 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1032, 14 August 2023 |
Welcome to this year's 33rd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
There are many available desktop environments in the Linux community. Unlike on Windows and macOS, where users are given one predetermined desktop, the Linux community embraces a variety of different interfaces. These various desktop environments can focus on configurability, features, performance, or a particular workflow. Each desktop can be customized, making it better suited to the individual user. In this week's Questions and Answers column we talk about organizing windows on the desktop, in particular how to centre new application windows. How do you like to arrange windows on your desktop? Let us know in this week's Opinion Poll. First though, we explore the MX Linux distribution. MX is a Debian-based project with a large set of custom system administration tools and it features the Xfce desktop with an unusual layout. Jesse Smith takes MX Linux 23 for a spin and reports on his experiences with this distribution. Then, in our News section, we discuss Linux Containers adopting a fork of the LXD container management software after Canonical pulled LXD into its own infrastructure. We also report on two versions of FreeBSD reaching the end of their supported lifespans while SUSE, CIQ, and Oracle team up to form the Open Enterprise Linux Association. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
MX Linux 23
MX Linux is a Debian-based desktop distribution which offers fixed releases. New versions typically get published every two years and receive support for about five years, keeping the project in step with Debian's Stable branch. MX Linux is available in three main editions: Xfce (the flagship edition), KDE Plasma, and Fluxbox. In addition to these main editions there are extra builds of some editions. For instance, while all three editions are built for x86_64 machines, the Fluxbox and Xfce editions have 32-bit (x86) builds too. There is also an Advanced Hardware Support (AHS) build of the Xfce edition which ships with a newer version of the Linux kernel to offer a wider range of support for newer computers. There are some unofficial spins of MX too, for example there is a build for Raspberry Pi computers.
I decided to try the flagship edition featuring the Xfce desktop. I selected the 64-bit build without the advanced hardware support kernel. The download for the Xfce desktop is 2.0GB in size. Booting from the live media gives us the chance to optionally test the media's integrity or jump straight into booting the distribution. When MX boots it launches the Xfce 4.18 desktop.
The Xfce desktop has an unusual layout with its panel placed vertically down the left side of the screen. There is a Conky status panel over on the right. On the desktop we find icons for launching the system installer and opening local copies of the project's documentation. Shortly after the desktop loads a welcome window appears.
The welcome window is divided into two tabs. In the first tab we find buttons which open documentation, link us with the MX Linux wiki, open a web browser to see the distribution's forums, launch the system installer, and open a software installer. The second tab offers a technical summary of the operating system, including such information as the Xfce version, and the version of Debian this build of MX Linux uses as a base.
I'd like to call attention to a few resources which I feel will be helpful for beginners. One is the MX Tour tool, which can be launched from the welcome window. This utility provides a quick overview of key features and how to navigate them. It explains how to explore the desktop, take system snapshots, and install additional software. The FAQ document does a good job of explaining what the distribution is and how it works. There is also a users' manual which is 197 pages of useful information that will help people perform most common tasks. It's not often Linux distributions put such a high priority on quality documentation and this feature gives a great first impression.
MX Linux 23 -- Reading the user manual and browsing MX Tour
(full image size: 489kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Installing
MX Linux uses a custom, graphical system installer. It begins by giving us a chance to adjust our keyboard layout. The next screen asks if we'd like guided or manual disk partitioning. The automated approach sets up a root and a /home partition and provides a sliding bar we can move to adjust the amount of disk space set aside for each partition. The manual approach is a little cluttered, but offers a point-and-click way to create partitions and assign them mount points. There is a helpful cheat sheet shown to the left of the window that helpfully explains commonly used partitions and layouts.
The following screen asks if we'd like to install a boot loader and if we'd like to create a swap file. I'd already created a swap partition so I skipped making a swap file. We're then asked to make up a name for our computer and optionally enable Samba file shares. The following screen asks us to confirm our locale and set our timezone. We have the option of enabling/disabling background services such as CUPS printing, the cron daemon, Bluetooth, and zRAM. These items can be enabled or disabled with a click. The final step in the installer asks us to make up a username and password for ourselves and, optionally, to set a password on the root account. If we don't password protect the root account then the root account will be locked.
