 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 125, 7 November 2005 |
Welcome to this year's 45th issue of DistroWatch Weekly. As expected, the three main BSD releases stole the limelight of most open source news sites last week, with especially FreeBSD 6.0 looking like a truly excellent product. We will take a closer look at some of the issues discussed on the FreeBSD mailing lists shortly after the release and share our experiences with upgrading the DistroWatch server. Also in this issue: a comment on the events of the past week affecting SUSE Linux and Kubuntu, and a link to an interesting sub-project by Linux From Scratch - for the fans of cross-compiling. Our featured distribution of the week is the OpenSolaris-based BeleniX live CD, while the amaroK project is the one that gets our US$300 October 2005 donation. Happy reading!
 Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in ogg (5.47MB) or mp3 (6.31MB) format (courtesy of Shawn Milo).
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
Content:
FreeBSD 6.0 Released
 As expected, the final release of FreeBSD 6.0 was announced late last week. Originally scheduled for August, but delayed due to showstopper bugs, the new FreeBSD release has been greeted with much enthusiasm among the users of this popular open source operating system. Although it is a "point-zero" release, the first reactions among those who upgraded their systems were overwhelmingly positive, with many claiming that 6.0 is a huge improvement over the so-so 5.x series. FreeBSD 6.0 is considered a stable release and users are encouraged to upgrade their production machines.
However, FreeBSD is a complex operating system and an upgrade of this scale is bound to lead to problems in certain circumstances. The most often reported issue after upgrading to FreeBSD 6.0 concerned locales settings, which many users lost after the upgrade. The immediate solution is to recompile Perl to link to the new libc library, although it is generally recommended that you recompile all installed ports to eliminate any potential problems incorrect linking might lead to. This, of course, only applies to upgraded systems, not to new installations.
Another issue that came up frequently during upgrades from 5.x was the failure of "make buildworld" at various stages of compilation. It appears that deleting the /usr/obj/* directory before running "make buildworld" eliminates this problem.
Some users reported that the NVIDIA driver, downloaded and built from the graphics card manufacturer's web site, made the upgraded FreeBSD 6.0 system unbootable. The solution is to disable loading the driver before rebooting the newly upgraded system, then install it directly from FreeBSD ports, rather than using NVIDIA's way of compiling the module.
Other than these minor issues, general happiness with the new release seems to be the order of the day. It looks like that FreeBSD development team has done an excellent job and version 6.0 is possibly the project's best and most feature-full release to-date. Give it a try and let us know your impressions!
* * * * *
Miscellaneous news: SUSE rumours, Kubuntu status, Cross Linux From Scratch
 The peace in the world of Linux distributions was disturbed last week by a wave of what later turned out to be an unsubstantiated speculation about the future of SUSE Linux. A so-called Linux web site (which we won't link to and won't name here because it continues to cheerfully disseminate sponsored anti-Linux propaganda from its pages) published a story asserting that Novell is about to pull the plug on the development of SUSE Linux. This was apparently based on a recent announcement about layoffs at Novell. While the rumour was quickly denied by the networking giant, the company did admit that cost-cutting measures were being implemented and, as a result, the KDE desktop will be removed from future releases of Novell Linux Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. However, the measure will not affect Novell's openSUSE project which will continue to build SUSE Linux with KDE as its main desktop.
 The fans of Kubuntu had a reason to celebrate last week as their preferred distribution is gradually getting recognition it deserves from the Ubuntu founder: "In his opening remarks at the start of the conference, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth announced that he was now using Kubuntu on his desktop machine and said he wanted Kubuntu to move to a first class distribution within the Ubuntu community. The large number of Kubuntu users at the conference was evidence as the need for this. Free CDs for Kubuntu through 'shipit' should be available for the next release if the planned Live CD Installer removes the need for a separate install CD." Read the full story on the Kubuntu web site. On a related note, a rough feature list of the upcoming Kubuntu "Dapper Drake" is now also available for your reading pleasure.
 Have you ever wanted to build a Linux distribution from scratch for an architecture other than i386? If so, then here is some good news. In a move to expand to all popular processor platforms and to teach users about cross-compiling, the Linux From Scratch project has announced the launch of Cross Linux From Scratch (CLFS): "Building CLFS teaches you how to make a cross-compiler and the necessary tools, to build a basic system on a different architecture. For example, you would be able to build a Sparc toolchain on an x86 machine, and utilize that toolchain to build a Linux system from source codes." To find out more, visit the subproject's new web pages and start exchanging information on its already very busy mailing list.
