 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 222, 1 October 2007 |
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Welcome to this year's 40th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! PC-BSD is fast becoming a highly usable alternative to Linux on the desktop and the project's latest release, version 1.4, is the most feature-full desktop FreeBSD ever. But can it stand tall against Linux? Read our review to find out. In the news section: openSUSE begins uploading the 10.3 CD images, Mandriva abandons its "Club" subscription service, Clement Lefebvre defends multimedia codecs in Linux Mint, Sabayon promises more bleeding-edge features in version 3.5, and Ubuntu closes on the upcoming "Gutsy Gibbon" release with a bunch of interesting new features. Finally, we are pleased to announce that the DistroWatch.com September 2007 donation goes to Damn Small Linux. Happy reading!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Reviews |
First look at PC-BSD 1.4 (by Susan Linton)
PC-BSD 1.4 was released last week and I was quite anxious to test it. I had looked at a couple of earlier versions and I was always quite impressed at the work this small development team was doing. PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD and this release is built using 6.2-STABLE. FreeBSD can still be a bit intimidating to some users, but PC-BSD works to eliminate that. In fact, PC-BSD is so user-friendly it might be considered the Ubuntu of free BSDs.
PC-BSD always performed very well on my home-made built-for-Linux desktop, but how would it support the hardware of an off-the-shelf "Designed for Windows XP" HP Pavilion laptop? Many a Linux have failed this test to some degree or another, so it was with great anticipation that I booted the first of two install CDs.
Installation
The installer is very much like many of the Linux installers I've used. It's basically a graphical wizard that gathers important information needed, such as drive selection, package choices, bootloader preference, and user account details. As no real partitioner is included, it took quite a bit of fancy fdisk footwork before I could get past the drive selection step. My laptop had Windows XP on an NTFS partition on the first 20 gigabytes of the drive and the remainder was an extended partition containing various Linux installs and a FAT32 system restore partition at the end. I didn't need 20 gigabytes for Windows and thought I could resize that to 15 and use five gigabytes for PC-BSD. To make a boring story short, I ended up deleting my whole partition table and remaking it so that new partition would be sda2 and sda5 for FreeBSD. It was then that PC-BSD could find its new home.
The remainder of the installer is as easy as one could get. One of the more interesting aspects is the package selection. It's simplified and not overly extensive, but it offers the opportunity to enhance your system. The basic PC-BSD system is installed without any options for the user, but one can then choose to install extra components such as Firefox, Opera, K3b, Games, KOffice or OpenOffice.org, Software Development Kit, Source Code, and Ports tree. Once you make your selections, a nice slide show displays while your system is being installed. As with my desktop in earlier tests, the installation on my laptop with a SATA hard drive completed with no problems or errors.
The boot screen offers several boot choices such Default, with no ACPI, Safe Mode, Single user, and run Display Wizard. I usually use the default option, but choosing the run Display Wizard option does just that. Upon first boot of your system you will encounter a display setup wizard that asks which resolution, bit depth, and driver you'd like to use. For my NVIDIA chip, I tried the three proprietary NVIDIA graphic driver options, but none would work for me. I ended up using "nv" and setting the resolution to 1280x800 as desired. Choosing the second option of no ACPI and the third, Safe Mode, resulted in rebooting the machine.
The desktop
At the desktop we have a full KDE 3.5.7 decorated with a nice gradient blue wallpaper with a white PC-BSD logo in the lower right corner. It's a tidy arrangement with only a few icons on the desktop, three icons in the quick launcher, and I had five icons in the system tray. The applets in the system tray consist of Klipper, Kalendar, Kmix, Network Manager, and for me a battery monitor. The quick launchers include Show Desktop, System Menu, and Konqueror. The window decoration used is Crystal and the style is Lipstik. All together we have a pretty and tidy desktop.
PC-BSD desktop with Online Update Manager
(full image size: 266kB, screen resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
Primarily KDE applications occupy the menu, but there are a few other entries such as the tools in the Settings menu and whatever extra components chosen during install. There seemed to be a bit of lag in the menu operation sometimes, but most applications opened in average or above average time.
Some of the applications found include Kcalc, Kate, KSpaceDuel, Kview, Kopete, Kontact, Amarok and Kaffeine. The Firefox version available for easy installation is 2.0.0.6, Opera 9.23 is available, and the OpenOffice.org version is 2.2.1. Under the hood we find X.Org 7.2 and GCC 3.4.6. As shipped, PC-BSD multimedia support is very good. I could watch Google videos, Apple Quicktime trailers, and other Flash movies, although streaming DIVX didn't work. I could enjoy various file formats stored locally such as .avi, .bins, .mp3s, and .mp4s, as well as watch encrypted DVDs and listen to audio CDs.
