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1 • Persistence (by Matt on 2022-09-19 01:35:07 GMT from Austria)
Why is persistence implemented differently on USB flash drives? A thumb drive is not really a read-only medium anyway, why do they make a read-only LiveUSB plus some writable space for persistence?
2 • Porteus (by Simon on 2022-09-19 01:38:53 GMT from New Zealand)
Oh, looks like the first legit post, as the only existing one is a ridiculous ad. Porteus sounds like a bit of a headache. I think Slax is back to basing (at least one variant of) its portable OS on Slackware... so Slax might be a better option for a portable Slackware.
3 • Dangnation (by Simon on 2022-09-19 01:39:40 GMT from New Zealand)
Foiled again! One day, Matt from Austria... one day
4 • Proteous (by SMS on 2022-09-19 02:06:04 GMT from United States)
Thanks for doing the hard job of keeping us informed of the poisnous mushrooms to avolid!
5 • Remote access to Linux desktops (by Roger in Lawrenceville on 2022-09-19 02:10:48 GMT from United States)
I use Teamviewer and Splashtop to access my Linux desktops remotely. They are proprietary commercial programs though. Both will connect to the login screen once the device is on a network.
6 • Remotely wiping a HD (by shep971 on 2022-09-19 02:17:05 GMT from United States)
How well you "wipe" a HD is a matter of degree. Making a hard drive inaccessible to low level thieves can be done quick and easily by zeroing out the boot sectors. This is how the Michelangelo Virus functioned:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo_(computer_virus)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda1 bs=512 count=100 will zero out the first 100 sectors,
You ould script this to run on a remote command or with several failed logins.
Note that newer hard drives put a backup gpt on the last sectors. gDisk, which can reside on the hard drive can also completely remove mbr/gpt boot partitions.
If you are worried about State level data retrival (GRU, FBI, CIA, G6 ....) you pretty much have to perform 2 passes of random bits like BleachBit. This can take several hours.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BleachBit
7 • Spiral Linux (by Heinrich on 2022-09-19 02:40:34 GMT from United States)
I’ve never used Spiral Linux, but Jack Wallen gave it a very positive review on ZDnet in July: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-spiral-linux-and-why-it-could-easily-become-a-top-contender-for-users-new-to-linux/
8 • Spiral Linux - you've missed out the important bit! (by Bin on 2022-09-19 05:48:11 GMT from United Kingdom)
Spiral Linux is set up to use Debian Backports AND Debian Fasttrack by default. This means that although it is running Stable, it is also getting the latest it can have from Backports and extra goodies via fasttrack. The software selection is what you would get from the Debian installer just using the selected DE rather than Debian Desktop this makes it much lighter. You don't get loads of tweaks and tools and developer specific stuff, it just works. Heartily recommend!
9 • Shtredding (by Any on 2022-09-19 06:08:53 GMT from Spain)
It is useless to expect you could connect to your stolen laptop and delete/shred files. If encrypting is not an option then you could make a script to check at boot if a specific hardware is connected to your laptop and if not to destroy the data. For example checking for a USB drive, mouse or certain key word in a text file on the pen drive. To make things easier you could do a partition for /home and shred the entire partition. Maybe this will get around the BTRFS shred problems.
Or just use a large veracrypt container.
10 • Porteus, Kiosk edition, Slax (by eM-13 on 2022-09-19 06:28:05 GMT from Poland)
I've used Porteus few years ago. It's a nice concept to have a bloat free minimal portable Linux iso with ability to add your own customizations. I've stopped using it because it wasn't reliable. Same with other distros like Slax. They randomly forget settings after reboot. File gets corrupted or for some reason is not loaded during next boot and you are forced to start from scratch again. Very, very annoying. But my worst experience was with kiosk version. Very hard to setup. They make sure you won't be able to make your customizations like adding extensions to the browser straight from iso. No no, you have to do them hard way by remastering iso by hand from other distro. It is supposed to be a secure rolling realease distro but is distributed without latest version of browsers. Worst thing was still to come because bad sound harware initialization with max volume noise comming out of laptop speakers destroyed them in one of my laptops.
