 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 183, 1 January 2007 |
|
Happy New Year and welcome to this year's first issue of DistroWatch Weekly! With another exciting year safely behind us, we'll start the first issue of DistroWatch Weekly in 2007 with a statistical look at the popularity of Linux distributions and other interesting data collected here during the past year. The news section will then bring a varied collection of happenings from the distro world, including news about the latest beta release of SimplyMEPIS, updates about the forthcoming Fedora 7, information about the release blockers delaying Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, links to interviews with the developers of Ulteo and SabayonLinux, and alerts to articles of interest to users of PCLinuxOS, openSUSE and Yellow Dog Linux. Finally, we are pleased to announce that the December 2006 DistroWatch donation goes to SabayonLinux. Happy reading!
Content:
- Statistics: DistroWatch in 2006
- News: SimplyMEPIS, Fedora and Debian release updates, Ulteo and SabayonLinux interviews, openSUSE repositories, MagDriva
- Released last week: Fedora Core 6 Live CD, KNOPPIX 5.1
- Upcoming releases: FreeBSD 6.2, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
- Donations: SabayonLinux receives US$450
- New additions: Thisk Server
- New distributions: AsteriskNOW, eBox, Linkat GNU/Linux, Ophcrack Live CD, Parted Magic, Slax-LFI, Super Gamer
- Reader comments
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
|
| Statistics |
DistroWatch in 2006
Let's start the new year with some interesting statistics from the world of BSDs and Linux distributions, as collected here at DistroWatch during the past 365 days. First, a list of the top 25 distributions ranked by page hit figures in the 12 months of 2006, compared with the same period a year earlier. As the table below indicates, Ubuntu maintained its top spot for the second consecutive year, but the margin of its lead has dropped from 882 to 625 hits per day, as openSUSE appeared to be catching up fast towards the end of 2006. Mandriva, KNOPPIX and Xandros continued their downward spirals, while, interestingly, the two "geek" distributions, Slackware and Gentoo, swapped places in the table. New in the top 25 are SabayonLinux, Xubuntu and Freespire, replacing Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Linspire and VLOS. And the biggest climbers? Zenwalk shot up 8 and PCLinuxOS went up 5 places.
The overall page hit ranking statistics tells us which pages the visitors of DistroWatch viewed most often, but it doesn't uncover the fastest growing distributions. The table below lists 5 rising stars ranked by the number of spots they climbed in 2006 (on the left) and by the difference in their page hit ranking figures between the end of 2005 and end of 2006 (on the right). As we can see, Elive was the fastest climber in terms of number of places it rose during the year (+71), while openSUSE won by the number of visits - on average 576 more people per day viewed the openSUSE page in 2006 than in 2005. And the biggest losers? White Box Enterprise Linux (down by 55 places) and Mandriva Linux (down by 649 views per day). Only distributions that made the top 100 lists in both 2005 and 2006 were included in this comparison.
Those readers who are interested in longer-term changes in the Page Hit Ranking statistics can find additional information in Análisis del ranking de DistroWatch 2002-2005. Although the article is in Spanish, the accompanying charts provide nice visual representation of the data, once again confirming the dramatic rise in the popularity of SUSE Linux/openSUSE and a disappointing drop in interest in Mandriva Linux over the last few years.
In 2006 DistroWatch.com had another record year, but the growth of the site (in terms of number of visitors) wasn't as dramatic as during the previous years when the traffic doubled roughly every 8 months. The table below shows the year-on-year growth between December 2005 and December 2006, indicating that the total number of visits grew by 22.5% in 2006. Overall, in 2006 DistroWatch.com served a total of 128.6 million pages to 36.2 million visitors who consumed 6.99 terabytes of bandwidth. The data were collected from the main DistroWatch.com server only and do not include the five mirror sites.
