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1 • The Poll question #4 is kind of weird (by Andy Prough on 2025-10-27 00:35:45 GMT from Switzerland)
I answered that I am "Not new to Linux - have not switched to Linux".
That's because I've been using GNU/Linux distros since the 1990s - it has not been a "switch" for me.
But after I answered, I thought maybe what was meant by the question was "I am not new to GNU/Linux distros, because I do not use them."
Anyway, I am not new, and like a lot of DW readers I would expect many to say, "not new - been doing this a long time".
Maybe the Poll needs a 5th option? "I'm an old-timer".
2 • Poll (by Wedge009 on 2025-10-27 01:06:02 GMT from Australia)
I interpreted the 'switch' as being for your primary device. I used Linux quite a lot on secondary machines before 'End of 7', but it wasn't until that happened (January 2020) that I made the 'switch' on my main machine. (Actually, I built a brand new machine, made that my primary, and used Linux on it instead of Windows.)
Thanks to my experience on those secondary machines, I did some preparation in the lead-up to that as well, switching to FOSS alternatives to Windows-exclusive applications and used them on Windows before making the 'switch'. Wine and Proton were also helpful in breaking free of the last area tying me to Windows: games.
BTW, for the few people (at time of writing) that expressed 'new to Linux' in the poll - welcome!
3 • Poll (by Jesse on 2025-10-27 01:12:06 GMT from Canada)
@1: "Maybe the Poll needs a 5th option? "I'm an old-timer"."
That is what the third option is.
4 • This weeks poll... (by CassiopeiaM52 on 2025-10-27 01:20:26 GMT from United States)
Oops... The poll got me too. I've never used Windows.
5 • @3 - Jesse third option (by Andy Prough on 2025-10-27 01:51:20 GMT from Switzerland)
But I didn't really switch at any point. I used various computers at work in the early 90s and just used whatever the workplace had at the time - various types of DOS, early versions of Windows, early versions of Mac, some unix terminals, other oddball systems. But I wasn't really what I would consider a computer user myself until I started installing GNU/Linux distros on used computer equipment at home. I was still using a typewriter, a landline phone, and graph paper to work at home until then. I did more postal mail than email until I started seriously using GNU/Linux. There was nothing in particular to switch FROM.
6 • Poll (by Jesse on 2025-10-27 01:55:21 GMT from Canada)
@5: " There was nothing in particular to switch FROM."
You just said you used DOS, Windows, Mac, and some Unix flavours before you started using Linux. You switched from using those to Linux. This isn't just about what you used at home, you were an experienced computer user for years before you tried Linux.
7 • AI-generated Code (by InvisibleInk on 2025-10-27 02:04:47 GMT from United States)
The inclusion of AI generated code in both the kernel and in distributions like RHEL and Fedora are an existential threat to software licensing. LLMs plundering software forges and everywhere else for code means the authors of that code that is regurgitated back to developers has all licensing and authorship attribution entirely obfuscated. Licensing, whether copyright or copyleft will be rendered meaningless.
8 • Poll-end of 10 (by Craig on 2025-10-27 02:14:59 GMT from United States)
Progressing through CP/M, DR/MS DOS, Win 3.1, NT 4, 2000, XP, and 7, I called it quits to MS at Win 7. Win 8 looked unexciting and Win 10 abysmal, especially the telemetry. With extra at-home time during the pandemic, I bought a cheap NUC and started testing Linux distros going as far afield as Intel’s Clear to see what worked for me and what I liked. For a while I dual booted Ubuntu and Mint. I eventually headed upstream to Debian with Mate desktop and now run that on 5 computers. I use Wine and Virtual Box to run my legacy software but it’s hard to beat the readily available1000’s of deb packages.
My insight for Win 10 users wishing to switch to Linux would be: it will take time to become proficient. So be patient. It took me about 3 years to become comfortable with all the Linux moving parts. Today, nearly 5 years into using Linux, I’m quite pleased with my decision to leave Windows in the dust—especially as I see the “joy” that Windows 11 is bringing others.
9 • Poll / Fedora and AI / MX adoption of systemd (by Keith S on 2025-10-27 02:32:20 GMT from United States)
I don't understand why poll questions are so hard for people to understand lol. No. 3 for me, obviously.
I agree with InvisibleInk @7 above. IBM / Red Hat / Fedora continue to lead the charge in the destruction of open source software with their latest decision to include LLM-generated code. And please, don't even offer the "Fedora isn't Red Hat!" b.s. excuse. The people who made this decision also certainly supported the decisions about systemd and Wayland and probably other unnoticed attacks on sound software engineering. Call it what it is: a money and power grab to exploit the collective efforts of a generation of developers who donated their time, effort, and skill to create something for the common good. It is disgusting.
And now MX Linux has released their latest release candidate with a systemd init, with SysV as an option. I guess I understand why, since just yesterday I tried to install Proton VPN on my MX box and it failed because it requires systemd. Lennart has finally gotten where he wanted to be those many years ago when systemd was allegedly just to simplify the init process, but now has expanded to such a massive piece of the infrastructure that app developers can't get traction in the Linux world without requiring it. I know, I know, I'm just one of the enemies of progress.
10 • Poll options again (by Dave on 2025-10-27 02:51:33 GMT from Australia)
Lol, there it is. The inevitable complaining over the poll options. "I want to choose the option that is as explicit and specific as a legal document and leaves no room for interpretation and matches my unique circumstances"
You're not a program, you don't need everything spelled out. Use your human intelligence and stop pretending you don't understand the intended meaning of the simple options.
11 • AI-generated Code (by Radek on 2025-10-27 02:54:49 GMT from The Netherlands)
@7 invisibleink
The inclusion of AI-generated code in both the kernel and distributions like RHEL and Fedora, being supervised by humans, does not pose an existential threat to software licensing or open source. Any reported copyright infringement would lead to the selective removal of proprietary software portions (it is already happened). I am optimistic: AI can be managed and controlled well.
12 • LMDE review (by Keith S on 2025-10-27 02:57:23 GMT from United States)
I forgot to thank Jesse for his review of LMDE in my previous post. As usual, a very thorough and helpful review. I also really appreciate that Jesse actually listens when we respond to his questions about what we would like to see. I think I'll try LMDE out myself, since after the next MX release with systemd there may not be a compelling reason to stay there, and last week's review removed OpenSuse Leap from consideration.
