 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 1122, 19 May 2025 |
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Welcome to this year's 20th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
For over two decades, the independently-developed GoboLinux distribution has been trying to re-invent the standard Unix file structure and replace it with one that is more modern and logical. Despite its efforts, it has remained a curiosity project rather than a real contender to bring a massive change, and it also seemed rather dormant at some stages. But it recently sprang to life under a new stewardship, as a new official release was announced in early April 2025. How do GoboLinux 017.01 ideas fare in the world of advanced Linux distributions of 2025? Read our comprehensive review to find out. In the News section, Red Hat prepares to launch a new generation of its Enterprise Linux platform, Debian inches closer to the "Trixie" release with the initial release candidate of Debian Installer, and openSUSE initiates a retirement plan for its famous YaST system administration tool. In this week's Questions and Answers, Jesse Smith explains how to run applications which rely on X11 on Wayland, while in the Opinion Poll we would love to hear your opinion about the benefits of a Linux filesystem makeover. Finally, the Site News column brings updates to the list of packages tracked on the distributions' pages, as well as three new additions to the site's database to try out - Loc-OS, MiniOS and Kicksecure. Happy reading!
This week's DistroWatch Weekly is presented by TUXEDO Computers.
Content:
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| Feature Story (By Jesse Smith) |
GoboLinux 017.01
GoboLinux is an independently-developed Linux distribution with an alternative filesystem hierarchy that departs from established Unix standards, bundling applications into their own directories. Gobo uses Awesome as its default window manager.
It has been about five years since the previous release of GoboLinux. Version 017 was published in May of 2020 and the new release mostly focuses on refreshing packages and providing fixes for issues. The announcement warns of some problems booting in virtual machines:
In a VM environment, installing GoboLinux's bootloader onto a GPT/UEFI setup fails. Please set up an MBR partition table. On a bare metal system GPT partitions work fine in our testing (if in doubt, configure your bootloader manually).
GoboLinux runs on x86_64 processors exclusively and is offered in one edition with the Awesome window manager. The ISO for Gobo 017.01 is 2.3GB in size.
Booting from the supplied ISO brings up a series of text-based menus. These ask us to pick our language from a list and select our keyboard layout from a somewhat more crytpic list of options. We are then shown a text console where we are automatically logged in as the root user. A short welcome message tells us to run the startx command to get a graphical environment. Alternatively we can run Installer to start the install process from the command line.
The startx command did indeed launch the Awesome window manager which places a thin panel across the top of the screen. An application menu sits to the left and a system tray to the right. The Awesome environment was responsive and, at least in some situations, functioned as expected. (I'll share the exceptions later.)
GoboLinux 017.01 -- The Awesome window manager and application menu
(full image size: 147kB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
We can launch a system installer from the Awesome interface, it has a menu entry in the application menu.
Installing
Before launching Gobo's custom system installer I think it is important to note the installer does not handle disk partitioning. The distribution's live mode ships with cfdisk and GParted to help us partition the disk. I launched GParted and used it to set up a new partition for Gobo's root filesystem.
Gobo's graphical installer begins by showing us a quick introduction. When I tried to go to the next screen the system installer locked up. In fact, the whole Awesome interface locked up and I was forced to restart the system. After a reboot I dived back into the installer and it worked smoothly, asking me to select a partition to use for the root filesystem. The only filesystem option available is to use ext4. The installer offered to create a swap file for me, but I already had a swap partition set aside for Gobo.
GoboLinux 017.01 -- Running the system installer
(full image size: 140kB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
The installer next shows us a list of available packages it can install. By default, everything on the ISO is marked for installation. Something I appreciate about the system installer is it tells us how much space the selected packages will use on the disk (it estimates about 6.24GB for everything).
We are next asked if we would like to install a bootloader and, if so, where. We're then asked to make up a hostname for ourselves, select our keyboard layout from a list, and choose a boot theme. We're also asked to pick our timezone from a list and create a password for the root account. We can then optionally make as many regular user accounts as we want, something I appreciate and would like to see more installers do.
Packages are then copied to the hard drive and we are shown fairly detailed progress information. The process stopped after a few minutes, but didn't indicate if it was successful or if it had failed. After five more minutes of waiting, I checked the system monitor and found the installer was stuck updating GRUB, using 100% of the CPU, but not writing anything to the disk. I killed the GRUB process (grub-probe) and the installer simply re-launched it. After a few more minutes with no progress, I killed the grub-probe process a second time. The installer then reported it has finished its work successfully and I should restart the computer.
This turn of events seemed suspicious as things had not gone smoothly and the installer only finished its work because I had interrupted the process of setting up the boot loader. However, I followed the instructions on screen.
Early impressions
Despite my misgivings about the way the installer was working, GoboLinux booted to a text console where the system announced it was running Linux 6.12 and I was invited to login. I was then able to sign in as a regular user or as root.
No network connection, wired or otherwise, is enabled by default. We need to manually activate a network interface, then either assign static IP settings or run the dhcpcd command to get a dynamically assigned address. This seems like an odd approach as most Linux distributions will automatically enable a local network connection if one is available.
By default, Gobo boots to a text console. We can then sign in and run startx to launch a graphical interface. It seems to be in the Gobo philosophy to default to minimalism and get the user to switch on services or extra features.
Hardware
I found GoboLinux worked well for me in VirtualBox. The distribution ran smoothly and its Awesome window manager was responsive. The experience also started out strong on my laptop. Gobo booted, was able to launch Awesome, and the desktop loaded. My touchpad worked to move the mouse pointer around the screen. However, then I started running into problems.
I could use the touchpad to move my mouse, but I wasn't able to click on anything. Taps didn't register as clicks and clicking my mouse button had no effect. I tried plugging in a USB mouse and it was not recognized at all.
The Awesome application menu doesn't open when the Meta key is pressed or Alt+F1. However, I could open a launch bar by pressing Alt+F2. This allowed me to navigate application launchers using the keyboard. Oddly enough, once I had launched a few programs using this method, my touchpad mouse started working and I could click on buttons and move windows around using the mouse pointer.
On my laptop networking failed to work. The system would show it was scanning for nearby networks, but it never found any. This meant, on physical hardware, Gobo technically ran, but only as a stand-alone machine.
A fresh install of Gobo took up 6.7GB of hard drive space. When signed into the text console Gobo was quite light, using just 84MB of RAM. When I was signed into Awesome the window manager drove memory usage up to 215MB, still unusually light.
During the install process I had opted to create a swap partition. For some reason the swap partition is not activated automatically. I had to manually enable swap and add its entry to my fstab file to made sure swap was enabled in the future.
