14 DAY TRIAL // A new stable version of the unique and independent NixOS Linux-based operating system has been announced on the last day of September 2016 with multiple new features and technologies, as well as up-to-date components.
Dubbed Flounder, NixOS 16.09 is powered by the long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel series, uses the latest systemd 231 init system, GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) 5.4.0 compiler, and Glibc (GNU C Library) 2.24. Moreover, the graphics stack has been updated and is based on X.Org Server 1.18.
However, users of AMD Radeon graphics cards are being informed that, if they use the ati_unfree video driver, the X.Org Server 1.17 display server will be automatically used due to an ABI incompatibility, which affects all GNU/Linux distributions. Support for PXE netboot has been enabled as well in this release.
"Many NixOS configurations and Nix packages now use significantly less disk space, thanks to the extensive work on closure size reduction. For example, the closure size of a minimal NixOS container went down from ~424 MiB in 16.03 to ~212 MiB in 16.09, while the closure size of Firefox went from ~651 MiB to ~259 MiB," reads the announcement.
Security improvements, new serivces
To improve the overall security of the NixOS operating system, version 16.09 now ships with binary packages built using various hardening features that have been described by the developers in an in-depth article on the project's GitHub page. Additionally, a total of 56 new services have been implemented.
There are many other improvements added in NixOS 16.09, and among the most interesting ones we can mention the replacement of the gummiboot UEFI boot manager with systemd-boot, revamped grsecurity/PaX support, properly typed and checked configuration for containers, and the inclusion of the GnuPG 2.1.x OpenPGP compatible encryption system.
NixOS 16.09 "Flounder" is now available for download via our website as a 64-bit ISO image that features a graphical environment, as well as a 32-bit minimal boot installable medium for those who want to build a server. If you're upgrading from a previous NixOS release, please be aware of these incompatible changes.