DistroWatch Weekly |
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1051, 1 January 2024 |
Welcome to this year's 1st issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
As we kick off a new year this seems like an appropriate time to reflect on projects explored and lessons learned in 2023. We'd like to begin 2024 with a look back at some favourite projects and interesting distributions that were enjoyed in the last dozen months - keep reading to see the highlights of the past year. We test out a lot of distributions here at DistroWatch, often more than one at a time. Do you distro-hop and, if so, do you dual-boot or hop through distributions one at a time? Let us know in this week's Opinion Poll. Then, in our Questions and Answers column, we talk about renewal - specifically refreshing shell variables and settings. In our News section we unpack several developments from major distributions. Debian is planning to phase out 32-bit install media in the future while openSUSE is gearing up to offer full disk encryption out of the box. Plus we talk about Gentoo offering a full array of binary packages. We also share news from the Fedora team where program directories under /usr are being merged and Asahi Linux's Fedora remix is running on Apple M-series processors. We also link to an overview of new developments happening with the UBports mobile platform. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past two weeks and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
- Review: Favourite and interesting distributions of 2023
- News: UBports upgrades its components, Debian plans to phase out 32-bit x86 media, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix for Apple M-series, Fedora plans to merge program directories, openSUSE experiments with full disk encryption, Gentoo offers more binary packages
- Questions and answers: Reloading shell settings
- Released in the last two weeks: postmarketOS 23.12, Qubes OS 4.2.0, Rhino Linux 2023.4, Zorin OS 17
- Torrent corner: KDE neon, Manjaro Linux, Tails
- Opinion poll: Do you run multiple distributions?
- New distributions: Coffee Linux, CuerdOS
- Reader comments
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Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
Favourite and interesting distributions of 2023
Another year has come and gone and this past week I was in a reflective mood. In a directory on my computer I keep notes from past projects I have reviewed with thoughts I jot down on the distributions I was reviewing as I was exploring them. Most of these thoughts get fleshed out, polished during my trial with the distribution, and shared in the final review that is posted here for the public to enjoy. However, there are sometimes half-finished thoughts or musings which don't get to see the light of day. At the end of the year I like to revisit these digital breadcrumbs to see what made a distribution interesting, appealing, appalling, or worth applauding.
To be frank, the notes I scribbled at the start of 2023 did not indicate I was finding much positive to say about the projects I was exploring. A lot of the projects I was test driving in the first few months of the year were new, experimental, unpolished spins, or distributions showcasing development ideas. While a lot of these projects sounded interesting or had websites which talked up their revolutionary new features, few of them delivered a polished, useful experience for the end user.
According to my notes, it was April before I encountered a few distributions which offered a solid experience, a reasonable amount of polish, and worked passably well with my hardware. It was a few more months before I started running into distributions I felt I could recommend to Linux users with a bit of experience, some familiarity with the ecosystem - either due to the distributions' level of polish or because these projects highlighted some neat new features. It was August by the time I got to run a few distributions which I felt truly shone, which highlighted what was good and effective about running Linux as a desktop operating system.
This week, rather than diving into a new project, I'd like to look back and share my highlights of 2023, along with a few intriguing honourable mentions, with you.
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MX Linux 23
I reviewed MX Linux 23 in August and it was, unsurprisingly, the best experience I had of 2023. The MX Linux project has, for the past several years, consistently put out fantastic releases. MX benefits from Debian's Stable package repository while adding some custom tools and backports on top, which results in a solid core running up to date desktop applications.
MX Linux 23 -- The welcome window
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The MX team provides a few desktop environments (Xfce and KDE Plasma most notably). Further, MX offers a polished user experience - I encountered no bugs during my trial. Thanks to the combination of Debian repositories and its own, custom software collections, MX provides a huge selection of software in its repositories. I'm also a fan of how much well written documentation is available to MX users, both on-line and in the local copy of the project's manual.
Further, MX Linux is lightweight and runs unusually quickly in my test environments which make it an ideal distribution, in my opinion. It's also one of the few distributions which gives users the ability to switch between init software at boot time. In fact, it may be unique in having this feature. MX may not look quite as pretty as Linux Mint or have Zorin's Windows-like style some new users enjoy. Still, I think it's hard to beat MX Linux in terms of documentation, stability, performance, and polish on the desktop.
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Lernstick 12
The Lernstick distribution was one of the last projects I had a chance to review in 2023. This project, like MX Linux, is based on Debian. It's also one of the very few distributions I used this past year with which I encountered virtually no bugs. Almost all operating systems will throw an error or display a glitch during a week-long trial, even if the project is quite streamlined.
Lernstick is the opposite of streamlined. It offers multiple desktop environments, dozens of applications, games, learning tools, and administrative utilities. It is a distribution which includes everything and the kitchen sink. Yet, despite trying five different desktop environments, several games, and multiple applications during my time with this portable OS-on-a-stick, the experience was nearly flawless.
Lernstick 12 -- The application menu
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I hadn't even heard of Lernstick before November of 2023 and it turned out to be one of the projects which impressed me the most last year, largely due to its amazing flexibility and stability.
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Void 20230628
The Void distribution is one I keep coming back to about once every year or two because it is just so incredibly unique and clean in its design. Void has its own package manager (XBPS), offers a fairly stable rolling release, uses runit for its init software, and supplies different flavours based on glibc and musl C. It's a project that feels surprisingly clean, slick, light on resources, and just plain interesting.
Unfortunately, any time in the past I have fired up a copy of Void I've quickly run into problems or limitations. Void historically didn't include audio controls or good sound support, had small repositories of software, and required some command line experience to keep the operating system up to date.
I'm including Void in my list of favourite projects this year for two reasons. The first is the project feels as though it has greatly improved over the past year or two. Audio worked out of the box this time and a volume control widget was installed for me. Void's smaller repositories are supplemented by Flatpak and Distrobox to provide additional desktop and command line software. Everything on Void, at least the glibc branch I tested, worked smoothly and well. In short, Void wins my "most improved" award for 2023.
Void 20230628 -- Running the Xfce desktop
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The second reason I am highlighting Void is that, as I mentioned before, the project is pleasantly unique. In a world full of Ubuntu spins and yet more "Arch Linux with the Calamares installer and Xfce" projects, it's nice to see something different. Void isn't just good at what it does, offering flexibility, rolling release software, good documentation, and one of the fastest desktop distributions available these days, it's also beautifully different. It is showcasing how well a project can work even when (or especially when, depending on your point of view) not using mainstream components like systemd, Snap, and glibc. Void is unusual and I enjoy that as much a the smooth, polished experience it provides.
Void does require command line knowledge, it's not targeting beginners. One should have a few years of Linux experience before attempting to use Void. However, once I had tasted the clean, quick environment Void offered, it was hard to go back to more mainstream, more cumbersome distributions.
* * * * *
Alpine Linux 3.17.0
At the beginning of this article I mentioned that it was April before I encountered a Linux distribution which really provided a solid experience. Alpine Linux holds the honour of being the first project to really deliver a solid experience for me in 2023. This was no surprise. Alpine has a well deserved reputation for being fast, light, and dependable. The little distribution is usually observed in containers and low-resource servers where speed and a small footprint are required.
While Alpine necessitates a lot of command line work to use and its utilities (like the apk package manager) tend to be terse, the distribution is rock solid, super fast, and lean. My only complaint, apart from all the manual typing to set up desktops and services, was that some of Alpine's documentation was out of date while I was using it in my trial. In short, Alpine is a great, server/container distribution for more advanced users.
* * * * *
openSUSE 15.5 Leap and openSUSE MicroOS
Two of the better experiences, and some of the few truly positive experiences I had with desktop-oriented distributions this year, were supplied by openSUSE. I tried out both openSUSE's 15.5 Leap branch in June and the project's MicroOS edition in December. I ran the Plasma desktop on Leap and used GNOME on MicroOS and both experiences were solid.
openSUSE MicroOS -- The software centre
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The openSUSE distribution is a bit heavy, both in its consumption of memory and of disk space, but not terribly so. Both experiences were nearly flawless; I ran into almost no bugs and no serious issues in either trial. Apart from MX Linux, this was probably the only truly remarkable, pleasant, polished, and integrated desktop distribution I had the fortune to experiment with this past year.
I will say though that openSUSE, despite its great tools, advanced technologies (like immutable filesystems and YaST), is not geared toward novice users. It expects a degree of Linux experience which makes it a good platform for power users, administrators, and veteran Linux users, but I wouldn't give it to a beginner.
* * * * *
Kumander Linux 1.0
The above five projects were the ones which stood out as being particularly good during 2023. I liked each of them and they offered pleasantly solid, mostly bug-free experiences. There were two other projects I encountered that, while they were not necessarily projects I'd recommend, they were unusually interesting.
