 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 892, 16 November 2020 |
Welcome to this year's 46th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
With so many Linux distributions available there is a lot of opportunity to find a system that is specifically crafted to optimize certain tasks. This week, in our Questions and Answers column, we talk about picking the right distribution for common tasks such as video conferencing. Just about everyone has a favourite distribution that they prefer to use day-to-day. When people ask you to recommend a Linux distro, do you suggest they use yours or another one which might suit them? Let us know how you approach recommending distributions in our Opinion Poll. In our News section we discuss Debian entering its feature freeze for Debian 11 and UBports putting work into getting Anbox running smoothly. Anbox runs Android software inside containers and may be the best chance for running Android applications on GNU/Linux systems so it is good to see the UBports team giving it priority. Plus we share tips from IPFire which aim to help prevent unwanted network traffic from negatively affecting your systems. First though we talk about Enso OS, a desktop distribution based on Xubuntu. Read on to learn more about the young Enso OS project. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Enso OS 0.4
- News: Debian nears feature freeze for version 11, IPFire shares tips for intrusion prevention systems, UBports looks to improve Anbox support
- Questions and answers: Finding a good distro for common tasks
- Released last week: MX Linux 19.3, Endless OS 3.9.0, Proxmox 1.0 "Backup Server"
- Torrent corner: Archman, ArcoLinux, CentOS, Clonezilla Live, Endian Firewall, Endless OS, Feren OS, MidnightBSD, MX Linux, Proxmox
- Upcoming releases: Tails 4.13
- Opinion poll: Do you recommend the same distribution you use yourself?
- New distributions: Expirion Linux, Gorizont Linux
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (20MB) and MP3 (14MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Enso OS 0.4
Enso OS is a Linux distribution based on Xubuntu. Enso features the Xfce desktop with the Gala window manager which is imported from elementary OS. Enso OS 0.4 is the project's latest release and the new version runs on 64-bit (x86_64) computers exclusively.
The 0.4 release offers a few new features. There is a new note taking application included by default called Pinny. The AppHive (sometimes written "Apphive") software manager has been updated and allows users to mark (star) favourite applications. Reportedly, AppHive's performance has been improved while it is processing queued actions in the background. This release also includes a new dark theme, though the desktop uses a light theme by default. While there are not many new features in this version's release announcement, the distribution does seem to be placing a focus on minor improvements and tweaks to the user experience.
Live media and installer
I downloaded Enso OS 0.4 which is available as a 1.8GB ISO file. Booting from this media triggers a self-check to insure the download was not corrupted. A short time later a graphical window appears and asks if we would like to Try the distribution or launch its installer. Taking the live option brings up the Xfce/Gala desktop which I will talk about later. Taking the Install option launches the Ubiquity system installer.
Enso OS 0.4 -- The default desktop is mostly Xfce with the Gala window manager
(full image size: 802kB, resolution: 1360x768 pixels)
Ubiquity is a graphical installer which will be familiar to anyone who has used the Ubuntu distribution or one of its many descendants. The installer quickly walks us through picking our language, keyboard layout, confirming our time zone, partitioning the disk, and creating a user account. The installer offers to show us the project's release notes. Clicking the provided link opens Firefox to display the Ubuntu 20.04 release notes.
Ubiquity gives us the option of installing third-party software packages such as media codecs and wireless drivers. It also gives us the chance to download software updates during the install process. When it comes to disk partitioning we have a few options. We can use guided partitioning to give a disk or partition over to the installer and have it set up the operating system as it sees fit. The guided option supports working with LVM and ZFS volumes. Alternatively we can take a more manual route and use Ubiquity's friendly, graphical partition manager to format the disk and assign mount points. When the installer finishes its work it offers to restart the computer.
Early impressions
Enso boots to graphical login screen and signing in brings up the project's custom desktop environment. Enso uses bright, flowery wallpaper and has a thick launch panel at the bottom of the screen. This panel holds the application menu, some quick launch buttons, and acts as the task switcher. A second, thinner panel appears at the top of the screen and acts as a unified application menu bar. A system tray and logout options can be found in the upper-right corner.
