Distro of the Week: VailuxOS 1.6.1.4

German distro based on Debian opts
to make it easy for Windows refugees

The VailuxOS desktop features KDE Plasma with some minor tweaks.

By Larry Cafiero

After a trying day last week while choosing a distro for this week’s column, augmented with an unusually wide variety of non-starters, Distro of the Week finally decided on this week’s Linux distro.

Direct from Germany, VailuxOS is a German desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Debian’s “Stable” branch. The project’s primary goal is to make the transition from Windows to Linux as seamless as possible by maintaining familiar ways of working and workflows. The distribution uses the KDE Plasma desktop.

We took the latest version, 1.6.1.4, out for a test spin to see what it’s all about.

Installing VailuxOS 1.6.1.4

Before we start, it should bear mentioning that one of the main reasons for this distro, which is making it easy for Windows refugees to find a home with Linux. That’s an admirable proposition, of course, and with that in mind we downloaded the ISO.

The minimum system requirements for VailuxOS are fairly straightforward: A dual-core 64-bit or more CPU is required, as is at least 4 GB of RAM, and at least 25 GB of storage space available. In the graphics department, a 3D-accelerated GPU with at least 256 MB VRAM is required, as is a display of at least 1024-by-768 or higher resolution. Internet connection is also suggested in installing the distro.

The menu for VailuxOS 1.6.1.4 is square in the center, which differs from most distros.

At a relatively hefty 7.1 GB, the ISO took longer than usual to download, but once the process was complete and was installed relatively easily on a USB drive, we took the live USB to install this distro on a few laptops available.

The Calamares installer comes up quickly after clicking the icon on the desktop, and after installing the usual information – location for the time/date, keyboard type, disk partition, user login/password – and after checking everything out, we were on our way.

Kicking the tires on VailuxOS

Rebooting after the installation, VailuxOS came up relatively quickly with the KDE Plasma desktop environment, albeit modified, with the menu grouped with icons in the center of the bottom panel. On the left is a very convenient weather program while at the right are the usual suspects, icon-wise: Volume, Bluetooth, Display Brightness, Devices, Network, and Time.

There’s a good reason that the ISO was so robust. VailuxOS includes the various KDE-based tools which should be familiar to regular KDE users, like Dolphin file manager, Discovery software center, Ark archiver, and the Kate text editor, among others. However, there are a variety of software that is not often included in initial installations which is a feather in the distro’s cap: the LibreOffice suite of software, for starters, is available right off the bat, as is the VLC media player.

As far as web browsers go, VailuxOS bypasses some of the more popular browsers like Firefox and instead include Waterfox, a free/open source alternative which worked adequately. Email program? This distro opted for the KDE-based Kmail, which I tried unsuccessfully and failed to set up. So off to Discovery to install Thunderbird for ease of use.

Downloading GIMP for safe measure – even though VailuxOS comes with KolourPaint and ImageMagick – we were ready to both rock and roll.

The About window in VailuxOS 1.6.1.4 provides important info to the user.

Despite the unique look with the modified KDE Plasma desktop – the menu in the center took some getting used to – the Debian underpinnings and the spry performance that accompanies it was second to none. The Weather program that dominates the left side of the bottom panel is something one gets used to and, as it turned out, I referred to it from time to time.

The Waterfox web browser deserves special mention, as it performed flawlessly throughout the week, surfing the web and playing some online games, handling the latter with the same aplomb that Firefox would handle them; and that’s no small feat, since not all web browsers perform quite as well as Waterfox. Once again, the VailuxOS developers got this one right.

This may sound silly, but it bears mentioning. KDE produces a software program called KDE Connect which allows the user to “connect” their hardware to their phone, which might sound trivial but this software is an absolute blast to play with. But it’s functional as well, whether it’s transferring files between your computer and your phone (or vice-versa), and you can even control your mouse from your phone.

But back to the daily grind of use, VailuxOS hits all the high marks when it comes to performance and speed on a wide variety of hardware. As expected, all multitasking issues that arose were handled with the usual Debian-based je ne sais quois, with the RAM rarely reaching over 3 GB. While it barely broke a sweat in that department, it also bears mentioning that the distro plays nicely with online programs like Google Docs and Google Drive.

The final word

If the sole purpose of VailuxOS is to cushion the blow, so to speak, for new users escaping Windows to use an “acceptable” Linux distribution, then it succeeds on several levels. For one, the KDE Plasma desktop would make any Windows refugees feel welcome, and the variety of software available on the initial install makes adding other programs minimal.

Going old-school: Listening to a little Creedence Clearwater Revival on the VLC media player.

That said, VailuxOS is an admirable attempt in making new users welcome to Linux, and it’s a wonder why it isn’t higher than the mid-60s in Distrowatch’s page-hit rankings, especially with all the problems associated with the Windows 11 rollout. If there is a “fault,” it’s this: The distro adapts Linux to Windows habits instead of forcing users to adapt a Linux zeitgeist, or even at least a Linux mindset.

Is that good or bad? That remains to be seen.

Nevertheless, VailuxOS 1.6.1.4 is solid top to bottom, and both beginners and more experienced users would each find things they would like about this distro.

Give VailuxOS a shot. Download the ISO from its download page.

Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let me know! Email me at larry.cafiero@gmail.com and I’ll make an effort to make your choice available to the wider public … No suggestion is too mainstream!

Bits & Bobs: Tails 7.14 gets update

Compiled by Larry Cafiero

Bobby Borisov at Linuxiac reported on Wednesday that The Amnesic Incognito Live System – otherwise known in the Linuxsphere as Tails – has made several updates focused on further privacy.

Tails 7.14 updates the Tor browser to version 15.0.24, the Tor client has been upgraded to 0.4.9.13 and the Linux kernel has been bumped up to 6.12.111 in its latest iteration.

“Beyond the component updates, Tails 7.14 fixes an issue with the default keyboard input method when starting a session in Korean,” the article says.

The article continues, stating “[u]sers running Tails 7.0 or later can upgrade automatically to version 7.14 while keeping their Persistent Storage. A manual upgrade is available if the automatic process fails or if Tails does not start afterward.”

But how about new installations? “Tails 7.14 is available as a USB image and an ISO image for DVDs and virtual machines,” the article says. “Installing Tails again instead of upgrading an existing USB stick will erase its Persistent Storage.”

Debian-based antiX 26.1 released

Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Wednesday that the Debian-based and systemd-free antiX Linux 26.1 has been released with updated Linux kernels, with both Core and Full editions shipping with the Linux 5.10.256 LTS an 6.6.139 LTS kernels in both editions.

Still based on Debian 13 “Trixie,” antiX Linux 26.1 “ships with updated packages from the upstream Debian Stable repositories and updated kernels across all supported architectures, namely the customised Linux 5.10.256 LTS kernel for the core edition and the Linux 6.6.139 LTS kernel for the 64-bit full edition,” according to the article.

