Slackware 14.2 is Here, Mageia 6 STA1 is too

Woohoo! Slackware 14.2 is here! Patrick Volkerding announced the release early July 1 saying it brings "many updates and enhancements." Elsewhere, the Mageia project announced the first stabilization snapshot for upcoming version 6 and Dominique Leuenberger posted this week's Tumbleweed review. The end of life for Fedora 22 is fast approaching and the end of an era is upon us as distributions drop 32-bit support.

Slackware 14.2 has finally been released. It's been two and a half years since 14.1 was announced, which followed 14.0 by just over a year. Patrick said, "We've done our best to bring the latest technology to Slackware while still maintaining the stability and security that you have come to expect." KDE 4.14.21 and Xfce 4.12.1 are the desktops sitting on Linux 4.4.14, Xorg X Server 1.18.3 (X11R7.7), GCC 5.3.0, and Glibc 2.23. Some of the software includes Firefox ESR 45.2.0, GIMP 2.8.6, and SysVinit 2.88. Chrome, Bash Completion, BitTorrent, and Java are among the extras. Pat recommends Dropline GNOME for those who'd like GNOME and Willy Sudiarto Raharjo released Cinnamon 3.0 and MATE 1.14 packages for Slackware 14.2 as well. The announcement said:

Slackware uses the 4.4.14 kernel bringing you advanced performance features such as journaling filesystems, SCSI and ATA RAID volume support, SATA support, Software RAID, LVM (the Logical Volume Manager), and encrypted filesystems. Kernel support for X DRI (the Direct Rendering Interface) brings high-speed hardware accelerated 3D graphics to Linux. The x86_64 version of Slackware 14.2 supports installation and booting on machines using UEFI firmware.

Torrents for ISO downloads are one way to get Slack or download directly from one of the many mirrors (not all are sync'd up yet). DVDs and CDs (as well as some other cool products) are available for purchase from The Slackware Store if you prefer. Eric "AlienBob" Hameleers also has his spins featuring a live interface with Plasma 5 or MATE. For current users, an upgrade path is also available.

Mageia 6 STA1 was also released today by "everyone at Mageia." The announcement said GRUB 2 is now the default bootloader and Plasma 5 is the default desktop. Live DVDs are now available, they'd been having trouble with those last several releases. This release features Linux 4.6.3, Glibc 2.22, LibreOffice 5.1.4.2, Firefox 45 ESR, Chromium 51, and several other popular desktops. Downloads are available at mirrors all around the world. Mageia 6 is in version freeze but the kernel may be updated to the 4.7 branch before it's done with. We should see another stabilization snapshot before the end of July with a release candidate planned for early August. The Final should arrive towards the end of August or the beginning of September. See the release notes for more.

In other news, Fedora 22 will reach the end of its support cycle July 19, 2016. Users are urged to upgrade to Fedora 23 or, preferably, 24.

Chris Hoffman said we're entering the end of an era because several popular distributions have or will discontinue developing for 32-bit hardware.

CBR posted a short summary of all the Red Hat happenings this week.

And, Tumbleweed has been completely rebuilt with GCC 6.