 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 283, 22 December 2008 |
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Welcome to this year's very last issue of DistroWatch Weekly! This week we take a first look at Novell's openSUSE 11.1, the latest release from the ever popular distribution. In the news, the release of openSUSE 11.1 heralds the adoption of a freer license, Debian calls a vote on whether or not to include firmware in the upcoming Lenny release while Debian secretary quits over backlash from firmware vote, Gentoo begins releasing weekly snapshots of stage tarballs, the Asianux Consortium incorporates its fifth member and expands into Thailand, Mandriva sets up a Community Steering Committee and increases their number of channel partners, a new distro, Hackable: 1, aims to create a GNOME-based software stack for hackable devices while the Openmoko project releases an update to their software stack. Finally, included in their respective new sections are two interviews - one with Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier of openSUSE and the other with Johannes (Hanno) Böck of Gentoo Linux. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story |
First look at openSUSE 11.1
Introduction
 This week sees a point release update for openSUSE, pushing the version of the popular Linux distribution to 11.1. What does this new version have to offer? Well, plenty! Naturally, it comes with updates to the main desktop environments, namely GNOME 2.24.1 and KDE 4.1.3, but it also includes the 2.6.27.7 release of the Linux kernel and, very importantly, a free license replaces the old EULA. For those who want a more 'classic' experience and are still not ready to jump to KDE 4.x, openSUSE includes KDE 3.5.10. This new version is the first release built using Novell's build service. They have really tried to tie it down and make it rock solid as it will form the basis of the upcoming SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop/Server commercial products in 2009.
Installation
As usual, I downloaded the latest ISO image, burnt it to DVD and began my install. openSUSE has always been one of the prettiest distributions around and this version is no exception. I was greeted with a typical welcome screen and booted the 'Installation' option. The openSUSE installer is clean, simple, functional and did I mention pretty? This release sees some further improvements including a re-vamped partitioner as a result of user feedback and testing. It sports a new layout and changes the default recommended partition structure. But, first things first.
openSUSE 11.1 DVD - installation menu
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Booting the installation media, the first option is to select the language and keyboard. Next, you select the installation type you want. I chose a new install, but you can also update or repair an existing system from here. If you want the openSUSE installer to automatically configure networking and your system's hardware, check the 'Use Automatic Configuration' box. Next, choose your time zone. Although the installer provides the option to synchronise your machine's data and time with an NTP server, it was unavailable on my screen. The Installer presents only two immediate options for your environment - GNOME 2.24.1 or KDE 4.1.3. Simply check one and continue, but if you want to install a different environment (such as KDE 3.5 or Xfce), you will have to do so by selecting 'Other' and then choosing it there.
openSUSE 11.1 installer - selecting desktop environment
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By default, the partitioner recommended a 2 GB swap partition, then set aside 20 GB for root and assigned the remaining space for /home. Both of these had ext3 as the file system. Here I ran into my first issue with the partitioner's user interface. Below the recommended layout are two buttons, 'Create Partition Setup' and 'Edit Partition Setup'. You might be fooled into thinking that both of these buttons refer to the suggested layout above, but in truth, only one does. If you want to create the suggested layout, you do not select 'Create Partition Setup' as one might be inclined to, you just hit 'Next'. The option to 'Create Partition Setup' means to reject the recommended setup and create your own. I feel this is rather confusing and could be easily resolved by relocating that button, or re-naming it. To accept the recommended layout but make some additional changes, select 'Edit Partition Setup'. By selecting either of these options you will have the opportunity to then select 'Custom Partitioning (for experts)' which gives you the opportunity to use the fancy new partitioner.
openSUSE 11.1 installer - suggested partitions
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The partitioner's default view shows all 'Available Storage on Linux' and presents a list of partitions (or a blank device if you are using a new or empty hard drive). On the left hand side is a 'System View' where various different kinds of storage are grouped, including hard drives, RAID volumes, Logical Volumes, remote NFS shares and even encrypted devices. Pretty sweet. Unfortunately, although you can see your devices from this view, you cannot create or edit partitions until you double click on one, or navigate to it using the system view on the left. It would have been nice if you could create a partition from this initial screen - it is selecting your drive for you, after all. Similarly, the partitioner is also a little confusing when creating or adding a partition as these buttons are next to each other (you can 'Add' a new partition by selecting an existing partition). Nevertheless, the interface is very clever, even if it does feel a little cumbersome.
