 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 940, 25 October 2021 |
Welcome to this year's 42nd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The Ubuntu distribution is widely used and acts as the basis for dozens of other projects. This means each Ubuntu release sends ripples of activity and change through the Linux community. This week we begin with a look at the project's latest version, Ubuntu 21.10. Joshua Allen Holm offers insights into the new version and its increased focus on Snap packages. In our News section we talk about plans for the next version of Ubuntu, 22.04, which will be a long-term support release. We also talk about ReactOS (and other open source projects) receiving donations in celebration of Linux's 30th anniversary, and talk about a new upgrade tool from AlmaLinux OS. Plus we talk about locking down third-party software such as Steam in our Questions and Answers section and explore how to block outgoing traffic using a simple firewall rule. We're also pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. Finally, we share some links to the upcoming PinePhone Pro, an open hardware, mobile device. Is the PinePhone Pro a device you are interested in getting? Let us know in this week's Opinion Poll. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Ubuntu 21.10
- News: Ubuntu plans features for 22.04, ReactOS receives large Linux-themed donation, AlmaLinux launches ELevate
- Questions and answers: Running Steam safely and enabling a firewall
- Released last week: MX Linux 21, Porteus Kiosk 5.3.0, Redcore Linux 2102
- Torrent corner: KDE neon, MX Linux, NuTyX, Porteus Kiosk, Redcore, Regata, ROSA, Volumio
- Upcoming releases: FreeBSD 12.3-BETA2
- Opinion poll: Upcoming PinePhone Pro
- New distributions: CloudNeedle OS, XOS Workstation, Chimera Linux
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (13MB) and MP3 (10MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Joshua Allen Holm) |
Ubuntu 21.10
Ubuntu 21.10 (code name Impish Indri) and its many variant flavors were released on October 14. This release is a non-Long Term Support release, meaning it will be supported for nine months. Like all new releases of Ubuntu, Ubuntu 21.10 comes with numerous updates and enhancements. The most notable of these changes are the customized GNOME 40 desktop and Firefox being a Snap instead of a Deb package. Both of these changes are explored in depth in this review.
Installing Ubuntu 21.10
I began by downloading the 2.9GB ISO and copying it to a flash drive. Booting the computer from the flash drive resulted in an extremely familiar experience. Unfortunately, the new installer currently being worked on did not make it into this release, so Ubuntu 21.10 still provides the same installation experience as all the recent releases of Ubuntu.
Ubuntu 21.10 -- The Ubiquity installer
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The Ubiquity installer starts by providing a choice between trying and installing Ubuntu. The try option exits the installer and brings up a live desktop environment. The install option, as one would expect, begins the installation process. I knew I was going to explore Ubuntu in depth after installing, so I skipped the live desktop experience and went right to installation.
The installation was the usual process of selecting a language and keyboard layout, picking between a minimal and standard install, deciding to install Ubuntu using the entire disk or some other partition scheme, setting time zone location, and creating a new user. The process was exactly like one would expect when installing most Linux distributions. Even if the new installer had been included, I doubt the process would have changed significantly. Basically, Ubuntu's installation process is well thought out set of steps that makes installing Ubuntu pretty straightforward.
GNOME 40
Ubuntu 21.10 comes with a customized version of GNOME 40 as its desktop environment. A small subset of the GNOME applications are from GNOME 41. This is similar to what happened with the previous Ubuntu release, which used GNOME 3.38 with some GNOME 40 applications. Some other distributions offer a full GNOME 41 experience, so hopefully Ubuntu being one GNOME release behind does not become a permanent trend. Shipping GNOME 40 instead of 41 does not impact the desktop experience too much, but it would have been nice to have all the nice new features.
Ubuntu's customized GNOME experience adopts many of GNOME 40's workflow changes, but continues to use a permanent dock on the left side of the screen. This dock has been upgraded from the previous Ubuntu release and now features a Trash icon on the dock and a line that separates the pinned favorite applications from other applications that are running. Removable media also shows up in the dock in the section below the line separator.
