 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1127, 23 June 2025 |
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Welcome to this year's 25th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
In about five months one of the most commonly used desktop operating systems in the world, Windows 10, will reach the end of its supported life. When that happens many Windows users will be faced with the choice of running an unsupported operating system, buying a new computer, or migrating to another operating system. Many in the Linux community are hoping a significant number of people choose the third option and are presenting options for soon-to-be-former Windows users. This week we begin with a look at LastOSLinux, a Mint-based distribution which strives to be an easy path from Windows 10 to Linux. While projects in the Linux Mint and Ubuntu family are often seen as mainstream and easy to adopt, some people like Linux distributions which are more exotic. In our Questions and Answers section we talk about unusual distributions that are outside the mainstream and what makes them unique. Do you prefer mainstream or strange Linux distributions? Let us know which way you lean in this week's Opinion Poll. Then, in our News section, we talk about the Haiku operating system stabilising as more applications are ported to the lightweight platform. We also talk about KDE's latest release of the Plasma desktop which introduces new accessibility features as Arch splits Plasma's session options into separate packages. Some key Slackware infrastructure has been coming under heavy traffic and those services are migrating to a new home. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
- Review: LastOSLinux 2025-05-25
- News: Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch offers separate Kwin packages for Wayland and X11, Slackware community infrastructure migrating
- Questions and answers: Unusual and unique Linux distributions
- Released last week: MODICIA O.S. 6.12.30, Exton Linux 250621 "OpSuS"
- Torrent corner: KDE neon, TUXEDO OS
- Opinion poll: Do you prefer unusual or mainstream distributions?
- New additions: Alien-OS, Escuelas Linux, EterTICs GNU/Linux, GXDE OS, HeliumOS, Linux Kamarada, TROMjaro
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25
LastOSLinux is a Linux Mint-based distribution with the goal of being a user-friendly alternative to Windows. It is designed for current Windows users wishing to migrate to Linux, with a Windows-like user interface and tools. The distribution uses the Cinnamon desktop and it also includes the WINE software which is able to run some Windows applications on Linux.
LastOSLinux (which I will usually refer to simply as LastOS) is available in a single edition for x86_64 computers. The ISO provided by the project is 3.8GB in size. Booting from the ISO brings up a menu asking if we'd like to boot into an operating system on the hard drive, launch into install mode, start a "safe graphics" mode, or enter text mode. I found the option to boot into an installed operating system on the local disk actually booted into the distribution's live desktop environment. In other words, the "install mode" option and the "boot from hard disk" option do the same thing.
The live session boots into the Cinnamon desktop. The wallpaper is dark blue and purple and it features a logo which looks like a yin-yang symbol inside the Windows logo. A Conky status panel is located in the upper-right corner of the desktop and Cinnamon's panel is placed at the bottom of the screen. On the desktop we find icons for opening the file manager, running the system installer, and opening the distribution's ReadMe file.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- Exploring the application menu
(full image size: 1.4MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The ReadMe file states that the latest version of LastOS is based on Linux Mint 22.1 which is, in turn, based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. The ReadMe file covers quite a bit of information, such as what the project is, its mission statement, and some tips for installing the distribution. The text also covers some key features which set it apart from Linux Mint, such as a dark theme, windows which open in the centre of the desktop, shipping with WINE installed, and the use of some custom applications. I will talk more about these custom programs later in the review.
While using the live session my laptop's fan kept revving up. Looking at the process monitor I found the Conky status panel was absolutely killing one of my CPU cores, keeping it pegged near 100%. Terminating the Conky process dropped CPU usage back down to nearly idle. This issue only happened while running the live session, once LastOS was installed on my local drive the Conky panel used almost no CPU resources.
Installing
Installing LastOS is pleasantly straight forward. The distribution places a launcher for the Calamares system installer on the desktop. Launching it walks us through picking our keyboard, language, timezone, and making up our username and password. We have the option of using friendly, point-and-click disk partitioning or guided partitioning. The guided approach allows us to pick our preferred filesystem (ext4 is the default, with Btrfs, XFS, and F2FS offered as alternatives). We can also chose to have a swap file or no swap space.
My only issue with the installer was, on its first screen, there were buttons for accessing known issues, seeing the release notes, sending donations to the project, and accessing community support. None of these four buttons did anything when they were clicked.
Apart from the inactive buttons, Calamares worked well and quite quickly, setting up the new distribution in under five minutes.
First impressions
My new copy of LastOS booted to a graphical login screen with a blue, digital mountain in the background. The distribution provides three session options: Cinnamon on X11, Cinnamon on X11 with software rendering (for systems without suitable video cards to run the desktop), and Cinnamon on Wayland. The last of the three is marked as experimental.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The greeter window
(full image size: 1.2MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The first time I signed into Cinnamon an application called LastOSLinux Settings opened. This application provides an eclectic group of options for adjusting our account, a few system settings, and the panel layout. We can change our user name, the computer's hostname, our theme, and our password. We can also change the location of the desktop panel to one of the four edges of the screen.
The Settings application also provided links to other resources. For example, one button opens Chrome to display on-line documentation in a Google Doc file. This documentation covers a lot of ground, including steps for installing the distribution, working with some of the distribution's features, and it has accompanying screenshots to match the directions. The Settings window also has a button which opens the Linux Mint welcome window. The Linux Mint utility guides us through initial setup steps (such as creating Btrfs snapshots, applying updates, and enabling a firewall). The Mint greeter also provides access to documentation and community support resources.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The Mint welcome window
(full image size: 1.0MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Two new icons had been placed on my desktop since installing the distribution. One was called LL Launcher and the other LL Store. I will talk about these applications later in the review.
Once these welcome windows had been dismissed I found myself using a fairly responsive Cinnamon desktop. The default theme is dark (apart from a white mouse pointer) and I liked the colourful icon theme.
Hardware
In terms of hardware compatibility, I had no complaints while using LastOS. The distribution worked well in VirtualBox and was pleasantly responsive in the virtual machine. When running on my laptop the operating system was quick to respond. My wireless networking worked, as did audio, my touchpad, and media shortcut keys. The experience was quite seamless.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The Cinnamon settings panel
(full image size: 1.1MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
LastOS uses more disk space than average, about 12.5GB (plus a swap file if we enable one). The distribution is also on the heavy side of RAM usage, taking up about 940MB when signed into Cinnamon.
Included software
LastOS's large size goes hand-in-hand the distribution's full application menu. The menu is virtually bursting with applications across most categories. The Chrome web browser is included along with the Thunderbird e-mail client, the Transmission bittorrent client, and LibreOffice.
There is a calendar application, a document viewer, an image viewer, and a launcher for installing Valve's Steam gaming portal. There is a program called Library which keeps track of recently opened documents and documents we have marked as favourites. The Library application is accompanied by a system tray icon which, when clicked, gives us quick access to documents we have marked as favourites.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- Marking a favourite document in the Library application
(full image size: 750kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The distribution ships with the Celluloid video player, the Hypnotix on-line television application, and the Rhythmbox audio player. These programs benefit from a full range of media codecs. There is an application called NoiseTorch which seems to relate to PipeWire, but after a few minutes of exploring the application I could not figure out what it does. I looked it up and, apparently, NoiseTorch is designed to act as a virtual microphone which filters out background noise from your environment.