The installer quickly copied its files to my drive and then offered to reboot the computer.
Early impressions
My new copy of MX Linux booted to a graphical login screen. From there I was able to sign into my account which brought up the Xfce desktop. Once again icons on the desktop offered easy access to documentation, though the installer icon from the live media is naturally absent. I like that the distribution includes local documentation so that, even without an Internet connection, we can still get help - including help on connecting to local networks.
MX with the Xfce desktop was highly responsive and I enjoyed the high contrast style of the desktop and its menus. Text tends to be white on black or black on white. Icons are usually colourful and quickly recognizable. The application menu has a two-pane layout with categories to the right and specific launchers on the left.
MX Linux 23 -- The welcome window
(full image size: 692kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Applications
MX ships with a fairly standard collection of open source software, along with a few lighter items not often found in other distributions. Firefox, Thunderbird, and LibreOffice are installed. The VLC media player and Strawberry audio player are installed for us along with multimedia codecs. The Orage calendar is included along with a few games.
We also find a webcam tool, the Asunder CD ripper, and the Xfburn disc burning software. I rarely encounter computers with optical drives anymore, but MX Linux is catering to a wide audience, some of whom still run older and 32-bit machines.
MX Linux 23 -- Browsing the application menu and the Xfce settings panel
(full image size: 721kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The distribution includes two file managers, Thunar and the console-based Midnight Commander. Timeshift is included to help make backups of files. Though when Btrfs is used as the root filesystem it isn't set up with the sub-volumes used by Timeshift to make filesystem snapshots.
MX provides a lot of configuration and system administration tools. Xfce includes several desktop configuration modules and its settings panel also offers easy access to modules which help us set up printers and manage the firewall. There are some other, custom tools too which I'll talk about later in this review.
The distribution ships with GNU command line utilities and manual pages. Java is installed for us too. MX runs the SysV init software by default, though systemd is available as an alternative and can be selected at boot time. The distribution runs version 6.1 of the Linux kernel by default, though the AHS build uses version 6.4.
Hardware
I found MX Linux would run well in both of my test environments. When installed in VirtualBox, the distribution ran smoothly and quickly. The Xfce desktop was highly responsive and would automatically resize to match the dimensions of the VirtualBox window.
The distribution also ran well on my laptop. The distribution was able to boot in both Legacy BIOS and UEFI modes. MX ran quickly on my laptop and detected all of my hardware without any issues. Networking and sound worked out of the box. Even with compositing enabled, Xfce was unusually responsive.
A fresh install of MX Linux consumed 3.7GB of disk space, which is about half what most mainstream distribution require. When signed into Xfce the system used about 770MB of RAM. This is on the high end for Xfce, but about average for most distributions running KDE Plasma.
Software management
An icon in the system tray lets us know when new package updates are available. Clicking this green box icon opens a simple update manager which shows us which new packages are available and offers to fetch them for us. This is an all-or-nothing update experience which worked well for me.
Should we wish to have more fine-grained control over packages we can use the Synaptic package manager. Synaptic is a classic, low-level package manager which can find, install, upgrade, and remove packages. It can also manage repositories for us. Synaptic handles actions in batches, locking the software database while it works.
MX Linux 23 -- The Synaptic package manager
(full image size: 179kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
There is another software manager on the system called MX Package Installer and it also gives us a great deal of flexibility. The MX Package Installer is divided into multiple tabs. In the first tab we are shown a tree-view list of about 30 software categories. Expanding a category lists a handful of popular applications with brief descriptions of each one in the selected category. We can check boxes next to the specific items we wish to install.
The other tabs in the Package Installer give us similar quick access to packages in alternative repositories. This allows us to browse and fetch software from testing and backport repositories which might not normally be available to us. I like how the MX developers have chosen to mostly stick with Debian's Stable repository, but also provide point-and-click access to alternative repositories in case we need more up to date packages.
The final tab in the Package Installer gives us access to Flatpak packages provided by the Flathub repository. We can search for items or browse through the available software. I tried installing a few items, both in the main Deb repositories and the portable bundles from Flathub and they all installed without any problems.