| DistroWatch.com Year-on-year Growth |
|---|
| Indicator |
December 2005 |
December 2006 |
% Change |
| Total visits |
2,556,512 |
3,132,144 |
+22.5% |
| Unique visits |
654,674 |
836,498 |
+27.8% |
| Pages viewed |
10,348,689 |
11,480,484 |
+10.9% |
| Total hits |
44,813,793 |
54,537,058 |
+21.7% |
| Bandwidth |
496.59GB |
628.60GB |
+26.6% |
Despite slowing growth, the popularity of DistroWatch.com reached all-time high during the year 2006. According to Netcraft.com, it is now the 936th most popular web site on the Internet, which makes DistroWatch one of the highest ranked Linux and open source news sites available today. For comparison, OSNews.com is ranked slightly lower, at the 965th place. Alexa.com, another engine ranking the popularity of web sites, gives different figures, however; here OSNews.com is ranked at the 6,750th place, while DistroWatch.com is the 9,140th most popular web site.
All in all, DistroWatch.com had an excellent year. Besides attracting a record number of visitors, the proceeds from advertising enabled us to donate a total of US$5,160 to various open source software projects, including FreeBSD, Gentoo Linux, Puppy Linux, SabayonLinux, Blender, Inkscape, digiKam and several other projects, and we also gave away four boxes of Mandriva Linux 2007 in a competition. The only disappointing aspect of the past year was the fact that the development of the web site stagnated due to lack of time and the implementation of many requested features had to be postponed. With the ever growing number of distributions, the constant flow of interesting news, and the regular weekly newsletter and monthly Linux Format column, things are rather hectic around here. But who knows, maybe a miracle will occur and a volunteer contributor or developer will join the DistroWatch team in 2007 to make things happen. Any takers?
Happy and prosperous New Year to all!
|
| Miscellaneous News |
SimplyMEPIS, Fedora and Debian release updates, Ulteo and SabayonLinux interviews, openSUSE repositories, MagDriva
 After months of quiet work, the developers of SimplyMEPIS have released an updated CD image, marking the start of a new testing period for the popular beginner-friendly distribution. The most noticeable change after booting SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4 is the new artwork, icon set and desktop theme. Gone is the wallpaper with the MEPIS pyramid and the KAquarium applet also no longer wastes space on the KDE panel. Hardware detection and auto-configuration, including support for wireless networking, have also been through some welcome improvements. Further good news awaits those users whose computers are powered by 64-bit processors: this is the first time that the SimplyMEPIS developers released an x86_64 edition of their product. However, those who expect a complete overhaul of included software will be disappointed; apart from a few visible applications, such as Firefox 2.0, most of the system was left unchanged from version 6.0. The final release of SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4 is expected around the middle of January.
SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4 comes with a refreshing new desktop theme.
(full image size: 510kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
* * * * *
 We talked about the upcoming changes in Fedora Core 7 in an earlier issue of DistroWatch Weekly, but it wasn't until just before the holidays that the preliminary plans for the upcoming release were finalised. As indicated previously, the biggest change will be the merge of "Core" and "Extras" into one huge repository of thousands of packages. Once Fedora 7 is released in the form of CD/DVD images, it will come in three editions - "Fedora Desktop", "Fedora Server" and "Fedora KDE". Among the many other new features the developers are promising rock solid wireless networking support, boot and shutdown speed-up, RandR 1.2, KVM virtualisation support, encrypted file systems, and other enhancements. Testing is expected to start with the launch of Fedora 7 Test1 on January 30th, while the final release is scheduled for April 24th. For more information please read this mailing list post by Bill Nottingham.
* * * * *
 A number of interesting announcements appeared on the debian-devel-announce mailing list over the past couple of weeks. Firstly, Andreas Barth published a message highlighting the current release blockers that keep delaying the release of Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 Etch. The major problems appear to be bugs in the recently uploaded Linux kernel 2.6.19, continuing issues with libpng, and a delay by the Debian-Installer team which has yet to release the second candidate of the Debian installation program. In the meantime, the release critical bug count refuses to budge below the 100 mark, suggesting that further delays might be inevitable. Finally, Steve McIntyre posted a message summarising the recent work of the debian-cd team, which has increased the number of daily and weekly builds of CD and DVD images for each release - a good read if you are planning to install Debian in the near future, but are confused by the sheer number of available options.