There is a firewall configuration tool (Gufw), a password and security keys manager, and the Nemo file manager included in the distribution. There are several small configuration tools for working with Cinnamon. These tools can be accessed individually from the application menu or as a group through the Cinnamon settings panel.
Digging deeper we find the GNU command line utilities, the GNU Compiler Collection, and manual pages for most programs. WINE 9.0 is included to help us run Windows applications. The systemd software is included and version 6.8 of the Linux kernel runs in the background.
Software management
When software updates become available a red dot appears on the update icon in the system tray. Clicking on the icon opens the update manager. The first time I opened the update manager application it started checking for updates and never finished; it locked up. Later, after a reboot, I opened the update manager again and it showed me a list of available updates. There were 27 available and 25 downloaded when I tried to fetch the new packages, but the remaining two stalled. I tried again and, once more, the update manager failed to download the remaining two updates and locked its interface.
I had the same result when I tried using the APT command line tool for package management. I looked into this problem and found LastOS had set my package mirrors to be in Australia, on the far side of the world. I switched my mirrors to nearby ones in Canada and, from then on, APT and the update manager worked smoothly.
Along with the command line APT tool for managing classic Deb packages, there is also a Flatpak command line utility which pulls in software from the Flathub repository.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The Mint Install software centre
(full image size: 1,010kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
LastOS ships with Mint Install, a modern software centre which unifies working with Flatpak and Deb packages. When both types of packages are available for an application, the software centre appears to give preference to the Deb package. Whenever I searched for applications I knew were in Flathub and in the Mint repositories the software centre always returned results for the Deb package.
LastOSLinux features
The LastOSLinux distribution ships with a collection of custom applications. I'd like to touch upon them briefly as they are a big part of what sets LastOS apart from Linux Mint.
Let's start with LL Launcher, since it was the first one I tried. The documentation says LL Launcher is for running applications the author has curated. When we open the application we see, on the left side of the window, four categories: All, Favourites, Linux, and Windows. On the right side we see artwork inspired by Super Mario games. There aren't any applications or entries in any of the categories. There wasn't any clear way to add items to any of the categories. I decided to close the Launcher program and see if I could find items to add through another LastOS tool.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- LL Launcher
(full image size: 1.8MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The LL Store application has a similar layout to LL Launcher. On the left side of its window we find a list of software categories (audio, multimedia, games, and so on). To the right of the categories we can see names of specific applications and games. These are displayed in a variety of colours. On the right side of the screen we see an explanation that the colours represent the type of software, indicating whether we are looking at a program built for Windows or Linux. Further down the right side of the window we see a short description of whichever program is currently selected.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- LL Store
(full image size: 1.7MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
We can select a program and click a button to fetch it. This usually results in a terminal window opening and some text related to a package manager being displayed. Then the terminal window closes and we are returned to the LL Store without any indication of whether the package was successfully installed.
I used LL Store to install a handful of programs, a few games and a few applications. It is a little on the slow side and would benefit from a search function so we do not need to browse multiple categories looking for a specific piece of software. I also found the text in the summary area was small compared to the font in other applications.
Some items I installed showed up later in the LL Launcher application (as I had hoped), but not all do. For example, I installed the game Garden Defence, which showed up in LL Launcher and in Cinnamon's application menu. However, when I installed the Brave browser it did not show up in either location. (I did confirm Brave had been successfully installed as a Flatpak and could be run, its launcher just didn't show up anywhere.) I also installed the Windows application Notepad++ and it did appear in the application menu, but not in the LL Launcher application. In short: what gets added to the LL Launcher and what gets added to the application menu when we use LL Store seems to be random and unreliable.
I opened the LL Editor application and explored its multiple tabs for a few minutes, but couldn't make heads or tails of what it was meant to do. The documentation in the ReadMe file simple says: "LL Editor - This tool can create new App and Game packages to include in the LL Store." The documentation does not explain how it does that, why it is needed, or how to publish items to the store. It seems to be an application intended for internal project use rather than something for end users.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- LL Editor
(full image size: 1.1MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Earlier I mentioned another distro-specific tool, the greeter, which is called LastOSLinux Settings. I talked about its features before and this tool worked well for giving me access to more resources and moving the desktop panel around the screen.
Conclusions
When I first read about the LastOSLinux and its mission to essentially be a spin of Linux Mint for people migrating from Windows, I was a bit sceptical. Linux Mint is already a capable desktop distribution which is geared toward beginners and is configured in a way to make the transition from Windows to Linux fairly painless. Over the past 15 years I've handed Linux novices laptops with Linux Mint installed and they've generally found the transition to be a smooth one. I was curious if LastOS could improve on the situation at all and, if so, how it could clear Linux Mint's high bar for ease of use and consistent quality.
I will say that LastOS's first impressions were good. The distribution has a nice theme, it uses the friendly Calamares installer, and it worked well with my hardware. Once installed, I found LastOS ships with lots of software people moving from Windows will probably appreciate. WINE is included, there is an office suite, the popular-on-windows Chrome browser is installed for us, and there is an installer for Steam in the application menu. All of these things seem likely to appeal to Windows refugees.
There were some issues during my trial, most of them relating to installing and launching new applications. For example, having the package mirrors default to a specific server on the far side of the world was a problem - both in terms of speed and package synchronization. Using a CDN or picking a mirror at install time would have worked out better. Not having the update manager work on my first day was certainly a problem and not one that a new Linux user would likely to be able to fix on their own.
The LL Store application technically worked, but it is harder to navigate that Mint Install and provides less information while presenting a less flexible experience. I feel as though the developer could have made a better experience by creating their own repository of Deb packages and enabling it in Mint's software centre and it would have made for a better, smoother experience. Adding yet another package manager, one which doesn't look or act like most other software centres, is likely to confuse people. Likewise, LL Launcher sometimes displayed launchers for new applications, but only ones from LL Store and then only sometimes. Having yet another place from which to launch programs and one which isn't reliable is, again, just going to confuse people.
In other words, when LastOSLinux is just tweaking and polishing Linux Mint (setting up a dark theme, adding a welcome window, extending WINE support, and providing documentation) it does very well. These were all welcome adjustments to what I consider a great distribution. Where LastOS struggles is with its own, custom applications. They are new and awkward to use at this stage. They are not well explained yet in the documentation and not reliable. LastOS feels like a project which started as a good customization of Linux Mint, but then got too ambitious and overextended itself. (Or took on too many new features before they were polished.) It's a good early effort, but the problems introduced by LastOS outweigh the benefits the distribution provides over its parent.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was an HP DY2048CA laptop with the following
specifications:
- Processor: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz
- Display: Intel integrated video
- Storage: Western Digital 512GB solid state drive
- Memory: 8GB of RAM
- Wireless network device: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 + BT Wireless network card
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Visitor supplied rating
LastOSLinux has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.6/10 from 9 review(s).
Have you used LastOSLinux? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch offers separate Kwin packages for Wayland and X11, Slackware community infrastructure migrating
The Haiku project has published its monthly newsletter for May which contains updates and fixes introduced into Haiku's code. Along with navigation improvements to the software centre and enabling the remote desktop tool to reuse ports (reducing wait times), the project's newsletter mentions a milestone in development. "This month was a bit lighter than usual, it seems most of the developers (myself included) were busy with other things. However, HaikuPorts remained quite active: most months, at this point, there are more commits to HaikuPorts than Haiku, and sometimes by a significant margin, too (for May, it was 52 in Haiku vs. 258 in HaikuPorts!). I think overall this is a sign of Haiku's growing maturity: the system seems stable enough that the porters can do their work without uncovering too many bugs in Haiku that interrupt or halt their progress." This suggests the Haiku operating system is reaching maturity, resulting in developers spending more time porting open source software to its platform.