Kumander Linux is another Debian-based project and one which caught my attention for trying to be everything most Linux distributions try not to be. Kumander mimics Windows 7 in its Xfce desktop theme and seems bound to try to imitate the Windows experience in other ways. Kumander 1.0 ships with sudo set up for passwordless authentication, meaning virtually everything can be run as the root user without a password. The default web browser is the proprietary Chrome browser. While package management is often one of the key selling points in Linux distributions, Kumander's graphical software centre was unable to fetch updates during my trial.
Kumander Linux 1.0 -- The application menu
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In short, running Kumander felt like a very Windows-like experience, without the menu ads, annoying pop-ups, and anti-virus bogging down the system. Which I think is the point. I believe Kumander's developers are trying to position the distribution as an alternative to Windows while making the environment feel familiar for those migrating. Unfortunately, to my way of thinking, the inclusion of closed source software and the lack security mean new users are also bringing their bad habits over from Windows to Linux.
In short, I have mixed feelings about Kumander. It seems to be trying to bridge the gap to make it easier for users to transition from Windows to Linux, but it also engages in some questionable practises to make beginners feel at home. This might be good, and I think the effect works, but I personally wouldn't want to use a system that makes Linux feel like Windows.
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rlxos
The second intriguing project to catch my attention this year was rlxos (sometimes written RLXOS or rlxos GNU/Linux). While several of the projects on my list are more conservative or minimalist distributions, rlxos strives for a more modern style. Like the Alpine, openSUSE, and Void projects mentioned above, rlxos is an independently developed distribution. The rlxos project features the Xfce desktop (earlier versions used GNOME) and relatively few applications.
rlxos 2023.11 -- The settings panel
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What sets rlxos apart from most other distributions is its immutable filesystem. The rlxos project uses Flatpak packages and Distrobox to supply additional desktop and low-level software, not unlike openSUSE's MicroOS. While rlxos is a younger project and still finding its niche, I think it is off to a good start. I revisited rlxos at the end of the year and was impressed with the progress the distribution is making. It is getting smaller, more efficient, and seemingly more polished. It's too soon in the project's life for me to recommend it to most people, but I think this is going to be a distribution worth watching. If any distribution is going to make immutable platforms appealing to a wider audience, this one might be it.
* * * * *
The above were my favourite projects of 2023 - and this probably says as much about me and my preferences as it does about the distributions featured in this list. Which was your favourite distribution of 2023? Let us know in the comments which project stood out and why.
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Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
UBports upgrades its components, Debian plans to phase out 32-bit x86 media, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix for Apple M-series, Fedora plans to merge program directories, openSUSE experiments with full disk encryption, Gentoo offers more binary packages
The UBports team have been collaborating with other projects working on mobile Linux operating systems and have they have made progress on multiple fronts: Outside contributors such as Luca from postmarketOS have added a lot of changes to components which we use. New compilers, new libraries. In particular that makes us more ready for the future. We use some non-standard AppArmor calls and Oliver from Canonical has updated those, to our benefit, they will work now across all the systems that use AppArmor, not only Ubuntu!
Ratchanan has been very busy. One of the most notable ones are is that ADB prompt is now working again and it was pulled out of the indicator onto its own components. It now asks for permission before an ADB (Android Debug Bridge) connection. You can use ADB to initiate SSH sessions and similar." Additional details and plans for future versions of UBports can be found in the project's blog post.
* * * * *
The Debian project is planning to gradually phase out support for 32-bit x86 install media. In an announcement titled "A future for the i386 architecture" Paul Gevers outlined how Debian is going to handle 32-bit systems: "Insofar as they still do, we anticipate that the kernel, d-i and images teams will cease to support i386 in the near future. Following that, there are two routes into running i386: 1. as a multi-arch option on an otherwise amd64 system; 2. as an i386 chroot on another architecture system. We're not planning to make i386 a partial architecture in the way Ubuntu has, arch:any will still contain i386 so everything builds by default." In other words, it looks like Debian will continue to supply 32-bit packages, the project will just phase out install media for the aging architecture. Distributions based on Debian will be able to continue releasing 32-bit editions.
* * * * *
The Asahi Linux project strives to get a fully functional GNU/Linux distribution running on Apple M-series computers. The Asahi Linux project partnered with Fedora in August of 2023 and that partnership is now bearing fruit. It's now possible to install Fedora Asahi Remix on Apple's M-series devices that are currently running macOS. "With Fedora's excellent 64-bit ARM support and mature development process, you can expect a solid and high-quality experience without any unwanted surprises. Fedora Asahi Remix is based on Fedora Linux 39, the latest Fedora Linux release with the newest software versions across the board. All M1 and M2 series MacBook, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and iMac devices are supported." The project ships with KDE Plasma running on a Wayland session, though other desktop environments, including GNOME, are available.
There is a proposal put forward for Fedora 40 which would merge the /usr/sbin directory into /usr/bin. "The /usr/sbin directory becomes a symlink to bin, which means paths like /usr/bin/foo and /usr/sbin/foo point to the same place. /bin and /sbin are already symlinks to /usr/bin and /usr/sbin, so effectively /bin/foo and /sbin/foo also point to the same place. /usr/sbin will be removed from the default $PATH." This is a different, though similar, issue from merging root directories (such as /bin) into /usr/bin.
* * * * *
The openSUSE distribution is experimenting with full disk encryption enabled by default and booting using systemd-boot instead of GRUB: "openSUSE Tumbleweed and MicroOS are now delivering an image that is using systemd-boot as boot loader and full disk encryption based also on systemd. The unlock of the encrypted device can be done via the traditional password, a TPM2 (a crypto-device that is already present in your system) that will attach the device if the system is in good health, or a FIDO2 key that will validate the ownership of a token." Additional details can be found in the project's announcement.
* * * * *
The Gentoo project is famous for providing a source based distribution where users are expected to build their software from source code. While Gentoo has provided some binary packages too, these have mostly provided for large applications which will take a long time to build. Gentoo is rounding out their binary support to make it easier for users to run the distribution without building packages from source code. "You probably all know Gentoo Linux as your favourite source-based distribution. Did you know that our package manager, Portage, already for years also has support for binary packages, and that source- and binary-based package installations can be freely mixed? To speed up working with slow hardware and for overall convenience, we're now also offering binary packages for download and direct installation! For most architectures, this is limited to the core system and weekly updates - not so for amd64 and arm64 however." Additional details are available in the project's announcement.
* * * * *
These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Reloading shell settings
Reset-the-shell asks: Is there a way to reload a shell config without closing the terminal and relaunching it? I tried running "bash" and that reset everything, but then I ended up with a bunch of bash processes running. Is there a better way?
DistroWatch answers: Typically when we want to change our shell's environment variables or configuration we edit our user's copy of its start-up script. For bash, the default shell on many Linux distributions, this usually means editing our user's .bashrc file in our home directory. This file is a plain text file and can be altered in your favourite text editor.
When you are already running a shell, for example in a virtual terminal window, this presents us with an interesting problem. The shell we are already using will not automatically apply the changes from its configuration file while it is still running. We have a few options in this situation.
Perhaps the cleanest and most simple approach is to exit our current shell (or close the terminal window) and then start a fresh terminal window. This kills the old shell and gives us a new window in which to work, with our configuration changes applied. There isn't anything wrong with this approach (it just takes a few mouse clicks), but if you're making frequent changes to your shell's configuration file, closing and re-opening the terminal window may become tedious.
In most situations we can tell bash to reload its configuration file and apply changes by running the following command:
source ~/.bashrc
The source command tells bash to load and run the instructions in the given file, in this case the .bashrc configuration file in our home directory. This approach works in most scenarios, but not all. If we're making simple changes, like adjusting the prompt variable or adding an alias, using the source command will work. Some more complex changes, such as removing a variable we no longer want, will not work since the instructions in the configuration file will not know to remove data already in use by the shell. In other words, using the source approach is good for changing variables and adding new instructions, but not removing old ones.
When we are dealing with more complex changes and do not wish to manually close and relaunch a virtual terminal, we can execute a command from within the running shell which replaces the running shell with a new copy, without leaving the original running. This gives us a fresh start and avoids cluttering the system with old copies of our shell. In bash we can achieve this by running the following command:
exec bash
Normally, when we run a command, the shell continues to run in the background and spawns a new, separate process to execute the command we've typed. The exec command tells the shell to replace itself with the new program we've asked it to run. In effect, bash is overwriting itself with a new copy of the shell, rather than creating a whole new process. The new copy of the shell loads its configuration file, giving us a fresh start. This is probably the best, fastest, cleanest option available for getting the shell to reload its configuration file without cluttering up the system.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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Released Last Week |
postmarketOS 23.12
postmarketOS is an Alpine-based Linux distribution for mobile devices. The project offers four user interfaces (GNOME, Plasma, Phosh, and Sxmo) across 45 supported devices. postmarketOS 23.12 introduces support for 14 new devices (up from 31 in the middle of 2023) and introduces a number of useful updates: "Unlocking of encrypted installations is now done with unl0kr by default, the successor to osk-sdl. The default USB networking gadget was changed from RNDIS to NCM. The default image viewer in Phosh and GNOME is now Loupe, instead of previously Eye of GNOME (EoG). The release upgrade process has been made more robust. There are additional safety checks for a too small boot partition and for having hardcoded versions or packages installed via mrtest. Additionally a bug was fixed that caused Alpine mirrors without /alpine/ in the URL to not get properly replaced during the upgrade." Additional details and a list of known issues can be found in the project's release announcement.
