 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 903, 8 February 2021 |
Welcome to this year's 6th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Linux distributions are constantly evolving, often introducing new features or phasing out components which are no longer popular or easy to maintain. These changes often spark debate as not every component being brought in is useful to everyone and not every discarded feature is unwanted. In our News section we explore a few examples of distributions bringing in or removing features. The Ubuntu team is trialing a new system installer while IPFire is planning to drop 32-bit support at the end of the year. The UBports team is working towards introducing Wayland support for their mobile operating system while Raspberry Pi OS users are debating the merits of a new, third-party package repository the developers have added to their operating system. We have the details on these changes below. First though we look at an intriguing project which strives to hide itself on a computer's hard drive in an encrypted volume. The Split Linux project helps users set up a hidden distribution on computers alongside a "decoy" operating system and we talk about how this works in our Feature Story. In our Questions and Answers column we share tips on storing data files in RAM for quick access and ask if you use tools to pre-load files into RAM in this week's Opinion Poll. 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: Split Linux
- News: Ubuntu to get new system installer, IPFire phasing out 32-bit support, UBports explains app confinement, Raspberry Pi OS users discuss new package repository, Debian updates install media
- Questions and answers: Keeping files in RAM
- Released last week: Ubuntu 20.04.2, Solus 4.2, EndeavourOS 2021.02.03
- Torrent corner: Arch Linux, EndeavourOS, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Solus, SparkyLinux, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Kylin, Xubuntu
- Upcoming releases: FreeBSD 13.0-BETA2
- Opinion poll: Caching files in RAM
- Site news: One of our authors interviewed
- New distributions: AlmaLinux, Freeduc-usb
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (9MB) and MP3 (12MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
Split Linux
This week I want to talk about an unusual project I tried out recently called Split Linux. The project's website describes itself as follows:
Split Linux is a general operating system optimized for safely navigating hostile environments like the Internet and physical check points. Split Linux builds on tools that follow the UNIX philosophy and is based on the fast and independent Void Linux.
Digging a little deeper we can learn additional bits about Split Linux. The idea of Split is to run two or more operating systems on your computer. The first operating system is installed normally and can be any Linux distribution or other operating system that looks semi-familiar to the public. The first operating system is not used for anything important and is considered the "decoy".
We then set up a second volume which will be home to an encrypted volume we will fill with Linux containers. Each container has its own username and password, its own files, and its own programs. Network traffic is routed through the Tor network.
The computer cannot directly boot into this second partition and the boot menu does not even list it as an option. The second partition with our encrypted containers is not bootable. To access the containers we plug in a USB thumb drive that holds Split Linux. The computer boots off the thumb drive and, if we provide the proper username and password, we are granted access to one of the encrypted containers.
The idea here seems to be to provide multiple layers. If we are stopped at a border and asked to power on our laptop, the system will boot to the decoy operating system where nothing important is visible. Even if we boot the computer from our Split thumb drive, and are compelled to enter our password, we can choose which account to sign into. Since each account has its own container (which is isolated from the rest) this means we can have one innocent looking account, another for work, one for home, another for banking, and so on. Anyone inspecting the machine shouldn't be able to tell which container holds important information or even the number of containers present as they are all in one big, encrypted partition.
As mentioned above, Split Linux is based on Void and uses the lightweight musl C library. This means we are essentially running Void when we boot from the Split thumb drive and containers we make in the encrypted volume run a minimal version of Void by default.
Getting started
Booting from the Split thumb drive brings up a menu offering to start in the distribution and run it from the USB drive or load the operating system into RAM before running it. The boot process produces a lot of output, mostly information on services starting, some networking data, and there is a blurb about default login credentials which goes by too quickly for me to read.
When I first booted Split it looked like the boot process had locked up. However, when I pressed the Enter key output scrolled up the terminal and I was shown a login prompt. After failing to guess the password three times, a message appeared to give me the login credentials and show me the login prompt again. We can sign in using "root" as the username and "voidlinux" as the password.
The first time we boot Split Linux we should follow the guide for setting up local partitions and an encrypted volume. Basically this involves creating a new partition, setting up encryption, and creating a logical volume on the partition. Apart from the initial device name for the partition, the install process can be completed by just copying a handful of commands from the documentation into the terminal. This seems like a series of steps which could be easily scripted to avoid typos or getting the instructions out of order. All the script would need to do would be to get our partition name, such as /dev/sda1 and then run the instructions listed in the documentation.
