Evolution of a Passion Project
Looking Ahead
Asked about future plans for Knoppix, Knopper's first reply is "whatever is new and interesting in the FOSS world." For example, with the increased use of videoconferencing, the forthcoming Knoppix 9.2 includes Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio, with virtual camera support.
In addition, Knoppix tends to use 32-bit user space by preference, although it does support a 64-bit kernel. This tendency helps Knoppix to support as much hardware as possible. Some modern applications like Docker are installed as statically linked binaries, but they do not interfere with the rest of the 32-bit system. "I do get a lot of emails asking for a specific 64-bit version," Knopper says, "but unfortunately I do not have enough free time to work on many versions in parallel."
Knoppix will never rival Fedora or Ubuntu, but, then again, it is not meant to. Instead, it has found its own niches and learned to thrive in them. It remains an example of how much one developer can do in free software while borrowing the efforts of others in the community.
Infos
- Download Knoppix: https://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html
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