 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1127, 23 June 2025 |
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Welcome to this year's 25th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
In about five months one of the most commonly used desktop operating systems in the world, Windows 10, will reach the end of its supported life. When that happens many Windows users will be faced with the choice of running an unsupported operating system, buying a new computer, or migrating to another operating system. Many in the Linux community are hoping a significant number of people choose the third option and are presenting options for soon-to-be-former Windows users. This week we begin with a look at LastOSLinux, a Mint-based distribution which strives to be an easy path from Windows 10 to Linux. While projects in the Linux Mint and Ubuntu family are often seen as mainstream and easy to adopt, some people like Linux distributions which are more exotic. In our Questions and Answers section we talk about unusual distributions that are outside the mainstream and what makes them unique. Do you prefer mainstream or strange Linux distributions? Let us know which way you lean in this week's Opinion Poll. Then, in our News section, we talk about the Haiku operating system stabilising as more applications are ported to the lightweight platform. We also talk about KDE's latest release of the Plasma desktop which introduces new accessibility features as Arch splits Plasma's session options into separate packages. Some key Slackware infrastructure has been coming under heavy traffic and those services are migrating to a new home. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
- Review: LastOSLinux 2025-05-25
- News: Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch offers separate Kwin packages for Wayland and X11, Slackware community infrastructure migrating
- Questions and answers: Unusual and unique Linux distributions
- Released last week: MODICIA O.S. 6.12.30, Exton Linux 250621 "OpSuS"
- Torrent corner: KDE neon, TUXEDO OS
- Opinion poll: Do you prefer unusual or mainstream distributions?
- New additions: Alien-OS, Escuelas Linux, EterTICs GNU/Linux, GXDE OS, HeliumOS, Linux Kamarada, TROMjaro
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25
LastOSLinux is a Linux Mint-based distribution with the goal of being a user-friendly alternative to Windows. It is designed for current Windows users wishing to migrate to Linux, with a Windows-like user interface and tools. The distribution uses the Cinnamon desktop and it also includes the WINE software which is able to run some Windows applications on Linux.
LastOSLinux (which I will usually refer to simply as LastOS) is available in a single edition for x86_64 computers. The ISO provided by the project is 3.8GB in size. Booting from the ISO brings up a menu asking if we'd like to boot into an operating system on the hard drive, launch into install mode, start a "safe graphics" mode, or enter text mode. I found the option to boot into an installed operating system on the local disk actually booted into the distribution's live desktop environment. In other words, the "install mode" option and the "boot from hard disk" option do the same thing.
The live session boots into the Cinnamon desktop. The wallpaper is dark blue and purple and it features a logo which looks like a yin-yang symbol inside the Windows logo. A Conky status panel is located in the upper-right corner of the desktop and Cinnamon's panel is placed at the bottom of the screen. On the desktop we find icons for opening the file manager, running the system installer, and opening the distribution's ReadMe file.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- Exploring the application menu
(full image size: 1.4MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The ReadMe file states that the latest version of LastOS is based on Linux Mint 22.1 which is, in turn, based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. The ReadMe file covers quite a bit of information, such as what the project is, its mission statement, and some tips for installing the distribution. The text also covers some key features which set it apart from Linux Mint, such as a dark theme, windows which open in the centre of the desktop, shipping with WINE installed, and the use of some custom applications. I will talk more about these custom programs later in the review.
While using the live session my laptop's fan kept revving up. Looking at the process monitor I found the Conky status panel was absolutely killing one of my CPU cores, keeping it pegged near 100%. Terminating the Conky process dropped CPU usage back down to nearly idle. This issue only happened while running the live session, once LastOS was installed on my local drive the Conky panel used almost no CPU resources.
Installing
Installing LastOS is pleasantly straight forward. The distribution places a launcher for the Calamares system installer on the desktop. Launching it walks us through picking our keyboard, language, timezone, and making up our username and password. We have the option of using friendly, point-and-click disk partitioning or guided partitioning. The guided approach allows us to pick our preferred filesystem (ext4 is the default, with Btrfs, XFS, and F2FS offered as alternatives). We can also chose to have a swap file or no swap space.