13 • @11 AI control (by Keith S on 2025-10-27 02:59:43 GMT from United States)
Ah yes, the old "thousands of eyes looking it over" argument. I still remember how well that worked with OpenSSL, all the way up until Heartbleed.
14 • poll (by jonathonb on 2025-10-27 03:03:32 GMT from Australia)
I switched for the same reason as the Poll but it was XP's lack of support.
Starting with a Puppy Linux based on Ubuntu 12, I didn't think my hardware fast enough for "heavy" Distros like Mint, turns out I was wrong of course.
Who would a thunk all that's happened since then :)
15 • The Fedora is filled with AI Slop! (by Jupiter on 2025-10-27 03:35:06 GMT from United States)
@11 My guy, thats not gonna work out. I wouldn't trust AI as more than a minor tool for making certain things, leave it out of the creation and coding, tis not a great idea
Myself I am quite a bit disappointed in Fedora for this, although realistically Red Hat probably pushed this cause money... really y'all? You couldn't listen to the community?
Real shame, but yet again another reason to avoid corporate-backed distros. Stay with community distros that don't rely on some massive company.
At least Canonical doesn't push the AI slop, although they sure aren't saints either!
16 • @6 Poll options - nothing to switch from (by Andy Prough on 2025-10-27 03:49:19 GMT from Switzerland)
>"You just said you used DOS, Windows, Mac, and some Unix flavours before you started using Linux. You switched from using those to Linux. This isn't just about what you used at home, you were an experienced computer user for years before you tried Linux."
No, I wasn't an experienced computer user - they were just different forms of terminals provided by work to type things into, I never knew how an OS worked until I started building and using my own GNU/Linux machines out of used spare parts at home. My prior experience was on my dad's Zenith Z-100 running Z-DOS on two floppy disks in the 1980s, but I wouldn't say I switched from that. None of the computers after that were anything under my control, they were just terminals at the university or at an office, usually to send something to a line printer or laser printer. A glorified typewriter.
Besides, your poll incorrectly assumes that everyone switched to using GNU/Linux from Windows, which is clearly untrue in many cases. There are going to be a lot of unix-to-GNU/Linux anecdotes, a lot of people coming over from one of the many versions of DOS or from using a Mac or a Commodore, or even from OS/2 or one of the BSDs. And many younger people today will never use a computing device other than their phone until they have some special need for it. There are entire nations today where Android phone usage represents 70% or more of the computer usage of the entire populace.
17 • Poll (by Dr.Saleem Khan on 2025-10-27 05:04:13 GMT from Pakistan)
Poll needs another question: Not new to Linux using Linux for ages and use windows rarely so windows 10 or 12 , it doesn't matter!
18 • LMDE (by joel on 2025-10-27 05:20:27 GMT from France)
LMDE in Wayland is impossible to use for users who use a language other than English. It is impossible to change the keyboard.
This is why Wayland is still "experimental" because it excludes many users.
19 • And there goes Fedora. (by EH2 on 2025-10-27 05:52:03 GMT from Mexico)
As I commented last week, I'm one more person in the number calling it quits with Fedora. No longer going to recommend it or keep in my devices.
I guess, at least, until the "AI" bubble bursts and LLM contributions to the distro are deprecated, replaced, or thoroughly re-audited with a complete change in perspective. And that can't come soon enough! Just as we all saw NFTs and the Metaverse die in a ditch, I don't lose hope that AI's final days are just around the corner...
20 • poll (by user on 2025-10-27 06:27:51 GMT from Bulgaria)
5th option - Not new to Linux, but switching to the Windows/BSD pair soon. To replace Linux after the systemd crap completely engulfs all distros. My case.
21 • LMDE (by André Decasteau on 2025-10-27 06:32:35 GMT from Belgium)
The fact is it is not possible to use wayland with AZERTY keyboard, when you select wayland, whatever language you select, you switch to QWERTY that is probably why it is "experimental"
22 • Not new to Linux - have not switched to Linux (by Rob on 2025-10-27 07:35:41 GMT from Switzerland)
There might be even a more important question: "New to FOSS?".
GNU/Linux has made tremendous progress and evolved into a usable and robust operating system. These days, it's more convenient to list the distributions that don't allow your hardware to run properly than the other way around. There's a plethora of distros, packaging systems, and desktop environments. Fine!
Perhaps the time has come to focus efforts on software availability and quality. In this area, there is still a considerable gap.
A peaceful user of GNU/Linux, Windows and MacOS
23 • Are you new to Linux because of End of 10? (by Jake on 2025-10-27 09:40:58 GMT from United States)
If you ask ten different Linux users which flavour (or "distro") of Linux you should install, you will get a dozen answers.
If you ask ten different Linux users to ansnwer a poll on the use of Linux y, you will get a twenty answers to the poll Jesse should have had as answers a long with the four he already gave.
24 • Linux Mint Debian Edition.... (by Marc Visscher on 2025-10-27 09:51:59 GMT from The Netherlands)
I would like to thank Jesse for the great review on Linux Mint's LMDE-edition. Wonderful to see how much quality the Linux Mint team bring to the table when it becomes to the distro.
I like the LMDE-edition, but I hope to see one day that Clement and his team will incorporate a choice menu within the installer which desktop you want to install. Now it's only the Cinnamon desktop. Nothing wrong with it, but Cinnamon is a bit heavy on older machines. It would be nice to make a choice beforehand when LMDE gets installed. Some prefer KDE (heavier), others (like me) Xfce (lighter).
I know I can install Xfce or another desktop alongside Cinnamon, but that method requires extra space. I hope this will be possible in the (near) future. When the Linux Mint team incorporates that feature, I think it's popularity will hit the roof even more.
I'm a Linux Mint user for years, among other distros. It's one of the best Linuces around by far. So Clement, keep up the fantastic work you and your team do! :-)
25 • Poll (by Jesse on 2025-10-27 10:15:43 GMT from Canada)
@16: "Besides, your poll incorrectly assumes that everyone switched to using GNU/Linux from Windows, which is clearly untrue in many cases."
Nowhere in the poll does it assume that the user is moving from Windows to GNU/Linux. Only one of the four options listed are related to Windows, the other three options are for people moving to Linux _not_ because of the End of 10 event.
Based on this comment and the previous one, it suggests you haven't read the question or at least three of the four possible responses.
