 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 684, 24 October 2016 |
Welcome to this year's 43rd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Earlier this month we witnessed the release of a new version of the Ubuntu distribution, along with the project's many community editions. While not a lot of new desktop features were presented in the new release, Ubuntu 16.10 does provide some updates and a preview of the Unity 8 desktop environment running on the Mir display software. Joshua Allen Holm has a look at Ubuntu 16.10 in this week's Feature Story. One new Ubuntu feature, live kernel patching, was announced after 16.10 arrived and we discuss this new kernel update method in our News section. We also discuss Fedora introducing support for running on Raspberry Pi computers, Debian working on Secure Boot support and KDE version 1 running on modern distributions. In our Questions and Answers column we discuss the popularity of Linux in various markets and, in our Opinion Poll, we talk about different methods of governing open source projects. Plus we share the torrents we are seeding and cover the distribution releases of the past week. Finally, we are pleased to announce we have sent the FFmpeg project a donation this month and we welcome the budgie-remix distribution to our database. We wish you all a fantastic 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 Joshua Allen Holm) |
Ubuntu 16.10 Review
The list of major new features in Ubuntu 16.10 is impressive and interesting, but only if you are using the server product. Very little has changed on the desktop side of things other than the included packages being slightly newer. In fact, other than touting the number of applications available as Snaps, the only desktop-focused feature in the release announcement is a developer preview of Unity 8 desktop.
To see what the desktop version of Ubuntu 16.10 has to offer compared to the previous 16.04 LTS release, I downloaded the 1.48GB ISO and gave it a try. Below, I take a look at what is new and different. I also take a look at the Unity 8 developer preview.
Ubuntu 16.10 -- The Ubiquity system installer
(full image size: 239kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
At first glance, little has changed in Ubuntu 16.10. It looks almost exactly like every other recent release of Ubuntu and the included applications are the same ones one would expect to see. There is a newer Linux kernel, version 4.8, and Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, and the rest of the applications one expects to find are present and newer than what Ubuntu 16.04 LTS shipped with. Because all of my computers have Intel graphics, I cannot personally test to see if the updated packages in 16.10 fix or improve the issue with AMD graphics that are present in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
Ubuntu 16.10 -- The default file manager
(full image size: 252kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The biggest change comes from the update to using GNOME 3.20 applications. The new version of Ubuntu Software, which is GNOME Software 3.20 rebranded, provides a much snappier experience for installing software. The switch to the 3.20 release of GNOME Files (a.k.a. Nautilus) also brings many changes, many of which are far more noticeable than the improvements to GNOME Software. Files now uses the single global menu featured in modern GNOME applications. In 16.04 LTS, Files has multiple menus, but in 16.10 there is just a "Files" menu with only a handful of options. Personally, I like GNOME's way of doing things, but only when using GNOME. A consistent set of behaviours is important for a good user experience, so Ubuntu having some applications behaving one way with full menus while others do something different is less than ideal, especially for an application used as frequently as the file manger.
While the lack of major changes might be a little boring, the fact is that recent releases of Ubuntu are polished enough that there is little need for more than incremental refinements. Installing Ubuntu 16.10 provides a fully functional system that users can use to browse the web, watch videos, or write a paper without having to install any extra software or tweak any settings. Of course, major changes are coming at some point, but right now those changes are only available in the preview of the Unity 8 desktop.
The Unity 8 desktop
It is best to begin by stating that there is a good reason why the Unity 8 desktop is a developer preview; it is barely functional. Even following all the suggestions made in an Ubuntu Insights blog post does not result in a desktop that is suited for daily use. It is reasonably stable, but there is so much still missing that it is impossible to get any real work done using it. To give one example, the list of shortcuts that show up when holding down the Windows key on the keyboard has screen shots listed as an option, but I could not get the system to successfully take a screen shot. Pressing the "print screen" key on my keyboard would create a Screenshots folder, but not actually save the screen shots. The Unity 8 screen shots in this review were actually taken by running Ubuntu 16.10 in a virtual machine and using the host operating system's screen shot functionality.
Ubuntu 16.10 -- Unity 8 scopes
(full image size: 105kB, resolution: 1024x768 pixels)
What Unity 8 comes with by default is minimal, very minimal. The Scopes window, which is opened when the desktop loads, has icons for Ubuntu's Browser app, System Settings, Terminal, and the Checkbox application for testing system hardware. That is it. Clicking on the arrow at the bottom of the Scopes window displays a few additional scopes that can be added, but those are web apps for doing things like viewing books from the Open Library. Even after installing everything suggested in the Ubuntu Insights post, it is still not enough to classify Unity 8 as a complete, functional desktop environment.
