In today's open source roundup: Firefox 35 is now available. Plus: Linux distros we'll never see, and Peppermint 5 reviews Firefox 35 released Firefox 35 has been released by Mozilla, and you can upgrade or download it now. This release is mostly about stability and bug fixes. But it does include the Skype rival Firefox Hello. Adrian Diaconescu reports for Digital Trends: Firefox 35 does catch the eye if you dig deep enough in its toolbar, by refining the so far experimental Hello service. First unveiled in rough, beta form back in October, the stripped-to-basics Skype rival is at last ready for primetime. A lot easier to use than before, as well as locate in the menu bar, it lets Firefox fans and followers of competing web browsers connect by video with no strings attached. That’s right, you can video call through Firefox Hello a Chrome or Opera user, and he or she will be able to answer sans turning off his browser of choice, or installing additional software. All they need to do is click on a link. More at Digital Trends You can get more details in the Firefox 35 release notes: Check out “What’s New” and “Known Issues” for this version of Firefox below. As always, you’re encouraged to tell us what you think, or file a bug in Bugzilla. If interested, please see the complete list of changes in this release. We’d also like to extend a special thank you to all of the new Mozillians who contributed to this release of Firefox! More at Mozilla And here’s a YouTube video that will give you a look at Firefox Hello: Linux distros we will never see There are lots of Linux distros out there, but there are also some that should never see the light of day. FOSS Force explores the dark world of Linux distros that we should never see. Larry Cafiero reports for FOSS Force: A few days ago, I was cleaning my desk in the lab and happened upon a printout of a fake distro called Chuck Norris Linux — more commonly known as CHUX — which casually mentions that “…if Chuck Norris wrote Linux, you couldn’t boot it, it would boot you.” It reminded me of the yes-it-really-happened Hannah Montana Linux, based on Kubuntu, which to my knowledge is still in existence, at least on Github. Following the logic that if these two can exist, even though one is fake and the other real, I started thinking about other distros based on other cultural icons which would never (thank God) see the light of day. Like… William Shatner Linux Bill and Ted’s Excellent Linux Samuel L. Jackson Linux Kiss Linux Grumpy Cat GNU/Linux More at FOSS Force Larry mentioned Hannah Montana Linux, and I actually did a full review of it back in 2009: Sometimes I run into a remastered distro that is so odd…so strange…so disgusting…that I don’t even know where to begin in reviewing it. Hannah Montana Linux is one such remastered distribution. Before I get into this review I have to confess that I had no real idea who this Hannah Montana person was before I wrote this review. I’m 40 and I don’t have cable TV. Nor do I bother to listen to very much in the way of today’s crappy music. If you aren’t a Hannah Montana fan, don’t download this distribution. Unless you are a masochist and you like the color purple or dark pink or whatever the heck it is… More at Desktop Linux Reviews Peppermint 5 reviews Peppermint is a distribution that combines cloud and desktop computing by letting you run web apps directly on your desktop. Peppermint 5 was released a while back, and there are a few reviews available now. Gary Newell at Everyday Linux User reviewed Peppermint 5: I really like Peppermint OS but there appears to be some regression and more issues since the previous release. I am not sure of the reasons for mixing and matching LXDE and XFCE components but I think it would be a good idea to just standardise so that you only use LXDE or XFCE and not a combination of both. If the ICE bug can be fixed then the use of Peppermint with the Internet Archive would enable you to use a machine with low specifications as a retro games console. (Ultimately what I was trying to do initially). Peppermint is a good distribution with some good concepts but I think it has become a little bit confused with its identity. More at Everyday Linux User Arindam Sen also did a review on Linuxed: I really like Peppermint for it’s combination of simple aesthetics and efficiency. It leaves Lubuntu 14.04 miles behind in terms of functionality and is relatively more bug free. Though it doesn’t have the elegance of LXLE, but is more suitable for running on low spec systems. Ice is a novelty factor in Peppermint, of course, and it works better than previous releases. And on top of all, Peppermint has an LTS similar to Ubuntu, i.e. 5 years whereas Lubuntu has support of only 3 years. Extra two years may not be of much significance for all, as I know majority of us will upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 once it is released in 2014. But, a few users may be constrained by the specs (Linux too is getting heavier with every passing release) and especially this may be the last LTS release for 32-bit systems. I am not sure how many Linux OS will have a 32-bit version in 2016. Anyway, I fully recommend Peppermint 5 as one of the best LXDE distros I have used. More at Linuxed I also found a video review of Peppermint 5 on YouTube: Did you miss a roundup? 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