 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1145, 27 October 2025 |
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Welcome to this year's 43rd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
This month the computing world said farewell (partially) to supported installs of Windows 10, and several Linux organizations took this opportunity to invite former Windows 10 users to try out Linux and open source applications. This invitation, which was collectively called the "End of 10" event, saw people around the world offer their advice, time, and experience to help new users install and try out open source software. In our Questions and Answers column this week we respond to a request for general advice that will help Linux newcomers. If you are new to Linux, please let us know in this week's Opinion Poll and say hello in the comments. This week we talk about Linux Mint Debian Edition 7, the new alternative release from the Linux Mint project which showcases the latest version of Cinnamon on a Debian 13 base. Then, in our News section, we report on AlmaLinux extending support for installs on Btrfs storage and KDE's new features in Plasma 6.5.0. Plus we talk about Fedora's new policy for AI-created contributions and Ubuntu's update issue. We are also pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. As the month draws to a close we also take a moment to thank our wonderful supporters who continue to send donations - it means a lot! We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7
The Linux Mint project creates a popular, Ubuntu-based distribution which is available in Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce desktop editions. The Mint project has gained a reputation over the years for taking Ubuntu and polishing it, removing components most users do not like and replacing them with practical alternatives.
The Linux Mint team also produces an alternative branch which is based on Debian's Stable repository and appropriately named Linux Mint Debian Edition. This second branch of the project features one edition with the Cinnamon desktop environment and otherwise looks and behave very similarly to the main, Ubuntu-based branch.
A few months ago we asked our readers in a poll whether they wanted to see a review of the latest version of Mint's Ubuntu edition or a review of Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE). The results were overwhelmingly in favour of the Debian flavour.
As mentioned above, LMDE version 7 is available in a single desktop edition featuring the Cinnamon desktop. The distribution runs on one architecture (x86_64) and is based on Debian 13 "Trixie". The ISO for LMDE 7 is 2.8GB in size. Booting from the ISO brings up a menu offering to start the distribution's live desktop, launch the desktop in failsafe mode, or start an OEM installation.
Installing
LMDE 7's live media boots and launches the Cinnamon desktop. The desktop is presented with dark wallpaper and a thick panel is placed across the bottom of the screen. An application menu can be found on the panel's left side and a system tray is located to the right. There is a single icon on the desktop for launching the project's system installer. There is no welcome window or guided tour when we are running the live desktop session.
Mint's Debian Edition uses a custom graphical system installer which looks and acts similarly to Calamares or Ubiquity, though with a few minor differences in the style and layout. The installer begins by asking us for our preferred language and our timezone, which can be selected from a map. Both of these were detected for me automatically and correctly. We then select our keyboard layout from a list - the layout was also guessed automatically for me, though incorrectly.
The installer asks us to make up a username and password for ourselves and offers to encrypt our home directory. I like this feature and Mint is one of the few distributions I know of which still offers home directory encryption at install time. Next, we are asked how we would like to partition the hard drive. We can take an automated option which will set up an ext4 filesystem on the available disk. The guided approach can be asked to set up LVM volumes and encrypt the root partition. There isn't any option to select whether we will have swap space and there is no option to use an alternative filesystem, such as Btrfs. (I was surprised there is no option to use Btrfs since some of Mint's key feature in the Ubuntu-based branch require Btrfs.) We can also manually partition the disk, assigning mount points to existing partitions. The installer can launch GParted to help us create or change the partitions on the disk.
Mint's installer asks if it should install the GRUB bootloader and, if so, where with locations listed in a menu. The installer copies its packages to the hard drive, reports when it is finished, and offers to restart the computer. Alternatively, we can exit the installer and continue to explore the live Cinnamon environment.