My main gripe is that unlike previous version of the installer, you do not get a constant overview of what partitions you have created and their assigned mount points. To get this, you have to click back on the 'linux' button in the 'System View'. Also, when creating a new partition, the main screen completely disappears and is replaced with the new one. It would be great if this instead could be embedded in the right hand section of the partitioner, so that you can still see what it was you were creating. If you only have one drive this is probably not a major issue, but it would still be handy to see which drive you are partitioning and which partition you are up to creating.
openSUSE 11.1 installer - expert partitioner
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Creating your own partitioning scheme under expert mode enables many extra options. By default (as openSUSE has done for some time now) it enables the 'Directory Index Feature' on all ext3 partitions and selects the journal type to 'Ordered'. The directory index feature should provide some performance increase as should ordered mode which only journals data, not the metadata. Interestingly enough, they do then disable regular checks by default, perhaps to stop people wondering why their computer is sitting at the pretty splash screen for an hour with the hard drive going crazy. If you're using Linux software RAID you can configure the stride length and tweak many other options.
Encrypting the file system is as easy as checking 'Encrypt' at the point of selecting the file system. I like to access my devices via the file system's UUID and so I changed this under 'Fstab Options'. Here you can change the journalling mode if you like, disable atime, enable and disable access control lists and extended user attributes (but you'll need that last one if you use Beagle, openSUSE's search service) and many other options. Once your partitioning is happy, you can simply select 'Next'. The openSUSE partitioner truly is brilliant and offers an array (pardon the pun) of options for advanced users. The issues I raise above are of course just nitpicking as this installer really is an excellent product.
Unlike other distributions which disable the root account and enable root access via sudo, openSUSE does set a root password and enable the account. By default, the installer wants to make this password the same as the first user you create, so be careful if you are setting up accounts for other users who you do not wish to have root access. I'm still not sure that this is a good option, but by default, openSUSE automatically logs the user into the computer. Unlike many other installers, openSUSE loads cracklib and warns against simple passwords that might be easily obtained by others. This is good to see. If you chose not to use your user's password for root, then you can enter it on the next screen.
By default, openSUSE authentication is local, but with the click of a button at the new user step you can configure system authentication to LDAP, NIS or even to a Windows domain. Brilliant. This is where the relationship with Novell's corporate edition shines through. Finally, the installer presents you with an overview of the install. This has been one of my biggest gripes with openSUSE in the past. Change one thing here and in previous versions of openSUSE the installer would then take a few minutes re-detecting everything. Make another small change and it does it again, and again... ARGH. This was greatly improved in 11.0 and I'm pleased to announce that while it still does re-analyse your computer, it only takes a few seconds.
Before the install can begin you must confirm the installation of GRUB, openSUSE's boot loader of choice. On my install, the installer wanted to boot GRUB from my /boot partition which would have left me with an unbootable system (I was installing the system to an empty hard disk, with no boot loader in the Master Boot Record)! Fortunately I noticed this on the summary page and was able to change it, but I'm not sure this is what's meant to happen and sounds like a bug to me. Deploying the images and installing to my hard drive took only 8 minutes, which is nice and fast. After the initial install, openSUSE then boots to the configuration screen to set up your machine. If you enabled the automatic configuration, you won't have much to do here. If not, you can tweak your graphics setup, printing, audio and other settings here. I have found that the openSUSE installer does a great job of automatically configuring these.