* * * * *
 Several readers emailed us about the new release of Super Gamer, a PCLinuxOS-based live DVD, with a large collection of free and commercial demo games: "The long awaited Super Gamer 2 release is here. This release adds updated hardware drivers, including additional SATA support, USB keyboard and mouse support, and NVIDIA video drivers downloaded from NVIDIA's web site. Hardware detection has also been updated. Some extra tweaks have been added to improve application loading." If you are interested in Linux gaming, head for the project's download page to get the torrent file: supergamer2.iso (3.80GB). A review of Super Gamer 1 was previously published by Tuxmachines.
* * * * *
 Karsten Kurtze from MandrivaUser.de has emailed us to announce the availability of a new issue of MagDriva, a German-language magazine devoted to (not only) Mandriva Linux: "MandrivaUser.de, a German Forum dealing with all topics of Mandriva Linux, has published another issue of its free and community magazine MagDriva (03/2006). Users having a good grasp of German are invited to download MagDriva from the project's FTP server. There are three different versions of the magazine depending on graphics quality and download size. If you have a fast Internet connection, just download the first version at maximum quality (9.6kB). The contents of MagDriva 03/2006 include news of Mandriva and Mandriva Linux, an interview with Gaël Duval, as well as several useful HOWTOs and articles. You will need a PDF reader to view the magazine. Happy reading!"
* * * * *
 Those of you who would like to read the above-mentioned interview with Gaël Duval, but don't understand German are in luck - the interview has been translated into English. In it, the founder of Mandrake and Ulteo talks about his early days of developing Mandrake Linux, highlights some of the concepts of Ulteo, adds a few thoughts about the current state of desktop Linux, and even branches out into global issues, such as ecological problems and poverty. Answering the question about the differences between the business aspects of Mandrake and Ulteo, Duval replies: "I think that compared to the Mandriva experience, this time I want to keep control." Read the full interview here.
* * * * *
 Speaking about interviews, here is another good one - with Christopher Villareal (better known as civil64), the co-developer of SabayonLinux: "We have implemented a lot of fixes and much better hardware detection schemes. We have the newest NVIDIA and ATI drivers included, with the binaries created at runtime. One of the greatest achievements was getting rid of the 2 GB Squashfs limit so now we can offer greater support and more fun things to play with. As always, we keep the kernel up to date, latest GNOME and KDE with a brand new Kicker that was ported over from SUSE. ... Stay tuned for 3.3, we are going to take our time on this one and focus on great new features that I'm sure the crowd will love - better upgrade procedures, more tools to help maintaining a Gentoo system simpler for the beginner, and much much more!"
* * * * *
 Do you run openSUSE, but need more software than the 3,000+ packages that the project provides in its supported repositories? Then take a look at this blog post, which lists no fewer than 109 third-party repositories for the latest release of openSUSE: "Here is the most complete list of repositories that you can ever find on this planet for your openSUSE 10.2." As always, use them at your own risk: "May I remind you, that by adding unknown (what those repositories contain) and untested (the ones which are considered as unstable) repositories, you might damage your openSUSE 10.2 integrity (dependencies and so forth, the worst being you are unable to load your favourite application). Don't just blindly add them, make sure what you are doing. Also, even if you decide to add them all, it will definitely take time every time you launch YaST (with option refresh turned on) or SMART (when updating repository database)." Surely, with a long list like that, even the most demanding openSUSE users will be able to find any software package they could possibly need!
