 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1114, 24 March 2025 |
|
Welcome to this year's 12th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Have you ever been using your computer and noticed it was slowing down because something was writing to the storage drive? Did you ever wonder which application was writing data to the drive? In that case, this week's Questions and Answers column is for you as we discuss how to find out which processes are writing data to (or reading data from) your disk. The type of disk being used in a computer will impact how much of a performance hit we experience when large amounts of data are being transferred. Let us know in Opinion Poll below what kind of disk you use in your main computer. In our News section this week we talk about Debian's Project Leader election getting underway while the Rocky Linux project unveils a new branch for people who need a little extra security. Plus we share the new features available in the latest version of the GNOME desktop. Before we dive into all of that, we share a look at Bazzite. Ivan Sanders took this Fedora-based distribution for a test drive and reports on his experiences. Below we are also pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a terrific week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
- Review: Bazzite 41
- News: Debian Project Leader election underway, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating custom images for the Raspberry Pi
- Questions and answers: Checking what processes are writing to the disk
- Released last week: elementary OS 8.0.1, Kali Linux 2025.1a, Finnix 250, Rescuezilla 2.6, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19
- Torrent corner: elementary OS, Endeavour OS, Finnix, Kali Linux, KDE neon
- Upcoming releases: Ubuntu 25.04 Beta
- Opinion poll: What kind of storage drive is in your main computer?
- New distributions: CatOS
- Reader comments
|
| Feature Story (By Ivan Sanders) |
Bazzite 41
In mid-to-late January 2025, I finally broke my OS. I was running Nobara, a Fedora-based distro aimed at gamers. I primarily use my PC for gaming on Steam, browsing the Internet, streaming (Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc.), torrenting (and the VPN usage required for that), and using a Windows virtual desktop to access my work through a remote desktop in the Windows virtual image (OS Windows 11 on top of OS Windows 10, all running on the Linux distro of my choice). I realize it's not perfect, but it's my current workflow. I also like that Microsoft Office products are now generally available through my work account and on the web browser of my choice, while using office software like LibreOffice is easy when I'm just trying to get some thoughts down on paper. Plus, LibreOffice has come a long way in 2025!
In my journey to maximize my Linux distro's capabilities, I started using Nobara in late 2024. It markets itself as a solid (Fedora-based) gaming-centric Linux distro with third-party (non-free) repositories and NVIDIA or AMD drivers out of the box. It was very install-and-go and worked well. Unfortunately, I'm a habitual tinkerer and eventually managed to break it. SteamOS, in its current form, is Arch-based but uses an immutable image in an effort to make updates more stable. This approach is great for the Steam Deck, where users generally just play games and maybe do a bit of browsing or streaming. But for a desktop (or laptop) approach, as in my case, it probably isn't the best fit because I have no need or love for Steam's Big Picture Mode. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the idea of running an immutable system, given how prone to breakage I am.
Immutable Linux distributions have a core system that is read-only, so once the operating system is installed, it can't be changed during regular use. Patches and system updates are applied during a reboot in a process called an atomic upgrade. This means the update is treated as a single action, so if something goes wrong, you can quickly revert to the previous state. Applications are installed using containerized formats like AppImage, Flatpak, or Snap. This approach offers several benefits, and some drawbacks.
My first foray into systems with atomic updates was doing a review here, on DistroWatch, for NixOS, in DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 712, in May of 2017. NixOS is a very cool distro, but probably isn't for everyone, and was very unique in 2017. So, I did some digging into what new distro I needed to install for my use case in 2025. SteamOS, at the time of writing this, is not available in its immutable, Arch-based form. Fedora is well-loved, and I was very familiar with it; I've installed Fedora for my spouse, who has no need for Windows, and she has had no problems transitioning to Linux. Nobara was Fedora-based and was great for my use case. After some digging, I found Bazzite.
