Distro News: Makulu, Zorin OS, Pisi, Black Lab, OpenMandriva, Mageia
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-29 08:15:31 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-29 08:15:31 UTC
Makulu
MakuluLinux was already a solidly performing distro, but the latest version, released last month, takes Makulu to the next level of usability and maturity.
So here's the summary. Makulu Linux is the distribution a lot of us think we would like to create, if we had the time, energy and especially the talent to do it. I don't know anyone in the development team, so this is all speculation on my part, but I would say that it is a group of people who just don't know when to stop — and I mean that as a compliment, and a very good thing.
Today's news search turned up quite a bit of data. Red Hat released their quarterly earnings this afternoon and while observers expected good news, some are now reporting not so much. ZDNet.com has two stories of interest today, the first is from Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reporting on the Linux Collaboration Summit and the other is Jamie Watson's hands-on review of Makulu Linux 5 Xfce. He said it was the most fun as one could have with Linux!
Zorin OS
Zorin OS 8 installs smartly and runs without glitches. It is a solid choice for hassle-free computing, even if you ignore the education bundle. However, educators with access to computer stations in the classroom can benefit from using Zorin's Education Edition rather than the Core release. Because it offers all the power of Ubuntu without the Unity interface, you can not go wrong with Zorin OS 8.
If you choose the free version, you will then be offered a choice between the latest release (currently Zorin OS 8.1), which is based on Ubuntu 13.10, or the current Long Term Support (LTS) release (Zorin OS 6.4), which is based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Furthermore, both the current and LTS releases have three versions: Core, Educational and Gaming. That's quite a variety of versions to choose from — and there might even be a "Lite" version coming with LXDE!
Pisi
When it became apparent early in 2012 that for political/financial reasons, Pardus was to be abandoned, a small group of Turkish volunteers came together to preserve the unique features of Pardus. The name of this project is Anka (Turkish for Phoenix). Initially the Anka-Team believed the fork could be named Pardus-Anka. Ultimately this was not possible - hence re-branding to Pisi Linux as a reference to Pardus and its package system PiSi (Pisi is Turkish for kitty).
“Pisi GNU/Linux is built from scratch but it is a stable base. On top of that, we keep core user applications, such as Firefox, VLC, etc, up to date as much as we can. To ease the use of Pisi GNU/Linux many codecs are preinstalled allowing MP3 & DVD playback, Flash Player support,” reads the official website.
Black Lab
“Today we are pleased to announce the beta 2 release of Black Lab Linux 5. This will be the last Beta for Black Lab Linux 5 until the final release. While it contains all the functionality that will be released in the gold release in May, right now we are working on stability. With that, lets go over what has changed with Black Lab Linux 5,” reads the official announcement.
So what changes have been made? There have been quite a few changes to these distributions in terms of updates and functionality. First, we have focused more on the desktop computing spectrum. While we will continue to offer Black Lab Linux + Server Extensions Pak on our server hardware and the Server Extensions Pak as an additional download, we have decided to stick with what we do the best. Which is the desktop systems. We have heard from customers and users that those are the best releases we do, and while we arent totally lost on the server, we feel we have alot of contributions on the desktop.
OpenMandriva
The first Beta version of OpenMandriva Lx 2014, a fully-featured Linux desktop and server sponsored by the OpenMandriva Association, has been released and can now be tested by users.
The 2014.0 beta is a fantastic sneak-peek at what will become the final release of OpenMandriva Lx 2014.0. That being said, it is a beta, and as such you may encounter issues that prevent you from using the system normally.
Mageia
When I bought the ZaReason Strata Laptop, I asked them to pre-load Mageia 4 to it. However, I knew that I was going to add more distros to the hard drive as soon as I can, to make it feel like the pentaboot HP Pavilion that died on me.
To begin, I wiped the original install and re-installed Mageia. Then, I tried to put PCLinuxOS into the hard drive, but the distro had problems with the display. As I could not achieve a decent display, I decided to do some research and try with PCLinuxOS later.
Misc.
Simplicity Linux, a Linux distribution based on Puppy that uses the LXDE desktop, is now at version 14.4 Beta and brings a buckload of changes and improvements.
Robert Shingledecker has announced the immediate availability for download and testing of the Tiny Core 5.3 RC1 Linux operating system, one of the smallest full operating systems in the world.
“‘Symbiosis’ is a special version of antiX developed in full collaboration with the Mepis Community and using the best tools and talents from each distro. It is a mid-weight OS designed to combine an elegant and efficient desktop with simple configuration, high stability, solid performance and medium-sized footprint.”
