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1 • Torrents (by Brad on 2023-02-13 01:27:17 GMT from United States)
One advantage of your torrent service, is that I can find older versions of distributions that the distro maintainers no longer host. I realize that this is not a compelling reason to keep the service, but it has helped me in the past.
2 • This week's "review" (by don't mention on 2023-02-13 01:52:54 GMT from Australia)
I thoroughly enjoyed reading that Jesse, even though I don't have a Pinephone (or any intentions of getting one).
I for one would like to see more of these experiments in print - I wouldn't have had a clue you could do that sort of thing and the number of old devices is starting to build up around here...
3 • PinePhone review (by Jesse on 2023-02-13 02:08:22 GMT from Canada)
@2: Thank you. I sometimes start articles like this one, but usually end up scrapping them because "Nothing works and the documentation is non-existent" doesn't make for an interesting expose. This one was one of the few to get far enough along in the process it felt worth discussing.
4 • Torrents... (by tom joad on 2023-02-13 02:28:41 GMT from Netherlands)
I rarely do torrents. Yes, there have been times when I have used torrents. But I just don't see the benefit in time. Maybe back in the day there was was a benefit. I don't know.
That is just my view. There may well be others in other places that embrace torrents and see the need of them. No doubt torrents fill a need.
However, here we have public wifi that is smoking fast. At home my wifi is pretty fast though that really depends on the site at the other end. And maybe torrents can fix that though I suspect not. Again, I don't know. But here I can download a full version of Linux Mint Vera Cinnamon in less than two minutes.
Maybe I am unusual. Again, I don't know. But if I can do that, what benefit is a torrent to me?
Yes, that is subjective. And subjectivity may lead one astray here as it can in any decision or discussion.
Lastly, I would say if the overhead and cost is not a lot to continue torrents, continue them. We have no or little idea what internet life is like in Third world areas. But we do know there are a lot of Third world folks who want to "Know." Torrents may be a benefit to them.
5 • torrents (by Toran on 2023-02-13 02:55:40 GMT from Belgium)
Hi, I do not see why DW is seeding torrents as we can easily download from te distro website.But I would like to see the service continued for isos which have no torrent on the distro page. I do prefer downloading via torrent.
6 • Gentoo (by Toran on 2023-02-13 02:59:35 GMT from Belgium)
It would be nice for Gentoo to provide a real installer like Calamares so we can do an easy install and use an original Gentoo. A couple of days to install a distro is quite long...and thus far from practical.
7 • Torrents (by Sam Crawford on 2023-02-13 04:26:27 GMT from United States)
I still download torrents and install from them but I always download the torrents from the project's site.
8 • Torrents (by Andy Prough on 2023-02-13 04:45:20 GMT from United States)
I use torrents for downloading distro ISO's whenever they are available, so I always would rather see more torrent options rather than less. My preferred torrent client is qBittorrent. Some clients, like Transmission, don't usually download torrents from archive.org correctly, and archive.org is usually where I host ISOs of my respins.
9 • KDE article (by Joe on 2023-02-13 04:52:41 GMT from New Zealand)
Great to see the colab with FOSS Force and the article is an informative read. KDE a nod to last week's big subject, CDE. Those old interfaces were well designed but lacked the speedy hardware and awesome graphics we have today. Going back to last week, Xfce is based a lot on CDE? .. maybe that's why I get an allergic reaction to it. :)
Torrents - I use them sometimes, mostly from the distro sites themselves, except for some distros that don't. But then the ISO direct doesn't take too long. Must be quite a chunk of drive and server housework around it for you.
10 • "Top 10" lists (by Simon on 2023-02-13 07:49:16 GMT from New Zealand)
Yes, and it's not just these that are useless, there's a massive infestation of AI-generated garbage out there now (many "comparison" sites, with side-by-side comparisons of tech products, are examples of this kind of empty click-bait garbage). In fact when I've searched recently for info on some products I've come across more useless AI-generated crap than actual human-authored reviews. The challenge of carving our way through all the cynically mass-produced advertising-driven noise to find some actual information is getting harder every day, and there doesn't seem to be anyting in place to control it: the Internet is less and less a source of real information, more and more a disgusting rubbish dump of AI-generated click-bait.
Fortunately most of this crap is so soullessly market-driven that it follows research-based patterns and therefore winds up looking/reading like every other top 10 / comparison / whatever site: after you've suffered through a few of them, you can at least smell the AI immediately in the next few as you search for the human stuff.
