Status of next GeckoLinux update

[madmanRB]

Answered: #503 (comment)

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Its been a long time since new images for this project came out, methinks Geckolinux is dead, which is unfortunate.
Geckolinux offered a cool way to install opensuse via a live image, as opposed to openSUSE's .iso being just an installer (and a rather antiquated one at that compared to more modern installers like calamares)
Guess now if I want to install openSUSE, it's either the hard way via its antiquated installer or use Regata (which isn't exactly 1 to 1 with openSUSE)
Whats even sadder is that now this distros developer has a new toy spirallinux based on Debian, not like there isn't a billion other debian based flavors or anything.

[geckolinux]

Updated answer: #503 (comment)

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Hi there, GeckoLinux isn't dead.

• The GeckoLinux Rolling editions can be installed and updated to the latest openSUSE Tumbleweed release without issues.

  • New GeckoLinux Rolling editions will be updated once the Cinnamon packages are fixed to start building again for Tumbleweed:
    https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/X11:Cinnamon:Factory/cinnamon

• The GeckoLinux Static editions are already available for Leap 15.4, which is the latest release.

  • No further GeckoLinux Static editions will be built unless there is a major change in SUSE / openSUSE's roadmap. The traditional openSUSE Leap OS as we know it will no longer exist after version 15.5. As of now, there are no concrete plans for a desktop-focused traditional (mutable and not container based) non-rolling/fixed-release offering from SUSE and/or openSUSE. So GeckoLinux Static will simply not be possible to maintain, and even users of vanilla openSUSE Leap will also probably have to look elsewhere. Users that want some assurance of long-term sustainability and predictability will not find it with SUSE / openSUSE. Debian on the other hand is still sane, predictable, and relatively free of drama. So for users that want a traditional fixed-release Linux OS, I recommend SpiralLinux, which contrary to @madmanRB 's description has quite a few major differences from other Debian-based offerings. Please see the SpiralLinux website for details.

[ColonelPanic232]

Just joined, and posting from Gecko 15.4 Leap (XFce version) now. I understand the position of the Gecko devs in this, but I think this is sad. Gecko 15.4 Leap is a very stable distro that just works.

[geckolinux]

I totally agree.

[P1tape]

Gecko is really nice. But I see that Tumbleweed ISOs are from 22 August 2022. If I update the system, will I get the same as a current OpenSuse Tumbleweed system (currently 999.20230527)?

[geckolinux]

#503 (comment)

[P1tape]

very clear thanks

[ColonelPanic232]

Here's a further update on the likely future of OpenSUSE Leap, on the eve of the release of the next version (15.5).

It seems that the plan is to release at least one more "point" version after this one, i.e. Leap 15.6, which will be supported through to the end of 2025;

https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=showheadline&story=15844

[Cloggy49]

There will be a new Leap 15.6 release next year June: https://news.opensuse.org/2023/06/06/leap-15.6-annoucement/

[ColonelPanic232]

Here's a review of OpenSUSE 15.5 on Distrowatch;

https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20230612#opensuse

[ColonelPanic232]

An update; I've just tried 15.5 Leap for myself and my honest advice is to stick with 15.4 (and Gecko of course), at least for the time being. It's still got a couple of rough edges (for example, I wasn't able to log out of the session) and some of the more specialist packages, such as LibreWolf, still haven't been built for 15.5.

Or; perhaps try Gecko Tumbleweed, though I have no experience of Tumbleweed. I generally use Leap because I know it's very stable even if it doesn't always have the latest packages.

[ColonelPanic232]

An update: I've just reinstalled Leap 15.5 but this time with the Gnome desktop environment, and it seems a lot happier in Gnome. I haven't yet tried looking for "specialist" packages such as librewolf though.

[ColonelPanic232]

Here's a decent article which compares Leap and Tumbleweed, and outlines which of the two would be more suitable for which users;

https://itsfoss.com/opensuse-leap-vs-tumbleweed/

[EnSabahNurX]

Hey guys,

Is it possible to make a ISO with LXDE using minimum software, just enough to login in graphics interface? I think would be a very useful tool and nice image. Thanks anyway and sorry if here is not the right place to talk about that.

