 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1060, 4 March 2024 |
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Welcome to this year's 10th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Most of us, at one time or another, have changed a setting, edited a configuration file, or removed a package and then realized we had just broken something important. Sometimes the best we can do in these situations is re-install our operating system or restore files from a (hopefully recent) backup. Other times we might be able to repair the damage. This week we dive into one of the latter scenarios and share steps to repair a damaged operating system in our Questions and Answers column, exploring how to re-install a deleted network utility to help us get back on-line. First though we explore AV Linux's MX branch, a flavour of the audio-visual-focused distribution which is based on MX Linux. Jeff Siegel takes AV Linux for a spin and reports on his experiences. Then, in our News section, we highlight some key security features in the OpenBSD operating system. OpenBSD is well known for its security record and we share some of the reasons why. Also on the topic of security, the Qubes project has certified a workstation for people who want a more privacy-focused experience. Plus both the KDE Plasma and LXQt desktop environments are publishing new and significant updates. These two desktops are migrating to the Qt 6 development library and making progress on their Wayland sessions. We share highlights from LXQt and Plasma with links to details below. In about a month we will be entering into the first 2024 "release season". Which Linux distribution are you most excited to see new features from this year? Let us know in the Opinion Poll. This week we are also pleased to share the many releases of the past week 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: AV Linux MX-23.1
- News: Highlighting OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies the NitroPC Pro 2, LXQt prepares for Wayland, KDE launches Plasma 6
- Questions and answers: Bootstrapping a network connection
- Released last week: Tails 6.0, Zentyal Server 8.0, Grml 2024.02, Kali Linux 2024.1
- Torrent corner: Grml, Kali Linux, KDE neon, Tails
- Upcoming releases: FreeBSD 13.3
- Opinion poll: Highlights of the first 2024 release season
- New distributions: Arcade Linux, Minki's Crappy Linux
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (By Jeff Siegel) |
AV Linux MX-23.1
Know three things about the new release of AV Linux MX Edition, a specialist distro for multimedia: First, it's based on the rock-solid MX Linux, perhaps the best non-commercial operating system available, and its MX lineage shows. Second, it's nimble and complete, with an ample assortment of sound and video tools that do exactly what they're supposed to do.
But the third thing? That's the kicker: AV Linux can be annoying and frustrating, with too many things that should just work, but that too often don't - like booting up.
In this, it's an effective operating system, aimed at advanced users but straightforward enough for those of us who just need to record a podcast or to edit simple videos for a website. And it takes into account many of the shortcomings of smaller distros, with decent documentation, a sort of forum, and an impressive 86-minute video tutorial that outlines many of the distro's idiosyncrasies.
However, no one using modern hardware should have to struggle to boot a modern Linux distro anymore. But that's what happened here, and regardless of everything else that AV Linux does so well, it's something that will make too many potential users look elsewhere.
Getting started
This release of AV Linux is AVL-MXe 23.1 "Enlightened" -- "MX Linux enlightened, customized, molded and shaped for content creators," according to the website. However, as developer and maintainer Glen MacArthur notes, though the distro is based on MX Linux, it isn't an official MX Linux product.
AVL-MXe 23.1 replaces AVL-MXe 21.2.1, released about 14 months ago. It's a new approach to AV Linux, moving the distro from the Xfce desktop to Enlightenment (though keeping the Thunar file manager). Hence, it's not possible to upgrade from 21.1, and a fresh install is necessary. The ISO is 5.3GB, which is quite large compared to more mainstream distributions like Ubuntu 22.04 (3.4GB) and Fedora 39 (2.0GB). Chalk that up to all its specialized software.
MacArthur based the new release on MX Linux 23 and its Debian 12 "Bookworm" foundation, updated the multimedia focused Liquorix kernel to 6.6.9 (with - and more on this later - a choice of SysV or systemd for init), and moved to PipeWire 1.0 for audio. All told, these are major changes.
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- The live desktop environment
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It's apparently difficult to run AVL-MXe 23.1 in a virtual machine. The distro's users on their space in the MX forum discuss the problem at length, and some of the documentation says running it in an environment like VirtualBox is not recommended.
Which isn't much of a problem for testing, since the live version and its live desktop serve that purpose quite well. Response is quick, and changes - setting up WiFi, adjusting screen size - are persistent after installation.
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- Running the system installer
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AV Linux uses the MX installer, which -- if not as popular as Calamares or Ubiquity - is reliable and dependable. And once you learn you don't have to set up a root account if you don't want to, or worry about what happens if you don't pick a computer domain name, it's not even especially confusing. And, for the most part, it's also quick - AV Linux took about five minutes to install the first time using my older i5 processor.
There were problems
The second installation took twice as long, but don't hold that against the installer. It's the fault of the distro, which didn't load after I shut down the computer and came back to it the next day. It booted to the GRUB menu, but after some garbage text, the screen went blank and nothing worked. Only using the power button shut the machine off.
So, re-installation, but the same thing happened again - live session and installation successful and no problems using the distro after installation. But when I turned the machine off and then started it again, AV Linux booted to the GRUB menu, showed some garbage text, and the screen went blank. Again, I needed to use the power button to turn the laptop off.
Ordinarily, I'd have moved on after this. But, in the interest of fairness, I tried one more time - booting to the GRUB menu, selected advanced options, and then selecting the systemd choice (the default, apparently, is SysV init). That solved the problem, and I was able to use the distro. But why SysV init didn't boot successfully and systemd did remains a mystery, and the bug does not seem to be reported anywhere. (Though, since this is an MX Linux system, there's an app - MX boot options - to set the system to boot to systemd without manual intervention.)
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- The welcome window
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Two other complications worth noting: The Nextcloud desktop package installed, more or less, but Nextcloud wouldn't load on startup despite being set to do so. Then, when I tried to start it, the system hung - usually the only time the desktop wasn't responsive - and I never really did get it to work. Sometimes it would sync, and sometimes not. At one time, I had two Nextcloud folders.
Second, there's a GUI for scanners, but there doesn't appear to be one for printing. CUPS is installed, but the printing setup seems to have to go through the CUPS website running on localhost. This isn't a deal breaker, obviously; but, given how many other apps are installed, including the scanner, it seems odd to handle printing this way (though my Canon MX-920 was ready and waiting when I accessed the local CUPS web interface).
