 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1128, 30 June 2025 |
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Welcome to this year's 26th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Software and related computing technology does not exist in a vacuum, open source software exists in the real world and serves real people. As a result, there are disagreements about how this software should be configured, what priorities it should have, and what features should receive focus. This week we talk about a range of open source software and choices which affect the software people run. In our News section we talk about Canonical boosting Intel graphics performance, but in doing so, the company removes some security mitigations. We also talk about the Fedora team considering dropping 32-bit packages to reduce their maintenance burden, but at the cost of compatibility with some popular applications, such as Steam. We also report on SDesk dropping the SELinux security software to improve stability. First though we talk about two distributions: AxOS, an Arch-based distribution offering some uncommon user interfaces; and we compare AlmaLinux OS against its Red Hat Enterprise Linux parent. Read on to learn more about these two projects. Then, in our Questions and Answers column, we discuss the options and challenges involved when moving Flatpak packages to off-line systems. Have you tried copying Flatpak bundles across separate computers? Let us know which method you used in this week's Opinion Poll. Plus this week we thank our readers who sent in donations and unveil a new Dark Mode for the website. We are also pleased to share the many releases of the past week and to 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: AxOS 25.06 and 25.01, AlmaLinux OS 10.0
- News: Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora discusses dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor
- Questions and answers: Transferring Flatpak packages between computers
- Released last week: postmarketOS 25.06, Escuelas Linux 8.12, IPFire 2.29 Core 195, Mauna Linux 24.7, RefreshOS 2.5, SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP7, Security Onion 2.4.160, deepin 25, Oracle Linux 10.0
- Torrent corner: AnduinOS, BigLinux, deepin, KDE neon
- Opinion poll: Have you transferred Flatpak applications between off-line computers?
- Site news: Dark Mode, Donations and Sponsors
- New distributions: arcOS, Nebulux
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
AxOS 25.06 and 25.01
AxOS is an Arch-based, rolling release Linux distribution for the desktop. It features a custom package manager called Epsilon and it strives to present a modern and elegant look while remaining powerful, lightweight and customisable. The project offers two desktop options - Calla (a custom desktop environment based on the Awesome window manager) and Sleex (a custom desktop environment based on the Hyprland compositor). Earlier versions of the distribution also offered KDE Plasma as a session option, but it has been dropped form the latest snapshot of AxOS.
The release notes for AxOS 25.06 are terse and offer just a few key points.
- New installation kits: Artist, Developer, Hacker.
- Sleex is not VM-friendly.
- If you have an NVIDIA GPU, AxOS will most likely not boot.
I'm not sure what the project means by an installation kit, but I suspect it is similar to a role or a pre-selected package set. The rest didn't seem encouraging, but I don't own an NVIDIA GPU and I figured I could use Hyprland as the desktop session when testing in a virtual machine, so I thought I would be okay.
AxOS 25.06 is available in one edition for x86_64 computers. The ISO provided is 1.8GB in size.
At first AxOS failed to boot, displaying an error which said: "/dev/disk/by-label/" was missing and the file did not show up after 30 seconds. I was then shown a rescue prompt on the console and logged in as root where I had access to just a few command line tools. I confirmed the "missing" directory existed and was accessible. I then tried to resume the boot process, only to be told again (incorrectly) that the directory /dev/disk/by-label/ was missing. I tried to boot a few times with various options, but the boot process kept failing at the same point.
Upon trying an earlier snapshot of AxOS 25.01 to see if it would work (the ISO for AxOS 25.01 is 2.0GB in size) I found that the distribution ran into the same error and failed to start.
I did some searches and found a lot of reports of this error message on various Arch-based distributions, but usually the error occurred after the distribution had been installed and it was usually due to a problem with the /etc/fstab file's entries. Since the error appeared to be related to how boot devices were labelled, this gave me a push in the right direction. I found that the error only occurred when my laptop was set to boot in Legacy BIOS mode. When booting in UEFI mode the issue is fixed and the distribution will boot.
More errors
Booting AxOS 25.06 brought up a graphical login screen where I was prompted for a password. An error was displayed at the bottom of the page indicating the theme failed to load because QtMultimedia is not installed. I couldn't find what the default password was supposed to be in the documentation, but a few attempts soon revealed I could sign in with the username "live" and no password. But then, after being shown a blank screen for a few seconds, I was returned to the login page. I confirmed from a text terminal that "live" with no password was correct and I could sign into the text interface. However, both login sessions (Hyprland and Sleex) failed to start-up properly and immediately returned me to login page.
I still had the older AxOS 25.01 ISO so tried booting it in UEFI mode and tried again. This older snapshot booted successfully to and automatically launched a Plasma desktop session. The Plasma desktop has a blue and purple background. At the bottom of the screen is a centred, floating panel. This panel holds an application menu, a few launchers, and the system tray.
