 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 874, 13 July 2020 |
Welcome to this year's 28th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
The openSUSE project recently published a new version of the distribution's Leap branch. The new 15.2 version introduces a number of new data analysis packages, installer improvements, and software upgrades. We begin this week with an overview of how openSUSE works and some of its key features. One of openSUSE's special features is running the operating system on Btrfs by default, which allows for regular filesystem snapshots to be created automatically. We would like to hear whether you make use of Btrfs, or another advanced filesystem, in our Opinion Poll. In our News section we discuss CentOS Stream getting optional real-time packages while Canonical publishes instructions for using Google's Flutter toolkit on Linux distributions. The Linux Mint team has provided instructions for upgrading to Linux Mint 20 and we link to those below. Then we tackle some of the pros and cons to various portable packaging approaches in our Questions and Answers column. Plus we are pleased to share last week's releases and list the torrents we are seeding. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
Content:
- Review: openSUSE 15.2 Leap
- News: CentOS to receive real-time packages, Ubuntu introduces Flutter toolkit, Mint provides upgrade guide
- Questions and answers: Exploring alternatives to Flatpak and Snap packages
- Released last week: SparkyLinux 5.12, Clonezilla Live 2.6.7-28, NomadBSD 1.3.2
- Torrent corner: ArcoLinux, Clonezilla, Endless OS, GParted, KDE neon, Neptune, Obarun, Robolinux, SparkyLinux
- Opinion poll: Installing a distro on Btrfs
- Reader comments
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (17MB) and MP3 (12MB) formats.
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
openSUSE 15.2 Leap
openSUSE is a general purpose, Linux-based operating system which shares code with SUSE Linux Enterprise. The project provides two main branches: Leap, which is a fixed release distribution, and a rolling branch called Tumbleweed. The project recently published version 15.2 of the Leap branch which introduces a number of new features and package updates. Selecting whether to install CPU attack migrations is now an installer option and detecting Windows partitions during the initial setup now works better. The project has also introduced a number of new container management and data analysis tools. The distribution currently provides 18 months of support for each version, with new point releases generally coming out about once per year. Popular desktop environments have been updated with KDE Plasma 5.18, GNOME 3.34, and Xfce 4.14 available.
There are a number of ways to download openSUSE 15.2. The distribution is available as a 4GB install disc for 64-bit (x86_64) computers or as a 138MB net-install disc. There are also live desktop editions for GNOME, KDE Plasma, and a minimal rescue flavour. These live discs can be downloaded for x86_64 and aarch64 computers. There are some secondary ports to other architectures too, available as full install and net-install discs. I decided to download the Plasma live edition to make testing easier and found it was 910MB in size.
The openSUSE website lists hardware requirements for the distribution, which I suspect are actually higher than necessary. Users are told they need to have a dual-core 2GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 40GB of disk space. Though my testing showed that the distribution can get by with fewer resources if need be.
Live disc
Booting from the live media brings up a menu asking if we would like to start the live desktop environment, perform a media check, or try to boot an existing operating system from the hard drive. Taking the live desktop option loads the KDE Plasma desktop. Icons on the desktop can launch the system installer, start an upgrade process from a previous version of openSUSE, and open the file manager. A panel placed along the bottom of the screen houses the application menu on the left and the system tray on the right.
There was no welcome window, documentation, or other introduction items on the desktop. Everything seemed to be running smoothly and so I soon launched the openSUSE system installer.
Installing
openSUSE uses a graphical installer. The installer began by downloading information from some servers and, though it was not explicitly stated, it appears as though this information is likely package repository data. We are then shown the project's license and given the opportunity to change the default language and keyboard layout using drop-down lists.
The following screen asks if we would like to activate on-line repositories, presumably to check for the latest possible versions of packages and optional add-ons. We can then select which repositories we want to use. Most of these are the project's main repositories and updates, but there are also some extra repositories containing source code and debugging information. Our next step is to pick a role for our operating system with options including Desktop (with KDE Plasma), Desktop (with GNOME), a minimal generic desktop, Server, and Transactional Server. The last option is essentially the same as the Server role, but with the root filesystem set to be read-only with atomic package updates.
When it comes to disk partitioning we can take a guided option, which suggests using Btrfs and a swap partition. The manual partitioning option is very flexible, but also unusually complex by Linux standards. There are all sorts of options for network (NFS) and Btrfs volumes, most of which we probably will not need.
