 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 353, 10 May 2010 |
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Welcome to this year's 19th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Mandriva Linux, a distribution that was one of the first to understand the concept of user-friendliness on the desktop, is apparently for sale and in negotiations with two potential buyers. That's according to some unconfirmed reports that appeared on the Internet over the weekend. But the company itself remains mute on the issue, while the development of the upcoming version 2010.1 continues unabated. In other news, Red Hat explains the genealogy of its enterprise kernels, Debian and Slackware update KDE to version 4.4.3 in their respective development branches, Sabayon announces availability of daily, bleeding-edge DVD builds, and Astaro apologises for last week's updates that went terribly wrong. Also in this issue, The Economist magazine explains the reasons for setting up a Launchpad account, while The Times urges users to abandon Windows and to switch to Ubuntu. Finally, for the fans of lighter distributions we have a first-look review of CDlinux, Canonical's announcement about a new "Unity" desktop for netbooks, news about a special edition of Unity Linux with Enlightenment, and an introduction to an inaugural release of Quirky, a new mini-distribution from the developers of Puppy Linux. There is something for everyone - happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
First look at CDlinux 0.9.6
 If you've ever looked at the project website for CDlinux, you might not have noticed anything particularly eye-catching. It's a small project with a small, simple site. And it's not a project which attracts a lot of attention. However, the open source community is full of hidden gems and CDlinux is one of them.
Before trying the distribution, I got in touch with Zhao Xun Hong, the creator of CDlinux, who invites people who speak Chinese as badly as I do to call him "Ben".
DW: Why did you start CDlinux?
ZXH: Thanks for asking. CDlinux was first started as a system rescue and maintenance tool around 2000. At that time, I and my friends all had both Linux and Windows installed on our systems. The most annoying thing was that LILO got overwritten by Windows frequently. A floppy or CD-based mini-distro would be handy to solve this problem. That's why I first started CDlinux.
DW: Will future versions have an option to install to a Linux partition? Right now it seems the options are to install with a USB drive or Windows.
ZXH: Yes, we do have a plan to support installing to a Linux partition. But that will only happen after 1.0. The truth is, we haven't found a reliable way to write GRUB's boot record to a partition yet, especially when it is a logical partition. I find that some top distros that use GRUB also have the same problem. The current installation wizard in CDlinux either doesn't write a boot record (installing to NTFS) or writes a syslinux boot record (installing to VFAT). The bottom line is that we won't destroy user's data or their original boot loader.
DW: How can volunteers help the project? Translations, coding or testing?
ZXH: Volunteers have already helped us a lot. We'll be more open and we anticipate more volunteers joining us.
DW: Are there any other thoughts you'd like to share with the readers?
ZXH: Let's work together for a brighter future for open source.
Zhao Xun Hong also mentioned in our exchange of e-mails that a few bugs had been discovered in the 0.9.6 release. To correct these, a bug-fix release, version 0.9.6.1, was released shortly after.
* * * * *
The CDlinux distribution is a small live CD which can be put to a number of useful purposes. The project attempts to balance a small image size with a wide range of features and languages, making CDlinux a good rescue tool, demo CD or USB-based operating system. The name stands for Compact Distro Linux, though its small size should not be confused with distributions targeting older hardware. The current release of CDlinux, 0.9.6, requires computers have PAE capability to run the OS, breaking ties to older hardware. The latest release comes in three flavours:
- Standard -- a small but functional desktop system
- Community -- which comes with a more complete set of features for a modern desktop
- Mini -- a small, 30 MB download, featuring console tools only
For my test drive, I grabbed the "Community" release to see what the system had to offer with all the bells and whistles. The distro kicked off with a boot menu, offering several different optional languages including French, English, German, Japanese, Chinese and Russian. Passing beyond the boot menu, the user sees the CDlinux logo for a few seconds before being logged into a Xfce desktop. The background is a pleasant blue and the icons are bright and intuitive. A taskbar lies across the bottom of the screen, equipped with an application menu, quick-launch buttons, volume control, network status and clock.