Ubuntu 21.10 -- The application list
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Overall, the new GNOME 40-based desktop is very nice. The three finger swipe touchpad gestures to bring up the Activities overview, applications list, and switch between virtual desktops is handy. However, there are some drawbacks that I find frustrating. The keyboard command for bringing up the Activities overview is the Super key, but the keyboard command for bring up the applications list is a quick double press of the Super key. Having a quick double press of a keyboard key as a shortcut just seems odd to me. I get the double tap timing right at least 90% of the time, but every so often my double tap is just not quick enough. Pressing Super once inside the Activities overview brings the desktop back to the original state instead of going another layer into the "desktop -> Activities overview -> application list" workflow, so getting the timing right on the double tap is crucial to get to the right place on the first try. There are other ways to get the application list, but this still strikes me as a workflow that would frustrate people. The touchpad swipe method of accessing the same screens is much clearer.
There are also a couple major frustrations with the way the applications list works. The first is fact that any application pinned to the dock does not appear in the full list of applications. My personal selection of favorites includes a subset of the LibreOffice applications, but not all of them. If I change my mind about what I want to work on (e.g., I decide I want to type an outline in LibreOffice Writer instead of making a presentation in LibreOffice Impress), the relevant icons are in two different spots. Under earlier GNOME releases, if I was using the full application list to get to the application I wanted, I would find every single one of them in alphabetical order, even if they were also in the dock. Now some of my applications are missing. Thankfully, they all show up when searching, but I do not understand how making favorite applications not appear in the full list is an improvement. This also leads me to one other issue: the applications are no longer in alphabetical order, even after using gsettings to reset the app-picker-layout. The first row of applications in the overview starts with Videos, Text Editor, Settings, the Utilities group, and Cheese, before it starts listing applications in alphabetical order. Even worse, this is not always consistent. I have seen Videos appear between Inkscape and Jupyter Notebook, Settings between LibreOffice and LibreOffice Base, and so forth. Even within the same login session, I will see both the Videos-first layout and the alternate order. Nothing I can do, short of manually dragging everything into alphabetical order, will correctly sort my applications list.
Default software selection
Nothing has really changed with the software selection in this release of Ubuntu. It features the newest versions of the standard applications that Ubuntu has shipped in all recent releases. The Linux kernel is version 5.13. The various GNOME applications and utilities are a mixture of GNOME 40 and 41 versions. LibreOffice is version 7.2. Thunderbird is version 91. Firefox is version 93, but is packaged as a Snap.
Firefox as a Snap
Switching Firefox to being a Snap is a change that attracted a lot of attention. Snaps have a reputation of being slow to start and not always playing well with other applications. Both of those problems are very real and cause for genuine concern, so how bad is Firefox as a Snap? Honestly, it is not nearly as bad as I expected. The startup time is a little slow, but most of the issues I had with Firefox were minor.
Ubuntu 21.10 -- Firefox's Snap permissions
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The negative issues with Firefox were mostly small annoyances. Ubuntu 21.10 switched to using an all dark or all light application theme, but Firefox (along with Ubuntu Software and a few other Snap applications I installed) still uses the dark header with light window theme that was used in the previous version of Ubuntu. Other annoyances include having a firefox.tmp folder in ~/Downloads that does not get deleted even when empty and the fact that the Download Files dialog box lists "System Handler" instead of the name of the actual application under the Open option. Everything opens with the correct application, but there is no way of knowing what that application will be until it launches. PDFs open in Document Viewer and LibreOffice documents open in the correct application (in read-only mode), but it would be nice to know what application would be launched before it starts up.
Ubuntu 21.10 -- Opening a link in Visual Studio Code
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Other than the issues listed above, Firefox integrated nicely with the system. I could open links from most applications and have them open in a new tab in an already running Firefox instance. If Firefox was not already running, clicking a link in an application would launch Firefox with my default profile, not a generic one. With one exception, I could open links correctly in Deb-based applications, Snaps, and Flatpaks. That one exception was the Visual Studio Code Snap, which would result in an error message that "Firefox is already running, but is not responding." I had to close Firefox entirely before clicking on any link in Visual Studio Code. This let Visual Studio Code open Firefox using my default profile, but having to constantly exit Firefox to open links was a pain. The Deb version of Visual Studio Code does not have this same problem, nor does any other Snap I tried, that includes both Snaps in Classic mode (which is what Visual Studio Code uses) and more confined Snaps.