Qubes OS 4.2.0
Qubes OS is a security-focused operating system which isolates system components and applications to minimialize the damage which can be done do to a security breech in any one aspect of the platform. The project's latest release, Qubes OS 4.2.0, offers both Debian and Fedora templates and shifts the default desktop from GNOME to Xfce. "Dom0 upgraded to Fedora 37. Xen upgraded to version 4.17. Default Debian template upgraded to Debian 12. Default Fedora and Debian templates use Xfce instead of GNOME. SELinux support in Fedora templates. Several GUI applications rewritten, including: Applications Menu (also available as preview in R4.1); Qubes Global Settings; create New Qube Qubes Update; Unified grub.cfg location for both UEFI and legacy boot; PipeWire support; fwupd integration for firmware updates; optional automatic clipboard clearing; Official packages built using Qubes Builder v2; Split GPG management in Qubes Global Settings; Qrexec services use new qrexec policy format by default (but old format is still supported)." Additional information is offered in the project's release announcement and in the release notes.
Rhino Linux 2023.4
Rhino Linux is an Ubuntu-based distribution which offers a rolling-release upgrade approach. The project's latest release updates the distribution's desktop experience enabling the ability to auto-tile application windows. The project's package manager also introduces some new clean-up features. "After a long development period we're ready to finish off the year with a stellar release, as well as inform you, the community, of what to expect in 2024. Unicorn 39 has finally been merged, bringing optional auto-tiling to Unicorn. After updating and rebooting, a new applet will appear in the top right section of the panel. To kick start your tiling window experience, you can select the new applet, which will bring up a toggle to enable/disable tiling mode. uLauncher now appears more rounded, and has a slightly different background colour. If Nala is installed, rhino-pkg update no longer auto-removes packages by default. To clean up unneeded packages or broken dependencies on a system, users can run the new rhino-pkg cleanup command. Beginning with Pacstall 4.3.0, packages may now use Debian's priority flag." Additional details can be found in the project's release announcement.
Zorin OS 17
Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution designed especially for newcomers to Linux. It has a Windows-like graphical user interface and many programs similar to those found in Windows. The project's latest version, Zorin OS 17, places a focus on performance. "Speed has been a top focus in Zorin OS 17, so the desktop runs dramatically snappier on a wide range of hardware, old and new. Performance optimizations have been made at every level of the operating system, from the kernel to the desktop environment. Apps open faster, animations are smoother, and loading times are reduced so you can spend more time being productive. Thanks to these optimizations, we've also been able to lower the minimum system requirements of Zorin OS from 2.0GB of RAM to only 1.5GB of RAM. This makes it the perfect option to extend the life of old and low-spec computers, saving you money on upgrades and helping the environment. As the starting point of your Zorin OS experience, the Zorin Menu has been overhauled to make it even faster for you to get where you want. Search for files, calendar appointments, contacts, apps from the Software store, world clocks, and even use the menu search as a calculator." Additional information is provided in the project's release announcement.
Zorin OS 17 -- Running the GNOME desktop
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LibreELEC 11.0.4
The developers of LibreELEC, a project that develops a multi-platform Linux distribution featuring the Kodi media centre, have released the final build of the 11.x series. Version 11.0.4 updates Kodi to version 20.2: "The final stable version of LibreELEC 11.0.4 has been released, bringing Kodi (Nexus) 20.2 with additional fixes. With the final release of LibreELEC 11 we are adding experimental RPi 5 support. The focus of RPi 5 development is on Kodi 21, which will be released in early 2024. The only known issue so far is that updating the EEPROM is not yet supported in the LE setting (run rpi-eeprom-update -a from the shell). Changes since 11.0.3: Kodi updated to 20.2 with additional fixes; Linux kernel updated to 6.1.68. Raspberry Pi - 50/60fps H264 HW decoding may need force_turbo=1 or core_freq_min=500 in config.txt to avoid AV-sync-issues/skipping. Kodi at RPi4 runs in 4096x2160 instead of 3840x2160 on 4k TVs after fresh installation. Configure Kodi as described at the Wiki and optionally add hdmi_enable_4kp60=1 to config.txt and enable HDMI UltraHD Deep Color in your TV's HDMI port configuration to get 4kp60 modes." See the release announcement and the changelog for more information.
Nobara Project 39
Nobara Project is a modified version of Fedora Linux with user-friendly fixes added to it. The distribution comes with certain features that do not ship with the regular Fedora. The project's latest release is version 39 which streamlines a few features: "We've removed the codec installer and instead integrated it as part of the 'Update System' app. The goal here was to streamline package updates into one place and give less popups for the user on clean installation. Now, when a user performs a new installation they will receive one pop-up informing them they should update the system. Upon updating they will then be asked a few questions, including updating media codec packages, updating Flatpaks, and updating snaps. There is still a popup for nvidia drivers if the user decides to change GPUs and/or did not install using an NVIDIA ISO and has an NVIDIA GPU. The layout picker has been removed as it was based around GNOME, and we are no longer focusing on GNOME as our primary desktop." Additional information is provided in the distribution's changelog.
Nobara Project 39 -- Running the Official desktop flavour
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wattOS R13
wattOS is a fast desktop Linux distribution based on Debian. Using the lightweight Openbox window manager as its default user interface, the distribution strives to be as energy-efficient as possible. The project's latest release, version R13, is based on Debian 12. The project's release announcement lists the details: "wattOS R13 has been released with Debian 12 Bookworm as the basis for the OS. Giving you a stable and reliable foundation. Based on Debian 12 Bookworm - Stable release. LXDE as a lightweight desktop. Kernel 6.1 for 64bit PC installation. Much better hardware support out of the box. Calamares as the installer for a simple streamined install from a live session. Inclusion of gdebi ease install of .deb packages. Additional configuration to enhance the out of the box experience. Minimal in nature so you can install and build as you like." Download: wattOS-R13.iso (1,476MB, SHA256, pkglist).
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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: 2,944
- Total data uploaded: 43.9TB
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Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
Do you run multiple distributions?
The Linux ecosystem offers several unique distributions with interesting features, various approaches to package management, and optimizations. Some people settle into using just one distribution at a time, others hop from one platform to another to sample what is available. Others may choose to run multiple distributions at a time, either by dual-booting or running a virtual machine. We'd like to hear about your approach. Do you stick with one tried and true distribution or do you like to distro-hop? Let us know what you're currently running in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on quickly switching between directories in a command line shell in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Do you distro-hop?
I stick with one distro: | 849 (45%) |
I hop from one distro to another (serial hopping): | 287 (15%) |
I multi-boot (parallel hopping): | 482 (26%) |
I run multiple distros with virtual machines (parallel hopping): | 255 (14%) |
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Website News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Coffee Linux. Coffee Linux provides a live KDE Plasma desktop experience and a custom installer to facilitate setting up an Arch Linux-based distribution with optional access to many popular applications and desktop environments.
- CuerdOS. CuerdOS is a Debian-based distribution which is offered in two editions. The CuerdOS Standard edition features the i3 and Sway window managers while the Legacy edition uses the Xfce desktop.
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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, 8 January 2024. 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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Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Run multiple distros with VM (by Aqua on 2024-01-01 01:36:12 GMT from Germany)
Happy New Year!
There are several major families of Linux distributions, including Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora/CentOS, SUSE, Arch, Gentoo and even the unique NixOS. I'll go with two or three of these different families of distributions to run in a virtual machine, and my main OS is Arch Linux.
2 • Void and general sound issues on other distributions (by Chris on 2024-01-01 02:10:34 GMT from New Zealand)
Glad to hear that Void has overcome sound issues. Many other mainstream distros presently have no sound or perpetual reset with Pulse to digital settings like Mint LMDE6 that then don't function despite configuration settings saying they should . I had eventual success with Peppermint and Spiral, but best is AV Linux. Can sound issues be tabled for research in a article please ?
3 • I no longer distro-hop (by mcellius on 2024-01-01 02:15:27 GMT from United States)
When I started with Linux in 2011, I distro-hopped and kept it up for years. I can't even begin to guess how many I tried. I set up multiple partitions to install various distros.
