 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 987, 26 September 2022 |
Welcome to this year's 39th issue of DistroWatch Weekly!
A concept that has become increasingly popular over the years, particularly in the realm of commercially backed distributions, is the idea of an immutable operating system. Such an operating system has a read-only filesystem and is intended to have a fixed, low-level layer which is common across all installs. This week we begin with a look at one such immutable operating system: openSUSE's MicroOS. The system provides a read-only filesystem and uses Btrfs snapshots to provide software updates. Jesse Smith shares some practical observations about running openSUSE MicroOS in this week's Feature Story. Have you tried running MicroOS? Let us know what you thought of this special edition of openSUSE in our Opinion Poll. In our News section we talk about upgrades coming to pfSense, including a new version of PHP to run the project's utilities. While pfSense is upgrading PHP, the Arch Linux team is purging the legacy version of Python and we provide details below. We also share a link to a great guide to help people navigate the Linux command line, manage packages, and monitor processes. In this week's Questions and Answers column we discuss inviting people to try Linux and other forms of open source software. We hope you'll find these tips useful when introducing potential Linux users to a new operating system. Plus we are pleased to share a list of the torrents we are seeding and talk about the distribution releases of the past week. This week we're also able to welcome the XeroLinux distribution to our database and we share an overview on this Arch Linux-based project below. We wish you all a fantastic week and happy reading!
Content:
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| Feature Story (by Jesse Smith) |
openSUSE's MicroOS
The openSUSE project is probably best known for its two main branches: Leap and Tumbleweed. Leap is a fixed release distribution which shares code with SUSE Linux Enterprise while Tumbleweed is a rolling release platform. Apart from this difference in update policy (fixed versus rolling), the two editions are mostly similar. They use the same system administration tools, support the same desktops, and use the same package manager.
Were you to just glance at the openSUSE website you might believe there are just these two editions of the distribution. However, if you poke around in the project's wiki enough you'll find another edition called MicroOS. What is MicroOS? It is an immutable operating system which, as the wiki explains, means:
Read-only root filesystem to avoid accidental modifications of the OS. The Transactional Updates technology leverages Btrfs snapshots to apply package updates without interfering with the running system.
It also mentions there is a tool to check the integrity of the operating system after each update and MicroOS is based on openSUSE Tumbleweed, making it a rolling release platform. The MicroOS edition is available for x86_64, aarach64, ppc64le, and armv7 processors. The x86_64 build is shipped as a 3.7GB ISO file.
According to the wiki, there is a new branch of MicroOS based on openSUSE Leap, but it is considered experimental at this time.
I decided to try out MicroOS's main edition. I hadn't used it before and, given there are rumours SUSE Linux Enterprise will be based on something like MicroOS for its next major release, I thought this would be a good time to become familiar with the technology. For the purposes of this review I decided to focus just on aspects of MicroOS which make it different from Leap as I reviewed openSUSE 15.4 Leap a few months ago.
Before diving into MicroOS I believe it's important to keep in mind this platform is still considered experimental, especially for desktop use. The project's documentation says:
MicroOS Desktop provides only a minimal base system with a desktop environment and basic configuration tools only. All applications, browsers, etc are provided by Flatpaks from Flathub. Warning! openSUSE MicroOS for desktop usage is still in RC (GNOME) or Alpha (KDE Plasma) stage, please keep that in mind!
Just to clarify the above quote, there isn't a separate "Desktop" edition of MicroOS. There is one edition, but during install time we can select a role, such as Desktop or Server, and I'll talk about that in a moment.
Getting started
Booting from the MicroOS media brings up a menu which allows us to either jump straight into the system installer or run a self-check on the media to confirm it has not been tampered with or corrupted. Once the self-check passes it launches the graphical system installer.
On my machine the installer launched and then immediately reported there was an incorrect checksum in its repository data. We are warned the data has been changed (by accident or compromised by an attacker). We can ignore this warning or abort the installer. We can also opt to reload repository data from the local ISO. I took this last option and the installer proceeded without further warning. I'm not sure if this means it ignored the issue or managed to correct the problem by reloading information.