openSUSE 11.1 installer - installation summary
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Package Management
The software installer sports the addition of two new options, suggested and recommended packages. By default, this recommended the installation of Flash and MP3 support. Once again, this is good to see as it makes it easy to add functionality to your machine, but it's still not really integrated well into the system from the end user's perspective. A new user might install openSUSE and use it for a month before he or she ventures into the package installer (there is lots and lots to play with out of the box!). This user will probably get frustrated by the lack of Flash and MP3 support. Still, after installing libflashsupport, flash-player and gst-fluendo-mp3, these data formats were all playable. For this reason I recommend that upon logging into your new system for the first time, you browse to YaST and enable the Packman and VideoLAN community repositories. Also enable the NVIDIA repository if you need it and follow the directions on the openSUSE Wiki. Afterwards, perform an update which will pull in support for proprietary formats and drivers.
It would be great if openSUSE had a service which automatically detected devices requiring such drivers. The end user could the click a button resulting in openSUSE setting up repositories (if need be), downloading and installing the packages and then configuring the system. I know there are one-click installs that handle this, but it is still not new-user friendly enough. The technology is certainly there (the service could just download a one-click install for instance), it would just be good if this was provided directly to the end user. For this reason, when it comes to installing closed-source drivers in openSUSE, it's still not quite easy enough (whether that's a good thing or not depends on who you are!).
I want to touch on openSUSE's package management a little, because I think it's very important. openSUSE now uses Zypper to handle package management and I have to say, it's the best RPM-based package manager I've ever used. Possibly the best package manager full stop. Firstly, it's fast. Not quite as fast as APT under Debian, but much faster than most others. If you're a serious console addict like me and are often installing, searching for and removing packages there's one feature that's really going to annoy you - autorefresh. Turn it off. Zypper tries to automatically connect to the Internet and check for a database update every time you run a command, and when I've just run a Zypper command 30 seconds earlier it's not necessary! Once you get used to the syntax, Zypper is a very powerful package manager and in my opinion one of the most compelling reasons to use openSUSE.
Environments
As we've come to expect from openSUSE, the entire boot process from start to finish is very professional with everything being themed with a common look. KDE 4.1.3 was more impressive than I was expecting. Ever since version 4.0 was released, I have gone back to test each release and, like many others, felt it was just too incomplete. Having played with KDE 4.1.3 from this release of openSUSE, I'm almost prepared to say that KDE 4.x is finally ready for the average user. The openSUSE team has done a fantastic job of configuring the environment, having backported features from the upcoming 4.2 release (like being able to resize the panel). As a result, the system was very stable and the new applications do look stunning. If you've been wanting to make the move to the new KDE, then this is the distribution and release to do it with.
openSUSE 11.1 - default KDE 4.1.3 desktop
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The default GNOME desktop looks mostly the same as it has for the last number of releases. The new background has a cool feature in that it changes its brightness based on the time of day. openSUSE continues to include their custom menu bar which provides quick access to your favourite and recently-used applications, places and documents. I'm still not convinced that it's better than the traditional menu, however. Under openSUSE's menu, navigating to 'Places' is two clicks as opposed to one when using GNOME's default menu. Likewise, you cannot easily browse all applications with your mouse like you can under a default GNOME install, but rather have to click 'More Applications', wait for a new window to appear and then try and find your application among the maze of icons you are presented with. Likewise with 'Control Centre' compared to GNOME's traditional 'System' menu. Sure, they include a filter to find what you're looking for, but that's because you need it!
The new menu also provides a search bar integrated with Beagle which lets you search for applications, documents, emails, web sites and lots more. When I couldn't see the icon for GNOME Terminal I searched for it using this feature, but unfortunately it would not list any applications in its results. It found lots of documents, but no programs. Searching for other programs like 'firefox' and 'ekiga' also yielded no results. Not sure why that is, but I assume it is only indexing the /home partition. This feature did work correctly under KDE, however. As with most new systems, openSUSE's GNOME menu probably just takes some getting used to, but to me, this new way of doing things doesn't appear to provide much benefit over the traditional GNOME menus. Perhaps I'm just getting too old.
