Test Linux distros before downloading and installing

If you're completely new to Linux or if you've been using it a while and considering seeing what other Linux distros might offer compared to your current one then there is a great service called DistroTest.

DistroTest has hundreds of Linux distros that you can boot up and test directly from the website. It allows you to run a VM of the selected Linux distro live from the website. The performance isn't great but it's enough to get an idea of what the default setup of any given distro is like. You can look at the software that is included, experiment and do what you like with any of hundreds of different distros.

So, if you're looking to test before diving in as a new user, or if you're experienced and want to just look at how another distro is configured then give it a look.

https://distrotest.net/

Disto Highlight : MX Linux

MX Linux is a cooperative venture between the antiX and former MEPIS communities, using the best tools and talents from each distro. It is a midweight OS designed to combine an elegant and efficient desktop with simple configuration, high stability, solid performance and medium-sized footprint.

MX Linux 19 comes standard with the stuff you want in a clean operating system install. It has Firefox web browser as standard. Libreoffice for office stuff. VLC media player. GIMP.

It also features built in tools that make it simple to install extra codecs as well as the nvidia graphics card drivers which makes it a nice system for those looking for a decent Linux install for gaming.

The user interface is nice with a single left hand side panel and a great default selection of wallpapers to choose from. Aside from that, it isn't winning any awards for the overall theme, but as with most desktop environments it can be customized to suit your style.

I've done a video here running through the install process. It's not going into any advanced partitioning or anything like that, just a basic standard install. Please note that it's been recorded from a virtual machine and for some reason my virtual machines are having performance issues when recording so it's a little slower than I'd like.

Another quick video showing the default system after it is installed and a quick overview of the included tools and applications.

You can see more about MX Linux by visiting the website. Or download the ISO to try it for yourself.

Darktable 3.0.0 RC0 is available

The Darktable project has made available a release candidate build of their upcoming version 3 release.

Darktable is a free and open source photography toolkit that handles image management and organisation, RAW processing and editing, tethered shooting support and more. It's one of the best open source and free alternatives to Adobe Lightroom and it runs on all the major computer platforms (Linux, Mac, Windows).

Darktables image organization tool : The Lighttable

This RC0 release includes:

A full rework of the GUI. The application can now be themed using CSS styling and comes with a number of themes as standard including some dark and some light variations.

A new timeline view has been introduced in the image catalog.

A new module for handling 3D LUT transformations.

There are many more changes, improvements and bugfixes which you can read about on the release announcement post.

Darktables develop module for doing RAW processing

Please keep in mind that this is a release candidate version and may not be stable. It is meant for testing. If you want something stable then be sure to download the stable version. If you're keen to test out what's coming up for the version 3 release though then you can download the RC0 version from here.

Pictures seen in the screenshots above are from Pixabay.