My only issue with the installer was, on its first screen, there were buttons for accessing known issues, seeing the release notes, sending donations to the project, and accessing community support. None of these four buttons did anything when they were clicked.
Apart from the inactive buttons, Calamares worked well and quite quickly, setting up the new distribution in under five minutes.
First impressions
My new copy of LastOS booted to a graphical login screen with a blue, digital mountain in the background. The distribution provides three session options: Cinnamon on X11, Cinnamon on X11 with software rendering (for systems without suitable video cards to run the desktop), and Cinnamon on Wayland. The last of the three is marked as experimental.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The greeter window
(full image size: 1.2MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The first time I signed into Cinnamon an application called LastOSLinux Settings opened. This application provides an eclectic group of options for adjusting our account, a few system settings, and the panel layout. We can change our user name, the computer's hostname, our theme, and our password. We can also change the location of the desktop panel to one of the four edges of the screen.
The Settings application also provided links to other resources. For example, one button opens Chrome to display on-line documentation in a Google Doc file. This documentation covers a lot of ground, including steps for installing the distribution, working with some of the distribution's features, and it has accompanying screenshots to match the directions. The Settings window also has a button which opens the Linux Mint welcome window. The Linux Mint utility guides us through initial setup steps (such as creating Btrfs snapshots, applying updates, and enabling a firewall). The Mint greeter also provides access to documentation and community support resources.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The Mint welcome window
(full image size: 1.0MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Two new icons had been placed on my desktop since installing the distribution. One was called LL Launcher and the other LL Store. I will talk about these applications later in the review.
Once these welcome windows had been dismissed I found myself using a fairly responsive Cinnamon desktop. The default theme is dark (apart from a white mouse pointer) and I liked the colourful icon theme.
Hardware
In terms of hardware compatibility, I had no complaints while using LastOS. The distribution worked well in VirtualBox and was pleasantly responsive in the virtual machine. When running on my laptop the operating system was quick to respond. My wireless networking worked, as did audio, my touchpad, and media shortcut keys. The experience was quite seamless.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The Cinnamon settings panel
(full image size: 1.1MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
LastOS uses more disk space than average, about 12.5GB (plus a swap file if we enable one). The distribution is also on the heavy side of RAM usage, taking up about 940MB when signed into Cinnamon.
Included software
LastOS's large size goes hand-in-hand the distribution's full application menu. The menu is virtually bursting with applications across most categories. The Chrome web browser is included along with the Thunderbird e-mail client, the Transmission bittorrent client, and LibreOffice.
There is a calendar application, a document viewer, an image viewer, and a launcher for installing Valve's Steam gaming portal. There is a program called Library which keeps track of recently opened documents and documents we have marked as favourites. The Library application is accompanied by a system tray icon which, when clicked, gives us quick access to documents we have marked as favourites.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- Marking a favourite document in the Library application
(full image size: 750kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The distribution ships with the Celluloid video player, the Hypnotix on-line television application, and the Rhythmbox audio player. These programs benefit from a full range of media codecs. There is an application called NoiseTorch which seems to relate to PipeWire, but after a few minutes of exploring the application I could not figure out what it does. I looked it up and, apparently, NoiseTorch is designed to act as a virtual microphone which filters out background noise from your environment.
There is a firewall configuration tool (Gufw), a password and security keys manager, and the Nemo file manager included in the distribution. There are several small configuration tools for working with Cinnamon. These tools can be accessed individually from the application menu or as a group through the Cinnamon settings panel.
Digging deeper we find the GNU command line utilities, the GNU Compiler Collection, and manual pages for most programs. WINE 9.0 is included to help us run Windows applications. The systemd software is included and version 6.8 of the Linux kernel runs in the background.
Software management
When software updates become available a red dot appears on the update icon in the system tray. Clicking on the icon opens the update manager. The first time I opened the update manager application it started checking for updates and never finished; it locked up. Later, after a reboot, I opened the update manager again and it showed me a list of available updates. There were 27 available and 25 downloaded when I tried to fetch the new packages, but the remaining two stalled. I tried again and, once more, the update manager failed to download the remaining two updates and locked its interface.
