 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1093, 21 October 2024 |
Welcome to this year's 43rd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
About a week ago we saw the release of Canonical's Ubuntu 24.10 along with ten community editions of the distribution. One of the more popular members of the Ubuntu family is Kubuntu which ships with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. In our Feature Story Jesse Smith takes Kubuntu 24.10 for a test drive and reports on the experience of running Plasma 6 on an Ubuntu base. In our News section we report on a major Perl update making its way through Debian's repositories while Google prepares to enable GNU/Linux applications running on Android devices. We also report on the UBports adding VoLTE support to their mobile distribution. Plus tackle the topic of the difference between atomic distributions and immutable distributions in our Questions and Answers column. Is your current distribution immutable or atomic? Let us know in the Opinion Poll below. Plus we are pleased to bring you the releases of the past week and a list of 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) |
Kubuntu 24.10
Another October has arrived and, with it, the second Ubuntu release season of the year, where Ubuntu - along with its many community editions and various related projects - publish new versions. It has been a while since I took a solid look at Kubuntu, one of the more popular flavours in the line of community editions, and I wanted to try out some of its new features. More specifically, I wanted to try the KDE Plasma 6.1 desktop environment.
Kubuntu presented a short list of new features for the 24.10 release, which will receive just nine months of updates and support. The project's announcement mentions Kubuntu now ships with version 6.11 of the Linux kernel and uses Plasma 6.1 as the desktop. We're also told Plasma now defaults to using a Wayland session with an X11 session still available as a fallback option. Otherwise, this seems to be a tame release with few big changes - the updated Plasma desktop was the sole focus for Kubuntu 24.10.
Kubuntu is available for computers running 64-bit x86 (x86_64) processors and its ISO file is approximately 4.4GB in size. Booting from the provided media brings up a graphical environment. A window opens and asks us to select our language from a drop-down list. We are also asked to pick a local network to connect to (either a wired network, if applicable, or a detected wireless network). We can then click a button labelled Try to launch the live Plasma desktop or a button labelled Install to begin the install process.
Selecting the Try option brings up the Plasma desktop. A dark panel is positioned across the bottom of the screen. This thick panel holds the application menu, quick-launch buttons, and a system tray. A single icon sits on the desktop and clicking it will launch the distribution's system installer.
Kubuntu 24.10 -- The welcome window
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Once the desktop loads a welcome window appears. This window offers to give us a quick tour of the Plasma desktop and its key elements. It also provides an overview of some important features, such as KDE Connect, the settings panel, and KDE's Vaults for securely storing files. The next page offers to launch the Discover software centre to help us install new applications. After that we're asked if we'd like to enable telemetry to send to the KDE team. By default sending data is turned off and, if we enable it, there is a slider we can move to select which types of data to send. This is a pretty good arrangement, I think, as it protects privacy by default while allowing testers to enable feedback, up to a point.
Installing
Kubuntu uses the Calamares system installer which provides a pleasant, streamlined experience. We're guided through graphical screens where we are asked to pick our language and timezone. We're asked if we'd like to install a Full, Normal, or Minimal set of desktop applications. We can also select from three add-on packages: a virtual machine manager, the Krita drawing application, and the Element Matrix client. This is an odd and small collection and I'm not sure why these three specific Snap packages were chosen as options. During one of my trials I decided to try installing Krita and its Snap was set up successfully for me.
When it comes to disk partitioning, Kubuntu provides a friendly, manual partitioning screen. We can also take a guided approach where we just choose our root filesystem (ext4, Btrfs, or XFS) and whether to enable a swap file. The alternative to having a swap file is to have no swap space, there is no swap partition option unless we manually partition the disk.
Calamares wraps up by asking us to make up a username and password for ourselves and then copies Kubuntu's files to the local disk. The install proceeded quickly and finished within five minutes.
Early impressions
My new copy of Kubuntu booted to a graphical login screen where I could sign into a Wayland session (which is the default) or an X11 session. I mostly stayed with the Wayland session during my trial and found it operated well. This was, in fact, one of the smoother experiences I've had with Wayland to date and it might be the first time I couldn't tell I was running a Wayland session. Usually I experience crashes, odd inconsistencies, problems with the mouse pointer, or lag when running Wayland sessions on AMD and Intel video cards. This was a rare time when the Wayland session worked as well as an X11 session.
