Posted on 12/29/2024 11:58:47 AM PST by ShadowAce
Merry Christmas, dear readers! It’s that magical time of year when we pause to reflect on the past and celebrate the moments that made this year special.
As a media covering the latest from the Linux and FOSS ecosystem, we’ve kept you updated with the most important developments in this vibrant field. Now, as 2024 comes to a close, let’s take a moment to look back at the highlights that defined this year.
This year has brought plenty of exciting developments in the Linux and open-source world—most of them overwhelmingly positive. Of course, not everything has been sunshine and rainbows—there have also been some challenges. I’ve covered both the highs and the lows below. Here they are.
2024 was another year in which “Linux on the desktop” didn’t happen (what a surprise), but it was the year of Wayland! That’s right—no more talk about preparing for the switch or waiting for it to happen. The change is here, now.
In 2024, major Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora and desktop environments such as KDE Plasma and GNOME made Wayland the default display protocol. Xorg, while still available as an optional fallback, has taken a backseat.
For software projects that haven’t fully transitioned yet, efforts are underway to deliver at least initial Wayland support, with full compatibility promised in upcoming releases. Wayland has officially matured into a robust and reliable project, capable of delivering a seamless experience for both desktop users and gamers alike. This isn’t some far-off dream—it’s the reality of today.
While Xorg served us well for over two decades, it’s clear its time has passed. In 2024, Wayland became the new standard, marking the start of a new era for the Linux desktop. This is the path forward, and it’s here to stay for years to come.
COSMIC! If there’s anything poised to revolutionize the Linux desktop experience, this is it. We’re not just talking about another desktop environment tweaking an existing foundation. No, this is a brand-new beast built from the ground up by System76 engineers, with the potential to disrupt the status quo long dominated by KDE Plasma and GNOME.
While still in its Alpha 4 phase, COSMIC is on track for its first stable release by the end of Q1 2025.
2024 also brought another major milestone for Linux desktops: the release of Plasma 6. This update delivered many impressive features and refinements, further cementing its place in the Linux ecosystem.
Other desktop environments also saw updates this year, with Xfce 4.20, Cinnamon 6.4, and LXQt 2.1 introducing incremental improvements to their existing frameworks. However, these updates were more evolutionary than revolutionary.
And then there’s GNOME. Let me be honest—I’ve been waiting for things to return to normal for years. For too long, users like me have grappled with extension incompatibilities and the occasional head-scratching decisions from developers about how we should interact with our desktop environments. In 2024, we saw the releases of GNOME 46 and GNOME 47. Actually, anyway… COSMIC is coming!
The March attempt to inject malicious code into the Linux SSH implementation could easily be considered one of the most significant efforts to compromise Linux in its history—and you wouldn’t be wrong to think so.
In short, a threat actor named Jia Tan (who remained undetected to this day) tried to inject a malicious code capable of bypassing sshd authentication, enabling it to gain comprehensive remote control over the entire system.
Fortunately, the endeavor—evidently the result of years of work by its evil minds creators, given its complexity and meticulous deployment—was stopped before it could succeed. Credit goes to an open-source developer for catching it in time.
Still think FOSS isn’t the most secure and reliable way to protect your systems? Imagine the outcome if the target hadn’t been Linux but a closed-source operating system.
It’s been an absolute pleasure to cover this topic throughout 2024. After nearly 30 years, Linux finally hit the 3% mark for usability among desktop operating systems (it’s been the undisputed leader in the server world for ages). And now, in just a single year, it’s climbed another percentage point to 4%.
So, are we inching closer to the long-dreamed “Year of Linux on the Desktop”? Not really—nor do I think we ever will. Honestly, I hope that “year” never comes. Why? That’s a whole other discussion for another time. Still, the growing popularity of Linux in the desktop space is undeniably a reason to celebrate.
Winamp has never been an open-source project, but it is a striking example of how exploiting the open-source philosophy purely for financial purposes can lead to complete failure.
The idea of reviving the once-legendary media player was genuinely exciting. However, the execution was so flawed and poorly managed that it might even be laughable if it weren’t so disappointing.
The takeaway? Open source is one of the most beautiful and powerful innovations in the tech world, but approaching it the wrong way is a surefire recipe that guarantees a safe place in the League of Oblivion.
This year, a previously not-so-well-known name has been making waves in the open-source community: Sovereign Tech Agency. It’s a funding pot supported financially by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and hosted by the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation.
