DistroWatch Weekly |
DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 922, 21 June 2021 |
Welcome to this year's 24th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
When it comes to storing and accessible data there are a number of approaches. Some people like to collect and control their data, setting up home storage systems or shelves of external drives. Others like to be more mobile, storing their information on a cloud service so they can remotely access their files from multiple devices and locations. This week we begin with a look at two projects at either ends of this data storage spectrum. The first is CloudReady, a Gentoo-based project which is designed as a platform for a web browser and on-line storage. We also talk about TrueNAS, a FreeBSD-based platform for managing and sharing large collections of data. Our Feature Story offers details on these two projects. In our Questions and Answers column we talk about running Windows applications through WINE and what sort of protection or isolation can be gained from using WINE. Do you use WINE or another form of compatibility software to run non-native applications? Let us know how you run non-native programs on Linux in this week's Opinion Poll. In our News section we talk about Qubes expanding and setting up a new forum as well as preparations being made for the next version of Debian. We also warn Ubuntu users that version 20.10 is nearing the end of its supported life. Plus we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: CloudReady and TrueNAS Core
- News: Qubes project sets up new forums, Debian Bullseye nears freeze as 10.10 is released, Ubuntu 20.10 nears its end of life
- Questions and answers: Isolating programs inside WINE
- Released last week: SME Server 10.0, Network Security Toolkit 34-12743
- Torrent corner: Alpine, AVLinux, Bluestar, KDE neon, Manjaro, Network Security Toolkit, SME Server, Snal Linux
- Opinion poll: Running non-native applications
- New distributions: Aravalli-OS
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (12MB) and MP3 (9MB) formats.
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Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
CloudReady
CloudReady is a Linux distribution produced by Neverware, a company which is now part of Google. CloudReady is based on Gentoo and basically turns a computer into a platform for a web browser. The idea is that the distribution will remain a minimal base for its browser which will access web-based applications, web pages, and on-line storage.
I was curious about two things going into this experience with CloudReady. First, I wondered if the distribution would allow me to install additional applications in order to perform tasks locally, or if I'd be required to perform all my work through a web browser? My second thought was whether I'd be able to accomplish everything I wanted while using on-line tools if installing local applications was not an option? I typically have around ten applications open at any given time. Some of these - such as the e-mail client, word processor, virtual machine manager, and audio player - I knew would have easy replacements. Finding an on-line password manager seemed doable too. I was less optimistic about the image editor, secure file transfer tools, and video player.
CloudReady is available for 64-bit (x86_64) computers. The provided download is a 1.2GB compressed file. Unpacking this file results in a 6.3GB image file we can write to a thumb drive. The project's website offers detailed instructions on transferring the image file for Windows, macOS, Chromebook, and Linux machines. I confirmed my download's checksum, wrote it to a thumb drive, and restarted my computer.
Here I quickly ran into an issue: I couldn't get the CloudReady media to boot. In both UEFI and Legacy BIOS mode the media refused to start. This brought my trial with CloudReady to a quick close so I turned my attention to another project I haven't tried in a few years.
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TrueNAS Core 12.0
TrueNAS Core, formerly called FreeNAS, is a FreeBSD-based operating system which provides Network-Attached Storage (NAS) services. TrueNAS Core is the community branch of the TrueNAS project, sponsored by iXsystems. It also has a commercial branch called TrueNAS Enterprise. TrueNAS provides a minimal operating system base with a friendly, web-based front end for administration. Using TrueNAS we can set up ZFS storage pools, filesystem snapshots, network shares, user accounts, and background services through the web-based administration portal.
Installing
TrueNAS Core is available as a 899MB download for x86_64 machines. Booting from the install media brings up a series of text-based menus. At first we are asked if we would like to either install or upgrade the operating system. This first menu also offers to drop us to a command line shell prompt. We can also choose to restart or shutdown the system. Taking the install option then shows us a list of available hard drives and asks which one should be used for TrueNAS. Once we pick a drive we are warned that proceeding will wipe the disk and take it over entirely for TrueNAS.
