Release announcements

Images are available at https://trisquel.info/download or directly at https://cdimage.trisquel.info/ and its mirrors.

This minor update to the 9.x "Etiona" series is intended to provide an up to date set of ISO images, both for use as an installation medium and as a live environment with newer packages. This addresses two main security concerns in the 9.0 original ISO images:

•  An outdated Certificate Authority collection (package ca-certificates) included an expired root certificate for LetsEncrypt, resulting in blocked access to repositories for new packages or updates. https://letsencrypt.org/docs/dst-root-ca-x3-expiration-september-2021/
•  Overlooked binary blobs were found in versions of Linux-Libre prior to v5.14. Updated packages were added to the Trisquel repositores to correct the issue, and new ISO images were produced to include the fix. http://www.fsfla.org/pipermail/linux-libre/2021-August/003439.html

Along with those fixes, the release includes any other security update published upstream since we published Etiona, and the latest version of the Mozilla-based "Abrowser" (v93).

These updates will contribute to keep the v9.0 branch in good working order as it will continue to be actively maintained until April 2023.

In other news, the development of Trisquel 10 is ongoing at great pace, with initial ISO images being now available for testing at https://cdbuilds.trisquel.org/nabia/ Please note that these images are not yet   intended for production usage, so use them only for testing and development or (as it is true in any case) at your own risk.

They say that good things come to those who wait, and for this release there has been a lot of waiting but also plenty of good things. Trisquel 9.0, codename "Etiona" is our most polished release yet, thanks to the contribution of a very committed team of volunteers. This release comes in several flavors:

• MATE desktop, the default. Based on the popular fork of GNOME 2.x, this edition provides a classic desktop environment matching the user experience of previous Trisquel releases.
• Trisquel Mini, a lightweight version for older machines and netbooks. Based on the LXDE desktop environment and a selection of resource-saving applications to bring new life to your hardware.
• Triskel, running the KDE environment. Excellent for customizing the design and look in fine detail.
• Trisquel netinstall image. To deploy with a command-line install interface, ideal for servers and advanced users.
• Trisquel TOAST, based on the Sugar learning platform. Comes with dozens of educational activities for children.

Despite the longer than usual release time, all packages are fully up to date with long-term-support updates and security patches. The default web browser "Abrowser", our freedom and privacy respecting take on Mozilla's browser, provides the latest updates from upstream for a great browsing experience. Backports provide extended hardware support and other goodies like a newer LibreOffice and many other utilities.

Special thanks (in no particular order, and probably forgetting a few!) to adfeno, Ark74, leny2010, chaosmonk, davidpgil, dctrud, daroal, proninyaroslav, sudoman, a_slacker_here, rms, bill-auger, pabloyoyoista, kpengboy, pikurasa, mtsio, bandali, thomzane, jxself, valessio, DiivaaD, DNS, Eighth_Doctor, iank, fredd, freekurt, aklis, gnutastyc, calher, CharlieBrown, satellit, charh, fvnines, pehjota, and the whole Trisquel community, for your contributions, support, ideas and continuous encouragement.

Give Trisquel 10 a name

The development work for the next release is ready to start, and the first step start building packages is to set a codename. Join the forum/mailing-list to bring suggestions for an inspiring name from the celtic mythology (as is tradition).

New development server

Thanks to the Free Software Foundation, we now have a dedicated development server built on freedom-respecting hardware, ready to start working on Trisquel 10. A beefy 32-core, 128GB RAM machine built on the KGPE-D16 motherboard running Libreboot, hosted at the FSF's datacenter rack in Somerville.
 

Version 7 of the Trisquel GNU/Linux distribution, codenamed Belenos after a Celtic sun god, has been released. Belenos is a Long Term Support release that will be maintained until 2019. Relevant new packages and features include:

• Kernel Linux-libre 3.13 with lowlatency and bfq scheduling by default.
• Custom desktop based on GNOME 3.12 fallback.
• Abrowser 33 (a free Firefox derivative) as default browser.
  • GNU IceCat 31 available as single-click optional install from Abrowser's homepage. Complete with many extra privacy features.
• Electrum Bitcoin Wallet preinstalled.
• Moved to DVD format, now with 50+ languages and extra applications.
• Improved accessibility by default.

Trisquel on a Sugar TOAST

Editions published today include the GNOME based standard edition, the LXDE mini edition, and the now officially supported Trisquel on a Sugar TOAST edition, designed for kids 0 to 12. It features the Sugar Learning environment and a preselection of educational activities.

New Website

The improvements don't stop at the software. We are also unveiling a new website theme, cleaner and more modern, to match the streamlined style of the release. This is just the first change in a series of improvements that will focus on giving the users a better community experience.

New development process

We are also making big changes to the development process, to make it easier for the community to contribute. The new code management website allows users to clone the code, hack and request their changes to be reviewed and merged. This is connected to a whole new continuous integration build system that will keep the distro up to date with less manual intervention.

Help sustain this effort

Trisquel is a non-profit community project. You can help keep this project going by becoming a member, donating or buying in our store!

This is an incremental upgrade release which includes all of the maintenance updates and bugfixes since the publication of Trisquel 6.0. Users that already have 6.0 installed don't need to reinstall. Just use the update manager or apt-get dist-upgrade.