 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 615, 22 June 2015 |
Welcome to this year's 25th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Open source software regularly pushes into new realms, exploring new niches in software and hardware. This week we examine a number of different areas where open source is being tested with regards to hardware, software and design. We begin with a look at Raspbian, a Debian-based distribution, running on the minimal Raspberry Pi computer. Read on to find out how the Pi performs when paired with Debian software. In our News section this week we share tips on how to fix a problem with Intel drivers that has troubled some Fedora users, talk about openSUSE's efforts to adopt a new version of the GNU compiler and celebrate OpenBSD's new power-saving feature. Plus, we discuss one man's first impressions of the Debian project and concerns about a binary extension being silently added to Chromium. Our Questions and Answers column this week explores why a system may lock-up while accessing the hard disk and how to avoid this common problem. In our Torrent Corner we share a list of the distributions we are seeding and then recap the releases of the past week. In our Opinion Poll we ask how often people change operating systems and we hope to hear form our fellow distro-hoppers. Finally, we are pleased to announce our most recent donation goes to the Devuan project, a distribution which is attempting to offer users an init-neutral operating system. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: The Pi and I
- News: Fedora works around video driver issue, openSUSE builds Tumbleweed with new compiler, OpenBSD reduces power consumption on laptops, first impressions of Debian, Chromium's hidden binary extension
- Questions and answers: System freezing while deleting files
- Torrent corner: LinuxConsole, Mageia
- Released last week: Mageia 5, LinuxConsole 2.4, Black Lab Linux 2015.6 "GNOME", Robolinux 7.9.2
- Upcoming releases: Ubuntu 15.10 Alpha 1
- Opinion poll: Distro-hopping frequency
- May 2015 DistroWatch.com donation: Devuan
- New distributions: HashTag OS, Lightning Linux, Pragmatic Linux
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
The Pi and I
Some people assume, given my love of computers, alternative desktop environments and distro-hopping, that I collect gadgets and hardware the same way I amass video games, productivity suites and ISO files. However, I am generally conservative when it comes to hardware purchases. Unlike many of my fellow technology geeks, I tend to purchase lower-end equipment and keep a relatively small number of computers in my home. At any given time I usually have a desktop machine for work, a laptop for when I travel, an Android phone (it has a virtual terminal and OpenSSH so I count it as a computer) and a headless box I use for storage. Half of these machines I received for free from people throwing them out. My point is that despite my eclectic approach to accumulating software, my tendency is not to collect extra computer hardware or gadgets, no matter how appealing I find them.
Small, inexpensive hobbyist computers like the Raspberry Pi really challenge my resolve to be frugal. As tiny computers such as the BeagleBone, Raspberry Pi and CHIP came onto the scene I frequently found myself looking at their specifications and considering how much functionality I could squeeze out of the hardware. However, I do not want to simply play with a new toy for a short time and leave it to collect dust on a shelf. So, the question which always froze my mouse pointer before it reached the Buy button was: "What practical use would I actually have for such a device?" Fate eventually gave me an answer.
A few weeks ago I had to move the computer I use at home for backups. My backup machine was an old desktop box I intercepted on its way to a landfill years ago and it had been running Ubuntu Server and storing data on a couple of internal hard drives, managed by ZFS, ever since. Once the machine had been moved, I went to plug it back in. There was a small bang, some sparks and suddenly the lights on my storage system would no longer glow. It was, I realized, time to replace my old network storage box. A Raspberry Pi, I reasoned, would be an ideal replacement. The Pi draws relatively little energy, has no fans (making it silent), runs a number of open source operating systems and (by coincidence) has almost the identical amount of memory, and a processor speed similar to, my old storage box. I'd be in familiar territory, specification-wise, while getting a more efficient and quieter system. Plus, Pis are inexpensive.
I ordered a Raspberry Pi kit from CanaKit. Their kit provides the Raspberry Pi (version 2), a manual, protective case, HDMI video cable, power supply, a microSD card pre-loaded with Raspbian and a USB-powered wireless card. The kit took three business days to arrive.
