 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 455, 7 May 2012 |
Welcome to this year's 19th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! There is little doubt that Ubuntu 12.04 is a major milestone and a radical departure from the established Linux distribution experiences of the past. With the improved Unity desktop, HUD menu and an increasing number of online services, Ubuntu is no longer just a "distro", it's a complete computing infrastructure ready for use by anyone. Read our review below to find out what we think about Canonical's latest and (arguably) greatest release ever. The news section expands on the Ubuntu theme with a BBC article covering the new version and it also links to an online discussion about early tentative plans for Ubuntu 12.10. Also in this issue, a Debian infographic explains the terminology and relationships between the different units of Debian GNU/Linux and an interesting experiment gauging user impressions of three Linux distribution websites. Finally, we are happy to announce that the recipient of the DistroWatch.com April 2012 donation is the Slackware Linux project. Happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Review of Ubuntu 12.04
 The arrival of Ubuntu 12.04 attracted a lot of attention just over a week ago, both from users and critics alike. In fact, Ubuntu's new long-term support tempted attracted so many people that I was unable to connect to the project's download servers on the day of the release and had to turn to the torrent files to get the latest version.
The new Ubuntu comes in a variety of flavours. There's the desktop edition, which is probably the most popular offering, there's a server edition, an alternative installation for people who want to build up their systems from a core set of utilities, there's also a DVD desktop edition for people who want to have more software (such as language packs and the GNU Image Manipulation Program) available in the default install. Each of these editions is available in 32-bit and 64-bit builds. The default desktop environment for Ubuntu is Unity and, for people who aren't comfortable with the default, the Ubuntu community provides alternative desktops, both via the project's software repositories and through separate community offerings, such as Kubuntu and Xubuntu. I opted to take the default desktop edition.
The desktop edition is provided as a 700 MB CD image which I downloaded and burned to a disc. While I was waiting for my download to complete I took a tour of the new features available in Ubuntu 12.04. The main one, which has provoked a lot of commentary leading up to its release, is the Head-Up Display (HUD). The idea behind the HUD is to make application menus searchable. Ideally, this will make it possible to find a specific menu item or bit of functionality even in large or cluttered menus. The feature tour also made mention of lenses, which provide us with a way to locate music, videos, applications and other files using Unity's Dash. We'll cover those features later.
Installation
Booting from the project's CD brings up a welcome screen which allows us to select our preferred language and offers us the option of trying the live environment or launching Ubuntu's installer. I opted to go straight to the installer. The next screen we see is a check list, letting us know if we have enough disk space to perform an install and it recommends we connect to the Internet to get the full benefit of the installation process. We're also given the choice of doing a plain install with completely free software or we can download extra packages which may be considered non-free or patent encumbered. We can also choose whether to grab all available package upgrades at install time or just do an install with local packages and apply security upgrades later. I appreciate this flexibility and another aspect of the installation I like is the upper-right corner of the screen is occupied with a system tray where we can enable accessibility options. If any of these accessibility options, such as the virtual keyboard, are used during the installation, Ubuntu will remember this and turn on the feature for the main user's account.
The next screen of the installer gives us the option of performing a guided or manual partitioning of the hard drive. I went for the manual process and found Ubuntu supports ext2, ext3, ext4, BtrFS, JFS, ReiserFS and XFS partitions. The partitioning screen is well laid out and responsive. I find it very easy to use. Once we set up our partitions Ubuntu begins formating and copying files while we finish the last few steps. We select our time zone from a map of the world and, if we're connected to the Internet, the installer will try to guess our time zone for us. Then we confirm our keyboard layout and create a user account. At this time we can opt to have our account auto-login and we can also choose whether to encrypt our home folder. The installer then passes the next few minutes showing us a slide show of various features while it finishes copying files and (optionally) downloading any additional packages we have requested.
Ubuntu 12.04 - exploring virtual desktops and launching the installer
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The Unity desktop
When we first boot into Ubuntu we're presented with a graphical login screen where the theme makes generous use of the colour purple. Aside from the user account we created at install time there is also a guest account present. The guest account can be used without a password and, once the user signs out of the guest account, any changes to that account (and any files created) are removed. This makes it easy to hand over our computer to a friend or relative without the requirement of giving them a password or a dedicated account. On the flip side there doesn't appear to be any easy way to disable the guest account without manually digging through configuration files should security be a concern.
When logging in each user has the option of using the regular Unity desktop or a "Unity 2D" environment. The latter environment is provided for people who run video cards and drivers which do not support 3D effects. In appearance and behaviour the two Unities are virtually identical. The only difference I noticed was, on my machines at any rate, Unity 2D was a bit more responsive.
