 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 185, 15 January 2007 |
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Welcome to this year's third issue of DistroWatch Weekly! A somewhat slow week was concluded with a long-awaited new release of FreeBSD 6.2; we'll take a quick look at the new version and add a few more interesting bits and pieces from the BSD world. Besides covering the most popular BSD operating system, we also continue reviewing some of the promising new releases of 2006; this week it's the turn of Pardus Linux - an independently developed distribution with a superb package management infrastructure. In the news section, gNewSense starts work on a new release, a developer announces a Debian-based live CD for the Sony PlayStation 3, and Sun Microsystems offers a free DVD with Solaris 10 to all who are interested in checking out the venerable UNIX operating system. Finally, a quick reminder about a DistroWatch editorial policy. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Reviews |
Pardus Linux 2007
Having seen dozens of Linux distributions announcing themselves with great enthusiasm only to disappear at the sight of a first problem a few months later, I am not easily impressed by any new arrival on the Linux distro scene. As such, when the first stable release of Pardus Linux was announced in 2005, I found myself inserting the installation CD with a considerable amount of scepticism. At that time, Pardus was a Gentoo-based operating system, but stripped of what makes the most popular source-based distribution so great - its Portage package management. Without it, Pardus lacked the very basic must-have functionality of a modern distribution: the ability to easily install and uninstall software packages.
But unlike many others, the Pardus developers did not get deterred by the early criticism. By the end of 2006, they released a brand new version which not only included an original package management system, it also came with a number of other unique enhancements, as well as an extremely polished desktop and highly up-to-date software. My first impressions of Pardus Linux 2007 were much more positive and I decided to spend a few days investigating this distribution further. This time my conclusions were different: Pardus Linux is not only a remarkable distribution, it is also one of the most unexpected surprise packages of 2006!
Pardus Linux 2007 is no longer based on Gentoo. It comes in two flavours: as a live CD and as an installation CD, both of which are referred to by their Turkish names of "calisan" (live CD) and "kurulan" (installation CD). The live CD is not installable. The installation CD boots into a full-screen graphical installation program called YALI, which guides the user though the usual disk partitioning and system installation steps. Pardus Linux is a KDE-centric distribution, which means that the default desktop is a customised edition of KDE and all Pardus utilities are written using the Qt toolkit.
The Pardus Linux 2007 desktop
(full image size: 202kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
The developers of Pardus Linux have created an operating system which has a number of unique features. Among them, the PiSi package management utility, the Mudur init system, and the ÇOMAR (pronounced chow-mar) configuration manager are touted as the most interesting features of the distribution. This brief review will focus on evaluating these three features and determining how useful they are compared to other, more established tools found in popular Linux distributions.
First, a look at the PiSi package management tools. I wrote the word "tools" in plural, because PiSi consists of several utilities, which together form what surely is one of the best package management systems in any Linux distribution available today. PiSi includes a comprehensive command-line tool for installing, uninstalling and searching applications, it adds an excellent graphical utility with modules to manage software repositories and the download cache, it provides an update manager in the system tray displaying the number of available package updates, and it is able to retrieve new software from a fairly long list of packages (1,577 at the time of writing) available for easy installation on the Pardus Linux mirrors. As a bonus, PiSi updates are accomplished by downloading only those parts of the updated program that have changed since the previous version (rather than the entire new version), saving time and adding to the feeling that PiSi was designed correctly right from the start. These are essential functions of any good package manager and Pardus Linux deserves the highest possible mark for integrating them into the distribution.
Pardus Linux 2007 includes a comprehensive graphical package manager
(full image size: 87kB, screen resolution: 822x626 pixels)
Some readers will argue that creating a new package management system increases incompatibility among the Linux distributions. While they certainly have a valid point, I feel that the developers of Pardus have done a fantastic job and PiSi is an extraordinarily good package management system. As such, I'd be inclined to make an exception and forgive the incompatibility issue in this case.
Another innovation in Pardus Linux is a complete rewrite of its boot process, also known as init in Linux. Compared to other operating systems, such as FreeBSD, Linux generally takes much longer to boot and many distributions, including Ubuntu, have recently started looking into ways of improving the boot process. The developers of Pardus Linux too embarked on implementing a new init framework with the result being a Python-based routine called "Mudur". Those readers who are interested in technical aspects of Mudur can find a detailed explanation in this article, but for the purpose of this review, here is a list of the boot times of several major distributions installed on the same machine (a Pentium 4 1.4 GHz processor with 384 MB or RAM). The boot times represent the number of seconds each distribution took to get from LILO or GRUB boot prompt to the KDE or GNOME login prompt in their default installations.
| Boot Times |
|---|
| Distribution |
Seconds |
| Mandriva Linux 2007 |
40 |
| PCLinuxOS 0.93a |
46 |
| Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 |
47 |
| Pardus Linux 2007 |
48 |
| Ubuntu 6.10 |
49 |
| SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4 (Beta 1) |
51 |
| openSUSE 10.2 |
61 |
| Fedora Core 6 |
72 |
| Xandros Desktop 4.1 |
89 |
As the results of this little test indicate, Pardus Linux boots reasonably fast, but it isn't the fastest kid on the block.
