 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1042, 23 October 2023 |
Welcome to this year's 43rd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
A little over a week ago Canonical published Ubuntu 23.10 which was accompanied by ten community editions. One of the younger community editions in the family is Ubuntu Cinnamon which has drawn comparisons to Linux Mint for using the same base and the same desktop environment. This week we begin with a side-by-side look at Linux Mint's Debian Edition running the Cinnamon desktop along with Ubuntu Cinnamon. Then, in our News section, we talk about the Debian project resuming efforts to merge its root directories into /usr while Murena expands its /e/OS platform onto new Android devices. We also report on Canonical and Ubuntu Budgie publishing updated install media to replace malicious translations in the original 23.10 media. This week we also talk about extending the battery life of Linux laptops. How long does your laptop's battery last when running Linux? Let us know in this week's Opinion Poll. Plus we are pleased to share a summary of this week's releases and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10 and Linux Mint 6 "Debian Edition'
In the middle of October, Canonical published Ubuntu 23.10 and its herd of community editions soon followed. Since Ubuntu (and its community flavours) are among the world's most widely used Linux distributions, particularly among newcomers to the community, I feel it is important to write about the Ubuntus and highlight what sets them apart.
Oddly enough, it feels as though Canonical and the range of Ubuntu community branches don't feel the same enthusiasm. Looking through the release announcements for version 23.10 of the Ubuntus, there was very little in terms of new features, interesting developments, or notes on fresh polish. Almost all of the community projects mentioned the new version of the Linux kernel they offered and a few minor version bumps to their respective desktop environments, and that was usually all that was discussed. Two of the ten community branches didn't even publish release announcements and at least one didn't bother to update their wallpaper to match the theme of the new release.
Less than a decade ago the Ubuntu community was boiling over with new developments, editions, and ideas. The Unity desktop (like it or loath it) tried to streamline desktop usage, Canonical was working to provide a user-centric cloud service, Ubuntu Touch was offering to take Linux to the mobile world, and Ubuntu Server was leading the charge into cloud computing. Meanwhile Snap was offering portable packages for servers, Flatpak was making its way into community desktop editions, Wayland was just over the horizon, and Ubuntu One was poised to tie it all together with data synchronization across the entire stack of devices.
These days Canonical doesn't seem to care much about the desktop. After scrapping Unity and moving back to GNOME, the company has largely left the desktop to be stagnant. Most desktops and community editions have ignored Wayland, Ubuntu Touch was turned over to the UBports community, and Ubuntu One was shut down. Even with the community editions being forced to adopt Snap and drop Flatpak support, Snap has failed to capture hearts and minds. Lubuntu's brief announcement even recommended users might want to consider skipping this release (at least Lubuntu bothered to publish a release announcement): "If you choose to use Lubuntu 23.10, we STRONGLY recommend upgrading to 24.04 LTS soon after it is released, but before Lubuntu 23.10 hits end of life. If this is not suitable for you, but you still enjoy new features on a regular basis, we would recommend staying on Lubuntu 22.04 LTS with Lubuntu's Backports enabled."
In short, the Ubuntu developer community seems to be entirely uninterested in developing or talking about version 23.10 which makes it difficult to write about the release. So I decided to do something new-to-me which was try Ubuntu Cinnamon. Ubuntu Cinnamon has only been around for around a year and a half and what drew my attention to it this October was the question about whether it even made sense for Ubuntu Cinnamon (UC) to exist.
The Cinnamon desktop is developed by the Linux Mint project, itself a member of the Debian/Ubuntu community. Mint has been around for around a decade and a half while UC is quite new. If Mint is basically Debian/Ubuntu with the Cinnamon desktop (which it develops) and a few add-on utilities, then what is the point in having an official Ubuntu Cinnamon community flavour which is the same base with Cinnamon packages bolted on top? It's a question I've heard asked a few times and I was curious about the reasoning behind Ubuntu Cinnamon too.
Meanwhile I'd been looking for a reason to try out Linux Mint's latest Debian Edition (LMDE 6) which also features the Cinnamon desktop on Debian's Stable base. Mint's release announcement for LMDE 6 was also quite light on details and new features, other than to say LMDE offered most of the same programs and features as Linux Mint's Ubuntu-based edition.
