04.14.14

Distributions News: GNU/Linux Distros

Posted in News Roundup at 3:34 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

High End

Old Computers

Zorin OS Lite 8.1 Is the Perfect OS for Users with Old PCs Running from Windows XP

The Zorin developers have always marketed their products as the perfect Windows alternatives and they’ve had some success with this strategy. Their operating systems are regarded as good replacements, with familiar interfaces that can help people running away from Windows OSes to better adjust to a Linux distribution.
Tiny Core 5.3 RC2 Is Probably the Smallest Linux Distro Around

Single-purpose

GParted Live 0.18.0-2 Arrives with a New Linux Kernel, 3.13.7

GParted Live, a small bootable GNU/Linux distribution for x86-based computers that can be used for creating, reorganizing, and deleting disk partitions with the help of tools that allow managing filesystems, is now at version 0.18.0-2.
Clonezilla Live 2.2.2-35 Distro for Backup Is Ready for Testing

“The underlying GNU/Linux operating system was upgraded. This release is based on the Debian Sid repository, as of April 7, 2014,” reads the official changelog.

The Linux kernel has remained the same, 3.13.6, and this is one of the most recent ones available. It’s very likely that the next development version will feature Linux kernel 3.14.

Distrohopping

Opinion: Desktop spin laws that need to go away

Various distro spin makers have made two unwritten laws that I very much disagree with:

A) A distro spin of desktop blah should have only programs built with the same widget library that desktop blah uses

B) A distro spin should only ship / pre-install one program for each application category

I mention this because I’m a big KDE fan but KDE-only distro spins do not include my preferred browser (Firefox) nor my preferred office suite (LibreOffice, not that I use an office suite much) because they aren’t QT-native applications. While LibreOffice does a better job of integrating with KDE than Firefox does, both drag with them quite a bit of GTK baggage… which is considered “bloat” by many spin makers.
Do distrohoppers have too many choices?

CAELinux

SparkyLinux

Inside SparkyLinux – An interview with Pawel “Pavroo” Pijanowski

I think it started when I installed the same Linux distribution with the same set of applications, configuration and layout as mine, to my wife’s and then to my colleague’s computers. Then somebody asked me why should I not try to share my point of view with more people.
SparkyLinux 3.3.2-test1 Base Edition Is for Command-Line Aficionados

The SparkyLinux 3.3 “Annagerman” system is built on Debian GNU/Linux “Jessie,” just like the previous versions. The developer usually releases versions with various desktop environments, but this is just the Base, which means that it’s only for command-line fans.

AVLinux

Hands-on with AVLinux: Crammed with multimedia goodies

The really interesting and important thing about the AVLinux distribution, of course, is the Multimedia capability included in it. The Audio menu is shown to the right, above. Well, at least part of it is; it has so much in this category that it doesn’t even fit on one screen! Audio players, mixers, editors, synthesizers, analyzers, and pretty much anything and everything you can think of in this category are included.
AVLinux Goodies, Linux Tops XP Poll, and Learning Linux

Arch Family

Netrunner Rolling Release: First Snapshot 2014.04 released

Starting with the 32-bit ISO labeled 2014.04i (“i” as in infinite) this is our first version of a Rolling Release and based on the excellent Manjaro/(Arch).
Manjaro 0.8.9 Gets Its Third Update Pack with Newer Linux Kernels

Manjaro 0.8.9, a Linux distribution based on well-tested snapshots of the Arch Linux repositories and 100% compatible with Arch, has just received its third update pack.

Fedora

Fedora Infrastructure information on Openssl vulnerability (CVE-2014-0160/heartbleed)
Fedora Present and Future: a Fedora.next 2014 Update (Part III, “Governance, Progress, and More Ideas”)
Fedora 21 Receives Another Helping Of Features

Another round of features have been approved by the Fedora Engineering and Steering Committee for this year’s Fedora 21 release.

Debian Family

Debian’s APT Package Manager Has Reached Version 1.0, Coming With New Features

Hello Linux Geeksters. As you may know, APT (Advanced Package Tool) is the default command-line package manager for Debian, Ubuntu and their derivative systems. Recently, APT has reached version 1.0, after 16 years since it was recently developed. Ubuntu’s Synaptic and Ubuntu Software Center run both apt in the background, for managing deb packages.
MakuluLinux 6 MATE “Imperium” Debian-Based Linux OS Launches Tomorrow

MakuluLinux 6 MATE, a Linux distribution based on the Debian testing branch, Jessie, that provides stability, speed, and a modern desktop, is the first in the series and it will be available for download on April 14.

Ubuntu and Derivatives

Todo Indicator: Ubuntu AppIndicator For todo.txt
Pimp Your Ubuntu Desktop and Derivatives with Numix Icon Packs

Numix Icon Packs is a small project developed by Numix project team focused to create high quality GTK themes and icons for Linux desktop. Their goal is to make a “difference” in theming and to present you a modern and stylish desktop without damaging its usability while at it, and quite frankly, up until now they seem to have done a pretty great job.
Tesla Model S owners hack their cars, find Ubuntu

After wiring into the car’s communications system, forum user “nlc” was able to find a number of ports and tap into the data flowing to the center console and navigation screens. Others soon joined in the fun and amongst the slightly esoteric bits of information the “hackers” eventually discovered was that the sub-system runs on a version of Ubuntu operating system, which is a Linux variant.
One Week Until Lubuntu 14.04: Lightweight, LTS, Tidy [Overview with Screenshots]

With Ubuntu 14.04 closing in to the release date, which is set for April 17th, I took Lubuntu for a spin from the daily live ISO image. Lubuntu is the most lightweight distribution in the Ubuntu family (the other one being Xubuntu which uses Xfce), using LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment), as well as a set of applications intended to be low on resources.
Thinking of Trying Linux Mint 16 Cinnemon on Old Systems

Okay, I have two socket 939 machines with XP collecting dust. Nevertheless they are quite stable and more than meets the requirements to run any version of Linux.

One has four gigs of RAM and the other two and both processors are AMD. I was wondering what you think of Mint and if there is another version of Linux you would recommend for the beginner.

Gentoo Family

PCLinuxOS

The HP Pavilion Laptop is Back

I will have to migrate it to a newer version of PCLOS. But I will do that during Easter. The thing is, I am not sure if I want to do it. The current install of PCLOS has everything I need to work and play (it even runs the game Braid on Desura), so… why fixing it if it is not broken?

Slackware Family

VectorLinux 7.1 RC Is a Light Distro Compatible with Slackware 14.1

“We include Xfce4, the gimp, firefox, cups, exaile, popular multimedia plugins, and many other programs to maximize the desktop experience. Also new is an update to our very own installer, this was written from scratch and is a major improvement from previous installers. This is a RC release so final is soon to follow after initial peer testing,” notes the developer in the official announcement.
Salix MATE 14.1 Beta 1 Is Based on MATE 1.8

Salix MATE 14.1 Beta 1, a GNU/Linux distribution based on Slackware that is simple, fast, easy to use, and based on the MATE desktop environment, is ready for testing and download.
Zenwalk 7.4 is ready!