Enso OS 0.4 -- The welcome window
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Immediately after logging into my account the first time a welcome window appeared, followed a moment later by a second window for the update manager. The welcome window contains two screens. The first contains just a simple greeting. The second window offers us a series of shortcut buttons that open configuration utilities. One button invites us to edit our user's details (such as our address, phone number, and e-mail address). Another button offers to change system settings and opens the desktop settings panel. The button to install applications opens the AppHive software manager and the Learn Enso button opens on-line documentation in Firefox. The documentation mostly provides an overview of the Xfce/Gala desktop and its features. The last button invites us to "join the conversation" and it opens Firefox to connect us with an on-line chat room for Enso users. These buttons and their corresponding tools all work as expected.
The update manager is borrowed from Ubuntu and displays a list of available software updates. On my first day with Enso there were three updates listed, totalling 56M in size. One of these items was a group of packages which was described collectively as "Ubuntu base". These packages all downloaded and were applied without incident.
Hardware
I began experimenting with Enso in a VirtualBox virtual machine. The distribution did fairly well. The desktop was responsive and the system generally ran smoothly. There was one session where the operating system crashed and failed to cleanly shutdown when I tried to power off the virtual machine, but this error did not repeat itself.
Enso's desktop did not dynamically resize with the VirtualBox window, however I could adjust the screen resolution through the Display configuration module. Unfortunately, every time I restarted the virtual machine Xfce/Gala would forget the display resolution I had set, requiring that I set it again every time I logged into my account.
When I switched over to running Enso on my laptop the system worked well. My hardware was all detected, the desktop was responsive, and everything functioned properly right out of the box.
Enso OS 0.4 -- Trying a darker theme
(full image size: 188kB, resolution: 1360x768 pixels)
I set up Enso two different ways. When I ran the distribution on an ext4 filesystem the operating system consumed 475MB of memory when logged into the desktop. When I tried installing Enso on a ZFS volume the distribution's memory usage increased to 860MB. In either case the operating system used 3.2GB of disk space, plus swap space. When I used guided partitioning, Enso set up a 1GB swap partition.
Applications
The distribution's application menu is unusual. When we click the application menu button it opens a window in the middle of the desktop. The window contains a two-pane menu which works a lot like the typical Whisker menu often partnered with Xfce desktops. Unfortunately the window in which the menu is displayed cannot be moved or resized. I'm not sure why the developers chose to place the menu far away from the application menu button or place it in an unmovable window, but it is a bit inconvenient.
Enso OS 0.4 -- The application menu
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Enso ships with a small collection of open source applications. We find the Firefox web browser, Transmission bittorrent client, and Atril document viewer in the application menu. There is a launcher in the menu called Web Browser which just opens Firefox. There is another launcher called Mail Reader which doesn't launch any programs by default as no e-mail client is installed. Digging further we can find the Ristretto image viewer and the Parole media player. Enso provides media codecs, assuming we chose to enable third-party packages through Ubiquity at install time.
Enso also ships with the Xfburn disc burning software, the Gigolo remote file browser, and the GNU Compiler Collection. The distribution also includes manual pages, the systemd init software, and version 5.4 for the Linux kernel. Apart from the Gala window manager, the desktop identifies itself as Xfce and mostly uses Xfce 4.14 elements.
I had hoped to find tools included to leverage the features of ZFS, however I did not find any installed. It also looks as though GRUB does not integrate with ZFS snapshots, slightly limiting the usefulness of having ZFS as the root filesystem.
Xfce/Gala desktop
Perhaps the biggest drawing feature of Enso OS is its unusual Xfce/Gala desktop. This desktop environment has a few nice characteristics. It was fairly responsive during my trial and it looks nice. I wasn't a big fan of the default theme, which is quite bright and uses transparency, but I was able to switch to a dark theme and turn off transparent terminals.
Enso OS 0.4 -- The desktop settings panel
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One of the first things people are likely to notice is Enso defaults to placing window buttons on the left rather than the right. Personally, I like this approach as it requires less mouse movement most of the time. I looked to see if it would be easy to change this and did not find a clear way to adjust window button placement. There is a low-level settings editor that makes it possible to adjust button order, but it is archaic. There may be a settings module for adjusting button placement, but it was not obvious to me.
Speaking of defaults, when running Enso on my laptop the desktop set the mouse up with inverted (natural) scrolling. This is a matter of taste, but I really do not like it. I understand people who use mobile devices may find inverted scrolling more familiar, but it's going against 30 years of habit in my case. I also don't like that "scrolling up" on the volume control turns the sound down, and "scrolling down" turns the audio volume up. This behaviour can be adjusted in the settings panel.
