 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 847, 6 January 2020 |
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Welcome to this year's 1st issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
We are thrilled to be back after being off last week and we are eager to dive into what is happening in the open source community. In the past few weeks there have been some interesting changes with projects making important adjustments to their policies and software. For instance, the Hyperbola project is making a big change and switching its base from GNU/Linux-libre to a fork of OpenBSD. We have more details on this in our News section, along with a summary of improvements coming to Linux Mint. Plus we report on Debian developers voting on an official stance as to how to deal with different init software implementations. Meanwhile, the Fedora team tries to improve situations where the operating system has run out of memory and needs to remove processes. First though, we explore Android-x86, a port of the Android operating system for desktop and laptop machines. We have details on this unusual, Linux-based system in our Feature Story. Plus we explore the question of why some useful technologies, such as Wayland and delta package updates, are not more widely adopted. Let us know whether you use delta packages in our Opinion Poll. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past two weeks and list the torrents we are seeding. Finally, we are pleased to report that we have updated our Package Management page and provided short-cuts for using the Solus package manager. We wish you all a wonderful year ahead and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Android-x86 9.0
- News: Hyperbola switching to OpenBSD base, Mint polishes user interface, Debian votes on init diversity, Fedora to address performance on memory-starved systems
- Questions and answers: Adopting Wayland and delta-Deb packages
- Released in the past two weeks: Calculate 20, antiX 19.1, EasyOS 2.2
- Torrent corner: antiX, ArchLinux, BlackArch, Calculate, EasyOS, EndeavourOS, Feren OS, KaOS, KDE neon, Q4OS, Qubes OS, RancherOS, Robolinux, Septor, SmartOS
- Opinion poll: Delta package updates
- Website news: Package management guide updated
- New distributions: Frost Linux
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (30MB) and MP3 (23MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Android-x86 9.0
Android-x86 is an unofficial port of the Android operating system to the x86 hardware architecture. The port allows people to run and install Android on desktop computers and laptops. While Android usually runs on mobile devices with touch screens, this port brings the operating system to other personal devices and enables users to run some Android applications on their laptop or workstation. Not all applications run, or are stable, but many are, providing a familiar interface and collection of applications for people who usually run Android-powered phones and tablets.
Installing
The ISO for Android-x86 is approximately 910MB in size. Booting from the disc brings up a menu offering to launch either a live desktop environment or install the operating system. If we take the install option a series of text-based menus are displayed which guide us through setting up the operating system on our hard drive. There are not many steps, we begin by being asked to partition the disk and there is a text-based partition manager available to guide us through modifying the disk. Then we are asked to select a partition to use for the Android operating system. We can choose to format the Android partition with the ext4, NTFS or FAT32 filesystems. I went with ext4. There aren't any tips on this screen so I'm not sure if the project has recommendations or use cases for one filesystem over another. At any rate, the Android files are then copied to the computer and the boot loader is installed. We can then choose to set up the system directory with read-only or read-write permissions and I took the latter. Then we can reboot the computer and start exploring Android-x86.
The live session
Taking the live session option from the Android-x86 install media walks us through a series of configuration screens. The same screens we would see after installing the operating system and running it for the first time. The first one gives us the chance to change font size and screen resolution and enable screen magnification. We can also pick our preferred language. We are then given the chance to connect to wireless networks and then check for software updates. We are given the chance to connect to an existing Google account to synchronize data and applications. Then we set the date and time and, optionally, enable location services and network scanning. Android also asks permission to send usage data to the developers (I presume it means Google's team, rather than the Android-x86 developers). We can then create a PIN or access code that will lock-protect our device. In the end we are asked if we want to use the Quickstep or Taskbar home screen.
Early impressions
Most of the setup steps seem straight forward, but the question of using Quickstep or Taskbar is a bit vague and there aren't any previews of what these desktop layouts will look like. I found that Quickstep is basically the classic Android desktop. There is a notification area at the top of the screen. A Google search field is below that. Some applications icons - such as those for accessing the Chrome browser, GMail, a music player and image viewer - are on the desktop area and the bottom of the screen holds the Back, Home, and Window buttons. Or as I have come to think of them: the vague Arrow, Circle, and Square icons. The Taskbar home screen is quite similar, except the desktop has a panel across the bottom of the display where we can find an application menu (in the bottom-left corner), task switcher (bottom-centre), and a system tray (in the bottom-right).
