 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 307, 15 June 2009 |
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Welcome to this year's 24th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! The delayed Fedora 11 was finally released last week. Does the new version of the popular distribution live up its standards? Did the delay help to squash all the bugs? And how does it fare in comparison with other desktop Linux products? Read our first-look review to find out. This week also sees the release of a new project to create more up-to-date installation media for FreeBSD. Currently shipping a 32-bit Xfce desktop, the project hopes to expand to many other areas, as needed. Meanwhile Fedora's Leonidas release is in full swing, but some users are encountering an issue when installing via the live CD as the system cannot yet boot from the default ext4 file system. Read on to discover the simple fix! Also, Debian derivative distribution sidux has copped some heat over its decision to remove non-free firmware from its 2.6.30 kernel, while Novell gets its users to help advertise their products with an online "Custom Geeko" creation tool. Finally, don't miss the freshly posted development roadmaps for Mandriva Linux 2010 and Fedora 12. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Simon Hildenbrand) |
Fedora 11 Review
 Today we get to take a closer look at Fedora 11 (Leonidas). I was looking forward to trying this new release as there seemed to be a lot of good press about the new technologies and features that Fedora was implementing and it was shaping up to be a bigger release than usual. The last time I did a review for DistroWatch Weekly was when Fedora released version 8, code named Werewolf, back in November 2007. It has been a while since then and a lot has changed for Fedora and desktop Linux, although a lot has stayed the same.
Fedora 11 - the default GNOME desktop
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New features
The three biggest new features for Fedora 11 in my view include moving to the new ext4 file system, the 20 second boot target, and MinGW. Moving to ext4 is a big update for Fedora and will soon be for all Linux distributions. It's a feature that most users will not notice right away, but a feature that provides a significant number of small enhancements that makes it feel big. Most notable improvements include improved performance, faster file deletions, larger file sizes, and faster file system checks. Most of these improvements won't be very noticeable for desktop users, but they will help get to the next new feature which is the 20 second boot-up.
Individuals are continuing to move to laptops and netbooks from desktops when purchasing new computer equipment. The 20 second boot-up goal that the Fedora team set out to accomplish, will allow users to quickly turn on an off their systems and used them only when they need them. Not only is this key for mobile devices like netbooks, but it's also better for the environment because users will be less likely to keep their systems turned on all the time. In the end, users are not interested in waiting minutes for their systems to boot and by getting the boot time to less than 20 seconds provide another reason why Linux is the optimal choice.
The last big feature is MinGW. MinGW allows system developers to cross-compile their programs for Windows without needing Windows. As with ext4, most desktop users are not going to notice this feature but it will benefit many system developers who develop applications for both Linux and Windows and this feature will provide another value add to Linux adoption. These three feature highlights are not a full list of the new and important features in Fedora 11. There are numerous other new features that are being included in this release and if you haven't already done so I recommend taking a minute to read the release notes.
Installation and configuration
I installed Fedora 11 on my laptop which is an IBM x60 with 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB memory, 200 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, an Intel on-board video chipset, and an internal Intel wireless card. I used the live CD with the GNOME desktop environment. The installation process was the same as it has been in the past and was thoroughly uneventful; just the way it should be. Linux has now matured to a point where there should be no hiccups or random crashes during the installation process and it should be easy and straightforward.
The default install on the live CD includes the basic applications (e.g. Firefox, Evolution, Pidgin, Transmission, etc.), but it does not include OpenOffice.org. I also tried installing from the DVD to make sure it didn't have any issues and OpenOffice.org was installed by default so if you need OpenOffice.org I would recommend either using the DVD install or just grabbing it from the repositories which is easy to do.
Once the installation completed I immediately installed the few software updates that were available and then headed over to RPM Fusion so that I could get the codecs and additional software that I use (mainly the VLC media player). The RPM files that RPM Fusion provides to add their repositories were easy to install and everything worked very smoothly. The next step was to head over to Adobe to install the Flash Player. It's nice that Adobe makes available an RPM file that you can use to add the Adobe software repository which provides you with the ability to install the Flash Player and also provides updates to Flash Player and any other Adobe software you've installed using its repositories. All in all, if you are going to use Fedora on the desktop, getting these two repositories added is really a requirement nowadays and is a nice addition as they both complement Fedora.
