 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 486, 10 December 2012 |
Welcome to this year's 50th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! The latest version of Linux Mint has been making the rounds. Version 14 of the popular Linux distribution may not come with many new features, but it has been gaining popular attention. This week Jesse Smith takes Mint and the MATE desktop for a spin to see what makes these projects so appealing. The arrival of Secure Boot has been a concern for many with a number of websites providing workarounds and suggestions on how to avoid getting locked in by Secure Boot's restrictions. Dell has come up with a timely solution and we cover that in this week's News section. This week we will also look at the current status of the Haiku project and we will discuss a book which talks about how to deal with malfunctioning Linux servers. We are also pleased to bring you a list of distributions released over the past week and a collection of news, reviews and podcasts from Around the Web. Here, at DistroWatch, we wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (23MB) and MP3 (34MB) formats
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Linux Mint 14 "MATE"
 Linux Mint is a distribution which has gained popularity over the past few years, largely due, I suspect, to the developers' practical approach. Mint's Main edition is based on the Ubuntu distribution, with a number of additional tools and repositories thrown in. Another aspect of Mint which has made it popular recently is the way the developers have stuck to traditional desktop styles, avoiding GNOME Shell and Unity. In place of those next generation desktops, Mint supplies MATE (a continuation of GNOME 2) and Cinnamon (a traditional desktop based on GNOME 3's code base).
Installation and first impressions
Linux Mint's Main edition is offered in two flavours, MATE and Cinnamon, and both editions are available in 32-bit and 64-bit builds. The project further branches out by offering all of their builds in two separate spins. One spin has a full range of codecs and non-free software, the other contains libre software only. For my trial I decided to download the 32-bit build featuring the MATE desktop and the full range of non-free packages.
A quick glance over the release notes reveals that many of the changes for Linux Mint 14 are subtractive ones. With this release Mint now requires CPUs that feature PAE support, Moonlight has been removed over stability concerns and Mint no longer provides CD-sized images -- all downloads are larger than 700MB. Further, we are warned there are known performance issues with some Intel video cards and a workaround is provided for people who need Intel graphics support. All of this might raise the question why we would want to try Mint 14? The answer is newer software. Mint is based on the recent Ubuntu 12.10 release, with all of the package updates that implies, and upgrades have been made to both the Cinnamon and MATE desktop environments.
Booting from the Linux Mint media brings up the MATE desktop which is laid out in the classic style. Icons for browsing the file system and launching the system installer sit on the desktop. The application menu is placed in the lower-left corner of the display and the task manager lies across the bottom of the screen. The background is brightly lit and features the distribution's name and version number.
Linux Mint, being based on the Ubuntu repositories, uses the same installer. It's a nice, graphical installer and we can get through it mostly by simply clicking the "Next" button several times. Should we wish to, we can manually partition our hard drive and format partitions using the ext2/3/4. Btrfs, ReiserFS, XFS or JFS file systems. The installer also supports directory encryption for added security. After completing the install we are prompted to reboot the machine. The Mint distribution, by default, does not display anything on the screen while it boots. This makes for a uniform experience while booting across all video cards, but it also means we face a blank screen for a while with no sense of progress before we reach the graphical login screen.
Logging into the MATE desktop we are greeted by a welcome wizard which provides several helpful links, most of which lead us to documentation, forums, release notes or other parts of the Mint project's website. Shortly after dismissing this welcome screen a notification icon appeared in the system tray letting me know updates for the distribution were available. At the time when I installed Mint there were over 100 updates waiting to be downloaded, totalling a little over 200 MB in total size. Clicking on the update notification icon launches the Mint update manager. The manager has a fairly simple layout, displaying a list of all available package updates. For each package in the list we are provided with its current version number, the version number of the updated package in the repositories and a safety rating. A rating number of "1" lets us know the updated package has been tested by the developers and is considered safe. A rating of "5" indicates the package is known to not be safe and shouldn't be downloaded. This rating system allows us to filter packages and only apply updates thought to be reasonably stable.