Early impressions
Booting into my new copy of LMDE brought up a graphical login screen. We are able to sign into one of three sessions from the login page: Cinnamon (on X11), Cinnamon with software rendering (on X11), or Cinnamon on Wayland. The "software rendering" option is helpful on systems with low-end video cards or that are running a limited video driver. In the past this software rendering option was one I found helpful, though these days Cinnamon's regular session provides good performance and the software fallback probably won't be needed by most users.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- The welcome window
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When we sign into Cinnamon we are greeted by a welcome screen. This screen is divided into multiple tabs. The first tab simply presents a welcoming message. The second tab, called First Steps, presents what is probably the most useful of the screens. The First Steps tab offers us buttons which will launch configuration tools. From this page we can quickly access a settings module for changing the default theme and colours, another button launches Timeshift to create backups (or snapshots) of the operating system, and a third button installs media codecs. One button opens the update manager, another the system settings panel, and yet another button launches the software centre to help us find new applications. The final button opens the firewall configuration tool (Gufw) to help us lock down or open network ports. Each of these tools works well and I liked having them quickly accessible in one spot.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- Adjusting the desktop theme
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The remaining tabs in the welcome window provide us with access to documentation and on-line support. The support options include the project's web forum and a Matrix chat room. The former can be browsed without an account while the Matrix option requests we create an account to view or participate in any discussions.
Once we dismiss the welcome window, Cinnamon remains quiet, staying out of the way while we explore. I saw no pop-up notifications or other distractions. When software updates become available an icon in the system tray will change slightly to let us know. We can click on this icon to launch the update manager, which I will explore later in this review.
Hardware
I found LMDE performed well on my laptop, detecting all of my hardware and offering above average responsiveness when logged into Cinnamon. The distribution was able to boot in both UEFI and Legacy BIOS modes. Networking, audio, and desktop resolution were all setup properly. My touchpad detected taps as clicks, which was appreciated. The touchpad was set up to use inverse scrolling, a feature I do not like, and this was easily changed in the desktop's settings panel. My screen was dark by default, projecting at about 20% brightness, even when plugged into AC power. My laptop's shortcut keys for adjusting brightness quickly fixed this problem.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- The Cinnamon settings panel
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When running in VirtualBox the distribution performed well. The desktop was responsive, it was easy to change desktop resolution, and Mint ran smoothly. LMDE uses about 8.2GB of disk space for a fresh install, which is about average for a mainstream Linux distribution. Cinnamon consumed 890MB of RAM which puts it in the upper-medium range - larger than Xfce and LXQt, but smaller than Plasma and GNOME.
I feel a though Cinnamon's performance has improved over the years. When I first started using it, it was about average or a little poorer on physical hardware and tended to lag a bit in virtual machines. These days it runs well across test environments and is almost as responsive as some lightweight desktops. It also hasn't gobbled up resource to the same degree as modern versions of Plasma, COSMIC, and GNOME Shell.
Included software
LMDE ships with a "who's who" of popular, open source applications. Digging through the selection we find Firefox, Thunderbird, the Transmission bittorrent client, and LibreOffice. There is a calendar application, the Celluloid video player, and the Rhytmbox music player. The streaming TV application Hypnotix is included too. I found that Celluloid worked well in the X11 session and was able to play videos, but it showed only a blank screen with audio playing in the Wayland session. When I installed VLC it worked in both the Wayland and X11 desktop sessions.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- Exploring the application menu
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The Pix image viewer is installed for us alongside a simple drawing program (appropriately called Drawing). The Nemo file manager is present and I like its default look which uses yellow office folder style icons. The system is equipped with a backup tool which will archive both our personal files and a record of installed packages. A process monitor is included and Timeshift is present for taking snapshots of the system.
LMDE ships with the GNU command line utilities and the GNU Compiler Collection. The system features manual pages and runs systemd to manage services. We find version 6.12 of the Linux kernel running in the background.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- Creating a backup
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One application of note, which isn't found on many other distributions, is the Web Apps utility. This program helps us create application menu entries which will open a dedicated web browser window for a specific website. This makes setting up launchers for web apps quite easy and we can assign a name and icon for each new website.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- Creating a web app launcher
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Package management
The distribution offers a few options for managing software. LMDE supports working with Deb packages (which the distribution calls "system packages") and Flatpak. The Flatpak management utilities connect automatically with Flathub to provide us with a wide range of software. Snap is not installed by default, but it is available in the Deb repositories. We can make use of APT and Flatpak command line tools if we wish, but most users will probably prefer to use the various graphical utilities.