Once the steps of creating an encrypted volume and formatting it are completed we should reboot the computer, leaving the Split thumb drive in the machine. This time when the system boots Split detects the encrypted volume we just created. It is mounted and we can then continue following the aforementioned guide to set up one or more containers. Optionally, we can add additional software, such as a window manager, to the container. The guide recommends installing the Beast graphical environment and I gave this a try. We need to copy a long command into the terminal to install the Beast window manager and, again, this seems like a step which could be presented as an optional script to be run from the live media.
The container we create will, by default, run a minimal copy of the Void distribution, though I suppose we could install anything we wanted into a container should we prefer a different distribution.
Early impressions
After we set up one or more containers we can logout of the root account on the live media and sign into a container. How this works is we can use the name of a container as our username and its password (assigned during setup) to sign into the container's minimal operating system. By default we get a bare bones, command line distribution. Basically, it's Void running some command line programs with the XBPS package manager. Assuming we install Beast, the graphical environment loads by default.
The Beast desktop is very minimal and, unusually, appears to offer a very simple tiling window manager that is navigated almost entirely with keyboard shortcuts. I found it a bit tricky to get used to Beast, but it seems functional once you get to know the appropriate shortcuts.
Split Linux -- Running the Beast graphical interface
(full image size: 89kB, resolution: 800x600 pixels)
Additional thoughts
Though the documentation guide does not appear to mention this in detail, the decoy partition (the one which is not encrypted) is to be setup and used separately. That is, we install any distribution we like on the decoy partition the way we normally would. It is intended to have a minimal operating system with its own applications and user account set up entirely separately.
Basically the idea is when we boot the computer normally we sign into the unencrypted operating system, whatever it is. The decoy system has a desktop, some apps, maybe some files, but nothing important or interesting. When we boot from the Split Linux live media, it detects the encrypted volume and mounts it. Each user account gets its own container on an encrypted volume. This way we can run multiple users (one for work, one for home, one for banking) and they are isolated from the other accounts and containers. The data is all encrypted and Split Linux doesn't boot without its live media so people doing a cursory inspection of the laptop only see the decoy operating system.
In other words, to access our important files, a person would need three things: Our encryption password, the name and password of our container, and a way to see (and access) encrypted partitions such as the Split Linux thumb drive. Plus they would need to ignore the decoy operating system that boots automatically.
Resource usage
Exploring Split, I found that the system was fairly light. Running one container with the Beast interface consumed 325MB of RAM. The live distribution itself is fairly small, under 700MB, so can be run from a CD, USB thumb drive, or DVD.
Each container, with a window manager installed, consumed about 2GB of my encrypted volume, prior to adding any programs or data files. I suspect that, for a basic installation with a desktop environment and web browser, each container would probably need about 8GB of space. This means if we wanted three isolated containers we would be looking at at least 24GB of drive space, plus any data files and swap space.
The distribution is fairly light and fast, staying true to its Void roots. I found it does not automatically integrate with VirtualBox, but then again it's not designed with virtual machines in mind. Its purpose is to help us secure physical devices, particularly ones we might take across borders, so virtual machine support is not a priority.
Conclusions
I was unsure about Split Linux at first. The project's website mixes some good technical information with some philosophy and tips on privacy, so I wasn't sure what kind of experience I was getting into at just by reading the website. I had a rough idea of what Split was trying to do (isolate and hide files), but not sure what that would look like or how much effort would be required to set it up.
On the positive side, Split's approach of having a decoy distribution on one partition and an encrypted partition full of hidden containers, each with their own files and login credentials, is a really great idea. This is a bit like Qubes OS in that both focus on security by isolation, but with much less resource overhead and a shorter setup time. However, where Qubes protects us mostly from outside (remote) attacks, Split is designed to protect us against attackers who have direct, physical access to the computer. The concept of Split seems to be solid and the installation went just as the documentation said it would.
There are two downsides as I see them for potential Split Linux users. The first is that the project is not at all user friendly yet. Setting it up takes a good deal of command line Linux knowledge and the Beast user interface is going to be completely alien to most computer users. This project could greatly benefit from an install script, some optional "install add-ons" scripts, and a more mainstream, yet light, desktop such as Xfce or LXQt.
