Nexenta OS is a free and open source operating system combining the OpenSolaris kernel with GNU application userland.

Nexenta OS is a free and open source operating system combining the OpenSolaris kernel with GNU application userland.

Nexenta OS runs on Intel/AMD 32-/64-bit hardware and is distributed as a single installable CD.

Upgrades and binary packages not included on the CD can be installed from Nexenta OS repository using Advanced Packaging Tool.

In addition, source based software components can be downloaded from network repositories available at Debian/GNU Linux and Ubuntu Linux.

Updates (via Distrowatch):

Anil Gulecha has announced the release of Nexenta Core Platform 3.0.1, a server operating system combining the OpenSolaris kernel with GNU application userland: "On behalf of the Nexenta project, I'd like to announce the availability of the Nexenta Core Platform 3.0.1. Over the NCP 3.0, this release includes fixes to nexenta-zones and additional backports from ON to b134. Features" based on OpenSolaris build 134+ backports and fixes from later releases; ZFS deduplication support; Crossbow support; over 13,000 packages in the repository; based on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS 'Hardy Heron' repository; this includes latest dpkg/APT, GCC, Binutils, Coreutils, Perl, Python, Ruby, Qt libraries, GTK+ libraries; SMF support added to server applications like Apache, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Exim...."

Here is the brief release announcement.

Download (MD5): nexenta-core-platform_3.0.1-b134_x86.iso.zip (539MB).

Recent releases:

• 2010-09-17: Distribution Release: Nexenta Core Platform 3.0.1
• 2010-08-20: Distribution Release: Nexenta Core Platform 3.0
• 2010-07-29: Development Release: Nexenta Core Platform 3.0 RC3
• 2010-07-01: Development Release: Nexenta Core Platform 3.0 RC2
• 2010-05-24: Development Release: Nexenta Core Platform 3.0 RC1
• 2010-04-26: Development Release: Nexenta Core Platform 3.0 Beta 3

Version 1.0 of the NexentaOS was released in February 2008, building previous release candidates. Nexenta OS is the first distribution that combines the GNU C library and userland with the OpenSolaris kernel. The Nexenta OS supplies capabilities such as transactional upgrades and an open source packaging capability to the Linux / Debian community, enabling the simple creation of software appliances. An additional purpose of Nexenta OS is to provide a kernel allowing proprietary closed source hardware drivers to be produced for inclusion in an open source operating system. Nexenta Systems, Inc. initiated the project and sponsors its continued development.

Repositories.

There were initially two official APT repositories: "testing" and "unstable", totalling over 9000 packages. A third "stable" was added for the first official release. Nexenta OS is available as InstallCD and VMware images. A Live CD is also available, but only for releases up to alpha 5.

Nexenta repositories follow the general Debian structure (main contrib non-free). Stable releases use a subset of this structure. Packages originate from Debian GNU/Linux.

Development.

Since Nexenta OS does not use the Linux kernel, and Sun recently began releasing the code of their Solaris operating system as free and open source software, it supports less diverse hardware than other Debian variants. Proprietary Solaris versions have been known to be more compatible with Sun's own SPARC-based hardware, while x86 support fell short[citation needed]. But this has rapidly changed now that most of the Solaris code base is licensed under Sun's Common Development and Distribution License[citation needed] and there is support for binary drivers on top of a stable application binary interface. This makes it possible for hardware manufacturers to release device drivers without source code.

The Nexenta OS team has decided to focus on a minimal GNU/OpenSolaris effort called the Nexenta Core Platform (NCP) which forms the basis of the NexentaStor NAS storage solution. Version 1.0 of Nexenta Core Platform was released on February 10, 2008.

Releases.

* NexentaCP 2.0 is now available. This release includes packages based on Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" LTS.
o NexentaCP 3.0 Beta 1 (Unstable) with support of deduplication is now available.

* Nexenta 1.0 is a basic distro with a toolchain and other packages and repositories built on top of it. Nexenta 1.0 features
o ZFS root/boot
o zones integrated with dpkg/apt-get
o brandz with preconfigured support for Debian and Ubuntu
o stable toolchain
o server/storage software support
o Xen DomU/Dom0

Screenshots:

sources: Nexenta, Wikipedia & Distrowatch

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StressLinux is an openSUSE-based minimal Linux distribution that runs from a bootable CDROM or via PXE.