Another nice feature in the configuration process that Fedora implemented in Fedora 9 is PackageKit. PackageKit will tell me which codecs or applications I need to install to complete the task I'm trying to do. For example, the first thing I do after enabling RPM Fusion is to try and play an MP3 file. Fedora does not play MP3 files out of the box but once I try and play it PackageKit will kick in and tell me which codec I need to install. While I do this, it will also pull in a bunch of other codecs that will enable me to play most audio and video files I need to. This, along with installing OpenOffice.org, VLC media player and Adobe Flash Player is all I need to do to have a full working desktop with everything I need.
Package management
While installing new software I noticed that the package manager feels lighter and quicker in doing simple tasks. However, simple features such as the ability to sort packages by names when searching for packages still has not been implemented. Neither has sorting the search results alphabetically. These are simple features that would improve the usability of the system and to be honest I'm not sure why they haven't been implemented yet.
Another nice feature that Fedora has developed is Presto which will make downloading and applying updates faster by downloading only the changes that are made rather than downloading the entire file. I am a little perplexed though as to why this is such a highlighted feature in Fedora's release notes as it has been in other package managers for a while. I'm also not sure why this isn't installed by default, but at least it's being implemented now.
Look and feel
Fedora 11 has impressed me up until this point of the review which is where I feel Fedora has dropped the ball. I find the technology and engineering of Fedora to be excellent, but the look and feel leaves a lot to be desired. In my past review of Fedora 7, one of the items I highlighted then was the choice to continue to use the classic icon theme that had been used for what felt like ages. It's funny that Fedora has updated some of their icons, but still continues to use portions of their classic icon set. You'll see them being used for the OpenOffice.org office suite and some of the icons in the System Preferences / Administration menu. It further disappoints because Fedora 11 now has a mixture of icon sets which lack cohesion and which detract from the user interface.
Fedora's classic icon set
The next disappointment for Fedora 11 is the desktop effects. I can understand that Fedora was hesitant to make desktop effects default as soon as other distributions did, but Fedora has still yet to make desktop effects enabled by default and has also done a poor job of integrating the desktop effects into the desktop environment. In most up-to-date distributions, such as Ubuntu or SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, you will see what seems like minor but important details such as resizing windows. In either of those distributions the mouse will stay in line with the window borders, as well as provide their users with more than just the ability to add wobbly windows and a desktop cube.
The last disappointment in the look and feel department of the Fedora 11 was the overall placement of buttons and the general appearance of the desktop. Fedora continues to use the basic gray window bars which are aesthetically a very old window style. I hope that the Linux community will move away from these soon because they were outdated three years ago and have seen little attention.
I also question some of the button placements. For example, you can get to the preferences section by clicking on the System menu, but you can also get to the same set of controls by getting into the Control Center which is accessible via the User Switcher applet. Another annoying design factor is that your name is written in bold on the User Switcher applet, but when placed next to the clock it is not in bold. Furthermore, the text on the user switcher applet and the clock applet is not lined up. Overall, the look and feel of Fedora detracts from the user experience.
Conclusion
Fedora is, and will most likely always remain, a Red Hat-sponsored project. As such, it is targeted to the goals of the sponsor which in this case is enterprise users; more specifically server technologies. The technology that Fedora has implemented is excellent. Fedora is a leader in engineering and in implementing new technologies for Linux and when it comes to this, Fedora (and Red Hat) is second to none. However, if you're looking for a nice desktop experience and or are looking to migrate from Windows or Mac OS X, Fedora is not an ideal option. It's good, but the desktop experience does not compare to other distributions that cater to the desktop experience; specifically Ubuntu, Mandriva and openSUSE. Now, if only we can get these camps to work closer together...
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| Miscellaneous News (by Chris Smart) |
Fedora posts workaround for ext4 bug, project delivers up-to-date FreeBSD images, sidux users react over removal of non-free firmware, Novell creates custom Geeko builder site
 Leonidas was released last week, the latest version of popular Linux distribution Fedora. The distro is known for pushing the envelope and adopting bleeding edge technology and version 11 has been no exception. Users are no-doubt grateful for the fancy new features made available to them, but this also sometimes means that unforeseen issues can creep into the release. Leonidas ships with the new ext4 as the default file system. Although there has been lots of concern regarding the security of files, the issue is instead that Fedora cannot yet boot from ext4. This is generally not a problem as the DVD installer automatically warns about this. The way around this, of course, is to create a separate /boot partition with ext3, however installation via the live CD will want to create a single ext4 partition by default, rendering the system inoperable: "Due to a combination of factors, if installing from the live CD, you must have at least two partitions available. One will be a small (around 200 MB) /boot partition. The / (root file system) partition must be formatted as ext4 while the /boot partition must be formatted as ext3." Users must manually create a suitable partitioning scheme to by-pass this issue. The DVD install is not affected.