As previously mentioned, the MATE desktop gives us a classic style interface, with a plain 2-D environment and no widgets. It also responds like a scared rabbit. It's really nice to use a desktop which reacts quickly to input and I found the desktop very pleasant to use. This plain, classic style does not extend to the application menu. Here we find the Mint Menu, which is revision of the GNOME 2 menus. The Mint Menu is divided into three parts or panels: Applications, Places and System. I always find myself mentally shifting gears to use the Mint Menu after using other distributions, but I find the adjustment is a quick one and I find myself enjoying the compact nature of the menu. I also like that the developers have provided a search box at the bottom of the menu which makes it easy to find items if we don't know their specific location.
Linux Mint 14 - the Mint menu
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Software management and hardware support
The Control Centre, like the Mint Menu, also features a well considered interface. We're provided with configuration items divided into categories such as Personal, Network, Hardware, System and Other, making it easy to find what we need. The Control Centre allows us to manage the look & feel of the system, manage user accounts and backup jobs, change accessibility options and configure printers and other hardware. We can also manage network shares, apply updates, block untrusted domains and enable/disable services from this panel. I found most of the controls were pretty self explanatory and the various tools worked well.
Out of the box Linux Mint comes with a useful collection of software. We're given the Firefox web browser, the LibreOffice productivity suite, the Pidgin instant messenger and Thunderbird for e-mail. The multimedia section is well stocked with Banshee, Totem, MPlayer and VLC. These players come with a full range of popular media codecs. The GNU Image Manipulation Program is included, along with a document viewer. There are small applications for editing text, managing archives and performing calculations. By default Firefox comes with the Flash plugin, we have a copy of Java on the system and developers will find the GNU Compiler Collection installed for them. To help users get on-line the Network Manager program is installed and runs by default. In the background Mint ships with the Linux kernel, version 3.5.
Linux Mint 14 - running various applications
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To help users in adding additional software to the system Linux Mint comes with two graphical package managers. The first is the Synaptic package manager, which features a plain, no-nonsense interface. Synaptic allows users to search for software, filter search results and perform complex batches of actions on packages. The other graphical package manager is called Mint Install. This manager comes with a more modern looking interface where users navigate through categories of packages by way of labelled icons. Clicking on a software package brings up details on that item along with a screen shot of the program in action. Software can be added or removed with the click of a button. With Mint Install actions to be performed are queued and performed while we continue to use the package manager. Whichever package manager we choose, Mint provides us with access to all of the software in the Ubuntu repositories, plus some repositories specific to Mint. This gives us access to over 40,000 packages in total.
Linux Mint 14 - working with packages and settings
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I tried running the latest version of Linux Mint on a desktop machine (dual-core 2.8 GHz CPU, 6 GB of RAM, Radeon video card, Realtek network card) and found that the distribution ran quickly and smoothly. My screen was set to its maximum resolution and sound worked out of the box. I also experimented with the distribution in a VirtualBox virtual machine and found the results to be similarly good. The MATE edition of Mint uses around 180MB of memory while sitting idle at the desktop, making for a fairly small footprint considering the range of functionality provided. The only hardware issue I ran into was with regards to the video card. Mint, as with its Ubuntu base, will not boot on this hardware unless the kernel is given the "nomodeset" parameter.
Conclusions
Fans of other distributions don't like it when I say this, but I feel that Linux Mint is one of the few Linux distributions dedicated exclusively to a stable, friendly end-user desktop experience. There are a lot of great distributions out there, but few really focus all of their energy on the modern, consumer desktop market. Ubuntu has a Desktop and a Server edition, Fedora is very experimental, Debian tries to be "universal", Mageia and openSUSE have good desktop editions, but are really general purpose distributions. I could go on, but while lots of distributions have a desktop spin and there are lots of "light" distros and lots of niche distros and lots of general purpose projects, Mint is one of the very few that really focuses on what the general consumer will want, ignoring things like server re-spins and experimental goodies. And I think this is why Mint has gained such popularity and why people continue to donate money to the project: it caters to what many people want in a very practical way.