Raspberry Pi 2 -- With network, USB and power cords attached
(full image size: 1.2MB, resolution: 918x800 pixels)
I had originally hoped the 8GB microSD card would offer a fresh installation of Raspbian and run a secure shell service. This would allow me to simply plug in the Pi, attach a network cable and connect to the device remotely. However, there were a few steps I had to take to get to that point. What I had to do first was attach a keyboard to the Pi and connect the tiny computer to a monitor via an HDMI cable. Booting from the Pi automatically loaded a graphical system installer where I was offered the chance to install Raspbian, along with a few other add-ons for developers. I opted for the minimal installation and basically left the Pi alone for the next ten minutes while my new copy of Raspbian was installed and configured. The installation is quite simple and the system installer can be navigated with either a keyboard or a mouse. When the installation was complete I was able to confirm OpenSSH was running. Afterwards I was able to unplug my Pi from the monitor and run the device as a headless computer.
Though I did not intend to run the Raspberry Pi as a desktop computer, the Raspbian operating system does provide users with the LXDE desktop environment. The Pi does not have a great deal of processor speed or memory, but it does have enough resources to run LXDE and a handful of applications. So long as the user does not wish to do a lot at once, the Pi offers a fairly responsive desktop interface. I probably would not run heavier programs such as LibreOffice or Firefox on the Pi, but Raspbian does provide the Epiphany web browser and a few other desktop programs.
Since my intention was to use the Pi as a storage device, I was content to swap out the monitor and plug in an external hard drive to one of the Pi's four USB ports. I feel it is worth mentioning that the Pi probably does not have the capacity to power most external hard drives over a USB connection and I would not recommend trying to do so. However, a hard drive which includes its own AC power adaptor can be connected to the Pi. Since the Pi does not need to power the external drive, only communicate with it, the independent external drive does not tax the Pi's limited electrical output. The external drive I attached to the Pi has a capacity of 2TB. The drive features the ability to put itself into sleep mode when the storage device is not being accessed. This means most of the time my home office is virtually silent and very little heat is being generated by either the Pi or its storage media.
Earlier I mentioned my previous backup server was running Ubuntu with ZFS managing my data. I knew ZFS support was available for Debian. Both ZFS-FUSE and ZFS on Linux have been packaged for Debian and, since Raspbian is based on Debian "Wheezy", I incorrectly assumed both of these packages would be available in Raspbian. I was mistaken. It appears as though there are no ZFS on Linux packages for the ARM architecture. I had also heard that ZFS would consume too much memory and would not run properly on the Pi, but since the Pi has 1GB of RAM, the same amount my previous Ubuntu server had, I was certain memory would not be a limiting factor. I eventually found a tutorial for adding ZFS support to the Pi using an ARM port of the ZFS-FUSE software. I added the ZFS module to my system, set up a new ZFS storage pool and began copying my files to my new Pi-powered backup server.
At the time of writing, my Raspberry Pi has been running for a little over two weeks. The headless mini-computer is dwarfed by the external hard drive it sits next to. Raspbian has been running smoothly, virtually non-stop, without any glitches or problems of any kind. Though, at this time, I have so far only used the Pi as a backup device, I am considering possible future projects (and alternative operating systems) I could run on the device. I think the Pi would do well in the role of lightweight web server and there are several other open source operating systems (including Arch, Fedora, Ubuntu Snappy and FreeBSD) which have builds for the Raspberry Pi.
For now, I wish to share a few general observations about the Pi. First, the Pi does not have a fan or a heat sink - it does not need either. Even with half of the Pi's four CPU cores running steadily at 100% for hours the device does not feel warm to the touch. The Pi might as well be powered off for all the heat it generates. The external hard drive the Pi is attached to, a Western Digital My Book, sleeps most of the day. The device wakes automatically when the Pi needs to access it and spins down when not used for a few minutes. The external drive, like the Pi itself, produces virtually no heat and, when not in use, no noise either.
