2023.2 - Unicorn updates, bug fixes & more!

Rhino Linux 2023.2 is the second disk image release we have published. After ~3 weeks of development I am happy to say that it is ready to be shipped. Users already running Rhino Linux should already have the changes if they have upgraded their systems.

To upgrade to 2023.2 please run: rpk update -y

• Some changes to the Unicorn Desktop will require manual intervention, continue reading to learn more.

• One major issue we had with the launch of Rhino Linux was that LUKS Disk Encryption did not work properly due to an issue. We are happy to say that we have now successfully solved that issue, and in 2023.2 you can install your system with disk encryption if you choose.

• The Unicorn dashboard has seen some major UI enhancements, as we have now written a custom theme which allows for a more cohesive and beautiful desktop experience.

• We tweaked the background colour for the application grid to match our dashboard theming.

• One of our developers, Elsie, has created an updated bash prompt to spruce up your terminal. This is now shipped default in Rhino Linux. It adds colour coding, and git information making it perfect for developers.

• Both of these changes require manual intervention on older installations. To install please upgrade your system and then run:

sudo cp /etc/xdg/xdg-unicorn/.bashrc ~/.bashrc && xfconf-query -c xfdashboard -p /theme -s unicorn-dashboard

• The Pacstall 4.1 series has been released, bringing vital fixes to the user experience of Rhino Linux by introducing a "mask" array. Certain packages within the rhino-core metapackage would be incompatible with other packages offered in our repositories. When one of these incompatible packages were installed, it would remove "rhino-core". The mask array prevents this by "masking" incompatible packages.

• Linux kernel 6.5 has been packaged and shipped with this disk image release.

• We have solved a bug with LightDM having issues on certain devices starting the Unicorn Session. We have managed to fix this by including xserver-xorg-video-vesa and xserver-xorg-video-fbdev as Unicorn dependencies.

• Thunar no longer shows hidden files by default.

• We have succesfully solved multiple issues with our setup wizard. The first bug was that it would occasionally freeze and crash, which has now been solved. The second issue is that Flatpak, when enabled would not actually install.

• Our setup wizard now has a beta toggle for Flatpak applications.