“Beyond that, the antiX Linux team notes that various bugs have been squashed, though one known issue persists as Bluetooth mice may not be picked up in some configurations,” the article says. “Everything else remains unchanged from the antiX Linux 26 release, which continues to be without systemd, libsystemd0, elogind, or libelogind0, and ships eudev in place of udev.”

The article continues with “antiX Linux 26.1 release supports five init systems, namely runit (default), sysVinit, dinit, s6-rc, and s6-66, and includes IceWM as the default window manager alongside the Fluxbox window manager, JWM (Joe’s Window Manager), and the herbstluftwm tiling window manager.”

Debian fixes over 1,300 CVEs

Speaking of Debian, Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Friday that the latest Debian 13 “Trixie” kernel security update patched more than 1,300 CVEs and urges users to update their installations to Linux kernel 6.12.111-1 as soon as possible.

“Yes, you’re reading it right, the new Debian 13 Linux kernel security update is a massive one, probably the biggest kernel security release ever, and it patches no less than 1,313 security vulnerabilities in the Linux 6.12 LTS kernel series that powers Debian Trixie,” the article states.

Why so many? “Well, because of several reasons, one of them being the recent policy change in CVE assignment for the kernel project, where essentially any commit identified as fixing a potential security issue gets a CVE assigned, even if it’s a minor one or has no known exploit path,” the article explained.

“Another reason is that Debian Stable releases don’t ship every upstream stable point release as a separate DSA (Debian Security Advisory),” the article continued. “They accumulate fixes across multiple upstream kernel versions and package them in larger periodic updates. The longer the gap, the bigger the batch.”

But . . . “Seeing over 1,300 vulnerabiliies in a single Debian kernel update is overwhelming, but the vast majority of these CVEs are low-severity, highly conditional, or affect subsystems irrelevant to any given machine,” the article says. “However, the update is still worth applying, but it’s not 1,313 independently critical issues.”

Debian users are urged to update their installations, use a terminal emulator and run the sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade commands. And, of course, “don’t forget to reboot your computer after installing the new kernel version.”

Budgie desktop set for aerynOS?

Bobby Borisov at Linuxiac reported on Friday that aerynOS could be the next distro to offer the Budgie desktop environment, as Joshua Strobl had recently opened a pull request to bring Budgie Desktop 10.10.3, along with related apps and required dependencies, into aerynOS.

Strobl is a software engineer, open source advocate, and the founder of Buddies of Budgie, known for developing Budgie Desktop and contributing to projects like Fedora and Solus.

“The pull request, opened in the aerynOS recipes repository, adds Budgie Desktop 10.10.3 along with related applications, dependencies, branding, and integration pieces for a complete setup,” the article says. “The work is still under review, so Budgie is not yet an official aerynOS desktop option.”

The article continues: “According to Strobl, the submission includes the main Budgie Desktop package, a package set with recommended applications, aerynOS-specific branding based on his generic Budgie defaults template, and a patched Budgie Control Center with support for the distribution’s branding.”

If merged, Budgie would join aerynOS’ existing desktop lineup, which includes Gnome, KDE Plasma, and Cosmic. Recent aerynOS updates have continued moving all three stacks forward, including KDE Plasma 6.7.5, Cosmic Desktop 1.9, and Gnome 51 in the distro’s September package refresh.

And that’s all for today. Don’t forget: Distro of the Week appears Wednesday – and it’s always a good one on hand – and Bits and Bobs will return with news over the week next Saturday.

Distro of the Week: Soplos Linux Tyron

Spanish distro based on Debian excels on many fronts, could be good for new users

Soplos Linux Tyron desktop features the latest Xfce desktop environment.

By Larry Cafiero

We get mail, part deux . . . where we take suggestions from our readership, and one reader commented in another review that we try this week’s Distro of the Week, and we obliged.

So direct from Spain – Catalonia, actually – we are test-driving the latest version of Soplos Linux, code named Tyron, with the Xfce desktop environment chosen from the alternatives available. The desktop environments available from Soplos Linux are also Gnome – code named Boro – and KDE Plasma, which is code-named Tyson, all with the latest Linux kernel rumbling under the hood.

It bears mentioning that Soplos is based on the Debian “Testing” branch – also known as “Sid” – and for those of you keeping score at home, it means that unlike Debian Stable – the official production release of the operating system – the primary difference between the two is that Debian Testing is a branch that’s continuously updating and serves as the staging ground for the next Debian release, where Debian Stable is built and heavily tested for maximum predictability.

Interesting that they have different code names for different desktop environments, but never mind.

Installing Soplos Linux

Downloading a 2.8 GB ISO from the Soplos site was simple enough, and putting it on a USB thumb drive went flawlessly. The hardware booted up from the live USB drive fairly quickly, with the Xfce 4.20 desktop environment showing clean lines. An icon to install the distro appeared on the desktop, and clicking it takes the user to a standard Calamares installer.

The menu on the Xfce 4.20 desktop environment on Soplos Linux Tyron.

The Calamares installer takes the user through the standard install process of location for time/date, keyboard choice, disk setup, login/password setup, and off we go. About 10 minutes later there is a reboot and we’re ready to begin.

The minimum system requirements make Soplos a good choice for a wide variety of hardware. For Tyron, the Xfce version, the minimums are a dual-core 2.0 GHz with 2 GB of RAM, 20 GB of storage space, and an OpenGL 20 compatible graphics card. What’s recommended for the distro is a quad-core 2.4 GHz or higher with 4 GB of RAM, 30 GB SSD or more in storage, and dedicated 1 GB of VRAM.

Kicking the tires on Soplos Linux

At first look, Soplos tends to appear to be your standard Debian-based distro, until the user logs in and is greeted by Soplos’ Welcome window, which is a bit complex, but in a good way. The best way to describe the Welcome window on Soplos is that it encompasses almost everything the user may encounter when using the distro.

The Settings window in Soplos Linux gives users option in tweaking their distro.

First things first: Soplos Tyron tends to be a little light on software included in the original installation. The Xfce version includes all the Xfce-based tools, of course, along with some specialized Soplos tools as well, including a Soplos Graphics Report, Soplos Kernel Manager, Soplos Docklike, Soplos Repo Selector, Soplos System Services, among several others, as well as some pleasant surprises like the Ghostty terminal emulator and Sensor Viewer, which allows the user a peek under the hood. It also come with ImageMagick image editor, the Firefox web browser, and the Parole media player, and the software features drop from there.

But the “secret sauce” that puts it all together, at least at the start, is the Welcome window. Going the distance and then some for the user, this window allows a wide variety of activities along tabbed top of the window. Software? Yes, there’s a tab for that, where the system updates immediately and effortlessly, along with a variety of installation options like Flatpak, Synaptic, Discover, and other software addition programs.