MX Linux 23 -- Browsing available packages
(full image size: 627kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
MX Tools
One of the key components of the MX Linux distribution is its collection of system administration tools. These utilities are accessible through the application menu, but are also helpfully grouped together in a panel called MX Tools. The MX Tools window launches these utilities which can be used to set boot loader options, manage user accounts, and manage Samba's configuration. There is a handy utility which can turn our current operating system into a live USB thumb drive image, which is great for sharing or backing up the system.
MX Linux 23 -- The MX Tools panel and the MX Tweaks tool
(full image size: 500kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
There are also tools for installing NVIDIA drivers and media codecs. One tool helps us handle the Xfce panel's placement and behaviour. Plus there are shortcuts to documentation and window manager settings.
I used most of these tools during my trial and liked them. They aren't as streamlined as some equivalents we might find under other desktop environments (such as GNOME), but they offer more functionality than the settings panels of most distributions. The MX Tools collection worked well, was stable for me, and provided easy access to a lot of options people are likely to want.
Conclusions
MX Linux does a great job of presenting the user with all the benefits of Debian's Stable branch (long-term support, stable packages, large repositories of software, and great hardware support) while improving on the experience. On top of Debian's solid base, MX has added a faster, more user friendly system installer, enough applications to cover a wide range of use cases without overly crowding the application menu, and provided lots of friendly tools and documentation.
Not many Linux distributions provide great documentation and fewer include their documentation on the install media. This alone makes MX Linux stand out. The MX Tools though are what really make this distribution shine. There is a lot of useful functionality packed into the MX Tools collection, particularly the custom package installer which works across multiple repositories (including backports) and portable packages (Flatpaks).
Not only did MX Linux work well with my hardware, it worked quickly, was stable, and I can't think of a single time I saw an error message during my trial. A lot of this smooth running was probably a credit to MX's parent, Debian, but MX also ships with a lot of custom tools and they all worked well for me too.
Some people might find the vertical desktop panel unusual. Personally, I like it as it reduces my mouse movement, especially if I switch window buttons to the left side of the windows. People who don't like the panel placement can move it to a more conventional horizontal orientation with a couple of mouse clicks.
I'm of the opinion MX Linux is one of the most capable, friendly, reliable desktop distributions currently available. It runs on a wide range of hardware, from older computers to more modern machines. It offers an experience which improves from its parent on multiple fronts without introducing any problems. Some of the tools and the installer might be a little overwhelming for a complete Linux newcomer, I'm not sure I'd say MX Linux is an ideal first distribution. However, I would recommend it for most people for just about any desktop experience.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was an HP DY2048CA laptop with the following
specifications:
- Processor: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz
- Display: Intel integrated video
- Storage: Western Digital 512GB solid state drive
- Memory: 8GB of RAM
- Wireless network device: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 + BT Wireless network card
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Visitor supplied rating
MX Linux has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8/10 from 610 review(s).
Have you used MX Linux? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Linux Containers adopts new fork of LXD, FreeBSD 13.1 reaches its end of life, OpenELA formed
A few weeks ago we reported that Canonical, the maker of Ubuntu and creator of the LXD container management software, was withdrawing LXD from the Linux Containers community project and managing it under Canonical's own infrastructure. This left a bit of a gap in the container management community and LXD was quickly forked by Aleksa Sarai and the new fork, called Incus, has joined the Linux Containers project. "The Linux Containers project is excited to announce its latest addition, Incus!
Incus isn't a completely new project however, it's a fork of LXD created by Aleksa Sarai. Aleksa Sarai is most known for his work on runc, umoci and other OpenContainers projects as well as contributions to the Linux kernel.
But in addition to all that, he's also been the long time packager of LXD in openSUSE. Aleksa created the fork shortly after Canonical's decision to take LXD away from Linux Containers with the name Incus being introduced immediately following the LXD 5.16 release. This fork was first intended as a personal project, but has since gathered quite a bit of interest both from the community as well as from former LXD contributors.
