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
- LLM Slop is Not Reliable, Constitutes No Process of 'Thinking'; There's No Thought Process at All, No Grasp or Understanding, Let Alone Context
- Lies have become the "business model" [...] More people ought to talk about it and explain to other people what LLMs really are
- Not a Security Expert If You Cannot Manage to Keep Online a Simple Two-User Mastodon Instance Somebody Else Built
- From uptime of ~99% to maybe 80%
- Microsoft Has All the Symptoms of a Dying Company (Mass Layoffs of the People Who Built the Company)
- the company's debt is going through the ceiling
- For Effective 'Finlandisation' (Not Digital Sovereignty) to Be Replaced by Autonomy Finland Needs to Think Like GNU (Software Freedom), Not Linux (Openwashing Source, Plus LLM Slop and Killswitches)
- What is 'Finlandisation'?
- IBM's Kyndryl in Trouble: Mass Layoffs, Payroll Problems, Buybacks (in Company Whose Debt is Almost Twice Its Total Value), and Soon $9 Per Share (Down Over 80%)
- Kyndryl is done. Stick a fork in it.
- ICYMI: GNU/Linux Did Not Start in Finland
- If we're honest/true to ourselves, we need to recognise history for what it is, not what some corporations (like GAFAM) want it to be
- Codecs and Software Patents - Part VII - Entering Phase II, the Battle Against Companies That Normalise Taxed (by Patents on Mathematics) Codecs
- In the next few part we'll deal with the impact on Free software, including the GNU Project
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- "Microsoft Goodwill and Intangible Assets" Down Two Years in a Row, According to Microsoft
- Microsoft cannot sell these, so what is their real relevance?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 15, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, May 15, 2026
- IBM: Shares Down 30%, Mass Layoffs, IBM Says "Goodwill" Grew by 10% to Over a Third of the Company's Total "Worth"
- According to IBM
- Microsoft LinkedIn Layoffs "Very Likely Higher" Than 1,000 People
- Microsoft is bleeding
- The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXIV - Luis Berenguer Giménez at the EPO (European Patent Office) Became the Punchline of EPO Staff
- "the fact that Luis was caught with cocaine causes laughter. The use of cocaine in itself is not the real shocking bit."
- IBM Keeps Culling Essential Linux, Fedora, GNOME, and GTK Staff
- Over a month ago IBM laid off over 400 Red Hat engineers
- Cisco Cuts Nearly 4,000 Jobs Because of Debt, Nothing to Do With Slop
- The media keeps talking about revenue, not profits
- Gemini Links 15/05/2026: UDP Game Forwarding Over SSH, Avoiding LLMs, and Alhena 5.5.9
- Links for the day
- Links 15/05/2026: Electric Company Shuns Entire Town to Prioritise Only Data Centres, Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. Carried Out Secret Attacks in Iran
- Links for the day
- Focus is Important, Focus is Everything
- We are still running 6 multi-part series in tandem
- Guest Post on False Marketing and PR Blitzes by Anthropic
- A lot of people my age are just tired of the nonsense
- Links 15/05/2026: UK antitrust regulator is officially investigating Microsoft Office, Anthropic’s Fraudulent Lies About Mythoslop Don't Withstand Scrutiny
- Links for the day
- IBM is Googlebombing the Media With Fake Numbers to Promote Fake Technology
- a classic example of why much of today's media cannot be trusted (anymore)
- Up to 10,000 Microsoft Layoffs in a Couple of Months
- Many ways to skin a cat
- Truth Hurts. People Hurt by Truth Aren't Entitled to Compensation.
- Family members aren't exempt
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 77 Out of 200: They Never Knew How to Handle Women (Except to Attack Them)
- The case against us was really quite simple
- Update on Sirius Open Source in 2026 (When Your Former Employer Commits Crimes and Nobody is Held Accountable)
- I did not envision myself spending several years (even 4 years after leaving that company) challenging the system for tolerating and even covering up corruption
- The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXIII - Cocaine Use at the EPO's Top-Level Management "Adds Up" and Worsens Things "Over Time"
- "cocaine use knocks the IQ down permanently a tiny bit with each use. Over time that adds up."
- Gemini Links 15/05/2026: Slop Fatigue and Banning LLM Use
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 14, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, May 14, 2026
- Links 14/05/2026: Health Science, Cheeto Meets Pooh, and Facebook Staff Loathing the CEO
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 14/05/2026: Early Morning Practice and Number to Roman Numeral Converter
- Links for the day
- FSF Advertises the Father of Software Freedom Giving a Talk in Germany (a Digital Sovereignty Interest Hub, Sponsor of Free Software)
- Free Software vs malware and the need for reverse engineering
- Cybershow (UK) Shaping Up to be a Neat and Very Large Gemini Capsule
- If only more platforms did the same, plenty of energy would be spared, "old" machines would be totally suitable (even with 20 tabs open), as we'd focus on substance, not bells and whistles
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 76 Out of 200: The Problem With the United Kingdom Allowing Americans to File Lawsuits by Proxy (Relayed by "Hired Guns")
- Solicitors in UK warned not to act as ‘hired guns’ to silence critics of super-rich
- When Microsoft's LinkedIn Goes Offline All Your Fake Friends/Connections and Manufactured 'Status' Will be Gone
- Many people quit social control media because they recognise it for what it truly is
- Major Setback for IBM in the Courtroom, the Demolition of IBM is Proving Costly
- Kyndryl is a sign of how IBM ("mother ship") is run and where IBM is heading
- Links 14/05/2026: Willful Ignorance and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 14/05/2026: Rewatching V for Vendetta, JPEG XL, and Platform Migrations
- Links for the day
- The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXII - What the Science Says About Cocaine in the Workplace (EPO President, Mr. Campinos, Please Take Note)
- What the science says
- European Patent Office (EPO) President, Mr. Campinos, Ignoring Its Staff While Protecting His Friends
- the President is covering up cocaine use while ignoring his own workers
- Slop Cannot Replace Everybody (the Story of Perl and Universities)
- Quantity where abundance exists is without merit; quality is what people opt for as they have limited time and patience
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, May 13, 2026