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 Continuing the news this week is a little project to re-spin more up-to-date images for FreeBSD. Many Linux distributions offer similar images, and now FreeBSD follows suit. Manolis Kiagias writes: "I believe this list (and probably the forums) would be the best place to announce one of my little projects, namely the building of custom FreeBSD install discs (DVD size for desktops, CD size for servers) with the latest release and updated packages." The project currently only provides an Xfce desktop image, but his experiment can be shifted to create any type of installation. As with many things in the free software world, this project was born out of the author's desire to have more up-to-date images of his own: "The purpose of this experiment (besides the educational value of it) is to allow me to build FreeBSD discs with custom and up-to-date packages. These will in turn reduce significantly the amount of time required to install new systems (especially desktops which need hundred of packages)."
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 Debian is one of the most popular Linux distributions not only for end users but also for other distributions to build upon. One such distro is sidux, which promotes itself as being a desktop-focused operating system, built on Debian's unstable branch, with a custom kernel. "Besides full compatibility with its parent, the distribution also offers a custom kernel with support for a wide variety of modern hardware devices." The distro aims to comply with Debian's Free Software guidelines, while providing support for a wide variety of modern hardware devices via their custom kernel. It seems that these two objectives may conflict from time to time, as seen with the recent release of the 2.6.30 kernel. In line with the direction Debian is taking, the distro has decided to remove all non-free firmware which has resulted in some complaints from the user community. Interestingly, however, they mostly seem to involve worse graphical performance, rather than devices not working. Perhaps this has nothing to do with the removal of firmware at all, but rather some issues with the new GEM and X.Org drivers. Whatever the reason, the take-home message might be to keep your users informed as to what impact can be expected from internal changes.
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 Just installed openSUSE or purchased Novell Enterprise Linux and want to show your love for the gecko? Novell has announced a new website which allows you to build your own lizard (which they call a geeko). Susan Salgy writes: "Now that SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 is out the door, we wanted to make it easy for SUSE enthusiasts to spread the word. Over the years, we've had tons of requests for personalized Geekos, so we've whipped up Geekobuilder.com to let SUSE and openSUSE enthusiasts show their love of the Geeko." Yours truly visited the website to take a look, half expecting to see a website built with Microsoft's Silverlight technology but was instead greeted with Flash. After successfully creating a Geeko to be called "Zorro", it was discovered that the ability to save the design did not work. The same task failed on openSUSE 11.1 (using Flash 10.0 r22) and even OS X with Firefox and Safari. Nothing worked (except presumably Windows). One would imagine that a company wanting its users to advertise their Linux distribution would make sure it worked!
Geekobuilder could be a lot of fun - if only it worked correctly...
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| Released Last Week |
Fedora 11
Red Hat has announced the release of Fedora 11, the latest version of the leading open-source Linux distribution: "The Fedora Project, a Red Hat, Inc. sponsored and community-supported open source collaboration project, today announced the availability of Fedora 11, the latest version of its free open source operating system. The community's eleventh release includes the broadest feature set to date, spotlights developments in software management and sound, improves key virtualization components and introduces Fedora Community, a portal project beta." Read the press release, release announcement and release notes for further information.
Greenie Linux 5j
Stanislav Hoferek has announced the release of Greenie Linux 5j, an Ubuntu-based distribution and live CD optimised for Slovak and Czech speakers. What's new? Based on Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" (Linux kernel 2.6.28, OpenOffice.org 3.0.1), actualised with all recent security updates; new keyboard shortcuts for launching Firefox, calculator or any other application; availability of a meta package that can turn a standard Ubuntu install into Greenie Linux; new documentation; inclusion of Greenshot - a utility that takes a screenshot and uploads into to ImageShack in three seconds; availability of extra applications, including Skype, VLC and Opera via Greenport; new desktop theme.... Read the full release announcement (in Slovak) for more details.
