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(16 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)
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Ah yes, another member of Brian’s triumvirate of distros. I’ve always thought there was a good ancient Rome joke here. “Hello Antix Maximus. What brings you to Mepis? Oh you know, Oedipus Sidux, just hangin’ out.”
I do agree with your assessment of the IceWM menus. Puppy Linux suffers this same affliction. You would think since they are going for the lightest weight possible that they would strip out the excess here.
Antix is still a good enough distro, but I would have to give the latest version of Puppy the nod for interface design, newbie friendliness, as a utility/repair distro running from a LiveCD, and as an install on older hardware.
I could not get Antix to even boot up on an old 500mhz Celeron with 64mb ram. Puppy ran fine, albeit a little slowly due to heavy use of the swap file.
I have had good results with the MOST RECENT versions of both Puppy and antiX, tlmck, but I had quite a few problems with both the 4.1.2 and the 4.2 versions of Puppy prior to the 4.2.1 release, which finally fixed the issues.
I suspect it would be possible to muck around with boot options and get that Celeron going on antiX, but what’s the point? It’s good that you have a solid distro to use on that old box, and Puppy, being even smaller than antiX, is perfect for that gear.
Jim, I am glad to see you getting around to reviewing antiX. Now you see why I am so high on it and evaluate it so well. I consider it “Best in Class” as a full featured Live CD that can be used as a Live CD, as a regularly installed system that can be used on older hardware, as an on the move system (to carry around, as Mandriva advertises with their USB model), or to install in BASE form and use as the basis for your own customized system.
Only Puppy, of the distributions that I can think of, competes on so many levels. TinyMe, MiniMe, and PCLinuxOS are about the next closest, and they are pretty good too.
Jim, I think you should review MORE distros that you can’t whine much about. I noticed somebody else was looking for a SimplyMEPIS 8.0 review. There have not been very many of them since it was released. There HAS been a quiet 8.06 update; it simply fixes a few things that were not 100% perfect, discovered after the initial release; .06 was a June 2009 update.
SimplyMEPIS will not stun or impress you with much of anything, unless you are impressed by stuff that just works. SimplyMEPIS DOES provide a desktop – the aging, classic, STABLE KDE 3.5.10 desktop.
The SimplyMEPIS community has also created a number of respins – a couple from KDE 4.2 already, one from XFCE, another from LXDE, and it is a vibrant community. It does not get anywhere near the noise or publicity that Mint, Ubuntu and others get. If I am correct, the average age of the MEPIS Lovers Forum participants is a good deal older than many other distributions, which may account for the civility, politeness, and helpfulness in the forum (though age certainly does not guarantee such things – some people are cranky and impolite regardless of their age).
Anyway, antiX is great! How about SimplyMEPIS next – then you will have reviewed my “trilogy of systems”, and tlmck will have some more material for which to write his artistic prose! :-)
Hope you can try it, and I hope we get a lot of discussions and activity over here! :-) I will send my friends over!
Puppy isn’t nearly as good for one reason: AntiX uses and has access to all of Debian’s repositories. Puppy has the worst repository this side of Slackware.
That’s why it’s worth using.
I agree with the last comment. Mepis is Debian only with the most desired codecs and browser plugins already in place but still uses the “huge” Debian repository of software.
Ubuntu is based upon Debian as well but with major code changes and the inability of logging in as “root”, which makes it difficult to manage.
If you have an older computer try “Anti X”, you won’t be disappointed.
Installed antiX-M8.2, Impressed with its responsiveness and appearance but my netbook’s ethernet and wireless could not be detected. Goodbye, antiX.
@ masinick:
I’ve installed various editions of Puppy Linux many times, only to uninstall them each time. Why? Because PL wasn’t saving my wifi settings and I could not remove the bundled applications as the files are read-only. Why should any distro developer decide what programmes I should keep and use? This goes against the grain of Linux. Not acceptable.
While I agree that antiX may not be for rank beginners, it is well thought out and easy to comprehend for those with even just a little Linux exposure. And it’s fast and compact.