Going into this side-by-side trial I had little to go on, other than to assume UC 23.10 and LMDE 6 would offer the same desktop on a similar base. I was curious to see how they would be similar, how they would be different, and if there would be a clear reason to use one over the other. Is there a reason to have Ubuntu Cinnamon when Linux Mint, creator of the Cinnamon, desktop exists? Let's find out!
Installing
Let's start with Linux Mint 6 "Debian Edition". The project's ISO file is 2.5GB in size. Booting from the media brings up the Cinnamon desktop and automatically launches a custom, graphical system installer. This installer asks us to select our location, confirm our time zone, and choose our keyboard layout. We're then asked to make up a username and password. Optionally, we can encrypt our home directory. The installer offers manual and guided partition management. The guided approach is fairly easy to navigate and the guided option provides us with the chance to enable LVM and disk encryption. The installer copied its files to my drive quickly and offered to reboot the machine or return to the Cinnamon desktop.
Linux Mint 6 "Debian Edition" -- Changing Cinnamon's theme
(full image size: 609kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
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Ubuntu Cinnamon is provided through a 3.9GB ISO file. This media boots to a graphical environment where we are shown a window that asks if we'd like to Try or Install the distribution. The Try option hands us over to the Cinnamon desktop while the Install option launches the Ubiquity system installer.
Ubiquity has slightly different steps and in a different order, but the process is similar to Mint's installer. We're asked if we'd like to fetch updates during the install and if we'd like to install media codecs. Guided and friendly manual disk partitioning options are again provided. UC offers three guided options: ext4, LVM, and ZFS. We are asked to set our time zone and make up a user account. Ubiquity then copies its files to the local drive and offers to reboot the computer.
Early impressions of the desktop
When we boot Linux Mint we're shown a graphical login screen with a mostly black background. Signing into our account brings up the Cinnamon desktop with a welcome screen which greets us. The welcome window offers us quick access to documentation and commonly used features. These features include creating filesystem snapshots (with Timeshift), enabling the firewall, opening the software centre, and accessing the Cinnamon settings panel.
Linux Mint 6 "Debian Edition" -- The welcome window
(full image size: 714kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Cinnamon places its panel across the bottom of the display. The Cinnamon desktop is presented with a mostly dark theme (the desktop panel and menus use white text on a black background) and the wallpaper is mostly black. Mint's icons are bright, colourful, and distinctive. Application windows use a light theme by default. In the settings panel we can adjust the theme to be this blend of light applications and dark desktop, make everything dark, or make everything light.
Mint's screensaver kicks on after 15 minutes, which is a nice bit of breathing room compared to the 5 minutes a lot of distributions use as their default these days.
When new software updates are available, an icon in the system tray lets us know. This icon can be used to open Mint's update manager, which I'll talk about later in this review.
* * * * *
Ubuntu Cinnamon also boots to a graphical login screen, this one with a brown theme. When we sign in we find icons on the desktop for opening the Nemo file manager. The background and icons use a strong, brown theme while the panel and application menu are dark. Unlike Mint, Ubuntu Cinnamon uses the dark-on-dark theme so application windows typically use a black background.
Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10 -- Exploring the application menu
(full image size: 453kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
UC doesn't offer a welcome window. Instead, shortly after signing in, a window appeared and let me know software updates were available. I was asked if I'd like to run the update manager. UC uses Ubuntu's update manager which is a minimal graphical tool which will list and fetch available updates. It worked well for me.
A problem I constantly ran into with Ubuntu Cinnamon was the desktop session would regularly crash, usually in under two minutes. In fact, out of the around 15 sessions I signed into during my trial with UC, only two of them remained stable for more than five minutes. The rest would crash and return me to the login screen. This happened whether I was using the default Cinnamon session or the software rendering session. This happened in the same two test environments where Linux Mint remained stable and its desktop didn't crash once. One of the few times UC's session remained (mostly) stable, I saw a crash report which read, "The application xpps-sn-watcher has closed unexpectedly." I was then offered a chance to restart the service.
Hardware support
In terms of hardware support, LMDE and UC were basically identical in most ways. Both worked on my laptop and detected all of my hardware, wireless networking worked out of the box, media keys worked, and my touchpad detected taps as clicks. The Cinnamon desktop (on both distributions) used inverse scrolling when the touchpad was in use and this can be adjusted with a few clicks in the settings panel.
Desktop performance was about average on the laptop and a little below average in the VirtualBox instances. Cinnamon tends to lag a little bit in virtual machines, not a lot, but it's noticeable.