Pardus Linux 2007 ships with a number of custom utilities which intend to simplify the management of the desktop. One of them is Kaptan, an interesting first-time wizard designed to configure the most common desktop settings, such as the mouse, select a desktop style from a number of pre-configured options, choose a wallpaper, and configure networking. This tool is clearly aimed at novice Linux users, since the more experienced ones will likely be able to configure these options without the wizard.
Kaptan is a first-time wizard designed to help with configuring the desktop
(full image size: 35kB, screen resolution: 648x537 pixels)
Next on the list of interesting utilities is Tasma, a Pardus configuration centre. This utility is similar to openSUSE's YaST or Mandriva's DrakConf and offers many of the same features, but Tasma is still in its early days and doesn't provide nearly as many configuration options as its more famous counterparts. In fact, most of the available modules simply link to the ones provided natively by KDE. Nevertheless, the simplified user interface of Tasma will likely appeal to beginning Linux users who might be lost in the more complex screens of the KDE Control Centre.
Tasma is a collection of mostly KDE modules offering easy desktop configuration
(full image size: 68kB, screen resolution: 689x545 pixels)
The rest of the system is the simply KDE with the usual range of open source software applications. There is Firefox for web browsing, Kontact for email and as a personal information manager, Amarok audio player, Kaffeine and MPlayer media players (with out-of-the-box support for viewing encrypted DVDs), GIMP image editor, and OpenOffice.org. Many common utilities are also present.
Overall, the two most impressive features of Pardus Linux 2007 are desktop polish (with excellent choices of icons, fonts and desktop themes) and the PiSi package management system, which has truly raised the bar among the package management utilities to a new level. On the negative side, during my testing both Kaptan and Tasma were somewhat prone to crashing, although luckily these utilities are not essential for desktop computing. As always, with Pardus being a rather niche distribution, there is a danger that the project gets abandoned at some stage, so growth in user numbers is essential for the project's long-term survival.
One final note: Pardus Linux does not provide English language support infrastructure, but a third-party forum for English speakers exists on the Dutch Pardus community web site at pardus-linux.nl.
For more information about Pardus Linux please visit the project's web site at www.pardus.org.tr.
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| Miscellaneous News |
FreeBSD 6.2, BSD licensing, new gNewSense point release, Debian live CD for PS3, Solaris media kit
 The third week of January belongs to the FreeBSD project as it finally launches the long-delayed FreeBSD 6.2. As is normally the case with FreeBSD, the changes are fairly technical and include new features such as freebsd-update - a new, easy-to-use tool for applying binary security updates to FreeBSD, support for kernel-level security event auditing, updates to the FreeBSD boot loader, support for many newly added hardware devices, and various userland software updates. All security patches since the release of FreeBSD 6.1 have also been incorporated into the latest release. For upgrade instructions, please refer to the Rebuilding "world" chapter of the FreeBSD Handbook, while those who want to perform a new installation should read the Installation chapters in the same document.
In the meantime, the FreeBSD development team has been busy working on the project's next major release, FreeBSD 7. This is expected to contain a large number of radical new features, including a port of the ZFS file system and DTrace diagnostic tool from Solaris to FreeBSD, as well as substantial performance enhancements. Those of you who are interested in learning about the changes in the rapidly evolving FreeBSD 7 branch should bookmark the What's cooking for FreeBSD 7? page, which attempts to summarise the recent commits by the project's developers. FreeBSD 7.0 is scheduled for release in late 2007.
While on the subject of FreeBSD, here is an an excellent write-up, published by Groklaw, about the intricacies of the BSD licensing model. Entitled BSD - The Dark Horse of Open Source, the paper attempts to correct some common misunderstandings about the implications of modifying the BSD source code and the subsequent licensing of such modifications: "We observe that there exists a broad misconception that the BSD permits the licensing of BSD code and modifications of BSD code under closed source licenses. In this paper we put forward an argument to the effect that the terms of the BSD require BSD code and modifications to BSD code to be licensed under the terms of the BSD license. We look at some possible consequences and observe that this licensing requirement could have serious impacts on the unwary."
