 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 564, 23 June 2014 |
Welcome to this year's 25th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Diversity and open source go hand-in-hand. The developers and users of open source software have a wide combination of needs, jobs and tastes, leading to a software ecosystem as varied as the people involved in its creation. This week we celebrate open source diversity, starting with two reviews of very different projects. We examine Antergos, a cutting edge Linux distribution, and Q4OS, a highly conservative distribution. In our Questions and Answers column this week we talk about setting up live DVDs and USB thumb drives with multiple test distributions, perfect for distro-hoppers. We also saw diversity in the news last week. On the one hand, conservative and stable Debian received long term support for its ageing Squeeze branch. On the other end of the spectrum, the Fedora project is looking at adopting a new package manager and Ubuntu is rolling out testing images for its new Unity 8 desktop environment. Get all the details on these happenings below. As usual, we cover the distribution releases of the past week and look ahead to fun new developments to come. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Antergos 2014.05.26
 Antergos, formally called Cinnarch, is a distribution derived from Arch Linux. In fact, Antergos claims to be compatible with the Arch Linux software repositories. The project, which carries the cute motto "Ready to KISS", supports a range of desktop environments, all of which are available at install time from the project's installation media. The distribution is available in 32-bit and 64-bit x86 builds and comes in just one edition. The download for Antergos is approximately 740 MB in size.
Booting from the Antergos media brings up the GNOME Shell desktop environment. On the desktop we are presented with a window which enables us to launch the distribution's system installer or close the window to experiment with the live environment. Jumping straight into the distribution's graphical system installer we find that the Antergos installer looks a lot like Ubuntu's system installer, though with navigation buttons placed at the top of the window instead of the bottom. We are walked through selecting our preferred language, choosing our country/location and choosing our time zone from a map of the world. Next we are asked to select our keyboard's layout from a list.
The following screen asks us to select our preferred desktop environment. Available desktops include Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE, MATE, Openbox and Xfce. There is also an option to skip installing any desktop environment and use a text console only. Unfortunately users are limited to installing just one desktop environment, we cannot select multiple desktops from the installer. Next we are given the choice of manually partitioning our hard drive or using a guided option. We can give the guided partition creation utility hints, such as asking it to create LVM volumes, use encryption or set aside a separate partition for our /home directory. The next screen asks us to create a user account and then the installer begins to copy its files to our local disk.
Antergos 2014.05.26 - the system installer
(full image size: 269kB, screen resolution 1024x768 pixels)
I attempted to install Antergos five times, using various options and drive layouts. Each time the installer locked up and failed to complete its tasks. Once the installer froze on the screen where we can choose our time zone and the other four times the installer locked up during the final step of the installer. Installation progress always stopped at the same point with the status message, "Updating community database (30%)". While the installer was frozen the rest of the desktop environment continued to work. I found that if I tried to update the distribution's pacman software database I would end up with error messages saying the file antergos.db could not be retrieved from the server mirrors.antergos.com. I suspect this is part of why the system installer consistently locked up. Oddly enough I could ping this remote server. In fact, if I opened a web browser I could visit the mirrors.antergos.com server and manually download the antergos.db file, which raises the question of why the package manager failed to perform the same task.
Sadly, the malfunctioning system installer brought my time with Antergos to a quick conclusion and I decided to spend some time this week looking at other, niche projects. One of these off-the-beaten-track projects was Q4OS.
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Q4OS 0.5.11
 The Q4OS project is, in a lot of ways, the polar opposite of Antergos. Where Antergos offers cutting-edge software, a modern desktop environment and a rolling-release platform, Q4OS ships with older packages, maintains a slow release cycle and features a classic desktop environment. The Q4OS website describes the distribution as a "desktop operating system designed to offer [a] classic style user interface, simple accessories and to serve stable API for complex third party applications. [The] system is also very useful for virtual cloud environments due to its very low hardware requirements." Q4OS uses the Debian Stable distribution as its base and ships one edition featuring the Trinity desktop environment. The Q4OS distribution is available in 32-bit and 64-bit x86 builds and the download image is about 330 MB in size.
Booting from the Q4OS media brings up a menu asking if we would like to perform a regular install or run a fully automated system installer. I went with the regular installer and was presented with a series of text-based menus. The installer walks us through selecting our preferred language, our location and creating a regular user account. When it comes to partitioning the hard drive we can ask the partition manager to divide the disk for us or we can manually partition the hard drive. The partition manager supports LVM, ext2/3/4, Btrfs, JFS and XFS formats. The system installer copies its files to our hard drive and then we reboot the computer.
