a Slackbuild script.
I also looked at 0install packages, but don’t think I ever ran one.
One of the CADs I used for awhile had their own installer - QCAD, I think.
I get why packagers would like one format. It would make life easier for them. But we have many, not one, so it hasn’t.
TKS
Number of Comments: 58
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| • Issue 1169 (2026-04-20): Lakka 6.1, free software and source-based distributions, FreeBSD Foundation publishes compatible laptop list, Debian holds Project Leader election, Haiku progresses ARM64 port, Mint to extend development cycle, Linux 7.0 released |
| • Issue 1168 (2026-04-13): pearOS 2026.03, EndeavourOS 2026.03.06, which distros are adopting age verification, Arch adjusts its firewall packages, Linux dropping i486 support, Red Hat extends its release cycle, Debian's APT introduces rollbacks, Redox improves its scheduler |
| • Issue 1167 (2026-04-06): Origami Linux 2026.03, answering questions for Linux newcomers, Ubuntu MATE seeking new contributors, Ubuntu software centre is expanding Deb support, FreeBSD fixes forum exploit, openSUSE 15 Leap nears its end of life |
| • Issue 1166 (2026-03-30): NetBSD jails, publishing software for Linux, Ubuntu joins Rust Foundation, Canonical plans to trim GRUB features, Peppermint works on new utilities, PINE64 shows off open hardware capabilities |
| • Issue 1165 (2026-03-23): Argent Linux 1.5.3, disk space required by Linux, Manjaro team goes on strike, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA driver support and builds RISC-V packages, systemd introduces age tracking |
| • Issue 1164 (2026-03-16): d77void, age verification laws and Linux, SUSE may be for sale, TrueNAS takes its build system private, Debian publishes updated Trixie media, MidnightBSD and System76 respond to age verification laws |
| • Issue 1163 (2026-03-09): KaOS 2026.02, TinyCore 17.0, NuTyX 26.02.2, Would one big collection of packages help?, Guix offers 64-bit Hurd options, Linux communities discuss age delcaration laws, Mint unveils new screensaver for Cinnamon, Redox ports new COSMIC features |
| • Issue 1162 (2026-03-02): AerynOS 2026.01, anti-virus and firewall tools, Manjaro fixes website certificate, Ubuntu splits firmware package, jails for NetBSD, extended support for some Linux kernel releases, Murena creating a map app |
| • Issue 1161 (2026-02-23): The Guix package manager, quick Q&As, Gentoo migrating its mirrors, Fedora considers more informative kernel panic screens, GhostBSD testing alternative X11 implementation, Asahi makes progress with Apple M3, NetBSD userland ported, FreeBSD improves web-based system management |
| • Issue 1160 (2026-02-16): Noid and AgarimOS, command line tips, KDE Linux introduces delta updates, Redox OS hits development milestone, Linux Mint develops a desktop-neutral account manager, sudo developer seeks sponsorship |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Feren OS
Feren OS is a desktop Linux distribution based on Ubuntu and featuring the KDE Plasma desktop. It ships with a tweaked Calamares system installer, a custom theme and fonts, the Vivaldi web browser, boot options for advanced users, and a Feren OS Tour application, among the many home-built features and improvements. Prior to November 2020, the distribution was based on Linux Mint and included an edition with the Cinnamon desktop.
Status: Active
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| 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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