With the LXDE desktop running, Raspbian required approximately 250MB of memory and, when including cache, typically consumed most of its 1GB of RAM. However, after I removed the LXDE desktop and the X display server, replacing them with ZFS and DenyHosts, Raspbian's memory footprint dropped to 76MB of memory. Including cached data, my Pi is using a mere 155MB of memory. Most of the time the Pi's processor is idle. Early on I tried to put a heavy load on the device's four CPU cores and found Raspbian continued to work smoothly and the device remained cool to the touch. Once my tests were completed, I found Raspbian usually carried a load average of about 0.01 and the Pi responds faster to remote connections than my old single-core backup box did.
At this time I am happy with my purchase. Though the Pi does have the processing power to act as a low-end desktop, I do think its low memory specification means the Pi will not be a good desktop solution for most people. The Raspberry Pi and external hard drive I purchased, combined, cost under $200USD after shipping and taxes. The Pi and its storage device are quiet, cool and have plenty of computing capacity (and memory) to spare. I think the combination makes for a very suitable backup solution for the home or other NAS or web server projects. I am looking forward to experimenting with the tiny computer more to see what fun projects I can perform with this minimal device. Suggestions for future projects and experiments are welcome.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Fedora works around video driver issue, openSUSE builds Tumbleweed with new compiler, OpenBSD reduces power consumption on laptops, first impressions of Debian, Chromium's hidden binary extension
Last week Fedora Magazine posted an article which talked about problems some Fedora users were experiencing when running the distribution's latest release on computers with Intel video cards. The article explains: "This issue appeared because of a Linux kernel change in version 4. The new Intel graphics driver uses SNA (Sandybridge New Acceleration) architecture for graphics acceleration by default. When coupled with the kernel change, the driver causes this issue. Thanks to Fedora's active community, bugs were filed in Bugzilla (Bug 1226531 and Bug 1226743) and fixes are on their way. An update to Intel driver is already in stable updates, and a kernel update (to v4.0.5) is in updates-testing repository." Instructions for installing the fix and for working around the driver issue are provided in the article.
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The openSUSE developers have been hard at work in recent weeks, adjusting packages to work with version 5 of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC 5). According to the openSUSE blog, the next snapshot of the distribution's rolling release branch (named Tumbleweed) will feature GCC 5. "The newest GNU Compiler Collection was checked in today to openSUSE Factory, which is the rolling development code base for Tumbleweed, as the default compiler, so all packages will be rebuilt against GCC 5 and the next Tumbleweed snapshot will include GCC 5.1.1 The snapshot is expected later in the week, making it one of the first rolling releases to have the compiler as a default within Linux, according to DistroWatch's package tracker." Further details are available in the blog post. The new GNU compiler is expected to offer a number of performance improving optimizations and includes support for the Go language. A list of improvements provided by the new compiler are listed on the compiler's website.
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The BSDNow podcast mentioned some news last week which should excite OpenBSD users. OpenBSD's "-current" development branch includes the ability to put a computer's processor into a lower C-state, a sort of middle ground between full operation and sleep mode. Using C-states allows the processor to use less power and generate less heat. OpenBSD users who have been testing the new feature, committed to OpenBSD's -current branch by Philip Guenther, on laptop computers have noticed significant changes in the heat generated by their computers. As one tester wrote, "After booting with the new kernel I wondered what the results would be. Keeping track of hw.sensors.acpithinkpad0.temp3 on my older w500 would typically be in the 86 - 92C range and then reboot if I was wasn't
careful. This build the temperature was typically 78 - 80C, with one spike at
82C during the latter part of the xenocara build. My script checked every 17 seconds. I can say from this one test that there is a huge difference -- 10C, at least!"
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The Debian distribution has a well deserved reputation for reliability, performance and efficiency. However, Debian is not designed with newcomers or less technical savvy people in mind. Last week the Everyday Linux User site posted three suggestions on how Debian could make itself more inviting to new users. The author points out difficulties new users are likely to encounter when trying to download installation media, running Debian's live CD and inefficiencies with the project's system installer: "There are at least 5 screens which ask you either where you are from or your language. This is overkill. If I have selected the UK as a timezone it is likely that my nearest mirror would be the UK. Maybe the installer should be more intelligent and set up default options based on previous input with the option of changing them. This would cut down on user input." The full list of suggestions can be found on the Everyday Linux User website.
