 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 465, 16 July 2012 |
Welcome to this year's 29th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
In a world that is increasingly connected many people want a desktop operating system which combines the best of both sides -- the traditional desktop and the cloud. In this week's issue Jesse Smith takes Netrunner, a Kubuntu-based distribution with its head in the clouds, and reports on the hybrid desktop. In our News section we will address a new, bold move by Mandriva, check out which distributions are supporting ARM processors and talk about an interesting new feature coming out of the PC-BSD camp. As usual we will touch on the various releases of this past week and look forward to new versions from the Frugalware, Ubuntu and ROSA projects.
In our Question & Answer section this week we talk about security and accessibility, two concerns on the minds of many. Do you use open source accessibility tools at work or at home? Tell us how you keep your computer accessible in the Comments section below. We here at DistroWatch wish you a pleasant week and happy reading!
Content:
 Join us at irc.freenode.net #distrowatch
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
First Impressions of Netrunner 4.2
The Netrunner distribution is one I've been asked to review recently. It's a project based on Kubuntu and the latest release of Netrunner, version 4.2, is based on Kubuntu 12.04, making it a long term support release. According the to the project's website, Netrunner aims to be a complete desktop OS that will feel comfortable to new users while remaining flexible. The latest release is offered in both 32-bit and 64-bit builds and the ISO download is approximately 1.6GB in size.
Booting off the live DVD brings us to a KDE desktop with large icons across the top of the screen and wallpaper featuring a desert scene. The application menu and task switcher sit at the bottom of the display. The icons on the desktop lead us to welcome documentation, the Runners-ID website and something called Web Accounts which, when launched, only reports an error saying it can't run without Akonadi. There are two other icons, one for connecting to network shares and another for launching the system installer. I used the Netrunner live DVD a few times during the week and found it usually worked well, though once the live session failed to detect my DNS service which brought web access to a screeching halt until I manually adjusted the network settings.
Netrunner 4.2 -- Welcome Notes
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The Netrunner system installer is the same as the one supplied by Kubuntu (and Ubuntu for that matter). It asks us to select our preferred language and then checks to make sure our system meets the minimum hardware requirements. Netrunner demands at least 8.6GB of free disk space, 6,2GB of which is taken over by installed software and the rest is reserved for swap and home folders. The installer then offers to download updates and multimedia add-ons such as Flash and audio codecs. We then get walked through partitioning and Netrunner makes this easy while supporting a wide range of file systems. We're then asked to confirm our time zone and our keyboard layout. The last screen of the installer asks us to create a user account and gives us the options of enabling auto-login and encrypting our home folder.
My installations completed without any problems and booting from the local hard drive brought me to a bright graphical login screen featuring a space theme. Logging in for the first time didn't bring up any sort of welcome screen or wizard so I got straight to exploring the distribution.
Looking in the Netrunner application menu we find an interesting combination of local software and web-based services. The Firefox web browser is installed for us, as are the Filezilla file transfer client, the Pidgin instant messenger and the Thunderbird e-mail client. Skype is available and the Transmission bittorrent client is there too. For handling multimedia we're given the VLC player, Tomahawk, a desktop recording app, the Amarok music player and the WinFF video converter. Netrunner also provides codecs for popular multimedia formats. The LibreOffice suite is installed for us and it is complimented by some Calligra productivity applications, including the Calligra flowchart program, Karbon for scalable graphics and Krita for image editing.
We find links in the menu to Google web services, including Google Calendar, Mail, Maps and Docs. There are also links to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and a small collection of games. To help users connect to these web services Netrunner provides Network Manager and KPPP. There are several package managers available in the distribution including Synaptic, the Muon Package Manager, the Muon Update Manager and the Muon Software Centre (more on those in a moment). Rounding out the application menu we find the KInfoCenter, the KDE Partition Manager and VirtualBox for running virtual machines. We also find the usual collection of small apps, including a text editor, a calculator and an archive manager.
Whether Flash is installed on the system will depend on our choices at install time. However, regardless of our install options, Java, Wine and the GNU Compiler Collection are available. In the background we find the Linux kernel, version 3.2, running the show.
Netrunner 4.2 -- Running various applications.
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Earlier I mentioned there is an icon on the desktop which leads us to the Runners-ID website. I hadn't heard of the service before and, as it turns out, Runners-ID is a cloud storage service which offers users 1GB of free space. I suppose this is a nice option for users, though since Netrunner is based on Kubuntu users will additionally have the option of installing support for the One cloud services which features 5GB of free storage space.
