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
- Attacks on Techrights Make Techrights Stronger and Attract More Whistleblowers to Techrights
- The harder they attack us, the more productive we become
- An American War on GNU/Linux, Software Freedom, and British Investigative, Science-Based Reporting - Part III - Very Strong Legal Basis for an Appeal
- The case is now being escalated to a Foreign Secretary and former Deputy Prime Minister
- No Slop Found in RSS Feeds, Only in Google News
- No slopfarm will survive for very long, certainly it'll go bust as soon as readers (if it had any) know what it is
- What the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Action Fraud UK Have in Common
- Don't let London become the world's "crime capital"
- Dr. Andy Farnell on How GAFAM, NVIDIA and Others Lie to People Via the Sponsored Media to Prop Up Lies Under the Guise of "AI"
- Lots of key aspects are covered
-
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 09, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, March 09, 2026
- The Register MS Has Just Taken Money From Google (Where the Former Chief Editor Now Works) for Femmewashing and Ponzi Scheme Promotion
- now The Register MS not only promotes a Ponzi scheme but also bags money to pretend Google respects women
- People at IBM Are Still Smart Enough to Understand What's Really Going on
- "I would never refer someone to work at IBM that I liked! I hope all of you have reviewed IBM on Glassdoor."
- European Patent Office (EPO) to "Eventually Eliminate the Tasks Performed by Formalities Officers"; EPO Run by People Without Experience in Patents
- full paper
- RMS is 73 Next Week
- Richard Matthew Stallman (RMS) turns 73 exactly 7 days from now
- Iran & FSFE: blackmailing women, from football to the French Government (CNIL)
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Police investigations, lawsuits & Debian leader election candidate shortage
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Defeated Cancel Culture, a Mostly American Phenomenon
- RMS is talking now
- Links 09/03/2026: Many Security Breaches and a Pandemic of Censorship
- Links for the day
- People Who Work or Worked at IBM Hate It
- bluewashing is only the first step
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Talks in 30 Minutes, Next Stop Bern (Last Stop)
- We assume he'll travel back to Boston after that
- IBM's Fedora as a Booster of Slop Disguised as Code or Computer Programs
- Maybe we should also stop seeing a doctor and instead ask chatbots about symptoms?
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk Five Hours From Now
- there is growing recognition for what he really did for everybody
- EPO Strike 10 Days From Now, Planning Assembly Tomorrow, Last Couple of Strikes Had High Participation Rates (1,500-1,600 Staff Went on Strike)
- The next strike is in 10 days' time and then there will be another strike
- Links 09/03/2026: GAFAM Outsourcing, "MAGA Political Meddling" in EU, Indonesia Bans Social Control Media for Children Under 16
- Links for the day
- Using Slop (and Slop in Articles) to Attack Copyleft 'on Budget'
- This article is pure BS from an anti-GPL and anti-RMS 'activist'
- Why The Register MS Sold Out to Microsoft: They're Losing Lots of Money, The Register MS is Bleeding to Death, Based on Its Own Financial Records
- With over 6 million pounds in debt (nearly 10 million US dollars) we guess it's likely some other company will take over the site (if it deems it worthwhile)
- Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 7 Out of 200: Like With the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Misuse of UK-GDPR to Try to Hide Embarrassing Facts
- They do and say really bad things, then allege it's a "privacy violation" to mention those things
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 08, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, March 08, 2026
- Gemini Links 09/03/2026: Exponentials and Tailscale
- Links for the day
- Sloppyleft
- Article by Alexandre Oliva
- Hard to Replace 'Human Touch'
- The reason many people insist on using GNU
- Richard Stallman Gives Talk in 20 Hours at Ostschweizer Fachhochschule Campus in Rapperswil-Jona
- The talk is in English
- The Slop Companies Gamble at Our Economy's Expense and They Know It's a Losing Bet (So It's a de Facto Robbery)
- The crash of this bubble isn't just inevitable, it's already happening and receding sporadically because of false announcements about money that does not actually exist (to "buy time")
- Suppressing Speech by Blackmail, the Iran Story
- When Debian wanted to stage a seemingly legitimate election it needed to have more than one candidate running; so eventually the female partner of a geek rose to the challenge (had no coding skills at all, no technical history in Debian) and lost to the "incumbent German"
- Too Focused on Buzzwords the Media is Paid to Saturate the Collective Mind With
- Just because companies do really bad things in the digital realm does not imply "AI" or follow from "AI"
- Discrimination and Prejudice Against Female Journalists
- we can shame people who attack a reporter on the grounds of gender
- An American War on GNU/Linux, Software Freedom, and British Investigative, Science-Based Reporting - Part II - Trying to Put People in Prison for Committing the Act of Journalism
- This is abuse of process
- Attack on Copyright and Copyleft by Code Conversion Is Nothing New, It Predates Slop (Code Produced by LLMs) by Several Decades
- Even back in the 90s many people converted programs from one language to another. That could invalidate copyleft (and copyright), which already existed
- Almost a Slopless Weekend for "Linux"
- Let's hope slop will come to an end or sites will cease linking to slop
- Insiders Explain Why IBM is Dying and the Inherent Culture Problem
- There are many ways to shave this IBM cat
- Links 08/03/2026: Microsoft Lost $400 Million on "Project Blackbird" and Half the States Sue Over Illegal Tariffs
- Links for the day
- Links 08/03/2026: Cisco Holes Again and "Blatant Problem With OpenAI That Endangers Kids"
- Links for the day
- Activism/Journalism in Our Blood
- one must fight for one's principles
- Gemini Protocol in Its Prime
- What's particularly neat about Gemini Protocol is that it's fast and cheap
- Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 6 Out of 200: Intentionally Misnaming Women, People Who Offered to Testify That They Too Had Been Subjected to Similar Abuse
- Today it is International Women's Day
- Even Fedora Leadership Cannot Figure Out the Microsoft Kill Switch/Back Door, 'Secure' Boot
- It does not actually enhance security
- Bruce Perens: Richard Stallman "Has Achieved His Goal"
- Stallman's next talk is tomorrow
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 07, 2026
- IRC logs for Saturday, March 07, 2026