The first time I logged into my account the welcome window was displayed again, offering me the tour of Plasma along with the chance to set telemetry options and launch the software centre.
After that, using the desktop was fairly uneventful. Plasma was responsive, though not exceptionally fast, effects were minimal, and the desktop ran smoothly.
Kubuntu 24.10 -- Exploring the application menu
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Hardware
I began my trial by running Kubuntu 24.10 in a VirtualBox environment. The distribution ran smoothly in VirtualBox without any issues. The system was responsive and stable. When I tried running Kubuntu on my workstation I ran into a problem early on as the distribution failed to boot from the live media. When I switched to starting the live media in safe graphics mode, the distribution booted properly. This is the third distribution in the past few months to struggle booting unless it was run in safe mode and, from my initial comparisons, it appears to be an issue with kernels 6.10 and newer (distributions with older kernels have continued to boot fine on the same hardware), though I haven't narrowed the problem down further than that.
Once installed and running, Kubuntu worked well with my workstation. The system was stable, swift, and properly set up wireless networking and audio.
Kubuntu is on the heavier side of middle-weight when installed, taking up 8.5GB of disk space, plus half a gigabyte for a swap file. Memory consumption was a surprise, with Plasma using up 1.4GB of memory. This is about twice the amount of RAM most distributions running Plasma 5 use and quadruple what Kubuntu consumed the last time I ran it for the purposes of a review. This is a surprising rise in memory usage, especially since Plasma 6 is (in terms of daily features and appearance) indistinguishable from Plasma 5.
Applications
Kubuntu sets up an application menu with two panes. Software categories are displayed in the left pane while launchers for applications are positioned to the right. A search bar is placed across the top of the menu to help us locate items by name.
Kubuntu 24.10 -- Playing one of the small games
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I selected the "Normal" collection of software at install time which provided me with a fairly solid array of applications and an uncluttered menu. Firefox is installed for us along with the LibreOffice suite. We find the Dolphin file manager, a remote desktop client, and the Okular document viewer in the menu. The Konversation IRC client is available along with a few small games and a system monitor. The Elisa music player and the Haruna media player are installed for us along with appropriate codecs for playing media files.
In the background we find the GNU command line programs, manual pages for installed software, and the systemd init software. Version 6.11 of the Linux kernel is installed.
When trying to run programs from the command line which are not recognized, the shell will try to find a matching program in the Kubuntu repositories. If one is found the system will offer tips for installing the missing program.
At one point I was running the included GUI system monitor and noticed at least one of my CPUs was almost always running at 100% utilization. Closer investigation quickly revealed the issue was the system monitor itself which almost constantly took up all available CPU resources, for at least one core. Closing the system monitor and switching to another monitor, such as top returned the CPU to near-idle.
While I was using the Dolphin file manager I noticed video files would display previews when the mouse passed over them. I can see the benefit of this, but I found it distracting rather than useful, particularly when traversing directories containing mixed file types. This preview feature can be disabled in Dolphin's settings, though it takes some digging. Going to the Dolphin menu we need to select Configure, then Configure Dolphin, then select the Interface category, then select the Previews tab, and scroll down to the Videos file type. A bigger issue was double-clicking on a file in Dolphin did nothing. I could right-click on a file and select an option to open it from the context menu which would appear. I could also select a file and press Enter to open it, but double-clicking didn't accomplish anything. I know double-clicking could work (ie my mouse and the rest of Plasma were handling double clicking properly) as I was able double-click folders to open them, it was just files that wouldn't respond to double-clicks. This might be the first time in the 30 years I've been using GUI file managers that double-clicking a folder performed a function, but double-clicking a file didn't.
Kubuntu 24.10 -- Diving into Dolphin's settings
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I found the Elisa audio player worked for me. The Haruna player would open video files and I could hear their audio tracks, but no video was displayed. I downloaded the VLC media player and it played videos properly.