After investing an impressive €1 million in the GNOME project as a work commission in 2023, the agency extended significant support to several other key open-source projects in 2024 to help advance their development. Among the recipients were Arch Linux (€562K), Samba (€688K), FreeBSD (€686K), FFmpeg (€157K), and GStreamer (€203K), to name a few.
In one way or another, we all benefit as end-users from the progress these funds make possible. So, thank you to the Sovereign Tech Agency for their commitment to open-source innovation. Here’s hoping that 2025 brings more great news about funding for other impactful open-source projects.
If someone had said 20 years ago that nearly every game title would one day run seamlessly on Linux, they wouldn’t have been called a dreamer—they’d have been called just a madman. But as wise people have said – the only sure thing is a change.
Today, I tackle challenging liberation missions against villains, ride dragons, take off at 200 mph down virtual runways, and crush entire armies of monsters—all on my Linux machine. And I do it with frame rates from my GPU that even Windows gamers would envy. A huge part of this transformation is thanks to Valve and their incredible open-source project, Proton.
So, gaming on Linux isn’t news anymore—it’s just everyday life. It’s no surprise that in 2024, Linux gamers made up 2% of all users on the Steam platform, with that number only expected to grow. Is Linux a stable platform for gaming enthusiasts? One word: absolutely! I prove it to myself every single day.
We’re all used to thinking of KDE and GNOME as desktop environments integrated into various Linux distributions. But in 2024, we got some surprising news—these leading desktop environments might be taking things a step further by launching their own Linux distributions.
I have to admit, it sounds incredibly exciting. With KDE, this initiative is directly backed by the project itself, which gives it a solid foundation and raises expectations for a successful outcome. On the other hand, GNOME’s effort is driven by an individual developer, which leaves room for questions about how it will ultimately shape up.
Either way, 2025 will bring us the answers. As always, I’ll keep you updated on any new developments. Stay tuned.
Virtualization is a must-have for any Linux enthusiast and a sacred tool for distro hoppers, offering the chance to explore another new distribution easily.
Right off the bat, VMware has never been my go-to virtualization tool. I’ve always stuck with KVM. But that’s just my personal preference. I know plenty of people have been dedicated VMware users for years. In general, it can be said that most Linux desktop users fall into two camps: VirtualBox and VMware.
Historically, VMware offered Linux users the free VMware Workstation Player, which lacked many of the advanced features found in the Pro version—some of which were incredibly useful. But that’s changed.
In an unexpected but well-received move, Broadcom announced that VMware Workstation Pro (available for both Linux and Windows) and Fusion Pro (for macOS) are now free for commercial, educational, and personal use. This means Linux users can now access an enterprise-grade virtualization solution without any restrictions. So, here’s to happy virtualizing!
Package managers form the backbone of every Linux distro (ok, so modern immutable ones are a separate topic). Regardless of your preferred distribution, the Linux ecosystem largely gravitates around three major package managers: APT, DNF, and Pacman. In 2024, two of these received significant updates.
First, there’s the release of Pacman 7, now available to all Arch Linux users and its derivatives. Then there’s DNF 5, which debuted with the October release of Fedora 41.
Both updates bring many improvements, but DNF 5, in particular, introduces long-awaited enhancements that users eagerly anticipate. That’s why mentioning them as one of the big events of 2024 is more than a must.
In 2024, we saw several events that stirred up significant controversy. One of the most notable was Redis’s decision to change its licensing policy, effectively removing itself from open-source software.
However, this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Just a year earlier, HashiCorp—later acquired by IBM—made a similar move with Terraform, a widely used tool in the DevOps field for provisioning infrastructure as code (IaC).
The open-source community responded quickly in both cases, introducing free alternatives to fill the gap. OpenTofu emerged as a replacement for Terraform, while Valkey stepped in for Redis.
Whether these licensing shifts were the right move remains to be seen, but early signs suggest challenges. Some Linux distributions have already begun offering Valkey as a default option in their releases, replacing Redis—a development Redis likely didn’t anticipate or desire.
A few years ago, there was still debate over which distro-agnostic format—Flatpak or Snap—would come out on top. Today, there’s no question: Flatpak has emerged as the Linux community’s preferred choice, while Snap has largely remained confined to Ubuntu.
