Distro watch
What’s behind the free software sofa?
KALI 2023.4
Beloved by pen-testers everywhere, Kali’s latest iteration includes Gnome 45, giving it the benefit of better search features in Nautilus and full-height sidebars. Kali Linux AMD64 and ARM64 will also now be available on Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure marketplaces. There’s a Raspberry Pi 5 image, too. Kali also now uses mirrorbits to optimise installation and updates of packages. There are a number of new security tools as well. Learn more at www.kali.org.
MABOX 23.12
Mabox is a relatively new operating system, having first been released as recently as 2020. It’s designed to be a lightweight Linux distribution, featuring a customised desktop based on Openbox. The latest version uses the LTS version of the Linux kernel (6.6) but there’s also an ISO image available for older hardware that uses kernel 5.4. Mabox utilises Tint2 and Jgmenu to create powerful customisable panels, upgraded Conky widgets and a Quake-style console. You can find out more at https://maboxlinux.org.
ARMBIAN 23.11
Armbian is designed for a wide variety of popular ARM-based devices, including Banana Pi, CubieBoard, Olimex, Orange Pi, Odroid, Pine64 and others. The latest version, code-named Topi, expands this further to include the NanoPi R6S/R6C, TI SK-TDA4VM and Xiaomi-elish, among others. Daily image builds are also now available based on Ubuntu Mantic or Debian Trixie, and the OS now features fixed display managers across all desktops. See www.armbian.com to learn more.
SPARKYLINUX 7.2
The team at SparkyLinux has been releasing stable versions of its lightweight operating system for around five years. It uses customised Enlightenment and LXDE desktops. The latest version, code-named Orion Belt, is a quarterly updated point release of Sparky 7, based on Debian 12 Bookworm. PC versions now use version 6.1.55 of the Linux kernel. The distribution also now sports LibreOffice 7.4.7, and the Calamares installer has been upgraded to v3.2.61. You can read more at https://sparkylinux.org.
ZORIN OS 17 BETA
Zorin is popular with Linux newcomers as it has a Windows-like GUI. It can even run Windows programs, as it supports Wine and PlayOnLinux. The latest community edition includes support for universal search including files, apps, contacts and appointments. Workspaces are now arranged horizontally, and you can open the overview and use gestures to switch between them. The new spatial desktop allows switching between workspaces in 3D, too. Learn more at: https://zorin.com/os.