That was my general impression of Linux Mint 14 (MATE edition), everything pretty much "just worked" and, more importantly, worked the way I expected it to. The desktop was responsive, the default applications were well chosen for their tasks, the software manager is flexible, friendly and fast. Mint comes with a full range of codecs and Flash out of the box. Mint includes a compiler and Java and some of the latest hardware support available to Linux users. The desktop environment is stable and doesn't require 3-D support. Using Mint is usually a positive experience for me and this time was no exception. A big part of that is I can install the distribution in less than half an hour and then just start using the operating system without hunting down codecs or fiddling with repositories or switching to "fallback mode". The graphical interface is clean and stays out of the way, the Control Centre is well organized and offers good deal of customization and the OS comes with a good collection of default software. I'm quite happy with this latest version of Mint.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Dell and Canonical offer a new ultrabook, Haiku nears its first stable release and Seth Brown talks about GNU utilities
 Over the past several months we've been hearing rumours about a collaboration between Canonical and Dell. This past week we finally got to see what had been growing behind the curtain. Dell unveiled the XPS 13 Laptop, a 13-inch ultrabook which comes with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS pre-installed. The new offering, which is primarily aimed at developers, is the result of a good deal of effort on Dell's part to make sure their hardware was properly supported with open source drivers. Ars Technica has a review of the new Dell/Ubuntu ultrabook that covers all the details.
Back in October the latest stable version of Ubuntu was released and that version contained a feature which would send users' search results to various third parties, most notably Amazon. Though this search feature can be disabled it runs by default and this has led some privacy activists, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to raise complaints. Now Richard Stallman is weighing in on Canonical's decision to enable on-line searches by default, saying "What's at stake is whether our community can effectively use the argument based on proprietary spyware. If we can only say, `free software won't spy on you, unless it's Ubuntu,' that's much less powerful than saying, `free software won't spy on you.'" He goes on to urge users of GNU/Linux distributions to avoid using or recommending Ubuntu until Canonical changes its stance regarding on-line searches.
Meanwhile, over on the Canonical blog, Cristian Parrino responded to criticism of the default on-line search behaviour of the Unity Dash by stating: "Its raison d’etre is to provide Ubuntu users the fastest, slickest way to find things right from their home environment -- independent of whether those "things" are on your machine, available online, free or commercial. The music and video lenses in the Dash have queried online sources since their introduction, and we will continue to expand our online sources over the next releases."
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 Haiku, the spiritual continuation of BeOS, may be nearing a stable release ready for the general public. The project has been slowly maturing over the past decade and, in recent years, alpha builds have been making the rounds. In an article posted on LWN Bruce Byfield takes the pulse of the Haiku project and finds it in good health. In fact, Haiku developer Ryan Leavengood suggests we may see a general release sometime in 2013. "'There are some people who use Haiku daily and get by with it,' Leavengood said, but he immediately admitted that 'usually they are those who came from BeOS and really like the system.' What is required for the general release is not hardware drivers, as some might expect. Thanks to a compatibility layer, FreeBSD drivers can be easily recompiled to support Haiku. Nor, with the increasing popularity of web applications, are productivity applications the problem they were a decade ago."
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 One of the great things about a GNU/Linux system is the large collection of data manipulation tools which come with it. These utilities are highly powerful and flexible, allowing users to manipulate large amounts of text and numbers. In an informative blog post Seth Brown goes over a handful of the more commonly used utilities available to Linux and BSD users. In his post he shows us how we can use freely available utilities to inspect, reshape, enumerate, describe and visualize data using a few simple command line tools. It's well worth a read if you're in the habit of processing large amounts of information.
