 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1104, 13 January 2025 |
Welcome to this year's 2nd issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
Most of the world runs general purpose operating systems, whether the OS in question is a Linux distribution, Windows, or macOS. Most people will run desktop platforms designed with a wide range of tasks in mind. However, some people - especially people in niche professions - benefit from using an operating system with a narrower focus. This week we begin with a look at DAT Linux, a platform for data science and data analysis. Read on to learn more about DAT and its custom application manager in this week's Feature Story. Do you use a specialist distribution such as DAT Linux, Kali, or Ubuntu Studio? Let us know in this week's Opinion Poll and share what makes your platform special in the comments. Then, in our News section, we talk about plans for future releases of the Budgie desktop environment and share news about SteamOS coming to new handheld gaming devices. We also report on Murena upgrading its Android base. This week we also share tips for small, fun, and silly projects a person can do with a minimal computing device, such as a PinePhone, Raspberry Pi, or other single-board computer. We wrap up by sharing the releases of the past week and listing the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
DAT Linux 2.0
This week's review is of a project which has been sitting on the DistroWatch waiting list for about two and a half years. The distribution is called DAT Linux and its focus is on data science, as the project's website tells us:
DAT Linux is a Linux distribution for data science. It brings together all your favourite open-source data science tools and apps into a ready-to-run desktop environment. It's based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, so it's easy to install and use. The custom DAT Linux Control Panel provides a centralised one-stop-shop for running and managing dozens of data science programs.
DAT Linux is perfect for students, professionals, academics, or anyone interested in data science who doesn't want to spend endless hours downloading, installing, configuring, and maintaining applications from a range of sources, each with different technical requirements and set-up challenges.
A list of supported data science applications and utilities is provided on the project's front page. I think it's worth mentioning these applications are not pre-installed, but DAT Linux does provide a special software manager which makes it possible to install any of these dozens of applications with a few mouse clicks.
DAT Linux is available for x86_64 machines only and its ISO file is about 3.2GB in size. Booting from the supplied media brings up a graphical environment and the LXQt 1.4 desktop is launched.
DAT's copy of LXQt has an unusual layout, placing the desktop panel vertically down the left side of the screen. This gives DAT Linux a look similar to Ubuntu's Unity desktop or MX Linux's Xfce layout. Icons are placed on the desktop which open the file manager, launch the system installer, and open local PDF documents. The two PDFs provide quick access to the project's FAQ information and a list of the supported data science applications. These documents are also available on the distribution's website.
A Conky status panel is placed in the upper-right corner of the desktop. This status panel can be toggled on/off from a quick-launch button on the desktop panel. The FAQ document discusses how to disable Conky permanently if we do not wish to see it each time we login.
DAT Linux 2.0 -- Disabling the Conky panel
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The live desktop worked well for me and the environment was pleasantly snappy. I decided to dive into the installation process.
Installing
DAT Linux uses the Calamares system installer. The installer quickly walks us through the usual steps of asking about our keyboard layout, asking us to pick a time zone, and we are asked to make up a username and password for ourselves. The disk partitioning screens offer guided and manual partitioning options. The manual approach provides a friendly, point and click method for dividing up the disk and assigning mount points. The guided approach takes over an available disk. We can pick the root filesystem (Btrfs, ext4, and XFS are provided). We can then choose to use a swap file or have no swap space (using a swap partition is not an option). Calamares quickly copies packages to our hard drive and offers to restart the computer.
Early impressions
DAT boots to a graphical login screen with an unusual layout. The login fields (username, password, and session selector) are all shown to the left side of the screen. The right half of the screen is empty, decorated only with wallpaper. I'm not sure why the screen is left-aligned, but it is functional. There are three session options: DAT Linux, LXQt Desktop, and Openbox. The DAT Linux option, which is the default, offers us the same LXQt environment we experienced on the live media. The LXQt Desktop session also loads the LXQt environment with the same layout, but the theme is broken and the icons are invisible. Basically, it's the same desktop, but with malfunctioning icons and theme elements. The Openbox session loads a completely empty graphical session. There are no widgets or panels, apart from the Conky status panel. We can right-click on the desktop to launch a few programs or sign out.
In short, it looks like DAT Linux is the only desktop session we are meant to use and the other two are merely there because no one thought to remove them, but they are clearly not meant to be accessed.
The LXQt desktop uses a pleasant, dark theme. The fonts are displayed with a nice contrast. The desktop is highly responsive and was stable during my trial. Should we wish to change any aspect of the look, there are several configuration modules for LXQt in the application menu. These are small, uncluttered configuration tools which worked well for me.
Included applications
Looking through the collection of available software we find an unusual selection. The LibreWolf web browser is included (instead of Firefox), the PCManFM-Qt file manager is available, the Okular document viewer is present, and there is a toggle button which launches and terminates the Conky panel. There is a launcher for LibreOffice Calc in the application menu, but LibreOffice is not installed. This launcher merely opens a terminal and runs a program which downloads LibreOffice Calc.
The VLC media player is included for us along with an image viewer. There are two "Additional Drivers" icons in the application menu, both of which open the Software Sources utility for managing drivers and repositories. I'll talk more about managing software later in this review.
DAT Linux 2.0 -- Browsing the application menu
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DAT ships with the usual collection of manual pages and GNU command line utilities. The GNU Compiler Collection is installed alongside Java. The systemd init software manages services and Linux 6.8 runs in the background.
Software management
A big part of DAT's focus is expanding access to additional software which its target audience (data scientists in this case) would find useful. As such, I spent a fair amount of time looking at the many software management utilities included in the application menu.
As I mentioned above, there are two entries for Additional Drivers. These both open the Drivers tab in the Software Sources utility. There is a launcher for Software And Updates - this also opens the Software Sources tool to help us toggle repositories on/off and download drivers. Then there is, of course, a separate entry called Software Sources which, again, opens the Software Sources tool. In effect, there are at least four launchers (most with different names) which all open the Software Sources application. This is likely to confuse new users.
