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.

@ 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

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.)

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.

Brian,
When one is as well versed in UNIX/Linux as you, nothing is hard. I’d bet that, if you were so inclined, you could whip up a distro in a couple of days to rival anything currently available. Come to think of it, weren’t you on the development staff of a couple of distros?

@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.

@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.

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.

@ 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.

Installed antiX-M8.2, Impressed with its responsiveness and appearance but my netbook’s ethernet and wireless could not be detected. Goodbye, antiX.