For some time now it has been possible to run a good deal of software designed for Windows on Linux through WINE. Now there is a new project, called Darling, which attempts to provide Linux users with a method of running software built for OS X. Darling provides a layer of OS X compatibility on top of Linux which should allow Linux users to enjoy software written for OS X, even if the source code for those applications is not available. Right now the Darling project is in its early stages, but it does look promising.
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| Book Review (by Jesse Smith) |
Book Review: DevOps Troubleshooting: Linux Server Best Practices
 A lot of what we need to know about the book "DevOps Troubleshooting: Linux Server Best Practices" is right there in the title. It's fairly obvious right from the start we are not dealing with a book on bicycle repair. As the title suggests, Kyle Rankin's book deals with identifying and fixing common problems that occur on Linux servers and it supplies a range of suggestions on how to best go about dealing with a malfunctioning server. That's just a very short, general outline though, so let's take a look at the book's contents.
DOTLSBP starts us off with a list of chapters and a brief rundown of their contents. I like this extended form of a table of contents as it makes for a handy reference if we want to jump right into the middle of a particular subject. For example, if I'm interested in resolving DNS issues I can flip through the first couple of pages in the book until I find the bold title "Chapter 6: Why Won't the Hostnames Resolve? Solving DNS Server Issues". Under this heading are sub-categories such as "DNS Client Troubleshooting" and "DNS Server Troubleshooting", both of which are further broken down into more specific parts.
Once we get through the list of contents and some opening notes we do not jump straight into fixing broken servers. Instead Mr Rankin spends a chapter discussing the best ways to go about approaching malfunctioning infrastructure. He points out that people often have the urge to jump straight into the guts of an issue, but when a service is down it's usually best to form a plan of attack. He makes a number of suggestions about how to best approach running tests on an issue and how to coordinate troubleshooting in a team environment. A lot of Mr Rankin's advice falls under the category of what I like to call "common sense in hindsight". Reading through his book I think most people will find themselves nodding their heads and thinking, "Of course it should be done that way," even if they haven't before used the techniques presented in the text.
For instance, the book suggests coordinating a troubleshooting effort in such a way as to keep the entire IT team up to date on what has been tried and how long a fix is likely to take. This prevents overlap of effort and avoids confusion. The book also makes the point that any changes to server infrastructure and configuration should be documented so everyone knows when things changed and in what way. Both of these points sound like common sense, but I'm sure anyone who has worked on an IT team has encountered fellow workers who see a problem and dive in without communicating the issue to anyone. Perhaps we've even been that lone wolf IT person, changing things without letting others know. Mr Rankin reminds us and this sort of behaviour isn't ideal in the big picture.
After covering the human side of server troubleshooting we get into the technical aspects of keeping our Linux servers healthy. DOTLSBP assumes a certain level of comfort with Linux distributions in general and the command line in particular. The book makes the assumption that we have a little Linux experience under our belts and that we probably know how to do things like edit a configuration file and install packages. In some cases the book assumes we can set up a service, such as a web server, but we might not have experience in troubleshooting problems when the service goes off-line. A few months ago I reviewed "The Linux Command Line" which gives us an introduction to the Linux system and command line interface. That book generally assumes everything is working properly.
What DOTLSBP does is pick up where that book leaves off. It explains what can go wrong, how to figure out why things went wrong and how to fix them. In this text the author covers slow systems due to high CPU or disk load, troubleshooting network problems, figuring out why DNS doesn't work, looking at the many ways e-mail can fail, common web server problems and working with databases. The book also goes into hardware related problems and explains how to handle a server not booting and recovering from disk errors. At the end of the book there is a chapter on investigating the failure of specific hardware components including memory, a server's power supply and temperature-related issues.
There are several things I like about this book. The first is the author's approach to solving problems. He regularly starts out with the most simple, likely explanation and moves up the chain of possibilities from there. Each step in his troubleshooting guide has a clear objective and either confirms or rules out a group of potential problems. His approach is likely to save the system administrator a good deal of time. I also like that for each step the author explains what he is doing and why. The text then includes examples, usually two, one showing what the computer will do if the service is working and another showing what we might see if the service is not working. For example, in the section on DNS we are shown two instances of running the nslookup command. The first yields positive results:
$ nslookup web1
Server 10.1.1.3
Address: 10.1.1.3#53
Name: web1.example.net
Address: 10.1.2.5
And the other is where something has gone wrong:
$ nslookup web1
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached
We then move on to exploring what to do if we are faced with the output from the second example.