The installer then asks us to pick our time zone from a map of the world and create username and password for ourselves. We are then shown a list of settings and changes the installer will make and we can click links next to each configuration option to adjust it. For instance, we can change where the boot loader is installed, tweak security options, and enable/disable CPU attack migrations. Once we confirm all the settings look right the installer copies its files to the hard drive and then exits, returning us to the live desktop.
Early impressions
When I rebooted from the live media, after finishing the installation, there was no prompt to remove the media and so I ended up booting with it still in. This would not seem a problem at first as the media's boot menu offers to launch an operating system from the local hard disk. Sadly, this option did not work for me and trying it caused the system to simply lock up. I had to remove the live media and boot directly from the hard drive to start my new copy of openSUSE.
openSUSE boots to a graphical login screen where we can sign into one of several session options. The available session are: TWM, IceWM, Plasma, Plasma (Wayland), and Plasma (Full Wayland). TWM and IceWM are very minimal window managers, though they work. IceWM in particular strikes a good balance between minimalism and functionality and may be helpful if Plasma stops working. The plain Plasma session (Plasma on X.Org) worked as expected and I encountered no problems with it. The two Plasma on Wayland sessions both worked and I did not notice any differences between the Wayland and Full Wayland options. However, there were two problems with the Wayland sessions which kept me from using them regularly. The first was that the mouse pointer in Wayland did not always seem to appear where it was performing actions. In other words, sometimes clicking on one area of the screen seemed to trigger an event elsewhere. My other issue was that, in VirtualBox, it was not possible to resize the Wayland desktop session and resolution was limited to 800x600 pixels. This was not a problem when running on physical hardware where Wayland used my display's full resolution.
openSUSE 15.2 -- The KDE System Settings panel
(full image size: 141kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The Plasma desktop, in whichever form I was using it, tended to be quiet. There are few icons on the desktop, not much in the way of notifications, and there is no welcome window. The one exception to this was a warning notification which appeared one of the first times I logged in which indicated the root filesystem was "not responding". Despite this ominous warning, I did not run into any issues when accessing the filesystem.
Hardware
When I started playing with openSUSE it was in a VirtualBox environment. Both desktop performance and boot times were about average in the virtual environment. At first I had trouble resizing the Plasma desktop, even from within the settings panel, but once I had changed the VirtualBox display driver from its default I could resize the desktop from the System Settings panel. Otherwise the experience in VirtualBox was good.
When I shifted over to trying openSUSE on my laptop, the operating system detected all of my hardware properly. Desktop performance was quite good and the system was always pleasantly responsive.
openSUSE, when running KDE Plasma, did not require many resources. The system consumed a mere 400MB of RAM when signed into the desktop. The system used about 6.2GB of disk space for a fresh install.
Applications
The default application menu contains one panel with a series of tabs across the bottom. The tabs switch our view between favourite applications, all application categories, "Computer" (which is mostly folder locations, History (of folders we have opened), and logout options. Personally, this menu layout feels cumbersome to me as it takes more mouse movement and clicks to find what I want. Fortunately, we can quickly switch to alternative menu styles by right-clicking on the application menu's button. Two other menu styles include a classic tree-style menu and a full screen menu with three panels.
Whatever its layout, the application menu contains a lot of useful, open source software. I found the Firefox browser, LibreOffice, the VLC media player, and KDE Connect available. I also got to try out KMail, the Konversation IRC client, the TigerVNC Viewer, Okular document viewer, and Dolphin file manager.
openSUSE 15.2 -- Running Firefox and exploring the KDE documentation
(full image size: 146kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
For adjusting the look and behaviour of the desktop we have access to the KDE System Settings panel. When we get lost the KDE Help Centre is installed for us. There are also a few small games and the Kleopatra security key software.
Behind the scenes openSUSE ships with the GNU command line utilities, Java, and systemd provides init functionality. Version 5.3.10 of the Linux kernel keeps things running smoothly in the background.
openSUSE ships with some media codecs, for instance it played my audio files (including MP3s) without any problems. However, I was unable to play video files due to missing codecs. At first I tried to fix this by going into the YaST package manager and choosing the option to add a community repository. Unfortunately only one community repository, for updates, was found. The popular Packman repository with codecs was not listed. My next step was to try openSUSE's famous "one-click" codec install. There is a page in an openSUSE community wiki which offers a button we can click to set up the appropriate repositories and install codecs in 15.2. This had mixed results.
openSUSE 15.2 -- Trying to install media codecs
(full image size: 240kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Despite the install method being called "one-click", the process actually involves clicking the download button, selecting to open the package, confirm changes the package will make to the system, confirm we want to continue, enter the root password, choose to trust the repository certificates (twice). It turns out to be a seven-click process. Then the install ran into an endless loop of package conflicts because I also had similar packages with the missing codecs on my system. After trying various solutions through the automated installer I finally gave up. I then manually removed my old copies of the media players, including VLC, and installed fresh copies from the add-on repositories. While these new versions included the necessary codecs, trying to play video files in VLC caused the player to immediately crash. In the end, while playing audio files worked, I never got video files to play properly.