When we first sign into the desktop the top panel shows directory locations: Documents, Music, Pictures, etc. Clicking on these menus shows files in the selected directory and clicking a file's name opens the selected file. This is a great shortcut But once an application opens the top panel becomes the application's menu bar. Sometimes, once all applications are closed, the last application's menu remains in the top panel, preventing access to the file/directory shortcuts. I found that if an application window is closed using the red close button, the top panel reverts to displaying file locations in our home directory. However, if the last application is closed using a quit option located in the panel menu, then the program's menu stays behind. This appears to be a glitch which will hopefully be fixed as I like using the location menu.
Enso OS 0.4 -- The application menu lingering after Thunar has been closed
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On the subject of appearances, programs installed from Snap packages do not match the desktop's theme. This makes the applications look oddly blocky and out of place in the otherwise sleek Xfce/Gala interface. This problem is certainly not unique to Enso, but it does make Snap applications look non-native.
Software management
Apart from its hybrid desktop, one of the few features Enso offers that sets it apart from other distributions is the AppHive software centre. AppHive begins by showing us three tabs down the left side of the window. These tabs show popular applications, categories of applications we can browse, and the third tab shows updates & new drivers.
Enso OS 0.4 -- The AppHive software centre
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On the surface, AppHive works much the same way as GNOME Software or Discover; it provides us with a slick interface for browsing collections of desktop applications and clicking on an item brings up a full page description. I like that AppHive tells us whether an application is provided by a classic Deb package or a portable Snap package. This information can be found on a program's description page.
In theory AppHive allows us to mark a program for installation and then continue browsing for additional software. However, in practise I found that the software centre's interface would lock up and fail to respond sometimes while I was browsing for more programs to download. The good news here is that even if we force AppHive to close when it locks up, the system will continue to download software in the background.
I don't feel as though AppHive is doing anything distinctive compared next to other modern software managers, but it doesn't really have any serious problems (apart from the responsiveness issues I mentioned already). It looks nice and gets the job done.
Conclusions
One thing I find interesting about the Enso project is it comes across as relatively humble. The distribution's website doesn't make bold claims about changing the computing landscape or leading the way in innovation. It doesn't claim to be especially easy to use or perfect for gaming. The project does mention a few things it does differently, such as its software centre and the hybrid desktop. This understated approach was one I found somewhat endearing. The project sets out to do a few things differently from its parent, but not with an apparent quest for glory.
The AppHive software centre, as I mentioned above, is a capable software manager. It mostly functions well and makes it easy to find new applications. I would have liked more status and progress information during the install process, but otherwise AppHive is a decent software centre.
To me the more interesting feature was the Xfce/Gala desktop. It offers most of the flexibility and performance of Xfce while serving up a more modern (or alternatively more macOS-style) desktop interface. Whether modern/macOS is a characteristic that appeals to the user will likely be entirely a personal choice. For me, the desktop did not introduce many features that really appealed to me. Though to be fair, it also didn't do anything that caused me serious problems. The application menu in a window concept never really clicked with me, but otherwise the hybrid interface worked well.
The top bar with its shortcuts to files in my home directory certainly appealed to me. On the other hand, having the top panel also act as a unified menu bar for the active application felt awkward. In the end, it mostly balanced out.
On the whole Enso didn't wow me, but it also functioned well. It provided a decent experience and mostly stayed out of my way while I was working. I can see how this style of desktop experience would appeal to people, especially those who like macOS or elementary OS style desktop environments.
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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
Enso OS has a visitor supplied average rating of: 9.3/10 from 6 review(s).
Have you used Enso OS? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Debian nears feature freeze for version 11, IPFire shares tips for intrusion prevention systems, UBports looks to improve Anbox support
Paul Gevers has announced that Debian is entering the first phase of a new stable release. On January 12th 2021 the Testing branch of Debian will begin to "freeze" signaling a slowdown in development and placing a focus on fixing bugs and polishing the distribution's packages for a new release. "On 12 January 2021 we're hitting the first milestone of the Bullseye release: the Transition and (build-)essentials Freeze. If you made plans for the bullseye release, now is the time to evaluate if it's realistic to go ahead or if time is running too short. Remember you always have experimental to stage changes. If there is a unfixed bug that is nagging you, remember to fix it (e.g. via an NMU) now rather than later." Though the Debian project does not stick to a firm release schedule, final releases tend to take place around five or six months after this initial freeze.