Mint ships with a modern-style software centre which allow us to browse for available applications or type a search for key words. The software centre shows us both Flatpak and Deb packages in a unified view. When we click on an application's entry its source location (System Package or Flathub) is shown in the upper-right corner of the screen. If a package is available from multiple sources we can select our preference from a drop-down menu. (The software centre's settings also let us specify which package source we would rather see by default.) A package that has been installed can be launched or removed with a click.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- Browsing the software center
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The software centre is pleasantly easy to navigate; I like that it has just one window/tab and makes it easy to see both Flatpak and Deb packages together. By default Mint's software centre shows us "verified" Flatpak bundles only - verified software means packages for which Flathub has confirmed the author. We can expand the selection to see all package in the Flathub repository by clicking a checkbox in the software centre's settings.
Mint provides an update manager which can be launched from the application menu or from the system tray. It provides a list of newly available packages we can update along with information on each package. This information includes an icon indicating if the software update is a security fix or a package upgrade. We can then select which items we want to install. I like that the update manager provides a lot of information while also providing good defaults. Everything is updated for us, by default, but we can also hold back packages and make informed decisions based on what Mint's updater shows us.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 -- Checking for package updates
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Wayland session
While running LMDE I mostly logged into Cinnamon's X11 session. However, I did spend a little time in the Wayland session too, for the sake of comparison. The Mint team still marks Cinnamon's Wayland edition as "experimental" and this probably makes sense, treating the newer session option with caution. However, with the exception of the video player issue I mentioned earlier, the two sessions worked the same for me. Performance, mouse movement, and application responses were all the same. Usually I can quickly tell if I'm logged into a Wayland or X11 session, but Cinnamon makes it possible to switch between the two fairly seamlessly.
I occasionally run into people on-line who want to run a Wayland-focused desktop and have discarded Cinnamon as an option because of its "experimental" tag and I think those people are cheating themselves as Cinnamon's Wayland session is already one of the more mature available; the development team is just more cautious about setting new technology loose on their users. This (ironically) sends users into the arms of less mature implementations.
Differences between LMDE and Linux Mint
There are very few differences between running Linux Mint's Ubuntu-based branch and the Debian-based branch. This is by design. The two branches are intended to provide the same software and mostly the same experience. The Debian branch exists as a fallback option in case Canonical ever takes Ubuntu in a direction the Mint community doesn't like.
There are a few differences, most of them a matter of background components or conveniences. For instance, LMDE is available in the Cinnamon desktop edition only while the main edition is offered in three desktop flavours. We can, of course, install an alternative desktop on LMDE if we want after we complete the install process.
Speaking of the install process, the system installer is different. There are not a lot of differences, but Linux Mint veterans will spot a different layout and slightly different prompts in the installer. A few of the background components are slightly different or are offered under different versions. For example, Mint's main edition runs version 6.14 of the Linux kernel while LMDE runs version 6.12. It's not likely to make a difference, but we can spot a few of these small gaps in version numbers.
These days it probably won't affect many people, but Linux Mint's main edition is compatible with Ubuntu personal package archives (PPAs) while LMDE is not. Usually portable formats, such as Flatpak, are used today instead of PPAs, but it is a distinction between the two branches.
Otherwise I found LMDE and Linux Mint worked identically. The default applications, performance, and capabilities appear to be the same in almost every way between the two branches of the project.
Conclusions
Linux Mint is a rare gem in the open source community. It is a project which consistently puts out quality, polished, well designed releases. The in-house applications, the Cinnamon desktop, the update manager, and tools like the LMDE installer are all well put together. Mint is a project which is friendly to beginners while also being flexible and powerful enough for expert users. It makes computing easy without getting in the way and I am regularly impressed by the quality of software coming out of the Mint project.
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 is no exception to this tradition. The project finds a good balance between being friendly without being distracting, being polished without being too flashy, providing good tools without overloading the application menu, and (as always) sane defaults have been chosen. It was difficult to find any faults with the latest release from the Mint team. The system installer should, in my opinion, default to using Btrfs in order to leverage filesystem snapshots (which would work well with Timeshift). This isn't a bug, but I think it is a missed opportunity.