Software
PC-BSD developers are doing everything they can think of to make installing software easy for the user. There are several routes one can take. The first method starts with an icon on the desktop labelled Download PBIs. Click on this icon to open a browser at the PC-BSD pbiDIR. Listed here are many packages in which users might be interested. These include World of Warcraft, Chromium B.S.U., GIMP 2.4.0rc1, Google Picasa 2.2, and many more. There are several categories such as chat, development, multimedia, graphics, and themes. Just navigate to the desired application and download it. Click on the file to open an install wizard, very reminiscent of the self-extracting installer used in the Windows world. I tested several of these and they all worked very well including putting an icon in the menu. Just be careful to notice if the application is current, as I found some that were for older versions of PC-BSD.
Another method for installing software is found in the Settings menu. It's called Add / Remove Software and it is used to install or remove those installed from the CDs. Again, this worked really well for me. I tested it after install to add the source code and Ports tree.
The Ports tree is another method for installing software. It contains software ported to FreeBSD and includes many applications, some of which are already included in PC-BSD. It includes games, system/user commands, cryptography code, and some system tools and utilities. There is a README in the top level of the Port directory with more information on structure, how to use them, and where to get further information. The little I tested of this process worked well.
Another method is using pkg_add, pkg_delete, and pkg_info at the command line. These are very similar to apt-get or urpmi. pkg_add downloads packages from remote mirrors (with the -r switch) and installs them. This is probably my favorite method and it too works really well.
Also found in the Settings menu is an Online Update Manager. It checks to see if your system is up to date. Mine was, but it appears that if any updates were available, it would list them and give the user a chance to choose their updates. In addition, there is a PBI Update Manager as well. Similarly, it checks if any of the packages installed through the PBI system are out of date and updates them if needed. Again, all mine were current, so I didn't get to test the full functionality at this time.
Tools and utilities
Other types of handy tools are also found in the Settings menu. One such is a firewall configuration application. It allows for starting or stopping your firewall, setting it to run at boot, and advanced options such as which ports to open or what kind of traffic to allow. Also found is a system Services Manager, which allows you to set what services start at boot.
Another useful utility is the System Manager. I found it to be the most interesting. One function it performs is generating a snapshot of your system which it saves to a text file. It contains all your hardware details, partitions and mounts, and some of your system settings, services, and processes. Another function is allowing some kernel choices. One can change their kernel, DMA setting, and boot delay. In another tab you can run cvsup to populate or update your Ports tree. And in the last tab you can choose to show a boot splash and in what language.
There aren't any graphical hardware configuration tools. PC-BSD's philosophy is if your hardware is supported it will be automatically detected. If it's not, you need to write a driver.
Hardware detection for this laptop was fairly good. The display worked as configured, the sound worked upon login, my touchpad was accurate and responsive, and my USB mouse was operative. The wired Ethernet chip worked out-of-the-box and a connection was made "automagically" upon boot or at plug-in. Inserting removable media brings up the KDE media dialog and icons appear on the desktop. I found that it could read NTFS and FAT file system just fine, but it didn't have support for Linux partitions at the ready.
However, the item of most interest to me is the wireless chip. Granted it is dependent upon a Windows driver and requires NDISwrapper. Occasionally I run across a Linux distribution in which it will not work. Yet I still had hopes for PC-BSD. Free BSD clones use an application known as Ndis for this purpose. Although the process is very similar to what I use with Linux, I consulted a couple of HOWTOs in my attempts before giving up and plugging in a 25-foot Ethernet cable leading to my router. While Googling, I saw where some folks had success with similar chips to mine, so it may not be entirely impossible. I just didn't have any luck.
Hardware support
I was a bit disappointed that neither the included NVIDIA 3D graphics drivers nor the one listed on the PBI page would work with my NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 chip. I even tried the drivers straight from NVIDIA's site with no luck. I've used NVIDIA graphic drivers with free BSD clones before, so I was a bit surprised. As a result, I didn't get to test the included CompizFusion 0.5.2.
Also a bit disappointing was no support for notebook battery power saving features. There are some components in the Ports tree and one could rebuild the kernel if so desired. But as default, don't expect any CPU scaling or suspend options.
