DistroWatch Weekly |
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 426, 10 October 2011 |
Welcome to this year's 41st issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The OpenIndiana project, under one name or another, has had an eventful couple of years. The project has passed from Sun to Oracle to an independent community of developers. This week Jesse Smith takes a look at the project's latest release and reports on whether OpenIndiana has managed to land on its feet. In the news section we cover Red Hat's latest acquisition and Ubuntu's new attempt to attract application developers. We also celebrate the return of kernel.org, the home of Linux, and share some security tips from the kernel.org team on how to detect if your system has been compromised. We also talk with Fuduntu developer Andrew Wyatt on the philosophy of the project and how the Fuduntu team plans to handle packages once the distribution moves away from its Fedora base. We wish you a pleasant week and, as always, happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (19MB) and MP3 (29MB) formats
Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
OpenIndiana - back and better
The last time I took OpenIndiana for a test run it was back when the project was first getting up and running. At the time they'd just moved away from the OpenSolaris project and were in the process of moving things over and getting their infrastructure in place. Predictably running a development release of a new project in the midst of a major change wasn't a smooth experience. At the time some applications didn't work properly and, though the project's work with file system snapshots was coming along nicely, the newborn OpenIndiana wasn't yet ready to face the world. Well, some time has passed, a new stable release (version 151, Desktop edition) is here and it's time to see what a fully formed OpenIndiana can do!
OpenIndiana's live disc is approximately 800MB in size. Booting off the DVD causes the drive to whir for a while and we're then presented with a text menu asking us for our keyboard layout. Next up we're asked for our preferred language. With this information entered OpenIndiana brings up a GNOME 2.30 desktop. The background is a pleasant blue and we find our application menu and notification area at the top of the screen. On the desktop are icons for launching the Device Driver Utility (more on that in a second), the system installer and GParted. The Device Driver Utility is one of my favourite aspects of the DVD. Launching the DDU shows us a list of hardware on our system. Any devices which do not have working drivers are highlighted, letting us know there is a problem with using the hardware. The Utility also allows us to specify the location of a new driver, if one is available, in order to get the device working. Under previous releases we could additionally send our hardware profile to the upstream project (Sun Microsystems). However, since the switch from Sun to Oracle to the OpenIndiana brand it seems this feature has been dropped, at least for the time being.
The project's installer should feel familiar to Linux users, especially those using novice-friendly distributions such as Ubuntu and Mageia. The graphical installer begins by showing us a welcome screen and advises us that the installer can be used for fresh installs only, upgrades are not supported. The partitioning screen is fairly simple. We can either create partitions or hand our entire disk over the installer. OpenIndiana's installer only supports one partition type, so there is no decision to be made in regard to file systems. We then set the system time and select our preferred language. The next screen asks us to set a root password and create a regular user account. I found the whole process to be smooth and painless with the install taking about the same amount of time as a similarly sized Linux distro.
OpenIndiana 151 -- System Installer
(full image size: 599kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
My first impression of OpenIndiana, post-install, was that it has a feel similar to, for example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We're given a classic GNOME desktop, a few application and some administrative tools. There are a few services running, including a mail server and a secure shell server. The desktop is quiet and uncluttered.
In the application menu we find a fairly basic array of desktop software. A copy of Firefox 3.6 is included, as is the Pidgin messenger client and the Thunderbird e-mail program. There's a document viewer, disc burner and CD ripper. We're given the Totem movie player and the Rhythmbox audio player. A screen reader and virtual keyboard are included as accessibility options. The operating system provides the usual collection of GNOME configuration apps for changing the look and feel of the desktop and small, useful applications, such as a text editor, archive manager and calculator. OpenIndiana also comes with a set of administrator utilities. We have a package manager, an application to update software on the system, a user account manager and a firewall configuration app. We're also given a configuration tool for handling Time Slider, which we will touch on later. Java is included in OpenIndiana. I didn't find any compiler on the system and it was no surprise that Flash is not included as I am fairly certain Adobe doesn't make a plugin for OpenIndiana/Solaris. Users looking for a multimedia experience will be disappointed to find the operating system doesn't support popular audio or video codecs out of the box.