openSUSE 11.1 - default GNOME 2.24.1 desktop
(full image size: 473kB, screen resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
I still find PulseAudio a little confusing, but in openSUSE it seemed to just work which was a pleasant surprise! While I am used to being able to enable certain channels and disable others, tweak this and that, these options just don't show up under GNOME's PulseAudio mixer any more. The command line provides a solution to this, but it's great to see PulseAudio working nicely. Using GNOME's default picture manager, F-Spot, I tried to connect my Canon PowerShot S5IS digital camera and download the photos. It was detected by F-Spot, but errored with the message "cannot lock camera". Once again I'm pleased to say this worked correctly under KDE using Digikam.
I tried out Banshee, openSUSE's default audio player on GNOME, and found it quite usable. The interface has not changed a great deal, but I do like the new album artwork. Integration with Last.fm worked well and the software detected my iPod Shuffle but could not read the database. I hit the 'rebuild' button which then presented me with the music stored on the device. Unfortunately when I then tried to use the iPod itself, it couldn't find any songs. Under KDE, Amarok successfully scanned my iPod database and made my music available. I was able to send music to my iPod, delete songs and everything appeared to be OK, but when I tried to play my iPod it wouldn't play the new files I had added.
openSUSE 11.1 - Banshee music player
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Ekiga worked well out of the box, that's GNOME's VoIP client. My Creative webcam was detected by Ekiga, but errored saying that it didn't support any of the colour formats. Likewise the photobooth software Cheese did not like it either, but as it requires an external driver I wasn't expecting it to. The good news is that Ekiga was very fast and responsive, something I didn't find in the past. openSUSE touts a new version of OpenOffice.org 3.0, built with many tweaks from Novell (see http://go-oo.org for more details). It's mostly the same OO.o we are used to using, but it did load up to a new blank document quite fast. Browsing the file menu caused it to throw up an error about wanting Java and then the program crashed completely, proceeding straight to the 'Document Recovery' wizard. I tried again and it repeated the same thing. I noticed this happened when hovering over the File, Send menu item.
Final Thoughts
openSUSE truly is a great Linux product and 11.1 is the best so far. There are applications for everything you might want to do and they all contain great features. While I did encounter some issues with various applications the system feels very solid and responsive, which is what one expects when using a Linux operating system. The installer continues its fine form, incorporating several new features which work well. KDE users can be thankful for all the hard work the openSUSE team put into KDE 4.1.3 as it is the best implementation I have seen. Backporting new features from the 4.2 branch was a great idea and makes the 4.1 branch much more usable (you can resize the panel!). But for those still not ready to make the move to the future of KDE, there is version 3.5.10. This is a great move by the openSUSE team, who listened to feedback from not only their own users, but those from other distributions who were only offered the new KDE. The openSUSE implementation of GNOME continues from strength to strength. The team has done a great job implementing each piece of software and overall it feels really slick. The YaST control centre continues to be one of the best graphical configuration tools available under Linux, far beyond anything most other major distributions offer.
My only reservation is to do with proprietary codecs and drivers, which still needs some work to reach the same level as other distributions. For new users, this is still just too hard. I tried to get 3D working with ATI's proprietary driver and gave up in the end (X worked, but no 3D due to OpenGL errors). The 'recommended packages' feature of the package manager is a great idea and does install MP3 support automatically, but this is still second rate and users expect more. Overall I really feel that this version of openSUSE provides a complete desktop experience for the user. What does it have to offer you? Download it and give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
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| Miscellaneous News |
openSUSE 11.1 gets new license, Debian votes on firmware in "Lenny", Mandriva sets up community steering committee, Gentoo begins weekly snapshots, interviews with openSUSE and Gentoo developers
The biggest news of the week was the release of Novell's openSUSE 11.1 Linux distribution. As usual, the new release contains updated versions of the desktop environments such as GNOME 2.24.1 and KDE 4.1.3, as well as other major packages, such as Linux kernel 2.6.27.7 and Novell's edition of OpenOffice.org 3.0 which contains numerous enhancements over its parent product from Sun. This new release incorporates one very important change for its community, a new license: "Users no longer need to agree to the click-through EULA. This is not a EULA, it’s a license notice. We want you to be aware of your rights as provided by the FOSS licenses, so we’ll display this notice but not require a click-through EULA," explains openSUSE's community manager Joe Brockmeier. "We have based our license on the license notice that is being used by the Fedora Project." The release team has removed packages which restrict redistribution, such as Adobe's PDF reader and Sun's Java implementation in order to make this possible.