Installing additional software
If the default selection of software is not enough, there are plenty of other applications available in Ubuntu's repositories and via Snaps. The graphical application for installing additional software is Ubuntu Software, a tweaked version of GNOME Software. Ubuntu Software favors Snaps over Deb packages and is a Snap itself. (Despite the preference for Snaps, Firefox and Ubuntu Software are the only two Snap applications installed by default.) From the command line, the apt and dpkg commands are available for installing additional Deb packages, and the snap command is there to install additional Snaps. While not pre-installed, Ubuntu 21.10 works just fine with Flatpak, so installing flatpak using apt and adding the flathub.org repository makes even more applications available.
Ubuntu 21.10 -- The Ubuntu Software application
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Final thoughts
While not perfect, Ubuntu 21.10 is another solid Ubuntu release. Users who only use the Long Term Support releases will not miss much by waiting another six months for Ubuntu 22.04, but I have been very happy with each of the short term support releases that have come out since Ubuntu 20.04. This release was no exception. There are some issues that I noted above, but Ubuntu 21.10 does everything well enough. Ubuntu remains a great distribution for users who want something straightforward and relatively easy to use. Ubuntu might not be the distribution of choice for power users who fiddle with their systems constantly because that is what they enjoy doing, but for users who just want their computer to run so they can do things, Ubuntu remains one of the best choices out there. So if the nine month support window of a short term release works for you, try out Ubuntu 21.10.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was an ASUS VivoBook E406MA laptop with the following specifications:
- Processor: Intel Pentium Silver N5000 CPU
- Storage: 64GB eMMC
- Memory: 4GB of RAM
- Networking: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
- Display: Intel UHD Graphics 605
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Visitor supplied rating
Ubuntu has a visitor supplied average rating of: 7.8/10 from 226 review(s).
Have you used Ubuntu? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Ubuntu plans features for 22.04, ReactOS receives large Linux-themed donation, AlmaLinux launches ELevate
Steve Langasek has announced plans for the next version of Ubuntu. Version 22.04 will be a long-term support (LTS) release that will feature OpenSSL 3.0, and an updated version of Python 3. The project has also published a release schedule for testing and the final launch of 22.04 in April of 2022. "We have opened the archive with Python 3.10 as supported, and there are a good number of packages in jammy-proposed that need fixing for this addition. And as discussed, we will be transitioning to OpenSSL 3.0 this cycle."
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In an amusing turn of events, a donation program which celebrated the 30th anniversary of Linux has ended up making its largest donation to the ReactOS project. ReactOS is an open source operating system which strives to be binary compatible with Microsoft Windows. It notably does not run the Linux kernel. However, ReactOS did receive the lion's share of the votes for donations, resulting in the project receiving nearly 2,000 Euros. The KDE and LibreOffice projects were two other big names to make the list, along with Haiku, another open source operating system which does not feature the Linux kernel.
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The AlmaLinux OS team have unveiled a new tool for upgrading Enterprise Linux systems. The new tool, which is called ELevate, can be used to upgrade Red Hat Enterprise Linux clones in place from version 7 to version 8. The ELevate tool is designed to work on all Enterprise Linux clones, not just AlmaLinux OS. "ELevate is a project aimed to provide the ability to migrate between major versions of RHEL-based distributions from 7.x to 8.x. It combines Red Hat's Leapp framework with a community created library and service for the migration metadata set required for it."
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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) |
Running Steam safely and enabling a firewall
Gaming-safely asks: I want to run Steam games on my Linux system, but I'm worried about running closed source stuff. Is there some way I can run Steam contained so that it can't harm my system?
DistroWatch answers: Yes, there is. The Steam software can be run inside an environment called a sandbox. The sandbox allows the software to do whatever it wants, within a confined part of your filesystem. Adjusting the sandbox controls gives you the ability to determine whether the program (Steam in this case) can access the Internet, write files to your home directory, and from which directories it can read data.
One of the easiest sandbox tools to use is called Firejail. Once Firejail is installed you can usually sandbox Steam by simply running the command "firejail steam". I've written about using Firejail before if you'd like some tips on how to get started using this sandbox tool.
Alternatively you may wish to install Steam using its Flatpak package. Flatpak optionally allows for some sandboxing and it may be enough to suit your purposes. You can see the way the Flatpak environment is set up for Steam by reading its configuration file. While Flatpak is probably the easier of the two options to set up, it seems as though Proton (the software compatibility layer which allows Linux players to run Windows Steam games) may not work when running Steam in a Flatpak sandbox.