AxOS 25.01 -- Running the Plasma desktop
(full image size: 989kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Installing
The AxOS application menu has an entry called Install AxOS. Clicking this launcher opened a desktop application called AxInstall. This appears to be a custom installer for the distribution, as opposed to a distro-neutral installer like Calamares.
AxInstall asks us for our keyboard layout and region. Then we are asked to pick our locale. My locale had automatically been selected for me, based on my region, and I noticed the installer's "Next" button to proceed to the next page was disabled. I tried to change the locale and found I could not edit it. There was an option for selecting a additional locale, but when I clicked it no new locales were available. Eventually I had to go back a few steps and start over, taking a different region (New York as opposed to any location in Canada), this caused an American locale to be selected on the following screen and activated the "Next" button. In short, it seems only certain locales are available and will allow the installer to proceed.
I was next asked to make up a username and password and select one of three desktops: Plasma, Sleex, or Calla. We can only pick one and, since I was already running Plasma, I decided to stick with it. (It looks as though Plasma is no longer an option in more recently snapshots of the distribution.)
We are then asked if we want a regular, generic Linux kernel or the Zen kernel. I decided generic would be fine for my purposes. We are then asked to make up a hostname for our computer and asked if we want to install NVIDIA graphic drivers. This last option struck me as odd since the release notes warn us the distribution probably won't work with NVIDIA hardware. It does make me wonder why the AxOS developer dedicated a page of the installer to supporting something they claim doesn't work.
Guided or manual partitioning comes next and there aren't any customizations we can make here if we go with guided. The installer then reports it is searching for package mirrors and it will need to fetch 1.6GB of packages. This seems like such a waste of bandwidth after downloading a 2.0GB ISO which was already running the desktop I wanted to install. I then waited while these packages were fetched and installed to the disk. When the installer eventually finished its work it offered to reboot the computer.
Early impressions
When I tried to run my new copy of AxOS the system locked up during the boot process. On the screen I was shown a report that the root filesystem was clean and then.... nothing. The screen remained empty apart from this message. No other status reports or login screen appeared.
It's difficult to imagine how my trial with AxOS could have gone any worse, short of the laptop catching on fire or my identity being stolen. Both snapshots provided unhelpful error messages when attempting to boot in Legacy BIOS mode. Only the older live snapshot worked properly when running in UEFI mode. The system installer was slow, buggy, and duplicates downloading the files we already have on the local ISO. And then, once I'd waded through all of that, the end result was an operating system which wouldn't even boot.
Putting aside AxOS as a waste of time, I decided to turn my sight to a something I had been wondering about for a few weeks....
* * * * *
AlmaLinux OS 10.0
Recently Red Hat published Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 which I reviewed at the start of June. While I was playing with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution the AlmaLinux OS team released their clone of RHEL. While AlmaLinux OS is a clone of RHEL and uses the same source code, there are some small differences. I was curious if the little differences would be noticeable and have any practical effect and decided to try AlmaLinux OS 10.
I won't be talking much about AlmaLinux on its own, rather I just want to focus on what makes it different from its parent distribution. If you want to know what it is like to install and use RHEL (or AlmaLinux OS) normally, then I have talked about that in my review of RHEL 10.0.
Fetching and installing
While RHEL is available in several editions (Full, Minimal, and various cloud and virtual machine offerings), AlmaLinux is presented in just three flavours: Full (6.9GB), Minimal (1.3GB), and Boot (824MB). We can use any of these ISO files to install the operating system, either on physical hardware or in a virtual environment. The Full edition provides local packages for both server and desktop roles, the Minimal edition offers local packages for a server role, and the Boot edition downloads packages over the network.
The install process is virtually identical to RHEL when using AlmaLinux, except we do not need to sign into an AlmaLinux account to acquire the ISO file we want. There is also no registration module in the Anaconda installer that requests our account credentials.
AlmaLinux OS 10.0 -- Exploring the GNOME desktop
(full image size: 516kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Red Hat made x86_64-v3 the minimal CPU hardware requirement for its x86_64 builds. This means RHEL will not run on older 64-bit machines and does not work in some older virtual environments. AlmaLinux has addressed this by providing both x86_64-v3 builds and a more conservative x86_64-v2 flavour. The latter is less optimized, but should run on just about any x86_64 processor made in the past 15 years. The "v2" flavour is the one I downloaded. I also noticed that while RHEL 10 was unable to launch in Legacy BIOS mode on my laptop due to a kernel panic, AlmaLinux ran in both UEFI and Legacy BIOS modes.
Exploring GNOME and early impressions
Apart from the branding (logos, wallpaper, and the term "Red Hat") the two distributions mostly look and act the same. Taking the same system "role" during the install phase results in mostly the same software being installed on AlmaLinux as on RHEL. The GNOME desktop has the same layout and the same applications. The desktop defaults to displaying the same light theme.