I had the same result when I tried using the APT command line tool for package management. I looked into this problem and found LastOS had set my package mirrors to be in Australia, on the far side of the world. I switched my mirrors to nearby ones in Canada and, from then on, APT and the update manager worked smoothly.
Along with the command line APT tool for managing classic Deb packages, there is also a Flatpak command line utility which pulls in software from the Flathub repository.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- The Mint Install software centre
(full image size: 1,010kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
LastOS ships with Mint Install, a modern software centre which unifies working with Flatpak and Deb packages. When both types of packages are available for an application, the software centre appears to give preference to the Deb package. Whenever I searched for applications I knew were in Flathub and in the Mint repositories the software centre always returned results for the Deb package.
LastOSLinux features
The LastOSLinux distribution ships with a collection of custom applications. I'd like to touch upon them briefly as they are a big part of what sets LastOS apart from Linux Mint.
Let's start with LL Launcher, since it was the first one I tried. The documentation says LL Launcher is for running applications the author has curated. When we open the application we see, on the left side of the window, four categories: All, Favourites, Linux, and Windows. On the right side we see artwork inspired by Super Mario games. There aren't any applications or entries in any of the categories. There wasn't any clear way to add items to any of the categories. I decided to close the Launcher program and see if I could find items to add through another LastOS tool.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- LL Launcher
(full image size: 1.8MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The LL Store application has a similar layout to LL Launcher. On the left side of its window we find a list of software categories (audio, multimedia, games, and so on). To the right of the categories we can see names of specific applications and games. These are displayed in a variety of colours. On the right side of the screen we see an explanation that the colours represent the type of software, indicating whether we are looking at a program built for Windows or Linux. Further down the right side of the window we see a short description of whichever program is currently selected.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- LL Store
(full image size: 1.7MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
We can select a program and click a button to fetch it. This usually results in a terminal window opening and some text related to a package manager being displayed. Then the terminal window closes and we are returned to the LL Store without any indication of whether the package was successfully installed.
I used LL Store to install a handful of programs, a few games and a few applications. It is a little on the slow side and would benefit from a search function so we do not need to browse multiple categories looking for a specific piece of software. I also found the text in the summary area was small compared to the font in other applications.
Some items I installed showed up later in the LL Launcher application (as I had hoped), but not all do. For example, I installed the game Garden Defence, which showed up in LL Launcher and in Cinnamon's application menu. However, when I installed the Brave browser it did not show up in either location. (I did confirm Brave had been successfully installed as a Flatpak and could be run, its launcher just didn't show up anywhere.) I also installed the Windows application Notepad++ and it did appear in the application menu, but not in the LL Launcher application. In short: what gets added to the LL Launcher and what gets added to the application menu when we use LL Store seems to be random and unreliable.
I opened the LL Editor application and explored its multiple tabs for a few minutes, but couldn't make heads or tails of what it was meant to do. The documentation in the ReadMe file simple says: "LL Editor - This tool can create new App and Game packages to include in the LL Store." The documentation does not explain how it does that, why it is needed, or how to publish items to the store. It seems to be an application intended for internal project use rather than something for end users.
LastOSLinux 2025-05-25 -- LL Editor
(full image size: 1.1MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Earlier I mentioned another distro-specific tool, the greeter, which is called LastOSLinux Settings. I talked about its features before and this tool worked well for giving me access to more resources and moving the desktop panel around the screen.
Conclusions
When I first read about the LastOSLinux and its mission to essentially be a spin of Linux Mint for people migrating from Windows, I was a bit sceptical. Linux Mint is already a capable desktop distribution which is geared toward beginners and is configured in a way to make the transition from Windows to Linux fairly painless. Over the past 15 years I've handed Linux novices laptops with Linux Mint installed and they've generally found the transition to be a smooth one. I was curious if LastOS could improve on the situation at all and, if so, how it could clear Linux Mint's high bar for ease of use and consistent quality.