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- Running the Thunar file manager
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The good news
Once I got past all of that, AV Linux was a marvel. I've recorded podcasts and edited videos for my wine website, but my knowledge - and skills - are limited. The podcasts used the stock version of Audacity, so cutting out background noise and normalizing levels was generally all than I could do. And videos? I've spent too much time struggling with older versions of OpenShot, crashes, freezes and all, to consider video editing as anything other than a chore.
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- Editing audio in Audacity
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Here, though, all was close to joy. I got an old podcast to sound better than it ever had - stereo, even, thanks to the additional set of plugins and tools in the AV Linux version. OpenShot still wasn't especially intuitive, but I reworked a couple of old videos and they looked and sounded much more professional.
And that's only the beginning of what the distro provides in top-notch multi-media tools: Ardour, a sophisticated sound editing tool; the Avidemx and Cinelerra GG video editors; and the MuseScore notation app. There are also a variety of non-free apps and plug-ins, like Reaper, a digital audio workstation.
There has been some criticism of AV Linux's software update and package installation process, probably because there are so many ways to do each (at least four). This is a heritage of the MX Linux approach, where there always seems to be two or three apps for the same job. So, yes, it might be a touch confusing, but the MX tools aren't complicated, and anyone who needs a basic GUI can always use Synaptic. Which is how I installed AbiWord, since AV Linux - as reported - doesn't include a word processor.
Finally, a word about the Enlightenment desktop, which replaced Xfce. MacArthur, who experimented with Enlightenment in a special version of the 21.2.1 release, wrote that he made the change because Enlightenment offers a quicker and snappier experience, especially given the memory footprints of all those multimedia apps. Enlightenment has more than its share of fans, even though its development has seen various stops and starts. Having said that, it does work as advertised here (though it used about the same system resources, according to task manager, as my Xfce desktop does). My only complaint was that the Enlightenment desktop didn't look all that good, a vague-ish gray and black sort of something or other.
Which is hardly the worst criticism to make. In fact, this was a difficult review to write, since MacArthur puts such pride of effort in the distro and it offers something that's difficult to find elsewhere in the Linux ecosystem. And, for the most part, it does work.
But when there is a major problem, like the SysV init and systemd quandary, someone has to notice. Otherwise, how will the distro get better?
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Hardware used for this review
My physical test equipment for this review was an Asus UX31A laptop with the following specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-3317U, 1.7GHz
- Storage: 128GB SSD
- Memory: 4GB of RAM
- Networking: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless
- Display: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000
When he is not testing out new versions of Linux distributions, Jeff Siegel can be found writing about all things related to wine at Wine Curmudgeon.
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Visitor supplied rating
AV Linux has a visitor supplied average rating of: 6.9/10 from 34 review(s).
Have you used AV Linux? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Highlighting OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies the NitroPC Pro 2, LXQt prepares for Wayland, KDE launches Plasma 6
The OpenBSD operating system is well known for its impressive security record and dedication to accurate documentation. While OpenBSD is regarded as a secure platform, the specific, proactive security features included in the operating system are sometimes overlooked. Solène Rapenne has posted a blog which outlines some of OpenBSD's less talked about features: "The secure level is a sysctl named kern.securelevel, it has 4 different values from level -1 to level 2, and it's only possible to increase the level. By default, the system enters the secure level 1 when in multi-user (the default when booting a regular installation). It's then possible to escalate to the last secure level (2), which will enable the following extra security: all raw disks are read-only, so it's not possible to try to make a change to the storage devices; the time is almost lock, it's only possible to modify the clock slowly by small steps (maybe 1 second max every so often); the PF firewall rules can't be modified, flushed or altered...."
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Qubes OS is a security-focused operating system which isolates various system components to prevent compromises to one part of the system from spreading. The Qubes project has certified a new workstation for security-minded users, the NitroPC Pro 2: "The NitroPC Pro 2 is a workstation for high security and performance requirements. The open-source Dasharo coreboot firmware ensures high transparency and security while avoiding backdoors and security holes in the firmware. The device is certified for compatibility with Qubes OS 4 by the Qubes developers. Carefully selected components ensure high performance, stability, and durability. The Dasharo Entry Subscription guarantees continuous firmware development and fast firmware updates." Additional information on the NitroPC Pro 2 can be found on the Qubes news page.
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The LXQt desktop environment is planning to roll out a new major version in April 2024 along with some key features. The lightweight desktop is migrating from the Qt 5 development libraries to Qt 6 and introducing Wayland support: "Qt 6 libraries should provide some more tools to continue development - basically implement Wayland-specific code in components like panel, desktop, runner, shortkeys and notification daemon. Many applications and LXQt components are already working perfectly on Wayland, others partially and some not, see the table below for a detailed list." The application menu is expected to have some enhancements too, including improved search and a Favourites area. Additional information on the upcoming LXQt 2.0.0 release can be found in the project's blog post.
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The KDE project also announced some exciting news this week, launching KDE Plasma 6 along with its related applications and software libraries. Plasma 6 migrates the desktop to a Qt 6 base and places the focus of future development on Wayland: "With Plasma 6, our technology stack has undergone two major upgrades: a transition to the latest version of our application framework, Qt, and a migration to the modern Linux graphics platform, Wayland. We have done our best to ensure that these changes are as smooth and unnoticeable to the users as possible, so when you install this update, you will see the same familiar desktop environment that you know and love. But these under-the-hood upgrades benefit Plasma's security, efficiency, and performance, and improve support for modern hardware. Thus Plasma delivers an overall more reliable user experience, while paving the way for many more improvements in the future. We will continue providing support for the legacy X11 session for users who prefer to stick with it for now."
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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) |
Bootstrapping a network connection
No-longer-connected asks: I was trying to switch network utilities and accidentally deleted Network Manager. Now I don't have a wired connection and no tool to connect wirelessly. Is there any way to get Network Manager installed again without re-installing my OS from scratch?
DistroWatch answers: Chances are the best option available to you is to use a live distribution, probably the same one you originally used to install your operating system, to get your computer on-line and then install a networking client. Most live desktop distributions will have utilities (such as Network Manager) included to help you get on-line. Once you have established an internet connection, the next step will be to establish what is called a chroot that contains your installed operating system's filesystem. You will then be able to install any packages you require in the chroot environment using the live media's Internet connection.
Let's take a look at how this can work in practice. There are a few steps we need to perform:
- Try to determine on which partition our installed operating system is located.
- Boot to live desktop media.
- Establish an Internet connection.
- Access and isolate our installed operating system in a chroot.
- Install the missing packages.
- Exit the chroot environment.
- Restart the computer and boot into our installed operating system to confirm our changes worked.