26 • LMDE7 (by Almond on 2025-10-27 12:13:39 GMT from Czechia)
Thanks for the review, Jesse. May we take note of the fact (for the sake of those who complain when DW reviewers dare to mention hardware incompatibilities with some distros) that this week's reviewed distribution worked flawlessly on the computer used -- like so many other distros. If other distros can't do that, it shouldn't be denied.
27 • Poll @3 (by kc1di on 2025-10-27 12:30:30 GMT from United States)
I agree I'm been using Linux since 1996 and didn't find what I thought was a good fit in the poll so did not choose any of them.
28 • Coreutils (by Fylbli on 2025-10-27 12:34:07 GMT from France)
The coreutils bug didn't prevent users from updating their system, just checking automatically (i.e. on regular basis).
The bug "seems" (the codebase changes many times a day) to be related to timezone support, which has always been a pain in the back in development history, even for a command as simple as "date" that is supposed to display the current date (but under the hood, allows parsing dates).
29 • Response to Radek and others: AI Generated Code (by eb on 2025-10-27 13:16:26 GMT from United States)
Radek stated: "I am optimistic: AI can be managed and controlled well."
Up to a point, yes. But I am not optimistic and think that point of management has already been passed. The world in general is obsessed with and has gone mad with AI. Here is what a world renowned physcist and author stated in 2014:
"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race." (2014)
- Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) - World renowned English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author who suffered with ALS from age 21.
The ultimate result of uncontrolled AI is portrayed in this 2004 film:
"I, Robot" (2004)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1
I wish to have nothing to do with AI.
30 • AI in the Linux kernel (by Sausage Cat on 2025-10-27 13:23:14 GMT from United Kingdom)
@ Invisibleink re. AI in the kernel and distro:
That's a massive ethical point.
I don't use Fedora or RHEL, anyway. And I gave up on Ubuntu and its offspring when they stopped being 'towards humanity'. I've been using customised vanilla Debian for a long time.
I get the security aspect of the containerised OS that Fedora publishes, but if they make AI part of the kernel, then is it really the 'Linux Kernel' any more?
Really, who owns it?
If you subjugate your integrity to an external artificial power, that has only the power that you accord it, then you are willingly submitting to tyranny. But the 'tyrant' has no name, unless we accept our role as individuals in a collective tyranny.
Do we give in, or, do we say, "NO!"?
In actual reality, 'loosers' DO get 'pwned'.
31 • switch (by wally on 2025-10-27 13:26:46 GMT from United States)
Linux became my full-time system during Win5.
I still maintain Win OS for wife and others.
I always said Win10 was like watching paint dry.
11 is like building the mine for the paint chemicals, building a paint plant, building a house to paint...... and so on.
32 • On the poll (by Robert on 2025-10-27 13:36:47 GMT from United States)
Look at it this way - if you've never used anything but Linux, just interpret it as switching from nothing to Linux. The OS you used before Linux is allowed to be a blank field. It's not that difficult.
As for me, I switched the first time around 2005 or so, having been scared off by reports of spyware (now known as telemetry) in what would become Windows Vista.
Then I switched to Windows 10 due to issues I was having with all the churn in Linux at the time. Fixed device nodes to udev+hal, then dropping hal. Pulseaudio. Packagekit. ConsoleKit / PolicyKit / polkit / etc. Too much stuff was changing and breaking. I did keep a Linux VM around though.
Switched back to Linux in 2015 with a Windows VM for gaming, then dropped Windows entirely in 2019. Though I did spend 6 months on BSD somewhere in there.
33 • Re.: Response to Radek and others: AI Generated Code (by Sausage Cat on 2025-10-27 13:47:28 GMT from United Kingdom)
@ eb
Thank you for the reminder of Asimov's Laws.
34 • Q&A Advice for new Linux users (by Kazlu on 2025-10-27 14:16:15 GMT from France)
I think your point "Linux distributions are designed to be complete operating systems" is misleading. Linux distros are designed to run third party software just as much as Windows or macOS. Firefox is a third party software to all Linux distros just as well as for Windows and it's a good thing.
When you explain further, you focus on the distribution of software. I realize it's a wording issue, but being "designed to be a complete operating system" does not mean the same thing as "designed to distribute software through built-in tools" to me. Besides, with Apple's App Store and Microsoft's Microsoft Store, it's now possible to get software on Windows and macOS the same way Linux does... There is, indeed, an change of habits, but it's not unique to Linux.
When I want to explain how Linux is different from Windows to a newbie and hope they get the core differences that will help them understand what has to be thought differently, I often say that Linux can be thought as a system working a bit like Android under the hood, but with an interface tailored for computers instead of tablets that makes it look and feel closer to Windows. Few people know Linux but a lot of people know Android, they know the concept of an application store and they know that not all software that runs on Windows also runs on Android. And even if it does, there might be some differences. I think this comparrison helps a lot.
35 • Linux or bust (by Will on 2025-10-27 14:25:17 GMT from United States)
I have been on the road to linux forever. I finally made "the switch" after Apple stopped supporting updates on my 2012 MBP. The move from Windows to Mac in 2005 was painless, I bought all of this software to ease the transition, but didn't use any of it, 3 weeks after that switch, I realized my PC was gathering dust as a doorstop and that my family wasn't calling me at work anymore with bluescreens or other windows issues. This switch has been a bit harder - I miss time machine and I miss omnigraffle. Draw.io takes some getting used to, but it works as an omnigraffle substitute, but it's definitely a poor man's version. Timesomethingorother is nothing like time machine and I haven't found anything remotely as good. I do have ZFS which is way, way, way better than any FS on Mac or anywhere else, but snapshots are manual and not a good alternative for timemachine.
I tried pure linux in the home environment, but my wife still prefers MacOS, my servers are simpler to maintain as FreeBSD systems (as in, they just sit there and do their thing and require nothing). But all of the laptops and desktops are linux. Debian pure, these days, Cinnamon works these days on debian and none of that ubuntu crap (snaps are the devil). If mint would ditch ubuntu, I'd go back - things are easier on mint, but LMDE doesn't seem mainline enough to forgo debian pure for...
Still, happy to be on linux for all daily driver work... extremely happy.
36 • Re.: Q&A Advice for new Linux users (by Sausage Cat on 2025-10-27 15:29:41 GMT from United Kingdom)
@ Kazlu:
There's a massive difference.
Windows and Apple are closed-source, and tend to be hardware specific. If you're not an insider, then you don't have access, unless you're a skilled hacker.