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The KDE project has announced the release of the Plasma 6.4 desktop. The new desktop improves virtual desktop management, improves contrast for the desktop's dark theme, and introduces new accessibility features. "Accessibility is a top priority for KDE. This work is endless, but we make improvements in every new Plasma release! The Wayland session in Plasma 6.4 brings some new accessibility features: you can now move the pointer using your keyboard's number pad keys, or use a three-finger touchpad pinch gesture to zoom in or out. In addition, a great deal of subtle but important work has been done throughout Plasma to improve keyboard navigation, screen reader usability, and text readability." A long list of new features and improvements are provided in the desktop's release announcement.
In recent weeks we have mentioned the GNOME desktop is dropping support for its X11 session and future versions of GNOME (probably from version 50 onwards) will offer Wayland only. As a result, some distributions, such as Fedora and Ubuntu will not be shipping GNOME with X11 support. What are KDE's plans for Plasma's X11 session? According to one KDE developer, the project plans to keep their X11 session for the foreseeable future: "SteamOS 3.7 was released with Plasma 6 and the X11 session [is] still used by default! Interestingly, since then the Wayland trendline has continued to tick up; a month ago the percentage of Wayland users dropped from 82% to 70%, and now today it's up to 73%. So you can see that to a large extent, this is up to distros, not us. It wouldn't make sense for us to get rid of Plasma's X11 support while there are still major distros shipping it by default, and likewise, it won't make sense for us to keep it around long after those distros have moved away from it."
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The Arch Linux team has posted an advisory letting people who use the KDE Plasma desktop know of an important change. "On Plasma 6.4 the Wayland session will be the only one installed when the user does not manually specify kwin-x11. With the recent split of Kwin into kwin-wayland and kwin-x11, users running the old X11 session need to manually install plasma-x11-session, or they will not be able to login. Currently pacman is not able to figure out your personal setup, and it wouldn't be ok to install plasma-x11-session and kwin-x11 for everyone using Plasma."
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The Slackware Linux project tends to chug along, without drama, relatively unnoticed in the larger Linux community. However, some Slackware-related servers have attracted notice, particularly from AI bots and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Eric Hameleers is working to move the struggling infrastructure to new servers. "I aim to actually switch the various domains and hostnames to their new IP addresses somewhere in the next week. Expect a (hopefully) short downtime for the services mentioned above. If you get 'file not found' errors or web sites go missing, just be patient and wait half an hour. If things take a concerning turn, leave your comments below this article and point me to the things that broke without me seeing it." Details on the issue and migration are covered in Hameleers' blog post.
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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) |
Unusual and unique Linux distributions
Looking-for-something-special asks: What, in your opinion, is the most unique Linux distro?
DistroWatch answers: I suppose which distribution is the most unusual or unique would depend on our criteria. In other words, which aspects of the distribution are we looking at to determine whether it offers something unique or special?
For example, if we are looking specifically at distributions which ship with rarely used components (for example, Busybox over GNU coreutils, doas over sudo, Clang over GCC, or runit over systemd) then I suspect our quest for uniqueness would take us in the direction of projects such as Void or Chimera Linux. Void offers runit for init, its own custom package manager (XBPS), and offers builds with the musl C library. That makes Void a highly unusual Linux distribution. Chimera Linux likewise takes the "road less travelled" by shipping with BSD userland components, Clang for the compiler, Dinit for service management, and APK for package management. Alpine Linux, in its efforts to be lightweight, makes some unusual choices too. Alpine ships with Busybox for its userland, musl for its C library, and APK for package management.
All three use rarely-seen package managers, libraries, and init software. On a package-by-package comparison with other Linux distributions, these ones are probably among the more unique. However, the results we get from running the aforementioned distributions, especially Chimera Linux and Void, are quite similar to running GNU/Linux projects with commonly used packages. From a day-to-day practical standpoint, running Void doesn't look all that different from running Xubuntu or openSUSE. If I squint and don't look at the manual pages, using Chimera Linux doesn't feel all that different from using EndeavourOS in most daily tasks.
If we want to look at projects where the feeling of running the distribution is unique then we should look at the experience, rather than looking at the components. Projects which feel different to use tend to be the smaller distributions focused on minimalism and live desktop experiences. Tiny Core Linux comes to mind, with its minimal window manager, add-on modules loaded into memory, and near-instant boot times. The Puppy Linux family, particularly EasyOS, also comes to mind. The Puppy family is focused on being small, fast, and portable. It also tends to ship with an unusual collection of configuration tools, but the base systems are made from components borrowed from other, mainstream distributions. EasyOS is experimental and does some great work with containers, making isolated environments an easy, point-and-click experience. The GoboLinux project also comes to mind since it organizes its filesystem entirely differently and doesn't need to use a package manager to remove old software.
Finally, I think if we are going to talk about unique distributions we should give a nod to projects which use normal components, but are highly customized (usually by the user). This means, despite providing most of the same tools as other mainstream distributions, these projects often end up configured differently for each person. These distributions are akin to Lego blocks - each person can start with the same collection of blocks, but build something specific to themselves.
The NixOS distribution, with its custom system manager and scripted configuration, comes to mind. With NixOS it is possible to have wildly different components and configurations just by changing a few lines in the Nix system manager file. On the surface, NixOS just looks like another desktop distribution running Plasma or GNOME, but a few minor tweaks can result in something very different.
Likewise, "build it yourself" distributions, such as Arch Linux and Gentoo, are famous for letting users pick their own components at install time. Even if you gave six different people the Arch install documentation and they all followed it exactly, you could end up with six different experiences with different desktops and applications when those people were finished setting up their systems. I think these projects can be thought of as unique because, even though they package most of the same mainstream software (systemd, GNU compiler, GNU command line utilities, and mainstream desktops) as other distributions, what each user will produce during the install process can be entirely different.
Those are my picks for unique or special distributions. What is the most unusual or unique experience you have had with a Linux distribution? Let us know in the comments.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
MODICIA O.S. 6.12.30
Marco M. Mariani has announced the release of an updated version of MODICIA O.S., a Linux multimedia distribution designed primarily for musicians, graphic designers and video makers. It is based on Debian's "stable" branch and uses the Cinnamon desktop. This version updates the Linux kernel to the latest long-term supported build, version 6.12.30: "We're thrilled to announce a significant update for MODICIA O.S. Professional 6.12.30 This release is packed with enhancements and optimizations to give you an even smoother, more secure and higher-performing user experience. This update introduces substantial under-the-hood changes and careful refinements, all designed to ensure you have the best possible experience. What's new in this update? Updated to the latest stable kernel - we've integrated the brand-new Linux kernel 6.12.30. This means improved hardware compatibility, better performance, and enhanced security for your system. We've updated key system components to guarantee maximum security and stability. Some of the most relevant updates include: ca-certificates, gir1.2-udisks-2.0, Google Chrome...." Continue to the release announcement for a complete list of changes and upgrade instructions.