And finally, with the release of FreeBSD 6.2 this week, there are signs of increased activity taking place in some other FreeBSD-based projects; it looks like the final release of the FreeSBIE 2.0 live CD is now available from a number of FreeSBIE mirrors, while rumours have been circulating about the imminent release of DesktopBSD 1.6-RC1 later this week. Both these releases are based on the new FreeBSD 6.2.
* * * * *
 gNewSense, the FSF-sponsored, Ubuntu-based distribution containing strictly Free Software only, has announced plans to produce a new "point release" in the coming weeks: "Upcoming point release: we will be doing two items of note in this release. gNewSense will be releasing a 'KDE' desktop, with a corresponding CD, it is releasing merely a variant, not a distribution. This CD is to be called gNewSense-KDE. We are currently working with someone to develop our version of a fix for the Firefox or Mozilla technology issue." Other points of interest, which emerged after the recent meeting between the two lead developers in Dublin, Ireland, are requests for artwork submissions, product internationalisation features, and updates to the distribution's web site and Wiki pages. For more information please read the Minutes of the meeting between Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley.
* * * * *
 Takeshi Yaegashi has announced the release of what appears to be the first Linux live CD designed for the Sony PlayStation 3: "I've released Debian live CD for PlayStation 3 which also integrates the Debian-Installer in a single ISO image." The CD boots into a GNOME 2.14 desktop environment complemented by a small selection of other useful software applications, such as the Firefox web browser. The project's web site provides further information about the available boot parameters and instructions for remastering the CD with personalised software. The ISO image is available for download from here: debian-live-ps3pf-20070110.iso (222MB).
* * * * *
 The DistroWatch Weekly forums are a frequent reminder that this site's readership comprises of a fair number of Puppy Linux fans. If you are one of them, you'll be pleased to learn about this exclusive interview with Kenneth Hensley, the author of the Unofficial Puppy Linux Guide: "In the beginning there was the forum, and I do not believe anybody anticipated how big Puppy Linux would grow in such a short time. Many suggested that a Wiki would do a good job for this documentation. This was a positive, but sadly no one showed any leadership. After messing around with StickWiki, I was going to surprise Barry Kauler by transforming his help files into one single-page Wiki. This did not go right for me, because I could not understand much of the documentation available. So I took a look at the Ubuntu guide and saw what they did." Read more at LXer.com.
* * * * *
 Finally, for those of you who don't read Slashdot but are interested in testing the Solaris operating system, here is a great offer from Sun Microsystems: "For a limited time, Sun is offering a free DVD media kit which includes the Solaris 10 operating system for both SPARC and x86 platforms as well as Sun Studio 11 software. Take this opportunity to get familiar with the most advanced operating system on the planet and the tools which enable the highest optimizations and best runtime performance on the Solaris Operating System, bar-none. Sun Studio software provides optimizing C, C++ and Fortran compilers, visual performance tools, and high performance libraries to enhance your Solaris development environment." To get your free Solaris 10 DVD, please visit the Free Solaris 10 and Sun Studio Software Media Kit page and fill in your address details.
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| Released Last Week |
SabayonLinux 3.26
A new version of SabayonLinux, with a number of bug fixes and feature updates, has been released. Some of the main changes include: "Linux kernel 2.6.19 with sata_promise driver now supports PATA connectors too; NdisWrapper updated to 1.34rc2; KVM now is detected and works out of the box on VT-enabled CPUs; KDE Print control panel now works; AbiWord updated to 2.4.6; Democracy Player updated to 0.9.2.1; Amarok now works; ALSA updated to 1.0.14rc1; Flash Player updated to 9.0.21.78; installer: multi-user configuration now works; highly improved boot time by triggering doslowusb only when really needed; OpenGL auto-configuration now takes half of the time to configure video card...." Read the release announcement for further information.
PC-BSD 1.3.01
The PC-BSD project has announced the availability of a bug-fix release of PC-BSD, version 1.3.01: "Version 1.3.01 of PC-BSD has now been made available on the download page. This update addresses several recent issues with partitioning, as well as fixes issues with certain hardware and HAL support. Users already running version 1.3 may download an update to 1.3.01 via the 'Online Update' utility." New in this release: "Updated HAL to latest version in Ports; updated PCInstall code with fixes for extended partitions; updated enable.sh script for HAL in Services tool; added Arabic language to installer; fixed issue with changing the video card on install CD to 'vesa'; fixed issue running PBIs directly from CD...." Read the release announcement, release notes and changelog for more details.
SystemRescueCd 0.3.2
A new bug-fix release of SystemRescueCd is now available: "Version 0.3.2 (stable) of the SystemRescueCd project has been released. Changes for version 0.3.2: updated TestDisk to 6.5; updated ntfs3g beta to 20070102; updated Ntfsresize to 1.13.1.1 (for Windows Vista); added option 'doeject' to eject the disc at boot time; added cryptsetup-luks; added CmosPwd (decrypts CMOS password); added magicrescue (find deleted files); added mbr (install-mbr); added Mrxvt (nice terminal for X.Org); added several administration tools (sysstat, hddtemp, ide-smart); added Oscar (French tool to backup computers); improved support for hardware; improved keymaps support (fr_CH and speakup)." Here is the full changelog.