Chromium is an open source web browser which acts as a testing ground for Google's Chrome web browser. Since Chromium is an open source product and Chrome is not, Chromium is more often included in distribution repositories. Several Chromium users have noticed recently that the web browser silently installs additional, closed-source extensions which it then hides from the user. This behaviour has triggered a good deal of concern, especially in the Debian community where software licensing and security are high priorities. In a Debian bug report one user observes, "After upgrading Chromium to 43, I noticed that when it is running and immediately after the machine is on-line it silently starts downloading `Chrome Hotword Shared Module' extension, which contains a binary without source code. There seems [to be] no opt-out config." A similar bug has been reported to the Chromium team, stating, "I find the new behaviour of hotword (from v43 on) extremely conspicuous: Opt-in default, downloading a binary blob without notification, extension not being shown in extension list, ability to record audio... I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that. Great strategy to erode trust of any user who is even slightly concerned with security." The Chromium developers are making the closed-source module an optional feature which distributions can enable or disable as they see fit.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
System freezing while deleting files
Living-without-swap asks: I run a system without swap space and when I run "rm -rf folder" on folders with many files my computer freezes. Assuming I have understood the situation correctly, it is because my system has no swap space. Is this right and can I work around this limitation?
DistroWatch answers: I suspect one of two things is happening in the situation described. First, it is possible the rm command is using up the remaining available memory on the system, causing the operating system to dump cached data out of memory in order to make room. Alternatively, the operating system is running out of memory and killing off processes which is causing the interface to freeze. If the operating system is, in fact, running out of memory then having swap space probably would not help. Whether the operating system is dumping processes from memory or moving unused memory out to a swap partition, the system will still pause (freeze) for brief periods.
Assuming the operating system is running out of memory during the removal of a large directory tree, my recommendation is to kick a few large programs out of memory before the removal begins. Large applications like mainstream web browsers, productivity software and e-mail clients often use a lot of RAM. If the system is starving for memory, then try closing these applications prior to running the rm command. Having fewer programs in RAM will give the operating system breathing room in which to work.
With that being said, I suspect something different is causing the system to stutter or freeze. Disk access is typically one of the slowest tasks a computer performs and the operating system can appear to hang while waiting for disk operations to complete. This is especially true when creating or removing many files. To keep the operating system running smoothly while the rm command is accessing the hard disk, try running the command with the ionice program. The ionice program reduces the priority of a command, reducing its impact on system resources. For example, I could run
ionice rm -rf MyFolder
The above command removes MyFolder and its contents from the hard drive, but tries to prevent the removal of files from interfering with other tasks accessing the disk. The ionice program can even be used to only allow a process to access the disk when it should not affect other disk reading/writing processes at all. In the following example we remove a folder again, using the -c flag to make sure the removal has a minimal impact on other running processes
ionice -c 3 rm -rf MyFolder
I think the important thing to do is to figure out what is causing the system to freeze while a directory is being removed. The easiest way to do that is to open two terminal windows. In the first window run the rm command to delete a large directory of files and, in the second terminal window, run the top command and pay attention to the "%Cpu(s)" line. Particularly the "wa" field on that line. The "wa" number lets us know how much time the system spends waiting for input/output tasks (like removals) to finish. If this "wa" field gets high, over 25% or so, then that means your system is probably freezing, waiting while the rm command finishes its work. Running the rm command through ionice as shown above should fix the problem.
Be sure to keep an eye on the amount of memory used too. If the "free" memory field gets close to zero then the operating system is running out of RAM. At such times it makes sense to close some unnecessary programs and free up more memory.
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
Bittorrent is a great way to transfer large files, particularly open source operating system images, from one place to another. Most bittorrent clients recover from dropped connections automatically, check the integrity of files and can re-download corrupted bits of data without starting a download over from scratch. These characteristics make bittorrent well suited for distributing open source operating systems, particularly to regions where Internet connections are slow or unstable.