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The IPFire project has been publishing a series of security tips and advice on their blog. The latest post deals with intrusion prevention systems (IPS) and how to address malicious network traffic. "IPFire comes with an Intrusion Prevention System named Suricata, which can be easily configured through IPFire's web interface. While an IPS extends, but cannot replace a packet filter - which recommended settings have been discussed earlier -, it needs more customisation in order to work effectively, and some tripping hazards arise in early stages of operation." The post goes on to provide advice for setting up and monitoring IPS.
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The UBports team has published an update on work going into their mobile operating system, new devices being supported, and improvements to their automated system installer. One point which came up in the report is an overview of the challenges faced when getting Android applications, like Whatsapp, to run on open source platforms: "When will UT support Whatsapp? Well, Facebook could create a UT app for us - but that is vanishingly unlikely. They could open their API - also highly unlikely. The only real option is Anbox and that is not at all in a good state. We do want to get it working properly though and the good news is that we have a developer who is about to join us, specifically to work on Anbox. That doesn't mean it will be fixed any time soon but at least we will make a start. 'Working' where Whatsapp is concerned means very basic message functionality, without push notifications, media etc. Very bare bones in other words. Whatsapp web via Morph is an option but it does require that you be running an authorized app on a device somewhere simultaneously."
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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) |
Finding a good distro for common tasks
Staying-connected asks: These days I hardly go a working day without a Zoom or Webex video call, maybe others are finding themselves in the same state. I would be interested to know which distros do well or poorly at video conferencing.
DistroWatch answers: I'm glad you asked, and not just because video conferencing is a popular way to keep in touch with family and work colleagues these days. This is the sort of question I get a lot, a variation of: "Which distribution would you recommend for ____?" where the blank is a common task. Often it's web development, sometimes it's image or video editing, occasionally it's gaming. Today it happens to be video conferencing.
My answer, in almost every case, is unfortunately boring yet consistent. Pick the mainstream Linux distribution that works best for you. That is, find any mainstream Linux distribution that offers a desktop environment you like and that works with your hardware. Chances are it will do the job well, whichever task you have in mind.
There are a few reasons I make this suggestion. The first is that most mainstream distributions have good hardware support. Many of them are even certified across a range of consumer hardware so it should be easy to find one that works with your computer. Most Linux distributions will run the same software, the problems people tend to run into are often hardware related. A sound card doesn't work, a video driver is too slow, or wireless networking drops - that sort of thing. Once you find a distribution that runs properly on your hardware everything else tends to go smoothly. Which brings me to the second reason for my advice...
The second reason is that the mainstream distributions have large repositories of software and will usually support at least one portable package format (such as Flatpak or Snap) which will make adding applications relatively easy.
Another reason I put forward this advice is the mainstream distributions have a lot of users and, should you run into a problem, the forums and mailing lists will almost certainly be populated by people who can help you should you run into trouble. Finally, most of the big name distributions support multiple desktop environments, meaning you can tailor your system to your tastes without switching distributions.
At this point you may be wondering what I have in mind by "mainstream Linux distributions". Typically when I mention mainstream projects I'm referring to the big (and often longer-lived) distributions. In particular Ubuntu and its many community editions, Fedora, openSUSE, and Debian. People who want a more cutting edge approach might want to look at an Arch-based project such as Manjaro. There is a list of capable, notable and (mostly) mainstream projects on our Major Distributions page. Though, since some projects are on the Major Distributions list for technical reasons or their strength as a base for other distributions, not all of them are great for general purpose desktop use. Often a good bet is to start at the top of the page hit ranking table instead and work down as the more friendly projects with better hardware/software support tend to float toward the top of the list.