The Linux OS is open-source. You can do whatever you want with it. You can make a totalitarian state version, if that's what you want to do.
When we talk aboot Linuxen, we're generally speaking aboot the distributions and desktop environments that are placed atop the Linux OS.
And that's the massive difference.
With Windows or Apple you have NO choice. You WILL have THIS, and you WILL pay for it, FOREVER. (Sure, you can have you unsupported add-ons, but the Linux versions are much less likely to be malware.).
And if certain corporations that base their proprietary operating systems upon the Linux Kernel, and thereby seek control and influence over it, then the Linux 'community' can stop giving them any support. It can refuse.
The fundamental point of Linux is that it achieved and continues to achieve what Stallman never managed to do. The BSDs don't even come close.
But the fact IS that the publishers of distros DO actually put forward their offerings as 'complete operating systems' for specific purposes.
So I don't get your point.
# Written from a highly customised/personalised Linux-based installation.
37 • Windows, Mac or nothing else (by vmc on 2025-10-27 16:02:06 GMT from United States)
Windows, MAC users won't even consider Linux or open source OS. They will keep using Windows 10 or install Windows 11. Simple as that.
I have several Windows friends, and they never heard of Linux. Your kidding yourself thinking otherwise.
38 • Third-party software (by Jesse on 2025-10-27 16:14:25 GMT from Canada)
@34: "Linux distros are designed to run third party software just as much as Windows or macOS. Firefox is a third party software to all Linux distros just as well as for Windows and it's a good thing."
Firefox is a native package in almost all Linux distributions. It's not intended to be treated as third-party softwre, but just another package available to the system.
> .. There is, indeed, an change of habits, but it's not unique to Linux.
It is unique (or nearly unique) to Linux.
With the BSDs, Windows, and macOS if you install an application, like Firefox, even if you get it from a built-in software centre, the application is logically separate from the OS. It's in a whole different directory structure, isolated. If you install Firefox, or any other application, on Linux it's almost always installed alongside system binaries in /usr/bin.
Linux is just about the only platform that draw no distinction between "third-party software" and "part of the OS". Both in terms of package management and where the binary programs end up in the filesystem.
39 • Re.: Q&A Advice for new Linux users (by Kazlu on 2025-10-27 16:25:22 GMT from France)
@36 Sausage Cat:
I agree with you 100%. I just don't see what is the connection with my post, sorry 😅
I only see a connection with your last sentence : "But the fact IS that the publishers of distros DO actually put forward their offerings as 'complete operating systems' for specific purposes."
Yes of course, most Linux distros offer complete operating systems in the sense that you don't need to add something to have a working OS. But so do Microsoft and Apple. All of them offer an OS you can do a lot with, including fetching third party software. My point here was about the wording in the Q&A section, which talks about the distribution of software but whose wording could be interpreted as "Linux distros make all the software you will need themselves while Windows and macOS provide just the OS and the rest of the software is third party". A lot of the software *provided* by a Linux distro is third party software, it's just packaged and provided differently to the user, it's a massive difference. And, again, Apple and Microsoft do the same thing now, so it's no longer a differenciating element.
40 • Its time to change (by Eldes on 2025-10-27 16:38:39 GMT from Argentina)
Well.. I like to see people discussing about open source correct mindset but since +15 years we're discussing the same without reach an agreement due to ego/non sense thinking.
Programmers are employees from companies.. they will follow up them. We lost programmers with real open source soul and kindness, all its about money and power.
Linux was great because it was born as a collective effort, with mutual interests.
Today, distributions, including FreeBSD (Apple), are testbeds for large companies.
41 • WindowsME made me switch (by Matt on 2025-10-27 16:47:34 GMT from United States)
I have been using linux for a very long time. The thing that pushed me to start using linux was Windows Millennium Edition. If you aren't old enough to know about that Windows release, just google it. Years ago I was assigned a WindowsME laptop at work. I soon realized that this horrible crash prone operating system was preventing me from accomplishing things. The IT department gave me permission to install linux with the understanding that I was 100% responsible for my own tech support. I accepted that deal and never looked back.
42 • Opinion Poll (by nobody on 2025-10-27 17:04:06 GMT from Germany)
I did not vote on the Opinion Poll. As I have switched to Linux at the end of Win XP cycle.
Did enjoy the Win 7 Ultimate (multi-boot) for some time, and after its end of life, I have never bothered to this very day, with Win.
(Under Win 7 however I did lost allot of time checking and unselecting the updates I did not want. Frustrating time consuming Cat and Mouse game..And there was allot more frustrations)
43 • Opinion poll (by David on 2025-10-27 17:37:51 GMT from United Kingdom)
I voted "switched before the end of Windows 10" because it's true, even though I never used Windows — I switched from QDOS! I had used CP/M and MSDOS at work, though. My Linux sequence has been Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS, and PCLinuxOS — and that's where I'll stay
44 • Eldes: FreeBSD "Testbed for large companies"? (by picamanic on 2025-10-27 18:18:23 GMT from United Kingdom)
@40: Eldes, "Today, distributions, including FreeBSD (Apple), are testbeds for large companies."
Really? Do you have a reference?
45 • Re.: Q&A Advice for new Linux users (by Sausage Cat on 2025-10-27 18:29:40 GMT from United Kingdom)
@39 Kazlu:
Perhaps we're making the same point from different perspectives.
I'd go as far to say that almost everything available to a Linux-based system is 3rd party. I use Debian (12), and several programmes I use are not available in the Debian repositories. I either add compatible repositories (at my own risk) or install a .deb package. So, yeah, a little bit like M$W or Apple. And yes, it's displeasing that since the release of Debian 13, 12 is no longer working as well, although it's not a case of having to purchase new hardware, not yet.
But the structure of the OS is very different. Where Windows and Apple and Android are massive concrete constructions that claim to be all things for everyone, Linuxen are for the most part very much like Lego, unless you're stuck in a particular DE that will break and become unusable if you remove a certain thing or two. For example, Ubuntu is a bit 'all or nothing' corporate, perhaps more so than Fedora.
But with Debian, it still is 'my computer', not theirs. And no Linux-based distro tells me what I need.
46 • Test-beds For Large Companies (by Sausage Cat on 2025-10-27 18:55:18 GMT from United Kingdom)
@44, @40
That is quite a claim.
