 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1091, 7 October 2024 |
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Welcome to this year's 41st issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The open source community is a place of experimentation and innovation where anyone with an idea can craft it and share their vision with the world. Often times, this freedom leads to new approaches, faster components, new desktop environments, and better tools. Sometimes it can lead to entirely new operating systems. This week we begin with a look at Redox OS, a young operating system written in Rust and featuring a microkernel. Read on to learn more about what it is like to use the Redox operating system. Let us know what you think of Redox OS in our Opinion Poll. Then, in our News section, we share updates from the Redox project and discuss improvements coming to Linux Mint's desktop experience and the distribution's package managers. Plus we talk about the Qubes team certifying new laptop hardware for security-focused customers. Our Tips and Tricks article this week seeks to clear up the difference between portable universal packages and unified package management following some confusion about last week's poll. We are then happy to share the 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:
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
Redox OS 0.9.0
Redox OS is one of the more recent additions to the DistroWatch database. The project is one of just one of seven active projects in the database which is not a member of the Linux, BSD, or Solaris families. Redox is an independent project which explores modern operating system designs (unlike projects such as ReactOS and Haiku which seek to continue the lives of older designs).
Redox OS uses a microkernel approach, meaning the core, privileged part of the operating system is quite small, leaving drivers and services to run in userspace. This should make the underlying operating system more secure and more stable. Redox is written in Rust, a memory-safe language, meaning the core components should also be harder to exploit due to programming errors. Furthermore, the project introduces some interesting ideas, evolving the concept of "handle everything like a file" to handling every resource like a URL.
The Redox OS project recently announced the launch of Redox OS 0.9.0. This release features several applications imported from the COSMIC desktop (which I reviewed in September), including COSMIC Files, COSMIC Editor, and COSMIC Terminal. These utilities are also written in Rust.
The announcement mentions Redox ships with a desktop environment, a few games, the Nano text editor, and a web browser. There are three editions, available in i686 and x86_64 builds: Server, Desktop, and Demo. As I understand it, Demo is basically the Desktop edition meant to be run from live media and possibly with more applications installed.
At this time Redox still lacks USB device support which means it won't work with most physical hardware (keyboards, printers, and mouse devices), but it can run in some virtual machines which side-steps the USB limitation.
The 0.9.0 release does include a package manager, named pkg, which I'll touch upon later.
Earlier, I mentioned there are three editions of Redox. The ISO and IMG files for these editions are all compressed with the zst compression method (which some Linux distributions don't support out of the box). The zst package may need to be installed before you can unpack the ISO/IMG file. These download options range in size from 67MB for the Server edition, to 115MB for the Desktop edition, and 344MB for the Demo edition. When unpacked they expand quite a bit, with the largest (the Demo edition) reaching 1.5GB when unpacked.
Since I knew Redox wouldn't be able to work with my hardware since my keyboard and mouse pointers are connected via USB, I focused on trying to run Redox in a virtual machine. The project's handbook has a section on running the operating system in various virtual environments. I set up VirtualBox with the suggested line-by-line tweaks and tried running the Demo edition. It failed to boot. I also tried the Desktop edition and it also failed to boot.
Digging further into the handbook I found there are command line instructions for setting up VirtualBox with exactly the configuration required to run Redox. This results in some different settings when compared to the graphical approach and the command line instructions worked, allowing me to boot the Demo edition.
Early impressions
The Demo edition booted to a graphical login screen where I was prompted for the password to an account called "user". The correct answer is to leave the password field blank. This signs us into the project's desktop environment.
The desktop environment is fairly simple. A panel is placed across the bottom of the display with an application menu, a few quick-launch buttons, and a clock. The application menu presents us with a list of installed applications and one sub-group, called Games. Clicking the Games button erases the menu and replaces its contents with just a list of items in the Games category. We can then launch a game or exit back up to the top-level menu. The desktop, while it includes applications from COSMIC, appears to be a custom desktop specifically made for Redox rather than an existing desktop like LXQt or Xfce.
The desktop is responsive and has no flashy distractions or special effects. It's simple and clean. The interface isn't particularly attractive, but it's easy enough to navigate.