CDlinux 0.9.6 - making use of the office software
(full image size: 113kB, screen resolution 1366x768 pixels)
CDlinux "Community" edition comes with a surprisingly wide range of software for such a small download. The user is treated to Firefox (3.6), Skype, a BitTorrent client, remote desktop tools, Filezilla, AbiWord, Gnumeric, the GIMP and a PDF viewer. The application menu is rounded out with a calculator, text editor, file archiver, task manager, Pidgin IM client, an image viewer and DOSBox. The system also comes with Tor, for people concerned with their online privacy. CDlinux includes a multimedia player, partition imaging utility and the usual collection of Xfce configuration tools for adjusting the look and feel of the system. Completing the software selection are Flash and popular multimedia codecs, supporting MP3 and many video formats.
There were some surprises to be found on the compact distro. For example, the system comes with Avast anti-virus, but the software requires a registration code to run. The distribution also comes with WINE, allowing the user to run many Windows programs. In fact, the Games section of the application menu contains shortcuts to running games which come with Windows instead of the usual collection of Linux time-wasters.
CDlinux 0.9.6 - web browsing and multimedia
(full image size: 162kB, screen resolution 1366x768 pixels)
Something which really sets CDlinux apart from other distributions is its installer. The system installer allows the user to transfer the system from the live CD to either a USB drive or to place it inside a Windows partition. There is no option for a typical standalone hard drive install. Reading through the documentation on the project's web site shows it is possible to install CDlinux locally in a standalone fashion, but that's not really what the operating system is designed to do.
Having used CDlinux primarily as a live CD and not a regular install, looking at the distribution's security takes a slightly different twist. For instance, I wasn't regularly checking for package updates. However, there were some points of interest. The user is logged in under a non-root account, "cdl", and it's possible to perform administrative tasks using sudo. The only network service I found running out of the box was a secure shell server. By default, the user isn't given a password which prevents remote logins. Setting a password for "cdl" enables remote secure shell connections. I found CDlinux would mount any local drives during the start-up process, giving access to all recognized partitions. Plugging in new devices, such as digital cameras, would cause the device to be mounted and a corresponding icon to appear on the desktop.
CDlinux 0.9.6 - installing CDlinux and imaging the disk
(full image size: 115kB, screen resolution 1366x768 pixels)
During my time with CDlinux, I tested the distro on two physical machines and in a virtual environment. The little distribution worked very well on my desktop machine, (2.5 GHz CPU, 2 GB of RAM, NVIDIA video card) properly setting up audio and giving my desktop the desired resolution. I encountered no problems on the desktop. My HP laptop (dual-core 2 GHz CPU, 3 GB of RAM, Intel video card) was handled well for the most part. Again, my screen was set to the maximum resolution, sound worked out of the box and my touchpad was configured properly. Unfortunately, the system didn't pick up my Intel wireless card, nor my Novatel mobile modem. The distribution is based on Slackware and the connection shows in the system's performance. The desktop is light and responsive, the distro feels simple and functional. During my tests with the virtual environment, I found the Community edition of CDlinux would run Xfce smoothly with less than 256 MB of memory. If less than 128 MB was available, the OS would drop into a text console at start-up. According to the project's website, the Standard edition will boot up with 64 MB of RAM available.