Included software
The Gobo distribution does not ship with many applications. Firefox is installed for us along with the Audacious audio player. Htop, GParted, and the Vim text editor are also in the application menu. The urxvt application provides the default virtual terminal. Gobo uses zsh as its default shell, though bash is available on the system.
The man program is installed, though no manual pages are included on the distribution. In the background we find the GNU Compiler Collection and the SysV init software. The current version of Gobo ships with Linux 6.12.
There aren't many programs included with Gobo, but what is available generally works. Though sometimes it is not always an easy task to use the included tools. As I mentioned earlier, my network connection had to be set up manually. Awesome doesn't ship with any graphical configuration tools; customizing Awesome settings is handled by one giant text file. As I mentioned above, Gobo defaults to running a text interface and there are no manual pages to assist us.
The distribution has a lot of aliases set up for us. This generally isn't my preference because, depending on the alias, we might run into unexpected, or even dangerous, behaviour. For example, Gobo aliases "sudo" to "sudo -u #0" and I'm not sure why. This basically forces sudo to switch us to the root user account, but that is the default behaviour anyway; forcing the user to act as root seems unnecessary and potentially undesirable. Other aliases included in the distribution are tamer, for example "rm" is aliased to "rm -i" and "cp" to "cp -i", both will ask permission before destroying existing files.
Filesystem layout
Gobo's main feature, its central concept, is a filesystem which is organized differently than other Linux distributions. Directories are given longer, more descriptive names. For example, instead of /etc, /var, and /usr Gobo organizes its files into directories named Data, Programs, and System. Instead of /home we find our personal files under Users. The idea here seems to be that these names are more descriptive and therefore easier to navigate for new users. It's hard to argue against this approach since one of the most common complaints I used to hear from new Linux users was that they had no idea what "bin", "usr", "var", "etc", and "mnt" meant. Giving directories clear, descriptive names feels like a step in the right direction.
GoboLinux 017.01 -- Exploring the filesystem
(full image size: 133kB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
People might be interested to know that the traditional directories are still there, still part of the filesystem, they are just hidden. Inside the traditional directories we find symbolic links which point to the Gobo-specific locations. When we look inside /etc we mostly find symbolic links to configuration files stored under /Programs/<Application-Name>/Settings/. The directory /var redirects us to /Data/Variable.
The end result is users see fewer directories and those directories have descriptive names. However, any scripts or applications which try to use traditional Linux pathnames will continue to work.
The other important aspect of Gobo's filesystem is applications are self-contained under /Programs/. In a sense, applications installed on Gobo are portable as all of their files are stored in one place. This has the convenient side-effect of making it possible to un-install an application by simply deleting the application's directory. The idea here is that software management is not only organized in a more human-intuitive manner, but removing old packages doesn't require any special logic or package management utilities.
Managing software
The Gobo documentation mentions that the distribution currently does not offer any binary packages and everything must be built from source code. If there were any binary packages we could fetch them using the command InstallPackage. For example, we could try to fetch Firefox using "InstallPackage Firefox". (You might have noticed, Gobo uses proper-case words instead of the traditional lower-case (InstallPackage vs pacman).
Despite the documentation's warning, I did try to install a few programs using InstallPackage and, while none of the items I wanted were available, the package manager did tell me there were packages in the repository and it kept recommending I install the "fuse" package. The "fuse" package not only exists in the repository, it installed successfully. It was the only package I found through.
For all other applications we need to compile them from source using Gobo's Compile tool. The Compile program accepts a package name and attempts to build the software. Which programs does it know how to build? Some more looking through the project's documentation revealed there is a GitHub repository with a list of "recipes" which Compile can use to build new applications. Unfortunately, GitHub truncates the list of 3,777 recipes to show only the first 1,000 entries. This limits us a bit unless we download a copy of the repository and browse it locally.
Many of the recipes are old, most of them about five years old. Some are younger and have been refreshed in the past year, but most of the recipes have been left unmaintained since GoboLinux 017 was published five years ago.
GoboLinux 017.01 -- Trying to compile software
(full image size: 140kB, resolution: 1280x800 pixels)
I tried to run Compile on a handful of recipe names. This mostly resulted in Compile downloading source code, attempting to build it, then reporting failure. The tcsh command line shell failed to build, as did nmap. The xrandr tool failed (which I had hoped to use to fix Awesome's screen resolution). The Links web browser likewise failed to build. The fish shell, to my pleasant surprise, compiled and installed successfully and I was able to run it.
The Gobo documentation tells us there is currently no way to automatically fetch software updates on the distribution: "Updates: Currently, there is no way to update packages automatically. This used to be done with the Freshen script, which is currently not in working order. Updates thus need to be installed manually via InstallPackage or Compile as appropriate." This means we need to manually check for updates in the GitHub recipe repository and then run Compile ourselves if we want to get software updates, a tedious process which reminds me of running early Linux distributions in the 1990s.
To get rid of old software we can, as I mentioned above, delete the program's directory entirely. Alternatively, we can use a tool called RemoveProgram which will also try to clean up any related files, such as application menu shortcuts.
Conclusions
The release announcement for GoboLinux 017.01 made it sounds as though the project had reawakened after a long nap, feeling refreshed, and with key packages updated. While this is (somewhat) accurate, I feel as though the announcement and release of this ISO image refresh were premature. Most of the recipe repository hasn't been updated, there are (almost) no binary packages, Gobo has trouble working in (some) virtual environments and struggled with my laptop's hardware. The project currently resembles a zombie more than a rebirth.
Perhaps this isn't surprising. While there are some fresh hands working on the project, the developers have a lot of catching up to do. The project's previous major release (before the stalled 017 series) was published in 2016, nine years ago. Only one major upgrade in nine years is an unusually slow pace, even by Slackware's conservative standards. The project's team has a lot of work ahead of them.
And, not to discourage developers from crafting their vision of an ideal operating system, but I wonder if GoboLinux and its unique filesystem still make sense? Around 20-25 years ago when it was common for users to work from the command line and it was common to hear beginners complain about Linux's filesystem layout and short directory names, something like Gobo felt like a breath of fresh air. Gobo, in its early days, was solving a clear and present issues - confusing filesystem layout, confusing directory naming, and files scattered all over the filesystem.
These days Linux is a different beast. Most users never need to touch a command line, or look at files outside of their home directory. Modern package managers and containers make it easy to install software, even different versions of the same software, and remove it without causing any problems. Portable packages have their own, self-contained filesystems that can be wiped clean from the system. In short, the main problems Gobo was trying to solve 20+ years ago have mostly been solved by mainstream Linux distributions - in different, but fairly effective ways.
