Lubuntu 11.10 Software Center

According to Softpedia, the next version of Lubuntu, the LXDE-based variant of Ubuntu, will feature the Lubuntu Software Center, a user-friendly package management tool modeled after the one in the main edition of Ubuntu. The link below includes instructions for how to install the Lubuntu Software Center from the Lubuntu Desktop PPA, if you are inclined to test beta software.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Introducing-Lubuntu-Software-Center-221531.shtml

Distribution Release: Peppermint OS Two (DistroWatch.com News)

Peppermint OS Two has been released. This is the second version of the cloud-centric, Ubuntu-based distribution. It looks like the new version is specifically based on Lubuntu but uses the Openbox window manager alone rather than the complete LXDE desktop.

Distribution Release: Peppermint OS Two (DistroWatch.com News)

DistroWatch Weekly: Lubuntu Closer to Becoming "Official"

The new issue of DistroWatch Weekly is out. It looks like the only lightweight-distro news that I haven't commented on already is that Lubuntu appears to be closer to becoming an official Ubuntu derivative.

DW Weekly quotes this Lubuntu developer blog post, which quotes the following comment by Mark Shuttleworth:

Thanks for the great work and progress of Lubuntu in the past 2 years. The fact that you are now 100% in the archive, and using PPA's and other tools effectively, makes it possible for us to consider recognising Lubuntu as an official part of the project. ... From my perspective, I see no problem in providing Lubuntu with the means to book sessions at UDS, and for us to call attention to Lubuntu in the project release notes. ... Our goal with Ubuntu is to ensure that the archive contains the full richness of free software. LXDE is definitely part of that, and with the other desktop environments making greater demands on PC resources, LXDE has a continued role to play.

DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 403, 2 May 2011

New Distro Releases

A lot has been going on in the Linux community while I was busy with school and other things. On Wednesday, the latest version of a distro called Absolute Linux came out. I'd like to try this one out, even though the last time I tried a Slackware-based distro, an error installing GRUB forced me to reformat my desktop's hard drive. However, I wouldn't mind trying out IceWM, Absolute Linux's default GUI. Messing around with OpenBox on Crunchbang has introduced me to the wonderful world of stand-alone window managers.

Meanwhile, the biggest Linux news of the week is the release of Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal). The new Ubuntu uses Unity (the Ubuntu Netbook interface) as its default GUI; and Unity seems to be no lighter than the standard GNOME desktop, based on my experiments with a beta version a few months back. However, a new Ubuntu release means new versions of a couple of lightweight Ubuntu derivatives:

• Xubuntu, the official Xfce-based spin. While Xubuntu has been criticized as a not-really-lightweight distro -- to the point where some reviewers have condemned Xfce as a faux-lightweight desktop because of it -- I'm eager to run the new Xubuntu on my laptop. The most notable new feature in 11.04 is the new Xfce 4.8 desktop, which I will now be able to try for the first time.
• Lubuntu, the not-yet-official LXDE-based spin. I'm looking forward to trying this one out on my desktop.

It looks like I've got a lot of reviews to do in the near future, and I still have a backlog of WattOS and CTKArch to catch up on.