DAT Linux 2.0 -- Multiple software repository utilities
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What made this even odder was one of the launchers causes the Software Sources to show extra tabs, for instance a tab for accessing Ubuntu Pro repositories. The other launchers open this same program, but without the Ubuntu Pro tab. And it's a credit to the confusing nature of all these launchers essentially doing the same thing that I could not remember which one showed the "Ubuntu Pro" tab and had to look up that it was the Software and Updates launcher.
DAT provides users with the Discover software manager. Discover is a part of the KDE suite, but also works with other desktop environments. Categories of applications are shown in a list down the left side of the window. Specific applications and search results are shown to the right. We can click an entry to see an application's description and a screenshot.
DAT Linux 2.0 -- The Discover software centre
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I ran into a few problems with Discover. One was that after removing unwanted applications sometimes the window would get messed up, blocking out some elements of the software centre. Circles and "X"s would appear in the Discover window, making it hard to read text or navigate. Closing the window and re-launching Discover fixed the issue.
Early on I noticed Discover only worked with classic Deb packages from Ubuntu's repositories. Flatpak was installed on DAT and the Flathub repository was automatically enabled for us. However, Discover did not recognize or work with Flatpak bundles.
There is a method for enabling Flatpak support in Discover. We can open Discover's Settings page, go to the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner, select Configure Updates, then click the Install button next to the Flatpak Backend entry. This reportedly enabled Flatpak support. However, when I tried to restart Discover, the application failed to launch. Trying to open Discover from the command line indicated a crash with an error message: "failed to choose pdev", which was not at all useful. Discover eventually resumed working after I rebooted the system.
While Flatpak is enabled on DAT, Snap packages are not (despite the distribution's Ubuntu parentage). We could install Snap support if we wished from the Deb repositories.
At this point I'm sorry to say we're only about halfway through the options for fetching new applications and updating packages. There is also a Software Updater application. This is a simple update manager inherited from Ubuntu. It reported no new updates while I was using the distribution. This seemed suspicious as it had been a while since DAT Linux 2.0 was released. However, further checks confirmed my packages were up to date, so it looks as though updates must have been fetched for me automatically at some point prior to my check.
DAT Linux ships with a tool called the DAT Linux Control Panel. This program lists all supported applications (which are displayed on the website) in a big grid. We can click on an program's button which opens a terminal window and asks if we are sure we want to install the application. Selecting "Y" fetches the application, adds its entry to the application menu, and launches the new application. This is a pleasantly straight forward way to access third-party software and it worked for the handful of programs I tried.
DAT Linux 2.0 -- Fetching DAT-supported applications
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There is another application called Apps Updater which looks for copies for DAT-supported applications on the system. It then looks for updates for these applications and lists any available. We can then select one of the applications to be updated.
Last, though not to be overlooked, there is an Uninstall Apps entry for removing DAT applications we no longer need.
DAT Linux 2.0 -- Checking for updates for DAT-supported applications
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Hardware
I tested DAT Linux on my laptop and in a VirtualBox environment. When running in VirtualBox DAT performed well. The system was stable, highly responsive, and didn't use up much of my CPU. When running directly on bare hardware the distribution provided a similarly positive experience. DAT remained stable and was quick to respond. My network card, touchpad, and audio all worked out of the box. The distribution was able to boot in both UEFI and Legacy BIOS modes.
DAT is on the lighter side of medium-weight, requiring 560MB of RAM to launch the LXQt desktop. It took up 9GB of disk space, including a 0.5GB swap file. This puts DAT Linux is the medium/average range for Linux distributions in terms of disk consumption.
Conclusions
I'd like to wrap up my observations on DAT Linux by talking about aspects of the distribution I enjoy. For me, the main thing which stood out about this Ubuntu re-spin was that the project's website was clear about what the project is, what it does, and who it is for. Too many projects, in my opinion, try to cover up their lack of technical merits by using flowery language. A lot of Ubuntu- and Arch-based projects use marketing terms like "modern", "innovative", and "collaborative" which mean absolutely nothing in the context of what the operating system can do or why someone might want to use it. DAT is more to the point, clearly stating its base (Ubuntu), its custom tools (like the DAT Linux Control Panel), and that its focus is on providing easy access to data science applications.
This clear and concise approach - explaining exactly what the distribution does and who it is for, without wasting time with empty marketing phrases is refreshing. I also like that DAT Linux doesn't over-promise. It does exactly what it says on the website, no more and no less. There is no "working toward" or "coming soon" hype. DAT Linux provides easy access to data science applications while using Ubuntu as a base and the specific applications (with a description of each) is clearly displayed on the website.
As I mentioned above, the DAT utilities for fetching and updating data science applications work. I lack the depth in data science to determine how well the provided tools function, but I did confirm a random handful did install, run, and could perform tasks like opening databases or spreadsheets.
I also like that DAT uses a lightweight desktop which stays out of the way. LXQt is quite pleasant to use, being super fast, pleasantly light (compared with Plasma or GNOME), and I enjoyed the default dark theme.
Where I think DAT shows a weak spot is with the many software and repository management tools. There are at least nine on the system, three custom tools for installing DAT's supported applications, plus at least five launchers imported from Ubuntu, plus Discover. This doesn't even take into account the command line utilities such as APT and Flatpak. This is likely to confuse inexperienced users as it's virtually impossible to tell which tool should be used for what without some trial and error.
This is probably my only complaint about DAT Linux: the torrent of software management tools and duplication between them. The rest of the experience - the documentation, the system installer, the LXQt desktop, and the included desktop applications all provided excellent experiences. It's really nice for me to find a project which says what it does, does what it says, and has a clear focus without any major issues.
