Wasta-Linux 22.04.1 ISO Now Available!

After various delays, the Wasta-Linux 22.04.1 ISO is now available for download as a stable release of this newest version of Wasta-Linux based on Ubuntu 22.04. Download it from the Wasta-Linux website: https://wastalinux.org/home/download/

Here are a few key notes:

  • Traditional Debian package versions of Paratext, Bloom, and Fieldworks are not available for 22.04. Instead, Paratext 9 and Paratext Lite are available as Snap packages, and Bloom and Fieldworks are available as Flatpak packages. As Snap and Flatpak are containerized package formats they are more secure (not needing “root access” to install on your system) and easier to use between different Linux versions. Due to the large size of these versions I was not able to include Bloom in the ISO, but it is easily installable from the Software store / application.

  • Gnome-Software is the graphical software manager. MintInstall, used on Wasta-Linux 20.04, does not support Snap packages. As noted above, with key SIL software being released in Snap and Flatpak, it is important that Wasta-Linux supports these formats as well as traditional Debian packages. Gnome-Software is one of the only tools that can support all 3 formats. One negative is that it does not easily support 3rd party Debian sources, meaning software from the main SIL repository (like Scripture App Builder or others) won’t show, or if you add “PPAs” to your system you won’t see software from them in Gnome-Software either. But after you install packages from these 3rd party sources using Synaptic Package Manager (a more granular graphical software management tool) or the terminal they will then show in Gnome-Software. I know that this is not ideal but this seems like the best compromise for now.

  • Cinnamon has been upgraded to 5.4.x which matches what is included in the recently released Linux Mint 21. In my testing there are significant efficiency gains from this new version of Cinnamon as their compositor was rebased on a significantly newer Gnome source.

  • Firefox “ESR” (Extended Support Release) is the default web browser. This is a “traditional Debian package” rather than the Firefox Snap package that is included in Ubuntu. The Snap version has received a fair bit of negative pushback from the community, and in addition switching to the “ESR” model means it will be a bit more stable for Wasta-Linux users (security and bugfixes will continue to be released as needed, and as Firefox tags newer ESR versions they will be distributed to Wasta-Linux users).

  • Keyman 16.x is included which supports keyboarding support in Paratext Lite (and other Electron apps such as Telegram, Skype, etc). In addition, Keyman 16 has fixed a bug that prevented keyboard icons from showing correctly in the Cinnamon panel / taskbar. Note that ibus-kmfl keyboards will still have issues when typing in Electron based apps, so it is advised to migrate to Keyman for these keyboarding needs.

  • Linux Kernel 5.15 - Ubuntu 22.04.1 ships with the same kernel, but in contrast to Ubuntu the “HWE” (Hardware Enablement) stack has been disabled for this Wasta-Linux ISO. The main reason is so that users who install Wasta-Linux 22.04.1 with this 5.15 kernel will NOT be upgraded automatically to newer major releases of the Linux kernel that may lead to wifi drivers being disabled, etc. Our approach is to have systems installed with this 22.04.1 ISO remain stable on the Linux kernel version that they originally installed from. Until Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu followed this same approach (to have the “.1” ISOs not have the HWE stack enabled by default). Later, future Wasta-Linux minor releases (22.04.2, 22.04.3, etc) will include the “HWE” stack with the updated Linux kernels released by Ubuntu.

  • Translator’s Workplace (using Logos 9) is working well in Wasta-Linux and is available for 22.04 or 20.04. Follow this guide to get it installed.

Closing

An upcoming “wish list” item for Wasta-Linux is to look at including Flatpak support in Wasta-Offline so that Flatpak installs and updates can be done entirely offline (this would be essential for field users wanting to install Bloom or Fieldworks). In addition, the news of Paratext looking to refactor their codebase to Electron means that longer-term we will be in good shape for BT work in Linux, but until that refactoring is done we will not be able to provide updated versions of full Paratext beyond the older 9.0 available as a snap for 22.04. Paratext Lite remains an excellent choice for those that are needing a more up-to-date tool that meets many of the daily needs of Paratext users, including drafting, Interlinearizer, Wordlist, Biblical Terms, etc. Thanks to the Paratext Lite developers for this great tool which is certainly beyond “Lite” already in my book! :slight_smile:

As a last note, if you are currently on 20.04 and have no specific need to upgrade to 22.04, you may prefer staying on 20.04 for now with traditional .deb versions of Paratext 9, Bloom, and Fieldworks still available for 20.04. I have left the 20.04.5 ISO up on the download page.

Rik