The next tab is drivers, which helps the user with his or her graphics and WiFi drivers, followed by the Kernels tab, which provides the user a choice of kernel to install. Moving rightward with the tabs, there’s a Security tab, which allows the user to set up a firewall, if he or she would like.

The Welcome window on Soplos Linux has a plethora of options for the user.

But next is the piece-de-resistance of the window, the Recommended tab. This tab provides the user a wide variety of recommended software to add to the distro to make it the users’ own. A wide assortment is available, broken down into categories of Web Browsers, Communication (we’ll take Thunderbird, please), Office (LibreOffice, if you don’t mind), Multimedia (VLC, please), Graphics and Design (let’s have GIMP), Development, Gaming, App Management, Downloads, Hardware, Files, Remote Desktops, and Virtualization.

The final two tabs on the window are the Customization – which gives users a variety of ways to change themes, icons, etc. – and Gaming, which provides assistance in that realm if the user so desires.

Once we got the distro where we wanted it – and admittedly fiddling more with the Welcome windows options than I would normally do – we are ready to put the rubber to the road, so to speak.

True to its Debian roots, Soplos handles everyday tasks with incredible ease and reliability. Web surfing with Firefox and emailing with Thunderbird were both exemplary, and listening to music via the VLC media player went off without a hitch.

With the wealth of tools provided by Soplos, exploring the inner workings of the distro became a task unto itself – and an enjoyable one at that – where changing kernels and setting up firewalls were simple tasks as well.

As far as multitasking issues go, Soplos handled each and every request with aplomb, and the distro also operates seamlessly when faced with web based programs like Google Drive and Google Docs.

The final word

Four quick and simple words: I like this distro. Let me add a fifth – I REALLY like this distro. The Welcome window aside, Soplos Linux provides a cornucopia of options to the user – both new and experienced alike – and possibly the only drawback (and, of course, this is a stretch) is that being based on Debian Testing could provide for a multiplicity of updates; so far this week there have been two with around 60 programs updated apiece.

Listening to Neil Young while going through daily tasks on Soplos Linux.

But never mind that. Soplos Linux provides a kinder and gentler Debian than expected, with the distro’s defaults easily smoothing over most – if not all – of the rough edges on Debian Testing that could be offputting to newcomers. Further, this is a solid distro which, hopefully, will rise above the mid-80s in Distrowatch’s page-hit rankings, and out of the plethora of Debian-based distros available, it stands head-and-shoulders above many of them.

Is it good for beginners? The Xfce version surely is, and I would imagine that the KDE Plasma and Gnome versions would easily follow suit. The distro is almost custom-made for the most curious beginners who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, proverbially speaking, digging deep into the bowels of the distro. That said, Soplos Linux is almost a natural for intermediate and greybeards as well for pretty much the same reason.

Soplos Linux is one of the better distros that have come down the pike in quite some time. New users benefit from a guided experience in Debian Testing, and despite its Catalonian roots with Spanish as its first language, English is definitely spoken here. Its community is growing, meaning the wiki and forum will also follow suit, should you need reference in troubleshooting.

Give it a test drive by downloading the ISO from the Soplos download page.

Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let me know! Email me at larry.cafiero@gmail.com and I’ll make an effort to make your choice available to the wider public … No suggestion is too mainstream!

Bits & Bobs: Cosmic 1.9 released

Compiled by Larry Cafiero

Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Thursday that the Cosmic 1.9 desktop has been released, with improvements including upgrades on the Cosmic Viewer, Cosmic OSK, and a revamp of the Cosmic Store.

“Coming about two weeks after Cosmic 1.8, the Cosmic 1.9 release introduces two new apps, namely Cosmic Viewer as an image viewer that supports a wide range of formats and features built-in editing capabilities, and Cosmic OSK as an on-screen keyboard that supports both touch and gamepad input,” the article says.

But wait, there’s more.

“Cosmic 1.9 also revamps the Cosmic Store’s design with the ability to highlight the developer of each application or applet, adds support for syncing font settings for Gnome apps, adds a toggle to Gnome Settings for showing the day of the week, and adds settings for the new on-screen keyboard in Gnome Settings,” the article says.

The article also says that Cosmic Greeter “received optional support for systemd-homed and a new button to toggle the on-screen keyboard, Cosmic Files can now show icons for .exe files, Cosmic Compositor allows layer shell programs like the background and on-screen keyboard to be shown on the lock screen, and Cosmic Panel’s border thickness is now configurable.”

Cosmic 1.9 fixes numerous bugs across all apps and components “to improve things like the context menus in the Cosmic App Library and Cosmic Launcher, pixelated icons in the Cosmic App Library and Cosmic Launcher, the Esc key not closing menus for several apps, and the drag selection box not updating in Cosmic Files,” the article says.

PeppermintOS warms to XLibre

Abhishek Prakash in It’s FOSS reported on Tuesday that PeppermintOS is moving away from Xorg and choosing Xlibre to avoid using Wayland in its distro, with the lightweight distro shipping Xlibre in its upcoming Debian- and Devuan-based ISO.

“Reason is simple,” the article says. “Development on the original Xorg has stalled and most distributions have switched to Wayland. XLibre exists with the aim to keep maintaining, modernizing, and cleaning up the codebase for people who still prefer X11.”

According to the article, “XLibre is built as a drop-in replacement for xorg, and it aims not to break standard desktop environments, window managers, or older drivers, and PeppermintOS says its testing so far has gone as expected.”

The article also states that PeppermintOS says it has no immediate plans to move to Wayland, pointing to Xfce’s roadmap of supporting both Xorg and Wayland natively. Xfce is the default offering from PeppermintOS.

“By the way, this is the project’s first Debian-based ISO built without Debian’s traditional live-build tools, moving instead to mmdebstrap, mirroring what PeppermintOS already did for its Devuan edition,” the article says.

That Devuan build has also been updated to use XLibre and is close to community testing.

Mageia 9 support ends, upgrade urged

Bobby Borisov of Linuxiac reported on Friday that Sept. 30 is the cutoff date for Mageia 9 support, and users are urged to upgrade to Mageia 10 for continued upgrades and security fixes.

“More than three years after its release in August 2023, Mageia 9 is nearing the end of support, which will conclude on September 30, 2026,” the article states. “After that, it will no longer receive validated updates, including security fixes.”

The article states that Mageia 9 debuted on August 27, 2023, powered by Linux kernel 6.4 and offering KDE Plasma 5.27, GNOME 44, and Xfce 4.18 among its main desktop options. During its lifetime, the release received over 24,000 updates, including security fixes delivered by the distribution’s packaging, security, and QA teams.

“The distro follows a policy of supporting the previous major release for three months after a new one becomes available. With Mageia 10 officially released on June 30, 2026, that grace period is now coming to an end,” the article states.

According to the article, “users still running Mageia 9 are encouraged to move to Mageia 10. The upgrade can be started through Mageia’s major-version update application in the system tray or done from the command line using the steps in the project’s release notes.”

