 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 633, 26 October 2015 |
Welcome to this year's 43rd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
This past week we witnessed the release of Ubuntu and its many community editions. This bi-annual event always draws a lot of attention from the community and in our News section we give a brief overview of the release. Of course, putting together a distribution is a lot of work and we also talk about Kubuntu's Release Manager, Jonathon Riddell, leaving his post in the Kubuntu community. Plus we report on the release date of Fedora 23 slipping by a week. In other news, we talk about a new configuration panel being developed for Bodhi Linux and the Moksha desktop environment. In our Feature Story we discuss a desktop oriented flavour of BSD called GhostBSD. Read on to learn how this FreeBSD-based operating system works. In our Questions and Answers column we discuss taking live snapshots of an existing operating system and, in our Torrent Corner, we share the distributions we are seeding. In this issue we share the many releases of the past week and ask our readers for their thoughts on web browsers in our Opinion Poll. We wish you all a terrific week and happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (26MB) and MP3 (20MB) formats
• Music credit: Clouds Fly With Me by Matti Paalanen
|
| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
GhostBSD 10.1: Ghost in the machine
Earlier this year the GhostBSD project released version 10.1 of their desktop-oriented operating system. According to the project's website, "GhostBSD is a user-friendly BSD operating system built on top of FreeBSD. FreeBSD is known to be a solid, powerful, secure and stable server operating system, providing an excellent base for a desktop operating system. FreeBSD seems to be aimed at more experienced or technically inclined users. As such, newcomers to the BSD platform can be confused, especially for those who lack the technical expertise required."
GhostBSD aims to lower the bar for entry into the FreeBSD community. The project does this by providing users with a FreeBSD-based system that ships with a pre-configured desktop environment (MATE and Xfce editions are available) and GhostBSD offers users a graphical system installer which looks nicer and requires fewer steps than FreeBSD's text-based installer.
The most recent release of GhostBSD includes a number of new features. The release notes mention the return of the project's Xfce edition, a new graphical package manager and several other improvements:
- GhostBSD ISO image is hybrid that can be burned on a DVD or USB stick.
- Xfce is coming back.
- Users can choose to install the BSD boot manager, GRUB boot manager or simply None and use their Linux GRUB.
- Station Tweak, a fork of MATE Tweak.
- OctoPkg GUI front-end for pkgng written in Qt.
- Station Update Manager to update FreeBSD base system and third party software .
- Software from pkg or ports can be installed in the live DVD/USB session.
Both the MATE and Xfce editions of GhostBSD are available in 32-bit and 64-bit builds for the x86 architecture. I decided to try the 64-bit MATE edition of the operating system. The ISO for this edition is approximately 1.8GB in size. Booting from the project's live media brings up a boot menu asking if we would like to perform a graphical installation, launch an installer in safe graphics mode or start the installer with no ACPI support. Though the boot menu's wording suggests it is going to immediately launch a system installer, taking any of the above options boots a live graphical environment and we are brought to the MATE 1.10 desktop.
The MATE desktop is decorated with some leafy wallpaper that contains nice shades of green and blue. The Applications, Places and System menus sit in the upper-left corner of the screen while the system tray is placed in the upper-right corner. At the bottom of the display we find the task switcher panel. There are icons on the desktop for opening a file manager, launching an IRC client which will automatically connect us to the GhostBSD support channel and there is an icon for launching the project's system installer.
GhostBSD's graphical system installer has a visual style similar to Ubuntu's installer. We begin by selecting our preferred language from a list. Then we select our keyboard's layout. The keyboard layout screen has a text box where we can practice typing to make sure we have selected the correct keyboard. Next, we select our time zone from a list. The following screen asks if we would like to have the installer take over our entire hard drive or if we would like to manually partition our disk. Taking the manual option presents us with a nice, easy to navigate partition manager. One thing I especially enjoyed about GhostBSD's installer is it will suggest a good default partition layout for our disk based on the space we have available. In my case the installer suggested a large partition formatted with UFS and an accompanying swap partition. The following screens get us to create a password for the root account and then create a regular user account for ourselves. We can choose which command shell our account will use with options including fish, bash, csh, tcsh, zsh and ksh. I opted for bash since it is also the default shell on most of my Linux-based accounts. Once the installer has copied its files to our drive, we are returned to the live MATE desktop where we can explore until we decide to reboot the computer.