[geckolinux]

Hi @EnSabahNurX , the BareBones edition is basically that, except that it has IceWM. The idea is the same, the BareBones system is no good for daily use, but it's just enough to run a graphical web browser and the YaST tools to install a more complete desktop environment and customize it to your liking, while taking care of a lot of low-end configurations that are tedious or not so obvious.

[ColonelPanic232]

The alpha version of Leap 15.6 has just been released;

https://get.opensuse.org/leap/15.6/

[geckolinux]

Hi everyone, here is the current status of the next set of GeckoLinux updates:

• The GeckoLinux Rolling editions can be installed and updated to the latest openSUSE Tumbleweed release without issues.
  • The next set of GeckoLinux Rolling ISOs will be built from openSUSE Slowroll after it has a stable release. The package repositories will also be preconfigured to allow for easily switching the installed system from Slowroll to Tumbleweed.
• The GeckoLinux Static and NEXT editions have been removed from the GeckoLinux website. No further GeckoLinux Static editions will be built unless there is a major change in SUSE / openSUSE's roadmap. The traditional openSUSE Leap OS as we know it will eventually cease development, and Leap 15.6 is just a stop-gap release until a radically different operating system based on SUSE ALP is finished [source] . As of now, there are no concrete plans for a desktop-focused traditional (mutable and not container based) non-rolling/fixed-release offering from SUSE and/or openSUSE. So GeckoLinux Static will simply not be possible to maintain, and even users of vanilla openSUSE Leap will also probably have to look elsewhere. Users that want some assurance of long-term sustainability and predictability will not find it with SUSE / openSUSE. Debian on the other hand is still sane, predictable, and relatively free of drama. So for users that want a non-rolling traditional Linux OS, I recommend SpiralLinux. Please see the SpiralLinux website for details. On the other hand, for users that want a relatively reliable rolling distribution, openSUSE Slowroll and Tumbleweed are currently the best available options, and that is what GeckoLinux will use as a base together with the GeckoLinux configuration changes and out-of-the-box convenience features.

[P1tape]

This is very good news. Let's hope openSuse Slowroll will reach stable release soon. I have updated my Geckolinux system to slowroll but I still receive lots of updates several times a week. I would prefer combined updates once a month.

[geckolinux]

I have updated my Geckolinux system to slowroll but I still receive lots of updates several times a week. I would prefer combined updates once a month.

I think that's the goal that the Slowroll maintainer wants to reach. Slowroll isn't fully mature quite yet, for example it's still using a temporary /openSUSE:/ALP:/Experimental:/Slowroll repo URL, and it doesn't have openQA automatic tests enabled yet. That's the main reason why I'm going to wait a bit more before switching GeckoLinux to Slowroll. But the Slowroll maintainer tells me that the first stable release will be soon. For now he is cherry-picking some updates, for example the recently updated Cinnamon packages for Tumbleweed that were previously broken in Tumbleweed and Slowroll. Once things stabilize I suspect that you'll receive less frequent updates, and the daily or weekly updates that do get pushed will only be bug/security fixes, not major new package versions.

[edwardp3]

I'm running Slowroll on one of my external SSD's. This is openSUSE's Wiki page on Slowroll. It is currently experimental.

I agree with @geckolinux that Leap 15.6 will be the last non-rolling release from openSUSE.

It reads how Slowroll will work, is that the larger updates will be every one or two months, but with bug and security fixes, including new kernels, pushed out as they become available. A new kernel was received just last night.

There are users who prefer a rolling release as opposed to upgrading the distribution as little as every six months, so I think Slowroll will be a great compliment to Tumbleweed, once released. If @geckolinux wants to create an install image once Slowroll comes out of experimental status, I say "Go for it!". 👍

[geckolinux]

Hi everyone, I finally figured out several major issues that were preventing new ISOs from booting and installing correctly. With those solved there has also been a huge amount of cleanup in the GeckoLinux build recipes and several visible improvements. Here's a beta of the Cinnamon edition, which contains the same core fixes and improvements that the other editions will have:

• https://sourceforge.net/projects/geckolinux/files/testing/GeckoLinux_ROLLING_Cinnamon.x86_64-999.240905-BETA.iso/download

Testing on real hardware in both BIOS and UEFI mode would be greatly appreciated.