After some discussion with Aleksa and a fair bit of encouragement from our community, we have made the decision to take Incus under the umbrella of Linux Containers and will commit to it the infrastructure which was previously made available to LXD.
The goal of Incus is to provide a fully community led alternative to Canonical's LXD as well as providing an opportunity to correct some mistakes that were made during LXD's development which couldn't be corrected without breaking backward compatibility."
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The FreeBSD project sent out a reminder this week notifying users that FreeBSD 13.1 has reached the end of its supported life. People still running version 13.1 are advised to upgrade to 13.2. "As of August 2nd, 2023, FreeBSD 13.1 reached end-of-life and is no longer supported by the FreeBSD Security Team. Users of FreeBSD 13.1 are strongly encouraged to upgrade to a newer release as soon as possible." The notice also points out the FreeBSD 12.x series will reach the end of its supported life at the end of 2023.
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Back in July we reported on Red Hat changing its policy with regards to sharing the company's source code for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). We also talked about how the developers of various clones of RHEL were reacting to the news and adjusting their own distributions. This past week CIQ, Oracle, and SUSE announced a new organization called the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA) to cooperate in maintaining RHEL compatible distributions. "CIQ, Oracle and SUSE today announced their intent to form the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA), a collaborative trade association to encourage the development of distributions compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by providing open and free Enterprise Linux (EL) source code. The formation of OpenELA arises from Red Hat's recent changes to RHEL source code availability. In response, CIQ, Oracle and SUSE are collaborating to deliver source code, tools and systems through OpenELA for the community." According to the OpenELA website, the source code shared by the organization will be available with "No subscriptions. No passwords. No barriers."
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Positioning new windows on the desktop
Keeping-windows-in-the-middle asks: I was wondering if there is a way to centre application windows on Xfce? Every time I open a new window, it seems to go to the upper-left part of the screen, and I can't figure out how to make them centred.
DistroWatch answers: Most open source desktops I've used have had some method for centring new windows when they are opened. On Xfce this feature can be found by launching the Window Manager Tweaks tool. This utility can typically be found in the Xfce settings panel or in the application menu.
Within the Window Manager Tweaks utility, select the Placement tab. Under the section called "By default, place windows" select the option "At the centre of the screen".
Placing new windows on Xfce
(full image size: 35kB, resolution: 692x523 pixels)
People running KDE Plasma can access the equivalent feature by opening the System Settings panel and choosing the module called Window Behaviour. Under Window Behaviour, select the "Advanced" tab. This tab includes an option called "Window placement" which can be set to "Centered".
Centring new windows with KDE Plasma
(full image size: 83kB, resolution: 1150x859 pixels)
I asked around about doing something similar with GNOME and was told GNOME Tweaks can adjust starting window positions. I've been unable to confirm this, but that may be due to being a version behind.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Rhino Linux 2023.1
Rhino Linux is an Ubuntu-based distribution which offers a rolling release upgrade approach. The distribution's first stable release is available for x86_64, aarm64, Pine64 phones and tablets like the PinePhone, and Raspberry Pi computers. One of the key features of the new 2023.1 release is the unified meta package manager which is called rhino-pkg and can work with Deb, Pacstall, and portable package formats: "hino-pkg (rpk), which is a meta-package manager that combines apt, pacstall, flatpak, and snap into a nice little UI that can be used to install, remove, search, and upgrade all package managers at once. This was also my first time dabbling with i18n, and since it's not a large program, we have translated it into (as of the 6th of August, 2023) 14 different languages along with English, so that hopefully every user can understand what it's doing in their native language." Another key feature of the distribution is its custom Xfce desktop which the project refers to as the Unicorn Desktop. Additional details on the Rhino Linux 2023.1 release can be found in the project's release announcement.