The default wallpaper is a sort of hazy purple with light filtering through and it reminds me of viewing a sunset on a cloudy day. Over on the left side of the screen is a launch bar. The bar contains large icons for opening the Unity Dash, opening the user's home folder, bringing up the settings panel and there are launchers for LibreOffice, Firefox, Ubuntu One and the Software Centre. At the top of the screen we find a menu bar and the system tray.
The Unity Dash is central to the desktop experience and I want to spend some time there. Where most desktop environments have application menus, Unity has the Dash. Clicking on the Dash button or hitting the meta key (sometimes called the Windows key) activates the Dash, bringing up a menu that covers most of the desktop. By default the Dash shows us recently used applications, but the flexibility of the Dash is in its lenses. At the bottom of the Dash page there are icons for changing the Dash's focus. One lens is for applications, clicking on it shows recently used applications at the top of the page, locally installed applications in the middle of the page and available software (from the repositories) along the bottom.
At the top of the Dash is a search bar and we can type in filters to narrow down the displayed items. For example, I can perform a search for "image editor" and the Dash will display installed image editors and additional editors which could be installed. Clicking on the icon of an item that is in the repositories will open Ubuntu's Software Centre with a description of the application and an install button, making it easy to add the item to our system.
Ubuntu 12.04 - Software Centre
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Another lens allows us to search for files and folders. Typing a word into the search box brings up matching files and folders. Clicking on a folder's icon opens that folder in the system's file browser. The next lens over lets us search for music in the Ubuntu music store and songs we have saved locally. I ran into some issues with the music lens. The first was that songs which were saved locally and present in my music library didn't always appear in the lens. It seemed there was a delay between when files would be added and when they would be indexed.
The other problem was that clicking on a song from the music store would open Rhythmbox and launch the Ubuntu music store, but I'd receive an error from the store saying the item couldn't be found. The last lens is for videos. The video lens allows us to search for videos by name and will locate matches on a variety of video streaming services, including YouTube, TED talks and other popular streaming sites. Clicking on a video's icon will open Firefox to play the media. The video lens will also locate media stored in our local video folder and clicking on a local item will open it in the Totem multimedia player.
There are a number of observations I'd like to make about the Unity interface, not so much as an overview, but as a series of separate characteristics which stood out during my trial. The first is that windows are displayed with their control buttons to the left, rather than the right, of the window. This won't surprise anyone who has used Ubuntu in the past year or so, but it's something I always have to get used to again. Though it takes a while for me to fight twenty years of habit, I will admit that having the controls on the left side does make sense. The menus and launch buttons are all over on that side, and left-sided controls do make for less mouse travel (unless we count my jerking the mouse to the right, then remembering the buttons are on the left).
Another feature I noticed is when we open an application it adds its icon to the launch bar. We can right-click on launch bar icons to pin them permanently to the side of the screen or we can right-click on the icons to remove them. When the launch bar fills up we can move our mouse to the top or bottom of the screen to scroll through the list of icons. I found this worked fairly well. Also in regards to the launch bar, it is possible to set the bar to auto-hide, freeing up its precious screen space. However, I found that when my bar was set to auto-hide, it usually would not reappear when my mouse was over the area. I had this problem on both machines and it meant I'd find myself waving the mouse back and forth over the left side of the screen trying (usually unsuccessfully) to get the bar to appear. Eventually I returned the bar to being visible full-time.
Unity presents us with a universal menu bar at the top of the screen. This means the application window which currently has focus places its menu at the top of our display rather than carrying around its menu inside the application window. Personally I don't care for this approach as it means the user must venture up to the top of the screen to interact with a program's menu, regardless of where the program's window is on our display. There are some exceptions to this rule, some applications, such as LibreOffice, still display their menus inside their own window and do not make use of the universal menu bar. Thin scrollbars are still a feature of Ubuntu. Though perhaps more attractive than standard scrollbars, I find they're harder to select and move. I suppose the new design is a matter of taste as much as functionality.
On the subject of accounts and security I've found when performing admin tasks users who are not set up as administrators will be asked for the administrator's password. For example, if Bob has an administrator's account and Susan has an unprivileged user account then when Susan attempts to install a new software package she will be prompted for Bob's password. On the surface this may seem odd, but what it does is effectively combine sudo and su so the unprivileged user (given the proper password) automatically switches to the privileged account and gains one-time access to perform their task. It's two steps in one and, for families sharing a computer, I suspect it will be a good time saver.
