 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 835, 7 October 2019 |
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Welcome to this year's 40th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The freedom open source software provides to developers allows for a great deal of experimentation. Someone is always creating a new tool, a new desktop feature, or a distribution with a special focus. This week we explore a wide variety of programs, open source operating systems, and tools. We begin with three quick looks at young projects on our waiting list: Isotop, Mazon OS, and KduxOS. All three have completely different goals and designs and each is relatively new too, making for a mixed experience. Read on to learn more about these three projects. In our News section we talk about Solus developers updating the distribution's supported desktop environments while OpenMandriva manages to build the Linux kernel with an alternative compiler. We also talk about Linux Mint's new, proactive tools for system maintenance and Arch Linux's new mandatory base package. Then Matt Zand shares examples of the flexible find command in action. The find command locates files on the disk and Zand shows off ten ways to get the most out of this command line utility. Then we are pleased to share the releases of the past week and list the torrents we are seeding. In our Opinion Poll we ask which Ubuntu flavour you think we should review when Ubuntu 19.10 and its community editions launch later this month. We wish you all a wonderful week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: Isotop, Mazon OS, and KduxOS
- News: Solus updates supported desktops, OpenMandriva compiles kernel with Clang, Linux Mint makes System Reports proactive, Arch Linux introduces new base package
- Tips and tricks: How to find files by multiple criteria in Linux
- Torrent corner: 4MLinux, Arch, AUSTRUMI, GParted, Project Trident, Raspbian, SparkyLinux, Volumio
- Upcoming releases: FreeBSD 12.1-RC1
- Opinion poll: Which Ubuntu flavour should we review?
- New distributions: OpenStage Linux
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (15MB) and MP3 (11MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
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Isotop, Mazon OS, and KduxOS
This past week I took the opportunity to browse three of the items on the DistroWatch waiting list to see what new and interesting ideas were being presented. I then experimented with the following intriguing projects.
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Isotop 651 - OpenBSD with desktop customisations
The first project I looked at was Isotop. Originally, Isotop began as a derivative of OpenBSD that ran the Xfce desktop and shipped its own installation media. The project's developer e-mailed me to say Isotop no longer spins its own media. Instead, Isotop provides a script which can be run on a vanilla install of OpenBSD (version 6.5 and higher are supported). The idea is that we install OpenBSD and then download and run the Isotop script. The script automates setting up the CWM window manager, CUPS for printing support; enables some command line aliases; installs a music player, the PCManFM file manager, and the doas utility for performing privileged tasks. A complete list of changes the script can make is listed in the project's documentation (available in French and English).
I began my experiment by installing OpenBSD's AMD64 (x86_64) build. I installed the base system, plus graphical packages. Then I downloaded the Isotop script and ran the file. One of the first things the script does is verify its checksum and this checked failed, causing the script to abort. I downloaded the script and its checksum file to another computer and confirmed that while the checksums and contents of the files on both computers were identical, the script was correct: its checksum did not match the ones published for verification purposes.
Usually this indicates a file has been corrupted or altered, but I suspect in this case it simply means the script has been updated while the verification data has not. At any rate, this correctly prevents the script from executing and brought my trial to a premature close.
My impression of Isotop at the moment is that the script does several nice, small configuration steps for the user. At least in theory. The script doesn't do anything really big, but it certainly offers some good time-saving options, according to the documentation. Hopefully the checksum bug is fixed soon as, at the moment, that is a barrier to trying out the customization script.
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Mazon OS 1.4-3 Beta - Linux From Scratch with a banana
The next project on my list was Mazon OS 1.4-3. The distribution, which is currently in Beta development, is based on Linux From Scratch (LFS) and sticks to the Keep It Simple philosophy of system design. The distribution reportedly has a minimal base system, runs SysV init, and uses a custom package manager called BananaPKG.
The distribution's documentation lays out a series of installation instructions which are similar in style to those used by Arch Linux.
The distribution ships a 1.7GB ISO file which boots to a text console. I was able to sign into the root account using the password "root". At this point I ran into a serious problem: the distribution incorrectly mapped my keyboard, meaning the keys I typed did not result in the same characters appearing on the screen. This made it difficult to run some commands, and prohibited the running of several of the commands in the installation guide.
The distribution's manual offers a suggestion for changing the keyboard mapping, but it only works in desktop sessions, and was not useful when working from a text terminal. At first I had thought I could use steps similar to those used by Arch or Debian to change keyboard layouts from the command line, but those standard methods did not work.