The other potential problem I see is with maintenance. Setting up Split isn't bad, it requires technical knowledge of the command line and device names, but it's not a long process. The problem is we need to keep on top of maintaining each container and the decoy system if we plan to use it occasionally. People sometimes struggle to keep up with patches for one or two operating systems. With Split we might end up with the decoy operating system, plus an innocent/decoy container, a work container, and a home container. That is four isolated systems to keep patched for just one laptop. For people with more compartmentalized lives, I could see the maintenance time getting out of hand.
In short, I think Split has a lot of potential. I'd like to see the documentation fleshed out, some install scripts added, and a more friendly graphical window manager. I'm not sure I'd recommend it yet over something like Qubes, especially not for daily use. I think Split is best suited for short trips, like popping over a border for business, but then returning to another distribution after we get back home. I think juggling multiple containers and running the minimal operating system full-time would be more effort than it is worth, but I can see the benefit for people who want it for one-off jaunts into situations where they don't want the contents of their hard drive examined.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Ubuntu to get new system installer, IPFire phasing out 32-bit support, UBports explains app confinement, Raspberry Pi OS users discuss new package repository, Debian updates install media
The Ubuntu desktop installer, Ubiquity, has been in service and largely unchanged for several years. The Ubuntu developers are planning changes to their desktop installer, merging it with the distribution's server system installer. "The current Ubuntu Desktop installer, Ubiquity, dates back to 2006. While still functional, Ubiquity hasn't seen significant feature development for some years and due to its legacy is becoming cumbersome to maintain. Meanwhile, a new installer for Ubuntu Server has been developed, called Subiquity, which uses curtin. Consolidating the installer for server and desktop on common technologies will mean we can deliver a consistent, robust, installation experience across the Ubuntu family and focus our efforts on maintaining a single code base." The new installer is expected to be included in Ubuntu 21.10, which will be available in October.
* * * * *
The IPFire team have announced plans to phase out 32-bit (x86) support. The plan is for IPFire to drop support for 32-bit processors, which make up less than 10% of the project's install base, at the end of 2021. The team has run into bugs which only affect 32-bit packages and the effort to maintain these packages outweighs the benefit to supporting the rarely-used architecture. Michael Tremer provided details: "Currently, only 7% of all IPFire systems are not capable of running the 64-bit version. We have taken the decision to give everyone who is still using IPFire on those machines one year to upgrade to new hardware. After December 31st 2021, we will no longer support the i586 architecture."
* * * * *
The UBports team have published an update on the work they are doing along with future plans. The blog post includes information on the next minor update, plans to migrate to Ubuntu's 20.04 base, and offers information on how UBports applications are contained. "Kelmes asked when UT is based on 20.04 and using Wayland how easy do you think it will be to get Flatpak applications working? First we need to clear up some routine confusion between a supposed Wayland compositor and Wayland protocol. There is actually no such thing as the 'Wayland compositor'. Mir is the compositor for Lomiri and UT. It exists in the 1.x series which is what UT uses at the moment and in the 2.x series which is currently under development. Basing UT on 20.04 actually has little at all to do with using Wayland. Those are two distinct transitions. 20.04 comes first, then Wayland but over quite a long time-scale. In any event, neither of those is in any way related to whether you will be able to run Flatpak on UT. Flatpak applications use a confinement mode but not the same mode as is used by UT applications...."
* * * * *
The Raspberry Pi OS forums erupted with several topic threads following an update to the distribution which installs a third-party repository for Microsoft's VSCode packages. The new repository was added by the distribution's developers to facilitate access to popular development tools which the team feel are useful for many Raspberry Pi owners. However, the closed source nature of the VSCode packages, along with the lack of notice regarding the additional of the new repository, has many people protesting. One Pi owner wrote, "This editor is clearly not using the GPL license and is not free software, but the Debian packages are in the 'main' component, which is against the Debian guidelines, they should rather be in 'non-free' due to the license. Due to the license conflict I would like to ask you kindly to either remove that repository again from the 'postinst' script of 'raspberrypi-sys-mods', and if you really want it in, then please add it in a way the user can clearly see its license and that it is non-free software before installing it, and actually has a choice about it."
The Raspberry Pi team has so far stood by their decision to keep the new repository as it is, stating: "Already discussed in another thread. We won't be making any changes to this, it is to help users install VSCode which is our recommended IDE for Pico development."
