Calculate Linux is a Gentoo-based Linux distribution that brings the complexity of Gentoo to the average Linux user in a convenient and easy-to-use box. In other words, it is an excellent way to get started in the Gentoo ecosystem without compiling everything.
However, even though it comes with a GUI installer and some graphical tools, the distribution is intended for more advanced Linux users. In other words, expect to see something other than the features you’re used to seeing in distros like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Manjaro, etc. No, we’re talking about a one-of-a-kind beast.
You may be out of place if you are unfamiliar with the concepts underlying the Portage package manager, the emerge command, or the ebuild tree. Calculate Linux is a powerful Linux distribution that provides knowledge and invaluable experience, but learning it demands motivation and willingness to invest effort on the user’s part.
With that said, let’s see what the new Calculate Linux 23 release brings us, with which the distro’s developers delighted us just before the end of the year.
What’s New in Calculate Linux 23
Powered by Linux kernel 5.15.82, Calculate Linux 23 comes a little over a year after the previous v22, significantly to the delight of all Gentoo enthusiasts. It is available in five desktop editions: KDE Edition, Cinnamon Edition, LXQt Edition, MATE Edition, and Xfce Edition, each of which is tailored to a specific desktop environment.
Accordingly, all of them have had their desktop environments updated, and to be even more precise, KDE Plasma 5.25.5, Xfce 4.18, MATE 1.26, Cinnamon 5.6.5, and LXQt 1.2.
The other major highlight of the Calculate Linux 23 release is the focus on the developer audience through containerization. As we all know, containers have been a sacred term in the IT industry for the past few years. In this context, Calculate’s decision to bet on the Linux containerization capabilities in the face of LXC is noteworthy, unlike many others targeting Docker and Podman capabilities.
Why am I saying all of this? Because in addition to the available desktop editions, Calculate Linux 23 offers a brand-new server edition, Calculate Container Manager, specially designed for running LXC containers.
It is complemented by a new tool for working with LXC containers. Named cl-lxc and written in Bash, it utilizes a cache to allow you to deploy multiple containers quickly. In addition, the cl-update utility now supports binary package mirror selection.
But let’s go back to the desktop, where the new installer now includes a password complexity check. However, even though the Calculate installer has a graphical user interface, it requires a certain level of knowledge and experience on the part of the user to perform a successful installation.
Of course, many desktop applications have received version updates, and we’ll highlight a few that are included by default in Calculate Linux 23 installation.
- Chromium 108 Web Browser
- LibreOffice 7.3.7 Office Suite
- GIMP 2.10.32 Image Manipulation Program
- Strawberry 1.0.10 Music Player
- SMPlayer 22.2 Multimedia Player
Finally, the terminal text editor Nano has been replaced with Vi, which is included in the busybox package, and the Portage storage location has moved to “/var/db/repos/gentoo.”
You can refer to the official announcement for detailed information about all changes in KaOS 2022.12.
Anyone interested in trying out this powerful and user-friendly Gentoo-based Linux distribution can visit the download page for its desktop editions and pick their preferred version. Furthermore, if you choose to install Calculate Linux 23 on a virtual machine, keep in mind that the operating system requires a minimum of 31 GB of available disk space for installation.