Many Linux and BSD projects offer bittorrent as a download option, partly for the reasons listed above and partly because bittorrent's peer-to-peer nature takes some of the strain off the project's servers. However, some projects do not offer bittorrent as a download option. There can be several reasons for excluding bittorrent as an option. Some projects do not have enough time or volunteers, some may be restricted by their web host provider's terms of service. Whatever the reason, the lack of a bittorrent option puts more strain on a distribution's bandwidth and may prevent some people from downloading their preferred open source operating system.
With this in mind, DistroWatch plans to give back to the open source community by hosting and seeding bittorrent files for distributions that do not offer a bittorrent option themselves. For now, we are hosting a small number of distribution torrents, listed below. The list of torrents offered will be updated each week and we invite readers to e-mail us with suggestions as to which distributions we should be hosting. When you message us, please place the word "Torrent" in the subject line, make sure to include a link to the ISO file you want us to seed and please make sure the project you are recommending does not already host its own torrents. We want to primarily help distributions and users who do not already have a torrent option. To help us maintain and grow this free service, please consider making a donation.
The table below provides a list of torrents we currently host. If you do not currently have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found here. All torrents we make available here are also listed on the very useful Linux Tracker website. Thanks to Linux Tracker we are able to share the following torrent statistics.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 75
- Total downloads completed: 43,430
- Total data uploaded: 7.8TB
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| Released Last Week |
LinuxConsole 2.4
Yann Le Doaré has announced the launch of LinuxConsole 2.4. LinuxConsole is an independent, lightweight distribution which offers easy installation steps and a simple desktop environment, provided by LXDE. The latest release ships with version 4.0.5 of the Linux kernel, the Qupzilla web browser and new Chinese and Russian locales. "This release is easy to try or install. It could be installed on computers used by children or teenagers. You can install many games, educational, Internet and music software. The CD ISO contains all libraries, the LXDE Desktop, drivers and the game SuperTuxKart. The DVD ISO comes with many applications, like LibreOffice or the game 0AD. A new tool is also available to install third-party software, like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Steam and Skype." Further information on this release, along with a screen shot, is available on the project's home page.
Black Lab Linux 2015.6 "GNOME"
The developers of Black Lab Linux, a desktop distribution based on Ubuntu, have announced the launch of Black Lab Linux 2015.6 "GNOME" edition. This new version is a long term support release with security updates being made available until the year 2020. "Today we are releasing the new build of Black Lab Linux GNOME 2015.6. This spin uses the GNOME desktop Environment 3.10 and is based on the LTS technologies that power our distributions. We have set it up with a unique layout which makes it ideal for traditional keyboard and mouse desktop users as well as users with touchscreen systems. This release is 64-bit only although we are considering a 32-bit release if the community requests it. This release is fully supported until the year 2020 as our other releases. You can also order this desktop environment pre-installed on systems and on your USB Keys and SD cards." Further details and a screen shot can be found on in the project's release announcement.
Black Lab Linux 2015.6 -- Running the GNOME Desktop
(full image size: 512kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Robolinux 7.9.2
John Martinson has announced the release of Robolinux 7.9.2, the latest update of the project's Debian-based distribution featuring an optional (and commercial) virtual machine pack for running Windows seamlessly alongside Robolinux: "Robolinux is pleased to announce version 7.9.2 LTS (until 2018) 'X12+ Privacy & Security' which has many enhancements, plus maintenance and upstream security updates, the newest VirtualBox, Firefox and Thunderbird versions as well as three exceptional new applications. After releasing 'Apex X12 Privacy & Security' in version 7.9.1 May 1st, 2015, we asked our users what enhancements and new applications they would like added to Robolinux. They said: 'We would like the Robolinux 7 series to have long-term support and we want a download manager, a better text editor and a better screen-capture program. The result is version 7.9.2 which will now be supported through 2018 and we added the following applications: Uget downloader manager, Shutter screen capture and Medit." See the project's SourceForge page to read the rest of the release announcement.