There are resources for those that might like support. The first element is the Quick Guide icon on the desktop. This opens a browser with lots of links to helpful topics. These guides range from where to get help to network configuration, installing applications and adding hardware. There are also guides for setting up a firewall, adding new users, and troubleshooting. If your need further assistance there is an online Knowledge Base & FAQ, an active support/discussion forum, and several mailing lists.
Conclusion
So, all in all pros minus cons, PC-BSD is an amazing project. It allows many to experience the benefits of BSD clones who otherwise might not be able to. On the desktop it would be a wonderful alternative for the experienced and inexperienced alike. Additionally, it could possibly work out on a laptop for users who are willing to get some virtual dirt under their nails. PC-BSD is probably the best opportunity to experience "personal computing - BSD style."
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| Miscellaneous News |
openSUSE 10.3 ready for download, Mandriva closes "Club", interview with Clement Lefebvre, PC-BSD and Sabayon Linux updates, Ubuntu "Gutsy" new features
 We'll start this week's news roundup with an exciting piece of information: the ISO images of openSUSE 10.3 have been quietly released to download mirrors over the weekend. The official release announcement should follow on Thursday, but it's nice to see that the download infrastructure is being set up several days in advance to prevent any bottlenecks when the great download rush starts. Just remember that if you have fast Internet connection, you no longer need to download the large openSUSE DVDs; instead, just get the single-CD installation media with either KDE or GNOME for basic installation and add any software packages you need in a post-installation step. openSUSE 10.3 is the project's first release in nearly 10 months; it comes with Linux kernel 2.6.22, X.Org 7.2, a KDE desktop that is based on version 3.5 but includes applications and elements from the upcoming version 4.0, GNOME 2.20, OpenOffice.org 2.3.0, and a long list of other cutting-edge software applications (here are the release notes). All in all, openSUSE 10.3 should be a very interesting release - once you try it out, let us know what you think!
openSUSE 10.3 live CD is a new, experimental feature of openSUSE's latest release
(full image size: 299kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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 Another major distribution with a new stable release out this week is Mandriva Linux. Adam Williamson has emailed DistroWatch to update our readers on the status of the product; pending any last-minute show-stopper bugs, the CD and DVD image generation should start early this week, with "early seeders" likely to receive links to the torrent files as soon as Tuesday. The Mandriva community manager believes that Friday, 5 October, could be the date of the official release announcement. In the meantime, those readers who are interested in finding out more can read all about the new features and improvements in Mandriva Linux 2008 in this article entitled What's New in Mandriva 2008. Finally, one more piece of excellent news for the Mandriva user community: according to this forum announcement (currently in French only), the commercial nature of Mandriva Club is all but history; from now on, anybody interested in Mandriva Linux can simply create a free account at my.mandriva.com and gain access to all available resources, including documentation, ISO images, forums, etc. at no cost. The Mandriva Linux user community is being re-united once again!
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 Clement Lefebvre, the founder of the increasingly popular Linux Mint distribution, spoke to Free Software Daily last week. He touched on a wide range of subject, including the ever so controversial topic of multimedia codecs in Linux distributions: "The presence of the codecs is definitely not an innovation, it's a necessity. People do watch DVDs and they do listen to MP3s. There is no out-of-the-box experience without codecs. They need to be installed by default. There are some legal obstacles in distributing them but that only affects a few countries and for the people who actually live in these countries we have a 'Light Edition' without the codecs. The legal landscape is different in every country and to be honest it's more of a user matter than anything else. When users are in doubt we recommend they install the 'Light Edition' but as far as we're concerned it's 100% legal for us to do what we do where we do it. There's a lot of FUD and bullying related to software patents, something that simply has no legal standing where we are and it's time people realize that there is no legislation in the world which is going to prevent us doing anything where that legislation doesn't apply."
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 PC-BSD, the first desktop-oriented operating system based on FreeBSD, is rapidly becoming a viable open source alternative to Linux on the desktop. Last week, InternetNews published a brief article covering the release of PC-BSD 1.4 and giving space to project founder Kris Moore. What are the major improvements in the new version? "Our new GUI tools will greatly assist in setting up networking, such as wireless connections, something which had been rather difficult in the past. The X.Org GUI tool also allows the user to easily set their screen resolution, and driver with 3D support on the first boot." On the subject of future plans, Moore has this to say: "We try to have a new release out every six months or so. With 1.4 it took closer to nine months, with several of those months going towards implementing a whole new build process. Now that it's in place, the next release may be closer to the six-month mark, depending upon the release schedule of FreeBSD 7, and KDE 4 of course."
