 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 847, 6 January 2020 |
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.
* * * * *
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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TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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| Random Distribution | 
Untangle NG Firewall
Untangle NG Firewall is a Debian-based network gateway with pluggable modules for network applications like spam blocking, web filtering, anti-virus, anti-spyware, intrusion prevention, VPN, SSL VPN, firewall, and more.
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.
|
| 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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