Mageia 5
Rémi Verschelde has announced the release of Mageia 5. Mageia is a community distribution which started as a fork of the Mandriva project, but which now operates as an independent distribution. "After more than one year of development, the Mageia community is very proud to finally deliver this long-awaited release, Mageia 5. This release announcement is a big sigh of relief, an `At last!' that comes straight from the heart of the weary - tired as one can be after long days of hard but rewarding work. And still, we chose to take our time to fix major issues and have a high quality release, without rushing it. Maybe our best release so far, taking into account the impressive work that was done on the installer, both to add new features and to get rid of old bugs." The new release features UEFI support (though not Secure Boot), version 3.19 of the Linux kernel, KDE 4.14 and GNOME 3.14. Cinnamon, MATE, Plasma, LXQt and Xfce desktop are also available. Installation media, live discs and a network install ISO are offered as download options. More information on the new version of Mageia can be found in the project's release announcement, the release notes and errata.
Mageia 5 -- Running the KDE desktop
(full image size: 854kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Mangaka Nyu
Maycon Schneider has announced the launch of Mangaka Nyu. The new release represents the project's first stable release since the project was revived earlier this year. "After a month of development containing the last 64-bit Linux image, various bug-fix and software implementation, we reached the final stage of our 2GB DVD of LINUX MANGAKA NYU in a focus of a real multimedia Linux distribution with almost needed contents for our Anime & Manga community in customization, tools, beauty, simplicity, free, lightweight. We made some graphical changes as well to look more professional and eye-caring." The release announcement includes a note suggesting new users should disable updating and third-party downloads during the installation process.
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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 |
Distro-hopping frequency
At DistroWatch we talk a lot about different distributions and, in order to review new technologies, we run a different open source operating system every week. We are constantly changing desktops, package managements and configuration tools, swapping out one way of doing things for another. This week we would like to know how often our readers install a new operating system. Do you distro-hop every week or do you tend to stick with one distribution for a long time? Or perhaps you dual-boot, juggling between several operating systems at once? Feel free to share the details of your distro-hopping experiences in the comments section.
You can see the results of last week's poll on niche distributions here.
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Distro-hopping frequency
| Multiple times a week: | 119 (5%) |
| A few times per month: | 290 (13%) |
| More than once a year: | 581 (25%) |
| Less than once a year: | 733 (32%) |
| I dual-boot multiple distros: | 561 (25%) |
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| DistroWatch.com News |
May 2015 DistroWatch.com donation: Devuan
We are pleased to announce the recipient of the May 2015 DistroWatch.com donation is Devuan. The project receives US$300.00 in cash.
Devuan is a fork of the Debian distribution with the intended goal of providing an operating system which offers users a choice of init software. The project's website explains: "Have you tried to opt-out of the systemd change in Debian™ and stay with sysvinit, or whatever other init you prefer? You will quickly notice that is not a matter of choosing packages and in fact Debian offers no choice. We want freedom of choice, we want Init Freedom! We are working towards a stable, production ready fork of Debian Jessie, free from the entangling web of dependencies imposed by systemd."