When we first boot our new copy of GhostBSD we are brought to a graphical login screen decorated with grey wallpaper. From here we can sign into the account we created during the installation process. This is assuming, of course, the operating system boots. I tried running GhostBSD in two test environments. When run in a VirtualBox virtual machine the operating system ran very well. GhostBSD integrated with VirtualBox, allowing me to make full use of my screen resolution and the operating system worked quickly. Sound, networking and mouse integration all worked smoothly. However, I was unable to boot GhostBSD on my desktop computer. Immediately after passing the GRUB boot screen, GhostBSD would run into a kernel page fault and immediately come to a halt. I ran into the same problem recently while testing PC-BSD 10.2, so I suspect the issue lies with the underlying FreeBSD kernel common to both projects. When GhostBSD was running in its virtual environment, the operating system used about 200MB of active memory and 150MB of wired memory while logged into the MATE desktop. A fresh installation of GhostBSD took up 5.5GB of storage space on my disk.
GhostBSD 10.1 -- The Control Centre and Station Tweak
(full image size: 555kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
While exploring the MATE desktop and its features, one component I kept coming back to was the Control Centre. The operating system's Control Centre panel presents us with a one-stop location for configuring our desktop and various aspects of the underlying operating system. The Control Centre includes modules for changing the appearance of the MATE desktop, changing our power settings, selecting our preferred applications, managing printers and configuring file indexing. We can also change our mouse settings and the keyboard's layout from the settings panel. One module which I found especially helpful was called Station Tweak. This tool enables us to change several aspects of the desktop. For instance, Station Tweak enables us to change which common icons appear on the desktop, such as the Computer icon and the Trash icon. Station Tweak will allow us to enable/disable compositing, switch window managers and move the window control buttons to the left or right side of application windows. Perhaps my favourite feature though gives us a way to quickly change the position of the desktop panels. By default, MATE displays an application menu and system tray at the top of the screen while window management is handled by a panel at the bottom of the screen. Using Station Tweak we can switch to using one unified panel which can be placed along any screen border. We can also set up one panel at the top of the display and have a launch bar placed at the bottom of the screen, similar to the way the OS X desktop is arranged. This gives us an extra level of flexibility when it comes to organizing our desktop.
GhostBSD 10.1 -- Running MATE with the Purity layout
(full image size: 723kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
GhostBSD ships with the OctoPkg graphical package manager. The package manager is divided into two main parts. At the top of the window we see a list of packages. This is where we can browse through packages we have already installed or see the results of searches we have performed for packages we want. At the bottom of the window we see information on selected packages, dependency data, indication of available upgrades and other information. OctoPkg will also display news that has been posted to the GhostBSD project's blog. OctoPkg enables us to search for packages by name and see a list of installed items sorted in alphabetical order. Using OctoPkg we can perform installation, removal and upgrade actions on packages. I found OctoPkg worked well. The first day I was using GhostBSD, OctoPkg let me know there were five upgrades waiting (totalling 16MB in size) and OctoPkg installed these updates without any problem. I was also able to install new software and remove unwanted packages. OctoPkg pulls software in from FreeBSD's repositories, giving us access to over 20,000 software packages. The one feature of OctoPkg I found strange was that the application would not display all available packages in the repositories. We are shown installed items and we can perform searches for packages in FreeBSD's repository, but I could not get OctoPkg to display a full list of available software that had not yet been installed locally. This might be a settings issue, but even with the "show local only" filter turned off, I wasn't able to browse the remote repository.
GhostBSD 10.1 -- The OctoPkg package manager
(full image size: 667kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
So far as I could tell, OctoPkg will not update the base operating system, only third-party packages installed on top of GhostBSD's core. I was not able to find any other graphical utility to perform updates to the base system either. The release notes mention a tool called Station Update Manager, but I did not find any utility with this name. To update the base system I used a command line tool called freebsd-update. During my trial I ran freebsd-update a few times. The first time I ran into errors indicating missing files, but subsequent runs of freebsd-update completed without any problems.