Carsten Schöne has announced the release of StressLinux 0.5.111, a small, openSUSE-based live CD designed for users who want to test their system while running on high load and monitor its health: "Release published (0.5.111). The base distribution is now openSUSE 11.2 with additional drivers for r8168 and r8101. The packages stress, bandwidth, x86info, smartmontools, BusyBox, sensors and stressapptest were updated to current versions.

This release includes RAID utilities for different hardware RAID controllers, these include: tw_cli, arecacli, hpacucli, megacli, mpt-status and lsiutil. Wireless networks should also work better with this release. sl-wizard includes an entry for direct sensors-detect start-up." Visit the project's home page to read the release announcement.

Download: stresslinux_i686-0.5.111.iso.bz2 (156MB), stresslinux_x86_64-0.5.111.iso.bz2 (160MB).

The base distribution is now openSUSE 11.2 with additional drivers for r8168 and r8101. The packages stress, bandwidth, x86info, smartmontools, busybox, sensors and stressapptest were updated to current versions. This release includes raid utilities for different hardware raid controllers, these include: tw_cli, arecacli, hpacucli, megacli, mpt-status and lsiutil. Wireless networks should also work better with this release. sl-wizard includes an entry for direct sensors-detect startup.

Recent releases:

• 2010-04-23: Distribution Release: StressLinux 0.5.111
• 2009-12-06: Distribution Release: StressLinux 0.4.136
• 2006-05-31: Distribution Release: StressLinux 0.3.1
• 2006-05-18: Development Release: StressLinux 0.3.1 RC4
• 2005-11-13: Development Release: StressLinux 0.3.1 RC3
• 2005-05-29: Development Release: StressLinux 0.3.1 RC1

StressLinux is an openSUSE-based minimal Linux distribution that runs from a bootable CDROM or via PXE. It makes use of some utilities such as stress, cpuburn, hddtemp, lm_sensors, etc. It is dedicated to users who want to test their system(s) entirely on high load and monitor the health of these systems.

Screenshots.

source: StressLinux

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MythDora is a specialized Linux distribution based on Fedora and MythTV.

MythDora is a specialized operating system based on Fedora and MythTV. Since 2009, the version number comes from the version of Fedora used followed by the version of MythTV used. For example, the current version 12.23 uses Fedora 12 and MythTV 0.23. Like KnoppMyth, MythDora is designed to simplify the installation of MythTV on a home theatre PC. MythDora has since version 10.21 had Live CD support.

In addition to MythTV and its plugins, Mythdora includes extra Linux packages that are necessary for MythTV to run, and drivers for hardware commonly encountered in machines intended to run MythTV. Also included in Mythdora are several video game emulators, and extra tools and scripts. These aid with the initial configuration of the system and allow the user to perform such tasks as rebooting the machine and backing up program data, directly through the MythTV interface.

The MythDora project was created in the spring of 2005 by Dennis Hand. It started out as a Fedora 3 distro heavily customized around ivtv & nvidia hardware. After the initial release, Ryan Pisani joined and assisted in feature enhancements and setup tools. Ryan was followed by Jarod Wilson who joined in early 2007 and brought further customizations and enhancements to the project.

Today the project is maintained by Ryan Pisani & Jarod Wilson.

MythDora started out using a mixture of packages provided from multiple 3rd party repos. ATrpms.net was our major package provider, along with livna, dribble, dag and others. This mixture of packages worked very well out of the box, but upgrade ability was quite minimal due to conflicts. The introduction of rpmfusion in 2008 paved the way for MythDora to use a stable repo that provided most of the packages we use in the distro today. MythDora 10.21 is the first of our versions that seamlessly was upgradable from one version of MythTV to the next.

MythDora is now a mature project compared to where we started. We have a solidified feature set, build tools, and a configuration framework that assists us in creating a more stable & upgradable distribution than we could previously.