This new release of openSUSE sees the end of life of an older openSUSE, 10.2. Marcus Meissner announced that an update on 16 December would indeed be the last. Unleashed on 7 December 2006, the 2-year old release saw a total of 643 updates, but is now officially discontinued and out of support.
Daniweb has an interview with openSUSE's community manager, Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier, where he discusses the new 11.1 release. Brockmeier explains that 11.1 is "the first release that was built in the openSUSE Build Service, which is an important step for allowing more contributions from the community over time." He also touches on the new features in this latest version, the relationship between openSUSE and Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise products, and even explains where he got his nickname "Zonker".
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As required by their constitution, Debian developers went to vote this week on the outstanding issue of whether or not to include firmware in the upcoming "Lenny" release. The issue revolves around whether including such binaries violates the Debian Free Software Guidelines and possibly also the GPL. While there are seven proposed options to choose from, voting mainly consists of whether to release Lenny even though the firmware issues "are not yet finally sorted out", or to wait until Debian can "deliver a 100% free operating system." The release of Lenny with such firmware would be made possible should any of the options 2-6 succeed, which include allowing Debian to violate their own Free Software Guidelines, or to "assume blobs comply with GPL unless proven otherwise." Option 6 acknowledges that firmware is often "distributed as so-called blobs, with no source or further documentation that lets us learn how it works or interacts with the hardware in question" and therefore suggests that firmware should be exempt from Debian's Free Software Guidelines in order to allow it to be included in Lenny. It goes on to state that firmware is "data such as microcode or lookup tables that is loaded into hardware components in order to make the component function properly. It is not code that is run on the host CPU" and that by excluding such firmware from Debian they will "exclude users that require such devices from installing our operating system, or make it unnecessarily hard for them."
There was some descent over the options in the ballot which resulted in some personal attacks made against Debian secretary Manoj Srivastava. As a result he tended his resignation letter to the Debian list. Srivastava concedes that he "made mistakes with the current set of votes" and that "the buck for running votes stops at the secretary, so I am ultimately responsible for the current state of the vote." However, he also suggests that the arguments against the ballot would have been more useful earlier, saying "the arguments being made now, after the vote was called and started ... could have been made when the vote page went up, when I was sending in the emails about which option had how many seconds, or when the draft ballot was sent in ... had these being made earlier, we would not have come to this pass."
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In a post to the official Mandriva blog, Mandriva CEO Hervé Yahi announced the launch of a worldwide Mandriva Community Steering Committee. According to Yahi, this committee will "unify and leverage the Mandriva community and ecosystem, thus aligning joint efforts towards clear goals; provide a better visibility on products releases; and last but not least, establish a key milestone on the road to success." However, details on how this new committee will actually achieve these responsibilities are a little thin, with comments left by members asking for more information. He also confirmed that "Mandriva Linux 2009.1 will be released in April 2009. Mandriva therefore announces the launch of Mandriva Enterprise Server 5 (MES 5) in Q1 2009."
Data provided from Mandriva officials to The VAR Guy for their Open Source 50 survey, shows their plans for future growth through channel partners. The company states that their number of partners has grown from 1200 in 2007 to over 2000 this year and is estimating an increase in sales up 3% on last year. With the current economic woes, it's great to see open source companies continuing to forge ahead. The company has grown from 120 employees to 200 in twelve months, with all the excitement perhaps we can expect to see a greater push for their products in 2009.
