This week in DistroWatch Weekly: Reviews: First look at Haiku News: Fedora developers stage "unrest", a look at Mandriva's history, openSUSE 11.2 "LXDE" and "Xfce" live CDs, Wolvix 2.0.0 Questions and answers: Loopback devices Released last week: Frugalware Linux 1.2, VortexBox 1.2, PC/OS 10.1 Upcoming releases: SliTaz GNU/Linux....

The second alpha build of GeeXboX 2.0, a Linux mini-distribution for Home Theatre PCs (HTPC) and media centres, is available for testing: "It has already been one month since 2.0-alpha1 release so here is alpha2. This release fixes many bugs that have been encountered by our users on....

José Antonio Calvo Fernández has announced the release of eBox Platform 1.4-1, an Ubuntu-based server distribution for small and medium-size businesses: "eBox 1.4-1 installer released. I just wanted to let you know that we've done a lot of bug fixing and small improvements since the release of the....

Andrew Gillis has announced the release of VortexBox 1.2, a Fedora-based Linux distribution with the goal of turning an unused computer into an easy-to-use music server or jukebox: "VortexBox 1.2 released. The VortexBox community has been working hard on this release. We have added a lot of new....

Matthew Dawkins has announced the availability of the first release candidate for Unity Linux 2010, a minimalist distribution and live CD based on Mandriva Linux: "The Unity Linux project is pleased to announce its first candidate for release, 2010 RC1. We have taken the last nine weeks to....

Jesse Keating has announced the availability of the first alpha release of Fedora 13: "The Fedora 13 'Goddard' alpha release is available. Among the top features for end users, we have: automatic print driver installation so when you plug in a USB printer, Fedora will automatically offer to....

MCNLive, a Mandriva-based distribution and live CD, has been resurrected by the members of the Dutch Mandriva Club. The first beta of the brand-new MCNLive Kris, is now available for download: "After a few years of silence around MCNLive, here we are again with a brand new MCNLive....

The first beta build of PCLinuxOS 2010 has been released: "PCLinuxOS 2010 Beta 1 features 2.6.32.8 kernel using the BFS scheduler for maximum desktop performance on i686 computers. This kernel supports up to 4 GB of memory. A PAE kernel is available from the Synaptic package manager providing....

Ian Wells has announced the availability of the fifth beta release of SME Server 8.0, a CentOS-based server distribution: "The SME Server development team is pleased to announce the release of SME Server 8.0beta5 which is based on CentOS 5.4 and will be the next major release of....

Miklós Vajna has announced the release of Frugalware Linux 1.2, a general-purpose, community-built distribution for intermediate Linux users: "The Frugalware developer team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Frugalware 1.2, our twelfth stable release. No new features have been added since 1.2rc2, but 62 changes have....

This week in DistroWatch Weekly: Reviews: Taking a look at PC-BSD 8.0 News: Ubuntu unveils new desktop theme, KNOPPIX releases 6.3 CeBIT edition, openSUSE adds LXDE desktop to install media, multicd.sh Questions and answers: RHEL 6, useful shell tips Released last week: Elive 2.0, Linux From Scratch 6.6....

Thierry Nuttens has announced the release of NuTyX 2009.3, a French desktop Linux distribution with custom package management. This is the fourth update in the 2009 series; while the base system, the C library and the compiler remains unchanged throughout the 2009.x releases, a number of small problems....

Anil Gulecha has announced the availability of the first beta release of Nexenta Core Platform 3.0, a free and open-source operating system combining the OpenSolaris kernel with GNU application userland, Debian utilities and Ubuntu software packages: "On behalf of the Nexenta project, I'd like to announce the availability....

The second release candidate for SimplyMEPIS 8.5, a beginner-friendly, Debian-based desktop Linux distribution, is ready for download and testing: "Warren Woodford has released SimplyMEPIS 8.4.99, RC2 of MEPIS 8.5, now available from MEPIS and public mirrors. Warren reported: 'In the past week, we've fixed some bugs reported by....

After a long development period lasting more than two years, Samuel Baggen announced today the release of Elive 2.0, a Debian-based desktop Linux distribution featuring an optimised Enlightenment 17 window manager with plenty of desktop eye candy: "The Elive team is proud to announce the release of the....

Ken Smith has announced the availability of the second release candidate for FreeBSD 7.3: "The third and what should be last of the test builds for the 7.3-RELEASE cycle, 7.3-RC2, is available for amd64, i386, pc98, and sparc64 architectures. The target schedule, as well as the current status....

Roberto Dohnert has announced the release of PC/OS 10.1 "OpenWorkstation GNOME" edition, an Ubuntu-based distribution for the desktop: "The developers of PC/OS are excited to bring you this new installment in the PC/OS family. Users and customers have demanded it so we have now delivered it. This release....