CDlinux is a well-crafted mini-distro which manages to pack a lot of functionality into a small image. It has the ability to function as an on-the-road desktop for people who want to carry their operating system in their pocket and it also has tools, such as the partition imaging software, which make it a good rescue CD. It's fairly light on resources, making CDlinux feel like a smaller version of KNOPPIX and additional functionality can be added to the distro using Slackware packages, making CDlinux suitable for a wider range of tasks. The only thing I felt missing was an option to install the distribution to the local hard disk. While this could be done manually, I'm looking forward to seeing it as a feature of the system's graphical installer. I think CDlinux fits in nicely with the family of other small distributions, such as SliTaz GNU/Linux and Damn Small Linux in the mini-distro niche.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
Mandriva for sale, RHEL 6 kernel genealogy, Ubuntu "Unity" desktop, KDE 4.4 in Debian and Slackware, Sabayon daily builds, Unity Linux with Enlightenment, Astaro update troubles
 Let's start this week's news section with some bad news: it appears that Mandriva S.A., a Paris-based company that has been developing the popular Mandriva Linux distribution for over a decade, is for sale. That's according to this post at Mandriva Linux Online (in French). The article claims that the company's financial situation has deteriorated dramatically this year and selling the enterprise is the only alternative to closing it down completely. It mentions two potential buyers - a London-based lightapp Ltd and Linagora from France, both of whom have apparently entered into negotiations with Mandriva. There has been no official word from the troubled company, but the article quotes a procès verbal du CA as published on the Boursorama forum (in French) last week. Mandriva has been through numerous ups and downs throughout its short history, but up to this point it has always succeeded in finding a way out of trouble. But even if the company does get sold, there is a strong possibility that the new owners will continue the development of the distribution with the existing team. In the meantime, the Mandriva's development branch (Cooker) keeps moving towards the new stable release, with a large number of updates to Perl-related packages and KDE 4.4.3 over the weekend.
* * * * *
 In contrast with Mandriva, Red Hat, Inc is a picture of financial health, with its share price, profits and customer base on the increase despite the prolonged economic downturn. A new version of the company's flagship product, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, has recently entered beta testing. Although these are very early days of a distribution that will be supported for many years after its release, the more technically-minded users and system administrators will probably enjoy reading the article entitled Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Kernel: An Overview and Genealogy to learn more about the most crucial part of the operating system: "When Red Hat announces a new major Red Hat Enterprise Linux release, such as with the recent Beta availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, invariably among the first questions asked is, “What is the kernel version number?” The answer to this question is never a simple one-number reply. The construction of an enterprise-caliber kernel is an extremely complex exercise that requires close evaluation of hundreds of individual features and interactions. This blog outlines how we create our Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernels."
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 The Ubuntu Developer Summit (UDS), the bi-annual meeting of key people responsible for the development of the distribution, starts today in Brussels, Belgium. As with previous events, a flurry of press releases is expected to hit the wires during the week. The first among them is an announcement about a new "Unity" desktop environment (Mark Shuttleworth's blog has a more detailed post on the subject) designed for the Ubuntu Netbook edition: "Canonical today unveiled a new desktop environment called 'Unity' at the Ubuntu Developer Summit (UDS) in Belgium. Unity will be the desktop environment for Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition, released in October 2010, and is available today to developers building applications for the netbook environment. Unity is designed for netbooks and related touch-based devices. It includes a new panel and application launcher that makes it fast and easy to access preferred applications, such as the browser, while removing screen elements that are rarely used in mobile and netbook computing."
Ubuntu Light powered by Unity - a new desktop design for netbooks
(image courtesy of Canonical.com)
It's always nice to read about a Linux distribution's success in reaching new frontiers, well beyond the realm of technical users. In this respect, it was interesting to note that The Economist, one of the world's most respected magazines, has recently opened a Launchpad account. Matthew Revell asked a representative of the publication for their reasons and plans: "We're migrating the existing Economist.com stack from ColdFusion/Oracle to a LAMP stack running Drupal. At present, we're about half way through -- if you visit a blogs page, channel page, or comments page they will be served from Drupal, but the home page and actual articles are still served from ColdFusion. There's a migration and synchronisation process happening in the background between Oracle and MySQL. ... We chose Launchpad for its usability, mostly the workflow around reviewing code (merge proposals). It provides excellent tools for managing distributed teams, and we are a very large distributed team, with three locations where development is occurring on either side of the Atlantic."