I will say that LastOS's first impressions were good. The distribution has a nice theme, it uses the friendly Calamares installer, and it worked well with my hardware. Once installed, I found LastOS ships with lots of software people moving from Windows will probably appreciate. WINE is included, there is an office suite, the popular-on-windows Chrome browser is installed for us, and there is an installer for Steam in the application menu. All of these things seem likely to appeal to Windows refugees.
There were some issues during my trial, most of them relating to installing and launching new applications. For example, having the package mirrors default to a specific server on the far side of the world was a problem - both in terms of speed and package synchronization. Using a CDN or picking a mirror at install time would have worked out better. Not having the update manager work on my first day was certainly a problem and not one that a new Linux user would likely to be able to fix on their own.
The LL Store application technically worked, but it is harder to navigate that Mint Install and provides less information while presenting a less flexible experience. I feel as though the developer could have made a better experience by creating their own repository of Deb packages and enabling it in Mint's software centre and it would have made for a better, smoother experience. Adding yet another package manager, one which doesn't look or act like most other software centres, is likely to confuse people. Likewise, LL Launcher sometimes displayed launchers for new applications, but only ones from LL Store and then only sometimes. Having yet another place from which to launch programs and one which isn't reliable is, again, just going to confuse people.
In other words, when LastOSLinux is just tweaking and polishing Linux Mint (setting up a dark theme, adding a welcome window, extending WINE support, and providing documentation) it does very well. These were all welcome adjustments to what I consider a great distribution. Where LastOS struggles is with its own, custom applications. They are new and awkward to use at this stage. They are not well explained yet in the documentation and not reliable. LastOS feels like a project which started as a good customization of Linux Mint, but then got too ambitious and overextended itself. (Or took on too many new features before they were polished.) It's a good early effort, but the problems introduced by LastOS outweigh the benefits the distribution provides over its parent.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was an HP DY2048CA laptop with the following
specifications:
- Processor: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz
- Display: Intel integrated video
- Storage: Western Digital 512GB solid state drive
- Memory: 8GB of RAM
- Wireless network device: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 + BT Wireless network card
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Visitor supplied rating
LastOSLinux has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8/10 from 1 review(s).
Have you used LastOSLinux? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch offers separate Kwin packages for Wayland and X11, Slackware community infrastructure migrating
The Haiku project has published its monthly newsletter for May which contains updates and fixes introduced into Haiku's code. Along with navigation improvements to the software centre and enabling the remote desktop tool to reuse ports (reducing wait times), the project's newsletter mentions a milestone in development. "This month was a bit lighter than usual, it seems most of the developers (myself included) were busy with other things. However, HaikuPorts remained quite active: most months, at this point, there are more commits to HaikuPorts than Haiku, and sometimes by a significant margin, too (for May, it was 52 in Haiku vs. 258 in HaikuPorts!). I think overall this is a sign of Haiku's growing maturity: the system seems stable enough that the porters can do their work without uncovering too many bugs in Haiku that interrupt or halt their progress." This suggests the Haiku operating system is reaching maturity, resulting in developers spending more time porting open source software to its platform.
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The KDE project has announced the release of the Plasma 6.4 desktop. The new desktop improves virtual desktop management, improves contrast for the desktop's dark theme, and introduces new accessibility features. "Accessibility is a top priority for KDE. This work is endless, but we make improvements in every new Plasma release! The Wayland session in Plasma 6.4 brings some new accessibility features: you can now move the pointer using your keyboard's number pad keys, or use a three-finger touchpad pinch gesture to zoom in or out. In addition, a great deal of subtle but important work has been done throughout Plasma to improve keyboard navigation, screen reader usability, and text readability." A long list of new features and improvements are provided in the desktop's release announcement.
