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Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Why review broken stuff? (by Roger Brown on 2023-04-10 01:39:37 GMT from Australia)
I can accept that an important part of the Distrowatch function is to explore the new stuff as it appears. But is there any point in publishing reviews that simply report that the distro or software in question failed?
I suggest that detracts from the site. I'd rather see reviews of stuff that DOES work.
2 • "if a specific process is running" (by Greg Zeng on 2023-04-10 02:16:19 GMT from Australia)
In the old Linux, CLI only, this current Distrowatch gave the correct answer. For the current users, the answer is: Graphic User Interface (GUI) users: NO !! This arrogance explains why most users of Linux based systems, avoid Linux. The best GUI based system is Gkrellm. A very crippled version exists for Windows. In Linux, the best version is available only in PCLOS, a spastic version of an unpopular RPM based system, IMHO. GKrellm however only allows the top three processes to be displayed, instead of the default top two processes. HTOP and its versions is extremely difficult to use. It is available for most (all?) Linux systems. However clumsy it is, it uses only alpha-numerics, because GUI & graphics are not used in old Linux systems. Linux coders are too negligent and lazy to care about the potential bulk of operating system users, as the history of Linux shows, in my professional opinion.
3 • system reviews. (by Bobbie Sellers on 2023-04-10 02:30:48 GMT from United States)
Jesse kindly tries out everything in order to write the column and to tell us which distributions are not yet working as advertised. How can you tell if a distribution is not working unless you try it. If is not yet working very well then that information is quite useful.
I used to try out distributions for SF-LUG so that I could post notes to the members about what was not working.
4 • @1 Why review broken stuff? (by Greg Zeng on 2023-04-10 02:35:32 GMT from Australia)
Australia, New Zealand read Distrowatch first, world-wide. Distrowatch is mainly a lone, weakly resourced publication, that cannot use any multi-talented publishing team of researchers and writers, at these current times. There are other web sites trying to slowly move into the Distrowatch niche, but also lack the necessary management talent. My fellow Australian is expecting a level of technical journalism that does not yet exist in the computer world. The wealthier technical areas (armaments & finances) do have this. The lesser talents prefer only commenting, in a "nice" way, about the small fry. Less litigation, less likely to handle any kind of hostility & backlash. Linux has very major flaws, obvious to all Chief Information Officers. Linux cannot handle GUI, User-friendliness, advanced hardware, nor needs of real human users. Hence the extreme popularity of the alternatives to Linux: Windows, Apple and Android. Senior technical writers know that these lesser Linux operating systems show the weaknesses and necessary cures that might bypass the major Linux brands. Some of these writers dare to allow the general public know about the serious flaws in Linux operating systems. Snap, appimage, BTRFS, NTFS, EXT 4, htop, gkrellm, RPM, X and Wayland display systems, etc. Privately we know this. Publically we are afraid to tell this to the open world.
5 • Kodi (by denflen on 2023-04-10 02:40:36 GMT from United States)
I have been using Kodi on my linux desktop (Lubuntu) for several years. I don't use the package from Lubuntu, prefering to get the PPA from the Kodi website. And, yes, it is confusing at first. But like everything else, it gets easier from usage. Adding and removing addons can be time consuming and redundant. But there are plenty of helpful websites to be found. I have never found anything that comes close to a full feature media center when finally set up and configured to my taste and need.
6 • Response to denfien's comments on Kodi (by Steve K on 2023-04-10 03:03:11 GMT from United States)
Have you tried Jellyfin? It's a totally awesome media center and runs on on Linux, Windows and MacOS. I absolutely love it and it's way better and more intuitive than Kodi which I've used in the past, with a lot of frustration!
7 • More on Jellyfin media center (by Steve K on 2023-04-10 03:11:45 GMT from United States)
P.S. Jellyfin is very adaptable and the Jellyfin client software can run on Linux, Windows, MacOS, Smart TV's, Amazon Fire Stick and Roku!
8 • Distribution (by Linuxseekers on 2023-04-10 03:29:04 GMT from Malaysia)
Lately, only Leap and Tumbleweed are the best for all old and new desktop PC and notebooks. Religiously use MATE because i can resize icon folder individually AND ESPECIALLY stretch .png or .jpeg files as big as possible to refer to tables of information swiftly, so that my customer would think that i have all the info at my fingertips.
9 • Re: Kodi KDE Connect controls (by Pat on 2023-04-10 05:15:16 GMT from United States)
You do not need to use KDE Connect to control Kodi from a mobile device - the developers maintain their own remote control application called Kore which can be found in all major app stores, including F-Droid. Kore gives you full control over playback, as well as the rest of the user interface.