Allow me to quote from their website:
Bazzite is designed for Linux newcomers and enthusiasts alike with Steam pre-installed, HDR & VRR support, improved CPU schedulers for responsive gameplay, and numerous community-developed tools and tweaks to streamline your gaming and streaming experience. Bazzite is atomic meaning that after every update the previous version of the operating system is retained on your machine. Should an update cause any issues, you can select the previous image at boot time. Additionally, images of the operating system are retained in our repositories for ninety days.
The project gratisly (coining that) markets itself for laptops, handhelds, home theater setups, or however you want to game and work. Bazzite comes packed with your drivers, Waydroid (for your Android gaming needs), and actually a whole lot more:
We make sure our desktop images work on ASUS Laptops, Lenovo Legion Laptops, Framework Laptops and on AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA GPUs. Out-of-the-box tools such as Distrobox, Flatpak, and package layering, you can install that one missing package like a VPN client you bought a year ago, all while keeping the benefits of an atomic operating system.
In a nutshell, Bazzite is Fedora Silverblue with the KDE desktop, gaming focused for easier access to games (third-party repositories and GPU drivers), plus a whole lot more.
Bazzite 41 -- Selecting a download option
(full image size: 379kB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
When downloading Bazzite to install one first notices that the user is given a few choices. They offer desktops, handhelds, and laptops. They include images for various popular choices such as Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, Framework and Asus laptops, the list goes on (well not that long). Bazzite also offers downloads for NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel GPUs. Once the correct image and desktop environment are selected, the user can proceed to download the ISO and things proceed generally normally, but I couldn't help but notice the image was 8.3GB in size! But size isn't everything.
Bazzite 41 -- Running neofetch
(full image size: 851kB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
I grabbed my trusty Linux installing USB and used my normal method of dd to put the image onto the USB. A few minutes later I realized my USB was only an 8GB device. It was trusty but was a little on the older side (Hey! It's still a blue USB 3!). So I had to get a larger drive and went to install. Things proceeded generally normally from that point forward. Bazzite uses the Anaconda installer and I was doing a fresh wipe and standard install to my whole drive, so nothing really spectacular to do with the settings during the install process.
Bazzite 41 -- The Plasma desktop immediately following a fresh install
(full image size: 1.0MB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
First boot was very nice, seemed to take quite a while, but second boot took a normal amount of time. Everything seemed to work out of the box after logging into all my usual accounts, and games on Steam played immediately with my dedicated AMD GPU. My PlayStation 5 controller worked seamlessly like on any other distro I've tried, and my Bluetooth headphones worked at the same time as my controller, also over Bluetooth. For the record, my boot time is 27 seconds with NVMe, nothing spectacular but I find it is still fast enough.
Bazzite 41 -- Playing a game
(full image size: 1.7MB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
Bazzite doesn't come with office software, so I installed LibreOffice through the Discover Center. Most software is installed via Flatpak by default, and I've had almost no issues with Flatpak installations. I usually run virtual machines with VirtualBox, but it wasn't available in the software center. Searching for help on-line, I found that since Bazzite is based on Fedora Silverblue, which has a larger user base, searching Silverblue rather than Bazzite for solutions was better for troubleshooting. I also discovered Bazzite communities on Reddit. When looking for virtual machine solutions, I found that most Silverblue users rely on VirtManager and qemu for virtual desktops. After some struggles with networking and VirtManager, I fixed the issue by running it with sudo (or as root).
Bazzite 41 -- Managing virtual machines
(full image size: 856kB, resolution: 1536x960 pixels)
Once that worked, I was able to install Windows 10 in a virtual machine without issue. After this, I no longer needed root access, just a password (really the same thing, innit?). USB passthrough was a bit different in VirtManager, but was basically as seamless as VirtualBox. While VirtualBox has more features, VirtManager ultimately worked fine for all my requirements.
