Links 25/01/2014: GNU/Linux Distributions Roundup
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-01-25 21:03:21 UTC
- Modified: 2014-01-25 21:04:32 UTC
Summary: Various bits of recent news about lesser-known distributions of GNU/Linux
Choices
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A lot of you may use many different versions of Linux on a regular basis. Or, maybe you don't see your choice here. Vote for the one you use the most or the one from this list that is your favorite.
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Bodhi is definitely a fine looking distro, and Xubuntu would also go at the top of my list for desktop distros. Be sure to click through and read the full article for details on why Carla picked each distribution. Then fire up VirtualBox and check out the ones that interest you. There's definitely some fun distrohopping to be had in her list.
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The Linux avalanche is rolling and gathering mass and momentum. Linux won, so what's next? Amazing growth is what's next: we're at the bare beginning of the Linux juggernaut rolling into existing markets and blazing into new ones. All this growth and progress is the result of years of hard work by tens of thousands of people and billions of dollars of investment. It has reached critical mass and there is no stopping it.
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Doesn't it seem a bit ridiculous that there are so many Linux distributions? I had recently read an article where some guy was lamenting about five Linux distributions which they believe need some TLC (Note: I did not say THC :) ). That is five extra Linux distributions, on top of the five main Linux distributions which just about everybody knows about and from which every other Linux distribution is based off of. Not only that, they all claim pretty much the same thing. Everything just works out of the box, blah, blah, blah. I would consider that a standard for today's Linux operating systems, not something to use as a selling point.
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As I wrote in my previous post, Linux is Everywhere and there are hundreds if not thousands of different distributions. Some are very famous, some boasts of their 10 million user base and then there are others who live in the shadow of famous distributions. Some distributions struggle to even gain a fraction of what big distributions enjoy and a few handful of distributions die every year. But today we are here to discuss about few distributions that being awesome still don’t get the love they deserve. It doesn’t matter if the distribution is original or forked or based on some other distribution, if it does the job, is stable enough for daily use and is not getting the love it deserves, it will be on the list.
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The key to a good netbook operating system is that it needs to fully utilise its resources. Memory usage has to be kept to a minimum when running idle. The screen is smaller so you need to have a very intuitive navigation system that doesn’t clutter the screen.
Quirky
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The Quirky Linux distro has a lightweight design with a powerful delivery system. That, plus a leading-edge test bed of new ideas, makes Quirky Linux an ideal OS for netbooks and older computers with limited storage and memory. Run Quirky on a hardware-enhanced modern machine and experience a new definition of fast and dependable. It's definitely worth a try.
CAINE
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The distribution’s name is derived from Computer Aided INvestigative Environment, and it is an Italian GNU/Linux live distribution, whose development is headed by Nanni Bassetti. The goal of this distribution is to provide an interoperable environment and user-friendly tools for digital forensics.
Netrunner
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The Netrunner Team is proud to release Netrunner 13.12 – 32bit and 64bit stable.
Black Lab
Qimo Linux
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Qimo Linux is a kid-friendly distribution designed to make computers simple for children. Parents will appreciate the cartoon theme and the fact that everything is easy to find, even for the youngest users.
Parted Magic
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A new release of the once popular Parted Magic Linux distribution is available that aims to assist in data recovery and disk/partition management, but it continues to be commercial-only.
Last year was when Parted Magic fundamentally shifted its distribution model and went from being freely available for download without charge to then being behind a pay wall but some free download links remained. Now with modern versions of the Linux distribution designed for disk/partition management, the pay wall is being enforced.
Santoku Linux
Jolicloud
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Jolicloud 2 will be the next version of Jolicloud, a Cloud service that aggregates all the popular and not-so popular Cloud services.
It started life as Joli OS, a free operating system optimized for netbooks and other low-resource computers. Since then, it has evolved into a pure online service. Jolicloud, the company behind it, is based in Paris, France.
Microlinux
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MLED 14.1 Xfce is a lightweight production desktop based on Slackware 14.1 and the Xfce desktop environment with many enhancements. It sports a complete choice of neatly integrated applications, one per task.
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MLED 14.1 MATE is another lightweight production desktop, based on Slackware 14.1 and the MATE desktop environment with many enhancements. It sports a complete choice of neatly integrated applications, one per task.