AlmaLinux gets new certifications

Christine Hall at FOSS Force reported on Friday that AlmaLinux’s new beefed-up hardware and software certification program aims to make finding out how well your hardware and software will work with the distro as easy as looking at its catalog.

According to the article, “the original version, released by the AlmaLinux Certification SIG in September 2024, was a groundbreaker. It made AlmaLinux the first RHEL clone to offer hardware certification, something that Red Hat was already offering its users. The problem was that AlmaLinux’s version was time-consuming.”

But . . . “The old program worked, but it asked too much time of you and of us, and this is how we fixed it!” the article quotes Jonathan Wright, AlmaLinux’s Infrastructure SIG lead and a member of its Engineering Steering Committee, who explained it in Thursday’s announcement on the distro’s website.

AlmaLinux board chair benny Vazquez clarifies further.

“For us in this context, it only means we know that AlmaLinux runs correctly on this hardware, or this software runs correctly on AlmaLinux,” she replied in the article. “It’s about compatibility, and isn’t intended to mean any regulatory or security certification on its own.”

The article concludes with a link. “If you’re wondering where to look to see what hardware or software has been validated for what version of AlmaLinux, go to the AlmaLinux Certification Catalog,” it says. “Every listing identifies the tester, whether it was the vendor, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, or a community member. The listings show information for systems, components, software, benchmarks, and validations.”

And that’s all for today. Don’t forget: Distro of the Week appears Wednesday – and it’s always a good one on hand – and Bits and Bobs will return with news over the week next Saturday.

Distro of the Week: Mauna Linux 25.3

Debian-based distro from Brazil adds much to its nation’s rep in Linuxsphere

Mauna Linux 25.3 ‘Polaris’ features the MATE desktop environment.

By Larry Cafiero

When it comes to creating and maintaining Linux distros, Brazil doesn’t jump out as the first place you’d mention. It isn’t exactly a hotspot. Sure, Brazil has a couple of standouts like Big Linux and Linuxfx, to name two, however there’s a rich, albeit somewhat unknown, culture of Linux distros from that South American country.

Today we’re going to add another Brazilian distro to the mix with this week’s Distro of the Week when we test drive Mauna Linux.

Mauna Linux’s latest version is 25.3, code-named Polaris, and it is based on Debian Trixie 13.6 while coming in a variety of desktop environment flavors like Cinnamon, LXQt, MATE and Xfce. There is also a Christian Edition that is available for those who are so inclined, but for purposes of this review, we are going to be heathens and use the MATE version after an unsuccessful stab at the LXQt version, and we’ll explain why later.

Installing Mauna Linux 25.3

The ISO for the LXQt and the MATE versions of Mauna Linux 25.3 are 3.8 GB and 3.6 GB respectively, and both downloaded without a hitch.

The About Mauna screen in Mauna Linux 25.3 shows vital information for the user.

Once they were on a USB drive, it was on to the hardware. First the LXQt version, which came up as a live USB version with an install icon on the desktop. Thanks to a standard Calamares-based install, we were asked our location for time/date purposes, which keyboard we wanted (US please), disk partitions, login/password setup, check the summary, and under 10 minutes later the distro installed without a hitch.

But here’s where the hitch in the LXQt version revealed itself: Upon rebooting and updating, the keyboard for some reason reverted back to the Portuguese keyboard, and the distro could not hold some of the minor changes that I made to it, like maintaining the new cursor style. Not being patient enough to troubleshoot these issues – I know, mea culpa, mea culpa – I switched to the MATE version instead.

The MATE install was similar with the identical Calamares setup and under 10 minutes later we were back on the air, so to speak, with a Welcome window for the distro itself which, among other items, invited us to upgrade the distro. Around 100 upgrades awaited us when we clicked the button to upgrade and we put the laptop aside for awhile while it dutifully ran them. The Welcome window in Mauna Linux is unique insofar as it provides a wide range of help to the new user.

The Control Center in Mauna Linux 25.3 points users in the right direction when tweaking their systems.

This would be a good time to mention the system requirements for Mauna Linux 25.3. The minimum system requirements for the distro are 2 GB of RAM and 20 GB of hard-drive space, however the Mauna Linux web site suggests a 64-bit processor (preferably amd64), the same RAM and hard-drive space, a network board, Internet connection and 128MB or higher of video capability.

Kicking the tires on Mauna Linux 25.3

In both the MATE and LXQt versions of Mauna Linux 25.3, the 3-plus GB of ISO provided a wealth of software for the user to operate, which is the first of several feathers in their proverbial cap. Firefox? Yep, it’s here. VLC media player? Also present. GIMP? Of course, it’s here, too. The file manager is Caja, which is not a far cry from Thunar, and there are a wealth of tools that come with Mauna which are somewhat specialized as well.

The word processor that comes with Mauna Linux 25.3 is OnlyOffice, which is adequate for use in the grand scheme of things. But just to be on the safe side – and to test out both of the distro’s two software downloading systems, specifically Software Manager – which is the store-like program for adding software – and the old-school Synaptic Package Manager, I added LibreOffice as well as the Thunderbird email client for good measure.

One reboot later, it was “go time” for Mauna Linux 25.3.

Hardly breaking a sweat: With several programs running, Mauna Linux 25.3 handles everything easily.

Programs in Mauna Linux 25.3 are responsive and quick, in large part thanks to Debian under the hood. Daily tasks and digital chores were handled with ease, and as it turned out I really didn’t need to download LibreOffice because I took a stab at writing this article on OnlyOffice and it performed remarkably.

Multitasking was effortless in Mauna Linux 25.3 as well, as multiple tasks were handled with ease. In fact, with several programs open, the RAM rarely reached above 2 GB with no swap used, meaning that the distro was handling all I threw at it with the poise you would expect from a Debian-based distro. Also, using web programs like Google Docs and Google Drive were simple and effortless.

I did have a chance to use some of the tools at the user’s disposal in the distro, specifically some of the MATE-based tools like the Disk Use Analyzer, as well as the Mauna USB Formatter. To be honest, I took liberties with the latter, downloading an ISO and making a live USB from it, and it performed flawlessly. Another feather in the Mauna Linux cap, to be sure.

The final word

Mauna Linux 25.3 “Polaris” joins over 80 Linux distros currently based on Debian which, of course, is a crowded field; perhaps the most crowded in the Linuxsphere. As such, it would be difficult for it to stand out, especially since Mauna is currently ranked 251st – although peaking at 166 in the four-week rankings – in the Distrowatch page-hit rankings for the year.

Listening to Jethro Tull on the VLC media player in Mauna Linux 25.3.

But never mind: Mauna Linux has two things going for it. First, despite a false start with the LXQt version, the distro’s MATE version is very solid and responsive, to say nothing of very attractive. There are a wide range of desktop photos to replace the default wallpaper, if you’re interested, and they seem to be primarily Brazil-based photos. Also, the developers at Mauna Linux seem to care deeply about their product, and provide both a well-stocked forum and wiki for those who wish to use it.