11 • Why I prefer torrents over direct downloads (by Gwynion on 2023-02-13 08:36:22 GMT from United Kingdom)
I admit I was surprised to hear that the popularity of torrent downloads are waning while direct downloads are increasing.
I have always considered torrent downloads to be preferable from a file integrity angle, dispensing with the need for MD5 integrity checks and the like.
Secondly, torrent downloads can handle power cuts or loss of internet connection and later be resumed from where it got suspended - unlike direct downloads where you have to start all over again.
Thirdly, torrents are a co-operative community driven technology more in spirit with the whole open source philosophy. A community of peers, if you like, as opposed to a master / slave model of direct downloads.
12 • Torrents (by Arnold on 2023-02-13 09:59:38 GMT from United States)
I no longer hop around for new distros much any more. Therefore, I just don't use torrents.
13 • Torrents (by Dino on 2023-02-13 11:07:49 GMT from Denmark)
I admit, I don't use torrents. I prefer direct downloads, especially the fast ones. I guess, I always asume I want to avoid potential slow downloads by torrent. I know it's wrong, but thw the direct download is just one click away, and I don't like to use "a middleman" - a torrent client.
14 • Torrent downloads (by Jesse on 2023-02-13 14:01:01 GMT from Canada)
@11: "I have always considered torrent downloads to be preferable from a file integrity angle, dispensing with the need for MD5 integrity checks and the like."
This is probably not a safe idea. We ran an article just a few weeks ago about why torrent checksums do not replace the need to run MD5/SHA checksums on downloaded media: https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20230116#qa
"Secondly, torrent downloads can handle power cuts or loss of internet connection and later be resumed from where it got suspended - unlike direct downloads where you have to start all over again."
Almost all direct file download clients support resuming transfers that were interrupted. If your connection drops or the power cuts, almost all download clients have an option to resume where they were stopped. You don't need to rely on torrents for this.
15 • Torrents (by dragonmouth on 2023-02-13 14:05:09 GMT from United States)
I do not use torrents so I have no preference either pro or con.
16 • Torrents (by isyankar47 on 2023-02-13 14:36:59 GMT from Turkey)
I don't know what are the most popular torrent iso files, the device I use is open most of the time, it would be helpful if you list the most downloaded ones, don't close it anyway, I will support the seed
17 • Torrents and torrents (by npaladin2000 on 2023-02-13 15:05:03 GMT from United States)
I like the idea of torrents but I think they're going to continue to wane as long as they require interfacing with another program to download. There's nothing stopping Firefox from implementing torrents in a limited fashion as a download protocol at the very least...or even Chrome or Edge, but I'd expect it see it in Firefox first, then maybe Chromium. And I think it's telling that so far no one's done it.
18 • media playing (by David on 2023-02-13 16:42:22 GMT from United States)
I also enjoyed the non-review review and found it interesting. I have Gerbera set up on my parents' computer. It was harder to get it to work when it was called Mediatomb, but it doesn't seem so bad now. I had to change protocolInfo extend to yes in the config.xml. I haven't tried playing from VLC or any computer-based player, but our old Samsung smart TV picks it up.
19 • MPD remote database (by Tim on 2023-02-13 16:47:46 GMT from Netherlands)
Just a little tip: MPD can be configured to run as a server for music - and it's fairly simple to do.
On the server share your music directory over nfs or smb (and a playlist directory if you want) and configure mpd like normal, adding a bind_to_address for your network interface.
In the client mpd.conf set music_directory to your network share eg. "smb:/someshare/music" (and playlist directory), comment out the db_file line, and enable the database "proxy" plugin to point to the server. Then you can use whatever frontend you want.
If you want to get fancy you can set up pulseaudio to stream over the network, but that is a bit more fiddly.
20 • Torrents (by Matt on 2023-02-13 17:11:50 GMT from United States)
With Broadband connections being more common and reliable around the world, the decline of torrents are understandable. They still have a place though, as many of the smaller, less popular distros may not be able to afford the bandwidth costs associated with hosting consistently fast http(s) downloads.
For many of these distros, Distrowatch could provide much needed accessibility.
21 • MPD (by Jesse on 2023-02-13 17:58:41 GMT from Canada)
@19: "Just a little tip: MPD can be configured to run as a server for music - and it's fairly simple to do."