The Apple OS is partially based upon the FreeBSD kernel (along with an alleged NSA backdoor), but that doesn't make FreeBSD property of Apple, Inc.
Now if you were to say that Fedora is the test-bed/sandbox for RHEL, then that would be accurate. But it doesn't mean that RHEL is breathing down your neck and tracking your every move. And even if you do use RHEL, you are not imprisoned by it, and you are not hardware constrained.
That's the difference between a distribution and a proprietary closed source consumer product.
47 • Not new to GNU-Linux (by Roger on 2025-10-27 19:12:25 GMT from France)
I am not new to GNU-Linux, stated in 1998 with BeOS and using Linux Mint from 2006 which was Barbara / Mint 2.
Now no Mac or Windows, put even Linux Mint on my old MacBook Pro.
48 • Experimental Wayland (by NDkittah on 2025-10-27 19:14:00 GMT from France)
@18 that was my complaint at least a year ago, maybe longer.
How can this problem persist so long?
Dos > Win 3.x > Win95 > WinME > Red Hat (discovered Linux as a viable option) > XP (for the games) > Mint (VM on Win7 + games) > Mint (discovered compatibility with my games) > Debian (games)
49 • Q&A helpful (by Joe on 2025-10-27 19:31:23 GMT from New Zealand)
Thanks Jesse for this week's Q&A. Exactly what I have needed - something short and weel written that I can put in front of people to calm their fears when I propose Linux after their years of using Windows (because it came with the machine).
50 • Turn to Linux (by Dave Postles on 2025-10-27 20:56:27 GMT from United Kingdom)
FWIW, I'll recount how I came to Linux in 2003. My university IT people were committed to Windows. Then I met the people in Maths and Computer Science who set up their own Linux system and inducted me into Linux.
51 • Fedora and LLM's (by Nate on 2025-10-27 22:38:00 GMT from United States)
The fact that Fedora has adopted a policy of allowing LLM generated code shows a clear disconnect between the distro leadership and the Linux community at large. I am not going to predict imminent doom and gloom, but clearly they have misread what the community does and does not find acceptable. This is likely to erode their user base. How much it erodes depends on how long they persist, and what other missteps they make.
In the past this would have been much more worrisome, as RedHat was one of the greatest contributors to not just the Linux kernel but to open source infrastructure in general. However, they have steadily been moving away from being solid open source citizens for some time, and I am fairly confident that they will just continue to drive themselves towards greater and greater irrelevance rather than dragging Linux down with them. It is sad, but it isn't the end of what we all know and love about Linux.
52 • Not new to Linux - switched before End of 10: (by No garbage os here on 2025-10-27 22:41:48 GMT from Canada)
Lol error 404, not new to linux - switched at first try of winblowout 95.
Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. (Mark Twain)...
Windows is nothing but Os2 with garbage from a college student. (Myself)
53 • Re. Fedora and LLMs (by Sausage Cat on 2025-10-28 00:28:43 GMT from United Kingdom)
@51
There's some very relevant points you've made.
My inroad to Linuxen was via Red Hat, and I agree with you on the importance of their contribution over the years. my conversion really started with Ubuntu, when it was great, then CrunchBang#!, until Phil Newborough abandoned that project, and I adopted various spins of Debian with OpenBox/LXDE until I settled on vanilla Debian with my own custom set up, carrying/copying and pasting my home .config since I ran #! on an EeePC 701.
Perhaps Fedora/RHEL want to do something like Android, and if so, then I hope they do it better.
I sincerely hope that Debian doesn't go in that direction.
But if it does, then I would probably go with antiX/MX Linux, but if that was too dependent on Debian, then I would take the Archway (pun intended). But I'm too lazy to adopt Slackware or Gentoo, let alone a pure source-based distro.
If Fedora/RHEL want to become as irrelevant as Oracle Linux, that's their loss and lack of goodwill.
Linux ain't going to disappear because of some committee's (rash) decision.
Keep the faith.
@52
Broccoli is cauliflower with Summa cum Laude. (Myself)
54 • Linux Mint (by Sebastian on 2025-10-28 01:01:16 GMT from Canada)
Love Linux Mint. The only downside is that if you have a newer machine, it might not recognize all the new hardware like the video card. I had to install Fedora for the Nvidia card to work properly.
55 • No poll option truly applicable (by So very over GNU and Linux on 2025-10-28 02:11:59 GMT from Norway)
"new to Linux because of End of 10"
No, definitely not that one. Even if you'd call me 'new to Linux', the end of Windows 7 had far more impact on my computer usage than that of Windows 10.
"New to Linux but not because of End of 10"
I don't think so, but it might depend on what you mean by 'new'. I've been using Linux for almost twenty years at this point, yet I still have trouble getting it to do most of the things I want. In fact, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to do the things I was doing with ease back in the late '00s and early to mid '10s. Linux is getting exponentially harder to use with every passing year.
"Not new to Linux - switched before End of 10"
Well no, I never really 'switched' to Linux at all, you see. I just use numerous different Linux distros as needed, the same way I also use BSD, Windows, ReactOS, Amiga, Haiku, SculptOS, and to a much lesser extent MS-DOS, TempleOS, MenuetOS, KolibriOS, SerenityOS, OpenIndiana, and even more rarely tinker with PhantomOS, HelenOS, PikeOS, Solaris, KasperskyOS and macOS, and probably a few more that I'm forgetting about. And that just on desktop.
"Not new to Linux - have not switched to Linux"
I guess this is technically true, in a strictly literal sense? But that just makes it sound like I don't use Linux at all, while I use it on a daily basis, just not exclusively. Though I would certainly love to escape from having to use (contemporary) Linux at this point, that is unfortunately simply not possible.
56 • Windows and even Mac users can and will switch to Linux if... (by OpenSUSE Slowroll Fan on 2025-10-28 07:07:30 GMT from United States)
My experience has been that Windows and even Mac users can and will switch to Linux if:
They can’t afford to buy or don’t want to buy a new PC or Mac to replace the one that Microsoft or Apple has told them is “obsolete” and they have to buy a new one. This is often quite annoying when they can see for themselves that their existing computer still seems to work fine and they can’t understand why, if it ain’t broke, they still have to replace it.
They are fed up with the price of a new Mac or new PC and, if you tell them, that you can “fix” their obsolete computer in 15 minutes for free, they suddenly are interested in hearing how you can do that?
They are fed up with one or another policy of Microsoft or Apple and you tell them there are alternatives.