The third aspect of this book I appreciate is the author's little side notes. So much of troubleshooting server problems, indeed any problem, is experience. There are always bits of trivia that a person won't find in a manual, little "gotchas" that a person learns to look for only after months or years of working in the field. Mr Rankin throws in a number of these tips, for instance he discusses how to find a balance between having enough web server processes to handle heavy traffic, yet avoid having your web server spawn too many processes, eating into your memory and forcing the server to use swap space, which greatly slows down the entire system. The author adds these tips in a casual manner, but they are pearls of wisdom which will probably save junior system administrators headaches in the future.
Of course, no text can cover all of the things which can go wrong with a server. There are so many programs, distributions and configurations out there that no book can cover them all. DOTLSBP focuses on the more common services and the more common operating system related issues. In doing so I feel Mr Rankin has done a good job of laying down not just specific troubleshooting steps for a specific group of services, which are indeed useful, but he has also created a blueprint for troubleshooting in general. This book not only gives the reader specific examples and possible fixes, but also sets up a pattern for troubleshooting problems not covered in the book and I feel this may be the greater achievement here.
It's great to know how to hunt down problems with the Apache web server, but it's even better to know how to approach network service problems in general and that is what DOTNSBP gives us, a set of guidelines for troubleshooting which can be applied to a wide variety of problems. As stated above, the text does assume we have some basic system administration skills, this isn't an introduction to Linux system administration, it is a guide for dealing with things when they go wrong and the book does its job very well. If you are starting out as a new system administrator or if you plan to set up a Linux server to play with at home, then I recommend getting a copy of DOTLSBP and reading it before something stops working. This book will save you a good deal of time.
Title: DevOps Troubleshooting: Linux Server Best Practices
Author: Kyle Rankin
Published by: Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN-10: 0-321-83204-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-83204-7
Length: 235 pages
Available from: InformIT, Amazon.com
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| Released Last Week |
NetBSD 5.2
Jeff Rizzo has announced the release of NetBSD 5.2, an updated version of the project's legacy branch: "The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce that version 5.2 of the NetBSD operating system is now available. NetBSD 5.2 is the second feature update of the NetBSD 5.0 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed critical for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Users running NetBSD 5.0.3 or earlier are encouraged to upgrade to either NetBSD 5.2 or NetBSD 6.0, depending upon their specific requirements. Please note that all fixes in security/critical updates (i.e. NetBSD 5.0.2, 5.1.2, etc.) are cumulative, so the latest update contains all such fixes since the corresponding minor release. These fixes will also appear in future minor releases (i.e. NetBSD 5.3, etc.), together with other less-critical fixes and feature enhancements." See the brief release announcement and the detailed release notes for more information.
Puppy Linux 5.4 "Slacko"
Barry Kauler has announced the release of Puppy Linux 5.4 "Slacko" edition, a small and lightweight distribution with packages "borrowed" from the latest Slackware Linux release: "It's out! Slacko is one of our flagship puppies, built with the latest Woof from Slackware 14.0 binary packages. It is all-puppy right through, with the advantage of binary compatibility with Slackware 14.0 and access to the Slackware package repositories. Changes: significant improvements in using the Aufs layered file system; improved automatic detection and configuration of analog and 3G modems; Samba printing issues resolved; the X.Org wizard has improved detection and configuration options; many improvements and bug fixes for boot-up and shut-down scripts...." Read the release announcement and release notes for more details.