11 • Thief proofing a PC (this week's reader question). (by Greg Zeng on 2022-09-19 07:06:39 GMT from Australia)
Some comments have been made on shredding the SSD, or HDD, totally (slowly) or partially (quick). Distrowatch suggested Disk or Partition encryption (fast). Writing zeros into the first sections of the storage medium is foolproof? Comments are welcome.
Some operating systems and hardware units offer alternatives: third-party accessories (Wifi, Bluetooth, devices, connections) for immediate access, otherwise destruction of the data.
My Dell Inspiron (recent model) offers inbuilt firmware security encryption. This inbuilt security can be avoided, by the system administrator. Otherwise, various types of "standard" software encryption can be chosen, solely or with other types simultaneously. Linux and most operating systems have these encryption types.
The automatic destruction of the data (SSD, HDD, etc) upon improper entry (theft, security agencies, etc) is not possible AFAIK in most operating systems or hardware types. So "smartphones" etc claim to offer such protection. Most security investigators might physically separate the data storage units, for off-site hardware analysis of the data, rather than allow any inbuilt operating system or apps have any chance to destroy the data.
12 • remotely accesssing a stolen computer or phone (by Simon Plaistowe on 2022-09-19 07:18:10 GMT from New Zealand)
I use AnyDesk, maybe I could log into my laptop if it were stolen, but better to encrypt anything important & be sure to backup. Much easier on an Android phone with Google's built-in tracker, also I have an app which emails me photos & audio if it detects dodgy activity. Years ago a thief stole my phone off my kitchen table while I was mowing the lawn. Within half an hour I'd tracked him down. Imagine his surprise when I rocked up & threatened to shove various parts of his anatomy up various other bits. Got my phone back without any further drama. But I digress :-D
13 • Persistence in a distro (by Hank on 2022-09-19 08:09:27 GMT from Denmark)
Porteus is pretty good in a kiosk function but as noted difficult as a fully fledged live environment.
the king and queen of lightweight configureability,
speed and if wished for persistence is antiX. All the reliability of debian stable, backports can be easily added, the system remastered to keep startup fast. Change repos to sid for most up to date software. Easily,Make a snapshot and write it to usb or dvd all with included tools. Run live or if you feel like it install to disk. Configue add or remove packages Make an ISO from your installed system, as a personal backup or stripped of personal data for friends. easy peasy.
I ran antiX full runit version live on a system with no drive for months without any issues.
SysV init is just as reliable. No systemd, big plus, no dependancy chaos, no waiting minutes for a startjob to finish, no slow shutdowns, Love it.
14 • Spiral Linux (by Pete on 2022-09-19 08:33:09 GMT from United Kingdom)
I have used this distro and it seems pretty good to me. I'm no expert but it did everything I asked of it.
Very sad day here in the UK.
15 • stolen PCs (by Any on 2022-09-19 08:58:37 GMT from Spain)
@12 I assume the author of the question did not mean protection against "Most security investigators" as this implies specific knowledge and equipment and a normal user would not deserve such an attention. I think he just needs a method to destroy his data just "in case of". And destroying the data has an advantage over encrypting because of the trendy "harvest now, decrypt later" concept. A stolen today encrypted disk could be decrypted later. Better give them pain in the a.. with a shredded encrypted disk/partition. But then again a normal user should be out of scope for such time and efforts investments.
16 • SpiralLinux (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 12:23:04 GMT from Turkey)
SpiralLinux is the best Debian option for all level users.
I'm writing this comment from a laptop that SpiralLinux is installed on it. Second option is may be MxLinux.
17 • remote access (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 12:44:42 GMT from Turkey)
Simly secured ssh.
18 • SpiralLinux (by Zipslack on 2022-09-19 13:12:24 GMT from United States)
Glad to see SpiralLinux finally making it into the database. It's an excellent Debian-based KDE Plasma distro. Also be sure to check out it's "sister" distro, GeckoLinux, based on OpenSuse.
19 • Stolen data (by Friar Tux on 2022-09-19 13:29:41 GMT from Canada)
@15 (Any) My thoughts, exactly. This topic usually sends my into grumpy Grandpa mode...
Two things:- one, I NEVER keep anything of value on my machine. No matter how good you think your computer security is, anything on that machine is open to anyone with the right tools and knowledge. And most of those tools and knowledge are easily available.