The following screens then ask us to make up an administrative password and choose whether the host computer will boot in UEFI or Legacy BIOS mode. The operating system is then copied to the drive and the installer offers to reboot the computer. The whole process takes just a few minutes.
Early impressions
A fresh boot of TrueNAS brings up a text console. The first time the system starts it pauses briefly twice - once while loading plugin information and once while generating what looks like a security key or server certificate. We are then presented with a text-based menu and invited to pick a number associated with configuration options or actions.
I feel it worth noting at this point we do not need to login in order to access the console. Whomever has physical access to the NAS automatically has root access and can change network settings, shutdown the system, access a command line, or even reset the NAS to its default configuration. It appears to be assumed that the NAS will be physically locked away to protect it (or it may be a virtual machine) and therefore password protection of the console is not needed. It's an unusual approach.
As I mentioned, the menu gives us access to a shell, shutdown and reboot actions, network activation, and DNS settings. Under the menu we are shown the NAS's IP address. By default we can access the NAS's web-based portal by accessing this IP address over either HTTP or HTTPS protocols. Once we get signed into the web interface it is possible to redirect all web-based access through HTTPS for improved security.
Something I noticed early on was the local IP address TrueNAS displayed on its console was "0.0.0.0", indicating it has been unable to automatically obtain an address. I tried running the network configuration tool from the console and this ran a Python script which crashed and published its traceback before returning me to the console menu. I then tried to run the DNS settings tool which also resulted in Python errors and a return to the console. Resetting the root password worked without errors.
Rebooting the NAS brought me back to the console and, once again, confirmed the system had been unable to set up a networking connection.
I tried dropping to a shell prompt which, at first, displayed Python errors, but then did show me a command line. From there I was able to use the ifconfig tool to assign an IP address and activate the network interface. When running from the command line we are warned that any settings we adjust will be lost upon a reboot so we should also adjust settings through the web interface. I switched over to a web browser on another machine and confirmed I could reach the NAS.
Web interface
Connecting to the web interface starts by asking us for a username and password. The root account can be used to sign in. The first time I logged into the web portal a pop-up appeared and offered me links to the project's documentation, forum, and support options. The initial page we are shown displays a status dashboard. This dashboard displays some basic system information, CPU usage, memory consumption, the network address, and current network traffic. It's a good way to get a quick overview of the system's load and capacity.
The web interface is set up with a list of categories of actions and settings down the left side of the window. Specific settings and actions can be accessed on the right side. Often clicking on a category in the left pane will expand it to reveal more pages of options. For instance, clicking the Tasks button expands to provide access to cron jobs, rsync actions, and scheduling filesystem snapshots. The Storage button expands to give us access to setting up new ZFS pools, viewing disks attached to the NAS, and managing snapshots. There are also buttons for accessing network settings, services, jails, setting up network shares, and plugins.
TrueNAS 12.0 -- Managing user accounts
(full image size: 99kB, resolution: 1326x768 pixels)
Hands on exploration
Something to keep in mind when using TrueNAS is the order we do things may be different than when using more general purpose operating systems. Typically when I'm setting up a new storage server my process is along the lines of: set up a non-root account, set up a storage pool, and then set up shares or remote admin tools. With TrueNAS the process is somewhat flipped. The system comes with a web interface set up already. We cannot create new user accounts until we have created a ZFS storage pool. We can't create a pool until we have set up a vdev (a step which can usually be skipped when setting up ZFS storage servers from the command line).
This reordering of things isn't good or bad, but it did mean I had to get used to doing things backwards from my usual process and with some extra steps. However, on the positive side of things the TrueNAS interface is fairly easy to navigate and I suspect people who have not worked with ZFS storage from the command line will still feel fairly comfortable working with the project's web interface.
The services manager is pleasantly easy to use. The operating system's services (such as FTP and OpenSSH) are listed on one page and we can click a button to turn them on. Services all seem to be disabled by default and we can simply click a switch to activate them. I had no problem turning on, for example, secure shell access, and then logging in remotely to confirm it worked.