As it happens, MPD was the first project I looked at as a possibility. However, reading through the introduction documentation made it seem like MPD would only play music on the server, not stream remotely. (The documentation and Debian package description both say the MPD service plays locally and is controlled remotely.) The MPD documentation on clients also says clients only control playback, not accept music streams.
Just now, even with the tip provided, I went back and browsed the MPD documentation and still can't find any guide to remote streaming. If you find a guide for this, please share a link to it so others can enjoy it.
22 • Seeding torrents (by Roger on 2023-02-13 19:21:56 GMT from Belgium)
I don see the benefit of DistroWatch seeding torrents.
There is a lot of information on this excellent site and this is not needed in my opinion.
Keeping your core business and maintaining this level of excellence would be the right choice.
23 • Torrents (by stefan on 2023-02-13 19:38:55 GMT from United States)
Hosting torrents on DW takes away traffic from the distros own websites.
24 • compatible file systems (by StpehenC on 2023-02-13 22:28:25 GMT from United States)
In the answer to "Accessing-everything-everywhere asks" don't forget there is the UDF file system as well and works with Apple Mac too. A script to make it easy: https://github.com/JElchison/format-udf
25 • Gerbera (by Chen on 2023-02-14 01:26:13 GMT from United States)
Maybe there should be additional ports configured to be published by the Docker container for UPnP access? UPnP is not HTTP, and the published port is presumably bound to a HTTP or HTTPS service accessible to web browsers.
26 • Torrent culture (by AdamB on 2023-02-14 01:34:34 GMT from Australia)
I have done my downloading of distros with torrents, by preference, for quite a few years.
It has been my practice to leave the torrent program running for a few days, in order to make a contribution to the community.
27 • Torrents (by RevLee on 2023-02-14 01:41:01 GMT from United States)
If you do continue to seed torrents you really need to supply Magnet links. Firefox now requires you to download the torrent file first, then load it into the Torrent client to download the full file directly unless you use a Magnet link.
28 • Torrents (by Jesse on 2023-02-14 03:21:44 GMT from Canada)
@17: "I like the idea of torrents but I think they're going to continue to wane as long as they require interfacing with another program to download. There's nothing stopping Firefox from implementing torrents in a limited fashion as a download protocol at the very least...or even Chrome or Edge, but I'd expect it see it in Firefox first, then maybe Chromium. And I think it's telling that so far no one's done it."
Opera had torrent downloading capabilities around a decade or so ago. Brave has had torrent downloading built in for a few years. Browsers like Firefox and Chromium can use uTorrent and JSTorrent extensions, respectively, to download torrents. Firefox and Chrome don't have the feature built in because there are extensions to do it already.
@23: "Hosting torrents on DW takes away traffic from the distros own websites."
Yes, exactly right. This is a big part of why we do it. Distro websites are often short on funding and bandwidth. Providing torrents is one way to take the burden off them.
@27: "If you do continue to seed torrents you really need to supply Magnet links. Firefox now requires you to download the torrent file first, then load it into the Torrent client to download the full file directly unless you use a Magnet link."
This is not the case. Firefox will pass .torrent files to any application you tell it to. It sounds like your copy of Firefox either A) doesn't have the torrent mime type registered to it (check your settings page, under the Applications section) AND B) you have Firefox set to download unknown files only, not ask what it should do with unknown files. Changing either of these options on your Settings page in Firefox will allow you to open any .torrent files in the client of your choice.
29 • torrents (by balloongineer on 2023-02-14 05:19:13 GMT from United States)
The most common distros can be downloaded, at a good AC speed, from a popular fast food retaurante. Since they make $millions off the public, why not take advantage of their free (though time-limited) internet. The more obscure distros might be located on slower servers, so they would benefit from a torrent service.
30 • torrents (by dave on 2023-02-14 05:40:54 GMT from United States)
I don't distrohop these days, but my default preference is to download ISOs via torrent, because it's less bandwidth from the distribution's hosting. Maybe nowadays they don't care as much (???) but I don't currently see any reason in curtailing the habit. I use Transmission and though I don't have it running all the time, I keep the latest MX Linux ISO seeding.
I don't know about everyone else, but when there are enough seeders, torrents far exceed (xseed lol) http download speeds. Where most centralized hosts will top out at 2.5mb/sec, I can hit 7mb/sec with a lot of fast seeders.