Robert Shingledecker has released Tiny Core Linux 2.9, a minimalist Linux distribution in 10 MB: "Tiny Core Linux 2.9 is now posted. Change log: upgraded udev to 151 with several rule adjustments and new rules added; updated libstdc++ 6.0.9 to support exceptions; updated glibc 2.9 to support i486;....

Jon Ramvi has announced the availability of the first beta release of EasyPeasy 1.6, an Ubuntu-based distribution optimised for netbooks: "The team has been working hard to bring you the best netbook experience. The 1.6 beta 1 is the first release of EasyPeasy 1.6, bringing with it the....

Silvan Calarco has announced the availability of the first test release of openmamba GNU/Linux 2.0, a user-friendly Linux distribution with KDE 4 and RPM package management: "I'm happy to announce the immediate availability of openmamba milestone2 2.0pre1, the new version of the GNU/Linux operating system for laptop, desktop....

Matthew Burgess has announced the release of Linux From Scratch (LFS) 6.6, a free e-book that gives step-by-step instructions on how to build a base Linux system by compiling source code of the Linux kernel, GNU utilities and other basic components: "The Linux From Scratch community is pleased....

This week in DistroWatch Weekly: Reviews: Desktop comparison - Zenwalk Linux, Salix OS and GoblinX News: OpenSolaris survives Oracle takeover, Fedora delays first alpha, Mandriva switches to nouveau, Linux Mint prepares LXDE edition, Kubuntu repositories Questions and answers: Removing zombie processes Released last week: PC-BSD 8.0, Igelle 1.0.0,....

François Dupoux has announced the release of SystemRescueCd 1.4.0, a major new update of the popular Gentoo-based live CD designed for data rescue and disk management tasks: "SystemRescueCd 1.4.0 introduces two new options that allow you to boot from NFS v3 or NBD. Basically, if the computer on....

Iuri Stanchev has announced the release of NetSecL 2.6, a Slackware-based distribution enhanced with GCC stack smashing protection and other security features: "NetSecL 2.6 released. In the new release you will find QEMU, servers and new penetration tools. We took our time to separate the usual network utilities....

The fourth beta of MOPSLinux 7.0, a Russian Slackware-based distribution, is now available for download and testing. According to the release announcement (in Russian), this is the last beta - next on the developers' agenda is a first release candidate. This release doesn't include many major new features,....

Daisuke Suzuki has announced the release of Vine Linux 5.1 (code name "Cheval Blanc"), a Japanese general-purpose community distribution available for the i386, x86_64 and PowerPC architectures. This is a minor update in the Vine 5.x series that integrates all the bug-fix and security updates announced since the....

Steve Langasek has announced the availability of the third alpha release of Ubuntu 10.04, code name "Lucid Lynx": "Welcome to Lucid Lynx Alpha 3, which will in time become Ubuntu 10.04 LTS." New features: "The default search engine has been changed to Yahoo! The default home page will....

Warren Woodford has announced the availability of the first release candidate for SimplyMEPIS 8.5, a new version of the Debian-based desktop distribution, now with KDE 4: "SimplyMEPIS 8.4.98, release candidate 1 of MEPIS 8.5, is now available from MEPIS and public mirrors. Major packages have not changed since....

Sylvain Balbous has announced the release of PapugLinux 10.1, a minimalist, Gentoo-based live CD with the Fluxbox window manager and a number of mostly lightweight desktop applications: "PapugLinux release 10.1 is now available for download. Version 10.1 is a major release of PapugLinux in terms of package update....

John Van Gaans has released the first beta of TEENpup 2010, a Puppy-based distribution with IceWM and KDE 3 applications, designed primarily for netbooks: "TEENpup 2010 Beta has been released. This release of TEENpup will find a number of new friends with netbooks. Originally I started developing this....

Kris Moore has announced the release of PC-BSD 8.0, a major new version of the user-friendly FreeBSD variant designed for the desktop: "The PC-BSD team is pleased to announce the availability of PC-BSD 8.0 (Hubble Edition), running FreeBSD 8.0-RELEASE-P2, and KDE 4.3.5. PC-BSD 8.0 contains a number of....

Markku Kero has announced the release of Igelle 1.0.0, an independent desktop Linux distribution featuring a custom desktop, package management and other unique characteristics: "We are happy to announce the release and immediate availability of a distinct flavor of Igelle, Igelle DSV 1.0.0 for personal computer desktops. Igelle....

Miklós Vajna has announced the availability of the second release candidate for Frugalware Linux 1.2, a general-purpose community distribution designed for intermediate Linux users: "The Frugalware developer team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Frugalware 1.2rc2, the second candidate of the upcoming 1.2 stable release. Here....