Let's take a look at an example where we try to access and repair an installed Linux distribution.
Determine on which partition the operating system lives
The first thing we need to do is find out on which disk partition our distribution lives. We can do this a few ways. One way is to use the mount command and grep to find out where our root partition (symbolized by the "/" character) is located. Here we open a terminal and find our root partition is located on device /dev/sda2:
$ mount | grep " / "
/dev/sda2 on / type ext4 (rw,noatime)
Boot from live media
The next thing we should do is boot from some live media, perhaps the same media we used to install our distribution in the first place. If our original install media is not available, then any live, mainstream Linux media with a desktop environment should do the trick.
Connect to the Internet
Once the live desktop environment has booted, open the networking utility and connect to the Internet by whatever means you would normally use.
Create a chroot environment
Next we need to access our distribution's root filesystem (which we discovered earlier is on the /dev/sda2 partition) and isolate it in a chroot environment. First, we open a terminal and mount (access) the root partition.
$ mkdir myroot
$ sudo mount /dev/sda2 myroot
At this point our root partition is accessible through the myroot directory, though it's not yet isolated in its own quarantined area using chroot. We can take the next step and isolate our root partition using the following command:
$ sudo chroot myroot
Install the missing network utility
We should now see a prompt which begins with a "#" character. From here we can use our distribution's package manager to install our missing network utility.
The specific command required to install a network utility, such as Network Manager, will vary a bit depending on which distribution you are running. For example, on Arch-based distributions we would run:
# pacman -Sy networkmanager network-manager-applet
People running a member of the Debian and Ubuntu family could run:
# apt-get update; apt-get install network-manager nm-tray
Meanwhile, someone using the Fedora distribution could run:
# dnf install NetworkManager
It's worth checking your distribution's documentation to see which package manager it uses and the proper commands for finding and installing new packages.
Leave the chroot and clean up
Once our networking utility has been installed, we can leave the chroot environment by simply typing "exit" at the command prompt:
# exit
Then we should unmount the root filesystem, making sure our changes are synced to the hard drive.
$ sudo umount myroot
Once the root filesystem has been unmounted, we can reboot the computer, removing the live media. When our installed operating system boots up, we could be able to run our networking utility to get on-line.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Tails 6.0
The Amnesic Incognito Live System (Tails) is a Debian-based live DVD/USB with the goal of providing complete Internet anonymity for the user. The project's latest release, version 6.0, places a focus on accessing storage and protecting the user from malicious storage devices. "Tails 6.0 warns you about errors when reading or writing from your Tails USB stick. These alerts can help you diagnose hardware failures on your USB stick and backup your Persistent Storage before it's too late. Mount external devices automatically - When you plug in an external storage device, a USB stick or an external hard disk, Tails 6.0 mounts it automatically. If the storage device contains an encrypted partition, Tails 6.0 offers you to unlock the encryption automatically. This feature also simplifies how to unlock VeraCrypt encrypted volumes. Protection against malicious USB devices - If an attacker manages to plug a malicious USB device in your computer, they could run software that breaks the security built in Tails without your knowledge. To protect from such attacks while you are away from your computer, Tails 6.0 ignores any USB device that is plugged in while your screen is locked." These and additional features are covered in the release announcement.
Zentyal Server 8.0
Zentyal has announced the release of Zentyal Server 8.0, a major new update of the project's Ubuntu-based server distribution featuring a domain and directory server, native compatibility with MS Active Directory, mail server, and gateway and infrastructure server. A community edition is available for free download, while commercial editions also include technical support. "The Zentyal development team is proud to announce Zentyal Server 8.0; this is a new major community release of the Zentyal Linux Server, based on Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 LTS. This version comes with the most recent versions of all the integrated software, including Samba 4.15.13, Netplan instead of the old-fashioned network/interfaces, new docker and webserver modules, and finally the latest stable SOGo version. Zentyal Server 8.0 is based on Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 LTS and comes with the latest versions of all integrated software. The most important improvements include: core - based on Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 LTS; network - migrate to Netplan from Network Interface; Samba - integration of Samba 4.15.13; Sogo - integration of SOGo 5.5.1; Docker - new module; webserver - new module; OpenVPN - migrate from Quagga to Frr...." See the release announcement and the changelog for a full list of changes and upgrade instructions.
Grml 2024.02
Grml is a live distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. It includes a collection of GNU/Linux software especially for users of text tools and system administrators. The project's latest release, Grml 2024.02, runs on Linux 6.6 and introduces several new options for the grml-live utility as well as zsh features. "Highlighting the most relevant changes only: Misc: grml-hwinfo: add inxi output and collect information about network devices via ethtool. grml-live (build system for creating Grml (based) Linux live systems): Initial arm64 / aarch64 support. Add support for Debian/Trixie (current Debian Testing). Use serial console with a setting of 115200n8 by default. Update zsh completion + ship it via Debian package. Unify boot options order between isolinux/syslinux and GRUB. Improved memtest + chainloader handling. Remove Grml release name from the boot options. Misc software related changes in GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL + GRML_FULL classes. grml-zshrc (Zsh configuration): zshrc: fixed outdated URL in weather function. /etc/skel/.zshrc: suggest J as global alias for jq usage. grml-debootstrap (wrapper around debootstrap for installing pure Debian): Initial arm64 support. Add EFI support for VMs. Don't install busybox any longer by default." Additional details can be found in the project's release notes.
Grml 2024.02 -- Exploring the Fluxbox menu
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Kali Linux 2024.1
Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution with a collection of security and forensics tools. The project has published its first snapshot of the year, Kali Linux 2024.1. The release announcement outlines the distribution's latest changes: "Hello 2024! Today we are unveiling Kali Linux 2024.1. As this is our the first release of the year, it does include new visual elements! Along with this we also have some exciting new mirrors to talk about, and of course some package changes - both new tools and upgrades to existing ones. If you want to see the new theme for yourself and maybe try out one of those new mirrors, download a new image or upgrade if you have an existing Kali Linux installation. The summary of the changelog since the 2023.4 release from December is: Micro Mirror Free Software CDN - FCIX Software Mirror reached out offering to host our images, and we said yes. 2024 Theme Refresh - Our yearly theme refresh with all new wallpapers and GRUB theme. Other Desktop Environment Changes - A few new tweaks to our default environments. NetHunter Updates - NetHunter Rootless for Android 14, Bad Bluetooth HID attacks, and other updates. New Tools - As always, various new shiny tools!"