Bazzite 41 -- Browsing for new software in Discover
(full image size: 656kB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
All my other personal use cases have been smooth with Bazzite, and I haven't encountered any issues. The upgrade process (using topgrade) on Silverblue-based systems is different, and VPNs need to be installed using rpm-ostree rather than through the traditional system, but both updates and VPNs have worked fine. As of February 24, 2025, I've had no ongoing issues with Bazzite. I'll likely continue using it for 1-6 more months until my inevitable urge to tinker takes over.
Bazzite 41 -- Exploring the KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 706kB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
In conclusion, Bazzite fills a gap for users who want to use SteamOS on a system that also supports other computing tasks. It's a gaming-focused distro based on an immutable/atomic system image, which makes it a good option for gamers who want a reliable OS. While there may be some small initial learning curves, if you dedicate just a short time trying to solve any problem, I believe you will be successful.
* * * * *
Hardware used for this review
- Laptop: ASUS ROG G14 GA402RJ (2022, all AMD)
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (8-core/16-thread, 16MB cache, up to 4.9GHz max boost)
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6700S (8GB GDDR6)
- Storage: 4TB NVMe Crucial CT4000P3PSSD8
- Memory: 40GB
- Networking: MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Adapter (mt7921e)
- Display: 2560x1600 (16:10) @ 120Hz (Wayland, Kwin)
* * * * *
Visitor supplied rating
Bazzite has a visitor supplied average rating of: 7.5/10 from 8 review(s).
Have you used Bazzite? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
|
| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Debian Project Leader election underway, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating custom images for the Raspberry Pi
The Debian project holds annual elections for the position of Debian Project Leader. The 2025 election has more candidates than usual with four people currently in the running: Gianfranco Costamagna, Julian Andres Klode, Andreas Tille, and Sruthi Chandran. People interested in learning about these candidates can see their platforms and learn more about the upcoming election on the Debian election site.
* * * * *
The Rocky Linux distribution is a successor to CentOS Linux. The Rocky Linux project is experimenting with a new branch of the enterprise distribution which is called Hardened. The Hardened edition includes several security features which attempt to lock down the operating system and mitigate any exploits. "Rocky Linux from CIQ - Hardened is optimized for mission critical environments that have strict security requirements. It's delivered via a secure supply chain and gives you memory corruption detection, kernel integrity checking, stronger password polices, and SSH restrictions." FOSS Force has a more detailed look at the Hardened branch and outlines its key security enhancements.
* * * * *
The GNOME project has released version 48 of the widely used, open source desktop environment. The new GNOME release offers a few new features which are highlighted in the release announcement. One of the new items is notification stacking. This causes multiple notifications from the same application to be grouped together to reduce clutter: "Notifications from the same app are grouped into stacks, each of which can be expanded to reveal individual messages. Stacking keeps the notification list organized and makes it easier to navigate. It also prevents the notification list from becoming too long."
Another new feature is called Digital Wellbeing, which can be accessed in the Settings panel. "Another exciting enhancement in GNOME 48 is the debut of new Digital Wellbeing features. Designed to empower users to maintain healthy computing habits, the features include: Screen Time Usage: view how much time you spend using the screen each day, and compare your recent usage with previous days and weeks. Screen Limits: set a daily limit for your total screen time each day. A notification is shown when the limit is reached, and there is also an option to make the screen turn black and white. Break Reminders: set reminders for yourself to take regular eyesight and movement breaks, according to standard healthcare recommendations."
