 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1060, 4 March 2024 |
Welcome to this year's 10th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Most of us, at one time or another, have changed a setting, edited a configuration file, or removed a package and then realized we had just broken something important. Sometimes the best we can do in these situations is re-install our operating system or restore files from a (hopefully recent) backup. Other times we might be able to repair the damage. This week we dive into one of the latter scenarios and share steps to repair a damaged operating system in our Questions and Answers column, exploring how to re-install a deleted network utility to help us get back on-line. First though we explore AV Linux's MX branch, a flavour of the audio-visual-focused distribution which is based on MX Linux. Jeff Siegel takes AV Linux for a spin and reports on his experiences. Then, in our News section, we highlight some key security features in the OpenBSD operating system. OpenBSD is well known for its security record and we share some of the reasons why. Also on the topic of security, the Qubes project has certified a workstation for people who want a more privacy-focused experience. Plus both the KDE Plasma and LXQt desktop environments are publishing new and significant updates. These two desktops are migrating to the Qt 6 development library and making progress on their Wayland sessions. We share highlights from LXQt and Plasma with links to details below. In about a month we will be entering into the first 2024 "release season". Which Linux distribution are you most excited to see new features from this year? Let us know in the Opinion Poll. This week we are also pleased to share the many releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
- Review: AV Linux MX-23.1
- News: Highlighting OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies the NitroPC Pro 2, LXQt prepares for Wayland, KDE launches Plasma 6
- Questions and answers: Bootstrapping a network connection
- Released last week: Tails 6.0, Zentyal Server 8.0, Grml 2024.02, Kali Linux 2024.1
- Torrent corner: Grml, Kali Linux, KDE neon, Tails
- Upcoming releases: FreeBSD 13.3
- Opinion poll: Highlights of the first 2024 release season
- New distributions: Arcade Linux, Minki's Crappy Linux
- Reader comments
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| Feature Story (By Jeff Siegel) |
AV Linux MX-23.1
Know three things about the new release of AV Linux MX Edition, a specialist distro for multimedia: First, it's based on the rock-solid MX Linux, perhaps the best non-commercial operating system available, and its MX lineage shows. Second, it's nimble and complete, with an ample assortment of sound and video tools that do exactly what they're supposed to do.
But the third thing? That's the kicker: AV Linux can be annoying and frustrating, with too many things that should just work, but that too often don't - like booting up.
In this, it's an effective operating system, aimed at advanced users but straightforward enough for those of us who just need to record a podcast or to edit simple videos for a website. And it takes into account many of the shortcomings of smaller distros, with decent documentation, a sort of forum, and an impressive 86-minute video tutorial that outlines many of the distro's idiosyncrasies.
However, no one using modern hardware should have to struggle to boot a modern Linux distro anymore. But that's what happened here, and regardless of everything else that AV Linux does so well, it's something that will make too many potential users look elsewhere.
Getting started
This release of AV Linux is AVL-MXe 23.1 "Enlightened" -- "MX Linux enlightened, customized, molded and shaped for content creators," according to the website. However, as developer and maintainer Glen MacArthur notes, though the distro is based on MX Linux, it isn't an official MX Linux product.
AVL-MXe 23.1 replaces AVL-MXe 21.2.1, released about 14 months ago. It's a new approach to AV Linux, moving the distro from the Xfce desktop to Enlightenment (though keeping the Thunar file manager). Hence, it's not possible to upgrade from 21.1, and a fresh install is necessary. The ISO is 5.3GB, which is quite large compared to more mainstream distributions like Ubuntu 22.04 (3.4GB) and Fedora 39 (2.0GB). Chalk that up to all its specialized software.
MacArthur based the new release on MX Linux 23 and its Debian 12 "Bookworm" foundation, updated the multimedia focused Liquorix kernel to 6.6.9 (with - and more on this later - a choice of SysV or systemd for init), and moved to PipeWire 1.0 for audio. All told, these are major changes.
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- The live desktop environment
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It's apparently difficult to run AVL-MXe 23.1 in a virtual machine. The distro's users on their space in the MX forum discuss the problem at length, and some of the documentation says running it in an environment like VirtualBox is not recommended.
Which isn't much of a problem for testing, since the live version and its live desktop serve that purpose quite well. Response is quick, and changes - setting up WiFi, adjusting screen size - are persistent after installation.
