Polish distro based on Debian is a winner, and should be ranked higher in Distrowatch
By Larry Cafiero
Following up our review of MX Linux last week, we didn’t want to go for another famous Linux distribution, which incidentally is on-brand for Distro of the Week. With over 400 active Linux/FOSS distributions – peppered with several BSD variants in between– Distrowatch.com is full of options.
That said, we settled on a Polish distro this week – Linux Q83 13.14 Kopernik.
About Linux Q83 13.14 Kopernik
Ranking in the 90s of the top 100 distros on Distrowatch, Linux Q83 is based on Debian’s “Stable” branch. It comes with either the Cinnamon or the Cosmic desktop environment – and for purposes of this review, we’ve played it safe and went with Cinnamon – and the distro also has versions available for Raspberry Pi and the Radxa Orion O6 single-board computers, as well as standard desktops and workstations. Linux Q83 also comes with its own lightweight and resource-efficient web browser called W3.
Designed to be versatile, Linux Q83 accommodates both older and newer hardware. The key system requirements are 2 GB or more of RAM, at least 10 GB of disk space, and an AMD 64 architecture for laptops and desktops, and ARM 64 for single-board computers.
The ISO for the Cinnamon version of Linux Q83 13.14 Kopernik is a significantly hefty 4.12 GB, but it downloaded relatively quickly. Putting the ISO on a thumb drive, it was ready to install on our hardware, so without further adieu . . .
Installing Linux Q83 13.14 Kopernik
The hardware boots up quickly in the live USB mode, and while there is an Eastern European look about the distro, there is a sole install icon in the upper left of the screen. Clicking it brings us to a standard Calamares installer, where we put in the standard keyboard, time zone location, disk setup, fill in the login/password, and once you confirm all of this, it’s off to the proverbial races.
The install takes roughly 10 minutes, and once you’re through it’s time to reboot into your new Linux Q83 system.
A mild word of warning: While the reboot was uneventful and went without a hitch, the Cinnamon desktop that comes up upon the reboot . . . well . . . it’s a bit too dark and ominous for my tastes. That may not bother some, but for me it was offputting. Fortunately, there are many desktop photo options to choose from in the system, thanks to the Debian base as well as some others added to the list.
There is a good reason that the ISO is just over 4 GB: Linux Q83 is chock full of software. The developers did not seem to spare any software expense in including what appears on this distro. Firefox web browser? Right here, along with a home-grown web browser called W3. Thunderbird email client? Front and center. GIMP? You have to ask? The LibreOffice suite of software? Of course it’s here.
The list of software on the first install doesn’t stop there. ImageMagick and Inkscape are included in Cinnamon’s Graphics menu, Transmission and Pidgin are included in the Internet menu, and an Administration menu with the likes of the Synaptic Package Manager, Midnight Commander, and the Nushell terminal.
There are even a wide array of games like 2048, Solitaire, Chess, and Mines, among others.
The only thing missing was an adequate music player, so off it was to Synaptic to install VLC. Once that was installed, we were on our way. Almost . . . and we’ll get to that in a minute.
Kicking the tires
One of the first things we always do when installing a new distro is to run an upgrade, just to make sure we’re working with the absolute, drop-dead latest version of the distro. Linux Q83 was no exception, and the default terminal – Nushell, which is based in Rust – threw us for a loop but performed admirably. After all, how can you screw up sudo apt upgrade? Once we were up to date, it was time to put Linux Q83 through its paces.
True to its Debian roots, Linux Q83 performed admirably on day-to-day tasks like web surfing and exchanging emails and the like. Even the W3 web browser performed admirably in daily web chores. The only problem I had was on one laptop, a Dell, the VLC program started acting persnickity while playing a CD.
Back to the drawing board: Uninstall VLC and install Strawberry, which is my backup music player and is gaining popularity in my own personal circle of software favorites. Strawberry played the CD like a champ and we were on our way.
One thing that deserves mentioning is the clean lines of the Cinnamon desktop environment. With icons placed neatly in the lower panel, grouped in left and right alignments, making adjustments to the desktop is a breeze. Additionally, the menu on Cinnamon is easily accessible and well organized.
Nevertheless, Linux Q83 handled everything thrown at it with typical Debian aplomb. Even at its multitasking worst, the RAM never peaked above 3 GB of usage. In other words, multitasking was a breeze and the distro played nicely with web based programs like Google Docs and Google Drive.
The final word
Once you get past the default desktop picture not being for you – and it wasn’t for me – Linux Q83 13.14 Kopernik is a rock solid distro which checks all the right boxes for any Linux user.
Is it good for beginners? The Cinnamon desktop environment version of Linux Q83 we tested is clearly an easy step above Windows, and Windows users would clearly be at home with this distro. Intermediate and greybeards would also welcome the vast array of software included with the distro, not to mention the adaptability that comes with it.
With all of the things that Linux Q83 has going for it, it’s a mystery why this distro isn’t ranked higher in the Distrowatch rankings, but here we are.
Linux Q83 is clearly worth a look. To download the ISO visit the Linux Q83 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!