But I learned. It was fun - and very instructive and worthwhile - to learn how things were done by different distros, but eventually I realized that it was losing its value: it was getting rarer to find things I hadn't already investigated in another distro. I'm not saying I saw everything, but increasingly I had seen most things. In addition, more and more I was seeing problems and bugs that made many of the distros pains to use for very long.
So I pretty much stopped distro-hopping and settled on one I found usable, stable, relible, configurable, full-featured and easy to use. For me it was Ubuntu, although I could have chosen others. The other leading contenders were Arch, Makulu, Debian, and Mint. I'm not bothered that others may make other choices, of course, but I have never had a reason to regret choosing Ubuntu: for me it always "just works" and has never given me problems. (I know some other distros can - and do - make this claim. Good! I wish ALL Linux distros could do the same.)
Every now and then, though, I still briefly install another distro just to see what's happening there. I sometimes like to see what's going on with Fedora, and Makulu is so innovative and creative that I've kept a srong interest in it. I also get curious from time about the changes in Arch installation. I always install the next development version of Ubuntu, too, in it's own partition, just to get a headstart on where Ubuntu's going. So I no longer consider myself a distro-hopper, but just a Linux user who is still curious about developments and advancements, but mostly just happy with Linux as my OS.
4 • Multi-booting & Distro hopping by Linux's inbuilt fragility (by Greg Zeng on 2024-01-01 03:59:50 GMT from Australia)
Distrowatch, by design, is about Open source based distributions based on the Unix operating system. The 2023 summary might reflect this bias and this limitation.
Some of us need a computer operating system to do non-computing stuff. So our applications are needed to fit our non-computer projects.
Where are those computer applications? With the biggest, most widely used computer systems. In descending order: Windows, Apple, Android, Linux, and then perhaps BSD. The runners-up, Apple and Linux have enough muscle to run virtual machines, containers and emulators. These alternatives are need to run the diversity and depth of Windows, Apple and Android.
In the Linux world, only PC LINUX OS (PCLOS) can very easily run the best available, to try to match Windows. Necessary freeware applications are Free File Sync (FFS), Dolphin file manager (down-grade attempt to WINDOWS Salamander), Grub Customizer (almost), Onboard keyboard (almost), and Slimjet web browser.
Not many Linux systems allow easy access to the Linux application world. FFS is usually only available in Flatpack form. Grub Customizer, Slimjet and sometimes Synaptic Package Manager are only available in the PPA available on the Ubuntu-based systems. The inner Ubuntu family make it very difficult to use Devuan and Flatpack versions of Linux. Wayland is rightfully restricted to risk-takers, at this moment.
The GNOME versions of Linux try to destroy the WIMP standard, which was created by Xerox, and further promoted by Apple, Windows and the GNOME-2 versions of Linux. The Carpal tunnel (keyboard) addicts seem unaware of these necessary WIMP changes. The CLI and GNOME-3 bullies continue to try to destroy WIMP and its GUI world.
Simultaneous to this week's Distrowatch are the several editions of Peppermint OS. These system creators know what is obvious. The later Linux developments are beta-ware, for risk-takers only. So Devuan, GNOME and application-loaded versions of their systems are available. Peppermint as usual offers the non-Devuan, the non-GNOME and the usual Synaptic Package Manager options: Snap, Flatpak, appimage, etc. Slimjet exists only in Windows and the Debian Linux format, with the only exception being PCLOS).
Like most non-Ubuntu systems, however, the PPA system is not available. One big anomaly in the Linux world is the RPM mess, with many inconsistent systems trying to use this unreliable binary format. PCLOS is part of this RPM mess.
Exotic Linux systems exist: IoT, containers, and server-only (no desktop encouraged), The Arch-based systems have varying degrees of predictability and reliability about the delivery of user applications. Most Linux operating systems are isolated orphans, with their self-centered obsessives. Applications and application users are discouraged or hated.
Most computer users will continue with Windows, Apple and Android, until the Linux minority discovers that there is more to life than just the isolated operating system, alone. Applications and application users come first.
5 • Do you distro-hop? (by mandatory on 2024-01-01 04:37:04 GMT from United States)
Arch for desktop use, Debian for servers.
6 • multiple distributions (by Andy Figueroa on 2024-01-01 05:27:34 GMT from United States)
I've used Gentoo since @ 2004 on the desktop and server, but on the side also run mainly MX-Linux both remotely and as a virtual machine primarily for development and support of the desktop computers at a small private school. I don't distro-hop.
7 • Evolution of my distrohopping (by Manda Tory on 2024-01-01 07:34:54 GMT from France)
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find a workflow that works for me rather than getting in the way. It was great to see the number of distros all doing interesting things grow at the start of the previous decade. At this point I branched away from Slackware and did lots of distrohopping and tried a lot of unusual things, some which worked for me some that didn’t. At some point later, though, all distros seemed to just be a repackaging of a base distribution with a bunch of default applications installed and a choice of desktop environment (I would say a spin rather than an actual distro). There was nothing super interesting happening in distros. I therefore stuck to Arch for desktop and Debian for servers and started doing application exploration rather than distro exploration and actually honed a setup I liked (custom sway configuration, really minimal number of applications, very terminal based, optimised for the hardware). At some point that evolved to Void for desktop and Alpine for servers, but remained the same in terms of software. Then I found NixOS and it was like what I had been looking for the whole time. I have a bunch of different machines, quite a lot with exotic architectures, and getting these to work in a way that I liked (or at all) could be tricky. With NixOS however I have a git repo of configurations for desktop or server applications and the specific configurations for specific machines, I click go and I’m running my perfect machine! I’ve been using it for years now and it so good! Love it!
Having said that, I do do a bit of experimental hopping (GNU Hurd, Haiku, Redox) but that’s another story…
8 • Agree with #3 About No Longer Distro Hopping (by Justin Ridgers on 2024-01-01 07:54:41 GMT from United States)
I used to distro hop all the time. Trying this bistro then that one. Never using one for more than a month sometimes. Although that has changed in 2023 and I settled on Debian Unstable with KDE. I've learned a lot about Linux over the years by distort hopping as not everything would work out of the box and I tried my best to fix things. Will I distort hop again? Most likely! I have a netbook that I use for the occasional bistro hop, while my day to day desktop computer stays on Debian Unstable.
9 • distrohopping (by Dave Postles on 2024-01-01 08:30:31 GMT from United Kingdom)
Entered the world of Linux/BSD in 2002. Still distrohopping for several reasons. 1 New learning experience; 2 new distros of interest (esp. educational distros); 3 FOMO? 4 Enjoy the variety (easily bored).
10 • Poll (by Someguy on 2024-01-01 10:20:09 GMT from United Kingdom)
None of above missing again! Run mainly LM & MX, but on different machines and/or on different discs. Using SSDs and caddies interchanging distros is easy, although SSDs are hot plug-able enabling more than one distro available on same running machine. Sometimes manually swap SSDs, too. Only run 'new' testing distros (usually Jesse recommendations) simultaneously on separate machines!
11 • 10 above (by Someguy on 2024-01-01 10:24:57 GMT from United Kingdom)
..for 'simultaneously' read 'separately'. Please can we have an author correction option in these Comments file?!
12 • Multi-boot (parallel hopping) (by Daniel on 2024-01-01 10:31:23 GMT from United Kingdom)
I use Arch as a daily driver, but also have KDE Neon and OpenSUSE installed. I have tried "pure" Debian, including Debian itself, Devuan and MX-Linux, but on my system all three of these produce stuttering sound on playback of audio files, YouTube videos etc. This does not occur with Neon (despite its being a Debian derivative) or OpenSUSE, which have both worked just fine from the word go without any messing about with configurations. I can get vanilla Debian to work perfectly, including sound output, in a VM running in QEMU, just not on bare metal.
13 • Multi Distro life (by Mark B on 2024-01-01 10:43:57 GMT from United Kingdom)
@10 I agree with you about the poll options. This has come up again and again and is always ignored. I use three different distros on three separate machines for three different jobs - Mint for daily desktop use, Xubuntu for home server and OMV for NAS.
14 • Distro-hopping not always voluntary (by SuperOscar on 2024-01-01 10:50:58 GMT from Finland)
I used to distro-hop a lot before I landed on openSUSE Leap, and now that Leap is on its way out, I’m kinda distro-hopping again… although Debian is looking more and more like the best candidate to permanently replace Leap. There seems to be no more stable distros left, since most are now rolling (ie., changing too fast to be anything but testbeds).
15 • Multiple Distro's (by Derek Rickareds on 2024-01-01 11:05:37 GMT from United Kingdom)
I run OpenSuse,Linux Mint,MX Linux and Fedora on my Dell tower,all on their own SSD's. Two distro's are on interrnal drives and two on external drives,all of them are encrypted and all work perfectly without problems. I also have two laptops which run one distro on an internal drive and a second one via an external drive and no problems there either.I have the use of Debian,Arch and RPM based distro's at the drop of a hat. I also make use of VM's when testing out new releases.I do not need to use any of Microsoft's offerings as Linux does all I need from a system.