10 • grep (by Any on 2023-04-10 05:21:58 GMT from Spain)
pgrep bash 3359
ps aux | grep bash hp 3359 0.0 0.0 9860 3680 pts/1 Ss 07:20 0:00 /bin/bash hp 3366 0.0 0.0 8748 644 pts/1 S+ 07:20 0:00 grep bash
11 • Kodi (by Dave on 2023-04-10 05:34:04 GMT from Australia)
I have, since the olsd Windows Media Cente days, tried pretty much every configuration of media PC used for watching live TV or streamed movies.
The conclusion? What I use now, a PC with a web browser. Don't worry about addons, apps with ads etc. Forget Android, LibreElec, Mac Mini, just get a generic x86_64 PC. Put your OS and your browser of choice on it with an ad blocker and everything will just work. And without ads. Use an air mouse style remote with a keyboard on it and you're sorted.
12 • LibreELEC & Kodi (by Simon Plaistowe on 2023-04-10 06:29:09 GMT from New Zealand)
Well I definitely recommend Kodi as a set-top media player. My household runs three LibreELEC boxes (two old desktop boxes & one old laptop with the screen amputated). One for the lounge & one for each bedroom TV. Our music & movies are stored on my server for common access from all 3 boxes, also we get on-demand & live TV via add-ons. Easy to install, configue, upgrade & duplicate once you know what you're doing. Never had any major issues for many years now, although Jesse has obviously proven that "mileage may vary".
13 • To Peeking Behind The Curtain (by Dan on 2023-04-10 07:56:55 GMT from United States)
There is another distro that does everything besides MX Linux (which I don't use), and that one is Salix.
14 • @4 Why review broken stuff? (by Roger Brown on 2023-04-10 09:26:53 GMT from Australia)
@4 You say "Linux cannot handle GUI, User-friendliness, advanced hardware, nor needs of real human users" however I disagree. There are many distros that do all these things and THEY are the ones we should feature with our DW reviews.
There are also distros that are not really ready for public consumption and IDEALLY they should not even be listed on the DW site, far less reviewed.
I do however recognise that fully vetting every potential new listing may not be possible for the site owners though the IDEAL situation would be that if it doesn't work, it doesn't get listed.
15 • Broken Stuff (by DachshundMan on 2023-04-10 09:32:18 GMT from United Kingdom)
@1: I am happy to have Distrowatch review broken stuff sometimes. It means that I know (1) not to try it or (2) if I have tried it and had a problem then I am not alone. Hopefully the developers of the broken distros read Jesse's reviews and say to themselves, Houston we have a problem.
As a more general point, broken distros do not help the cause of trying to convert people to using Linux.
@4: Linux distros are not always perfect but neither is Windows. However, I find it does all I need and given that it is used to run most of the internet so do many professional organisations.
16 • LibreELEC (by Peter on 2023-04-10 10:26:44 GMT from United Kingdom)
I've been using LibreELEC for years and years, without major issues (On R-Pi's). I tend to wipe and reinstall at every major release ...My rating would be 10/10 actually ... all the best, Pete
17 • Kodi (by James on 2023-04-10 11:46:52 GMT from United States)
Tried Kodi, don't use it. For myself I just didn't see a need for it.
18 • Kodi (by Dr.J on 2023-04-10 13:13:33 GMT from Germany)
I tried Kodi on a Lubuntu computer for some time years ago and was also quite enthusiastic about the look and operation at the beginning. The playback of HiRes audio files was also convincing. But in the long run, the programme had too many weaknesses at that time, if you compare it with good Windows programmes like Media-Monkey or JRiver. In particular, the administration of large collections was very weak (creating and managing playlists, checking the consistency of the MediaTags, adding artwork, etc.). In addition, the handling of all the add-ons was annoying, skins suddenly no longer existed, etc. Unfortunately, typical Linux programmes (from Amarok to Foobar to VLC) have not convinced me either, so today I have a combination of MediaMonkey (for administration via a Windows10 virtual box) and NeutronMP (for playback on an Android tablet).
19 • Kodi (by Friar Tux on 2023-04-10 13:21:31 GMT from Canada)
@11 (Dave) Good to see I'm not the only one to use the PC/browser combo. Like @17 (James), I tried Kodi - even before it was called Kodi - but found it quite overbearing and complicated for what it was supposed to be. (It did seem to do well as a separate, unique desktop environment, but would require a bit of re-learning to properly use.) LibreELEC I have not heard of till now. I'll check it out when I'm done here. For offline media, I use VLC media player (Audacious for offline music only). For online media it's Vivaldi browser on my laptop. I also have/use the Spotify app (of course), and an AppImage app that plays YouTube music videos. Finally, if I'm working on my laptop and still want music, I have an old laptop hooked up to a speaker set that can play offline, from my collection of music, or online with one of the mention apps. (It's a great little system, if I say so myself.)