KDE neon 20240228
Hot on the heals of the KDE 6 MegaRelease announcement comes an updated build of KDE neon. The latest version, labelled as 20240228, continues to be based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, but it integrates the brand-new KDE releases, including Plasma 6, KDE Frameworks 6 and all the applications from KDE Gear 24.02: "Today KDE has made its biggest release ever, never before in the 25-year history of the project have we announced so many new products at the same time, but it brings the newly-refreshed base to keep our software foundation strong. KDE neon User edition has now been updated with KDE Frameworks 6, Plasma 6 and all the apps from KDE Gear 24.02. You can upgrade through Discover or grab the newest installable ISO build. If you just want to give it a try then give the Docker images a go." A bug that prevents users from logging off, rebooting or shutting down the system directly from the application menu has been reported in the KDE bug tracker. Here is the brief release announcement with a screenshot of the default desktop.
KDE neon 20240228 -- Running the KDE Plasma 6 desktop
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GParted Live 1.6.0-1
Following the recent new release of the GParted disk partitioning software, the GParted Live distribution has also received an update to version 1.6.0-1. GParted Live is a specialist live CD image designed for disk partitioning and data rescue tasks; it is based on Debian's "unstable" branch. Besides GParted 1.6.0, the new version of GParted Live comes with various software updates, including that of the Linux kernel to version 6.6.15 from the most recent long-term supported branch: "The GParted team is pleased to announce a new stable release of GParted Live. This release includes GParted 1.6.0, updated packages and other improvements. Items of note include: includes GParted 1.6.0 - stop forcing 1 MiB gap when moving partition boundary right, fix crash when dealing with 0000-0000 exfat UUID; remove Attempt Data Rescue and use of gpart; based on the Debian 'Sid' repository as of 2024-02-27; Linux kernel image updated to 6.6.15. This release of GParted Live has been successfully tested on VirtualBox, VMware, BIOS, UEFI and physical computers with AMD/ATI, NVIDIA and Intel graphics." Here is the brief release announcement as published on the project's news page.
Murena 1.20
The Murena project provides an Android-based, mobile operating system which strives to replace Google proprietary apps with open source alternatives along with a range of privacy protecting features. The project's latest release, version 1.20, improves third-party application support, enforces more strict rules on privacy ratings for third-party apps, and improves the tracker manager page. "We embedded some improvements! PDF reader: PDF Viewer Plus has been replaced by MJ PDF reader to provide more options and up to date security patches. Updater: Update's download is resumed automatically when needed. Third Party Apps support: /e/OS is now compatible with the Application Licensing API. Some third party apps can check the licensing status to make sure that the user is allowed to use the application, for instance in case of paid applications. Third party apps which are using this API are now working properly on /e/OS. We fixed the partial support of the On Demand Modules API used by third party apps to download split APKs at runtime. Advanced Privacy: You can now realize easily how efficiently Advanced Privacy protects you against trackers in the widget and on the home page. The design of the tracker management page is now more efficient. The Privacy Score has been forced to 0 for a list of apps for which Terms of Services clearly don't respect your privacy and your data." Additional features and bug fixes are outlined in the project's release notes.
Linux From Scratch 12.1
Bruce Dubbs has announced the release of version 12.1 of Linux From Scratch, a project providing a book containing step-by-step instructions to build a custom Linux system from scratch. A separate book called "Beyond Linux From Scratch", which contains instructions for installing and configuring various packages on top of a base LFS system, is also available in version 12.1: "The Linux From Scratch community is pleased to announce the release of LFS version 12.1, LFS version 12.1 (systemd), BLFS version 12.1 and BLFS version 12.1 (systemd). This release is a major update to both LFS and BLFS. The LFS release includes updates to Binutils 2.42 and glibc 2.39. In total, 43 packages were updated since the last release and extensive updates to the text have been made throughout the book to improve readability. The Linux kernel has also been updated to version 6.7.4. Overall there have been 230 commits to LFS since the previous stable version of the book. New in this version of BLFS are Qt 6, sysmon-qt, xdg-desktop-portal, simple-scan, snapshot, wireplumber, power-profiles-daemon and several supporting packages. This version also added SPIRV and Vulkan packages in support of Vulkan drivers for mesa. Deprecation notice: tuture versions of BLFS will remove the unmaintained GTK+ 2 library and Python 2." Read the complete release announcement for further information.
OpenMediaVault 7.0
OpenMediaVault is a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) solution based on Debian GNU/Linux. The project's latest release, OpenMediaVault 7.0, is based on Debian 12 introduces new notification and monitoring tools to make managing the NAS more efficient. "The changelog will list all improvements in this version alongside the following: Upgrade to Debian 12 (Bookworm). Package updates and notification will be handled by unattended-upgrades. Relocate Linux MD device (Software RAID) management into a separate plugin. Add support for network ethernet devices using device tree aliases, e.g. endX. Replace the cron-apt package with unattended-upgrades and apticron. The former ensures that security updates are installed automatically, and the latter ensures that notifications are sent when new package updates are available. The apt-listchanges package will send you an email with a summary of the latest changes whenever packages are upgraded. Add the ability to authenticate an RPC call by using the X-OPENMEDIAVAULT-SESSIONID header instead of a cookie. The session ID is returned with the response of the Session::login RPC. Reduce the query time when determining the SMART information by reducing the query parameters to the minimum. Add a dashboard widget to display the temperatures of all physical disks." Additional information is provided in the project's release announcement.
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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: 2,971
- Total data uploaded: 44.1TB
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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) |
Highlights of the first 2024 release season
Every year several of the major Linux distributions and other open source projects key up for big, new releases. These new versions typically get published in the months of April-May and October-November. These two annual "release seasons" tend to showcase new features from projects such as Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, FreeBSD, and others. As we approach the first release season of 2024 we'd like to hear from which project you're most excited to see a new release or new features.
You can see the results of our previous poll on using AI features in a terminal in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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This release season I am most excited for...
| Fedora: | 122 (9%) |
| FreeBSD: | 96 (7%) |
| openSUSE: | 112 (8%) |
| Pop!_OS with COSMIC: | 234 (17%) |
| Ubuntu: | 219 (16%) |
| Other: | 558 (42%) |
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| Website News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Arcade Linux. Arcade Linux is a Lubuntu-based distribution which ships with software aimed at emulating arcade games and video game consoles, assembled in a simple and practical way so that anyone can set up their multiplayer system.
- Minki's Crappy Linux. MCL is a distribution designed for very low-end machines, such as those running i486 and Pentium processors.