Of the two, the Taskbar screen is much easier to navigate when using a laptop or workstation. The Quickstep screen has, as far as I can tell, no application menu, no way to access power or screenshot options (apart from pushing the machine's physical power button), and no clear way to access most settings. The Taskbar desktop provides these options through the application menu, making it quicker and easier to navigate. Both versions of the desktop area use a soft pink wallpaper and, while there are tools available to change the wallpaper, there are no other sample images included.
Early on the desktop style kept switching from the Taskbar back to the Quickstep layout. I soon realized that every time I clicked the Home button the desktop would reset unless I made Taskbar the default desktop application, rather than just running it once.
On a similar note, something that frequently frustrated me was I was constantly clicking desktop elements by accident. Android-x86 uses both long-clicks to bring up menus and swipe gestures in a number of situations. As a result I would often end up triggering a new menu or hitting a control at the edge of the screen while moving windows or swiping notifications. This, combined with the search options and connection toggles that are scattered around the desktop, meant I was often besieged by new windows and pop-ups while using the laptop's mouse. Using the touch screen directly helped, but it is an awkward way to explore a laptop's interface.
Something I noticed early on was that when running Android-x86 with the Quickstep interface, application windows would always open in full screen mode. When I switched over to the Taskbar interface, some applications would still run in full screen mode. This made it harder to switch between programs using the taskbar. However, when in Taskbar mode, most windows would open as small windows on the desktop. These tiny windows are always much too small to be practical and often their font was too small to read comfortably, even when I had increased the size of system fonts.
Hardware
I ran into a few issues early on when trying to explore Android-x86. I began by running the operating system in a VirtualBox environment. The system started to boot, reported it had found its media and then nothing happened, the system just locked up. I was able to run the system installer inside VirtualBox and this appeared to go well. However, once Android was installed I was unable to boot it from my hard drive. The operating system could be selected from the boot menu, but it would lock up before reaching the graphical splash screen. In short, I was unable to get Android to run inside VirtualBox, but the installer worked.
On my laptop, the operating system worked much better. Both the live system and installer worked. Android-x86 detected my touchpad and registered taps as clicks. I don't like that Android uses "natural scrolling", reversing the way scrolling works with the touchpad. Wireless networking functioned and the system was responsive. My laptop's touch screen capabilities worked too and often provided a smoother interface than using a mouse. Throughout my trial the system remained stable, though individual apps did not always work.
Included software
Android-x86 ships with a small handful of pre-installed applications. The Chrome web browser, a camera application, an image viewer, file manager, and terminal application are provided. There is a note taking application, though it seems less flexible than a typical text editor. We also have access to a calendar and calculator.
There is a settings panel which helps us deal with networks, make small adjustments to the interface, and connect to on-line accounts. The Android settings, particularly with regards to the interface, are not particularly flexible. There are ways to tweak the desktop, but it typically involves installing third-party applications rather than using the settings panel.
Installing and running additional software
Assuming we have a Google account, we are able to install and update applications through the Google Play Store. This software centre is fairly easy to browse for popular items or we can search for programs by name. The Play Store has a huge amount of software and there is a lot of overlapping function between its apps. This can make it difficult to find a specific program, or a useful program, as often many applications will have very similar names and features.
Acquiring applications that work on Android-x86 seems to be luck of the draw. Lots of little programs work and a few big ones, like Chrome, work. But I generally found software worked about as reliably on Android-x86 as a coin toss.
Even when software installed and ran properly, there were sometimes issues. For instance, I tried a couple of screenshot applications and while two of them would run, neither could save a screenshot. Between this and Android-x86's inability to run in VirtualBox, I was unable to get any screenshots during this trial.
To make matters worse, app interfaces sometimes did not work in a consistent way. Whether a program's Back button appeared in the upper-left corner of the screen or I'd need to use the system's Back button at the bottom of the screen seemed to be random, sometimes even within the same application. This meant I sometimes had to move the mouse up and down the height of the screen just to perform the same action twice.
