Crunchbangplusplus

Reader supplied reviews for Crunchbangplusplus Average rating 9.0 from 14 review(s) What are your thoughts on Crunchbangplusplus? Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system. Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review. Version: -- 12.111.1 Rating:    -- 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 out of 10 Your review (minimum 250 words): Past reviews - sort by: DateVotes Version: 12.1 Rating: 10 Date: 2024-06-10 Votes: 12 To be honest, this is probably more of a review of Openbox fronted systems than strictly CBPP/#!++ But comparisons are inevitable. As an original CrunchBanger { OCB ;-) }, I really was quite saddened when Corenominal (Phil Newborough) announced the termination of the CB/#! project, & slightly annoyed that it could not be upgraded to the next version of Debian, although that came later. But I kept my scanners on alert mode for continuity, as well as carrying over my own configs to my next install (wattOS or SalentOS (?)), so I was more than pleased when CBPP/#!++ became available. It's almost as if Corenominal had assumed the alternative identity of Computermouth, and continued the pure vanilla CB/#!, without the hassle of a user forum, although he was apparently displeased by the use of the name++. There was the short-lived CrunchBang Monara, which didn't improve anything, & Bunsenlabs took ages to come up with a replacement/continuation. And this is where the comparisons come in. Openbox is a script-writer's playground, & IMHO, some of them have gone mad. Bunsenlabs, Mabox, & Lilidog are all very good & very nice, but somehow they have managed to make Openbox get in the way, & turned it into a full-blown desktop environment. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of having a GUI that isn't a DE? I tried all 3 this morning (running live), and they all seem to have borrowed scripts & applications from each other & renamed them to the extent of rebranding a text editor! And there are just too many GUIs, & too many menus & submenus, so many that even an experienced operator like myself gets confused and lost in the labyrinth, & starts thinking that an orthodox DE is a better option. Or maybe I just prefer my own scripts. Which is where CBPP/#!++ shines in its pure raw simplicity. It's like having a minimal server with just enough GUI. And it can be turned into a full-on server, or a full-on development platform. The first-run welcome script makes this easy. It's also much easier to customise, & far more amenable to writing one's own scripts. I prefer LXpanel to Tint2. LXmenu (right-click on entry) tells you the command, which makes writing keyboard shortcuts a lot easier. And it won't break CBPP/#!++. It's possible to chop & change components without breaking the system. The other (overdeveloped) Openbox distros are fragile by comparison, although they shouldn't be, & I suspect that it's down to the over-scripting & 'solidification'. I consider CBPP/#!++ to be the best successor to CB/#! And if I didn't use this, then I'd be running vanilla Debian LXDE. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 12.0 Rating: 7 Date: 2024-02-25 Votes: 1 I regret that I cannot agree with the reviews further down. For me it's difficult to determine what's the goal of this distribution: * as a server platform it's okayish. If you want a Debian base with a simple GUI for administration I'd give it a "9". In a post-install step you are offered to install the LAMP software package, ready to go with Apache, Maria-DB, php. Yet I missed "iptables", which had to be fetched manually. * for users who want to go for an Openbox Desktop, on which they enjoy spending time to configure the system to their liking (tinker with ~/.config/openbox/autostart and others) Crunchbangplusplus might be a worthwhile choice, rewarding their efforts with stability and simplicity - if they aren't afraid of terminal work. An "8" would be my ranking. * for novice to expert users who just want to setup their computer workhorse, preferring minimum hassle with their operating system I give it a "7". pro's: - stable Debian 12 base with countless proven packages available - excellent clarity of fonts (a must for my aging eyes!) - lets you dig into and learn about the components of a contemporary Linux system. neutral: - the old-school Debian installer might confuse users who have experienced e.g. Calamares, yet it offers some welcomed fine tuning. - the package selection is debatable, obviously a matter of taste. `apt-get`will be your friend. con's: - Crunchbangplusplus, installed on my HD, by no means is slim & snappy! `top` in a terminal, immediately after logging in (I disabled `conky`) gives 1 GB of MiB Mem usage, or more. For aging machines there are much better alternatives like Lubuntu, WattOS (R 13 ~ 570, R 12 ~ 360 MiB Mem) or even Slackware 15 Plasma (~ 750 MiB Mem). - I encountered a serious bug: after each and every package installation the system triggered a rebuild of initramfs - which failed miserably. It turned out the script is looking for some Raspberry PI firmware in /boot/firmware, obviously in vain. Removing the offending Raspberry -packages fixed the issue. In summary I'd only recommend this distro to CrunchBang afficionados. However they should not expect to find the same plainness and modesty on resources they esteemed in the good ol' days. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 12.0 Rating: 9 Date: 2023-10-11 Votes: 32 I have been hunting for a Distro like CB++ ever since I discovered Linux back in the mid 90s. Ubuntu was nice for a bit, as was Mint, but the graphical desktop manager always felt mis-placed and the whole OS felt slow on older hardware. I've installed CB++ on old AND new hardware, everything from Celeron NUC boxes, to dual (physical) CPU Xeon workstations and it just works. No fuss, no muss, and never did I feel that the Distro was slow, or had tons of unneeded things pre-installed (I'm looking at you Garuda) This is the way all Distros should be, and Openbox is just the frosting on the cake. Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 14 reader reviews of Crunchbangplusplus...