Bridge Linux 2012.12
Dalton Miller has announced the release of Bridge Linux 2012.12, an Arch-based desktop Linux distribution available in four separate desktop flavours with GNOME 3.6, KDE 4.9.3, LXDE and Xfce: "Announcing Bridge Linux 2012.12. This time all the editions are released at the same time, because doing them separately was a mess. Update overview: fixed the /etc/hosts file; switched to systemd; switched from ConsoleKit to Polkit; installer now changes the locale settings on the installed system based on selection at beginning of installation; added Russian, Italian, Czech, Spanish and Catalan translations; updated (U)EFI boot method; updated configuration options and only run mkinitcpio once; use xdg-user-dirs to create personal directories (documents, etc.) with proper icons; minor application changes." Here is the brief release announcement.
ZevenOS 5.0
Leszek Lesner has announced the release of ZevenOS 5.0, a Xubuntu-based desktop Linux distribution featuring the Xfce desktop environment and a BeOS-like desktop theme: "I am proud to announce the release of ZevenOS 5.0 and thank you all for funding this release. In this release we made the switch from our deskbar tool to the Xfce panel 'deskbar' mode which introduces many new features, like extensible plugin support and the ability to configure your desktop. This release is based on Xubuntu 12.10 and is compatible with the Ubuntu repositories; it brings in many changes, such as Linux kernel 3.5, X.Org 7.7 and PulseAudio 2.1. Changes: OpenShot 1.4.3 with YouTube upload support and a lot more features; AbiWord 2.9.2, the current edge of development; Audacity 2.0, Claws-Mail 3.8.1, Firefox 17, GIMP 2.8, Inkscape 0.48." Here is the brief release announcement with an embedded video.
ZevenOS 5.0 - a Linux distro for BeOS enthusiasts
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Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.12
Anke Boersma has announced the release of Chakra GNU/Linux 2012.12, the fourth update of the project's "Claire" series featuring the latest KDE desktop: "With this fourth and final 'Claire' release (a code name that followed the KDE SC 4.9 series and dedicated to the memory of Claire Lotion), the Chakra project team would like to make this final ISO announcement of the year, and also report on the state of the project. With this release we offer: KDE 4.9.4; Linux kernel 3.6.6 (3.0.43 optional); DVD image, including all locales and a nice selections of applications; Kapudan, Chakra's desktop greeter and all-round first setup tool; artwork theme called 'Dharma'; the latest GRUB 2.00, including graphical Dharma theme, Qt 4.8.4; enhancements to Chakra tools; updated systemd, kmod, mkinitcpio, file system, latest proprietary graphics drivers; the latest toolchain with GCC 4.7.2, updated libpng, libtiff and glew stack." Read the rest of the release announcement for more details.
Comfusion 4.1
A new version of Comfusion, a desktop Linux distribution that combines Ubuntu with LXDE and Compiz Fusion in order to deliver some of the best 3D desktop effects available anywhere, has been released: "Now available for download, the new version of Comfusion. New in this version: added full MATE desktop 1.4.2 (GNOME 2 desktop clone, seamlessly integrates with Compiz in Comfusion 4); added wbar with Token icons, individualized for each session; wbarconf, wbar configurator; TvenLinux, a script to view our online TV on Linux, also able to show programming; updated the Skype installer to install the latest version; Picapy, an excellent image manager for Picasa Web; Darktable, a free alternative to Adobe Lightroom for Comfusion 4; Launchy, a simple application launcher for Comfusion 4; Angry Bots, a shooter game with a new game engine Unity3D; added Apt-Fast, faster downloads; added Xscroll Overlays, a modern bar like in the latest Ubuntu." Here is the full release announcement.
