Skywave Linux v5.6 Released

Fellow Linux and SDR enthusiasts,

Here is a brief message to blog to advise that I have upgraded Skywave Linux to version 5.6, bringing a kernel upgrade, feshened SDR lists, along with software updates and bug fixes.

We are now on Xanmod's Linux Kernel 6.14, which has some nice efficiencies, optimizations, and broadened hardware support. Experts who have done considerable testing of this kernel say it is quite good and has top notch hardware support for new and old computing rigs. So far, I am pleased with its running on typical bare metal.

The bug fixes consist mostly of some changes related to the upgrade of Neovim to version 0.12.0. There were some crashes and squirrely behavior due to some so-called "breaking changes." It is running great now, so have fun with it and write some prose, or some nifty code.

This iso file is much lighter than the previous release, thanks to some extensive efforts to find and remove old or duplicated packages. We had some old Python versions which were no longer needed, unnecessary cached items, and some rather large deb packages for handling C and C++ to remove. With them gone, Skywave Linux is noticeably smaller.

To make things easier for any of you who want a persistent system, which remembers changes in files or settings, I have set the persistence boot parameter. To work, it requires you to have a Linux partition labeled "persistence," containing a configuration file named persistence.conf. I have tried it and am pleased with the convenience.

One caveat, though, is if you use persistence for the whole system (not just your home directory), you should delete the saved data whenever you upgrade to a new iso file. Otherwise the system won't boot and the reason may not be obvious. Look online for more information about persistent Debian Live setups.

Skywave Linux is the bootable, self-contained live Linux environment which gives you access to live, over the air radio signals and streaming media from around the world. No strings attached. Skywave Linux is free as in "freedom" and free as in "free beer."

Cheers,
Phil C / Skywave Linux