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Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was an HP DY2048CA laptop with the following
specifications:
- Processor: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz
- Display: Intel integrated video
- Storage: Western Digital 512GB solid state drive
- Memory: 8GB of RAM
- Wireless network device: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 + BT Wireless network card
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Visitor supplied rating
DAT Linux has a visitor supplied average rating of: N/A from 0 review(s).
Have you used DAT Linux? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Budgie developers plan for Wayland-only releases, SteamOS coming to third-party gaming devices, Murena upgrading its base, Debian offers media refresh
The Budgie desktop environment is evolving and the team has posted an overview of progress made to the desktop in 2024 along with plans for the near future. Budgie 10.10 is expected to make the shift from X11 to Wayland and the developers have a roadmap for getting the new Wayland-only version of their desktop into major distributions. "In case it wasn't clear to some readers, Budgie 10.10 will be Wayland-only. In git, it has been Wayland-only since July 2024. We will not support both X11 and Wayland. It will be too late for Fedora 42 and Ubuntu 25.04, so the current plan is: Ship it in Fedora Rawhide once it is branched for Fedora 43 as well as have a COPR for Fedora 42. Budgie 10.10(.x) will ship in Fedora 43, with a self-contained change proposal planned to be submitted after the 10.10 release. While it won't be available immediately with Budgie 10.10, the plan is to also offer an ISO with the Wayland session set up out-of-the-box too. Ubuntu Budgie folks will provide an on-ramp in the form of a PPA for interested testers with the plan on shipping for Ubuntu 25.10. Solus will have either a testing repo, or otherwise make available eopkg downloads for testing. Since it is a rolling release, they have the luxury of being able to ship it whenever, so they will do it after would-be testers have put it through its paces and we have worked out any issues that'd be considered blockers."
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Valve's handheld gaming system, the Steam Deck, runs the company's custom, Arch-based distribution: SteamOS. While SteamOS is not available as a standalone distribution (there is no ISO to be downloaded), the company continues to improve its immutable branch of Arch. For the first time, Valve's SteamOS is making an appearance on another gaming device, the Legion Go S. "With Lenovo's announcement at CES 2025 of the Lenovo Legion Go S, we are pleased to share that their 'Powered by SteamOS' model is the first handheld officially licensed to ship with Valve's SteamOS. We built this operating system to provide a seamless user experience optimized for gaming, while retaining access to the power and flexibility of a PC. SteamOS is the same operating system we run on Steam Deck, and the team is making updates to ensure it fully supports the Lenovo Legion Go S and provides the same seamless experience customers expect." Additional information is provided in Valve's announcement.
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The Murena project has announced changes to the company's base operating system. "We want to inform you about a key update related to about 100 Community devices. Starting with the /e/OS 2.6.3 build, these devices will gain AOSP 14 (U) support. Find the list of the upgraded devices in the /e/OS 2.6.3 (U) release notes. Meanwhile, we will continue to support those devices with /e/OS AOSP 13 (T) through OTA updates for several months, to give you the opportunity to upgrade manually to /e/OS based on AOSP 14. What does this mean?
OTA updates on AOSP 13 for these devices will still be provided for several months. No AOSP 13 to AOSP 14 OTA upgrade will be provided, so users need to upgrade manually to /e/OS-AOSP 14 or reinstall. Users will not receive automated notifications about this change (we're working to add this feature in a near future). Devices for which there is no AOSP 14 build will retain AOSP 13 support."
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The Debian project has refreshed its install media for Debian 12 "Bookworm". The new media carries the version number 12.9. "The Debian project is pleased to announce the ninth update of its stable distribution Debian 12 (codename bookworm). 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 12 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away old bookworm media. After installation, packages can be upgraded to the current versions using an up-to-date Debian mirror."
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Tips and Tricks (by Jesse Smith) |
Silly things to do with a PinePhone (or other minimal computer)
During the holiday break I found myself with spare time on my hands. After visiting family, fixing a few website issues, and solving a Rubick's cube, I decided to turn my attention toward my PinePhone.
I do not know why I tormented myself by trying to solve this cube.
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I've had one of the original PinePhones (not the convergence kit PinePhone or the PinePhone Pro, just a first edition device) for a few years. It's a low-specification device with just 2GB of RAM (650MB of it used by UBports) and 14GB of internal storage (4.2GB used by the operating system). I mostly use it for testing mobile Linux distributions, compiling code to see if it runs on ARM processors, and as a place to temporarily dump backups. It's not a functional phone, but it is a decent low-end server, similar in some ways to how I run a Raspberry Pi.
Since UBports is a full-featured GNU/Linux distribution, sometimes I like to play with the PinePhone and just see how much I can make it do. This results in a bunch of mini-projects running on the device, for no other reason than I can. Such as...
For instance, the PinePhone has a battery and can be charged (and run) over USB power. This means my PinePhone server runs off AC power with a battery backup that lasts a few hours. However, the USB-C port on the PinePhone is a bit loose and it comes unplugged easily. Someone plugging in another device nearby or brushing the phone can cause it to become unplugged. I want to know when that happens, so I've got it set up to send me a notification when this happens. This is accomplished using two tools: upower and KDE Connect.
The upower utility is installed as part of UBports for us. The KDE Connect program can be installed by running the commands:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install kdeconnect
Please note: Most builds of UBports ship with read-only filesystems. The PinePhone is an exception and has a read-write root filesystem, meaning we can easily install extra packages. People who have a classic read-only filesystem on their UBports platform can enable edits by running:
$ sudo mount -o rw /
I'm not saying enabling read-write mode is a good idea. Any changes you make to the root filesystem will be overwritten by the next OTA update from the project. I'm just saying this can be done.
