 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 729, 11 September 2017 |
Welcome to this year's 37th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The freedom to audit and modify software is one of the key ideas GNU/Linux distributions are based on. The ability to read and improve code is a large part of what draws developers to GNU, Linux and related projects. However, most Linux distributions do feature a few non-free components, such as firmware or media codecs, which are provided under more restrictive licensing terms. This week Robert Rijkhoff takes an entirely free operating system, Parabola GNU/Linux-libre, for a test run and reports on his findings. Read on to find out how Parabola's stance on software freedom affects the distribution. Then, in our News section, we talk about the new roadmap for Tails features and an exciting new ports system for DragonFly BSD, FreeBSD and Linux. We also discuss new features coming to the MINIX operating system. In our Tips and Tricks column we explore creating a media server using Linux and a Raspberry Pi computer. Running a home media server is also the subject of this week's Opinion Poll and we would like to hear about your home streaming solutions in the comments. As usual, we share the distribution releases of the past week and share the torrents we are seeding. Finally, we are pleased to welcome the ClonOS project to our database. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Parabola GNU/Linux-libre
- News: Tails publishes updated roadmap, DragonFly BSD previews new ports system, new features coming to MINIX
- Tips and tricks: Running Plex Media Server on a Raspberry Pi
- Released last week: Tiny Core 8.1, Porteus Kiosk 4.5.0, Zorin OS 12.2
- Torrent corner: Antergos, Bluestar, Manajro, MiniNo, OviOS, Raspbian, SystemRescueCd, Untangle, Zorin OS
- Opinion poll: Personal media server
- New additions: ClonOS
- New distributions: Xebian, Clu-Linux-Live
- Reader comments
|
| Feature Story (by Robert Rijkhoff) |
Review: Parabola GNU/Linux-libre
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is one of a few Linux distributions that meet the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) guidelines for free operating systems. The distribution is based on Arch Linux and ships with the Linux-libre kernel, which doesn't include software for which no source code is available (or which is otherwise proprietary). On top of that Parabola removes any non-free packages from the system.
The distribution is available for the armv7, i686 and x86_64 architectures. The main ISO boots to a command line, where we can manually install the operating system, while a live ISO gives us the MATE desktop and access to a basic graphical installer. Interestingly, it is also possible to migrate from Arch Linux to Parabola.
Installation
My main concern before I started my trial was hardware support and I therefore first tried the live ISO for version 2017.05.28 . The 64-bit image is 2.2GB in size and boots to a rather pink-looking MATE desktop (the wallpaper and use of purple for elements like scroll bars reminded me of Pony OS). I was pleased to find that I could connect to wireless networks and that graphics and sound worked as expected.
While exploring the live environment I did note several bugs in applications. The most annoying issue was that menus often looked completely squashed. I have seen that issue before in MATE 1.16 (which is the MATE version the live ISO uses) and think it is related to applications missing GTK+ version 3 support. I also found that the Abiword word processor was completely unusable; it somehow had a black background and trying to type or click anything would make the window flicker for several seconds.
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 2017.05.28 -- Running the live MATE desktop with Abiword
(full image size: 491kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The live CD's graphical installer didn't work for me either. It seems the installer is an experimental feature - there is hardly any documentation about it and while going through the installation steps I got error after error. The installation did finish but after rebooting my laptop I was presented with a completely black screen.
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 2017.05.28 -- The command line installer
(full image size: 469kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The recommended way to install Parabola is by using the command line. This can be done via the MATE ISO (simply open a terminal window) but I decided to try the main ISO instead. Unfortunately, I found Parabola's installation guide rather unhelpful. The guide provides a very rough outline of what needs to be done and refers to the Arch Linux wiki for more information at every stage. I quickly found that, in effect, I needed to follow the Arch Linux install guide but keep an eye out for any Parabola-specific steps. The first such step was the verification of package signatures and at this point I ran into trouble: the output showed various error 404s and the command failed. I noted similar errors while installing the base system later on and I therefore decided to take the alternative route by first installing Arch with the MATE desktop and then migrating to Parabola.
Parabola's guide starts with a note about regenerating the Pacman keyring (Pacman is Arch's package manager). I wasn't sure whether or not the note was relevant as it referred to a news article from 2014. I decided to run the recommended commands, which was the wrong option - the output showed that the keyring I tried to install didn't exist. As I was unsure how to proceed I asked Parabola's IRC channel for help, and I was quickly told that it was obvious that the note in the guide was no longer relevant.
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 2017.05.28 -- Migrating from Arch to Parabola
(full image size: 188kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Interestingly, while I was in the IRC channel another user discovered that the Parabola website and repositories were down. This may well explain the errors I had encountered. In any case, after those issues were resolved the migration from Arch to Parabola went smoothly.
Your freedom
As mentioned, Parabola ships with the Linux-libre kernel and removes any non-free packages. The latter is achieved via the your-freedom package. The only job of this package is to conflict with all known non-free packages. When I migrated from Arch to Parabola and installed your-freedom it removed three such packages: intel-ucode (something to with Intel CPUs), libxnvctrl (something to do with NVIDIA) and ttf-ubuntu-font-family (a font I had installed in Arch).
