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TUXEDO Computers Plans to Rebase TUXEDO OS on Debian Testing
Until now, TUXEDO OS was based on the latest Ubuntu LTS release, and people have been asking when an Ubuntu 26.04 LTS rebase is planned, but the Linux hardware vendor did not provide a concrete timeline, and today we know why. They want to replace the Ubuntu LTS base with Debian Testing.
Why the change? Well, TUXEDO OS always followed a hybrid release model where it shipped with the latest KDE Plasma desktop environment and up-to-date core apps, but the underlying system wasn’t getting newer packages, since Ubuntu LTS releases mostly focus on stability rather than on bleeding-edge.
It's FOSS:
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TUXEDO OS is Ditching Ubuntu for a Debian Base That Never Goes Stable
TUXEDO Computers has announced that their Linux distribution is moving away from Ubuntu, with Debian taking over as its new base. TUXEDO OS is the default choice on every TUXEDO machine, but it's not exclusive to their hardware, and anyone can just grab an image and run it on their computer.
Going forward, the distro will be based on Debian Testing instead of an Ubuntu LTS release, under what the company calls the Continuous Debian approach. The move is permanent too, as TUXEDO OS will not follow Testing into the next Debian stable release.
OMG Ubuntu:
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TUXEDO OS drops Ubuntu to rebase on Debian Testing - OMG! Ubuntu
The German Linux hardware company launched TUXEDO OS in 2022, building on top of an Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) release to, chiefly, support its own hardware with customisations, though the distro is free to download and install on any machine.
To keep things fresh, TUXEDO updates web browsers, GPU graphics drivers and the Plasma desktop continuously, but leaves the underlying Ubuntu LTS base intact.
Now, after almost four years of taking that approach, TUXEDO’s had enough.
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Tuxedo OS ditches Ubuntu, citing Snap packages and AI as some of its major pain points
With the arrival of AI, different distros have approached the new tech with different stances. Canonical, with its Ubuntu distro, has been pretty pro-AI, as long as any added tools serve a useful enough purpose. However, not everyone agrees with this stance, including Tuxedo OS, which cites it as just one of several reasons why it's ditching its Ubuntu core in place of Debian.
Hackaday:
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The Atari Jaguar Runs Linux
Among the many forgotten might-have-beens of the games console world, the Atari Jaguar occupies a special place. It was the final gasp of Atari Corporation, the Jack Tramiel-era incarnation of the famous pioneering game console brand that brought us the ST line of computers, and like Marlon Brando’s Terry Malloy character from On the Waterfront, it coulda been a contender. But the early ’90s games business wasn’t kind to the console from Sunnyvale, and it was squeezed from behind by the SNES and Genesis/MegaDrive, and in front from the PlayStation. Thirty years later then, can it run Linux? [Cakehonolulu] is here to show us how.
With only 2 megabytes of RAM and space for 8 megabytes of ROM, this is hardly a powerhouse. But its 16-bit 68000 processor is a supported Linux architecture, albeit with the -nommu flag on compilation. The “Jerry” DSP chip has the required serial port and timer to boot a first Linux kernel, and after a bit of hackery to make it jump to the ROM location, something boots. There’s no init process until the flat executable file for a -nommu kernel is navigated, but with that past a BusyBox userspace and a graphics driver for the “Tom” graphics chip gives it a chunky on-screen console. The code can be found in a GitHub repository, for the curious.
GamingOnLinux:
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Tuxedo Computers are putting Ubuntu Linux in the bin to use Debian for Tuxedo OS
Tuxedo Computers have announced plans to officially drop Ubuntu Linux for their own Tuxedo OS, as they will be moving directly to Debian.
Their blog post goes over their reasoning which many Linux users will resonate with - they want to take back control of what they're shipping on their own hardware. They're not happy with Canonical replacing more and more software with their own Snap packages, along with Ubuntu's new AI plans which they say "remains insufficiently transparent".
Another part of the problem has been updates - Tuxedo want to backport newer software on a more stable base which was becoming more difficult with Ubuntu.
So they're officially moving over to Debian directly. Specifically, they're going with Debian Testing and they will be sticking with Debian Testing which they're calling "Continuous Debian" which allows them to "continue our hybrid release concept on a significantly more suitable base" - making updating software for their users a lot easier like new kernels, browsers, graphics drivers and so on.