In short: if we now have portable, self-contained packages and we have containers and most users never need to look at the underlying filesystem then are there any problems left for GoboLinux to solve? Gobo used to be a suitable answer to a series of difficult problems, but I wonder if Gobo awake into a world that no longer needs its vision?
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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
GoboLinux has a visitor supplied average rating of: 5.6/10 from 7 review(s).
Have you used GoboLinux? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
Red Hat releases Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 to customers, Debian announces first release candidate of Debian Installer for "Trixie", openSUSE retires YaST
Although not yet officially announced, the brand-new Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10 is now reportedly available for download from the company's Customer Portal. This is the distribution's first major update in three years. While we are still awaiting the release notes to learn about all the features of this release, some website have already taken an early look at the new release. One of them is Nix Sanctuary which has published a first peak at the RHEL 10 Workstation: "As mentioned earlier, RHEL 10 comes with GNOME 47 and the Wayland windowing system or display protocol. That being said, you can still use X11 applications within the Gnome Wayland session if needed using XWayland. Just make sure the xorg-x11-server-Xwayland package is installed on your RHEL 10 workstation. The workstation installation was clean, not including an office suite, which is what we expected from a professional workstation. A distribution should not dictate the office suite or other applications included in a vanilla workstation installation. The default or pre-installed GUI applications included a web browser i.e. Firefox ESR and Papers, a very good free/libre software application for your PDFs, which is part of the Gnome project. Linux kernel package kernel-6.12.0-55.11.1.el10_0.x86_64.rpm, version 6.12.x, has been updated to enhance its compatibility with hardware and to introduce new features." The official announcement, together with full release notes, should follow later this week.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 - the default GNOME desktop
(full image size: 2,304kB, screen resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
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Another popular Linux distribution preparing a major update is Debian. The upcoming release of Debian 13, code-named "Trixie" doesn't have a release date yet, but the process of "freezing" the Debian repositories to prevent version update is in effect since March. Last week, Debian Installer team started the initial installer test, announcing the availability of the first release candidate of the Debian Installer for "Trixie". Linux Compatible reports: "Cyril Brulebois has announced the release candidate for the Debian 13 (Trixie) installer. The release includes improvements in the base-installer, debian-cd, grub-installer, espeakup, gnupg2, grub-installer, grub-installer-utils, haveged, ethdetect, netcfg, partman-auto, partman-base, partman-efi, partman-partitioning, partman-xfs, rescue, systemd-udeb, tzsetup, user-setup, hardware support, and localization status. The base-installer now excludes *-signed-template packages from kernel selection, while debian-cd improves source package management and updates the Debian-edu-full task file. The kernel ABI is bumped to 6.12.27, and support for win32-loader is dropped. The list of devices supported by the firmware-sof-signed firmware package is updated, and the list of devices supported by the firmware-sof-signed firmware package is updated." Interested testers can download the latest "Trixie" image with the new Debian installer from here: debian-trixie-DI-rc1-amd64-DVD-1.iso (3,788MB, SHA512, signature).
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Anybody who has used the openSUSE or SUSE Linux Enterprise distributions is familiar with the system administration tool called YaST (Yet another Setup Tool), which has formed an integral part of the distribution since its Software und System-Entwicklung (SuSE) days back in the nineties when it tentatively emerged in Nürnberg, Germany. But as FOSS Force reports, the comprehensive and popular utility is about to be retired: "An important piece of Linux history is set to go the way of the passenger pigeon or dodo bird later this year, when SUSE and openSUSE put YaST out to pasture. Widely regarded as a package manager, it's actually more of a Swiss Army knife configuration tool that can be used to install software, configure hardware, set up networks and servers, and more. Exactly what it can do might be determined by the year in which you're using it, as its feature set and role within the SUSE ecosystem have changed over the years. Although not very well known outside SUSE circles these days, from its first appearance in 1995 until SUSE was purchased by Novell in 2004, YaST was one of the reasons why SUSE was considered one of the crown jewels of Linux."
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These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
How to run applications which rely on X11 on Wayland
X-marks-the-spot asks: With X.Org going away from Fedora and openSUSE how will running programs made for X11 work?
DistroWatch answers: As Wayland support continues to grow throughout the Linux ecosystem and gradually pushes aside the legacy X11 approach to displaying graphics on our screens, what will become of applications stuck using X11 is a natural question. Fortunately, the Wayland developers knew they would need some way to support all of the existing X11-powered applications. The Wayland documentation says: "Being able to run existing X11 applications is crucial for the adoption of Wayland, especially on desktops, as there will always be X11 applications that have not been or cannot be converted into Wayland applications, and throwing them all away would be prohibitive. Therefore a Wayland compositor often needs to support running X11 applications."
The ability to display X11 applications in Wayland sessions is achieved by a compatibility layer called Xwayland. The Gentoo documentation succinctly explains: "Xwayland is an X server for running X clients under Wayland. It is built from a collection of patches to the X.Org server codebase, created and maintained by Wayland developers. Not all software supports, or plans to support, running under Wayland. Wayland compositors can use Xwayland to allow use of such software within their environment."
How does a person go about making Xwayland work, to support their existing X11 applications? The good news is, you probably do not need to do anything! "Normally Xwayland shouldn't need to be started manually; it should be started on-demand by the running Wayland compositor. Once started, there should be an 'Xwayland' entry in the list of running processes."
If Xwayland is not installed on your system already, most distributions will provide a package for it in their repositories. This package is called xwayland in the Debian/Ubuntu family, xorg-xwayland in the Arch Linux family, xorg-x11-server-Xwayland on Fedora, and xwayland in the openSUSE family.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Nobara Project 42
Thomas Crider has announced the release of Nobara Project 42, a major update of the distribution's custom variant of Fedora Linux with user-friendly fixes added to it. The new release replaces Firefox with Brave as the default browser and switches to a rolling-release development model: "Nobara 42 officially released. Changelog: Brave is now the default browser; the Nobara package manager has been unpinned from the desktop and favorites; plasma-discover and gnome-software have both now been replaced with flatpost; flatpost is a new in-house developed one-stop shop for flatpaks - tt is able to handle installation, removal, upgrading and permissions of flatpaks as well as flatpak repository management; Nobara is now officially rolling-release; Mesa has been patched with additional fixes for Wine, Wayland and DOOM: The Dark Ages; GNOME version is 48; KDE version is 6.3.4; Mesa version is 25.1.0; NVIDIA driver version is production 575.144; Linux kernel version is 6.14.6." Read the full release announcement for further details.
