 DistroWatch Weekly |
| DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 474, 17 September 2012 |
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Welcome to this year's 38th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! With Unity and GNOME 3, it seems that many developers of open-source desktop environments have embraced the word "innovation", imposing completely new paradigms on desktop Linux users. Luckily, there are project that still continue the development of traditional environments. One of the more impressive among them (and perhaps one of the most neglected by Linux distributions) is Enlightenment - a lightweight, yet beautiful, powerful and highly configurable desktop system. The Ubuntu-based Bodhi Linux, the topic of this week's feature story, is one of the few Linux distributions specialising in integrating the latest Enlightenment 17 into a complete package. In the news section, the much-delayed first alpha release of Fedora 18 is finally declared ready for release, ex-OpenIndiana's Alasdair Lumsden describes the post-OpenSolaris world and his reasons for leaving the promising project, Miklós Vajna reflects on the history of Frugalware Linux, and a software developer highlights the ups and downs of switching from Linux to OS X. Also in this issue, a Question and Answers feature on displaying software update notifications and the usual regular sections. Happy reading!
Content:
Listen to the Podcast edition of this week's DistroWatch Weekly in OGG (41MB) and MP3 (36MB) formats
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| Feature Story (by Robert Storey) |
Bodhi Linux 2.0.1 - performance with pizzazz
Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it would overwhelm.
-- Idries Shah
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 The path to Enlightenment is long. In fact, Enlightenment 17 has been in the works for 12 years now. The first version of this unique desktop environment was released by Rasterman (Carsten Haitzler) in 1997. Version 0.17 (E17) was born in December 2000, and is a complete rewrite of E16. A number of distros (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, to name a few) have long included an E17 package. However, these versions have so far failed to exploit the amazing eye-candy potential of the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL).
Bodhi Linux was not the first distro to offer Enlightenment, but it is by now far and away the most popular of its ilk. Plus Bodhi arguably deserves bragging rights for having as much or more pizzazz than any distro available. It was first unleashed on the world in March 2011, based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. Like all early releases, it had its share of bugs and missing features, and version 0.1.6 suffered a rather scathing first review on DistroWatch in March 2011 (not written by me). I reviewed version 1.3.0 here in January 2012, and noted the rapid progress and many improvements that had been made. Today, we're going to take a look at the latest version, 2.0.1, which was released on 2012/07/30. (Editor's note: since this review was written, the developers of Bodhi Linux have released version 2.1.0.)
As to exactly what "version 2" means - the Bodhi developers have indicated that their major point naming scheme will conform to Ubuntu's LTS (long-term support) releases, which means once every 2.5 years. Thus version 1.x was based on Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx), which version 2.x is based on the current Ubuntu LTS, version 12.04 (Precise Pangolin). However, during the interim there will be continuous updates and improvements. All this should be good for stability, though may be disappointing for geeks who like to live on the bleeding edge of Linux kernel development.
Installation
All of the various denominations of Bodhi Linux can be downloaded from SourceForge. All will easily fit on a CD with room to spare, so no need for a DVD. Of course, best environmental practice is to burn on a USB stick, which you can do with UNetbootin.
One thing new in this latest dispensation of Bodhi Linux is the addition of a 64-bit variant. This is a landmark achievement, as previously only a 32-bit edition was available. I have both a 64-bit and 32-bit computer in my collection of adult toys, but for the purpose of this review I decided to stick with the wimpier 32-bit machine. Since Enlightenment is designed from the ground up to give good performance on minimal hardware, I decided to put it to the test on my ASUS Eee PC netbook P1015 which sports an Intel Atom N570 dual-core processor. True, there are less capable machines out there in the world, but this is the wimpiest one I currently have in my possession, so it will have to do.
If you want to try something more exotic, there is also a new version of Bodhi for the ARM processor, specifically, the Raspberry Pi.
The installation program is the same one used on standard run-of-the-mill Ubuntu, with just a few tweaks to give it the Bodhi look and feel. I won't make my readers suffer through a blow-by-blow explanation of how to click on "Yes/No" or "OK/Cancel" buttons. About the most exciting thing one can say about the Bodhi installation is how fast the whole process takes, a tribute to the "minimalist" philosophy of this distro. Depending on your hardware, five minutes is all you need, barely enough time to make a cup of coffee.
The downside (if it can be called that) is that you'll probably spend a fair bit of time post-installation adding numerous applications to make Bodhi a genuinely useful operating system. That is not a great hardship, provided you already know which packages you want. However, the need to make such efforts means that Bodhi is more likely to appeal to experienced Linux users rather than punters.
Bodhi Linux 2.0.1 - the Enlightenment 17 desktop
(full image size: 517kB, screen resolution 1024x600 pixels)
Configuration
It's always a good idea to start off every new Debian/Ubuntu installation by opening a terminal and running sudo apt-get update followed by sudo apt-get dist-upgrade. Like everything else in Bodhi, it doesn't take too long to upgrade because so little was installed to begin with.
If you're a command line guru, you should already be well familiar with adding packages with sudo apt-get install PACKAGE_NAME. If you don't know which apps you want, expect to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the included synaptic package manager - start it from a terminal by typing sudo synaptic. Bodhi is unique in offering another option, the Bodhi Linux AppCenter. You can find instructions for using it here. Note that it only works directly with Midori, Firefox and Opera, not Chromium or other browsers. However, the "Download" option (for *.bod packages) can be used and is browser agnostic.
Speaking of Midori (the default browser in Bodhi), many users choose to immediately nuke it and install either package firefox or chromium-browser, followed the package ubuntu-restricted-extras which greatly enhances the online multimedia experience. If you want Opera, grab it from the Opera website. Other tantalizing packages in the Ubuntu repositories that I installed include evince (PDF viewer), libreoffice, geeqie (image viewer), gnome-mplayer, ksnapshot, ktorrent, vlc (video player), k3b (CD/DVD burner), gimp (image editor), p7zip-full and gftp. My preference for a lightweight MP3 player is aqualung, but there are many others that boast a lot more bells and whistles.
Enlightenment is a highly customizable interface, and Bodhi provides some tools to make the decorating process easier. You'll probably want to explore the Settings Panel (Main_Menu --> Settings --> Settings_Panel), which is self-explanatory. USB automount is not enabled by default, but most desktop users will want to change this straight away. To do so: Main_Menu --> Settings --> Settings_Panel --> Files --> Places, and mark the Mount volumes on insert checkbox.
However, even this will not cause a file browser to pop up automatically when you insert a USB memory stick or external hard drive. Fortunately, the default file manager, PCManFM, displays pluggable media in its side panel, so no need to manually point-and-click your way to the /media directory - fairly straightforward, but not immediately intuitive.
Printers are an endangered species, but there are still people around who occasionally need a dead-tree copy of their work. If you want to set up a printer, you'll first need to install the package bodhi-printing. If your machine is made by HP, you'll also need package hplip. Once you've got these requisite programs in place, plug the printer into a USB port, turn it on, then open a terminal and type: "sudo system-config-printer." From this point, the rest of the procedure should all be intuitive.
One useful (but non-intuitive) thing to know is that if you botch your configuration settings badly enough, you can start all over again by opening a terminal and deleting the hidden e directory, like so: "rm -fr ~/.e". After doing so, log out and log back in again.
