Black Lab Linux KDE

Black Lab Linux KDE is a custom edition of the Black Lab Linux operating system built around the KDE Plasma Workspaces and Applications desktop environment. It uses the same solid Ubuntu base that is used with success in the main Black Lab Linux edition.

Distributed only for 64-bit hardware platforms

It can be downloaded via Softoware or from its official homepage (see link above) as a single Live DVD ISO image of approximately 2GB in size, designed to support only 64-bit (x86_64) hardware platforms. Please note that you must write the ISO image to a DVD disc or USB flash drive of 2GB or higher capacity in order to boot it from the BIOS of a PC.

Boot options

Being based on Ubuntu, the distro comes with a standard boot prompt that allows the user to boot the live environment with default options or in safe graphics mode, directly start the installer, run the Memtest86+ utility to check the RAM for errors, as well as to boot an existing operating system from the first disk.

Beautiful, modern and productive desktop environment powered by KDE Plasma

As mentioned, the default and only desktop environment of this operating system is KDE Plasma, which uses a standard layout comprised of a single taskbar located on the bottom edge of the screen, from where you can quickly launch applications or interact with running programs and the functions implemented in the system tray area.

Default applications

The system includes various open source and useful applications, among which we can mention the Muon Software Center, Muon Package Installer, GIMP image editor, Chromium web browser, Steam for Linux client, Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client (with the Lightning calendar extension), Digikam image viewer, Krusader FTP client, Dropbox file sharing client, LibreOffice office suite, VLC Media Player, and JuK audio player.

Bottom line

In conclusion, the KDE edition of Black Lab Linux looks like a great operating system that features some of the best open source applications and utilizes the latest Ubuntu technologies.

What is new in this release:

• Kernel 3.16.0-36
• The Ubuntu LTS Compatible kernel 3.13.0-52
• Firefox 37.0.2
• Thunderbird 31.6
• KDE Desktop Sharing for remote access
• Timeshift which allows you to create "restore points" so you can restore your desktop to an earlier state
• KolourPaint for basic image editing
• Shotwell

What is new in version 6.5:

• GNOME 3.10.4
• XFCE 4.12
• Kernel 3.13 LTS Compatible
• Kernel 3.16.0-31 Default Boot kernel
• VLC 2.2
• Firefox 36
• Thunderbird 31.5
• Rhythmbox 3.1
• FFmpeg 2.6
• Google Chrome 41
• exFAT support
• UEFI Secureboot support

What is new in version 6.0 SR1:

• KDE 4.14.2
• LibreOffice
• Firefox 35
• Thunderbird with the Lightning Extension
• Spotify
• Steam
• Dropbox
• TimeShift
• Backup Utility
• Dragon Player
• VLC
• Digikam
• All multimedia codecs
• Muon Software Center
• Firewall utility

What is new in version 5.0.2:

• Linux kernel 3.5.0-51
• KDE 4.13.2
• Calligra Office
• Kontact
• VLC
• JUK
• ReKonq
• Konversation
• Muon Package Manager
• Kdenlive
• K3B
• Digikam
• Krita
• Dropbox
• Steam Client
• Firefox Installer