Memory usage was about the same across the two distributions. Mint used 955MB when signed into the desktop while Ubuntu Cinnamon used 980MB. Disk consumption was quite a bit different though. Mint used 7.5GB of disk space while UC used almost twice as much, 13GB. This appears to be mostly a result of which default applications are included.
Package management
Mint features a custom software centre. The software manager has a nice, modern interface which I find easy to navigate. The software centre is responsive and will show us recommended or featured items. We can also perform searches for items. When we click on an application's entry we are shown a full page description and a screenshot. We can add an application with a click and, once it is installed, launch the application from within the software centre.
Linux Mint 6 "Debian Edition" -- The software centre
(full image size: 140kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
One aspect of Mint's software centre I like is it seamlessly blends together traditional Deb packages and Flatpak packages which are pulled in from the Flathub repository. To facilitate this blending, next to the button to install new software there is a drop-down menu which lets us switch between fetching the Flatpak or the Deb version of an application. The Deb format seems to be the default when it is available.
Mint has a separate, custom update manager. This update manager keeps things fairly simple on the surface. It has a straight forward layout and we can fetch and install new updates with a few clicks. If we dig into the update manager further though we can find all sorts of settings for adjusting when we check for new packages, automatic update options, and a menu entry which launches the Timeshift snapshot manager. Timeshift helps us rollback changes to the system if an update causes any problems.
Finally, Mint includes the Synaptic package manager for low level manipulation of packages. This can be handy if we want to find and install specific libraries or command line tools.
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Ubuntu Cinnamon appears to use the Ubuntu Software Centre to manage applications. (I say appears because the desktop didn't remain stable long enough for me to launch and test the software centre.) I could confirm UC provides access both to Ubuntu's traditional Deb repositories and to the Snap repository. Some Snap packages are installed on the system by default and the Firefox web browser is provided through a Snap.
Following the directive from Canonical, UC does not provide access to Flatpak packages by default, but this can be enabled by the user by installing the Flatpak framework. Like its cousin, UC ships with the Synaptic package manager.
Included software
The Mint distribution ships with a fairly standard collection of open source applications, along with a few extras. These items include Firefox, LibreOffice, Thunderbird, Transmission, and HexChat. Media codecs are provided along with the Rhythmbox and Celluloid applications. The Hypnotix streaming application is included too.
Mint ships with the Nemo file manager, a backup utility, virtual keyboard, and the Warpinator file sharing application. Behind the scenes we find Java is installed along with the GNU Compiler Collection, GNU utilities, and manual pages. Mint ships with the systemd init software and version 6.1 of the Linux kernel.
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Ubuntu Cinnamon has a mostly similar collection of software. It also ships with Firefox (as a Snap), LibreOffice, Nemo, and Thunderbird. Ubuntu Cinnamon also includes the Brasero disc burning utility, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, Rhythmbox, Transmission, and Totem. The distribution includes Pidgin, the GNU utilities, and systemd. In the background Ubuntu Cinnamon runs Linux 6.5.
As you can see, there are a few differences and a newer kernel in Ubuntu Cinnamon, but most of the applications and out of the box capabilities are the same across both distributions.
Special features and observations
Mint has a few useful tools, such as Timeshift and Warpinator which make it easier to manage the system, restore filesystem snapshots, and transfer files. What I particularly like is the system fits together nicely, like a series of gears in a watch. The welcome window provides easy access to key functions, the update manager connects to Timeshift, the software centre seamlessly combines Deb and Flatpak options into one interface. In short, all the components Mint offers fit together nicely, making the distribution greater than the sum of its parts.
Linux Mint 6 "Debian Edition" -- Customizing update settings
(full image size: 533kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
* * * * *
Ubuntu Cinnamon does not appear to have any equivalent integration or connected tools. The Cinnamon desktop certainly works well and is flexible, I like Cinnamon's settings panel as it makes adjusting the desktop quite easy. However, UC doesn't have any welcome window, snapshot manager (even though ZFS is a guided partitioning option), nothing that ties the pieces together. It very much feels like Ubuntu's core base with the Cinnamon desktop placed as a separate layer on top of it.
Conclusions
It isn't often I get to test drive two such similar distributions (in this case both recently released members of the Debian/Ubuntu family) running the same desktop (Cinnamon) with similar goals. The two distributions, on paper at least, should be nearly identical, apart from the branding and a few default applications.