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Shut-it-all-down asks: Since I only use my computer for web browsing and some desktop applications I don't need to allow any remote access. How can I close all unused ports using ufw?
DistroWatch answers: A firewall blocks network traffic from entering or leaving your computer. In most cases, at least for desktop computers, firewalls are set up to allow outgoing connections (such as those initiated by your web browser or update manager). This allows you to check e-mail, browse the web, and install new packages. Firewalls typically block remote access to all local network ports, apart from those ports which are running services you wish to share. If you were setting up a web server or enabling network file sharing then you would need to leave incoming access to some ports open.
Network ports which are not in use at all do not need to be blocked by a firewall because there isn't any program waiting for a network connection to come through them. Some people worry that by not running a firewall someone might connect to their computer and hack in. However, if there isn't any network service waiting for new connections then there isn't any connection to be made; there is no running service to hack. Attempts to contact your computer's network ports when you're not running services - such as OpenSSH, a web server, or Samba file sharing - simply fail.
However, if you're concerned that you may have a network service running and not know it (or that someone who has access to your computer might set up one) then you can block all network traffic coming into your machine by running the command "ufw enable" to start the firewall and enable it whenever your computer boots in the future.
You can confirm your firewall is running and blocking all incoming ports by running "ufw status" to see which ports are open. By default the "ufw status" output should say that the firewall is active and list no open ports.
An easy way to manage your firewall is to use the Gufw utility. Gufw is a desktop application which helps manage the ufw firewall. With Gufw you can see the status of your firewall and confirm it is active with just a mouse click or two. When you run Gufw, make sure the status button is set to On. Then set the Incoming rule to Deny and the Outgoing rule to Allow. (These are the default values so you probably won't need to adjust anything.) This will protect your computer from any incoming connection attempts, even if you do end up running a network service.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Porteus Kiosk 5.3.0
Tomasz Jokiel has announced the availability of Porteus Kiosk 5.3.0, the latest stable build of the project's Gentoo-based distribution designed for internet browsing in web kiosks: "I'm pleased to announce that Porteus Kiosk 5.3.0 is now available for download. Major software upgrades in this release include: Linux kernel 5.10.73, Google Chrome 93.0.4577.82 and Mozilla Firefox 91.2.0 ESR. Packages from the userland are upgraded to Portage snapshot tagged on 2021-10-14. Short changelog: libinput has become our default input driver as it provides native touch gestures support for the Firefox browser; touchscreens which were calibrated under Porteus Kiosk version 5.2.0 or below will continue using the 'evdev' driver in order to preserve compatibility with existing configurations; virtual keyboard extension can be enabled for Firefox and Chrome; added an option to enable experimental hardware video decoding feature for both browsers; on-screen buttons can be relocated to a different position on the kiosk screen....." Read the release announcement and the changelog for further details.
Redcore Linux 2102
Redcore Linux is a desktop-oriented distribution based on Gentoo. The project's latest snapshot, version 2102, carries the codename Polaris. "We're pleased to announce that Redcore Linux Hardened 2102 (codename Polaris) is now available for download. This cycle was a rather smooth one, without major incidents, until the nasty portage bug announced in our last blogpost. But that one was not the only bug we addressed since our previous release. In fact, this release is mostly focused on polishing and fixing bugs, so you won't find many exciting new features inside. Though, we still updated over 1300 packages since our previous release and, to top it off, we did a mass rebuild of the whole repository. Changelog: resync with Gentoo's testing tree as of 01.10.2021; Linux kernel 5.14.10 as default; LTS linux kernels 5.10.71 and 5.4.151 available in repository; KDE Plasma 5.22.5, KDE Gear 21.08.1; Xwayland is now a standalone package; Chromium replaces Firefox as the default web browser; Mailspring replaces Thunderbird as the default mail client." Additional information can be found in the project's release announcement.
