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
- Linux Foundation Says "Housekeeping", "Hung", "Normal", "Native Feature/Support" and "Girl/Girls" Are Offensive Words
- Bombing people is OK, just use the right "terms"
- It Looks More Like Microsoft GitHub Layoffs
- GitHub is just losing loads of money
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- Links 12/08/2025: Science, Hardware, and Ukraine Excluded From Negotiations About Its Future
- Links for the day
- GitHub the Company Has, in Effect, Just Died (Time to Look for Alternatives)
- To Microsoft, what's left of GitHub after dismantling/folding it is some "training set" (people's code, without permission to "train" i.e. misuse under the guise of "GenAI" plagiarism)
- Gemini Links 12/08/2025: Meditation, OpenStreetMap, Smolweb, and More
- Links for the day
- Google News is Dying: Most of Its Top Stories Now Are LLM Slop With Slop Images (i.e. 100% Fake 'Content')
- Google News has been drowning in this sort of stuff for quite some time
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 11, 2025
- IRC logs for Monday, August 11, 2025
- Our Predictions Were Right: GitHub Dying as Losses Pile Up (as a Company It Cannot Continue to Exist, It's Not 'Free Hosting')
- GitHub always lost money
- Links 11/08/2025: Meritless Twitter Suspensions and Disney Scraps Deepfake Dwayne Johnson
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 11/08/2025: Upgrading Debian Bookworm and Better Quality PDFs From Gemini Pages
- Links for the day
- Currys PCWorld Lied a Decade Ago, 10 Years Later It Still Effectively Voids Your Warranty for Installing GNU/Linux Despite It Being Increasingly Mainstream
- Microsoft gatekeepers
- Team GNOME Has Libeled Me for Nearly 20 Years
- we are not dealing with sane people
- Experience With Airlines in 'Web Sites' and in 'Apps'
- In a lot of ways, Stallman Was Right about what JavaScript would turn out to be
- Open Does Not Mean Free
- wiser to ask if some program is freedom-respecting
- The Register MS Takes Money From Companies Banned by the Biden and Trump Administrations (National Security Risk)
- today's sponsor
- Sabotaging GNU/Linux PCs (and Users) is Not a 'Joke'
- maybe cruelty is the very objective
- How We Process Screenshots of Slop to Suitably Tag Them as Slop
- everything is a single command
- Links 11/08/2025: Data Breaches, Politics, and Climate
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 10, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, August 10, 2025
- Gemini Links 11/08/2025: Tea Caffeine Hot and Super ZZ Zero
- Links for the day
- Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Brian Fagioli, and Other Serial Sloppers
- Maybe Microsoft wants to dub this "Web5"
- Gemini Links 10/08/2025: Residents Management Company, Automation, and Politics
- Links for the day
- Links 10/08/2025: AOL Ending Dial-up
- Links for the day
- Seductive Mirage or Allure of Complex, Proprietary Coffee Machines (or Similar White Elephants)
- Software is a lot like those things
- Links 10/08/2025: Webrings, “AI Sunglasses” and “AI Eyeglasses”, US Administration Intensifies Attacks on Science and Research
- Links for the day
- Sometimes Newer is Worse
- We generally need to reject this dumb notion that "old" means bad
- The Code Used to Make Techrights Fits on a Seventh of a Floppy Disk (or 100KB When Compressed)
- For the sake of comparison I've just downloaded the latest version of WordPress. The ZIP file is 27.2MB in size, or ~27,200KB.
- What They Tell Young Programmers
- Coding in 2025
- Simpler is Better When Simple is Enough
- Over-complicating things to "sell" new versions is so 1990s
- Links 10/08/2025: From Social Control Media to Prison, New Examples of Windows TCO
- Links for the day
- Sloppy Reporting About Slop, or How The Register MS Lowers Its Standards
- Maybe the management isn't even aware of this
- IBM's Strategy: Cull 'Expensive' Workers, Replace Them With Cheaper Ones
- So far we saw not even one rebuttal or challenge to the claim of Red Hat layoffs scheduled for tomorrow
- If You Attack Somebody Too Much You Legitimise and Strengthen That Somebody
- at the end those attacks add up to a "martyr" status
- The Man Who Helped Microsoft Kill Linux is Trying to Delay Our Lawsuits Against Him
- By conservative estimates, and based on court documents submitted by them, they're prepared to spend over a million dollars on lawyers, fighting against me and my wife
- Gemini Links 10/08/2025: Gen Con 2025 and Framework Laptop
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 09, 2025
- IRC logs for Saturday, August 09, 2025