With KDE Connect installed we can check for other devices running KDE Connect on the network:
$ kdeconnect-cli -l
- Galaxy S9: 8f420d3562d61339 (reachable)
Next we can link the two devices, this will cause a notification to appear on my Murena S9 with a request to accept the link:
$ kdeconnect-cli -d 8f420d3562d61339 --pair
I can run a test to confirm the link works by sending a message to my Murena phone:
$ kdeconnect-cli -d 8f420d3562d61339 --ping-msg "Hello"
Now that the phones are linked, how do I find out what the AC charging status is on the PinePhone? UBports includes upower to help us with this. We can check for power-related devices as follows:
$ upower -e
/org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_axp20x_battery
/org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_axp20x_usb
/org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/DisplayDevice
We are interested in the "line power" device, also known as AC power. We can see its status by running upower and providing the name of the device we want to check:
$ upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_axp20x_usb
...
online: yes
...
Several lines of information will be printed to the terminal. The only one we need to focus on is the one which starts with the text "online", which should have a status of "yes" or "no". We can filter down the output using grep:
$ upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_axp20x_usb | grep -i online
online: yes
When we put all of this together we can have the system check the status of the AC power and, if it's not charging (not online), then send a warning to the linked device:
$ upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_axp20x_usb | grep -i online | grep -i yes || kdeconnect-cli -d 8f420d3562d61339 --ping-msg "Came unplugged"
I put all of this together into a script which checks every 15 minutes to see if the power chord is still plugged in. Whenever the PinePhone becomes unplugged, it sends a warning to my Murena phone. Here is the script in full:
#!/bin/bash
while [ true ]
do
upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_axp20x_usb | grep -i online | grep -i yes || kdeconnect-cli -d 8f420d3562d61339 --ping-msg "Came unplugged"
sleep 900
done
Pressing Control-C will cause the above script to terminate. This could be run at start-up or in a shell running in the background via a screen or tmux session.
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The previous example was a bit complicated and dived into some weird shell syntax. Let's look at a much more straightforward example. The UBports distribution can run a super simple web server which allows us to share files with anyone on the network. UBports ships with the Python scripting language installed for us. One of the Python modules runs a web service on the port of our choosing. On the PinePhone all we need to do is run the following command to activate the web service:
$ python3 -m http.server 8080
The above command starts a web service running on network port 8080. Anyone on our local network can see the files in the directory where we started the service by visiting our PinePhone's IP address and specifying port 8080 in their web browser. For example, if my PinePhone has the IP address 192.168.2.22, people can see my files by visiting http://192.168.2.22:8080.
Since anyone can see the files in our working directory it's a good idea to be careful where we run the Python web service. I suggest setting up a dedicated directory, perhaps called Shared:
$ mkdir Shared
$ cd Shared
$ python3 -m http.server 8080
The web service can be stopped at any time from the PinePhone's terminal by pressing Control-C. If we wish to leave the service running for a long time, we might want to launch the Python command (shown above) in a screen or tmux session.
Visiting my Python powered web server.
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The UBports operating system uses the Lomiri user interface which runs on the Mir display server, not on an X11 display server. This makes it awkward to try to run X11 desktop applications on UBports, thought there are tools for running X11 applications on the system. Another approach we can take is to run X11 desktop applications remotely. This allows the applications to run on the PinePhone, but show up on another computer, such as a laptop.
Would we ever want to do this for any practical reason? Probably not. But we can, so let's explore how to do it!
In my case, the process is fairly straight forward. Since my PinePhone is running UBports with a writable root filesystem, I can simply login remotely using OpenSSH and pass in the "-X" flag to enable X11 forwarding.
jesse@laptop $ ssh -X phablet@pinephone
phablet@pinephone $
Next we can install some small X11 applications which are typically used for demo purposes. Here I install the x11-apps package and launch the demo program xeyes which causes a pair of eyes to appear on my laptop's screen:
phablet@pinephone $ apt-get install x11-apps
phablet@pinephone $ xeyes &
In situations where we have a read-only filesystem or want to keep X11 apps separate from the main operating system we can use a container on UBports to host X11 applications. The container utility provided by UBports is called Libertine. We can set up a new container by running:
phablet@pinephone $ libertine-container-manager create --id 01 --name demo
The above command will take several minutes to work its magic, downloading a minimal Ubuntu build and generating locale data. Once it is finished, we can install any package from Ubuntu's repositories into the container. In the following example, I install the x11-apps package inside the container. Since the container is kept separate from the root filesystem, this allows us to keep the root filesystem clean while we experiment with software in the container. Note: I assigned the container an ID of "01" in the first step, so I need to continue using that ID in future steps:
phablet@pinephone $ libertine-container-manager install-package -p x11-apps -i 01
We can then run applications from the container and have them appear on the remote laptop by running:
phablet@pinephone $ libertine-launch xeyes &
Running Xeyes and Xclock on my PinePhone and seeing the results on my laptop.
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We can add more software and launch it too. In the following step I fetch and run the gedit text editor. While it is running on my PinePhone, its window appears on my laptop, making it easier to type and edit files.
phablet@pinephone $ libertine-container-manager install-package -p gedit -i 01
phablet@pinephone $ libertine-launch gedit &
When we are finished using the container we can remove it by running the following command on the PinePhone:
phablet@pinephone $ libertine-container-manager destroy -i 01
There we go, three things we can do with a PinePhone which, while not practical, are at least (I think) interesting. It's impressive what this underpowered device can accomplish with a few commands when it's running a Linux distribution.
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Additional tips can be found in our Tips and Tricks archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Tails 6.11
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 has published an update for its 6.x series which fixes a serious security vulnerability. "The vulnerabilities described below were identified during an external security audit by Radically Open Security and disclosed responsibly to our team. We are not aware of these attacks being used against Tails users until now. These vulnerabilities can only be exploited by a powerful attacker who has already exploited another vulnerability to take control of an application in Tails. If you want to be extra careful and used Tails a lot since January 9 without upgrading, we recommend that you do a manual upgrade instead of an automatic upgrade. Prevent an attacker from installing malicious software permanently. In Tails 6.10 or earlier, an attacker who has already taken control of an application in Tails could then exploit a vulnerability in Tails Upgrader to install a malicious upgrade and permanently take control of your Tails. Doing a manual upgrade would erase such malicious software." The project also introduced new features, such as detecting when a USB thumb drive might be corrupted or have damaged partitions. Additional details can be found in the distribution'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: 3,138
- Total data uploaded: 46.2TB
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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) |
Specialist or general purpose operating system?