* * * * *
 Those who intend to install a Linux distribution on a Sony PlayStation 3 will be pleased to learn that Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 is now available for free download. Originally released on 27 November, Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 is a Fedora-based distribution tailored to run on Sony PlayStation 3. It features a graphical installation program and includes the Linux kernel 2.6.16, X.Org 7.0 (3D acceleration not supported), Enlightenment 17 as the default desktop (KDE 3.5.3 and GNOME 2.14 are also available), Firefox 1.5, OpenOffice.org 2.0.2 and other popular open source software applications for desktops, servers, media playback and software development. For more information please read the Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 product pages. Here is a quick link to the latest DVD image: yellowdog-5.0-phoenix-20061208-PS3.iso (3,409MB, MD5).
|
| Released Last Week |
Pardus Linux 2007
After several months of beta testing, Pardus Linux 2007 final has been released. Here is a brief list of the distribution's most interesting features: "Multilingual installer - it is possible to install Pardus in Turkish, English, Spanish, German or Dutch; smaller packages, faster updates - thanks to the improvements to the Pardus package manager PiSi; package manager - the intuitive graphical interface of PiSi makes updates and installation of software much easier; fast start-up - the new init system developed using the Pardus configuration framework ÇOMAR makes the start-up much faster; new and up-to-date applications - more than 640 packages are installed from the CD, and more than 1000 available over the Internet." Read the release announcement and release notes for more details.
ZenEdu 0.3
The Zenwalk Linux project has announced the release of ZenEdu 0.3, a distribution whose main goal is to provide an easy-to-install, stable and free operating system to nurseries and primary schools. ZenEdu includes a good collection of teachers' tools for their daily educational work as well as games dedicated to children. ZenEdu 0.3 is based on Zenwalk Linux 4.0, with a number of applications removed and replaced with educational software, such as Dr Geo, GCompris, GNU Chess, OpenOffice.org, TuxMath, Tux Paint, Tuxtype, and many others. The distribution currently supports French only. For more information about the project and its goals please read the release announcement and visit ZenEdu's presentation page with screenshots (both links in French).
Linux Mint 2.1
A new stable version of Linux Mint has been released: "Linux Mint 2.1, code name "Bea", is out and available for download." Here is a brief list of some of the changes since version 2.0: "OpenOffice 2.1; mintDesktop, which adds a lot of desktop improvements; quick access to the computer, home places and terminal; ability to delete files directly without sending them to the trash; mintDesktop home folders; Beagle search; Tomboy notes; network manager; mintWifi, the purpose of which is to configure a wireless card without an Internet connection; tutorials to install and configure WiFi cards; a collection of WiFi drivers to support about 40 different wireless card models; RealPlayer was replaced with MPlayer plugins with support for Quicktime, AVI, MPG and a lot of other web content; Flash plugin was upgraded to version 9 Beta 2...." Read the detailed release announcement for further information.
SystemRescueCd 0.3.0
A new major version of SystemRescueCd, a Gentoo-based live CD with tools for system repair, data recovery and partition editing, has been released. From the changelog: "Updated the kernel to Linux 2.6.18.5 with Reiser4 file system; added X.Org graphical environment with WindowMaker; added GParted 0.3.3 to replace QtParted; added ntfs3g (full NTFS read and write); added graphical editors (gVim, Leafpad); added graphical web browsers (Firefox 2.0 and Dillo); updated the file system tools (Parted, e2fsprogs, xfsprogs); updated the system (glibc, ClamAV); updated the bootdisks."
Kate OS 3.2
Kate OS 3.2 has been released: "Kate OS 3.2 is the third edition of the III series. It brings, as usual, many fixes, updates, and novelties the community has been waiting for. It includes a new graphical package management tool, KatePKG, which allows for easy and intuitive installation, removal, and updating of packages. KatePKG can handle any number of repositories, including user-created ones on the local drive. KatePKG was written in PHP using the PHP-GTK2 library. Kate OS 3.2 uses glibc library 2.5 which ensures binary compatibility with future editions. It also includes the Xfce environment version 4.4RC2, GNOME 2.16.2, KDE 3.5.5, OpenOffice.org 2.0.4, Firefox 2.0, and many other current applications." Read the rest of the release announcement on the project's home page.