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After cancelling its previously planned 2008.1 release in September, Gentoo has begun releasing weekly snapshots as part of their new release strategy to provide more current install media. The snapshots can be found on Gentoo mirrors under the experimental/ directory, but the announcement warns "these builds are automated, they have not been rigorously tested as the old releases. Occasionally, you might run into problems. If that happens, just try a file from a different week."
In other related news, Gentoo founder Daniel Robbins has released a new version of Metro, the software he created to build his own custom Gentoo-based tarballs. While no longer an official Gentoo developer, Robbins has been creating his own releases for the community in response to the lack of official up-to-date stage tarballs.
The Free Software Foundation Europe has published an interview with Gentoo developer Johannes (Hanno) Böck. Böck is responsible for maintaining several packages, including GIMP, Scribus and Compiz. He discusses non-free software and binary blobs in Gentoo, as well as his thoughts on various aspects of Free software.
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The Asianux Consortium announced its 5th member, WTEC of Thailand, which "specialises in the field of system integration and IT services." Asianux is comprised of four other members - Red Flag from China, Miracle Linux from Japan, Haansoft from Korea and VietSoftware from Vietnam. Each member sells identical products with the Asianux brand in their respective markets and are working together to establish an Asian standard Linux platform. "Thanks to the unique '4-CO' business model of Asianux - co-development, co-brand, co-support and co-marketing - the Asianux Consortium differentiates itself from other Linux vendors such as Red Hat and Novell."
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With all the competition on mobile phone devices these days, a new open source Linux distribution, Hackable: 1, has emerged. It is a community distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux and GNOME for hackable devices like the Neo Freerunner. The new distribution is sponsored by Bearstech, a French Openmoko reseller who supports the infrastructure and the integration work.
And speaking of Openmoko, their own software continues to mature with an update to their own Linux-based open source software stack. This new release includes "general operating system improvements that enhance the speed and stability of your Neo". It is the recommended update for all users currently running the previous 2008.9 release. Detailed information about fixes and updates can be found on the Openmoko Trac site. Yes, it still comes with Sudoku.
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| Released Last Week |
Bluewhite64 Linux 12.2
Attila Crăciun has announced the release of Bluewhite64 Linux 12.2, an unofficial port of Slackware Linux to the x86_64 architecture: "Bluewhite64 Linux 12.2 brings new features and important updates since the previous release. Some of them includes new Linux kernel 2.6.27.7 with advanced features and a new feature to install Bluewhite64 Linux via Samba shares. Also, this release includes newly added packages like pm-utils (power management utilities), SQLite 3.6.6.2 (simple, self contained database engine) and wich (wired and wireless network manager for Linux). Some of the updated packages include KDE 3.5.10 and Xfce 4.4.3 desktop environments, Mozilla Firefox 3.0.4 and SeaMonkey 1.1.13 web browsers, and Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.18 and KMail 1.9.9 email clients." Read the rest of the release announcement and release notes for additional details.
Linux Mint 6
Clement Lefebvre has announced the release of Linux Mint 6, code name "Felicia": "The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 6 'Felicia'. Based on Ubuntu 8.10 'Intrepid Ibex', Linux 2.6.27, GNOME 2.24 and X.Org 7.4, Linux Mint 6 comes with a brand new software manager, FTP support in mintUpload, proxy support and history of updates in mintUpdate, mint4win (a Windows installer), tabbed browsing in Nautilus and a lot of other improvements." Besides the main edition, the project has also announced a new Linux Mint 6 "Universal" edition, a complete Linux Mint live DVD with support for dozens of languages, but without any media codecs (these can be installed separately). Consult the release announcement and feature overview for system requirements, known issues and upgrade instructions.