Unity 8 is not on par with Unity 7 for even basic desktop options and system settings. When holding down the Windows key on the keyboard to bring up the shortcuts overview, Unity 8 has a much shorter list of items, and that list includes things that do not always work correctly, like the screen shot issue mentioned above. The Systems Settings control panel is clean and well organized, but even that is missing things from the traditional Ubuntu System Settings.
Ubuntu 16.10 -- System Settings and Time & Date panel
(full image size: 139kB, resolution: 1024x768 pixels)
Despite the long list of still missing and not on par features, Unity 8 does provide some nice polish beyond the current Ubuntu desktop. The Sound, Battery, Time & Date, and System panels are cleaner and are nice improvements over their equivalents in Unity 7. If the rest of the desktop reaches, or exceeds, the polish of these panels, an Ubuntu release with Unity 8 as the primary desktop will be nice, but that day is not yet here.
Unity 8 has a lot of potential. I enjoyed trying it out, and I do hope that Unity 8 is ready for the next LTS release of Ubuntu because it does have a lot to offer. However, the developer preview included in Ubuntu 16.10 is so far from being ready that I almost suspect that the only reason it was included by default in this release was so there would actually be a desktop-focused new feature in the release announcement.
Final thoughts
Ubuntu 16.10 is a solid, polished, usable Linux distribution. However, there is very little reason to recommend it over the previous 16.04 LTS release. There are a few tweaks and some slightly newer software packages, but nothing world shattering. The only compelling reason to upgrade is if Ubuntu 16.10 fixes an issue you were having with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. That said, there are no major issues with Ubuntu 16.10, so if you are the kind of person who always wants to have the latest packages possible, go ahead and upgrade.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a Lenovo Ideapad 100-15IBD laptop with the following specifications:
- Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core i3-5020U CPU
- Storage: Seagate 500GB 5400 RPM hard drive
- Memory: 4GB of RAM
- Networking: Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter
- Display: Intel HD Graphics 5500
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Ubuntu offers live kernel updates, Fedora runs on the Raspberry Pi, Debian working on Secure Boot, KDE 1 on Fedora 25
Dustin Kirkland has announced Canonical is rolling out a live kernel update feature for Ubuntu users. The new feature, called kernel live patching, will allow Ubuntu users to upgrade their running kernels without rebooting their computer. "Kernel live patching enables runtime correction of critical security issues in your kernel without rebooting. It's the best way to ensure that machines are safe at the kernel level, while guaranteeing uptime, especially for container hosts where a single machine may be running thousands of different workloads. We're very pleased to announce that this new enterprise, commercial service from Canonical will also be available free of charge to the Ubuntu community. The Canonical Livepatch Service is an authenticated, encrypted, signed stream of livepatch kernel modules for Ubuntu servers, virtual machines and desktops." Details on how to enable kernel live patching can be found in Kirkland's mailing list post.
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Support for Raspberry Pi single board computers has landed in the Fedora distribution. Support for the minimal ARM-based devices has taken a while to arrive in Fedora due to missing upstream support and driver/firmware licensing, but now Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 computers will be supported by Fedora directly, removing the requirement for Fedora users to use a derivative like Pidora. "We support everything you'd expect from a device supported by Fedora. We have a proper Fedora supported upstream userspace and kernel, with all the standard Fedora features like SELinux support. It receives the usual array of updates so no need to exclude kernel updates! The kernel supports all the drivers you'd expect, like various USB WiFi dongles, etc. You can run whichever desktop you like (more on those below) or Docker/Kubernetes/Ceph/Gluster as a group of devices - albeit slowly over a single shared USB bus!" Fedora magazine has further information on the new support for Raspberry Pi computers.
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The Debian distribution tends to be conservative in nature and the project takes its time when adopting new features. The Debian developers have been considering support for UEFI's Secure Boot feature for a while now. Secure Boot is designed to prevent untrusted software from loading on the system at boot time and requires low-level software to be signed by a trusted authority. "The commonly-used approach of signing the kernel image creates some problems for Debian, though. The project's practice with signatures has been to sign metadata describing software, never the code itself. Debian does not want to put signing keys onto its 'buildd' systems; those systems are distributed around the globe and present any number of ways in which the keys could be exposed. Debian is also committed to reproducible builds, which cannot depend on secrets (or they would no longer be reproducible). As a result, Debian cannot automatically build signed kernel binaries in a single step." This LWN article goes into the issues Debian faces when implementing Secure Boot support and how the project is dealing with the challenges.