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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, 11 March 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 • AV Linux review (by Andy Prough on 2024-03-04 01:55:42 GMT from United States)
I'm impressed that you could get AV Linux and all those beefy multimedia programs running at all on a 12-year old laptop with 4gb of ram, Jeff. Modern video editing and audio editing takes a lot of resources. Bravo to Glen MacArthur for getting all that working for some of our older machines.
2 • Chroot (by learner on 2024-03-04 02:01:37 GMT from Australia)
Great tutorial on chroot Jesse - easy to understand for novices like me (the kind who make these types of mistakes in the first place)
3 • chroot (by DaveW on 2024-03-04 02:46:25 GMT from United States)
This is the simplest and best description of the chroot process I have ever seen, and I've been a linux user for more then 15 years.
Thanks
4 • AV Linux (by John C on 2024-03-04 02:51:33 GMT from United States)
It's a fair criticism of a distro to point out when they promise something and it doesn't work. If there's a SysVinit option, then it should work. They need to either figure out why it failed and fix it, or put a warning that AV sometimes doesn't work with SysV. There are some modern tools that expect systemd, and while this can be worked around, care must be taken or problems can arise. MX does this, but AV adds stuff to MX.
Criticism for not offering something when the distro never says they offer it in the first place is not fair. AV Linux does a great job offering an MX configuration for AV-specific work, but if a bug is found, they need to be made aware.
5 • @4 AV Linux (by Andy Prough on 2024-03-04 03:02:22 GMT from Switzerland)
>"It's a fair criticism of a distro to point out when they promise something and it doesn't work."
The AV Linux website does not make specific promises for Jeff's hardware, and the 6.6 Liquorix kernel in use would be most comparable to the MX Linux "Advanced Hardware Support" release which says it's "For Newer Hardware". Jeff's is not "newer hardware". Again, I'm impressed that it ran and did all that great video and audio editing at all.
6 • AV Linux (by zephyr on 2024-03-04 03:42:58 GMT from United States)
I'm running MX AV and get a very fast boot, nothing wrong at all with MX. Maybe Jeff Siegel prefers an Ubuntu distro.
7 • To enable wired (Vbox) networking, I simply use dhcpcd or udhcpc (by Jjanel on 2024-03-04 04:37:26 GMT from United States)
I enjoy playing with crazy-minimal (as Vbox VMs).
To enable networking, I simply use dhcpcd or udhcpc
mll has only busybox & uses udhcpc (applet).
My tiny 81 pkg (http://termbin.com/ht1k) Slackware uses dhcpcd
IDK a lot, but I once used nmtui to setup WiFi permanently! I guess Deb-derived use NM or systemd
My wild-guess is that a manual run of a DHCP client would bring up wired networking.
Again, IDK much.... And even 1 distro may have several ways to enable networking: yikes!
8 • Opinion Poll (by Trevor on 2024-03-04 07:39:50 GMT from Canada)
I chose other, because I'm excited on each Linux release. It's always interesting to see the differences between each distro and how they operate.
9 • Opinion Poll - Other (by NULL on 2024-03-04 08:43:33 GMT from Germany)
I chose other, because for me the immutable Linux distributions are more exciting/interesting.
It's more of a compliment for the regular Fedora & co. distributions, they published high quality distributions constantly within the last few years.
10 • Installing a package offline (by Mike on 2024-03-04 09:09:02 GMT from The Netherlands)
You can always download a deb or rpm package on another computer, put it on a usb-stick and install it on your computer.
11 • This release season I am most excited for... (by James on 2024-03-04 10:50:50 GMT from United States)
The one I use of course, Ubuntu Mate LTS. I am looking forward to 12 years of support.
12 • init (by sergio on 2024-03-04 12:04:59 GMT from Brazil)
The same with MX. Fair enough, it was a couple of years ago I tried it live.
But systemd is so much better in terms of hardware recognition, so much more trovle free to boot, that also antix/MX have a lot of options to create bootable pendrives, the insistence in not using systemd keeps bringing bugs , ljke not detecting hardware that any other modern distro detects, that cancels the goods.
13 • init software (by Jesse on 2024-03-04 12:10:47 GMT from Canada)
@12: "But systemd is so much better in terms of hardware recognition"
The init system doesn't detect hardware. That's the kernel's job.
"so much more trovle free to boot, "
Not in my experience. I've never had SysV init (or runit) fail to boot for me. systemd has borked boots and shutdowns multiple times.
"the insistence in not using systemd keeps bringing bugs , ljke not detecting hardware that any other modern distro detects,
Again, init doesn't detect hardware. The Linux kernel detects and manages hardware. You're probably seeing a side effect of MX's default version using an older kernel. The AHS edition will probably work fine.
14 • @9 eagerly awaiting Fedora 40 (by Ed on 2024-03-04 12:11:01 GMT from Sweden)
I agree.
Fedora releases are very good and of high quality. I have used Debian-based distributions for a long time and have high regards for them especially Debian.
But quite recently I decided to have a look at Fedora and I am still there. Fedora represents a perfect balance between stability and newness. I want to express my deepfelt gratitude to the Fedora Project for consistently providing good releases. And I am enthusiastically awaiting Fedora 40.
15 • Poll (by Ken Harbit on 2024-03-04 12:18:24 GMT from United States)
I checked the "other" box because I use MXlinux. I always wait at least 2 months after a new upgrade to read the forums and Distrowatch type of sites so that I can see if there are any problems and anything I should avoid doing or anything I should do when installing. I always do a fresh install of an upgrade. I also have a 15 year old laptop but have not had any problems since I switched to MXlinux. A big "Thank You!" to all the folks that make MXlinux possible.
16 • init or ain't it (by ThomasAnderson on 2024-03-04 12:26:22 GMT from Australia)
Bravo to AV for not going down the SystemD black hole.
Most people don't care what init they use, as long as their system works, but for those who do care, there are options at least.
SystemD users can be safe in the knowledge that their lead dev now works for Microsoft, which is probably why he is implementing the blue screen of death during the boot process in the event of a boot fail. Ironic, how we use Linux to get away from MS but will soon have one of its signature features.
Maybe it will be useful, maybe not, time will tell.
Personally I think Linux has lost its way. From a massively bloated kernel, to Torvalds who doesn't give a cr@p or care to clean it up, to SystemD not being an init system, but a system in itself doing way more than it should and potentially causing system halts, to the endless fragmentation and elitism amongst users.