16 • My discovery for the past year... (by Haidut on 2024-01-01 11:31:51 GMT from Bulgaria)
... was SpiralLinux!
Rock solid (pure Debian) and configured "just how I love things to be(TM)".
Waiting for ZorinOS 17 Lite, though... Cheers!!!
17 • multi-boot (by Jame on 2024-01-01 11:32:41 GMT from United States)
I have three laptops right now, and run Ubuntu Mate (juke box) Mint Mate (primary) and Sparky Mate (test box). You really can't tell the difference, because I only use the Mate desktop. I use the same settings on all of them. Yes there are some minor differences under the hood, but a user won't really notice them.
18 • openSUSE Leap (by Peter on 2024-01-01 11:41:19 GMT from Sweden)
I also have a pleasant desktop experience with openSUSE Leap. The last version 15.6 will be released this summer, then it will be be replaced by Snowroll that's supposed to be something in between Leap and Tumbleweed.
19 • OpenSUSE Slowroll (by Peter on 2024-01-01 11:43:26 GMT from Sweden)
I meant Slowroll, not Snowroll. :D
20 • Distro Hopping (by kc1di on 2024-01-01 12:09:36 GMT from United States)
Been distro hopping for many years first started back in 1996/7 Have tried at one time or other most of the major distros. But in the last few years have settled on just a few i use regularly. 1. MX-23 KDE 2. PCLinuxOS KDE 3. Linux Mint Cinnamon.
90% of the time you will find me on one of those. they just work for me. With Little hassle. Also use Debian 12 KDE at times.
But as I often tell people at Least in Linux we have choices. :) Happy New Year all!
21 • Distrohopping (by Rich52 on 2024-01-01 12:25:32 GMT from United States)
I've been distro hopping for well over 20-25 years? Maybe my mind is gone. I quite using Windows after Windows Me. Started with Windows 3.0. Thought there was a better alternative to 'Windows' that didn't cost an arm or a leg with all the Licensing eula bs. Started with Suse, tried and failed at Open BSD went to Mepis, Ubuntu, PClinusOS, Linux Mint,Fedora, Debian, LinuxMX finally ended up with Manjaro for a few years and am now I'm using EndeavourOS. I've tried typically the top 15 distro's in popularity. Now I'm using EndeavourOS and am happy to see how everything has finally evolved. Software works, variety of programs with all the bells and whistles all work. This isn't to say there hasn't been glitches along the way. It's taught me some things about computers, software, all while hardware has been evolving. It's been fun and frustrating both. . . but the repetition and installation has been well worth the effort.
Rich;)
22 • My distros (by Tony on 2024-01-01 12:38:50 GMT from Bulgaria)
I use Void on my production desktop and MX Linux on my laptops, for stability while traveling and to showcase it to interested people, if they decide to move to Linux.
23 • Distributions (by c00ter on 2024-01-01 14:13:21 GMT from United States)
I have been enjoying Linux since the kernel went stable @ 1.0. I have had the pleasure of spending time in all of the major and many minor distributions. I "found" Arch Linux in mid-2012 and have stuck with it. It has everything I need, the best Wiki bar-none, extremely talented developers and a very good help forum. I'm also an active member of several Arch-based distribution forums I like being with like-minded Linux users.
I cannot stress the last part enough. A distribution is nothing without a forum where that distribution's members can help each other. *Forums connect the dots.*
24 • All of the above (by John on 2024-01-01 15:31:56 GMT from Canada)
For this week's poll, I'm an All of the above :-) Spent years distro-hopping, simultaneously on different machines and in VMs. But finally found one to settle on and unless something goes horribly wrong, I think I've found my stable distro.
25 • Distro-hopping (by David on 2024-01-01 16:36:47 GMT from United Kingdom)
For me the computer is there to run applications, so I only switch distros when forced to do to. Thus on my desktop Fedora replaced Red Hat when they split, CentOS replaced Fedora when that became too experimental, and PCLinuxOS has now replaced CentOS. On my old laptop, Debian replaced Salix when the latter lost its non-PAE kernel.
26 • To Hop or Not To Hop???? (by TOM JOAD on 2024-01-01 16:47:23 GMT from United States)
Nope. No hopping here. All three of my machines run Mint Cinnamon. That is my laptop, tower and tor relay. Mint seems to get the job done with ease. I find it stable, predictable and it stays out of the way. So I just don't see the value of 'shopping.' Of course that may change in the future. But now, no hopping.
The truth is I don't really care for endless trouble shooting, setting up and the configuration issues to get all of one's toys installed. I read about that sort of thing here and I say no thanks. I think most folks are that way too; taking the path of least resistance. I troubleshoot when I am dragged kicking and screaming to do it.
As I have said a number of times in the past...'I gotta get 'stuff' done.'
27 • Freedom of choice (by Fred on 2024-01-01 16:51:05 GMT from Sweden)
" Every man must get to Heaven his own way." Frederick II
One of the best things with Gnu/Linux is freedom of choice.
I have gone from Linux Mint to Fedora by way of Xubuntu and Debian, and many other distributions I hardly remember. I often choose distribution from a hardware oriented approach. That is the reason I switched from Debian to Fedora. The full rolling release model is not for me, though I have tried Opensuse Tumbleweed and was impressed with its stability.
Today I find the most interesting development in Gnu/Linux is the immutables. I do not use any of them but are considering. Opensuse Aeon/Kalpa and Fedora Silverblue/Kinoite/Onyx etc seems the most important ones. My impression is that the immutables are only in the beginning of development and still have rough edges that makes them a somewhat problematic choice. It also seems that Opensuse has the most compelling alternative today.
FOSS is without a doubt the most innovative realm of software development.
28 • Distrohopping (by Kanguru on 2024-01-01 17:12:59 GMT from Spain)
I multi-boot (parallel hopping):
Mint, LMDE and Sparky (all of then with Xfce DE)
29 • New LMDE Mint upgrade (by M.Z. on 2024-01-01 17:15:07 GMT from United States)
I have a memory of Linux Mint 7 falling over on me during multiple attempts at an in place upgrade before I think I wiped it & installed PCLInuxOS, which ran fairly well for about 5 years on one rolling release install.
With that in mind my best Linux experience of 2023 was the upgrade from LMDE 5 to the new Mint Debian Edition 6. I put it off for way too long because I noticed that they had a new upgrade method for Debian edition & I wanted to try it, but was a bit wary after all the problems quite a few years back. It went quite excellent. With a modern processor & SSD I think it could have taken less than half an hour if I had paid more attention to it.
I have had similar positive experiences with my last upgrades of both Mageia & KDE Neon, but it was a very pleasant surprise to to see the second priority version of Mint get it nailed down so well after all these years of me ignoring the possibility of trying that again on a version of Mint.
30 • Multi-boot (by Jyrki on 2024-01-01 17:48:04 GMT from Czechia)
Actually I don't have just one machine at home. Notebooks for all family members are running Artix Linux. HTPS and home storage servers are running OpenBSD. I have also older secondary notebook where I have five parallel OSes for my testing purpose (OpenBSD / NetBSD / FreeBSD / DragonflyBSD / Haiku).
31 • Multiple Distros and Distro Hopping (by Steve K on 2024-01-01 18:40:57 GMT from United States)
I have done a lot of distro hopping over the last 15+ years with multi-boot systems with a dozen or more linux distros on a single hard drive and Windows systems with multiple linux distros in VirtualBox virtual machines on the Windows desktop. I'm mostly done now with Linux Mint MATE as my all-time favorite and daily driver and MX Linux as my second most favorite distro. They are both very usable, powerful and stable. I have been using Linux Mint continuously for the last 15+ years and never had any problems at all. I am not alone in my favorable impressions of these two distros since they are also the top two listed on the DistroWatch Page Hit Ranking.
32 • distro hopping (by Jay on 2024-01-01 18:58:26 GMT from The Netherlands)
I lean heavily towards the @5 approach now (Arch workstations, Debian [or Devuan] servers), but I've tried everything your survey asks about at various times in the last few decades.
There are two approaches your survey missed - @30 mentioned one (multi-machines, especially networked ones) and the other is Xen.
I gave up on multi-boots when hypervisors hit. I don't distro-hop a lot outside of the Arch and De*an ecologies, but I've run Illumnos, Haiku, various BSDs, and innumerable Linux distros in tandem and learned a fair bit about them doing it.
Why do distro-hopping serially when you can have it all in parallel?
33 • Distro hopping vs Distro exploring (by Otis on 2024-01-01 19:17:15 GMT from United States)
MX Linux stopped my true hopping as an effort to find the best for my needs. But I will always have at least two other machines used for exploring Linux distros and BSDs. It’s no longer an effort to find a better one. Just fun and interesting to see and use from Suse to Garuda to GhostBSD etc.