Exton Linux 250621 "OpSuS"
Arne Exton has announced the availability of a new "OpSuS" edition of Exton Linux. Based on openSUSE Tumbleweed, it uses the lightweight LXQt desktop environment, which means that it can be run smoothly even on fairly old computers: "I've made a new version of EXTON OpSuS with LXQt 2.2.0 as the only desktop environment. The ISO image is therefore rather small (1,850MB), which means that you can run the system from RAM really fast even if you have only 4GB RAM. This new EXTON OpSuS build is made from 'scratch', following the 'openSUSE:Expert Installation' Wiki. Linux kernel 6.14.6 is used when running EXTON OpSuS live. When running the system from hard drive you can use openSUSE's original kernel, right now it is version 6.15.2. When the boot process is ready, you will end up at LightDM's login screen. You can log in to the LXQt desktop as user with password 'live' or as root with password 'root'. Version 250621 of EXTON OpSuS can run on really old computers. As an example I could run it on my 17-year old Acer Aspire 5102 WLMi laptop." Read the release announcement for further information.
Exton Linux 250621 "OpSuS" -- Running the LXQt desktop
(full image size: 4.1MB, resolution: 2560x1600 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: 3,228
- Total data uploaded: 47.5TB
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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) |
Do you prefer unusual or mainstream distributions?
This week's Questions and Answers column discussed unusual, unique, and customizable distribution. We would like to hear from you, whether you prefer to run mainstream, uniform distributions or something unusual. Let us know in the comments which distribution you tried which was furthermost outside the mainstream experience.
You can see the results of our previous poll on types of version labels in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Do you prefer mainstream or unusual distros?
| Mainstream: | 853 (64%) |
| Unusual: | 145 (11%) |
| Something in between: | 336 (25%) |
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| Website News |
New distributions added to database
Alien-OS
Alien-OS is a German Linux distribution based on Debian's latest "Stable" release, with components borrowed from MX Linux. It uses the Regolith Desktop Environment which combines i3 and Sway window managers into a single tiling, keyboard-driven user interface. The distribution's main features include a choice of systemd or SysV init systems, the integrated MX-Tools configuration utility, the Liquorix Linux kernel for enhanced performance in gaming and multimedia applications, over 20 pre-installed themes, and support for OEM installations.
Alien-OS 07.06.2025 -- Running the Regolith desktop
(full image size: 4205kB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
Escuelas Linux
Escuelas Linux is a complete, live operating system offering a range of educational software aimed at pupils and students, from preschools to high schools. It is based on Bodhi Linux, a Debian-based distribution with a desktop called "Moksha" (a continuation of the Enlightenment 17 window manager). Escuelas Linux provides one user account that is completely configured, with all included educational applications configured and ready for use. It also includes a "RestoreUser" function to easily restore all applications to their default settings, as well as a "ReinstateUser" functionality which can be used to clean an account by deleting all files created by a user. The distribution is available for the i386 and x86_64 computers, in Spanish and English variants.
EterTICs GNU/Linux
EterTICS GNU/Linux is a specialist operating system designed for community radios, principally the ones broadcasting in Latin America. It is based on Devuan and uses the Calamares system installer and the LXQt desktop environment. The distribution comes with a large range of specialist software used in radio broadcasting, such as automation tools (G-Radio, Raboms), audio editors (Audacity, Ardour), streaming applications (Butt, OBS Studio, Darkice), security and privacy tools (Tor, KeePassXC, Signal), as well as a long list of audio utilities, including audio and codecs analyzers, converters, mixers, recorders and related tools and plugins. It supports Spanish, Portuguese and English languages.
GXDE OS
GXDE OS is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution that combines Debian with Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE), developed by the deepin project. It is based on Debian's "Testing" branch. It ships with up-to-date Linux kernel, base system and applications, and it includes a "Spark Store", a software application marketplace with support for Android applications. The distribution is available for the aarch64 and x86_64 processor architectures.
GXDE OS 25 -- Running the Deepin desktop
(full image size: 4.5MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
HeliumOS
HeliumOS is an atomic and immutable distribution which is built upon AlmaLinux OS. HeliumOS is a desktop distribution and uses a KDE Plasma session running on Wayland for its user interface. Updates to the core system are provided by OSTree images and desktop applications are provided through Flatpak. The distribution also includes the Distrobox container manager to provide packages from other distributions.
HeliumOS 10.0 Beta -- Running the KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 2.6MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Linux Kamarada
Linux Kamarada is a general-purpose Linux distribution based on openSUSE Leap. It uses a customised GNOME desktop environment. The project's main goal is to spread and promote Linux as a robust, secure, versatile and easy-to-use operating system, suitable for everyday use, be it at home, at work or on the server.
Soplos
Soplos Linux is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Debian's "Testing" branch and featuring the Xfce desktop. It offers rolling updates, up-to-date software, a relatively lightweight and customisable desktop, compatibility with older hardware, and various speed and performance optimisation features. The distribution ships with a number of custom applications, such as Soplos Theme Manager, Soplos Plymouth Manager, Soplos Docklike (for adding and removing applications in the dock) and Soplos GRUB Editor.
Soplos 3.0.0 -- Running the Xfce desktop
(full image size: 2.9MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
TROMjaro
TROMjaro is a Manjaro-based Linux distribution with a customised Xfce desktop. Compared to its parent, TROMjaro offers several user-friendly utilities, such as Layout Switcher with six different layouts or Theme Switcher with several accent colours. It also provides various enhancements, including the integration of the Chaotic-AUR repository with pre-built binary packages, a selection of custom wallpapers and icon packs, and extra configuration options in Settings Manager. The distribution comes with support for AppImage files and a heavily-tweaked Firefox browser with custom add-ons.
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DistroWatch database summary
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Windows 10 replacment (by vmclark on 2025-06-23 00:56:42 GMT from United States)
Windows users are NOT going to even think about going from Windows to Linux of any kind. Most likely go with Windows 11, or find a way to keep Windows 10 going. There are sites that do just that.
Also, I've tried Wine and its not even close to working correctly, and looks cheap.
2 • in-between, tending towards unusual... (by Brad on 2025-06-23 01:31:18 GMT from United States)
I spent a good part of my early Linux experience in the Ubuntu/Mint "space", which I would now characterize as "mainstream". I was frustrated with Ubuntu in the "Unity" era, and moved to Mint, hoping for fewer surprises; however, I was bored by the lack of new and exciting (go figure!), and abandoned Mint for Manjaro.
Now I was in the "something in-between" category - a new learning curve and new challenges. I then explored the Arch "cousins" (EndeavourOS, CachyOS) after Manjaro became less stable than I wished, but I soon found out that those distros were lacking in one thing or another (inconsistent Bluetooth support or errors in the bootup sequence).
On to "unusual", which I where i currently reside (EasyOS, MXLinux, and antiX). Each of these is outside of the mainstream in one way or other ways (no systemD, and window managers like JWM, icewm, or light DE's like XFCE).
It's taken a month or two, but I think I'll stand pat, until the monolithic monster of systemD consumes Linux - next stop, BSD (once HW support improves).