Conclusions
I want to say that I'm impressed that the Android-x86 team has been able to port Android to the x86 family of processors. The operating system is stable, works with my physical hardware (though not in VirtualBox) and runs quickly. This is quite a feat and the fact than many applications run on this ported platform is also impressive.
However, Android-x86 is not at all practical as a desktop operating system. Its interface is unsuited to keyboard and mouse navigation, the desktop and apps have inconsistent interfaces, the desktop layout will keep changing if we don't lock it into one form or the other. Most programs do not look right in windowed mode.
While Android provides a huge amount of software in its Play Store, we are flooded with choices, many of which will not run well on the ported operating system. This makes trying to get the functionality we want very difficult and involves a good deal of trial and error.
Technologically, Android-x86 is very interesting and I could see it being useful for people who want to test their Android apps without having a mobile device. However, while this project is very interesting, I don't think it is nearly as polished or practical as most GNU/Linux distributions. Other than developers and very keen Android fans, I don't think there is much of an audience for this operating system.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a de-branded HP laptop with the following
specifications:
- Processor: Intel i3 2.5GHz CPU
- Display: Intel integrated video
- Storage: Western Digital 700GB hard drive
- Memory: 6GB of RAM
- Wired network device: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast
- Wireless network device: Realtek RTL8188EE Wireless network card
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Visitor supplied rating
Android-x86 has a visitor supplied average rating of: 4.5/10 from 4 review(s).
Have you used Android-x86? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Hyperbola switching to OpenBSD base, Mint polishes user interface, Debian votes on init diversity, Fedora to address performance on memory-starved systems
The Hyperbola project is a community driven effort to provide a fully free (as in freedom) operating system, featuring a completely libre Linux kernel. However, the Hyperbola team is planning to change direction and shift bases from GNU/Linux to a fork of OpenBSD. "Due to the Linux kernel rapidly proceeding down an unstable path, we are planning on implementing a completely new OS derived from several BSD implementations. This was not an easy decision to make, but we wish to use our time and resources to create a viable alternative to the current operating system trends which are actively seeking to undermine user choice and freedom. This will not be a 'distro', but a hard fork of the OpenBSD kernel and userspace including new code written under GPLv3 and LGPLv3 to replace GPL-incompatible parts and non-free ones." Further details on the change can be found in the Hyperbola announcement.
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The Linux Mint team is currently working on some changes to polish their distribution's user interface and address minor issues with the latest version. "Before we move ahead and start working on Linux Mint 20 and LMDE 4, we'll make a few adjustments and fix some of the things you expressed in your feedback. First, I noticed some of you regretted the removal of keyboard shortcuts in Cinnamon's grouped window list. When we removed this feature, we assumed it wasn't discoverable and so very few people were likely to use it. It looks like we were wrong, so we'll bring this feature back. We finally managed to solve the 1px border bug which impacts full screen windows in Cinnamon, and we also have a fix for the screensaver lag. We'll be pushing these fixes as package updates. The new version of the System Reports tool was very well received but the root password notice confused a huge number of people. I talked to some of our IRC moderators and it's their number 1 complaint with the new release. We'll review this and find a solution for it." The project's monthly newsletter also talks about the newly released MintBox3 computer. The MintBox3 is a small, passive cooling computer that ships with Linux Mint installed. Details on the new generation of the MintBox can be found in the Compulab press release.
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The Debian project has been debating how to handle having multiple init implementations packaged for the distribution. Some Debian developers would like to actively support multiple init systems (such as OpenRC, SysV init, and runit) while others would prefer to streamline things and only support systemd, which is currently the default init software. There has been a good deal of discussion over whether to support multiple init choices and, if so, how to do that. The project eventually voted on a series of options with the winner being "systemd, but we support exploring alternatives". "The Debian project recognizes that systemd service units are the preferred configuration for describing how to start a daemon/service. However, Debian remains an environment where developers and users can explore and develop alternate init systems and alternatives to systemd features. Those interested in exploring such alternatives need to provide the necessary development and packaging resources to do that work." Essentially this makes systemd the one official init implementation for Debian while allowing package maintainers to work on supporting alternatives.