Last but not least in the configuration follies, you'll occasionally want to update. Unlike the various flavors of Ubuntu, Bodhi does not inform you when you need to update. So periodically you should open a terminal and manually do a "sudo apt-get update" followed by "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade." You can also do this via Synaptic.
Foreign-language Support
This is strictly optional. Even if you don't speak a foreign language and have no desire to learn one, there is something unaesthetic about stumbling onto a web page and seeing nothing but little blank rectangles where non-Roman script should be. By default, the Bodhi live CD includes fonts for a few scripts besides the Western Roman alphabet, including Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek and Vietnamese. Unsupported scripts include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Khmer, Hindi and Thai. If you would like to add Unicode fonts for those scripts, try installing the following packages:
- Chinese: ttf-wqy-zenhei
- Hindi: ttf-devanagari-fonts, ttf-indic-fonts
- Japanese: fonts-vlgothic
- Khmer: fonts-khmeros
- Korean: fonts-nanum
- Thai: fonts-thai-tlwg
However, merely adding fonts is not the same as full-fledged language support. You also need, for example, input methods, as well as support for menus. This is one area where Bodhi is just a little weak. You can navigate to Main_Menu --> Settings --> Settings_Panel --> Language option, but when you get there you'll find that it only allows you to choose languages which you've already installed. It doesn't give you the option to download other language packages (which is an option in the *buntus). Fortunately, there are easy one-click installs for language packs on the Bodhi site here. You can find a more detailed explanation on how to set up a foreign language in the Bodhi Wiki. Then run "dpkg-reconfigure lightDM (or lxdm)". The new setting will take effect upon reboot.
Conclusion
If your psyche demands sticking to "mainstream" then Bodhi Linux may not be for you. Distros based on Enlightenment are rather thin on the ground. On the other hand, Bodhi is based on Ubuntu LTS, and thus boasts an enormous repository of stable packages. As such, it has mainstream support just below the surface.
Given the Unity debacle, Bodhi offers a lesson about what Ubuntu could have been - fast, intuitive, good-looking and configurable. Furthermore, despite the fact that only a handful of developers are working on Bodhi and Enlightenment, progress has been rapid. When I last reviewed Bodhi in January, I encountered a number of problems such as not being able to get my microphone or printer to work. Happily, these issues have been resolved, and Bodhi seems very usable. I have no problem recommending Bodhi Linux even to Linux newbies.
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| Miscellaneous News (by Ladislav Bodnar) |
Fedora 18 alpha goes gold, interview with OpenIndiana's Alasdair Lumsden, Frugalware history, from Linux to OS X
 It was harder than a childbirth, but after three long weeks of postponements, the first alpha release of Fedora 18 has finally been approved for release by the project's QA team. From "Fedora 18 Alpha is hereby declared GOLD", as published by Jaroslav Reznik on the Fedora's Test-Announce mailing list: "At the Fedora 18 alpha go/no-go meeting that just occurred, the Fedora 18 alpha release was declared gold. Fedora 18 alpha will be released Tuesday, September 18, 2012. Thanks to everyone who helped to make it possible to ship 'Spherical Cow' out of the doors to the wild journey for beta and general availability!" Fedora 18 features list include 256 colour terminals, Active Directory support, new display manager infrastructure, Eucalyptus cloud computing software, GNOME 3.6, MATE and KDE 4.9 desktop environments, GNOME iBus support with a new Pinyin engine and iBus typing booster, enhanced version of the Liberation fonts, improved Anaconda installer, offline updates, Perl 5.16 and Python 3.3, Samba 4, and many others. The expected final release of Fedora 18 has been moved to 27 November 2012.
* * * * *
 The OpenIndiana project has been in the state of flux ever since Oracle terminated support for OpenSolaris, with a number of competing projects (often with conflicting interests) trying to move forward the discontinued distribution. The recent resignation of OpenIndiana leader Alasdair Lumsden has only highlighted the complex world of the operating system that held so much promise when it was originally open-sourced by Sun Microsystems. Alasdair Lumsden has talked to Unixmen about the situation and his reasons for resignation: I viewed OpenIndiana as the 'Debian distro' of the Illumos world -- it was to be a community-maintained general-purpose distribution that couldn't disappear because the company maintaining it decides to pull the plug. It's also the only widely used Illumos-based distribution that has a graphical environment that can function as a desktop OS (although desktop was never a space we wanted to compete in -- Solaris was always a server operating system). OpenIndiana was also a continuation of OpenSolaris. A large numbers of OpenSolaris machines (perhaps even most of them) were upgraded to OpenIndiana because it was just a 'pkg update' away. This gave OpenIndiana the largest user base of any of the other Illumos based distributions."
* * * * *
 Frugalware Linux is one of those unpretentious distributions that quietly continue to exist, even though its mind share and user base don't seem to increase much with time. But with 17 stable releases and an 8-year history, the project has certainly proved its staying powers. Miklós Vajna, the founder of the project, reflects on the distribution's ups and down in "Frugalware history": "It all started with this announcement about 8 years ago. It was a one-man show before, there was a manually written ChangeLog but even then there were already quite a few packages, so don't ask me when I started hacking on this. Yes, normally there would be a first commit in git, but remember this was before git existed, and I hated centralized CVS so much that we didn't use anything. Looking back, it was all quite lame. I used a mail address called "mamajom" (English translation could be "momonkey"), tied to an ISP, with a lengthy signature at the end of every mail I sent and I was using my IRC nick instead of my real one everywhere. OTOH, I made some decisions I'm happy about even today. The first four developers were all Hungarian and despite of this, I forced every code, test and documentation to be in English, to possibly turn the project into an international one in the future. And that proved to very, very useful."
* * * * *
 Finally, a quick question (and something to discuss in this week's comments section below). Have you ever thought about switching from Linux to, say, OS X? Judging by various statistics in recent years, there is no doubt that Apple has been highly successful in increasing its market share, while desktop Linux has been largely stagnating. So how does OS X compare to Linux? Software developer Bozhidar Batsov has taken his time to give us an honest comparison of the two second-tier desktop operating systems on the market. As expected, Linux wins on the package management front and also in the availability of development tools, but OS X seems light-years ahead in terms of desktop polish and application quality. "From Linux to OS X - One Year Later": "The transition was initially painful - I felt very odd dragging application icons to the Applications folder to install them. To be honest I was quite puzzled about what I was supposed to do the first time I had to install an application this way (it didn't have those helpful hints with the arrows most applications do). The Linux distro package management is definitely infinitely better, or at least it seems so from where I'm standing. Luckily for me most of the tools I use are available from the third-party Homebrew package manager for OS X. It's like an extremely basic version of the mighty Gentoo Portage, but it generally gets the job done. On a more positive note - I was impressed with the quality and responsiveness of the OS X desktop and the fact that Emacs key bindings are used by default in its editor toolkit."
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| Questions and Answers (by Jesse Smith) |
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Displaying update notifications
Do-I-have-updates asks: I have two machines at home. One is a desktop running Ubuntu and the other runs Debian. When I SSH into the Ubuntu desktop it tells me if there are updates available and whether any of them are security patches. When I login to the Debian machine it doesn't show this information and I have to remember to check manually for updates. Is there a way to display the update notification on the Debian machine?
DistroWatch answers: I believe you are referring to the text which typically appears when logging into Ubuntu (and derived) distributions which reads like the following:
6 packages can be updated.
3 updates are security updates.