Fedora Core 6 Live CD
David Zeuthen has announced the release of an official Fedora 6 live CD: "After lots of feedback, bug fixing and testing of the beta live CD announced 3 weeks ago, I'm pleased to announce the first official Fedora live CD. This live CD is based on packages from the Fedora Core 6 (code named 'Zod') and Fedora Extras package collections and is 100% free software. At a glance, the live CD features: Linux 2.6.18, GNOME 2.16 desktop environment, GStreamer 0.10 multimedia framework, X.Org 7.1, AIGLX and Compiz for 3D desktop, lots of applications including, but not limited to Beagle (desktop search), F-Spot (photo management), Evolution (email and calendering), Firefox (web browsing), Ekiga (IP telephony)...." Read the complete release announcement for additional details.
Nonux 4.0
A new version of Nonux, a Slackware-based live and installation CD designed for Dutch-speaking office environments, has been released. Version 4.0 is a major update, now based on Slackware Linux 11.0 and Linux kernel 2.6.18.2. The Dropline GNOME desktop environment has been updated to version 2.16.2, with many speed tweaks and other optimisations, while Firefox now comes in version 2.0 and OpenOffice.org in 2.0.4. Other changes include better hardware detection and power management, improved email notification applet, updated GParted partitioning tool and its associated components, and several newly included applications (graphics editing, graphical application for encryption and key management, and software for retrieving stock market quotes). Please visit the project's news page (in Dutch) to read the full release announcement.
K12LTSP Linux 6.0.0
Eric Harrison has announced the release of K12LTSP Linux 6.0.0: "Still looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the spouse? K12LTSP 6.0.0 is now available for all of your gift-giving needs!" What's new in this release? "K12LTSP 6.0.0 is based on Fedora Core 6, with a large number of changes including: LTSP 4.2 update 4; a bunch of packages from Fedora Extras; hundreds of updated FC6 packages; a handful of K12LTSP packages, just to spice things up. This release of K12LTSP is slightly different than past releases in that there is no specific 'LTSP' install option. If you want do a 'normal' Fedora Core 6 install from K12LTSP 6, simply uncheck the 'LTSP' package group. The 'Education' package group has been split up into two groups." More details in the release announcement.
Elive 0.6
A bug-fix update of Elive "Revolution" has been released. Here is a brief list of some of the changes: "Fixed SCSI emulation CD-ROM driver; fixed Czech boot option; fixed special character problems in menus; added new sounds to the 'Elive look'; installer updates which will fine-tune a new installation on first boot; new drivers for wireless networking; added Flash 9 beta browser plugin; removed OpenOffice.org from the ISO image due to space reasons; added Java; added Transmission - a small, fast, simple and effective BitTorrent client; added Torus trooper - a game; made Thunar the default file manager; updated Cinelerra to version 2.1; added KQEMU, a KDE front-end from QEMU; added measures to prevent root login into graphical desktop...." Visit the project's news page to read the full release announcement.
B2DLinux 20061226
A new stable release of B2D Linux, a Taiwanese desktop distribution based on KNOPPIX, has been released. The most important change is the addition of the light-weight LXDE desktop, which can be selected as an alternative desktop environment after booting, alongside the default KDE and the optional GNOME. Other changes include: upgraded to kernel 2.6.18.1; removed the proprietary NVIDIA kernel module, added NdisWrapper; removed StarDict; solved the problem with multiple programs accessing the audio device and other bug fixes; added Kdenlive video editor, KlamAV front-end for ClamAV anti-virus scanner, Cheops graphical utility for managing network connections; updated some packages available for installation with Klik (OpenOffice.org 2.0.4, Java Development Kit 6, Sodipodi and Songbird). Please read the release announcement (in Chinese) for further details.