Grml 2025.05
Michael Prokop has announced the release of Grml 2025.05, a new stable release of the project's Debian-based live Linux system focusing on the needs of system administrators. This version includes various new packages pulled from the upcoming release of Debian 13, including Linux kernel 6.12.27: "We are proud to announce our new stable release, version 2025.05, code-named 'Nudlaug'. This Grml release brings you fresh software packages from Debian 'Trixie', enhanced hardware support and it addresses known bugs from previous releases. Like in the previous release, 2024.12, live ISO images are provided for 64-bit x86 (amd64) and 64-bit ARM CPUs (arm64). Important changes: this release is based on Debian 'Trixie' as of May 2025; uploaded to Debian - grml-hwinfo, grml-keyring + grml-paste are available starting with Debian 'Trixie'; we use a new signing key for the deb.grml.org repositories; the grml-live build system no longer uses FAI underneath and grml-policyrcd is gone; booting with boot option 'ssh=...' on grml-full automatically announces the SSH service with Avahi (discover it via avahi-browse -d local _ssh._tcp --resolve -t)." See the release announcement and the detailed release notes for more information.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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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) |
Do you think the Linux filesystem benefits from a makeover?
In this week's review of GoboLinux we talked about the distribution's approach to fixing a common complaint with Linux (and other Unix-like operating systems), specifically how directories are named. It is not obvious to new users what usr, opt, var, and etc mean in terms of organizing files and this naming convention tends to confuse people who are accustomed to seeing directory names such as "Users" and "Program Files".
Do you think the Linux filesystem benefits from a Gobo-style makeover with clearly labelled directories and a more modular structure? Let us know what you think is the best approach to naming directories in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on creating your own distribution ISO image in our previous edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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| Website News |
Annual package list update
The list of packages tracked by DistroWatch on the distributions' pages was updated on 16 May 2025. Based on reader's feedback and requests, the following new packages have been added to the tables:
- AppArmor (a Linux application security system)
- Btrfs-progs (a filesystem for Linux with advanced features, focusing on fault tolerance, repair and easy administration)
- Hyprland (a tiling Wayland compositor written in C++)
- JWM (a light-weight window manager for the X11 Window System)
- mpv (a free, open-source and cross-platform media player)
- OBS Studio (a free and open source software for live streaming and screen recording)
- Podman (a tool for managing Open Container Initiative containers and pods)
- Shotcut (a cross-platform (Qt), open-source video editor)
- sway (a tiling window manager and Wayland compositor designed to be a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager)
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New distributions added to database
Loc-OS
Loc-OS is a lightweight, Debian-based Linux distribution with LXDE as the default desktop environment and without the systemd service manager; it uses SysV init to manage the startup and shutdown of services instead. The distribution is designed to be resource-friendly, with low memory consumption and therefore suitable for older or less powerful hardware. The project's goal is to provide a usable and functional desktop experience on older machines while minimizing resource demands.
 Loc-OS 23 - the LXDE desktop(full image size: 2.9MB, screen resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
MiniOS
MiniOS is a Debian-based Linux distribution which strives to be lightweight, modular, versatile and customisable. It comes in three editions, "Standard", "Toolbox" and "Ultra". MiniOS "Standard" is a compact system designed for everyday computing tasks, while "Toolbox" is designed for maintenance, diagnostics and recovery of computer systems; it provides a rich set of graphical and console tools for working with disks and partitions, network diagnostics and administration, data security, data and password recovery, hardware fault diagnosis and testing, as well as other utilities. Finally, the "Ultra" variant of MiniOS provides an extensive set of software tools designed both for maintenance and diagnostics of computer systems and for solving a wide range of general office tasks.
 MiniOS 4.1.2 - the Xfce desktop(full image size: 281kB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
Kicksecure
Kicksecure is a security-hardened Linux distribution based on Debian's "Stable" branch, with Xfce as the default desktop user interface. It is a hardened operating system designed to be resistant to viruses, malware and attacks, and extensively reconfigured in accordance with an advanced multi-layer defense model, thereby providing in-depth security. Kicksecure provides protection from many types of malware in its default configuration with no customization required.
 Kicksecure 17.3.9.9 - the Xfce desktop(full image size: 75kB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
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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, 26 May 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 • simple wayland demo? (by J.D. Laub on 2025-05-19 02:23:11 GMT from United States)
The Q&A brought to mind a question. Years ago, I used to fire up xeyes if I wanted to test X - a simple little program. What simple little Wayland program do folks use for a quick test?
2 • Filesystem Makeover (by Penguinx86 on 2025-05-19 04:31:09 GMT from United States)
I voted NO for the filesystem makeover. The current filesystem meets POSIX standards. Renaming directories with non-POSIX-compliant names would cause compatibility issues and break everything. Then, some poor sysadmin would have to piece together hundreds of symbolic links from the old directory locations to the new ones, in an attempt to fix what broke. Then, installing an update could wipe out all the links and break everything again. I think a filesystem makeover is a bad idea.
3 • File system names (by Keith S. on 2025-05-19 04:36:26 GMT from United States)
I frankly can't imagine changing the file system directory naming conventions in Linux / BSD. Not hard to learn, and pretty easy to sort what goes where. When I have to use Windows, I almost always have a hard time finding what I'm looking for. Longer names do not equal better names. Then when I think I have it figured out, suddenly I realize that I might have to look in the 32-bit directories to make sure I haven't missed something. Ridiculous.
4 • Filesystem make over. (by SNH on 2025-05-19 06:19:53 GMT from Australia)
Why does Linux seem obsessed with alienating old users just to accommodate new users. The file system is not difficult to understand. If someone is not willing to learn a new system why move to linux or any other system in the first place. It sounds like Windows, lets rearrange the deck chairs and paint the walls so the newcomers can feel comfortable. Its ridiculous. Thinks will probably evolve just fine naturally over time as they have in the past. BTW Gobo probably would have been better off to continue snoozing in a already way over crowded linux universe. Just my 2 cents.
5 • Filesystem makeover (by Brünhilde on 2025-05-19 07:41:19 GMT from Czechia)
> It is not obvious to new users what usr, opt, var, and etc mean [...]
Just as it isn't obvious how to drive a car if you haven't learned it (and learning to drive requires way more time than learning the basic directory structure). Most users can get away with not knowing the filesystem layout (as has been the case for 10+ years), and those who need to know it should learn it; it really isn't a big effort.