In short, I don't have one specific distribution I recommend for tasks. My advice is to generally to go down the page hit ranking list until you find a project that runs well on your hardware and has a desktop that feels right. From there, just about any distribution will do as well as another when it comes to running a specific application, whether it is a video conferencing program, video editor, web development tools, or an e-reader program. The snag is almost always in hardware compatibility and, once that bridge is crossed, picking the right distribution for you is mostly a matter of taste rather than technical merit.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Endless OS 3.9.0
Andre Magalhaes has announced the release of Endless OS 3.9.0, the latest stable version of the project's family-oriented distribution, based on Debian, designed for work, study and gaming. This release updates the GNOME desktop to version 3.38: "Endless OS 3.9.0. This release of Endless OS has been updated to GNOME 3.38, bringing new features, substantial performance improvements and bug fixes. During this development cycle, the Endless desktop team has focused on bringing features originally developed in Endless OS back to GNOME - such as the ability to drag-and-drop icons on the desktop, and applying parental controls to installed applications - so that our work on usability and safety can reach users beyond Endless OS. In hand with this initiative, we have streamlined the changes we make in Endless OS relative to GNOME to improve the quality of Endless OS and allow us to focus on the key changes which are most important to our users. For example, our desktop application grid now always displays all installed applications, just as it does in GNOME." See the detailed release announcement for further information and screenshots.
Feren OS 2020.11
The Feren OS developer has announced the release of Feren OS 2020.11, a major update of the project's desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Ubuntu and featuring the KDE Plasma desktop. This release updates the underlying system to Ubuntu 20.04 and also brings about the discontinuation of the "Classic" edition with Cinnamon. The user interface has also been redesigned and updated: "The complete redesign of Feren OS's theme also makes its debut in this snapshot of Feren OS, sporting a darker theme, a new dark theme, a new maximise icon, a custom Qt 5 application style based on Adwaita-Qt, an Adwaita-based GTK 2 and GTK 3 theme, and way more improvements, mainly formed from user feedback on prior Feren OS themes. The default font used throughout Feren OS's user interface has been changed to the Inter font, having used Open Sans and Lato beforehand. This should give Feren OS's interface a fresher and more professional look while also adding to the freshness of the new Feren OS theme. Based on user feedback, Feren OS November 2020 Snapshot adds two accent colours to the pre-defined accent colours available out of the box - purple and banana." Continue to the release announcement for more information and screenshots.
Feren OS 2020.11 -- Running the KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 3.4MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
Clonezilla Live 2.7.0-10
Clonezilla Live is a Debian-based live CD containing Clonezilla, a partition and disk cloning software. The project has published a new release, Clonezilla Live version 2.7.0-10. The new version includes updated packages, a number of bug fixes, Korean language support, and some conveniences in dealing with device names: "Linux kernel was updated to 5.9.1-1. Add Korean support. Format the parameters of ocs-* command about the device name so that it can be with or without /dev/, e.g., /dev/sda or sda. Thanks to Tsutsukakushi and MichaIng. Do not suppress the stdout/stderr messages when running dd in ocs-restore-[em]br. ocs-expand-gpt-pt/ocs-expand-mbr-pt: No need to check since we are creating new partition table and should not care about the destination disk's format is GPT or MBR. Add prompt about the option -icds when failing to creating the partition table on the smaller disk. Save OS-related info in the image dir as the file name Info-OS-prober.txt." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement.
MX Linux 19.3
MX Linux, a desktop-oriented Linux distribution with a choice of Xfce or KDE Plasma and based on Debian's latest stable release, has been updated to version 19.3: "We are pleased to offer MX Linux 19.3 for your use. MX Linux 19.3 is the third refresh of our MX 19 release, consisting of bug fixes and application updates since our original release of MX 19. If you are already running MX 19, there is no need to re-install. Packages are all available through the regular update channel. The standard MX Linux 19.3 releases (32-bit and 64-bit) feature the latest Debian 4.19 Linux kernel and, unlike in the past, the kernel will now auto-update along with Debian sources by default. The AHS (Advanced Hardware Support) ISO image features a Debian 5.8 Linux kernel, MESA 20, as well as a new updated firmware package. The KDE ISO image has also been updated and, being based on AHS, also has the 5.8 Linux kernel, together with updated firmware and MESA packages." Here is the full release announcement.
MX Linux 19.3 -- Running the Xfce desktop
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Proxmox 1.0 "Backup Server"
Proxmox is a commercial company offering specialised products based on Debian. The company has published their first stable release of Proxmox Backup Server, which carries the version number 1.0. "Proxmox Backup Server is an enterprise backup solution, for backing up and restoring virtual machines, containers, and physical hosts. With key features like incremental backups, deduplication, Zstandard compression, and authenticated encryption (AE), Proxmox Backup Server ensures that protecting your most valuable data is quick and effortless. With strong encryption and methods of ensuring data integrity, backing up data is safe, even to targets which are not fully trusted. Moreover, the available range of access control options means that you can offer a lot of flexibility for users, while retaining tight control of the system. Proxmox Backup Server is easy to manage, offering both command line and web-based user interfaces, and is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (GNU AGPL, v3)." Further information can be found in the company's release announcement and in the release notes.