Two, I have always viewed my laptop as quite personal. It rarely leaves my house. On the rare occasion that it does, it never leaves my grasp/sight. (I have a bag made just for the laptop that, once slung over my shoulder, it would require the removal of my head and one arm to get the bag, in which case I'm pretty sure I wouldn't care what happens to the laptop after that.)
20 • SpiralLinux (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 14:51:04 GMT from Turkey)
Builder edition is minimalist version with IceWM desktop. Low resource devices use it easily. Maintainer mentioned it for "advanced user" but it has only required software and IceWM (A bare KISS example). Anyone can shape it for own needs.
21 • Remote Access (by Trihexagonal on 2022-09-19 15:02:33 GMT from United States)
I don't even allow myself remote access.. I have physical access.
Nobody else could get past an empty workspace and an unplugged USB mouse with an unattended FreeBSD machine or the login screen on a Linux box.
***Free wallpapers I created available now at my updated site with many more to post.***
22 • Spiral (by Tad Strange on 2022-09-19 16:29:46 GMT from Canada)
I'm liking Spiral on an older laptop where I wanted an LTS type of distro.
I've tried Gecko in the past, but something about SuSE always fails to keep my interest. Maybe I just like the Debian ecosystem best because it was the first that I really got into.
23 • spiral linux (by man on 2022-09-19 18:11:43 GMT from Netherlands)
Fanbois here, not me it uses systemD. Yet another so called distro riding on the flexibility of debian.
See if it is around in a couple of years. My experience indicated it to be like an unripe pear. Tastless
24 • Automatic destruction of data (by Matt on 2022-09-19 18:36:06 GMT from United States)
@9, @11: Automatic wiping is a bad idea unless you back up very often. It is better to have a disk decryption key on an external device, so that in the absence of this device your data is inaccessible.
25 • Re: Persistence (by eco2geek on 2022-09-19 19:16:51 GMT from United States)
@1 "Why is persistence implemented differently on USB flash drives? A
thumb drive is not really a read-only medium anyway, why do they make a
read-only LiveUSB plus some writable space for persistence?"
Because they're making the USB stick emulate a CD/DVD, using a CD's read-only file system. The writable space is in a separate partition.
If you want a USB stick *with persistence* that doesn't require any effort, try openSUSE's live media. It automatically sets up persistent space on whatever space is left on your USB stick.(However, persistence slows the whole thing down.)
26 • SpiralLinux (by SpiralLinux on 2022-09-19 19:18:08 GMT from United States)
@23 Hi there, SpiralLinux creator here. I'm not going to try to convince you to use it, but notice that SpiralLinux is *not* a "so called distro", per the very first line of the description on its website:
> SpiralLinux is a selection of Linux spins built from Debian GNU/Linux...
Unlike many Debian-based distros that modify Debian packages and/or maintain their own supplemental repos, SpiralLinux has chosen not to do that so as to not make installed systems dependent on the SpiralLinux project (i.e. me). So SpiralLinux is effectively an alternative installation method and configuration of Debian, and the resulting installed system is entirely dependent on Debian.
@Everyone else: Thanks very much for your kind comments, glad to hear it's working well for you!
27 • SpiralLinux & systemd (by zcatav on 2022-09-19 20:03:34 GMT from Turkey)
@23
If you want SpiralLinux without systemd (Devuan based) you fallow link;
https://github.com/SpiralLinux/SpiralLinux-project/discussions/53
28 • SpiralLinux (by poiuyt on 2022-09-20 00:27:55 GMT from Australia)
@26 Thanks for your work on both Spiral and Gecko. A lot of people on this forum complain about the endless distros based on something else instead of being something new and while I don't agree with that (people should do whatever they want), I reckon you've got it right by making alternative more user-friendly installation methods of the parent distro instead.
29 • Artix Linux (by Otis on 2022-09-20 12:44:19 GMT from United States)
@27 etc... So far down the DW PHR list, and yet resolves nearly every issue brought up in this space. Artix just may be the best Linux distribution there is for non-systemd init and solid, very fast, secure computing.
30 • Stolen laptop (by dragonmouth on 2022-09-20 14:01:30 GMT from United States)
If this-hard-drive-will-self-destruct wants to protect his data he needs to encrypt it. Were I after the data on that laptop, the first thing I would do upon obtaining it is to physically separate the laptop and the drive, thus obviating any attempts at remote deletion/destruction.