MX Linux 21
The MX Linux team has announced the launch of MX Linux 21. The new release is available in three editions: Xfce, KDE Plasma, and Fluxbox. "We are pleased to offer MX-21 for your use. Things that are new in MX-21: Debian 11 'Bullseye' base. New and updated applications. New installer partition selection/management area, including some LVM support if LVM volume exists already and the ability to set existing data partitions to be mounted on install. New UEFI live system boot menus. UEFI live users can now select your live boot options (persistence, etc) from the boot menu and sub-menus rather than using the previous console menus. Xfce 4.16, Plasma 5.20, Fluxbox 1.3.7 with mx-fluxbox 3.0 configs. User password (sudo) for admin tasks by default. You can switch this in mx-tweak->Other tab. MX-Tour showing an overview of each desktop environment. Translation updates! MX-Comfort default theming, including dark variants and 'thick border' Xfwm variants. Mesa Vulkan drivers are installed by default. Better Realtek wi-fi support. A ton of customization and custom scripts in MX-Fluxbox." Additional details can be found in the project's release announcement.
MX Linux 21 -- Running the Xfce desktop
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NuTyX 21.10.0
The NuTyX distribution is a French Linux distribution (with multi-language support) built from Linux From Scratch and Beyond Linux From Scratch, with a custom package manager called "cards". The project's latest snapshot, 21.10.0, updates its desktop environments and kernel. The new version also includes support for 32-bit processors. "The NuTyX team is happy to announce the new version of NuTyX 21.10.0 and cards 2.4.138. The xorg-server graphics server version 1.20.13, the Mesa 3D library in 21.2.4, GTK4 4.4.0 and Qt 5.15.2. The Python interpreters are on 3.9.6 and 2.7.18. The Xfce desktop environment is updated to version 4.16. The MATE desktop environment is a 1.26 version. The GNOME desktop environment is also updated to version 40.4. The KDE desktop environment is available in Plasma 5.23.1, Framework 5.87.0 and applications in 21.08.2. Available browsers are: Firefox 93.0, Chromium 94.0.4606.81, Epiphany 40.3, etc. Many desktop applications have been updated as well like Thunderbird 91.2.0, Scribus 1.5.7, LibreOffice 7.1.5.2, GIMP 2.10.28, etc. Core NuTyX ships with Long Term Support (LTS) kernels: 4.9.287, 4.14.249, 4.19.212, 5.4.154 and 5.10.74 and the latest stable version 5.14.13." Further details can be found on the project's news page.
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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: 2,638
- Total data uploaded: 40.6TB
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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) |
Upcoming PinePhone Pro
Earlier this month Pine64 announced they are planning a new open hardware phone called the PinePhone Pro. These device is currently only available through pre-order options for developers. However, given the enthusiasm for the original PinePhone, this device is likely to attract attention from people throughout the open source community. The PinePhone Pro is expected to ship with the Manjaro Linux operating system and KDE Plasma Mobile interface. Further information can be found in an ask me anything session with a member of the Pine64 team.
What do you think about the PinePhone Pro? Are you planning to get one? Let us know if you have any existing Pine64 devices in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on DistroWatch banner options in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Will you buy the PinePhone Pro?
| I have already pre-ordered: | 8 (1%) |
| I will pre-order: | 20 (2%) |
| I will order later: | 185 (14%) |
| I will not order one: | 661 (50%) |
| Undecided: | 437 (33%) |
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| Website News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- CloudNeedle OS. CloudNeedle OS is a Linux distribution built from Linux From Scratch (LFS) which focused on providing a web browser for accessing cloud services. It is intended to be an alternative to projects like Chrome OS.
- XOS Workstation. XOS Workstation is an Ubuntu-based distribution featuring the Trinity desktop environment.
- Chimera Linux. Chimera Linux is a distribution which uses the Linux kernel and FreeBSD userland. The system is built entirely with the Clang/LLVM compiler.
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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, 1 November 2021. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Article Search page. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
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| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 986 (2022-09-19): Porteus 5.0, remotely wiping a hard drive, a new software centre for Ubuntu, Proxmox offers offline updates |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Unity Linux
The community-oriented Unity Linux was a minimalist distribution and live CD which was originally based on Mandriva Linux, but was now maintained as an independent distribution. The project's main goal was to create a base operating system from which more complete, user-oriented distribution can easily be built - either by other distribution projects or by the users themselves. Unity Linux uses Openbox as the default window manager. Its package management was handled via YUM and RPM 5 which can download and install additional software packages from the project's online repository.
Status: Discontinued
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View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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