Also on the subject of audio/video issues, adjusting the audio volume makes a sharp beeping noise every time the volume is adjusted with the keyboard or mouse. This gets annoying quickly. It took longer than expected to find a way to disable it. There is no feedback control in the system tray volume widget and no toggle for it in the System Settings panel under the Notifications section. I also checked under the Sound page without any luck. I eventually found volume feedback (both audio and visual indicators) can be toggled in the System Settings panel by going to the Sound page, then selecting a 3-dot drop-down menu, then selecting Configure volume controls, and then clicking a box labelled "Play audio feedback for changes to Audio volume".
Kubuntu 24.10 -- Muting volume changing feedback
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Software management
Software is primarily handled by Discover on Kubuntu. Discover makes it easy to browse through categories of software and click on items we want. Discover shows full page information screens and we can install new packages with a click. I like that the software centre makes it possible to fetch either a Deb or a Snap package, if one is available. This is accomplished by selecting either "From Ubuntu" or "From Snap" on an application's information screen.
Discover can also handle software updates and did this smoothly during my trial.
Kubuntu 24.10 -- The Discover software centre
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Kubuntu enables Snap support out of the box and some software, such as Firefox and Krita, will be installed as Snap packages by default. I noticed in the Discover settings panel Snap support is shown as not enabled, the checkbox to toggle Snap support on/off seems to be disabled. However, Discover will download Snaps and automatically check for Snap updates.
If we prefer to use the command line, the APT and snap command line utilities are available.
Conclusions
During my trial I found myself wanting to separate my impressions of Plasma 6.1 from my views on Kubuntu. While they are naturally closely wed, I came away thinking of them as separate components.
Kubuntu, as a whole, worked quite well, especially for an interim release between LTS versions. Apart from a minor setback with my video settings early on, Kubuntu performed well in all aspects. My hardware was detected and functioned properly, the install experience was easy, the system was stable and performed fairly quickly. The Kubuntu project was mostly conservative in its approach to adopting Wayland and this has resulted in me having an above-average impression of the distribution and its Wayland session. (Too many other distributions adopted using Wayland by default quickly, often with poor results.)
With regards to Plasma 6.1, my overall impression was less positive. Yes, it is stable and fairly responsive, but the experience is unpolished in a number of areas. Admittedly I got off to a good start with Plasma - I liked the welcome screen, the soft light theme, and the simple tour. I liked Discover as the software centre too, it was quick and proved to be a solid software manager.
What bothered me creeped in with a dozen little annoyances over a period of several days. It was the little things you don't notice at first, but which start to bother a person after a while. The loud beeping when changing volume levels, the buggy handling of files in Dolphin, and the way the application menu's transparency made it harder to read launcher names leap to mind. For the past 20 years I've been praising how flexible Plasma is and its multitude of options, but I spent so much time wading through the System Settings panel in this trial to disable or fix minor issues that I think I spent more time searching for things to turn off than I did checking e-mail some days.
Kubuntu 24.10 -- The System Settings utility
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It doesn't help, in my opinion, that Plasma has become so huge in recent years. Five years ago Plasma 5 required about 400MB to 500MB of memory. Plasma 5 eventually grew to around 700MB on some distributions. Now Plasma 6, which looks and acts virtually identical to Plasma 5 and offers the same features, is over 1,400MB. This seems like a pretty big ballooning of resource consumption without benefiting the user. And, on that topic, releasing a system monitor which red-lines a CPU seems like an ironic joke.
One of the challenges in reviewing a distribution is people often ask for a simple recommendation or thumb-up/thumb-down summary. People want to know if a distribution is good or bad. Kubuntu is a complex mixture of some features which work really well along with a desktop that feels bloated and annoying, but the desktop is also stable and with an unusually polished Wayland session.
Usually, at this point, I'd say something like "If you are already a fan of KDE Plasma then you will be happy to know Kubuntu is one of the purest Plasma experiences and it is backed by Ubuntu's vast software repositories and strong hardware support." However, that doesn't feel true. I've been a big fan of KDE for 24 years, even the questionable KDE4 releases where things were more intriguing from the design possibilities than for the overall experience. But Plasma 6.1 broke my fandom. Maybe people who want to tweak and configure in depth will appreciate what Plasma 6 has to offer, but for me it was just too much - too many features enabled, too may bugs, too resource hungry, and too many options buried too deep.