The above statements are displayed by the apt-check script. This Python script is located on Ubuntu boxes in the /usr/lib/update-notifier directory. If you would like to see it in action try running the following on a Ubuntu box (or a on a related distribution such as Linux Mint):
/usr/lib/update-notifier/apt-check --human-readable
Assuming the above command works on your distribution you can add that line to the .bashrc file in your home directory. This will cause the update notification to appear when you login. Either copy/paste the above line or run:
echo /usr/lib/update-notifier/apt-check --human-readable >> ~/.bashrc
On distributions which do not include the apt-check script it is still possible to get notification of available upgrades. On distributions which include the apt-get command run the following line:
apt-get -s upgrade | tail -n 1
You should see a message which says something like:
3 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
This tells us that, if we were to attempt to update all available packages right now three packages would be upgraded and another three (probably kernel upgrades) would be held back unless we specifically wanted to update them as well. Again, the above command line can be added to the .bashrc file in your home directory to have it run each time you login.
Similar commands exist on distributions which do not use the apt-get package manager. The openSUSE distribution, for example, will give you notification of updates when you run:
zypper pchk
With distributions which use the YUM package manager you can get similar results by using:
yum -C check-updates
A word of warning: Sometimes the output from update checks will announce that there are new packages waiting to be downloaded when, in fact, the operating system is entirely up-to-date. The notice telling us of the availability of updates is generally cached for a set amount of time and so you may find yourself logging in and attempting to perform upgrades, only to be told your system is up to date. I often see posts on forums asking why updates aren't working because of this cached information. The problem should resolve itself after the cached data is updated, usually after a day goes by or after a reboot.
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| Released Last Week |
Epidemic GNU/Linux 4.0
Version 4.0 of Epidemic GNU/Linux has been released. Epidemic is a Debian-based Brazilian desktop Linux distribution featuring the KDE desktop and a number of user-friendly enhancements. Some of the custom applications in this 64-bit only release include: eMod - a graphical utility for creating a custom build of Epidemic; eUpgrade - a graphical tool designed to perform a full system upgrade; eKwin - an application which allows single-click enabling or disabling of KWin effects; Einstaller - the distribution's intuitive system installer. The release also comes with newly added support for German (besides Portuguese, English and Spanish); new user manual; an integrated theme for GRUB, Plymouth, KDM and KSplash; Linux kernel 3.2.23. Read the full release announcement (in Portuguese) for more details and screenshots.
Epidemic GNU/Linux 4.0 - a user-friendly distribution from Brazil
(full image size: 1,117kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
IPFire 2.11 Core 62
Michael Tremer has announced the release of IPFire 2.11 Core 62, a specialist distribution of Linux for firewalls: "Today, we are releasing the 62nd Core update for IPFire 2.11. This update fixes some security problems and also adds some new functionality. We recommend that you update your IPFire installations as soon as possible if you are using the outgoing firewall in mode Fixed: outgoing firewall permits hosts on BLUE to access the Internet. In earlier releases, it was possible for hosts on the BLUE network to access resources on the Internet which are allowed by the outgoing firewall although no permission has been granted to the host (blue access). This is a moderate risk." Read the rest of the release announcement for additional information.
Parted Magic 2012_09_12
Patrick Verner has announced the release of Parted Magic 2012_09_12, a specialist live CD providing utilities for disk management and data rescue tasks: "Parted Magic 2012_09_12. GParted LVM support - this is a list of new LVM features: physical volume creation, checking, resizing (no compaction, just adjusting size above highest used block), moving (using GParted's offline move capability), activation and deactivation, deletion. A large number of programs have been updated: Midnight Commander 4.8.4, Firefox 15.0.1, kmod 10, ALSA libraries 1.0.26. OpenSSH 6.1p1, X.Org Server 1.12.4, Linux kernel 3.5.3. The split_initrdimg.sh has been updated so it works with atftpd again. There were actually two issues. The bigger initbase file was 41 MB and atftpd can only handle 32 MB maximum file size." See the project's news page for a complete list of bug fixes.
Super OS 11.10
Joaquim Salvador has announced the release of Super OS 11.10, an Ubuntu-based distribution with extra applications, media codecs, browser plugins and other enhancements: "Super OS 11.10 released. New: improved multi-language support with additional translations and language-specific fonts; improved virtual machine support (VirtualBox and VMware); added programs - Audacity, Blender, OpenShot, PiTiVi, MyPaint, Pinta, Inkscape, Pidgin, GIMP, Synaptic, VirtualBox, Thunderbird, Gdebi, OpenJDK; removed Java (replaced with OpenJDK); Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera, all of them with support for webm and Adobe Flash content. Super OS (formerly Super Ubuntu) is a variant of Ubuntu 11.10 with added software and tools, with the goal of making it more usable, in particular for users without an Internet connection." See the project's release announcement and the features page for further information.
Zentyal 3.0
José Antonio Calvo has announced the release of Zentyal 3.0, a major new version of the project's Ubuntu-based distribution for small business servers: "The Zentyal development team proudly presents Zentyal 3.0, a new stable version of the Linux small business server. This version introduces significant new features. Highlights: new distribution base - Ubuntu 12.04, providing new versions of all the packages and services managed by Zentyal; improved performance - there is now a global cache to speed up all the requests to the Redis configuration backend; improved reliability - new locking and transactions systems have been developed to avoid any risk of data incoherence or corruptions; Samba 4 integration - a full replacement of the Windows Server Active Directory, which allows Zentyal to join as additional controller of an existing AD domain." Read the detailed release notes for more information and upgrade notes.
Bodhi Linux 2.1.0
Jeff Hoogland has announced the release of Bodhi Linux 2.1.0, the latest update of the Ubuntu-based distribution featuring the Enlightenment 17 desktop: "I'm happy to release to everyone our first scheduled update of Bodhi Linux's 2.x.y branch - version 2.1.0. There are a number of wonderful changes and improvements to this disc over our 2.0.1 disc released a couple of months ago. The first thing you will notice is four fresh themes along with the elegant E17 Black and White theme appearing on this version of Bodhi's live CD. We have a fresh build of Enlightenment and Terminology pre-installed on the disc. Beyond that our repositories contain the latest LibreOffice 3.6.1, Firefox 15 and Chromium 21 among a number of other current applications. The default kernel for this release is based on Linux 3.5." See the full release announcement for further details and screenshots.
Bodhi Linux 2.1.0 - an update that includes a number of new Enlightenment themes
(full image size: 233kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
openSUSE 12.2 "Edu Li-f-e"
Lars Vogdt has announced the release of openSUSE 12.2 "Edu Li-f-e" edition, an openSUSE variant specifically tailored to schools: "The openSUSE Education team once again presents Li-f-e (Linux for Education), built on hot-new openSUSE 12.2, including all the post-release updates. As always, this edition of Li-f-e comes bundled with a lot of softwares useful for students, teachers, as well as IT administrators of educational institutions. Apart from stable versions of KDE and GNOME, Cinnamon is also available. The Sugar desktop suite makes a comeback. Li-f-e also gives full multimedia experience right out of the box without having to install anything extra. The live installable DVD image stands at 3.3 GB as an incredible array of software from the open source-world." See the release announcement for more details and screenshots.