6 • GoboLinux filesystem (by Kazlu on 2025-05-19 08:05:31 GMT from France)
Os the GoboLinux filesystem makeover a good idea? Yes, I think so, it makes manual interventions easier (however rare, they still exist) and with a carefully built series of links it does not break the traditional way.
It it needed? Not so much. I do not dig very often in a filesystem. A file structure like that may have resulted in a slightly faster way to solve a problem here and there, but I don't think it would ever have been a make or break solution for me.
Do the developpers need to stop working on it? Absolutely not. At the risk of sounding repetitive, the GNU/Linux community is not a pool in interchangeable developper resources. Most of GNU/Linux devs like the ones in Gobo work on it on their spare time, because they are willing to do something they are interested in, sharing the results with the community. One cannot tell them to stop doing that and work on Linux drivers for example. Because, well, they chose alone what they do with their spare time. So I am grateful to any developper bringing something to the table, whether it is very or remotely useful, for sharing their work. Maybe this will bring something positive to the community, maybe not. The only way to know is to try.
7 • @3 file system names (by Kazlu on 2025-05-19 08:20:04 GMT from France)
"Then when I think I have it figured out, suddenly I realize that I might have to look in the 32-bit directories to make sure I haven't missed something. Ridiculous. "
Is it more ridiculous than searching for a binary in /bin and /usr/bin only to realize that you haven't looked in /sbin and /usr/sbin? I don't think so. Personnally I find this mind numbing. There might be a good reason for that, but the end result is very complicated and I seriously wonder if it's worth it.
Every approach will necessarily have pros and cons. One cannot only point the pros of one versus the cons of the other. In the end I am convinced that the pros/cons balance is so... well, balanced, that breaking everything would be a big effort for little overall gain, if any. But I fail to see how the traditional GNU/Linux filesystem hierarchy would be inherently so much better. I learnt only the basics, enough to do what I need, but it has always sounded overly and unnecessarily complicated to me.
To be clear I don't think a change is really *needed*. Things work today, it's not that cryptic, things are doable, and it would be a bad idea to change for the sake of change. But the Gobo approach is interesting, to have something clearer to dig in while retaining traditional compatibility through links. Not perfect, sure, but interesting.
8 • @7 file system names (by Karsten on 2025-05-19 08:50:49 GMT from Germany)
I totally agree with you and could not have written it better. Thank you :-)
9 • Would the Linux filesystem benefit from a new naming approach? (by Jake on 2025-05-19 09:32:24 GMT from United States)
I voted no. Someone would try to make it like the Windows filesystem, and I want Linux to be like Linux not like Windows, which I dislike.
10 • Linux filesystem (by Dave on 2025-05-19 09:56:49 GMT from Australia)
I voted yes, change the file system. It would be a big deal for compatibility, but not everyone would change instantly, and many would never change at all. So there'll alway be the option to not do it if you don't like it.
The current standard is not intuitive, people are just used to it. If you had to design a file structure from scatch now, no-one would come up with what we have at the moment.
I like when people do new things, even if it doesn't catch on, giving it a go is a good idea.
11 • openSUSE YaST (by César on 2025-05-19 10:59:56 GMT from Chile)
Sad!
Very sad!
The news i read here (about the end of this wonderful tool) is very disappointed, a swiss knife really, one of the most complete in Linux world, past away...well...i rememer when i started with Suse in the 2000's, and i liked this tool, no other distro has something like that (maybe Mandriva in the beginning).
In the other side, i waiting for Debian Trixie, i hope works like the Bookworm, without issues.
Saludos desde Santiago de Chile.
12 • Linux filesystem & yast (by kc1di on 2025-05-19 12:01:05 GMT from United States)
I too old to change the file system besides it working fine the way it is.
Sad to hear about yast. Was synonymous with SuSE for a long time. Won't seem the same
13 • @7 & 8 Filesystem (by crayola-eater on 2025-05-19 12:58:45 GMT from United States)
"Is it more ridiculous than searching for a binary in /bin and /usr/bin only to realize that you haven't looked in /sbin and /usr/sbin?"
That's why before I go blindly, I run 'whereis' and it tells me where to look.
Simple, like KISS Linux should be.
14 • file system (by wally on 2025-05-19 13:11:47 GMT from United States)
Yes, the Linux filesystem can be puzzling at times, but in my opinion Windows filesystem is worse and should not be a model.
There is room for improvement in Linux filesystem but at what cost for what gain.
One of the finest tools in Linux is [P|S]locate. A lifesaver for when you are looking for something but not quite sure where/what, and I think for forgiving that 'whereis'.
15 • file system -oops (by wally on 2025-05-19 13:14:32 GMT from United States)
bad fingers!
meant to say "I think more forgiving than 'whereis'".
16 • YaST (by Kazlu on 2025-05-19 13:20:49 GMT from France)
I do not really understand. In my opinion, YaST is on of the strongest pros of openSUSE. Weird to remove it. And what is supposed to carry on the tasks it was doing? A collection of other tools? A replacement? I feel like some information is missing. Like, if Fedora annouced they would be removing GNOME, they would say what DE they are using as a replacement, right?
17 • YaST (by Jesse on 2025-05-19 13:28:49 GMT from Canada)
@16: "I do not really understand. In my opinion, YaST is on of the strongest pros of openSUSE. Weird to remove it. And what is supposed to carry on the tasks it was doing? A collection of other tools? A replacement? I feel like some information is missing."
The context I think you're missing is that openSUSE has been trying to phase out its old tools and branches for a few years. That's why they keep announcing the end of Leap (version 16 is the third time it has been the "last" version of Leap). They are also phasing out tools like YaST in favour of immutable flavours where low-level configuration of the root filesystem doesn't work.
There isn't a replacement for YaST, exactly, because the replacement is to get people using immutable systems with add-on modules for services.
18 • Look into the Linux folders should not be necessary (by Flavianoep on 2025-05-19 13:41:07 GMT from Brazil)
In twenty years of using Linux, there were two kinds of situations when I had to look into the directories under /: fixing a problem or getting some unusual functionality. Inexperienced users don't do that. And even if they do, the names of the Linux directories are the least of their problems. What is the point of you changing the name of /etc for something more user-friendly, if a beginner shouldn't even care what this directory is? The only folders that must have user-friendly names are the ones in the user directory and they already have user-friendly names.
19 • Gobo LInux File System (by Slappy McGee on 2025-05-19 13:53:56 GMT from United States)
There are screenshots of the GoboLinux file system hierarchy at their website. Interesting, but I honestly can't see it as any sort of solution, as I really do not perceive the Linux typical file system as being in need of change. There are choices from (parent) distro to distro.