The Q4OS distribution boots to a graphical login screen. I tried running Q4OS in a VirtualBox environment and on physical hardware. When we login to our account while the distribution is running inside VirtualBox a window opens and offers to download and set up optimized VirtualBox drivers which will improve our experience. Assuming we agree to download the drivers, an installation wizard opens and shows download and installation progress. When the new VirtualBox module has finished installing the wizard offers to log us out so that the display server can be restarted and we can take advantage of improved screen resolution. The installation and following logout went smoothly and, when I logged in again, my VirtualBox window was resized to match my display's resolution. I was pleasantly surprised by this as I have never seen a Linux distribution offer to optimize a VirtualBox session before. Some distributions include the required modules by default, but most do not and it would be nice if those which do not include VirtualBox support by default followed the example set by Q4OS.
Q4OS 0.5.11 - the Trinity desktop environment
(full image size: 104kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
Another notification which popped up the first time I logged in warned me that Q4OS is beta software and may not be entirely stable. However, during my time with Q4OS I did not run into any stability issues. The distribution ran quickly and smoothly. The operating system performed well, with virtually no delay between the time I tried to open a new application or menu and the time when the action was completed. Q4OS runs the Trinity (KDE 3.5) desktop which is light on memory by modern standards, using just 70MB of RAM, and there are no visual effects enabled. The default theme has a Windows 2000 style to it, combined with classic KDE icons. The overall appearance of the desktop looks a touch dated, but not overly so. The interface is entirely functional and I had no trouble navigating or transitioning from a modern desktop environment to Trinity.
The Q4OS distribution ships with a small collection of software. We are given the Konqueror web browser and file manager, there are a few system administrator tools for working with user accounts and desktop settings. Network Manager is available to help us get on-line and the distribution comes with some documentation, including manual pages. There is no multimedia support available by default, but we can find additional packages in the Debian Stable repositories. The GNU Compiler Collection is installed for us and, in the background, we find the Linux kernel, version 3.2.
I did not find any graphical package manager in Q4OS's default installation, but we can use the apt-get command line utility. The apt-get program connects us to the Debian Stable repositories and gives us access to a large collection of software. I found that when I first installed Q4OS the package manager was locked and I had to locate and remove a lock file before I was able to update or install new software packages.
Early on I enjoyed using the Trinity control panel for adjusting the look and feel of the desktop. The Trinity desktop is quite flexible and the configuration tools are easy to navigate. In fact, the entire distribution is a good combination of classic utilities with high performance and stability. The only problem I ran into while playing with Q4OS was that, once I installed some Xfce applications, several of the Trinity configuration modules no longer worked, reporting they could not find the Xfce panel software. Otherwise, my brief time with Q4OS was a smooth and generally pleasant experience.
I was not sure how Trinity (KDE 3.5) would hold up after so long. I had not used a member of the KDE 3.5 family since 2008 and I had concerns about how I would slip back into an old mode of working after six years of KDE 4, Unity and other modern interfaces. I am happy to report the Trinity desktop has held up well. While it may look slightly dated, the Trinity interface behaves much the same way Xfce, LXQt or KDE 4 (without widgets) behave. All in all, my impression of Q4OS is that is reminds me of running plain Debian with the Xfce or LXDE desktop -- lightweight, fast and stable. There are not many applications in the default installation, but additional software can be installed at a later time, making Q4OS a small and stable platform.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a desktop HP Pavilon p6 Series with the following specifications:
- Processor: Dual-core 2.8GHz AMD A4-3420 APU
- Storage: 500GB Hitachi hard drive
- Memory: 6GB of RAM
- Networking: Realtek RTL8111 wired network card
- Display: AMD Radeon HD 6410D video card
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith and Ladislav Bodnar) |
Debian "Squeeze" enters long term support status, Ubuntu tests Unity 8 desktop builds, Fedora considers new package manager, CentOS battles with version numbers
 Starting June 16, Debian 6.0 "Squeeze" (also referred to as "oldstable") entered into long-term support status. Normally, at this point in Debian Squeeze's life cycle the distribution would no longer be receiving support, but a new team, operating separately from the official Debian security team, has taken over support for the ageing Debian release: "Official security support for Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 (code name "Squeeze") has ended on 31 May 2014. However long term support for the distribution is going to be extended until February 2016, i.e. five years after the initial release. Squeeze-LTS will not be handled by the Debian security team, but by a separate group of volunteers and companies interested in making it a success (with some overlap in people involved)." Companies or individuals benefiting from Squeeze's extended support are encouraged to participate in the Debian LTS program.
