Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 8/3/2014: Distros





  • AV Linux 6.0.3 Distro Is for Audio, Video, and Graphic Enthusiasts
    AV Linux is a very particular distribution aimed at a very specific niche of users. First of all, this is an OS geared towards the 32-bit PAE processor, which is considerably older than the current ones. In theory, the distribution is capable of turning older PCs or even Mac OS systems into an Audio / Graphics / Video workstation appliance.


  • Distros Compared, Free Ed, and Making Money
  • Different strokes for different folks when it comes to Linux desktops
    You might have noticed that I used the term "different strokes for different folks" in the headline of this article. I think it sums up well the issue of choosing a desktop environment because there simply is no one desktop that will appeal to everyone, no matter how great it is or how many people like it.

    Personally, I prefer classic desktop environments like Xfce because they simply meld well with how I like to work. I find using them to be much faster and more intuitive when I am multitasking or just moving around my desktop.


  • Simplicity Linux 14.1 - A fresh take on Puppy Linux
    Ever since I started using Linux I have always carried a copy of Puppy Linux on a pen drive. I have such a high regard for Puppy Linux that I have a page dedicated to it.

    [...]

    I have to admit that I thought I was going to have a frustrating time with Simplicity because whilst trying 13.10 I came up with a number of issues and it just didn't work for me.

    This however is 14.1 and it works very very well and in fact I haven't come across any issues of note except for the fact that the OnLive application hangs. (Probably due to my poor internet connection).

    Simplicity is a worthy replacement for those of you using LXPup which is no longer being actively developed.

    If you have a laptop with a failed hard drive sat in a corner gathering cobwebs then you can easily breathe new life into it by running Simplicity Linux on a USB drive.


  • On my new laptop: ZaReason's Strata 7440
    Getting Mageia 4 on the laptop was no big deal. In fact, I used the 64 bit version of the OS and everything worked, even the Japanese IME with iBus.

    Then I tried to get PCLinuxOS and, unfortunately, had problems with the display. I need to see if I can get to correct the problem later.

    The other OS that I installed to the Strata was OpenMandriva 2013. The only problem was the lack of Wifi connectivity... It was solved easily adding the appropriate packages.


  • BlankOn 9.0 review
    My first look at a BlankOn edition was BlankOn 8, which was back in August 2012 (see BlankOn 8 preview). So it’s been almost a year and a half between BlankOn 8 and 9. That’s plenty of time to make major improvements and fix whatever needs fixing on a desktop operating system.

    The distribution uses the GNOME 3 desktop environment with a custom desktop shell called Manokwari. It looked good the first time I took it for a spin (on BlankOn 8), but I wasn’t too impressed with some aspects of it. But that was 18 months ago, maybe things are better on BlankOn 9.0, which is code-named Suroboyo.


  • Frequently asked questions from Windows users thinking of using Linux
    Gaming on Linux has been behind Windows for a long time. Fortunately with the release of Steam for Linux that gap is beginning to close and I can foresee a time whereby Linux gaming will be on at very least a par with Windows.


  • Zorin OS 8 - More like Windows 7 than Windows 7
    It has been a while since I last wrote a review about Zorin OS. Time moves pretty fast and with other distributions making great strides, is there still a place for an operating system like Zorin which basically deploys a familiar looking desktop on top of Ubuntu.

    It has been a couple of versions since the last review so it is a bit pointless for me to just write the differences between now and then, so instead I am going for the full review as if I had never seen it before.


  • What is your most expected distribution?
    Yet another feature of Distrowatch is announcement for coming releases for Linux distributions. If you look at the list of distributions due to be released within next 3 months, which one is the most interesting for you? Which new release are you looking for most?


  • Linux – The Top 5 Lightweight Distros of 2014
    Hi there, and welcome to another edition of Gamerheadlines’ top 5. Today’s topic will be lightweight Linux distributions. So, keep in mind that, while there are several amazing distros for higher-end computers, such as Ubuntu and Mint, these distros are for those of us with, shall we say… computers full of wisdom. A wisdom that can only be attained following years (and years) of experience and, unfortunately, age.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 01/11/2026: Digital Minimalism and "Palantir Cofounder Announces Cruel Plan to Breed Thousands of Lab Monkeys for Medical Experiments"
Links for the day
Massive Cuts Inside Microsoft (the Media Does Not Talk About That)
It is in many ways like IBM a decade ago
 