This edition uses the MATE desktop environment provided by Chess Griffin and Willy Sudiarto as a base. MLED adds some eye candy and applications galore.
Misc.
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If you have been following the news and stories on Linux distributions since over ten years like I have been, you tend to have a fairly standard view -yet an educated one- about what’s going on with them, why every year since about 2002 this could have been the year of the Linux desktop, how Mandriva almost made it but was beaten off by Ubuntu, and why Android and likely Ubuntu are triomphing not on the desktop itself but on the phones and tablets.
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At the beginning of 2013 I wrote about an ambitious Linux distribution that set out to create what its lead developer called would be the most robust, beautiful, and performant Linux operating system out there and ultimately aspired to take on Ubuntu. Well, that distribution is now a matter of the past.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Like Microsoft and IBM, the 'Alicante Mafia'-Governed EPO Does PIPs Nowadays (at the EPO, It's "Professional Incompetence Procedure")
- So "PIPs" are definitely in the EPO and we saw letters sent to staff
- Time for Change, More New Articles, Less Curation
- The oligarchy wants to gut the real press and replace media with slop and social control media (or social control media with slop in it, i.e. their own voices, mechanised)
- Almost 1,600 EPO Employees Went on Strike Last Week
- There is another strike coming 2.5 weeks from now
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- You Know Microsoft's "Value" is 100% Fictional When in One Single "Trading" Day in Wall Street It Loses THREE TIMES More in "Value" Than It Was 'Worth' in 2009
- Microsoft does not behave like a company riding trillions but like a company that struggles with payroll
- Better Outcomes When Facing the Discomfort of Conflict
- Don't take the easy way out when the "hard way" is the right way and it can result in positive revelations
- Leaving the United States 3 Years Ago Was the Best Decision We Made
- A lot of stuff is being consolidated
- BillBC (BBC) Covered Up Pedophilia, Now It's Covering Up for Its Sponsor Bill Gates by Reprinting His Lies, Which His Own Wife Disputes
- Is Bill Gates having orgies (group sex)?
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- Linuxiac Not Rehabilitated, It's Still Full of LLM Slop (Part of a Trend)
- The Web as a resource/source of information is perishing
- "Sponsored by Azul" to Write Fake 'Article' About Azul, Quoting Azul Itself
- The "journalism" industry [sic] became so utterly corrupt
- JuristGate is for sale: three billion Swiss francs for a domain name
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Gemini Links 05/02/2026: Coercion, Antibiotics, and LVDT Project
- Links for the day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 04, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, February 04, 2026
- Links 04/02/2026: Extreme Malice in Microsoft's Visual Studio Code on GNU/Linux, More Hey Hi (AI) Chaos
- Links for the day
- Sexism & GNOME: shaming men, hiding women, Sonny Piers update
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Gemini Links 04/02/2026: Humanity and Animality, systemd (Controlled by Amutable, a Proxy of Microsoft) Moves on to "Extinguish" Phase
- Links for the day
- Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Used to be Widely Used in Geminispace, Now It's Down to Just 0.2% of the Whole
- Let's Encrypt is not your friend
- What IBM Does Is Clearly Illegal in the US: Tying Severance Packages to NDAs (Non-Disparagement Agreement/Clause)
- The NDAs make things worse; they keep people isolated and silent
- Microsoft's Giant Snowball of Layoffs and PIPs (in 2026)
- They would delay until March or April if they wanted to, but then we can expect numbers exceeding 10,000 layoffs (Microsoft always low-balls the real figure/s)
- Mozilla Turned Firefox Into Shovelware, Adding 'Kill Switch' for Slop Still Means Mozilla is Participating in a Pyramid Scheme, Plagiarism, Grifting
- Mozilla is still a slop pusher
- Links 04/02/2026: "Laws of Succession" and Microsoft's VS Code as Code-Stealing Malware
- Links for the day
- Phoronix Swims With the Real Trolls, People Who Fancy Proprietary Software and Back Doors
- If Larabel begins to actively participate in provocation with the "Microsoft GitHub fans club", what does this tell us about Phoronix?