Sabayon Linux 10
Fabio Erculiani has announced the release of Sabayon Linux 10, a Gentoo-based distribution with a choice of four desktop environments (GNOME 3, KDE, MATE and Xfce): "We're once again here to announce the immediate availability of Sabayon Linux 10 in all of its tier 1 flavours. If you really enjoyed Sabayon 9, this is just another step towards world domination. Linux Kernel 3.5.4 with BFQ iosched, GNOME 3.4.2, KDE 4.9 (4.9.1 available in a few days), Xfce 4.10 and LibreOffice 3.6 are just some of the things you will find inside the box. Gentoo hardened kernels, improved Rigo - a new way of browsing and installing applications, more ZFS integration work, Mesa 9 stack, Amazon EC2 support, Infinality FreeType patches, and much more." Read the rest of the release announcement for further information and screenshots.
Sabayon Linux 10 - the default KDE desktop
(full image size: 213kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
Lightweight Portable Security 1.3.6
Lightweight Portable Security (LPS) is a Linux live CD with a goal of allowing users to work on a computer without the risk of exposing their credentials and private data to malware, key loggers and other Internet-era ills. A minor maintenance update, version 1.3.6, was released yesterday: "Changes in Version 1.3.6 - maintenance release, released 14 September 2012: updated Firefox to 10.0.7 ESR; updated Firefox extension - HTTPS Everywhere 2.2.2; updated Firefox extension - NoScript 2.5.4; updated Thunderbird to 10.0.7 ESR (Deluxe only); updated Pidgin to 2.10.6 (Deluxe only); Flash not updated to 11.2.202.238 (it crashes with YouTube); updated Java to 6u35; updated OpenSSH to 6.1p1; removed Firefox extension blocklisting, which generated spurious warnings; minor bookmark updates." See the complete changelog for further details.
Hanthana Linux 17
Danishka Navin has announced the release of Hanthana Linux 17, a Fedora-based distribution on a 3.5 GB live DVD with a large number of applications, media codecs and custom artwork: "Hanthana Linux 17 (Sithija) is released. Hanthana Linux 17, the latest release of Hanthana was published on the 3rd anniversary of the Hanthana Linux project. In addition to the host of applications, the new release has the official LibreOffice guide provided by The Document Foundation added as well. Hanthana Linux is not just another Fedora respin. As a project it facilitates the deployment of free and open-source software amongst the every-day PC user as well as the localization of FOSS software and documentation, and it provides training workshops as well." Read the release announcement for additional information and a screenshot.
Hanthana Linux 17 - a Fedora-based distribution from Sri Lanka
(full image size: 1,483kB, screen resolution 1280x1024 pixels)
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Development, unannounced and minor bug-fix releases
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| Upcoming Releases and Announcements |
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Summary of expected upcoming releases
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| DistroWatch.com News |
New distributions added to waiting list
- KaarPux. KaarPux is a Linux distribution, where everything is build (automatically) from source. It is aimed at developers who want to build and explore a Linux distribution where they have complete control over the build process.
- Lxpup. Lxpup is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Puppy Linux and featuring the LXDE desktop environment.
- Vulnix. Vulnix is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu's server edition, with deliberate configuration vulnerabilities that serve as an exercise for finding and removing weaknesses in a Linux server.
* * * * *
DistroWatch database summary
* * * * *
This concludes this week's issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The next instalment will be published on Monday, 24 September 2012. To contact the authors please send email to:
- Robert Storey (feedback on this week's review of Bodhi Linux)
- Jesse Smith (feedback, questions and suggestions: distribution reviews, questions and answers, tips and tricks)
- Ladislav Bodnar (feedback, questions, suggestions and corrections: news, donations, distribution submissions, comments)
- Bruce Patterson (feedback and suggestions: podcast edition)
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| Reader Comments • Jump to last comment |
1 • Bodhi Linux (by morgan cox on 2012-09-17 09:28:16 GMT from United Kingdom)
E17 is the best desktop for low powered netbooks which have a lack of screen real estate...
When you, for example right click and a sub menu opens, if it is at the edge of the screen it pushes the menu back into the screen (so it has room to open the sub menu) - why don't ALL desktops do that ?
It also uses bugger all resources - on my Samsung N150 it's really fast - unlike Ubuntu with Bodhi Linux full screen flash video works fine.
Also Terminology puts all other terminal emulators to shame - it's like the compiz of terminals, almost like its from a different decade - when I go back to KDE the terminal seems boring.
2 • Time for Boddhi again (by AliasMarlowe on 2012-09-17 09:47:52 GMT from Europe)
I tried Boddhi a few years back, and liked it, but not enough to replace Xubuntu on the low spec laptop. Maybe it's time to try it again.
Incidentally, I'll be trying it out on a 1.6GHz Pentium M, which should be slower than the dual-core Atom Jesse used. This old laptop does not lack for screen space, however, having a 1920x1200 LCD.
3 • Update Notfications (by TobiSGD on 2012-09-17 09:58:58 GMT from Germany)
"On distributions which do not include the apt-check script it is still possible to get notification of available upgrades. On distributions which include the apt-get command run the following line:
apt-get -s upgrade | tail -n 1
You should see a message which says something like:
3 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded."
Without running "apt-get update" before this command it will not tell you how many updates there really are, but only how many updates they were the last time you updated the package database and not updated the system.
Running apt-get update in .bashrc can seriously slow down the login (depending on the number of repositories and your Internet connection), so I wouldn't recommend that.
4 • Checking for updates (by Jesse on 2012-09-17 10:38:08 GMT from Canada)
>> "Without running "apt-get update" before this command it will not tell you how many updates there really are, but only how many updates they were the last time you updated the package database and not updated the system."
That is true, but most modern distributions automatically refresh the package database on a regular basis. On most distros it is not necessary to manually update the package database prior to running the check.
5 • Linux to OS X (by joe f. on 2012-09-17 10:54:08 GMT from United States)
I came from OS X to Linux 9 years ago, and two years ago I had to take over the MacBook Pro I'd tried to move my wife to. I actually gave OS X a go, then dual-booted, then wiped the Mac partition. Eventually, rebuilt a desktop machine and passed the laptop onto the daughter. It's a very nice OS, I use it at work on occasion, and it's better than Windows. But I can't really take Apple's "you'll takes what you gets and you'll like it" attitude. Customization of the OS is hard -- when it's possible -- and the boxes don't offer much either. For an iPad -- I have one at work -- it's fine. For my main machine...no thanks.
6 • Bodhi cd size (by bill on 2012-09-17 11:04:49 GMT from Canada)
Bodhi is a great distro and desktop.
Since it is light weight, I think they should use some of the spare space on a cd for more wireless drivers.The iso only is 450mb or so. people will be wanting to install this on old laptops and netbooks so wireless drivers are important.
7 • Bodhi (by meanpt on 2012-09-17 12:29:50 GMT from Portugal)
Bodhi is the distro every laptop owner should carry with (appologies thouht here as I don't own a desktop). It fits in a mainstream SD card and still manages to be fast, without compromising in usability and functionality. Bodhi is geting better, release after release, and as an added bonus for those with touch screens, it can even provide a more functional touch interface which is lights ahead of any other desktop distro. Good work, bodhi team!