OpenIndiana 151 -- Running Firefox
(full image size: 499kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
One quirk of the system I ran into early on is that, upon installing OpenIndiana, the root password expires. This means trying to use any of the graphical admin tools won't work because we are prompted for the root password, which then isn't recognized. We're not told why it doesn't work, only that our access is denied. This can be a bit frustrating since we created a root password at install time and, when we go to create a new one post-install, we can't use the same (or a similar) password. At any rate, once a new password has been set on the root account most of the admin tools work smoothly and I found them pleasant and intuitive. All, that is, except the firewall app. For some reason the firewall application refused to acknowledge either my regular user password or the root password, insisting I didn't have the proper access to change the firewall.
Package management on OpenIndiana is handled about the same as it is on the mainstream Linux distributions. For adding and removing software there is a graphical package manager which bears a resemblance to Synaptic. Software categories are displayed on the left side of the window and a list of packages in that category are shown on the right. Clicking on a package marks it for installation or removal. Updating software also works much the same way as on Linux. A small update app, when launched, will search for available updates, display them for us and grab the fresh packages. It's pretty much the same interface we see on Ubuntu and Fedora. The big difference when dealing with software, for me, was seeing what was (or was not) available. For instance, I didn't find any productivity suite in the repository, nor any popular multimedia software and no alternative desktop environments. When I went looking for a compiler I found a package labelled "gcc-3" ("The GNU C Compiler"), which is several years old. In total, OpenIndiana features just over 3,100 packages, about a tenth of the total found in Debian and its derivatives.
OpenIndiana 151 -- Managing Packages
(full image size: 613kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
OpenIndiana got along well with my desktop system (2.5GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, NVIDIA video card). The desktop was fairly responsive, even with effects turned on, and my screen was set to its maximum resolution. Audio worked out of the box, my network connection was detected and everything ran smoothly. In fact, the operating system reminded me that I have a dial-up modem in that desktop machine. It's been quite some time since I used the modem and I tend to forget it's there, but the Device Driver Utility let me know it had found the Conexant modem and didn't have any matching driver. Moving over to my laptop (dual-core 2GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM, Intel video card) the experience was fair, but not quite as smooth. OpenIndiana was unable to work with my Intel wireless card and it had a little trouble with the Intel video card too. Most of the time my screen was displayed normally, but I would occasionally get some flicker, which I don't usually see when running Linux distros. Otherwise performance on the laptop was good and, as long as I had a wired Internet connection available, there weren't any serious problems.
For most OpenIndiana users, who are more likely to be interested in using the operating system as a server rather than as a desktop, this probably won't be an issue, but I found the operating system was slow to boot on both of my machines. The OS would take a few minutes to go from boot menu to usable desktop, about four times slower than Linux on the same hardware. When running in a virtual environment I found OpenIndiana would run fairly well as long as it had at least 1GB of RAM with which to work.
One of the features included in the operating system I am really pleased with is the Time Slider. OpenIndiana allows us to set up automated file system snapshots, which is fairly normal for operating systems running ZFS. Where OpenIndiana takes it a step further is the way in which we can access those snapshots. The user is able to open the file browser, click on the clock icon and see a sliding bar showing existing snapshots. We can easily "slide" backward in time and see the file system as it was at points in the past. It's really quite intuitive and I found it easier to get used to than the equivalent commercial products from closed source vendors. Another aspect of the system I enjoyed was the accessibility program, which keeps an icon next to the desktop clock. Clicking on the icon brings up a menu allowing us to enable such features as large fonts, high-contrast colours, key press delays and sticky keys. No doubt these features will make the environment more attractive to a wider audience.
OpenIndiana 151 -- Administrator Tools
(full image size: 533kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
I have a soft spot in my heart for Solaris and, by extension, the OpenIndiana project, so I will admit to being biased. That being said, I do think the current release is the best we've seen to date from the open source branch of Solaris. The bugs I encountered in past releases have been fixed and I ran into very few problems. The Time Slider is great and the Device Driver Utility is helpful in checking hardware compatibility and I would very much like to see clones of these tools appear in Linux distributions. On the other hand there are some issues which I suspect will keep people in the Linux and BSD camps from rushing to adopt OpenIndiana. Hardware support may be an issue for some people, at least it was a problem on my laptop, and the software repository is quite small and lacking many popular packages. While using this operating system I got the impression it's directed at people who want to run a server with a graphical desktop component, rather than people who want to run a desktop with a server component. In this way it is similar to products like Mandriva's Enterprise Server. OpenIndiana may not appeal to a lot of people, but I do think it's the easiest way to gain familiarity with the ZFS file system and it's a free way to get hands-on experience with Solaris.