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 Speaking about future releases, here is an update on Sabayon Linux, a Gentoo-based distribution renowned for being one of the most progressive and bleeding-edge desktop operating systems available today. Fabio Erculiani: "Things are going well on the Sabayon side, we released a nearly perfect miniEdition last week and that's a good thing from the QA side. Talking about future releases: we are going to have a Professional edition (yeah, the Business edition changed its name) with new artwork soon; we are going to have a new 'Loop' release cycle (3.5 Loop 1) in less than one month with a huge amount of features (Entropy alpha stage included); we are going to publish the new artwork stuff and re-work the whole Sabayon theme that will show up in the upcoming releases." Besides giving us a glimpse of the future, the founder of the project also talks about the state of the relationship between Sabayon and Gentoo Linux. An interesting read!
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 Only one short month separates us from the new stable release of Ubuntu, code name "Gutsy Gibbon". What can we expect? A web site called "Tolero's tech notes" has published an excellent summary of all the new features: "Yes, it has finally happened - CompizFusion is now enabled by default on all supporting platforms in Ubuntu 7.10! Now it is labeled as stable, and is believed to work fine just out of the box, or after a proper driver configuration, which in my case was a simple activation of a checkbox in the 'Restricted Drivers Manager' tool and reboot of the computer. There are three pre-configured levels of special effects settings: 'No effects', 'Normal effects' and 'Extra effects'. You can select one of them at the 'Appearance' dialog in the 'Preferences' group of the 'System' menu. To get additional interface with a much greater tweaking possibilities, you have to install a 'compizconfig-settings-manager' package, which is located in the 'universe' repository." Also covered by the article: screen and graphics card configuration, desktop search, printing changes, Firefox 3.0 alpha, GIMP 2.4, OpenOffice.org 2.3 and new features in Linux kernel 2.6.22.
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| Released Last Week |
Linux Mint 3.1
Linux Mint 3.1, code name "Celena", has been released: "This is Linux Mint 3.1, codename Celena, based on Cassandra and compatible with Ubuntu Feisty and its repositories. New in Celena: mintAssistant - a first-run wizard and lets the user fine-tune the system; mintUpload - allows the user to upload any file smaller than 10MB on the Internet; new artwork; print to PDF; improved stability; improved performance; new tools and upgrades - Firefox was upgraded to version 2.0.0.6, Pidgin to version 2.1.1, mintMenu and mintInstall were upgraded to the latest versions; Tomboy Notes was fixed in order not to show the start note the first time Linux Mint is run, AptOnCD is now installed by default to let the user backup his selection of packages, a new apt command which provides all main features from apt-get, apt-cache and aptitude...." Read the comprehensive release notes for a full list of changes and updates.
Linux Mint 3.1
(full image size: 942kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
PC-BSD 1.4
PC-BSD 1.4, an easy-to-use desktop operating system based on FreeBSD, has been released: "The PC-BSD team is pleased to announce the availability of PC-BSD 1.4. This release is made available via the efforts of many developers and testers, who have spent the past months refining and improving upon the core PC-BSD experience. PC-BSD 1.4 retail editions are now available to be purchased via our store provided by FreeBSDMall.com, or it may be freely downloaded on the 1.4 download page. This release of PC-BSD includes several notable highlights: moving the FreeBSD base version to 6-STABLE; X.Org 7.2; KDE 3.5.7; CompizFusion 0.5.2; support for Flash 7 in native BSD browsers. (Konqueror, Opera, Firefox); official NVIDIA drivers to simplify activating hardware acceleration." Read the release announcement, release notes and changelog for more details.
Asianux 3.0
Asianux 3.0, an enterprise Linux distribution developed jointly by China's Red Flag Linux, Japan's Miracle Linux and Korea's Haansoft, has been released. Some of the new features include: "Support for various hardware platform including IA32, x86_64, IA64, and IBM p-Series; Support for he latest technologies of Intel 32/64-bit Quad-Core, AMD Barcelona, IBM OpenPower; Redcastle, a new and unique kernel-level security function; integrates OpenDrim, the first open source project sponsored by CJK (China, Japan and Korea) governments which provides a distributed resource management environment; first distribution supporting EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) on both IA32 and IA64 platforms; will be certified by main software and hardware vendors such as BEA, CA, Dell, EMC, Emulex, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Oracle, SAP, Symantec, SWSoft, Virtual Iron, VMware." Read the full press release for more information.