Like RHEL, AlmaLinux will default to running the XFS filesystem on an LVM volume if we take the guided partitioning option, though we can choose something else if we use manual partitioning.
Like RHEL, AlmaLinux enables the Cockpit service for remote administration through a web portal. This is a nice experience and Cockpit is quite powerful.
Software management and Lightspeed
Most elements, almost all aspects, of AlmaLinux work the same way as its upstream distribution. This is, as intended, since it is a clone. Like RHEL, AlmaLinux was able to work with my hardware without any issues (fewer issues, when we consider AlmaLinux did not throw a kernel panic in Legacy BIOS mode). One of the few areas where I noticed a difference was with software management.
AlmaLinux OS 10.0 -- Trying GNOME's dark theme
(full image size: 591kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
AlmaLinux, unlike its upstream twin, does not require that we register our account to make use of security updates. There is no settings module where we need to put in customer credentials.
When I was using RHEL I found Flatpak was set up automatically and connected with Red Hat's custom Flatpak repository. This allows Red Hat to provide packages for only Flatpak bundles which meet it licensing and legal requirements. We can disable this repository and enable another, like Flathub, if we wish. When using AlmaLinux, Flatpak is installed for us, but no repositories are enabled. This is either inconvenient (if you want access to at least some subset of Flatpak bundles) or convenient (if you planned to replace Red Hat's custom repository with Flathub).
Another difference I noticed is AlmaLinux does not have Lightspeed, Red Hat's command line AI assistant, in its repositories. I suspect Lightspeed requires a Red Hat account to work and, as a result, AlmaLinux does not have any reason to package the utility. Since Lightspeed can only talk about Red Hat products and support options, and it does not always do so truthfully, I suspect this is not a loss for anyone.
Resource usage and processes
It could be my imagination, but the GNOME desktop feels more responsive on AlmaLinux than on RHEL. Not a lot, but it seemed to be a bit faster to react to input. This could be my imagination or it could be a side effect of an unnoticed visual effect causing an illusion of speed. I haven't performed any hard benchmarks to confirm my impression. What I can confirm though is that AlmaLinux uses at least 200MB less memory than RHEL with the same services on the same hardware and this surprised me.
Both projects required 4.3GB of disk space for a fresh install of the Server with GUI role. Both were running the same services and with the same desktop settings. Yet, I noticed where RHEL required at least 1.2GB of RAM to run GNOME, AlmaLinux used 1.0GB (1,080MB) when signed into GNOME. If anything, I had expected the opposite to be true. RHEL is running binaries which are more optimized (x86_64-v3 vs AlmaLinux's x86_64-v2), but RHEL felt slightly slower and used 20% more memory. Even when I turned off RHEL's printing support (to test Cockpit's service management), Red Hat's product used at least 200MB more memory than AlmaLinux.
Obivously, I couldn't just leave that mystery alone, so I checked the process listings. AlmaLinux, with a fresh install, ran 216 processes out of the box. RHEL ran 226. I got a process listing of both and compared them. RHEL runs the following userland tasks which AlmaLinux does not: rhsmcertd, flatpak-system-helping, subman, and gssproxy. On the other hand, AlmaLinux was running one process RHEL did not at the time I did the comparison: tracker-miner-fs-3. (RHEL also had some extra kernel threads which didn't show up on AlmaLinux.)
First, I want to address the scary, spyware-like name tracker-miner-fs-3. While this process on AlmaLinux sounds terrible, it is just the GNOME indexing utility which runs in the background and collects file information to be used in GNOME's search feature. It can be disabled, but running it allows GNOME to find documents for us. I suspect this process also runs periodically on RHEL, but it wasn't running when I did the side-by-side comparison.
Next, let's look at the processes which run on RHEL which did not show up on AlmaLinux. Most of them are related to account subscriptions and subscription services. The rhsmcrtd program is a service for managing certifications and subscriptions and, from its description, it is used to confirm we have a valid Red Hat account. Subman is also a subscription manager. The Flatpak process, flatpak-system-helping, is one for which I could not find any documentation. However, I think it is used to perform checks for updates in the background. Finally, GSSProxy is a credentials and access manager: ""GSSProxy is a daemon that manages access to GSSAPI (Generic Security Services Application Program Interface) credentials, allowing applications to use security services without directly handling sensitive key material."
In short, Red Hat appears to be running an extra 200MB worth of checks to make sure our copy of RHEL is not pirated.
Conclusions
As expected, RHEL 10 and AlmaLinux are virtually identical in most ways. AlmaLinux is a clone, after all, and the goal is to be binary compatible with RHEL. Almost all aspects of the operating system, from installing to performing administration tasks, installing packages, and handling services are the same. This indicates things are working as expected.
Most of the little differences, where they exist, involve registration of the operating system (entering or tracking credentials). Though there are a few small practical differences, such as the default Flatpak repositories and the lack of the Lightspeed assistant on AlmaLinux.