This week we opened with a look at DAT Linux, a specialist distribution geared toward data science. Many people like tightly focused distributions such a DAT Linux, LibreELEC, or Kali Linux which each have a specific aim. Other people want to run general purpose distributions such as openSUSE, Ubuntu, or Fedora which can be used in a variety of situations. Which group of distributions do you prefer to use - general purpose operating systems or speciality projects with a specific focus?
You can see the results of our previous poll on running the Pi-hole service in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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| Website News |
Streamlining Debian searches
On the DistroWatch Search page we have all sorts of filters for finding specific types of distributions. In the past, because the Debian family was so large, we provided multiple filters for finding distributions based on Debian. We provided separate searches for Debian Stable, Debian Testing, and Debian Unstable (Sid).
More recently, we also supplied a separate search field for finding distributions with a specific release model - fixed, semi-rolling, and rolling releases.
Having both has proved to be redundant and potentially confusing. It should be impossible for someone to search for a distribution which is both based on Debian Stable and a rolling release. Having two fields which could conflict just caused problems.
With this in mind, we've combined the multiple flavours of Debian from the based on field, offering just "Debian". At the same time, we're keeping the options for different release models. This means anyone who wants to find a distribution based on Debian Unstable can set the based on field to "Debian" and the release model field to "Rolling".
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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, 20 January 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)
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Specialist or Generalist? (by penguinx86 on 2025-01-13 01:57:00 GMT from United States)
I prefer Generalist distros like Linux Mint. I just want a basic unbloated distro without Gnome or Snaps. I can always add the packages I want later using Synaptic. The only Specialast distro I use is Tails.
2 • My specialist distro is also a generalist distro (by Andy Prough on 2025-01-13 04:01:35 GMT from United States)
I use Trisquel GNU/Linux, a specialist distro which only contains FSF-approved libre software. But it's also a generalist distro that can do pretty much anything Ubuntu can.
One thing I don't understand is why we should be interested in how many DW readers don't use any distro at all? If you aren't capable of running a distro, then I don't value your opinion about distros.
3 • Linux Distro vs BSD (by vmc on 2025-01-13 04:13:38 GMT from United States)
"One thing I don't understand is why we should be interested in how many DW readers don't use any distro at all?" It states ...Linux Distro
There are a lot of people using BSD and NOT a Linux Distro.
4 • @3 Distros vs BSDs (by Andy Prough on 2025-01-13 05:04:32 GMT from Switzerland)
>"There are a lot of people using BSD and NOT a Linux Distro."
It's a good point, but then the voting option should say that specifically, rather than lumping BSD users in with Windows/Mac/ChromeOS/Other-Proprietary-Garbage users.
5 • Not just LInux (by Tim on 2025-01-13 07:08:07 GMT from Australia)
I ticked 'even mixture' I have a couple of PCs running Linux servers. Various laptops running various versions of GNU/Linux which I use less now. I even have one running Haiku from a memory stick. I am also running a new (old) server with freeBSD. My main desktop and main laptop are running GhostBSD (freeBSD based).
6 • specialist or general (by Josh on 2025-01-13 08:02:50 GMT from United States)
Everything I run is either Debian or directly Debian based. Doesn't get much more general than that. As of now, I have Debian Testing on my main machine, LMDE on my laptop, and Q4OS Trinity on my anemic netbook.
As an aside, I wouldn't touch Ubuntu with a 10 foot pole. Gnome sucks, and so do Snaps. Canonical as well.
7 • @4 (by openBSD user on 2025-01-13 08:34:51 GMT from The Netherlands)
> rather than lumping BSD users in with Windows/Mac/ChromeOS/Other-Proprietary-Garbage users
As an openBSD user, I would rather be lumped in with Windows and Mac users than with whatever the Linux "community" has become.
8 • Opinions are like @$$holes, everyone except mine stink (by Arch uses me BTW on 2025-01-13 08:40:11 GMT from Japan)
> As an aside, I wouldn't touch Ubuntu with a 10 foot pole. Gnome sucks, and so do Snaps. Canonical as well.
Ubuntu sucks, but not as much as Mint. And yes, that includes LMDE.
GNOME sucks, but not as much as KDE. And no, COSMIC won't be any less bad.
Snaps suck, but not as much as Flatpaks. AppImages FTW!
Canonical sucks, but not as much as Red Hat. Let alone SUSE.
9 • I use systemd-less distro. (by illumos on 2025-01-13 08:45:24 GMT from Japan)
My daily driver is Noir Linux, OpenBSD, Tribblix.
Noir is forked from KISS Linux, hard systemd-less distro.
Simple, easy, and systemd-less!
10 • illumos is true UNIX. (by illumos on 2025-01-13 08:48:23 GMT from Japan)
@3 Why don't you use illumos?
11 • Special/general distros (by Dr.J on 2025-01-13 09:10:18 GMT from Germany)
A strange question, as if they were opposites.
There are great distros for very specific purposes, such as LibreELEC for kodi, or pfsense as a firewall or Tails or SystemRescue.
I don't work with them on my main computer, but ...
Without them, nothing works here
12 • Specialist or general purpose (by mikkh on 2025-01-13 10:19:19 GMT from United Kingdom)
I've tried a few specialist distros or had a quick look at them at least on my Ventoy stick and most seem to be too specialist with far too many programs related to the given subject, seemingly just for the sake of it. There is almost certainly a preferred/used by most program in each category, but a whole host of alternatives are also provided. Nobody is using all of those surely?