Software and online services
The Ubuntu One storage service and music store are present in 12.04, though I found the storage service is not enabled by default. Clicking the Ubuntu One icon on the sidebar brings up a wizard which walks us through installing the One software, creating an account and selecting which folders we want to sync with the remote server. The One service gives us 5GB of free space with the option of purchasing additional storage. The Rhythmbox music player comes with the One music store plugin which I found worked well. I had some issues with earlier versions of the One service, but now I think all the bugs have been worked out. I also found the One control panel has been improved a bit, giving us a clearer picture of what the service is doing and which folders are being synced. In addition I think it's worth noting the system's backup utility, Deja Dup, comes with the ability to save backups to the Ubuntu One storage service, along with saving to other hosts or local folders.
The Ubuntu Software Centre hasn't changed much in the last six months. When we open the Centre we're shown a list of popular packages which other people have installed and rated highly. We can then browse through categories of software or search for items by name. Search results display a package's icon, a brief description and user-supplied rating. Clicking on an item brings up a page with a more complete description of the software and a list of associated packages we might also find useful. For example, if we install a web browser we might also be offered the Flash plugin. Software can be installed or removed with a single click. When we choose to download or remove a package that action is added to a queue and our actions are processed in the background while we continue to use the Software Centre. At any time we can view the queue of waiting actions and cancel them. Though I didn't use this next feature during my trial, the Software Centre will allow us to sync installed packages across multiple machines, which makes maintaining a small group of computers easier.
The software update manager also hasn't changed much in recent months. The system automatically checks for security updates and, if any are found, the manager's icon appears on our launch bar. I found this behaviour preferable to previous releases where the update manager window would pop-up when we logged in. I find the update manager easy to use, it allows us to select which updates we want to install and provides detailed progress information while it works.
Ubuntu 12.04 - applying updates and changing settings
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Though Unity blurs the line a bit between what software is installed and what is available to be downloaded, I found the following programs were included in the default installation. For web browsing we're given Firefox and for e-mail the Thunderbird client is included. LibreOffice is available and Network Manager is included to get us on-line. For playing music we're given Rhythmbox and videos can be viewed using the Totem multimedia player. We're provided with a virtual keyboard and screen reader. The Transmission BitTorrent client is included as are a document viewer, an archive manager and a calculator.
We're provided with a text editor and a control centre for managing desktop settings and backups. Should we choose to download extras at install time we find the Adobe Flash plugin and multimedia codecs on the system. In the background the Linux kernel, version 3.2, keeps things running. One additional feature I appreciated about Ubuntu 12.04 was that if an application crashed (which was quite rare in my trial) a dialog would appear and offer to send a bug report for us. The bug reporter does not require a username or e-mail address and, aside from asking our permission to send the report, it is completely automated.
Head-Up Display
After using Ubuntu for around an hour it occurred to me I hadn't seen any evidence of the much-hyped HUD. The feature tour had mentioned that the HUD could be activated by pressing a key, but it didn't mention which key. Checking the documentation showed that the HUD could be activated from any application by pressing the ALT key, which in hindsight made sense as ALT is also the key that typically activates application menus. Basically what happens when we activate the HUD is that a search box appears in the upper-left corner of the screen. We can then type words indicating what sort of function we want to perform and the HUD will search the application's menus for the corresponding item. For instance, when running Firefox we can activate the HUD, type "bookmark" and we get options such as "bookmark this page" and "manage bookmarks".
Ubuntu 12.04 - Unity HUD
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When running the Rhythmbox music player we can manipulate the player's controls by tapping ALT and entering "play" or "next". Sometimes typing the full word isn't required and we can get into the habit of typing ALT + "ne" + Enter to move to the next song. I imagine this sort of functionality will be a great asset when using large programs with lots of features, such as the GNU Image Manipulation Program, however it's not likely most people will use the HUD when running smaller apps as there is no need to search through the menus to find what we need. The HUD is really quite handy (particularly for people who prefer to keep their hands on the keyboard). The HUD only appears when evoked and works quite quickly. My only complaint is that it doesn't work with all applications, just those which integrate their menu into the Unity menu bar. This means that the LibreOffice suite, an ideal candidate for searchable menus, can not make use of the HUD.
Hardware support
I ran Ubuntu on two physical machines, a 2.5 GHz desktop box with 2 GB of RAM and a NVIDIA video card. Performance on the desktop machine was fair, sound worked out of the box, my screen was set to an appropriate resolution and the OS worked well. The other machine was my HP laptop featuring a dual-core 2 GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM, an Intel video card and an Intel wireless card. Again, Ubuntu detected and utilized all of my hardware. Sound worked out of the box, I was notified upon logging in that my wireless card had detected networks within range and my screen was set to its maximum resolution. On both machines I found Unity (the 3D version) would work, but desktop responsiveness lagged a little. When running Unity 2D interacting with the desktop was a smooth experience, about equivalent to using KDE or GNOME. In short, Ubuntu did its usual good job where my hardware was concerned. Memory usage on my machines varied a bit depending on which services I had running. Logging into the desktop shortly after installing Ubuntu showed about 225MB of RAM to be in use, aside from buffers and cache.
