Linux Lite 7.0 RC1 Released

[Valtam]

Release Announcement

Linux Lite 7.0 RC1 is now available for testing.

The theme of this Series is maturity. We've been offering Linux Lite now for 12 years and in that time, have integrated many features as suggested by the community as well as building upon a solid and secure foundation.

See below for release details.

Linux Lite 7.0 Final Codename Galena will be released on 1st June, 2024.





Changes:

Thunar 4.18.8 - Split View




New install slides:








Plus many other tweaks and changes.

Window Theme: Materia
Icon Theme: Papirus
Font: Roboto Regular

How do I know if my Windows PC has UEFI?

In Windows Search, type msinfo or msinfo32 and launch the desktop app named System Information. Look for the BIOS Mode item, and if the value for it is UEFI, then you have the UEFI firmware. If it says BIOS Mode Legacy, then that’s the firmware you’re running.

Secure Boot is supported, but unless you know exactly how to handle it, it is a P.I.T.A. at best so I am going to say...you must disable Secure Boot to enable stress free computing.

Some helpful snippets from the latest Help Manual:





UEFI Support link - https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/uefi-secure-boot/

Details:

Kernel: 6.8.0-31 ( custom kernels also available via our Repository for versions 3.13 - 6.8 )
Chrome: 124.0
Thunderbird: 115.10.1
LibreOffice: 7.6.6.3
VLC: 3.0.20
Gimp: 2.10.36
Base: 24.04

Known Issues:

Please enter them into this thread. Thank you.


Help Manual is 90% complete.


There is no upgrade to or from RC releases. RC releases are for testing only and it is not recommended to run them as your main or secondary operating system.

Downloads:

Release Name: Linux Lite 7.0 RC1
Size: 2.7Gb (DVD, USB)

Download Linux Lite 7.0 RC1 from one of the mirrors: (some may still be syncing)

HTTP & HTTPS:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-l...s/7.0/rc1/

Brazil - http://sft.if.usp.br/linuxlite/isos/7.0/...-64bit.iso
China - https://mirrors.sjtug.sjtu.edu.cn/linuxl...-64bit.iso
Ecuador - http://mirror.cedia.org.ec/linuxliteos/i...-64bit.iso
Ecuador - http://mirror.ueb.edu.ec/linuxliteos/iso...-64bit.iso
Ecuador - http://mirror.uta.edu.ec/linuxliteos/iso...-64bit.iso
Ecuador - http://mirror.espoch.edu.ec/linuxliteos/...-64bit.iso
England - https://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/repo...-64bit.iso
England - https://mirror.vinehost.net/linuxlite/is...-64bit.iso
Germany - http://mirror.alpix.eu/linuxliteos/isos/...-64bit.iso
Germany - https://mirror.alpix.eu/linuxliteos/isos...-64bit.iso
Greece - http://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/linux...-64bit.iso
Greece - https://fosszone.csd.auth.gr/linuxlite/i...-64bit.iso
Hong Kong - http://mirror-hk.koddos.net/linuxlite/is...-64bit.iso
Hong Kong - https://mirror-hk.koddos.net/linuxlite/i...-64bit.iso
Hungary - http://quantum-mirror.hu/mirrors/pub/lin...-64bit.iso
Hungary - https://quantum-mirror.hu/mirrors/pub/li...-64bit.iso
Indonesia - https://pinguin.dinus.ac.id/iso/lite/iso...-64bit.iso
Netherlands - http://mirror.koddos.net/linuxlite/isos/...-64bit.iso
Netherlands - https://mirror.koddos.net/linuxlite/isos...-64bit.iso
New Caledonia - http://mirror.lagoon.nc/linuxlite/linuxl...-64bit.iso
Sweden - http://ftpmirror1.infania.net/linuxlite/...-64bit.iso
USA - http://mirror.clarkson.edu/linux-lite/is...-64bit.iso
USA - https://mirror.freedif.org/LinuxLiteOS/i...-64bit.iso
Vietnam - https://mirror.freedif.org/LinuxLiteOS/i...-64bit.iso

Checking the MD5SUM of the Linux Lite ISO:

Open a Terminal on Linux Lite and do:

Code:

md5sum linux-lite-7.0-rc1-64bit.iso

MD5SUM: e07f18c06a7f5a05700df4dfb4c61940

Check that it matches the exact characters in sequence above.