GhostBSD ships with a collection of useful desktop software. We are treated to the Firefox web browser (without Flash support), the HexChat IRC client, the Pidgin instant messaging software, the Thunderbird e-mail client and the Transmission bittorrent application. The operating system ships with LibreOffice 5, a dictionary application and the Atril document viewer. We can also find the Cheese webcam application, the Exaile audio player and GNOME MPlayer for watching videos. GhostBSD ships with the Xfburn disc burning application and includes multimedia codecs in the default installation. The operating system also includes a simple image viewer, the Shotwell photo managing software, an archive manager, a calculator and a text editor. The Plank application launcher (which gives the desktop an OS X style program launcher) is available. The Caja and Midnight Commander file managers are included in GhostBSD as are a system monitor and the MATE desktop configuration modules. Unlike most Linux distributions, GhostBSD ships with the Clang compiler rather than the GNU Compiler Collection. Behind the scenes, GhostBSD ships with the FreeBSD 10.1 command line utilities, documentation and kernel.
GhostBSD 10.1 -- Running LibreOffice 5
(full image size: 274kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Conclusions
I like the GhostBSD project and its goal. I think, in the past, there has generally not been enough work done to make FreeBSD a good operating system for desktop use. FreeBSD works well in the role of a server operating system, it's stable, fast and the project evolves in such a way that it is fairly easy to upgrade a FreeBSD system over time. However, FreeBSD (while it can be used as a desktop operating system) lacks many of the characteristics one might want on the desktop, such as a graphical installer, multimedia support, a graphical package manager and an attractive, pre-configured desktop environment. While these features can be added or enabled on FreeBSD, most users will want those tools to be in place and to just work right from the start.
There are two projects which are working hard to provide an attractive desktop solution built on FreeBSD. The PC-BSD project seems to be aiming at the workstation and power user market. PC-BSD supports 64-bit x86 exclusively, offers ZFS and lots of administrative utilities. GhostBSD is taking a different approach. While both PC-BSD and GhostBSD offer graphical installers and nice package managers, GhostBSD seems to be aiming at a different market. GhostBSD offers 32-bit and 64-bit builds, the installer has fewer options which streamlines the installation process and GhostBSD offers fewer administrative utilities. GhostBSD ships with UFS as the default file system which has fewer features, but requires less memory when compared next to ZFS.
In short, GhostBSD has a different feel and approach to things than its cousin, PC-BSD. The PC-BSD developers are adding options, providing a lot of tools power users will want and making their platform very flexible. GhostBSD is going in another direction, simplifying and offering us a clean, streamlined desktop solution.
GhostBSD still has access to lots of options for power users through the project's software repository. If we so choose we can install the same components PC-BSD offers through the package manager, but by default GhostBSD appears to be aiming at the home user market more so than the professional/office market. GhostBSD sweeps as much configuration and clutter as it can out of the way so we are left with just the MATE desktop and a handful of useful applications. I think taking this approach will make GhostBSD quite attractive to home users, especially those who are comfortable using Linux and want to try something different.
* * * * *
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
|
| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Bodhi Linux gets a new configuration panel, Ubuntu 15.10 launches, Jonathan Riddell leaves his Kubuntu Release Manager position and Fedora 23 delayed
The Bodhi Linux distribution recently forked the Enlightenment desktop environment in order to provide its users with a stable, high performance graphical interface. Now that the fork, called Moksha, has been completed, the team is looking at other improvements it can make to Enlightenment. Bodhi Linux's lead developer, Jeff Hoogland, has decided Moksha should have a new settings panel. "The one major improvement I want to implement in Moksha is a rewritten configuration panel. The current panel, while powerful and offering lots of options, is not well organized and lacks the ability to easily search all of the options it provides once loaded. Because I prefer to write in Python the first thing I had to do before I could get started was to write a Python library for interacting with the EET configuration files Moksha currently uses. Last night I finished up the first version of this library that seems functional in the tests I have done so far - I am calling it neet. As for the control panel itself, I have also begun some amount of work on this as well - I am calling it Swami. The goal for Swami is to be modular and easily searchable." A screen shot and further details can be found on the project's website.
* * * * *
New versions of the Ubuntu distribution always get a lot of attention, in part because the distribution is so widely used and also because there are so many community (and unofficial) editions of Ubuntu. This past week Ubuntu 15.10 was launched with commentary and reviews quickly appearing around the Web. By most accounts it appears as though the latest release of Ubuntu was fairly tame, carrying no surprises and not many new features. Adam Conrad, who announced the launch of Ubuntu 15.10, stated, "Ubuntu Desktop has seen incremental improvements, with newer versions of GTK and Qt, updates to major packages like Firefox and LibreOffice, and stability improvements to Unity." The 15.10 release appears to offer mostly minor updates and bug fixes, probably in preparation for the upcoming long term support release in April 2016.