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 2017.05.28 -- Installing the your-freedom package
(full image size: 221kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The blacklisted packages can be viewed either via the very useful packages section on the Parabola website or by running "pacman -Qi your-freedom" in a terminal. The list includes everything from web browsers (Firefox, Chromium, Opera, Vivaldi and QupZilla are all out) to VirtualBox, codecs (faac), firmware drivers (b43-firmware, broadcom-wl) and fonts, icon themes and wallpapers.
Another notable blacklisted package is yaourt, which is used to install packages from the Arch User Repository (AUR). yaourt is banned because it enables users to install non-free packages (or packages with proprietary dependencies). When I tried installing yaourt the package manager pointed out that it conflicts with your-freedom and asked if it was okay to remove the latter package. This made me realize that Parabola's approach to keeping the system libre isn't that different from, for instance, Debian's approach. In Debian, we can get access to forbidden fruits by appending "contrib non-free" to the repositories listed in the /etc/apt/sources.list file, while in Parabola you only need to remove the your-freedom package. Parabola obviously doesn't advertise this option and removing the your-freedom package would defeat the purpose of running the distro but it is worth noting that installing non-free software in Parabola is as easy as it gets.
Software and package management
The absence of access to the AUR somewhat limits the amount of software available but almost all the software I normally use was in the standard repositories. The only thing I couldn't install was tkPacman, a graphical front-end for the Pacman package manager. That meant I had to learn various Pacman commands for managing software. Pacman's syntax is rather terse but after a week or so I found I no longer needed a Pacman cheat-sheet.
During my trial I installed about two dozen applications, including Claws Mail, LibreOffice, GIMP, Scribus, Inkscape and Gvim. Arch is a rolling-release distro that aims to provide the latest and greatest software and most of the packages I installed were at the newest version. I encountered no issues while installing packages and updating the system.
Wi-fi again worked out of the box (using the r8169 driver) and I was able to play and edit media files, including MP3s. Playing DRM-protected DVDs obviously didn't work, and I also wasn't able to use my printer. For me this isn't much of an issue - I very rarely watch DVDs and I haven't used my printer for years - but for others this may be problematic.
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 2017.05.28 -- Trouble with printing pictures
(full image size: 265kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
As with the live CD, I did encounter issues with various applications. The first browser I installed was Iceweasel (version 54) which is a fork of Firefox created by Debian. The browser clearly has been heavily customized by the Parabola team. The default start page features advertisements for GNU and the GNU project's DRM-free campaign and the default search engine is searx, which aggregates search results from search engines like Google without tracking users. The about:addons page has been replaced with a web page that talks about a different browser, IceCat, and provides links to a small selection of GNU-approved add-ons. I'm not sure what other customizations have been made but Iceweasel was very buggy. Among others, entering a URL and hitting the Return key would often do nothing - instead, I had to click on the Go icon in the address bar to open a URL.
IceCat, a Firefox clone maintained the GNU project, worked slightly better. The browser is based on the extended support release of Firefox (version 52.1) and comes with four pre-installed add-ons: HTTPS Everywhere, HTML5 Video Everywhere, SpyBlock (based on Adblock Plus) and LibreJS. The latter extension alerts users if a web page uses non-free JavaScript and encourages people to complain to the website about this. Pretty much all websites I visited featured the ‘Complain' tab, including IceCat's add-on page and the searx page. Personally, I don't feel passionate enough about non-free JavaScript to lodge complaints to websites and I removed the add-on. I also had to remove the HTML5 Video Everywhere extension as it caused the audio of video files embedded on web pages to start playing automatically as soon as a page was loaded.
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre 2017.05.28 -- Finding non-free JavaScript
(full image size: 150kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
I had various annoying issues with other applications. After I had migrated from Arch, GTK+ version 2 applications such as Claws Mail, GIMP and HexChat didn't use the (default) MATE theme's window decorations and therefore featured the ugly, square scroll bars and buttons you might remember from Windows 95. Parabola's IRC channel was unable to help with that issue but I eventually managed to solve it by installing the gtk2+extra package. There were various other minor annoyances. To give just a few examples: in single window mode GIMP couldn't be maximized to full screen; zooming in or out in the Caja file manager didn't increase or decrease the size of files and folders without refreshing the page, and after installing Inkscape I found it had become the default document viewer.
Conclusions
Fully free distributions have been on my radar for many years. The reason I had never tried any of them is because I assumed many things wouldn't work. When I first started using Linux I often had to deal with wi-fi and sound troubles. I've never enjoyed dealing with such issues - copying commands that I don't quite understand from a guide which I hope is trustworthy just isn't for me. I anticipated I would need to, at the very least, invest in a wireless dongle but I was wrong; everything worked out of the box on my hardware.
What I hadn't expected is that I would encounter dozens of small bugs in applications that very rarely cause me issues in other Linux distros. I was able to resolve most of these issues and I realize that some of the "bugs" could be the result of my unfamiliarity with Arch (although, in my defense, the MATE desktop on the live ISO was buggy as well).