Is Mauna Linux good for beginners? The MATE version gets a solid “yes,” although users may want to avoid the LXQt version for reasons mentioned earlier. Once again, the wiki and forum are top-notch, and the MATE version has a very simple learning curve for Windows users coming out of the proverbial cold.

Intermediate and greybeards would easily find Mauna Linux a worthy daily driver as well, with a wealth of MATE- and Mauna-based tools available, and both new users and more advanced users both would be comfortable navigating the desktop and exploring the ins and outs of their system.

Check out Mauna Linux by visiting the download page and give it a try.

Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let me know! Email me at larry.cafiero@gmail.com and I’ll make an effort to make your choice available to the wider public … No suggestion is too mainstream! 

Bits & Bobs: Gnome 51 released

Compiled by Larry Cafiero

Michael Larabel at Phoronix reported on Wednesday that Gnome 51 was released, complete with improved frame scheduling among it many improvements.

“Gnome 51 debuted today with many nice improvements to Mutter for bettering the desktop responsiveness and a smoother experience with improved frame scheduling,” the article says. “There are also new Wayland protocols supported (such as ext-background-effect-v1) and other optimizations there, including removal of legacy NVIDIA driver support with EGLStreams. Mutter also now has support for custom pointer acceleration profiles.”

The article continues to state that “Gnome 51 also brings a number of settings improvements, offline map support for Gnome Maps, faster startup of Gnome Software, the Gnome Calendar is also faster now too, and the Gnome File Previewer has a complete UI revamp.”

Debian 13.7 gets update

Bobby Borisov at Linuxiac wrote last Saturday that Debian 13.7 released 107 security updates and 106 bug fixes, as well as updates on the installer, kernel ABI, Cinnamon glbc, and other package updates.

“If you’ve been keeping your system updated through security.debian.org, there’s not much to do with this release, because most of the fixes were already included in earlier updates,” the article states. “13.7 just brings them together in one place.”

Notable changes include the Debian Installer, which has been rebuilt for the point release and now uses the Linux kernel 6.12.107. The audit package also gains support for the RISC-V 64-bit architecture. Desktop users will find a fix for Cinnamon that restores downloading and updating applets, desklets, extensions, and themes.

“At the system level, glibc fixes buffer overflow and underflow vulnerabilities and adds compatibility with Linux kernel 7.0 headers,” the article says. “Plus, several packages have been rebuilt against the updated glibc.”

Firefox enters public beta testing

Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reports on Tuesday that Mozilla Firefox 157 has entered a period of public beta testing with the web browser’s new Nova design, with other improvements including audio/video synchronization and a vertical tabs sidebar.

“Firefox 157 looks like a small update, due to the newly adopted two-week release schedule, promising proper support for displaying HDR videos encoded in 8-bit color formats as HDR in most cases, which fixes several cases of dull gray-looking videos that should have been more vibrant,” the article states.

But continuing from there, the article also says that “Firefox 157 also promises to improve audio/video synchronization when changing playback rate on HTMLMediaElement, an improved Vertical Tabs sidebar to work better when the cursor moves to the edge of the screen in full-screen mode, and support for viewing recent searches on Android when tapping the search field.”

One interesting thing that could appear in the Firefox 157 release “is the brand-new design that we previewed in Firefox Nightly back in July,” the article says. “The new theme is called Nova and promises to make the popular open-source web browser feel cleaner, faster, adaptable, and warmer, according to Mozilla.”

Best window manager for Linux?

Linux Stans reported on Monday a very comprehensive and thorough report on the best window manager for Linux distributions.

We’re not joking. This is quite comprehensive. The article breaks down 12 – count ‘em, 12 – window managers, giving the positives and negatives of each, afterward providing a guide for users.

“If you’ve never used a tiling window manager before, start with i3 on X11 or Sway if you’re already on Wayland,” the article states. “Both have the documentation and community size to get you through the first frustrating week. If you want something that looks impressive with minimal effort, Hyprland is the current favorite, and Niri is worth a look if the scrollable layout appeals to you. If you want the smallest possible resource footprint and don’t mind compiling code, dwm is hard to beat. And if none of that appeals to you, Openbox or IceWM will get you a fast, familiar, floating desktop without asking you to learn a new workflow at all.

“There’s no wrong answer here. Try one, keep your old desktop environment installed as a safety net, and switch back anytime it stops working for you.”

Note to self: Take a look at some of the window managers other than Openbox, Fluxbox, and IceWM.

Fedora 45 beta released

Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Tuesday that the Fedora 45 Beta was released with the Linux 7.2 kernel, Gnome 51 and KDE Plasma 6.7, with the final release expected in late October or early November.

“Some interesting features in Fedora Linux 45 include fully reproducible package builds, kmscon as the default VT console, signature checking by default for RPM default package verification mode, disk images for Fedora Atomic desktops built with image-builder, and the new WebUI installer on all Fedora Atomic ISO images,” the article says.

Fedora 45 is also expected to bring “web-based remote installation support for Fedora Atomic desktops, LibreOffice help packages in HTML and noarch, systemd-oomd and zram swap by default for Fedora CoreOS, GRUB EFI support for confidential computing, PAM support in chpasswd and newusers, and IPv6 support in NetworkManager.”

Among other changes, “Fedora Linux 45 promises to relocate all packaged RPM repository configuration data from /etc to /usr, switch the default Secrets Service provider for Fedora desktops from KWallet and GNOME Keyring to oo7, restrict ptrace by default, and disable vendor change by default for DNF5,” the article says.

Seven eternal Linux applications

Umair Khurshid of How-To Geek wrote an article on seven pioneering Linux applications that never needed replacing, and for all intents and purposes he is spot on.

We’re not going to list all of them here, needless to say – read the article – but two of them are programs which in 20 years of Linux use by yours truly I absolutely swear by. And I will give you those – Vim and the GNU Image Manipulation Program, also known as GIMP.

“Linux has changed dramatically since the early days of the kernel,” the article starts. “Desktops have gone from X11 environments with primitive window managers to polished graphical shells. Containers, cloud computing, virtualization, and immutable operating systems have transformed how people deploy Linux. Even the hardware running Linux today would have seemed extraordinary to many of its earliest users.”

The article continues: “Yet some applications have barely budged from their place in the Linux ecosystem. You can install a modern Linux distro in 2026 and still find yourself using software whose origins stretch back decades.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the many reasons we use Linux, isn’t it?

And that’s all for today. Don’t forget: Distro of the Week appears Wednesday – and it’s always a good one on hand – and Bits and Bobs will return with news over the week next Saturday.

Distro of the Week: Artix Linux Xfce

Arch-based distro minus systemd
making waves in the Linuxsphere

Artix Linux with the Xfce 4.20 desktop environment.