Checking the SHA256 of the Linux Lite ISO:

Open a Terminal on Linux Lite and do:

Code:

sha256sum linux-lite-7.0-rc1-64bit.iso

SHA256: c4abd9e280d7ed71e3266af129a8501d7c3c5e05c8301fe87fd36e5028b4e64e

Check that it matches the exact characters in sequence above.


TORRENT (Fastest way to download the RC)


https://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-l...t/download


64bit Torrent from here - linux-lite-7.0-rc1-64bit.iso.torrent
Hash: a14a87546b798b00fdad3d15bb152b5848f5cfb1
Size: 2.7Gb (DVD, USB)

Live USB/DVD/VirtualBox/Vmware:

Login is automatic, no credentials are required. The image can be written to a 4gb or larger USB stick, or a writable DVD. Alternatively, you can use the dd command: sudo dd if=linux-lite-7.0-rc1-64bit.iso of=/dev/sdx bs=4M where 'x' is the letter of your usb stick. In linux to find out the letter of your usb stick, open a terminal and type: df -h It is usually listed as 'media' or similar. Please see the built in Help Manual if you require a more detailed explanation of this procedure.

A good, simple point and click USB ISO burner is https://www.balena.io/etcher/ or https://rufus.ie/
In our testing, Etcher and Rufus (for Windows only) have proven to be the most reliable. Etcher is available for Mac, Windows & Linux.

If the screen locks during Live mode, type linux into the user box and click on the Login button (no password required)

Minimum Recommended Specs:
1Ghz processor
768mb ram
8gb HDD/SD
VGA screen capable of 1024x768 resolution
DVD drive or USB port for the ISO image

Preferred Specs:
1.5GHz processor+
1024mb ram+
20gb HDD/SSD+
VGA, DVI or HDMI screen capable of 1366x768 resolution+
DVD drive or USB port for the ISO image

Login to the live desktop is automatic.

The first thing you MUST do after a fresh install of Linux Lite is run Menu, Favorites, Install Updates.

As this is a RC release, there are bound to be bugs etc. Please help make the final stable for other people by participating in this RC. Please report any bugs and feedback in this thread.


Thank you

Jerry and the team.

[Şerban S.]

Hi, everyone!

So far:

1. Downloaded. = OK. A little bit slow (given my connection speed, which is high enough...). I understood why, when I saw the number of downloads: over 3,600 (and growing!);

2. Burned (With Ubuntu burner) = OK;

3. Tested the Live = OK. I did it on the primary machine, Dell Precision T1700. It worked very slow, but flawlessly, so far.
I'll have to switch from USB stick media, to SD card. These are faster nowadays...
I've noticed the double pane Thunar! Great!
I've played a little with Shotwell, although I dislike this kind of App. I'd rather manage myself the files, but to my surprise, I got the option to build a reference database, instead of copying the files. That's good!
LibreOffice, got a new version. Also good, since I make a heavy use of Writer! Also looks that files open OK. Still need to test in a "real deal" environnement (= installed).
I also noticed that Apps moved faaster than the startup itself.
The Updater, got a new icon. Looks great!
I guess that it is less bloated than other distros I tested. Maybe this is very subjective (obviously, it's a matter of taste and habits).

Next Phase

1. Prepare the ASUS X200 MA for real testing. This is a little more difficult, since I have to figure out how to document it (video setup and the rest).
2. Installation. This should work well. Assuming the previous installation data will be a pretty close match though...
3. Run some basic tests. Make a screencast with some parameters. Install the lowlatency kenel. I's only for testing purposes, but practice is always useful.
I'll check Lite Tweaks, see what happens. Mostly, the Kernel Remover.