Redox OS 0.9.0 -- Using the COSMIC file manager and text editor
(full image size: 1.1MB, resolution: 1600x1200 pixels)
Included software
Redox ships with a handful of applications. The COSMIC file manager, text editor, and terminal are included. The first two of these worked well for me. The terminal application crashed frequently, usually before I'd managed to type more than one command. I think my record was managing to type four commands in a row before the terminal crashed. Sometimes I didn't even get to type one whole command before the terminal window would disappear. This prevented me from exploring much of the underlying operating system.
Redox OS 0.9.0 -- My longest session with the virtual terminal
(full image size: 1.8MB, resolution: 1600x1200 pixels)
A related problem I ran into was most instructions in the Redox handbook rely on the terminal, making it difficult to accomplish anything when the terminal isn't working. There didn't appear to be any other desktop terminal available, or any text console the way most Linux distributions supply a terminal when we press Ctrl+Alt+F2.
There were other applications. The most impressive of the group was a functional web browser which was able to navigate to various websites, displaying text and images. The web browser doesn't have many features, but it did make it possible to look up information about Redox.
Redox OS 0.9.0 -- Using the web browser to visit Redox's website
(full image size: 2.2MB, resolution: 1600x1200 pixels)
The DOSBox emulator for games is included and it worked for me. There were a few games, including Neverball and DOOM, installed. I tried to run these, but they just displayed blank windows and, in the case of Neverball, caused the desktop to stop responding, forcing a restart. There is also a calculator that works and an application which simply displays the periodic table of elements.
Redox OS 0.9.0 -- Displaying the periodic table of elements
(full image size: 2573kB, resolution: 1600x1200 pixels)
It's not a large collection of applications, or a particularly well functioning collection. At this stage it's more of a proof of concept that shows Redox can be used to run a range of applications, including a web browser and a file manager.
Package management
Redox OS does include a package manager, called pkg. According to the documentation this package manager can fetch, install, and upgrade software on the system. There are two key features missing at this time: removing packages which have been installed, and searching for packages in a repository. As far as I can tell there is no method to find out what packages are available.
When combined with the virtual terminal's habit of crashing, this lack of search feature kept me from properly exploring pkg's functions. As with many parts of Redox, this package manager appears to be in its early stages of evolution.
Conclusions
There are a lot of experimental operating systems in the world. Most of them are small, one-person projects. They often experiment with implementing a minimal POSIX environment, demonstrate a microkernel design, or show off a bare bones desktop environment running with minimal resources. While interesting to see, those small projects rarely develop further. Most one-person projects don't attract additional developers, add a package manager, or reach a point of being properly documented.
Redox OS 0.9.0 -- The application menu
(full image size: 3.0MB, resolution: 1600x1200 pixels)
Redox OS is unusual in that it has attracted more developers, people have fleshed out its documentation, and it has added new components such as a package manager and some modern desktop elements. It's not just an interesting collection of concepts (a microkernel, Rust-based, and using modern resource path names), it actually seems to be, well, going somewhere. The project looks polished, well thought out, and there is some practical collaboration happening between Redox and COSMIC.
Despite its strong efforts over the past few years, Redox (despite all of its achievements) hasn't reached a point yet where it is practical to use on a regular basis. The key sticking point is hardware support, which is almost always an issue for any non-Linux open source operating system. Driver support is tricky, on a technical level, and expensive, and there are thousands of devices in the world to support. As I discovered, there are also limitations when it comes to using the terminal, running games, and using the package manager.
I will say the existing web browser is impressive. It really showcases what Redox can accomplish. The working file manager and text editor are also running smoothly and show off Redox's capabilities as a desktop operating system. There is still a long way to go, especially with hardware/USB support, but there is also a lot here for the Redox team to be proud of.
Redox isn't ready yet to be a daily driver, but it is worth looking at. It has some neat design concepts which could, along with its source-compatibility with Linux, make it a capable project in a few years.
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Visitor supplied rating
Redox OS has a visitor supplied average rating of: 6.6/10 from 5 review(s).
Have you used Redox OS? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Redox begins RISC-V port, Linux Mint polishes the user interface, Qubes certifies NitroPad v56 laptop
The Redox OS project has published a news update for the month of September. The project's newsletter covers fixes and porting QEMU to Redox OS. The Redox team is also starting work on a port of their operating system to the RISC-V architecture. "Andrey Turkin started the RISC-V port and sent improvements to our toolchain. Jeremy updated the QEMU patches to the latest version and is working on the remaining bugs. The hope is that QEMU will be ported soon."