The Cinnamon desktop is one of the better Linux desktops available these days and, even with the "experimental" Wayland session, Cinnamon performed well. The only bug I encountered this week was Celluloid not displaying videos in the Wayland session. Though I feel it only fair to point out both Celluloid and Totem have this same issue in GNOME and Plasma Wayland sessions too and the player works properly in Mint's default X11 session.
In short: this is another excellent release from the Mint team. LMDE 7 is a distribution I would feel equally comfortable installing on my non-technological family members' computers and on my own.
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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
Linux Mint has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.8/10 from 937 review(s).
Have you used Linux Mint? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
AlmaLinux offers Btrfs support for fresh installs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5.0, Fedora accepts AI-written contributions, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates
The AlmaLinux team have announced AlmaLinux OS 10.1 will include support for the Btrfs advanced filesystem, making it possible for users to install the distribution on a Btrfs volume. "Btrfs support encompasses both kernel and userspace enablement, and it is now possible to install AlmaLinux OS with a Btrfs filesystem from the very beginning. Initial enablement was scoped to the installer and storage management stack, and broader support within the AlmaLinux software collection for Btrfs features is forthcoming." Additional information on how to set up AlmaLinux OS on Btrfs is provided in the project's blog post.
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The KDE project has released version 6.5.0 of their Plasma desktop. The desktop includes several new features, including automatic switching between light and dark themes at specific times of day and an option to save data in the clipboard for future use. "Plasma 6.5 includes a number of highly-requested features: First up: rounded bottom window corners! Breeze-themed windows will now have the same level of roundness in all four corners. If you don't like this, you can un-round them, too. Another one is automatic light-to-dark theme switching based on the time of day. You can configure which global themes it switches between, and also which themes are shown on the manual toggles on System Settings' Quick Settings page. As a part of this feature, you can also configure whether you want the wallpaper to switch between its light and dark versions based on the color scheme, the time of day, or be always light or dark. Next up is a 'Pinned clipboard items' feature, which lets you save text you use regularly into the clipboard, so you don't have to keep copying them over and over again." Additional features and screenshots can be found in KDE's release announcement.
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The Fedora project has announced it will start accepting contributions from developers who generated their submissions using large language models (LLMs). This policy of accepting code from "AI" generation was announced by Aoife Moloney: "I wanted to share the outcome of today's Council meeting regarding this proposal. After several weeks of discussion and incorporating feedback from our community into better revisions of the initial proposal, the Fedora Council has approved the latest version of the AI-Assisted Contributions policy formally. The agreed-upon version can be read in this ticket. You can read the full meeting transcript in the meeting log.
This is a hotly debated move by the Fedora team for a few reasons. One concern is that code generated by LLMs is based on code of unknown origin and licensing, meaning code submitted could be in violation of licenses (either of the original author or it could be incompatible with the receiving project). It's also a concern because AI models cannot hold copyright, making assigning ownership to code and documentation a legally tricky issue. Finally, AI-generated code and documentation tends to contain errors and security flaws which concerns users of applications which may be build using AI-generated software. This has resulted in some calls to boycott the distribution until the policy is reversed.
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As we mentioned last week, one of the key new features in Ubuntu 25.10 was a migration from the GNU core utilities (coreutils) to a new, Rust-based alternative. While most of the transition worked well, not all of the Rust-based tools provided all the same functionality as the GNU tools. This has resulted in some Ubuntu users not being able to install updates. Julian Klode explains: "Due to a now-resolved bug in the 'date' command, some Ubuntu 25.10 systems have been unable to automatically check for available software updates. Affected machines include cloud deployments, container images, Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server installs. To check if your system is affected, run `dpkg -l rust-coreutils` and check the version field: Systems with version '0.2.2-0ubuntu2.1' or later are not affected." Klode's report includes steps to fix the issue.
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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) |
Advice for new Linux users
Roll-out-the-welcome-mat asks: With all the new Linux users coming over with the End of 10, any advice for the Linux newbies?