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Ben Cotton has written about a proposal for the upcoming release of Fedora 32 which would cause the operating system to kill off memory-heavy processes when the system is running out of RAM and swap space. "Fedora editions and spins, have the in-kernel OOM (out-of-memory) manager enabled. The manager's concern is keeping the kernel itself functioning. It has no concern about user space function or interactivity. This proposed change attempts to improve the user experience, in the short term, by triggering the in-kernel process killing mechanism, sooner. Instead of the system becoming completely unresponsive for tens of minutes, hours or days, the expectation is an offending process (determined by oom_score, same as now) will be killed off within seconds or a few minutes. This is an incremental improvement in user experience, but admittedly still suboptimal. There is additional work on-going to improve the user experience further." Details on the proposal can be found in the Fedora wiki.
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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) |
Adopting Wayland and delta-Deb packages
Recently I have received two questions about the adoption of technologies, specifically Wayland and delta-Deb packages. More specifically, the questions were asking why Wayland and delta-Deb have not been more widely adopted and used. Since there is a common theme here - apparently useful technologies not being adopted - I would like to talk about both of them in this week's column.
Let's talk about Wayland first. Wayland is a protocol and design for a new way applications and desktop environments can draw things on our screens. It is intended as a replacement for the aging X protocol and software. Using Wayland, the idea goes, desktop environments will be able to offer a faster, cleaner code base that doesn't suffer from the same bugs and legacy security concerns X.Org has.
What tends to confuse people is that, while X is both the common name of a protocol (X11) and the software (X.Org) which implements that protocol, Wayland is just a protocol and reference implementation. That is, Wayland tells us how software can communicate and implement a new approach to displaying things on our screens. But Wayland is more an idea, a blueprint, than a thing that runs on our computers. Each desktop and window manager needs to create its own implementation of the Wayland design.
This means GNOME has its own Wayland display server, KDE has another, Unity8 has another. If Xfce, LXQt and other desktops also want to use Wayland's design they need to create (or adopt) their own implementation of the Wayland design. This means each desktop environment may have different levels of completeness and implement different features through the Wayland protocol. In contrast, there is (for most practical purposes) one X.Org implementation[1] and each desktop environment can use the same X.Org package and enjoy the same common set of features it offers.
All of this is to say that while Wayland offers some nice ideas with fewer moving parts, fewer security concerns in some instances, and promises smoother video output, there are some problems in practise. It takes a lot of work for desktops to implement a new window manager that talks the Wayland protocol. Each desktop needs to create its own implementation which can lead to an inconsistent experience across desktop environments. Also, some applications (particularly closed source programs) expect to talk to X.Org and therefore Wayland needs to provide a compatibility layer for those programs. This makes shifting from one approach (X.Org) to the other (Wayland) an uphill process.
To make matters more complicated, to the end user (even to most application developers) there is no practical difference between running X.Org or Wayland display servers. There are some theoretical benefits to Wayland, but the end user will almost never see them. On most machines, with the typical default settings, running most applications, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between a Wayland session and an X.Org session. This means there is relatively little incentive for users or developers to put in the effort to migrate from one approach to the other.
Wayland is largely being adapted by the two biggest desktop projects, GNOME and KDE. However, the relative lack of practical benefits and the amount of developer hours required to make the switch mean most of the smaller desktop environment projects have not made the transition. Probably because they do not have a lot of developer resources to spend on creating a technology most people do not feel they need. It's not that Wayland isn't useful (it has some good ideas), but it is competing against an old, ingrained technology that has been deemed "good enough" by most people. This situation makes for a slow transition.
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Now, moving on to delta-Deb packages. Usually when we upgrade software packages on our system, a new complete copy of the new package is downloaded. The old version is removed and the new version is installed in its place. This is a relatively simple series of transactions. However, downloading the entirety of a new software package can be a waste of network bandwidth when we only need to change a few small files. If there is a bug in LibreOffice that only requires changing a single, small 1MB library then it is wasteful to download the whole 187MB all over again.