Were I after the laptop itself, I would either replace the drive or do a low-level format. Then I would install an O/S. This would never give this-hard-drive-will-self-destruct a chance to try to access his stolen laptop.
31 • @19 FriarTux: (by dragonmouth on 2022-09-20 14:12:43 GMT from United States)
"I NEVER keep anything of value on my machine. "
/GRIN/
Unfortunately you NEVER know what hackers/crackers might find valuable on your machine. What you may deem innocuous, a bad actor can find useful for his purposes. Then there is the data you don't even realize is automatically collected by the software you use.
Just sayin'.
32 • SpiralLinux (by Geronimo on 2022-09-20 15:16:31 GMT from Italy)
I installed it and it seems to me a very good customization of Debian Stable: great fonts, good choice of preinstalled software, attractive appearance. The most significant difference from Debian Stable is the preinstalled Backports repository.
33 • systemd (again) (by Gary W on 2022-09-20 16:19:11 GMT from Australia)
systemd is a popular topic for discussion (@23, @27).
I often wonder, is there any practical difference between Devuan, and those widespread prescriptions for removing systemd from Debian?
Disclaimers: MX user (with a Devuan box), and I'd rather run a BSD than anything polluted with systemd.
34 • SpiralLinux (by northivanastan on 2022-09-20 22:23:04 GMT from United States)
As an avid Debian user, I never liked the options available to me (and other users) for installing the system. It's either an ancient installer with several unnecessary steps, or an unpolished live system that includes all the (mostly unnecessary) localization packages by default. So SpiralLinux makes me very happy.
There are some things I'd do differently with it. I do not like the look of the Numix+Faenza theme and there are much better themes in the Debian repo, and in my opinion Plasma and GNOME distros should stick to the vanilla layout and theme (so users can set that up themselves). But there are also some great decisions, like the default btrfs filesystem configuration, and the inclusion of both Backports and Fasttrack repos.
From now on I think I'll recommend it to new users who I'd otherwise recommend Debian and close Debian derivatives, i.e. people in need of an unchanging, secure system that can be easily customized.
35 • Remotely wiping a drive (by JeffC on 2022-09-21 03:45:05 GMT from United States)
Now imagine if it were routine to have the ability to remotely wipe the data out on a drive...
How many would be asking how to keep some bad people from erasing their drive?
36 • What hackers find... (by Friar Tux on 2022-09-21 13:38:21 GMT from Canada)
@31 (dragonmouth) "... you NEVER know what hackers/crackers might find valuable on your machine."
So true...
I use my laptop for just about everything. It is my library (books, newspapers, magazines, technical journals), recipe box, encyclopedia, writer's tool (stories, poems, articles, etc.), graphic artist's tool (painting, drawing), communications device, and much, much more. If they wish to read the same stuff I read, they are more than welcome to my "unwiped" drive. Maybe my recipes might inspire them to eat better. As for the stuff I've written/drawn, if they can stomach it, good on them. If they wish to communicate with my family, I wish them luck.
Regarding SpiralLinux, THIS is one of the things I like about Linux. Debian is a pain to install, so, in true Linux fashion, someone fixes that and the sun shines more brightly. Love it. (@26 (SpiralLinux) Keep up the good work.)
37 • systemd (again) or BSD (by zcatav on 2022-09-21 17:40:31 GMT from Turkey)
@33
If you don't need k8s and/or extra 30K additional programs then BSD will be the right choice.
38 • Artix (by zcatav on 2022-09-21 17:56:30 GMT from Turkey)
@29
I tried artix linux. Because it was a rolling distribution, it was getting very frequent and intense updates. Therefore, it was not very stable. In addition, it did not have the diversity of over 60K programs that Debian had. I couldn't find some apps I needed.
39 • Artix Linux updates (by Otis on 2022-09-21 20:01:31 GMT from United States)
@38 Artix users need not install updates until they peruse them and decide whether or not it would be prudent to do so. Artix is a clever and intuitive system, and updates are not released until they're deemed stable, unlike some other rolling release distros (OpenSuse is good at that as well, and a few others).
Artix is stable.
60 thousand Debian programs? Have fun. Love the diversity of Linux.