* * * * *
The Debian project has published updated installation media. The new media, which carry the version label 10.8, is not a new release, but bundles software fixes made available since Debian 10 was released. "Please note that the point release does not constitute a new version of Debian 10 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away old Buster media. After installation, packages can be upgraded to the current versions using an up-to-date Debian mirror."
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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) |
Keeping files in RAM
Not-wanting-to-forget asks: Some live distros can be loaded into RAM to make them super fast. What if I want to load just specific files into RAM to make programs launch quicker or make games run faster? Can that be done?
DistroWatch answers: Files that are kept in memory by the operating system for quick access later on are said to be cached. A cached file is kept by the kernel in RAM so that it can be accessed almost instantly on demand. This is a lot faster than loading the same file from a hard drive. Linux, like most other modern kernels, will attempt to keep recently used files in memory so that we don't need to keep reloading the same data from the (relatively) slow disk over and over. Unfortunately most systems don't have enough memory to hold all of our applications, plus data files, and so cached files are occasionally purged from memory to make space for other things.
In most cases Linux will do a good job of figuring out what it can keep in memory and hold onto those files in the cache to avoid re-reading the data from the disk. It is also important for the operating system to not try to hold onto too much data in RAM because if the memory is needed for something else, like a newly opened application, it can result in the system struggling to find enough space, slower swap space being used, the system slowing down, or applications crashing.
I mention this because if we are going to try to store commonly used files permanently in RAM it means there is less room for other stuff and we might be speeding up one application while slowing down others. This may especially become a problem if we try to store the data files for a big game in memory. Modern games can be quite large and holding them in memory might starve the rest of the operating system of RAM it needs for other things.
There are a few tools available for loading files into memory and keeping them there. The preload service will monitor our system, figure out which files we use the most, and then try to keep those files in memory. This tends to cause commonly used libraries and applications to be loaded into RAM when the system boots and can speed up boot times as well as application load times. As far as I know, preload is a service that is only available to Linux users and I don't think it is in the repositories of many distributions. Though it is in the Arch Linux AUR.
While preload tries to automatically figure out which files we use most and keeps them in RAM, the vmtouch application allows us to manually load specific files into memory. We can also evict specific files from the cache. This makes vmtouch a bit more flexible. Files loaded by vmtouch get locked into memory and stay there until the system restarts or until vmtouch is terminated.
The vmtouch program works on most Linux distributions and other members of the UNIX family, including the BSDs. This makes it quite portable and makes it easy for a user to specify a file (or directory of files) to be kept in memory for a period of time.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Solus 4.2
Solus is a Linux distribution built from scratch. It uses a forked version of the PiSi package manager, maintained as "eopkg" within Solus, and a custom desktop environment called "Budgie", developed in-house. The project's latest version is 4.2 which includes package updates across key components. The Budgie desktop has gain improvements and features a new system tray and better support for desktop icons. "We are proud to announce the immediate availability of Solus 4.2, a new Solus 4 Fortitude series release. This release delivers new desktop environment updates, software stacks, and hardware enablement. All of our editions feature: Firefox 85.0, LibreOffice 7.0.4.2, Thunderbird 78.6.1. For audio and video multimedia playback, we offer software out-of-the-box that caters specifically to our desired experience for each edition. Budgie, GNOME, and MATE editions all ship with Rhythmbox for audio playback, with the latest release of the Alternate Toolbar extension to provide a more modern user experience. Budgie and GNOME ship with GNOME MPV for video playback. MATE ships with VLC for video playback. Plasma ships with Elisa for audio playback and SMPlayer for video playback." The release announcement offers further information.
Solus 4.2 -- Running the Budgie desktop
(full image size: 1.0MB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
EndeavourOS 2021.02.03
EndeavourOS is a rolling release Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. The project aims to be a spiritual successor to Antergos - providing an easy setup and pre-configured desktop environment. The project's latest snapshot is EndeavourOS 2021.02.03 and it includes a large collection of updated packages. A number of fixes and features have been added to this release: "We've also improved some features on the live environment and the installation process to make the installation a smoother sail. Reflector-auto has been removed since Reflector has this feature shipped by default The Welcome app now supports Brazillian-Portuguese. Alacrity has been added as one of the supported terminals for our native apps. You can now choose a swapfile from the installer in addition to a traditional swap partition when an automatic partition scheme is chosen. reflector-bash-completion has been added to make the use of Reflector easier. When chosen online install, mirrors will be automatically updated for a faster install and to decrease the possibility of a failed install caused by unresponsive mirrors. Our newest mirror in India has been added to improve the experience for our Indian users. During install, the user will now be added to the sys rfkill wheel users group by default, we have removed some of the legacy groups that were causing issues with drivers and CUPS." Additional information can be found in the project's release announcement.