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- Running the system installer
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AV Linux uses the MX installer, which -- if not as popular as Calamares or Ubiquity - is reliable and dependable. And once you learn you don't have to set up a root account if you don't want to, or worry about what happens if you don't pick a computer domain name, it's not even especially confusing. And, for the most part, it's also quick - AV Linux took about five minutes to install the first time using my older i5 processor.
There were problems
The second installation took twice as long, but don't hold that against the installer. It's the fault of the distro, which didn't load after I shut down the computer and came back to it the next day. It booted to the GRUB menu, but after some garbage text, the screen went blank and nothing worked. Only using the power button shut the machine off.
So, re-installation, but the same thing happened again - live session and installation successful and no problems using the distro after installation. But when I turned the machine off and then started it again, AV Linux booted to the GRUB menu, showed some garbage text, and the screen went blank. Again, I needed to use the power button to turn the laptop off.
Ordinarily, I'd have moved on after this. But, in the interest of fairness, I tried one more time - booting to the GRUB menu, selected advanced options, and then selecting the systemd choice (the default, apparently, is SysV init). That solved the problem, and I was able to use the distro. But why SysV init didn't boot successfully and systemd did remains a mystery, and the bug does not seem to be reported anywhere. (Though, since this is an MX Linux system, there's an app - MX boot options - to set the system to boot to systemd without manual intervention.)
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- The welcome window
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Two other complications worth noting: The Nextcloud desktop package installed, more or less, but Nextcloud wouldn't load on startup despite being set to do so. Then, when I tried to start it, the system hung - usually the only time the desktop wasn't responsive - and I never really did get it to work. Sometimes it would sync, and sometimes not. At one time, I had two Nextcloud folders.
Second, there's a GUI for scanners, but there doesn't appear to be one for printing. CUPS is installed, but the printing setup seems to have to go through the CUPS website running on localhost. This isn't a deal breaker, obviously; but, given how many other apps are installed, including the scanner, it seems odd to handle printing this way (though my Canon MX-920 was ready and waiting when I accessed the local CUPS web interface).
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- Running the Thunar file manager
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The good news
Once I got past all of that, AV Linux was a marvel. I've recorded podcasts and edited videos for my wine website, but my knowledge - and skills - are limited. The podcasts used the stock version of Audacity, so cutting out background noise and normalizing levels was generally all than I could do. And videos? I've spent too much time struggling with older versions of OpenShot, crashes, freezes and all, to consider video editing as anything other than a chore.
AV Linux MX-23.1 -- Editing audio in Audacity
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Here, though, all was close to joy. I got an old podcast to sound better than it ever had - stereo, even, thanks to the additional set of plugins and tools in the AV Linux version. OpenShot still wasn't especially intuitive, but I reworked a couple of old videos and they looked and sounded much more professional.
And that's only the beginning of what the distro provides in top-notch multi-media tools: Ardour, a sophisticated sound editing tool; the Avidemx and Cinelerra GG video editors; and the MuseScore notation app. There are also a variety of non-free apps and plug-ins, like Reaper, a digital audio workstation.
There has been some criticism of AV Linux's software update and package installation process, probably because there are so many ways to do each (at least four). This is a heritage of the MX Linux approach, where there always seems to be two or three apps for the same job. So, yes, it might be a touch confusing, but the MX tools aren't complicated, and anyone who needs a basic GUI can always use Synaptic. Which is how I installed AbiWord, since AV Linux - as reported - doesn't include a word processor.
Finally, a word about the Enlightenment desktop, which replaced Xfce. MacArthur, who experimented with Enlightenment in a special version of the 21.2.1 release, wrote that he made the change because Enlightenment offers a quicker and snappier experience, especially given the memory footprints of all those multimedia apps. Enlightenment has more than its share of fans, even though its development has seen various stops and starts. Having said that, it does work as advertised here (though it used about the same system resources, according to task manager, as my Xfce desktop does). My only complaint was that the Enlightenment desktop didn't look all that good, a vague-ish gray and black sort of something or other.
Which is hardly the worst criticism to make. In fact, this was a difficult review to write, since MacArthur puts such pride of effort in the distro and it offers something that's difficult to find elsewhere in the Linux ecosystem. And, for the most part, it does work.
But when there is a major problem, like the SysV init and systemd quandary, someone has to notice. Otherwise, how will the distro get better?
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Hardware used for this review
My physical test equipment for this review was an Asus UX31A laptop with the following specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-3317U, 1.7GHz
- Storage: 128GB SSD
- Memory: 4GB of RAM
- Networking: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless
- Display: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000
When he is not testing out new versions of Linux distributions, Jeff Siegel can be found writing about all things related to wine at Wine Curmudgeon.