I use a so called general purpose one (it's not Arch btw!) and if I have any need for software not already included by default, I'll install it myself.
13 • Specialty or general purpose distro? (by James on 2025-01-13 10:39:09 GMT from United States)
If you do a little research on software you can turn any general distro into a specialty distro that is exactly what you want. More than likely everything you need is in the repository all you have to do is install it.
14 • ubuntu (by Josh on 2025-01-13 11:11:46 GMT from United States)
@8 Nah, Mint doesn't suck. In fact, it's Ubuntu done right. And, LMDE is even better because it completely eliminates the middle man. It's just a shame there's no XFCE version.
I do agree about Appimages, though. Flatpacks aka Fat-packs, are laggy and take up HUGE amounts of space for no good reason. (at least in my limited experience)
I can't comment on KDE because I've never tried it. And with it's reputation for being buggy, I don't intend to any time soon.
15 • Specialist V General (by kc1di on 2025-01-13 11:17:44 GMT from United States)
I use General Desktop distros, and as some else has already said if I need specialist programs I just install what I need. There are very few instances when what is needed is not available. So for most part unless you doing a multimedia server I don't see the need for a specialist distro. But to each his own.
16 • Legion Go S (by Twistnux on 2025-01-13 12:42:49 GMT from France)
From the Lenovo announcement page, the Legion Go S "would" (the introducing price may change at any time) be about $100 cheaper with Steam OS installed than with Windows (for the exact same model, since there is another Windows-only high-end model, more expensive).
Of course, I'm not directly implying that's another good reason to stay away from Windows 11, and I'm not even talking about the fact that Steam OS, as Linux distro, is basically aging way better than any Windows installation ever. Just saying.
17 • PinePhone, Raspberry Pi, or other SBCs and general purpose operating systems (by lincoln on 2025-01-13 13:04:27 GMT from Brazil)
The nature of Linux as a generalist and open-source system is incredible, allowing for comprehensive, deep, and solid learning. For example, with a set of machines (pinephone, laptop, Raspberry Pi, and other SBCs), it is possible to learn, practice, and read all the code of distributed systems. To illustrate, beyond the cases of Jesse, check how fascinating and at the same time simple it is to practice good microservices practices in open-source programming languages/frameworks such as JavaScript (Node.js/micro), Lua (Apache APISIX), and Python (Flask).
18 • Specialty Distros vs ... all the rest (by Otis on 2025-01-13 14:39:32 GMT from United States)
Well, a definition I ran across: "A specialty distro is a Linux-based system designed to serve a specific role."
Then it talks about specific "tools" for certain functionalities. All downloadable for any distro, of course, thus rendering our "general distros" into specialty ones.
I guess.
Anyway... the ones with science tools, forensic security tools, system rescue, gaming, emulation, etc, deserve respect for their focus and dedication, and ability to attract a targeted user base I suppose.
19 • General vs Specialist (by Robert on 2025-01-13 14:40:21 GMT from United States)
I always prefer the general purpose distros, even for specialized purposes.
You can always make a general distro do anything you want without too much effort. Just install the packages and do some configuration. That may not be the case for a special purpose distro. It might be easier for that specific purpose, but anything else packages might not be available.
Also a specialist distro that sets everything up for you might not be configured the way you want it. And often it is more difficult to undo or work around pre-existing configurations than to just set it up yourself
20 • Specialist or general purpose ? (by Corentin on 2025-01-13 22:27:07 GMT from Romania)
Specialized sucks. Never on my PCs.
@8 & 14
Yes, Mint sucks. GNOME too, it's unusable, but KDE, although I'm not a fan at all, is far better.
About Ubuntu, you don't have to use its main flavour, but rather another flavour with a different desktop. Ubuntu (or rather Ubuntu MATE for me) is the least bad option there. Its combo of stability, long-term support and overall ease of use are probably the best compromise you'll get in the Linux world.
21 • Specialist or general purpose? (by Tobias on 2025-01-13 22:32:55 GMT from Germany)
I prefer the general purpose distros (fedora kde) and for specialized purposes you can use Fedora Labs.
22 • General or Specialized Linux Distros? (by Mark59 on 2025-01-14 00:02:08 GMT from United States)
I'm on Mint LMDE, but moving off due to the dreaded Debian old versions of everything issue.
Have run MX Linux recently, but their KDE version somehow seems "off" to me. Have used specialized versions for rescue and repair jobs (Parted Magic, etc.).
Trying to balance between faster and slower machines (primary vs. backup machines) has me looking at Ubuntu MATE as splitting the difference while being well-supported
The desktops are a mess; Cosmic is another "re-inventing the wheel 'cause we're cooler than you" project, GNOME looks like a slow-motion collapse, and why can't XFCE have individual custom folder icons after all these years, when even LXQT can??
23 • mint (by Josh on 2025-01-14 00:04:06 GMT from United States)
@8 So, since you haven't actually given a single reasons why, I'd be interested in hearing what you think it is that's so awful about Mint (besides being based on Ubuntu) and LMDE.
As for Ubuntu, no matter which flavor you choose, they all still taste like crap from Canonical.
24 • @6, @23, with honorable mention for @8, Opinions (by Tasio on 2025-01-14 01:53:48 GMT from Philippines)
"@8 So, since you haven't actually given a single reasons why, I'd be interested in hearing what you think it is that's so awful about Mint As for Ubuntu, no matter which flavor you choose, they all still taste like crap from Canonical." "Maybe you missed @8's name, but I'll echo and reinforce it: Opinions are like @$$holes, everyone except mine stink. You offer an unsupported opinion, but expect others to have reasons for theirs.