Technically speaking, Kubuntu is a fine distribution with a lot to offer. It's just a shame it's saddled with this overly complex and overly noisy desktop environment.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a Lenovo desktop with the following specifications:
- Processor: Hex-core Intel i5-10400 CPU @ 2.90GHz
- Storage: Western Digital 1TB hard drive
- Memory: 8GB of RAM
- Networking: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 wired network card, Realtek RTL8822CE 802.11ac PCIe wireless adapter
- Display: Intel CometLake-S GT2
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Visitor supplied rating
Kubuntu has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.3/10 from 110 review(s).
Have you used Kubuntu? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to get option to run GNU/Linux applications
Niko Tyni has announced that the Debian project has started adoption of Perl 5.40 packages. These new Perl packages will start out in Debian's Unstable branch before making their way into Debian's Testing branch and, probably next year, into the next release of Debian. Tyni writes: "I have uploaded Perl 5.40.0 to Debian Unstable, starting a 600+ package transition. Wide uninstallability is to be expected in Sid for the next few days until the necessary rebuilds have been completed. Please avoid unnecessary uploads of affected packages until the transition is over and Perl has migrated to Testing. There is no need to submit bug reports about the uninstallability of related packages during this transition. Information on Perl's 5.40 release, along with new features in the language, can be found in this overview.
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The UBports team has been working towards supporting VoLTE which is now required for devices working on some cellular networks. "VoLTE: In GitLab we made some changes to Qualcomm device audio pass-through so that audio calls will work. Work has been done to the ofono plugin and one of its dependencies, OfonoXMTK. It benefits all newer Android devices but with Mediatek devices it implements VoLTE! Notkit and others have been very busy with this. Volla Phone X23 in particular. A tweak in the indicators now flags when VoLTE is live. There will soon be a switch to turn VoLTE on and off." Coverage of additional work happening in the UBports project can be found in the distribution's newsletter.
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The next major version of Android, Android 16, is likely to provide a new feature for fans of GNU/Linux. According to Notebook Check, future versions of Android will ship with a terminal application where GNU/Linux packages can be installed and run. "The new Terminal app will allow running a full Linux distro in a VM and interfaces with it via a local IP address to pass Linux commands from the Android host. Currently, the Terminal app requires you to manually provision a Debian image and create a vm_config.json file. However, Rahman expects that the shipping version will make things much easier for users by including a LinuxInstaller app that does this automatically. Google apparently also has plans to make this currently bare bones Terminal app into a full-featured one by adding features such as the ability to resize disks, port forwarding, and partition recovery." The news story has additional details and speculation on future plans for the Android terminal.
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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) |
Atomic systems vs immutable distributions
Unmoved-and-unmoving asks: What is an atomic distro and how does it differ from an immutable distro? Is it possible to be both?
DistroWatch answers: A distribution which is said to be atomic, or which is offering atomic package operations, is claiming to always be in complete state.
Traditionally, one of the challenges to working with packages (and package managers) is dealing with unexpected situations where the system fails halfway through an operation. Imagine you're in the middle of installing some updates to the core system when, suddenly, the power goes out. Some files on your drive would then still be the old versions while some are the new versions, and they might not all work properly together. Or maybe, due to the power outage, some files were only half written to the disk and are now worthless. When you turn your computer back on, your system may not work properly. It might not even boot.
Atomic operations seek to fix this problem, guaranteeing that the system is either entirely running its old copy of a package or the new copy of a package, and it is never halfway between states. This means, unless there is something wrong with the update itself, the system should always be in a condition where it can be considered whole and bootable.
There are a number of ways to achieve atomic operations. Filesystem snapshots are one way, making sure we always have a good, bootable copy of the operating system in a snapshot before the update begins. openSUSE and FreeBSD take this approach. Another way is to install new packages inside a separate directory from the old packages and then use symbolic links to point to the "active" or latest version of a package. The NixOS project does this. There are other ways, but these are two of the more straightforward approaches.