With last weekend marking an update to the most commonly used Wayland Live CD, I decided to try it out and the different desktop environments that it ships using all the latest code, including the latest development code of Wayland/Weston and the various tool-kits.
The new installer had to be fixed, due to some, small changes between system base of Sparky and LMDE. The network connection did not work after installation the live system on a hard drive (Base Edition 3.3 only).
BBQLinux is an user-friendly Linux distribution made for Android Developers and for enthusiasts who want to test a bit of Arch Linux. It has everything on board to build AOSP or AOSP-based Distributions like OmniROM or CyanogenMod. It’s based on Arch Linux and uses Rolling Release system. BBQLinux uses Arch repositories so its a direct Arch derivative, for example Manjaro is based on Arch but uses their own repositories.
Absolutely everything in it works with Linux, with the caveat that at least for the moment, you have to create a one-line file to get the wireless networking. All of the auxiliary functions work as well, such as Suspend/Resume and the Fn-keys for Sleep, Display Brightness up/down/off, and Volume up/down/off (mute).
While perusing the news this evening I saw a review on NixOS 13.10 by Jesse Smith. Sandra Henry-Stocker wrote a tutorial on "networking basics for the beginner." LinuxInsider's blog safari targeted buzz on "Linux for the senior set" and Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reports OpenStack's top operating system is Ubuntu. Finally, a new Debian Project News was posted.
Linux Lite was created to dispel myths that a linux based operating system is hard to use.
We're passionate about informing people that there are alternatives to proprietary operating systems.
The free software and open source world is a place from which you can take, but you must give back. This is a chance for people on our team to give something back.
Tor-ramdisk, a tor server distro, was recently updated. Linux kernel, tor binary was updated and haveged was used as entropy generator.
FatDogArm, a relatively new distro was released recently for ARM based computers. It is a small operating system targeted for desktop-style operations. FatDogArm achieved a new milestone with its first beta release. The distribution is quite small in size (less than 300MB). The logic behind the FatDog name is explained on the FatDog64ââ¬Â²s site
-
The distribution is published by Linpus Technologies, Inc., a Linux/Android software solutions outfit based in Taiwan. This is about the only Linux provider that does not have a defined release schedule. Whether that’s a good or bad practice is not something I’m going to address here.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- BASIC Predates Microsoft by Over a Decade, Microsoft-Controlled Sites Like The Register MS Don't Want You to Know This
- The state of the media is really bad when it relies a lot on oligarchs' money and is appointing editors who are working for oligarchs
- Brian Kernighan, "Only Third to Dennis Richie and Ken Thompson" (UNIX), Agreed With Someone Who Said Rust Was Just Hype, Should Not Replace C
- 17 hours ago
- Reminder: Microsoft's "Secure Boot" Certificate for "Linux" Will be Expired in One Week
- Many PCs won't manage to 'rotate' to another certificate
-
- Genini Links 05/09/2025: Community, ROOPHLOCH, and PITkit
- Links for the day
- Links 05/09/2025: Vaccine Sceptics Poison the Well, Two Exploited Vulnerabilities Patched in Android
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 05/09/2025: Logitech Lift and DIY Gemini Servers
- Links for the day
- Links 05/09/2025: Sainsbury's Caught Spying on In-Store Shoppers and Microsoft "OpenAI is Using Legal Threats to Harass its Critics"
- Links for the day
- Analogies for "Memory Safety" in Rust
- Don't worry, it's Rust! It can do anything!
- "Many of the Red Hat Employees Are Still Looking for Work"
- Shame on IBM's CEO
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 04, 2025
- IRC logs for Thursday, September 04, 2025
- Microsoft Started With Code Literally From The Trash, Nothing Has Improved Since
- The reality is, there are systems and code that are reliable. But they're not Microsoft's.