Another thing to mention is that the amount of software available is limited. For me this wasn't much of an issue, with one exception: the absence of the Chromium browser. I need to use the Google Authenticator extension for my work but, unfortunately, Chromium was removed from the repository in March this year due to "outstanding privacy and freedom violations". I understand the concerns about the browser - according to the Parabola mailing list the browser was blacklisted on the recommendation of Richard Stallman (founder of the GNU project and Free Software Foundation) because of "hundreds of lines of minified JavaScript, non-free plugins, DRM, hard-coded connections to google.com and privacy leaks". However, the removal of Chromium does present me with a stark and somewhat surreal choice: either I quit my job or, in the words of Dr Stallman, I lose my freedom. I am pragmatic enough to choose the latter option. Personally, I rather use a distro that gives me the option to use a minimal amount of non-free software.
That said, I would recommend Parabola to people who feel very strongly about free software. Parabola stands on a solid foundation, provides cutting edge software and almost all of Arch's outstanding documentation applies to Parabola. The installation and migration guides can be improved, some bugs need to be ironed out and a proper installer would be welcome but that shouldn't stop freedom-lovers from giving Parabola a try.
* * * * *
Hardware used for this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a Lenovo Z570 laptop with the following specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core i3-2350M, 2.3GHz
- Memory: 4GB of RAM
- Wireless network adaptor: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285
- Wired network adaptor: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E 05)
* * * * *
Visitor supplied rating
Parabola GNU/Linux-libre has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.2/10 from 6 review(s).
Have you used Parabola GNU/Linux-libre? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
|
| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Tails publishes updated roadmap, DragonFly BSD previews new ports system, new features coming to MINIX
The Tails distribution is a Debian-based project which provides secure and anonymous ways for people to communicate on-line and browse the web. The Tails project has laid out a roadmap of goals the developers have in an effort to make the distribution more useful and more secure. Some suggested items include making all project mirrors use secure HTTPS connections rather than plain HTTP, having key parts of the project audited to squash security bugs and switching from X to the Wayland display software. Another suggested item is basing the distribution on Debian's Testing branch to bring new features into Tails sooner. A full list of goals can be found on the project's roadmap page.
* * * * *
John Marino has been talking about a new method of building software packages from source code on the DragonFly BSD mailing list and FreeBSD forum. The new approach is called Ravenports and is presented as an alternative to other port frameworks like dports and pkgsrc. Ravenports seems to have a number of benefits over other build frameworks, including the ability to install multiple versions of packages and the ability to work across different operating systems. Marino writes: "The Ravenports have major technical advantages over FreeBSD ports such as: variant ports (similar to OpenBSD flavours, replaces FreeBSD master/slave ports). Sub-packages (ports can create one or more sub-packages, e.g. you can load just a Fortran runtime library instead of pulling in the entire GCC). Multiversioning (you can use Python2 and 3 simultaneously, PHP 5.6 and 7.1 simultaneously, Perl 5.24 and 5.26 simultaneously etc, and build packages for all versions in the same build instead of picking just one default). 2-4 orders of magnitude faster with regards to scanning and processing. Due to compilation of ravensources into ravenports, syntax checking and linting are inbuilt, eliminating all sources of common contributor issues. Built-in support for alternative versions of stock ports, aimed at corporate users to truly tailor for their needs. The other major advantage of course is that Ravenports is not anchored to a single operating system as FreeBSD ports and pkgsrc are. It's a true 'write once, build many' mechanism that require a minimal amount of platform-specific directives. This allows high-quality packages for all supported platforms, but the 'virtual machine' approach means each supported OS/architecture combination has to be bootstrapped (probably by me) which is a long and complex procedure. This leads to the drawback of Ravenports only being currently available on FreeBSD/amd64 (11+), DragonFly, and Linux." There are currently 1,852 Ravenports available. Additional information on Ravenports can be found on the project's website.
* * * * *
If you take the NetBSD operating system and replace its kernel with the MINIX microkernel, is the result NetBSD with a microkernel or a new evolution of MINIX? Whatever we choose to call it, MINIX founder Andrew Tanenbaum reports work on the project is coming along beautifully: "Based on the MINIX 3 microkernel, we have constructed a system that to the user looks a great deal like NetBSD. It uses pkgsrc, NetBSD headers and libraries, and passes over 80% of the KYUA tests). However, inside, the system is completely different. At the bottom is a small (about 13,000 lines of code) microkernel that handles interrupts, message passing, low-level scheduling, and hardware related details. Nearly all of the actual operating system, including memory management, the file system(s), paging, and all the device drivers run as user-mode processes protected by the MMU. As a consequence, failures or security issues in one component cannot spread to other ones. In some cases a failed component can be replaced automatically and on the fly, while the system is running, and without user processes noticing it." New work on the system will allow live upgrades between versions of the operating system without requiring a reboot. More information on Tanenbaum's work can be found in this write-up.
* * * * *
These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
|
| Tips and Tricks (by Jesse Smith) |
Running Plex Media Server on a Raspberry Pi
Over the weekend I was streaming music from one Internet radio station or another to my phone and thought I'd prefer to be playing music from my own collection. I have a selection of music files on my Raspberry Pi computer and I thought it would be convenient to be able to access and stream those files to mobile devices (and laptops) around the home.
At first I thought an easy and cross-platform way to go would be to run an Icecast streaming server, but that would cause the Pi to constantly read from its disk, even though the streaming service probably would only be used a few hours out of every day. Using an automated Icecast server would also mean music would play in a predetermined order rather than letting me select a specific song. I wanted a solution that would be idle most of the time, allow me to create playlists on the fly and be cross-platform. I eventually settled on installing Plex Media Server.