Here's mine: I'm running Kubuntu and Ubuntu 25.04 dailies. They run as well as any current release by any other distro. Snaps? Kubuntu can be installed without Snaps. Ubuntu can be installed and Snaps can be removed in about 5 minutes. I'm running sans Snaps, not because I have any big objection to them or to Canonical, but because I wanted to and I can. For kicks, let's say. Mint? Excellent distro, but I much prefer Gnome and/or KDE configured to suit me, and Cinnamon is still somewhat limited in that regard. My opinion. My choice. No need or desire to explain to anyone.
25 • GNOME is nightmare (by illumos on 2025-01-14 02:25:43 GMT from Japan)
@8 KDE is heavy but has good usability.
You can launch applications with two mouse clicks from the menu in the bottom right of the screen.
LXDE, LXqt, and Xfce are lightweight and have the same usability as KDE.
GNOME 3 and later versions are a nightmare.
First, GNOME is completely dependent on systemd, so it is impossible to use it on a distribution without systemd.
Second, there are no menus, so users have to click the mouse multiple times to switch screens to launch applications.
This design is great for tablets with touch screens, but a nightmare for workstations and laptops.
Some people counter this by saying that they can easily launch applications using keyboard shortcuts without a mouse.
But why use a DE if you want to use the keyboard instead of the mouse?
Such users should use i3 or sway.
GNOME is a nightmare for people who want a mouse-based experience.
26 • @25 Gnome nightmare dreams (by Tasio on 2025-01-14 05:47:23 GMT from Philippines)
@25, "First, GNOME is completely dependent on systemd, so it is impossible to use it on a distribution without systemd. Second, there are no menus, so users have to click the mouse multiple times to switch screens to launch applications. This design is great for tablets with touch screens, but a nightmare for workstations and laptops. "
One should learn before trying to teach. First: Gnome runs fine on Devuan. Ive used it. Second: How many menus do you need?
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=gnome+with+menus&iax=images&ia=images
You want docks for one-click launching? There are several of those too, including the default dash.
27 • @22 (by James on 2025-01-14 06:57:34 GMT from United States)
@22 Since you’re look at Ubuntu MATE, there is the main Ubuntu based edition of Linux Mint, and you can have MATE as the default desktop environment- they have the Cinnamon, Xfce and MATE desktop environments- and you wouldn’t have to deal with the Debian old versions of anything.
Plus, Ubuntu MATE is just Ubuntu with a different desktop environment and still is like Ubuntu being heavy, bloated and inherits Ubuntu’s spyware. That’s the same for any of the other “flavors” of Ubuntu. With Mint, it doesn’t have any of that, because the developer cares about the community, listens to their thoughts and opinions and Linux Mint has none of the annoyances and frustrations of Ubuntu.
I agree with you on the Cosmic, Gnome and Xfce desktop environments.
One thing I never understood is why Ubuntu is recommended so often to Windows users curious to try out Linux and move away from Windows. It’s different in every way- the desktop environment isn’t similar, is counter-intuitive and a pain going through multiple menus and clicks to get where you need to go and Ubuntu and Gnome to me is the anti-thesis of Linux- making customization so difficult and always breaking the community’s workarounds and the hostility Canonical and Gnome embodies with their track record- and that’s just some examples! That sounds like Windows on Linux to me- which is exactly what people leaving Windows don’t need to deal with and don’t want.
Overall, Ubuntu and Gnome give Linux a bad name.
28 • GNOME's UI (by illumos on 2025-01-14 07:02:15 GMT from Japan)
@26 You've installed your distribution.
Let's get started!
For KDE, Xfce, LXDE, LXqt,MATE:
You'll find a menu at the top or bottom of the screen.
Click the Menu button.
Click the application you want.
Done! 2 clicks!
Whenever you want to run terminal, there is shortcut button in Menu Bar.
Great! 1 click only!
For GNOME:
There's no Menu bar.
Click the button at the top left.
Click Show Apps.
Oh... 3 clicks.
Whenever you want to run terminal, but there's not Menu bar and shortcut button.
You have to click Show Apps again.
wtf!? Endless 3 clicks!
GNOME's UI is nightmare...
29 • GNOME's UI is nightmare... (by mandog on 2025-01-14 07:43:53 GMT from United Kingdom)
Thats not true gnome has a menu actually more than one I use the drop down menu its just not installed by default for the masses
30 • @28, GNOME's UI (by Tasio on 2025-01-14 08:04:34 GMT from Philippines)
"You'll find a menu at the top or bottom of the screen. Click the Menu button. Click the application you want. Done! 2 clicks!" Actually, in most menus it's: Click the menu button, Scroll to the category. Click on the category (or hover sometimes). Scroll to the app. Click on the app. Done! 3 clicks and 2 scrolls. Just like in Windows of olden days.
I'd expect anyone who's willing and able to install an OS would also be willing and able to configure a desktop. That would include configuring menus if present to make it easier, or even installing a different menu, (Whisker menu for example in XFCE) and/or move the panel/bar to a preferred location. But for those who want it all pre-arranged, go for it! Use what pleases you. Me, I prefer a dock at the bottom with all my commonly used apps present near where the cursor sits. I don't have to move the cursor all the way to the top or bottom right corner and click on a menu. I just move the cursor a short distance and click on the app. Done! 1 click. Most DEs, including GNOME, are quite easy to set up.
Now even in bog-stock GNOME one can hit the Super key and click on a favorite app on the dash. Yes, that can include the terminal. In Ubuntu GNOME the dash is always visible. 1 click.
.
31 • DISTRIBUTION for daily use (by rhtoras on 2025-01-14 08:52:53 GMT from Greece)
To select a distribution you have to consider what you are doing. Checking repology or official site of the ditribution of the available packages and go on. I also use Openbsd along nosystemD linux. I also like to use tribblix which is the only real unix derivative as all illumos distributions. I recommend people trying tribblix and help it grow up. A general purpose distro should be just fine. Void linux which according to distrowatch is the #1 distro is my go to option.
p.s Gnome is $#!^
32 • Vanilla GNOME (by illumos on 2025-01-14 09:47:58 GMT from Japan)
@30 Why do I need to customize GNOME to do things that I can do right out of the box with KDE, Xfce, LXDE, LXqt, and MATE?
