DistroTracker.com - News

Distro Tracker PWA

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0100

Continuing the development of tools using Distro Tracker data, I am presenting today a PWA version.

The PWA technology, now almost 10 years old, has a rather uncertain future: viewed unfavorably by those promoting their app stores or overlooked by certain browsers. Distro Tracker PWA is mainly designed to allow you to access data offline.

Installation.

Simply go to the Webdatas page, and installation will be suggested in compatible browsers. You will then find a “Distro Tracker” icon in your app list.

Distro Tracker PWA is therefore a new way to monitor GNU/Linux & BSD distributions, using data directly from Distro Tracker.

Happy tracking !

Distro Widget, to always have Distro Tracker close at hand !

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0200

Today, I am introducing a new simple, user-friendly, and practical tool: Distro Widget !

It is a special configuration for Conky, the system monitor that displays in the background on the desktop, compatible with GNU/Linux & BSD systems.

What’s special about it ? It integrates data from Distro Tracker & Distro Reporter ! Yes, for the first time, I’m developing a “desktop” tool linked to Distro Tracker.

After a simple installation, distro-get, a small independent and lightweight utility, is added to the /home/user/.config/conky/ directory to provide two features: downloading data (by default, the data updated every morning on my Gitlab in JSON format), and reading this data. The Conky configuration itself is located in the conky.conf file, alongside a header image for Conky. A conky.desktop file is also created in the /home/user/autostart/ directory.

For now, in addition to some system information and statistics, it randomly displays a distribution along with the date and version number of its latest release, as well as the list of distributions that have had changes in the last downloaded report.

Installation.

wget https://gitlab.com/fredericpetit/self/-/raw/main/org/bash/distro-widget/dev/standalone/distro-widget.sh --no-check-certificate && chmod +x distro-widget.sh && ./distro-widget.sh --username "$USER"

Configuration.

Daily download of remote data, for example via crontab, with the default JSON format :

0 13 * * * /home/test/.config/conky/distro-get.sh --action download --type tracker
0 13 * * * /home/test/.config/conky/distro-get.sh --action download --type reporter

Example.

Feel free to share your feedback. A Debian & Snapcraft package will be created soon.

Happy tracking !

Distro Reporter & Distro Publisher are joining the family !

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0200

Distro Tracker today welcomes two little brothers: Distro Reporter & Distro Publisher !

But first of all, let me thank you for your numerous feedback, and thanks to you, Distro Tracker has surpassed 50 weekly users according to official Snapcraft statistics. Thank you all !

In Distro Tracker, the feature for managing differences between two sets of collected data was previously included directly within Distro Tracker, but this limited the possibilities. Now, you are free to program the comparison between data sets as you wish, and generate reports in JSON or YAML formats !

Distro Reporter is now available in its first stable version 1.0.0, which for me means the addition of all initially planned features. The script is available in Bash source, Bash binary, Debian package, and Snap package formats. You can find everything on my Gitlab here. This feature will soon be removed from Distro Tracker.

Distro Publisher is also in its first stable version 1.0.0 ! This tool allows you to publish the change reports generated by Distro Reporter on various platforms or social networks. Thus, the loop starting with data collection, followed by change analysis, and finally publication on different platforms is completed.

I also take this opportunity to announce the launch of Distro Tracker’s Facebook page, with automatic publication of generated reports and news posts from the site. Feel free to follow and like the page !

Other tools dedicated to managing downloadable content will be developed later. Check out the Roadmap page to discover upcoming planned features.

And if you haven’t already: join the global community of Distro Tracker users !

Happy tracking !

Distro Tracker 1.1.1 - bugfix release

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 17:07:00 +0200

Distro Tracker is now in 1.1.1, a bugfix release for the following issues :

Fixed dependency ‘yq’ (from Mike Farah) in Snap package.
Fixed the regular expression associated with Linux Kernel information.
Added additional protection that invalidates any result with two entities in the response.

Update your scripts, Debian and Snap packages to take advantage of these fixes.

Stay tuned because in a few days Distro Reporter will be released in its first stable version 1.0.0, a “little brother” for Distro Tracker, in order to independently analyze and manage the results output by DT. The ‘–report’ option will then be removed and replaced with this brand new family member.

Join the global community of Distro Tracker users !

Happy tracking !

New release Distro Tracker 1.1.0

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 17:07:00 +0200

Distro Tracker evolves and moves to version 1.1.0 !