Plex, for those who have not used it before, is a combination of a media server and a client. The server software runs on a desktop, Pi or other always-on computer. The server side of Plex organizes media libraries, streams on-demand and can be controlled through a web-based interface. Client software is available in the form of native applications for Android, iOS, Windows, Ubuntu Touch, and desktop Linux distributions. Music and video can also be streamed to any modern web browser in case we are running an unsupported platform. Additional information on Plex and how it works can be found on the Plex website.
While Plex runs on a wide range of operating systems, I had trouble finding a pre-built binary for ARM devices like the Raspberry Pi. I eventually found a method for installing the Plex server software on the Raspbian operating system. The first thing we need to do is install a repository key so we can verify the Plex software. We can do this by downloading the key and installing it with these commands on the Raspbian operating system:
wget https://dev2day.de/pms/dev2day-pms.gpg.key
sudo apt-key add dev2day-pms.gpg.key
Next, on the Pi, we need to enable the Plex software repository:
sudo echo "deb http://dev2day.de/pms/ jessie main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plex.list
Our third step is to update our package manager so it knows about the Plex repository and then install the Plex Media Server software:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install plexmediaserver-installer
The above commands should download and install Plex. The server-side software should then be running on our Pi. If the Plex service is not running, we can start it by running
sudo service plexmediaserver start
If we are running a firewall, we should make sure there is no firewall rule blocking our access to the server. The Plex service runs on network port 32400 and we can open the port by running
sudo ufw allow 32400
At this point we can connect to the Plex service from another computer via our web browser. In my case my Pi is connected to my local network using IP address 192.168.2.88. I can therefore point the web browser of my laptop to http://192.168.2.88:32400/web/. The Plex web-based interface will ask me a few questions about the location of my media and give me a chance to name my Plex service on the local network. We have the option of creating an on-line Plex account so we can access our Plex server from outside the local network, but I skipped this step.
Plex Media Server 3.9.1 -- The Status page
(full image size: 823kB, resolution: 1240x1004 pixels)
Once the Plex service knew where my media was, I was able to play music through my web browser from any device in the home. I could also download native Plex apps for my various devices and, using the address 192.168.2.88, connect to my media server to stream music.
The Plex service worked quite well. The service ran smoothly on my Pi and could handle streaming to all my devices, both desktop computers and phones. The web interface is quite easy to navigate and responsive. I ran into just two concerns while using the Plex service.
The first was Plex used a lot of my Pi's CPU power and memory when I first installed the service. This resource usage dropped down a bit after Plex finished downloading meta data for music tracks. However, for the first few hours Plex maxed out my Pi's four CPU cores and memory, maintaining a load average of about 6.00. My second concern was the amount of disk space Plex uses or, more specifically, where it uses disk space. While my Pi stores my files on an external hard drive, Plex appears to be hard-wired to store its database and meta data under the /var/lib/plexmediaserver directory. On my system, /var is located on an 8GB SD card. Raspbian takes up about half the SD card and Plex used up most of the second half with its meta data. If you are going to use Plex on a Pi, make sure you have a larger SD card, or mount /var on a larger, external disk or USB thumb drive.
I considered my experiment with Plex to be a success. It was fairly quick to set up, streams on demand to every device in the house and has a simple interface guests can use without technical knowledge once they are given the server's URL.
* * * * *
More tips can be found in our Tips and Tricks archive.
|
| Released Last Week |
Tiny Core Linux 8.1
Tiny Core Linux is a very minimalist, independent distribution which can use extensions to increase its functionality. The latest version of the distribution, Tiny Core Linux 8.1, features mostly smaller updates and bug fixes. The short release announcement states: "Team Tiny Core is proud to announce the release of Core v8.1. Changelog for 8.1: patched busybox rpm2cpio lzma bug; tc-config: static ip - from andyj; added lzma functionality to busybox; busybox updated 1.25.1 -> 1.27.1; busybox CONFIG_FEATURE_SYSLOGD_READ_BUFFER_SIZE=512 re-established; duplicated busybox syminks removed. Note also that the firmware and tc-install content in the CorePlus ISO has been rationalised." Tiny Core Linux is available in 32-bit and 64-bit builds for the x86 architecture. There are three editions to choose from: Core for a command line only interface; TinyCore which features a minimal graphical environment; and CorePlus which offers an installation image, wireless drivers and multiple graphical interfaces.
Porteus Kiosk 4.5.0
Tomasz Jokiel has announced the availability of a new release of Porteus Kiosk, a Gentoo-based distribution used for exclusively running a web browser. The project's latest release, Porteus Kiosk 4.5.0, includes several package upgrades, including Linux 4.12, Firefox 52 ESR and Chrome 60. In addition, the distribution now supports configuring multiple touch screens connected to one computer. "Major software upgrades in this release include: Linux kernel 4.12.10, Mozilla Firefox 52.3.0 ESR and Google Chrome 60.0.3112.113. Packages from the userland are upgraded to portage snapshot tagged on 20170901. Short change log for 4.5.0 release: Added support for EAP over LAN (802.1x) authentication on wired connections. VNC and SSH daemons can be limited to listening on localhost interface. This is useful from security point of view as nobody can access the kiosk on public network interface. Mind that you'll have to use another service: Porteus Kiosk Server, Guacamole, NoVNC, etc in order to tunnel VNC or SSH traffic to kiosk's localhost interface. It is possible to calibrate multiple touchscreen devices which are connected to kiosk. Cloud and ThinClient systems no longer expose shutdown options by default. It is required to explicitly enable shutdown menu in kiosk configuration in order to allow restarting or powering off the PC by the users." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement.