31 • Hosting torrent service (by Otis on 2023-02-14 13:19:01 GMT from United States)
I think it's a natural part of Distrowatch's legacy, to be a hub for distros in general and via torrent service. It has dwindled, but not gone away and the "few dozen" who use it per week are grateful, I'm sure.
32 • hosting torrents (by Joey on 2023-02-14 14:34:21 GMT from Netherlands)
I rarely download iso/img files over http/s. Torrents download faster and more reliably. I personally believe people should be using torrents to download as much as possible just for building mental muscle memory for using distributed systems over feeding centralized bad habits.
The Venn diagram of benefits of torrents over http is in greater favor of torrenting. If anything, this site should spotlight its role and supporting the use of torrents more.
33 • Torrents (by Kazlu on 2023-02-14 17:30:26 GMT from France)
Should we continue using torrents? Yes! The more people use torrents to download Linux ISOs, the weaker the burder on the distro's infrastructure! Ok I get that big distro providers can take it, but still! And like some of you said, with enough seeders you still get download speeds surpassing direct downloads. Well, it depends how long ago the ISO went out I guess!
However: should *Distrowatch* seed torrents? Eh... I myself only get ISOs from the project's website. I prefer using torrents, but if they don't have it, I fall back on the direct download. It's their choice.
I personally don't really see the need for a "3rd party torrent provider". Torrents are precisely a way to ease off the burden on the project's website. If they don't do it... Their loss.
34 • Torrents (by Jesse on 2023-02-14 17:34:00 GMT from Canada)
@33: "However: should *Distrowatch* seed torrents? Eh... I myself only get ISOs from the project's website. I prefer using torrents, but if they don't have it, I fall back on the direct download. It's their choice."
We don't make our own torrents. We're just seeding torrents provided by the distribution. We download the torrent, seed it, and then provide links to the torrents created by the distribution. It doesn't matter if you click the link on DistroWatch or on the project's website, you're downloading the same torrent.
35 • "simple streaming media player for Linux" (by lincoln on 2023-02-14 18:09:08 GMT from Brazil)
Did Jesse take a look at rygel (DLNA/UPnP server)? It is a straightforward and efficient solution for streaming audio, video, photos and media player control.
According to the project itself (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/rygel/):
"Rygel is a home media solution that allows you to easily share audio, video and
pictures, and control of media player on your home network. In technical terms
it is both a UPnP AV MediaServer and MediaRenderer implemented through a plug-in
mechanism. Interoperability with other devices in the market is achieved by
conformance to very strict requirements of DLNA and on the fly conversion of
media to format that client devices are capable of handling." "search and play media using a phone, TV, or PC."
36 • rygel (by Jesse on 2023-02-14 18:16:54 GMT from Canada)
@35: "Did Jesse take a look at rygel?"
No, never heard of it before. None of the searches I did for media servers mentioned it. There is a rygel package for UBports 16.04 so it would have been a possibility, in theory. However, the rygel project doesn't seem to have any user documentation. There is no wiki, no getting started docs, no official releases listed on their GitLab page, so I would have skipped over it had it turned up in search results.
37 • rygel (by lincoln on 2023-02-14 20:36:19 GMT from Brazil)
@36 I regret not listing the relevant links and information earlier.
documentation: http://rygel-project.org/doc/latest/rygel.html
project wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Rygel
arch linux wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Rygel
//standard folders (${HOME}/Videos, ${HOME}/Music, ${HOME}/Pictures)
how to run: $ rygel
config: "Rygel can be configured globally (/etc/rygel.conf) or per-user (~/.config/rygel.conf). The default /etc/rygel.conf is well documented. More information on these and other configuration options can be found with rygel.conf(5)."
38 • Torrents++ (by Harriet on 2023-02-14 21:04:47 GMT from United Kingdom)
Thank You for sharing the torrents.
There are some of us round the planet who do not have always-on blistering-speed reliable internet.
WE are helped by torrents.
I wish you did ALL the different distros as torrents, gathered for convenience and serendipitous discovery.
I am currently auditioning distros.
Canonical says my Kubuntu 20.04 LTS will be unsupported two months from now.
Over several years I've grown increasingly disappointed and frustrated at their software and their policies.
They're getting ever more like Apple/Google etc, you can't trust that their next move will be in YOUR best interests.
You grow weary each version, hunting down what new grubby behind-the-scenes changes need reverting or disabling.
I'm fond of KDE, but I'm going to ditch Ubuntu, probably switching to a Debian or Arch.
Something more "community" less "corporate" where the bright and the passionate "eat their own dogfood."