As soon as Redox OS has its stable release, I am ditching Linux. Simplicity is the way.
17 • This release season I am most excited for... (by Geo. on 2024-03-04 14:20:08 GMT from Canada)
I love the many in the Top 50, but the ones I watch for each week are Bohdi and WattOS. They never cease to surprise me.
The other I watch is # 100, BunsenLabs, because I think it has so much potential and I really want to see it do well.
18 • Network Connection and Poll (by Robert on 2024-03-04 15:01:16 GMT from United States)
Before going to all the trouble of setting up a live environment and chroot, I think it would be worth checking if something like wpa_supplicant was still installed after removing NetworkManager. I know the question said "no tool" but without more information I think it's highly plausible this user doesn't know anything beyond NetworkManager.
On the poll, I picked OpenSuse. Really what I'm waiting for is for Tumbleweed to get Plasma 6 rather than any discrete release. I plan to switch from Arch as soon as that happens.
I do use Leap on my server, but it doesn't do anything that would make a new release exciting.
19 • Network Connection Suggestion 2 (by Robert on 2024-03-04 15:06:16 GMT from United States)
Now that I think of it, the easiest way would to check if NetworkManager is still in the package cache, assuming the distro has one.
I haven't really had trouble accidentally uninstalling things, but I have had to roll back package versions using the cache several times.
20 • Poll (by Jerry on 2024-03-04 15:22:12 GMT from United States)
I indicated FreeBSD because, perhaps naively, I want to see BSD in general catch up to Linux as to development and popularity, especially GhostBSD.
21 • Unpopular Opinion - I don't like MX Linux (by Justin R. on 2024-03-04 16:35:36 GMT from United States)
I know everyone talks about how great MX Linux is as a distro. I've tried it and I'm in more of the "meh" camp on my review. I honestly don't see where its tools are that much more useful. Unpopular opinion, I know. Just wanted to get this off my chest.
22 • @16 init (by Sohl on 2024-03-04 16:46:24 GMT from United States)
I share your sentiment on Linux loosing its way, but I'm rooting mostly for SerenityOS.
23 • Ever forward we must go (by grindstone on 2024-03-04 17:54:01 GMT from United States)
We all have our issues and most of the jobs are thankless. I'd just like to thank everyone who is working on improving things. THANK YOU. Maybe we might inspire someone else to work on reporting and fixing bugs or docs etc--or find the time ourselves?
24 • @10 Installing a package offline (by Titus Groan on 2024-03-04 18:10:59 GMT from New Zealand)
My thinking as well, except I considered booting the Live media to get the required package, and saving it on the internal partition.
with Linux, always more than one way.
25 • MXLinux (by Friar Tux on 2024-03-04 19:12:12 GMT from Canada)
@21 (Justin) You ain't the only one. I tried MXLinux a while back, and yeah, meh. Nothing to write home about. But my point is you're not alone.
26 • Exitement (by Hank on 2024-03-04 19:36:23 GMT from Germany)
As we approach the first release season of 2024 we'd like to hear from which project you're most excited to see a new release or new features.
Well I wrote about development around antiX, and it was never published... This site seems only
to publish opinions...
Anyway I am most excited about developments and for now an in development init
freedom release which will eventually include.
SysV
runit
S6
S6 66
27 • A distro to write home about? (by Jerry on 2024-03-04 19:37:09 GMT from United States)
@25 @21 What in a distro would you want to write home about? What would stand out so much that you'd shout about it from the rooftops? Not week-in and week-out month-in and month-out stability? Not deep (or shallow, your choice) configurability? Not a years-long pedigree and dedicated, full time devs? Not an amazing public access forum? Not window manager choices? Not... well, I'm sure you get the point.
Admitadly not all top rated distros are for everyone (I can't stand Ubuntu et al for example), but ..... ??
28 • Poll (by Jan on 2024-03-04 23:07:47 GMT from Poland)
I used Mepis and a while later MX for the last 10 years or so. Last year I bought a gaming laptop with Ryzen 7 6800, and two graphic cards - Rembrandt and RTX 3070. Happily installed MX AHS only to realize I have problems with both boot, stability and using the graphics I want. WIlly nilly I had to find a distro that just works - so I took the number 2 from the Distrowatch list - yes, Linux Mint indeed. Everything just works, the distro supports all Nvidia drivers and there is a nice system tray GUI tool where you can choose your graphics card when you need it. So now I'm excited about the incoming new Mint version, and maybe later this year, the new LMDE edition.
Yes, on principle, I don't like systemd, and I truly liked MX - but sometimes you cannot expect everybody to just cater to your needs. I know the MX people work really hard and I thank them so much for the years of great experience I had with their distro. As for now, a big thank you for the Mint people as well. When you realize that your hardware is the most important factor to your distro, you realize there is an infinite number of usecases that just need different solutions. To me, linux is doing fine, better than ever. Somebody mentioned that the kernel is bloated - it may be bloated for people with minimal needs, that's for sure.
29 • A distro (by Mr. Pat on 2024-03-05 03:22:43 GMT from Canada)
I think that the biggest problem isn't Linux per se. Every distro developer and community has their own vision. What get's my goat is all the user reviews that dis distros for being and doing exactly what the devs set out to achieve. It isn't bad marks for the devs if their vision isn't the same as the reviewer's. Not every distro will appeal to everyone. When the devs specifically state not to try to run the distro in a virtual machine and you do it anyway and it gives a bad result, it is the reviewer who looks bad more than the distro. Most websites will give the user a fairly good indication of what their goals are and what to expect. Downloading and testing a distro that is a 3+ gig ISO and expecting it to be the minimalist distro of your dreams is patently absurd! For whatever technical reason distro hopping I have found many times that an ISO that won't boot or install with the internal optical drive will install perfectly from an external USB optical drive. When NVME came out, I had a hell of a time finding a distro that would run stable on one. I would say that most devs don't have unlimited budgets or sufficient man power to buy every conceivable hardware configuration and thoroughly test it. Virtually all of their websites also caution to "use at your own risk". It is as though all too many reviewers apparently think that all Linux devs have the manpower and finances of the proprietary OSes. We left that rat's nest yet over and over again we see distros trying to and users wanting Linux to look and behave like that appalling proprietary mess. But then, Linux is and always has been about choice. It was mentioned that one of the main devs of SystemD is now at Microsoft. Go look at the documentation for KDE Plasma! You can't get any more in bed with Microsoft than they are! I can see a major problem in the future as SystemD becomes more and more tightly integrated into more and more software till very few "big" programs will run without it.