3 • not so much mainstream distro (by SM on 2025-06-23 01:40:31 GMT from United States)
My 4 computers are all older....12 years older or even older. I abandoned windows in 2012 and tried the 'buntu versions which I liked as I did the Mint versions. After trying these I gave Puppy Linux a try. The first Puppy I tried was version 12.12 with LXDE. It was lightning fast and super stable. In fact I have never had a crash or even hicup. So over the last 13 years I have only used Puppy and upgraded whenever a newer Puppy distro came out. I like the slacko versions best...based on slackware. Puppy comes with all the programs and tools I have ever needed. And with these older computers Puppy is still super fast and light. I actually have 3 different Puppy distros installed on each pc and each works without any issues at all. Some may say that it is not safe to run everything in root. However, Puppy has a read only base file system which you can't modify or delete from. To save your settings you create a save file which can be easily modified. So I just keep backup copies of my save files in a safe partition and portable hard drive just in case something were to go wrong....but never has. For whatever my wife and I need from an OS, Puppy has never failed. My wife likes some windows games which wine runs just fine also. So for me I will continue to use my older pc's, replaceing a hard drive or other hardware when needed, and continus to use Puppy Linux.
4 • Windows 10 replacement (by Roger Brown on 2025-06-23 01:54:07 GMT from Australia)
@1 Yes there may be many Windows users who will take the view you suggest. And that's totally understandable. But there are also users who now see the time as being right to give Linux a shot.
They do need to be adventurous users who are prepared to learn a completely new operating system, albeit one that can present a familiar looking GUI. Users expecting a Windows clone should stick to Windows.
As to the Wine translation layer, this should be regarded as a last resort means of running that essential Windows application that has absolutely no Linux equivalent. Wine certainly needs tweaking in many cases and there are commercial products available to assist with that.
But unfortunately Wine also serves as a means for Windows malware which would ordinarily to affect Linux, to run and damage Windows systems. For that reason it should not be installed unless absolutely necessary - there are other safer ways of running Windows applications if necessary (a VM for example).
Wherever possible, users moving to Linux should always look to use Linux applications to meet their task needs.
5 • Unique Linux distros... (by thatguy on 2025-06-23 02:30:34 GMT from United States)
As someone that's willing to try any and all distros but sticks to the usual suspects for day to day use, the weirdest one I've used is paldo - a pure gnome experience with severely limited repos and its own package manager. It's been around since the olden days of gnome 2.x and it's really odd.
What packages it does have (primarily gnome, build tools, firefox and libreoffice) are up to date, but even things like mc or gnome-browser-connector are not in the repos (you can compile them though) There's flatpak so that helps...
Another oddity is that its installer is inanely fast, like less than a minute once you click the last button. Be aware that whatever efi partition you specify will get formatted.
The package manger is upkg, apparently rooted in mono (remember that?) of all things. It works, but not quickly or in a user friendly way. The documentation - what little there is - doesn't help much either.
6 • Windows 10 Replacement (by JKL on 2025-06-23 04:41:44 GMT from United States)
Funny enough, I have been running Linux mainly for a while because my old Haswell CPU doesn’t run W10 well anymore. I dual boot, but I barely touch the Windows partition these days. Once Windows 10 goes obsolete, I will probably just leave it there in case I need it. All of my important data is on Linux anyways. I am able to play most games with Proton and Bottles. Some apps don’t work well, but it most I use do work well on Linux.
7 • Unique Distro (by Felix on 2025-06-23 05:41:18 GMT from Germany)
I thought Qubes OS has a somewhat unique approach with the ability to containerize everything.
8 • Mainstream Distros (by Devlin7 on 2025-06-23 06:39:27 GMT from New Zealand)
I am struggling with Linux at the moment. I see all these new pop up distros with gnome extensions and think isn't this why PopOS wrote their own. There are some great LXDE distros but LXDE is essentually dead. Mate is awesome, but not a lot is happening there. There is a push towards Wayland with Gnome and Plasma being the winners there. A push towards systemD. I don't mind XFCE but the one keybinding per task puts me off. I like the flow of WIndow managers but the constant text file edits and lately memory usage puts me off. So here I am on my systemd free OS running Enlightenment using less than 400Mb of Ram knowing my days are numbered and sooner or later I will have to submit to the giants.
9 • Windows 10 Replacement (by Chris on 2025-06-23 06:48:40 GMT from South Africa)
In a few months I'm looking for a good laptop for my Home Assistant server and i am hoping there are going to be quite a number available as second hand machines.
10 • Win 10 Replacement (by Kurt_Aust on 2025-06-23 06:51:13 GMT from Australia)
Been dual booting for years, just made Linux the primary OS
In my case it's a combination of:
* frustration keeping Windows & apps updated
* seeing what Win 11 is like on my parent's PC
* no way I'm ditching a system based on a perfectly good Xeon E5-2697Av4
Besides a lot of the old schools games I like no longer run under Windows but work just fine using Play on Linux and seeing as I go for turn based games I have yet to have one that doesn't work for me, some tweaks occasionally required.
11 • Do you prefer unusual or mainstream distributions ? (by eb on 2025-06-23 07:35:10 GMT from France)
Is Slackware unusual or mainstream ?!:-)
12 • I ticked unusual for antiX (by Hank on 2025-06-23 08:52:56 GMT from Germany)
Runnung antiX with Runit. Lightweight fast stable debian based, was a distro hopper over many years, that is no longer the case.
I will not use any setup with sysd. Which brings me to add that despite a Debian resolution to support alternative inits sys d developers led by Michael Biebl have removed the support for alternatives from Grub.
More info can be found on
https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=7252
This is political and nauseating.
13 • Do you prefer mainstream or unusual distros? (by Jake on 2025-06-23 09:54:24 GMT from United States)
Mainstream. Early on I used smaller distros and woke up to find my distros' servers no longer online as the developer had given up and shut them down.
14 • Windows 10 replacment (by Jake on 2025-06-23 10:03:13 GMT from United States)
It really depends some people will switch, a lot will pay more for Windows 11, and a few that know what they are doing will run Win without updates.
I quit dual booting years ago as the only reason I ever went on Windows was to update the anit-virus, spyware and adware software. I keep and old Win 10 computer around for one reason. Updating my Garmin GPS devices. Garmin uses netframe and there is no way to run that on Linux. I hate virtual boxes.
Now by brother and his wife wanted to get off Windows. They are not tech savy, don't use the computer much and when they do their Windows browsers always get addon toolbars as they don't read before clicking on most anything. They asked my to put Linux on about a year ago and are completely happy with it.
So knowing someone that uses Linux successfully makes a big difference.
15 • lastos (by peer on 2025-06-23 10:17:04 GMT from The Netherlands)
lastos is based on mint
mint is based on ubuntu
ubuntu is based on debian
I think I'll just stay on pure debian
16 • WinDoze to Linux (by Chris Michaud on 2025-06-23 02:54:22 GMT from United States)
I remember being told by a farmer nearby as a kid that he had an electric fence that he never turned on. I asked him why and he said he turns it on when he buys young cows for a few weeks, then shuts it off because once the cows have been zapped a few times, they stop trying to get out of the fenced pasture.
I started out with MS Dos, then Windows when it first became available. Windows Me was a wake-up call but I ignored it and went on to work with XP then Windows 7, which I still co sided their best iteration. Of course I had gotten used to the endless “upgrades” and “features,” because I didn’t know any better.
It used to take me about 10 hours a week to keep my wife’s business computers running, mine and my two teenagers.
Then came WinDoze 8…very buggy. My wife had had enough and based on her computer engineer brother’s advice switched to Mac. Within 2 months, she no longer needed “help,” and her business day stopped being interrupted to fix her PC. Soon thereafter my stepson got the idea and he switched, then my daughter. I was the only one holding out because I had so much time and effort into Windows and Windows Programs.