Basically, when you hear the term "atomic" it means the packages on a system should always be whole, always in a situation where they are at version A or version B, but never in a halfway state where they could be a bit of both.
An immutable distribution is quite different. An immutable distribution (otherwise known as a distribution with an immutable filesystem) is one where the core of the operating system is read-only. Typically, core programs, libraries, and low-level configuration are stored on a filesystem which is read-only. In other words, regular users and (in many situations) the root user are unable to make changes to the core operating system.
On an immutable distribution users and system services can create files and install packages only in either their home directories or in the /var directory. Other locations, such as /etc and /usr, are off limits and cannot be altered.
Immutable distributions usually make use of portable packages, such as Snap and Flatpak, to provide applications since they are typically installed under the user's home directory or under /var. Classic packages, which are typically stored under /usr, are usually not available to users of immutable distributions. Updates to the underlying operating system usually involve downloading new packages (or an image of the core operating system) and then rebooting to put the new versions in place.
With an immutable distribution the idea is to prevent users, even the root user, from changing the configuration of the core operating system or damaging any files needed to keep the system running. All applications, containers, and user files are essentially a "layer" on top of the unchanging core. This not only prevents accidental damage to the running distribution, it also makes it harder for classic viruses and rootkits to install themselves in key areas of the filesystem. An unchanging core system is, ideally, also easier to test and distribute because every customer or end-user should end up running the same operating system - just with their own data on top of it.
While immutable distributions and atomic distributions are not the same thing and the concepts can (and do) exist separately, they can also be wedded together. On the atomic side of things, NixOS has atomic package management, but it is not immutable; its root filesystem is open for writing. Fedora, on the other hand, has a series of atomic editions and sections of the filesystems of these atomic editions are immutable.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Clonezilla Live 3.2.0-5
Clonezilla Live is a Debian-based live environment for cloning and restoring disks and partitions. The project's latest release is Clonezilla Live 3.2.0-5 which updates the Debian base and drops support for ReiserFS utilities. "The underlying GNU/Linux operating system has been upgraded, this release is based on the Debian 'Sid' repository as of 2024-07-15; the Linux kernel has updated to 6.11.2; removed wireless-tools from live system since it's not available in package repository; the iw package should have same function and it is already included in live system; the reiser4progs package was removed from live system; ocs-scan-disk - use lsblk so the code is neater; the block device with file system (e.g. sda with the NTFS file system) can be correctly shown now; merged zstd and zstdmt, use 'zstd -T0' by default; some extra_zstdmt_* variables are dropped, including extra_zstdmt_opt, extra_zstdmt_dc_opt, extra_zstdmt_opt_onthefly and extra_zstdmt_dc_opt_onthefly; it will be easier for user to customize that using boot parameters; now only available variables for zstd are extra_zstd_opt, extra_zstd_dc_opt, extra_zstd_opt_onthefly and extra_zstd_dc_opt_onthefly." The list of changes and bug fixes can be found in the release announcement.
Solus 4.6
Solus is an independent, rolling release distribution which uses Budgie as its default desktop environment. The project has published a new snapshot, Solus 4.6, which makes changes to the multimedia applications and includes a merged /usr directory. "All our editions feature: Firefox 131.0.3, LibreOffice 24.2.5.2, Thunderbird 128.3.1. For audio and video multimedia playback, we offer software out-of-the-box that caters specifically to our desired experience for each edition. Budgie and GNOME editions ship with Rhythmbox for audio playback, with the latest release of the Alternate Toolbar extension to provide a more modern user experience. Budgie and GNOME ship with Celluloid for video playback. Xfce ships with Parole for multimedia playback. Plasma ships with Elisa for audio playback and Haruna for video playback. Over the summer, the Solus team has been tackling the Usr-Merge conundrum; read Evan's excellent blog post for the full story. We have now reached the end of Stage 3 on our rollout plan: All users with an updated system now have a Usr-Merge'd system. Any users that create a fresh installation with today's ISOs will also have a merged system." Additional information is provided in the project's release announcement.