20 • Linux Media Player SMPLAYER works well on Fedora (by Jeffersonian on 2023-04-10 14:40:18 GMT from Poland)
Linux Media Player SMPLAYER (mplayer frontend) from rpmfusion-free (fedora repos) works quite well on Fedora for several years.
Once in a while it creates ffmepg dependencies issues, then the brute force solution to remove it reinstall later works. The subtitles feature is great but does not always work, then do it manually. Now I rarely use VLC, still a great app.
21 • RPM packages issues (by Jeffersonian on 2023-04-10 14:54:40 GMT from Poland)
1) They don't always work well across RPM based linux distros. Why an RPM package for OpenSuse (for example) would not work on Fedora ? (Often) It seems that dependencies and softlinks are part of the issue.
2) Is anyone aware of an RPM validator program ? If it does not exist it would be useful.
3) Many Linux related magazines and very popular commercial Linux apps now don't even support RPM packages, which is a shame, because (my opinion) RPM based Linux Distros are often the best, the easiest to to use, maintain, update etc... Note that this relate to #2, where OpenSuse was in the past a good activist (Is it still true?)
4) It was a (long) time when creating a reliable RPM package from a tarzipped file using checkinstall worked very well. No so true anymore.
5) Would "distrowatch" care to write about this? Ideally do a bit of follow up on apps, (foss & corprate) as it does for distros etc... ?
22 • RPM packages (by David on 2023-04-10 15:53:05 GMT from United Kingdom)
@21: If APT packages generally work on different distros, it's because the dirstos that use it have based their repositories on Debian's. RPM distros are a diverse bunch that have been independent since the last century, even if they started as forks in the first place. The problem is that dependencies are naturally given not as the files needed but as the packages which contain them. Thus the Suse and Red Hat families may both contain a particular library, but it comes in differently-named packages. There's no way to solve this, other than persuading all RPM distros to co-ordinate their package names. At server level this happens, with Suse and Red Hat using the Linux Standard Base, but it's never going to happen with the vast amount of software used on PCs.
23 • Using TAB TAB autocompletion to see running processes (by K.U. on 2023-04-10 16:11:35 GMT from Finland)
Try this:
killall TAB TAB
Doing this shows the names of the running processess which can be killed in concise format.
One can use this trick just to see the running processes even in case one doesn't want to kill anything.
24 • psgrep (by Steve on 2023-04-10 16:47:04 GMT from United States)
If you have access to psgrep the suggestions above have potential.
I didn't even know the command existed as I created a simple script a while back to accomplish a somewhat similar task that fits my needs (and maybe yours as well). I suppose the key line could be simplified in some way but it does what I want the way it is so I've never bothered to tweak it further
I stick this in the /usr/local/bin/ sub-directory and fix ownership and permissions as needed, though other options work too:
#!/bin/bash # # ps2 # # list filtered process status with correct column headers # # Author: Steve # Date: 17 Oct 2006 # #------------------------------------------------------------------------- # 17 Oct 06 - v1.0 - sml - initial creation # 20 Oct 06 - v1.1 - sml - remove grep and ps2 from output # 01 Aug 12 - v1.2 - sml - made grep case insensitive #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo "" if [ $# = 2 ];then ps $1 | head -1 ; ps $1 | grep -v grep | grep -v ps2 | grep -i $2 exit 0 else echo "Usage: $0 SWITCHES STRING" echo "" echo " SWITCHES - i.e. -aux or -ef" echo " STRING - string to filter ps command on, i.e. mail" echo "" exit 1 fi
#---eof---
25 • psgrep (continued) (by Steve on 2023-04-10 16:53:29 GMT from United States)
When I saved my comment above the indenting in my script was lost when leading spaces were deleted. Honest... the indents were there when I pasted the script in the comment field... 8^(
26 • Broken Distro's (by bittermann on 2023-04-10 17:35:34 GMT from United States)
I have to agree with some of the other comments. If a distro is truly broken just trying to install it I say don't waste the website/author's valuable and finite time. Just a sentence or two in the weekly about the fail and move on. There are plenty of others to test.
