See also: last week's Distributions page.

Distributions

News and Editorials

New Linux Thin Clients: NetStation and PXES. This week we have two new thin client distributions that have been added to our list. You'll find them both listed under "Diskless terminals".

NetStation Linux has been around for a few months. It runs on diskless thin client terminals using standard x86 hardware. It can boot from network using Etherboot, and connect to an application server using VNC, RDP, X11 or SSH. Development version 0.5 was released April 1, 2002, with major feature enhancements.

PXES Linux Thin Client will boot a thin client, or will convert any compliant hardware into a versatile thin client. The client will be capable of accessing any XDM server presenting the graphical login screen or any Microsoft Terminal Server through RDP protocol. The actual configuration of clients is made with an easy to use graphical configuration tool, allowing the specification of clients parameters or the server to access. Version 0.4 was released March 27, 2002, with major feature enhancements.

New Distributions

Haydar Linux. Haydar Linux is a new distribution, still in progress. The initial release is expected later this month. This distribution will be available in Arabic, Dutch and English, with more languages to follow.

Distribution News

Debian Weekly News. The Debian Weekly News for March 27 is out. Covered topics include the admission of crypto software into the main archive, the 2.2r6 release, the Project Leader election, and more.

Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 updated (r6). A new Debian version is available. "This is the sixth revision of Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 (codename `potato') which mainly adds security updates to the stable release, along with a few corrections of serious bugs. Those who frequently update from security.debian.org won't have to update many packages. However, most updates from security.debian.org are included in this point release."

The second call for votes for Debian Project Leader Election 2002 is out.

Mandrake Linux. The Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter #36 contains an 8.2 release follow-up; new products at MandrakeStore; Latest MandrakeClub Activities and more.

Some errata for 8.2 has been released. Topics covered include:

• XFree86 doesn't work on i815 chipsets
• Password popup in Mozilla mail doesn't popup with non-English languages
• Bootup is too quiet (no initscript output)
• Inputting text using xcin does not work
• Some entries in the Chinese menu are garbled

Slackware. There have been some updates to slackware-current. See the change log for details.

Sorcerer GNU/Linux News. Here's the latest SGL news.

Minor Distribution updates

Astaro Security Linux. Astaro Security Linux, Sun Cobalt edition, has released v2.023 with minor security fixes.

Crash Recovery Kit. Crash Recovery Kit has released v2.4.18 with major feature enhancements.

ELKS. The ELKS (Embedable Linux Kernel Subset) project has announced that Linux 8086 is ready for wider testing.

floppyfw. floppyfw has released v1.9.20 with minor bug fixes.

Gentoo Linux. Gentoo Linux has released v1.0 with major feature enhancements.

herbix. herbix has released v1.0-25 with major feature enhancements.

Keeper Linux. Keeper Linux has added a new Internet dialup gateway to its KLX 1.1a release.

Sentry Firewall CD-ROM. Sentry Firewall CD-ROM has released v1.2.0 with minor feature enhancements.

VectorLinux. VectorLinux has released v2.5, updating the kernel to 2.4.17 (available in four different configurations), a more user-friendly installation (including a partitioning option), and lots more updates and bug fixes.

Distribution Reviews

OEone HomeBase 1.0 Linux Review. Joe Klemmer has given us a review of the OEone HomeBase Linux distribution. "The company touts this distro as being easy and fast and all things wonderful. So, of course, I bought a boxed set. This is a quick review of my experiences with the product."

A tale of two Linux bootable business cards (NewsForge). NewsForge reviews two Linux bootable business cards, tomsrtbt, and the Linuxcare bootable business card. "Much has changed in the Linux world since the initial appearance of the Linuxcare BBC. Not the least of these changes is the Linuxcare BBC itself. Over time, the BBC grew a usable X Window System that was absent in the first edition, but it also grew a second distribution entirely."

Mandrake 8.2: great software distributed poorly (NewsForge. Robin Miller reviews Mandrake 8.2. "I have finally upgraded from Mandrake 8.0 to 8.2, and I am pleased to say that once it is installed, Mandrake 8.2 can be the base of a home or office desktop that is so fast, flexible, and easy to use that people ought to be lining up to buy it. And, strangely, Mandrake is giving it away instead of selling it."

Red Hat Rolls Out Advanced Server (eWeek). eWeek says the Red Hat Advanced Server is proof that Linux is here to stay. "Not that Red Hat--nor many other Linux distributions, for that matter--wasn't already being used in corporate computing. But Advanced Server takes Red Hat Linux deeper into the enterprise than ever before, company officials and users said."

Short Preview of SuSE Linux 8.0 (Linux Knowledge Portal). The LKP gets a look at SuSE 8.0 beta. "Under the hood, another step toward LSB-conformity has been made, the index structure und /etc has changed, the rc.config loses its meaning, instead, we now have /etc/sysconfig where everything relevent can be found."

Working with Micro-Distributions --or-- Linux in Your Pocket (Linux Gazette). Larry Kollar examines some small Linux distributions. "BasicLinux is a compact but competent networking system. Besides the essentials (via BusyBox), it provides network connectivity through both Ethernet and dialup, and can pull firewall duty using ipfwadm. Utilities like fetchmail and links (not lynx, that threw me) provide mail and web connectivity. To keep seasoned Linux users comfortable as possible, it provides the familiar bash shell. The default inittab provides three console logins, more than enough for my purposes (I sometimes use two consoles at a time, one for me and one for root)."

Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol

Please note that not every distribution will show up every week. Only distributions with recent news to report will be listed.

Distribution Lists:
LWN List
DistroWatch
ibiblio
Linux.com
LinuxLinks
LDP English-language GNU/Linux distributions on CD-ROM
Woven Goods

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