Decommissioning my first Linux distribution
As noted in Newsforge (Libranet's last goodbye), the Libranet Linux distribution I first installed and used is now dead.
The private company that compiled and combined it, mixing Debian source and a proprietary "Adminmenu" interface will no longer sell or develop it.
It is a shame that Libranet's owner decided to shut it down, and his decision to leave the community in limbo while he thought about his decision is reprehensible - it does not take much effort to appoint forum moderators in one's stead, nor to keep the community informed.
Libranet users, this is the danger of proprietary software. Do not hope for a moment that you will ever see the copyrighted Adminmenu or other parts of Libranet.
About a year ago I switched to Kubuntu, a version of Ubuntu using KDE as the desktop. It installed as easily as Libranet, ran very well, and had a very well-defined and well-supported upgrade procedure - not the mess that was 100-odd lines of /etc/apt/source.list. Regular releases about every 6 months, with no surprises - you will always know what is coming in the next release, and when.
I highly recommend Ubuntu/Kubuntu as your alternative to Libranet.
The Ubuntu community is large and welcoming, the entire distribution (every part) is open-source, the upgrade path is standardized, and it is a joy to use. It is also free-as-in-beer, and there is a server edition - learn one, learn them all.
My thanks to the Libranet community members who helped me out with my various tech support issues.
Good luck.