Voyager Live 24.10
Rodolphe Bachelart has announced the release of Voyager Live 24.10, the latest release of the project's Ubuntu-based desktop Linux distribution that combines GNOME and Xfce into one unified desktop user interface. It is based on Ubuntu 24.10 and ships with the Linux kernel 6.11. "I present to you Voyager 24.10 in final version. A 2-in-1 variant with GNOME and Xfce desktops unified in a single distribution. All completely redesigned in a colorful style, the GNOME 47 desktop coupled with the Xfce 4.19 desktop. In summary, two unified systems, GNOME and Xfce, light, fast, modern, fluid, secure and efficient in a hybrid environment for PC and tablet. The two desktops are very distinct and their respective applications are mostly invisible, in one or the other environment. Once installed, you can also completely remove GNOME or Xfce, or re-install. This version is based on the Linux 6.11 kernel and the Ubuntu 24.10 distribution 'Oracular Oriole'. Voyager 24.10 is built around the official Ubuntu repositories and structures to avoid any security issues and confusion." See the complete release announcement for further information and screenshots.
Voyager Live 24.10 -- Exploring the application menu
(full image size: 385kB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
Murena 2.4
The Murena team have announced the launch of /e/OS 2.4 which introduces a number of improvements for cameras and updates to the mobile operating system's privacy features. "This release also brings a number of useful updates. The Account Manager is now updatable via the App Lounge, which itself can now auto-update for your convenience. Additionally, we've moved the browser's ad-blocking filter to GitLab, ensuring continuous protection as the previous domain was about to expire. Our browser's ad-blocker is now hosted on GitLab, and you can easily import multi-event ICS files into the calendar. Fairphone 4 and 5 users will enjoy full functionality of the default camera app, and the UX on Murena Two's privacy switch has been improved. Updates include LineageOS bug fixes, faster Fairphone 5 charging, smoother launcher transitions, and improved parental controls. Plus, this release includes Android security patches as of September 2024." The release announcement and release notes offer additional information. Download and purchase options can be found on the get /e/OS page and the project's documentation provides a list of supported devices.
PorteuX 1.7
PorteuX is a portable Linux distro based on Slackware, inspired by Slax and Porteus. The project's latest release, version 1.7, introduces several fixes and updates most of the supported desktop environments. "Many optimizations, fixes and updates have been made, resulting in a very exciting and, hopefully, fast and stable system for everyone. Fixed run-pipewire and gui-cheatcode-loader scripts to avoid running in the background indefinitely. Fixed LXDE error/freezing when dragging a file from Engrampa over the file manager side panel. Fixed Xfce 4.18 'sticky keys' notification issue. Improved kernel config file to remove debug and other optimizations to reduce size without sacrificing performance. Improved GCC/Clang flags to use LTO when it's possible. Improved stripping in GNOME current -- localsearch binaries have been removed due to random full load. Improved rc.6, rc.M, rc.S and rc.services to be simpler and a bit faster. Improved xzm converter scripts to include -o [path] syntax, among some other minor improvements. Improved stripping in all base modules -- smallest 001-core of all time! Improved run-pipewire script to avoid executing pipewire if it's already running." A complete list of changes can be found in the project's release notes.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 3,095
- Total data uploaded: 45.6TB
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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) |
Atomic or immutable?
In our Questions and Answers column this week we talked about the differences between immutable distributions and atomic operations. While these concepts are relatively new in the Linux community, a handful of distributions are working to make their systems atomic, immutable, or both. Is your distribution embracing one of these concepts?
You can see the results of our previous poll on sharing files between computers in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Is your main distro atomic or immutable?
| Atomic: | 185 (9%) |
| Immutable: | 82 (4%) |
| Both: | 63 (3%) |
| Neither: | 1710 (84%) |
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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, 28 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 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 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Linare Linux
Linare Linux was a desktop-oriented, commercial Linux distribution based on Fedora Core technology. Features of Linare Linux include a full office suite compatible with Microsoft Office, which includes word processing, spreadsheet, drawing and presentation software. It also comes with a full Internet suite, bundled with a GAIM messenger that can be used with Yahoo, MSN, AOL and ICQ protocols. Linare Linux includes Mozilla mail software, the increasingly popular Outlook-styled email program, and the Mozilla Internet browser.
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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