In recent weeks we have mentioned the GNOME desktop is dropping support for its X11 session and future versions of GNOME (probably from version 50 onwards) will offer Wayland only. As a result, some distributions, such as Fedora and Ubuntu will not be shipping GNOME with X11 support. What are KDE's plans for Plasma's X11 session? According to one KDE developer, the project plans to keep their X11 session for the foreseeable future: "SteamOS 3.7 was released with Plasma 6 and the X11 session [is] still used by default! Interestingly, since then the Wayland trendline has continued to tick up; a month ago the percentage of Wayland users dropped from 82% to 70%, and now today it's up to 73%. So you can see that to a large extent, this is up to distros, not us. It wouldn't make sense for us to get rid of Plasma's X11 support while there are still major distros shipping it by default, and likewise, it won't make sense for us to keep it around long after those distros have moved away from it."
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The Arch Linux team has posted an advisory letting people who use the KDE Plasma desktop know of an important change. "On Plasma 6.4 the Wayland session will be the only one installed when the user does not manually specify kwin-x11. With the recent split of Kwin into kwin-wayland and kwin-x11, users running the old X11 session need to manually install plasma-x11-session, or they will not be able to login. Currently pacman is not able to figure out your personal setup, and it wouldn't be ok to install plasma-x11-session and kwin-x11 for everyone using Plasma."
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The Slackware Linux project tends to chug along, without drama, relatively unnoticed in the larger Linux community. However, some Slackware-related servers have attracted notice, particularly from AI bots and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Eric Hameleers is working to move the struggling infrastructure to new servers. "I aim to actually switch the various domains and hostnames to their new IP addresses somewhere in the next week. Expect a (hopefully) short downtime for the services mentioned above. If you get 'file not found' errors or web sites go missing, just be patient and wait half an hour. If things take a concerning turn, leave your comments below this article and point me to the things that broke without me seeing it." Details on the issue and migration are covered in Hameleers' blog post.
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Unusual and unique Linux distributions
Looking-for-something-special asks: What, in your opinion, is the most unique Linux distro?
DistroWatch answers: I suppose which distribution is the most unusual or unique would depend on our criteria. In other words, which aspects of the distribution are we looking at to determine whether it offers something unique or special?
For example, if we are looking specifically at distributions which ship with rarely used components (for example, Busybox over GNU coreutils, doas over sudo, Clang over GCC, or runit over systemd) then I suspect our quest for uniqueness would take us in the direction of projects such as Void or Chimera Linux. Void offers runit for init, its own custom package manager (XBPS), and offers builds with the musl C library. That makes Void a highly unusual Linux distribution. Chimera Linux likewise takes the "road less travelled" by shipping with BSD userland components, Clang for the compiler, Dinit for service management, and APK for package management. Alpine Linux, in its efforts to be lightweight, makes some unusual choices too. Alpine ships with Busybox for its userland, musl for its C library, and APK for package management.
All three use rarely-seen package managers, libraries, and init software. On a package-by-package comparison with other Linux distributions, these ones are probably among the more unique. However, the results we get from running the aforementioned distributions, especially Chimera Linux and Void, are quite similar to running GNU/Linux projects with commonly used packages. From a day-to-day practical standpoint, running Void doesn't look all that different from running Xubuntu or openSUSE. If I squint and don't look at the manual pages, using Chimera Linux doesn't feel all that different from using EndeavourOS in most daily tasks.
If we want to look at projects where the feeling of running the distribution is unique then we should look at the experience, rather than looking at the components. Projects which feel different to use tend to be the smaller distributions focused on minimalism and live desktop experiences. Tiny Core Linux comes to mind, with its minimal window manager, add-on modules loaded into memory, and near-instant boot times. The Puppy Linux family, particularly EasyOS, also comes to mind. The Puppy family is focused on being small, fast, and portable. It also tends to ship with an unusual collection of configuration tools, but the base systems are made from components borrowed from other, mainstream distributions. EasyOS is experimental and does some great work with containers, making isolated environments an easy, point-and-click experience. The GoboLinux project also comes to mind since it organizes its filesystem entirely differently and doesn't need to use a package manager to remove old software.
Finally, I think if we are going to talk about unique distributions we should give a nod to projects which use normal components, but are highly customized (usually by the user). This means, despite providing most of the same tools as other mainstream distributions, these projects often end up configured differently for each person. These distributions are akin to Lego blocks - each person can start with the same collection of blocks, but build something specific to themselves.