What is the point of sticking with GNOME instead of installing a different DE from the start?
33 • @32, GNOME (by Tasio on 2025-01-14 10:30:46 GMT from Philippines)
"Why do I need to customize GNOME to do things that I can do right out of the box with KDE, Xfce, LXDE, LXqt, and MATE?" You don't need to do anything. No one is forcing you to install, use, customize, or do anything at all with or without GNOME. Why is it that you object to other people doing things the way they want to do them? You don't like GNOME? Fine, use something else and let others enjoy what they use. I like and enjoy using GNOME and so do many other people. I am not telling you to use it or not to use the ones you do. Why is that so hard for you to follow?
I customize any distro I use with any DE. If it's too rigid for me, I may not use it, (Pantheon or Budgie for example) but I don't belittle it either. Some people may find it works for them. I change themes, remove and install apps, add backgrounds, adjust fonts, move panels, add docks, and quite a few other things. Yes, I can use GNOME as it comes, and I can do anything I can do with any other DE. It's different, but It doesn't take any more "clicks", as you claim. I just prefer to set my desktop, no matter what DE I use, my own way. A large part of the reason I use Linux is just that: Choice! You're welcome to use yours as you see fit.
34 • Mouse or Touch screen (by illumos on 2025-01-14 11:06:37 GMT from Japan)
@33 I'm just saying that for workstations and laptops the GNOME UI is a nightmare.
Also, I praise "This design is great for tablets with touch screens" as GNOME on tablets..
And I wrote:
"Some people counter this by saying that they can easily launch applications using keyboard shortcuts without a mouse.
But why use a DE if you want to use the keyboard instead of the mouse?
Such users should use i3 or sway.
GNOME is a nightmare for people who want a mouse-based experience."
35 • @34, Mouse or tpuch screen (by Tasio on 2025-01-14 11:45:42 GMT from Philippines)
"Some people counter this by saying that they can easily launch applications using keyboard shortcuts without a mouse. But why use a DE if you want to use the keyboard instead of the mouse? GNOME is a nightmare for people who want a mouse-based experience."
You can just as easily launch applications in Cinnamon, KDE and others using the keyboard instead of the mouse. Super key and start typing, just like in GNOME. And I keep repeating: I use GNOME and it gives me a perfectly fine "mouse-based" experience, as good as KDE and in some cases better. I seldom launch apps with the keyboard, although I do sometimes whether in GNOME or KDE makes no difference. Seems like you just want it to do things exactly your way. Fine. You win.
36 • Gnome (by Bob on 2025-01-14 14:11:56 GMT from United States)
Gnome made Xfce great again
37 • Gnome (by Otis on 2025-01-14 16:15:23 GMT from United States)
It might be a mood thing, with some users. I love AlmaLinux and learned to tweak the default DE to my liking, heading to the Gnome Shell Extensions page several times, and invoking Gnome Tweaks for a few other things.
Then it's done. BUT, I do see the irony, as several other DEs have default settings that are similar to what I do to Gnome to get it to my liking. Plasma has come a long way with regard to that and one of my other favorite distros, Nobara, has ditched the default Gnome in favor of KDE Plasma. So I have that on a machine, too.
Then there's MX Linux which, like many, a user can shape it to any DE they want or none at all. Linux choices are amazing. The "Gnome sucks!" meme flitting around forums and this page like a leaf in the breeze could well be true.. for you.. at times. Some like it as is, some do not.
Mess with it, I find it fun to do that.
38 • Gnome (KDE) problems (by Jan on 2025-01-14 22:32:00 GMT from The Netherlands)
I recently tested in live-usb Fedora-Gnome (again). Gnome (latest version) gives me a little bit smoother browser-behaviour w.r.t. KDE (and XFCE).
I added a Gnome extention to enable icons to the desktop. It did not work. I could nowhere find how to remove this unfunctional extension.
Then I added an extention to list added Gnome-extenstions. It did show up at the right-lower-corner. When I clicked on it, it disappeared.
So the Gnome-extensions to enhance the functionallity, seem to break at updated Gnome-DE. Something of which I found internet-messages (so it is not specific my problem).
However KDE also has an irritating problem. After installing some apps in some KDE-distros, the startup-icon is nowhere to be found. It also has some internet-messages. However I could get rid of those app's.
For the time being I think I have to resort to KDE-distros.
39 • nosuck (by vmc on 2025-01-16 01:02:37 GMT from United States)
Ubuntu, Mint, etc don't such its your lack of ability that sucks.
Been using both for years and they work as well as I make them work.
40 • abilities (by Josh on 2025-01-16 05:20:15 GMT from United States)
@39 That's not it. At all.
For example, I'm perfectly able to use Windows. I did for years. But do I want to these days? Hell no.
Am I able to use Ubuntu? Absolutely. Do I like it or want to? Not really. Would I rather use it than Windows? Oh, you bet your a$$.
41 • Details.. (by Friar Tux on 2025-01-16 17:58:29 GMT from Canada)
@40 (Josh) Just curious... what, exactly DO you find wrong with Mint to say it sucks? I've used it for about 10 years and never had an issue - as have countless other, here. I, personally, use it to do just about everything from writing to editing videos, play games, read, graphics design, and so forth. Please, details would be nice.
Number of Comments: 41
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| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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Inquisitor
Inquisitor was an open-source hardware diagnostics, stress testing, certification and monitoring system, suitable for both enterprise and home use. Based on Debian/GNU Linux, it was customizable, modular and available in both serverless live CD/DVD format and server-controlled network boot production system.
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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