The installer asks us to select a role for MicroOS. The available roles include plain MicroOS, which I believe is intended for server systems. We can also set up the distribution as a Container Host or install either the GNOME or KDE Plasma desktop. We're told that the GNOME role uses the GNOME Software utility to manage packages while the KDE Plasma role uses the Discover package manager.
At the end of the configuration screens we are shown a summary of actions the distribution's installer will take. We can browse these actions and make adjustments. For instance, MicroOS defaults to running the OpenSSH service for remote access and doesn't enable the firewall. It also defaults to the UTC timezone. We can click links next to these options to change them.
Once we accept the actions the installer starts copying its packages to the hard drive. Here things took a sharp turn into trouble. It started when the installer popped up a warning to say the RPM package for libmp3lame0 had the wrong checksum and warned against using it. We can abort the install, ignore the warning, or retry fetching the package. I chose to retry and the installer proceeded, apparently with the issue resolved.
A few seconds later the perl-base package triggered the same warning. Then the mozilla-nss package. Then another package, and another, and another. What made this increasingly frustrating was the pop-up which displayed the warning had an option to "do not show this message again", but clicking it does nothing to block future warnings. We need to click through each one and provide the solution every time. During the install process I was prompted at least 15 times about how to handle packages with bad checksums.
When the installer finally finished, it restarted the computer and booted the system to a graphical login screen. Which quickly turned black and failed to respond to keyboard or mouse input. I forced a restart and, once again, after displaying the login screen for a few moments, the system blanked the display and refused to respond. The third time, I quickly typed my credentials and the system logged me into the KDE Plasma desktop. It seems there is a timeout which will lock the system if we do not login immediately.
Early impressions
The first time I signed into the KDE Plasma desktop I was greeted by a crash report window which told me the kslashqml process had crashed. I was asked if I'd like to ignore this or restart the process. Restarting the process results in the KDE splash screen being shown again, followed by the process crashing, and a new report pop-up. After I installed waiting updates, this crash report stopped appearing at login.
openSUSE MicroOS -- Exploring the bare application menu
(full image size: 671kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The Plasma desktop is arranged with a panel at the bottom of the screen. The panel holds our application menu, task switcher, and system tray. On the desktop we find two icons for opening the Dolphin file manager.
The application menu holds a small number of application launchers. We can launch the Discover software manager, the Dolphin file manager, the Kate text editor, a virtual terminal, and the System Settings panel. That's about it. There is no web browser or other heavy applications. Looking further I found MicroOS does ship with the same command line tools as other openSUSE editions, but it doesn't ship with manual pages.
It appears as though YaST isn't included in MicroOS. I suspect the administrative panel isn't compatible with a read-only filesystem. This is unfortunate as YaST is one of the great gems of the typical openSUSE experience and I missed having it included by default.
Despite not including much software and not enabling any swap space with the default guided partitioning setup, a fresh install of MicroOS takes up 2.8GB of disk space. Logging into KDE Plasma requires about 640MB of RAM, which is slightly on the heavy side.
Software management
People who have used other editions of openSUSE are probably familiar with the Zypper package manager. Zypper is included in MicroOS, but cannot be used as the distribution uses a read-only filesystem. Instead we need to use the Discover graphical package manager which we can launch from the application menu.
The first time I launched Discover it reported there were 46 updates waiting. I chose to install these and Discover downloaded the waiting packages. It then crashed while finishing up the transaction. I re-opened Discover and it reported there were no new packages to fetch.
openSUSE MicroOS -- Installing software with Discover
(full image size: 143kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
Discover displays categories and sub-categories of software we can browse to the left of the window. Entries for specific applications are shown on the right. Each application is listed with its name, a short description, icon, and a rating. I decided to download two applications to start: FileZilla and Firefox. Discover reported no issues during the download, but the new items didn't show up in my application menu. After Firefox finished downloading, Discover crashed again.
I re-launched Discover and tried to install VLC which quickly caused Discover to crash once more. I began to wonder if I might need to restart the computer in order to complete the earlier update. I rebooted and, when I logged in, I found FileZilla had been added to my application menu, but Firefox and VLC had not. FileZilla launched and worked which seemed promising.