8 • Nice Surprise (by Bob on 2012-09-17 12:32:21 GMT from Austria)
Two months ago I've read a post of an OpenSuse developer complaining about the overwhelming task to remove bugs from the 12.2 development. This made me suspicious and I was thinking of keeping the old 12.1 version or switching to something else. But after some positive feedback I have decided to sacrifice a partition and installed the 64-bit KDE variant of OpensSuse 12.2. To my surprise this one is the most stable version so far on my hardware. So I just repeat what some guys already have stated: 12.2 might be the best OpenSuse achievement to date. This time it's a keeper, but I still haven't completely forgotten the troubles encountered with previous versions ;-)
9 • Linux to OSX (by Sam on 2012-09-17 12:38:14 GMT from United States)
Given my job I have bifurcated work needs - writing and office productivity software AND statistical, geospatial, and basic scientific computing. For years beginning with SuSE 8 (yeah, no "open" on the front of it back in the old days) I was diehard Linux-only on my laptop and desktop. Linux has been great for running R, GRASS, even QGIS (at first for light GIS work, but with that project's growing community of plug-in developers, I'm using GRASS slightly less these days).
Unfortunately, the Gnome 3/Unity revolution threw me off the bus. UI was and is important for my productivity/writing work flow and those UI changes were just too jarring. Now I drag around a Mac and still run Mint 13 MATE on my home desktop (work computer switched from PC to iMac this year).
While I dislike some of the same OSX features mentioned in the article (dragging icons into Applications to install them? ... not sure yet what exactly "Finder" is supposed to be... where's the darn "Start" menu?!?), I find that everything, unlike my Linux experience outside of rock-solid distros like Debian, "Just works." Further, everything works natively with my phone and iPad - so calendar, reminders, document management, flow seamlessly across devices which is quite important for me.
10 • Linux to OSX & Bodhi (by Ken Harbit on 2012-09-17 12:42:36 GMT from United States)
I'll stay with Linux mostly because it's free, I can learn from it by looking at the code, the Linux desktops work for me because there are many and all are changeable at the code level (if it's needed), and I don't need the polish of OSX.
I loved Bodhi but I love Mint better. I'm running the E17 desktop on Mint right now, it's great. I like Mint because the Gui's make things easy and the command line is there when needed...And I can run Enlightenment desktop.
11 • @9 Linux to OSX (by vw72 on 2012-09-17 12:51:37 GMT from United States)
Don't get too comfortable with OSX. With Apple's intention of unifying all of their hardware platforms under iOS, you soon will be in the same quandary as Gnome 3/Unity. The difference being is that Apple has a huge fan base and will be praised for revolutionizing the desktop.
12 • pcmanfm auto-mount (by Comm_01 on 2012-09-17 15:14:59 GMT from Brazil)
Maybe by checking the automatic mount you broke this feature (can't say, as I don't use Bodhi), but if pcmanfm is running as a daemon (auto-start with 'pcmanfm -d') it will pop-up a dialogue asking what to do with the inserted media.
13 • Spit and Polish of Linux Distros (by Glenn Condrey on 2012-09-17 15:31:04 GMT from United States)
I agree with the statement that as of late, the spit and polish of linux distros has been lacking lately.
I cut my teeth on linux with Xandros Linux, starting with 2.0, 3.0, and finally 4.5.
Since Xandros gave up publishing desktop linux distributions, I have never found another operating system that had as much spit, polish and friendly feel (while also appealing to even the most hardened linux veteran) that Xandros had.
14 • Spit and Polish.. @13 (by Jordan on 2012-09-17 15:41:17 GMT from United States)
You'll like Zorin. ;)
http://distrowatch.com/zorin
15 • Zorin (by Glenn Condrey on 2012-09-17 15:48:54 GMT from United States)
Tried it...decent...but I guess I got picky with Xandros.
If someone every buys the code for the old Xandros File Manager (very much like the modern Windows Explorer) and is able to incorporate it into a modern linux distro....they'll be billionaires.
16 • Xandros.. picky folks.. (by Jordan on 2012-09-17 16:02:46 GMT from United States)
I had Xandros and was quite liking it as a transistion from Windows. Then the commercial side came out and controversy raged for a bit. I recall getting a bit confused but did find it interesting that the linux community was aghast at that change by Xandros, in a similar vein as SuSe/Novell I guess.
Meanwhile I remain confused because on the one hand I want to support non-Windows developers, but on the other hand commercial distros seem ... well, seem bad for some reason?
17 • Hanthana Linux (by bob on 2012-09-17 16:24:23 GMT from Thailand)
I just downloaded Hanthana Linux for the first time. I've been trying to download previous versions for several years, but it's always very slow and times out. This time it took over 14 hours but it finally worked. Not sure why it's so difficult to download this distro. Maybe it would help if they offered a Torrent download as an alternative?
18 • My wish for Bodhi: bodhi-desktop metapackage (by Leo on 2012-09-17 20:17:43 GMT from United States)
I am running Bodhi in one computer, of the many i have at home, and really like it. But I am sure I would be trying it in other computers if there was a ppa where you can keep a bodhi-desktop up to date. It would be a different way of running Bodhi, in that you could install it on top of a non-LTS Ubuntu. But I really don't install things from scratch, once I install Linux I keep upgrading fore years, so this would allow me to kick the tires and potentially switch. I know this is in the TODO list, I thought I'd add my +1 :)
19 • Re. 13 / Xandros (by uz64 on 2012-09-17 21:53:21 GMT from United States)
Xandros was basically about as close to a direct Windows rip-off as you could get... even down to the licensing model. It was a rip-off with artificially-imposed limitations; the one I recall the most now was a limit on the speed you could burn a CD-R disc. The way to get rid of these ridiculous limitations and to fully use and take advantage of the hardware you bought in full and own? Give them money.
No, thanks. I could almost understand paying Microsoft money to use their OS (after all, only they produce it--they own it, it's theirs, and that's not going to change), but come on... paying a company to use what is just their own vision of a Linux distribution? Donating to open source projects and Linux distributions that you like is good, but paying some company to be able to use your hardware and the free software they have bundled and packaged together is just insane.
I would hardly call that "friendly"--in any sense--toward anyone.
20 • Linux to OSX (by dragonmouth on 2012-09-17 21:56:58 GMT from United States)
I switched from Windows to Linux because of Redmond's arrogant "we know better than you what you need" attitude. I am not about to switch to Fruitco's "you WILL like what we give you" garbage.
21 • Bodhi (by Bill on 2012-09-17 22:10:12 GMT from United States)
I really like Bodhi alot (if they just didn't have those d$^&&%d penguins flying around! I also really like MacPup (which also uses E17). One thing that all distros could learn from Puppy is to immediately pop up a short set up box after the system boots the first time (unless such things are previously handled pre-boot). The first box allows you to set your time zone and keyboard, the second is the set up for networking. I hate trying a new distro and having to search all over the place to get online. Let's face it the Net is your user's manual and you need to that get started!
22 • Flash on Bodhi (by Budhi on 2012-09-17 22:12:28 GMT from United States)
Loved, absolutely loved Bodhi! BUT, after trying 1.4 and 2.01, could never get flash to work. Youtube was hit and miss....mostly miss. The Bodhi forum is a friendly place and Jeff is omnipresent on it, but no one could help with my flash problem. YMMV.
23 • Re. 15 / Xandros File Manager (by uz64 on 2012-09-17 22:14:36 GMT from United States)
That Xandros file manager you're talking about... I believe that was nothing more than a modification of Konqueror. It was a rip-off/clone of Windows Explorer, but ironically they didn't even fully develop it; they just modified the existing KDE file manager. IMO, Thunar and Dolphin are much better. Nautilus is even pretty decent. And there are so many file managers for Linux, if you don't like those there are countless others of all different styles.