Oddly enough, I have never found SimplyMepis itself to live up to expectations, for beginners or enthusiasts. Having revisited it several times over the years, there always seemed to be something in the way: if not poor wireless support, then sound card issues, or missing codecs, or obtuse installers, or (still) confusing menus and slow refresh schedules. Mind you, the documentation has improved over time and the forum support has been good. But it never seemed to “just work”.
The antiX formulation, though, seems to be a more energetic and focused project.
@windmonger: Dude. Why do you go around to every review of this distro ranting about the Wi-Fi? Get a grip, man!
Not only are Wi-Fi firmwares not free (according to Debian, which this is based on), but they aren’t really the highest priority in a distro for OLD COMPUTERS.
AntiX is a great piece of work. I enjoyed using it, and may install it on a box or two around the house.
@windmonger: Just about any distro these days, both Puppy and antiX included, can run wireless just by grabbing wireless drivers – either from Windows wireless drivers (what is needed are the .inf files) or from numerous “non-free” firmware sites. antiX has access to both. Many, if not most, of these are actually INCLUDED with antiX, but if they aren’t, armed with either a wired connection or a USB stick containing the needed drivers, they can be easily installed.
Proprietary OS do not always include every driver either. Sometimes you have to go to the vendor and either get a CD, DVD, USB , (or floppy in the old days) or download from their site. It is only pre-configured computers sold by companies who have put everything in place that come with all the needed drivers FOR THAT PARTICULAR SYSTEM.
antiX does a very credible job of including many, if not MOST, hardware drivers. The Linux Hardware Database can help you find whatever additional device drivers that may be missing. I’d like to know what they are though – I have not seen anything missing.
Ah the joys of Fluxbox. Simple and elegant. It looks beautiful on Antix. They have gone out of there way to show a default Fluxbox desktop in the best light possible. There are four things that really makes Fluxbox stand out.
1. The Slit. Doc Apps are great. I am addicted to about 8 of them and always have them running in the slit.
2. The ability to group tabs. It is possible to take all the dialogs that gimp has and put them in one tab group. The possibilities of tabbing are endless because…
3. App Rules. Want firefox to always show on desktop 3? Want leafpad to grouped with a terminal. No need for devilspie or wmctrl. Fluxbox does it.
4. Custom Hot keys. Have your keyboard keyboard work how you want it to work.
Fabulous review, it relayed some of my fears re Antix. I have been looking for a replacement for Mint as the new version on my old P2.5 single core is running like a 1 legged man through treacle. I have played with the live CD and it looks ok and runs well even though it is a live CD. I just had not got around to installing it. (The Mrs might kill me if I get it wrong and she cannot get on her beloved Facebook.)
@ windmonger:
Take a look at what Puppy’s Woof is all about, as it will allow other Distro files to be used to build a Puppy ISO. So far Puppy files and Ubuntu files are being tested. Others are doing Debian, Slackware and Arch.
I was surprised AntiX hasn’t tested the newer LXDE, but neither is Mint.
Thanks,
ChiJoan in Reno
I am not a noob, I would have to say Intermediate. That said I really like AntiX but only had one problem that even the Forum couldn’t help with, at least not yet.
Where I live I often use AT&T 3G Broadband and just couldn’t get it to work. Works on most other distros I have tried but not AntiX (Yet).
For now I’ll stick to Linux Mint KDE Gloria, doesn’t work on my old hardware but great on my new stuff.
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I really like antiX a lot! I’m a full-time IT student working full-time, and I fix coworkers computers on the side. For computers that are corrupted or infected with malware, I give my coworkers the option of paying for a Windows product key or trying Linux. Most of them choose Linux, and this distro is my Linux of choice for older and lower spec machines. Great features, easy to use, and easy to explain. I like that IceWM is default as this gives a “Windows feel” for those who have been working on Windows for a long time.
Anyway, great review! Keep up the good work. I enjoy reading your Linux reviews.
–J