I also installed Ubuntu in a VirtualBox virtual machine and there I encountered a different story. Desktop performance, using either Unity 3D or Unity 2D, was sluggish and I found the HUD feature wouldn't respond properly to keyboard input, requiring I use the mouse to select search results. On the other hand, Ubuntu does include a nice feature for VirtualBox users. When we login Ubuntu will detect it is running in a virtual environment and offer to download and install VirtualBox guest modules, providing a more flexible, integrated experience. I tried installing the VirtualBox add-ons and found they worked well, but the desktop environment remained slow to respond in the virtual machine.
It may be worth noting the desktop edition of Ubuntu 12.04 no longer supports CPUs which do not come with physical address extension (PAE) support. After a lengthy discussion on the developer mailing lists it was decided to drop support for the older processors on the installation media as machines that old would be unlikely to be used to run the Ubuntu desktop edition. Users who need support for non-pae processors can still make use of lighter members of the Ubuntu family, such as Xubuntu. People upgrading from older Ubuntu releases will also be able to make use of non-pae kernels.
One feature I've seen offered before for Ubuntu systems, but haven't had much time to look into prior to this week, is Landscape. What is Landscape? Basically it's a service which allows us to register multiple computers (desktops and servers) under one Canonical account. We can then login to the Landscape website and manage these computers from one location. From the web portal we can monitor processes running on our machines, apply updates, install packages and add, edit or remove user accounts. There are more features, but those are the ones I had time to look at this week. The service is free to try and is offered as part of Canonical's support offerings after the free trial month. Landscape strikes me as being similar to Red Hat's Enterprise Linux management panel, but I personally find Landscape easier to navigate.
Ubuntu 12.04 - the Landscape web portal
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Conclusions
Over the past two years many people, myself included, have questioned Ubuntu's direction. The developers have tackled a number of projects, some of which seemed misguided at the time, Unity being chief amongst them. However, with the release of 12.04 LTS I feel that the various puzzle pieces, which may have been underwhelming individually, have come together to form a whole, clear picture. Canonical now has an almost complete software and service stack. Consider this for a moment: when planning to purchase PCs or servers we can easily find certified hardware from Ubuntu's compatibility database. The distribution provides server, desktop and alternative editions, making it easy to have a working out-of-the-box solution, regardless of our needs and each edition will receive support for the next five years.
Installation of any of these editions is often a simple matter of hitting Next repeatedly and providing an administrative password. The Landscape service and Software Centre make it easy to manage multiple machines at once and the One service allows us to seamlessly share files and backup data across any number of devices and multiple operating systems. Unity, though a step away from the traditional desktop, has several features which make it attractive, such as reducing mouse travel. The HUD means that newcomers can find application functionality with a quick search and more advanced users can use the HUD to quickly run menu commands from the keyboard. Later this year we've been told to expect Android/Ubuntu devices which will complete the picture, giving people the ability to have one big, integrated stack working across all of their devices. In short, Canonical is a hardware factory away from being the open-source version of Apple.
Not everything is roses and I did run into a few issues. As I mentioned above, the HUD doesn't work across all applications (LibreOffice being the odd program out) and performance in a virtual machine was a bit of a let-down. Unity provides very good defaults in my opinion, but they're different enough from the norm that people, such as myself, will find the new design conflicting with habit. I feel that Unity will be better received by computer novices who don't have to unlearn where controls are. Still, at the end of the week, when I left Unity and went back to KDE I found myself tapping ALT to bring up the HUD -- it's an addictive feature and I hope other desktops will soon offer it as an option.
I think that when we look at individual pieces of the Ubuntu experience we can certainly find things we'd like to improve. While I think Unity has grown to maturity, I found that its lack of flexibility bothered me. Likewise if we look at the Ubuntu One sync service and compare it to Dropbox we can see where One might come up short in features. The HUD panel and the lenses are good, though they could be polished further. Ubuntu's five years of free support are really quite good, but lose out in a one-on-one comparison with RHEL and its clones. However, if we take Canonical's latest Ubuntu release as a whole it's easy to see how putting together all of these pieces into one integrated product produces an overall experience head and shoulders above anything else in the Linux ecosystem.