By Larry Cafiero

As of late, it seems that more and more distros are based on Arch Linux – by the way – than any other distro, which is for all intents and purposes as interesting as it is arguably irrelevant.

But nevertheless, what sets apart this week’s Distro of the Week – Artix Linux 2026-08 – from the crowd of both new and established Arch-based distros is that Artix removes systemd and supplants its init system with a choice of OpenRC, runit, s6, or dinit, making this one of the most interesting twists in the Linux universe.

A little history of Artix

According to Distrowatch, Artix Linux is a fork – or continuation as an autonomous project – of the Arch-OpenRC and Manjaro-OpenRC projects, and offers a lightweight, rolling-release operating system featuring the OpenRC init software.

Artix Linux’s history goes back to the distro’s roots. It began in 2012 when Arch OpenRC and Manjaro Open RC were both separate active Linux distros. In 2017 both these projects merged and Artix Linux was created.

The menu setup in the Xfce 4.20 desktop environment in Artix Linux is very helpful.

Artix allows users the freedom from systemd, instead permitting users to choose between OpenRC, runit, s6, and dinit, although for the version we tested – 2026-08 – s6 and runit have yet to make the cut.

Additionally, Artix has its own repositories and, according to Wikipedia, “it is not recommended by developers to use Arch packages due to differences such as naming conventions and contrasting init systems.”

Installing Artix Linux

What version to choose? Not only does Artix Linux 2026-08 come with two init systems, it also comes in a variety of desktop environment flavors, namely Cinnamon, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, KDE Plasma, and Xfce. Downloading the Xfce version with the dinit system seemed to be the easiest choice, and with a relatively sane 2.1 GB ISO, the download went fairly quickly.

Putting the ISO onto a USB drive, the live USB version comes up with a plethora of helpful files along with the install icon on the desktop. Clicking the install icon brings up a standard Calamares installer, which goes through the standard motions of installing the new operating system: keyboard, location, drive setup, name/password and once you’ve confirmed it, you’re on your way.

A note about the system requirements for Artix Linux. The distro can run on a wide range of hardware, since the minimum requirements are fairly low. While the suggested RAM for Artix is 1 GB or higher, it will run on as little as 512 MB of RAM. Artix would prefer a dual-core 64-bit processor or faster, but will run on a 1 GHz processor, and 10 GB or more of disk space would suffice.

Kicking the tires on Artix Linux

Booting quickly after the install, the user can easily upgrade the distro to its full potential by running an Arch-based upgrade, specifically sudo pacman -Syu. Once that run is finished we were ready to take a look at the distro.

True to its fairly average ISO size, Artix Linux does not provide a wealth of software in the original install. The distro’s initial installation comes with several standard-issue software programs and tools, like GParted, Hexchat, Thunar file manager, Leafpad text editor, and the Parole media player, among others. But there is no email program and the web browser is a version of Falkon that has, at least for those new to it, a bit of a learning curve to negotiate.

The Settings menu on Artix Linux provides users many options in tweaking their system.

Additionally, with no discernible program to install software on Artix, it was off to the command line on the terminal to install a few things. To play it safe, I installed the Firefox web browser and the Thunderbird e-mail client. Next was a couple of media programs like Strawberry to play music and VLC to watch videos. For this article, LibreOffice and GIMP were also necessary additions to the distro.

Once we got all of our proverbial software ducks in a row, it was time to get down to brass tacks.

The performance of the latest Artix Linux version was quite nimble, thanks in large part to its Arch base. A variety of software programs came up automatically and quickly, and items like audio discs were played constantly and non-stop, even while using other programs at the same time.

Of course, this means that multitasking was handled by the typical Arch-based aplomb, with the memory barely reaching over 2.5 GB even while using several software programs simultaneously. Listening to music was a joy with Strawberry – for some reason, I couldn’t get VLC to work, and I am blaming the hardware – and going through all the motions of daily computer use was nothing short of a dream with this distro.

Artix played nicely with online programs as well, handling tasks using Google Docs and Google Drive with ease.

Final thoughts

Artix Linux is enigmatic, but in more of a positive way. For example, while the fact that there is a shortage of available software in the original install could be considered a negative, it is a minor detail in the larger picture of the distro.

But here are the positives: Artix Linux has a fairly helpful user base by the look of its well-stocked wiki, should anything go wrong. And they may be on to something when it comes to a systemd-less Arch-based distro, for those who can’t – or won’t – use that particular init system for whatever reason.

Listening to 10,000 Maniacs via the Strawberry music player on Artix Linux.

But like Arch, Artix Linux is not really for Linux beginners, and I would say that only the more adventurous new Linux users make the foray in using this distro. The fact that there’s no way to add software other than with the terminal is its most glaring drawback for beginners. To say nothing of potential hardware hiccups that might throw beginners as well; for example, one of the Dell laptops I use came up with a black screen after installation, and after some research I found that a simple nomodeset at the boot worked wonders (which, of course, I found in the well-written wiki, so thank you, Artix folks).

However, if you’ve been around the Linux block a few times or if you’re an Arch-head, by the way, then Artix Linux should be a viable candidate for your daily driver. Again, we only tested the Xfce version of the distro, but I would imagine that other desktop environments behave roughly the same way – fast, agile, and dependable.

Grab an Artix Linux ISO at the Artix download page and go to town.

Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let me know! Email me at larry.cafiero@gmail.com and I’ll make an effort to make your choice available to the wider public … No suggestion is too mainstream!

Bits & Bobs: KDE Plasma ready to test

Compiled by Larry Cafiero

The KDE Plasma beat goes on . . .

Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reports on Thursday that the KDE Plasma 6.8 desktop environment is ready for public beta testing, and a second beta will be available on Sept. 24.

“The KDE Project announced today the release of the beta version of the upcoming KDE Plasma 6.8 desktop environment series for public testing, a major update that introduces many new features and improvements,” the article states.

Some of the highlights of KDE Plasma 6.8 include triple buffering for NVIDIA GPUs enabled by default, support for recording audio in Spectacle during screen recording, and automatic logic support for Plasma Login Manager on distros with older systemd versions, such as KDE neon.

“KDE Plasma 6.8 also brings support for the Flatpak version of Microsoft Edge in Plasma Browser Integration, the ability to configure wireless access points to automatically select a channel in the Networks page in System Settings, and better detection of dark GTK 2 themes and applying a matching icon theme,” the article continues.

For users of multi-monitor setups, “KDE Plasma 6.8 will identify monitors with color-coded number badges in all the places they’re configured to make it easier to see which one is which, especially when you have two identical monitors, and faster adjustment of brightness on external monitors,” the article says.

“KDE Plasma 6.8 lets you set up wallpaper slideshows that don’t change automatically, displays notifications about connected devices that have low battery power in full-screen apps, and supports version 1.6 of the Emulated Input system for better integration of virtual keyboard, mouse, and touch input devices,” says the article.