I had hoped to try Mazon OS, if for no other reason than I was curious to try the BananaPKG package manager. I like low-level tools that maintain a simple, UNIX-style approach, but this distribution will need to wait for another time.
* * * * *
KduxOS 0.1.2 Alpha - Arch with an installer
At this point in my week I was, as they say, oh-for-two, and cast about for another project to try. KduxOS caught my eye. The project is still in its very early stages (version 0.1.2 Alpha is the latest release at the time of writing). KduxOS is an Arch-based project available in two editions: Standard and Desktop. The Standard edition provides a minimal, console-only environment while the Desktop edition provides a lightweight graphical interface.
KduxOS is a lightweight Linux distro based on Arch Linux, it aims to provide a better out-of-the-box installation. It comes with terminal based utilities like neovim, tmux, and ranger. There are currently two editions - Desktop and Standard. The Desktop edition comes with a graphical session using Openbox, polybar and jgmenu. The standard edition is a text-based release that gives users the most basic experience with KduxOS.
There are several distributions which try to make it easier to install Arch Linux, but most of them run a full featured desktop environment, such as Xfce. I was curious to see what it would be like to run an Arch-based system that, after installing, would stick to a bare minimum of tools.
I downloaded both editions of Kdux which are built for 64-bit (x86_86) machines exclusively. The ISO files weigh in at 664MB (for the Standard edition) and 1.3GB (for the Desktop edition). I got started with the Desktop edition first.
KduxOS 0.1.2 -- Running the KduxOS Desktop edition in a virtual machine
(full image size: 49kB, resolution: 800x600 pixels)
The Desktop edition boots to a graphical interface and presents us with the Openbox window manager. There are just a few tools installed in the live environment, such as a terminal, Firefox, and text editor. We can access these tools by right-clicking on the desktop. The Openbox interface is pleasantly responsive and the included tools seemed to be working. I then went looking for the system installer, but was unable to find it. I explored the menu and checked the project's website, but did not find any clues for running the installer from the live session.
I switched over to the Standard version of Kdux, which boots to a text console where we can sign into the root account without a password. The Standard edition (like the Desktop edition) uses zsh as the default shell. The text console provides access to some basic GNU/Linux tools, and runs the systemd init software, but otherwise is quite bare and uncluttered.
Once again I ran into the problem of figuring out how to install the distribution. There was no "install" or "installer" file and I didn't find any documentation to explain how to get the operating system onto the disk. After a while I discovered that the message of the day file (/etc/motd) contains one line which tells us to run the command kdux-install-cli to launch the installer. Usually the message of the day is displayed when a user logs in, however the first thing Kdux does when we sign in is clear the text console, thus preventing this tip from being shown. (The Desktop edition does not have the kdux-install-cli program and the Desktop message of the day file is empty.)
Installing
The Kdux installer is a text-based program which begins by showing us the GNU Public License (GPLv3) and asking us to accept it. Then we are asked to provide the name of our "target disk". No hints are given here as to our options so I typed in /dev/sda which was accepted. We are then asked if we want to use UEFI support. At this point the Pacman package manager is used to download packages over the network and install them to our hard drive without any further questions being asked. We are not given a chance to partition the drive, select a filesystem, or confirm we want to proceed. The disk is wiped and assigned one ext4 partition for Kdux. A boot loader is also installed for us without first asking for confirmation. In other words, be careful with Kdux, it may wipe out existing operating systems when you try to install it.
The installer does ask us two more questions. We are asked to type our time zone's name (for instance "America/New York". We are also asked to type our preferred language and country code, for instance "en-US". We need to know these and type them, there is no list or default selection to choose. The total install time was, according to zsh, 12 minutes. When the installer is finished we can reboot to try out the local copy of Kdux.
Early impressions
Kdux boots to a console environment where we can once against sign in as the root user without a password. (Passwords can be set once we login.) The default installation is fairly minimal. The operating system uses just 2.5GB of space and consumes 35MB of memory. The GNU command line tools and manual pages are installed. The systemd init software and an up to date Linux kernel are installed. There is no compiler or development tools.
By default there is no network connection enabled. We can run the dhcpcd command to get a dynamic, wired address. Otherwise we need to manually set up networking. Once we get on-line, the Pacman package manager can be used to install and upgrade packages. Pacman connects to the Arch Linux repositories.