This week in DistroWatch Weekly: Feature: Interview with Clement Lefebvre and first look at Linux Mint 8 News: Linux Mint ends "distro hopping", Debian releases first 6.0 installer, Ubuntu outlines new netbook interface with Enlightenment, OpenSolaris developers fear for project's future, Mandriva "Cooker" updates Questions and answers: Disk....

Epidemic GNU/Linux 3.1, a user-friendly Brazilian distribution (with support for Portuguese and English) based on Debian's testing branch, has been released. The focus of this minor update was on correcting bugs and polishing the system, but there have been also some important additions, such as a new boot....

Christophe Lincoln has released a new development build of SliTaz GNU/Linux, the last testing version before the final 3.0 release expected at the end of March: "The SliTaz contributors are proud to announce a new Cooking version of the live CD. This is the last Cooking RC before....

Roberto Dohnert has released the second beta build of PC/OS 10.1 "OpenWorkstation", a Xubuntu-based desktop Linux distribution: "We have released beta 2 of PC/OS 10.1. With this release we have updated to the Ubuntu 9.10 base. We have removed Xsplash and GDM 2.28 and went to GDM 2.20;....

Anil Gulecha has announced the availability of the fifth alpha release of Nexenta Core Platform 3.0, a minimal, server-oriented distribution based on the OpenSolaris base system with Ubuntu software packages: "On behalf of the Nexenta project, I'd like to announce the availability of the Nexenta Core Platform (NCP)....

Henne Vogelsang has announced the second milestone release on openSUSE's journey to version 11.3: "Milestone 2 is part of the milestones where we track new releases in the open source universe and test the building of our various distribution images with them. While milestone 1 introduced various pre-release....

Alexander Eremin has announced the release of MilaX 0.5, an OpenSolaris-based mini-distribution which runs completely off a CD or a USB pendrive: "MilaX 0.5 released. Based on OpenSolaris snv128a. JWM as WM, system monitor - conky, keyboard layout switcher - SCIM. Now with fastest browser Midori - Twitter,....

After many months of testing and experimentation, the final release of Element version 1.0, an Ubuntu-based distribution designed for home theatre or media centre personal computers, is available for end users: "This version is based on and thus binary compatible with Ubuntu 9.10. Featured software in this release....

Warren Woodford has announced the availability of the fifth beta version of SimplyMEPIS 8.5, a beginner-friendly distribution based on Debian's stable branch featuring the latest KDE 4 desktop: "MEPIS has announced SimplyMEPIS 8.4.97, the fifth beta of MEPIS 8.5, now available from MEPIS and public mirrors. Deltas, requested....

Ken Smith has announced the release candidate of FreeBSD 7.3, a new version of the project's legacy branch: "The second of the test builds for the 7.3-RELEASE cycle, 7.3-RC1, is now available for amd64, i386, pc98, and sparc64 architectures. The schedule has slipped by about a week but....

Alexander Tratsevskiy announced the availability of Calculate Linux 10.2, a Gentoo-based distribution from Russia for desktops and servers: "What's new in Calculate Linux 10.2: Added support for creating Live USB system using UNetbootin; Support to create a binary kernel package from calculate-sources; New installation options - scheduler choice....

Our old friend Susan Linton serves as the guest editor for this issue of DistroWatch Weekly:Mandriva Linux 2010 and its KDE 4.4 UpgradeNews: New Mandriva deployment, Squeeze freeze delays, No Freeze Rawhide, Miscellaneous Linux GoodnessQuestions and answers: SmbclientReleased last week: NetBSD 5.0.2, Skolelinux 5.0, MINIX 3.1.6, Linux Mint....

The first alpha version of GeeXboX 2.0, a standalone, LiveCD-based Linux distribution for home theater or media center purpose, has been released: "This has been announced for years but we're finally stepping forward to the so long awaited 2.0 release of GeeXboX. Today, we're proud to let you....

Linux From Scratch (LFS) 6.6 RC1 was recently released. Linux From Scratch isn't a distribution in the traditional sense, but a book containing a set of tutorials for building a base Linux system from source code. From the project's news page: "The Linux From Scratch community is pleased....

Kris Moore has announced the availability of the second release candidate of PC-BSD 8.0, a user-friendly, FreeBSD-based operating system for the desktop: "The PC-BSD Team is pleased to announce the availability of PC-BSD 8.0-RC2 (Hubble Edition). PC-BSD 8.0 contains a number of enhancements and improvements over the 7.x....

NetBSD 5.0.2, the second critical/security update of the NetBSD 5.0 branch, was released today: "The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce that version 5.0.2 of the NetBSD operating system is now available. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed critical for security or stability reasons. Please note....

Clement Lefebvre has announced the release of Linux Mint 8 "Fluxbox" edition: "The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 8 'Helena' Fluxbox Community Edition. This release has been built with the emphasis on a lightweight and yet fully functional desktop centered on the Fluxbox....