KNOPPIX 5.1.0
Klaus Knopper has announced the release of KNOPPIX 5.1.0 live CD and DVD: "Finally, it's done. Just in the past couple of months, there has been quite a lot of new and exciting development in the GNU/Linux world, which of course should also be present in the current KNOPPIX version, even if some of the new and optional features (like the 3D desktop with Beryl) are still experimental. New kernel, KDE and OpenOffice.org releases have spoilt our planned release dates, but now all these are available in the new release. New: update to Debian Etch; Linux kernel 2.6.19.1 + FUSE 2.6.1; Cloop 2.05 real-time decompression; replace Unionfs with Aufs...." See the comprehensive release notes for more details.
A scene from Spitsbergen, Norway, graces the desktop of the latest KNOPPIX live CD/DVD.
(full image size: 1,255kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
PC-BSD 1.3
PC-BSD 1.3 has been released: "Just in time to ring in the New Year, the PC-BSD team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of PC-BSD version 1.3 for public download. This release incorporates many new features and options which make desktop computing easier than ever. Some of the new features include KDE 3.5.5, the 'PF' firewall, HAL backend support, a new 'Services' menu and much more! Additionally, the team is launching a web design contest for PC-BSD's new web site." Find more details in the release announcement, changelog and release notes.
SME Server 7.1
Gordon Rowell has announced the final release of SME Server 7.1, with only minor changes compared to the earlier release candidate: "The SME Server development team is pleased to announce the release of SME Server 7.1. This release has many new features and fixes for previously reported issues. All SME Server users should upgrade to this release. Major changes from SME Server 7.0: the CD no longer boots automatically into the installer; the installer now provides many Raid and LVM configuration options; the Software Installer has been enhanced to provide better feedback during installs and to deal with large update sets; local mail delivery is noticeably faster." Read the release announcement and release notes for further information.
ParallelKnoppix 2.2
A new bug-fix release of ParallelKnoppix is out: "For those of you who like to start the new year with a new release, version 2.2 is out. This release meets the long term goal of removing the need to mount a storage device. Since no storage device is used, the permissions bug that affected versions 2.0 and 2.1 when VFAT file systems were used is no longer an issue. From the changelog: a major change - everything is done in RAM, hard disks and/or USB storage are no longer needed or used; current Debian unstable, rather than KNOPPIX, is now the base, all packages have been upgraded; the compute nodes boot up to KDM, and you can't log in to them - this is intended to improve security, since the only access to the cluster is through the master node or over the net." Find the full release announcement on the project's home page.
* * * * *
Development and unannounced releases
- Arch Linux 0.8 Alpha, the release announcement
- LinuxTLE 8.0-beta, the release notes (in Thai)
- Freespire 3.0-alpha3, the release announcement
- SmoothWall 3.0-alpha3 "Koala", the release announcement
- Trustix Secure Linux 3.0.5-beta3, the release announcement
- SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4-beta1, the press release
- m0n0wall 1.3-beta2, the release announcement
- Damn Small Linux 3.2-rc2, the release announcement
- FreeBSD 6.2-RC2, the release announcement
- Pioneer MigrationSERVER Beta2, the press release
- Mandriva Linux 2007.1-alpha1, the release notes
- GeeXboX 2.0-preview1, the release notes
- Guadalinex 4-beta
- Berry Linux 0.77
- Musix GNU/Linux 0.79-beta19
- Thisk Server 4.1.4
- Kurumin Linux 7.0-beta6
- LG3D LiveCD 2.99.5
|
| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
FreeBSD 6.2
The FreeBSD project has updated the release schedule of the upcoming FreeBSD 6.2. The final release of the much delayed update is expected to be announced on January 10th. Please see the release schedule for further details.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
The all new Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 will be released on 28 February 2007. That's according to this news report by CNET: "'I'm sure we will ship a gold (version) on February 28,' Chief Executive Matthew Szulik, referring to the final version, said in an interview after the company reported its quarterly financial results. ... One major feature arriving in RHEL 5 is Xen, virtualization software that lets a single computer run multiple operating systems simultaneously. The technology's initial advantage is to let administrators load up a server more efficiently, but virtualization in the longer run also holds promise for reliability and flexibility because virtual machines can be moved from one computer to another while running."