YaST
One of the key features which sets openSUSE apart from other distributions is the YaST administration centre. YaST provides a settings panel which gives us easy access to configuration modules that can be used to tweak almost every aspect of the operating system. YaST's many tools handle everything from firewall management, to software updates, to setting up printers, to network file shares, to sudo access. These tools are generally fairly friendly and work well.
I made some observations while exploring YaST. For example, the firewall tool, which appears to be a front-end to FirewallD, works fairly well. It's more streamlined than some other firewall tools I have used lately with FirewallD, but less streamlined than Gufw.
openSUSE 15.2 -- The YaST administration panel
(full image size: 342kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
The services manager confused me a little at first because clicking the Start button to launch background services would cause the display to be updated with a message saying the service was running. However, the service would not actually launch until I had later hit the Apply button in the service manager. This makes it look like network services are running before they actually become available.
Perhaps my favourite tool in openSUSE is the filesystem snapshot manager. Whenever we make a change to openSUSE through YaST the system takes a Btrfs snapshot (assuming we used Btrfs as the root filesystem). We can then browse through existing snapshots, see file-by-file differences between snapshots and restore one or more files from past snapshots. This makes it wonderfully easy to revert changes or fix broken package updates.
openSUSE 15.2 -- Browsing Btrfs snapshots
(full image size: 390kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Software management
openSUSE has an update icon which lives in the system tray and we can click on this icon to open an applet that will let us know security updates are available. The only issue with this approach is the icon is buried inside a menu with other notification icons and, even knowing where to look for it, I found it blended in with the other service icons. This means new software fixes can easily be overlooked. The update applet works well though, telling us how many new packages are available to be downloaded and applying updates cleanly.
The default software centre, at least on the KDE edition of openSUSE, is Discover. This application begins with a list of featured or popular desktop software. We can then browse applications and add-ons based on their category. I like how the categories in Discover roughly line up with the software categories in the application menu. Items in Discover are listed with their name, a brief description, and an icon. We can click a button next to an item's entry to install or remove it.
openSUSE 15.2 -- The discover software manager
(full image size: 496kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels)
Discover sorts software based on a user-supplied rating, which can seem like a random order. I am happy to report that we can easily change the sort order to list software by its name, size, or release date. Personally, I found looking for items by their name to be the easiest approach.
Discover worked fairly quickly and I did not encounter any problems while using it. My only complaint with Discover was that I had to input my password every time I wanted to install or remove a program. This can get tedious after the ninth or tenth installation.
I feel it worth mentioning YaST has its own package manager which takes a more low-level approach. The YaST package manager offers a lot of options, searches, and filters. It is probably overkill for most users, but for people who need to finely manage or search through low-level packages it offers a lot of flexibility.
Finally, people who prefer working from the command line can make use of Zypper to manage RPM packages and Flatpak to work with portable packages from repositories like Flathub. Zypper is, in my opinion, one of the cleaner, faster RPM front-ends and though I did not use it much, the few times I tried it Zypper worked well.
Conclusions
In my opinion openSUSE is a distribution which does a lot of things right. The project offers a lot of download options, covering a range of CPU architectures and desktop environments without its download options becoming overwhelming. The project's documentation is usually easy to find and read.
The project has an unusual style and its installer, menu layouts, and YaST administration panel are all a little alien when coming from other Linux distributions. This is not to say that openSUSE does things in a way that is better or worse, but it does have a distinct style that can take a little adjustment.
I think the project has a great set of configuration modules and YaST is a gem of a tool. I especially like that it integrates with Btrfs to automatically take snapshots whenever we make a configuration change in case we need to undo an action. This makes openSUSE virtually bullet-proof. In fact, openSUSE appears to be one of the only Linux distributions making use of Btrfs and its powerful features like snapshots and multi-disk volumes.