They are tired of updates that render their PCs unbootable or that their current OS sometimes trips over its own shoelaces and falls flat on its face, sometimes taking precious files with it.
I find that most people have heard of Linux but they know very little about it other than some old myths about it. The brother of a good friend of mine learned that he had been using Linux for about 15 years. His brother assumed that he was using a Mac or a Windows PC and he said he thought you had to be a “Linux Guru” to use Linux. That surprised my friend because he’s never thought that Linux was hard to use.
Sometimes it is simply inertia and it’s just easier to stay with what seems familiar, which is ironic given the huge changes in the user interface between Windows XP and Windows Vista or Windows 7 and Windows 8.0 and 8.1 or Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 or Windows 10 and Windows 11. The KDE Plasma or the Linux Mint Cinnamon user interface changes from one version to the next seem relatively minor compared to the massive flip-flops between “our new version is like a touch-screen smartphone” and “oops, that was a bit too much like a smartphone, we’re now gone back to be much closer to what you used to like in Windows 7.”
They’ve heard from someone who tried using Linux 23 years ago or someone who heard from someone who knew someone who had a good friend who told them that that Linux was too hard for ordinary people. People who think that Linux is hard to use or hard to install clearly haven’t tried booting up Linux Mint Debian Edition or MX-Linux or certain other Live Linux distros which are usable when you boot them from a flash drive and easier to install than Windows.
They are simply frightened of change and are not willing to “take a chance” on something they are afraid of.
Sometimes all you have to do is to boot their “obsolete” computer up with a Linux Mint Debian Edition or MX-Linux or some other Live Linux and let them try reading their email on it or watching a YouTube video or listening to Spotify or playing a game and answering a few questions if they say, “How do I copy a file from a USB flash drive onto a Linux computer? or can I install Google Chrome on this?” Perhaps you show them that their Intel cpu based MacBook or MacMini will run Linux which will seem like magic to them and might make them wonder what other miracles are beyond the wall around the Magic Garden?
The most rewarding thing is that if they start using Linux, within a week or two, they realize that, “Hey, this is actually pretty easy to use and, gee, it’s actually faster on my old PC than Windows was, and it seems pretty stable, and, by golly, it looks like I can do just about everything I normally did before on my previous OS and, wow!, look how many different kinds of software are available to download for free! At some point in the future, they will sometimes remember that they used to be so afraid of viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, malware, ransomeware and had to install all sorts of programs to protect their OS but realize they haven't worried about that sort of thing for a long, long time and that their computer hasn't be compromised, invaded or taken over.
57 • Wayland&Cinnamon (by Karsten on 2025-10-28 07:48:41 GMT from Germany)
Same here: every login the keyboard falls back to English (which is annoying if you need äöüÄÖÜß). This is the reason why I go back to Gnome every time!
Gnome works flawlessly in Wayland, it look appeal to me and the *only* thing I need to add is "ArcMenu" and "Dash to Panel" extensions to get *exactly* the look/functionality that I need.
@Jesse: I wish you tested the Gnome desktop with these extensions one day (any distro). I mean you also switch dark mode and natural/inverse scrolling, so it should be okay to switch those things too. Just one time. I would like to hear your opinion, if these changes makes Gnome a valid alternative for you (and others) to KDE and Xfce.
58 • Mixed bag - Mint, Windows EOL (by eco2geek on 2025-10-28 11:33:34 GMT from United States)
One feature that I really miss in LMDE that they have in Ubuntu-based Mint is the ability to install and uninstall kernels from a pull-down menu in the update manager. In my experience, the easiest way to uninstall kernels in LMDE usually involves running "apt autoremove" from the command line, just like in Debian.
I did install Linux Mint Cinnamon (the Ubuntu-based edition) on a relatively new laptop that dual-boots with Windows 11. Getting it to work with a UEFI BIOS (especially with new kernel installs) was, shall we say, an interesting experience.
Regarding Windows 10's EOL, I'm writing this on an old laptop where the CPU is not supported for getting Win11, and it doesn't have a working TPU, according to the MSInfo utility. It runs Windows 10 just fine and I'm sure it'd run Win11 fine. Linux, too, but I'm the odd duck that likes to use various operating systems, so for now I'm signed up to get a year's worth of "Extended Support Updates" or ESUs. No new features, just security updates. You can get them for free by letting OneDrive back up your computer's settings. Or you can get them for 1,000 Microsoft Reward Points. Or you can spend $30 for them. Either way, you will need a Microsoft password, which some people don't like. I'm not sure if you can get ESUs for more than a year. (I plan on installing Kubuntu 26.04 LTS on this laptop when the year of ESUs runs out.)
For Linux newbies, make sure you have a way to get on the internet and search for information/ask questions while you're installing Linux, in case something goes wrong. In other words, have another computer handy, or a smart phone. Used to be you could go to a bookstore and buy a book on Ubuntu which included an Ubuntu DVD to install from, but the computer book industry seems to be going the way of the computer magazine industry.
59 • switching to Linux because of 10 (by Josh on 2025-10-28 03:04:47 GMT from United States)
I didn't switch to Linux because of the end of Windows 10. I switched because Windows 7's days were numbered, and I refused to "upgrade" to 10. I wanted nothing to do with the data collection, forced updates, removal of user control, bloatware, and other general enshittification. Boy, I'm glad I jumped from the M$ ship when I did!
60 • @56 (by 50-Years-Computing on 2025-10-28 12:56:54 GMT from Bulgaria)
The first two reasons are actually the same one. The third reason is "1%." The fourth reason: "They are tired of updates that render their PCs unbootable or that their current OS sometimes trips over its own shoelaces and falls flat on its face" is what regularly happens under Linux, but much more often.
"They’ve heard from someone who tried using Linux 23 years ago or someone who heard from someone who knew someone who had a good friend who told them that that Linux was too hard for ordinary people."
That one is plain wrong. Linux was more user friendly 10-years ago, then it is today. For example installing GIMP is impossible without using command line and fiddling around. Yes, one can go in "App Store" and get it with one click, but without Resynthesizer and Gmic-Qt, which were available in Software Centers 10-years ago, but are unavailable in 2025. User doesn't care why something isn't there or doesn't finction properly.
They are frightened of change for a reason. All they care for is, will their software work or not. NOBODY cares for the operating system that it is running on.
The rest of your writing is your imagination and "wet dreams."