Swiss abandoning Microsoft?

Abhishek Prakash of It’s Foss wrote an article on Monday that Switzerland’s federal government is replacing Microsoft on 3,000 of the country 54,000 federal government’s computers.

Why?

“According to Matthias Stürmer, professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH), Microsoft’s supremacy in public institutions poses three problems that are driving this migration,” the article states, and continues to explain.

“First is the risk of foreign access. US cloud legislation could expose Swiss government data to foreign authorities.

“Second is the risk to service continuity, as dependency on a single foreign vendor creates operational risk.

“The third risk is the escalating costs as proprietary licensing fees are rising with no Swiss leverage,” the article concludes.

According to the article, the “Federal Chancellery is investing CHF 9 million in an open-source workplace rollout for 3,000 federal employees. On September 3, 2026, the Federal Council published results of ‘PoC BOSS’, a feasibility proof-of-concept involving 172 federal employees who tested the openDesk suite, a German open-source collaboration platform.”

We’ll keep an eye on this one.

System76’s Cosmic DE gets an update

The Cosmic beat goes on . . .

Bobby Borisov of Linuxiac reported on Thursday that the Cosmic desktop environment from System76 makes several improvements in its latest iteration, Cosmic Desktop 1.8.

“System76 has released Cosmic Desktop 1.8 with a major update to the Cosmic compositor, cosmic-comp, adding touch input support that the developers say ‘vastly improves’ touchscreen support across Cosmic,” the article says. “Work is progressing on the on-screen keyboard, but it is not part of this release and is expected later.”

Other updates in Cosmic Desktop 1.8 also include an update to Smithay, improving mouse capture behavior. “X11 applications can now start minimized. Another fix targets sluggish Steam overlays by ensuring X11 windows continue receiving frame callbacks, resulting in smoother behavior when using Steam games and overlays under Cosmic,” the article says.

Hybrid GPU laptops are also receiving the attention of Cosmic developers as well. “COSMIC now checks all available connectors when determining the primary GPU, addressing problems affecting some systems with integrated and discrete graphics. The screenshot tool also received fixes for crashes related to window corner radii,” the article states.

MocaccinoOS makes improvements

Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Tuesday that MocaccinoOS has made improvments on its Gentoo-based distro as well, with MocaccinoOS 26.09 adding x86-64-v3 optimized builds for improved performance.

The latest version of the distro will also ship with the KDE Plasma, Gnome 49.7, Cosmic 1.7, Xfce 4.20 and MATE 1.26 desktop environments.

“Still powered by the long-term supported Linux 6.18 LTS kernel series, namely Linux 6.18.50, MocaccinoOS 26.09 improves Intel CPU/platform support, including for Raptor Lake systems, improves ASUS ROG/Armoury hardware support for asusctl, and adds optional x86-64-v3 optimized builds for improved performance on supported modern CPUs,” the article says.

As it stands now, “x86-64-v3 support is opt-in, which means that you will have to install it manually by running the sudo luet install layers/X-v3 command in your favorite terminal emulator, if your CPU supports it,” says the article. “It needs more testing, but after it’s solid and ready for the masses, it will become a selectable option in the Calamares installer.”

MocaccinoOS 26.09 also “updates the Cosmic edition to the latest Cosmic 1.7 desktop environment, as well as the Mesa graphics stack to version 26.2.1. The rest of the official flavors stay at the same desktop environment versions as in the MocaccinoOS 26.08 release, namely Gnome 49.7, Xfce 4.20, and MATE 1.28,” the article says.

Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS now available

Another day, another milestone at Canonical . . .

Marcus Nestor at 9 to 5 Linux reported on Thursday that Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS is now available for download, containing the Linux 7.0 kernel and Mesa 26.2 while continuing to receive software updates and security patches until June 2029.

“Coming six months after Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS, the Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS point release is here as an up-to-date installation medium, which includes all the latest software updates and security patches, for those who want to deploy the long-term supported Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) operating system on new computers without having to download hundreds of updated packages from the repositories after the installation,” the article states.

In its latest iteration, “Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS is powered by Linux kernel 7.0 and the Mesa 26.2 graphics stack from the Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) release,” the article says. “While Ubuntu 24.04 and Ubuntu 24.04.1 shipped with Linux 6.8, Ubuntu 24.04.2 added Linux 6.11, Ubuntu 24.04.3 added Linux 6.14, and Ubuntu 24.04.4 added Linux 6.17, so Linux 7.0 should add an extra layer of hardware support.”

And that’s all for today. Don’t forget: Distro of the Week appears Wednesday – and it’s always a good one on hand – and Bits and Bobs will return with news over the week next Saturday.

Distro of the Week: SparkyLinux 8.4

Polish distro based on Debian continues
to impress and is still a joy to use

SparkyLinux 8.4 features KDE Plasma desktop environment.

By Larry Cafiero

When we last left SparkyLinux – back in July of last year reviewing version 7.7 for FOSS Force – the distro was, if I recall correctly, impressive.

After a year and apparently a few improvements, the Polish distro based on Debian is back at Distro of the Week for another test drive.

SparkyLinux basically offers two versions – based on Debian Stable and Debian Testing – and provides separate editions featuring desktop environments like KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE, and Xfce, as well as the Openbox window manager.

There is an option to add more desktop environments/window managers, but we’ll get to that later.

Code-named Seven Sisters in keeping with SparkyLinux’s constellation motif, SparkyLinux 8.4 is a significant update from version 7, introducing several key enhancements and features. Most notably, the distro reintroduces support for 32-bit installation images, catering to users with older hardware while reversing the previous decision made when Debian dropped support for 32-bit ISO images.

The menu on SparkyLinux 8.4 comes courtesy of the KDE Plasma desktop environment.

Additionally, the desktop environments in SparkyLinux 8.4 have been updated to their latest versions, enhancing user experience and functionality. Overall, the distro offers significant improvements over its previous version, making it a more suitable choice for users with older hardware as well as those seeking the latest features in their operating system.

Installing SparkyLinux 8.4

Opting for the Debian Stable version and the KDE Plasma desktop, the ISO for SparkyLinux 8.4 is an economical 2.4 GB and downloaded well within 15 minutes. Transferring it onto a USB drive was quick, and the resulting up-time for the live USB was swift.

Installing SparkyLinux 8.4 using the Calamares-based installer was simple and straightforward, asking for location for time-zone purposes, keyboard setup, disk partitions, user name and password (at which point there’s an option to use the user name and password as the administrator account, which we opted out of and supplied an root password), and after checking all this in the summary, it was time to install.

The System Monitor in SparkyLinux 8.4 provides a wealth of information to the user.

The developers at SparkyLinux must have had a sixth sense about users who upgrade immediately after rebooting their new installation, because upon reboot and login, a small window popped up on the lower right of the screen asking if the user would like to upgrade. Yes, please, and with that the distro did an upgrade.