40 • Artix and Stability (by David on 2022-09-21 21:07:38 GMT from United States)
Arch is unstable, due to a constant barrage of (untested) software updates. Artix is based on Arch. Therefore, Artix should be unstable too.
41 • Artix and Arch Stablility (by rb on 2022-09-22 03:02:02 GMT from United States)
Arch is a cutting edge distro, as well as the derivatives by nature. As soon as a package is updated upstream, it takes very little time for it to make it to the distro. This gives you the ability to have newer kernels, newer hardware support, newest software features and bug fixes. While this is not ideal for everyone, it is definitely not unstable. When there have been rare major issues, such as with grub recently, it is easy to downgrade to fix the problem if you know what you are doing. If you need extremely stable stick with Debian, but the software is old and out of date in most cases. The kernel is also outdated and does not support a lot of newly released hardware, in my case wifi. 5.10 is not new enough to support some of my hardware. As for Debian having more software, that is definitely not true. When you combine Arch and the user repositories, Arch has just as much software as Debian. Arch Linux has the largest number of packages among all Linux distros. Debian leads by the number of non-unique packaged projects. If you did not find what you were looking for in Arch, then you must have blinked and missed it.
42 • Remote Access (by penguinx86 on 2022-09-22 03:19:26 GMT from United States)
I don't have remote access to my laptop, and I don't want anybody else to have remote access either. It's a big security hole. Remote access is the first thing I disable with my personal home laptop. In a corporate environment, I may not have a choice who has remote access. The less people, the better.
43 • @41 re "definitely not unstable" (by Simon on 2022-09-22 08:57:16 GMT from New Zealand)
Arch is definitely very unstable. You're forgetting what "stable" means (fixed in place, not easily moved) and confusing it with one of the effects of stability (applications that work without bugs/crashes/etc). You may be right that Arch works most of the time, but it's not stable, so there's no guarantee it will continue working: you just hope it will, and (according to you and many other Arch users) most of the time what you hope will happen does indeed happen.
It's different with a stable OS. The software doesn't change so you know it will keep working the same way, day after day, year after year. Stability is about minimising change: as you say, Arch is a "cutting edge" rolling release distro, so it is the opposite of a "stable" distro (like Debian stable, Red Hat, Ubuntu LTS, Slackware, or any of the others that release occasionally and then keep that platform stable, only updating it with necessary security and bug fixes).
44 • Debian vs Artix (by zcatav on 2022-09-22 11:42:59 GMT from Turkey)
@41
I don't prefer use someone else's repo (I think it called something UAR). Official repositories are the way. The following line shows my kernel version on SpiralLinux.
Linux localhost 5.18.0-0.deb11.4-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 5.18.16-1~bpo11+1 (2022-08-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux
As you can see Debian Backports and Debian Fasttrack by default, SpiralLinux is not same thing with vanilla Debian stable.
All of these are IMHO.
45 • for what its worth... (by tom joad on 2022-09-22 16:10:01 GMT from Greece)
I long ago discounted the idea or concept of connecting remotely to a stolen computer. Yeah, you can, maybe, but there are way to many hurdles to jump. Once the computer is gone...its bye-bye.
The path I followed is to make sure as best I can what is on the computer will never, ever be found. I use full disk encryption. Yeah, it is a pain. But the world is a dangerous place even for average folks. I employ a very long passwords, over 20+ characters of all types. Yeah, you can brute force them but it will take a while even for the feds.
Example as per GRC.com. brancHtreegauze77+round => 3,106,266,216,369,922,375,245,484,442,102,782,269,741,626,495 or 3.11 x 1045, the 45th power. That is the search space where the password is hidden. Scramble those words a bit to account for entropy and yeah, busting that will take a bit of time.
Next I do redundant back ups including real time cloud storage. And my zip drives with personal stuff on them are encrypted too.
Next, I set all of my power settings to the shortest time frame possible. For instance close my laptop and it immediately shuts down. I have tested that a few times. It works. When I leave my laptop I always 'lock' it. Yes, my user password is long too. Good luck.
Is all that a gaurontee? No. But it will keep 'them' at bay for a long time, maybe even forever.
In the real world a thief likely doesn't care about the info on your computer. All they will do is wipe it and keep it or sell it to someone else. Thieves are lazy. The Feds will attempt to crack your passwords. If that is not easy and or fast they will throw YOU on in the s*****r until you tell them the password(s). The FEDS are pretty lazy too.