The experiences I encountered though were quite a bit different. The installers were mostly the same, apart from the order in which they performed actions, and a lot of the default applications were the same. Obviously, the desktop features were nearly identical (some settings, like the theme adjustments, were laid out a bit differently).
Apart from the colour scheme and a few applications, the main differences for me boiled down to three things:
- Stability was obviously the big factor. Running in the same test environments, Mint was rock solid while Ubuntu Cinnamon's desktop crashed regularly, usually within two minutes of logging in. This made the latter virtually unusable most of the time.
- Package management was another concrete example. Mint uses faster, more polished tools. Its software centre is one of the faster, more easy to navigate software centres I've encountered in the Linux ecosystem and it makes switching between Flatpak and Deb packages effortless. The update manager is simple, but flexible, with a lot of convenient options and snapshot integration behind the scenes. In contrast, Ubuntu Cinnamon uses the capable Ubuntu Software Centre, a more streamlined and less capable update manager, and uses Snap packages rather than Flatpak.
- As I mentioned above, Mint includes a number of interconnected pieces which work well together. We're greeted by a welcome window and the update manager talks to the snapshot utility. The distribution feels like it was assembled into a whole product, following a vision, rather than a collection of parts which happen to be in the same room. I cannot say the same for Ubuntu Cinnamon which greeted me with crash reports and update notices, and didn't appear to tie any of its components together. It feels like a desktop layered on top of a separate operating system (which I suppose it is) rather than the result of a clear vision.
It's not often I question why a distribution should exist. I'm all in favour of hobby projects, building something for the educational aspect, and producing similar projects with different philosophies. In this specific case though, I do find myself wondering what the motivation is for creating and maintaining Ubuntu Cinnamon as an official flavour of Ubuntu. Linux Mint is basically Ubuntu (or Debian, depending on the edition) with the Cinnamon desktop, some custom utilities, and some added polish. Mint has been a user friendly, capable member of the Debian/Ubuntu family for over a decade and a go-to distribution for people who want a beginner friendly experience.
Ubuntu Cinnamon is also Ubuntu with the Cinnamon desktop on top of it (making the distribution's name blissfully accurate), but it doesn't have any of Mint's custom utilities or polish. It's the same base, the same desktop, and mostly the same packages with a few pieces missing.
Linux Mint 6 "Debian Edition" is another solid release from the Mint project with a lot of polish and friendly touches put into it. Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10 offers the usual, friendly Ubuntu base, but (apart from looking nice) doesn't manage to offer a particularly good experience with the Cinnamon desktop.
* * * * *
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
Ubuntu Cinnamon has a visitor supplied average rating of: 7.7/10 from 13 review(s).
Have you used Ubuntu Cinnamon? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Debian resumes /usr merge, Murena expands /e/OS platform, Canonical publishes updated install media
The Debian project had originally looked to complete the merger of its root and /usr directories in time for the launch of Debian 12. This would have seen the migration of programs from directories like /bin and /sbin to their equivalents under /usr (/usr/bin and /usr/sbin). However, a pause was placed on the migration due to some concerns around getting the work done and tested in time for Debian 12. The project is now planning to complete the merge for Debian 13. "The transition driver, which at the time of writing is Helmut Grohne, is using a phased approach, in which the moratorium is rolled back for only certain classes of packages, and changes, at a time. In addition, restructuring uploads should be targeted at experimental, and left for three days. This is in order that automated testing by dumat can occur." Details on the merge can be found on Debian's UserMerge wiki page.
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Murena has announced an update to its /e/OS software platform which will upgrade its Android base as well make it possible for the organization to provide longer support for aging Android phones. "Exciting news! Our team has completed a significant migration, bringing /e/OS to AOSP 13 (T) for a select set of community devices. We are thrilled to extend support for these phones, making /e/OS a great solution to keep older devices alive. And we are not stopping here. We're currently hard at work to offer OTA updates for our official devices, ensuring you stay effortlessly up-to-date with the latest features and improvements." The Murena project currently supports 245 devices.
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Last week we reported on the install media for Ubuntu and Ubuntu Budgie 23.10 being revoked due to malicious translations. New install media has been uploaded with proper translations and the new ISO files bear the version number 23.10.1.
