Hello all, please allow for bringing to your attention the existence and availability of this Linux distribution project with relevance to GNUstep.
The Linux distribution project Window Maker Live is now available for download in version 12.8. Window Maker Live is an installable Linux Live ISO based on the current Bookworm branch of Debian. The system uses the Window Maker window manager as the default graphical user interface. Its components have been carefully preconfigured and the desktop environment has a consistent visual appearance. Window Maker Live integrates selected components from other desktop environments such as XFCE4, MATE, LXQT, with a special focus on GNUstep. Window Maker Live can somewhat be considered a poor man's GNUstep Live DVD, although GNUstep is not the main focus of the distribution. To my knowledge there is no other Linux distribution out there that comes even close to this level of usability of GNUstep integration into the desktop. At the end of the day, the whole project aims at being a perfectly functional multipurpose user environment providing choices beyond any specific focus. Some highlights of what's new in this release besides the much better integration of GNUstep components: * Previous [https://sourceforge.net/projects/previous], which implements the m68k hardware of NeXT computers in software and allows the operation of the NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP operating systems. * 86Box [https://github.com/86Box/86Box], an emulator for x86-based PC's with support for Intel CPU's up to a maximum of Pentium II. Perfectly runs both NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP for Intel. * scantailor-advanced [https://github.com/ScanTailor-Advanced/scantailor-advanced], an excellent program for post-processing scanned book pages. * TeX Live [https://www.tug.org/texlive], the internationally leading document production system for TeX and LaTeX. * .. and so much more that you can find out better in practice. Unlike other Linux distributions, not included are any of the common web browsers or office suites and other usual suspects. Instead, the web browsers PaleMoon [https://www.palemoon.org], GNUstep based netsurf variant WebSurf.app [http://web.archive.org/web/20240624015246/https://vcs.vera-visions.com/eukara/WebSurf/], the Otter-Browser [https://otter-browser.org] and, for the command line, lynx [https://lynx.invisible-island.net] and 'links' [http://links.twibright.com] are included. For mail there are claws-mail [https://www.claws-mail.org] and GNUMail [http://www.nongnu.org/gnustep-nonfsf/gnumail], as well as mutt [http://www.mutt.org] on the command line. What is not immediately apparent from the graphical interface, and has therefore been deliberately ignored in all the reviews seen so far, is the amount and usefulness of the included command line tools. Pretty much everything you need for actual system administration and repairing broken systems is there. This includes all possible and impossible tools for repairing most file system variants, clonezilla, android tools, chntpw and ntfs-3g, various partitioning tools, (de)compression programs, and much more. It should certainly be possible for so inclined users to be able to do without the graphical interface entirely and, thanks to screen/tmux, mc, vim/emacs, mutt and so on, still be able to work relatively comfortably just on the console. This distribution is almost certainly unsuitable for users who are rather inexperienced in UNIX matters, as its handling goes beyond the usage conventions of Windows and MacOS. For normal users, it is better to use Mint, MX Linux, Ubuntu, or EndevaourOS instead, where no historically influenced UNIX rough edges are to be expected. This description at best actually only scratches the surface and I didn't want to have to break my fingers writing. Instead of trying to get an idea based on a necessarily incomplete description, it is advisable to simply examine the downloaded ISO more closely in a virtual machine. The ISO images are available for i386 and amd64. Unfortunately, while creating an ARM variant (arm64) is easily possible on a Pinebook Pro, the result cannot be booted on the very same Pinebook Pro due to its lack of EFI, and how to create an ISO that can be booted with u-boot is still a mystery to me. The arm64 ISO apparently works as expected in QEMU, but whether this also works on a real ARM machine is unknown. Since there is no other ARM hardware for minimal testing, an arm64 ISO of unknown quality was not provided for the time being. https://sourceforge.net/projects/wmlive https://sourceforge.net/projects/wmlive/files/wmlive-bookworm-12.8 Users can build their own customized ISO from the same build tree source code [https://sourceforge.net/projects/wmlive/files/wmlive-bookworm-12.8/wmlive-bookworm-12.8.tar.xz] which was used to create the very same ISO image. In fact, a Window Maker Live system installed to disk already integrates everything necessary to create its own distribution medium. Obviously, there is a certain fascination involved with this recursion aspect. Please have a look and let me know if this has any potential to serve the GNUstep cause. Thanks for GNUstep! Regards, Paul Seelig