That is how I look at it. But connecting to a stolen laptop to wipe it clean...Forgetaboutit!
46 • Curious... (by Friar Tux on 2022-09-22 19:24:40 GMT from Canada)
I'm just wondering... why not attack the "remote wipe" question from a different angle. A timed wipe. If you use your computer at least once in so many hours, why not set it to wipe itself if not turned on by then? Or wipe itself if not turned on with a specific USB key drive it the slot? Also, I thought I read somewhere about a distro that will wipe itself if something is entered wrong. (SuicideOS ???) Not sure. Anyway, just some ideas.
47 • Porteus Persistence (by Mitchell on 2022-09-22 23:42:47 GMT from United States)
Persistence is the easy part with Porteus. Software package management is the difficult part. Annoyances include the root file manager auto-mounting every partition on my hard drive despite booting with "noauto" in the boot configuration file along with always needing to adjust the hardware clock and system time. "noauto" only seems to work with the regular user file manager.
Anyway,persistence is achieved by simply creating a "save file".I created mine as Porteus_Save_File.dat.It's installed on an ext3 partition.Which,by the way,that partition contains a traditional install of a different distribution. Installing Porteus can be done right into / of the partition without impacting the existing install of another distribution (as long as "vmlinuz" does not already exist). The Porteus install just creates a folder in / called "porteus" and a "syslinux" folder along with "initrd.xz" and "vmlinuz" files in /boot.
For persistence,just add the context to /boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg which points to the save file. For example , the last line in my porteus.cfg entry reads : APPEND copy2ram changes=/Porteus_Save_File.dat noauto
Installed to the hard drive with existing linux,I just made a custom entry in my existing GRUB bootloader to chain-load the Porteus syslinux bootloader.
48 • Persistence, wiping (by Wally on 2022-09-23 02:56:36 GMT from Australia)
Tried Porteus back when it billed itself as an OS for kiosks. Skipping it this time, as I see no use for me. I do have a light OS live with persistence on USB: Star. Small and light on resources, Star is based on Devuan, so it should please those who break out in hives at the thought of systemd. I know it's heresy, but I use Rufus (Windows) to create the live USB. I have not found anything else as easy and reliable for Debian/Devuan/Ubuntu persistence.
@46 Friar Tux, There are varied reasons for not using a timed wipe, no need to go into it here. I question the whole "wipe" idea. AES 256 encryption is still rock solid, just ask the corporations and governments that pay large ransoms to hackers for keys to retrieve their encrypted data. Worried? Encrypt! Don't worry, your friendly neighborhood hacker most probably doesn't own a quantum computer.
In almost any case, someone who steals your computer is not after your data, they just want your hardware. (Unless you are Hunter Biden or some other high muck-a-muck with deep secrets.) If I wanted your data, I can simply boot from a live USB to access it. If that avenue is closed, I can remove the drive. But I'd still have no access if the drive is encrypted.
49 • Passwords (by Matt on 2022-09-23 23:26:03 GMT from United States)
@45: Your example password probably has about 5 * 15 = 75 bits of real entropy, or circa 10^23 search space. That's possible to crack practically, though perhaps still expensive. The generation process needs to be more random, "scrambling a bit" is not enough. 20+ characters can have 160 bits of entropy or more, just generate them randomly.
50 • Passwords (by Matt on 2022-09-23 23:52:21 GMT from United States)
@49: Well, if length is 20 and only ASCII Latin letters and digits and two punctuation symbols are allowed you can get 20 * 6 = 120 bits of entropy. I have to say that your example password is perhaps not crackable even if its entropy is relatively low because Linux LUKS disk encryption uses PBKDF2 to derive the actual key (but maybe intelligence agencies have unpublished attack methods and/or custom hardware against PBKDF2).
Number of Comments: 50
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| • 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 |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Full list of all issues |
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BlackArch Linux
BlackArch Linux is an Arch Linux-based distribution designed for penetration testers and security researchers. It is supplied as a live DVD image that comes with several lightweight window managers, including Fluxbox, Openbox, Awesome and spectrwm. It ships with over a thousand specialist tools for penetration testing and forensic analysis.
Status: Dormant
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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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