Finally, an announcement by Mad Penguin about a light-hearted contest to win a boxed edition of SUSE Linux 10.0, Xandros Desktop 3 and other prizes: "See that handsome penguin down there? His name is Vic and he's pleased to make your acquaintance. Vic, meet [insert your name here]. [and here] meet our beloved mascot, Vic. There, now you know each other. Here's the deal. Your mission is to take Vic here and create a work of art in the form of desktop wallpaper. He's big enough to allow you to scale him to fit your masterpiece. The trick is that you MUST do something that is funny or otherwise entertaining." If you have some artistic talent and a sense of humour, give it a try - the competition runs until the end of November. Learn more here.
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| Featured distribution of the week: BeleniX |
BeleniX
 The world of open source software is getting more and more exciting almost by the day. Only a couple of years ago nobody could possibly imagine that the venerable Solaris by Sun Mircrosystems would one day be a free operating system, in both senses of the word. Although burdened by an unusual license, the Open Source Initiative now assures us that Solaris is indeed Free Software, which anybody can use and enjoy without any strings attached.
Being a true UNIX, Solaris is certainly not the easiest system to run and administer. But since the OpenSolaris project opened up to public participation and the source code was released for all to examine and modify, several more user-friendly derivatives have emerged. One of them is called BeleniX LiveCD, developed by the India Engineering Centre of Sun Microsystems in Bangalore. Although the product comes from Sun, it appears to be more of a hobby project of a few developers than a real Sun product.
We tried out the BeleniX live CD on a spare computer. The operating system goes through the usual boot sequence before prompting the user to select the preferred language and keyboard, after which it tries to configure X.Org. If it succeeds, it will boot into a good-looking graphical desktop with XFce 4. While the number of included graphical applications is limited to Firefox (1.5 beta2), Gaim, SuperTux and the usual XFce utilities, the live CD does a fair job detecting and configuring hardware and network, so it is ready for use straight after boot.
BeleniX is probably the best and least intimidating way to learn the basic concepts of Solaris. Sure, many of the commands you know from Linux or BSD behave exactly the same way on a real UNIX, but there are also substantial differences that make the operating system look difficult to the uninitiated. Luckily, the BeleniX web site provides a page with quick links to documentation for those who wish to learn more about Solaris and its underlying technologies.
Products like BeleniX are a clear indication that momentum is building behind Solaris and that many people find the product interesting enough to join the rapidly growing Solaris developer community. And that, together with a growing number of free operating system options, can't be a bad thing.
BeleniX - the first OpenSolaris-based live CD that boots into a graphical desktop
(full image size: 890kB)
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| Released Last Week |
OpenBSD 3.8
OpenBSD 3.8 has been released: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.8. This is our 18th release on CD-ROM (and 19th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.8 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system: Improved hardware support, including new aps driver for the built-in accelerometer found in some IBM ThinkPad laptops, new art driver for Accom Networks Artery T1 and E1 cards...." A detailed account of all changes can be read in the release announcement and on the product's features page.
RR4 Linux 2.60.4
A new version of the Gentoo-based RR4 Linux live DVD is out: "The fourth 'dot' release has hit the net in these hours. That's RR4 Linux 2.60.4 and sports a lot of changes, under the hood and not. Fixes: KDE Menu removed duplicates; SATA DVD readers support; Radeon 7000 Video detection; ATI Drivers 8.14.13-r5; cleaned Perl installation; speed-up in RR4 boot from hard disk. Improvements and additions: Linux kernel 2.6.14; added online live DVD installer update via a desktop icon; full support for IPW2100 and IPW2200 wireless cards; new boot theme; Ndiswrapper 1.5 rc3; updated GNOME to 2.12.1; Opera 8.50; OpenOffice.org 2.0; amaroK 1.3.5...." See the release announcement and release notes (in PDF format) for further details.
EnGarde Secure Linux 3.0.1
This is a new security and bug-fix release to EnGarde Secure Linux 3.0: "Guardian Digital is happy to announce the release of EnGarde Secure Community 3.0.1 This release includes several bug fixes and feature enhancements to the Guardian Digital WebTool, the SELinux policy, and the live CD environment. The following reported bugs are fixed in this release: users can not add/edit web files; WebTool can not stop MySQL; WebTool errors-out if resolv.conf is empty; users cannot upload files via FTP; PHP not built with GD library; WebTool should give the user some feedback upon errors; problem when creating a second Virtual Host on the same IP...." Find more details and download locations in the release announcement.
NetBSD 2.1
NetBSD 2.1 has been released: "The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce that release 2.1 of the NetBSD operating system is now available. NetBSD 2.1 is the first maintenance release of the netbsd-2 release branch. This release provides numerous functional enhancements, including support for many new devices, hundreds of bug fixes, patches and updates to kernel subsystems, and many enhancements to the user environment. In addition, all of the security fixes and critical bug fixes from the NetBSD 2.0.3 update are included as well." Read the rest of the release announcement for a detailed list of changes.