Some seem to see a need, thus the existence of the different ones like Gobo.
20 • Location, location, location (by vmclark on 2025-05-19 14:33:15 GMT from United States)
You don't have to "dig" anywhere to find anything. Use the find command for locations. That's what its there for.
21 • Finding something (by Kazlu on 2025-05-19 14:55:34 GMT from France)
Using the find, locate or whereis command to find a binary is fine... If you can point directions in the first place. Oh, sure, you can search the whole tree, starting from /, but then the command will look in all your personal data, every mounted partition, which will take an enourmous and unnecessary amount of time. So, we're back to having to look in 4 different locations, ie run fin/whereis/locate 4 times in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin. That is, of course, if you've remembered all that.
Is it that hard? No! Is it unnecessarily complicated? Yes. And, to circle back to my original point, not easier than having to look in C:\Progam Files and C:\Progam Files (x86).
And, finally, *why* are there so many commands to look for something? I use them so seldomly I inevitably mix up the syntax between them everytime I need them.
22 • @17 YaST (by Kazlu on 2025-05-19 15:02:55 GMT from France)
"There isn't a replacement for YaST, exactly, because the replacement is to get people using immutable systems with add-on modules for services."
This sounds to me like there are changes happening under the hood. YaST is, as I understand it, a GUI tool, as in graphical *user interface* tool, therefore it serves as an abstraction layer the user can interact with to configure bits of the system. I understand some low level aspects may become irrelevant, but not everything. For example, package management will change, but we will still need updates. And many other aspects of the system will be unaffected, like printer management, power management, etc. I mean, if I want to set after how much time being inactive my system shoud go to sleep, a change in the underlying system, however massive, should not change the user interface bit where I do the setting. This is where I don't understand how things should be carried out without YaST in openSUSE.
23 • Gobo (by netfun81 on 2025-05-19 15:04:32 GMT from United States)
Tried Gobo in the past, It was unique and a simple file system but when it came to any issue I spent more time trying to make it work than a normal linux filesystem.
Jesse wrote "Most users never need to touch a command line", I find that a bit hard to believe as I am using a terminal almost every day in Linux. Possibly, if you don't install much software and mainly use a browser you can avoid the command line, but using Linux as primary OS, trying out various programs, updating often, or using a bleeding edge distro, its nearly impossible to never touch the command line.
24 • finding tings (by Jesse on 2025-05-19 15:06:16 GMT from Canada)
@21: "Using the find, locate or whereis command to find a binary is fine... If you can point directions in the first place. Oh, sure, you can search the whole tree, starting from /, but then the command will look in all your personal data, every mounted partition, which will take an enourmous and unnecessary amount of time. So, we're back to having to look in 4 different locations, ie run fin/whereis/locate 4 times in /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin. "
You don't need to do all of that. You can just run "which" or "locate" once, which will be instant, and filter based on type. For example, if I wanted to know where "nmap" is located, I could run:
$ which nmap
/usr/bin/nmap
Or if I wanted to find all commands which contain "nmap" in their name I would run:
$ locate nmap | grep "bin/"
/usr/bin/nmap
The above will find all commands in /sbin, /bin, /usrbin, /usr/sbin, /usr/local/bin, and /usr/local/sbin. No need to remember all the places, no need to wait, no need to sift through your personal files.
"*why* are there so many commands to look for something?"
Because they work different ways and make sense in different situations. "which" finds the location of commands you already know. "locate" finds any file immediately, as long as it is not brand new. "find" locates any file, including new ones, at the directory of your choice.
25 • YaST and command line (by Jesse on 2025-05-19 15:12:00 GMT from Canada)
@22: "YaST is, as I understand it, a GUI tool, as in graphical *user interface* tool, "
YaST is a collective name used by both the command line version and the GUI version of openSUSE's admin tool.. You can run it from the command line, for example, when working on servers.
@23: "Jesse wrote "Most users never need to touch a command line", I find that a bit hard to believe as I am using a terminal almost every day in Linux.
But you aren't most users. You're one user. Most people never touch a command line. Unless you are a techie or a hobbyist, there isn't any reason for people to use a command line on a Linux distribution.
> Possibly, if you don't install much software and mainly use a browser you can avoid the command line, but using Linux as primary OS, trying out various programs, updating often, or using a bleeding edge distro, its nearly impossible to never touch the command line.
None of the functions you just mentioned require a command line. Also, again, you're describing a niche situation specific to you (and tech enthusiasts) not _most_ users. Most users just need a web browser, office suite, maybe a music player. Most users don't constantly install new software ,experiment with bleeding edge packages, or constantly try out new applications. They just use the browser and a few apps their system came with.
26 • Gobo Linux (by RetiredIT on 2025-05-19 15:27:54 GMT from United States)
Regardless of what Gobo is currently doing, a distro that has been around for more than 23 years should have solved most, if not all, the problems mentioned in the testing review. Who would ever want a daily driver that only has a 5.7 visitor rating? There are so MANY much better distros to choose from!
27 • GoboLinux.... (by Marky V. on 2025-05-19 15:51:41 GMT from The Netherlands)
NixOS is the "new" GoboLinux.
28 • @26 Gobo (by Kazlu on 2025-05-19 15:56:11 GMT from France)
Apparently, Gobo has seen changes in its dev team. Especially since the last version. So I assume the first order of business is *getting the distro to work again after updating the packages*. I sounds as if it has been more or less dormant for a while. That could explain that the distro has today more problems than before. Hopefully these will get ironed out.
However, I think no one intends, even their creators, to run GoboLinux as a daily driver! It looks more like an experiment, a concept distro, that *could become* a daily driver distro with time. But, indeed, people looking for a daily driver distro have no reason to settle on this one...
29 • YaST (by vw72 on 2025-05-19 16:24:47 GMT from United States)
First, the YaST decision came from SUSE. It is a burden to maintain and their users don't use it much. openSUSE is free to continue maintaining it, but that would take developers to step up and devote time to do it, but that would take resources away from other projects they work on. There was a lot of angst on various forums about the deprecation of YaST but very few if any people stepping up to maintain it. As such, eventually it will go away.
The good news is that while Yast is going away, its functionality isn't. Myrlyn handles installing software quite well and Cockpit covers much of what else was in Yast.
There are still some things lacking in Cockpit, but that doesn't mean old YasT modules won't be converted to Cockpit. All it takes is somebody to step up and do it.