Launched in 2004, this monthly donations programme is a DistroWatch initiative to support free and open-source software projects and operating systems with cash contributions. Readers are welcome to nominate their favourite project for future donations. Those readers who wish to contribute towards these donations, please use our advertising page to make a payment (PayPal, credit cards, Yandex Money and crypto currencies are accepted). Here is the list of the projects that have received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the programme (figures in US dollars):
- 2004: GnuCash ($250), Quanta Plus ($200), PCLinuxOS ($300), The GIMP ($300), Vidalinux ($200), Fluxbox ($200), K3b ($350), Arch Linux ($300), Kile KDE LaTeX Editor ($100) and UNICEF - Tsunami Relief Operation ($340)
- 2005: Vim ($250), AbiWord ($220), BitTorrent ($300), NDISwrapper ($250), Audacity ($250), Debian GNU/Linux ($420), GNOME ($425), Enlightenment ($250), MPlayer ($400), Amarok ($300), KANOTIX ($250) and Cacti ($375)
- 2006: Gambas ($250), Krusader ($250), FreeBSD Foundation ($450), GParted ($360), Doxygen ($260), LilyPond ($250), Lua ($250), Gentoo Linux ($500), Blender ($500), Puppy Linux ($350), Inkscape ($350), Cape Linux Users Group ($130), Mandriva Linux ($405, a Powerpack competition), Digikam ($408) and Sabayon Linux ($450)
- 2007: GQview ($250), Kaffeine ($250), sidux ($350), CentOS ($400), LyX ($350), VectorLinux ($350), KTorrent ($400), FreeNAS ($350), lighttpd ($400), Damn Small Linux ($350), NimbleX ($450), MEPIS Linux ($300), Zenwalk Linux ($300)
- 2008: VLC ($350), Frugalware Linux ($340), cURL ($300), GSPCA ($400), FileZilla ($400), MythDora ($500), Linux Mint ($400), Parsix GNU/Linux ($300), Miro ($300), GoblinX ($250), Dillo ($150), LXDE ($250)
- 2009: Openbox ($250), Wolvix GNU/Linux ($200), smxi ($200), Python ($300), SliTaz GNU/Linux ($200), LiVES ($300), Osmo ($300), LMMS ($250), KompoZer ($360), OpenSSH ($350), Parted Magic ($350) and Krita ($285)
- 2010: Qimo 4 Kids ($250), Squid ($250), Libre Graphics Meeting ($300), Bacula ($250), FileZilla ($300), GCompris ($352), Xiph.org ($250), Clonezilla ($250), Debian Multimedia ($280), Geany ($300), Mageia ($470), gtkpod ($300)
- 2011: CGSecurity ($300), OpenShot ($300), Imagination ($250), Calibre ($300), RIPLinuX ($300), Midori ($310), vsftpd ($300), OpenShot ($350), Trinity Desktop Environment ($300), LibreCAD ($300), LiVES ($300), Transmission ($250)
- 2012: GnuPG ($350), ImageMagick ($350), GNU ddrescue ($350), Slackware Linux ($500), MATE ($250), LibreCAD ($250), BleachBit ($350), cherrytree ($260), Zim ($335), nginx ($250), LFTP ($250), Remastersys ($300)
- 2013: MariaDB ($300), Linux From Scratch ($350), GhostBSD ($340), DHCP ($300), DOSBox ($250), awesome ($300), DVDStyler ($280), Tor ($350), Tiny Tiny RSS ($350), FreeType ($300), GNU Octave ($300), Linux Voice ($510)
- 2014: QupZilla ($250), Pitivi ($370), MediaGoblin ($350), TrueCrypt ($300), Krita ($340), SME Server ($350), OpenStreetMap ($350), iTALC ($350), KDE ($400), The Document Foundation ($400), Tails ($350)
- 2015: AWStats ($300), Haiku ($300), Xiph.Org ($300), GIMP ($350), Kodi ($300), Devuan ($300)
Since the launch of the Donations Program in March 2004, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$43,825 to various open-source software projects.
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Distributions added to waiting list
- Pragmatic Linux. Pragmatic Linux is an Arch based distribution which strives to offer simplicity, minimalism, and code elegance.
- Lightning Linux. Lightning Linux is a distribution which ships with the GNOME Classic desktop environment.
- HashTag OS. HashTag OS (also called #OS) is a Linux distribution, based on openSUSE, that features the custom ALPHA graphical user interface.
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 29 June 2015. To contact the authors please send email to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, suggestions and corrections: news, donations, distribution submissions, comments)
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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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| Archives |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • 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 | 
Rebellin Linux
Rebellin Linux was a beginner-friendly desktop Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. The project offers two separate editions - "Synergy" which was based on Debian's latest stable version and "Adrenalin" which was derived from Debian's unstable branch. Both editions provide a highly customised GNOME 3 desktop user interface. Starting with version 2.5, a MATE desktop environment option has also become available.
Status: Discontinued
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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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