* * * * *
Jonathan Riddel, who has been a central figure in the Kubuntu community for years, has decided to leave his post as the project's Release Manager. This move follows several years of debates with Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, over licensing issues. Riddell posted a farewell message on the Kubuntu website, saying: "Community made open source software needs people to be able to take out what they've put in. Ubuntu's licences and policies enforce this. However for the last three years Ubuntu's main sponsor, Canonical, has had a policy contrary to this and after much effort to try to rectify this it's clear that isn't going to happen. The Ubuntu leadership seems compliant with this so I find myself unable to continue helping a project that won't obey its own community rules and I need to move on. I won't be going far, I'll be helping out in KDE more, the original and best end-user free software community who have always been wonderful."
* * * * *
The upcoming release of Fedora 23 has been delayed by a week. It was announced last week that the next version of Fedora will be held back a week to deal with a few remaining issues. Jan Kurik wrote, "At the Fedora 23 Final Go/No-Go Meeting that just ended, was agreed not to release the Fedora 23 Final. Due to present blockers in the RC2 build, the decision is No-Go. The release slips for one week. Second Go/No-Go meeting to be planned for the next Thursday." An updated schedule indicates Fedora 23 will be launched on November 3rd, 2015.
|
| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Creating a live image of the operating system
Making-images-of-the-operating-system asks:
I thought I had seen a program to make ISO images of a live system. Please, if you can recommend one for Mint 17.2, I will be very grateful.
DistroWatch answers: There are a few methods a person can use to create a custom ISO of an existing operating system. I suspect the tool you are thinking of is Remastersys. Though development of the original Remastersys application has stopped, there is a fork which continues on the work of assisting users in creating custom spins of Debian, Ubuntu and related distributions like Linux Mint. The fork of Remastersys is called Linux Respin. The Linux Respin project is probably one of the easiest ways to create a live disc image based on the operating system you are currently running.
There are similar tools for other distributions which will allow the user to create a live snapshot of their running system. For example, the mylivecd utility will create a live disc image of a working PCLinuxOS system.
Since Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, you may have luck with the Ubuntu Customization Kit. The How-To Geek website has a tutorial on using Ubuntu Customization Kit to create new spins of the distribution. This is not the same as taking a snapshot of your existing system, but it will allow you to create clean, custom spins.
Finally, if you want to do some deep, manual customization of an existing distribution, you might want to look at editing the contents of the original ISO file. This approach isn't for everyone, but it may be useful if you are planning to craft a modified version of your distribution. There is a fairly thorough look at the process of editing and enhancing an existing ISO file with whatever files and settings you want in the Ubuntu documentation.
* * * * *
Past Questions and Answers columns can be found in our Q&A Archive.
|
| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
Bittorrent is a great way to transfer large files, particularly open source operating system images, from one place to another. Most bittorrent clients recover from dropped connections automatically, check the integrity of files and can re-download corrupted bits of data without starting a download over from scratch. These characteristics make bittorrent well suited for distributing open source operating systems, particularly to regions where Internet connections are slow or unstable.
Many Linux and BSD projects offer bittorrent as a download option, partly for the reasons listed above and partly because bittorrent's peer-to-peer nature takes some of the strain off the project's servers. However, some projects do not offer bittorrent as a download option. There can be several reasons for excluding bittorrent as an option. Some projects do not have enough time or volunteers, some may be restricted by their web host provider's terms of service. Whatever the reason, the lack of a bittorrent option puts more strain on a distribution's bandwidth and may prevent some people from downloading their preferred open source operating system.
With this in mind, DistroWatch plans to give back to the open source community by hosting and seeding bittorrent files. For now, we are hosting a small number of distribution torrents, listed below. The list of torrents offered will be updated each week and we invite readers to e-mail us with suggestions as to which distributions we should be hosting. When you message us, please place the word "Torrent" in the subject line, make sure to include a link to the ISO file you want us to seed. To help us maintain and grow this free service, please consider making a donation.