30 • Letter to Mom... (by Friar Tux on 2024-03-05 03:30:52 GMT from Canada)
@27 (Jerry) Actually, you hit one dead on... "Not week-in and week-out month-in and month-out stability?" Now that, I WILL write home about. And the winner of that one is Linux Mint. (As I see @28 (Jan) can attest to.) When I first tried out Linux, way back when, I could not find a distro that was stable enough to make it worth using. Not one - and I tried about two dozen or so. Then, along came Mint, and in the ten years I've used it, it has not even hiccuped once. AND, it worked out-of-box every single time I installed it, on various machines. I have continued to test hundreds of distros but none are as stable as Mint has been so far. Now, THAT is something to write home about.
31 • OpenBSD blog post (by Anthony on 2024-03-05 16:35:50 GMT from Austria)
Thanks for the blog post, it was interesting. Actually, I
put the blog's RSS link into my news feeds. (newsboat ftw :D)
32 • MX Linux stability (by Jerry on 2024-03-05 21:09:40 GMT from United States)
@30 I've sure never had a stability over the long haul issue with MX Linux. No issues at all, and remain happy with it after about two solid years as daily driver (off and on before that as interest in getting rid of systemd came and went).
I do think about hardware and user differences when I see people opining in opposite directions about the same distro. Nobara is on my test machine now, and reading down the review list here at DW I see that opposite thing right away with some giving Nobara a 3 and some (like me) giving it a 10 as it has done nothing but my bidding since I installed it off live thumby several days ago.
33 • year of redox (by rustytek on 2024-03-06 01:09:50 GMT from Argentina)
"...which project you're most excited to see a new release or new features."
Another vote for Redox:
* Rust (systems) language provides a fresh new take on how an OS can be designed.
* Rust language means converting & updating existing apps, as well as creating new apps.
* New porting policy for apps should make Redox a fuller OS.
Out of the alternative OS's it seems to have the most potential. Although a microkernel design is yet to be proven adequate in a desktop OS.
34 • "Modern" hardware (by Sandra on 2024-03-06 03:17:19 GMT from United States)
> "However, no one using modern hardware should have to struggle to boot a modern Linux distro anymore"
Jeff, you're using a mid-range processor from 12 YEARS AGO with 4GB RAM... It's not ancient, but it's definitely not "modern." Also consider that you're testing out a multimedia processing-focused distro, a workflow that, especially nowadays, requires some horsepower. I don't think you can criticize AV Linux for this without testing it on capable hardware. Honestly, I'm amazed you got that far on integrated graphics.
35 • Other distribution which I remain excited about... (by Bobbie Sellers on 2024-03-06 04:55:35 GMT from United States)
I use a rolling release, PCLinuxOS. I was very excited when the packager was
finally able to get past 6.5.13. This weekend we got 6.6.17 then the next day
6.6.18 and before Saturday was done we got 6.6.20. Yesterday I downloaded
updates to Firefox and today to Thunderbird. We also got a bunch of Mesa
and Poppler updates.
I was having problems with NetworkManager having to start it via root
terminal and i mentioned this in the online Forum for PCLinuxOS users and
within a day got the fix which I finally applied this afternoon. I also got
a lead, I think on my rather slow boot problem.
Got a clue as to why I like this distribution and my fellow users?
bliss- Dell Precision 7730- PCLOS 2024.03- Linux 6.6.20-pclos1- KDE Plasma 5.27.10
36 • @33 year of redox (by ThomasAnderson on 2024-03-06 05:35:35 GMT from Australia)
Redox built from rust with its microkernal architecture is the future I think.
How Linus let the Linux kernel become so obese is beyond me, considering he spends all his time on the kernel.
Anyway, i am looking forward to Redox, now that they are incorporating a "port GTK and Qt to Orbital, which will allow us to port many Linux GUI apps."
Seems like a normal user/dev will have everything they need. Gamers have Wine, but Redox will probably port Steam too in the future for the gamerz.
If you have the hardware, microkernel should be no problem. I wouldn't expect the latest hardware to run on Redox, but a trusty Thinkpad Carbon, or T480 absolutely.
37 • Systemd-free distros, future? (by Jan on 2024-03-06 12:37:09 GMT from The Netherlands)
@35
Read in Distrowatch "Latest Headlines" the message from PostMarketOS about migrating to systemd.
With the motivation given in that message, particularly the increasing effort to keep modern applications made for systemd keeping to work, I wonder about the future of real systemd-free distros.
Among others PCLinuxOS, despite the perfect continuity and peformance of this distro ???
38 • AV Linux Review clarifications (by AVLinux on 2024-03-06 17:26:11 GMT from Canada)
Hi DW, I'm the maintainer of AV Linux, thanks for taking the time to do a review, ironically AV Linux has been around since 2008 and your review has fallen on a radically new release from the ground up and now that it is in the wild I'm still discovering some issues which I will be fixing in an updated ISO. I would like to speak to the black screen issue, it only affects certain hardware and is the result of a default setting in Enlightenment that sets the backlight to '0', with sysvinit on affected systems after installing the lightDM login will be there but completely dimmed appearing as a blank black screen.. As you noted booting systemd will mitigate it and also setting Enlightenment's compositor to "Don't fade backlight" reportedly also works, this issue did not affect my test hardware so it got out of the corral on me, also the system print dialog got missed in the initial ISO builds, this will also be fixed. Thanks again for the review, I hope it can be revisited when AV Linux on Enlightenment has found it's legs and these initial bugs have been flushed out in the open..
39 • Nobara (by Jerry on 2024-03-06 20:32:04 GMT from United States)
Just to clarify I'm running/testing Nobara 39, a couple version releases newer than the reviewed Nobaras here (36,37). I do believe the devs there are quite responsive to posted issues detected. This Nobara 39 has had zero issues live or as installed on this Acer A-517.
40 • dont undrstand point of Gparted distro (by Jay on 2024-03-06 21:17:39 GMT from United States)
dont undrstand point of Gparted distro just install gparted utility am i missing somthing?
41 • @26 excitement (by revolution on 2024-03-06 22:46:47 GMT from Greece)
Totally agree with post @26
antiX is one of the few distros based on an established version (Debian) that is truly innovatory.
Have a look at their supported init-diversity iso which includes 4 init options in a live environment. - sysVinit, runit, s6, s6-66. (The last 3 are poorly supported/implemented by upstream Debian)
What other linux provides this?