I returned to Discover and tried to install the Falkon browser. This appeared to be successful, but the application was not added to my menu and clicking its Launch button from within Discover accomplished nothing. I tried logging out and back in, but this didn't refresh the application menu. In order to make Falkon show up in the menu I had to reboot the computer again.
This pattern continued with Discover regularly crashing and the system insisting I restart the computer in order to see newly installed programs in my application menu.
Conclusions
I want to acknowledge the MicroOS documentation does warn that the desktop roles of the distribution are still in development. We shouldn't expect an entirely polished experience. Still, despite this warning, I was surprised at how poorly the MicroOS system functioned. I could understand some things not working smoothly, such as Discover not adding application launchers to the menu automatically. However, getting pestered with checksum errors (15 or more of them) during the initial install seems excessive. It was all the more frustrating that the installer doesn't respect the "don't ask me again" option after it shows the checksum errors.
openSUSE MicroOS -- Exploring the System Settings panel
(full image size: 153kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
The login screen blanks and causes the system to stop responding if we don't login fast enough, the first window that greets the user upon logging in isn't a welcome window, but a crash report. There is very little software on the system and the Discover software centre crashes after almost every transaction.
With all of these things going wrong, the only theoretical benefit appears to be that we can install (and rollback) software updates, making for a more stable rolling release experience. Which is a good idea and I'm not knocking it, but we can already enjoy this with openSUSE Tumbleweed and its automatic Btrfs snapshots without any of the hassles which come from running MicroOS. The Tumbleweed edition will even let us use Zypper and includes more desktop software out of the box.
MicroOS has some appealing ideas, like snapshots, a read-only root filesystem, and roles we can select at install time. However, it's a lot less polished than openSUSE's other editions and, from a practical point of view, doesn't offer much benefit over the Btrfs snapshots of the other editions.
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Visitor supplied rating
openSUSE has a visitor supplied average rating of: 8.7/10 from 436 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) |
pfSense updates base system and PHP, Arch drops Python 2 packages, a guide for navigating the Linux command line
pfSense is a FreeBSD-based operating system for firewalls and routers. The project is going to be updating some key components as the developers prepare for the next major release of pfSense. Jim Thompson posted: "We are moving the version of PHP used by pfSense software to PHP 8.1. We have also taken a decision to move the base operating system version of FreeBSD used by pfSense software from 12-STABLE to the current development 'top of tree' version also known as 'main', or 'HEAD', and, at the time of writing, '14-CURRENT'. In order to minimize potential disruption to the community and customer base, public development snapshots and repository synchronization have been temporarily paused while we work on these major shifts, including internal testing of builds.
Recent releases of pfSense software have been based on PHP 7.4, which is now approaching its EOL date in late November. We are migrating the version of PHP used by pfSense software to PHP 8.1, skipping over the interim 8.0 release. This means we will be on the latest available release of PHP. PHP 8.1 is supported upstream until late 2024." Details on these moves can be found in Thompson's blog post.
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Version 2 of the Python development language is no longer receiving security updates, having been discontinued two years ago. However, because of the vast collection of software written in Python 2 (which is not compatible with Python 3), the language has continued to exist in the software repositories of many Linux distributions. The Arch Linux team has decided to remove Python 2 entirely from the distribution, purging its packages from the repositories: "Python 2 went end of life January 2020. Since then we have been actively cutting down the number of projects depending on python2 in our repositories, and we have finally been able to drop it from our distribution. If you still have python2 installed on your system consider removing it and any python2 package. If you still require the python2 package you can keep it around, but please be aware that there will be no security updates."
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People often contact us, looking for ways to learn Linux basics. People want to know how to get started with the command line, manage services, or learn what an "init" is. The answers to these questions, and several more, are available in a quick, practical guide to the Linux command line called Linux command line for you and me. The guide includes many practical tips and tricks, ways to find information, process monitoring, accessing log files, and package management. These topics and more are quickly and clearly covered in the on-line guide.