Delta packages contain just the changes between two versions of a package. This means we can download just the differences between one version and the next, potentially saving large amounts of bandwidth in the process. The Fedora project was one of the few to push the idea of using delta packages (delta-RPMs) by default and it could easily reduce the package manager's bandwidth usage by half.
The bandwidth saving seems like an attractive idea so it is understandable most users would be interested in using delta packages when they are available. So why are more distributions not using these smaller packages? To be entirely up front, I haven't surveyed distribution developers about this, however, I think there are a handful of key issues involved that make delta packages less attractive to distribution maintainers than to the users.
One is that these delta packages take up space on the server and then need to be synchronized between servers. This means more storage space and more bandwidth is required by the project. The end-user may benefit, but the distribution itself needs to bear extra costs to share all of these little packages between its mirrors.
The next issue is someone needs to create and monitor the creation of all these delta packages. For each package. For each version of the distribution. This type of work can balloon very quickly. For a project with 50,000 packages and three supported versions, we are looking at a minimum of 150,000 packages. If each of those also needs a delta package, that is a lot of package building and testing to monitor.
I suspect the increase in network speeds to most areas of the world has been a factor too. When Fedora started deploying delta-RPMs it was still fairly common for many users to have connections too slow to stream video. These days many people, even in more rural areas, have the bandwidth to download most of a month's updates in under a minute. This makes reducing the user's bandwidth a lower priority.
Again, we see a cost/benefit issue, just as we did with Wayland. A delta package offers a little benefit to the user, but a relatively high cost to the distribution maintainers. This makes it a low priority and unlikely to be implemented unless someone steps forward with the time and resources to cover the cost of making delta packages a reality.
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1 - Earlier I wrote that there is one X.Org implementation. By which I meant most distributions ship and use the same X.Org software. There are other implementations of the X11 protocol which can be used in special cases. It is rare, but they do exist. However, virtually all Linux distributions ship the same implementation and so we can usually think of X.Org as being a common base for any applications which need to use the X11 protocol.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
LinuxConsole 2019
Yann Le Doare has announced the release of LinuxConsole 2019, a new version of the project's independently-developed, modular distribution featuring the MATE desktop. It can be customised using pre-built modules for various tasks, such as games, graphics, multimedia, music, office and video, and it also supports installing some Windows software and games with WINE. "LinuxConsole 2019 is available for download. It comes with Linux kernel version 5.4.5 which support Extfat natively. This Linux distribution is designed to be easy to use and powerful. You can try it in a live mode and then install it on a hard drive. It is also possible to use it on old computers, with the lightweight MATE desktop. What is new? Linux kernel 5.4.5; 865 libraries and programs are in the core module; build for 'YourDistroFromScratch 2.7', with docker hybrid ISO image; parental control tool, for controlling the access time of user accounts; modular concept; MATE desktop 1.22; Chromium becomes the default web browser; Wine 4.0.3." Visit the distribution's home page to read the full release announcement.
EndeavourOS 2019.12.22
EndeavourOS is a rolling release Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. The project's latest release, version 2019.12.22, introduces the ability to perform installations in both on-line and off-line modes. "We are using the Calamares installer and when you are starting your install by clicking on the Start the Installer button of the Welcome app, it asks you which install you prefer: off-line or on-line. No matter which desktop environment you choose, EndeavourOS ships with some pre-installed packages and apps you already know from our current installer and some of those are: GRUB, the mainstream Linux kernel, Nano, broadcom-dkms, intel-ucode/amd-ucode, NVIDIA-installer, arc-x-icons-theme, eos-welcome, eos-update-notifier, reflector-auto, Yay and Firefox. Except for our in-house developed reflector-auto, eos-welcome and the eos-update-notifier, the rest of the packages are coming directly from the Arch repos or the AUR, so they are not customized or modified package versions in our own repo, we are still close to Arch." Further details can be found in the project's release announcement.