CLI file managers: Midnight Commander, ytree, UnixTree
Desktop environments: Konqueror (KDE), Dolphin (KDE), , Nautilus (GNOME), Thunar (Xfce), PCManFM (LXDE)
Other GUI file managers: PCManFM-Mod, SpaceFM
Two-pane file managers: emelfm2, GNOME Commander, Krusader
And a special mention: Xfe, or X File Explorer. Fast, lightweight, and if you like Windows Explorer, you'd probably like this. Lots of features, too; you can use it like a Windows Explorer clone or set it to two panes. Only problem: It's not one of the big ones, so you may not be able to find packages of it in some Linux distros.
24 • @2,@23 (by howdy on 2012-09-17 23:35:46 GMT from United States)
@2: " slower than the dual-core Atom Jesse used" - You mean Robert.
@23: Programs like mc are *console* applications, not "command line." For command *line* file management, please see rm, mv, cp, ln, chown, chmod, et al. That's not merely a matter of semantics, it's at the heart of the definition of command line. And if you try to wiggle and say that mc is launched via command line, I'll remind you I can launch any graphical file manager the same way.
25 • Bodhi performance (by Joe P on 2012-09-18 00:09:22 GMT from United States)
I wonder how fast Bodhi would seem with a few needed KDE programs (like K3B and Kgpg) and a few needed Gnome programs added. Maybe it only seems fast because it is missing so much that will need to be added.
I'll probably try it on a flash disk and tweak it to use my RAM.
26 • The MS 'taint' of partnership (more like a pact!) (by Anon on 2012-09-18 02:04:38 GMT from Germany)
"Xandros Desktop was based on Corel Linux, a Debian-based distribution which was acquired along with the development team behind the product from Corel Corporation in August 2001 after Corel decided to sell the Linux distribution market"
Following the Microsoft 'pact', Corel Linux eventually died, despite their claims on continuing it. It was eventually spun anew as Xandros. At the time, Corel Linux was easier to install and use than any other Linux distro - suprised Microsoft was eager to become a 'partner?' Corel was also to continue funding the WINE project, but that funding eventually dried up.
Various members of Corel were excited to work with Microsoft, at least one referenced bringing .NET to Linux, and how they would continue on with Corel Linux and helping WINE.
I'm surprised with Microsoft's involvement with Novell, OpenSUSE hasn't ceased development.
Visit Corel's site today, since the several years of MS partership, how many Linux products do they offer?
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corel_Linux
Microsoft Buys into Corel
http://slashdot.org/story/00/10/02/220238/microsoft-buys-into-corel
Corel Sells Out To Microsoft
http://www.forbes.com/2000/10/03/1003corel.html
Corel Shuts Down Open Source Development Site
"They're still bleeding money, and are only alive because it was worth Microsoft $135M to get them out of producing Linux "
http://slashdot.org/story/02/02/17/152203/corel-shuts-down-open-source-development-site
Interview: Corel's Linux VP on the Microsoft deal (The death knell for Corel Linux, despite claims to the contrary)
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/10/16/corel.linux.on.ms.idg/index.html
Archived references
http://web.archive.org/web/20000308074253/http://corel.com/news/1999/may/may_1999_faqs.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20020127150324/http://opensource.corel.com
(Corel Linux dies, reborn as Xandros, but MS now wants to extend 'Patent Protection')
Microsoft Gives Xandros Users Patent Protection
http://linux.slashdot.org/story/07/06/04/1630233/microsoft-gives-xandros-users-patent-protection
27 • Reply to 25: Bodhi performance (by Robert Storey on 2012-09-18 02:12:22 GMT from Taiwan)
Hi Joe P. Just want to let you know that I did install a bunch of KDE programs, including K3B (but not Kgpg) on my test machine. I didn't suffer any performance hit from doing that.
28 • Bodhi OK on REALLY Slow PC (by RO on 2012-09-18 03:09:28 GMT from United States)
Like a Fujitsu Lifebook P1120 with 800Mhz Transmeta Crusoe, which feels more like about 300-400 Mhz Intel Pentium, and with 240 MB RAM. I have 2.0.x Bodhi on it, and it is "passable" - about like some slower $99 Android tablets for a "modern" comparison. At least it does the E17 windowing and has a keyboard and touchscreen (resistive, so not good for much more than button tap/mouse click type actions, and not near the edges of the screen due to lack of calibration utility). I do like the trackpoint, being a Thinkpad veteran.
Looking forward to see how 2.1.x does on it.
29 • Bodhi and Snowlinux E17 RC (by Paolo on 2012-09-18 06:20:47 GMT from Italy)
I have installed Bodhi 2.1.0 and I think is a very good distro ... but I also have try the live cd
of Snowlinux E17 Crystal RC, based on Debian Testing.
Snowlinux E17 is simply amazing,awesome and very light, like Bodhi.
Probably today I install on my Dell Latitude D630 near Bodhi and #! (my main distro)
I think this version of Snowlinux can be one of the next argument on DWW
30 • Re: displaying update notifications, Ubuntu vs. Debian (by eco2geek on 2012-09-18 06:58:48 GMT from United States)
Debian's repos also contain the "update-notifier-common" package, which is the package that contains the "apt-check" script.
What it doesn't seem to have is the (rather complicated looking) arrangement Ubuntu uses to display it at the command line at login time. For a description of that process, see:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/49958/how-to-find-the-number-of-packages-needing-update-from-the-command-line
31 • Bodhi can use the Lubuntu for some Chromium stuff (by ChiJoan on 2012-09-18 07:44:11 GMT from United States)
I have Bodhi installed on an AMD Sempron tower, with KDE programs and added Lubuntu/LXDE as a safety net. It's quite fast, haven't tried the just released version yet, but on reboots I noticed it wipes icons off the desktop that I've added. Even on Firefox that I've added, it took quite a few times of me adding the Bookmark Toolbar, before it would autoload like my tabs.
The first time I tried to log into my Google, Bodhi crashed, when it restarted I loaded LXDE, then I picked Enlightnment next time. Some of the Screensavers I picked, Fireworks for one crashed it, removed those, but the Screensavers don't autoload after a restart.
Joan in Reno
32 • @21 - flying penguins, @25 - KDE apps (by Uncle Slacky on 2012-09-18 10:03:45 GMT from France)
@21 - You *do* know that you can deactivate the penguins, if they're annoying you, don't you?
@25 - My daughter runs a number of KDE apps (particularly Kolourpaint) under Bodhi with no apparent speed penalty, on a 6-year-old Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop with 1.25Gb RAM.
33 • Storming the Gates (by Jordan on 2012-09-18 11:36:53 GMT from United States)
@19 well... ripping off Microsoft is a bad thing? <---- sort of joke. lol, etc..
Anyway, something of a bad taste moved me away from Xandros.. along with the usual need to try just one more distro. ;)
On to "the perfect one" someday. Oy vey, no such thing, ay? Couldn't get Bridge Linux to install (well, it installed, booted to a blinking cursor and that was it). SuSe in here now and it can't remember my wireless network or the time, no matter how I tweak the settings. Blizzards of error messages trying to use Yast. Lots to do here because I do like Suse..