Freespire 2.0.3
An updated stable release of Freespire 2.0, with an updated CNR software installation plugin and minor bug fixes, has been released: "Freespire 2.0.3 released including an updated CNR plugin. Key changes: configuration files updated - sources.list (commented out Ubuntu repository sources resolving apt-get upgrade issues); packages upgraded - CNR client (new and improved CNR plugin - version 0.1.2600), Flash 9 plugin (updated to version 9.0.60), KNetworkConf, KNetworkManager, KPlayer (updated from 0.5.3 to 0.6.3), KUser, Sun Java 6 Java Runtime Environment; packages removed: NVU (limitation of space on CD)." Read the brief release announcement on the distribution's user forums.
Pioneer Linux 3.0
Technalign has announced the release of Pioneer Linux 3.0, an Ubuntu-based desktop and server distribution: "Technalign, Inc. has announced the release of the Pioneer Basic Linux 3.0 distributions that include the Basic workstation, MigrationSERVER, and Stagecoach, the combined workstation and server. All Pioneer products are being maintained by Technalign for a period of 7 years. The 7-year life cycle will provide companies a stable release of the operating system for many years to come. All Pioneer Basic products run off a live CD that allows individuals to load the CD and test the workstations and servers before installation. As with all current Technalign operating system releases, each operating system includes a KDE desktop. Those wishing to remove the desktop on MigrationSERVER may do so at will." Read the rest of the press release for further details.
Pioneer Linux 3.0
(full image size: 1,198kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
NimbleX sub100_1
Bogdan Radulescu has announced the first stable release of NimbleX sub100, a Slackware-based live CD that takes less than 100 MB on the CD, but still manages to fit in the KDE desktop. The highlights: "USB installer (slightly better than the one in 2007v2); added K3b so you can burn CDs and DVDs; added support for PDF files; more than 240 webcam models are supported; remote desktop for RDP and VNC protocols; added a modified version of Quax's kweb2mod to use software from the Internet; wizard to create the nimblex.data file to easily save changes; added Parted, iptables, Guarddog, wget, xfsutils, dosfstools, GRUB, gawk, less, unarj and nano." Read the full release announcement for more information.
Absolute Linux 12.0.6
Paul Sherman has announced the availability of an updated release of Absolute Linux, a light-weight modification of Slackware featuring the IceWM window manager. From the changelog: "Midnight Commander, Dillo and Ggradebook added to default packages; XDM updated for nice graphical login, when desired; IceWM update to include menu item to switch between graphical or text-based login, checkers menu item changed for better display; etc package now includes script that switches login type; DevTray - pulled AlsaAudio card handler, this originally had a bug with SB Live cards, takes up memory, and does nothing Absolute does not already do. Also new DevTray icon and tooltip, to avoid confusion; PyAlsaAudio and alsamixergui removed; GIMP updated to 2.4.0rc3; updated handler for GIMP in SendTo for images and PDFs; GQView downgraded to version 2.0.4 due to CPU usage maxing out...." See the full changelog for further info.
Red Flag Linux 6.0
Red Flag Linux 6.0 "Desktop", a Chinese distribution based on the recently announced Asianux 3.0, has been released. As with any past releases, Red Flag Linux 6.0 continues to focus on providing an easy-to-use desktop that resembles the Windows user interface as much as possible and includes a number of Windows-like utilities. New in this release is the inclusion of 3D desktop features with Beryl, updated package management infrastructure with APT for RPM, automatic dual-boot setup, and multi-language support. The distribution uses the latest 2.6.22 kernel with modules for a large number of modern hardware devices and wireless network cards, as well as read/write support to NTFS file systems. On the desktop, the system is built around X.Org 7.2 and KDE 3.5.7, now with automatic mounting of storage devices, and OpenOffice.org 2.2. For more details please see the product features page (in Chinese).
Red Flag Linux 6.0
(full image size: 421kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Musix GNU+Linux 1.0R3, 1.0R4, 2.0
The Musix GNU+Linux project has published a roadmap, outlining the likely release dates for the upcoming revisions of the current 1.0 series and also for version 2.0. The next revision, version 1.0R3, is expected on 10 October 2007, while the next major update, Musix GNU+Linux 2.0, is scheduled for release in April 2009. For more information please see the complete roadmap.