* * * * *
The Raspberry Pi community just gained a new tool for creating custom distributions for the popular series of single board computers. Matt Lear writes: "When it comes to software on Raspberry Pi devices, one size doesn't always fit all. Raspberry Pi OS is ideal for many applications, but we recognise that it doesn't suit every use case or deployment model, particularly in a product that has a specific purpose. If you're building an embedded system or an industrial controller, you'll need complete control over the software resident on the device, and home users may wish to build their own OS and have it pre-configured exactly the way they want. For developers and organisations that require a custom software image, a flexible and transparent build system is essential; to support these customers, we have created rpi-image-gen, a powerful new tool designed to put you in complete control of your Raspberry Pi images.
rpi-image-gen is an alternative to pi-gen, which is the tool we use to create and deploy the Raspberry Pi OS distribution. rpi-image-gen is designed to generate highly customised software images for Raspberry Pi devices, and offers a very granular level of control over file system construction and software image creation." Details on how to build a custom Raspberry Pi distribution and some samples to show off the new tool can be found in Lear's news post.
* * * * *
These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
|
| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
Checking what processes are writing to the disk
Who-is-writing asks: How do I find out which apps are causing disk writes? Something is constantly accessing my disk, but I don't know what.
DistroWatch answers: I believe the tool you are looking for is iotop. This is a process monitor which shows key statistics about processes reading from, and writing to, your disk. You can launch it by running the following command:
sudo iotop
Running iotop with the default settings will show you the total amount of data currently being read from the disk, the total amount of data being written to the disk, and then a list of processes. The processes are sorted by disk I/O usage, so disk-hungry processes are on top. Processes which are not doing any reading or writing will be listed below, in order of their process ID numbers (PID).
We can filter out inactive processes (those not accessing the disk) by passing iotop the "--only" flag, like this:
sudo iotop --only
The above command will show us a list of processes which are currently accessing the disk. On a system that is mostly idle (ie. signed into the desktop and not being used for anything) there should be very few (if any) processes shown by iotop. If you start searching for a file, launch a web browser, or open a media file then you'll start to see more processes added to the list.
The iotop command shows the process ID and the name of any programs accessing the disk, making it easy to find and shutdown the application or service which is consuming your disk's bandwidth.
* * * * *
Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
|
| Released Last Week |
elementary OS 8.0.1
Danielle Foré has announced the release of elementary OS 8.0.1, an updated build of the project's beginner-friendly Linux distribution featuring a custom desktop called Pantheon. This is largely a bug-fix release; it is based on Ubuntu 24.04.2 and it ships with the Linux 6.11 kernel: "It has been a little over 100 days since elementary OS 8 was released and we're proud to announce another round of updates, including a fresh new download. ... We now properly use dark mode brand colors and dark mode screenshots. Plus, when developers provide screenshots for multiple desktop environments, we now prefer the ones intended for our desktop environment, Pantheon. We support the new 'Developer' AppStream tag. And we now support the contribute URL type. System Settings now allows configuring its notifications in System Settings, Notifications. You can turn off bubbles if you don't want to receive notifications about updates, for example. We'll also no longer automatically download updates when on metered connections and send a notification instead. Plus we no longer check for updates in Demo mode." Continue to the release announcement for more information and screenshots.
Kali Linux 2025.1a
Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution with a collection of security and forensics tools. The project's latest release, Kali Linux 2025.1a, ships with a new theme and key desktop upgrades, including a jump to Xfce 4.20 and KDE Plasma 6. "After a long wait, we are excited to announce that Plasma 6 is finally available in Kali, specifically version 6.2. This is a major update, as the previous version included in Kali was Plasma 5.27, making the scope of changes difficult to summarize. For a more in - depth look at each release, check out the official announcements: 6.0, 6.1, and 6.2. On our end, we have updated all themes to align with the new environment, featuring refreshed window and desktop visuals. And our favorite new addition from KDE? Floating panels! Our default desktop environment, Xfce, has also had a minor software bump from 4.18 to 4.20. Two years of development has gone this, which was formally released on December 15, 2024. It is the stable series follow-up to the Xfce 4.18 release that made its debut during Christmas of 2022 (Kali 2023.1)." Additional details and screenshots can be found in the project's release announcement.