TrueNAS 12.0 -- Enabling background services
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There are some tools in the web interface for viewing a list of running processes and accessing a command line shell. Both of these open command line terminals in the web interface to display a prompt or a process monitor.
There is a tool I found pleasantly easy to use which sets up network shares. Working with Apple file shares, Windows (Samba) shares, and NFS are all supported. Again we can simply click a button to turn on these services. There are extra options we can tweak, but it's nice to set up a Samba share with user authentication with just a couple of mouse clicks. This is quite slick and I suspect the defaults will suit most people.
TrueNAS 12.0 -- Accessing a new network share
(full image size: 124kB, resolution: 1326x768 pixels)
For people working in larger organizations there are options for connecting TrueNAS to Activate Directory, LDAP, and Kerberos systems. I didn't test these, but the settings appear to be similarly straight forward.
I ran into a couple of problems while running TrueNAS Core and both appear to be networking issues. The first is that there is a section for plugins where we can download extra functionality from one of two repositories. One repository is provided by iXsystems (presumably for official plugins) and the other is labelled Community Plugins. When I tried to access either of these repositories an error would pop-up and display a long string of git-related issues. As a result no available plugins were displayed. I ran into a similar problem when checking for software updates. Performing a check for updated packages always failed.
TrueNAS 12.0 -- Checking for available plugins
(full image size: 148kB, resolution: 1326x768 pixels)
Networking seems to be a weak point with this version of TrueNAS and it isn't an issue I ran into with previous versions. With 12.0 I was always able to remotely sign into the NAS (after the initial network configuration was accomplished), I could access file shares, and I could usually ping remote Internet servers. However, sometimes pings to computers outside the LAN would fail and checks for updates and plugins always failed, even while access to the NAS itself continued to work. There appeared to be something affecting the NAS and causing it to lose its Internet connection which was not affecting any other devices on the network, despite them using the same router and DNS settings.
Things I liked
There were several things I enjoyed about using TrueNAS this time around. As with previous versions the install process is incredibly short and simple. This is a system we can get up and running in about five minutes and, a few minutes later, have a ZFS storage pool working.
On a related note, TrueNAS takes over one entire hard drive and I appreciate it warns us before wiping the disk. In fact, TrueNAS warns the user whenever we are about to do something potential destructive. Whether it's something which will reboot the computer, delete data, or interrupt the network connection TrueNAS prompts first, usually with a confirmation box for us to check to acknowledge what we are doing. I appreciated this safeguard for my data.
I like the current dark theme. It's easy on my eyes and the new layout (it's changed in the past few years) is fairly straight forward to navigate. I like that we can manage user accounts, ZFS storage, and snapshots with just a few mouse clicks. In a similar fashion, it's wonderfully easy to enable OpenSSH and network file shares which work instantly without tweaking configuration files.
TrueNAS 12.0 -- Browsing filesystem snapshots
(full image size: 116kB, resolution: 1326x768 pixels)
Things I did not like
There were a few issues I ran into or things which didn't feel comfortable for me. For instance, I sometimes had trouble determining what was a label and what was a button on some screens. The design of the web interface is somewhat flat and I found myself clicking on things which were not always interactive. On a related note, I feel like the designers expect the user to have a taller screen than I have. I often had to scroll down and back up some settings pages and the left-pane navigation window as options rarely all fit on one laptop screen. This isn't a problem exactly, but it made me wonder if some items could be divided up into smaller sub-categories to reduce scrolling. I usually didn't scroll this much when using previous versions of the operating system.
As I mentioned above, the NAS seemed to intermittently lose its Internet connection. This hasn't happened with Linux or FreeBSD on the same network so I'm curious as to what is causing the interruptions.
Not having password protection on the console bothers me. I realize TrueNAS is probably installed in most cases on virtual machines or in locked server rooms, but for people who have less strict physical security it's nice to have a password standing between a person and the factory reset button.