Here are the new features of this version, which adds several functionalities and fixes some bugs :

Increased to 25 distributions with the following new entries : Linux (Kernel), Nextcloud (Server) & Rescuezilla.
New documentation, with a man file following the standards.
New NOK filter for OPNsense, and new URLs for openSUSE & Mageia.
Added YAML format as output, along with the addition of the ‘–format’ option to choose between CSV, JSON, or YAML - by default, only CSV is output.
The default value for the ‘–length’ option is now ‘3’.
All options are lowercase.
Revision dates in JSON & YAML outputs, and in the report, are in standard ISO 8601 format.
Fixed execution time calculation.

These are not the only new features for Distro Tracker, as changes have also been made to the website :

Highlight of the latest news and the latest alert report on the homepage.
Added a “Roadmap” page to learn more about the development of distro-tracker and its utilities.
The site is now trilingual with the addition of a Spanish translation !

And finally, the addition of the .deb format (Debian package), which complements the existing distribution formats (Bash source, Bash binary & Snapcraft package).

Join the global community of Distro Tracker users !

Happy tracking !

One week after Distro Tracker 1.0 release : thank you !

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 17:07:00 +0200

Thank you for your enthusiasm and your feedback regarding the release of Distro Tracker 1.0, your comments are very important in order to improve the program.

As seen in the map below, Distro Tracker is now used in several different countries.

A “bugfix” version, containing the responses to your observations, is currently being produced, and it will be published within a few days.

First of all there will be new documentation, following the standards in this area as closely as possible, including the addition of a proper man page. There will also be the addition of the YAML format as well as the possibility of downloading data generated by distrotracker.com, instead of manual tracking.

I would then turn to creating a Flatpak package and a classic .deb package to complete the list of distribution methods !

Happy tracking !

World - IT outage : issue at Crowdstrike

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:07:00 +0200

#crowdstrike #windows - Good news ! The 22 GNU/Linux & BSD distributions listed in the Distro Tracker monitoring tool are not affected by this issue !

IT professionals are directly concerned with issues of sovereignty, performance, and efficiency. Tools that address these concerns are always welcome.

Join the global community of Distro Tracker users, the only open-source script that provides the latest stable versions of 22 GNU/Linux & BSD distributions, along with their download links, in multiple output formats.

Happy tracking !

Tip : --output option for data naming

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:07:00 +0200

Using the –output option.

By using this option, you will get a file name of the type myfile.current.csv, but if you do not use it, you will get a file name of the type DT-date.csv.

Option mechanism.

Depending on the chosen output file name, in “custom” mode, the script will create a maximum of two files: current and archive. In “date” mode, the script will create a new file each time the script is executed.

For use this option, set a file path without extension.

Happy tracking !

Tip : --backup option for backup security

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:07:00 +0200

Use the –backup option.

By adding the –backup (or -b in simplified notation) option to the command, you protect yourself against an unexpected event independent of Distro Tracker : the inaccessibility of the website of one of the distributions from which you wanted to retrieve information.

Option mechanism.

Depending on the chosen output file name, either customized or date-based, the script will test and find the most recently preserved old data and restore it in your new output file.

Data processing.

Due to the source field present in all output file formats, the script notifies you whether the data is new (current) or from previous data (archive).

This way, you can always and under all circumstances create your data file !

Happy tracking !

Distro Tracker 1.0 release official announcement

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 17:07:00 +0200

Distro Tracker 1.0 is here !

After several weeks of development and a rebranding, here is Distro Tracker version 1.0, the monitoring tool for find out latest stable versions of GNU/Linux & BSD distributions, along with their download links.

First and foremost, and the most visible change, is the creation of a dedicated website : https://distrotracker.com. This bilingual site includes an HTML rendering page of the collected data, a feed of changes to this data, as well as articles on the detailed operation of the program.

You will find the original Bash script there, but now also available in multiple distribution modes : a Snap package, a Flatpak package, and a PowerShell module !

Here are the new features :

Expansion to 22 GNU/Linux with the following new additions : Arch, Mageia, OPNsense, Parrot, Proxmox, Slackware, & XCP-ng.
General mechanism for retrieving version numbers using the -LENGTH parameter has been revised for more logic : not just X tested versions are returned, but now X valid versions.
Addition of the -FILE parameter to choose tracking URLs via a local or remote JSON file.
Addition of the -REPORT parameter to generate a JSON report to notify of any changes in the latest release of each distribution.
Activation of the -ENV parameter.
Renaming of the -DISTRIB parameter to -DISTRO, -DEPTH to -LENGTH, -DATASECURITY to -BACKUP.
Addition of one-letter shortcuts for each parameter and option.
Addition of the Compare_NokFilter function to better manage and clarify versions tagged “NOK” (beta, RC, etc.) : all pingable versions are retrieved, with a final filter on stable versions.

Happy tracking !