61 • Poll (by OldManSeph on 2025-10-28 13:24:28 GMT from United States)
I switched to Linux when support for Windows 98 was ending.
62 • Linux has backdoors (by Eldes on 2025-10-28 13:47:25 GMT from Argentina)
@44
Apple made it's MACH kernel based on FreeBSD/NeXT due to issues.
Specially because they couldn't solve network (TCP/IP) & memory management issues.
Apple's employees worked on main FreeBSD development body (Core Team).
I don't know if actually still they're working on it.
@46 Claim would be that Linux doesn't have backdoors*
We need to have an independent code audit body..
*Check SystemD, Wayland and now LLM code.
63 • Windows 10 (by Gustavo on 2025-10-28 15:44:33 GMT from Brazil)
I'm on Windows 10 after 15+ years of Linux. Two reasons:
1. My all-in-one's internal speaker doesn't work on cold boot on Linux;
2. Roblox doesn't run on Linux.
OK, there are other reasons, but these are showstoppers.
64 • Switching... (by Friar Tux on 2025-10-28 16:32:34 GMT from Canada)
I switched to Linux BECAUSE OF Windows 10. It had the audacity to install itself without my permission, stopping my workflow mid-stream to do so.
Also, I have to say, I actually rather enjoyed Windows 8 when it came out. Especially, when I realized that it was just the Windows 3.11 Program Manager come back in a more modern outfit. (I cut my teeth on Windows 3.11 so I knew it inside out.)
65 • @62 Eldes: "linux backdoors" (by picamanic on 2025-10-28 17:18:52 GMT from United Kingdom)
@62 Eldes: "linux backdoors".
I studied the operating system timelines, and Apple and FreeBSD intersect in about 1970 [3BSD], so you must be suggesting that Apple inserted covert agents in the FreeBSD project to plant backdoors in the code that have remained undiscovered. The stuff of Cyber Legends. Without actual evidence, just that.
My objection to Projects like Systemd and Wayland in Linux has been that they offer opportunities to hide malware, in Plain Sight. But again, there is no evidence. Bug-riddled code is not intentional, just sloppy.
With a typical Linux distribution running to 1 billion lines of code, things have already gone beyond being secure. Time for a reset.
66 • @55 Linux ease of use (by Kazlu on 2025-10-28 17:34:07 GMT from France)
"In fact, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to do the things I was doing with ease back in the late '00s and early to mid '10s. Linux is getting exponentially harder to use with every passing year."
Really? I have had the opposite feeling. Many things were complex around 2010 and are now far easier to do. I don't feel like ease of use has been lost, but we certainly "gained" some bloat so that counts. Could you be more specific about things harder to do? I'm curious to understand how we can have drastically opposite views.
67 • @60 reasons to switch (by Kazlu on 2025-10-28 17:37:14 GMT from France)
"The fourth reason: "They are tired of updates that render their PCs unbootable or that their current OS sometimes trips over its own shoelaces and falls flat on its face" is what regularly happens under Linux, but much more often."
Depends on the distro. Has happened to me several times with Ubuntu based distros (but never Mint...), never with Debian based distros. Indeed, never. Have been using it for 12 years. I stopped counting those occurrences for Windows long ago.
"That one is plain wrong. Linux was more user friendly 10-years ago, then it is today. For example installing GIMP is impossible without using command line and fiddling around. Yes, one can go in "App Store" and get it with one click, but without Resynthesizer and Gmic-Qt, which were available in Software Centers 10-years ago, but are unavailable in 2025."
You just wrote "installing GIMP is impossible without using the command line" and "Yes, one can go in "App Store" and get it with one click". I do not understand your point. Is it about customizing the installation with Resynthesizer and Gmic-Qt? Were you doing that graphically before, but not today?
68 • Not new to Linux (by Little-Miss-Piggy2 on 2025-10-29 00:33:17 GMT from United States)
Not new to Linux-switched *way* before eol-10. Switched to Mandrake 7 on 01-01-2000 !
69 • @ 67 (by Kazlu) (by PhotoManipulator on 2025-10-29 11:06:57 GMT from The Netherlands)
Resynthesizer is absolutely essential. GIMP without Resynthesizer (and Gmic-Qt) is completely pointless. There are better applicatins to make a color corection, and layers and clone stempel are not a reason to use GIMP. Every other contender has it OOTB.
70 • Linux used to be okay but is horrible now and probably will die (by Slappy McGee on 2025-10-29 14:05:33 GMT from United States)
@55 No. Linux is fine and far more diverse and functional than when I first encountered it in 1996 after growing increasingly dismayed with Windows. I say 1996 but truth be told I was off and on dismayed with linux distros too back then. I can now see that I was spoiled by Windows spoon-fed approach to things, and had no shell/cli experience and of course suffered because of that.
Now we see such (afore mentioned) diversity in linux distros that one can gather quite a collection of them and multi-boot and use them daily and never have to crack a shell; just click away at the desktop as Windows gave us decades ago. But of course some love and use the terminals voraciously and can tell us why.
That post, @55 up there, the logic and the overall point, reminds me of the way Windows adherents, fanbois, advocates, whatever they like to be called, used to post in here and elsewhere as time went by. We'd see them reporting "trying linux" and then using the same gaslighting techniques that we see in political discussions these days: The same wording to honestly critisize Windows would be used to critisize this or that linux distro.
Look around, Norway guy or gal, there is something for everyone in the linux/bsd universe.
71 • I don't think so... (by ostro on 2025-10-29 19:10:57 GMT from Poland)
56 • Windows and even Mac users can and will switch to Linux if... (by OpenSUSE Slowroll Fan on 2025-10-28 07:07:30 GMT from United States)
My experience has been that Windows and even Mac users can and will switch to Linux if:
Well, I don’t think so.
I’ve been using Windows since 1990, and Linux since 2005. I then switched to macOS two years ago. I don’t believe I’ll return to Linux, or even Windows. There have been a few occasions where I’ve dual-booted several Linux distributions alongside Windows, but the chances of me going back to them fully are practically nil. I've had enough of tinkering, and now it’s time to enjoy! Moreover, MacBooks are cheaper than the Windows laptops we have to convert to Linux, and they’re also less expensive than “dedicated” Linux laptops.
If you find Mac users transitioning to Linux, you might just be able to count them on your fingers.