The main difference, I think, is in the builds. AlmaLinux is supporting older hardware and limited virtual machines while Red Hat is making newer processors and virtual machines a requirement for running RHEL. This, along with RHEL's 20% larger memory footprint, means AlmaLinux offers an advantage to people running older hardware, virtual private servers, or systems on a budget.
I think AlmaLinux can be defined, mostly, by what it does not include. It does not require account registration, it does not include an AI assistant which spews false information, it does not run as many background services, it does not require newer 64-bit processors, and downloading it does not result in getting spam from Red Hat sales people (I received a another marketing e-mail from Red Hat while proofreading this review). Otherwise the two distributions are pretty much identical, as intended.
* * * * *
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
AlmaLinux OS has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.1/10 from 67 review(s).
Have you used AlmaLinux OS? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora discusses dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor
Typically open source operating systems work to close off avenues for potential bugs and exploits, but sometimes, in the quest for convenience or performance, security takes a lower priority. We see an example of this in Canonical disabling a vulnerability mitigation for Intel GPUs in order to gain a 20% performance boost. The issue report on Launchpad states: "After discussion between Intel and Canonical's security teams, we are in agreement that Spectre no longer needs to be mitigated for the GPU at the Compute Runtime level. At this point, Spectre has been mitigated in the kernel, and a clear warning from the Compute Runtime build serves as a notification for those running modified kernels without those patches. For these reasons, we feel that Spectre mitigations in Compute Runtime no longer offer enough security impact to justify the current performance trade-off."
* * * * *
The Fedora project is planning to reduce its package maintenance burden by dropping support for 32-bit x86 (i686) packages from the distribution's repositories. The plan detailed in the change proposal is to drop 32-bit packages for Fedora 44. "By dropping completely the i686 architecture, Fedora will decrease the burden on package maintainers, release engineering, infrastructure, and users. Building and maintaining packages for i686 (and 32-bit architectures in general, but i686 is the last 32-bit architecture - partially - supported by Fedora) has been requiring more and more effort. Many projects have already been officially dropping support for building and / or running on 32-bit architectures, requiring either adding back support for this architecture downstream in Fedora, or requiring packaging changes in a significant number of packages to adapt to this dropped support." The discussion under the proposal points out some of the situations where users will be unable to properly run software, such as the Steam gaming portal, under the current plan.
* * * * *
The SDesk project published a minor update to the distribution's rolling release this week. While this was mostly a minor update, there was an interesting bit of commentary on mandatory access controls (MAC) in the release announcement: "This update deprecates SELinux in favor AppArmor for mandatory access control functionality. You should get improved system stability and better ease of use after updating. More applications should also work without requiring you to tweak the policy. SELinux would crash on seemingly random hardware configurations when set to 'enforcing' mode - which was a big reason why we switched to AppArmor." This release also drops the GNOME Classic session option.
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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) |
Transferring Flatpak packages between computers
Packing-up-and-moving asks: Flatpaks are supposed to be portable. But they also have dependencies? How can I share a Flatpak from my machine to another with everything it needs to run?
DistroWatch answers: While Flatpak bundles can have external dependencies (often drivers) which are provided by other Flatpak packages, typically a Flatpak package will contain most components (libraries, graphics, and programs) it needs to run.
The contents of system-wide Flatpak packages are typically kept in the /var directory, more specifically under /var/lib/flatpak/app/. However, we probably don't want to try to manually copy all of the files that have been extracted from all Flatpak packages to another machine or removable media. That is not an elegant solution and we may miss a dependency in the process. I will share below two approaches for transferring a Flatpak bundle as suggested by the Flatpak documentation, along with my hands-on experiences using them. Then I will share an alternative solution.
One of the commands we can use in order to copy a Flatpak package to another location is called (perhaps unintuitively) flatpak create-usb, followed by the name of the package. Let's look at an example.