Ubuntu 20.04.2
The Ubuntu team has announced a new update to the distribution's install media and community editions. The new version is 20.04.2 and it includes bug fixes that have become available since 20.04 was launched along with support for additional hardware. The release announcement states: "The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS (Long-Term Support) for its Desktop, Server, and Cloud products, as well as other flavours of Ubuntu with long-term support. Like previous LTS series, 20.04.2 includes hardware enablement stacks for use on newer hardware. This support is offered on all architectures. Ubuntu Server defaults to installing the GA kernel; however you may select the HWE kernel from the installer bootloader. As usual, this point release includes many updates, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS." Further information can be found in the release notes.
PCLinuxOS 2021.02
PCLinuxOS, an independently-developed desktop Linux distribution which continues to use SysV as its init system, has been updated to version 2021.02. The new release features updated kernel and applications, as well as improved compatibility with VirtualBox: "PCLinuxOS installation media has been updated so new installations do not require such a large update to get current. This release features Linux kernel and application updates, bug fixes and security updates, with a focus on speed and stability. PCLinuxOS is officially released in three editions: KDE Plasma, MATE and Xfce desktops. Community editions featuring Trinity, Openbox and LXQt desktops are also available. All the editions can run on the computer alone, or in VirtualBox. PCLinuxOS is an old-school, rolling-release desktop distribution and has been serving the Linux community for 18 years. Changes: speed improvements of installation media; better compatibility with VirtualBox; easier guest additions install within Virtualbox; installation support to a f2fs partition; systemd-free since 2003." Here is the brief release announcement.
* * * * *
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: 2,325
- Total data uploaded: 36.1TB
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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) |
Caching files in RAM
In this week's Questions and Answers column we talked about tools used to store files in memory, making them faster to access than if they were only available on a hard drive. Do you use any tools like preload or vmtouch
to cache files into RAM for quick access? Let us know which file caching tool you use in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on keep it simple distributions in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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To cache files I use...
| preload: | 71 (6%) |
| vmtouch: | 23 (2%) |
| Other: | 50 (4%) |
| I do not pre-cache files: | 989 (87%) |
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| Website News |
One of our authors interviewed
This past week Jackson Kelly of Console sat down with DistroWatch contributor Jesse Smith to discuss his background, career, and the process of porting software between open source operating systems. The interview has been published in Console Edition #39.
* * * * *
New distributions added to waiting list
- AlmaLinux. AlmaLinux is a binary compatible clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, maintained by CloudLinux.
- Freeduc-usb. Freeuc-usb is a live distribution based on Debian. It runs the Cinnamon desktop, offers data persistence, and ships with non-free firmware to support a wider range of hardware.
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DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 15 February 2021. 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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| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • Issue 1036 (2023-09-11): SDesk 2023.08.12, hiding command line passwords, openSUSE shares contributor survery results, Ubuntu plans seamless disk encryption, GNOME 45 to break extension compatibility |
| • Issue 1035 (2023-09-04): Debian GNU/Hurd 2023, PCLinuxOS 2023.07, do home users need a firewall, AlmaLinux introduces new repositories, Rocky Linux commits to RHEL compatibility, NetBSD machine runs unattended for nine years, Armbian runs wallpaper contest |
| • Issue 1034 (2023-08-28): Void 20230628, types of memory usage, FreeBSD receives port of Linux NVIDIA driver, Fedora plans improved theme handling for Qt applications, Canonical's plans for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1033 (2023-08-21): MiniOS 20230606, system user accounts, how Red Hat clones are moving forward, Haiku improves WINE performance, Debian turns 30 |
| • 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 | 
Openwall GNU/*/Linux
Openwall GNU/*/Linux (or Owl for short) is a small security-enhanced Linux distribution for servers, appliances, and virtual appliances. Owl live CDs with remote SSH access are also good for recovering or installing systems (whether with Owl or not). Another secondary use is for operating systems and/or computer security courses, which benefit from the simple structure of Owl and from the inclusion of the complete build environment.
Status: Dormant
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| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
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| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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0x969CD4E778C7b6549A2B00e34114e0168c86A542 