- They Know Microsoft Layoffs Are About to Hit Them Hard
- The gaming division at Microsoft is a complete catastrophe, lots of money (debt) down the drain [...] Buying Activision was all about misleading shareholders or hiding the deep trouble/problems XBox was having
- Red Hat is Not a Linux Company, It's IBM's Ponzi Scheme Enabler
- Had we still been stuck in 2021, perhaps IBM would plaster "NFT" or "metaverse" all over RedHat.com
- Keep Grinding
- "Don't let the bastards grind you down"
- Mobbing at the European Patent Office (EPO) - Part III - Who's Going to Pay for the EPO's Corruption? (Aside From European Citizens)
- Some people inside the EPO reached out to us
- "Investors Are Concerned About an AI Bubble" (That GAFAM and IBM Ride)
- A few decades from now IBM will only be remembered in the same sense many so-called 'AI' companies will be remembered
- EPO Staff Union: "Very High Strike Participation on Friday 30 January", Another Strike Starts 19 Days From Now
- EPO management in a bit of a panic
- Censorship/Free Speech and Social Control Media
- It's important to have a grasp of how contemporary censorship works and how to tackle it
- Google News as Slop Booster
- this is what Google links to
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 03, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, February 03, 2026
- Gemini Links 04/02/2026: "Raspberry Pi Relaxes the Rules for Its RP2040 Hacking Challenge" and "Long Web Society"
- Links for the day
- IBM Falls by Over 10%
- a recipe for disasters like accounting fraud
- Links 03/02/2026: Windows Copies GNU/Linux, Windows TCO Shown Again
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 03/02/2026: Alhena Turns One, Slop Rejected, and Max Roy Carrouges Recalled
- Links for the day
- How to Identify Demonisation or Dehumanisation Tactics Against Interesting Figures or Luminaries in Free Software
- Rather than in general or generally in technology
- We Should Learn From Bulgaria
- Why can't European companies and government recognise and react to a threat (when they see one)?
- Dr. Andy Farnell on Why and How European Authorities Can Adopt Free Software, Parenting in the Age of Digital Abundance
- Will Europe use technology that Europe controls (not the hegemon), for a change?
- Canonical: Ubuntu is GAFAM (US), We're Resellers of American Proprietary Software
- They want people to pay for a licence
- Seems Like IBM Trolls Use Chatbots to Vandalise Platform That Discusses IBM's Secret Layoffs, Forever Layoffs
- Not for the first time either
- You Know Your Company is Dead or Basically a Pyramid Scheme When Jim Cramer Keeps Promoting Its Stock
- How much does IBM pay for "puff pieces" or "fluff" about QC?
- Red Hat (Under IBM) Works for Microsoft (Proprietary Software) and Slop
- Yesterday Red Hat's official site, redhat.com, published exactly 5 new blog posts
- IBM is Dying (More Layoffs), Red Hat Will Continue to Suffer From the Acquisition
- Financial engineering
- Colombia Adopting GNU/Linux Even Faster (at Microsoft's and Apple's Expense)
- Do politics play any role in this?
- An Effort to Tackle Slavery in 'Open Source' Clothing
- "a civil rights lawsuit to examine the concerns of censored developers in the free, open source software ecosystem"
- $15 billion lawsuit: Ubuntu, Google & Debian crowdfunding campaign launch
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Delusion - Part II - Why We Need to Expose the SRA to More Daylight, Public Scrutiny
- SRA is neither effective nor regulated
- Links 03/02/2026: "Distraction is a Sin" and Fake "Encryption" (Surveillance With Good Marketing)
- Links for the day
- 400-Page US Federal Court Against Abuses by Google, Microsoft and Front Groups That Abuse Volunteers for American Corporations
- There are 386 pages in total (in the US claim)
- Corporate Influence Never Impacted Us
- There's no reason to assume we'll ever "sell out"
- Growth of GNU/Linux in Cuba
- Right now a lot of the world drafts or already implements a GAFAM exit plan
- A Day After EPO Strikes an Escalation to Heads of Delegations to the Administrative Council
- They rely on the European media playing along, helping them to hide major blunders, even crimes
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 02, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, February 02, 2026
- Gemini Links 03/02/2026: Stargazing, Development Boards, and Tcl/Tk Slop
- Links for the day