In this example, I have the game Battle For Wesnoth installed as a Flatpak package. Battle For Wesnoth's full Flatpak name is org.wesnoth.Wesnoth. If you are unsure of the name of the Flatpak package you want to transfer you can find it by typing "flatpak list" from the command line. We can make an archive of this game, to either install later or to transfer to another computer, by running the following commands:
mkdir flatpak-backup
flatpak create-usb flatpak-backup org.wesnoth.Wesnoth
The above commands create a new directory (flatpak-backup) and then export the program org.wesnoth.Wesnoth into this new location. It is possible you may see an error message indicating the remote repository (Flathub, in this case) does not have a "collection ID". If this happens, we can correct the problem by running the following command:
flatpak remote-modify --collection-id=org.flathub.Stable flathub
Then re-run the previous flatpak create-usb command:
flatpak create-usb flatpak-backup org.wesnoth.Wesnoth
There will now be a hidden directory called .ostree under the flatpak-backup directory. We can check its contents by running the following:
ls flatpak-backup/.ostree
There will likely be a single directory in this location called repo. We can then copy the flatpak-backup directory to another location, such as a USB thumb drive or another computer on the network. On the other machine we can run this command to install the archived Flatpak bundle:
flatpak install --sideload-repo=flatpak-backup/.ostree/repo org.wesnoth.Wesnoth
The second computer will then install the Battle For Wesnoth game from our archive. However, and I think this is important, it does not install dependencies from the repository. We need to manually specify any missing dependencies too. Assuming everything copied over properly We can run the application by running:
flatpak run org.wesnoth.Wesnoth
At least this is what will happen if you are using an older version of Flatpak, such as 1.14.0. I tried this process with a more modern release, Flatpak 1.16.0, and it fails while reporting it cannot find the remote reference. Which seems counter-intuitive since the repository is not remote, but local. I made a little progress, adding the repository with the following command on Flatpak 1.16.0:
flatpak remote-add mybackup flatpak-backup/.ostree/repo
However, the system then reported GPG key verification was enabled and failed and Flatpak refused to install any packages from my archive. There is a clue in the error that the variable "gpg-verify-summary" needs to be set to "false". This variable exists in the flatpak-backup/.ostree/repo/config file. I removed the repository by running:
flatpak remote-delete mybackup
Then, following the directions, added the following lines to my configuration file:
[remote "mybackup"]
gpg-verify=false
gpg-verify-summary=false
Then I re-added the repository:
flatpak remote-add mybackup flatpak-backup/.ostree/repo
And, once more, tried to install Wesnoth on the new machine:
flatpak install --sideload-repo=flatpak-backup/.ostree/repo org.wesnoth.Wesnoth
This produced the same error claiming the variable "gpg-verify-summary" must be set to "false". I also tried it with the documentation's suggested simpler format:
flatpak install org.wesnoth.Wesnoth
Unfortunately this too failed with the same error about the "gpg-verify-summary" variable. In short, it seems that it is not possible to transfer Flatpak bundles across machines when the version of Flatpak is higher on the destination system.
This is interesting because it means that the error message is wrong and that Flatpak doesn't work smoothly across different versions of itself. (It's also possible the syntax hasn't been updated in the documentation to reflect changes in the newer versions.) I decided to explore this a bit further.
I tried the transfer in the other direction, moving from a system running Flatpak 1.16.0 to 1.14.0 and it worked smoothly (apart from the fact dependencies still are not copied, we need to specify them manually). In short, my experience shows copying bundles between systems running Flatpak 1.14.0 and 1.14.0 works, and Flatpak 1.16.0 to 1.14.0 works, but Flatpak isn't compatible going from version 1.14.0 to 1.16.0. I also tried a test where I attempted to transfer Flatpak bundles between two systems which were both running Flatpak 1.16.0 and it failed with the incorrect error message claiming "gpg-verify-summary" needed to be set to "false", which it already was in my repository's configuration file.
I'd say, after a few hours of testing and trouble-shooting and reading reports of similar problems from other Flatpak users, that it's fair to report Flatpak bundles can be transferred between machines as long as the destination machine is running Flatpak 1.14.0 (or earlier). However, computers running Flatpak 1.16.0 do not seem to be able to import Flatpak bundles. At least not without some arcane knowledge that I, several other users reporting problems, or the documentation do not have. Even when the transfer does work, the dependencies need to be specified manually as Flatpak is not smart enough to import them automatically from a side-loaded repository.
I think it's also accurate to say that it is possible to share Flatpak packages across off-line computers, in some situations, but the technology clearly is not designed with this approach in mind. It's buggy, slow, uses hidden directories to make the transfer, and the process often fails. Flatpak is not nearly as portable (in the off-line sense) as traditional package formats, such as RPM and Deb, which could simply be copied from one computer's package cache to another machine and installed with a single command. Flatpak is designed with the "always on-line" mindset and does not transfer gracefully across off-line machines.
Earlier I mentioned there were two approaches mentioned in Flatpak's documentation, so I'd like to share the second option. The second approach to transferring Flatpak software off-line uses the flatpak build-bundle command. I tried the examples in the documentation and they failed to build a bundle with errors about not being able to find the proper branch. It looks like, since the documentation was written, Flatpak's build-bundle command has added a requirement for a branch name to be supplied. For example, this command will attempt to build a Flatpak bundle for Battle For Wesnoth:
flatpak build-bundle /var/lib/flatpak/repo wesnoth.flatpak org.wesnoth.Wesnoth stable
The "stable" text indicates the name of the branch. I ran the above command and nothing seemed to happen after ten minutes. I re-ran the command with the verbose output option (-vv) enabled to see what was taking so long and no output was produced. Even after leaving it to work for several minutes no output was written to my terminal. (It only takes about 30 seconds to install the game from Flathub.) In the end, this approach of building an off-line bundle to share with another computer also proved to be a dead-end.