In 2024, Flathub, the primary repository for Flatpak applications, hit some incredible milestones. By summer, it had surpassed 2 billion app downloads. To further enhance its service, Flathub introduced several improvements, such as build validations and highlighting high-quality apps.
Looking ahead to 2025, Flatpak’s dominance as the leading distro-agnostic software distribution format seems all but guaranteed. It’s clear that this is the direction the Linux ecosystem (sorry, Ubuntu) is heading.
I left that part for last. Honestly, it deserves a whole separate article. However, I will try to synthesize things very briefly.
On the desktop side, it’s no surprise that Linux Mint 22 “Wilma” takes the spotlight as the most exciting release this year. Fedora 41 also stands out as one of the best desktop offerings. And for those who love a polished aesthetic, the new elementaryOS 8 is worth checking out.
When it comes to general-purpose distributions that work equally well for desktops and servers, openSUSE Leap 15.6 is the standout choice. It’s reliable and versatile, making it a solid pick for any setup.
The usual stars shine bright for server-focused distributions: Rocky Linux 9.5 and AlmaLinux 9.5 continue to deliver the stability and security you need for smooth server operations.
And what about Ubuntu 24.04 LTS? Well, let’s just say it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Since it came out, the distro has been plagued with some issues and broken upgrade paths.
All of this, peppered with the endlessly popping up in the terminal reminders of how good it is to join Canonical’s Pro support program + the distribution’s strong ties to Snap, leading to some very questionable replacements of major packages with their Snap alternates, comes a bit too much for me.
Regarding rolling-release distributions in 2024, Arch Linux still wears the crown, with Tumbleweed standing as another strong contender in this niche. Among the derivatives, I highly recommend EndeavourOS, while Manjaro has made some controversial decisions recently, so I wouldn’t recommend it right now.
And here’s a tip I’ll never stop sharing: if you haven’t tried Void Linux yet, do yourself a favor and give it a go. I promise it’s worth it!
In conclusion, 2024 was an incredible year for the open-source community. Even more exciting, 2025 is shaping up to be even better, with highly anticipated releases like the first stable version of the COSMIC desktop environment, Debian 13, RHEL 10, etc.
Another tip: if you haven’t tried macOS yet, do yourself a favor and give it a go. I promise it’s worth it!
Linux is still the choice for people who like computers. Not a big market but self sustaining. Back in 1995 I was angry with having to reboot Windows all the time. I finally got around the issue by buying a laptop pre loaded with Linux. I’ve been a Linux user ever since.
We came to Linux because we were fed up with MS and their shenanigans. We’ve been very happy with it.
I’m surprised Linux doesn’t have a larger market.
Thanks for the post. A lot of what was in the article right right over my head (too detailed to understand) but the part about Winamp caught my eye. I had seen recent efforts to upgrade the software, but I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. I still use it! Even in it’s legacy form, for me, it’s the one I like the most.
My goal for 2025 is to build a fresh PC and move completely to Linux and away from Windows. I’ll probably set it up as dual-boot just in case I need to do something with Windows, but I’d like to be free from the beast.
The laptop is now set up as a dual boot rig with a separate SSD for Linux and another just for Win 10 and some files. I also switched my media rig attached to my TV from Win 10 to Linux Mint.
I haven't used Windows on my laptop, at all, for three weeks now. I already prefer Linux Mint over it. My experience to date is that Linux Mint 22 absolutely smokes Windows 10 for speed and reliability - no annoying download prompts and setup suggestions, no lags or quirky behaviors either. My media rig, which suffered occasional lags and crashes, is now blazing fast and trouble free. It just works beautifully!
In terms of 'daily driver' stuff like email, the web, docs/spreadsheets etc., chatting, printing, watching vids and listening to music goes, the adjustment from Win to Linux has been a total breeze.
I highly recommend giving it a try.
Yeah--I used Winamp back in the '90's when I was still using Windows.
I've been using vlc since then. It's great.
Because folks see this in their head:
When it is actually this :):
I am elated you are liking it! I’m going on 9 years now and love it!
I try to tell people that it works almost exactly as Windows does, now; but they don’t want to make the slight effort to change...
So I have been playing with “Easy OS” which is a derivative of Puppy Linux and I am liking it. Not super polished and fancy but the utilities and capabilities are leading edge. Made by the same Dev as Puppy Barry K.
Less than 1 gig and it comes as an Image file instead of an .iso file with installer. Just download it and copy it to a bootable USB drive and go...(Everyone needs to go to this format and dump the “installer” protocol!)