Murena 1.13
The Murena project provides open source images for common smartphones, open source cloud-based storage, calendar, and backup solutions, and sells phones with /e/OS pre-installed. The project's latest release is for version 1.13 which includes a number of fixes and minor improvements. "We are proud to deliver the /e/OS 1.13. Enjoy all the new features and improvements it embeds! We embedded some improvements! App lounge - Categories allows to discover way more apps. If users have to use a Google account, they're advised to use a Google account without any important data. Account added via Calendar can be used within a couple of minute. Translations - Gallery, Music, Advanced Privacy. Software updates - We merged bug fixes and security updates from LineageOS 19.1 source code. FP4 Firmware - Bumped firmware with the May update (FP4.SP29.B.069.20230510).Third-Party App support: we addressed some issues with in-app Maps display; we resolved an issue with a large number of markers on the map; we addressed some issues about network location." Additional details are presented in the project's release notes. Supported devices and download options can be found on the project's devices page.
Window Maker Live 0.95.9-0
Window Maker Live is a Debian-based Linux distribution that applies the Window Maker window manager as the default graphical user interface. The project's latest release is based on Debian 12.1 "Bookworm". " This release is based on stable Debian/Bookworm version 12.1. The current Window Maker 0.95.9 is used as default window manager and exclusive desktop session option. The additional xfce4 desktop session option was removed. Selected components and utilities of Xfce, MATE, and LXQt were seamlessly integrated with Window Maker. A Fail-safe mode session option was added for troubleshooting needs. The GTK3 widget libraries have been recompiled with the gtk3-classic patches from https://github.com/lah7/gtk3-classic. The login manager is now LightDM instead of the former wmlive-gdm. The default web browsers are Pale Moon and Surf. As mail messaging client Claws-Mail has been chosen. Most wmlive-specific scripts have been localized using machine translation for about 17 of the most common European languages used worldwide." The release notes also affirm the distribution has moved from SysV init to systemd.
Window Maker Live 0.95.9-0 -- Running the Window Maker interface
(full image size: 91kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Ubuntu 22.04.3
Paride Legovini has announced Canonical has released an update to its Ubuntu 22.04 series. The new update, along with Ubuntu's official community editions, fix a number of security issues. The release announcement states: "The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS (Long-Term Support) for its Desktop, Server, and Cloud products, as well as other flavours of Ubuntu with long-term support. As usual, this point release includes many updates and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-severity bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Kubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, Ubuntu Budgie 22.04.3 LTS, Ubuntu MATE 22.04.3 LTS, Lubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, Ubuntu Kylin 22.04.3 LTS, Ubuntu Studio 22.04.3 LTS, and Xubuntu 22.04.3 LTS are also now available." Additional information is available in the release notes.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 2,897
- Total data uploaded: 43.5TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
How do you like new windows to be arranged?
In this week's Questions and Answers section we talked about application window placement. Different people like arranging their desktop in various ways. Some people like having new windows centred on the screen, others like to set up tiles of windows side-by-side, while others like to position windows so they mostly overlap with edges sticking out for quick access. How do you like to position windows on your desktop?
You can see the results of our previous poll on protecting files from being overwritten in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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How do you like to position new application windows?
| Centred: | 451 (35%) |
| Mostly overlapping: | 132 (10%) |
| Randomly: | 58 (5%) |
| Tiled: | 211 (16%) |
| Other: | 137 (11%) |
| Does not matter: | 293 (23%) |
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| Website News |
New projects added to database
Rhino Linux
Rhino Linux is an Ubuntu-based distribution which offers a rolling release upgrade approach. The distribution uses a customized Xfce desktop environment. Rhino features a custom meta package manager which unifies Deb, Pacstall, and Flatpak software management.
Rhino Linux 2023.1 -- Running the customized Xfce live desktop
(full image size: 177kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
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New distributions added to waiting list
- SDesk. SDesk is an Arch Linux-based distribution which features the GNOME desktop running a Wayland session. It uses the Calamares system installer.
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 21 August 2023. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Weekly Archive and Article Search pages. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews/submissions, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, donations, comments)
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
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| Random Distribution | 
Lonix
Lonix was a console-based full Linux system which runs from a live CD. It includes a lot of useful utilities for students and developers, along with some servers like Apache, Proftpd, sendmail, and sshd (all pre-configured). It can also be used as a partition tool (featuring fdisk, parted, and partimage) or as a rescue CD.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at 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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0x969CD4E778C7b6549A2B00e34114e0168c86A542 