BLAG Linux And GNU 60000
BLAG Linux And GNU 60000, a single-CD, Fedora-based distribution, has been released: "BLAG 60000 (flout) is a new series with a new base (Fedora Core 6) and many new applications." The new version ships with Linux kernel 2.6.19 and includes the latest version of the GNOME desktop environment, 2.16. Among software applications, BLAG 60000 features a large number of multimedia packages, such as Democracy Player, the Kino video editor, Listen audio player and Audacity sound editor. Kiax Internet telephony software and Gaim instant messaging client are also provided. Other popular software, including Firefox, Thunderbird or GIMP are included on the installation CD, while additional 8,500 packages are available from the project's download repositories or two downloadable DVDs. Please read the complete release announcement for more information.
FreeBSD 6.2
The FreeBSD project has announced the release of FreeBSD 6.2: "The FreeBSD Release Engineering Team is pleased to announce the availability of FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE. This release continues the development of the 6-STABLE branch providing performance and stability improvements, many bug fixes and new features. Some of the highlights: freebsd-update provides officially supported binary updates for security fixes and errata patches; experimental support for CAPP security event auditing; OpenBSM audit command line tool suite and library; KDE updated to 3.5.4, GNOME updated to 2.16.1; csup integrated cvsup client now included...." Read the release announcement and release notes for further details.
* * * * *
Development and unannounced releases
- VectorLinux 5.8-beta (live), the release announcement
- Damn Small Linux 3.2-rc3, the changelog
- Frugalware Linux 0.6-pre2, the release announcement
- AliXe 0.10-rc1, the release announcement (in French)
- 64Studio 1.1.0, the release announcement
- SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4-beta3, the release announcement
- Lunar Linux 1.6.1-rc2, the release announcement
- Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Edubuntu, 7.04-alpha2, the release announcement
- Kaella 3.1-beta1
- IPCop Firewall 1.4.13-rc1
- Magic Linux 2.0 (live)
- Guadalinex 4.0-beta2
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Mandriva Linux 2007.1
Mandriva has published a preliminary release roadmap towards the upcoming Mandriva Linux 2007.1. Apart from the recently released Cooker snapshot, four more development builds will be released between January and March 2007. According to the Mandriva Linux 2007.1 development page, the final version is scheduled for release on 19 March 2007, although the release page states that it should be completed in April 2007. Mandriva Linux 2007.1 will include kernel 2.6.17, X.Org 7.1 with AIGLX support, KDE 3.5.5, GNOME 2.17, Firefox 2.0, OpenOffice.org 2.0.4, and 3D desktop with Compiz and Beryl. Please visit the Mandriva Linux 2007.1 release page for more information.
* * * * *
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
A semi-annual reminder about DistroWatch editorial policy
This is just a quick reminder about an issue that comes up from time to time: a distribution or project release announcement is only published on the main page of DistroWatch after a release announcement is published on the distribution's or project's own web site. A case in point was last week's release of Ubuntu 7.04 Herd CD 2. Normally, the Ubuntu development team sends a formal release announcement to one of the project's mailing lists; however, this had not happened until today (Monday). Similarly, many news sites reported about the release of FreeBSD 6.2 late last week, despite the fact that the FreeBSD web site continued listing version 6.1 as the latest stable release.
Those of you who want to be informed about a new release as soon as it hits the first FTP server, please visit one of the many news sites which do announce the availability of ISO images even before a formal release announcement is made by the distribution or project. One of the sites with such editorial policy is OSNews.com, but there are many others.
Of course, it is possible that we miss a release, in which case you are welcome to submit the news. Just please make sure that you email us a link to an official press release or release announcement and not to an ISO image on a random mirror. We try to be very fast with announcing new releases on DistroWatch, but we will never announce a release that has not been formally announced by the project itself.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes our latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 22 January 2007. Until then,
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • 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 | 
F.I.R.E.
FIRE was a portable bootable CD-based distribution with the goal of providing an immediate environment to perform forensic analysis, incident response, data recovery, virus scanning and vulnerability assessment. It also provides necessary tools for live forensics/analysis on win32, Solaris, SPARC and x86 Linux hosts just by mounting the CDROM and using trusted static binaries available in /statbins. In other words, FIRE was a Linux distribution with lots of useful security tools and a fine menu system which makes it very easy to use. Nothing on your computer was modified, so you can try it out safely.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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