The novice-oriented documentation, combined with hardware certification, combined with integrated One services, plus the music store, plus five years of support, plus Landscape, plus the HUD & lenses, the desktop and server editions, the over 38,000 packages with additional PPAs, the freedom to choose between sticking with FOSS software or installing restricted software and the price tag of $0.00 all adds up to a product virtually unparalleled in the Linux community. Granted there are projects which reshape or place their own layers on Ubuntu (Linux Mint comes readily to mind). Many of these flavours and derivatives are quite good, but I don't think I've seen any of them put together all the pieces as effectively as Ubuntu has with this release.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
BBC on Ubuntu 12.04, plans for "Quantal Quetzal", Debian infographic
 The release of Ubuntu 12.04 in late April became a dominant talking point in many Linux and computing media during the past two weeks. But the distribution is no longer a niche domain as it once was and many mainstream publications have also devoted space to the popular alternative operating system and its creators. British Broadcasting Corporation was one of the many news servers covering the release in "Ubuntu's Mark Shuttleworth on shaking up system software": "Free of charge, free of viruses and designed to outpace its rivals on low-end systems - Ubuntu has some obvious advantages. The operating system claims 20 million people use it a day. Not an insignificant number, but still a drop in the ocean compared to Microsoft's Windows or Apple's OS X. Even so, lead designer and one-time astronaut Mark Shuttleworth hopes that last week's major upgrade to the Linux-based project will produce an outsized splash and increase the size of its somewhat divergent customer-base. 'In terms of our user, they would split into two sorts of camps,' he says. 'One, not very tech savvy, that has an old PC lying around and Windows is getting difficult because of the computer's age or viruses, and Ubuntu gives them a nice basic all-purpose PC with a great web experience.'"
Now that 12.04 is out, the focus of Ubuntu developers have turned to the next milestone - Quantal Quetzal. Although these are very early days in the development process, the OMG! Ubuntu! website has gathered some interesting information about possible features of Ubuntu 12.10 in "Mark Shuttleworth on Ubuntu 12.10 Plans": "Q: Will 12.10 see a new icon theme introduced? A: We've wanted to do a new icon theme for years! It's not hard to start drawing… But yet another icon theme, without a proper analysis of the framework that we use icons in would not make the world much better so we've pulled together some experts, both artists and interface gurus to look at the use of icons across the desktop. We'll start with proper analysis. The art part will come later." On Dash search: "Q: Where is the Dash search going? Will the Dash find exif, ID3 tags in the future? A: Dash wants to read your mind, as does the HUD. So the answer is 'whatever fits your brain best', and these will be fun conversations at UDS next week I don't have a fixed, detailed, secret roadmap for that, but the framework enables you to plug in any sort of result set you like so, it's something to invite collaboration and inspire innovation lenses and scopes are a lot of fun to work with."
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 Despite the success of Ubuntu on the desktop, let's not forget that a big part of the system comes from Debian GNU/Linux, the world's largest Linux distribution. The sheer size of the project, with hundreds of developers, tens of thousands of software packages and dozens of side activities, may make it difficult to find a way around the infrastructure and terminology. This is where Claudio Filho's Debian infographic could come handy when trying to explain the concepts to general public: "I made my first infographic on Debian GNU/Linux, which sought to put all the information (possible) I have in my lecture on this great project. What motivated me to make this stuff was the difficulty that the general public has to understand Debian, its areas, their numbers or their general operation." The author is open to comments and suggestions and even provides an online document for translating the text in the infographic into other languages. See the author's blog post to find out more and to read some interesting comments.
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| Opinions (by Jesse Smith) |
An experiment in looking in from the outside
Quite often people in a community get accustomed to certain rules or certain types of behaviour, various practices which, to an outsider, don't make sense. I see this a lot in the Linux community, particularly when giving advice on forums. Rarely a week goes by without seeing a post to the effect of, "It's simple, all you have to do is run sudo mount -t iso9660 youriso-version.iso your/mount/point/here." Now some of you are reading that and nodding, thinking, "Sure, so they are mounting the CD image, so what?" That's the problem. To people who have been in the community for a while, the above string of characters makes sense, the term "mounting" in the context of compact discs makes sense. However, to a vast majority of the population half of this paragraph is nothing but nonsense.
A big part of the issue I see for adoption of Linux is that developers and advocates inside the Linux community can lose sight of how to communicate with people who are still on the outside. When I'm writing reviews I generally try to approach distributions from an outside perspective, partly because so much of our readership is new to Linux and partly because I think the hardest part of growing the community isn't keeping people, but getting them in the door. I cringe a little when I see websites post installation instructions which read along the lines of, "Download the proper ISO for your architecture, then burn it to a CD using your preferred burning software," instead of presenting a list of step-by-step instructions. Again, most people outside the Linux community (who aren't part of an IT department) are already lost.