At this point, as far as I could tell, there is virtually no difference between running Arch Linux with the zsh shell and running Kdux. We have the same base packages, the same repositories, the same Arch documentation seems to be relevant. We are given the bare minimum building blocks for a distribution and left to build whatever operating system we want from the pieces.
Hardware support, out of the box is limited. Kdux was unable to detect my laptop's wireless card, preventing me from getting on-line. The distribution ran smoothly in a VirtualBox instance, but was unable to use more than a 800x600 resolution.
I'm not sure I see many benefits to using Kdux instead of plain Arch. The install process is less flexible and at least as cryptic, but once it is up and running, Kdux and Arch appear to be virtually identical. The one perk to using Kdux seems to be the Desktop edition which allows us to test our hardware prior to installing. However, this benefit is somewhat balanced by the apparent lack of installer on the Desktop edition, meaning I had to download the Desktop edition to test Kdux on my hardware and then use the Standard edition to install the distribution. I could have set up Arch in a similar amount of time with one download and without wiping out the contents of my hard drive.
* * * * *
Each of these projects is fairly young and they do not have many resources. Some, particularly Isotop, are working with some interesting ideas, and all of them seem to seek to add value to their parent distributions. However, at this stage they all have issues to work out in key areas before I would recommend trying to use them.
* * * * *
Hardware used in this review
My physical test equipment for this review was a de-branded HP laptop with the following
specifications:
- Processor: Intel i3 2.5GHz CPU
- Display: Intel integrated video
- Storage: Western Digital 700GB hard drive
- Memory: 6GB of RAM
- Wired network device: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast
- Wireless network device: Realtek RTL8188EE Wireless network card
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
Solus updates supported desktops, OpenMandriva compiles kernel with Clang, Linux Mint makes System Reports proactive
The Solus team has announced a series of updates and improvements to each of the distribution's supported desktop environments. In particular, Budgie received several enhancements, gaining improved menu handling, new font options, and the ability to work with multiple modern versions of the GNOME software stack. "Budgie 10.5.1 introduces a few new goodies to make your Budgie experience, as well as those of our Budgie theme authors, even better! Budgie 10.5.1 introduces hinting and anti-aliasing settings in our Fonts section of Budgie Desktop Settings, allowing you even more flexibility with how document, interface, monospace, and window title fonts render. For font hinting, you can choose between a range of options ranging from no font hinting to full font hinting. For anti-aliasing, you can choose between subpixel anti-aliasing, standard grayscale, and no anti-aliasing." Details on these improvements and updates to Solus's other desktops can be found in the project's blog post.
* * * * *
Most Linux distributions use the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) to translate source code into binary programs that our computers can run. However, one distribution has been using the Clang compiler to build packages. Clang is generally well known in the BSD communities for having a more liberal license and clearer diagnostic messages, but it has not been widely adopting in the Linux community. In fact, until recently, Clang was unable to build the Linux kernel because Linux uses many GCC-specific features. This is changing as OpenMandriva can now build the Linux kernel using the latest version of Clang. Since GCC and Clang produce slightly different code and warnings, testing both on the same software package can reveal bugs or potential logic problems which would otherwise go unnoticed when just one compiler is used. Getting the kernel, and other packages, compiled with Clang is likely to result in more robust software for all Linux users.
* * * * *
The Linux Mint team is improving their distribution's System Reports tool. The System Reports utility is a desktop application for browsing system information. Originally, it was used to browse through basic information and crash reports, but now System Reports is taking on a more proactive role: "Going forward it will run in the background and let you know when issues require your attention. This allows us to communicate with you and to help you in a way we couldn't before. Unlike the documentation and the release notes which are generic and targeted at all users, this tool allows us to show information and solutions which are relevant to you specifically, and if we know how to fix them, to provide you with a button you can click to solve things easily. So far the tool checks: If a new version of Linux Mint is available. If your version of Linux Mint is getting close to EOL. If your Timeshift configuration is set up (the Update Manager won't care about this anymore). If there are drivers available. If you are missing language packs. If you are missing multimedia codecs." Further information on System Reports and the upcoming MintBox 3 hardware can be found in the project's monthly newsletter.
