By Larry Cafiero
Marcus Nestor on 9 to 5 Linux reported on Friday that Gnome has released the alpha version of Gnome 51 for public testing “to give the community a first taste of the new features and enhancements.”
According to the article, “highlights of Gnome 51 ‘A Coruña’ include a new API to generate QR codes, support for the input capture portal to integrate with the clipboard, improved screencasting by minimizing stage paints and buffer copies, support for elogind as libsystemd provider, and support for saving and restoring monitor brightness.”
The article continues with Gnome 51 also removes support for legacy NVIDIA graphics drivers on Wayland. The Nautilus file manager – called Files – now shows a count badge for selected items when dragging multiple files, advertises notification categories for files, as well as mount and unmount operations, enhances the view reloading performance, and shows the correct starred status in the Recents view.
In addition, the Gnome Control Center – now called Settings – “received quite the attention during this cycle with an ‘Auto Rotate’ option for devices with an accelerometer and center-aligned snapping for horizontal edges in the Display section, and the ability to disable the touchpad in the Mouse section while a mouse is plugged in.”
Hannah Montana Linux reborn
It’s a girl!
Mark Tyson at Tom’s Hardware reported on Sunday that Hannah Montana Linux – after nearly two decades – is making a comeback, complete with about 18 years of security patches.
“Say whaaaat? Hannah Montana Linux is back,” the article states. “The distro made as a tribute to the noughties Disney Channel sitcom for tweens and teens, featuring the eponymous secret pop star, was basically abandoned in 2009. Now it’s back, with a modern kernel and about 18 years of patches, with the release of the Hannah Montana Linux v26.0 remaster by developer Noah Cagle.”
Thanks, Noah!
The article continues: “Little is known about why the original Hannah Montana Linux was developed, released, and almost immediately abandoned. The version available via Archive.org. This the only known release, identified as Hannah Montana Linux x86 basic edition 202201. It is still available if you’d like to test out a frozen-in-time HM-themed version of Kubuntu. You can grab it as a 691.7MB download via the link provided. Be warned that it is now ‘basically unusable,’ though, according to Cagle, due to being insecure and for its poor software support.”
But bringing the distro up to date was no easy task for Cagle, basing the new edition on Debian from the original distro’s Kubuntu roots.
“Fast forward to the present day, and Cagle’s HML26 release solves all the issues with the old distro. Browsing the modern web is possible and safe, finding and installing software is easy, and the dev has even made the terminal look pretty,” says the article.
Want to give it a shot? Download Hannah Montana Linux 26.0 on its download page.
6 Linux desktops … we still use
Dipan Saha of Make Use Of wrote an article Saturday which was a bit confusing, but warrants mentioning anyway.
Under the headline, “Everyone forgot about these 6 Linux desktops, but they might be better than what you use now,” we understand the point he is making, but the six desktop environments he mentions are hardly forgotten, and some users – me included – go out of their way to seek them.
Like Xfce, for example. Saha describes the desktop environment as “built with modularity in mind. You can use the desktop as is or strip it out for something completely custom — without breaking it. This modular approach makes Xfce a bit of a unicorn, and also happens to make it quite lightweight.”
Interesting. As an Xfce user for years, bordering on a decade now, and looking at the army of Xfce users around the world, I am sure that this one is far from forgotten. In fact, for Distro of the Week, I lean toward using the Xfce version of the distro if it’s available.
Saha also mentions Openbox, a window manager, which he descibes as “distinct in being a very stable, finished project. It has been in maintenance mode for quite some time now. It’s a rock-solid option for folks who know exactly what they’re doing and don’t mind sacrificing a few features for stability.”
Funny, because my daily driver – BunsenLabs Carbon – is basically Debian with the Openbox window manager, and as a daily driver, it’s usually in the forefront of my mind.
In any case, what I think Saha was trying to say is that the rest of the cast of characters – including MATE, LXQt, Budgie, and Deepin Desktop Environment – are not “forgotten” so much as not used as often as the Gnome/KDE Plasma juggernaut rolls on in the Linux universe. And Saha is right when he says in the headline that they “might be better” than the desktop environment you’re using now.
However these desktop environments – and Openbox window manager – are hardly forgotten and continue to be viable options in the Linux realm.
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 on Friday.