It's a few years since my last proper distro-search, and I was much less Linux-savvy back then.
Your distro-news website and its torrents is very helpful.
Beyond torrent vs http, I suspect your drop in weekly downloads may reflect wider tech trends and societal shift.
The heyday of "gonna be the Year Of The Linux Desktop" surely fades as the masses have moved away from PCs to phones.
These days, the focus among the latest cool Bright Young Things is surely all Apps, not distros.
They've all got the devices in their pockets, and the industry-serving school tech-curricula foster it too.
It's all about Apps for one of the two tech-giant's platforms, and all within education-departments still in bed with Bill.
The entrenched pernicious tentacles of big Yankee corporates deliberately stifle diversity, blinkering young minds.
Few if any entrants to STEM generally (and even CS specifically) bother about Linux and "distros."
Where's the fresh interest in "distros" coming from?
As a longtime Linux user I've noticed the dwindling, the withering, the death of software I've used and liked.
Mirroring actual biodiversity-loss around the planet, in a changed Linux-landscape, projects go extinct.
It would be interesting to know the age-profile of the surviving Linux developer-communities.
I'll bet it's an aging demographic, increasingly weary and stressed and subject to Other Life Issues.
Meanwhile a generation has been conditioned and lured into always-networked tech they don't control.
Freedom-hostile channels which abuse and exploit and control them is the norm, but they just don't care.
Despite even big headline scandals, they still return like "sows to the mire, and dogs to the vomit."
Sovereign local-control distro-worthy IT devices are tools valued and used by only a tiny percentage.
But that tiny percentage of determined users welcomes every community-resource still available.
So, please don't be distracted by the HTTP-direct vs Torrent thing.
I endorse the comments of others.
Your torrents DO help some of us end-users (speed/robustness/convenience), and hard-up distro-projects too.
So please don't pull the plug.
Thanks for reading.
39 • torrents (and seeding) (by Titus_Groan on 2023-02-15 06:48:49 GMT from New Zealand)
I use torrents and when downloaded, I leave my torrent client up and running to act as a seeder for those also wanting the file(s) not just ISOs I have.
If using ktorrent, I have "keep seeding after downloading is complete" enabled.
community spirit n' all
40 • Media Service Article (by jmac on 2023-02-15 12:21:45 GMT from Canada)
Thank you for a well-put together article on your quest for media streaming. I found it interesting from a techie point of view and I admire the problem solving. However in the end, it reflects frustrations I have had using Linux. It's something you can do for a hobby for sure, but it is often so difficult to do simple things that I can't use it effectively for work, research or other hobbies. I don't mean to offend the Linux crowd, but I always feel that Linux has never been as polished as Windows in my experience.
I look forward to next week's articles, keep up the good work!
41 • Playing (music) with the PinePhone (by Jack on 2023-02-15 11:52:28 GMT from Australia)
Hopefully Jesse's future dinner engagement wouldn't be cancelled so that he's not tempted again to write another article about an obscure topic like playing music on a cranky mobile phone!
42 • Re 28 (by RevLee on 2023-02-15 23:48:19 GMT from United States)
"This is not the case. Firefox will pass .torrent files to any application you tell it to. It sounds like your copy of Firefox either A) doesn't have the torrent mime type registered to it (check your settings page, under the Applications section) AND B) you have Firefox set to download unknown files only, not ask what it should do with unknown files. Changing either of these options on your Settings page in Firefox will allow you to open any .torrent files in the client of your choice. "
That used to be the case, but not any longer, and hasn't been the case for several months. Mozilla changed that as a "so called" security feature several versions ago. Unless they have changed it within the last 5 minutes, you can no longer do that (and I just checked that prior to typing out this reply).
43 • Firefox and torrents (by Jesse on 2023-02-16 03:08:46 GMT from Canada)
@42: "That used to be the case, but not any longer, and hasn't been the case for several months. Mozilla changed that as a "so called" security feature several versions ago."
I also checked before I posted my previous reply, explaining how to download torrents in Firefox. It still works, as of Tuesday and successfully downloads torrent files and offers to launch Transmission. Actually, I updated Firefox and checked again today after reading your latest post. Still works with a vanilla version of Firefox here.
I also checked the changelog and security fixes for all the versions in the past few months. None of them mention disabling torrents or forcing magnet links only. This isn't a Firefox issue, at least not vanilla Firefox, it seems to just be your setup.