It's difficult to say how long might it take me, but this is the idea.
Given enough time, I guess I can figure out if something breaks down.
The advantage here is the machine, that is 9 years old and has very limited resources (some 1,6 GB RAM, effectively).
The media is a SSD Kingston A400, 480 GB.
So: if it works that's a go for many people here, who have very old machinery (oldest seen here: 2005!).

[member=2]Jerry[/member] :

Thanks and my sincere congratulations!

Best regards, Șerban.

[trinidad]

Download install went fine as usual. Remmina and SSH configured and working. Sorry but Lite Tweaks does not work. GUI comes up and whatever you select shuts it down as soon as you hit begin. Looking into it but not sure where to start.
TC

[LL-user]

Hi TC,
Did you start it from a terminal and see if the output can give you any hint?

[Valtam]

Yeah, Lite Tweaks is a weird one, hard to debug. Staring from a terminal gives no clues.
Thank you Șerban

[sqwuade]

I've installed LL7RC1 on a test box and confirmed the "Lite-Tweaks" apps aren't working.  They all work great on my 6.6 install - although I really haven't used them much; other than the "Taskbar Restore" tweak a couple of times.
I'm wondering if the issue might have something to do with the recent move of the policy manager from the old .pkla to the new JavaScript based .rules format?  Debian 12.5 uses .rules and I think the new Ubuntu 24.04 probably uses it now too, so LL7 is using it as well?
I'm wondering (For testing purposes) if we could revert a test system back to the old .pkla system and then see if Lite-Tweaks might start working?  It wouldn't be a fix (the JavaScript .rules system appears to be here to stay) but might lend some useful info as to the cause.

I'll see if I can move my LL7RC1 testbox back the .pkla system and see what happens.

Cheers!  Sqwuade

*Update - The directory /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/ doesn't exist on LL7 (It doesn't exit on Debian 12.5 either) - that's the directory I put .pkla files in w/ LL6.6 to grant permissions for xrdp etc.  I'm almost positive LL7 is using the .rules base policy kit.

[Şerban S.]

Please, delete this instance!

How do I delete a post that was accidentally published? This one had duplicate content.

[Şerban S.]

Yeah, Lite Tweaks is a weird one, hard to debug. Staring from a terminal gives no clues.
Thank you Șerban

Installed on ASUS X200MA = OK.

Takes long (some 50 minutes), but when running, it definitely runs faster than LL 6.4 / 6.6.
I found that accidentally. When I migrate my /home, this keeps my Chrome open-tabs list.
So when I opened Chrome, I had about 20 documents opened. On a machine like this, this is just insane! Yet, it worked!
The RAM load, said I still had some 300 MB of RAM free, out of 1,8 GB. I was running also DoubleCommander, gnome-system-monitor, Pluma. I guess that was all. Maybe the Terminal too.
SWAP use, was some 350 MB out of 4096 MB.

The Lite Tweaks thing:

I scavenged a little through my machine.
What I found is the source of the error

Code:

/usr/bin/lite-tweaks-super: line 1089: ((: PERCENTAGE = 100 \* 2 / 1 : syntax error: invalid arithmetic operator (error token is "\* 2 / 1 ")

I opened up the "lite-tweaks-super", which is a shell script.
Unfortunately, my programming skills are way below understanding the full code, or even parts of it. Yet...

Can you explain how this works?

Code:

while read  line
  do
    $line     # Execute functions one by one
    if [ $? = 1 ]; then
      zenity --info --title=" $_LT" --text="Error:\n${line}" 2>/dev/null
    fi
  let i++
  (( PERCENTAGE = 100 \* ${i} / ${TOTAL_LINES} ))
    echo "$PERCENTAGE"
    if [ "$PERCENTAGE" == "100" ]; then
      echo "#Done"
      sleep 1
    fi
done| zenity --progress --width="320" --window-icon="$_RUN_ICON" --pulsate --no-cancel --title="  $_LT" --auto-kill --auto-close 2>/dev/null

Namely:

Code:

  (( PERCENTAGE = 100 \* ${i} / ${TOTAL_LINES} ))

(( PERCENTAGE = 100 \* ${i} / ${TOTAL_LINES} ))

The snippet is supposed to return the value to increase the ProgressBar with PERCENTAGE.
I have a hard time understanding the RED character in the line:
What exactly does the integer division (\) with the *?
Wasn't this supposed to be... ?

