GoboLinux 017.01 - Release Notes

Introduction

We are pleased to present release 017.01 of GoboLinux, the Linux distribution featuring a rethought file system structure. GoboLinux was created out of a desire to try new approaches in the Linux distribution design space. GoboLinux 017 continues this journey, with a focus on the exploration of novel ideas aiming to make the system simpler yet functional..

GoboLinux 017.01 is an eagerly awaited bug-fix update that addresses several critical issues since our initial 017 ISO release.

Along with this release, Hisham Muhammad, founder and steward of GoboLinux for the past 25 years, is officially stepping down! The project now continues under the stewardship of Philip Pok (@nuc1eon).

Availability

GoboLinux is available as an ISO download which you can download from this site.

Overview of this release

Main changes:

  • Resolved the following documented Known issues and fixes since our 017 ISO release:
    • Include UnionFS-Fuse to workaround limitations with the sandbox in the live environment
    • Loopback network interface needs to be brought up at boot
    • Update the search URL used by the Scripts package
    • Ncurses had been replaced by NcursesW, but some packages' metadata still held references to the former
    • Update expired SSL certificates (thanks to Jean-Michel T.Dydak @yann-kaelig)
    • Fix wrong versioning of SQLite
  • Fixed a missing symlink (/usr/libexec → /System/Index/libexec)
  • Fixed some startup Tasks that where not marked as executables (Avahi, DHCPNetworkInterface)
  • Installer: Fix ClockMode (GMT/localtime) selection and default to GMT
  • Installer: Add support for eMMC storage devices (thanks to @TheBitStick)
  • Freshen has been ported over to Python 3 (thanks to Sage I. Hendricks @sage-etcher) and been therefore re-added to Gobolinux (experimental state)
  • Updated some core packages, bumped kernel to v6.12.16 (special thanks to Samuel Dionne-Riel @samueldr for the updated GoboHide patch)
  • Updated major GoboLinux tools with lots of fixes (details not listed here)
  • Switched kernel, initramfs, firmware and squashfs to zstd compression
  • Updated Firefox default profile
  • Switch on numlock during boot

Updated Packages:

  • Automake 1.16.1 → 1.16.4
  • Dracut 20200220-GIT → 103
  • E2FSProgs 1.45.5 → 1.47.1 (fixes initramfs on newer SSDs)
  • Firefox 76.0.1 → 136.0
  • Fuse 3.9.0 → 3.16.2
  • GCC 9.2.0 → 14.2.0
  • GRUB & GRUB-EFI 2.04 → 2.12
  • Kmod 27 → 33
  • LibArchive 3.4.2 → 3.7.6 (runtime dep E2FSProgs)
  • Linux 5.6.0 → 6.12.16
  • Linux-Firmware 20200505-GIT → 20250309-GIT
  • SQlite 3.8.2 → 3.36.0
  • SquashFS-Tools 4.4 → 4.6.1
  • Util-Linux 2.35.1 → 2.40.2 (runtime dep of E2FSProgs)

Added packages:

  • CA-Certificates 2023011
  • Cpio 2.15 (runtime dep of Dracut)
  • Fuse 2.9.9
  • NumlockX 1.2
  • Tree 2.1.1
  • UnionFS-Fuse 2.1

Gobolinux in-house tools:

  • Updated:

    • BootScripts 017 → 017.01
    • Compile GIT
    • ConfigTools 017 → 017.01
    • Dit 0.7 → 0.9
    • EnhancedSkel 017 → 017.01
    • GoboNet 0.10 → 0.12
    • Scripts GIT

  • Added:

    • BuildLiveCD 017.01
    • Freshen GIT

Known outstanding issues

  • In a VM environment, installing GoboLinux' bootloader onto a GPT/UEFI setup fails. Please set up an MBR partition table. On a bare metal system GPT partitions work fine in our testing (if in doubt, configure your bootloader manually).
  • Copy & Paste between VM and and host system does not work
  • Our documentation has accumultaed some cruft over the years and is in the process of being updated. Contributions welcome!:-)

Any help solving these issues for our next release is appreciated!

Expectations

As an experimental distribution, you might run into some bugs along the way. We encourage you to tackle these challenges on your own or with the support of our friendly community. While we can't promise everything will be handed to you, your discoveries and solutions are invaluable to us—please share them!

GoboLinux thrives on the passion and contributions of its users, and together, we can make it even better.

Outlook

Stay tuned for another point release this year, this time we will focus on updating our base packages - and hopefully squash more bugs, too!

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