27 • distro reviews (by rolls up sleeves on 2023-04-10 22:10:06 GMT from New Zealand)
I find the reviews useful as reading about the struggles and pitfalls borders on entertainment. However, the reviews I really dig into are those where a serious distro gets a new release given a workout.
The hey-look-i-built-my-first-iso cases, fraught with comedic failures, get old after about the third laugh. And yet sometimes these crazy edge case distros have some good ideas that could advance Linux and which some mainstream ones could learn from.
I agree with @26 that a short set of notes would be useful, much like the ideal reviews - list pros, list cons... and then let us move on to feast on the good distros (in the top 50 at least).
My 2c, now 4c due to inflation..
28 • defining a Broken Distro (by Simon Plaistowe on 2023-04-10 22:29:29 GMT from New Zealand)
Stuff's been said about broken distros & wasted review time. All valid points I'm sure, but my point is this: should I bypass a distro because it's received a "broken" verdict from a reviewer? For example, after reading Jesse's review in this issue of DW, many of you may have decided not to bother trying Kodi or LibreELEC. Yet my entire household has been using LibreELEC daily for many years, also I've on occasion used Kodi on a Linux Mint desktop. I'd rate it highly, fulfils my needs and never had any problems to speak of. No "broken" distro in sight. So... mileage may vary!
29 • ouch words (by 8-ball on 2023-04-11 02:49:28 GMT from New Zealand)
@4 : "Distrowatch is mainly a lone, weakly resourced publication, that cannot use any multi-talented publishing team of researchers and writers, at these current times."
That is very harsh Greg. Maybe you should then make some effort and go and create something better. Methinks very soon you will find out just how much hard work and long hours go into such a labour of love.
A review of a broken distro serves all of us as a warning beacon. The tests are not all that demanding, so a distro should at least meet these minimum standards. Many don't.
Jesse & team - thank you for keeping this valuable resource going all these years.
Just this month the Ferengi Monster of Acquisitions has dumped two websites that were the industry go-to in their fields: DPReview (photography) and BookDepository (books). May DW never get acquired and absorbed by some conglomerate.
30 • DW Reviews, Linux Satisfaction (by Otis on 2023-04-11 20:27:36 GMT from United States)
@4 What an arrogant crock. Listed in that post are all the successful aspects of many Linux distros. That post up there has an air of attempting ot herd users away from Linux in the direction of Windows, Mac, and Android.
Those are fine OSs in their own right, for the most part, so enjoy. But coming here to tear down the distro family that is the focus (with BSD) of this site is arrogant indeed.
As to the review(s) of some distros that are not (yet) up to snuff, good on Jesse et al for providing that to us, serving the obvious purpose of a bit of a warning, and in addition, serving the community at large one of the best aspects of DW: Showcasing the full range of what is offered out there in the Linux/BSD world. Why on Earth whittle it down to just fully polished fully functional works? Let it all be shown.
31 • Linux and DW reviews (by Albert on 2023-04-11 23:03:43 GMT from United States)
I fully agree and support the opinion expressed by @29 and @30. Every week I look forward to reading the DW issue which I've come to like very much. Good job, Jesse, please keep on this and thank you so much.
32 • Reviewing the good AND the Not quite ready (by artytux on 2023-04-12 10:55:44 GMT from Australia)
It's great to read Jesse's reviews about the not ready Yet distros, as many other have commented, knowing Jesse had a storm within the distro helps all of us here,
Recently 2 weeks ago got to install MXLinux and this desktop computer finally complied, why now and not several times in the past few years, Don't know why, just grateful. Hardware IS a big factor in Linuxland.
Some of the above comments do read as trying to get Linux user to move away from Tux, not likely.
To all the DistroWatch team Thank You. =- "Keep on keeping on doing what you do best !"
33 • As promised... (by Friar Tux on 2023-04-12 13:16:37 GMT from Canada)
As promised in @19, I gave LibreELEC a quick run around the block. It appears, as advertised, to be a minimal OS to just run Kodi, which appears to be used as the desktop environment. Cool. I found that out before I even knew what LibreELEC actually was. I liked playing with Kodi as a file manager and DE, but I prefer my "daily driver" DE to be of a more traditional type. I only spent a short time on LibreELEC and Kodi - I'll leave a more detailed review to Jesse and Company. And, yes, I also think DW does a fantastic job of reviewing Linux, BSD, etc.. The good and the "not-ready-yet". I look forward to Sunday night (here in Regina, Canada), at about 7:30, when the new "DW Weekly" pops in. Keep up the great work DW, a lot of us actually DO appreciate it.