Code:

  (( PERCENTAGE = 100 \ ${i} / ${TOTAL_LINES} ))

Just asking... Anyway, as I said, my programming skills are at a very low level.

Running Lite Tweaks

Bad luck!

This is what I got:

Code:

sudo lite-tweaks
ls: cannot access '/root/.local/share/Trash/files/': No such file or directory

---
Checked: "Log Archives", "Package Cache".
Click Begin: Crush.


What exactly means [ '/root/.local/share/Trash/files/': No such file or directory] ?
I wanted to check the availability of the /root/.local/share/.
I could access it.
"Trash" is missing, indeed, but the process is marked as Root so:
I could create the "Trash". So, what is the problem?
As I see it, chaining a large number of scripts, requires each time reissuing sudo whatever-script, because when exiting, previous-script releases the privileged process and another process is started, with the current-user ($USER I guess) privileges. While this works at install time, because $USER = $SUPER, at session level, the $USER is different than $SUPER. So it is the $HOME, for this matter.

Now, if I understood it right, then the sequence is (should be) this:

Code:

BeginButton_OnClick
ask-for-$SUPER-password

On the other hand, if the first line of code is:

Code:

BeginButton_OnClick

mkdir /root/.local/share/Trash/files/
ask-for-$SUPER-password

then the result is:

Code:

mkdir /root/.local/share/Trash/files/
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/root/.local/share/Trash/files/’: Permission denied

This might trigger an ErrorMSG number that exits the BeginButton_OnClick code, and the whole procedure lite-tweaks.

Here it is the test result:

Code:

sudo mkdir /root/.local/share/Trash/files/
[sudo] password for serban:
serban ~

The dir is obviously empty, but it's there!

What is really weird is this:

Code:

tmp/ltlogs.log: Permission denied

How come that?
I could create and save the file as $USER (serban, in my case).
As I understand, any process derived from the $USER, has the same rights as the $USER.
So, is there any other $USER than $USER = $SUPER = serban?
And if so, how is it possible?
If this is still possible, I see only one solution: some browser-side script hijacked into the system.
Or at least, created an open door to take some control of parts of the system.
If so, I'm already out. That's way beyond my knowledge and understanding.
I use encryption for my connection, but my level of skills in this branch, well, it's symbolic, to say it lightly...

[sqwuade]

I noticed that too Serban.  I then looked at my LL6.6 system and when you initiate "lite-tweaks" from the terminal it kicks out those same messages/errors when you run the scripts; even when the tasks run correctly...

lite-tweaks
HOSTNAME
/usr/bin/lite-tweaks-super: line 1089: ((: PERCENTAGE = 100 \* 1 / 1 : syntax error: invalid arithmetic operator (error token is "\* 1 / 1 ")
WHISKER
/usr/bin/lite-tweaks: line 578: ((: PERCENTAGE = 100 \* 1 / 1 : syntax error: invalid arithmetic operator (error token is "\* 1 / 1 ")

[Şerban S.]

I noticed that too Serban.  I then looked at my LL6.6 system and when you initiate "lite-tweaks" from the terminal it kicks out those same messages/errors when you run the scripts; even when as the tasks run correctly...

lite-tweaks
HOSTNAME
/usr/bin/lite-tweaks-super: line 1089: ((: PERCENTAGE = 100 \* 1 / 1 : syntax error: invalid arithmetic operator (error token is "\* 1 / 1 ")
WHISKER
/usr/bin/lite-tweaks: line 578: ((: PERCENTAGE = 100 \* 1 / 1 : syntax error: invalid arithmetic operator (error token is "\* 1 / 1 ")

Thanks for testing!
I went a little further, but things are weird.
I'll post in a few minutes...