CentOS 7.9.2009
Johnny Hughes has announced the availability of CentOS 7.9.2009. This is the current release of the legacy branch of distribution which is built from the source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.9: "We are pleased to announce the general availability of CentOS Linux 7 (2009) for the x86_64 architecture. Effectively immediately, this is the current release for CentOS Linux 7 and is tagged as 2009, derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.9 source code. This release supersedes all previously released content for CentOS Linux 7, and therefore we highly encourage all users to upgrade their machines. Note that older content, obsoleted by newer versions of the same applications are trimmed off from repositories like Extras/ and Plus/; however, this time we have also extended this to the SIG content hosted at mirror.centos.org, and some older End of Life content has been dropped. Everything we ever release, is always available on the vault service for people still looking for and have a real need for it." See the release announcement, release notes and upstream release notes for more details.
Endian Firewall 3.3.2
Endian SRL has announced the release of Endian Firewall 3.3.2, the latest version of the project's Linux security distribution, based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and designed for home use, that can transform a hardware appliance into a full-featured Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. The new version comes with a long list of improvements and bug fixes: "The Endian team is proud to announce the new Endian Firewall Community release. First, we're releasing a huge set of updates that has a ton of bug fixes and minor feature improvements. In addition, we're releasing a new ISO image for those who want a new install with all the latest and greatest packages. Last, we're switching our development cycle to use rolling releases which means you guys should be hearing (and receiving 'update goodies') a whole lot more from us on a much more regular and frequent basis. Changelog: add kernel module RTL8152/RTL8153; add NVMe support to kernel; fix igxbe compilation issue; bug fix - onedrive.live.com is blocked by DNS Proxy; bug fix - IMAP training fails if mail is incomplete; bug fix - cannot create backup if the remark field contains only integers; bug fix - body of HA notification mails are sent as attachments...." Read the rest of the release announcement for a complete changelog.
Oracle Linux 8.3
Simon Coter has announced the release of Oracle Linux 8.3, a new update of the distribution designed for enterprise deployment and built from the source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux: "Oracle is pleased to announce the availability of the Oracle Linux 8 Update 3 for the 64-bit Intel and AMD (x86_64) and 64-bit Arm (aarch64) platforms. Oracle Linux 8 Update 3 includes the UEK R6 on the installation image, along with the Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK). For new installations, UEK R6 is enabled and installed by default and is the default kernel on first boot. UEK R6, the kernel developed, built, and tested by Oracle and based on the mainline Linux Kernel 5.4, delivers more innovation than other commercial Linux kernels. Oracle Linux 8 Update 3 release includes: improved support for NVDIMM devices; improved support for IPv6 static configurations; installation program uses the default LUKS2 version for an encrypted container...." Read the release announcement and the release notes for more information.
Archman GNU/Linux 2020-11-12
Kararlı Sürüm Hazır has announced the release of Archman GNU/Linux 2020-11-12, a new version of the project's Arch-based distribution with the latest version of KDE Plasma as the preferred desktop. The developers of the distribution rotate the default desktop environment depending on the release, using Deepin, GNOME, KDE Plasma or Xfce. This is the first release or Archman GNU/Linux with KDE Plasma since February 2020. Some of the changes and package upgrades include: Linux kernel 5.9.8, Plasma Desktop 5.20.3, Plasma Framework 5.75.0, Qt 5.15.1, Pamac-aur 9.15.2, Archman Settings Manager 0.5.5, Calamares installer 3.2.33, Firefox 82.0.3; new Calamares slides and Archman wallpapers; latest drivers including some unsupported ones; AUR and Multilib repositories now enabled by default. The release announcement (in Turkish) provides further information, screenshots and upgrade instructions.