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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) |
Converting other people to using Linux
New-recruit asks: I slapped Linux on my laptop to see if I could extend its life three months ago and it's been going great! It's breathed new life into my machine and it feels like my computer is working for me now. Any tips on converting friends and family members to running Linux?
DistroWatch answers: Welcome to the Linux club. I'm glad you're finding that it's working well for you and that you're enjoying the benefits. I also think it is nice you want to share the positive experience with others.
Before you rush out to hand copies of Linux to the people in your social circle there are a few things I believe are worth considering. The first, in my mind, is people mostly see their computers as tools or entertainment systems. They are things to be used to accomplish something. Most folks don't regard computers as something they are emotionally invested in. If you approach most people with words like "open philosophy" or "converting", it's likely to make them regard the Linux community as a political group or a cult. It's unlikely to encourage them to check it out.
I find the best way to convince someone to try something new is to find out what they don't like about their current situation. Is their computer old and slow (like yours was before you switched)? Then show them how much faster yours is now. Are they upset about pop-ups and a dozen different update programs annoying them? Show them how clean and simple the update programs on most Linux distributions are. Are they regularly getting viruses or running into unpredictable behaviour? Explain to them that your system isn't targeting by most malware. In short, listen to their problem and offer a specific solution.
If someone is entirely happy with their computing system and doesn't seem interested in yours, then they might not be the right person to try to coax into the Linux community.
On a related note, sometimes a person's issues might be better fixed with changing applications rather than a full switch to an entirely new operating system. For instance, my family was having trouble with their e-mail client on Windows. Everything else was working fine for them at the time. Rather than try to sell them on the idea of making the big leap to Linux, I introduced them to the open source Thunderbird e-mail client. At another point they were having trouble with their ageing version of Microsoft Office not being compatible with new document formats and I installed LibreOffice for them, which covered all their needs. When their old movie player proved to be too slow, I introduced them to VLC.
After a few years, virtually all their desktop software was open source and cross platform. Which meant when it came time to upgrade their computer, installing a beginner-friendly Linux distribution and their now-familiar desktop software was a less jarring experience than making the leap to the latest version of Windows and its many interface changes.
My point is essentially that sometimes it's better to swap out one component to help a person solve a specific problem. Assuming it works well, they may be open to swapping out other programs in the future as they run into problems, gradually shifting them toward a more open source and user-focused experience. Sometimes a person just needs one improved screwdriver, not a whole new toolbox.
Finally, if you do plan to encourage people to switch operating systems, be prepared to be their tech support person, at least for the first few months of the transition. It can be hard to switch from one application or operating system to another. Switching to a platform with a low desktop market share means it'll be hard for the people migrating to get support. Not only with little things like learning how to use the file manager or installing new software, but they may find they run into errors using on-line services, or cannot install applications their employer uses for business. A lot of support people won't be able to help them navigate Linux, so make sure you're available to be on call if they need help.
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Additional answers can be found in our Questions and Answers archive.
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| Released Last Week |
ExTiX 22.9
The ExTiX distribution is an Ubuntu-based project which features alternative desktop environments. The latest version of ExTiX uses the KDE Plasma desktop and ships with the Anbox software for running Android applications. The release announcement shares details: "News about ExTiX 22.9 Build 220922 with the KDE Plasma Desktop environment together with Anbox (Android in a Box), Refracta Installer and Refracta Snapshot: 1. ExTiX KDE Plasma is based on Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS Jammy Jellyfish. KDE Plasma is used as the desktop environment together with Anbox (Android in a Box). All packages have been updated to the latest version by 220922. 2. I have pre-installed Anbox (Android in a Box) with Google Play Store. So GAPPS (Google Play Services and Google Play Store) are pre-installed in this version of ExTiX. Anbox won't run live (from a DVD or a USB stick) or in VirtualBox. You will get an error message. That's because VirtualBox as of yet does not support nested virtualization. In this version of ExTiX KDE/Anbox you can run the YouTube app with good video and sound quality. Not with the very best quality."