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Miscellaneous News |
Red Hat has its head in the clouds, kernel.org is back on-line and Ubuntu is trying to attract more app developers
Red Hat has decided to increase the company's stake in cloud computing. Last week the leading commercial Linux company announced they will be acquiring Gluster, a "provider of scale-out, open source storage solutions for standardizing the management of unstructured data." In regards to the purchase Red Hat CTO Brian Stevens stated, "With unstructured data growth (such as log files, virtual machines, email, audio, video and documents), the 90′s paradigm of forcing everything into expensive, single-system DBMS residing on an internal corporate SAN has become unwieldy and impractical." The deal is said to be costing Red Hat approximately $136 million and places the open source vendor in a position to offer more cloud-based solutions.
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The kernel.org website is back on-line after a month of down time for maintenance. The site is home of the Linux kernel and is used both as a place to download vanilla kernels and as a host for developer git source trees. Back in August it was revealed the security of kernel.org had been breached and services were taken off-line. The site administrators have used this time to "rearchitect the site in order to improve our systems for developers and users of kernel.org."
When we talk about security we often deal with preventive measures, strong passwords, small attack surfaces and security patches. However, half of the battle is knowing when your walls have been penetrated and what to do about it. To that end, in the wake of the kernel.org security breach, this how-to was posted detailing steps one can take to check their system for infection. The steps range from fairly simple to more involved checks. It's a good, practical guide for the curious and the concerned.
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The Document Foundation, the organization behind LibreOffice, is celebrating its first anniversary. The project lists over 300 contributors with code commits coming from a variety of areas, including SUSE developers, Red Hat and former OpenOffice developers. Engineering Steering Committee member Norbert Thiebaud says of the project, "Thanks to a very welcoming attitude to newcomers, to the copyleft license, and to the fact that it is not requesting any copyright assignment, The Document Foundation has attracted more developers with commits in the first year than the OpenOffice.org project in the first decade." It's a big claim, but the download numbers indicate The Document Foundation is doing something right. According to project member Italo Vignoli, they "have just exceeded 6 million [downloads] from our mirror system and get to 7.5 million with the addition of external sites (like Softpedia) offering the same download. Over 90% are Windows downloads, while MacOS
is around 4%. Linux is a different story, as most users do not download LibreOffice but get it from the distribution repository." He goes on to estimate that approximately 15 million Linux users have installed LibreOffice in the past year.
People interested in getting involved with The Document Foundation, the OpenDocument format or productivity software in general may be interested in the upcoming LibreOffice Conference in Paris. The conference will run October 12-15.
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The Ubuntu team has launched a new app developer website. This site exists to help and encourage application writers to develop new software for Ubuntu's Software Centre. The site welcomes open source and proprietary licenses as well as both free (as in cost) and commercial software. The new Ubuntu developer site includes instructions, mailing lists, FAQs and a video tutorial on how to create, package and publish new apps. With the site's statement "Ubuntu is the third most popular operating system in the world" it seems Canonical is hoping to both entice new developers to publish software on Linux and use the Ubuntu Software Centre to generate revenue for the company and software writers. The move has the potential for a three-way win for Ubuntu, users who want a wider range of software on Linux and developers who want to get their projects included into a major distribution without jumping through licensing hoops.
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Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
A look behind the curtain, part 2
A few weeks ago I received the following question:
"I'd like to know more about how a distribution works. I suspect the
answers differ across the spectrum, but how are they organized, why do
they do what they do, what are the costs and how do they meet them? I
guess I understand Red Hat, as a commercial venture, but what about
community projects?"
Last week we shared an answer from Linux Mint founder Clement Lefebvre. This week Fuduntu developer and founder Andrew Wyatt steps up to the mic to share his insight into how and why the Fuduntu developers do what they do. He has also agreed to explain how the small Fuduntu team handles their large repository of packages and how they will continue to do so in the future as they move away from their Fedora base.
Andrew "Fewt" Wyatt (Fuduntu) answers: First, a little history about Fuduntu. When I created Fuduntu, I didn't do so with the intent that it would ever become a very active Linux distribution with many users and contributors. To be honest, I didn't expect it to be used by anyone other than myself.
The very first version was nothing more than Fedora 14 with a few tweaks and packages that I normally installed on my computer(s) wrapped up into a live DVD for me to use to install everything on my second computer. My only goal with the creation of Fuduntu was to learn more about the process of building live media by building a live DVD. During this process I also created a repository to host package changes that I knew I would make in the future.
Once I had finished the installation, I had the thought that it may be useful to others that used similar settings so I created a new project and uploaded it to SourceForge expecting it to remain idle.