This is, unfortunately, not surprising. As OSNews reported in May, Flatpak isn't really being actively maintained anymore, which explains the bugs and lack of up to date documentation. The bitrot is increasingly showing in this technology.
Luckily, for people using portable packages, there is usually an easier approach than using Flatpak. AppImage is another package format which bundles an application with its dependencies. AppImage is more tidy in that it contains everything it needs inside one file. To run the application on another computer we can simply transfer this single file to a new system (using a thumb drive or network connection). On the destination computer, running the AppImage is usually as easy as making sure it is given executable permission and running it.
For example, if I wanted to enable and run the application Cute Chess on a new computer, I'd simply copy the Cute-Chess.AppImage file from my original computer to the new one, then run the following two commands to set execute permissions and launch the program:
chmod a+x Cute-Chess.AppImage
./Cute-Chess.AppImage
This approach requires no extra framework to be installed, no transferring hidden directories, no dependency or repository management, and works on virtually every Linux distribution. If you are working in an off-line environment, AppImage will be a much more straight forward solution.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
postmarketOS 25.06
postmarketOS is an Alpine-based distribution for mobile devices. The project's latest release is version 25.06 which is the first stable version to use the systemd init software. "As always we target the most recent Alpine release. In case of v25.06 it is the excellent Alpine Linux 3.22. Mobile UI versions: GNOME 48 and gnome-shell-mobile 48.mobile.0 replace GNOME 47 and 46-mobile.1 from v24.12. With the new versions we get massive performance improvements with dynamic triple buffering and more, new fonts, notification stacking, window placement and input improvements and much more. KDE Plasma Mobile 6.3.5 replaces version 6.2.4 from v24.12. This release has improvements for the task switcher, window placement, action drawer, quick settings, status bar, volume controls, manual screen rotation, a new traffic monitor in the Wi-Fi settings and major bug fixes regarding the lockscreen and dual-sim devices. The new chat page has gotten new UX as well. See the recent dev log post for details (search for 6.3). Phosh 0.47.0 replaces version 0.45.0 from 24.12. Between these releases, Phosh has gained support for setting a lockscreen wallpaper (which we have enabled in pmOS), quick settings improvements, searching in the file chooser portal and adjusting haptic strength in the settings. In postmarketOS we have changed the default on-screen-keyboard to Stevia." The release announcement offers additional details.
Escuelas Linux 8.12
The Escuelas Linux project has announced the release of Escuelas Linux 8.12, the latest version of the Bodhi Linux-based distribution with focus on education: "Escuelas Linux is a lightweight distribution designed for educational environments. Optimized to run even in low-resource hardware, it comes preloaded with a variety of educational tools, including GCompris, wxMaxima, WritingTool and Luanti, making it ideal for schools, students and teachers. The latest version, Escuelas Linux 8.12, is now available. This release brings the following updated software packages: GCompris 25.1 - the leading educational suite for children, compiled by us for the 32-bit edition; IBM Java 8.0 - you can count on the latest version of a solid and stable platform for running Java applications; LibreOffice 25.2.4 - one of the most popular free office suites offers many improvements and bug fixes; Moksha 0.41 - the desktop environment developed by the Bodhi Linux team keeps getting amazing...." See the release announcement, available in Spanish and English, for further details.
IPFire 2.29 Core 195
The IPFire project has published a new update, IPFire 2.29 Core Update 195, which intoduces built-in support for the WireGuard VPN technology. "This release introduces support for WireGuard, a modern VPN protocol designed for simplicity and performance. IPFire now includes a fully integrated interface to configure and manage WireGuard tunnels through the web user interface. WireGuard can be used for both net-to-net and host-to-net (Roadwarrior) VPN connections and is a lightweight alternative to IPsec and OpenVPN. Configuration is straightforward, and the IPFire implementation includes: full integration into the firewall GUI; support for multiple peers with individual settings; QR code display for easy mobile client configuration and configuration file export; connection importer for interoperability with other vendors and VPN providers; full support for the Intrusion Prevention System and Connection Tracking. WireGuard can be enabled alongside existing VPN services and is intended to offer another option for users who prefer its design and simplicity." Additional information is provided in the project's release announcement.
Mauna Linux 24.7
The Mauna Linux project has announced the release of Mauna Linux 24.7, an updated build of the Brazilian project's set of Debian-based distributions with four popular desktop environments, plus a separate "Christian" edition. This new version comes with several updates and bug fixes, and is based on Debian 12.11. One of the most important updates of the release is the brand-new version 9.0 of OnlyOffice, a free multi-platform office suite with compatibility with Microsoft Office documents. OnlyOffice 9.0 comes with a redesigned user interface that is more intuitive and accessible. To take advantage of this, it is necessary to activate either the "Modern Light" or the "Modern Dark" theme. The suite also includes a PDF editor that received important updates and productivity improvements. Mauna's Xfce variant now comes with the 6.12.30 Linux kernel, while all the other editions continue to use the upstream kernel, version 6.1.140. The included desktop environment versions are Cinnamon 6.0.2, LXQt 1.2.0, MATE 1.26 and Xfce 4.18. Read the full release announcement (in Portuguese, although the distribution supports the English language too) for further information.