DistroWatch answers: For anyone who might not be aware, Microsoft Windows 10 reached the end of its supported life on October 13th, 2025. Well, it sort of reached the end of its official life, meaning it will not receive any more security updates, leaving Windows users vulnerable. I say "sort of" because there are ways for Windows 10 users to continue to receive security updates and there are various extensions and exceptions, depending on where you live and whether you pay for a OneDrive account... However, for most people, Windows 10 is no longer supported. This end of support from Microsoft for Windows 10 is commonly called the End of 10 event.
Since migrating to Windows 11 usually involves buying a new computer and throwing out perfectly good hardware, there has been an effort to invite people to try Linux instead of migrating (I hesitate to say "upgrading") to Windows 11. Linux is free of cost, doesn't require buying a new computer, isn't bogged down by ads and AI annoyances, and (for most people) will run all the applications they need. It's also faster and easier to install than Windows 11, so we have that in our favour.
As for advice to newcomers? Yes, I can think of a few things which might be helpful.
- Pick an easy distro and dive in - If you ask ten different Linux users which flavour (or "distro") of Linux you should install, you will get a dozen answers. Based on my experience from helping people migrate from Windows to Linux over the past 15 years, the easiest path is almost always to install Linux Mint. Mint has excellent hardware support, it's set up to be familiar for people migrating from Windows, it has a practical collection of applications, and it is supported for five years. There are a lot of good distributions in the world, and I'd suggest eventually looking at a range of them if you feel experimental, but being someone's first Linux distribution is what Linux Mint is best at doing.
- Be willing to unlearn what you know - The main complaint I hear from people who have recently moved from another operating system to Linux is "Why can't I just do ____ like I did with my last OS?" The short answer is that Linux is a different platform and it works differently. A hammer works differently from a screwdriver, a motorcycle works differently from a pick-up truck, and Linux works differently from Windows/macOS.
The greatest barrier to new knowledge is often believing you already know the right answer. So, one of the best things you can do for yourself when testing out any new technology is to try to forget what you know, forget what you are accustomed to doing. Linux does things differently, often with good reason. If you're caught up on how you did things before you won't get a chance to benefit and enjoy the way Linux works. Less experienced computer users often have an easier time switching to Linux than power users because they do not need to unlearn past habits.
- Linux distributions are designed to be complete operating systems - Most operating systems in the world, whether they are on your desktop computer or phone, are designed to be platforms that run third-party technologies. Your Windows laptop runs applications from other companies and your iPhone runs apps provided by third-party developers. There is a clear distinction between most operating systems and the programs they run. Most Linux distributions don't work that way.
With Linux, almost every application you are going to run is provided by your distribution. If you are running Linux Mint, almost every application you will run comes from Linux Mint's software centre. If you run Debian then almost every program you install and run will come from the Debian package manager. Linux distributions try to provide everything you need in one central collection (called a repository). Windows and macOS users are accustomed to browsing the web, looking for applications, clicking a download link, and running an installer. With Linux we skip all of that. We can open the software centre (or "app store") and find just about anything we need.
- Linux is not a babysitter - A lot of modern operating systems, especially ones for mobile platforms, tend to want to hold your attention. They tend to have guided tours, notifications a dozen times a day, reminders to install upgrades, and suggestions to install new applications. They are designed to hold your attention for the benefit of their advertisers. In short, using a lot of commercial operating systems feels like dealing with a babysitter who thinks they need to jingle keys in front of an infant every minute to prevent the child from becoming bored.
Linux isn't going to show you ads, nag you to install updates, suggest you install new applications or services, or pester you to check your settings. Linux is, for the most part, developed by adult professions for adults. It is not an advertising platform or a babysitter; Linux will mostly work quietly in the background and let you get on with working, gaming, or browsing the web.
The flip side to Linux treating you like a responsible adult is that it means, in order to get the most out of your Linux experience, it helps to act like a responsible adult. This means learning about how something works before tinkering with it, it means being proactive about checking for security updates, it means doing some occasional care and maintenance of your operating system. Not a lot, this isn't a full time job, but much like being a pet owner or a car owner, being a computer owner involves a certain amount of self-education and responsibility. Linux will let you use your computer the way you want to use it, whether that is a good idea or not. Before attempting something new, it's a good idea to read up on the subject or ask other Linux users on forums to learn about the best approach.