30 • Where are the files? (by Oracles on 2025-05-19 16:42:03 GMT from United States)
So, you're a noob and install GoboLinux. You have some issues and are poking through "Data" or whatever to find a config file. You get stuck so ask your friend who has been using Linux for years. They look at the system and are completely perplexed, "Where the fock is /etc?" Poor noob can't get help from experienced users, so they're on their own. Sounds like a really great experience to me...
31 • @30 noob experience (by Kazlu on 2025-05-19 17:02:20 GMT from France)
This is probably what Linux noobs experienced in the early 90s, while any friend would be asking "Where the heck is C:\?"... One has to start somewhere.
32 • linux noobs (by netfun81 on 2025-05-19 17:14:47 GMT from United States)
the biggest issue i had going from dos/win3.1 to redhat 4.0 was after install it had FVWM window manager which was a gui but you had to configure the gui with config files. That was quite different than normal gui environments at the time.
33 • FHS should be simplified, not superceded (by mrnoname1000 on 2025-05-19 17:36:43 GMT from United States)
I think the current filesystem hierarchy should be simplified, but in a way that conforms to FHS. I love the three-letter, all-lowercase directories so capitalizing and spelling them out does not appeal to me. What kind of name is /Data? That could include literally anything.
The usr merge and sbin merge that several distros have done is very convenient. On those distros, I know for a fact a system executable lives in /usr/bin and I can use /bin as a shortcut. Sure, you can use a command to search for something, but that's a whole extra step when you might be in the middle of something. If all system binaries were in one place, you wouldn't need to locate them, you would instantly know their location. IMO the package manager should put files in the most ergonomic place since it tracks every installed file anyway.
Debian has done the /usr merge but still has separate bin and sbin directories, which compounds the fragmentation and seems really arbitrary to me. Under the default PATH config, it's so annoying to have to run an sbin command with its full path or as root just to see its help output.
34 • Filesystem Makeover (by Jack on 2025-05-19 19:20:11 GMT from Switzerland)
After all these years the Linux filesystem is still what it was more than 50 years ago! For sure evolution is not in the DNA of the Linux microcosm. With 50 % of pollsters thinking that the filesystem is fine as it is, it's hard to see Linux becoming mainstream (for the masses).
If you could install apps and ignore what happens under the surface like in Android the world would be a fine place. In Linux this is clearly not the case!
35 • MiniOS Toolbox (by Simon Plaistowe on 2025-05-19 22:16:27 GMT from New Zealand)
Glad to see MiniOS has at long last been included in the DistroWatch database! I've been using the Toolbox edition on my utils USB-stick for a while now, it's a good one-stop for partitioning, system image backups, etc.
36 • GoboLinux needs an AUR (by Happy_Phantom on 2025-05-19 22:35:18 GMT from United States)
Installing software from source shouldn't be that had. Maybe GoboLinux needs a ports system like the BSDs have, or, better yet, and system like Arch Linux's AUR that basically makes installing recipes from source doable with much less frustration..
37 • GoboLinux and FHS (by picamanic on 2025-05-20 09:30:03 GMT from United Kingdom)
GoboLinux and FHS: whilst the so called /usr merge has been adopted by many distros, the last time I looked, Debian retained the /bin and /sbin distinction, for what I can only think are security reasons. I prefer that all executables are located in /usr/bin, with symlinks to /sbin, etc.
What the GoboLinux team have done to re-imagine the Linux file system, keeping the files for each package in one location, is an "interesting", but, I think, unnecessary distraction. Capitalisation of directory names is the last straw.
38 • Gobohide security risk? (by dob on 2025-05-20 10:44:43 GMT from United Kingdom)
could the symbolic links used by gobo be a potential ‘blind spot’ to conventionally configured intrusion detection and prevention systems?
Has any security auditing been carried out to understand the different attack surface and risk?
39 • #38 gobo symbolic link = “dirty cow” style exploit? (by dob on 2025-05-20 10:54:19 GMT from United Kingdom)
https://www.cyberly.org/en/how-do-attackers-escalate-privileges-using-symbolic-links/index.html
40 • Gobohide an APT toolkit in the wrong hands… (by dob on 2025-05-20 11:32:19 GMT from United Kingdom)
https://lwn.net/Articles/194376/
41 • @4 Filesystem make over (by Geo. on 2025-05-20 13:19:32 GMT from Canada)
"seem obsessed with alienating old users just to accommodate new users?"
How far back do you want to go? Christian reformation? Horse over foot? Bronze over stone? Agriculture over forage? Change for the sake of change is foolish, but if there is a genuine improvement then I support it. Great respect to my line command friends, but I'm not giving up GUI.
42 • @39 gobo symbolic link = “dirty cow” style exploit? (by Kazlu on 2025-05-20 15:37:12 GMT from France)
All the attack strategies suggested involve the *creation* of a symbolic link by an unprivileged user, who can then ecalate privileges. This does not correspond to the situation here, where Gobolinux's links are already here and are (I presume !) owned by root. Therefore an unprivileged user has no control over them.
Not to say that there is no risk invovled, I am not qualified to claim that. But this family of attacks does not seem to apply here.
43 • File System Hierarchy (by JKL on 2025-05-20 15:49:53 GMT from United States)
The Gobo style file structure and hiding etc bin and such is exactly what macOS does, except macOS uses etc usr and such for system files that the mac user shouldn’t touch. This is better than using symbolic links which can be used for deceptive malicious purposes.
I like the original style because:
- each are three letters long which are easy to type in a console
- once you know where each goes it’s relatively straightforward
- No capital letters which are annoying on the terminal on a case sensitive file system (mac and windows are case insensitive, so they can get away with it)
Some inconsistencies with distros have something to do with if configs are in usr/share instead of etc, or bin is symlinked to /usr/bin (most do this because of systemd wanting it). sbin is set up differently on each distro as well (meaning some programs are in there on some distros while other distros put less or more in there), and can only be accessed and tab completed as root.
Other than that there is a reason why the file system is set up like this and the new structure is assuming that everything will be desktop oriented, not general purpose like Linux is designed to be.
44 • Case sensitivity (by Flavii on 2025-05-20 16:28:36 GMT from Brazil)
@43 "mac (…) [is] case insensitive"
You just gave me one more reason never to buy a Mac. :-)
45 • Filesystem organization (by Robert on 2025-05-20 16:31:59 GMT from United States)
I do think that Linux would have benefitted from a filesystem organization like Gobo's. I even tried to do this myself many years ago, though I failed at the time.