Despite the overall increase in the size and number of openSUSE packages and several editions to the GeckoLinux configuration, the new beta ISO is still about the same size as the last stable release. This is due to some manual removals of large firmware packages that don't appear useful. But if some piece of hardware doesn't work for you that would normally work with openSUSE Tumbleweed then please report it here.

[dacomboman]

Congrats for the hard work!

Being mostly a Debian user, decided to take this GeckoLinux challenge.
So far so good.

While CPU is holding down pretty nice, RAM usage is up at 5.8Gb out of 8.1 (one tab open with Ytube + 3 others on webpages); 3Gb with only one tab open. CPU fan is as quiet as on Windows tho. Test on Firefox.

Btw, don't icon sets get installed when choosing new themes?

[geckolinux]

Hi there @dacomboman , thanks a lot for testing.

Test on Firefox.

Individual apps on GeckoLinux won't behave any differently than openSUSE or any other modern Linux distro, but there can be a difference overall given the selection of applications and services that are enabled or disabled.

Btw, don't icon sets get installed when choosing new themes?

Nope, after you install icon packs in YaST Software then they can be selected in the Cinnamon appearance settings.

[radoslew]

Good to hear you still take care of Gecko 😊 I'm about to jump on the Tumbleweed KDE wagon and Gecko seems to be the perfect openSUSE "version" for me. Keep it up! Thank you for your work!

[ColonelPanic232]

Thanks for these new images. I've recently downloaded the new XFce image of Gecko and although I haven't gotten around to installing it yet due to a shortage of free space on my hard drive, I've run a live session with it and everything seems fine.

[geckolinux]

Hi there, there's no new XFCE image available yet, just the Cinnamon ISO for now as a beta test.

[ColonelPanic232]

Oops! My mistake; I think I assumed it was XFce because that's what I downloaded from your site the last time I tried Gecko and I didn't read the link properly. Cinnamon will be fine anyway.

[javiertv]

Hi, I've been trying out the beta since Monday and it's great for my office work. I have a ton of tabs open and I'm even watching live videos, and everything is super smooth! My PC has an AMD Ryzen 3 3250U processor, 5.7 GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon Vega graphics card. Great job, congratulations.

[geckolinux]

Hi there, really appreciate the feedback, glad it's working for you.

[ColonelPanic232]

I've installed Gecko Tumbleweed Cinnamon (the latest beta) to my hard drive now and have got a big spreadsheet loaded in LibreOffice, am playing a soundfile in Clementine and typing this in a window in Firefox at the same time. Total memory used; about 1500 MB.

Additional packages such as Strawberry and Qalculate are available through opi, and everything I've seen so far works as it should.

I've been banging the drum for Leap for a while now but on this showing I may have to rethink this and use Gecko Tumbleweed instead.

[geckolinux]

I may have to rethink this and use Gecko Tumbleweed instead

I'm also considering adding the Slowroll repos by default (but disabled) so users can easily switch their installation to Slowroll with a few clicks. In fact the original plan was to build the images from Slowroll and include the Tumbleweed repos disabled by default, but there are still some quirks with building ISO images from Slowroll. But at any rate, Slowroll and Tumbleweed seem to be the way forward for users that want to stay in the openSUSE ecosystem, there's still too much uncertainty and ambiguity revolving around the future of Leap.

[AvrahamTsaban]

What is new and different on using the cinnamon beta other than using old rolling cinnamon and updating?

[geckolinux]

There are some changes to the default configuration with each ISO refresh of GeckoLinux. This current refresh will focus on reducing useless clutter from the ISO, proper theming of Qt6 applications, and integrating Flatpaks for users that want to use them. But if you are currently happy with an old installation of GeckoLinux Rolling you can definitely keep on updating it for as long as you want.