The distribution has just two drawbacks as far as I can see. Its multimedia support is lacking and the documented ways to fix this, through one-click or third-party repositories did not work. Maybe this will get sorted out later, after 15.2 has been out for a while, but the days immediately after launch, multimedia issues were unresolved and caused all sorts of package conflicts. My other issue was with the sometimes limited or outdated packages in the repositories. openSUSE is missing a number of tools or has out of date versions of some software I use. Maybe this is less of an issue with openSUSE Tumbleweed, but in the Leap branch openSUSE feels like it is slightly behind in available software and/or versions of some tools.
All in all, I like openSUSE. I think the distribution is charmingly different in some ways. It offers a lot of powerful tools. I wouldn't recommend openSUSE to beginners, but Linux users who want a lot of power and point-n-click tools to make system administration easy will find a lot of good features in openSUSE. I especially enjoy the way Btrfs snapshots allow me to experiment without worrying about what I might break.
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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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Visitor supplied rating
openSUSE has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.7/10 from 437 review(s).
Have you used openSUSE? You can leave your own review of the project on our ratings page.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) |
CentOS to receive real-time packages, Ubuntu introduces Flutter toolkit, Mint provides upgrade guide
The CentOS project published their monthly newsletter this week which outlines software updates, details of CentOS's latest release, and new packages coming into CentOS Stream from Red Hat Enterprise Linux. One of the new features coming to CentOS is the availability of real-time packages. "One major addition to CentOS Stream is the RealTime (RT) repository. This is a set of packages that is developed alongside Red Hat Enterprise Linux, focused on latency-sensitive workloads. Because these packages are developed so closely with a given RHEL release, it makes perfect sense to include these packages in and gather feedback from CentOS Stream. The packages in the RealTime repository represent what's coming in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time addon for RHEL 8.3." Details on the new Red Hat real-time packages can be found in the company's documentation.
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Canonical has announced that Google's Flutter development toolkit is being ported to Linux and is now available as a Snap on Ubuntu. Flutter is intended to make portable applications in the Dart language. Canonical's announcement explains how Flutter development works and how to both start working on Flutter applications and deploy them as Snap packages. "With this alpha release and the close partnership between Google and Canonical, Linux developers get Flutter support for their operating system of choice. Install the Flutter SDK via snap. Build and test your desktop app on Linux using Visual Studio Code or Android Studio. Deploy your app to the Snap Store."
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The Linux Mint team have published instructions explaining how to upgrade Linux Mint 19.3 installations to Linux Mint 20. The guide walks the user through checking their computer's architecture, performing a backup, and updating the operating system. People who are running 32-bit versions of Linux Mint do not have an upgrade path, however they can continue to use Linux Mint 19 which is supported through to 2023.
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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) |
Exploring alternatives to Flatpak and Snap packages
Why-not-go-simple asks: I know I'm probably missing something, but with the drawbacks and resistance to things such as Snaps and Flatpaks, why not just use pre-compiled archives that one can just extract and move to the directory of one's choice and run from there without installing? I have Firefox and Chromium like that and they seem to run well on different distros. Adding a launcher to the menu has to be done manually, but I'm sure some smart kid can find an automated way to do it.
DistroWatch answers: There are technical advantages and disadvantages to every approach to package management. For example, Flatpak and Snap packages require their own, additional package manager and tend to be incredibly large downloads compared to traditional Linux packages. They also have generally had trouble integrating with the local desktop environment, making portable packages look alien to their users.
So what about having upstream developers provide a Linux binary, the way Mozilla does for Firefox and Thunderbird, and have people just download the archive and extract its contents? This approach does have some benefits. It provides one, common binary so everyone is using the same software and there aren't distribution-specific differences. It also allows users to install software in their home directories without needing access to the rest of the filesystem. Plus it avoids the integration problems of Snap and Flatpak. However, this approach has a lot of its own problems.
One is that it only works for users who are comfortable with downloading software manually and know to check for updates on a regular basis. The distribution's package manager will not help them. Or, if we are proposing a new package manager be created to handle these upstream binary bundles, then the user will need to learn how to use a second package manager, which is not ideal and one of the issues people have with Flatpak and Snap.