This brings me to an experiment I conducted recently. I went out and contacted ten people and, without telling them what the websites were about, asked each person to, on their own, visit the following: FedoraProject.org, Ubuntu.com and Debian.org. Each person was asked to answer the following three questions:
- What is each website about, what are they offering?
- For the websites which provide software, what are the steps to download it?
- Does the website provide instructions for using their product and were those instructions helpful?
In case you're wondering why I picked Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu it's because those three are quite popular and were the first big three which came to mind. I didn't want to use more than three as I figured people were likely to get bored. Speaking of the people, there was a fairly wide range, at least from the point of view of computer knowledge. Most were comfortable using one or more proprietary operating systems, but hadn't used Linux before. Two had used Linux previously, though not long-term. One wasn't really comfortable with any operating system.
The results were, for me at least, interesting. I don't claim they're scientific or particularly useful, but as a short exercise I enjoyed observing how non-Linux users approached Linux websites. One point I felt worthy of note was everyone, without exception, was able to positively answer all three questions with regards to the Ubuntu website. Everyone was able to understand what was being offered, found the download button and located documentation they understood. A good sign for the people over at Canonical.
The Debian website faired well, though there was a little confusion. Everyone was able to understand what was being offered, but finding the proper download among the array of options of full install, CD install, "netinstall" and the various architectures confused a minority of people participating in the test. Almost everyone was able to find the proper documentation for installing Debian, even if they had trouble understanding some of the details. The make-or-break factor with Debian seemed to correlate with the people who noticed the thin "Download Debian" box in the corner of the main page. People who went searching through the menu at the bottom of the page tended not to find what they needed.
The Fedora website provided fairly positive results. Everyone was able to find an appropriate download link for the Fedora ISOs. Likewise, people were able to find the documentation to walk them through an installation without too much trouble. What I found a bit amusing was that almost a third of the participants thought Fedora was some sort of Facebook plugin or application instead of a full operating system, due to the project's logo. This is one of those things people inside the Linux community would probably never consider, but there's a bit of a confusion over the brand (apparently) where outsiders are concerned.
I don't think we can draw any sweeping conclusions from my small sample, but the experience was good for me in that it gave me some outside perspective. I think the Linux community in general needs that from time to time so we can continue to develop and improve, pulling in ideas and views from outside sources. It's important for a community to avoid becoming an echo chamber, otherwise it can't grow.
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| Released Last Week |
OpenBSD 5.1
Theo de Raadt has announced the release of OpenBSD 5.1, a BSD operating system with a focus on security: "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 5.1. What's new? umsm(4) supports additional mobile broadband devices; non-GigE ale(4) devices can now establish link to a GigE link partner; support for Intel 82580 has been added to em(4); support for MegaRAID 9240 has been added to mfi(4); support for Nuvoton NCT6776F has been added to lm(4)... Highlights: OpenSSH 6.0, GNOME 3.2.1, KDE 3.5.10, Xfce 4.8.3, MySQL 5.1.60, PostgreSQL 9.1.2, Postfix 2.8.8, Mozilla Firefox 3.5.19, 3.6.25 and 9.0.1, LibreOffice 3.4.5.2... The system includes the following major components from outside suppliers: Xenocara (based on X.Org 7.6 with X.Org Server 1.11.4, FreeType 2.4.8, Mesa 7.10.3; GCC 4.2.1; Perl 5.12.2...." The OpenBSD 5.1 release page has a detailed list of all changes and improvements.
ArchBang Linux 2012.05
Stan McLaren has announced the release of ArchBang Linux 2012.05, a lightweight Arch-based desktop distribution featuring the Openbox window manager: "ArchBang 2012.05 is out in the wild. If you are already running ArchBang smoothly on your system you don't need to install the new release. Some changes for this release: QDarkStudio4 default GTK+ theme; Shotwell picture viewer; improved Conky; Epdfview replaces zathura; simple clean tint2 panel; Broadcom wireless added; VirtulaBox Arch Linux additions; mobile broadband modem capability added to NetworkManager. ArchBang will now be released four times per year to provide users with more regularly updated versions. Due to upgrades and improvements to the Arch Linux system, ArchBang may release unofficial updates between official releases to prevent excessive workarounds in installing and updating newly installed systems." Here is the brief release announcement.