Archman GNU/Linux 2020-11-12 -- Running the KDE Plasma desktop
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ArcoLinux 20.11.9
Erik Dubois has announced the release of ArcoLinux 20.11.9, a new stable version of the project's Arch-based distribution with Xfce as the default desktop. As always, the distribution is available in a vast range of other desktop environments through its community-built ArcoLinuxB editions. This version also delivers a new dwm variant: "dwm might be one of the most intriguing desktops we have in our collection. dwm stands for dynamic window manager and it comes from suckless.org. Let me copy/paste the intro of their website: 'dwm is a dynamic window manager for X. It manages windows in tiled, monocle and floating layouts. All of the layouts can be applied dynamically, optimising the environment for the application in use and the task performed. In tiled layout windows are managed in a master and stacking area. The master area contains the window which currently needs most attention, whereas the stacking area contains all other windows. In monocle layout all windows are maximised to the screen size.'" See the full release announcement for further details.
MidnightBSD 2.0
Lucas Holt has announced the release of MidnightBSD 2.0, a major new version of the project's FreeBSD-derived operating system developed with desktop users in mind. Besides providing package upgrades, security updates and bug fixes, this release also imports features from FreeBSD 11: "I am happy to announce the availability of MidnightBSD 2.0 for amd64 and i386 architectures. This is a massive release focusing on base system improvements. We've imported many features from FreeBSD 11.x as part of the release. Changes: LLVM updated to 8.0.1; ELF ToolChain updated; OpenSSL updated; ZFS now supports parallel mounting; kernel logs jail IDs when a process exits; network firmware updates. Updated DRM code is now in mports for 2.0 and later - this allows us to update it outside of a release. Due to the nature of the release, there are a few minor build issues when upgrading from MidnightBSD 1.2.x by source." Read the detailed release notes for a full list of changes, upgrade instructions and known issues.
PrimTux 6
PrimTux is a Debian- (and Ubuntu-)based distribution developed by a small team of school teachers and computer enthusiasts for educational environments. The project's latest release, PrimTux 6, is available in both Debian (32-bit) and Ubuntu (64-bit) editions. An English translation of the release announcement reads: "PrimTux6 is available in 2 versions: a version based on Ubuntu and intended for recent computers; a version based on Debian Buster, intended for older older computers, to meet its vocation of upgrading computers for educational purposes. Whichever version you use, PrimTux is designed to be extremely lightweight. Version 6 continues to build on what makes the strength of the distribution: student environments adapted to the different cycles of primary education, protected from bad handling; a selection of quality educational software adapted to the different ages of schooling; secure Internet browsing thanks to CTparental, which provides filtering since version 5, and to the Qwant junior search engine."
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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: 2,223
- Total data uploaded: 34.7TB
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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) |
Do you recommend the same distribution you use yourself?
People who have been using Linux for a while often get asked to recommend a distribution for newcomers, for family, or for specific tasks, as we saw in this week's Questions and Answers article. Sometimes the distributions we, as more experienced Linux users, run are not ideal for other people. When someone comes to you looking for a friendly distribution or one suited to common tasks, do you recommend they use the same distro you do, or do you point people to another distro?
You can see the results of our previous poll on Material Shell in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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When it comes to recommending a Linux distro
| I recommend the distro I run: | 1097 (57%) |
| I recommend another distro in the same family: | 241 (13%) |
| I recommend a distro I do not run: | 318 (17%) |
| I do not make distro recommendations: | 259 (14%) |
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| Website News |
New distributions added to database
Snal Linux
Snal Linux is a small Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. It features the i3 window manager and it includes the Firefox web browser, as well as a handful of network and filesystem utilities. It is intended to be used as a live image to troubleshoot hard disk, system and network problems.
Snal Linux 1.0 -- Running the i3 window manger
(full image size: 193kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- Expirion Linux. Expirion Linux is an Xubuntu-based distribution which features Canonical's updated kernel (HWE) for additional hardware support.
- Gorizont Linux. Gorizont Linux is a live USB-bootable distro for plug and play MF HF VHF UHF radio and DVB-T TV/DAB DAB+/DRM reception.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 23 November 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: 0, value: US$0.00) |
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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!
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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 | 
MythDora
MythDora was a specialized Linux distribution based on Fedora and MythTV, designed to simplify the installation of MythTV on a home theatre PC. In addition to MythTV and its plugins, MythDora includes extra Linux packages that are necessary for MythTV to run, and drivers for hardware commonly encountered in machines intended to run MythTV. Also included in MythDora are several video game emulators, and extra tools and scripts.
Status: Discontinued
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| 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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