Surprisingly, people started showing some level of interest almost immediately. This lead to the creation of a simple website, a forum, and a lot more work to bring the distribution to a level of maturity necessary for use by many people rather than a distribution intended to be used by a single person.
Philosophy
As the distribution grew so did the team, we brought active forum members on as moderators, and posted a public invitation for contributors to join the team.
During this phase of growth the team decided that a democratic approach to distribution development was important, and we crafted a few rules of how we govern things. In the process we decided that we would not brand some team members as "moderators" and others as "developers", as we were one team.
Fuduntu follows a few simple guiding principles in order of importance.
- Have fun. If we aren't having fun, we are doing it wrong.
- Every voice counts - Our community is our most important asset, Fuduntu without users holds no value.
- Build a great Linux distribution that people will want to use.
Falling in line with those principles are the rules under which we build and maintain Fuduntu.
Releases
In the beginning stages, Fuduntu was developed in a rapid series of short sprints each of which were followed by a release. This helped fix a lot of problems very quickly and deliver those fixes to users.
Over time the distribution matured, and this process was re-evaluated and deemed to no longer be necessary. A quarterly release approach was adopted, and Fuduntu now releases installation media quarterly. Our most recent release being Fuduntu 14.11, released September 20th [2011].
Package Delivery
We standardized and automated parts of the build process, and we utilize a hybrid waterfall approach to package delivery. This means that all packages delivered to a Fuduntu repository are built on servers dedicated to building packages for Fuduntu. Several physical servers (and a few desktops) all configured to the same "version" of Fuduntu are available to the packaging team who follow a standard process to build and promote software through multiple tiers of development and testing before landing in our stable repository.
When a request or other notification is received by a Fuduntu team member that a new version of software is available:
- The Fuduntu team member powers on one or more servers over the internet (WOL/I).
- The team member pushes the new source code in some format to the server(s).
- Changes are made if necessary, and the software is compiled.
- The software is pushed to a "development" repository for localized testing on multiple computers.
- Once the software is deemed ready for testing, it is moved from the development repository to a testing repository.
- A notice is posted at Fuduntu Forum that new software is available for testing, with a request for comments.
- Once tested by at least two other members of the team or community, the software is pushed to "stable".
This allows the majority of bugs to be found and corrected before releasing software to the wider Fuduntu population. Once a server is determined to be idle for N minutes with zero users (or screen sessions) it will automatically power off.
Major package changes are documented, and available for any team member to be able to pick up a package and build a release should new source become available while the formal maintainer is unavailable. We have several automations that inform us of new software as it becomes available allowing us to react quickly.
As we move towards a rolling release, many automations will be developed. One technology we are designing will:
- Watch for new source
- WOL an idle server
- Initiate a build
- Stage built software packages for internal review
Finances
Fortunately, Fuduntu is relatively inexpensive to maintain. Our normal costs include things like hardware, power, domain registration, and other small expenses. We utilize Google Adsense which covers the costs of domain renewals, power, and any other small expenses; and we hold donation drives for larger purchases. For example, we hosted a donation drive in April to fund procurement of two "out of service" IBM 1U servers to use as build hosts, earning the needed funds in less than one week.
To keep utility costs low, we have a lights out policy with automations to power off systems when they aren't needed.
Fuduntu packages and web content are hosted by SourceForge who recently updated their FRS service to allow hosting yum repositories directly within their file replication service itself. Their project web service provides web hosting for the primary website and forum, and they offer an internal MySQL service which hosts the forum back end.
These free services have been critical to the success of our project, and we can't thank them enough for providing them to the community.
Why we do what we do
This is simple, we do it because it's fun. Members of our team all came together with a common goal. That goal is that we believe we can improve "Desktop Linux" in a way that makes it better for ourselves, and others that choose to use it. Ultimately, we are putting our money where our mouths are. That said though, we don't have any particular purpose, agenda or mission other than to have a lot of fun, oh and by the way, we build a Linux distribution too.