ArchBang Linux 2012.05 - the project's first release under Stan MacLaren's leadership
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Lightweight Portable Security 1.3.4
Software Protection Initiative (SPI) has announced the release of Lightweight Portable Security (LPS) 1.3.4, an updated version of the project's security live CD designed for secure and anonymous use of web-based applications: "Changes: updated Firefox to 10.0.4 ESR; added Firefox extension HTTPS Everywhere 2.0.3; added Firefox extension NoScript 2.3.9; updated Thunderbird to 10.0.4 ESR; downgraded Flash to 11.1.102.63 due to incompatibilities in new Adobe libraries, Flash will be updated with our next kernel update release (LPS 1.4), if running an old version of Flash poses a problem, use the NoScript add-on within Firefox to disable it; updated Encryption Wizard application to 3.3.3; updated OpenSSL to 0.9.8w; updated OpenSSH to 6.0p1; updated Java to 6u32; updated the Citrix client to 12.1.0.203066; fixed SameTime support in Pidgin, it was left out of 1.3.3 by accident; added MultiPing 0.1.2 under the Connectivity menu." See the complete release notes for more details.
Puppy Linux 5.3.3 "Slacko"
Barry Kauler has announced the release of Puppy Linux 5.3.3 "Slacko" edition, an updated version of the lightweight distribution compatible with Slackware Linux 13.37: "Puppy Linux 5.3.3 'Slacko' is an updated release of the recent 5.3.1. It has binary compatibility with Slackware Linux 13.37, which simply means that it is a Puppy built with packages from the Slackware, Salix and Slacky repositories. The main variant has been upgraded with Linux kernel 3.1.10 compiled with Aufs layered file system support, in the typical Puppy manner. There is also a PAE variant to cater for machines with large amounts of RAM. Both ISO images have SCSI boot support. The SeaMonkey 2.9.1 suite is the default browser and email suite but Firefox, Chromium, Opera, Netsurf, Iron, Dillo and Links are only a few clicks away." Here is the full release announcement.
Vyatta 6.4
Mohit Mehta has announced the release of Vyatta 6.4, a Debian-based specialist distribution for firewalls and routers: "I'm pleased to announce that Vyatta Core (VC) release 6.4 is now available for download. Release 6.4 of the Vyatta Network OS adds significant enhancements in areas of GUI, upgradability and virtual deployments, and numerous improvements in areas of firewall, NAT, connection tracking, connection syncing along with CLI and op-mode enhancements. These include: a graphical dashboard - a central point for managing single Vyatta system and panelled overview of resource usage, system info, interfaces, routing, security, services, management; a graphical statistics tab - real-time statistics for interfaces, memory, CPU; upgrade improvements for bare-metal and virtual installations - single command for system upgrade...." Read the release announcement and release notes (PDF) for a detailed list of all changes and new features.
Slackel KDE-4.8.2-1
Dimitris Tzemos has announced the release of an updated version of Slackel, a Slackware-based distribution tracking Slackware's "Current" branch and providing extra software in its own repositories: "Would you like to have a Slackware-based distro which informs about updates happened to Slackware 'Current' and update your system with one click? In the end you will end up with Slackware stable. The latest Slackel has been synchronized with the Slackware repositories and has become 'rolling-release'. Some new programs added or updated in the Slackel repositories include Firefox 12.0, Pidgin, VLC 2.0.1 and Calligra. A collection of four KDE ISO images are immediately available, including 32-bit and 64-bit installation images as well as 32-bit and 64-bit live images." See the complete release announcement for further information.
* * * * *
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 |
April 2012 DistroWatch.com donation: Slackware Linux
We are happy to announce that the recipient of the April 2012 DistroWatch.com donation is Slackware Linux, a Linux distribution. It receives US$500.00 in cash.
 Few people in the Linux community would need an introduction to the world's oldest surviving Linux distro project. As a result, instead of repeating what has been said many times and what hasn't changed much in many years, perhaps it would be more interesting to introduce Patrick Volkerding (pictured on the right, photo courtesy of Erik Niklas), the project's founder and maintainer who has been working on Slackware Linux for nearly 20 years. From Slackware.org: "Patrick Volkerding, 46, grew up in Minnesota, USA, and graduated from Minnesota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. He is the founder and present CEO of Slackware Linux. Volkerding is a connoisseur of beer and enjoys brewing his own beers. When he first developed software, he would ask admirers of his work to reward him with beer. He is also an avid fan of the Grateful Dead band. Volkerding created Slackware in 1993. Slackware is the oldest Linux distribution that is being used today."