I think this is one thing that Windows actually got right - keeping applications self-contained in their own directories, not spread out all over semi-random directories. Of course it's a littler messier now with the appdata directories, but that's a necessary compromise for per-user application settings.
That said, it is far, far too late to change it now. There would be a prolonged period of breakage with some programs never making the transition. Would be far more painful than older migrations such as the switch to 64-bit and supporting multilib, or the /usr merge than some distros have done.
46 • YaST (by techfun on 2025-05-20 23:18:55 GMT from Australia)
retiring YaST - "Yet another Setup Tool": perhaps cryptic software names have fallen flat for the digital generation.
47 • @7 & 8 Finding files in GNU/Linux and MS Windows (by Ottomane on 2025-05-21 07:38:06 GMT from Germany)
Yeah, the POSIX file system scheme looks weird if you come from MS Windows. The MS Windows file system scheme looks weird if you come from any POSIX-using distribution.
In POSIX I have a chance of finding files by browsing to the place where things are defined to be, you don't. You may have a chance on MS Windows -- where is the executable? C:\Program Files (x86)\, C:\Program Files, C:\%USERPROFILE%\%APPDATA%\Local or LocalLow, some custom place like C:\MyHotProgram or D:\MyPortableApps\MyHotProgram\? -- I don't. It's just a matter of familiarity.
So you have to pop out "whereis", "find" or "locate" in Linux and I have to pop out "Everywhere" in MS Windows or look at $PATH and go prowling (because MS Windows has no built-in useful file search tool).
So, yeah, It sucks to be a MS Windows User and having to work with Linux machines -- and vice versa. That's the way it is.
48 • It's the 21st century by now (by Ottomane on 2025-05-21 07:52:53 GMT from Germany)
@34 Hey Jack, you probably missed out on the last 20 years of Linux desktop developments. There is a group called freedesktop.org, where the major players of the Linux desktop environments, and most of the minor ones, get together and standardize the stuff needed to run a GUI. A user of a Linux system will never have to leave $HOME, will not see the system's directories, and can configure anything graphical with GUI tools, down to the appearance of the login manager and the bootloader (but why would a user care?)
If you happen to come along at a current Linux distribution for desktop use and fancy to show hidden files in your file browser you might notice in your $HOME directories such as .config, .local and so on. ~/.steam is where your games live ;) This is where your user settings are saved and you wouldn't have found them 25 years ago. It pretty much %USERPROFILE%/%APPDATA%/ with human readable names.
49 • file system change (by Trinidad Cruz on 2025-05-21 13:26:49 GMT from United States)
Longer file names are an absolute nuisance to work with scripting or changing lib in deep fs hierarchies. It's bad enough you can get six returns deep in one line of code. It's fine to have longer more explanatory names at the very top, but beyond that level it only leads to eye strain and typos. In fact shortening file names at every level below the top directories is better, and file tree explanations in help panels for new users. Anyway, it's Linux where everybody thinks they are very smart and so often have to deal with self-inflicted expectations of innovation and creativity. Perhaps the introduction of some kind of shorthand for file naming will become a neccessary in the end, and secretaries to translate. I can see it already... nicely dressed young women piling off the El and heading into the Merc... actual pools of them again... ah nostalgia.
TC
50 • Options (by Michael T on 2025-05-21 18:10:14 GMT from United States)
I think that some people miss the point. First and foremost a Linux distro is a hobbyist system. Second, it is a developers system where people can try new ideas or change existing ones. This is part of the beauty of Linux systems. Are these changes necessary? No. Are they required? Ony for the process using them.
One major benefit of the current file system layout is consistancy. There are very few distros that don't follow the standard file system layout which makes things easier for programmers and sysadmins. Knowing where things belong in the file system makes it much easier to do many tasks such as maintenance, program development and configuration. As we have seen from various distro changes putting things in an unusual location can cause confusion. This is something to be avoided on a multi-user system that must keep the downtime to a minimum. Sure, it might seem unnecessary on a single user system, but keep in mind that Linux OS's are multiuser systems by design.
There is a frequent compaint about too many available distros, which I personally find rather silly, There is a reason that they exist. Creating a distro, even if it is never shared, is the best way to learn about Linux. Not the everyday usage of it, but how it is put together. This knowledge is crucial for system administrators and some application development. It may be debatable that all of these distros are available for anyones to access and use, but not distributing them makes it harder for another person to understand any changes made to the system or problems that may occur during regular usage.
There is a lot of history with Unix, and thus any systems based on its ideals, Decades worth of development have made the OS easy to use. Consistancy makes it easier to maintain.
51 • @50 (by Simon on 2025-05-22 01:59:23 GMT from New Zealand)
"First and foremost a Linux distro is a hobbyist system"? No, first and foremost a distro is a distro: it's a distribution of free software, published on the Internet for real people to use. Some distros take that responsibility seriously and make an effort to ensure that what they're distributing to the world is actually worth the world's time. Others follow social media's "the world needs to know what I ate for lunch!" example, and release their little hobbyist systems as "distros", claiming for them the same status as the likes of Debian, rather than keeping them as the personal hobbies that they ought to have remained.
If you've made a snazzy new wallpaper, share it on a wallpapers site. If you've swapped a few packages out of a proper distro's selection of tools, blog about it, if you must. Just don't waste everyone's time by making a few changes and slapping a new wallpaper on it and calling it a "distro".
52 • @51 Simon (by vmclark on 2025-05-22 04:36:15 GMT from United States)
Spot on Simon!
@50Linux as a "hobbyist" I can do my taxes, keep tabs on my banks and portfolio, work on my spreadsheet. Hobbyist vs WHAT?
53 • Wow (by Woodstock69 on 2025-05-22 05:04:04 GMT from Australia)
It's been a long time since I've seen such useless arguments put forward for this and that.
Just remember; Linux =/= Windows, and before Windows, there was UNIX.
54 • Filesystem Revamp? (by Trevor on 2025-05-23 06:16:17 GMT from Canada)
If it isn't broken - why fix it?
Number of Comments: 54
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
ClearOS
ClearOS was a small business server operating system with server, networking, and gateway functions. It was designed primarily for homes, small, medium, and distributed environments. It was managed from a web based user interface, but can also be completely managed and tuned from the command line. ClearOS was available in a free Community Edition, which includes available open source updates and patches from its upstream sources. ClearOS was also offered in a Home and Business Edition which receives additional testing of updates and only uses tested code for updates. Professional tech-support was also available. Currently ClearOS offers around 100+ different features which can be installed through the onboard ClearOS Marketplace.
Status: Discontinued
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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!
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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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