I experimented with Netrunner on my laptop (dual-core 2GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM, Intel graphics, Intel wireless card). The distribution performed fairly well and all of my hardware was properly detected and utilized. Wireless networks in range were automatically picked up, audio worked out of the box and my screen was set to its maximum resolution. While running on the laptop performance of the desktop interface was a touch slow with the default settings, but once file indexing and effects were disabled the distro performed well. I also ran the distro in a VirtualBox virtual machine and found there performance was very sluggish. Disabling extra services and installing the VirtualBox guest additions helped, but performance in the virtual machine remained a touch slow. When logging into the desktop, prior to launching applications, Netrunner tended to use a little over 260MB of RAM.
When we login to Netrunner an icon will appear in the system tray letting us know when software updates are available. Clicking the icon brings up the Muon Update Manager. The Update Manager's layout is fairly simple, it shows us a list of available packages waiting to be downloaded and we can check/uncheck items. We can also refresh the list and choose to download all checked packages. During my time with the distribution I ran into repeated problems with this update application. The first issue I encountered was an error informing me not all repositories could be contacted, either because they were off-line or busy. Other times when trying to apply updates I would be presented with a warning saying not all available packages could be authenticated, apparently not all of Netrunner's repositories are signed, or if they are, the update manager isn't aware of the security keys by default. On a few occasions I would open the update manager, tell it to download all available updates and it would tell me authentication to perform administrative actions had failed, though no password prompt had been displayed. Eventually I gave up using Muon and switched to the Synaptic package manager to acquire updates.
There are quite a few updates to be had too, over 300MB worth when I first installed Netrunner. Fortunately, Synaptic, the venerable package manager, was up to the task. There are two other package managers, the Muon Software Centre and the Muon Package Manager. The latter is more or less a copy of Synaptic. There are a few minor differences, but it looks and acts in a similar fashion. The Software Centre is designed to be more like the Ubuntu Software Centre, though with fewer features. It divides software into categories, represented by icons, and users can browse through these items in a similar way to navigating a series of disk folders in a file browser. The only odd thing I found with regards to using the Software Centre was there didn't appear to be any way to install or remove command line software, such as shells, the Centre displayed graphical applications only.
Netrunner 4.2 -- Package managers
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Using Netrunner was an unusual experience for me, it is an interesting creation and I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not. It has good qualities such as long term support, lots of software installed out of the box, multimedia support, wonderful artwork and good hardware support. On the other hand it had some things which, while I acknowledge these are subjective issues, didn't quite suit me. For example, having effects and indexing turned on by default. Software updates from the Ubuntu repositories apparently weren't applied to the new Netrunner ISO prior to release making for a flood of updates right away. Further, I can't shake the feeling that the large icons across the top of the screen combined with the array of sub-menus filled with web/cloud services make Netrunner look like a smart phone. Speaking of web services, I don't have anything against them exactly, but I also don't use them all that much and Netrunner's focus on this particular area, while probably useful to many, didn't do much to help me personally. I've never come around to the idea hunting through the application menu for things like YouTube and Facebook, I'm more likely to open a web browser to visit a site. I do want to say though I appreciated Netrunner's organization in this regard. The local applications, like LibreOffice, are clearly separated from on-line services such as Google Docs. In some other distributions which have focused on cloud apps I've found it difficult to tell a local program from a remote service just by looking at its menu entry and I think it's great the Netrunner team makes the distinction between the two.
While trying Netrunner it crossed my mind that this distribution is, in a way, the opposite of the Peppermint project. Both projects have a focus on cloud services, but where Peppermint is small, fast and minimal, Netrunner comes fully loaded with a big desktop, lots of local software and extras. I would guess the Netrunner developers want people to be able to experience the best of both worlds, local and cloud. At any rate, Netrunner is an interesting distro, it is trying something different and, while it didn't quite fit my style, I think what they are doing they are doing well.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Mandriva's two codebases, ARM support among distributions, PC-BSD's new killer feature
Mandriva is a distribution which is almost always in a state of change. Whether the project is facing financial problems, merging with another distro, trying to raise funds or forking off new community efforts, it is never a dull ride for Mandriva users. This past week Mandriva's CEO, Jean-Manual Croset, announced the Mandriva SA organization will be trying a new experiment, namely they will be using two different codebases in their product lines. In the future Mandriva's server editions will be based on the Mageia project and Mandriva's desktop and OEM editions will be based on Mandriva's existing codebase. While this move appears to parallel Fedora's relationship to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, there is a notable difference. Fedora provides a testing ground where code can be introduced prior to being polished and copied into Red Hat's enterprise products. Mandriva's move, by contrast, will mean their two editions maintain separate, unmerging, codebases. When asked why the distribution is taking this new approach Croset replied, "Our Mandriva distribution is too innovative and too young for our server offerings. Mageia is more mature." He later added, "We are going to have two upstreams and the best of both worlds."