The NixOS distribution, with its custom system manager and scripted configuration, comes to mind. With NixOS it is possible to have wildly different components and configurations just by changing a few lines in the Nix system manager file. On the surface, NixOS just looks like another desktop distribution running Plasma or GNOME, but a few minor tweaks can result in something very different.
Likewise, "build it yourself" distributions, such as Arch Linux and Gentoo, are famous for letting users pick their own components at install time. Even if you gave six different people the Arch install documentation and they all followed it exactly, you could end up with six different experiences with different desktops and applications when those people were finished setting up their systems. I think these projects can be thought of as unique because, even though they package most of the same mainstream software (systemd, GNU compiler, GNU command line utilities, and mainstream desktops) as other distributions, what each user will produce during the install process can be entirely different.
Those are my picks for unique or special distributions. What is the most unusual or unique experience you have had with a Linux distribution? Let us know in the comments.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
MODICIA O.S. 6.12.30
Marco M. Mariani has announced the release of an updated version of MODICIA O.S., a Linux multimedia distribution designed primarily for musicians, graphic designers and video makers. It is based on Debian's "stable" branch and uses the Cinnamon desktop. This version updates the Linux kernel to the latest long-term supported build, version 6.12.30: "We're thrilled to announce a significant update for MODICIA O.S. Professional 6.12.30 This release is packed with enhancements and optimizations to give you an even smoother, more secure and higher-performing user experience. This update introduces substantial under-the-hood changes and careful refinements, all designed to ensure you have the best possible experience. What's new in this update? Updated to the latest stable kernel - we've integrated the brand-new Linux kernel 6.12.30. This means improved hardware compatibility, better performance, and enhanced security for your system. We've updated key system components to guarantee maximum security and stability. Some of the most relevant updates include: ca-certificates, gir1.2-udisks-2.0, Google Chrome...." Continue to the release announcement for a complete list of changes and upgrade instructions.
Exton Linux 250621 "OpSuS"
Arne Exton has announced the availability of a new "OpSuS" edition of Exton Linux. Based on openSUSE Tumbleweed, it uses the lightweight LXQt desktop environment, which means that it can be run smoothly even on fairly old computers: "I've made a new version of EXTON OpSuS with LXQt 2.2.0 as the only desktop environment. The ISO image is therefore rather small (1,850MB), which means that you can run the system from RAM really fast even if you have only 4GB RAM. This new EXTON OpSuS build is made from 'scratch', following the 'openSUSE:Expert Installation' Wiki. Linux kernel 6.14.6 is used when running EXTON OpSuS live. When running the system from hard drive you can use openSUSE's original kernel, right now it is version 6.15.2. When the boot process is ready, you will end up at LightDM's login screen. You can log in to the LXQt desktop as user with password 'live' or as root with password 'root'. Version 250621 of EXTON OpSuS can run on really old computers. As an example I could run it on my 17-year old Acer Aspire 5102 WLMi laptop." Read the release announcement for further information.
Exton Linux 250621 "OpSuS" -- Running the LXQt desktop
(full image size: 4.1MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 3,228
- Total data uploaded: 47.5TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
Do you prefer unusual or mainstream distributions?
This week's Questions and Answers column discussed unusual, unique, and customizable distribution. We would like to hear from you, whether you prefer to run mainstream, uniform distributions or something unusual. Let us know in the comments which distribution you tried which was furthermost outside the mainstream experience.
You can see the results of our previous poll on types of version labels in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Do you prefer mainstream or unusual distros?
| Mainstream: | 853 (64%) |
| Unusual: | 145 (11%) |
| Something in between: | 336 (25%) |
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| Website News |
New distributions added to database
Alien-OS
Alien-OS is a German Linux distribution based on Debian's latest "Stable" release, with components borrowed from MX Linux. It uses the Regolith Desktop Environment which combines i3 and Sway window managers into a single tiling, keyboard-driven user interface. The distribution's main features include a choice of systemd or SysV init systems, the integrated MX-Tools configuration utility, the Liquorix Linux kernel for enhanced performance in gaming and multimedia applications, over 20 pre-installed themes, and support for OEM installations.