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Released Last Week |
Parted Magic 6.7
Patrick Verner has announced the release of Parted Magic 6.7, a new stable version of the project's specialist live CD designed for data rescue and disk management tasks: "Major enhancement release with many updates. Most notable updates include Linux 3.0.4 and GParted 0.9.1. We have dropped the legacy PCManFM for PCMan-Mod, and man is it nice! Lots a little PCManFM bugs that have existed for years are now quashed. Xfburn replaces SimpleBurn for burning CD/DVD media. Chntwd was added to the boot menu. Adding Luxi fonts improved international language support. Although it's not the newest release, Firefox is updated to version 6.0.2 and is compiled for i486 (official branding included) with permission from the Mozilla Foundation. OpenSSH is updated to 5.9p1 with the ECDSA key created by default. People have been complaining about Parted Magic being hard on laptop batteries, so CPU frequency scaling on anything with a battery is now set to 'on-demand' at boot." Visit the distribution's home page to read the release announcement.
AgiliaLinux 8.0.0
AgiliaLinux, formerly known as MOPSLinux, is a Russian distribution with roots in Slackware Linux, but equipped a custom installer and package manager. Today the project announced the release of AgiliaLinux 8.0.0. It features Linux kernel 3.0.4, glibc 2.12.2, GCC 4.5.2, X.Org Server 1.10.2 and Mesa 7.10.3, while supported desktop environments and window managers include KDE 4.7.1, GNOME 2.32.1, Xfce 4.8.3, LXDE 0.5.0, Openbox 3.5.0 and Fluxbox 1.3.1. With this release the project has also officially changed the development style of the distribution to a "rolling-release model with periodic stable releases". The software updates are fully automated without the need of any manual intervention, but for those who need new ISO images for fresh installation new point releases will be made available every three months. On a lighter note, the project has now also chosen a mascot - a girl nicknamed Sammy. If you understand Russian you can read the entire
release announcement here.
Zentyal 2.2-1
José Antonio Calvo has announced the availability of an updated release of Zentyal 2.2, an easy-to-use server distribution designed for managing network services, based on Ubuntu: "The Zentyal development team has published a new compilation of packages including all the bug fixes and system updates from Ubuntu since the release of the first 2.2 installer. There are also two changes in this new installer: the 64-bit edition now uses the server kernel by default instead of the generic one; adds the new secondary packages repository, allowing us to release important bug fixes without waiting until Launchpad builds and publishes them." Read the rest of the release announcement to learn more about the new repository and how to set it up.
Salix 13.37 "Ratpoison"
George Vlahavas has announced the release of Salix OS 13.37 "Ratpoison" edition, a Slackware-based distribution showcasing the rather unusual Ratpoison window manager: "Salix Ratpoison 13.37 is released. This is probably the first-ever Linux distribution release featuring Ratpoison as the main window manager. The aim of the Ratpoison edition is to create a system that is fully usable with the keyboard only, no mouse required! For everyone that is not familiar with Ratpoison, Ratpoison is a window manager for X 'with no-fat library dependencies, no fancy graphics, no window decorations, and no rodent dependence'. Ratpoison uses a workflow that is similar to that of GNU screen, which is very popular in the terminal world. All interaction with the window manager is done through keystrokes." See the complete release announcement which includes hints on using Ratpoison and a link to a start-up guide.
Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7r1
Alan Baghumian has announced the release of an updated build of Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7, a desktop-oriented distribution and live DVD based on Debian's testing branch and featuring the GNOME 2.32.1 desktop environment: "The first updated version of Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7, code name 'Raul', is available now. This version comes with updated GTK+, Grisbi, GNU Iceweasel and Chromium browser packages. It also merges all the published security updates into a new set of ISO images. You can easily update your existing systems using APT. Major components: Linux kernel 2.6.37.6, X.Org Server 1.7.7, GNU Iceweasel 7.0.1, Chromium 13.0.782.220, OpenOffice.org 3.2.1, glibc 2.11.2, GParted 0.8.1, GIMP 2.6.8, Grisbi 0.8.8, VirtualBox 4.0.4, VLC 1.1.3...." Check out the detailed release notes for more information and upgrade instructions.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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DistroWatch.com News |
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 October 2011.
Jesse Smith
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Archives |
• 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 |
• Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
• Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
• Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
• Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
• Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
• Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
• Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
• Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
• Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
• Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
• Full list of all issues |
Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
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Whonix
Whonix is an operating system focused on anonymity, privacy and security. It is based on the Tor anonymity network, Debian GNU/Linux and security by isolation. Whonix consists of two parts: One solely runs Tor and acts as a gateway, which is called Whonix-Gateway. The other, which is called Whonix-Workstation, is on a completely isolated network. Only connections through Tor are possible. With Whonix, you can use applications and run servers anonymously over the Internet. DNS leaks are impossible, and even malware with root privileges cannot find out the user's real IP.
Status: Active
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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!
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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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