Parted Magic 2017_09_05
Parted Magic is a live CD/USB commercial distribution which is designed to work with hard drives and disk partitions. The Parted Magic live disc can be used to manage partitions via GParted as well as rescue lost file with TestDisk. The project's latest release, Parted Magic 2017_09_95, ships with GParted 0.29.0, version 4.12.9 of the Linux kernel and packages to support both Btrfs and ZFS. The project's news page states: "This version of Parted Magic updates GParted, Clonezilla, Linux kernel and adds a few programs. GParted has been upgraded to version 0.29.0. Clonezilla has been updated to version 3.27.13, partclone to 0.2.91, and drbl to 2.25.6. The installation in Parted Magic has been tested by Steven Shiau. The Linux kernel has been updated to 4.12.9 and firmware as of 2017/08/28. Other updates: openvpn-2.3.17, nvme-cli-1.3, flashplayer-plugin-26.0.0.137, samba-4.4.15, mozilla-firefox-52.3.0esr, libtirpc-1.0.2, libgcrypt-1.7.8, gnupg-1.4.22, gd-2.2.4, e2fsprogs-1.43.5, curl-7.55.0, ca-certificates-20161130, btrfs-progs-v4.12, bind-9.10.5_P3, gsmartcontrol-1.0.2, zfs-on-linux-0.7.0, spl-solaris-0.7.0. Added programs: iproute2-4.4.0, iotop-0.6, ioping-0.9, fio-2.20, atop-2.2." The Parted Magic changelog has further details.
Untangle NG Firewall 13.1.0
Untangle NG Firewall is a Debian-based distribution for network gateways with pluggable modules for blocking spam, filtering websites, and providing firewall and VPN services. Untangle inc has unveiled a new version of the lightweight distribution, Untangle NG Firewall 13.1.0. "The v13.1 release features a new app, Tunnel VPN, plus improvements to Captive Portal, expanding Untangle NG Firewall's industry-leading connectivity and authentication capabilities to address the needs of distributed enterprises, branch offices, retailers, franchises and other organizations that rely on SD-WAN and secure Wi-Fi solutions... Tunnel VPN provides secure tunnels to remote servers and services and determines which traffic goes through these tunnels by leveraging Untangle's innovative tagging system, enabling administrators to set up dynamic, advanced routing that can automatically determine the best path to the WAN, ensuring network reliability and business continuity." The distribution's release announcement offers further details.
SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP3
SUSE has announced the release of a new service pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise. The new update, SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 3, runs on x86, ARM, PowerPC and z Systems architectures. The release announcement states the new update includes a number of improvements to virtualization and security: "SUSE Linux Enterprise has always been part of any 'zero downtime' solution. Now you can further enhance uptime with: Improved geo recovery management with a geo cluster bootstrap kit that simplifies cluster implementation. The ability to increase visibility and improve management of the high availability environment with an updated graphical user interface.Faster time to value with quick start guides for the High Availability and Geo Clustering extensions to help you get up and running quickly." Further information can be found in SUSE's Highlights (pdf) document. SUSE Linux Enterprise is a commercial product and is available with a 60 day free trial, available from the company's Download page.
Zorin OS 12.2
Zorin OS is a desktop Linux distribution which is designed to be user friendly and features a desktop environment familiar to people who are coming from the Microsoft Windows platform. Zorin OS features a Windows-like theme and the WINE compatibility software that allows users to run many Windows applications. The project has released an update to the distribution's 12.x series, Zorin OS 12.2. "We're pleased to announce the release of Zorin OS 12.2. This version brings new innovations from the open source community together with a familiar user interface, requiring nearly no learning curve for PC users. We have focused on refining the desktop environment and core technologies, readying the system for new classes of users seeking a faster, more powerful, and secure computing experience. The Zorin desktop environment has been upgraded with speed and stability optimizations to the software and more responsive user interaction. When using the default desktop layout, you can now hover over window previews in the panel to get a full-size peek, making it quicker to find what you're looking for. These improvements help make the Zorin OS desktop easier and more intuitive for newcomers." Additional details can be found in the project's release announcement.
Zorin OS 12.2 -- The default desktop and application menu
(full image size: 899kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels)
Oracle Linux 7.4
Scott Lynn has announced the release of Oracle Linux 7 Update 4, an updated build of the company's enterprise-class Linux distribution built from the source code for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 but featuring its own "unbreakable" kernel. This version was announced last month, but it was only yesterday that the installation DVD images appeared on public mirrors. From the release announcement: "Oracle is pleased to announce the general availability of Oracle Linux 7 Update 4 for x86-64 servers. What's new? Enhancements to Oracle Linux 7 included in this update are included for several key areas, including security, support for Cloud and Container environments, and performance. Oracle Linux 7 Update 4 continues to enhance your security stance with several new capabilities. UEFI Secure Boot - a system in Secure Boot mode loads only those boot loaders and kernels that have been signed by Oracle. Oracle has updated the kernel and GRUB 2 packages to sign them with a valid Extended Validation (EV) certificate. The EV certificate has been compiled into the shim binary and has been signed by Microsoft. OpenSSH now uses SHA-2 - by default, the algorithm for public key signatures that is used in this release is SHA-2." See also the release notes for technical details.