On a related note, another venerable British publication, The Times, now urges users to stop using Windows and to use Ubuntu instead: "You know that thing that happens on your computer, when you are using Windows? When you ask it to do something, and it thinks about it, and then it keeps thinking, and then you go off and make a cup of tea, and it's still thinking, and you want to head-butt the wall, again and again, until gets all smeared and red and bloody and bits of your brain are raining down on to your shoes? Yes? Well, there's a way to stop that happening. Stop using Windows. Use Ubuntu instead. ... My Ubuntu setup is faster than a PC and prettier than a Mac. But best of all, when you ask it to do something, it does it. Or, at worst, it doesn't do it. It doesn't think about it, for hours, and then mysteriously go off the idea. It doesn't crash. It doesn't break. I don't know why everybody doesn't use it."
* * * * *
 Following the recent release of KDE 4.4.3, two distributions that have been resisting the upgrade to the 4.4 series have now jumped on the bandwagon. The first one is Slackware Linux which promptly announced that its development tree is now in beta, with the upcoming release of version 13.1 just around the corner. The other one is Debian GNU/Linux, which has accepted KDE 4.4.3 into its "unstable" branch: "Today, the 3rd of May 2010, KDE SC 4.4.3 has been uploaded to Debian sid (unstable). This is the first of the 4.4.x series that Debian has had (outside of the experimental repository and an unofficial repository), and so far the whole of it is awesome. There is a new KDM login window which looks great. Upon logging in, Strigi and Nepomunk start up and begin the indexing of the local system (and, likely my FUSE-mounted drives, since it probably doesn't know better and I didn't stop it). Nearly everything has a new release, including a newer Kontact suite (4.4.3) for email and calendaring. I had to re-add my local file for my local address book, but the Akonadi (network-accessed) resources such as my home Kontact calendar and my Google address books all worked fine after the upgrade to KDE SC 4.4.3."
* * * * *
 The Sabayon Linux project announced last week that a set of daily ISO images of the distribution's GNOME, KDE and CoreCD editions for both the x86 and amd64 architectures are now available from its download mirrors: "After several weeks of testing and ironing, we are happy to announce the public availability of daily (or nightly if you prefer) Sabayon Linux (Standard and CoreCD editions) ISO images. The aim is to improve packages and general system functionality testing during a release's life cycle by providing always up-to-date installable Live CDs and DVDs. Our stable releases are just 'snapshots' of these ISO images, so you will be able to know (and report) about possible hardware and software issues before a new version is published." The announcement is concluded by the usual word of caution: "This is the bleeding edge of bleeding edge, do not use them on production systems." If you are interested in checking out the progress the Sabayon development team has made since its last stable release, see the iso/daily directory on the project's download mirrors.
* * * * *
 While on the subject of testing bleeding-edge releases, here is something for the fans of Enlightenment 17. The Hungarian branch of the Unity Linux project has announced the availability of Unite17, a live CD based on Unity Linux 2010 RC1 with the latest development build of the Enlightenment window manager: "The Unite17 project is pleased to announce its first Unite17 version. What is inside? Based of Unity Linux RC1 core (Openbox removed); Linux kernel updated to 2.6.31.13; Enlightenment E17 0.16.999.063, does not include Ecomorph; themes, wallpapers; aMSN, Skype 2.1.0.81, Transmission, Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and Thunderbird, MPlayer, XMMS. This Unite17 release is a 'raw' system, I hope you will like it. Please remember that Enlightenment DR17 is under heavy development, it is not stable." Here is a quick download link for those who wish to take a look at the release: unite17.iso (718MB, MD5).
* * * * *
 Most operating systems in use today come with update functionality that corrects security issues and important bugs discovered after the product's release. But how do you know that these updates will work as intended? Last week the CEO of Astaro, the producer of Astaro Security Gateway (ASG), had to publish an apology after the company's engineers issued not one, but two disastrous updates in one day, preventing Astaro machines from connecting to the Internet and disabling web and mail proxy functionality: "Systems with IPS activated could not download the new patterns because all network connectivity was blocked. As is usual, systems with IPS deactivated do not download new patterns either. ... Then, incredibly, at 12:25 CEST our Up2Date servers began distributing anti-virus (AV) pattern version 12407 which included a signature incompatible with the AV engine our systems are running. On systems with dual AV scanning enabled the web proxy was not working and the mail proxy was not forwarding email." Although many ASG users were not amused by the events, it's always nice to see the CEO explaining the situation, apologising for the troubles and outlining steps that should prevent such mishaps in the future.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Linux hardware support
Frustrated-with-hardware asks: Why is Linux still unable to produce simple, user friendly solutions to basic problems like getting a commonly sold laptop, using a major manufacturer's video card, to output video to a TV screen? Together with the built-in microphones on laptops that can't be used and the built-in webcams on laptops that can't be used, this inability after having reached considerable maturity in development is more than a little disappointing.