Update:

Ryan Pisani has announced the release of MythDora 12.23, a Fedora-based Linux distribution designed to simplify the installation of MythTV on a home theatre PC: "Mythdora 12.23 has been released. There are a few changes from 10.21 but mostly on the cosmetic side of things. We're now using the stock MythTV theme out of the box, as well as stock paths. General features: Fedora 12 + updates; MythTV 0.23-rc2; Linux kernel 2.6.32.11; LIRC 0.8.6. DVD features: GNOME, KDE, LXDE, Xfce and Ratpoison desktops; NVIDIA driver packages 195, 173 and older 96; Handbrake 0.9.4; live CD features: Xfce desktop environment; NVIDIA 195 driver package; ability to change time zone in first boot configuration. Changes in MythDora 12: the auto-installation method has been removed; the front-end now heavily relies on the time zone of the system matching the backend...."

Read the rest of the release announcement for further details.

Download: MythDora-12-i386-DVD.iso (1,1180MB, SHA256), MythDora-12-x86_64-DVD.iso (1,185MB, SHA256).

MythDora 5 features.

- Fedora 8 - 2.6.24.4-64 kernel
- MythTV-0.21-185
- More remote control support
- PVR-350 TV-out GUI installer
- MythWeb password protect at install
- Automatic lircrc file generator script
- NFS/Samba GUI installers
- MythTV Add/Remove module GUI menu
- MythTV Setup access from MythDora Tools
- IMDB Bulk updater script
- IR Blaster / STB GUI installers
- Both DVD and CD install disks, as well as a network-installable tree and yum repositories
- A very nice database backup module in MythDora Tools
- Latest nVidia & nVidia Legacy drivers
- Latest ATI/AMD video drivers
- Latest OpenChrome video drivers
- Latest ivtv drivers, including X driver for the PVR-350
- Latest video4linux(DVB) drivers
- K9copy (DVD shrink for Linux)
- Nuvexport

• 2010-04-17: Distribution Release: MythDora 12.23
• 2009-01-08: Distribution Release: MythDora 10.21
• 2008-04-28: Distribution Release: MythDora 5.0

Version history.

* November 28, 2006 MythDora-3.0

"MythDora 3.0 is now using FC5 along with MythTV-0.20 all on DVD... now uses KDE and goes onto a DVD rather than a CD... The ISO size isn't too much bigger, about 940mb total."

* May 8, 2007 MythDora 4.0
o Fedora Core 6
o kernel-2.6.20-1.2944.fc6
o New MythTV 0.20.1 fixes release, with default settings customized for MythDora
o MythDora-4.0_DVD.iso SHA1SUM=393e623a9efdfd600976adbffc4a59e9c8735fdf
o MythDora-4.0_disk1.iso / MythDora-4.0_disk2.iso

* January 7, 2009 MythDora 10.21
o Based on Fedora 10
o MythTV 0.21, with the latest svn fixes and default settings customized for MythDora
o I386 and X86_64 versions with LIVECDs of each.
o MythDora-10-i386-DVD.iso SHA1SUM=64384afa6b85e798e401a0f0010a24ac716a37d1
o 663MB MythDora-10-LiveCD-i386.iso SHA1SUM=4c21830e2f1e3744a60f35387f96837b570c7b18
o MythDora-10-i386-disc1.iso / MythDora-10-i386-disc2.iso / MythDora-10-i386-netinst.iso

* April 17, 2010 MythDora 12.23
o Based on Fedora 12
o MythTV 0.23

Screenshots.

sources: MythDora & Wikipedia

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Related Post 11/04 - Salix, the bonsai OS, is a linux distribution based on Slackware that is simple, fast and easy to use 11/04 - Ututo GNU/Linux is a GNU/Linux operating system comprised entirely of free software 04/04 - The Coding Studio OS Screenshots 02/04 - Vyatta Open Networking, the Open-Source Alternative to Cisco 01/04 - PureOS is a user-friendly desktop and server Linux distribution based on Xubuntu 31/03 - Chakra, a fast, user-friendly and extremely powerful Live CD and/or distrolet based on the award winning KDE and on the GNU/Linux 30/03 - dyne:bolic is shaped on the needs of media activists, artists and creatives as a practical tool for multimedia production 28/03 - NexentaStor is an enterprise-class unified storage solution 27/03 - The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by Novell 25/03 - System rescue and virus scanning with Dr.Web LiveCD 20/03 - Lubuntu is a fast, lightweight and energy-saving variant of Ubuntu using the LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) desktop 19/03 - Midge, midi sequencing from the comfort of your text editor
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