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Last week we covered the introduction of new 64-bit ARM architecture support to the Linux kernel. ARM processors have a reputation for low energy usage and have gained widespread use in embedded systems and hobbyist projects like the Raspberry Pi. So where can fans of ARM processors go to find distributions which support their favourite architecture? Carla Schroder has put together a list of Linux distributions with ARM ports. The Arch, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu projects each get a nod. Users interested in Slackware are also in luck. Are you running Linux on ARM? Let us know which distribution you are using in the comments section.
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The next release of PC-BSD, version 9.1, is expected to arrive by the end of the summer. Though the FreeBSD-based project currently does not have an exact release date, the PC-BSD blog does carry word of an interesting new feature: multiple boot environments. Have you ever upgraded you system only to find out the new software packages broke something? Have you ever wanted to experiment with a piece of software, but were afraid it might cause problems with the rest of your OS? These are the problems multiple boot environments try to solve. The user takes a snapshot of the operating system in its current state, then upgrades or installs new software. If anything goes wrong the user is able to revert back to the previous snapshot. The PC-BSD wiki has more details on how multiple boot works and the simple commands required to use it.
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Webconverger is a live distribution designed for web kiosks. The Debian-based project is typically used in offices or public places where only web applications and services are required. Recently the Webconverger project announced they are developing a sub-project, called Neon, which will be dedicated to web signage (also known as digital Out-of-home
advertising. The Neon software has already been adopted by Renew for use in street-side displays in London, England. At the moment an evaluation edition of Neon is free to try for one week from the Webconverger website. The developers behind the Neon project feel Linux will offer a better, more secure, platform for content providers than the proprietary alternatives.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
On firewalls and window frames
I-feel-like-there-is-something-between-us asks:
Do I need to run a firewall on my Linux desktop? Am I safe without one?
DistroWatch answers:
A firewall is typically used to prevent other people's computers from accessing network services on your own. If you're running a desktop machine with no network services running then a firewall will be of limited use to you. In fact, some Linux distributions ship with the firewall disabled and no network services running with the assumption that with no ports open there is nothing to guard. Let's say you are someone who isn't running any network services such as secure shell or Sendmail on your computer, then you are probably safe without a firewall.
That being said, I recommend looking at the situation from the other side of the question, is there any downside to running a firewall? And the answer is almost certainly no, you can enable the firewall without interfering with the normal operation of your machine. This gives you a margin of protection in the event a malicious program gets run on your machine and tries to open a network port, a back door, so others may connect. A firewall almost never gets in the way of daily activity and won't slow down your network connection making it a good thing to have in place just in case something bad happens.
Security is often a matter of layers. How many barriers are there between your system and those who would like to access it? It may be that you will never need one of the layers, but having it makes your machine a slightly less likely target. For this reason I recommend enabling the firewall and turning on access controls like SELinux or AppArmor. Chances are they will never get in your way, but they offer a bit of protection which would not otherwise be there.
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Standing-on-the-edge asks:
Do you know of a mainstream desktop environment and/or window manager that has noticeable borders (resizable even) that can help folks like me with fine-motor control hand issues?
DistroWatch answers:
It could be that other desktop environments or window managers will do this for you, but the only one I know of for sure that will give you larger window borders is KDE. The KDE4 desktop will allow you to set window borders to be the size you want, ranging from virtually non-existent up to around an inch thick. To change the thickness of your window border go into the KDE System Settings panel and click the icon labeled Workspace Appearance. Make sure the Window Decorations category is selected. Then click the Configure Decoration button at the bottom of the window. You should see a drop-down field labeled Border Size. Select your preferred window border width and click OK, then click Apply.
KDE 4 -- Changing the width of window borders.
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I've played around with this feature a little and found different themes have different limits on window borders. For example, I've found the Oxygen theme will allow me to remove borders entirely, but the Plastik theme will only go down to "Tiny". Likewise, the Tabstrip theme won't let me adjust the border size at all. So play around with a few different themes if the one you are using won't support borders as thick as you would like.