I did however discover Easy Peasy a streamlined version of Ubuntu to run on the anemic “netbooks” that ran on 1 to 2 gb of Ram and Windows 7. Easy Peasy had a nice graphical interface and a number of programs, including LibreOffice, etc. I liked it.
Then, with WinDoze 8 moving to 10, which was another fiasco, I began to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 10. Mostly I began to use Ubuntu for most of my daily work, except for Adobe Acrobat Professional, which I used a lot at the time. Then, when I found MasterPDF, it wasn’t as good as Adobe, but it was 90% of what O needed. Eventually, in 2015, I stopped dual booting and went to Linux Mint. Tried a number of distros and settled on MX Linux, and one laptop that I kept Mint on. Mint is rock solid and MX almost as solid but a lot more easy to use “tools,” which I do t recommend for a newbie, but after 6 months with Mint or Ubuntu, I think MX is a good jump, if you feel you need to.
I still “fix” WinDoze PCs for friends day and family and I have to say I truly do not know how users get anything done anymore. To me, both Win 10 and 11 are nothing more than digital sales tools for Microsoft and their partners. A better name in my opinion for WinDoze is SpamOS. It is horrible! However, like the cows in the pasture most are not very courageous and are “trained” to stay inside that very thin wire they could easily walk through. Linux users are the once who break out of the fence.
Apparently, just recently the country of Denmark has agreed to officially adopt Linux, which I find fascinating and commendable. Linux users know about choice that Windows and Mac users don’t have. I sometimes leave my daily driver work PC powered on for weeks at a time. No “memory leaks,” no blue screen “shut downs” in the middle of a work day. I admit Mac OS is very stable too, but you’re just in a different pasture.
So, for the slightly courageous, I recommend breaking through the fence and if you really are very co-dependent on Microsoft or Mac OS just run Linux side by side (dual boot) with Linux. You can choose either one when you boot up. If you do, I suspect that
Many will move to Linux after 6 months or so, and wi see why you put up with the limitations, spamware and endless “upgrades” in WinDoze for years.
17 • Win-Doze Replacement (by RetiredIT on 2025-06-23 11:35:15 GMT from United States)
In answer to vmclark's comment above (first on this list) concerning his praises for using Windows, I offer the following links from a real Linux guru which explain the REAL Windows 11 prognosis:
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-11-december-2024-update-results.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-autopilot-slow-logon.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-wireless-network-connectivity.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-11-june-2025-update-results.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-11-fresh-install.html
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-11-reset.html
I left Win-Doze for good in 2011 after years of failed updates and viruses. The late Bill Gates explained in 1998 that the only reason Microsoft sold windows was because it was a money maker. At the same time Gates was using Linux on his desktop! Who woulda thunk it?
18 • Do you prefer mainstream or unusual distros? (by RR on 2025-06-23 11:46:28 GMT from Germany)
Mainstream distro (with a swallow of suspense): Fedora Rawhide.
I can say that it is a rolling release, not difficult to administer. With the only main repository it manages to reproduce almost all multimedia formats (except for the protected DVDs and BDs).
19 • Windows to Linux (by Poly Math on 2025-06-23 12:00:52 GMT from United Kingdom)
The reason some people give for moving from Windows to Linux is often because they want to transfer from a monolithic environment where everything they do is defined and controlled, to the broad uplands of Linux freedom and individuality.
Then they encounter systemd, and realise that [some] Linux life is not much different from that which they experienced with Windows....
20 • From WinDope to Linux (by Victor on 2025-06-23 12:03:41 GMT from The Netherlands)
@16 Chris Michaud
Frankly Windope is a pachyderm useful only to locate users in a not-golden cage. With Linux alternatives such as Kubuntu LTS or Linuxmint the passage should not be traumatic for the Common Man. The only ones who could be forced to stay on WinDope are photoshop-addicted and AutoCAD-addicted.
21 • Windows to Linux (by Slappy McGee on 2025-06-23 13:18:11 GMT from United States)
@1 Linux would not exist if what you say is true: "Windows users are NOT going to even think about going from Windows to Linux of any kind." Servers aside.
My goodness man, I can't recall full numbers on polls asking Linux users how they got here, but I'd say most migrated from Windows and Mac.
22 • @3 • not so much mainstream (by Geo. on 2025-06-23 13:34:07 GMT from Canada)
I strongly urge you to try Bohdi. I was shocked at how nicely Bohdi ran on my old gear.
23 • Systemd (by JKL on 2025-06-23 13:36:48 GMT from United States)
@19 When systemd was pretty new, I really liked how services were organized. Systemd is way better than Windows with service management. Most services, especially driver services are started at around the same time, there are some services that purposely delay their startup by 15 seconds to make sure other services or network connections are fully loaded. I wish Microsoft has better service management, but probably won’t for the sake of “backwards compatibility” that’s holding it back. At least mac has launchd.
Never once have I thought of Windows when I have systemd. Systemd is neat. Most folks complain because it controls too much of the system and limits choice and it has some quirks. Most of the complaining is politically driven because systemd is largely influenced by big corpo engineers (main dev is Microsoft engineer). It’s fine to complain because a good amount of Linux users value the freedom of using something that won’t get wrecked by corpo greed. I much prefer dinit and turnstile when it becomes a valid alternative. Chimera Linux has the right idea, they don’t have a problem with using pieces of systemd (for udev mainly). Some are purists that don’t want any part of systemd code. Honestly, being able to use pieces as long as it isn’t some stubbed blob like elogind is good enough. You still have your modular system that has less of the system operated by one daemon.
The main argument, however, is that most folks on Linux won’t have a problem with systemd because it just works for most people and it integrates nicely. What most anti-systemd folks argue, the mainstream Linux people aren’t technical enough to care. Systemd only affects people who know Linux enough to care.
Ultimately, I think it cannot be compared to windows because, underneath, Windows is just a bunch of retrofitted legacy blobs that somehow work together well enough. Systemd is at least better where things are better fitted together.
24 • Unusual or mainstream (by Tim on 2025-06-23 13:37:49 GMT from United States)
I voted "something in between". I use Arch Linux and configure it the way I want and add the software I want to use. I run the Awesome window manager on X, so I suppose even that is somewhat unusual.
25 • Miscellaneous News - Slackware (by Geo. on 2025-06-23 13:38:55 GMT from Canada)
I still think I would like to see a merger of the Slackware and Arch projects. There is an opportunity for great synergistic collaboration. The different init systems is not a deal breaker WRT collaboration.
26 • Windows to Linux (by Penguinx86 on 2025-06-23 14:56:00 GMT from United States)
Linux is a good Windows alternative for tech savy users, but there is a learning curve. Many non tech savy users won’t have the patients for the switchover. Many distros are missing non-free multimedia packages and drivers, needed to watch YouTube videos, for example. Realtek and Broadcom Wi-Fi drivers are problematic in older laptops.
27 • Slackware (by Roger Brown on 2025-06-23 15:03:51 GMT from Australia)
@25 I always felt that the similarity was much more pronounced in the early days of the first Archlinux installer (and before Arch went systemd). It did at that time seem as if Arch was Slackware on steroids.