* * * * *
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
|
| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 562
- Total data uploaded: 15.5TB
|
| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
|
Summary of expected upcoming releases
|
| Opinion Poll |
Personal media server
In this week's Tips and Tricks column we discussed the steps required to set up a Plex media server on a Raspberry Pi computer. We would like to find out what our readers use to stream or share their own media.
Do you run a NAS with network shares, a Plex server, a Nextcloud audio player or maybe an Icecast streaming server? Let us know how you remotely access your audio files in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on the importance of using a specific package manager in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
|
Personal media server
| I run an on-demand media server (ex. Plex): | 177 (13%) |
| I run an always-on stream (ex. Icecast): | 16 (1%) |
| I serve media over network shares (ex. Samba/NFS): | 303 (22%) |
| I stream media from a sync server (ex. Nextcloud/ownCloud): | 22 (2%) |
| I use another method: | 105 (8%) |
| I do not stream my own media: | 770 (55%) |
|
|
| DistroWatch.com News |
New projects added to database
ClonOS
ClonOS is a free, open source FreeBSD-based platform for virtual environment creation and management. The project uses FreeBSD's development (-CURRENT) branch as its base. The operating system has a streamlined installer and features a web-based panel for managing virtual machines and FreeBSD jails.
ClonOS 12 -- Browsing jail templates
(full image size: 201kB, resolution: resolution: 1240x1004 pixels)
* * * * *
Distributions added to waiting list
- Xebian. Xebian a Linux distribution based on Debian's Unstable (Sid) branch. Xebian features the Xfce desktop environment.
- Clu-Linux-Live. Clu-Linux-Live is an Ubuntu-based live distribution which ships with utilities for accessing local disk drives and rescuing data.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 18 September 2017. Past articles and reviews can be found through our Article Search page. To contact the authors please send e-mail to:
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews/submissions, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, donations, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (podcast)
|
|
| Tip Jar |
If you've enjoyed this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly, please consider sending us a tip.
(Tips this week: 0, value: US$0.00) |
|
|
|
 bc1qxes3k2wq3uqzr074tkwwjmwfe63z70gwzfu4lx  lnurl1dp68gurn8ghj7ampd3kx2ar0veekzar0wd5xjtnrdakj7tnhv4kxctttdehhwm30d3h82unvwqhhxarpw3jkc7tzw4ex6cfexyfua2nr  86fA3qPTeQtNb2k1vLwEQaAp3XxkvvvXt69gSG5LGunXXikK9koPWZaRQgfFPBPWhMgXjPjccy9LA9xRFchPWQAnPvxh5Le paypal.me/distrowatchweekly • patreon.com/distrowatch |
|
| Extended Lifecycle Support by TuxCare |
|
|
|
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Archives |
| • Issue 1100 (2024-12-09): Oreon 9.3, differences in speed, IPFire's new appliance, Fedora Asahi Remix gets new video drivers, openSUSE Leap Micro updated, Redox OS running Redox OS |
| • Issue 1099 (2024-12-02): AnduinOS 1.0.1, measuring RAM usage, SUSE continues rebranding efforts, UBports prepares for next major version, Murena offering non-NFC phone |
| • Issue 1098 (2024-11-25): Linux Lite 7.2, backing up specific folders, Murena and Fairphone partner in fair trade deal, Arch installer gets new text interface, Ubuntu security tool patched |
| • Issue 1097 (2024-11-18): Chimera Linux vs Chimera OS, choosing between AlmaLinux and Debian, Fedora elevates KDE spin to an edition, Fedora previews new installer, KDE testing its own distro, Qubes-style isolation coming to FreeBSD |
| • Issue 1096 (2024-11-11): Bazzite 40, Playtron OS Alpha 1, Tucana Linux 3.1, detecting Screen sessions, Redox imports COSMIC software centre, FreeBSD booting on the PinePhone Pro, LXQt supports Wayland window managers |
| • Issue 1095 (2024-11-04): Fedora 41 Kinoite, transferring applications between computers, openSUSE Tumbleweed receives multiple upgrades, Ubuntu testing compiler optimizations, Mint partners with Framework |
| • Issue 1094 (2024-10-28): DebLight OS 1, backing up crontab, AlmaLinux introduces Litten branch, openSUSE unveils refreshed look, Ubuntu turns 20
| | • Issue 1093 (2024-10-21): Kubuntu 24.10, atomic vs immutable distributions, Debian upgrading Perl packages, UBports adding VoLTE support, Android to gain native GNU/Linux application support |
| • Issue 1092 (2024-10-14): FunOS 24.04.1, a home directory inside a file, work starts of openSUSE Leap 16.0, improvements in Haiku, KDE neon upgrades its base |
| • Issue 1091 (2024-10-07): Redox OS 0.9.0, Unified package management vs universal package formats, Redox begins RISC-V port, Mint polishes interface, Qubes certifies new laptop |