Magic Linux 2.1
Magic Linux is a Chinese community distribution loosely based on Fedora. Version 2.1, released yesterday, is mostly a bug-fix release with updated applications. Code-named "Houyuan", the new release comes with the following components and features: Linux kernel 2.6.25.20 witch glibc 2.3.6 and GCC 3.4.6; X.Org server 1.5.2 with KDE 3.5.8 as the default desktop; a collection of popular KDE applications, including Amarok and Kaffeine. Some of the changes since RC3 include a variety of localisation fixes for better support for Chinese, upgrade to WINE 1.1.8 and minor updates to HAL and udev. For more information please see the release announcement (in Chinese), which also contains a planned feature list for the upcoming release of Magic Linux 2.5.
Parted Magic 3.3, 3.4
Patrick Verner has announced the release of Parted Magic 3.3: "This release of Parted Magic offers better support for video drivers and adds NFS. gFTP was also added and a few other core packages have been upgraded. The contents of the USB version have been altered to clean things up a bit. All GRUB files are in /boot/grub and all syslinux files are in /boot/syslinux. You will need to alter your syslinux command syntax or move the configuration file back to the root of the USB drive." From the changelog: "Downgraded to xorg-server to version 1.4.2; added DHCP 3.0.7; added gFTP 2.0.19; updated NTFS-3G to version 1.5130, udev to version 135, GParted to version 0.4.1, BusyBox to version 1.13.1; added Portmap 6.0 and nfs-utils 1.1.2." Read the full release announcement and changelog for further information.
Litrix Linux 9.0
Vagner Rodrigues has announced the release of Litrix Linux 9.0, a Gentoo-based Brazilian live DVD. According to the release announcement, Litrix Linux 9.0 is designed as a general-purpose distribution that can be used in live mode or as a complete operating system installed run from a hard disk. It contains a good mix of applications for both work and entertainment. The main components of the new release include: Linux kernel 2.6.27, KDE 3.5.9 desktop environment, OpenOffice.org 3.0 office suite, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 web browser, The GIMP 2.6 image manipulation program, WINE 1.0 - a translation layer for running Windows applications on Linux, support for Portuguese and English languages, newly added OpenLDAP. Please visit the distribution's revamped home page (in Portuguese) to read the brief release announcement.
Litrix Linux 9.0 - a Gentoo-based distribution featuring KDE 3.5
(full image size: 191kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
Kiwi Linux 8.12
Jani Monoses has announced the release of Kiwi Linux 8.12, an Ubuntu remix with multimedia support, designed mostly for Romanian and Hungarian users: "Kiwi Linux 8.12 is a desktop CD based on Ubuntu 8.10 for the x86 architecture. It contains packages necessary for playing restricted multimedia formats by default and supports the SpeedTouch 330 USB ADSL modem. The list of available languages is English, French, German, Hungarian and Romanian. Differences between Ubuntu 8.10 and Kiwi Linux 8.08: packages up to date as of 2008-12-15; added Wubi; OpenOffice.org 3.0 with up to date Romanian translation; GUI for pppoeconf; a graphical tool for restoring GRUB boot menus lost after installing other operating system; Evolution removed; Flash plugin and GStreamer codecs for restricted audio and video formats...." Read the rest of the release notes for further details.
openSUSE 11.1
openSUSE 11.1, a community Linux distribution sponsored by Novell, has been released: "The openSUSE project is proud to announce the release of openSUSE 11.1. The openSUSE 11.1 release includes more than 230 new features, improvements to YaST, major updates to GNOME, KDE, OpenOffice.org, and more freedom with a brand new license, Liberation fonts, and OpenJDK. This is also the first release built entirely in the openSUSE Build Service. Desktop users will find a lot to like in this release. Users can choose from the leading edge of GNOME and KDE development with GNOME 2.24.1 and KDE 4.1.3. We've also included KDE 3.5.10 for users who prefer the classic KDE experience." Read the release announcement and press release, and visit the product pages to learn more about the new openSUSE 11.1.
Trisquel GNU/Linux 2.1
Rubén Rodríguez Pérez has announced the release of Trisquel GNU/Linux 2.1, a 100% "libre" distribution based on Ubuntu and recommended by the Free Software Foundation (FSF): "We are very proud today to announce the release of the 2.1 version of Trisquel GNU/Linux in its three editions, including, for the first time, the education-oriented branch along with the domestic and enterprise ones. From this release on, the three editions include the linux-libre kernel, and lots of small improvements have been made to improve the user experience and other aspects such as security and performance. All these upgrades can be applied over an existing installation using the automated update system." Read the release announcement for further details.