34 • Sabayon Linux 10 fixes X-blink bug on Dell Vostro 360 (by Gavin R. Putland on 2012-09-18 14:08:11 GMT from Australia)
Sabayon becomes the second distribution (that I've noticed) to give a full-HD display on the Dell Vostro 360 without tweaking the boot parameters. But you still need the usual parameters to enable brightness control. Details at http://www.grputland.com/2012/07/ubuntu-1210-alpha-2-fixes-x-blink-bug.html .
35 • Snowlinux E17??? (by davey on 2012-09-18 23:14:37 GMT from United States)
@29 Just looked at the Snowflake site and there's no mention of an E17 version. Where did you see this?
@22 I just installed Bodhi 2.1 and there's a package in the App center that installs Flash and Java. Can't tell you the details because I'm on my main distro right now. You tube works just fine so far.
I really like the feel of Bodhi, but there are some rough edges that may keep it from becoming my 1st love. For example, minimiizing windows just makes them disappear and I can't see any way to get them back. The "shelf", or panel as I think of it, is not as easy to use as in KDE, where you can just drag an app into it from the menu. And even when you do it kosher, sometime the icon doesn't stick.
I'll keep playing with it and see if it's me missing something. The64 bit version on my box seems slicker on my quadcore box than the 32 bit version on my partner's older single core one. If I do figure out how to get around these annoyances I'll be very tempted to make it my primary OS.
36 • Snowlinux E17 (by james c on 2012-09-19 03:48:42 GMT from United States)
@35 http://www.snowlinux.de/?start=2
http://mirror2.layerjet.com/snowlinux/releases/testing/3-e17/snowlinux-e17-crystal-rc.iso
37 • @35 e17 (by RollMeAway on 2012-09-19 04:26:07 GMT from United States)
"For example, minimiizing windows just makes them disappear and I can't see any way to get them back."
1. Press the mouse wheel button, to see all running apps.
2. Add to a shelf or even the desktop, a "module": taskbar, ibox, or itask for more standard method.
3. Read the excellent documentation on e17:
http://www.bodhilinux.com/e17guide/e17guideEN/
Find snow e17 here:
http://www.snowlinux.de/blog/468-snowlinux-3-e17-beta-released
Try a more stable e17 version built with debian stable and alternate gnome2 desktop:
http://www.atlasx.org/
Take the time to learn e17's capabilities. You will be GLAD you did!
38 • ..reasons for distro-hopping.. (by Jordan on 2012-09-19 16:22:32 GMT from United States)
Interesting how things seemingly of a less than critical nature move me (and presumably others) off one distro to try others or even to go back to Windows.
Java. Flash. Panel peculiarities (or in my case incompatibility with my habits). The freaking "cashew" on Plasma (old script and other tricks no longer get rid of it, and the guy who made it gets upset when asked how to get rid of it).
..etc.
"Perfect distro" for me will be the one that has none of that I suppose.
39 • Anti cashew? (by Jesse on 2012-09-19 16:44:48 GMT from Canada)
>> "Java. Flash. "
I don't think I've ever encountered a distro that had problems with either of these.
>> "The freaking "cashew" on Plasma (old script and other tricks no longer get rid of it"
If you want to hide it, click on the offending cashew, click Add Widget, select Download New and perform a search for "cashew". The two top options that come up both hide the cashew from view.
40 • Cashew .. Jave .. Flash (by Jordan on 2012-09-19 18:54:11 GMT from United States)
Great big thank you for the cashew remedy (hoping it is a remedy, not to doubt your wisdom but there are angst laced forum entries about the issue).
The Java and Flash probs come up at www.pogo.com in the "Monopoly Slots" and "Hog Heaven Slots" games in particular, others as well. Also at Facebook's "Pyramid Solitaire Saga" intermittently. It has to do with outdated versions of java ("icedtea" in some distros).
Now to put my SuSe 12.2 hard drive back in this machine and give the cashew a send-off, hopefully. ;) Thanks again!
41 • Java (by Jesse on 2012-09-19 19:00:31 GMT from Canada)
If your distribution ships with an older version of Java (or a different implementation of Java) you can always update to the latest version of Oracle's implementation from java.com
42 • Py-Cashew etc (by Jordan on 2012-09-19 19:21:48 GMT from United States)
No longer works. The "toolbox" cashew is meant to stay, and the dev who made it will resist efforts to get rid if it or even to make it transparent.
Oy vey.
43 • Changing from Linux to Apple (by Peter Besenbruch on 2012-09-20 05:22:46 GMT from United States)
My colleagues are all Apple users. They have Macbook Pros and Airs, along with iPads. Invariably folks try to take notes with the iPad, and quit. The Macbook users hang on longer. Me, I show up with a Linux based netbook. It has the practicality of the Macbook, the size of an iPad, and the price of neither.
Suspend and resume are fast, and wireless networking is reliable.
Recently, I purchased one of the new keyboard wedges. They are basically a keyboard with a motherboard and hard drive inside. They come with Linux installed (Ubuntu Oneiric), and cost $220 at Amazon. A rock solid, reliable machine, I eventually stuck Debian on it (it's what I know).
I moved to Linux over the copy protection issue in Windows XP. I stayed because Linux worked. I have been careful over the years about the equipment I have purchased, so I haven't had the issues that others keep complaining about here. My latest purchase was a "like new," Wacom Intuos 3 tablet for my son's four year old netbook. He gets excellent results when connected to an external monitor, using the GIMP.
I use Linux for photo editing, desktop publishing, spreadsheet work, finances, HTML editing, astronomy, book reading, music listening, and DVD watching. My wife does some of the same things, but in addition logs into work using Citrix. Since it requires Java, which has suffered from security issue after security issue, she does it via a virtual machine on her Linux netbook that also runs Linux. Specifically, it runs Window Maker on Debian. The setup resets to a snapshot after each run.
Linux works. I will not change.
44 • Cashew (by Jesse on 2012-09-20 12:32:12 GMT from Canada)
>> "Py-Cashew etc No longer works. The "toolbox" cashew is meant to stay, and the dev who made it will resist efforts to get rid if it or even to make it transparent."
Sorry, but that is not true. I am running the latest version of KDE and I just installed the py-cashew widget. It still works, making the desktop cashew disappear.
45 • from linux to os x (by Dave on 2012-09-20 13:02:23 GMT from United States)
Personally I have never run a Mac,but the writer's comment about the OS X desktop being so pretty as to make gnome and kde look like "school projects" makes one ask what kind of crap desk top he ran on linux...I have seen both gnome and kde (and your favorite linux desktop here) tricked out to be pure eye candy,simply beautiful.In fact I have seen them tricked out to look like the afore mentioned OS X desktop.....so where Boz may be able to tout certain features of his OS being "better" the beauty of the desk top is not one of them
46 • The Great Cashew Scandal (by Jordan on 2012-09-20 13:38:54 GMT from United States)
;)
"Sorry, but that is not true. I am running the latest versSorry, but that is not true. I am running the latest version of KDE and I just installed the py-cashew widget. It still works, making the desktop cashew disappear.ion of KDE and I just installed the py-cashew widget. It still works, making the desktop cashew disappear."
If it were "not true" I would not have posted my experience, which includes: not being able to get rid of the cashew in SuSe 12.2 KDE, searching for a remedy under Google terms such as, "how to get rid of toolbox cashew," "I hate the kde cashew," etc, downloading and installing the "ihate...." program which did not work, downloading and installing the "py-..." program which did not work.