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| Released Last Week |
CentOS 6.3
Karanbir Singh has announced the release of CentOS 6.3, the latest version of the enterprise-class Linux distribution derived from the source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3: "The CentOS team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS-6.3 for i386 and x86_64 Architectures. CentOS-6.3 is based on the upstream release EL 6.3 and includes packages from all variants. All upstream repositories have been combined into one, to make it easier for end users to work with. There are some important changes to this release compared with the previous versions of CentOS and we highly recommend reading this announcement along with the Release Notes. There is also a minimal install CD that will get you a very small base install that you can add to." Read the release announcement and release notes for further information.
OS4 12.5
Roberto Dohnert has announced the release of OS4 12.5, a custom Linux distribution previously known as PC/OS that is based upon Ubuntu and is built for fun, compatibility, security, and mobility: "OS4 12.5 has been designed from the ground up to satisfy the needs of casual PC users all the way to the professional user. It is available in 32 and 64 bit releases. Built for the professional: With OS4 you have a quality multi processing core in your system, and with support for 3D graphics and audio, everyone from the digital animator, video editor, musician all the way to the researchers studying DNA sequencing to working in clusters, OS4 will fit your needs. With a fine set of standard applications, to the extensibility of installing thousands of more applications, OS4 was built for you." Read the rest of the release announcement for further information.
Finnix 105
Ryan Finnie today announced the availability of Finnix 105, a live CD distribution for system administrators based on Debian's testing branch: "I am pleased to announce the release of Finnix 105, a major architectural update to the Finnix series. Finnix 105 brings major organizational changes to the build and boot systems, along with the usual assortment of software updates. Finnix 105 is the first Finnix release to be produced under Project NEALE (Normalized Extraction and Assembly of LiveCD Environments), a new set of procedures to build Finnix CDs from a minimal base Debian bootstrap. This allows for a consistent build process each time, and between architectures. It also allows for more future options, such as a native userland AMD64 release." See the release announcement and release notes for full information.
Parted Magic 2012_07_13
Parted Magic 2012_07_13, a live CD with utilities for disk management and data rescue, has been released: "Major GParted bugfix and feature release! From the GParted site: "This release of GParted adds the ability to show if partition size differs from file system size. This new feature enables you to identify unallocated space within a partition and can suggest how you can put this space to good use. Also included are bug fixes and language translation updates. Key changes include: Show difference if partition size differs from file system size. Avoid end partition overlap when resizing extended partition.' There are also some other notable changes. Parted Magic now uses the Tango Icon Theme. It creates a very uniform look and feel. Btrfs-progs has been updated to the latest git version so it's possible to create smaller file systems. Udev has been updated to version 182." See the project's news page for the announcement.
VectorLinux 7.0 64bit
For around a decade only the i386/i486 edition of VectorLinux has been available, which is a Slackware-based distribution optimised for business and office use. Today Robert Lange announced the first 64-bit edition of VectorLinux 7.0 Standard under the name "VLocity": "The main desktop is based on Xfce-4.8 with a custom theme and artwork unique to us. All the VectorLinux trademarks are included: DVD playback, audio and video codecs, multimedia and Java plugins are installed and working out of the box. The best of the open source world is included: GIMP, Inkscape for graphics; Firefox, Opera, for Internet Browsing; pidgin and xchat for instant messaging; Brasero for CD burning; MPlayer, Exaile for playing most available media formats. The office applications are Gnumeric, Abiword and Epdfviewer. Wireless networking has been extended with updated drivers and firmware, wicd has been employed to manage wireless and non-wireless networking. UFW is included for firewall protection and there is added support for several webcam makes and models." Check the forum for the announcement and feedback.
GParted LiveCD 0.13.0-0
Steven Shiau has released a new version of GParted Live, a live CD based on the Debian unstable release with graphical tools for disk management and data recovery. From the changelog and the release announcement: "The underlying GNU/Linux operating system is based on the Debian sid repository (as of 2012/Jul/14). The most significant enhancement is with GParted 0.13.0, which now shows when there is a difference between the file system size and the partition size. Thanks to work by Mike Fleetwood this resolves bug #499202 that has been open since 2007. With this new feature, users can learn if there is unallocated space within a partition that can then be put to good use. Another important application change is a fix for bug #678831 which resolves a problem with overlapping partitions when resizing an extended partition. Also new in this release: adds web browser icon to desktop; adds menu button keyboard shortcut to bring up Fluxbox root menu (bug #578842); useful when using GParted Live without a mouse; updates Linux kernel to 3.2.21-3."
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 23 July 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 |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
ZENIX GNU/Linux
ZENIX GNU/Linux was a Linux distribution based on Linux From Scratch. It was built directly from scratch to stand for a reliable Server OS. ZENIX consists of a basic system and some additional packages. A single package will provide a full server environment for a specific need, such as DNS server, web server or mail server.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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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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