| • Issue 1090 (2024-09-30): Rhino Linux 2024.2, commercial distros with alternative desktops, Valve seeks to improve Wayland performance, HardenedBSD parterns with Protectli, Tails merges with Tor Project, Quantum Leap partners with the FreeBSD Foundation |
| • Issue 1089 (2024-09-23): Expirion 6.0, openKylin 2.0, managing configuration files, the future of Linux development, fixing bugs in Haiku, Slackware packages dracut |
| • Issue 1088 (2024-09-16): PorteuX 1.6, migrating from Windows 10 to which Linux distro, making NetBSD immutable, AlmaLinux offers hardware certification, Mint updates old APT tools |
| • Issue 1087 (2024-09-09): COSMIC desktop, running cron jobs at variable times, UBports highlights new apps, HardenedBSD offers work around for FreeBSD change, Debian considers how to cull old packages, systemd ported to musl |
| • Issue 1086 (2024-09-02): Vanilla OS 2, command line tips for simple tasks, FreeBSD receives investment from STF, openSUSE Tumbleweed update can break network connections, Debian refreshes media |
| • Issue 1085 (2024-08-26): Nobara 40, OpenMandriva 24.07 "ROME", distros which include source code, FreeBSD publishes quarterly report, Microsoft updates breaks Linux in dual-boot environments |
| • Issue 1084 (2024-08-19): Liya 2.0, dual boot with encryption, Haiku introduces performance improvements, Gentoo dropping IA-64, Redcore merges major upgrade |
| • Issue 1083 (2024-08-12): TrueNAS 24.04.2 "SCALE", Linux distros for smartphones, Redox OS introduces web server, PipeWire exposes battery drain on Linux, Canonical updates kernel version policy |
| • Issue 1082 (2024-08-05): Linux Mint 22, taking snapshots of UFS on FreeBSD, openSUSE updates Tumbleweed and Aeon, Debian creates Tiny QA Tasks, Manjaro testing immutable images |
| • Issue 1081 (2024-07-29): SysLinuxOS 12.4, OpenBSD gain hardware acceleration, Slackware changes kernel naming, Mint publishes upgrade instructions |
| • Issue 1080 (2024-07-22): Running GNU/Linux on Android with Andronix, protecting network services, Solus dropping AppArmor and Snap, openSUSE Aeon Desktop gaining full disk encryption, SUSE asks openSUSE to change its branding |
| • Issue 1079 (2024-07-15): Ubuntu Core 24, hiding files on Linux, Fedora dropping X11 packages on Workstation, Red Hat phasing out GRUB, new OpenSSH vulnerability, FreeBSD speeds up release cycle, UBports testing new first-run wizard |
| • Issue 1078 (2024-07-08): Changing init software, server machines running desktop environments, OpenSSH vulnerability patched, Peppermint launches new edition, HardenedBSD updates ports |
| • Issue 1077 (2024-07-01): The Unity and Lomiri interfaces, different distros for different tasks, Ubuntu plans to run Wayland on NVIDIA cards, openSUSE updates Leap Micro, Debian releases refreshed media, UBports gaining contact synchronisation, FreeDOS celebrates its 30th anniversary |
| • Issue 1076 (2024-06-24): openSUSE 15.6, what makes Linux unique, SUSE Liberty Linux to support CentOS Linux 7, SLE receives 19 years of support, openSUSE testing Leap Micro edition |
| • Issue 1075 (2024-06-17): Redox OS, X11 and Wayland on the BSDs, AlmaLinux releases Pi build, Canonical announces RISC-V laptop with Ubuntu, key changes in systemd |
| • Issue 1074 (2024-06-10): Endless OS 6.0.0, distros with init diversity, Mint to filter unverified Flatpaks, Debian adds systemd-boot options, Redox adopts COSMIC desktop, OpenSSH gains new security features |
| • Issue 1073 (2024-06-03): LXQt 2.0.0, an overview of Linux desktop environments, Canonical partners with Milk-V, openSUSE introduces new features in Aeon Desktop, Fedora mirrors see rise in traffic, Wayland adds OpenBSD support |
| • Issue 1072 (2024-05-27): Manjaro 24.0, comparing init software, OpenBSD ports Plasma 6, Arch community debates mirror requirements, ThinOS to upgrade its FreeBSD core |
| • Issue 1071 (2024-05-20): Archcraft 2024.04.06, common command line mistakes, ReactOS imports WINE improvements, Haiku makes adjusting themes easier, NetBSD takes a stand against code generated by chatbots |
| • Issue 1070 (2024-05-13): Damn Small Linux 2024, hiding kernel messages during boot, Red Hat offers AI edition, new web browser for UBports, Fedora Asahi Remix 40 released, Qubes extends support for version 4.1 |
| • Issue 1069 (2024-05-06): Ubuntu 24.04, installing packages in alternative locations, systemd creates sudo alternative, Mint encourages XApps collaboration, FreeBSD publishes quarterly update |
| • Issue 1068 (2024-04-29): Fedora 40, transforming one distro into another, Debian elects new Project Leader, Red Hat extends support cycle, Emmabuntus adds accessibility features, Canonical's new security features |
| • Issue 1067 (2024-04-22): LocalSend for transferring files, detecting supported CPU architecure levels, new visual design for APT, Fedora and openSUSE working on reproducible builds, LXQt released, AlmaLinux re-adds hardware support |