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
|
| DistroWatch.com News |
December 2006 donation: SabayonLinux receives US$450
We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the DistroWatch.com December 2006 donation is the SabayonLinux project (US$450.00).
As one of the fastest growing Linux distribution of the year, SabayonLinux is a proof that innovation and aggressive push for bleeding edge features are popular traits among the readers of DistroWatch. The developers of this Gentoo-based project have produced a surprise treat for those users who enjoy the latest and greatest open source software, combined with emerging technologies, such as the 3D desktop effects. More recently, much work has also gone into its Anaconda-based installation program and easy upgradability, as well as improvements in desktop design and user interface. Compatibility with Gentoo Linux is a further bonus for those users who enjoy "emerging" new software.
It's always nice to receive a "thank you" email after any donation; this was the reaction of Fabio Erculiani, the distribution's founder and lead developer, after he learnt about the unexpected windfall: "Oh my God! I haven't any other words to express our gratitude for your HUGE and astonishing donation! Thanks a lot!!!!!"
SabayonLinux was one of the fastest-growing Linux distribution in 2006.
(full image size: 390kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
As always, the monthly donations programme is a joint initiative between DistroWatch, which allocates 10% of its advertising revenue, and three online shops selling low-cost CDs and DVDs with Linux, BSD and other open source software - LinuxCD.org, OSDisc.com and TheLinuxShop.co.uk. The three CD/DVD vendors contributed US$50.00 each towards this month's donation to SabayonLinux.
Here is the list of projects that received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the programme:
Since the launch of the DistroWatch Donations Programme in March 2004, we have donated a total of US$11,390 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
New distributions added to database
- Thisk Server. Thisk Server is a Debian-based Linux distribution designed for PBX (Private Branch Exchange) environments. It uses Asterisk - a free software implementation of PBX.
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- AsteriskNOW. AsteriskNOW is an open source software appliance, a customised Linux distribution that includes the Asterisk PBX software, the Asterisk GUI, and all other software needed for an Asterisk system. Based on rPath Linux.
- eBox. eBox is a Debian and Morphix-based Linux server distribution. It features eBox Management Tool, a web-based graphical user interface for configuring and managing servers from a remote machine.
- Ophcrack Live CD. Ophcrack Live CD is a SLAX-based live CD designed for a single purpose - to crack Windows passwords with the help of rainbow tables.
- Linkat GNU/Linux. Linkat GNU/Linux is an openSUSE-based distribution developed by Department of Education at the regional government of Catalonia in Spain. It is designed for deployment in local educational institutions.
- Parted Magic. Parted Magic is a 30MB live CD/USB with its only purpose being partitioning hard drives. Although GParted and Parted are the main programs, the CD/USB also offers programs like PartImage, TestDisk, fdisk, sfdisk, dd, etc... Parted Magic is based on the GParted LiveCD project and falls under the terms of the GPL.
- Slax-LFI. Slax-LFI is a French rescue CD based on Slackware and SLAX. It includes GParted, Partimage, KDE, ddrescue and documentation.
- Super Gamer. Super Gamer is a PCLinuxOS-based live DVD optimised for a gaming environment, with some tweaks to help speeding up its performance and with Linux native games - both free and commercial demo ones.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes our latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 8 January 2007. Until then,
Ladislav Bodnar
|
|
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 0, value: US$0.00) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
|
| 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.
|
| 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.
|
| Random Distribution | 
rPath Linux
rPath Linux was a Linux distribution built with the new Conary distributed software management system. Conary was designed, based on many years of Linux software packaging and distribution development experience, to automate many of the tasks that have made it difficult to build Linux distributions. rPath's mission was to provide system software that was easily tailored to suit unique application needs. rPath Linux, built with the Conary distributed software management system, was not only a distribution in its own right, but also a base technology explicitly designed to enable you to create purpose-built operating system images using the rBuilder Online technology.
Status: Discontinued
|
| 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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