ClarkConnect Gateway/Server 3.2
ClarkConnect Gateway/Server 3.2 has been released. What's new? "The full list of changes is available in the developer change log -- highlights include: Multi-WAN; user login access for changing passwords; sub-administrator login access; network diagnostic tools. Version 3.x supports upgrades from ClarkConnect 1.1 and later. When you run the ClarkConnect installer, make sure you select the upgrade option (see adjacent screenshot). As with any upgrade, please backup any critical data. Some software required conversion utilities and name changes. You should double check the following after your upgrade...." Read the rest of the release notes for known issues and software package notes.
FreeBSD 6.0
It's official: FreeBSD 6.0 is here. "It is my great pleasure and privilege to announce the availability of FreeBSD 6.0-RELEASE. This release is the next step in delivering the high performance and enterprise features that have been under development in the FreeBSD 5.x series for that last several years. Some of the many changes since 5.4 include: significant performance improvements to the filesystem and direct disk access layers of the OS; expanded support for wireless networking adapters and new support for the WPA wireless security protocol; experimental support for the PowerPC platform." Read the complete release announcement and release notes for more information.
T2 2.1.0
The first stable version of T2, a Linux distribution build tool kit originally forked from ROCK Linux, has been released: "After a year of very hard work, we are happy to announce the immediate availability of our first stable release of T2. T2 2.1 is our first stable branch, forked out of ROCK Linux 2.0 one year ago. It has lots in common with that release, like ROCK Net, ROCK Plug, .gem file format, devfs, monolithic kernel and x11, but far more robust and improved to fulfill our goal of making a clean and stable framework for spin-off projects and customized distributions." See the release announcement for a more detailed description of the project.
Kaella 2.1
Kaella is, effectively, a French edition of the popular KNOPPIX live CD. After many weeks of testing, version 2.1 has now been released for download. The new version is based on the CD edition of KNOPPIX 4.0.2, but it comes with OpenOffice.org 2.0.0, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird 1.0.7, and a corrected French language module for KDE. Other improvements include several cosmetic changes in KDE, new French translation of the KNOPPIX menu, addition of French documentation, and addition of new ADSL modem drivers. For a full list of changes please see the release notes (in French).
BeleniX LiveCD 0.2.1
This is bug-fix release of BeleniX LiveCD, an OpenSolaris-based distribution with an option to boot into a graphical user interface with XFce: "This is primarily a bug-fix release with the addition of a few utilities like a Volume Control and mixer utility and a GUI tool to manage services or daemons. Thunderbird did not work in 0.2 due to some missing files which have been added. Another item of interest is the addition of DTrace Toolkit that consists of various useful DTrace scripts and documentation." See the full release announcement and a more detailed changelong on the project's home page.
GoblinX Mini 1.2.1
The GoblinX project has announced the release of GoblinX Mini 1.2.1, a bug-fix update to the 1.2 series: "The GoblinX Project is proud to announce the release of GoblinX Mini 1.2.1. GoblinX Mini 1.2.1 brings some small bug and error corrections: an upgraded kernel (2.6.13.2); Linux live and Unionfs, added Gxine, Xine-lib, Gdhcpd, Zmixer, Xarchive and Graveman; removed Wv2, Jfsutils, Eye of Gnome, Lame, Flex, LVM; added a better log system; firewall does not send log messages to console, added a new bootsplash theme, ebona_goblix, based on the beautiful Ebona wallpaper of ViperV6; removed NVIDIA drivers - the Mini edition does not have any applications that need 3D acceleration...." See the latest GoblinX Newsletter for more details.
* * * * *
Development and unannounced releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Fedora Core 5 delayed
As has become tradition in the development of Fedora Core, the release of "test1" of the upcoming Fedora 5 has been postponed. Originally scheduled for release today (Monday), Fedora Core 5 test1 is now expected on November 21 instead. Subsequently, all following releases have also been delayed by two weeks. No reasons for the delay are given, but the preliminary schedule now reflects the new dates, with the final release of Fedora Core 5 now scheduled for 27 February 2006.
SimplyMEPIS 3.4
After many months of waiting for Debian "sid" to stabilise from the post-"sarge" upgrade mess, the developers of MEPIS Linux have finally announced a new upcoming release, version 3.4. A test version should be out within the next few days: "SimplyMEPIS 3.3.2 was replaced with Simply 3.3.3, which is a great build and includes OpenOffice.org 2.0 and Mozilla Thunderbird. I'm sorry most of you won't have the chance to use it, as Simply 3.4 is now in the works and should be available as a test in a few days. This new version will incorporate some new stuff: KDE 3.4, OpenOffice.org 2.0, and X.Org." Read the rest of the announcement for further information.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Web Site News |
DistroWatch server upgraded to FreeBSD 6.0
Following the release of FreeBSD 6.0 last week and many overwhelmingly positive early reports about the new version, we decided to upgrade the DistroWatch server over the weekend. Although we didn't have any major problems running FreeBSD 5.4, our "geeky" hearts simply demanded that we ran the latest and greatest whenever possible. As always, upgrading a remote server located half-way across the world does bring a considerable amount of anxiety (will the new kernel boot at all?), especially because upgrading FreeBSD requires two reboots. Luckily, everything went fine and the server was never down for more than a minute on two occasions last Saturday.