72 • AI Really (by jc on 2025-10-29 19:56:02 GMT from Germany)
Student Handcuffed when School's AI System Mistakes Bag of Chips for Gun
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/24/baltimore-student-ai-gun-detection-system-doritos
Shades of Robocup
73 • Laptops for Linux (by Dave Postles on 2025-10-29 21:04:17 GMT from United Kingdom)
'Moreover, MacBooks are cheaper than the Windows laptops we have to convert to Linux, and they’re also less expensive than “dedicated” Linux laptops.'
I can configure a laptop at PCSpecialist in the UK without an operating system for half the price of the cheapest MacBook Pro and have no trouble installing any Linux distro.
74 • Canonical Knew (by OnlyPengs on 2025-10-29 21:06:19 GMT from United States)
Canonical knew that the rust coreutils wasn't ready for implementation. For goodness sake. Even now it's failing about 15% of tests. The fact that they knew and decided to move forward anyway causes me to lose all trust in Canonical and I'll be moving all of my servers off of Ubuntu Server LTS and over to Alma over the next few weeks.
75 • Laptops for Linux (by ostro on 2025-10-29 22:46:24 GMT from Poland)
73 • Laptops for Linux (by Dave Postles on 2025-10-29 21:04:17 GMT from United Kingdom)
I can configure a laptop at PCSpecialist in the UK without an operating system for half the price of the cheapest MacBook Pro and have no trouble installing any Linux distro.
I can too, my friend, and that’s not what I meant, as you know. If you compare the quality of the cheapest MacBook with an equal Windows laptop or a no-OS laptop, you’d find that it is considerably more expensive than that MacBook. We don’t even need to discuss dedicated Linux laptops, as they tend to be pricey and out of reach for the average Linux user. So, he buys a second-hand Windows laptop to convert it into a Linux one.
76 • I'm Not Really Too Worried (by Sausage Cat on 2025-10-30 00:09:23 GMT from United Kingdom)
I don't often get a serious LOL moment, but THIS:
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/amazon-microsoft-outages-apps-internet-5HjdG84_2/
(Headline)
"Millions left without internet and access to apps after Amazon and Microsoft hit by outages
Dozens of websites and apps have been knocked offline."
The biggest tech companies in the World cannot keep their acts together on a fundamental level.
What, me worry?
LOL!!!
77 • @72 • AI Really (by Nicky No Nose on 2025-10-30 00:32:45 GMT from United States)
@72, "Student Handcuffed when School's AI System Mistakes Bag of Chips for Gun" At least he was just handcuffed. In the neighborhood I grew up that kind of mistake was made by street cops, no AI required; and it would likely get you shot.
78 • LMDE7 (by Mike Sonic on 2025-10-30 15:51:13 GMT from United States)
This is a very good review, I used LMDE6 and did a new install with LMDE7. I use LMDE because it is not Ubuntu based and more important to me is that LM is a distro that offers full disk encryption. I use it on a 13 year old laptop just for banking, I don't use it for anything else.
The only possible drawback is Cinnamon. It is a nice DE but can´t be really customized as Mate, KDE, or others and that is the reason I do not use it on my other computers.
79 • Answer 4 (by Mike W on 2025-10-30 19:09:40 GMT from United States)
Windows is kind of like "Hotel California": you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." I'm stuck on Windows at work, and I keep a Windows laptop around in the event I need to use a stray app that has no counterpart on Linux.
Other than that. I've switched completely to Linux for my home computing needs: music server, music playback, desktop.
On a related front: I have a wife who is not comfortable with tech, and was concerned about moving away from Windows. As an experiment, I had her try Google Chrome Flex, and she too it right away. Maybe eventually I can get her to try one of the more newbie friendly Linux distros, but I consider the move to Flex a small victory for her.
80 • polls by AI (by gnuby on 2025-10-30 22:11:49 GMT from United Kingdom)
Jesse, the complainers want more modern polls that a geek could understand - by getting AI to make them - e.g., this week's poll:
"Are you new to Linux because of End of 10 Windows?
Yes - new to Linux because of End of 10 AI assistants
New to Linux but not because of End of 10ntacles
Not new to Linux - switched before End of 10th reboot
Not Gnu to Linus - have not switched to [expletive] Linux"
81 • Cinnamon... (by Friar Tux on 2025-10-31 01:25:10 GMT from Canada)
@78 (Mike) And here I am loving Cinnamon for the exact opposite reason you hate it. So far, I found Cinnamon to be the easiest to customize. Mate, KDE, and the others, I found, were quite difficult to work with. With Cinnamon, I just open the "gtk.css" file in the theme folder, and fiddle with it till I like the colours and shapes. Usually, only takes me a couple of minutes to get/change the results I want. After fiddling with hundreds of theme files, I went with Darkomarko42's Cristal theme as it was THE easiest to work with.
If you want a really good retro theme, that is also quite easy to redo, colourwise, go with OneStepBack, by jpsb.
My wife also has no tech inclinations, but, in her case, anger made her choose Linux. She was in the middle of some really important work when Windows shut her down and started installing Windows 10 without so much as a "Mother May I". She handed me her laptop and said, "Fix it." I shut down the Windows install (mid install - my bad) and loaded on Linux Mint/Cinnamon. That was ten years ago. She still doesn't know much about tech/software, but then, she hasn't had any issues in ten years.
82 • AI / Systemd (by dragonmouth on 2025-10-31 12:48:26 GMT from United States)
The "goodness" of AI, just like that of any technology, is determined by the way it is used. Some built nuclear power stations, others built nuclear bombs. As currently used, AI is a data harvester on steroids.
AI is definitely "artificial" but is far from "intelligence". It has no "free will". It will never tell you it doesn't feel like answering your question. It is a long way from Data (Star Trek) or R. Daneel Olivaw (Caves of Steel.)
AI, at its core, is still a program, or a bunch of programs, designed and written by human programmers that include all the implicit and explicit biases of said programmers.
Systemd was supposed to be a "new and improved" init. Since its introduction, it has taken over more and more functions until it has become a "system manager" without which distros will not run
Number of Comments: 82
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| • 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 | 
Parted Magic
Parted Magic is a small live CD/USB/PXE with its elemental purpose being to partition hard drives. Although GParted and Parted are the main programs, the CD/USB also offers other applications, such as Partition Image, TestDisk, fdisk, sfdisk, dd, ddrescue, etc. In August 2013 the distribution became a commercial product and is no longer available as a free download.
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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