34 • Distro hopping (by Sam Crawford on 2024-01-01 19:43:00 GMT from United States)
I and my systems have evolved to using either LMDE6 or Debian stable with Gnome. Both are stable and work well as daily drivers.
Beside the LMDE 6 desktop, I have a Windows 11 desktop and laptop, both rarely used except when I have to pay bills and need Quickbooks and Quicken. There is also a laptop running LMDE 6 and a Chromebook hanging out under my desk. Both are rarely used.
My wife has a Macbook Pro but hardly, if ever, uses it. She does all her browsing and media consumption with her iPad and will use a linux or Windows 11 desktop on rare occasions.
Flatpaks and multi-platform software make distro hopping less necessary as almost all distros can be configured to run the same software. I use Microsoft Edge as my browser on both Windows and linux, along with Zoom, VueScan and Skype from flatpaks, and VMWare workstation should I need to run Windows 11 without rebooting into it from LMDE. I know, it's proprietary software but it makes my desktops work for me.
35 • @34 additional comments (by Sam Crawford on 2024-01-01 19:50:24 GMT from United States)
After posting my comment above I probably should have added that I use Insync to keep my Google Drive and OneDrive synced across all my devices and use Office 365 as a webapp on linux.
I also have webapps for SiriusXM Player, Youtube Music and Youtube TV.
I just want my desktop to work for me and with these mods it works wether its Windows or linux. I really don't know the difference between them while using one or the other.
36 • multiple distros and mx linux upgrades (by a on 2024-01-01 20:06:14 GMT from France)
Interesting to read the opinion of someone who tries a lot of distros! I wanted to recommend MX to a friend but I read that you can’t upgrade without reinstalling, not easily anyway? Not sure how factual that is. That’s annoying.
Poll, I voted "one distro" but I use two. Gentoo on the desktop, PCLinuxOS on the laptop.
37 • MX upgrades (by Otis on 2024-01-01 20:18:35 GMT from United States)
@36 No, I simply invoke each update as the they are presented. “Full upgrade” is not necessary. Some users do seem to feel the need to actually reinstall. I have never done that with MX.
38 • Distro Hopping (by Steve on 2024-01-01 21:03:12 GMT from United States)
I voted that I don't hop.... at least not on any one system.
I do run PCLinuxOS (w/Mate) on a desktop PC I built a few years back and FreeBSD on a Raspberry Pi (as a "small" in house server) but that's it on each system. No hopping (as such).
39 • Distro hopping..... (by Bof on 2024-01-01 21:13:41 GMT from United Kingdom)
I do not hop ! But I RUN with PCLinuxOS KDE.
40 • Ignored distros (by anticapitalista on 2024-01-01 21:43:36 GMT from Greece)
antiX on all my boxes despite no DW review since 2015!
41 • Distro Hopping (by Devlin7 on 2024-01-01 20:30:43 GMT from New Zealand)
I like trying out distros I find here on Distrowatch. I have multiple spare drives that I swap to test things. I would love to use a Debian or Opensuse distros as this seems to be the only format supplied by companies for printers or commercial software. However, I am drawn to the independant distros, you know the ones that run like rockets and have limited software repositories when compared to the big names. I have a quirky HP laptop that a lot of distros struggle to run on. It has a shitty graphics card, weird screen dimensions, a terrible wifi adapter and the sound card is rubbish. So I find myself loading up distro after distro looking for that one OS that does it all and find myself returning to my daily driver. I toggle between i3 with the XFCE panel and Enlightenment for a desktop. I love the speed and the low memory usage of around 240Mb. I have been using Nutyx for 2023, sure the software library is sparse but if Ubuntu is relying on Snaps and Flatpak then so can I!
. The Nutyx installer isn't graphical but it is super easy. I take my hat off to Debian, their network installer is incredible! However, when I boot it up and see that it is using nearly double the memory and it feels laggy I switch back. I would love to use Opensuse, maybe it is my hardware but my experience is runaway processes using 100% CPU and erratic behaviour. I think PopOS has got it right and the polished desktop that does tiling but the memory consumption puts me off. The Cosmic desktop might change this. Enligtenment does tiling, not quite to i3 standard but I have found the right settings to make it work well. It may not be everyones cup of tea but it is a feature full desktop that is super light and flexible. If your distro is consuming 2Gb of RAM at boot, you might as well switch back to Windows :-)
42 • distrohopping (by Patrick on 2024-01-01 22:57:39 GMT from Luxembourg)
I use Linux on servers mainly, and I ended up staying with 2 distros: Debian and Alpine Linux. I really like them both, and they are sufficiently different so that one always fits my use case, and I get no FOMO symptoms. I like other distros, and I despise some, but eventually you need to get out of the vicious circle of hopping and broaden your technical horizon with applications and networking. So many crafts, so little time!
43 • Do you distro-hop? (by Geo. on 2024-01-01 23:23:25 GMT from Canada)
No, but I do experiment. I have a Win machine (employer compliance), This one I'm on now is Mint and is my daily driver (no fuss, no muss), and an ancient machine running Bodhi, which has superseded Antix and Puppy (even a trained monkey like me can use Bohdi). Happy 2024 to everyone. :-)
44 • distrohop (by rhtoras on 2024-01-02 00:17:32 GMT from Greece)
I distrohop and multihop. I am in the nosystemD side of things and everything has to be checked to see if there are real altrernatives and so on. Firasuke git page has some interesting projects like eltanin Os which is not only systemDless but non gnu too... these projects are cool especially if you see what happened with redhat linux lately. AND always a bsd as an alternative (i prefer openbsd but others might work too and i check them from time to time). That's why i multihop.
45 • @40--ignored distro: antiX (by R. Cain on 2024-01-02 00:49:17 GMT from United States)
Completely agree--one of the most ignored distros, yet one of the most rigorously and meticulously maintained, is antiX. 4 different versions: '-Full' (1600MB); '-Base (960MB)'; '-Core' (520 MB; "-Net (220 MB). RUNS ON ANYTHING. No fluff; just all hard work. No bug-filled "Latest, Biggest, Greatest, Boffo, Fastest, Most-Dynamite-You've-Ever-Seen" ("...and don't bother sending bug reports; we're to busy working on the next 6-month Dynamite Version...") distro here. Choice of sysVinit or runit--no systemd. VERY close association with DW's #1 distro (since forever): MX Linux. This last fact might explain why antiX has--with almost no recognition--been solidly entrenched in DistroWatch's #14/#15 position for at least one year.
46 • Distro Hopping (by Pengu-Ha on 2024-01-02 01:21:27 GMT from United Kingdom)
Running MX23 Plasma - It's the best all-rounder for me. If I didn't run MX, I'd probably go for SpiralLinux Plasma. If there was no KDE, I'd probably head for LMDE Cinnamon or Mint Cinnamon.
I'll check a distro out in a VM occasionally, with Nobara's latest Plasma spin on my radar and I maintain an interest in what OpenSuse does next, even though I've never used it as a daily driver; but really, I find Debian (Stable) Plasma excellent as a base for polishers.
47 • secure distros (by distrobowlful on 2024-01-02 01:46:51 GMT from Philippines)
have distrohopped many distros looking for security out-of-the-box in live mode. But most just provide a standard distro with inherent insecurities - except with some security / privacy softwares included, without much thought otherwise.
but have found Easyos to have good innovative security features: built from scratch to use its own containers, no systemd, gui-centric configuration, numerous services disabled by default, containerised web surfing - and all while running as root. just goes to show you 'can' teach an old puppy new tricks.
48 • Distro hoppping or best tool for the job? (by GTC on 2024-01-02 01:55:54 GMT from Uruguay)
I voted the last one, but I have a variety of use case scenarios so could be a rare mix of most of the options (except the first one) and then some. For example, my daily driver at the time of writing is Manjaro KDE. But I plan to migrate to Qubes-OS because I need some of its features. But I also use Tails, from a pen drive. I have a Kali machine for learning purposes. I have an OpenBSD notebook to test some stuff. I recently got an used machine, has alpine installed right now but probably will migrate to something else. And of course, I have a bunch of VMs to test distros, Void being one of them but also Haiku, FreeDOS, *BSD, etc. I even use Windows, because its the OS I am given by my employer. I also used other distros in the past, like mint. Besides, I use some tools like parted magic, clonezilla, etc. for specific tasks. Yet I don't consider myself doing any distrohopping. More like choosing the right distro for the task at hand at the time I need them. I am not that smart and I am not a developer, so I take one of the best strengths distributions offer: the freedom of choice. The only freedom I care for, being able to use whatever I need whenever I need it. Happy new year to everyone at distrowatch.com and its readers!!!!
49 • @40--ignored distro: antiX (by Andy Prough on 2024-01-02 04:08:54 GMT from Switzerland)
>"antiX on all my boxes despite no DW review since 2015!"