Two minor issues came up during the upgrade. As reported by others, a "rm -f /usr/obj/* might be necessary prior to "make buildworld" to eliminate some compile problems down the line, and this was the case with our upgrade too. The second issue was the "pf" firewall which, for some reason, refused to allow any traffic through the SMTP port after the upgrade. However, after disabling the firewall and re-enabling it again, without changing any of the firewall rules, everything was back to normal. Other users also reported similar problems on the FreeBSD mailing list, so it looks like we were not the only ones affected by this issue.
As always, these types of upgrades (and the anxiety they bring) tend to lead to inevitable comparisons between FreeBSD and Linux (and even Solaris, now that it is free) as a web hosting solution. We switched to FreeBSD from Debian "woody" about a year ago and had mostly positive experiences. Unfortunately, a FreeBSD system does seem to require much more baby-sitting than a Debian-based server would ever need - virtually all FreeBSD security updates, rare as they are, require that either the kernel or the userland (or both) be recompiled and the system rebooted. On the other hand, we have enjoyed the ability to keep the system and software up-to-date by compiling the latest applications from FreeBSD ports - a big advantage over any stable Debian.
There is, of course, no such thing as a perfect operating system. That said, FreeBSD has proven itself over the years as one of the most reliable workhorses powering an enormous number of mission critical web servers around the world. To a large extent, our experience is in line with this fact. We are currently entertaining the possibility to award the November 2005 donation to the FreeBSD Foundation. Are there any objections among our readers? Please agree or disagree in the forum below.
* * * * *
October 2005 donation: the amaroK project receives US$300
amaroK is the second multimedia application in a row (after MPlayer) that receives our monthly donation. Gaining many new fans and supporters over the last few months, this KDE-based music player is a great addition to the increasingly powerful desktop. amaroK is one of the most feature-rich media applications available today and the project's recent drive to generate further development funds has prompted several readers' emails recommending amaroK for a donation. We are pleased to oblige.
amaroK - a media player for the KDE desktop
Our monthly donations programme is a joint initiative between DistroWatch and two online shops selling low-cost CDs and DVDs with Linux, BSD and other open source software - LinuxISO.co.uk and LinuxCD.org, each of which contributed US$50 towards this month's donation. Both stores have an excellent selection and latest releases at very reasonable prices. Next time you need to order your favourite Linux or BSD CDs, get them from LinuxCD.org or, if you are in the United Kingdom, from LinuxISO.co.uk.
This is the PayPal receipt for the donation to amaroK:
Dear DistroWatch.com,
This email confirms that you have paid muesli (-at-) gmail.com $300.00 USD using PayPal.
------------------------------
Payment Details:
------------------------------
Transaction ID: 0KH8523573841532G
Total: $300.00 USD
Item/Product Name: amaroK fundraiser
Item/Product Number: amaroKfunds
Buyer: DistroWatch.com
Here is the list of projects that received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the donations programme:
Since the launch of the DistroWatch Donations Programme in March 2004, we have donated a total of US$5,605 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
New distribution additions
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New on the waiting list
- DeveLinux. DeveLinux is a live Debian-based distribution designed for developers and programmers. It includes useful development software on a single live CD.
- Grafpup Linux. Grafpup Linux is a desktop Linux operating system based closely on Puppy Linux. Its goal is to be as useful to graphic designers and other imaging professionals as possible while still remaining extremely small and fast.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And with this we'll say good-bye until next Monday. We hope you've enjoyed this issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • 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 | 
Libranet GNU/Linux
The Libranet Linux Desktop was a production of Libra Computer Systems Ltd. Libra has been providing UNIX systems and software development since 1984. We are located in the Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada. We chose Debian as the base of Libranet. Debian GNU/Linux was solid and true to the spirit of GNU/Linux. We are a small team who see the future in GNU/Linux. We believe that Libranet was not only a solid replacement for Microsoft Windows, but surpasses it in almost all aspects. As GNU/Linux evolves and more and more hardware becomes supported, we find no need to run anything else. Libranet runs in our own office on both desktops and servers and fulfills all our business and personal computing needs. Our goal was to continue to produce a system to be proud of.
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.
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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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