ArchBang Linux 2012.12
Stan McLaren has announced the release of ArchBang Linux 2012.12, a new stable version of the project's lightweight desktop distribution based on Arch Linux: "ArchBang Linux 2012.12 is out in the wild. If you are already running ArchBang smoothly on your system then you don’t need to install the new release. This 2012.12 release is a full systemd version with our latest set of minimal packages and Openbox for the competent Linux user. A few changes for this release: Linux kernel 3.6.8; GnomishDark theme with Shakey-Stapler-Dark widget; updated Openbox menu; dbus-launch removed. ArchBang still plans to have four major releases per year. Due to upgrades and improvements to the Arch Linux system, ArchBang will continue to release unofficial test images between official releases to address changes and prevent excessive workarounds in installing and updating newly installed systems." Here is the brief release announcement
ArchBang Linux 2012.12 - Arch Linux combined with Openbox
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Toorox 11.2012 "GNOME"
Jörn Lindau has announced the release of Toorox 11.2012 "GNOME" edition, a Gentoo-based distribution and live DVD featuring the GNOME 3.6 desktop environment: "A new version of the GNOME edition is finished and is ready for download. It is based on the Linux kernel 3.5.7. This edition now provides support for 11 languages. It contains the latest GNOME 3.6.2, X.Org Server 1.12.4, Mesa 9.0.1, LibreOffice 3.5.5.3, GIMP 2.8.2, Wine 1.5.17 and the Chromium 24.0.1312.14 web browser. All packages have been updated. Toorox 11.2012 is available as 32-bit and 64-bit images and can be burnt on DVD, but you can also create an USB pen drive from the image file. The following applications have been tested successfully: Linux Live USB Creator and UNetbootin." Here is the brief release announcement.
siduction 12.2.0
Ferdinand Thommes has announced the final release of siduction 12.2.0, a desktop Linux distribution based on Debian's unstable branch and offering four separate editions with KDE, LXDE, Razor-qt and Xfce desktops: "We are very happy to present to you the final release of siduction 2012.2 - Riders on the Storm. Siduction is a full live distribution with an integrated installer, based on Debian's unstable branch, and we try to release snapshots quarterly. The released images are a snapshot of Debian unstable from 2012-12-09. They are enhanced with some useful packages and scripts, our own installer and a custom-patched version of the Linux kernel 3.6.9, accompanied by X.Org Server 1.12.4." Read the detailed release notes for a list of recent changes and bug fixes.
siduction 12.2.0 - an enhanced snapshot of Debian "unstable" with KDE
(full image size: 1,300kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
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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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| Around The Web |
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Latest reviews
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| DistroWatch.com News |
November 2012 DistroWatch.com donation: LFTP
We are happy to announce that the recipient of the November 2012 DistroWatch.com donation is LFTP, an open-source FTP and HTTP client. It receives US$250.00 in cash.
Developed by Alexander V. Lukyanov, LFTP is described as a "sophisticated file transfer program with command line interface. It supports FTP, HTTP, FISH, SFTP, HTTPS and FTPS protocols. GNU Readline library is used for input." Additionally, "every operation in LFTP is reliable, that is, any non-fatal error is handled and the operation is retried automatically. So if downloading breaks, it will be restarted from that point automatically. Even if the FTP server does not support the REST command, LFTP will try to retrieve the file from the very beginning until the file is transferred completely. This is useful for dynamic IP machines which change their IP addresses quite often, and for sites with very bad Internet connectivity. If you exit LFTP when some jobs are not finished yet, LFTP will move itself to 'nohup' mode in the background. The same happens when you have a real modem hang-up or when you close an xterm." Many other interesting notes and features can be found on the project's description page.
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), MATE ($250), LibreCAD ($250), BleachBit ($350), cherrytree ($260), Zim ($335), nginx ($250), LFTP ($250)
Since the launch of the Donations Program in March 2004, DistroWatch has donated a total of US$33,685 to various open-source software projects.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 17 December 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 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
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| Random Distribution | 
openmamba GNU/Linux
openmamba GNU/Linux is a distribution for personal computers that can be used on notebooks, desktops, servers and Raspberry Pi computers. It works as an installable live DVD/USB images, offering one of two desktop environments: KDE Plasma or LXQt. The distribution uses RPM packages managed through the DNF package manager. Software can also be fetched and installed from Flatpak repositories.
Status: Active
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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!
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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