Distro watch
What’s behind the free software sofa?
debian 10
‘Buster’, the latest release of the popular Debian distro, is now available to download. Version 10 will be supported for the next five years, and includes over 13,000 new packages. Most of the software has also been updated, and as with previous versions of Debian, there is a selection of desktop environments including Gnome 3.30, KDE Plasma 5.14 and LXDE 10, among others. Check out the release announcement at http://bit.ly/lxf253debian10.
Whonix 15
The latest version of this Debian-based distro that focuses on anonymous internet browsing has been released. It uses the Tor network on top of a heavily customised Debian system that runs in multiple virtual machines for pretty impressive protection against malware and privacy leaks. Whonix 15 is based on Debian ‘Buster’ (see above), and includes features such as kernel hardening, system unit sandboxing and a lot more. Head over to http://bit.ly/ Lxf253whonix15 for more information.
mageia 7
This new stable version of the distro that was once forked from Mandriva Linux (RIP) is now available to download. According to the release announcement (http://bit.ly/lxf253mageia7), “There are lots of new features, exciting updates and new versions of your favourite programs, as well as support for very recent hardware.” It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit hardware (take note, Canonical), and comes with the 5.1.14 Linux kernel, Firefox 67, Chromium 73 and lots more. The distro’s gaming performance has also apparently been improved.
raspbian 2019-06-20
With the release of both the new Raspberry Pi 4 (see
our review on page 54) and Debian 10 ‘Buster’, it was somewhat inevitable that the Raspbian distro, being both Debian-based and designed for the single-board computers, would be released. As Eben Upton explains in the release announcement (http://bit.ly/ Lxf253raspbian), the move to Debian 10 “brings numerous behind-the-scenes technical improvements, along with an extensively modernised user interface, and updated applications.” Hurrah!