* * * * *
The Arch Linux team has published a notice about a change to the distribution which requires manual intervention. The announcement reads: "The base group has been replaced by a meta-package of the same name, we advise users to install this package (pacman -Syu base), as it is effectively mandatory from now on. Users requesting support are expected to be running a system with the base package. Addendum:
Be aware that base as it stands does not currently contain: a kernel; an editor; filesystem tools (e.g. e2fsprogs); and other software that you might expect. You will have to install these separately on new installations."
* * * * *
These and other news stories can be found on our Headlines page.
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| Tips and Tricks (by Matt Zand) |
How to find files by multiple criteria in Linux
Back in August we explored several ways to locate files on a Linux system. This week we are taking a more detailed approach to locating files on the system using the find command.
Imagine your new project or task at work is to find files that meet multiple criteria, then you wonder how you can achieve it. In this tutorial, I walk you through some hands-on examples to give you a better idea on how to run find commands in Linux for search for files.
As a reminder, beginner knowledge of Linux OS is required to proceed. If you are not familiar with Linux filesystem, here is a good article to learn it in depth.
You can combine many of find's options to find files that match multiple criteria. Here are two examples that show you how to combine multiple criteria.
Example 1: To list files in your home directory whose names begin with the string 'boy', and that are newer than the file '/etc/motd', type:
find ~ -name 'boy*' -newer /etc/motd
This command will search all directories on the system to which you have access; without execute permission for a directory, find will report that permission is denied to search the directory. Also, the '-name' option is case sensitive; use the similar '-iname' option to locate a file by name regardless of case.
Example 2: To compress all the files in your home directory that are 3 megabytes or larger, and that are not already compressed with gzip (having a '.gz' file name extension), type:
find ~ -size +3000000c -regex '.*[^gz]' -exec gzip '{}' ';'
Example 3: To list all files on the system whose names begin with the characters 'boy', type:
find / -name 'boy*'
Example 4: To list all files whose names begin with the four characters 'alex' followed by exactly two more characters, type:
find / -name 'alex??'
Example 5: To list all files whose names begin with the two characters 'up' followed by four or more characters, type:
find / -name 'up????*'
Example 6: To list all files in your home directory that end in '.png', regardless of case sensitivity, type:
find ~ -iname '*.png'
Example 7: To list the files in the '/usr/var' directory that were modified exactly 24 hours ago, type:
find /usr/var -mtime 1
Example 8: To list the files in the '/usr' directory tree that were modified exactly 10 minutes ago, type:
find /usr -mmin 10
Example 9: To find all files in the '~/html/' directory with an '.html' extension, and output lines from these files that contain the string 'book', type:
find ~/html/ -name '*.html' -exec grep book '{}' ';'
In this example, the command "grep book" is executed for each file that find finds, with file being the name of each file in turn.
Example 10: To find files in the '/etc' directory that are newer than the file '/etc/motd', type:
find /etc -newer /etc/motd
Additional information on the find command can be found in its manual page and in the simplified manual page.
* * * * *
About the author
This tutorial is written by Matt Zand who is the founder of High School Technology Services, DC Web Makers and Coding Bootcamps. He has written extensively on advance topics on web design, mobile App development and blockchain. He is a senior editor at Touchstone Words where he writes and reviews coding and technology articles. He is also senior instructor and developer living in Washington DC. You can follow him on Linkedin.
* * * * *
Additional tips can be found in our Tips and Tricks archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 1,640
- Total data uploaded: 28.4TB
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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) |
Which Ubuntu flavour should we review?
In a few weeks Canonical will launch Ubuntu 19.10 and it will be accompanied by about half a dozen community editions, featuring various alternative desktops and utilities. Which of the many Ubuntu flavours would you like to see us review when 19.10 becomes available?
You can see the results of our previous poll on reasons for using portable packages in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Which Ubuntu flavour should we review?
| Ubuntu: | 399 (17%) |
| Kubuntu: | 436 (18%) |
| Lubuntu: | 223 (9%) |
| Ubuntu Budgie: | 152 (6%) |
| Ubuntu Kylin: | 33 (1%) |
| Ubuntu MATE: | 411 (17%) |
| Ubuntu Studio: | 179 (8%) |
| Xubuntu: | 548 (23%) |
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| Website News (by Jesse Smith) |
Distributions added to waiting list
- OpenStage Linux. OpenStage Linux is an Arch-based, rolling release distribution. The project features the KDE Plasma desktop and is available in two editions: systemd and OpenRC. The OpenRC build is based on Artix.