DistroWatch answers: The world's wide variety of hardware is the thorn in many an operating system's side. Linux actually has remarkable built-in driver support, possibly the best of any operating system I've used. So why are there so many issues with video cards, microphones and webcams? The problem largely rests in two areas.
1. Hardware manufacturers. The reason other operating systems (such as Windows and OS X) appear to have such good driver support is because when you get a new webcam or printer, you generally get a CD with drivers from the manufacturer. The OS itself doesn't need to come with those drivers, because the hardware vendor is supplying them. If you go grab a vanilla Windows install disk, you'll quickly find a lot of hardware doesn't work out of the box, you'll need to manually get drivers from the manufacturer.
The Linux community is growing, but doesn't have enough market influence to cause some vendors to supply drivers for the Linux kernel. This results in kernel developers trying to fill the gaps where they can.
2. The other big factor is the consumer. One aspect of running Linux is taking responsibility and making sure you buy hardware that will work with your operating system. Take a look at a hardware compatibility database or ask around your distribution's forum before buying a new video card, printer or webcam. It'll save a lot of hassle. It will also, gradually, send a message to hardware vendors. For example, I almost always buy HP printers now, because they've had a pretty good track record running with Linux and I avoid Canon machines because their Linux support has been, in my experience, poor. One person making that choice isn't tipping the scales, but a few million users buying a specific brand, and politely stating to the vendor why, can make a difference. When you're buying equipment, don't be afraid to ask the sales person if their hardware is compatible with Linux and make sure you can return the item if the device isn't recognized. Linux does support a range of video cards, microphones and webcams if you're willing to shop around.
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| Released Last Week |
NexentaStor 3.0.2
Anil Gulecha has announced the release of NexentaStor 3.0.2, an enterprise-class unified storage solution built upon the foundation of the open-source Nexenta Core Platform and OpenSolaris, including the ZFS file system: "On behalf of the NexentaStor team, I'm happy to announce the release of NexentaStor Community Edition 3.0.2. This release is the result of the community efforts of Nexenta partners and users. Changes over 3.0 include: many fixes to ON/ZFS backported to b134; CIFS/DFS support backported; multiple bug fixes in the appliance. With the addition of many new features, NexentaStor CE is the most complete and feature-rich gratis unified storage solution today. Quick summary of features: ZFS additions - deduplication (based on OpenSolaris b134); free for up to 12 TB of used storage; Community edition supports easy upgrades; many new features in the easy-to-use management interface; integrated search." Here is the brief release announcement.
DEFT Linux 5.1
Stefano Fratepietro has announced the release of DEFT Linux 5.1, an Ubuntu-based live CD featuring some of the best open-source applications dedicated to incident response and computer forensics: "DEFT Linux 5.1 is ready. What's new? Update - Sleuth Kit 3.1.1 and Autopsy 2.24; update - Xplico to 0.5.7 (100% support of SIP - RTP codec g711, g729, g722, g723 and g726, SDP and RTCP); update - initrd; Dhash report bug fix (reports were not generated); DEFT Extra bug fix (a few applications do not work if the operator click their icons, added the dd tool for x86_64 machines). Since 3 June we have been developing DEFT Linux 6 (based on Lubuntu 10.10 'Maverick Meerkat') that will be released on 2 December 2010." Read the full release announcement for more information.