It is made to simply run from the stick and leave no trace on the machine, or it can be permanently installed on internal drive, any drive.
By default it runs as two isolated drives and two isolated operating systems. One locked that remains on the USB drive, and one that loads into RAM and runs temporarily from RAM as the “Working” container. But it is more than just containers, they are basically virtual machines. And with a couple clicks you can create as many “clones” as you like and with different operating systems and switch between them on the fly. You can even run selected apps alone in their own isolated containers.
It lets you save custom containers if you like and boot into them as the working container. The Dev encourages customizing the Distro and sharing it as your own Distro if you want. I really like the whole concept, tools, and it is FAST!!! Not quite for the normal user yet because it needs some polish but a fantastic base to work on! And NO SYSTEMD! As you know, finding an out of the box stable 99% complete distro that does not have systemd is quite a chore. You have to do quite a bit of custom work to set one up and even then it is pretty limited with software available. Barry has ported a LOT of apps to work on EASY OS and Puppy.
https://easyos.org/about/how-and-why-easyos-is-different.html
“I try to tell people that it works almost exactly as Windows does, now; but they don’t want to make the slight effort to change...”
While there is absolutely a lot of that I think most of it is fear. Fear of learning something new, Fear of voiding their warranty, fear of needing to set up the bios so that the machine will boot from an external operating system USB first.
And there are a LOT of misconceptions about Linux. They think they are going to have to spend a couple years leaning how to use a new OS. They just do not listen when you explain that it is just like using Win XP or Win 7. If you can use these old Windows OS you can jump right on a distro like Mint and fly!
Like anything even a new windows version, there is always the work that needs to be done to figure out the apps and what they do because they are labelled differently. But it is simple to figure out in a few days of poking around. The menus and file system work just like Win 7. Once you actually try it you find it is a breeze to use!
I like Linux and have been testing it in one form or another for years.
It’s not catching on because there is no standardization between distros.
Yes, an organization can decide on one and then implement, but Joe Blow tries a few and just gives up.
Fedora 41 KDE - I want to run a remote desktop. What is the default name for the server software for said desktop? Well, it looks to be Krfb. Well, shit and shinola! Why didn’t I guess that?!
And what does Krfb stand for? Well, KDE Remote Frame Buffer. Well, Hells Bells! I feel like such an idiot for not knowing this was a desktop sharing piece of software.
I’m glad to see OpenSUSE 15.6 mentioned favorably. Yes, I’m aware of the bat sh*t crazy leftist activist developers but I’m been using the product for many years and happy with it.
” I want to run a remote desktop. “
Install the free NoMachine and make your life a lot easier on any distro.
A couple of things.
Wife had a w10 box. I got tired of “fixing” it every time an upgrade came out. This went on for a couple/three years, finally got irritated and disgusted enough to do something about it.
Did a backup of her machine to an external drive, loaded a “spare” machine with Linux Mint. Ran her backup into the Linux machine, pulled the Firefox bookmarks backup in, made sure everything worked.
Yanked the w10 machine out, installed the Linux machine, showed her how to get around on the Desktop. The biggest problem she has so far is remembering to turn the printer on. It’s been several months now. All I have had to do is pull and install updates about once a week - it’s painless.
Also found the drivers for her Canon printer/scanner on the Canon website. That was a concern until I stumbled across the drivers. Drivers went in, no or minimal setup. Canon Maxify, Model MB2720. They have a section with Linux drivers for their printers.
I’m a FreeBSD guy, have been for over thirty years. Linux Mint was a “science project” based on a few pings between myself and openurmind. I could have set up a BSD box for wife but the Mint went in so easy and the operator interface was great so I just didn’t bother.
Right now I’m on FreeBSD, Xorg is running, FVWM3 for the window manager, nine xterms open, and Firefox. I’m a Dinosaur, started with toggle switches on an Altair 8800 I assembled from a box of parts. If you remember those you are an Old Fart, just like me. Gimme a keyboard and a text terminal - Me Happy. I have three BSD machines running 24/7, no problems.
Windows just gets in my way. Had to use it at work but when it broke I’d holler at the local IT guy to “come on down and fix this piece of junk - I’ll put some coffee on”. He was a Good Guy, lotsa fun. He understood windows was job security.
Great article Ace, thank you!
Well done! Thank you for sharing that!
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