Speaking about Debian, last week's news about the distribution's switch back to the good-old glibc (from the abandoned eglibc) has caught the eye of the development community. Aurelien Jarno explains: "Five years ago Debian and most derivatives switched from the standard GNU C Library (glibc) to the Embedded glibc (eglibc). Debian is now about to take the reverse way, switching back to glibc as eglibc is now a dead project, the last release being the 2.19 one. At the time of writing the glibc package has been uploaded to experimental and sits in the NEW queue. The eglibc package is dead for a good reason: the glibc development has changed a lot in the recent years, due to two major events: Ulrich Drepper leaving Red Hat and the glibc development, and the glibc steering committee self-dissolving. This has resulted in a much more friendly development based on team work with good cooperation. The development is now based on peer review, which results in less buggy code (humans do make mistakes). It has also resulted in things that were clearly impossible before, like using the same repository for all architectures, and even getting rid of the ports/ directory."
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 Following the release of Ubuntu 14.04 the distribution's development team has begun work on a branch of Ubuntu which will feature Mir and the Unity 8 desktop environment. To enabled developers and users to test the new environment the Ubuntu team has started publishing daily snapshots of Ubuntu with the Unity 8 desktop: "The goal is to ramp up the quality of the Unity 8 desktop, without destabilizing our current environment. For that we are going to keep a Unity 7 image and add a new one for Unity 8 on the desktop, that new ISO should become the default one by 16.04." People wishing to try out the latest Mir and Unity 8 environment can download test images from the Ubuntu mirrors.
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 The DNF package manager is a fork of the YUM, the default package manager in distributions such as Fedora and CentOS. The DNF project has been progressing over the past few years and discussion is currently underway on the Fedora mailing lists as to whether DNF should replace YUM in Fedora 22: "DNF was forked from YUM in January 2012 and available for experimenting in Fedora since release 18. The project is now fully capable of replacing YUM in new Fedora installations. We want DNF to become the new default packaging tool in Fedora 22." There is also the interesting question of what to call the new package manager when it reaches Fedora. Should the fork be called DNF or YUM? At the moment, it appears likely the DNF fork will be renamed YUM to maintain backward compatibility with earlier Fedora releases and system administration scripts.
Would you like to be able to use Fedora as a development platform for Android applications? If so, read on. Last week, Ryan Lerch published an excellent article on doing just that (and more) - in ten minutes: "Android is one of the most popular mobile operating systems (and it is based on the Linux kernel too.) However, diving into developing apps for Android can appear to be a bit daunting at first. The following how-to runs you through the basics of setting up an Android development environment on your Fedora machine. The basic workflow is to download the Android SDK, use the SDK to generate a quick first “hello world” application, then test out that application with either a physical Android device or the Android emulator." Hands-on instructions for setting up an Android development environment on Fedora are in the linked story.
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 For most distributions, choosing a version number is probably the least worrying aspect of the project. But sometimes things get in the way, people get strange ideas and conflicts arise - and the unsuspecting victim of these situations is the poor old version number. As LWN discovers in "What's in a (CentOS) version number?", CentOS is the latest victim of this bizarre phenomenon: "Traditionally, CentOS releases have used the same version number as the RHEL release they are based on; CentOS 6.5 is a rebuild of the RHEL 6.5 release, for example. The CentOS developers now want to change to a scheme where the major number matches the RHEL major number, but the minor number is generated from the release date. So, if the CentOS version of RHEL 7.0 were to come out in July 2014, it might have a version number like 7.1407. Derivative releases from CentOS special interest groups (SIGs) would have an additional, SIG-specific tag appended to that number. To the CentOS developers, this change offers a number of advantages. The close tie with RHEL version numbers, it is claimed, can confuse users into believing that a release is supported with security updates when it is not."
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Multiple distributions on a DVD or USB thumb drive
Packing-them-in-tight asks: A general thought to pass around please, hopefully it might provoke someone who knows how to do it ... to do it! Most of the distros come as ISOs, needing to be written to a CD/DVD to become bootable. However, now that DVDs are so prevalent, cheap and readable on almost any hardware, surely a better idea is to provide distros in a form which would let them be written to a folder structure of some sort on a DVD -- to keep them isolated from each other -- and an option added to a general boot menu to permit the given DVD to boot whichever distro the user selects.