Alien-OS 07.06.2025 -- Running the Regolith desktop
(full image size: 4205kB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
Escuelas Linux
Escuelas Linux is a complete, live operating system offering a range of educational software aimed at pupils and students, from preschools to high schools. It is based on Bodhi Linux, a Debian-based distribution with a desktop called "Moksha" (a continuation of the Enlightenment 17 window manager). Escuelas Linux provides one user account that is completely configured, with all included educational applications configured and ready for use. It also includes a "RestoreUser" function to easily restore all applications to their default settings, as well as a "ReinstateUser" functionality which can be used to clean an account by deleting all files created by a user. The distribution is available for the i386 and x86_64 computers, in Spanish and English variants.
EterTICs GNU/Linux
EterTICS GNU/Linux is a specialist operating system designed for community radios, principally the ones broadcasting in Latin America. It is based on Devuan and uses the Calamares system installer and the LXQt desktop environment. The distribution comes with a large range of specialist software used in radio broadcasting, such as automation tools (G-Radio, Raboms), audio editors (Audacity, Ardour), streaming applications (Butt, OBS Studio, Darkice), security and privacy tools (Tor, KeePassXC, Signal), as well as a long list of audio utilities, including audio and codecs analyzers, converters, mixers, recorders and related tools and plugins. It supports Spanish, Portuguese and English languages.
GXDE OS
GXDE OS is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution that combines Debian with Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE), developed by the deepin project. It is based on Debian's "Testing" branch. It ships with up-to-date Linux kernel, base system and applications, and it includes a "Spark Store", a software application marketplace with support for Android applications. The distribution is available for the aarch64 and x86_64 processor architectures.
GXDE OS 25 -- Running the Deepin desktop
(full image size: 4.5MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
HeliumOS
HeliumOS is an atomic and immutable distribution which is built upon AlmaLinux OS. HeliumOS is a desktop distribution and uses a KDE Plasma session running on Wayland for its user interface. Updates to the core system are provided by OSTree images and desktop applications are provided through Flatpak. The distribution also includes the Distrobox container manager to provide packages from other distributions.
HeliumOS 10.0 Beta -- Running the KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 2.6MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Linux Kamarada
Linux Kamarada is a general-purpose Linux distribution based on openSUSE Leap. It uses a customised GNOME desktop environment. The project's main goal is to spread and promote Linux as a robust, secure, versatile and easy-to-use operating system, suitable for everyday use, be it at home, at work or on the server.
Soplos
Soplos Linux is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Debian's "Testing" branch and featuring the Xfce desktop. It offers rolling updates, up-to-date software, a relatively lightweight and customisable desktop, compatibility with older hardware, and various speed and performance optimisation features. The distribution ships with a number of custom applications, such as Soplos Theme Manager, Soplos Plymouth Manager, Soplos Docklike (for adding and removing applications in the dock) and Soplos GRUB Editor.
Soplos 3.0.0 -- Running the Xfce desktop
(full image size: 2.9MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
TROMjaro
TROMjaro is a Manjaro-based Linux distribution with a customised Xfce desktop. Compared to its parent, TROMjaro offers several user-friendly utilities, such as Layout Switcher with six different layouts or Theme Switcher with several accent colours. It also provides various enhancements, including the integration of the Chaotic-AUR repository with pre-built binary packages, a selection of custom wallpapers and icon packs, and extra configuration options in Settings Manager. The distribution comes with support for AppImage files and a heavily-tweaked Firefox browser with custom add-ons.
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 30 June 2025. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Weekly Archive and Article Search pages. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews/submissions, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, donations, comments)
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
Local Area Security Linux (L.A.S.)
Local Area Security Linux was a 'Live CD' distribution with a strong emphasis on security tools and small footprint. We currently have 2 different versions of L.A.S. to fit two specific needs - MAIN and SECSERV. This project was released under the terms of GPL.
Status: Discontinued
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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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