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The Linux Mint team has published their monthly newsletter for September. The newsletter covers two main points of interest. The first is a reworking of several Cinnamon elements, such as the Force Quit pop-up, volume control, and workspace switcher. These have been redesigned to look better, with a sleeker design and better contrast. The second set of changes involve upgrades to the package management tools, reducing complexity and dependencies on older utilities. "This allowed us to completely refactor the code in the Update Manager and greatly simplify its architecture. It worked well but it had been written decades ago and some of the techniques and components it relied on weren't future-proof. Its multithreading code was deprecated and hard to maintain. It depended on Synaptic and technology related to Gtk.Plug/Socket which couldn't work in Wayland. It also handled multi-processing calls and serialization itself. All of this was simplified. In the Software Sources tool, the downgrading of foreign packages was performed via a VTE (an embedded terminal). This is now handled by Aptkit directly, with a nice progress dialog."
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The Qubes project certifies some hardware to confirm it runs properly with Qubes OS. "Qubes-certified hardware is hardware that has been certified by the Qubes developers as compatible with a specific major release of Qubes OS. All Qubes-certified devices are available for purchase with Qubes OS preinstalled." A new laptop has been added to the list of certified devices, the NitroPad v56. The NitroPad is certified to work with Qubes OS 4.2.3 and newer. Details on the laptop can be found in this Qubes news post. The NitroPad is available for purchase from the NitroKey shop.
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Tips and Tricks (by Jesse Smith) |
Unified package management vs universal package formats
Last week we ran an opinion poll in which we asked what our readers thought about unified package managers, such as the rhino-pkg utility found in Rhino Linux.
A few of the comments, and responses through other channels, revealed that there was confusion about what a unified package manager is, particularly how it is different from a universal package format. Here are a few of the replies we received:
A unified package manager is how a certain distro family switched Firefox from Deb packages to Snaps without the users being able to keep using Debs.
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Unified package manager is a recipe for disaster, used by lazy developers/maintainers to avoid having to repackage/support their native package format, update software and to address code review and security issues properly. I know Flatpaks/Snaps/AppImages have their own "good" sides, but it still comes down to my first conclusion.
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Unified package manager, well it eliminates a primary choice people have to make: choosing a distro based on packages available.
This seems like a good time to clear up the misunderstandings.
First, let's talk about what a universal package format is. A universal package format (also called a portable package format) is an archive which contains both an application and the dependencies needed to run the application. This allows the software embedded inside the archive to be run on most Linux distributions without the user needing to worry about external dependencies. The idea is we should be able to fetch a universal package and install it on almost any modern Linux distribution and the software will work because everything it needs to run is bundled with it.
On the positive side, a universal package is portable (it can be shared across multiple distributions) and it should run just about anywhere without rebuilding/repackaging. This means there is no requirement for each distribution to make their own build of the application, packaging it into RPM, Deb, or other formats. Users can use one central repository, or the upstream developer's website, to fetch and install the desired software. This saves maintainers from engaging in a lot of duplicated effort.
There are negative effects to using a universal format. Universal bundles are typically quite large, since all dependencies are packed into one archive. There are also security concerns as new builds of the universal package may need to be created whenever a bundled dependency is found to have a security flaw. This is in contrast to traditional Linux package management where libraries and dependencies are shared across the system, allowing distro maintainers to fix a security flaw in one spot and have it applied across all applications on the system.
Some commonly used universal package formats include Flatpak, Snap, and AppImage. Each one has slightly different approaches, slightly different pros and cons, but they all accomplish approximately the same thing - applications which can be installed from one file and run across multiple distributions.
Next, let's look at unified package management. Typically, every type of package in the world (whether it is an RPM file, Deb archive, Flatpak bundle, or another type of package) needs a corresponding package manager to handling installing, updating and removing the software. On RPM-based distributions we usually find a tool called rpm working behind the scenes and a friendly utility called dnf being run from the command line. On Deb-based distributions people usually use apt or apt-get to manage software. Distributions in the Arch Linux family use pacman as their package manager.
In recent years it has become more common for distributions to use more than just their usual, classic package manager. Now, instead of a distribution using just DNF, APT, or pacman they also tend to support universal package formats such as Flatpak or Snap. They might also support third-party repositories, like the AUR or Pacstall.