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Visitor supplied rating
AV Linux has a visitor supplied average rating of: 7/10 from 29 review(s).
Have you used AV Linux? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Highlighting OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies the NitroPC Pro 2, LXQt prepares for Wayland, KDE launches Plasma 6
The OpenBSD operating system is well known for its impressive security record and dedication to accurate documentation. While OpenBSD is regarded as a secure platform, the specific, proactive security features included in the operating system are sometimes overlooked. Solène Rapenne has posted a blog which outlines some of OpenBSD's less talked about features: "The secure level is a sysctl named kern.securelevel, it has 4 different values from level -1 to level 2, and it's only possible to increase the level. By default, the system enters the secure level 1 when in multi-user (the default when booting a regular installation). It's then possible to escalate to the last secure level (2), which will enable the following extra security: all raw disks are read-only, so it's not possible to try to make a change to the storage devices; the time is almost lock, it's only possible to modify the clock slowly by small steps (maybe 1 second max every so often); the PF firewall rules can't be modified, flushed or altered...."
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Qubes OS is a security-focused operating system which isolates various system components to prevent compromises to one part of the system from spreading. The Qubes project has certified a new workstation for security-minded users, the NitroPC Pro 2: "The NitroPC Pro 2 is a workstation for high security and performance requirements. The open-source Dasharo coreboot firmware ensures high transparency and security while avoiding backdoors and security holes in the firmware. The device is certified for compatibility with Qubes OS 4 by the Qubes developers. Carefully selected components ensure high performance, stability, and durability. The Dasharo Entry Subscription guarantees continuous firmware development and fast firmware updates." Additional information on the NitroPC Pro 2 can be found on the Qubes news page.
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The LXQt desktop environment is planning to roll out a new major version in April 2024 along with some key features. The lightweight desktop is migrating from the Qt 5 development libraries to Qt 6 and introducing Wayland support: "Qt 6 libraries should provide some more tools to continue development - basically implement Wayland-specific code in components like panel, desktop, runner, shortkeys and notification daemon. Many applications and LXQt components are already working perfectly on Wayland, others partially and some not, see the table below for a detailed list." The application menu is expected to have some enhancements too, including improved search and a Favourites area. Additional information on the upcoming LXQt 2.0.0 release can be found in the project's blog post.
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The KDE project also announced some exciting news this week, launching KDE Plasma 6 along with its related applications and software libraries. Plasma 6 migrates the desktop to a Qt 6 base and places the focus of future development on Wayland: "With Plasma 6, our technology stack has undergone two major upgrades: a transition to the latest version of our application framework, Qt, and a migration to the modern Linux graphics platform, Wayland. We have done our best to ensure that these changes are as smooth and unnoticeable to the users as possible, so when you install this update, you will see the same familiar desktop environment that you know and love. But these under-the-hood upgrades benefit Plasma's security, efficiency, and performance, and improve support for modern hardware. Thus Plasma delivers an overall more reliable user experience, while paving the way for many more improvements in the future. We will continue providing support for the legacy X11 session for users who prefer to stick with it for now."
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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) |
Bootstrapping a network connection
No-longer-connected asks: I was trying to switch network utilities and accidentally deleted Network Manager. Now I don't have a wired connection and no tool to connect wirelessly. Is there any way to get Network Manager installed again without re-installing my OS from scratch?
DistroWatch answers: Chances are the best option available to you is to use a live distribution, probably the same one you originally used to install your operating system, to get your computer on-line and then install a networking client. Most live desktop distributions will have utilities (such as Network Manager) included to help you get on-line. Once you have established an internet connection, the next step will be to establish what is called a chroot that contains your installed operating system's filesystem. You will then be able to install any packages you require in the chroot environment using the live media's Internet connection.
Let's take a look at how this can work in practice. There are a few steps we need to perform:
- Try to determine on which partition our installed operating system is located.
- Boot to live desktop media.
- Establish an Internet connection.
- Access and isolate our installed operating system in a chroot.
- Install the missing packages.
- Exit the chroot environment.
- Restart the computer and boot into our installed operating system to confirm our changes worked.
Let's take a look at an example where we try to access and repair an installed Linux distribution.