The table below provides a list of torrents we currently host. If you do not currently have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found here. All torrents we make available here are also listed on the very useful Linux Tracker website. Thanks to Linux Tracker we are able to share the following torrent statistics.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 124
- Total data uploaded: 17.6TB
|
| Released Last Week |
NethServer 6.7
Alessio Fattorini has announced the release of NethServer 6.7, an updated release of the project's CentOS-based distribution designed for servers: "We are proud to announce a new release, NethServer 6.7. We have a new full-featured groupware, called WebTop, which implements the ActiveSync protocol. Work on PPPoE support has been completed, adding this choice into the multi-WAN configuration panel and allowing the creation of a new PPPoE provider associated with a free Ethernet assigned. Two fantastic new packages have been released - nethserver-adagios which installs and configures Adagios and nethserver-ocsinventory which installs and configures OCS inventory; a new Monitoring group is also available. Now it's possible to create an IPsec tunnel with devices from other manufacturers or between two NethServer, allowing advanced configuration customization to maximize interoperability and displaying tunnel status in a dedicated page." See the release announcement (with screenshots) for further details and check out the release notes for upgrade instructions.
Clonezilla Live 2.4.2-61
Steven Shiau has announced the release of Clonezilla Live 2.4.2-61, the latest stable build of the project's Debian-based live CD for cloning and restoring images of hard disks and hard disk partitions: "This release of Clonezilla Live (2.4.2-61) includes major enhancements and bug fixes: the underlying GNU/Linux operating system has been upgraded, this release is based on the Debian 'Sid' repository as of 2015-10-12); the Linux kernel has been updated to version 4.2.3; starting from Linux kernel 4.x, the default Unionfs file system has been changed to overlay, therefore if you edit boot parameter manually, you have to use 'union=overlay' and not 'union=aufs'; Partclone has been updated to 0.2.83 and the XFS issue fixed; the util-linux package has been updated to 2.27; other NIC names, like enp*, will be searched in ocs-live-netcfg; the zerofree package has been added; proportional GPT partition layout can be created with the '-k1' option...." Read the rest of the release announcement for a complete changelog.
Ubuntu GNOME 15.10
The developers of Ubuntu GNOME have unveiled a new release of their Ubuntu-based distribution featuring the GNOME Shell desktop environment. The new release, Ubuntu GNOME 15.10, features a new logo, GNOME 3.16 and the Shotwell photograph manager has been replaced by the GNOME Photos application. "With GNOME 3.16, new logo and new Ubiquity slide show, the Ubuntu GNOME Team is very happy to announce the release of Ubuntu GNOME 15.10 (Wily Werewolf). Wily Ubuntu GNOME is an official flavor of Ubuntu, featuring the GNOME desktop environment. Ubuntu GNOME is a mostly pure GNOME desktop experience built from the Ubuntu repositories. Three years ago, Ubuntu GNOME has started as unofficial flavor to Ubuntu - see the release notes of 12.10 - and 6 months after that, Ubuntu GNOME has become an official flavor." Read the release announcement and the more technical release notes for further information on this release.
Ubuntu 15.10
Adam Conrad has announced the launch of Ubuntu 15.10. The new Ubuntu release features version 4.2 of the Linux kernel, updated packages of Firefox, LibreOffice and the GNU Compiler Collection along with several bug fixes. "Codenamed `Wily Werewolf', 15.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs. Under the hood, there have been updates to many core packages, including a new 4.2-based kernel, a switch to gcc-5, and much more. Ubuntu Desktop has seen incremental improvements, with newer versions of GTK and Qt, updates to major packages like Firefox and LibreOffice, and stability improvements to Unity. Ubuntu Server 15.10 includes the Liberty release of OpenStack, alongside deployment and management tools that save devops teams time when deploying distributed applications - whether on private clouds, public clouds, x86, ARM, or POWER servers, or on developer laptops. Several key server technologies, from MAAS to juju, have been updated to new upstream versions with a variety of new features." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes.