PCLinuxOS 2010.1
PCLinuxOS 2010.1, a bug-fix update of the recently released version 2010, is now available for download: "PCLinuxOS 2010.1 KDE 4 edition is now available for download. Linux kernel updated to 2.6.32.12-bfs. Linux kernel 2.6.33.2 also available from our software repository, KDE SC desktop upgraded to version 4.4.3. Added support for Realtek RTL8191SE and RTL8192SE WiFi cards. Added support for Microdia webcams. Added vim console text editor. Added udftools. Fixed CD-ROM ejection when using the copy-to-RAM feature. Fixed KDE new widget download. Updated NVIDIA (195.36.24) and ATI fglrx (8.723) drivers. Updated all supporting applications and libraries from the software repository which include security updates and bug fixes. Please note if you have already installed the PCLinuxOS 2010 release you can simply update it from the Synaptic software manager." Here is the brief release announcement.
Quirky 1.0
Quirky is a new Linux distribution created by Barry Kauler, the founder of Puppy Linux, "as an avenue to explore new ideas." The project's inaugural stable release was announced earlier today: "This first release is quite straight, not very 'quirky'. Some of the interesting ideas that I want to try are still to come. The focus for now is to test a lot of the new stuff in Woof, such as Rerwin's analog and 3G modem detection/setup scripts. Here is a summary of features specific to Quirky 1.0: GRUB Legacy and Grub4dos; Flsynclient - synclient GUI configuration of touchpad; Openbox, Fbpanel, JWM window managers; numerous updated applications (AbiWord, Pmusic); 2.6.33.2 kernel, updated firmware, bug-fix patches; new tray applets - Traytemp, Powerapplet, Freememapplet, Retrovol...." Read the complete release notes for more information.
Monomaxos 5.0
Dimitris Papadatos has announced the release of Monomaxos 5.0, a Greek Ubuntu-based desktop distribution on a DVD: "This is the fifth release of the Monomaxos Linux operating system localized for the Greek language that comes as a live DVD. It supports playback of every kind of multimedia material (including HD video) and any kind of Internet content out of the box and can also be used for setting up a stand-alone Media Center (including XBMC Media Center). It contains OpenOffice.org 3.2 in Greek with enabled spelling check (also in English). A large variety of open-source software installed in this live DVD provides solutions for all needs of the modern user and makes a powerful operating system for use on desktop or laptop PCs." Visit the project's home page to read the brief release announcement.
Monomaxos 5.0 - a Greek desktop Linux distribution based on Ubuntu
(full image size: 920kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
VectorLinux 6.0 "KDE-Classic-Live"
Robert Lange has announced the release of VectorLinux 6.0 "KDE-Classic-Live" edition, a live CD featuring the legacy KDE 3 desktop: "The VectorLinux team is happy to announce the release of VectorLinux 6.0 KDE-Classic-Live. KDE 3 veterans will appreciate that this release retains the solid KDE 3.5.10. There are many updates compared to the original, install-only release. The Live-installer has been improved. Live mode makes it simple to test compatibility with your hardware before committing to a permanent installation. KDE-Classic is configured with full web and multimedia capabilities out of the box. Firefox has all the plugins that VectorLinux users are used to - Flash 10, MPlayer and Java. Further functionality from VLC and Xine ensures that you will be able to handle all common audio and video formats. Amarok is ready for your music collection. The King of CD/DVD burning, K3b, is also included." Here is the full release announcement.
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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
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 17 May 2010.
Jesse Smith and Ladislav Bodnar
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Full list of all issues |
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ZimaOS
ZimaOS is an independently-developed, Linux-based operating system for personal servers and network-attached storage (NAS) devices. It features system-level support for remote access, RAID configuration, over-the-air (OTA) updates, and a browser-based user interface for managing the server. It is developed in China by IceWhale Technology Limited, which also produces and sells specialist storage hardware devices called "ZimaCube". Besides ZimaOS which is a complete, standalone operating system, the company also produces CasaOS, a lightweight software layer that can be installed on top of an existing Linux installation in order to turn it into a personal server or a NAS.
Status: Active
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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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