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DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 14 October 2019. 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)
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| Archives |
| • Issue 1156 (2026-01-19): Chimera Linux's new installer, using the DistroWatch Torrent Corner, new package tools for Arch, Haiku improves EFI support, Redcore streamlines branches, Synex introduces install-time ZFS options |
| • Issue 1155 (2026-01-12): MenuetOS, CDE on Sparky, iDeal OS 2025.12.07, recommended flavour of BSD, Debian seeks new Data Protection Team, Ubuntu 25.04 nears its end of life, Google limits Android source code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM, Budgie migrates to Wayland |
| • Issue 1154 (2026-01-05): postmarketOS 25.06/25.12, switching to Linux and educational resources, FreeBSD improving laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, new X11 server in development, CachyOS team plans server edtion |
| • Issue 1153 (2025-12-22): Best projects of 2025, is software ever truly finished?, Firefox to adopt AI components, Asahi works on improving the install experience, Mageia presents plans for version 10 |
| • Issue 1152 (2025-12-15): OpenBSD 7.8, filtering websites, Jolla working on a Linux phone, Germany saves money with Linux, Ubuntu to package AMD tools, Fedora demonstrates AI troubleshooting, Haiku packages Go language |
| • Issue 1151 (2025-12-08): FreeBSD 15.0, fun command line tricks, Canonical presents plans for Ubutnu 26.04, SparkyLinux updates CDE packages, Redox OS gets modesetting driver |
| • Issue 1150 (2025-12-01): Gnoppix 25_10, exploring if distributions matter, openSUSE updates tumbleweed's boot loader, Fedora plans better handling of broken packages, Plasma to become Wayland-only, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1149 (2025-11-24): MX Linux 25, why are video drivers special, systemd experiments with musl, Debian Libre Live publishes new media, Xubuntu reviews website hack |
| • Issue 1148 (2025-11-17): Zorin OS 18, deleting a file with an unusual name, NetBSD experiments with sandboxing, postmarketOS unifies its documentation, OpenBSD refines upgrades, Canonical offers 15 years of support for Ubuntu |
| • Issue 1147 (2025-11-10): Fedora 43, the size and stability of the Linux kernel, Debian introducing Rust to APT, Redox ports web engine, Kubuntu website off-line, Mint creates new troubleshooting tools, FreeBSD improves reproducible builds, Flatpak development resumes |
| • Issue 1146 (2025-11-03): StartOS 0.4.0, testing piped commands, Ubuntu Unity seeks help, Canonical offers Ubuntu credentials, Red Hat partners with NVIDIA, SUSE to bundle AI agent with SLE 16 |
| • Issue 1145 (2025-10-27): Linux Mint 7 "LMDE", advice for new Linux users, AlmaLinux to offer Btrfs, KDE launches Plasma 6.5, Fedora accepts contributions written by AI, Ubuntu 25.10 fails to install automatic updates |
| • Issue 1144 (2025-10-20): Kubuntu 25.10, creating and restoring encrypted backups, Fedora team debates AI, FSF plans free software for phones, ReactOS addresses newer drivers, Xubuntu reacts to website attack |
| • Issue 1143 (2025-10-13): openSUSE 16.0 Leap, safest source for new applications, Redox introduces performance improvements, TrueNAS Connect available for testing, Flatpaks do not work on Ubuntu 25.10, Kamarada plans to switch its base, Solus enters new epoch, Frugalware discontinued |
| • Issue 1142 (2025-10-06): Linux Kamarada 15.6, managing ZIP files with SQLite, F-Droid warns of impact of Android lockdown, Alpine moves ahead with merged /usr, Cinnamon gets a redesigned application menu |
| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
| • Issue 1140 (2025-09-22): NetBSD 10.1, avoiding AI services, AlmaLinux enables CRB repository, Haiku improves disk access performance, Mageia addresses service outage, GNOME 49 released, Linux introduces multikernel support |
| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • 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 |
| • Full list of all issues |
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| Random Distribution | 
OpenBSD
The OpenBSD project produces a free, multi-platform BSD 4.4-based UNIX-like operating system. Its efforts emphasize portability, standardisation, correctness, proactive security and integrated cryptography. The project also develops the widely-used and popular OpenSSH (OpenBSD Secure Shell) software, which provides encrypted communication sessions over a computer network using the SSH protocol.
Status: Active
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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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