So, it is true. Perhaps your success has something to do with different distros? I know KDE is KDE, Plasma is Plasma, but .. maybe a difference somewhere?
It seems like a silly thing to debate about, but I will not declare a statement here by another participant as "not true" if it has to do with his or her experience, although I may intone some sort of "try this strategy." ;)
47 • @23 (by SilentSam on 2012-09-20 18:04:44 GMT from Canada)
I worked for Xandros for a few years. Xandros File Manager was written from the ground up, and wasn't based on Konqueror.
48 • Kiwi Linux (by Carl Smuck on 2012-09-20 21:07:51 GMT from United States)
Kiwi LInux works really well on my antiquated IBM Thinkpad T60. Has all the multimedia codecs and is able to give Zorin OS Lite 6.1 a run for its money. Zorin OS 6.1 is fast and is a good distribution I have that one on my T60 as well. Ultimate Edition 3.4 has nice effects but makes my IBM T60 run way too hot and it becomes sluggish and unstable. Bodhi Linux is much more stable now on my old IBM Thinkpad than the older version of it that I tried quite some time ago. In fact Bodhi has never had one single hiccup in my IBM Thinkpad. But the same can also be said of Zorin OS Lite and Kiwi OS 12.05. Kiwi only became a little bit sluggish when I added the cinnamon desktop to it and logged into the cinnamon desktop. Kiwi OS works much better than Linux Mint 13 cinnamon. My IBM Thinkpad T60 cannot run more than a few seconds with LinuxMint 13 Cinnamon before it freezes up. If any others of you out there have an old 2.0 Ghz IBM thinkpad and want to pick a good Linux distro to run on it the winners are the latest version of Bodhi in part because of the CPU scaling utility. By default it makes the CPU run at only 1.0 GHz if it is a 2GHz machine. It then automatically speeds up when put under some load. So the thinkpad stays cool. Zorin OS Lite seems to never strain the CPU and the system stays cool. Same with Kiwi Linux. I never thought of Kiwi as being all that lightweight of a distribution.
49 • VectorLinux wins (by Jordan on 2012-09-21 11:28:11 GMT from United States)
Now for me the whole idea of distro hopping and configuring and tweaking to make things less obtrusive and more comfortable is beginning to settle.. I've always had a VL disc, just about very version, some bought and some downloaded free.
Now the Canadian distro has taken over my Linux life because it's all coming together. VL 64 bit has all the codecs and all the access I need with no efforts other than visual eye candy etc to bring about.
Slackware based: fast, great repos and of course that old traditional feeling that Slackware has to offer. I am thinking that the 14 release of Slack will have me checking it out too.. but the VL scheme is much to my liking.. we'll see. ;)
And now cashew!! :oD
50 • @49 "no cashew" typo (by Jordan on 2012-09-21 11:29:54 GMT from United States)
..not "now cashew." ... ;)
51 • cashew (by Mac on 2012-09-21 11:57:05 GMT from United States)
Thanks Jesse it worked for me. Been trying to get rid of that for 3yrs.
Have fun Mack
52 • Cashew (by Jesse on 2012-09-21 13:12:24 GMT from Canada)
>> "If it were "not true" I would not have posted my experience, which includes: not being able to get rid of the cashew in SuSe 12.2 KDE, "
My apologies, I was a bit skeptical. Last week and this week you've posted vague complaints about Flash and Java not working on websites which, when I visit them, work fine. This week you have been complaining about not being able to get ride of the cashew, and when I posted a solution, you claimed it didn't work on openSUSE 12.2. I happen to be running openSUSE 12.2 at the moment and, well, see for yourself:
http://ubuntuone.com/1bG8pihzsugviZA5KeWheV
Without any error messages, links to bug reports or other posts detailing specific steps as to what you've tried and what went wrong it is hard to help you.
53 • cashew and stuff (by Jordan on 2012-09-21 15:46:03 GMT from United States)
Well no the skepticism is always in the air wrt this stuff.. I'm often looking around forums and seeing long threads going on and on about how this or that remedy works for some and not for others and often with the same exact distro and similar hardware.
The cashew bit is interesting to me. I had no idea until I googled around that the dev who made it won't relent on an option in KDE to hide or do away with it; it's his baby. ;)
54 • Cashew and Stuff (by tdockery97 on 2012-09-21 16:15:06 GMT from United States)
Just tried the py-cashew solution posted above on LMDE KDE and it actually worked.
55 • Flash in Linux (by Anon on 2012-09-22 08:16:40 GMT from Norway)
Flash has always been a weak proposition under Linux. Several years ago Adobe made an about face and started support for Linux, only to announce it would cease doing so not long ago. At least two sites I use to visit have already upgraded to Flash versions unplayable by Firefox on my 64-bit ArchLinux system. However - Google Chrome is still able to handle the same sites. I am not sure, but I seem vaguely to remember something about Google working with Adobe to ensure Flash funcionality in their browser. Here's hoping html5 will catch up speed.
56 • gamers to the rescue.. (by Jordan on 2012-09-22 12:38:31 GMT from United States)
Never liked Chrome or Google (I know, that's like not liking air or donuts), but the built in flash of Chrome does beckon. My Firefox fetish is challenged. In Linux as opposed to Windows we can get into the about:config and tweak away and ruin.. I mean exploit the inner workings to our delight.
Trying that with Chrome would be another Linux delight for me, but I don't know how yet and not sure if Google would allow such a thing (almost typed Microsoft there).
The flash crashes in Chrome have been addressed for Windows by a gamer site.. I am wondering if those smart gamers will turn their attention to the ongoing flash and java issues in Linux.
57 • Sabayon IS a rolling release (by RollMeAway on 2012-09-23 05:13:28 GMT from United States)
I have finally had success upgrading Sabayon release 9 to release 10 on three machines. Had mixed luck with previous versions.
All old computers, one KDE, one LXDE, and one E17.
Most neglected one (KDE) upgraded over 1100 pkgs, without problems, and rebooted OK!
So, if you hate reinstalling, Sabayon is another option for "install once", upgrade forever (well, forever IS a long time!).
58 • Flash & Google Chrome (by Anon on 2012-09-23 09:17:26 GMT from Norway)
Jordan wrote: "Never liked Chrome or Google (...)".
Agreed. I prefer Firefox, but I must say it is good to have Google Chrome as a backup for modern flash sites (as long as it lasts...). Note that I have the latest Adobe flash installed in the OS and working in Firefox for _most sites, i.e. I did _not have to tweak Google Chrome in any way for it to play flash content unavailable with Firefox. Not sure how Google Chrome is interacting with the separately installed Adobe Flash, if at all. Not sure if I want to know either, come to that ;)
59 • Chrome.. flash (by Jordan on 2012-09-23 12:06:01 GMT from United States)
@58 .. on which distro are you running Chrome? I'm seeing issues posted around with it on Slackware derived versions.
60 • Re: 59 • Chrome.. flash (by Jordan (by Anon on 2012-09-24 02:08:23 GMT from Norway)
See my first post above - it is a 64-bit ArchLinux system.
There's a choice between Google Chrome, Google-Chrome-Beta and Google-Chrome-Dev in Arch User Repository (AUR). I am actually running the latter. It's an easy default CLI package install in Arch and I've not experienced any hiccups whatsoever, but then that would have been unheard of in Arch anyway... oops!... Sri! ;)
Number of Comments: 60
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