Extending that idea further, USB devices would be an even better choice. I can suggest a very simple way to be able to load a variable number of distros to a given DVD. For example, each ISO goes into a folder simply numbered from say /ISO1 to /ISO99 as necessary and the boot software would search for such folders, provide a list and load and boot the ISO chosen. That way a DVD could be updated with additional distros until there is no room left on the DVD. What do you think?
DistroWatch answers: What you are describing, putting multiple operating systems on a single live DVD/USB, has been done. There are a number of projects which allow users to run a variety of Linux distributions all from one CD/DVD/USB drive. A quick search turned up a few different methods for creating a multi-boot disc.
First, there is the command line utility MultiCD which requires a little Linux command line knowledge to get working, but gives a great deal of flexibility. For people who prefer a point-n-click option, there is YUMI. The YUMI application is cross-platform (working on both Linux and Windows) and provides a nice graphical interface. You might also look at SARDU which provides a graphical interface and walks the user through creating a multi-boot live disc or USB drive. Any of the above utilities will provide a fairly straight forward approach to placing multiple operating systems on one portable medium.
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| Released Last Week |
Mageia 4.1
Rémi Verschelde has announced the release of Mageia 4.1, an unscheduled maintenance update that fixes a number of security issues and corrects an upstream syslinux bug: "While most of the world is turned towards Brazil to enjoy the World Cup, Mageia has been preparing its own major worldwide event: Mageia 4.1 has been released! If you were not expecting it, you might wonder what this unannounced 4.1 version is. It is a maintenance release for Mageia 4 which contains all security and bug-fix updates that were issued since the release in February 2014. In particular, the Mageia 4 ISO images were affected by an upstream syslinux bug which prevented installation using a burned DVD on some older hardware. Among the updated packages you will find the Linux kernel (version 3.12.21), various drivers for your hardware, and updated software." Here is the full release announcement.
Netrunner 14
Clemens Toennies has announced the release of Netrunner 14, a Kubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring a customised KDE 4.13 desktop and five years of security support: "The Netrunner team today released Netrunner 14 'Frontier' – 32-bit and 64-bit editions. The release follows Kubuntu's support cycle, giving it a full 5 year support life via the backport repositories. Release notes: long-term support; Firefox instant start (on machines with more than 2 GB of RAM); KDE Dreamdesktop for animated backgrounds; Baloo superseding Nepomuk; single-click activated by default; new default theme; Veromix audio applet; the latest package updates available in the repositories, e.g. KDE 4.13.1, Firefox 30, VLC 2.1.4, Skype 4.3, Muon Discover 2.2 and many more." Read the full release announcement which includes a video demonstrating the animated wallpapers feature.
Netrunner 14 - the default KDE desktop
(full image size: 1,264kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
MakuluLinux 6.0 "KDE"
Jacque Raymer has announced the release of MakuluLinux 6.0 "KDE" edition, a Debian-based desktop distribution shipping with the very latest KDE desktop: "The long-awaited update to the KDE edition is now over, Stability, speed and beauty is what drives this edition. Based on KDE 4.13.1 and Linux kernel 3.14.x PAE, now also fully supporting systemd. Complete overhaul of themes in the new edition, far more consistent transparency in borders, panels, widgets, pop-up menus. Background theme now uses the same standard theme the rest of Makulu editions use, therefore you have this beautiful dark charcoal look. Please note that anyone wanting to change the theme need to change it for both user and root. Plenty of widgets, themes, styles and colours have been added to this edition allowing the user to customise the look easily to his own preference and taste with plenty choices at his finger tips." Read the complete release announcement for more details.
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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 |
New distributions added to waiting list
- n00bix. n00bix is a Debian-based distribution which ships with non-free firmware, systemd and the Enlightenment graphical user interface.
- Zentoo. Zentoo is a source-based distribution derived from Gentoo. Zentoo targets server deployments on 64-bit x86 platforms.
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 30 June 2014. 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 | 
Securepoint Security Suite
Securepoint Security Solutions offers a full-featured suite of firewall tools designed for enterprisewide deployment. Not only can it protect an internal network from outside attacks, it also helps segregate parts of your internal network and define custom protection rules for each. Securepoint lets you create and manage VPN tunnels for remote users and define traffic filters, reports, and alerts for your entire network. Securepoint Freeware was a very secure and free firewall solution for protecting your Internet gateway. Securepoint can as well be used with existing firewalls and to protect interconnected locations or divisions.
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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