antiX 19.1
antiX, a lightweight, desktop Linux distribution featuring IceWM as the default window manager, has been upgraded to version 19.1. Although largely a bug-fix release, the new version also updates IceWM to version 1.6.3: "antiX-19.1 bug-fix/upgrade ISO images available. All new ISO images are bug-fix/upgrades of antiX 19 SysVInit series. Only for new users, no need to download if using antiX 19. antiX 19.1 is based on Debian 'Buster' and is systemd-free. As usual, we offer the following systemd-free flavours for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures: antiX-full with four windows managers – IceWM (default), Fluxbox, JWM and herbstluftwm, plus full LibreOffice suite; antiX-base with 4 windows managers – IceWM (default), Fluxbox, JWM and herbstluftwm; antiX-core with no X window; antiX-net with no X window and just enough to get you connected (wired) and ready to build. The 32-bit edition uses a non-PAE kernel. Changes: 4.9.200 Linux kernel; Firefox 68.3.0esr; disk-manager included; Ceni network manager included, but ConnMan remains the default." Here is the full release announcement.
Parted Magic 2019_12_24
Parted Magic is a small live CD/USB/PXE with its elemental purpose being to partition hard drives, recover data and image partitions. The project's latest release is Parted Magic 2019_12_24. The new version includes Wine, DosBOX and the GNOME Disk utility. Several key packages have also been updated. "Parted Magic 2019_12_24. This version of Parted Magic adds WINE, Gnome Disk Utility, DOSBox and a new method of booting via PXE. We have also reverted back to the 2014 desktop wallpaper and GRUB screen as seen on the screen shots page. New PXE booting: 1. Extract the ISO image and copy the 'pmagic' folder to your server. 2. Use the new 'wget=' kernel cheat code and the path leading to the 'pmagic' folder. Updated Programs: testdisk 7.2-WIP, ncdu 1.14.1, kernel firmware 20191222git, ZFS on Linux 0.8.2, Linux kernel 5.4.6, xf86-video-sis 0.12.0, libdrm 2.4.100, OpenSSL 1.0.2u, nwipe 0.26, Mozilla Firefox 68.3.0esr, libtiff 4.1.0, Flashplayer Plugin 32.0.0.303, ca-certificates 20191130, BIND 9.11.14. Added Programs: Wine 4.0.2, libpwquality 1.4.1, gnome-disk-utility 3.6.1, cracklib 2.9.6, DOSBox 0.74.3, stressapptest 1.0.9, cabextract 1.9.1." Further details on the new version, along with instructions for setting up PXE booting for Parted Magic, can be found on the distribution's news page and additional information can be found in the project's changelog.
Feren OS 2019.12
Feren OS, a desktop Linux distribution based on Linux Mint, has been updated to version 2019.12. This is the project's first release featuring KDE Plasma desktop by default, although a separate "Classic" edition with Cinnamon is also available. From the release announcement: "Today I am proud to announce the release of Feren OS December 2019 Snapshot, code-named 'Yttrium'. This is one of the biggest snapshots in the history of Feren OS. The first and most important change in this snapshot is the move to KDE Plasma. This means that Feren OS now has a completely different desktop environment to what it had before. KDE Plasma is an extremely stable and lightweight desktop environment in Feren OS, and it has way more support from the community since it's one of the major desktop environments available in Linux. The default Feren OS theme has had a bunch of minor visual tweaks. The most noticeable tweak is that menus are now dark and transparent rather than white and opaque. This, alongside Plasma's blur effect, makes the desktop look way more sleek by default."
Feren OS 2019.12 -- Running the Plasma desktop
(full image size: 2.7MB, 1920x1080 pixels)
EasyOS 2.2
EasyOS is an experimental Linux distribution which uses many of the technologies and package formats pioneered by Puppy Linux. The distribution features custom container technology called Easy Containers which can run applications or the entire desktop environment in a container. The project's latest release is EasyOS 2.2, which is built using packages from Debian 10 packages. "Lots of bug fixes, improvements, package upgrades, new applications and utilities. Version 2.2 is built with Debian 10.2 DEBs, and the kernel is 5.4.6 with lockdown enabled - lockdown is used in the 'Copy session to RAM & disable drives' boot option, to ratchet the security even higher. New applications built-in to the download file: pSynclient and SolveSpace. The SeaMonkey suite is built-in and now version 2.49.5. As usual, there is a huge collection of applications built-in, including LibreOffice, Inkscape, Gimp, Planner, Grisbi, Osmo, Notecase, Audacious and MPV. The download file is 515MB. Among many setup enhancements, there is a special patched NetworkManager tray applet, and there are considerable improvements to BootManager, SFSget, EasyContainerManager and EasyVersionControl GUI utilities." Additional information can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes.