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The KDE project turned 20 years old this month and fans of the desktop environment have been celebrating in various ways. One developer decided to look back to the early days of KDE and tried to get version 1 of the desktop environment running on a modern Linux distribution. The result is KDE 1 running on the latest beta release of the Fedora distribution: "If you look on the screen shots, they are made with Spectacle, the new screen shot tool, running inside Fedora 25 Beta, from KDE 1..." A write-up of the developer's work, along with screen shots of the classic desktop environment running on Fedora, can be found in this blog post.
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Differences in popularity
Looking-for-Linux-everywhere asks: Why do you think Linux is dominant everywhere expect the desktop? It's at the heart of most cell phones and tablets, but never took off on the desktop.
DistroWatch answers: I think there are a few reasons Linux has done well for itself in the mobile market. Linux is fast, flexible, stable. Plus it's free, which is a nice perk for companies who want to build on top of the Linux kernel. A company like Google can focus on building a user interface on top of Linux rather than building a new system entirely from scratch and that speeds up development.
I suspect one of the major reasons for Linux doing so well in mobile markets compared to the desktop/laptop market is timing. When smart phones and tablets came along, Linux was already a well established kernel. Developers knew Linux was reliable and time tested and they could build things with it. Companies could confidently create Linux-based products for the new-ish mobile market while there were relatively few entrenched players. Compare that to the desktop market where people had been using desktop computers and laptops for around a decade before Linux was even started. It took GNU/Linux a few years after that to catch on in technical circles and it was almost a decade after that before I could mention words like "Linux" or "Ubuntu" to non-technical peers and have people recognize the names. By that time, many people had been using Apple and Microsoft products for a few decades and a lot of software and systems relied on those proprietary operating systems.
What I think it really comes down to is: people (most people) rarely buy operating systems, they buy products. And most people will continue to use whatever software is on their devices when they buy them. Most PC retailers sell products with Windows pre-installed, most smart phones sell with Android pre-installed. As a result, those operating systems dominate their respective fields. If a new market emerges tomorrow with a new product people love and it ships with a brand new operating system, that system will become the dominate player in its market for years.
With all that being said, I feel it important to point out that while GNU/Linux has had an uphill battle against entrenched players in the desktop market, Linux has been doing well for itself. Rough estimates suggest around 2% of people run Linux on their desktop and laptop computers. That small percentage translates into tens of millions of people. Any product that has tens of millions of users should probably be considered a success. When we consider how few retailers sell computers bundled with Linux, I think it is fair to say Linux has been a very attractive option for desktop users. Tens of millions of users are switching away from the available default products to use Linux instead and that is an unusual occurrence.
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For more questions and answers, visit our Questions and Answers archive.
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| 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: 249
- Total data uploaded: 45.7TB
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| Released Last Week |
budgie-remix 16.10
Freshly added to the DistroWatch database, budgie-remix is an Ubuntu-based distribution featuring the simple and elegant Budgie desktop developed by the Solus project. A new release, version 16.10, was announced yesterday: "We are pleased to announce the release of the next version of our distro based on the solid 16.10 Ubuntu release. This is our first release that follows Ubuntu release cycle - we have worked on getting closely aligned our alpha and two betas in the same manner as Ubuntu and the other official community flavours. Based on 16.04.1 experiences, feedback and suggestions we have received from our users, the new release comes with a lot of new features, fixes and optimizations: installation in any language - we ship with more language packs now which should mean a faster install time; support for full disk encryption as well as home folder encryption; latest Budgie desktop 10.2.7 with various enhancements and fixes thanks to our friends from Solus." Continue to the release announcement for more information and screenshots.
Parted Magic 2016_10_18
Parted Magic is a live distribution commonly used to partition hard drives, rescue data and clone partitions. The commercial distribution has as been upgraded to feature new versions of many packages along with new artwork. "This release is by far the most aggressively upgraded version in the history of the project. Nearly 800 programs have been updated. All new artwork, icons, and themes. At the same time there have been no major changes to the layout, so everybody should feel at home. The goal was to get everything up to date without causing regressions and discomfort. Parted Magic was never meant to be a play toy. It was designed to get things done and look somewhat cool with our Steampunk looking themes. We really hope you find this release useful, because a lot of work went into it." The release announcement goes on to mention free copies of the distribution are available to students. Parted Magic can be purchased via the project's downloads page.