34 • @4 What? (by Kazlu on 2023-04-13 14:12:40 GMT from France)
"Linux cannot handle GUI, User-friendliness, advanced hardware, nor needs of real human users. Hence the extreme popularity of the alternatives to Linux: Windows, Apple and Android."
I *strongly* disagree. You talk about Linux as if it was still in the same state as in the early 2000s. This time is long gone. In my personal experience (IT profesional as well, using both Linux and Windows), most big Linux distributions are better than Windows on all the aspects you mention. Yes, you read that right!
- handling GUI: Windows graphical environment crashes so much more than any Linux equivalent. It cannot handle its own, unique GUI, while most big Linux distributions are stable despite the fact that they handle several desktop environments.
- user-friendliness: this is a subjective area. However I find that since Windows 7 (which was very fine), Windows' user-friendliness has decreased. Every instance of Windows since 8 seems to be the old one with new elements stacking on top of it, sometimes duplicating functionality, sometines generating conflicts. It becomes a mess to adjust settings as simple as power management.
- advanced hardware: you are right... as long as we are talking about *new* hardware. And, well, that hardware is generally designed for other operating systems, so Linux developpers need time to retro-engineer what has been done for Windows for example (except in the rare cases where Linux drivers are also provided by the manufacturer, but that is not very frequent). During that period of time, sure, Windows works better. But in my experience, for almost every piece of hardware Linux support gets better and better over time while Windows support gets dropped, up to the point where the hardware is better managed in Linux than in Windows. And then the intrinsically better resource management of Linux VS Windows enables you to do more than with Windows with the same hardware.
- needs of real human users: what do real human users need, in your opinion? I am a real human user and I find my needs are far better covered by Linux than by any other operating system.
I can see only three situations in which you would feel limited by Linux, compared to Windows:
- You absolutely need some software only available in Windows
- You absolutely need to use some very recent hardware, you cannot use a replacement that would be 2 years or so older and you are ready to see support be dropped 5 years after.
- You have decades of experience with Windows and have only used Linux for a couple of days.
Now you may have noticed I mostly spoke about Linux VS Windows. That is because Linux is generally used on hardware designed for Windows. MacOS and Android work way better than Windows but have their own application environment that makes comparrison harder. Android does a pretty good job at being a quality operating system working well on a large variety of hardware (thank you, Linux kernel!), but I feel the available software is still not enough to fully replace a Linux computer. One day, maybe. MacOS is very good quality but you have very little choice of hardware and software is all or nothing: either it's great or it does not exist for Mac. And when support for your Mac is dropped, you're in dire straits.
"Snap, appimage, BTRFS, NTFS, EXT 4, htop, gkrellm, RPM, X and Wayland display systems, etc."
I don't understand. Are you quoting every Linux item that has ever been criticized by at least one person? Oh, well, no, you are mentioning NTFS which is actually a Windows technology... So what do you mean? And what could you possibly have to hold against ext4, or even btrfs or X?
"Privately we know this. Publically we are afraid to tell this to the open world."
It is fine if you think that yourself. But again, I strongly disagree.
Number of Comments: 34
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• 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 |
• Issue 985 (2022-09-12): Garuda Linux, using root versus sudo, UBports on the Fairphone 4, Slackware reverses change to grep |
• Full list of all issues |
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Random Distribution | 
TA-Linux
TA-Linux was a free Linux distribution that targets Linux power users. Its main goal was to have a small base installation that the end-users can expand to include the software they need. The secondary goal was to support as many different architectures as possible, at this time x86 was fully supported with Alpha, Sparc, PPC and PA-RISC around the corner. Extra software not included in the base was handled using a system resembling the *BSD ports system, called Collection, which handles installation, upgrading and dependencies. The primary way of installing new software was to download the source, compile and install it (totaly automatic). The user can also choose to install already built binary packages, also automaticaly using the Collection system.
Status: Discontinued
| Tips, Tricks, Q&As | Tips and tricks: Reverting to older kernel under Ubuntu |
Tips and tricks: Find common words in text, find high memory processs, cd short-cuts, pushd & popd, record desktop |
Tips and tricks: Working with images from the command line |
Tips and tricks: Navigating multiple shells |
Tips and tricks: Copying columns of text, organizing files, creating torrents |
Tips and tricks: Creating, removing, modifying, and ignoring aliases |
Tips and tricks: All about package signing |
Tips and tricks: Running Mandriva "Cooker" |
Questions and answers: Secure Boot, stuff stored in swap when memory is not full, enabling the firewall |
More Tips & Tricks and Questions & Answers |
TUXEDO |

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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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