Kali Linux 2025.1a -- Running the Xfce 4.20 desktop
(full image size: 3.2MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
ReactOS 0.4.15
ReactOS is an open source operating system which seeks to be binary compatible with Microsoft Windows. The project has published a new release, version 0.4.15, which includes improvements across all aspects of the operating system. One of the key improvements is with plug and play devices: "Victor Perevertkin (Extravert-ir) has accomplished major rewrites to the Plug and Play Manager in the ReactOS kernel. With these changes, ReactOS now has the ability to run more third party drivers and to boot from USB devices. This also allows ReactOS to boot on chipsets with EHCI, OHCI, and UHCI controllers. This work is a stepping stone to ReactOS being truly compatible with vendor drivers for the Windows operating system. Johannes Anderwald (janderwald) solved an issue where the USB driver would enter an infinite loop when a USB device would not enter the ready state. Fixing this infinite loop allowed ReactOS to boot on more hardware. Thanks to the work of Oleg Dubinskiy, 0.4.15 features many audio improvements. Oleg added support for more audio formats, looped playback of wave files, higher sample rates, and multiple output channels. In addition, Victor Perevertkin imported the open source AC'97 driver from the Windows Driver Kit (WDK)." Additional information is provided in the release announcement.
Finnix 250
The Finnix distribution is a small, self-contained, bootable live Linux distribution for system administrators, based on Debian. The project's latest version is Finnix 250 which marks the project's 25th anniversary. The project's release announcement reports: "Today is a very special day: March 22 is the 25 year anniversary of the first public release of Finnix, the oldest live Linux distribution still in production. Finnix 0.03 was released on March 22, 2000, and to celebrate this anniversary, I'm proud to announce the 35th Finnix release, Finnix 250! Besides the continuing trend of Finnix version number inflation (the previous release was Finnix 126), Finnix 250 is simply a solid regular release, with the following notes: Linux kernel 6.12 (Debian 6.12.17-1); made automatic per-user shared ssh-agent functionality more reliable; added packages: util-linux-extra; Removed packages: reiserfsprogs, reiser4progs (ReiserFS removed from Linux kernel); boot initramfs now checks for build-specific media (will no longer load the first thing it sees which looks vaguely Finnix-like); htop display improvements (primarily better display of large numbers of CPU cores); upstream Debian package updates; many minor fixes and improvements."
Rescuezilla 2.6
Rescuezilla is a specialist Ubuntu-based distribution designed for system rescue tasks, including backups and system restoration. The project's latest release, version 2.6, updates the base Ubuntu operating system, offers a fix for booting on machines with Windows 11, and updates the partition management tools. "Updated the UEFI Secure Boot shim package to v1.58 after a Windows 11 update revoked older shims by incrementing the minimum 'SBAT generation'. This fixes any 'SBAT self-check failed' errors to ensure Rescuezilla continues boot on UEFI Secure Boot enabled systems which require the latest 'SBAT generation'. This also fixes the 'revoked UEFI bootloader' message warning when creating a bootable USB stick using Rufus. Replaced Ubuntu 23.10 (Mantic) and Ubuntu 22.10 (Lunar) builds with build based on Ubuntu 24.10 (Oracular) for best support of new hardware. Temporarily does not include Mozilla Firefox on Oracular release until switched to new source. Image Explorer (beta) temporarily out-of-service across variants. Fixed querying drives with the Bionic 32-bit version, which broke since Rescuezilla v2.5 due to using the --merge feature introduced in util-linux v2.34." Further details are provided in the release notes.