Solus 1.2.1
Joshua Strobl has announced the release of a new version of the Solus distribution. The latest release, Solus 1.2.1, offers users the most up to date version of the Budgie desktop environment and introduces a new MATE edition of the Solus distribution. Solus 1.2.1 also features IBUS support to enable multi-lingual input, introduces a Places applet for quick file system navigation and polishes the audio and brightness controls. "The Solus project is proud to announce the availability of Solus 1.2.1, delivered in the form of our main edition, which provides an unrivalled Budgie experience, as well as a new and welcomed addition to the Solus family, Solus 1.2.1 MATE edition. While Solus 1.2.1 is the first release to have a new addition, it is also the last of our traditional releases as we shift towards the ISO snapshot model, which better reflects our agility and iteration speed." Further details and screen shots highlighting the new features can be found in the project's release announcement.
Solus 1.2.1 -- Running the Budgie desktop
(full image size: 1.4MB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
GParted Live 0.27.0-1
Curtis Gedak has announced the availability of GParted Live 0.27.0-1, the latest stable version of the Debian-based live CD featuring a set of disk management and data rescue tools: "The GParted team is happy to announce another stable release of GParted Live. This release includes GParted 0.27.0, patches for libparted for FAT file system operations and other improvements. Items of note include: GParted 0.27.0 - recognize GRUB 2 core.img, fix Mount Point column which is wider than the screen on openSUSE, ensure GParted exits if closed before the initial load completes; based on the Debian 'Sid' repository as of 2016-10-20; Linux kernel updated to 4.7.6; includes e2fsprogs 1.43.3 which addresses some ext2/3/4 resizing issues reported in our forums; includes patched version of libparted. This release of GParted Live has been successfully tested on VirtualBox, VMware, BIOS, UEFI and physical computers with AMD/ATI, NVIDIA and Intel graphics." Read the release announcement for more details.
Slackel 4.14.21 "KDE Live"
Dimitris Tzemos has announced a new release of the Slackware-based Slackel distribution. The new version, Slackel 4.14.21 "KDE Live", is available in 32-bit and 64-bit builds with the 64-bit media supporting UEFI. The 32-bit builds will boot on machines with or without PAE-enabled processors. The new release includes a script which will help users install the distribution on a USB thumb drive as well as several package updates. "Some of the software programs included in the iso images: Linux kernel 4.4.23; Mail clients: Thundrbird 45.4.0, kmail; Internet: Firefox 45.4.0esr, Filezilla-3.16.1, gftp-2.0.19, Pidgin-2.11.0, Akregator, ktorrent-4.3.1, wicd-1.7.4, sourcery, slapt-get and its graphical frontend Gslapt; Graphics: Gimp-2.8.18, Gwenview-4.14.3, KColorChooser-4.14.3, kolourpaint-4.14.3, KSnapshot-4.14.3; Multimedia: Smplayer-16.9.0, MPlayer-1.2_20160125, Clementine-1.3.1, dragon-4.14.3 media player , kaudiocreator-1.3, k3b-2.0.3; Office: Libreoffice-5.2.2, Okular-4.14.3; Other: Openjre-8u91-b14, rhino, icedtea-web, GParted-0.26.0. On Slackel repositories there is inkscape-0.91, shotwell-0.22, mozilla-firefox-noesr-49.0, google-chrome 53.0.2785.101, skype-nomultilib-4.3.0.37 which run in 64-bit without the need of installing multilib, skype-4.3.0.37 for 32-bit and many more." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement.
SalentOS 1.0
Gabriele Martina has announced the release of SalentOS 1.0, a new line of the desktop-oriented distribution featuring a customised desktop based on the Openbox window manager. Code-named "Luppìu", this is the project's first release based on Debian's stable branch, rather than Ubuntu as was the case with the previous SalentOS versions. From the release announcement: "With great pleasure the team announces the release of SalentOS 'Luppìu' 1.0. Here are the main features: based on Debian Stable; Linux kernel 3.16; new tools for system management - Styler and Yanima; new system update alert tool; menu translated into major languages - English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and German; new installation wizard; lighter system - no daemon of a background system settings; optimized graphics effects; pre-installed drivers for all the major wireless cards."