Kicking the tires on SparkyLinux 8.4

While this upgrade happened, the user is treated to a standard issue SparkyLinux Welcome window, which allows the user to modify his or her system accordingly. Of special note is the button on the window which takes users to the APTus AppCenter, which for some of us was a treat.

The APTus AppCenter provides a wide range of modification choices, should the user want to make them in their SparkyLinux distro. Not only can you upload any software you think the distro might be lacking, broken down by category, there’s much more to it than this. Not the least of which is the Desktop button, which offers 27 – count ‘em, 27 – different desktop environment and/or window manager options from which to choose.

About this system: SparkyLinux 8.4 provides the user with a look at his or her system.

Coupled with the fact that a user really doesn’t have to add software unless it’s something that’s somewhat particular to his or her use, SparkyLinux 8.4 is simply a joy to use. The distro performed gracefully and problem-free over the week. This, of course, was no different than when we test-drove it a year ago, and with Debian rumbling under the proverbial hood, applications were nimble and quick.

Trying to get the RAM up proved to be a chore – a good chore, but a chore nonetheless – since like it was a year ago, SparkyLinux handled everything the user threw at it with ease. Opening several programs and using them simultaneously worked flawlessly on this distro, with the RAM just barely using over 3 GB at its busiest.

That said, multitasking was ultimately seamless, with daily use like web surfing and email comings-and-goings being a simple chore for this distro. Listening to music is also a treat, thanks to the VLC media player included in the original installation.

The final word

SparkyLinux 8.4 represents a clear and significant distance from another Polish distro we reviewed recently – namely Linux Q83 – insofar as the look is less utilitarian (for lack of a better term) and the user experience is far more upbeat. Again, we are using the KDE Plasma version of the distro, which may make a difference.

But that said, even today SparkyLinux 8.4 – like its counterpart reviewed a year ago – is fast and versatile; two items that should be the hallmark of Linux distros across the board, but the distro adds even more versatility by providing its own tools and scripts for easier system management.

Listening to The Beatles, thanks to the VLC media player on SparkyLinux 8.4.

SparkyLinux would be an almost ideal entry into Linux for beginners, if for no other reason that the APTus AppCenter is both a blessing and a curse – but mostly a blessing – for new users wishing to experiment and take their Linux experience to new heights. The downside, however minor, would be that users would use it as a “crutch,” so to speak, and not learn how to install software via other methods.

But never mind: While SparkyLinux is good for beginners, more experienced users should find Sparky an admirable distro for a variety of reasons, stemming from the inclusion of software and other tools available to it.

Don’t take my word for it. Give SparkyLinux 8.4 a try by downloading the distro from SparkyLinux’s download page.

Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let me know! Email me at larry.cafiero@gmail.com and I’ll make an effort to make your choice available to the wider public … No suggestion is too mainstream!

Bits & Bobs: Six best distro for kids

Compiled by Larry Cafiero

Linux Stans presented an interesting article on Thursday rating the six best Linux distro for kids today, which came up with some fascinating results.

Long gone are the days of Qimo 4 Kids, if you remember that distro. Qimo – pronounced “chemo,” as in the cancer treatment – “used to be one of the most recommended kids’ distros around, thanks to its cartoon-style interface and lightweight Xfce desktop,” according to the article.

However, Qimo for Kids officially shut down in January 2016, and its last release is based on Ubuntu 10.04.

Once again, the rankings are interesting and very sensible in a way. Are we going to give them to you here? No way. Read the article, because again it holds a lot of good information. Nice work, Linux Stans.

Stonking Stingray ready for testing

Marcus Nestor of 9 to 5 Linux reported on Thursday that Canonical had released Snapshot 3 of the upcoming Ubuntu 26.10 – code named Stonking Stingray – release as the third development milestone targeting early adopters and application developers who want to test their apps.

“Development of Ubuntu 26.10 (codename Stonking Stingray) kicked off on April 30th, 2026, with the usual toolchain upload, based on the Ubuntu 26.94 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) release, which means that it’s powered by Linux kernel 7.0 and uses the GNOME 50 desktop environment. In time, these will be updated to newer versions,” the article states.

Currently Ubuntu 26.10 Snapshot 3 is also using Linux kernel 7.0, just like the previous two Snapshots, but this one moved to Gnome 51 Beta. Canonical is still working on upgrading these stacks, which will probably happen closer to the beta release, while they work on new features and improvements.

“These include a complete desktop experience on RVA23-compliant hardware, improved driver management, improved multimedia support, a new, simplified installation experience, a new onboarding experience, on-device speech-to-text voice interaction, a package-agnostic App Center, and much more,” according to the article.

The final release of Ubuntu 26.10 is expected to be powered by the Linux 7.2 kernel series, which should be out in late August, along with the upcoming Mesa 26.2 graphics stack and the GNOME 51 desktop environment series, the article says.

FOSS Force interviews Stallman

Kudos to Christine Hall of FOSS Force for wrangling this interview with Free Software Movement founder Richard Stallman last week.

In a wide-ranging interview – and by “wide-ranging” we mean long, but interesting – Stallman discusses GNU, Linux, the open-source split, large language models, SaaS, digital surveillance, and why software freedom remains a moral issue.

“Richard Stallman needs no introduction, especially for an audience that reads FOSS Force,” the article begins. “Without him, the free software movement would at the very least be much different, and the four software freedoms would possibly still be waiting for someone to give voice to them. There would also be no GPL, the first general-purpose copyleft license, written long before there was such a thing as open source. Speaking of that, without Stallman there would also likely be no open source, although I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t see that as such a bad thing.”

The article is in a Q-and-A format in which Hall asks important questions and gets relevant answers from Stallman. It is definitely worth a read.

CERN switches some systems to Debian

Michael Larabel of Phoronix reported on Wednesday that after being a long-time Red Hat institution, CERN is transitioning some of their systems to Debian.

“CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, besides being well known for its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is known among longtime Linux users as a RHEL/CentOS shop,” the article starts. “CERN formally even co-maintained the Scientific Linux RHEL derivative with other educational/research institutions in the past. So to much surprise now, CERN is transitioning to Debian Linux for industrial accelerator-control computers.”

The article also states that CERN discussed this at a Debian conference in Switzerland this past weekend. Historically, CERN used their Red Hat-based Scientific Linux for about a decade before moving to CentOS in 2015.

“Now after a decade with CentOS, they are moving on and embracing Debian for a portion of their systems,” the article says.

But an update on the article cleared up CERN’s position, stating that “CERN has clarified that their focus with the migration is on their industrial accelerator-control computers while data centers and experimental computing remain on RHEL/AlmaLinux.”

And that’s all for today. Don’t forget: Distro of the Week appears Wednesday – and it’s always a good one on hand – and Bits and Bobs will return with news over the week next Saturday.