42 • @37 (by ThomasAnderson on 2024-03-07 04:55:24 GMT from Australia)
If an app requires systemD to function, the linux is truly f'd in the a$$. What a sad sorry state of affairs Linux has become.....free software, so much choice but you must use systemD or your app won't work.....how in the world did we get to this?
43 • Makulu, Elive, openmanba Linux (by Ennio on 2024-03-07 07:58:33 GMT from The Netherlands)
Off topic... Checking the announced release updates of the above distros, I have seen the first two are now showing a dramatic new focus - or shift of it - in their "exposed" identity. Playing with the Wayback machine, having lot of time in my hands, it was fun to see how their frontpages (or in the case of Makulu, the intended userbase) have changed. About openmamba I remember this distribution as quite conservative in package versioning, instead the 20240227 snapshot is almost "cutting edge". New people onboard? Zeitgeist?
44 • postmarketOS announcement (by Jerry on 2024-03-07 13:55:47 GMT from United States)
@42 I too felt concern, especially seeing the bit about KDE and Gnome needing that init schema for the noted reasons.
But is this that influential as "linux is (screwed).." etc? Being as: "postmarketOS is an Alpine-based distribution for mobile devices." And not across all Linux distros.
45 • KDE Neon 7-march-version (by Jan on 2024-03-07 22:06:45 GMT from The Netherlands)
I have tried KDE-Neon 6 from its first version to the 2-nd and now the 3-th, in a live version from a Ventoy-USB-stick.
Some bugs in the first version seem to be solved.
However one bug seems un-detected (un-solved)
I could install QMPlay2 (Flatpack), for only 1 purpose: internet-radio streaming (uncheck all widgets except Information and Internet-radio). Then there are 3 windows inside QMPlay2.
The bug is that I can not change the inside-windows-borders. I have the habit to be able to do that. It is possible that it is a quirk of the Flatpack, but I think it is a Neon-bug.
46 • @44 (by ThomasAnderson on 2024-03-08 00:02:52 GMT from Australia)
PostmarketOS switching to systemD is just a symptom of a wider rot within Linux.
The outlier OS's that don't use systemD like Alpine, Devuan, Void, Artix and others, who don't buy into the systemD philosophy of managing everything, will probably slowly wither and die as a result of users who are unable to run apps that require systemD.
Imagine the scenario where for whatever reason, that LibreOffice requires systemD to function (for some reason like background process blah blah). What happens then to anyone using Void? They can't run LibreOffice. What happens then? People have to decide to stop using Void as their system just so they can run Office? What kind of Linux world is that?
Perhaps one way around this is Flatpaks and Appimages, but the point is that making a program dependent on systemD is a slippery slope towards a Linux ecosystem that espouses freedom and choice, but which is in fact just an illusion.
This is why I stated, that RedoxOS and also FreeBSD (or variant BSD) may be the way to go for people who really do value freedom in their software.
47 • Systemd (by Jerry on 2024-03-08 02:24:29 GMT from United States)
@46 do you fancy MX Linux an outlier?
48 • @47 (by ThomasAnderson on 2024-03-08 07:05:04 GMT from Australia)
MX Linux is not an outlier. Supposedly non-systemD distros that use udev and elogind aren't really systemD-free, its more of a workaround and MX as well as others fit into that slot, simply because to be totally systemD free means breaking the system comparability, such as with Gnome or even KDE, which is why PostmarketOS capitulated and has gone full systemD so that their system will work with KDE.
What is the future for Linux desktop with systemD, who knows, who cares, is the attitude of most people anyway, they just want a system that runs, don't care that their lead dev works for Microsoft or that systemD does way too many things which it shouldn't. Put your head back in the sand and don't talk about it.
Originally systemd was positioned by Lennart Poettering as a drop-in replacement for the System V init subsystem with the goal of speeding up system startup by parallelizing service startup where possible.
Main issues:
systemD has too many dependencies
systemD is bloated
systemD does too many things
systemD is too complex
My problem with systemD today is that it has turned into a kind of Trojan horse. Red Hat first released systemD an alternative init system. Then it suddenly turned into "a suite of software that provides fundamental building blocks for a Linux operating system". Red Hat then launched a campaign in order to influence all the other major Linux distributions and pressure them to adopt systemD.
The method deployed was that the systemd developers addressed several third party projects and tried to convince them to make their projects depend upon systemD. Other tactics deployed by Red Hat was to hire developers from GNOME and other Linux distributions, such as Debian, and then have these people promote systemD.
Anyway, time to stick my head in the sand.
49 • systemD (by picamanic on 2024-03-08 08:38:35 GMT from United Kingdom)
In 2015,when Debian 8 switched to systemD we were told that it was "optional". That didn't last. As systemD grew from 500,000 lines of C to almost 2 million lines of C, it assimilated more and more of the Linux userland. The methods used to persuade distros to adopt it have been highly suspicious. Only the distros with strong community ethos or "niche" status can survive. Those that removed systemD from their base distros [eg Devuan, Artix] will face a growing battle to keep pace with developments as applications come to depend on systemD. If you are OK with this distopian Microsoft/Redhat/Poettering vision for the future of Linux then good luck with that.
50 • @49 (by ThomasAnderson on 2024-03-08 11:20:11 GMT from Australia)
You get it, that's great, one of the few.
If only more people were out there and did a little research into the matter, perhaps Linux wouldn't be where it is today.
51 • @ThomasAnderson: (by dragonmouth on 2024-03-08 12:28:57 GMT from United States)
SystemD is an Init that wants to be a distro.
SystemD is the next step in Window-izing Linux, i.e. making Linux into a Windows-like monolith.
52 • SystemD (by anticapitalista on 2024-03-08 12:37:28 GMT from Greece)
and SystemD is spelt systemd
53 • systemd (by kc1di on 2024-03-08 13:21:27 GMT from United States)
It you want a truely systemd free system give PCLinuxOS a spin.
No Systemd there and it works fine.
54 • And in the end... (by grindstone on 2024-03-08 22:16:24 GMT from United States)
...there will still be Slackware :)
55 • Slackware (by Jerry on 2024-03-08 23:33:33 GMT from United States)
@54 … and all eleven people using it will forever beam with pride.
Number of Comments: 55
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| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
Tuquito
Tuquito was a Ubuntu-based distribution and live CD made in Argentina. It features automatic hardware detection, excellent support for scanners, web cams and digital cameras, and compatibility with MS Office file formats. It was designed for beginners and intermediate Linux users.
Status: Discontinued
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| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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