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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) |
Extending battery life on Linux
All-charged-up asks: While Linux battery life has drastically improved in the last few years, I'm still struggling with having enough battery to last a whole working day. With developments in Wayland, I'm uncertain of which desktop environment is the most power efficient, all else being equal. The old commonly heard advice was environments that use less RAM and CPU (e.g. Xfce, LXQt, and, stepping outside of desktop environments, several window managers). I've recently seen this advice being disregarded as irrelevant with modern hardware. It is claimed Wayland could be more power efficient. How does current GNOME on Wayland compare to Xfce on X11, for instance? Of course, mileage may vary depending on hardware and usage. Is there a current power efficient desktop environment champion?
I've tried all the tricks in the past with TLP / PowerTOP / power-profiles-daemon, running fewer services, disabling Bluetooth, dimming screen brightness etc. However, what are some of the best methods to accurately measure power consumption?
DistroWatch answers: It sounds like you are already doing just about everything you can to extend battery life. You're dimming the screen, disabling services you don't need (like Bluetooth), running power profile tools to throttle the CPU. These are the big ticket items.
You might also want to experiment with various video drivers. You might find, especially with an AMD or NVIDIA card which can ramp up its performance quite a bit, that switching between the base level drivers or a proprietary driver can make a difference in energy consumption.
Regarding the classic advice on using less feature-rich desktop environments, such as Xfce and LXQt in place of GNOME or KDE Plasma, that advice still holds up. Lighter desktops tend to run fewer services and less CPU-intensive tasks, easing the strain on your battery. This is especially true when dealing with 3-D desktops such as GNOME and Cinnamon. These 3-D desktops require more processing power - either in the video card or, if the proper driver isn't available, through the CPU. When the CPU bears the load it slows down the machine and plays havoc with the battery's life.
Regarding the question of Wayland versus X11, it's not likely to make any noticeable difference. X11 and Wayland are just protocols for achieving the same thing (drawing on your screen). Depending on which Wayland or X11 implementation you are using and which hardware drivers your computer is running, you might get slightly better or worse performance, but the protocol being used itself is not likely to make any significant impact. The bigger factors will be how bright the screen is, how often new things are drawn, and how much work the desktop environment is doing rather than how the pixels are being drawn on the screen.
When it comes to measuring power consumption, I suggest one of two approaches. The first is not particularly precise, but it is practical. Simply set up your machine with a specific configuration, and then use it until the battery runs low. Measure how long you were using it. Then change your configuration and, the next day, again time how long it takes for your battery to run low. This isn't fine-tuned work, but it's practical because it gives you first-hand experience for what works for your workflow and your equipment.
Benchmarks (such as comparing Xfce on X11 vs GNOME on Wayland) can give people ideas of where to start making changes, but when it comes to performance and power consumption, benchmarks only give you a rough idea of what works (or doesn't work) for other people in short-term tests. Running a configuration all day under a normal workflow on your own equipment will tell you exactly what does work for you.
A more fine-tuned approach is to run a tool like PowerTOP. This command line tool will show you all sorts of statistics about which processes and hardware components are using power and how much. You can see which processes are causing the most power to be consumed as well as which hardware components are drawing the most electricity. You can also see a total number of watts consumed at any given second.
Using PowerTOP, which is described in this Linux Config article, takes out the guesswork from tuning power consumption because you can see, in real-time, which service, desktop, or hardware component is draining your battery the most.
* * * * *
Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
MX Linux 23.1
The MX Linux development team has announced the release of MX Linux 23.1, an updated build of the project's Debian-based distribution with the SysV init system and a choice of Xfce, KDE Plasma and Fluxbox desktops: "We are pleased to offer MX Linux 23.1 for your use. MX 23.1 is the first refresh of our MX 23 release, consisting of bug fixes, kernel and application updates since our original release of MX 23. If you are already running MX 23, there is no need to reinstall. Packages are all available through the regular update channel. Highlights include: Debian 12.2 'Bookworm' base; new and updated applications. Some highlights include: installer updates addressing swap file, hibernation and OEM install improvements; the KDE release features an updated sddm init script that eliminates the 'restart' of sddm on SySVInit boot; the AHS Xfce release features the 6.5 kernel, updated firmware and MESA libraries; Fluxbox has a new key binding reference script displaying default hotkeys." Here is the complete release announcement.