But these days they are much more at odds and I doubt that Slackware will survive once Patrick Volkerding is no longer able to continue his one man effort. It's even an open question whether PV will actually release another stable version.
28 • Atomic as a Release Model Type (by MattE on 2025-06-23 15:18:25 GMT from United States)
I'm thinking "Atomic" should be a new "Release Model" category. There may be at least 7 distros providing atomic updates currently. I assume there will be more.
What do you think?
29 • Distro choice (by Robert on 2025-06-23 16:06:36 GMT from United States)
I generally stick to pretty mainstream distros. A lot of Arch (arguably since before it was mainstream, but I'm not trying to be a hipster here), some OpenSuse. PCLinuxOS back in the 00's when it was more popular.
Even when I ran BSD for a while it was PC-BSD, based on FreeBSD, the closest BSD gets to mainstream.
Though to be fair I have experimented with more unusual systems like DragonflyBSD or OpenSolaris, but never as a day-to-day OS.
30 • TuxedoOS all the way (by John on 2025-06-23 16:10:24 GMT from Canada)
I've tried pretty much every distro around. Finally settled on TuxedoOS. It's a better Ubuntu than Ubuntu. No Snaps, up to date kernel and MESA drivers, everything just works perfectly and great for gaming using Steam and Heroic Game Launcher. Think I'll be sticking with this one.
31 • The Late Bill Gates? (by Walt on 2025-06-23 16:21:28 GMT from United States)
@17 Retired T
"The late Bill Gates explained in 1998 that the only reason Microsoft sold windows was because it was a money maker."
The last time I checked, Bill Gates was still alive. I saw him just recently on Late Night with Stephen Colbert.
32 • Atomic as a Release Model Type (by A Kullervo on 2025-06-23 16:30:49 GMT from Portugal)
@28 Nice idea - one upvote.
33 • Atomic (by Jesse on 2025-06-23 16:34:40 GMT from Canada)
@28: "I'm thinking "Atomic" should be a new "Release Model" category. "
Atomic isn't a type of release model. It's a style of supplying updates, but isn't a factor in the model (rolling, fixed, semi-rolling, etc). You can have rolling atomic updates or fixed atomic updates, but it isn't itself a model.
If what you are looking for is projects which supply atomic/immutable update images then we supply that on our Search page under the Distribution Category.
34 • Unusual distro: Slitaz (by A Kullervo on 2025-06-23 16:50:33 GMT from Portugal)
Recently used Slitaz to resuscitate an old 32 bit PC with 700 MB of RAM - it worked like magic.
(I also started my *nix journey with Slitaz/Openbox/Tint panel some 20 plus years ago - I know, I was/am ignorant and naive, - but I was able to display files, edit text and play audio. The trouble began when removable storage devices came into play...)
Presently on FreeBSD/JWM (a wonderful minimalist combo)
35 • Mainstream (by kc1di on 2025-06-23 17:03:29 GMT from United States)
I have used many distros over the years but tend to stay with those that seem to sick around,
right now that is Debian 13 trixie RC1. Working great on my getting long in the tooth laptop.
36 • @ 17; @ 31---The late Bill Gates (by R. Cain on 2025-06-23 18:12:41 GMT from United States)
“The report of my death was an exaggeration.”---Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1897.
37 • Unusual - mostly (by Mike on 2025-06-23 19:57:30 GMT from United States)
Despite using Ubuntu a lot at work (and Fedora before that), for personal use, I prefer the unusual distros. Early history was Puppy, then an on-foff-on history with TinyCore Linux. When TinyCore can't do something, I use Devuan, which is an unusual version of Debian.
38 • Win10 replacement (by 32298 on 2025-06-23 20:30:42 GMT from United States)
I had an old laptop that I dual booted into win10 - the latest update was too much for the old processor, I had to do a reinstall and turn off all the automatic updates just to have something usable.
Got a debloating program - It runs well.
Now for the Windows folks with little to no Linux experience,
Why not get the latest Mac laptop - Mac26 / macOS Tahoe
Especially if you have an IPHONE
It really makes seance to have the phone work so well with the OS
Later - after using the Mac - Linux will be a breeze.
39 • @38 (by Brad on 2025-06-23 21:18:47 GMT from United States)
macOS as a gateway drug to Linux.
: - )
40 • Mac (by 32298 on 2025-06-23 22:14:08 GMT from United States)
Yah - gateway drug
Did you know that the Iphone Apps run on a mac laptop?
Something they call Silicon
41 • Distributions (by Bob McConnell on 2025-06-23 23:33:42 GMT from United States)
Define 'Mainstream'. I have been using Slackware, almost exclusively,
since Sept '93. I consider that mainstream, while most of the others are
boutique distributions.
42 • distro preference (by Mykel on 2025-06-24 01:10:56 GMT from United States)
I'd have to say unusual. My favorite Linux OS is Artix. It offers a large variety of environments which I find quite refreshing. I add YAY for better package management in a text environment. I provide a search term ie, 'yay xfce4' and get a list of packages for that search. Pretty handy when I run across Linux software I don't know about. A quick check with YAY lets me know if it's available in the repos.
I also like Void. IMHO, it is a well designed system if a bit more technically oriented. Plenty of packages run on the glibc version, even STEAM. The alternate library, musl, provides a cleaner C environment at the expense of missing a few mainstream softwares.
I have been a Linux user for about 30 years and I understand the need for GUI and tools that makes things easier for the common user. I just don't use many of them. No systemd although Cachy runs fairly well. Sadly, it gets wonky after a few days. I think it doesn't like my BIOS. Also, I prefer a rolling release. I have never had the problems with them that most people claim. This setup works well because I keep my personal stuff on its own drive specidied as the HOME directory during the install.
I am a little concerned about the dumbing-down of Linux. There is a growing gap between a user and an admin with a steep (and climbing) learning curve. Oh well, I guess thats the price of improving distros for the Windows crowd.Wonder if they appreciate it?
43 • @2, @8 - 'Different Linux' (by BD on 2025-06-24 05:53:08 GMT from Australia)
I might suggest you try VoidLinux. I've been running it for almost 2 years now on modern hardware. It's rock solid and...
It isn't SystemD, it's independent, it's fast and it's minimal. It's a great OS if you want to learn a little but not have all sorts of crazy things go wrong. Great documentation too.
It comes wth XFCE if you want, or just add your own desktop.
It's semi-rolling, so it's fairly up to date, without being on the cutting edge.
I ran it with Openbox for ages, which just worked.
Now I got an itch so I'm playing with Plasma6 on Wayland and... it just works! I game a lot and it's been a really solid gaming platform, no weird crashes, hangs or 'quirks' like I've had in the many other distros I've tried (CachyOS being the latest).
44 • Init on Linux (by NoD on 2025-06-24 09:11:25 GMT from Germany)
most folks on Linux won’t have a problem with systemd because it just works for most people
really, except for slow shutdowns crazy dependency chains and logfiles unreadable by humans plus it is an invasive corporate monster..
Moving to linux, I have given antiX or MX linux to a larger number of users, mostly older persons, all are happy with it.
most commentied, how relaxing it is to have a computer that just works and no need to be afraid of the time wasting system breaking windoze updates .
45 • Switching from windows 10 to a linux distro (by Martins on 2025-06-24 14:42:29 GMT from Portugal)
The first most important step is, still in Windows 10, to stop using Microsoft only software like MS Office, and replace it with an open-source software like Libre Office, GIMP and others.