- Hypothesis That New McKinsey/Microsoft Executive Inside Red Hat Will Outsource Research and Development Operations to India (Like They Do in IBM)
- IBM is floundering
- Slopwatch: Scams, Fake Articles About "Linux", Plagiarism, and Worse
- Perhaps some time soon the LLMs or the "Big LLMs" will run out of money (to borrow) and go offline, leaving those slopfarms in a tough place
- Gemini Links 04/09/2025: Means of Production and Rusting Out
- Links for the day
- Links 04/09/2025: Science, Hardware, and Eyes on China
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 04/09/2025: Digital Minimalism and Social Control Media
- Links for the day
- IBM's GNU/Linux Divestment, Based on Hard But Anecdotal Evidence (IBM Fails to Recognise How Much Money It Made and Can Still Make From "Linux")
- Love us or hate us, a lot of what we've been saying about Red Hat under IBM turns out to be rather accurate
- Links 04/09/2025: Massive Microsoft Staff Cuts (Barely Reported), "Strange Conspiracy Theory Is Reportedly Spreading Inside OpenAI"
- Links for the day
- Activists Can Win, But Keep an Eye on the Ball and on the Trophy
- GitHub is dying, it was a loss-making trap, not free hosting
- Gemini Links 04/09/2025: Katrina Remembered, Distracted Driving, and Virtual Economics
- Links for the day
- At This Point It's No Longer Matthew Garrett But People Who Fund Matthew Garrett (or Companies That Fund His SLAPPs Against My Wife and I)
- The only thing worse than misogynists are misogynists who fail to respect other people's right to go on holiday
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 03, 2025
- IRC logs for Wednesday, September 03, 2025
- The UEFI 9/11 - Part VI - This Serious Harm Was Planned for Over a Decade, Not an Accident or Merely Some Misfortune
- The term "Serious Harm" is legally meaningful here
- GNOME Unfit for Diversity and Inclusion
- GNOME's leadership is using "bad words"
- Brodie Robertson Addressing the Recently-Discovered Comments
- Most people probably knew nothing about this until he wrote a response
- Red Hat QA Team "Had Shrunk by Half Over the Past Year." (After IBM Divestment)
- If Red Hat's workforce is being moved to the East, then RHEL can become a national security problem
- Slopwatch: "Open Source" and "Linux" News Faked, Made by Bots and Entered Into Google News
- Spam combined with slop about "Linux" has entered Google News
- Links 03/09/2025: Microsoft Causes Mass Layoffs Outside Microsoft Also, "Google Can Keep Paying for Firefox Search Deal"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 03/09/2025: calendar.txt, Alhena 5.3.1, and ROOPHLOCH
- Links for the day
- The Theory That the Man From McKinsey, Whom Red Hat Took From Microsoft a Month Ago as Executive, Wants 'Efficiency' (Lower Salaries)
- So far... no "official" word
- When Your Site's Articles Are Being 'Cheapened' by Slop as Feature Images
- Dr. Farnell should become an advisor to The Register MS
- Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops to Only Half a Dozen Capsules and 0.2% of the Whole in Geminispace, Self-Signed is the Way to Go
- It used to have hundreds, according to Lupa
- Doing to Red Hat What They Already Did (and Still Do) to IBM
- there seems to be a drive to hire cheaper staff, and it may be led by somebody Red Hat hired from Microsoft
- Links 03/09/2025: Salesforce's Latest Mass Layoffs, 93% in Large Poll at The Register MS Say UK Government Should Dump Microsoft
- Links for the day
- Preparations for Our 19th Anniversary Have Already Begun
- When we get back we'll probably sort out some balloons and venue for the next party
- Pleased After 2 Years With team.blue
- Moving from a Content Management System (CMS, dynamic) to a Static Site Generator (SSG) was a wise decision that made life so much easier
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is Being Attacked by Organisations Jealous of Its Principled Stance and Longevity
- Nobody is perfect, but imperfection does not instantaneously imply sinister intent
- If You Reject the Google Verdict in the US, Then You Should Also Reject the "Modern" Web (Do Something About It)
- Gemini Protocol is still open; it cannot be hijacked or subverted because it's frozen by design and by intention
- Open Source Initiative IRS Filing: Almost All the Money is Corporate, Stefano Maffuli (Executive Director) Takes About a Quarter of That Money for Openwashing of "AI" Ponzi Scheme
- OSI is currently little but a PR/marketing agency of Microsoft
- Many People Are "Leaving" Red Hat, Even High-Level Managers
- Something is definitely going on at Red Hat
- Techrights Has Been Subjected to Calls of Violence (and Death Threats), It Never Condoned Violence
- I have no sympathy for people who call violence "free speech" and then get in trouble
- Condoning Violent Behaviour and "Free Speech"
- perhaps Microsoft Lunduke lost touch with what constitutes violence
- Takeaway From the Google Verdict: GAFAM Has Too Much Control (Even Over the US Government and Courts With Government Appointees)
- Many people feel disappointed but hardly surprised by the verdict
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 in One Month
- As noted a few days ago, several times in fact, many people now recognise the importance of the FSF's mission, even if most people don't know what the FSF is
- Many Microsoft "Assets" Are Fabricated Baloney (to Game the Numbers)
- At times it seems like what we deal with are many weak patents (on algorithms), valuations or speculations based on hype ("hey hi"), and stocks held by Microsoft and its own staff
- "Voluntary" Layoffs at Microsoft (to Game the Numbers, Sugar-Coating a Crisis)
- "Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer."
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 02, 2025
- IRC logs for Tuesday, September 02, 2025