OpenBSD 7.4
The OpenBSD team have announced the release of OpenBSD 7.4, the latest version of the project's security-focused operating system. The new version includes a lot of virtual machine improvements, better SMP performance, wireless networking updates and an interesting random timing feature for the cron daemon. "In cron(8) and crontab(5), add support for random offsets when using ranges with a step value in cron. This extends the random range syntax to support step values. Instead of choosing a random number between the high and low values, the field is treated as a range with a random offset less than the step value. This can be used to avoid thundering herd problems where multiple machines contact a server all at the same time via cron jobs. Extend and improve the ibuf API in libutil and add functions for more specific data types, for modifying data at specific offsets, for getting and setting the file descriptor stored on the ibuf and for efficient wrapping of ibufs into imsgs. The ibuf API is mostly used in network daemons. In wsconsctl(8), add button mappings for two- and three-finger clicks on clickpads. In pax(1) and tar(1), do not open files that will be skipped, speeding up archive creation when many files are skipped." Additional details can be found in the release announcement.
Kubuntu 23.10
Kubuntu is the last of the Ubuntu family of Linux distribution that announced the release of version 23.10. The product ships with KDE Plasma 5.27, KDE Frameworks 5.110 and KDE Gear 23.08: "The Kubuntu team is happy to announce that Kubuntu 23.10 has been released, featuring the beautiful KDE Plasma 5.27, simple by default, powerful when needed. Code-named 'Mantic Minotaur', Kubuntu 23.10 continues our tradition of giving you friendly computing by integrating the latest and greatest open-source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. Under the hood, there have been updates to many core packages, including a new 6.5-based kernel, KDE Frameworks 5.110, KDE Plasma 5.27 and KDE Gear 23.08. Kubuntu has seen many updates for other applications, both in our default install and installable from the Ubuntu archive. Haruna, Krita, Kdevelop, Yakuake and many many more applications are updated. Applications for core day-to-day usage are included and updated, such as Firefox and LibreOffice." See the brief release announcement and the more detailed release notes for further information.
Br OS 23.10
Br OS is a Brazilian Linux distribution based on Kubuntu. The distribution has re-introduced a minimal install option for Br OS 23.10 and adjusted the themes settings screen. "One change that began to be introduced in a past point-release and has now been completed is the change of themes in the quick settings screen, which is now 100% functional with the right to view and everything, with this, unfortunately the Breeze themes were disabled, when clicking on them nothing will happen, however, the Breeze theme can still be used by clicking on the Kubuntu Theme, and can be changed between light and dark in advanced settings. There has been an improvement in the stability of the integration with ChatGPT, we are working on the possibility of integrating other artificial intelligences, preferably free, so that the user can choose which one to use, this update should come out in the near future and is another step towards the implementation of Tricia (our AI)." Additional details can be found in the project's release announcement.
Br OS 23.10 -- Running the KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 2.7MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
* * * * *
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: 2,918
- Total data uploaded: 43.7TB
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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) |
Laptop battery life
This week we talked about extending the battery life of a Linux laptop and some of the tricks which came make a single session last longer. We'd like to hear how long your Linux laptop can run on a single charge. Let us know about your favourite tricks for making your battery last longer in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on preferred Ubuntu community flavours in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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How long does your Linux laptop battery last?
| Under 1 hour: | 70 (5%) |
| 1-3 hours: | 375 (27%) |
| 3-5 hours: | 383 (28%) |
| 5-7 hours: | 166 (12%) |
| 7-9 hours: | 74 (5%) |
| More than 9 hours: | 59 (4%) |
| I have no Linux laptop: | 244 (18%) |
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| Website News |
DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 30 October 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 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 |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| 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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| Random Distribution | 
Quantian Scientific Computing Environment
A Knoppix/Debian variant tailored to numerical and quantitative analysis, Quantian was a remastering of Knoppix, the self-configuring and directly bootable CDROM that turns any PC or laptop (provided it can boot from CDROM) into a full-featured Linux workstation. The most recent version was based on clusterKnoppix and adds support for openMosix, including remote booting of light clients in an openMosix terminal server context. Quantian was an extension of Knoppix and clusterKnoppix from which it takes its base system of about 2GB of software, along with fully automatic hardware detection and configuration. However, Quantian differs from Knoppix by adding a set of programs of interest to applied or theoretical workers in quantitative or data-driven fields.
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!
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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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