Distro watch

What’s behind the free software sofa?

LINUXFX 10.5

Know previously by a possibly trademark-infringing name, this Ubuntu-based distro aims to ape Windows 10 and offers tools and a transition that’ll make Windows users feel right at home. Now using Ubuntu 20.04 it features a highly customised Cinnamon desktop called WX Desktop. Some of the improvements include support for older computers, a re-worked Wine compatibility layer with better support for Windows games, and EXE and MSI files which can now be launched by double-clicking them in the file manager. https://windowsfx.org/index.php/sistemasoperacionais/notas-de-lancamento

MX LINUX 19.2 “KDE”

The first release of this popular distro to use KDE and its Plasma desktop. Running KDE Plasma 5.14.5 it ships with the familiar MX Tools, antix-live-usb-system, and snapshot technology that come with the flagship Xfce release. This version is described as an Advanced Hardware Support release and is 64-bit only. https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-19-2-kde-nowavailable

GHOSTBSD 20.08.04

A spin-off from the FREEBSD project, this desktoptargeted project attempts to make the BSD environment easier and slicker for new users. This latest update now includes the option to automatically take filesystem snapshots prior to performing package updates. This enables the administrator to recover in situations where package upgrades break the OS or prevent it from booting. http://ghostbsd. org/20.08.04_release_announcement

FINNIX 121

A lightweight Live CD system aimed at system administrators and based on Debian, of course! The latest release migrates from Debian’s Stable branch to Debian Testing and adds several new packages. Notes include “This release also removes the LILO boot loader, strips away some unnecessary programs, and fixes a number of bugs.” https://blog.finnix.org/2020/08/10/finnix-121released