Lack of DW reviews hasn't stopped antiX from being top-25 in the Page Hit Ranking every year since 2015, and top-15 most years. Maybe Jesse doesn't really have all that much influence over distro popularity after all, and great distros with great tools will be popular regardless.
50 • I don't distrohop now (by DistroHop on 2024-01-02 07:46:21 GMT from India)
Earlier, I used to switch distributions in every few months. From Trisquel to Zorin, then to Fedora, and some other distributions for few days. Then I settled with Linux Mint Xfce for my low-end laptop. Since I purchased a new laptop, I'm happy with Ubuntu. I don't focus on distributions any longer. I just want a platform that will allow me to work in peace.
51 • Distro hop (by DachshundMan on 2024-01-02 09:41:07 GMT from United Kingdom)
There is not really an option in the poll that fits my case. I no longer use VMs but sometimes I boot from an external SSD. I used to distro hop quite often but I got fed up with it so I fixed on Mint Mate for my laptop and Ubuntu Mate for my RPi 4. Perhaps this will change in the future as I used to like Manjaro and I think that MX Linux looks quite interesting.
52 • Distro Hopping (by Dan on 2024-01-02 14:20:06 GMT from United States)
Since I've been using Salix since Sept. 5 2022, my distro hopping years have been over.
53 • Distro Hopping (by DaveT on 2024-01-02 14:56:03 GMT from United Kingdom)
20 years ago I tried various distributions. I quickly acquired an immense dislike of RPM based distributions and stayed with Debian until I had to move on to Devuan. I now use OpenBSD with Devuan for those things that have not yet been ported to OpenBSD. Worked in IT for 25 years and refused to work on anything involving Windows! Had a good career.
54 • Mint made me stop distro-hopping (by S on 2024-01-02 14:57:59 GMT from Canada)
I found out about Linux thanks to Ubuntu, which I loved (and I still have a soft spot for). Then, I tried several distros because it was exciting. Finally, once I tried Linux Mint, I stopped distro hopping because I simply love it (it's beautiful, simple and just works out of the box). Additionally, my girlfriend just wants to turn our only laptop on (we're minimalists) and getting things done without any headaches. So, my distro-hopping days are on pause for now. One of the things I love about Linux is the freedom of choice. This can mean a lot of things but one of the things I love is that you can even use an old system and 1) be able to get things done and 2) make it as fast as a new system. Our laptop is 11 years old and it's still running great thanks to Linux. I just wish we had the same support for phones which after only a few years become obsolete because of the software.
55 • Distro hopping (by zetamacs on 2024-01-02 15:47:25 GMT from United States)
Long ago, I was a distro hopper who had no idea what he wanted. Not knowing the similarities and differences between distributions had a lot to do with that. Nowadays, I tend to stick with Mint when I just want something up and running on new hardware (up until recently it was on my primary rig). Occasional experiments in VMs satisfy what little is left of the old hopper ways.
Otherwise, having something simple and effective like OpenBSD or interesting and declarative like GuixSD is about as exotic as it gets. It's not that I don't appreciate what all the distributions bring to the table, it's that they have to be doing something fundamentally different for me to want to spend much time on them. If there is nothing that sticks out in a big way, I'd sooner think about the software running on the OS than the OS itself.
But hey, that's just me. I won't say anyone is wrong for having preferences. There are so many good choices out there.
56 • Distro Hopping (by John on 2024-01-02 18:20:45 GMT from Canada)
Over the years, I have been keep with one specific Linux Distro. But in the last few years, Linux has been heading in a direction I do not like. So a few years ago I "distro hopped" with the BSDs on an older Laptop. I have pretty much settled on one BSD. So now, it is 1 Linux Distro and 1 BSD.
I have them both set up in a similar manner to the point most people would not see a difference. So, should Linux finally "jump the shark", I will have an escape route.
Why not move now ? Hardware Support in the BSDs are similar to what Linux had 20 years ago. One can deal with it, but in some rare cases it can be trying :)
57 • Distro hopping.... (by sephiroth7818 on 2024-01-02 21:49:58 GMT from United States)
In 2006 I ran a version of Debian on the Playstation 2. Then in 2007, I switched to PC with Debian "Etch". Debian Sid has been my main distro since then. I try other distros here and there just to see what the others offer. But always find myself using Debian.
58 • favourites and hopping (by jonathonb on 2024-01-02 22:20:59 GMT from Australia)
AntiX 23 using the IceWM/zzzFM session is my favourite. I keep a Partition for hopping using shared /Home partition with Symbolic links to a home directory not derived from an OS install, this has all the common Documents, Downloads etc. AntiX 23 is the most user friendly way to have what I want (or don't want) from a distro. I am also trying to learn how to set up Joborun, umm properly. It's not a standard install and exceeds my current know how. Thank you distrowatch
59 • Multi-Booting (by luvr on 2024-01-02 23:01:37 GMT from Belgium)
I currently have Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 11, Devuan 5 and Slackware 15.0 installed on my desktop computer and use Limine as my boot loader.
Ubuntu is my daily driver for now, but I will be moving off it in favour of Devuan; the Ubuntu system will likely be replaced with Slackware-Current.
Not sure if I will keep Debian; I'm not in a hurry to remove it, though.
60 • Debian all the way + others in vm's. (by Jerimya2024 on 2024-01-02 23:22:03 GMT from United States)
I run Debian for about the first year after a new release then I will update some of my machines to testing and run it it into the next release and repeat each cycle. I have used pretty much every major distro out there at some point and Debian is always rock solid and I have never had any major issues to speak of. On vm's I run some servers and test images of Debian and other distros that I find interesting and want to learn more about such as NixOS, Silverblue, Opensuse, & Alma. Used to use Gentoo in a vm in the past and it was a learning experience but required too much upkeep but with the latest announcement that they will be offering binarys I may fire up another one.
61 • RE:40 and Distribution usage. (by Landor on 2024-01-03 00:33:51 GMT from Canada)
RE: 40
I might be using it right now, I forget which iteration, or I installed Devuan (ascii) and made it look like antiX. I remember taking your build for a look on a netbook(which it's still on, but stripped clean as in FSF clean) and thinking it was absolutely beautiful so emulated it on Devuan with the same wm, etc. You're still doing fine work.
Distribution Use:
I started with Unix and BSD long ago. I remember the first time I looked at Linux someone handed me DOSlinux on a disk(anyone here ever use that?). I would usually just stay on the command line until the early 2000s so Linux was easy for me to use and try out the latest and greatest. Fast forward a few years and I looked for what I wanted to stay with. I only ever really found Gentoo to completely satisfy my hands-on technical wants, but have recently slowly inching my way back to using the cli for almost everything. There's pretty well a cli tool for just about all anyone could want and the cli hands down will always beat a mouse and graphical interface regardless of what some here and elsewhere will profess.
Current install(s) antiX, Devuan, Gentoo, all three with a wm and FSF compliant. antiX and Gentoo cli only. None of those are going anywhere, and some are actually outdated or close.
Keep Your Stick On The Ice...
Landor
62 • distro-hopping (by Will on 2024-01-03 00:45:37 GMT from United States)
I distro-hop as a hobby and have since SLS, Yggdrasil, and Slackware hit the Internet oh so many years ago. I used Slackware, then RedHat, then Debian (thank god no more rpms), the MacOS, then FreeBSD, then Mint, now MX. FreeBSD, Mint and MX pretty much ended my distro hopping days. If FreeBSD would run everything I ever want to run, it'd be my OS of choice, unfortunately, it isn't so. Mint got boring and I am not the biggest Cinnamon fan, so I'm currently using MX - it's like LMDE, but everything works :). I may occasionally try out other stuff, but I keep returning to Mint/MX - I gave up entirely on rpm based distros cuz I can't stand them. However, I'm currently giving Gentoo another go and may evolve, who knows :).
63 • less hopping than in the past (by tommy on 2024-01-03 02:52:06 GMT from United States)
LM, MX, & Ubuntu for different purposes and users. Occasionally experiment, some serial some paralle hoppingl, with 3 or 4 other distros a year. Much less now than years ago. On some PCs, I have racks for easy switching between different 2.5" boot SSDs. Totally appreciate DW's thorough reviews, access to an abundance of affordable hardware, software that really and truly just works, and friendly forums. Almost makes me want to become a competent hobbyiest... but nah, cuts into beertime.
Not a flatpak fan. Mostly good luck with PPAs but just enough hassle so that my limited expertise makes me reluctant. So, big repos are a plus.
64 • Do you run multiple distributions ? (by eb on 2024-01-03 10:18:38 GMT from France)
No, only one ! Thanks to my profession, 25 years ago I discovered Linux with Suse (and KDE). Unsatisfied with Suse, I tested a handful of other distros and eventually discovered Slackware, that suits all my needs and taste ; so I stick faithfully with it on all my computers. I hopped on windows managers and feel happy with Fluxbox.