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
Meet Jim Putman, the DistroWatch Podcast guy
 Those readers who enjoy listening to Linux podcasts must have noticed the recent revival of the podcast edition of DistroWatch Weekly. This was made possible by the tireless work of Jim Putman, your new podcast host. I had a pleasure to meet Jim last weekend when we sat down to have a few beers and to talk about Linux and other open source topics. Jim, an electronics engineer, grew up in Wisconsin, USA; after graduating from college, he spent some six years working for Intel, but he left the well-known hardware vendor about a year ago to work as a CTO for a small start-up (Touchmedia) in Shanghai, China.
What made Jim to re-start the DistroWatch podcast? "I was highly impressed with the work of Shawn Milo," says Jim, "and I was disappointed when he announced that he no longer had the time to continue this excellent work. So I decided to step in. I really enjoy DistroWatch and Linux in general and this is my small way of contributing to the community. I do a lot of coding at work, so coming home and recording the podcast is a fairly relaxing activity." How long does it take him to create the podcast?" Right now, it's about four hours, but I hope I can reduced this to around two in the future. The quality of the podcast is not always the best, but I hope that most listeners find it acceptable."
Jim welcomes all feedback, so if you have any suggestions, please send an email to "linuxcaster at gmail dot com" and let him know!
* * * * *
September 2007 donation: Damn Small Linux receives US$350.00
 We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the September 2007 DistroWatch.com donation is the Damn Small Linux project. It receives US$350.00 in cash.
Damn Small Linux was launched in 2003 as a remastered edition of KNOPPIX, reduced to less than 50 MB in size. The release was an instant hit - it succeeded in bringing back to life many an old computer with a light-weight desktop and a bunch of excellent configuration utilities. The more recent versions are also available for installation on USB storage devices and even as specialist images that run inside Windows - no reboot required. However, Damn Small Linux isn't only about software; the project's principal developers - John Andrews, Robert Shingledecker and Christopher Negus - have also written an excellent book entitled The Official Damn Small Linux Book: The Tiny Adaptable Linux That Runs on Anything (published by Prentice Hall). Damn Small Linux is a great project that has enriched the Linux world by giving us a small, but highly usable distribution designed for (not only) old hardware.
As always, this 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 - LinuxCD.org and OSDisc.com. These vendors contributed US$50.00 each towards this month's donation to Damn Small Linux.
Here is the list of projects that received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the programme (figures in US dollars):
- 2004: GnuCash ($250), Quanta Plus ($200), PCLinuxOS ($300), The GIMP ($300), Vidalinux ($200), Fluxbox ($200), K3b ($350), Arch Linux ($300), Kile KDE LaTeX Editor ($100) and UNICEF - Tsunami Relief Operation ($340)
- 2005: Vim ($250), AbiWord ($220), BitTorrent ($300), NdisWrapper ($250), Audacity ($250), Debian GNU/Linux ($420), GNOME ($425), Enlightenment ($250), MPlayer ($400), Amarok ($300), KANOTIX ($250) and Cacti ($375)
- 2006: Gambas ($250), Krusader ($250), FreeBSD Foundation ($450), GParted ($360), Doxygen ($260), LilyPond ($250), Lua ($250), Gentoo Linux ($500), Blender ($500), Puppy Linux ($350), Inkscape ($350), Cape Linux Users Group ($130), Mandriva Linux ($405, a PowerPack competition), digiKam ($408) and SabayonLinux ($450)
- 2007: GQview ($250), Kaffeine ($250), sidux ($350), CentOS ($400), LyX ($350), VectorLinux ($350), KTorrent ($400), FreeNAS ($350), lighttpd ($400), Damn Small Linux ($350)
Since the launch of the Donations Programme in March 2004, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$14,840 to various open source software projects.
* * * * *
New distributions added to database
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DistroWatch database summary
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 8 October 2007.
Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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PHLAK
PHLAK (Professional Hacker's Linux Assault Kit) was a modular security distribution, geared to be used as a live CD. PHLAK was created to become the only tool security professionals would need to perform security analysis, penetration testing, forensics, and security auditing. PHLAK comes with two light GUIs (fluxbox and XFCE4), packages for printing, publishing, a little multimedia, many security tools, and a file cabinet full of security related documentation for your reading/educational purposes. This distro was based off of Morphix.
Status: Discontinued
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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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