Conclusions
On the whole, I like TrueNAS Core. It's easy to set up, the web-based interface is easy to navigate. The system does a good job of displaying an overview of information and options in a friendly interface. There are a lot of options which might be overwhelming at first, but they're generally organized in a way that allows us to find specific tools fairly quickly.
I was frustrated with the networking issues which prevented me from using plugins, but the tools which were available, such as those for setting up pools, automating filesystem snapshots, and working with services were all top notch. I'd definitely look at using TrueNAS in an organization that had a lot of data to manage and wanted to organize and share it quickly and with minimal fuss.
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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
TrueNAS has a visitor supplied average rating of: 9.1/10 from 175 review(s).
Have you used TrueNAS? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Qubes project sets up new forums, Debian Bullseye nears freeze as 10.10 is released, Ubuntu 20.10 nears its end of life
The Qubes OS team has run into the happy problem of being more popular than expected. In particular the project's forum infrastructure is being overwhelmed with responses from people interested in the project which isolates different pieces of the operating system and its data. As a result, Qubes is setting up a new forum which will go live on July 1st, 2021. "Since the Qubes Forum first launched over nine months ago, it's been far more popular than we anticipated! While this has been a pleasant surprise, one consequence is that we've outgrown the free hosting for open source projects that Discourse has generously been providing to us. As a result, we must switch to a new paid host. We're also taking this opportunity to move the forum to our official domain! In order to ensure a smooth and orderly transition, we're announcing these changes well in advance. The move is scheduled for 2021-07-01 (July 1), which is a little over two weeks from the date of this announcement. We hope this gives everyone sufficient time to prepare so that the transition doesn't come as a surprise." A link to the new forum along with notes on the transition are available in the announcement.
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The Debian project is moving towards a new stable release. The project has no set release date, but tends to publish new versions approximately once every two years. The upcoming release is Debian 11 "Bullseye" and will likely become available a few weeks following the project's Full Freeze of the Testing branch. The freeze is planned for July 17th. "On Saturday 2021-07-17, Bullseye will reach its fourth milestone: the Full Freeze. This means that from that moment on, every package requires a manual unblock by the release team if it needs to migrate to Bullseye. This milestone will not change anything for key packages or packages without autopkgtests. However, from that moment on also for an updated non-key package with passing autopkgtests an unblock needs to be requested, unless the package migrates before that date."
This week Debian published updated media for Debian 10. The new media provides security fixes which have become available since Debian 10 was originally released, but is not a new version of the distribution. "The Debian project is pleased to announce the tenth update of its stable distribution Debian 10 (codename Buster). This point release mainly adds corrections for security issues, along with a few adjustments for serious problems. Security advisories have already been published separately and are referenced where available. 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."
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Brian Murray has sent out a notice reminding people that Ubuntu 20.10 will reach the end of its supported life on July 22, 2021. "Ubuntu announced its 20.10 (Groovy Gorilla) release almost 9 months
ago, on October 22, 2020, and its support period is now nearing its end. Ubuntu 20.10 will reach end of life on July 22, 2021. At that time, Ubuntu Security Notices will no longer include information or updated packages for Ubuntu 20.10." People using Ubuntu 20.10 or one of its community editions are advised to upgrade to version 21.04.
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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) |
Isolating programs inside WINE
Making-a-bottle-of-WINE asks: Will running a shady program in WINE infect my system or does WINE protect the system?
DistroWatch answers: WINE, for people who are unfamiliar with it, is a tool used to run Windows applications on other operating systems, such as Linux distributions. The project's website says that WINE "is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, & BSD. Instead of simulating internal Windows logic like a virtual machine or emulator, WINE translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls on-the-fly, eliminating the performance and memory penalties of other methods and allowing you to cleanly integrate Windows applications into your desktop."
WINE is not intended to sandbox or isolate the applications it runs from other parts of the operating system. There is a degree of isolation in that the drive mappings WINE uses will result in programs regarding your computer's main hard drive, the "C: drive", as being located under your Linux user's home directory.