It is inconvenient for users of these distributions to run two or three different package managers to install and update their applications. Ideally, users shouldn't need to run two or three package managers just to apply all available security updates - it's tedious and easy to forget to run each package manager separately.
To fix this problem, some projects are introducing utilities which will streamline the process. This allows the user to run a command like "rhino-pkg update" once and the rhino-pkg command finds and runs the update command of each package manager on the system. In other words, instead of the user running "sudo apt update; sudo apt upgrade; flatpak update; sudo pacstall update" and babysitting each step, the user can run one command: "rhino-pkg update".
These commands, which act as wrappers around the lower-level package managers, are called unified package managers. A unified package manager typically runs low-level, classic package managers, universal package managers, and third-party repository managers in the background.
Now, to address some of the above comments, like this one: "A unified package manager is how a certain distro family switched Firefox from Deb packages to Snaps without the users being able to keep using Debs." What Canonical did had nothing to do with unified package managers. Canonical introduced a portable package manager, Snap, onto their system. They then replaced their old Deb package with a dummy package. This meant when the user tried to install the Firefox Deb package, the Deb package launched Snap and caused Firefox to be installed as a Snap. No unified package manager was involved. Canonical just changed what the Firefox Deb package did.
"Unified package manager is a recipe for disaster, used by lazy developers/maintainers to avoid having to repackage/support their native package format." This again mixes up unified package managers with universal package formats. Universal packages allow software to be run across multiple distributions, saving the maintainers of Linux distributions work and avoiding duplication of effort. Unified package managers are not involved in this process.
"Unified package manager, well it eliminates a primary choice people have to make: choosing a distro based on packages available." Unified package managers do not affect which packages or software are available. They streamline how the user interacts with multiple package managers. The underlying software, the packages available, remain the same. A unified package manager simply reduces the number of steps a user needs to perform when searching for new software and updating installed packages.
Hopefully, this clears up the differences between unified package managers (such as rhino-pkg, mintInstall, and MX Package Installer) and universal package formats (such as Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage).
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Additional tips can be found in our Tips and Tricks archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Manjaro Linux 24.1.0
Philip Müller has announced the release of Manjaro Linux 24.1.0, an updated build of the project's rolling-release distribution with separate GNOME, KDE Plasma and Xfce editions. The new release comes with GNOME 46.5, KDE Plasma 6.1 and Linux kernel 6.10: "Since we released 'Wynsdey' in May 2024, we worked hard to get the next release of Manjaro out there. We call it Xahea. The GNOME edition has received several updates to GNOME 46 series. This includes a lot of fixes and polish when GNOME 46 originally was released in March 2024. The Plasma edition comes with the latest Plasma 6.1 series 1 and KDE Gear 24.08 1. It brings exciting new improvements to your desktop. Plasma 6 hits its stride with version 6.1. While Plasma 6.0 was all about getting the migration to the underlying Qt 6 frameworks correct, 6.1 is where developers start implementing the features that will take your desktop to a new level." See the release announcement for further information.
Manjaro Linux 24.1.0 -- Running the Xfce desktop
(full image size: 1.1MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
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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: 3,083
- Total data uploaded: 45.4TB
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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) |
What do you think of Redox OS?
This week we began with a review of Redox OS, a modern operating system written in Rust. While Redox OS has a ways to go, especially in terms of hardware support, the project introduces some interesting concepts and useful design choices. Have you tried Redox? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on unified package managers in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Have you tried Redox OS?
| I have tried Redox and liked it: | 53 (2%) |
| I have tried Redox and did not like it: | 43 (2%) |
| I am currently running Redox and like it: | 2 (0%) |
| I am running Redox and do not like it: | 1 (0%) |
| I plan to try Redox later: | 346 (13%) |
| I have no plans to try Redox: | 2250 (83%) |
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| Website News |
DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 14 October 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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| Archives |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
Immunix Secure Server OS
"Immunix" was a family of tools designed to enhance system integrity by hardening system components and platforms against security attacks. Immunix secures a Linux OS and applications. Immunix works by hardening existing software components and platforms so that attempts to exploit security vulnerabilities will fail safe, i.e. the compromised process halts instead of giving control to the attacker, and then was restarted. The software components are effectively "laminated" with Immunix technologies to harden them against attack.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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