Trisquel GNU/Linux 2.1 - now 100% "libre", according to Free Software Foundation
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CRUX 2.5
Tilman Sauerbeck has announced the release of CRUX 2.5, a minimalist, i686-optimised Linux distribution for advanced users: "Twelve months after the last release, today we published CRUX 2.5. Release notes: includes glibc 2.8, GCC 4.3.2, Binutils 2.19, Linux kernel 2.6.27.8 and X.Org 7.4; glibc does not contain all possible locales any more; the runtime linker configuration has been greatly simplified by adding a configuration directory /etc/ld.so.conf.d; GCC depends on libgmp and libmpfr now, both have been added to core; a new port inetutils replaces inetd, netkit-ftp and netkit-telnet; hotplug has been removed because it wasn't in use since a long time; libpcre has been added to core; slocate has been replaced by mlocate; cdrtools has been replaced by cdrkit." See the release announcement, release notes and handbook for more information.
ZevenOS 1.0
Leszek Lesner has announced the release of ZevenOS 1.0, an Ubuntu-based GNU/Linux distribution with a BeOS-like user interface, performance and support for older hardware: "We are proud to announce the release of ZevenOS 1.0." From the changelog: "Added a new dark theme; added a low-level desktop (uses PCManFM and LXPanel instead of xfdesktop and Xfce panel); added new static deskbar menu; bug-fixed menu localization in deskbar; made JFS the default file system; fixed permission errors after install in /etc/sudoers; added SuM and BuM; removed Streamtuner and Ristretto; improved MAGI 2 visual appearance; added advanced configuration in MAGI 2; added Wmconfig (MAGI 2); added new Zeven GTK+ theme; added Darklooks GTK+ theme; added two new Sawfish themes to fit the new dark look...." Visit the project's web site and read the rest of the changelog for more details.
iMagic OS 2009
Carlos La Borde has announced the release of iMagic OS 2009, a commercial Linux distribution based on Ubuntu 7.10: "After months of development and design, iMagic OS 2009 is ready! Nine new features: new window design - a new refreshing theme washes away all traces of iMagic OS 7.0; web applications - now, you can split web software like GMail, Google Docs, YouTube, iMagic OS Downloads, and CNR right out of the web browser and run them just like normal applications; OpenOffice.org support - Now runs OpenOffice.org much better; educational software - now includes more educational software that will help you and your children; BitTorrent software - More BitTorrent software brings you more pre-loaded choice, and lets you handle torrents more easily; improved boot time - thanks to some boot re-profiling, boot up time is now diminished by over 10 seconds on most present-day computers; sample tutorials...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further information.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
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New distributions added to database
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New distributions added to waiting list
- CacheGuard. CacheGuard is a Linux-based operating system and appliance dedicated to web traffic security and optimisation.
- Rubuntu. Rubuntu is a new Russian distribution based on Ubuntu.
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DistroWatch database summary
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 This is the last issue DistroWatch Weekly in 2008. To all our readers who celebrate the traditional end-of-the-year holidays, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year. DistroWatch Weekly will return again on Monday, 5 January 2009.
Chris Smart
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| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
Project development Enlightenment verbose (Project dEv)
The mission for Project dEv was to create a stable and secure Linux distribution based on the lightweight window manager Enlightenment, with the latest of hardware detection technology to make sure your hardware was detected and configured as quickly as possible with minimal amount of effort. dEv aims to use and extend the EFL. By this, the KDE and GNOME dependencies are made obsolete while the feature richness and speed of the window manager increases. dEv wants to bring all the eye candy and speed which Enlightenment gives to a more cleanly manner by placing Enlightenment inside its own directory.
Status: Discontinued
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| Star Labs |
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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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