EasyOS version 3.1 released

EasyOS version 2.9 was released on September 3, 2021 and 3.0 released on October 5, 2021. Version 2.9 was announced on Distrowatch, but not 3.0 as it was really a testing release for the 3.x version numbering. Thanks to the guys who tested 3.0, there have been many enhancements. Always more to do of course, and my to-list keeps getting added to. But, this is a point where we can feature-freeze and bring out a new release. An overview of highlights since 2.9:

There have been major functional changes: applications can now be run non-root each as its own user and group, and the folder hierarchy has become more conventional, with /clients becoming /home and /home becoming /files.
As well as fixing issues in 3.0 due to the changes in directory hierarchy, version 3.1 has greatly enhanced video configurability and hardware profiling. Also, there are new RDP, VNC and SSH servers and clients available via the package manager.
A lot of attention has been given to booting EasyOS from a USB-stick on different computers. Hardware profiling means that any video, bluetooth and audio configuration on one computer is remembered and automatically selected next time bootup on that same computer.
Attention has also been given to the situation where video is broken at bootup, such as a black screen. There is a new "Fix broken video" boot menu entry.

Here is a photo of the desktop, on a 1024x768 screen:

The full release notes are here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/dunfell/3.1/release-notes.htm

English, French and German builds can be downloaded from here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/dunfell/3.1/

Install instructions are here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/dunfell/3.1/readme.htm

If you want the Chrome web browser, it is available as a SFS file, as are the devx, chromium and kernel-source SFSs. Click on the "sfsget" icon on the desktop to download them. The Chrome SFS supports the new capability to run on the main desktop securely as user 'chrome' -- instead of in a container -- these may be seen as alternative security strategies.

Elaborating on that point: Chrome running as user 'chrome' is in its own sandbox, which is a kind of light-weight container. So, it is an alternative container mechanism. On the other hand if Chrome is run in a container, which is "crippled root", it has to be run with the "--no-sandbox" commandline option, as it is already running inside a container -- we cannot have a container-within-a-container.

And, a practical usage note if you install Chrome to the main desktop: go to /home/chrome and drag the icon onto the desktop, for the convenience of being able to start Chrome directly from the desktop:

And also, a reminder: EasyOS is an experimental distribution. Very experimental. I play with new ideas, and some of those ideas are a work-in-progress. Bare that in mind, if some functionality is not as you might expect in a mainline Linux distribution. Having said that, you should find the experience to be pleasant. Please let me know if any problems.

Feedback is welcome at the Puppy Forum, in the EasyOS section:

http://forum.puppylinux.com/viewforum.php?f=63

Have fun!     

Tags: easy