Ubuntu 15.10 -- Running the Unity desktop environment
(full image size: 414kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Ubuntu MATE 15.10
Martin Wimpress has announced the launch of Ubuntu MATE 15.10. The new release of this community edition of the Ubuntu distribution is mostly a big fix and polish release which updates existing software and corrects some issues with past versions. "What changed since the Ubuntu MATE 15.10 Beta 2 release? Here's what changed in Ubuntu MATE 15.10 since Beta 2: Fixed update-manager and do-release-upgrade to upgrade from Ubuntu MATE 15.04 to Ubuntu MATE 15.10. Fixed the openSUSE panel layout, GNOME Main Menu no longer crashes. Fixed ubi-timezone error in Ubiquity. Fixed Caja undelete, which was causing Caja to crash or fail to undelete. Updated MATE Tweak to 3.5.2a..." This version of Ubuntu MATE also includes an edition of the distribution for the Raspberry Pi 2 mini computer. Further information on Ubuntu MATE 15.10 can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes.
Xubuntu 15.10
The Xubuntu team has announced a new release of their distribution which combines packages from the Ubuntu repositories with the Xfce desktop environment. The new release, Xubuntu 15.10, swaps out Gnumeric and Abiword for the LibreOffice productivity suite. The new release also includes version 4.12 of the Xfce desktop. The 15.10 release has the following highlights: Xfce4 Panel Switch for backup and restoration of panels. Included are five preset panel layouts. LibreOffice Calc and Writer and now included. These applications replace Gnumeric and Abiword respectively. A new theme for LibreOffice, libreoffice-style-elementary is also included and is default for Wily Werewolf. Greybird accessibility icons for window manager." Further information can be found in the distribution's release announcement and a full list of changes and new packages are provided in the release notes.
Kubuntu 15.10
Jonathan Riddell (who also happened to announce his resignation from the project today) has published the release of Kubuntu 15.10, the new stable version from the official Ubuntu subproject that features the latest KDE Plasma 5 desktop: "Kubuntu 15.10 is available for upgrade or install." What's new in this release? "Plasma 5, the next generation of KDE's desktop, has been rewritten to make it smoother to use while retaining the familiar setup. The fourth set of updates to Plasma 5 (current release, including the fixpack) is the default in this version of Kubuntu. Kubuntu comes with KDE Applications 15.08 containing all your favorite applications from KDE, including Dolphin. This is the first stability update, and it contains bug fixes and translation updates. 107 applications have been ported to KDE Frameworks 5 but those which aren't should fit in seamlessly. Non-KDE applications include LibreOffice 5.0 and Firefox 41." Continue to the release announcement for further details, screenshots and known problems.
Lubuntu 15.10
Rafael Laguna has announced the release of Lubuntu 15.10, a Linux distribution built from Ubuntu packages, but providing the lightweight LXDE desktop environment: "We are pleased to announce the arrival of the Werewolf. Lubuntu 15.10 is now available. New features: general bug-fix release as we prepare for LXQt; many LXDE components have been updated with bug-fix releases; an update of the artwork (more icons, theme update, more compatibilities); the problematical iBus has now been replaced with Fcitx, with that change the fonts for Chinese, Japanese and Korean have been added back into the build; lubuntu-extra-sessions - in the past, selecting different sessions (netbook, gaming) was installed by default, but this is now an optional extra that can be installed by those who want this added functionality." Here is the very brief release announcement, so check out the much more detailed release notes for further information, system requirements and known issues.
Lubuntu 15.10 -- Running the LXDE desktop environment
(full image size: 340kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
ubuntu Kylin 15.10
Ubuntu Kylin 15.10, an official Ubuntu variant tailored to the users in China, has been released: "We are glad to announce the release of Ubuntu Kylin 15.10 (code name 'Wily Werewolf'). In this release, we have fixed many internationalization and localization bugs in Ubuntu itself and bugs in software written by the Ubuntu Kylin team. All the work that Ubuntu Kylin team does is within the Ubuntu community and ecosystem and, as such, they get back to Ubuntu itself and everyone using Ubuntu can benefit from our work. This release is based on the 4.2 Linux kernel with the support of Intel Broxton. The following applications have been updated to their latest versions: Firefox 41, Chromium 45 and LibreOffice 5.0.2. We have also released Sogou Pinyin 2.0.0.0066. It is not included in the image by default, but you can install it easily from the Ubuntu Kylin Software Center. Besides a plethora of bugs fixed in this milestone, several Ubuntu Kylin specific packages have also been updated." See the brief release announcement (in Chinese) and check out the detailed release notes (in English) for more details.