Determine on which partition the operating system lives
The first thing we need to do is find out on which disk partition our distribution lives. We can do this a few ways. One way is to use the mount command and grep to find out where our root partition (symbolized by the "/" character) is located. Here we open a terminal and find our root partition is located on device /dev/sda2:
$ mount | grep " / "
/dev/sda2 on / type ext4 (rw,noatime)
Boot from live media
The next thing we should do is boot from some live media, perhaps the same media we used to install our distribution in the first place. If our original install media is not available, then any live, mainstream Linux media with a desktop environment should do the trick.
Connect to the Internet
Once the live desktop environment has booted, open the networking utility and connect to the Internet by whatever means you would normally use.
Create a chroot environment
Next we need to access our distribution's root filesystem (which we discovered earlier is on the /dev/sda2 partition) and isolate it in a chroot environment. First, we open a terminal and mount (access) the root partition.
$ mkdir myroot
$ sudo mount /dev/sda2 myroot
At this point our root partition is accessible through the myroot directory, though it's not yet isolated in its own quarantined area using chroot. We can take the next step and isolate our root partition using the following command:
$ sudo chroot myroot
Install the missing network utility
We should now see a prompt which begins with a "#" character. From here we can use our distribution's package manager to install our missing network utility.
The specific command required to install a network utility, such as Network Manager, will vary a bit depending on which distribution you are running. For example, on Arch-based distributions we would run:
# pacman -Sy networkmanager network-manager-applet
People running a member of the Debian and Ubuntu family could run:
# apt-get update; apt-get install network-manager nm-tray
Meanwhile, someone using the Fedora distribution could run:
# dnf install NetworkManager
It's worth checking your distribution's documentation to see which package manager it uses and the proper commands for finding and installing new packages.
Leave the chroot and clean up
Once our networking utility has been installed, we can leave the chroot environment by simply typing "exit" at the command prompt:
# exit
Then we should unmount the root filesystem, making sure our changes are synced to the hard drive.
$ sudo umount myroot
Once the root filesystem has been unmounted, we can reboot the computer, removing the live media. When our installed operating system boots up, we could be able to run our networking utility to get on-line.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Tails 6.0
The Amnesic Incognito Live System (Tails) is a Debian-based live DVD/USB with the goal of providing complete Internet anonymity for the user. The project's latest release, version 6.0, places a focus on accessing storage and protecting the user from malicious storage devices. "Tails 6.0 warns you about errors when reading or writing from your Tails USB stick. These alerts can help you diagnose hardware failures on your USB stick and backup your Persistent Storage before it's too late. Mount external devices automatically - When you plug in an external storage device, a USB stick or an external hard disk, Tails 6.0 mounts it automatically. If the storage device contains an encrypted partition, Tails 6.0 offers you to unlock the encryption automatically. This feature also simplifies how to unlock VeraCrypt encrypted volumes. Protection against malicious USB devices - If an attacker manages to plug a malicious USB device in your computer, they could run software that breaks the security built in Tails without your knowledge. To protect from such attacks while you are away from your computer, Tails 6.0 ignores any USB device that is plugged in while your screen is locked." These and additional features are covered in the release announcement.
Zentyal Server 8.0
Zentyal has announced the release of Zentyal Server 8.0, a major new update of the project's Ubuntu-based server distribution featuring a domain and directory server, native compatibility with MS Active Directory, mail server, and gateway and infrastructure server. A community edition is available for free download, while commercial editions also include technical support. "The Zentyal development team is proud to announce Zentyal Server 8.0; this is a new major community release of the Zentyal Linux Server, based on Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 LTS. This version comes with the most recent versions of all the integrated software, including Samba 4.15.13, Netplan instead of the old-fashioned network/interfaces, new docker and webserver modules, and finally the latest stable SOGo version. Zentyal Server 8.0 is based on Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 LTS and comes with the latest versions of all integrated software. The most important improvements include: core - based on Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 LTS; network - migrate to Netplan from Network Interface; Samba - integration of Samba 4.15.13; Sogo - integration of SOGo 5.5.1; Docker - new module; webserver - new module; OpenVPN - migrate from Quagga to Frr...." See the release announcement and the changelog for a full list of changes and upgrade instructions.