Greenie Linux 5j - an Ubuntu-based desktop distribution for Slovaks and Czechs
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FreeNAS 0.69.2
Volker Theile has announced the release of FreeNAS 0.69.2, a maintenance update of the FreeBSD-based operating system providing free Network-Attached Storage (NAS) services: "FreeNAS 0.69.2 released. Changes: add another WOL patch, it is tested for nfe(4) und xl(4); add switch in 'System|Advanced' WebGUI to enable the console screensaver; upgrade Adaptec SCSI RAID administration tool to 6.10.18359; add ability to enable or disable rc.conf variables; add Danish WebGUI translation; add kernel patches to get ARTiGO A2000 hardware working; add ability to use %d (date) and %h (hostname) in email subjects; add 'MaxLoginAttempts' event to FTP ban list rules; add 'ClientConnectRate' event to FTP ban list rules; allow selecting the key length of the cryptographic algorithm used to encrypt a disk...." Here is the complete release announcement.
TEENpup Linux 2009
John Van Gaans has announced the release of TEENpup Linux 2009 "Legacy", a general-purpose desktop distribution for older computers based on Puppy Linux: "Today sees the fifth release of TEENpup and once again it's based on Puppy 2.14. This time the ISO image has grown to just under 700 MB so that it will fit on a CD. As the focus for TEENpup has shifted to a modern operating system for older PCs which most likely only came with a CD drive, it was felt that a 700MB size limit should be adhered to. To attract users from Windows, TEENpup's default color scheme has been modeled on some of Vista's coloring. Also, there's something I created called 'Magic Scripts', which is a drag & drop arrangement - all you do is drag & drop, say, an audio or video file and it will allow you to convert it to another format." Read the rest of the release announcement for more information.
Linux-EduCD 1.0
Linux-EduCD is a Polish distribution and live DVD based on Mandriva Linux, designed for deployment in Polish educational establishments. The project released version 1.0 (code name "Valis") yesterday. Besides educational programs, the distribution also includes a variety of multimedia, office and development software. It ships with Linux kernel 2.6.26.8, with support for SATA drives and many popular Intel and Atheros wireless network cards. Other features and applications include improved administration centre, a live USB creator, Firefox 3.0.10, OpenOffice.org 3.0.1, GIMP 2.6.6, MySQL 5.0.45, Apache 2.2, pre-configured WordPress 2.7.1, SciLab 4.1.1, Celestia 1.4.1, Xephem 3.7.2, OpenDX 4.4, GenChemLab and others. Please see the release announcement (in Polish) for further information and screenshots.
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Mandriva Linux 2010
 The Mandriva Linux development team has published a preliminary roadmap leading to the distribution's next major release, version 2010: "Antoine Ginies will be the release engineer for all Mandriva Linux 2010 editions. The following editions are planned for each pre-release: Free (x86_32 and x86_64 DVDs, dual x86_32 / x86_64 mini CDs - 100% free / open source software); One (KDE and GNOME x86_32 CDs, including proprietary drivers)." The development should kick off later this week with the first alpha build, while the final release is scheduled for 15 October 2009. For more details please see the development section of the Mandriva Wiki.
Also published last week was the release schedule for Fedora 12. The most interesting part is that the customary public alpha release has been dropped from the scheduled, leaving testers with just two public development builds to try. The first one (beta) is scheduled for the second half of August, while the second one (preview) is expected in early October. The final release of Fedora 12 is scheduled for release on 3 November 2009, but as always with Fedora, some delay can be expected. For further information please consult the Fedora 12 release schedule.
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Eden Live. Eden Live is a RIPLinuX-based live CD designed to retrieve passwords and other sensitive information from Windows and UNIX partitions.
- LinuxAdvanced. LinuxAdvanced is an Austrian distribution with Xfce as the default desktop. The project's web site is in German.
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DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
And this concludes the latest issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 22 June 2009.
Simon Hildenbrand, Chris Smart and Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
| • Issue 1157 (2026-01-26): Setting up a home server, what happened to convergence, malicious software entering the Snap store, postmarketOS automates hardware tests, KDE's login manager works with systemd only |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
PureOS
PureOS is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian. It is a desktop distribution that can be used as live media (CD or USB) or as full-featured operating systems installed on a hard disk. PureOS uses free and open source software exclusively and is endorsed by the Free Software Foundation. It ships with some privacy features enabled by default such as using DuckDuckGo as the search engine and the HTTPS Everywhere browser extension is enabled.
Status: Dormant
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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