Launched in 2004, this monthly donations programme is a DistroWatch initiative to support free and open-source software projects and operating systems with cash contributions. Readers are welcome to nominate their favourite project for future donations. Those readers who wish to contribute towards these donations, please use our advertising page to make a payment (PayPal and credit cards are accepted). Here is the list of the projects that have received a DistroWatch donation since the launch of the programme (figures in US dollars):
- 2004: GnuCash ($250), Quanta Plus ($200), PCLinuxOS ($300), The GIMP ($300), Vidalinux ($200), Fluxbox ($200), K3b ($350), Arch Linux ($300), Kile KDE LaTeX Editor ($100) and UNICEF - Tsunami Relief Operation ($340)
- 2005: Vim ($250), AbiWord ($220), BitTorrent ($300), NDISwrapper ($250), Audacity ($250), Debian GNU/Linux ($420), GNOME ($425), Enlightenment ($250), MPlayer ($400), Amarok ($300), KANOTIX ($250) and Cacti ($375)
- 2006: Gambas ($250), Krusader ($250), FreeBSD Foundation ($450), GParted ($360), Doxygen ($260), LilyPond ($250), Lua ($250), Gentoo Linux ($500), Blender ($500), Puppy Linux ($350), Inkscape ($350), Cape Linux Users Group ($130), Mandriva Linux ($405, a Powerpack competition), Digikam ($408) and Sabayon Linux ($450)
- 2007: GQview ($250), Kaffeine ($250), sidux ($350), CentOS ($400), LyX ($350), VectorLinux ($350), KTorrent ($400), FreeNAS ($350), lighttpd ($400), Damn Small Linux ($350), NimbleX ($450), MEPIS Linux ($300), Zenwalk Linux ($300)
- 2008: VLC ($350), Frugalware Linux ($340), cURL ($300), GSPCA ($400), FileZilla ($400), MythDora ($500), Linux Mint ($400), Parsix GNU/Linux ($300), Miro ($300), GoblinX ($250), Dillo ($150), LXDE ($250)
- 2009: Openbox ($250), Wolvix GNU/Linux ($200), smxi ($200), Python ($300), SliTaz GNU/Linux ($200), LiVES ($300), Osmo ($300), LMMS ($250), KompoZer ($360), OpenSSH ($350), Parted Magic ($350) and Krita ($285)
- 2010: Qimo 4 Kids ($250), Squid ($250), Libre Graphics Meeting ($300), Bacula ($250), FileZilla ($300), GCompris ($352), Xiph.org ($250), Clonezilla ($250), Debian Multimedia ($280), Geany ($300), Mageia ($470), gtkpod ($300)
- 2011: CGSecurity ($300), OpenShot ($300), Imagination ($250), Calibre ($300), RIPLinuX ($300), Midori ($310), vsftpd ($300), OpenShot ($350), Trinity Desktop Environment ($300), LibreCAD ($300), LiVES ($300), Transmission ($250)
- 2012: GnuPG ($350), ImageMagick ($350), GNU ddrescue ($350), Slackware Linux ($500)
Since the launch of the Donations Program in March 2004, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$31,740 to various open-source software projects.
* * * * *
New distributions added to database
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- Anthon. Anthon is an openSUSE-based Chinese Linux distribution created by three junior high school students. It features the GNOME 3 desktop with a custom interface.
- NAS4Free. NAS4Free is an embedded open-source storage NAS (Network-Attached Storage) distribution based on FreeBSD. It supports sharing across Windows, Mac OS X, and UNIX-like systems, and includes ZFS, Software RAID, disk encryption, S.M.A.R.T / email reports with CIFS (Samba), FTP, NFS, TFTP, AFP, RSYNC, Unison, iSCSI, UPnP, and BitTorrent protocols. The system is highly configurable via a web-based interface. NAS4Free can be installed on Flash storage media and hard disks or booted from a live CD.
- OSGeo-Live. OSGeo-Live is a self-contained bootable DVD, USB thumb drive or virtual machine based on Xubuntu, featuring a variety of open-source geospatial software. It is composed entirely of free software, allowing it to be freely distributed, duplicated and passed around.
- SprezzOS. SprezzOS is a Debian-derived operating system, pairing the GNU environment with either a Linux or FreeBSD kernel. It is designed as a distribution for HPC professionals, cluster architects, and anyone for whom Debian "Unstable" is less than sufficiently hardcore.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 14 May 2012. To contact the authors please send email to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, suggestions and corrections: news, donations, distribution submissions, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (feedback and suggestions: podcast edition)
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
Apricity OS
Apricity OS was a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. Apricity features a trimmed down desktop (GNOME or Cinnamon) and provides the ICE Site Specific Browser to integrate web-apps into the desktop environment.
Status: Discontinued
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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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