65 • Another option (by Vukota on 2024-01-03 10:24:40 GMT from Serbia)
I usually stick with what I install on "device" (laptop, desktop, server, docker, VM, live stick). Once i have reasons to change or upgrade, or are configuring from scratch, I reconsider. These days I mostly stick with Mint on laptop/desktop (though not exclusively).
66 • Multiple Distributions (by Trinidad Cruz on 2024-01-03 11:26:15 GMT from United States)
My main system is Debian 12 though I also run two Windows 10/11 machines. I also run Linux Lite on hardware, in qemu/kvm, and in hyper-v. I run Busnen Labs, LMDE, Devuan Trinity, all in qemu/kvm. I test and run different distributions for different reasons i/e Bunsen Labs for openbox DE, Devuan for Trinity DE, LMDE for Cinnamon DE, and Linux Lite for XFCE DE. and all of them for networking function testing. Since Debian 8 my main system has become Debian gnome with wayland. Rock solid stable though I usually never upgrade until halfway through the release cycle.
TC
67 • One distribution. (by Steve on 2024-01-03 12:29:39 GMT from Canada)
Debian w/ LXDE. I used to use Puppy, but I either don't like the never versions or am just no longer interested. I'm tired of bash-ing my head with Slackware, though I might try (again) if I had a large enough hard drive for dual-booting (recycled computer w/ minimum everything).
68 • Distro Hopping (by KenS on 2024-01-03 16:19:17 GMT from Canada)
I have a dual boot setup. I always have Fedora gnome installed and have used it as my main driver for years. It always just works with no issues and I like the gnome setup. The other boot option changes depending on issues I run into or just how much I like the distro. Currently, I have been running Makulu Max Beta 1 gnome for the last few months which I am quite enjoying. I have not run into any issues yet, but it is a beta release.
69 • Asahi Remix for other Linux distributions (by DAR on 2024-01-03 21:32:36 GMT from United States)
It's very nice that we now have Fedora Asahi Remix. Will we have Asahi Remix for other Linux distributions soon, such as Debian Asahi Remix?
70 • Jump When It Makes Sense (by Wanting Fresh Apps on 2024-01-03 23:06:11 GMT from United States)
@Reset-the-shell: You want the bash 'reset' command. Some terminal emulators have menu items corresponding.
@All: Comments promoting staying put are wonky. I jump with delight when I find something better. If FreeBSD supported modern hardware I'd use it. If someone makes a distro with Linux core and FreeBSD apps I'll use it. I'm on Void with Wayland/Sway but looking for a distro sans systemd with better app freshness. Now that Gentoo supports binary apps, I may jump the Void ship. Current examples of stale packages in Void (forgive any errors, I checked this list a few weeks back, not just now, but some like Mercury have been stale for ages):
R 4.3.1 ... should be at 4.3.2
foliate 2.6.4 ... should be at 3.0.1
calibre 6.17.0 ... should be at 7.1.0
juliaup 1.8.16 ... should be at 1.12.5
nix 2.11.0 ... should be at 2.19.2
hledger 1.27.1 ... should be at 1.32
mercury* 22.01.3 ... should be at 22.01.8 with its *-libs *-tools packages too
lily 1.11 ... should be at 2.0
71 • hopping around (by hotdiggettydog on 2024-01-04 00:53:49 GMT from Bolivia)
I still try new distros in VBox but Mint is my go to OS. Why? 1. Rock hard stability 2. Near flawless upgrading. 3. It just works. I hate fiddling around in my old age.
72 • Distro test hopping (by Dan on 2024-01-04 02:06:13 GMT from Australia)
I used to distro hop a lot when trying to understand the different approaches to the Linux ecosystem. Eventually I settled on Sparky Minimal for quite a while (4 years) due to it's design and performance, but I've switched to running VoidLinux as of around five months ago. It's like Sparky but more unique, leaner and even faster. Happy to support their work, it's a great distro and I've been able to work out the few issues I've had with common sense doco/support. I'm a gamer too and it's been working nicely with Steam and everything I throw at it.
I still have Sparky on another partition, but I mostly just update it every now and then.
73 • Stopped Hopping (by Hank on 2024-01-04 10:27:30 GMT from United States)
After using too many distros to list during about 15 years or more on linux.
antiX all the way, both stable and rolling with sid. Desktop ICEWM. AntiX toolbox makes for simple setup, antiX is fast reliable good hardware support for 32 and 64 bit, responsive an capable support through forum. Init choice, sysV or my go to option runit. Try and Enjoy.
74 • multi-boot? (by mb on 2024-01-04 15:36:17 GMT from United States)
One of my laptops has 6 Debian installations (on 6 separate partitions) with different desktop environments and settings. There is also another partition that contains some data that can be shared by these 6 Debian installations. Can this laptop be considered as multi-boot or single-boot?
75 • Never hopped, just chose (by pass on 2024-01-04 16:38:51 GMT from Italy)
When I got a distro I liked, that was the one. Never left one unless it had left me before I could. Many many years ago, it was RedHat (up to 9.C), then Knoppix, then Kanotix. Now it's been at least fourteen years I'm on Debian. It works, it's good to me. Why bother further?
76 • Recently tried several Linux at old CPU (by Jan on 2024-01-04 17:06:32 GMT from The Netherlands)
I recently tried several live and installed Linux at an old CPU (P8400, but with 8GB and SSD). I used the ability to do smooth scrolling in an opened browser (on a news-site) as judgement.
I found that PCLinuxOS-Mate and AntiX seemed the best. The Gnome version (latest version) of Fedora and OpenSuse were a little less but also good.
Most other Linux-distos (Mate, Cinnamon, XFCE) were worse.
Probably low-hardware-distros are for hardware with low memory (and really old CPU's)
77 • Year of 'Linux-On-The-Desktop'? Not at this rate, and definitely not this way. (by R. Cain on 2024-01-04 19:25:26 GMT from United States)
"...I think the distro world needs to gear down a notch or two. Bi-annual releases CONTRIBUTE NOTHING to the quality of the end product and detract people from focusing on delivering high-quality, robust products. IT'S JUST NOISE FOR THE SAKE OF NOISE — generating activity the likes of the Civil Service in Yes, Prime Minister. No one will get a medal for releasing their distro twice a year...Most people are happy to replace their software come the end of life of their hardware. And that means once every six years...
"We don’t need to be so conservative. But let’s trying slowing down to one release a year. That gives everyone twice as much time to focus on fixing problems and creating beautiful, elegant distributions with the passion and love they have, and the passion and love and loyalty that their users deserve. Free does not mean you can toss the emotions down the bin...
"The Year of Linux is the year that you look at your distribution, compare to the year before, and you have that sense of stability, the knowledge that no matter what you do, you can rely on your operating system. Which is definitely not the case today. If anything, the issues are worsening and multiplying. You don’t need a degree in math to see the problem. "I FIND THE LACK OF CONSISTENCY TO BE THE PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 IN THE OPEN-SOURCE WORLD. In the long run, it will be the one deciding factor that will determine the success of Linux. Sure, applications, but if the operating system is not transparent, people will not choose it. They will seek simpler, possibly less glamorous, but ultimately more stable solutions, BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO INSTALL A PATCH AND DREAD WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER A REBOOT. It’s very PTSD..."
"Linux 2017 – The Road to Hell" https://www.ocsmag.com/linux-2017-the-road-to-hell/
78 • Re: Do you distro-hop? (by Whattteva on 2024-01-04 22:14:41 GMT from United States)
I never hop for servers. It's always FreeBSD.
For desktop, I distro-hop from Mint to whatever flavor of the month, but generally keep coming back to Mint.
79 • THE reason computer operating systems are discussed so much... (by R. Cain on 2024-01-04 22:30:18 GMT from United States)
From Douglas Adams, in "The Salmon of Doubt"---
“We notice things that DON'T work. We don’t notice things that do. We notice computers, we don’t notice pennies. We notice e-book readers, we don’t notice books.”
...and...
“We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works..."
80 • It's all the same now (by Antony Royle on 2024-01-05 20:39:57 GMT from Denmark)
Used to distrohop with a passion but most distros are the same now, perhaps with a different set of colours slapped on. If there's something new from the parent distros I test them in a vm, just to stay in the loop.
Daily driver: MX (+Win11 dual-boot for Office compatibility reasons) Pi1: NextcloudPi (yes, that's a distro) for sync, storage, hosting rss-reader etc. Pi2: Pi-hole for adblocking on the home network.
81 • Distro-hopping (by John C on 2024-01-05 21:35:48 GMT from United States)
Did that a long time ago, but I use Linux as my daily driver now, for work, and that means I need something stable that just works. PCLinuxOS fills the bill and that is what I use.
Number of Comments: 81
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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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