Downloading software from third-parties also means we are relying on the developers to develop for the lowest common denominator in GNU/Linux, which means supporting older and less efficient libraries. Or we need to accept that the developers may target newer libraries and leave long-term support distributions such as Debian, Slackware Linux, and CentOS behind. If you have ever tried to install Chrome or Steam on older versions of CentOS you have probably run into how frustrating it can be when application developers are targeting newer software platforms exclusively. This is one of the main issues portable packages like Flatpak fix as they can run on platforms that don't ship compatible libraries.
Another issue with relying on upstream binary packages is most projects typically take a rolling release approach, where software is constantly updated to include new features and fixes. This is fine if you prefer a rolling release scenario, but it is a deal breaker for people who depend on software staying with the same version and features for years at a time while providing only bug fixes.
One of the perks mentioned in the original question was the option of installing a package under the user's home directory, bypassing the package manager and the need for administrator access. However, some Linux systems are set up with a security option to block running software in the /home directory to prevent users from installing their own applications. It's a bit of a corner case, but one which would conflict with the idea of users downloading their own software from the source.
A few weeks ago I presented a number of reasons why distributions may want to supply their own packages rather than simply redistributing binary archives from upstream. It highlights some benefits to repackaging upstream source code rather than relying on pre-built binary archives.
At any rate, while using pre-built applications can be useful for some people in some situations, relying on these packages presents problems in a lot of corner cases - situations which require fixed versions, systems with no-execute security on the /home directory, very old or cutting-edge distributions that break compatibility with the developers' systems, and working out how to manage many desktop packages without over-burdening the user. Most of these issues are solved by either traditional Linux package managers or portable formats like Snap and Flatpak, which is why they've become more popular than relying on upstream binary packages directly.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
Clonezilla Live 2.6.7-28
Clonezilla Live is a Debian-based live CD containing Clonezilla, a partition and disk cloning software. The project's latest release, Clonezilla Live 2.6.7-28, introduces a number of new package updates. The exfat-fuse modules has been removed since support for exFAT is now available in the kernel. "The underlying GNU/Linux operating system was upgraded. This release is based on the Debian Sid repository (as of 2020/Jun/30). Linux kernel was updated to 5.7.6-1. ocs-iso, ocs-live-dev: sync syslinux-related files when copying syslinux exec files. When creating recovery ISO/ZIP file, if it's in Clonezilla live environment, we have those syslinux files. Use that first so the version mismatch can be avoided. Move grub-header.cfg from bootx64.efi to grub.cfg so that it's more flexible. To avoid conflict with the patch of GRUB in CentOS/Fedora, for GRUB EFI NB MAC/IP config style, the netboot file is now like grub.cfg-drbl-00:50:56:01:01:01 and grub.cfg-drbl-192.168.177.2 not grub.cfg-01-* anymore. Add xen-tools.Partclone was updated to 0.3.14. The codes about xfs was updated to be 4.20.0. Package exfat-fuse was removed since the kernel has module for that." Further details can be found in the project's release announcement.
NomadBSD 1.3.2
NomadBSD is a 64-bit live system for USB flash drives, based on FreeBSD. The project's latest release updates the operating system to be up to date with FreeBSD 12.1 and fixes the filesystem layout to allow tools like bectl to snapshot the boot environment. " We are pleased to present the release of NomadBSD 1.3.2. Changes since 1.3.1: the base system has been upgraded to FreeBSD 12.1-p6; rtsx-kmod, which is a driver for Realtek card readers, has been added; the ZFS layout used for installing NomadBSD on a hard disk has been changed to allow beactl to back up the boot environment; load_iichid has been added - it is a rc-script which offers the user, via a dialog(1) menu, to load the experimental iichid driver from sysutils/iichid if it finds a I2C HID; graphics/intel-backlight has been added; a curses menu has been added - it allows user to acknowledge licenses of certain wireless drivers in order to use them; a unionfs_maxfiles rc.conf variable has been added - it controls how many files can be opened on the Unionfs file system; graphics/mirage has been replaced by graphics/viewnior; a patch from 12-STABLE has been added to the acpi_video module - i sends devd events whenever the brightness is changed...." Further details can be found in the project's release announcement.
