Rollin' with Arch, Hold the Popcorn, and Fav Desktop
Arch Linux is "a lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple." It's also known as a rolling release distribution that is characterized by frequent updates rather than periodic reinstalls. Arch has remained in Distrowatch.com's top 10 Page Hit Ranking since 2009 and was once a darling of the Linux blogosphere. Swapnil Bhartiya today posted five reasons folks should "roll with Arch Linux." Elsewhere, Red Hat had an interesting day on Wall Street and Jack Wallen said Popcorn Time isn't the kind of application distributions should be including. And finally, a new poll was posted to bring some fun to your Thursday evening.
Swapnil Bhartiya today said, "Arch is the primary distro that runs on my main system. I am hooked on it. And there are reasons for it." He likes that it's "a pure community driven project. It doesn't have to worry about the market, customers and ROI, which can affect its development -- and could, in fact, derail it." The software is plentiful, of course, and it just keeps rolling along, but Bhartiya hit the nail on the head with #4 saying, "In Arch, the user is in control. Since you build everything from scratch you can choose the components you want for your desktop to get the best PC experience." He concluded, "Once you go Arch, you never go back."
Popcorn Time is "a well crafted interface that allows the user to watch a vast selection of pirated films." Not only that, "the app does in fact seed files for others to download." That's illegal in most of the world and Jack Wallen said today, "I don't use it. You shouldn't use it." But all that was leading up to his bigger question today which is should distributions include an application that could allow a user to so easily break the law? Wallen said the app is attractive and looks a whole lot like Netflix. There are warnings, but even if installers of the distribution in question read them, they are unclear. He concluded, "Software like Popcorn Time has to be allowed to besmirch the name of open source with a litany of legal actions. I would hope that developers creating new distributions would not include Popcorn Time in their software list."
I love polls. Today a new poll appeared on FOSS Force asking what is your desktop environment. Choices such as KDE, GNOME, Cinnamon, MATE, and Pantheon are given. So far, KDE is in the lead with 22% of the vote with Xfce trailing slightly behind with 21%. GNOME and Cinnamon are currently third and fourth with poor Pantheon unloved by all. Go cast your vote for your favorite at fossforce.com.
Red Hat was in the headlines today for a good showing in the markets. Trade-Ideas LLC labeled it a candidate for a "barbarian at the gate," reported thestreet.com, meaning it's breaking resistance with a range greater than 200%. RHT saw "1.9 million shares trade hands over the course of the day on 12,698 trades," unusual volume according to equities.com. Investorguide.com said today that "Red Hat is set to make a big breakout" and share prices could reach $80 by this time next year. RHT closed today at $69.18, up $2.11, with no after hour moves so far.
Other interesting headlines today:
* OpenStack's Dirty Little Secret: It Doesn't Scale
* ROSA Fresh GNOME R5 is here!
* Black Lab Linux MATE 6.1 Review