Linux Lite 5.0 RC1 Released

[Valtam]

Release Announcement

Linux Lite 5.0 RC1 is now available for testing. This is the most feature rich, complete Linux Lite release to date. This is the release many people have been waiting for, see below for details.



UEFI is now supported.

Support link - https://www.freecinema2022.gq/forums/uefi-secure-boot/




Changes:

UEFI is now supported out of the box. It is recommended that you disable Secure Boot even though it will work, it's just a huge hassle to have it enabled. See the new inbuilt Help Manual for ways to do this on the Start page.

No hidden telemetry:



Integrity Check during live boot (an Ubuntu implementation) Crtl+C cancels check:



GUFW has been replaced by the highly configurable FireWallD:



New Updater notifier:



Enabled by default to notify twice per day.
To disable, Menu Settings, Session and Startup, Application Autostart tab, untick Package Update Indicator.

Latest WhiskerMenu with new default sort (Install Updates is now at the top of Favorites):



Mousepad replaces Leafpad:



Paint now added to Accessories:
(Gnome Paint)



XFCE Screensaver now included, disabled by default:



Updates and other software during slideshow will now install your hardware drivers, eg. if you have an nVidia video card, they will be installed before you reboot:



Lite Software:

Pinta is gone (not being actively maintained)
Zim replaces unsupported CherryTree as the note taker of choice.
Chrome is in, Chromium is now a Snap package and we are not going to add an entire Service for just 1 out of 2,000+ packages.



Help Manual - massive update:



Lite Welcome (shortcuts now work) and Lite User Manager now updated to GTK3 and Python3:



New Logout options:





New default wallpaper location:



OEM installer for retailers and manufacturers (Legacy and UEFI):





Firewall status added to Lite Widget:



Language choice included on Login screen:



Dual architecture support
Trash Bin works as expected on Desktop
New Wallpapers thanks to the community and especially [member=5059]whateverthing[/member]

Plus dozens of other tweaks and changes, too many to list.

We will go into greater details for each new feature, the why's and what's in the Final release announcement. In lieu of any specific instructions, the new in-built Help Manual will have instructions for all of our new features.

Special mentions:

A huge thank you to [member=5059]whateverthing[/member] for his masterful artwork which without, we would be sorely lacking.

WolfLand over at the Pinguy forums. He has brought forward some time proven software to the 2020's and has been instrumental in providing us with something we can turn into a UEFI and Secure Boot supported product.

Our very generous financial supporters, you know who you are. This has been the most expensive development cycle to date. I have paid out $100's of dollars to developers in the last 2 months alone, mostly at UpWork. The changes to 2 applications alone cost $300USD and required extensive time, work and collaboration.

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

I said we would only provide a UEFI build as default, if our hand was forced. Without going into too much detail, you can draw your own conclusions here - https://www.anandtech.com/show/12068/int...fi-by-2020 Now was the latest we could react. It is what it is...

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.freecinema2022.gq/forums/uefi-secure-boot/

Details:

Kernel: 5.4.0-25 (custom kernels also available via our Repository for versions 3.13 - 5.6)
Firefox: 75.0
Thunderbird: 68.7.0
LibreOffice: 6.4.2.2
VLC: 3.0.9
Gimp: 2.10.18
Base: 20.04

Known Issues:

No prompt to eject Media at the end of the Legacy install, prompt is available at the end of the UEFI install.
Release Notes - not working on first installer slide.
Desktop icons - English support only.
Grub - holding shift down whilst booting in UEFI mode does not bring up the Grub menu (works in Legacy mode), waiting for Ubuntu fix.
Grub menu shows Linux Lite as 'Ubuntu'. After you install Linux Lite, you can change Grub to show 'Linux Lite':

- Open /etc/default/grub as Administrator.
- Comment out: GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian` and leave GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR='Linux Lite' uncommented.
- Should look like:
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR='Linux Lite'
#GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
- sudo update-grub

29-04-2020: Weird bug now appears after successful OEM install, /etc/apt is removed. Will keep a close eye on it.

You tell me.

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:

HTTPS:

Download 64bit from here - Linux Lite 5.0 RC1 64bit
MD5SUM: a8f1fee28c097deb611a72036cf5ce28
SHA256: 7de60fa4416b7bf3c05574707c2c45a019ee27cc3f27921d254b868aff1a1b26
Size: 1.4Gb (DVD, USB)

TORRENT: (Fastest way to download the RC)

64bit Torrent from here - linux-lite-5.0-rc1-64bit.iso.torrent
Hash: 7194117645201fe65a5b210fcc91b43a94c59288
Size: 1.4Gb (DVD, USB)

Live USB/DVD/VirtualBox/Vmware:

Login is automatic, no credentials are required. The image can be written to a 2gb or larger USB stick, or a writable DVD. Alternatively, you can use the dd command: sudo dd if=linux-lite-5.0-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.

Rufus, Yumi, Multiboot and other multi-boot applications are not supported.

A good, simple point and click USB ISO burner is https://www.balena.io/etcher/
In our testing, Etcher has proven to be the most reliable and is available for Mac, Windows & Linux. You should be using Etcher for a trouble free image burn on USB.

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.

[Moltke]

systemd???

Guess he meant to reply in the systemd post. Looking good LL 5! Will download and try it in a VM as soon as I can and report back any findings; good ones and band ones too.

[DeepThought]

Running iso from hdd using grub and with persistence.
Updated without a problem.

Two minor points so far:
    1) Google chrome supposed to replace chromium but doesn't appear in Lite-Software
    2) Concerning chrome again, in the welcome app, scrolling down to lite software and chromium web browser is mentioned but not google chrome.

    Otherwise looks good and fresh

[whateverthing]

Thank you [member=2]Jerry[/member] for the shout-out and credit. It's great to see everything coming together for LL5, from all of your hard work.

[Valtam]

    1) Google chrome supposed to replace chromium but doesn't appear in Lite-Software

Screenshot of Chrome missing in Lite Software please? Did you change sources in Lite Sources?

[Valtam]

Thank you [member=2]Jerry[/member] for the shout-out and credit. It's great to see everything coming together for LL5, from all of your hard work.

Cheers sir

[Valtam]

in the welcome app, scrolling down to lite software and chromium web browser is mentioned but not google chrome.

Fixed, thank you, good spotting! UEFI & Secure Boot info now added to Lite Welcome too.

[Artim]

I'm sorry, that reply was to a different thread.  How it ended up here I still haven't figured out!  I've tried to delete it, but it only lets me "modify" it.  Please delete it - I have copied-and-pasted it to the appropriate thread in the Off-Topic section.

By the way, I like all the cool tools you have in Linux Lite 5.0!

[DeepThought]

[member=2]Jerry[/member] Hi, I never touched lite-sources

Screenshot of Chrome missing in Lite Software please? Did you change sources in Lite Sources?

I changed lite-sources to a UK repository and updated and it now shows Chrome in Lite-software

[Valtam]

A few uploads already - https://www.freecinema2022.gq/hardware_res...ch_results of which at least half look to be UEFI.