44 • Windy security (by deflated tek on 2023-02-16 05:20:09 GMT from United States)
@40 Windows uses the TPM chip for security. But after physical exploits were demonstrated in a lab, it now uses the Pluton (on-die) chip. Don't know why there is so much concern for physical attacks on computers. You would think that most attacks and vulnerabilities exist via networking - e.g., numerous exploitable ports / ransomware attacks. Surely what is a needed is a network security chip.
45 • Torrents (by Justin on 2023-02-16 18:36:38 GMT from United States)
My experience was the opposite of @1. I tried downloading a torrent for an old distribution from DW that was maybe a couple weeks old, and it said that it was no longer available. After that I stopped checking to see if I could use torrents. I assumed if I didn't get it the week it was released, they were taking it down.
I've tried using torrents in the past and found they can be slower than direct connections. That was true with Linux Mint at least. Also, I don't want to build a bad reputation with the trackers. I share while I'm downloading, but my firewall/router prevent me from seeding to anyone long term because the packets get dropped. Maybe that is an article in the future, using a Raspberry Pi and configuring a NAT router to have a seed box. I'd love to share, but I also like to keep my front door closed. Maybe trackers no longer care about seed ratio, but there was a time that was the case, and it didn't seem worth the risk in case one day I really needed something. Also, I don't want to have to explain to my ISP that I'm only downloading Linux ISOs when they traffic shape and are hostile to torrents (at least they used to be).
Torrents are awesome though. I read an article once about setting up a torrent update server to update a fleet of internal machines. It's much faster and doesn't even require public internet once the file is down.
46 • FOSS Force (by Justin on 2023-02-16 18:39:35 GMT from United States)
I wanted to read the KDE article, but there is a stupid "BREAKING NEWS" red banner that scrolls on the top of their site and keeps itself at the top even when I try to scroll past it. I just closed the article instead. Thank you DW for not doing crap like that. And the "breaking news"? One was for a top 10 list...
47 • Torrents (by Jesse on 2023-02-16 18:46:22 GMT from Canada)
@45: " I assumed if I didn't get it the week it was released, they were taking it down."
It depends on the project. We only seed for a week, but how long the torrent remains active depends on the tracker and the other peers seeding.
"I've tried using torrents in the past and found they can be slower than direct connections."
This can be true, especially when a distribution is less popular or a lot of time has gone by after the release. Torrents tend to work best with popular items.
"I don't want to build a bad reputation with the trackers."
That is only applicable for very specific pirating trackers. It's never been a common rule that applied everywhere. I've never seen it applied to any open source trackers.
"I share while I'm downloading, but my firewall/router prevent me from seeding to anyone long term because the packets get dropped."
That is weird behaviour. You might want to look into getting your router fixed/replaced.
"I don't want to have to explain to my ISP that I'm only downloading Linux ISOs when they traffic shape and are hostile to torrents (at least they used to be)."
Why would your ISP care? I've never had an ISP ask me what I was torrenting, downloading, or streaming. Maybe this is an American thing?
48 • @47 (by Justin on 2023-02-17 18:46:35 GMT from United States)
Thanks for the reply, Jesse.
The packets dropping are probably firewall rules. The router is set to drop all incoming packets unless they are from an associated connection. I don't host any services, so it made sense. I use torrents so infrequently I've never looked at what to open up to make it work.
Re: ISPs, it is a US thing. Since torrents are commonly used for pirating, ISPs in the past have been accused of blocking or restricting traffic among other things (I won't comment further because there are legal cases and court records). Even though no infringement happens, torrenting still gets associated with pirating and may attract "special attention" I'm not interested in (just because a person has nothing to hide doesn't mean they want someone rummaging around). I ran into similar problems trying to use IRC for support channels and having malware scanners on Windows flag or block traffic because, apparently, only malware uses IRC.
49 • a goldmine of information and news! (by chubby rain on 2023-02-20 00:52:47 GMT from Sweden)
What an incredible resource this website is! I wish every user would at least part with $1.00 (or more) because how useful and fun this website is! Thank you Distrowatch.
Number of Comments: 49
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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 |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
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| Random Distribution | 
CCux Linux
CCux Linux was a free i686 distribution optimised for speed. All packages are built from scratch and not derived from any other distribution. It features a graphical QT/X11 based installation to provide an easy installation procedure even to unexperienced users. CCux Linux was especially designed for desktop use.
Status: Discontinued
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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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