Category: Linux

Distro of the Week: Butterbian 0.3.2

Debian accented with the Btrfs file system, Timeshift

The Butterbian 0.3.2 desktop features the Xfce 4.20 desktop environment

By Larry Cafiero


Sometimes this column is preplanned – even as much as a month in advance, according to the list of distros available – and sometimes a distro just falls out of the sky and screams, “try me.”

The latter is the case this week with Butterbian 0.3.2, which I happened upon in a post on Bluesky, of all places, about two weeks ago.

Butterbian 0.3.2 is a Debian-based Linux distribution which has one unique – and somewhat important – distinction. Based on Trixie 13, Butterbian features the Btrfs file system, hence the name, and as such, the distro with this unique file system is designed primarily with its automatic snapshot feature Timeshift pre-configured to revert back to a former “life,” should an update possibly go wrong.

Installing Butterbian

Users who wish to use Butterbian have a choice between two versions of the distro on the Butterbian download page. One is the stock Butterbian download and the other, called Butterknife, uses a command line-based downloader akin to the one used by Arch.

For purposes of this review, let’s play it safe and use the stock Butterbian 0.3.2 download.

The ISO for the stock Butterbian system is a relatively light 2.2 GB, which translates to about 10 minutes of download time. While we wait for the download to finish, this would be a good time to mention the system requirements: UEFI only (very important), 64-bit processor, a minimum of 4 GB of RAM, and 20 GB or more of storage space.

The Xfce 4.20 menu is featured in the Butterbian 0.3.2 distro.

Once the ISO is downloaded and put onto a USB stick, we plug it in to our hardware. Butterbian uses a modified Calamares installer, which goes through the usual motions of keyboard, location, login/password before going through the install procedure. Once that is done, we’re ready to go.

Test-driving Butterbian

Once we reboot and run an update of the software, there is no welcome window or anything like that, just the Xfce 4.20 desktop environment with a bottom panel carrying customary icons like, from the left, the Applications menu, then the workspaces – four of them – then Firefox ESR, Thunar (with an unusual MacOS logo, which is strange), and a terminal icon. On the right, there’s a notifications icon, WiFi, screenshot, volume, battery and time/date.

The software included on Butterbian 0.3.2 can best be described as sparse. It includes a variety of Xfce- and Debian-based tools, as well as Firefox ESR, but from there it drops off completely. No worries – we’ll just have to add software using . . . well . . . the command line via the terminal, where “sudo apt install <software>” will easily do the trick.

This means installing the usual software suspects – specifically, the VLC media player to listen to tunes while I work, the LibreOffice suite of software so I can actually write this article, Thunderbird for email, and the GNU Image Manipulation Program – otherwise known as GIMP – for photos.

Once we got Butterbian up to an acceptable level – acceptable to me, anyway – we were off and running.

The fastfetch option in the terminal provides valuable information on Butterbian 0.3.2

The Debian base under the Xfce desktop of Butterbian performed flawlessly, handling multitasking issues with the usual Debian aplomb. In fact, at my busiest, the CPU barely broke a sweat, registering 2.3 GB of RAM use while running several programs simultaneously. The use of web apps, like Google Docs and Google Drive, was of no consequence for the distro as well.

The last word

If a user considers Butterbian to be a work in progress, arguably they would not be too far off. Conversely, Butterbian – by virtue of its Btrfs base and pre-configured Timeshift software – is only a stone’s throw away from being an outstanding distro in its own right.

Still, only being able to add software with the command line is significant minus; a hurdle that Butterbian may have to rhetorically jump sooner or later. Because of this – and this alone – users new to Linux might want to avoid Butterbian, despite the fact that in all other aspects, the distro is easily both beginner ready and new-user friendly.

Conversely, for intermediate users and “greybeards,” Butterbian is a remarkable distro, as close to a godsend as a distro can get. Not only are all the tools there, but once you add the software via the command line that tailors your needs, you would be easily on your way.

If you’re considering a new distro, Butterbian should be on your list. Download the ISO from the Butterbian download page, and treat yourself.

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!

Distro of the Week: KDE neon 6.6

KDE-based distro features Ubuntu LTS, strong desktop credentials
The KDE Plasma 6.6.5 desktop environment shows clean lines in KDE neon 6.6.
By Larry Cafiero

To say that KDE neon is an enigmatic British distro may be a bit of an overstatement. But questions do arise. For example, is it “the” official KDE distro?