Calculate Linux 20
Alexander Tratsevskiy has announced the release of Calculate Linux 20, a major update of the project's Gentoo-based, rolling-release distribution set available in KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, LXQt, MATE and Xfce flavours. This version upgrades many packages, but it also drops the i686 architecture: "For this new release, Gentoo 17.1 was used as the base profile, all binary packages recompiled with GCC 9.2, and overlays managed with eselect. Calculate Linux will no longer come in 32-bit edition. Change list: a local overlay has been added; you can run 'emerge --config' to launch the new cl-config tool for service configuration; 'modesetting' video driver supported; CPU-X has been replaced by the graphical HardInfo utility for better hardware browsing; MPlayer has been replaced by mpv; cronie replaces vixie-cron for cron job scheduling; fixed single disk auto-detection for installation; fixed bug where several applications played ALSA audio at the same time; fixed default audio device configuration; Xfce desktop has been updated to 4.14...." Read the rest of the release announcement for further details.
BlackArch Linux 2020.01.01
Levon Kayan has announced the release of a new version of BlackArch Linux, an Arch-based distribution with a large collection of specialist tools designed for penetration testing, security research and forensic analysis: "Today we have released new BlackArch Linux ISO and OVA images. Many improvements and much QA went through all packages and tools BlackArch Linux offers. Here is the changelog: added 120 new tools; add terminus font support to LXDM; fixed the annoying 'cannot open tools via menu' bug; updated BlackArch installer to version 1.1.34; included Linux kernel 5.4.6; updated urxvt configuration to add support for changing size on the fly; Vim - replace pathogen with Vundle.vim, added new vim plugin, clang_complete; minor bug fixes and improvements; updated all BlackArch tools and packages, including configuration files; updated all system packages; updated all window manager menus (Awesome, Fluxbox, Openbox)." Visit the distribution's blog to read the full release announcement.
ExTiX 20.1
ExTiX is a desktop distribution normally based on Ubuntu. The project's latest release, ExTiX 20.1, is based instead on deepin and features the Deepin desktop environment. The project's release announcement states: "New functions:1.You can run ExTiX from RAM. Use boot alternative 3 (Load to RAM) or Advanced. A wonderful way to run Linux if you have enough RAM. Everything will be super fast. When ExTiX has booted up you can remove the DVD or USB stick. 2. You will have the opportunity to choose language before you enter the Deepin 15.11 Desktop. All main languages are supported. 3. I have replaced Deepin Installer with the Reborn version of Deepin Installer. Works better in every way. 4. I have replaced kernel 5.3.0-rc6-exton with kernel 5.5.0-rc3-exton. 5. Spotify and Skype are pre-installed. 6. You can watch Netflix while running Firefox. 7. You can install ExTiX Deepin also in VirtualBox/VMware using Deepin Installer. (In previous versions you had to chroot into the install partition and install GRUB). 8. While installing ExTiX Deepin to a USB stick using Rufus 3.8 you can create a persistent partition on the stick. Thus all your changes of the ExTiX Deepin system will be saved directly on the stick!"
ExTiX 20.1 -- Running the Deepin desktop
(full image size: 450kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Qubes OS 4.0.2
Happy New Year! We start the year with the announcement about the release of Qubes OS 4.0.2, the latest update of the project's security-focused Linux distribution which allows users to "compartmentalise" computing tasks into isolated compartments called qubes. The new release updates the Linux kernel to version 4.19.89: "We are pleased to announce the release of Qubes 4.0.2. This is the second stable point release of Qubes 4.0. It includes many updates over the initial 4.0 release, in particular: all 4.0 dom0 updates to date; Fedora 30 TemplateVM; Debian 10 TemplateVM; Whonix 15 Gateway and Workstation TemplateVMs; Linux kernel 4.19 by default. If you installed Qubes 4.0 or 4.0.1 and have fully updated, then your system is already equivalent to a Qubes 4.0.2 installation. No further action is required. Note: at 4.5 GB, the Qubes 4.0.2 ISO image will not fit on a single-layer DVD (for the technical details underlying this, please see issue #5367). Instead, we recommend copying the ISO image onto a sufficiently large USB drive. However, if you would prefer to use optical media, we suggest selecting a dual-layer DVD or a Blu-ray disc." See the release announcement for further information.