Gemini Links 01/11/2026: OpenBSD, Broken MicroHDMI, Nextcloud, and More
Links for the day
IBM Vapourware on a Budget (to Grab Bailouts From US Taxpayers)
Anderon is the sort of thing that makes IBMers uncomfortable
Microsoft Accenture in Trouble, Accenture’s Debt Skyrockets
Seeing a wave of adoption of Free software in Europe, it's not exactly shocking that "consultants" from Microsoft Accenture are no longer in demand
Microsoft Says Its "Goodwill" Value Has Been Declining for Years, But It Also Claimed That Doubled in One Year
Wall Street deserves far more criticism or scepticism (at the very least)
SkyChatz: From Nothing to #2 in IRC (in Less Than a Year)
Second only to Libera.Chat
Making Up Words or Inventing a Vocabulary
Or why Large Language Models are useless
Assange on What Lula Means to Free Press
Here in the UK we've also found our 'Lulas'
GNU/Linux is No Underdog (But There Are Attempts to Put It "To Sleep")
There's a moral imperative
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXVI - The "Law and Order" Candidate Who Crushes Both Law and Order and Even Rejects Election Outcomes (Insurrection Follows)
A world without real technical security is a world void of democracy, justice, and human rights
Links 01/11/2026: Malaysian Media Perishing, France Belatedly Identifies Social Control Media as Weaponised Yellow Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/11/2026: "Trick-or-Treating seems to be dead, at least in our neighborhood"; BaseFree Numerical System and Human Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 31, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, October 31, 2026
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: MangoWM, Qutebrowser and Codeberg, Plugh
Links for the day
In US Government Sites, GNU/Linux Measured at New All-Time High of 7% (or About 10% Across Desktops/Laptops Alone)
There's no doubt GNU/Linux is growing
Intel Has Just Lost in One Single Day Over 150 Billion Dollars in 'Value' (Market Cap), Intel is Also Over 50 Billion Dollars in Debt
This really says a lot about Wall Street and the slop bubble, doesn't it?
They Hate Him Because He's Effective
Effective voices invite more aggressive censorship attempts
Audience Growing in Spite of the Deluge of Webslop
We probably benefit from the rejection of LLM slop
The Munich FUD Tactics (Microsoft Modus Operandi): Microsoft-Connected Sites Claim Denmark Failed With Free Software, But That's Not What Actually Happened
With Microsoft, it almost always boils down to politics
Links 31/10/2026: John Romero Comeback After Being Shafted by Microsoft, Google Faces Criminal Probe Over Deforestation in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: Rambling on Self-hosting and Ad Video Screens Don’t Make Money
Links for the day
Can't Trust Big Banks, Let's Try 'Bros' Instead?
But let's blame "North Korea"
IRC's Growing Popularity in 2026
No company controls or profits from IRC, it is in the Commons
"AI" as Surrogate for Debt and Distraction From Computing (Bots Described as "Agents" and/or Any Form of "Intelligence" is More Like a Religion)
We're letting people without even college degrees game the "market" (Wall Street) by lying to it
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXV - Election Integrity at a Time of Back Doors and Very Severe Bugs in UEFI
How dare British media comment on insurrection following a US election?
"The Judge Accepted That Mrs Schestowitz Had Been the Subject of a Vicious Campaign of Online Harassment"
That's consistent with how they men treat women
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: Hallowe'en and "Thinking About People"
Links for the day
Links 31/10/2026: The Hinge on Apple's Constantly Breaking New Foldable iPhone Was "Built With Slop", Slop Causes Cash Squeeze GAFAM
Links for the day
Amazon's Debt Skyrockets by Almost 100 Billion Dollars in 9 Months
On top of that there is additional (secret, kept stealth by accounting tricks) debt
Google Illegally Destroyed a Quarter Million Trees Without a Permit for a Hypothetical Project That Might be Cancelled, Debt Has Soared by 30 Billion Dollars in 3 Months ($10 Billions Borrowed Per Month)
Google is bleeding from slop
Slavery at Microsoft
illegal if true
Many People "Left" Red Hat This Month, Including Yesterday
We already saw this with SUSE
Gemini Links 31/10/2026: "Where I Draw the Line With" Slop Plagiarism and "Nobody Cares That You're Leaving Proton" (Over Slop)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 30, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 30, 2026
Links 30/10/2026: "Over 41,000 DHS Employee Records Leaked Online" and Concerns Over Radicalism in France
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXIV - It's an Inherently American Issue and American Elections Are at Risk From Restricted ('Secure') Boot and LLM Chatbots (Disinformation at Scale)
We'll focus a lot on US elections in the coming days
Birss Replaces Vos in UK's High Court, LLM Slop Plagiarism a Contentious Issue
Only days ago we mentioned Sir Geoffrey Vos in relation to lobbying for LLM slop
"Early Retirement" (Silent Layoffs) for Everybody Except the Executives
Some will stick around even past 70
Despite the Mass Layoffs Microsoft's Debt Soared by 5.1 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months
This is why Microsoft asks 60,000 workers to leave
Gemini Links 30/10/2026: Solar MiniBBS, Kubernetes With FreeBSD, "Sysadmin Day"
Links for the day
Microsoft Layoffs Far Worse Than the Media Tells (Microsoft Spin Laundered as "Reporting")
Some people are made to "retire" and sign an NDA to make it seem like a happy ending and mostly consensual retreat
Links 30/10/2026: Google Crashes on Slop Disappointment and GAFAM's "Data Center Blitz Is Burning Through Cash and Scaring Wall St."
Links for the day
Fake 'Articles' in The Register MS Concerning "AI"
We don't suppose The Register MS will be around for much longer after this bubble pops
What Linus Torvalds Told Me Two Decades Ago
It seems like he was eager to distinguish himself from the "elders" of FSF [...] For anything "revolutionary" to happen in the sciences one must accept the risk of living in poverty like Tesla (the person, not the right-wing fanatics) and Torvalds isn't too old to "cause a stir"
GNU/Linux as a Free Software Platform is More GNU (and GPL) Than Linux
GNU predates Linux by nearly a decades and it was born to tackle injustices
Who Or What Are Security Professionals/Experts?
Companies like GAFAM are willing to tolerate cheaters because those companies themselves are cheats
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXIII - What Garrett Did Puts Elections at Risk (Also in His Own Country, Where a Dictator Trusts Only Machines That 'Support' Him)
UEFI 'security' is only as trustworthy as its ferocious boosters
Gemini Links 30/10/2026: RIP Patrick Stewart and Amp Integration
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 29, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 29, 2026