| • Issue 1066 (2024-04-15): Fun projects to do with the Raspberry Pi and PinePhone, installing new software on fixed-release distributions, improving GNOME Terminal performance, Mint testing new repository mirrors, Gentoo becomes a Software In the Public Interest project |
| • Issue 1065 (2024-04-08): Dr.Parted Live 24.03, answering questions about the xz exploit, Linux Mint to ship HWE kernel, AlmaLinux patches flaw ahead of upstream Red Hat, Calculate changes release model |
| • Issue 1064 (2024-04-01): NixOS 23.11, the status of Hurd, liblzma compromised upstream, FreeBSD Foundation focuses on improving wireless networking, Ubuntu Pro offers 12 years of support |
| • Issue 1063 (2024-03-25): Redcore Linux 2401, how slowly can a rolling release update, Debian starts new Project Leader election, Red Hat creating new NVIDIA driver, Snap store hit with more malware |
| • Issue 1062 (2024-03-18): KDE neon 20240304, changing file permissions, Canonical turns 20, Pop!_OS creates new software centre, openSUSE packages Plasma 6 |
| • Issue 1061 (2024-03-11): Using a PinePhone as a workstation, restarting background services on a schedule, NixBSD ports Nix to FreeBSD, Fedora packaging COSMIC, postmarketOS to adopt systemd, Linux Mint replacing HexChat |
| • Issue 1060 (2024-03-04): AV Linux MX-23.1, bootstrapping a network connection, key OpenBSD features, Qubes certifies new hardware, LXQt and Plasma migrate to Qt 6 |
| • Issue 1059 (2024-02-26): Warp Terminal, navigating manual pages, malware found in the Snap store, Red Hat considering CPU requirement update, UBports organizes ongoing work |
| • Issue 1058 (2024-02-19): Drauger OS 7.6, how much disk space to allocate, System76 prepares to launch COSMIC desktop, UBports changes its version scheme, TrueNAS to offer faster deduplication |
| • Issue 1057 (2024-02-12): Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta, rolling release vs fixed for a smoother experience, Debian working on 2038 bug, elementary OS to split applications from base system updates, Fedora announces Atomic Desktops |
| • Issue 1056 (2024-02-05): wattOS R13, the various write speeds of ISO writing tools, DSL returns, Mint faces Wayland challenges, HardenedBSD blocks foreign USB devices, Gentoo publishes new repository, Linux distros patch glibc flaw |
| • Issue 1055 (2024-01-29): CNIX OS 231204, distributions patching packages the most, Gentoo team presents ongoing work, UBports introduces connectivity and battery improvements, interview with Haiku developer |
| • Issue 1054 (2024-01-22): Solus 4.5, comparing dd and cp when writing ISO files, openSUSE plans new major Leap version, XeroLinux shutting down, HardenedBSD changes its build schedule |
| • Issue 1053 (2024-01-15): Linux AI voice assistants, some distributions running hotter than others, UBports talks about coming changes, Qubes certifies StarBook laptops, Asahi Linux improves energy savings |
| • Issue 1052 (2024-01-08): OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, keeping shell commands running when theterminal closes, Mint upgrades Edge kernel, Vanilla OS plans big changes, Canonical working to make Snap more cross-platform |
| • Issue 1051 (2024-01-01): Favourite distros of 2023, reloading shell settings, Asahi Linux releases Fedora remix, Gentoo offers binary packages, openSUSE provides full disk encryption |
| • Issue 1050 (2023-12-18): rlxos 2023.11, renaming files and opening terminal windows in specific directories, TrueNAS publishes ZFS fixes, Debian publishes delayed install media, Haiku polishes desktop experience |
| • Issue 1049 (2023-12-11): Lernstick 12, alternatives to WINE, openSUSE updates its branding, Mint unveils new features, Lubuntu team plans for 24.04 |
| • Issue 1048 (2023-12-04): openSUSE MicroOS, the transition from X11 to Wayland, Red Hat phasing out X11 packages, UBports making mobile development easier |
| • Issue 1047 (2023-11-27): GhostBSD 23.10.1, Why Linux uses swap when memory is free, Ubuntu Budgie may benefit from Wayland work in Xfce, early issues with FreeBSD 14.0 |
| • Issue 1046 (2023-11-20): Slackel 7.7 "Openbox", restricting CPU usage, Haiku improves font handling and software centre performance, Canonical launches MicroCloud |
| • Full list of all issues |
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
|
| Random Distribution | 
Rescatux
Rescatux is a Debian-based GNU/Linux live distribution that includes a graphical wizard for rescuing broken GNU/Linux installations. The available rescue options include restoring the GRUB bootloader after a Windows installation, Linux and Windows password resets, and Linux file system checks.
Status: Dormant
|
| TUXEDO |
TUXEDO Computers - Linux Hardware in a tailor made suite
Choose from a wide range of laptops and PCs in various sizes and shapes at TUXEDOComputers.com. Every machine comes pre-installed and ready-to-run with Linux. Full 24 months of warranty and lifetime support included!
Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
|
|
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