Some may claim it to be, but KDE neon denies it in their FAQ.

“KDE believes it is important to work with many distributions, as each brings unique value and expertise for its users,” says the FAQ. “KDE neon is one distro out of many, and that diversity is a good thing!”

Nevertheless, KDE neon is a distro based on Ubuntu LTS that comes with – no surprise here – the latest KDE Plasma desktop environment. It’s also offered in two basic versions: The User Edition features the latest officially released KDE software on a stable base (“Ideal for adventurous KDE enthusiasts,” according to the website) and the Testing Edition, which features “pre-release KDE software built the same day from bugfix branches,” also according to their website.

The hardware specs for KDE neon are fairly straightforward: Installing KDE neon requires a 64-bit PC (Intel or AMD), 2 GB or more of memory, and 10 GB or more of disk space. requires a 64-bit PC (Intel or AMD), 2 GB or more of memory, and 10 GB or more of disk space.

Installalling KDE neon

With an ISO size of roughly 3 GB, the minimum system requirements for KDE Neon are fairly simple. The distro requires a 64-bit system – AMD or Intel spoken here – as well as 2 GB or more of RAM and 10 GB or more of disk space. The download of the ISO was fairly quick in under 10 minutes.

The installer is a modified Calamares system which takes the user through the basics: keyboard selection, time zone selection, disk setup, and login/password. Once all that is complete, it’s off to the races with the install.

Test driving KDE neon

Once we reboot and go through the update process – there are about 3 GB of updates, not the least of which was updating KDE Plasma 6.5.4 to 6.5.5 – the user is met with a KDE-based Welcome window which dispatches relevant information about KDE neon mostly about KDE itself. Which is fine, because roughly half of the distro’s name is KDE anyway, so looking at the installed software it includes a host of KDE tools, Firefox web browser and VLC media player and that’s pretty much it.

So it’s was on to Discover, the KDE software installation app, to include what yours truly thought was missing, namely an email client – hello Thunderbird – as well as the LibreOffice suite of software and the GNU Image Manipulation Program, otherwise known s GIMP. Once that we done, we were ready to put KDE neon through its paces.

Whether it’s the Ubuntu rumbling under the hood or the latest KDE Plasma desktop keeping everything together – and maybe a combination of both – KDE neon performed remarkably. Adding software with Discover was simple, and the multitasking so common in day-to-day user was magnificent. One special note – whenever I use a KDE-based distro, it’s always a pleasure to use KDE Connect on my phone as well, since transferring files and even using the phone as a touchpad are a treat.

Thunderbird handled the emails, while Firefox stood strong for any web browsing that needed being done (and there was a lot of that). VLC kept the tunes humming while using LibreOffice and GIMP for writing and setting up pictures. All of whihch is to say that the multitasking aspect of KDE neon worked like a charm, with the laptops never reaching over 3 GB of memory use.

The last word

It’s hard to say whether KDE neon is the “go-to” distro for KDE. The KDE neon FAQ says it’s just one of many KDE Plasma-based distros – I’m paraphrasing here – while its Wikipedia listing contends that it’s “Linux distribution developed by KDE based on Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) releases.” Who do we believe?

Regardless of what any particular user might accept in what can best be described as a somewhat schizophrenic situation, the fact remains that KDE neon is, in its own right, a more than formidable distro which works on a wide variety of hardware. Which sets it apart from KDE’s Ubuntu flagship – Kubuntu – in one important way: KDE neon focuses on providing the latest KDE software updates shortly after their release, while Kubuntu offers a more stable experience with frozen KDE versions until the next release cycle.

In other words, if you prefer cutting-edge features, choose KDE neon. If you want stability, go with Kubuntu.

Having said all this, KDE neon is a more than adequate distro for new users, provided that they are up to the task of updating their systems – there were two upgrades of about 3 GB each during the testing of the distro – and the ease of use thanks to the KDE Plasma desktop should not go without mention. As for intermediate users and greybeards, KDE neon hits all the marks when it comes to speed and efficiency in a Linux distribution.

KDE neon is worth a look. By all means, check out the KDE neon download page to pick up an ISO and see for yourself.

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!