Refresh 2.5
eXybit Technologies has announced the release of RefreshOS 2.5, the latest stable release of the project's beginner-friendly, desktop Linux distribution based on Debian 12, with KDE Plasma 5.27 as the preferred desktop. The new version incorporates all upstream security and bug fixes, improves hardware support, and updates the Brave browser to version 1.79.126. "RefreshOS 2.5 is here, built on Debian 12.11 and designed to strike the perfect balance between simplicity and power. With a clean KDE Plasma desktop, a fast Calamares installer, and smart defaults for permissions and power, it's easy for both new and experienced users to get started right away. This release adds expanded non-free firmware for better hardware support and refines the desktop with a custom theme and improved visuals. Staying true to its core, RefreshOS remains free of Snap and Flatpak, using only APT for software management. Essentials like LibreOffice, GIMP and Brave Browser come pre-installed, offering a ready-to-go platform out of the box." Visit the distribution's news page to read the brief release announcement.
RefreshOS 2.5 -- Running the KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 1.8MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP7
SUSE has announced an update to the company's SUSE Linux Enterprise distribution. The new release, version 15 Service Pack 7, offers over ten years of support and introduces post-quantum cryptography. "Longest Support: SP7 offers over 10 years of dependability, with general support until 2031 and Long Term Service Support (LTSS) available until 2037, providing up to 19 years of total support for your IT investments. No Forced Minor Upgrades: Unlike other solutions, SP7 specifically eliminates the need for minor OS upgrades. This directly saves on costly revalidation cycles and reduces operational complexity and downtime. True Lifecycle Control: Gain predictable and uninterrupted operations, allowing your OS to last as long as your hardware, certifications, and investments. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server has always prioritized security. As the evolution of the first enterprise Linux ready for post-quantum cryptography since SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP6, SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP7 delivers a hardened and future-proof security foundation. Post-Quantum Cryptography Ready: SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP7 ensures cryptographic future-proofing. Enhanced with OpenSSL 3.2 for stricter protocol parsing and improved validation for certificates and cryptographic parameters. Adopted by newer versions of curl, OpenSSH, Python, and PostgreSQL. Enhanced TLS 1.3 and QUIC support." Additional information is provided in the company's release announcement and in the What's New blog post.
Security Onion 2.4.160
Doug Burks has announced the availability of and updated build of Security Onion, a specialist Linux distribution designed for threat hunting, enterprise security monitoring and log management. The new release, version 2.4.160, comes with several new alert response tools: "Security Onion 2.4.160 is now available and includes Playbooks and Guided Analysis to help you more quickly triage and respond to alerts. In this release, when you expand an alert you'll see a new tab called Guided Analysis. This leverages Playbooks to show you plays associated with the alert. These plays include questions which help guide your investigation. Each question has an associated query and the results of that query will be automatically displayed to help you answer the question. This release includes a number of hand-written playbooks that are used at the detection engine (NIDS, Sigma, YARA) and category (e.g 'ET MALWARE') level. We have also used AI to generate individual Playbooks for all ETOPEN NIDS rules (58k)." Continue to the release announcement for more information and screenshots.
deepin 25
The deepin distribution team have announced version 25 of their operating system. The deepin distribution includes the new Deepin Desktop Environment 7.0, an immutable filesystem, and an AI assistant which responds to voice commands. "We deeply understand the importance of system stability for users. To this end, deepin 25 proudly introduces 'Solid' (deepin Immutable System), redefining the benchmark for stability in Linux operating systems. Read-Only Protection, Preventing Core Tampering: By forcibly mounting core directories like /usr/bin as read-only, the system fundamentally blocks accidental user actions or malware from modifying the system core, ensuring long-term stable operation. For developers needing deep customization, we also provide a convenient command to toggle protection on/off instantly. Second-Level Snapshots: Upgrade Without Worry: Before every system update, the system automatically creates a backup snapshot. Even if something unexpected happens during the update, the system can automatically roll back to the last known good state upon reboot, eliminating "update-bricking" anxiety. Worry-Free Restore: The "Self-Cleaning" Engine for Public Devices: Designed for scenarios like public computers and exhibition devices, "Worry-Free Restore" automatically clears usage traces upon reboot, while also supporting whitelist configurations to balance security and efficiency." Details on these features and more can be found in the project's release announcement.