Then choose a windows-like linux distro, like AnduinOS, or one of the Brazilian windows-like versions of linux - LinuxFX, Winux, Wubuntu - which I don't recommend but anyone should be free to chose, and if one wants to stick with windows, there is an open source version of windows under dvelopment - ReactOS - I just don't know whether it will ever become a stable and complete OS, but you may want to explore.
46 • A gentle migration (by Mr B on 2025-06-24 15:02:38 GMT from United Kingdom)
@45
<>
I did exactly that but when I was still running XP. That way I already knew how to use all my application programs. I chose Mint to migrate to and I've been happy with it ever since.
47 • Windows to Linux (by Slappy McGee on 2025-06-24 15:40:39 GMT from United States)
@26 <----- That post is full of misinformation.
"Linux is a good Windows alternative for tech savy users, but there is a learning curve. Many non tech savy users won’t have the patients for the switchover. Many distros are missing non-free multimedia packages and drivers, needed to watch YouTube videos, for example. Realtek and Broadcom Wi-Fi drivers are problematic in older laptops."
Tech savvy? Nah. Not any more than a new user of Windows would have to be (to learn) as they first fire one up and get going on its operation. The differences of coming from Windows to Linux depend a lot on which distro is chosen, as is discussed here at DW and elsewhere. "Windows-like distros" are listed, but not needed imo. What a new Linux user needs to be careful of is installing a distro that is intentionally NOT Windows-like, and there are many.
Abut YouTube videos etc my goodness where have you been. That post about media could have been made a decade ago, but it's different now. I use Nobara, Fedora, MX Linux, and a few others off and on, along with GhoseBSD. GhostBSD is the only one I've had to struggle with to get various online media to work, similar to Suse wherein you have to make sure you're got the right codecs. But the rest are good right from the git go. No hassle, as YouTube etc works out of the box, especially on those distros called "Windows-like."
Wifi drivers? Again, you'll be perusing the forums at GhostBSD and some other distros, but not most, especially, again, the distros aimed at taking care of the Windows jumpers.
48 • LastOSLinux Review (by Glenn Chugg on 2025-06-24 23:51:19 GMT from Australia)
It does suck that I can document things as well as I code them. I mean the Brave FlatPak install not showing in the menu was due to the PC needing a reboot after the first boot, the same happens on ANY distro when you first enable Flatpaks, they all require a reboot.
The fact LLauncher is designed mostly as a games launcher is well known by existing LastOS users, but not so much new users. I mean if you install the 143 Windows Games Pack, I do NOT place them all through the menu, they are only available from the Launcher, just to keep things neat and tidy.
I knew about the Repository being set to Australia, I know some distro's auto set this to your fastest mirror, but I never found how to do that, as I live in Australia I made it the default, the same with the English Language, LastOS isn't multi language, I am not sure how you do this with Xojo yet, but it is possible.
So his review that I had over extended myself on this project is true, maybe in the future I'll get all the remaining things sorted out, but as there is about to be a major shift to Wayland, I am not convinced I could learn a new Programming language if Xojo doesn't add better support for Wayland, as it is I force it to use xwayland, which works very well, so it may be a non issue.
Not sure other will want to help develop LastOSLinux, I just know it's so much harder working on this scale of project alone. I'd love to have enough time to give it more, but as it doesn't pay the bills and I have a large family to raise, I'll just keep doing what I can and hopefully it helps some people along the way.
49 • Hero to Villain (by ClericXP on 2025-06-25 17:08:00 GMT from United States)
It's been interesting to watch RedHat's transformation from hero to villain over the last few years. While many of us held onto a mote of hope, we all knew it would happen with the IBM acquisition.
50 • Mainstream AND Unusual + Win switch (by Cherry Tree Ochard on 2025-06-26 09:08:40 GMT from France)
Mainstream on my main production machine peppered with unusual Linuxes in VM and on my personal machine.
2 family members approached me years ago for an alternative to the forced switching in Windows versions, one fell in love with Mint and the other with Ubuntu. Been years now and the only trouble shooting I hard to do for them was when one of them downloaded the wrong drivers for a scanner, .rpm vs .deb. Feels like I had more troubles supporting them under Windows :-)
51 • NEW distributions (by rhtoras on 2025-06-26 17:41:39 GMT from Greece)
Thankfully new additions. Etertics is a great linux distribution porject based thankfully on DEVUAN and not Debian.
52 • Unusual or different (by Dave J. on 2025-06-26 17:42:37 GMT from United States)
Thanks for all these comments, they have caused me to be thinking. I had investigated a lot of distros (love those minimalist distros to run firewalls or make an old machine useful in one or limited roles).
I still don't know (or care) about all the systemd detractors, but I had in recent years decided to focus my non-windows efforts on Debian, Kali, and the 3 main BSDs.
(I was an IT support guy for Windows users for awhile, and they could not consider alternatives to support things like dental imaging programs that ONLY ran on Windows).
I liked hearing here about antiX and I have decided to try this again. I have always enjoyed using the "lightweight" distros on old machines, and even though I like to make Debian work on whatever machines I have, I do like to see what the specially adapted distros can do. Let's keep having fun with comparing the goals of a given distro to what we have in mind for our own use-case. And then the fun in trying it out.
53 • Fun With Linux (by Slappy McGee on 2025-06-26 17:48:52 GMT from United States)
@52 Hear hear. Here here.
"Let's keep having fun with comparing the goals of a given distro to what we have in mind for our own use-case. And then the fun in trying it out."
54 • DW has been covering 'unusual' while you were asleep... (by R. Cain on 2025-06-27 04:05:38 GMT from United States)
From the title of 'The Poll'---"Do you prefer mainstream or unusual distros?
If you want 'unusual', how about a distro which 'weighs' less than 5 MB and gives you the desktop in less than three seconds.
That would be KolibriOS.
From DistroWatch's KolibriOS description page:
"KolibriOS is a tiny open-source operating system with a monolithic preemptive kernel" [there are two nuggets right there] "and video drivers for 32-bit x86 architecture computers. KolibriOS is a fork of MenuetOS, written entirely in FASM (assembly language)... KolibriOS features a rich set of applications that include a word processor, image viewer, graphical editor, web browser, and over 30 games."
----------------------------------------------------
From DW's review:
"Kolibri - a desktop operating system in under 3 MB (by Jesse Smith)"
"...The tiny operating system I'm talking about is called Kolibri. It's a fork of the MenuetOS project and is currently licensed under the GNU GPL. The operating system is designed to run on 32-bit x86 processors and is written entirely in assembly language. Kolibri contains a lot of familiar features, yet stands out with its own identity..."
"... I downloaded the latest release of Kolibri (version 0.7.5) and gave it a spin. The system boots from zero to functioning desktop in under three seconds on my test machine...
"In conclusion, I am blown away by how much functionality is packed into such a tiny package. The Kolibri ISO is less than 5MB and it has, for the size, a huge collection of software. While much of the operating system feels like a demo of what it can (or could) do, Kolibri shows an immense amount of potential...With the built-in DOSBox the possibility for running games is tremendous. My only real complaint about this operating system is its lack of a web browser.
Even something small like Lynx would be a welcome addition.
[Note: the main Description Page indicates that a browser is now included]
" I hope we soon see a new release of this project, it has ability to be a great system."
Number of Comments: 54
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • 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 |
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