Grml 2024.02
Grml is a live distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. It includes a collection of GNU/Linux software especially for users of text tools and system administrators. The project's latest release, Grml 2024.02, runs on Linux 6.6 and introduces several new options for the grml-live utility as well as zsh features. "Highlighting the most relevant changes only: Misc: grml-hwinfo: add inxi output and collect information about network devices via ethtool. grml-live (build system for creating Grml (based) Linux live systems): Initial arm64 / aarch64 support. Add support for Debian/Trixie (current Debian Testing). Use serial console with a setting of 115200n8 by default. Update zsh completion + ship it via Debian package. Unify boot options order between isolinux/syslinux and GRUB. Improved memtest + chainloader handling. Remove Grml release name from the boot options. Misc software related changes in GRMLBASE, GRML_SMALL + GRML_FULL classes. grml-zshrc (Zsh configuration): zshrc: fixed outdated URL in weather function. /etc/skel/.zshrc: suggest J as global alias for jq usage. grml-debootstrap (wrapper around debootstrap for installing pure Debian): Initial arm64 support. Add EFI support for VMs. Don't install busybox any longer by default." Additional details can be found in the project's release notes.
Grml 2024.02 -- Exploring the Fluxbox menu
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Kali Linux 2024.1
Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution with a collection of security and forensics tools. The project has published its first snapshot of the year, Kali Linux 2024.1. The release announcement outlines the distribution's latest changes: "Hello 2024! Today we are unveiling Kali Linux 2024.1. As this is our the first release of the year, it does include new visual elements! Along with this we also have some exciting new mirrors to talk about, and of course some package changes - both new tools and upgrades to existing ones. If you want to see the new theme for yourself and maybe try out one of those new mirrors, download a new image or upgrade if you have an existing Kali Linux installation. The summary of the changelog since the 2023.4 release from December is: Micro Mirror Free Software CDN - FCIX Software Mirror reached out offering to host our images, and we said yes. 2024 Theme Refresh - Our yearly theme refresh with all new wallpapers and GRUB theme. Other Desktop Environment Changes - A few new tweaks to our default environments. NetHunter Updates - NetHunter Rootless for Android 14, Bad Bluetooth HID attacks, and other updates. New Tools - As always, various new shiny tools!"
KDE neon 20240228
Hot on the heals of the KDE 6 MegaRelease announcement comes an updated build of KDE neon. The latest version, labelled as 20240228, continues to be based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, but it integrates the brand-new KDE releases, including Plasma 6, KDE Frameworks 6 and all the applications from KDE Gear 24.02: "Today KDE has made its biggest release ever, never before in the 25-year history of the project have we announced so many new products at the same time, but it brings the newly-refreshed base to keep our software foundation strong. KDE neon User edition has now been updated with KDE Frameworks 6, Plasma 6 and all the apps from KDE Gear 24.02. You can upgrade through Discover or grab the newest installable ISO build. If you just want to give it a try then give the Docker images a go." A bug that prevents users from logging off, rebooting or shutting down the system directly from the application menu has been reported in the KDE bug tracker. Here is the brief release announcement with a screenshot of the default desktop.
KDE neon 20240228 -- Running the KDE Plasma 6 desktop
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GParted Live 1.6.0-1
Following the recent new release of the GParted disk partitioning software, the GParted Live distribution has also received an update to version 1.6.0-1. GParted Live is a specialist live CD image designed for disk partitioning and data rescue tasks; it is based on Debian's "unstable" branch. Besides GParted 1.6.0, the new version of GParted Live comes with various software updates, including that of the Linux kernel to version 6.6.15 from the most recent long-term supported branch: "The GParted team is pleased to announce a new stable release of GParted Live. This release includes GParted 1.6.0, updated packages and other improvements. Items of note include: includes GParted 1.6.0 - stop forcing 1 MiB gap when moving partition boundary right, fix crash when dealing with 0000-0000 exfat UUID; remove Attempt Data Rescue and use of gpart; based on the Debian 'Sid' repository as of 2024-02-27; Linux kernel image updated to 6.6.15. This release of GParted Live has been successfully tested on VirtualBox, VMware, BIOS, UEFI and physical computers with AMD/ATI, NVIDIA and Intel graphics." Here is the brief release announcement as published on the project's news page.
Murena 1.20
The Murena project provides an Android-based, mobile operating system which strives to replace Google proprietary apps with open source alternatives along with a range of privacy protecting features. The project's latest release, version 1.20, improves third-party application support, enforces more strict rules on privacy ratings for third-party apps, and improves the tracker manager page. "We embedded some improvements! PDF reader: PDF Viewer Plus has been replaced by MJ PDF reader to provide more options and up to date security patches. Updater: Update's download is resumed automatically when needed. Third Party Apps support: /e/OS is now compatible with the Application Licensing API. Some third party apps can check the licensing status to make sure that the user is allowed to use the application, for instance in case of paid applications. Third party apps which are using this API are now working properly on /e/OS. We fixed the partial support of the On Demand Modules API used by third party apps to download split APKs at runtime. Advanced Privacy: You can now realize easily how efficiently Advanced Privacy protects you against trackers in the widget and on the home page. The design of the tracker management page is now more efficient. The Privacy Score has been forced to 0 for a list of apps for which Terms of Services clearly don't respect your privacy and your data." Additional features and bug fixes are outlined in the project's release notes.