Ubuntu Studio
Kaj Ailomaa has announced the release of Ubuntu Studio 15.10, the latest version of the official Ubuntu subproject designed for graphics, audio and media enthusiasts: "Ubuntu Studio 15.10 'Wily Werewolf' has been released. Wily Werewolf will be supported only for 9 months. Changes for this release: the categorization in the menu has changed - still work in progress, but we have gone from 5 main categories down to 3 (audio, graphics and video); the ubuntustudio-controls application is now functional and able to administer real-time privileges for users; Ubuntu has followed Debian in moving from libav back to FFmpeg; as usual, many applications have been updated; special notice for ardour - the package is called ardour3, but the application itself is actually version 4." Here are the links to the brief release announcement and release notes.
Zentyal 4.2
,br>
The developers of Zentyal, a server oriented distribution based on Ubuntu's long term support releases, have launched Zentyal 4.2. The new release is based on Ubuntu 14.04.3 and ships with Samba 4.3.1. The new version of Zentyal improves compatibly with modern versions of Microsoft Windows and Outlook. "Zentyal Development Team is proud to announce Zentyal Server 4.2, a new release of the Zentyal Open Source Linux email and groupware solution, natively compatible with Microsoft Outlook® clients. This release is based on the newest Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS to provide the latest updates. It also integrates Samba 4.3.1, with lots of improvements for Active Directory services and support for Windows 8.1 and the newest Windows 10. The installer has been updated to support modern network interfaces. Apart from that, the release is focused on bug fixing and improvements of the Outlook-compatible Mail & Groupware Exchange replacement." A list of changes and improvements can be found in the project's release announcement with more detailed list of changes available in the changelog.
Plamo Linux 6.0
Plamo Linux 6.0 has been released. Plamo Linux, one of the oldest Japanese distributions, is loosely modelled on Slackware Linux and is designed for more experienced Linux users. The version number upgrade reflects the distribution's move to the new Linux kernel 4.x series, but in all other respects it's a routine release made available for the occasion of this weekend's OpenStack Summit in Tokyo. Some of the more interesting package upgrades in Plamo's latest version include: a switch to Linux kernel 4.2.3; upgrade to MATE 1.10 desktop environment; updated Mozilla packages - Firefox 41.0.2 and Thunderbird 38.3.0; move to X.Org Server 1.17.2 and MESA 10.6.7; upgrade to LibreOffice 5.0.2 office suite. Plamo Linux 6.0 also includes a new "get_pkginfo" command which compares any locally installed packages with the official ones available on Plamo's FTP servers. The installation DVD, which is a hybrid DVD/USB image, comes with improved UEFI/GPT support. Read the complete release announcement (in Japanese) for further details.
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
|
| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
|
Summary of expected upcoming releases
|
| Opinion Poll |
Web browsers
In the open source community we have access to a wide range of web browsers. Some browsers focus on features, others on performance, some even work in a text console. One of the big factors many people look at is whether a web browser is open source. In the Linux community we have some open browsers, such as Firefox and Qupzilla, and we have some closed browsers, such as Vivaldi and Chrome. This week we would like to know whether our readers prefer to use an open or closed web browser. Please let us know why you made your choice in the comments section.
You can see the results of last week's poll on convergence here. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
|
Open or closed source web browsers
| I use open source browsers exclusively: | 1376 (54%) |
| I use closed source browsers exclusively: | 92 (4%) |
| I use either as the situation requires: | 1023 (40%) |
| Whichever browser is the default: | 54 (2%) |
|
|
| DistroWatch.com News |
Adding to the glossary
A few weeks ago we rolled out an early draft of the DistroWatch glossary, a document which defines commonly used technical terms in the open source community. We received positive feedback along with several suggestions for additional terms we had not yet covered. Most of the suggested terms have been added to the glossary and we are continuing to expand it as our readers send in more jargon to be defined.
If you know of a technical term that is commonly used in the open source community and has not been covered yet, please let us know. We are hoping to make the community a little less confusing for newcomers. Also, please let us know if you translate the glossary into another language as we would like to share translated versions.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 2 November 2015. 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)
- Michael DeGuzis of Libre Geek (podcast)
|
|
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 0, value: US$0.00) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
|
| 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.
|
| 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.
|
| Random Distribution | 
Leeenux
Leeenux is an Ubuntu-based commercial Linux distribution tailored to netbooks. Several editions, depending on the user interface are available; these include Unity 2D, MATE and LXDE desktop environments.
Status: Dormant
|
| 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.
|
| 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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