In short, pick a beginner-friendly distribution, try to keep an open mind, and remember that a little bit of self-education will go a long way to making your Linux experience a pleasant one.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Clonezilla Live 3.3.0-33
Clonezilla Live is a Debian-based distribution for duplicating and restoring disk images and partitions. The distribution has published an update to its Stable branch which includes a new kernel with new hardware support and updates to its key utilities. "The underlying GNU/Linux operating system was upgraded. This release is based on the Debian Sid repository (as of 2025/Oct/17). The Linux kernel was updated to 6.16.12-1. Partclone was updated to 0.3.38, which includes a fix for a btrfs-related issue. Added a new program, ocs-blkdev-sorter, which allows udev to create Clonezilla alias block devices in /dev/ocs-disks/. This is used by the udev rule 99-ocs-sorted-disks.rules. Added the "-uoab" option to ocs-sr and ocs-live-feed-img to support selecting Clonezilla alias block device names in the TUI. This experimental feature addresses the random ordering of kernel block devices and can currently only be enabled via a command-line parameter. Improved the performance of ocs-get-dev-info. Improved ocs-blk-dev-info to ensure 'jq' works correctly in some cases and to increase efficiency. Added ocs-cmd-screen-sample, which can be used with the "run again" script. It works with screen, tmux, and the console." Additional details can be found in the distribution's release announcement.
Ultramarine Linux 42
The developers of Ultramarine Linux, a set Fedora-based distributions with a choice of Budgie, GNOME, KDE Plasma and Xfce desktops, have announced the release of Ultramarine Linux 42. The new version, based on Fedora 42, brings improvements to the Taidan input method editor and hardware acceleration for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL): "We've put a lot of time into Taidan, our out-of-the-box experience, in Ultramarine 42. It's really matured into a polished and useful tool. We hope to land some more features in Ultramarine 44 this year, so stay tuned to that. Windows Subsystem for Linux users now have hardware acceleration. This means you can run apps inside Ultramarine inside Windows using the GPU from your real device. Hope you have fun with this one. Due to maintenance burden and conflicts, collaboration between Terra and Repology has ended starting in Terra 42. Specifically, Repology requires all Terra sources to be fully accessible via a predictable URL format." Read the full release announcement for more information and for the project's upcoming plans.
Ultramarine Linux 42 -- Running the Budgie desktop
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OpenBSD 7.8
Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 7.8, the latest of the regular biannual updates of the project's free, multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like operating system. This version adds support for Raspberry Pi 5, among many other changes: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 7.8. This is our 59th release. We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of thirty years with only two remote holes in the default install. As in our previous releases, 7.8 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: added support for Raspberry Pi 5 (with console on serial port); implement acpicpu(4) for arm64; on Apple variants, enter DDB when exuart(4) detects a BREAK; on arm64 and riscv64, avoid multiple threads of a process continuously faulting on a single page when pmap_enter(9) is asked to enter a mapping that already exists; make apm and hw.cpuspeed work on Snapdragon X Elite machines; fix processing of GPIO events for pin numbers less than 256 with an _EVT method, fixes power button on various ThinkPads with AMD CPUs...." Continue to the release announcement for a full list of changes and improvements.
HydraPWK GNU/Linux 2025.03
HydraPWK 2025.03 has been released. HydraPWK GNU/Linux, based on Debian's "Testing" branch, is a live distribution designed primarily for penetration testing and security auditing. It contains a collection of penetration testing tools, including tools for information gathering, scanning, stress testing, exploitation, cracking, reversing engineering and forensics. "Today HydraPWK released a new version of HydraPWK, say hello to HydraPWK 2025.03 'Apes'. The best things is, now HydraPWK is defensive too. In other words, the focus isn't just on penetration testing, HydraPWK is now a security auditing toolkit. HydraPWK still the same one-task-one-tool philosophy and all the tools on HydraPWK are curated tools. All the tools we choose are based on real-world use cases. What's new? Updated logo; new tools - Arkime, Elasticsearch; new Polkitd rules; desktop changes; update recommended minimal hardware requirements; tools documentation page; update HydraPWK using a fresh ISO image or APT." Read the release announcement for more information.
