Development Release: AntiX 'Bullseye' Alpha 1 - Noice

This is it, the first round of development releases based on the upcoming Debian 11 'Bullseye' has started now that is nearing the freeze, or has it already? Not sure, as everyone knows I am more partial to the non-systemd side of things. AntiX, just like Devuan, fits right in there. Both provide good alternative ways to install and arrive at a Debian system. Debian is nonetheless still an important distribution, even though I wished they had made different choices, but both are standing on the shoulders of this giant.

7 Alternatives to Kubuntu

Kubuntu is of course a valid distribution in its own right and the case for it has been stronger again ever since Linux Mint cancelled their own KDE edition in 2018. On top of that Kubuntu serves as a base for KDE Neon. Nevertheless, one or the other user might want to look at other alternatives and options to run a pre-configured and set up Plasma Desktop. A ready-made one because the desktop environment can be installed on top of any distribution base.

How to upgrade to LMDE 4 - Revisited

Upgrade instructions vs. real world experience

I've got a dirty little secret. I'm running Linux Mint Debian Edition and have been since end of May 2019 despite my known stance on a particular init system. For various reasons LMDE 3 ended up on this new laptop and I've been very happy with it ever since. It does everything well, Steam gaming, Virtualbox and the more mundane tasks like writing this piece. Don't change a working system - so I stayed on it. But a new version has been released and it was time to upgrade.

VSIDO - A Debian-Sid Tracking Distribution with Fluxbox

There are a lot of distributions, spins, customizations and modifications of distributions out there. Not all of them are listed on Distrowatch, such as MiyoLinux I just wrote about a week ago. I once started a series about light weight distributions using window managers such as Openbox and IceWM or lighter desktop environments. Vsido which is utilising Fluxbox certainly fits the bill so let's see.

LMDE 4 Has Been Released

The latest version of the Linux Mint Debian Edition based on Debian 10 'Buster' has been released. You can find the release announcement here with a link to release notes for more information, and if already running LMDE 3 upgrade instructions here. This is quite an important release and a nice way to install Debian on your machines that is less bloated and more responsive than the mainline Mint base.

MiyoLinux - A Devuan base to build your own

A couple of weeks ago somebody drew my attention to Miyo (Make it your own) Linux, a small custom base distribution based on Devuan I had not been aware of. Separate builds are produced for the i686 and x86_64 architectures, and one for EFI installations. You can also choose whether to run with a build based on Devuan Testing, i.e. `Beowulf' or Unstable, i.e. 'Ceres' or use the older but stable builds based on Devuan 'Ascii'. MiyoLinux comes with various window managers.

Kanotix 'Silverfire' - Underappreciated but still going strong

Kanotix is one of those Linux distributions I keep coming back to. I last reviewed it in 2011 when Kanotix 'Hellfire' based on Debian 6 was new. Since then it's been rather quiet but the project is still going strong but it might have slipped under the radar of many Linuxers over the years. Kanotix is always based on the latest Debian stable but development builds are also available and it still has some tricks under its sleeve.

The Devuan Project Announced the Release of Devuan GNU+Linux 2.0.0

The Devuan project has announced the release of Devuan GNU+Linux 2.0.0, code name "ASCII". This means that the project now has a stable release that is up to par with the current stable Debian 9 "Stretch" and provides an upgrade path from the previous "Jessie" release as well as a transition path from the corresponding Debian release. With this the project continues to offer a way of using the advantages of the huge repository of Debian packages while still staying with the old init system and circumventing the controversial systemd suite of system utilities. In essence, Debian as it used to be (from a user perspective).

Devuan Project Announces Beta Release

Today the Devuan Project announced availability of a public beta release to their target group which they call Init Freedom Lovers. One may recall the reason for the split and intended fork from Debian was the decision by the Debian Project to hence include systemd as the default init system, starting with the release of Debian 8 'Jessie' and beyond, with no easy way of switching this out for another init to be used at boot without recompiling binaries or not using certain other programs dependent on it.