Q4OS 3.10
Q4OS is a Debian-based desktop Linux distribution designed to offer classic-style user interface, provided by either KDE Plasma or the Trinity desktop. The project's latest release, Q4OS 3.10, is based on Debian 10.2 "Buster" and offers better screen scaling for Trinity users. "The new 3.10 series brings important changes for key Q4OS desktop environments, Plasma and Trinity. Both desktops are now much more independent one on each other, Q4OS Plasma doesn't require presence of the Trinity desktop anymore. As a positive side effect, we could significantly reduce size of the Plasma installation media. In addition to adoption the Debian Buster 10.2 release, we have included a dedicated hardware reporting tool into both Plasma and Trinity live media. Screen scaling tool for Trinity desktop has been even improved again. Plasma Debonaire theme has been polished, so it now looks a bit darker. Apart from the changes mentioned, Q4OS 3.10 brings numerous improvements and fixes as well as cumulative upgrade covering all changes since the previous Q4OS 3 Centaurus stable release, see the complete Changelog." Further details can be found in the project's blog post.
KaOS 2020.01
KaOS is a desktop Linux distribution that features the latest version of the KDE desktop environment, the Calligra office suite, and other popular software applications that use the Qt toolkit. The project's latest snapshot is KaOS 2020.01 which introduces signed kernel modules. "A nice way of starting 2020 is to present to you the January release of a new stable ISO image. For the many changes in this release, two stand out. First one is the addition of signed kernel modules for Linux 5.4. All internal modules are now automatically signed during the kernel build, out of tree modules like virtualbox-modules and NVIDIA packages have the signing added too. Building of those modules was adjusted to use the kernel specific signing files during each and every rebuild. You can harden your system by adding module.sig_enforce=1 to your kernel boot line. Second, to better accommodate hybrid systems and non-free NVIDIA, there is now a switch from libgl to vendor-neutral libglvnd." Further information on these and other changes, including efforts to remove obsolete Python 2 packages, can be found in the project's release announcement.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not 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 in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 1,758
- Total data uploaded: 29.5TB
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
Delta package updates
In our Questions and Answers column we talked about delta package updates. A delta package contains just the changes between one version of a package and the next, saving the user from downloading the entire package over again. This can offer significant bandwidth savings when upgrading large packages, such as LibreOffice and Firefox. We would like to hear whether your distribution uses delta packages when upgrading. Let us know what you think of delta package updates in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on disk encryption and file vaults in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Delta package updates
| My distro uses delta package updates: | 114 (11%) |
| My distro does not use delta package updates: | 506 (51%) |
| I use some distros with and some without this feature: | 85 (9%) |
| Unsure: | 292 (29%) |
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| Website News (by Jesse Smith) |
Package management guide updated
One of the defining characteristics of the various families of GNU/Linux distributions is the package manager. There are a lot of different tools for managing software packages in the Linux community, and each package manager uses a different command line syntax.
To help our readers deal with the many different package managers we maintain our Package Management guide. Last week we updated the guide to include an overview of the Solus package manager. We have also expanded the introduction to the page to provide a more complete list of the package tools we cover in the guide.
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Distributions added to waiting list
- Frost Linux. Frost Linux is an Arch Linux-based distribution featuring the KDE Plasma desktop.
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DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 13 January 2020. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Article Search page. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews/submissions, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, donations, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (podcast)
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| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 1, value: US$13.06) |
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
rlxos
rlxos is an independent Linux distribution which runs on an immutable filesystem and features the Xfce desktop. The project features the Distrobox container manager to facilitate running software from multiple other distributions. It also includes support for Flatpak and includes the Bolt AI assistant.
Status: Active
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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