SalentOS 1.0 -- The default desktop running on Openbox
(full image size: 1.7MB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Netrunner 16.09 "Core"
The Netrunner project has released a new version of their distribution. The new version is Netrunner 16.09 "Core" which carries the code name "Avalon". Netrunner's new Core edition is based on Debian's Stable (Jessie) branch and ships with modern KDE Plasma packages. "Netrunner Core (like its upcoming big brother Netrunner Desktop) is based on Debian Stable with the latest Qt, Plasma, Framework and KDE Applications. Core is the streamlined version of the upcoming full Desktop version, and therefore provides only a few essential applications on top of the latest Plasma Desktop. Here is an overview of the Core features: Based on Debian Stable (Jessie 8) Provides latest KDE packages of: Plasma 5.7.5 + Frameworks 5.27 + KDE Applications 16.04 + Qt 5.7.0" Further details can be found in the project's release announcement. The Core edition is available in a 64-bit for x86 computers and there is an image for the Odroid C1 ARM device.
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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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| Opinion Poll |
The governing of distributions
Linux distributions are governed in a wide variety of ways. Some projects have a single (often benevolent) dictator, others strive to make decisions through meritocracy. Some projects are run by commercial interests, others are essentially one-person projects and a few (like Debian) strive to maintain a democracy.
This week we would like to know which method of government, if any, you think works best. Is a top-down dictator the best choice for steering a distribution, should money and resources decide a project's direction or is a democracy the best way to produce a Linux distribution?
You can see the results of our previous poll on preferred download methods here. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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The governing of distributions
| I perfer a dictator with a vision: | 287 (16%) |
| I prefer a democracy for the people: | 527 (30%) |
| I prefer money/resources decides what is best: | 60 (3%) |
| I prefer a meritocracy: | 406 (23%) |
| I prefer the flexibility of one-person projects: | 62 (4%) |
| Other: | 48 (3%) |
| No preference: | 355 (20%) |
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| DistroWatch.com News |
September 2016 DistroWatch.com donation: FFmpeg
We are pleased to announce the recipient of the September 2016 DistroWatch.com donation is FFmpeg. The project receives US$300.00 in cash.
FFmpeg provides users with a collection of multimedia utilities to play, convert and stream a wide range of media formats. The FFmpeg software provides a powerful, yet straight forward command line syntax for manipulating media files. The project's website summaries FFmpeg as follows: "FFmpeg is the leading multimedia framework, able to decode, encode, transcode, mux, demux, stream, filter and play pretty much anything that humans and machines have created. It supports the most obscure ancient formats up to the cutting edge. No matter if they were designed by some standards committee, the community or a corporation. It is also highly portable: FFmpeg compiles, runs, and passes our testing infrastructure FATE across Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, the BSDs, Solaris, etc. under a wide variety of build environments, machine architectures, and configurations."
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, credit cards, Yandex Money and crypto currencies 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), Remastersys ($300)
- 2013: MariaDB ($300), Linux From Scratch ($350), GhostBSD ($340), DHCP ($300), DOSBox ($250), awesome ($300), DVDStyler ($280), Tor ($350), Tiny Tiny RSS ($350), FreeType ($300), GNU Octave ($300), Linux Voice ($510)
- 2014: QupZilla ($250), Pitivi ($370), MediaGoblin ($350), TrueCrypt ($300), Krita ($340), SME Server ($350), OpenStreetMap ($350), iTALC ($350), KDE ($400), The Document Foundation ($400), Tails ($350)
- 2015: AWStats ($300), Haiku ($300), Xiph.Org ($300), GIMP ($350), Kodi ($300), Devuan ($300), hdparm ($350), HardenedBSD ($400), TestDisk ($450)
- 2016: KeePass ($400), Slackware Live Edition ($406), Devil-Linux ($400), FFmpeg ($300)
Since the launch of the Donations Program in March 2004, DistroWatch has made 145 donations for a total of US$45,981 to various open-source software projects.
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New distributions added to database
budgie-remix
budgie-remix is an Ubuntu-based distribution featuring the Budgie desktop, originally developed by the Solus project. Written from scratch and integrating tightly with GNOME stack, Budgie focuses on simplicity and elegance, while also offering useful features, such as the Raven notification and customisation centre.
budgie-remix 16.10 -- Running the Budgie desktop environment
(full image size: 763kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
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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, 31 October 2016. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Kwheezy
Kwheezy was a Debian-based Linux distribution with an intuitive KDE desktop and a good selection of GNU/Linux and open-source software. It also includes popular device drivers, media codecs and browser plugins, all pre-configured and ready for use at first boot.
Status: Discontinued
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