Apart from the way WINE maps drives there isn't really anything it does on its own to protect or guard your system against malicious programs. WINE, and the programs it runs, have the same access to your computer as your user account does. If you feel you must run applications in WINE that you do not trust, then I recommend setting up a second operating system inside a virtual machine. This will allow you to install the untrusted software in the virtual environment and, when the virtual machine is reset or destroyed, the untrusted program will be removed too.
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Answers to other questions can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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Released Last Week |
Network Security Toolkit 34-12743
Ron Henderson has announced the release of Network Security Toolkit (NST) 34-12743, a new version of the project's Fedora-based live ISO image and USB Flash drive designed to provide an easy access to best-of-breed, open-source network security applications: "We are pleased to announce the latest NST release - NST 34 SVN:12743. This release is based on Fedora 34 using Linux kernel 5.12.10. This release brings the NST distribution on par with Fedora 34. This is mostly a maintenance release with improved NST WUI functionality. Below is a summary of new tools and feature improvements included in this release: the lft (Layer-4 Traceroute) utility has been integrated into the NST WUI; the NST WUI Ntopng implementation now supports the Ntopng REST API; the results from using the fast directory scanner - dirble can now be displayed in tabular format on its corresponding NST WUI page; added a new NST script, etherapedump, that dumps network resources from an Etherape XML export; automatic NST WUI page refresh to the NST Start Page if the NST system is rebooted from the NST WUI...." Visit the distribution's home page to read the full release announcement.
SME Server 10.0
Terry Fage has announced the release of SME Server 10.0, a major new update of the project's specialist distribution designed for home servers. This version is based on CentOS 7: "The Koozali SME Server development team is pleased to announce the release of SME Server 10.0 which will be the next major release of SME Server. This release is based on CentOS 7. CentOS 7.# has an en of life on 30 June 2024. Koozali SME Server users are encouraged to update to the 10.0 release. In-place upgrades are not supported. It is necessary to backup and then restore. The spare handling for RAID arrays is now fully implemented. Single disk install no longer creates a degraded Raid1 array. Two or more disks will be created as a Raid1-6 array. Support for further Raid configurations on install is now implemented. USB installs are now supported. Netinstall is now fully supported, install to a UEFI system is now fully supported. Handling of USB drives for backup and restore from the console is now resolved. Backup to workstation using removable storages is now fully supported." Read the full release announcement for further details.
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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: 2,491
- Total data uploaded: 38.3TB
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Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
Summary of expected upcoming releases
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Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
Running non-native applications
In this week's Questions and Answers article we talked about WINE, a compatibility layer which allows people using Linux (and other UNIX-like operating systems) to run (some) Windows applications. There are other approaches to getting access to non-native applications, such as running them in a virtual machine and in an emulator. Let us know what method you prefer when you want to run Linux, but just can't give up a specific application or game that only runs on other platforms.
You can see the results of our previous poll on merging multiple storage drivers in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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To run non-native applications I...
Use an emulator: | 19 (1%) |
Use a virtual machine: | 224 (17%) |
Use WINE: | 271 (20%) |
Use another compatibility layer: | 15 (1%) |
All of the above: | 67 (5%) |
A Combination of the above: | 245 (18%) |
I do not run any non-native applications: | 509 (38%) |
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Website News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Aravalli-OS. Aravalli-OS is an Arch-based distribution featuring the Calamares system installer and the KDE Plasma desktop environment.
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 28 June 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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Tip Jar |
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Archives |
• 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 |
• 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 |
• Full list of all issues |
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Random Distribution |
Overclockix
Overclockix started as a KNOPPIX-based live CD featuring a host of tools for network security, low-level hardware tweaking, burn-in applications, and distributed computing clients. It went dormant in 2005, but was revived again in 2011 as a Debian-based live CD "aimed at overclockers for stress testing, distributed computing and as a general Linux toolkit."
Status: Discontinued
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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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