Q4OS: Debian Stable with the Trinity Desktop Environment

Q4OS is like Exe GNU/Linux a distribution using the Trinity desktop and based on Debian Stable. In fact I could have picked Exe as well for review but Q4OS just had a new release and it looks cleaner from the start. It was simply the novelty factor that pulled me towards it and it's got a few nice touches of its own as we shall see. Version 0.5.20 was just released on 11/11/2014 and is available both for the mainstream 32 (i386) and 64-bit architectures. The images are a modest 314MB and 337MB respectively which makes for a speedy download and will definitely fit on your CD or even older USB sticks.

qBittorent Keeps Crashing After a Few Minutes (Or Seconds)

Today qbittorrent kept crashing on me a lot. I noticed that it had quit on me before on this install of Debian Stable ("Wheezy") but had not been quite sure. After all, it's Debian, right? Debian Stable IS stable as a rock and all that, these things can't happen. Turns out, it's not really Debian's fault after all, although they could have made some fixed packages available or even better, provided an updated library in backports for those who need it. Let me explain.

Installing MATE as an Afterthought: How to avoid icon clutter and set the desktop to $HOME/Desktop?

Things have been rather busy with non-tech related stuff, completing my dissertation and writing an article for a journal so apologies for the very infrequent postings. However, we've got a small update today. You might have come across the same problem when adding the MATE desktop environment to a pre-existing install, instead of just using Point Linux or the Salix Mate spin which already come all set up for you and polished. If you install yourself, small niggles may remain.

Overclockix Revived: Debian-based Distro Nostalgia

Overclockix, like KNOPPIX STD (remember that one?), is one of those rare use specialist distributions that will always prevent it from widespread adoption, but that's not the point. It was discontinued in 2005 and has recently been revived by several enthusiasts on the Overclockers forum. Read the full announcement here. Back then it was built around the KDE 3 desktop, but the new development team have held a poll where Gnome Shell came out top as preferred environment.

Siduction 'Paintitblack' LXQt Dev Release: Screenshots

Earlier this month the Siduction team, which regularly updates snapshots based on Debian Unstable/Sid, released a development build showcasing the new LXQt desktop, the future of both the LXDE and the Razor-qt environments. Siduction have a bit of history here as they featured Razor-qt as a desktop early on and were probably the only distribution to ship a dedicated iso as part of their line-up throughout 2012 and 2013. Besides using KDE 4 for the main image Siduction have shown a great commitment to medium light and lower resource desktops.

AntiX 13.2 - More Modern But Still Some Quirks

Blimey, it's been a long time since I reviewed antiX already and it's about time to give it a second look. The overall judgement may have been a bit harsh last time around and I'm going to see whether we can write a more positive piece this time. Some of the issues raised seems were valid though as the distribution has changed a bit since then. Enough of that, let's hop right in.

CrunchBang 'Waldorf' - Second Time Lucky

As we all know 'Waldorf' is the testing branch of CrunchBang Linux based on the upcoming Debian 'Wheezy'. Two weeks ago I wrote a shortish post about how the latest testing image failed to install, and promptly an update got released with the release announcement pointing to a known bug in the Debian installer. So, time to try again now that we're back home.

CrunchBang 'Waldorf' R20120806 - What a Shame

Good morning, dear reader. This past weekend I felt a bit experimental again after openSUSE cocked up what was otherwise a nice installation. You see, I'm not normally an openSUSE fan but when 12.2 came out I immediately grabbed a copy and loved it. Nice stable KDE 4, polished, good looking artwork, understated but beautiful, Yast2 for easy graphical administration, the works. Unfortunately, it didn't stay like this.

antiX M11 in Review - Sadly Not So Great

As most readers will already know antiX is a light weight distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux and SimplyMEPIS, or just Mepis if you prefer, which is itself based on Debian. antiX sports a custom IceWM as default window manager and environment with tools from the ROX desktop. It is supposed to mainly be used on older machines and as a consequence there is no x86_64 edition, only two 32-bit optimized for i486 and i686 processor instructions.

Meet Grml 2011.12, Basic Debian Respin for Sysadmins

Today we're looking at another more specialized distribution spin called grml that apparently has its origins in Austria, not that it mattered much when technology allows us to work pretty much from anywhere. Is it grml because those mountain folks up in the Alps are always grumbling and grumpy, or is it that life as a sysadmin is turning people into muttering zombies?

Semplice Linux, An Exercise in Simplicity

Semplice Linux is a very young project that has only recently made its debut on Distrowatch with Release Candidate 1 for their upcoming 2.0 code-named 'Emily' getting listed. This means there must be a support structure in place, a website, bug tracker, documentation and user forum. The distribution originates from Italy and is based on Debian unstable, using only the Openbox window manager, a handful of applications and a blank background. It will not surprise you then that semplice means simple.