ExTiX 22.9 -- Running the KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 118kB, resolution: 1920x1080 pixels)
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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: 2,773
- Total data uploaded: 42.4TB
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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) |
Running openSUSE's MicroOS
This week we began with a review of openSUSE's MicroOS, an immutable operating system combined with an openSUSE base. Have you tried MicroOS? What did you think about it? Let us know what worked for you and what did not in the comments.
You can see the results of our previous poll on remotely accessing a laptop in last week's edition. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives.
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Running MicroOS
| I have tried MicroOS and liked it: | 32 (3%) |
| I have tried MicroOS and did not like it: | 50 (4%) |
| I am trying MicroOS now: | 16 (1%) |
| I have not tried MicroOS: | 1034 (91%) |
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| Website News |
Donations and Sponsors
Each month we receive support and kindness from our readers in the forms of donations. These donations help us keep the web server running, pay contributors, and keep infrastructure like our torrent seed box running. We'd like to thank our generous readers and acknowledge how much their contributions mean to us.
This month we're grateful for the $75 in contributions from the following kind souls:
| Donor |
Amount |
|---|
| Mitchel V | $20 |
| Peter R | $15 |
| Daniel A | $10 |
| Adiel A | $5 |
| Brian H | $5 |
| Computer Farm Sarl | $5 |
| Iamchop | $5 |
| Jonas B | $5 |
| Vory | $3 |
| tibfulv | $1 |
| Wm L | $1 |
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New distributions added to database
XeroLinux
XeroLinux is an Arch Linux-based distribution with KDE Plasma as the preferred desktop. Some of the features of the distribution include the Calamares installer, various under-the-hood tweaks and optimisations, built-in support for community-built AUR packages as well as Flatpak packages, and the availability of various desktop and bootloader themes developed in-house.
XeroLinux 2022.09 -- The KDE Plasma desktop
(full image size: 4.2MB, resolution: 2560x1600 pixels)
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DistroWatch database summary
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This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 3 October 2022. 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)
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| Archives |
| • 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 |
| • Issue 1045 (2023-11-13): Fedora 39, how to trust software packages, ReactOS booting with UEFI, elementary OS plans to default to Wayland, Mir gaining ability to split work across video cards |
| • Issue 1044 (2023-11-06): Porteus 5.01, disabling IPv6, applications unique to a Linux distro, Linux merges bcachefs, OpenELA makes source packages available |
| • Issue 1043 (2023-10-30): Murena Two with privacy switches, where old files go when packages are updated, UBports on Volla phones, Mint testing Cinnamon on Wayland, Peppermint releases ARM build |
| • Issue 1042 (2023-10-23): Ubuntu Cinnamon compared with Linux Mint, extending battery life on Linux, Debian resumes /usr merge, Canonical publishes fixed install media |
| • Issue 1041 (2023-10-16): FydeOS 17.0, Dr.Parted 23.09, changing UIDs, Fedora partners with Slimbook, GNOME phasing out X11 sessions, Ubuntu revokes 23.10 install media |
| • Issue 1040 (2023-10-09): CROWZ 5.0, changing the location of default directories, Linux Mint updates its Edge edition, Murena crowdfunding new privacy phone, Debian publishes new install media |
| • Issue 1039 (2023-10-02): Zenwalk Current, finding the duration of media files, Peppermint OS tries out new edition, COSMIC gains new features, Canonical reports on security incident in Snap store |
| • Issue 1038 (2023-09-25): Mageia 9, trouble-shooting launchers, running desktop Linux in the cloud, New documentation for Nix, Linux phasing out ReiserFS, GNU celebrates 40 years |
| • Issue 1037 (2023-09-18): Bodhi Linux 7.0.0, finding specific distros and unified package managemnt, Zevenet replaced by two new forks, openSUSE introduces Slowroll branch, Fedora considering dropping Plasma X11 session |
| • 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 | 
moonOS
moonOS was a complete, Ubuntu-based distribution featuring the LXDE and Enlightenment 17 desktop managers and imaginative, original artwork. A project created and designed by Cambodian artist Chanrithy Thim, moonOS was intended as an operating system for any desktop, laptop or virtual machine.
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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0x969CD4E778C7b6549A2B00e34114e0168c86A542 