EndeavourOS 2025.03.19
Bryan Poerwo has announced the release of EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, a refreshed build of the Arch Linux-based distribution's "Mercury" line. The new release updates the Linux kernel to version 6.13.7 and the KDE Plasma desktop to version 6.3.3. The Calamares installer and the included NVIDIA video driver have also been brought up to their latest versions: "Our refresh release, 'Mercury Neo', is now available with updated core packages for the offline installation option and the live environment and a few bug fixes and improvements for the online installation option. 'Mercury Neo' ships with Calamares 25.02.2.1, Firefox 136.0.2, Linux kernel 6.13.7, Mesa 25.0.1, X.Org Server 21.1.16, NVIDIA 570.124.04. Bug fixes and improvements: we removed installing xwaylandvideobridge from the installation script since it is removed upstream; a bug in our install script for ranking the Arch mirrors before installation is fixed; we removed obsolete NVIDIA options from the NVIDIA boot menu; when choosing Systemd in the auto-install option, the installation process will now create a 2GB EFI partition instead of a 1GB partition, this will give the user more space and freedom to install multiple kernels and other desirable options." Here is the complete release announcement with screenshots.
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
|
| 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: 3,182
- Total data uploaded: 46.9TB
|
| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
|
Summary of expected upcoming releases
|
| Opinion Poll (by Jesse Smith) |
What kind of storage drive is in your main computer?
This week we talked about tracking down programs writing to storage in our Questions and Answers section. The type of storage device being used can cause constant reading to, or writing from, the device to have a greater impact. This week we'd like to hear what kind of storage is being used in your main computing device.
You can see the results of our previous poll on running computers powered by RISC-V processors in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
|
My main computing device uses this kind of storage:
| Spinning hard drive (HDD): | 458 (20%) |
| Solid state drive (SSD): | 1327 (58%) |
| Secure Digital Card (SD): | 2 (0%) |
| Optical (CD/DVD): | 10 (0%) |
| Flash drive (USB/Thumb drive): | 17 (1%) |
| Network boot/Cloud: | 3 (0%) |
| A combination of the above: | 464 (20%) |
| None of the above: | 12 (1%) |
|
|
| Website News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- CatOS. CatOS is an Arch-based distribution for English and Chinese speaking users. The distribution uses the Calamares system installer and, by default, runs the KDE Plasma desktop environment.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 31 March 2025. 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)
|
|
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 1, value: US$4) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
|
| 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.
|
| Archives |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
| • Issue 1107 (2025-02-03): siduction 2024.1.0, timing tasks, Lomiri ported to postmarketOS, Alpine joins Open Collective, a new desktop for Linux called Orbitiny |
| • Issue 1106 (2025-01-27): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6, Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5, detecting whether a process is inside a virtual machine, drawing graphics to NetBSD terminal, Nix ported to FreeBSD, GhostBSD hosting desktop conference |
| • Issue 1105 (2025-01-20): CentOS 10 Stream, old Flatpak bundles in software centres, Haiku ports Iceweasel, Oracle shows off debugging tools, rsync vulnerability patched |
| • Issue 1104 (2025-01-13): DAT Linux 2.0, Silly things to do with a minimal computer, Budgie prepares Wayland only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party devices, Murena upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1103 (2025-01-06): elementary OS 8.0, filtering ads with Pi-hole, Debian testing its installer, Pop!_OS faces delays, Ubuntu Studio upgrades not working, Absolute discontinued |
| • Issue 1102 (2024-12-23): Best distros of 2024, changing a process name, Fedora to expand Btrfs support and releases Asahi Remix 41, openSUSE patches out security sandbox and donations from Bottles while ending support for Leap 15.5 |
| • Issue 1101 (2024-12-16): GhostBSD 24.10.1, sending attachments from the command line, openSUSE shows off GPU assignment tool, UBports publishes security update, Murena launches its first tablet, Xfce 4.20 released |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • 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.
|
| Random Distribution | 
SuperX
SuperX was a desktop-oriented computer operating system based on Linux, using a highly customized KDE desktop environment. Originally developed in India, SuperX was published by Libresoft, a startup with a free and open source software business model. SuperX was available in multiple variants, from a freemium variant for home users to a professional variant for enterprise users. SuperX strives to be "Simple User friendly, Powerful, Energetic and Robust eXperience".
Status: Discontinued
|
| 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.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