deepin 25 -- Running Deepin Desktop Environment 7.0
(full image size: 4.6MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
Oracle Linux 10.0
Gursewak Sokhi has announced the release of Oracle Linux 10, a major new update of the company's enterprise-class Linux distribution built from the source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10: "Oracle Linux 10 is now generally available for 64-bit Intel and AMD (x86_64) and 64-bit Arm (aarch64) platforms. Oracle Linux 10 delivers robust security and exceptional performance for business agility and demanding workloads at cloud scale. Key features include modernized cryptographic capabilities, advancements in developer tooling, and innovations for resilient infrastructure. These enhancements enable organizations to build and run applications faster and more securely across distributed and multicloud environments. Following the recent release of the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel 8 (UEK 8) - Oracle's optimized kernel based on the latest upstream long-term stable kernel - Oracle Linux 10 includes UEK 8.1. This underscores Oracle's continued focus on providing industry-leading performance and stability that organizations rely on." Read the release announcement and the detailed release notes for further information.
Oracle Linux 10.0 -- Running the GNOME desktop
(full image size: 2.1MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
* * * * *
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: 3,232
- Total data uploaded: 47.6TB
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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) |
Have you transferred Flatpak applications between off-line computers?
In our Questions and Answers column we talked about sharing Flatpak packages between off-line computers and mentioned two techniques for transferring Flatpak bundles between machines. The results of multiple tests showed Flatpak packages can sometimes be transferred, but the process has some hurdles and the documentation is out of date. We'd like to hear from our readers who have attempted to share Flatpak bundles between off-line computers. What method did you use and was it successful? Share your tips for transferring Flatpak packages off-line in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on preferring mainstream or unusual distributions in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Have you shared Flatpak software between off-line computers?
| Successfully with the create-usb approach: | 4 (0%) |
| Successfully with the build-bundle approach: | 3 (0%) |
| Successfully with another approach: | 6 (1%) |
| Failed with the create-usb approach: | 5 (0%) |
| Failed with the build-bundle approach: | 1 (0%) |
| Failed with another approach: | 3 (0%) |
| No have not attempted this: | 1124 (98%) |
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| Website News |
Dark Mode
One of the items we have been asked to implement is Dark Mode, a way to reduce the brightness of the website, especially for people visiting DistroWatch at night. Dark mode has now been enabled (as an option), both for our Desktop website and our Mobile interface.
The toggle for switching between Light Mode and Dark Mode is in the upper-right corner of the Desktop website, next to the Torrents link. When using our Mobile interface the theme can be toggled through the Navigation menu. By default, the classic, Light theme is displayed - the new Dark Mode is only used when a visitor requests it.
While most of the transition between Light and Dark themes went smoothly, there were a few hurdles, particularly in terms of dealing with logos. Many logos, especially from older projects, were designed with Light themes in mind and do not display properly with a fully black (or dark grey) background. We've got around this for now by giving project logos a frame with a medium background. Our own banner was also originally designed with a Light theme in mind. The logo which now appears in our Dark Mode was modified and adapted by C.B. Leslie - thank you, C.B!
We also want to thank a few beta testers who sent in feedback while we were trying to get the colours right. A few people mentioned issues with contrast or problems we might encounter when displaying text to colour-blind visitors. In particularly, thanks to Crimperman for suggesting the new colour of our Dark Mode's quoted text along with providing a tool for testing contrast for colour-blind visitors. The feedback was valuable and it helped us correct a few problems.
* * * * *
Donations and Sponsors
Each month we receive support and kindness from our readers in the form of donations. These donations help us keep the web server running, pay contributors, and keep infrastructure like our torrent seed box running. We'd like to thank our generous readers and acknowledge how much their contributions mean to us.
This month we're grateful for the $116 in contributions from the following kind souls:
| Donor |
Amount |
|---|
| J S | $50 |
| Jonathon B | $10 |
| Sam C | $10 |
| Joshua B | $7 |
| Brian59 | $5 |
| Chris S | $5 |
| Chung T | $5 |
| John B | $5 |
| TaiKedz | $5 |
| Nick L | $3 |
| J.D. L | $2 |
| PB C | $2 |
| aRubes | $1 |
| Colton D | $1 |
| Stephen M | $1 |
| Kai D | $1 |
| Lars N | $1 |
| Shasheen E | $1 |
| William E | $1 |
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- arcOS. arcOS is short for the Amateur Radio Community Operating System, a Linux-based, live distribution meant to be run from a thumb drive. arcOS provides drivers and applications for working with amateur radio equipment.
- Nebulux. Nebulux is an Ubuntu-based desktop distribution which features pie-style menus throughout the interface to improve performance and reduce mouse movement.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 7 July 2025. 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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| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 2, value: US$25.47) |
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
SDesk
SDesk is an Arch-based Linux distribution which strives for an easy to use, modern approach to desktop computing. The SDesk project ships up to date software and uses GNOME running on a Wayland session for its default desktop environment. SDesk includes a number of popular open source applications, including LibreOffice and uses Calamares to install the operating system.
Status: Active
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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