SparkyLinux 5.12
SparkyLinux, a Debian-based distribution with multiple desktop editions, has published a new release based on Debian's Stable branch. The new version, SparkyLinux 5.12, updates the kernel and several desktop packages. The Otter web browser has been removed in favour of Epiphany. "Changes between 5.11 and 5.12: System upgraded from Debian Stable repos as of July 5, 2020. Linux kernel 4.19.118. Firefox 68.10.0esr. Thunderbird 68.9.0. VLC 3.0.11. LibreOffice 6.1.5. Otter Browser replaced by Epiphany Browser (MinimalGUI). Added Openbox Noir to the desktop list to be installed as a choice (via MinimalGUI and MinimalCLI and APTus). 'debi-tool' replaced by 'gdebi'. Disabled package list updating during installing Sparky via Calamares; even you install Sparky with active Internet connection, the Debian or Sparky server can be temporary off, so it could stop the installation." Further information and upgrade instructions for existing users can be found in the project's release announcement.
Neptune 6.5
Neptune is a Linux distribution for desktops. It is based on Debian's Stable branch, except for a newer kernel, some drivers and newer versions of popular applications. The project has published an update to its current version, Neptune 6. The new 6.5 release offers security updates, a newer kernel, and and updated systemd package. Some other desktop packages have been brought up to date too: "It is the first maintenance release of Neptune 6 which is also available as update for all Neptune 6 users. This version features more modern hardware support by providing Linux kernel 5.6 together with updates to proprietary firmware blobs as well as updated systemd 245.6. Neptune is now bootable on UEFI Secure Boot machines. With the newly activated buster-backports repositories you can enjoy newer software updates for LibreOffice in version 6.4.5 and Inkscape in version 1.0. Updated are also the browser Chromium to version 83 and Thunderbird to version 68.10. When it comes to multimedia VLC got an update to version 3.0.11, FFmpeg to version 4.1.4 and PulseAudio to version 13." Further details and screenshots can be found in the distribution's release announcement.
Neptune 6.5 -- Running the Plasma desktop
(full image size: 1.3MB, resolution: 1920x1200 pixels)
Slackel 7.3 "Openbox"
Slackel is a Linux distribution and live CD based on Slackware Linux and Salix OS. The project's latest release is Slaxel 7.3 "Openbox" which brings the distribution up to date with Slackware's development branch. "What is new: slim login manager is used as default. Gdm exists also but it is not used because of font rendering problems. Slackel Live Installer (SLI) now can do a real installation to an external USB stick or USB SSD or USB hard disk, creating the necessary initrd for booting. For this, just create an msdos partition table on /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc and a Linux ext4 partition on /dev/sdb1 or on /dev/sdc1 where /dev/sdb is your first USB device, /dev/sdc the second USB plug in device. Sign the /dev/sdb1 or /dev/sdc1 bootable. Create also a Linux swap partition to /dev/sdb2 or /dev/sdc2, with size 2GB or 4GB according the memory you have. Do not create a EFI partition. If you boot using a Slackel live Openbox DVD then your external USB device will be recognized as /dev/sdb. If you boot using a slackel live openbox USB then the second USB you will use for real installation it will be recognized as /dev/sdc." Additional information can be found in the project's release announcement.
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Torrent Corner |
Weekly Torrents
The table below provides a list of torrents DistroWatch is currently seeding. If you do not have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients.
Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found in our Torrent Archive. We also maintain a Torrents RSS feed for people who wish to have open source torrents delivered to them. To share your own open source torrents of Linux and BSD projects, please visit our Upload Torrents page.
Torrent Corner statistics:
- Total torrents seeded: 2,064
- Total data uploaded: 32.6TB
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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) |
Installing a distro on Btrfs
openSUSE was the focus of this week's review where it was pointed out the distribution is one of the few to use Btrfs as the default filesystem. While most Linux distributions can be installed on Btrfs, most do not use the filesystem by default. We would like to know if you use Btrfs or perhaps another advanced filesystem such as ZFS or HAMMER.
You can see the results of our previous poll on home directory encryption in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Installing a distro on Btrfs
| I use Btrfs as the root filesystem: | 263 (16%) |
| I use Btrfs as a secondary filesystem: | 67 (4%) |
| I use another advanced filesystem: | 198 (12%) |
| I do not use any advanced filesystems: | 1077 (67%) |
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| Website News (by Jesse Smith) |
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 20 July 2020. 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 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.
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| Random Distribution | 
HP Secure OS Software for Linux
HP Secure OS Software for Linux helps businesses secure their Linux environments by offering intrusion prevention, real-time protection against attacks, and damage containment. HP was first to market with this business-critical security solution for Linux. HP Secure OS Software for Linux provides high reliability, performance, availability, flexibility and scalability. Additionally, it was easy to install and manage, making it attractive to businesses that don't have large IT organizations.
Status: Discontinued
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| 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.
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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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