Linux From Scratch 12.1
Bruce Dubbs has announced the release of version 12.1 of Linux From Scratch, a project providing a book containing step-by-step instructions to build a custom Linux system from scratch. A separate book called "Beyond Linux From Scratch", which contains instructions for installing and configuring various packages on top of a base LFS system, is also available in version 12.1: "The Linux From Scratch community is pleased to announce the release of LFS version 12.1, LFS version 12.1 (systemd), BLFS version 12.1 and BLFS version 12.1 (systemd). This release is a major update to both LFS and BLFS. The LFS release includes updates to Binutils 2.42 and glibc 2.39. In total, 43 packages were updated since the last release and extensive updates to the text have been made throughout the book to improve readability. The Linux kernel has also been updated to version 6.7.4. Overall there have been 230 commits to LFS since the previous stable version of the book. New in this version of BLFS are Qt 6, sysmon-qt, xdg-desktop-portal, simple-scan, snapshot, wireplumber, power-profiles-daemon and several supporting packages. This version also added SPIRV and Vulkan packages in support of Vulkan drivers for mesa. Deprecation notice: tuture versions of BLFS will remove the unmaintained GTK+ 2 library and Python 2." Read the complete release announcement for further information.
OpenMediaVault 7.0
OpenMediaVault is a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) solution based on Debian GNU/Linux. The project's latest release, OpenMediaVault 7.0, is based on Debian 12 introduces new notification and monitoring tools to make managing the NAS more efficient. "The changelog will list all improvements in this version alongside the following: Upgrade to Debian 12 (Bookworm). Package updates and notification will be handled by unattended-upgrades. Relocate Linux MD device (Software RAID) management into a separate plugin. Add support for network ethernet devices using device tree aliases, e.g. endX. Replace the cron-apt package with unattended-upgrades and apticron. The former ensures that security updates are installed automatically, and the latter ensures that notifications are sent when new package updates are available. The apt-listchanges package will send you an email with a summary of the latest changes whenever packages are upgraded. Add the ability to authenticate an RPC call by using the X-OPENMEDIAVAULT-SESSIONID header instead of a cookie. The session ID is returned with the response of the Session::login RPC. Reduce the query time when determining the SMART information by reducing the query parameters to the minimum. Add a dashboard widget to display the temperatures of all physical disks." Additional information is provided in the project's release announcement.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 2,971
- Total data uploaded: 44.1TB
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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) |
Highlights of the first 2024 release season
Every year several of the major Linux distributions and other open source projects key up for big, new releases. These new versions typically get published in the months of April-May and October-November. These two annual "release seasons" tend to showcase new features from projects such as Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, FreeBSD, and others. As we approach the first release season of 2024 we'd like to hear from which project you're most excited to see a new release or new features.
You can see the results of our previous poll on using AI features in a terminal in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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This release season I am most excited for...
| Fedora: | 122 (9%) |
| FreeBSD: | 96 (7%) |
| openSUSE: | 112 (8%) |
| Pop!_OS with COSMIC: | 234 (17%) |
| Ubuntu: | 219 (16%) |
| Other: | 558 (42%) |
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| Website News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- Arcade Linux. Arcade Linux is a Lubuntu-based distribution which ships with software aimed at emulating arcade games and video game consoles, assembled in a simple and practical way so that anyone can set up their multiplayer system.
- Minki's Crappy Linux. MCL is a distribution designed for very low-end machines, such as those running i486 and Pentium processors.
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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, 11 March 2024. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Weekly Archive and Article Search pages. 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)
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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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| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • 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 |
| • 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 | 
EduLinux
EduLinux was a Chilean Linux distribution specially designed for computing labs. Its principal objective was to improve the performance of old computers labs, introducing a modern client/server architecture. It features a simple installation process and a client administrator software specially designed to incorporate new computers into existing networks. EduLinux was developed by Instituto de Informática Educativa in Universidad de La Frontera and Centro de Tecnología y Educación of the Ministry of Education.
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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