Refracta

Reader supplied reviews for Refracta Average rating 7.0 from 3 review(s) What are your thoughts on Refracta? 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: -- 11.2-2023050410.2-202011149.0-201902068.3-20170305 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: 11.1-20220914 Rating: 1 Date: 2023-02-18 Votes: 0 I love Debian (or Devuan) distros with Xfce so I tried this almost unknown distro (number 230 in DistroWatch list). The installer is a little bit cryptic for just a user like me, but in the end I was able to install it in my test laptop. Everything seemed OK so I updated the system with Synaptic. Suddenly anti-aliasing disappeared (appeared with a complete re-start). Later I realized that the internet connection icon in the panel didn't work, so I thought there was no connection, but connection worked. I downloaded several more addons for the panel but when I was installing them the panel disappeared. I tried to recover it with the settings panel button but there was only a cryptic message. I re-started the system but it didn't appeared. I reinstalled it with Synaptic, but it didn't work either. With no panel I abandoned Refracta. It is the worst Xfce Debian/Devuan derivative I know, and believe me: I know a lot.. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 10.2-20201114 Rating: 10 Date: 2021-09-05 Votes: 56 In the past, I used a few years mint as daily driver, but I wasn't satisfied, especially systemd, and how I hate libreoffice. Meanwhile, I tested many distros in search of the 'perfect' linux distro for my needs. The closest was Devuan, but the look and feel was oldish. Then, I discovered Refracta, this was/is it! Refracta is very clean, but I cleaned it more. I made it as clean as possible. Then, I installed the applications I need. You know, I am a 'paranoid'. So, I decided to make a kind of 'Tails' or 'Heads' of my own. I am very satisfied. Now, I'm busy to build an ISO-image for persistent live USB-sticks (copy of my entire system) including full encryption. Everything goes through Tor (Swordfish Browser), Encryption Wizard, VeraCrypt, Paranoia Text Encryption, encrypted Tutanota email app-image, and so on. My purpose is to use the exactly same system, which I have on PC, to use on persistent USB-stick, where I need it safely, private and anonymous. Therefor, I give Refracta a 10. Thank you! Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 10.2-20201114 Rating: 10 Date: 2021-07-23 Votes: 14 Everything you like about Debian, minus the systemd(isease)! I tried the Chimaera experimental build. Refracta in many ways is more minimal than even Devuan. AbiWord being installed instead of LibreOffice is a part of it, but the lack of metapackages installed by default helps keep the package count low. It also uses trusty old ALSA instead of PulseAudio (yet more Poettering software to avoid...) for sound. Very stable, even with a development branch repository. Was this review helpful? Yes No