HydraPWK GNU/Linux 2025.03 -- Running the Xfce desktop
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Vinari OS 5.0.0
Javier Vintimlla has announced the release of Vinari OS 5.0.0, the latest version of the project's a desktop Linux distribution based on Debian's "Stable" branch and featuring a customised GNOME desktop. Code-named "Krypton", Vinari OS 5.0.0 is the first release that is based on Debian 13. The changelog provides a list of important changes since version 4.0.0: "Debian base is 13.1 'Trixie' now; the Linux kernel has been updated to version 6.12.48; the libwayland-client0 package has been updated to version 1.23.1; the libwayland-server0 package has been updated to version 1.23.1; the PipeWire package has been updated to version 1.4.2; the WirePlumber package has been updated to version 0.5.8; the GNOME desktop environment has been updated to version 48.4; vinari-os-cli-coreutils has been updated to version 5.0.0; Firefox has been updated to version 144.0; Drawing has been updated to version 1.0.2; Geary has been updated to version 46.0; LibreOffice has been updated to version 25.8.2; Eye of GNOME has been deprecated; Loupe has been installed (version 48.1); Ruby has been updated to version 3.3.8; Python has been updated to version 3.13.5; GCC has been updated to version 14.2.0; Dos2Unix has been updated to version 7.5.2...."
Planeta Tecno OS 7
Pablo Arreche has announced the release of a brand-new version of Planeta Tecno OS, a Uruguayan Linux distribution based on Debian 12, with MATE as the default desktop and a variety of artificial intelligence tools integrated into the desktop. "Today we officially present an improved version of Planeta Tecno OS 7. It brings many updates to performance, interface, tools (including a brand-new launch). These new features are based on the various tests I've conducted and also on the contributions made by the community through comments, reviews, information and queries via this website, the YouTube channel and our social media accounts. Therefore, this is a version that, more than ever, is based on user requests and needs. Below I'll discuss the main changes and their motivations. The first thing you notice when you log in is the new environment. For the first time, we're leaving Xfce and switching to MATE, which is, of course, quite customized. The reason for the change? There are several factors, but we can summarize them as follows: performance - the overall system speed and responsiveness are noticeable; lightness - lower RAM usage in idle mode and also when under heavy workload...." Read the detailed release announcement (in Spanish) for further information.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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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) |
Are you a newcomer to Linux because of the End of 10?
In our Questions and Answers section we talked about the End of 10 event, the time at which Microsoft dropped support for Windows 10. Efforts around the world have been inviting people to try Linux distributions and LibreOffice over Windows and Microsoft Office. If you are new to Linux because of the End of 10 event, welcome! We'd like to hear how many people reading this weekly newsletter are new to our community.
You can see the results of our previous poll on encrypting backup archives in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Are you new to Linux because of End of 10?
| Yes - new to Linux because of End of 10: | 88 (4%) |
| New to Linux but not because of End of 10: | 56 (3%) |
| Not new to Linux - switched before End of 10: | 1582 (80%) |
| Not new to Linux - have not switched to Linux: | 258 (13%) |
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| Website News |
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 $124 in contributions from the following kind souls:
| Donor |
Amount |
|---|
| J S | $50 |
| Jonathon B | $10 |
| Sam C | $10 |
| Joshua B | $7 |
| George E | $6 |
| Brian59 | $5 |
| Chris S | $5 |
| Chung T | $5 |
| Joe Football | $5 |
| John B | $5 |
| TaiKedz | $5 |
| 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 |
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 3 November 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: 0, value: US$0.00) |
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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!
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • 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 |
| • 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 | 
Sculpt OS
Sculpt OS is an independent open-source operating system developed by Genode. It combines Genode's microkernel architecture, capability-based security, sandboxed device drivers, and virtual machines in a novel operating system for commodity PC hardware and the PinePhone. Sculpt uses an administrative user interface called "Leitzentrale".
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.
|
| 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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