Puppy Linux 4.3
One of the nicest things about Linux is its sheer versatility. There are so many different versions of Linux that serve different purposes including being able to take it with you wherever you go. No, I’m not talking about on a laptop or even on a netbook. I’m talking about being able to stick it on a USB device and stick it in your pocket.
Puppy Linux is one of the better known distributions when it comes to Linux portability. Puppy has been around for a long time and version 4.3 was recently released. Compared to some of the desktop distributions, Puppy is incredibly lightweight and weighs in at a tiny 105MB when you go to download it. Yep, that’s it. 105MB.
But don’t let the file size of the Puppy Linux download fool you. There’s a lot of value packed into Puppy Linux as you’ll find out in this review.
What’s New In This Release
There’s quite a bit of new stuff in this version of Puppy Linux including a new system for building Puppy called Woof and a new package manager called, appropriately enough, Puppy Package Manager.
Here’s a sample of some of the other stuff that’s new in this release.
2.6.30.4 Linux Kernel
Dialup Modem Drivers
Pstreamvid
CPU Scaling
JWM Theme Maker
Psync
Mscw
pCD
QUISP
SQLiteManager
Hiawatha
Linux-dvb-apps
Screenshot Utility
Aqualung
Crop Background for Widescreen
NicoEdit
Ext4 Support
There’s quite a bit more so be sure to review the full list at the release announcement link above.
Puppy Linux has a cute (albeit a bit bland) desktop wallpaper.
(16 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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Wow, we got some pretty lively discussions here. I think that is GREAT, and hopefully it will bring some attention, traffic, a little bit of ad revenue, and maybe even a JOB for Jim. I have been looking for that next great gig too.
My conclusion of thought, both as a summary of my comments and an acknowledgment of others, is that Puppy is a very creative, community centric, small, fast distribution that has a lot to offer. It is not for everyone. Not everyone wants to run as root, not everyone “gets” the quirks in the network setup, and not everyone wants to run the apps that Puppy includes. Nevertheless, it is a fast, fun, useful system that clearly is extensible – there have been a massive number of “respins”, resulting in LOTS of Pup offspring!
It’s not my number one system, but I nearly always try out a release when I notice that one is out, and I’ve tried at least a half dozen of those other “Pups” too! If you are a distro tester like I am, Puppy is always worth having in your collection, and it is worth using when you are primarily intending to use the Internet, and it is worth throwing on a carry around CD, DVD, or USB stick.
The new Puppy Package Manager rocks! According to official documentation, it can install Debian/Ubuntu .deb, Slackware .tgz, and Arch .pkg.tar.gz packages. I tested it on a Ubuntu .deb package, and it works as advertised. This new feature (I don’t recall its being present previously) can greatly extend Puppy’s software suite.
Very good and useful review… I’m sure many will benefit from this!
But … of all the videos available on YouTube, “How To Skin A Squirrel” was the you thought of to post?! hahahaha
Hey a new version! I can’t wait to download and try this version of Puppy Linux. I’ve been using various versions of the distro for quite a while now as my main desktop on an old IBM PII laptop. I’m currently running 4 Dingo installed to my hard drive (I dual boot with Win 98SE). I’ve used the distro for mail, and surfing the net for information, as well as some authoring of text and other documents, and editing photos etc. Not intensive but daily use. I hardly ever use Windows anymore. One of the things I like about Puppy is that it is lightweight but functional. I think one thing missed in the review was that it intentionally avoids “bling” and gives you functionality instead. If you want bling you can always add it yourself. I must say one strength is that it has run in ram on every PC I’ve tried it on from its disk. That isn’t to say Puppy will run on everything but I’ve had pretty good luck with it so far. I’ve even installed it onto a thumb drive, which is handy. I’ve used the Live CD to rescue data from my daughters newer DELL PCs when Vista wouldn’t boot anymore, and to repartition their hard drives. I’m not sure what the issue is with running in root. So far I haven’t had any lost data, or insecure data issues that I can identify. Maybe I don’t understand what the concern is. I gave Ubuntu a try once and I found SUDO this and that annoying. Vista is awful too in that regard. Dear lord please just let me do it! Root is ok with me. It’s not a bad first distro for those trying to learn something about Linux, at least that’s been my experience. The wizards are helpful for the main things but you will definitely have to learn something about Linux to progress further. One of the things I liked about it was you can run it completely in ram from the live CD and not make any impact on your PC. I’ve found the people puppy forum very helpful and informative as well as enthusiastic. Anyway, that’s my 2 cents. – Yorkiesnorkie
Thanks for the info. Actually this all got me wondering about the root thing so I decided to inform myself a little better. There was a lively discussion about the merits of running as root or not at the puppy forum. I refer you to: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29358&start=45
I’ve had no issues so far from running as root and I’ve been using Puppy Linux for several years. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that Puppy has a firewall, and this is easily setup by using the Firewall Wizard. I think a hacker would have to beat that first to get into your computer. Would that make the issue of root moot? Sorry for the rhyme but I couldn’t resist ;).
I’ve run some of the on-line checks of security and found the versions of the distro I’ve used to be both secure and stealthy.
From my reading Root mostly protects users from screwing up their Linux OS by requiring them to enter a password. If you have to enter that to configure the system and you don’t know fully what you are doing you are still taking a chance that you will do something improperly which might affect your configuration. The good thing about Puppy is that mistakes are easily recovered from using the Live CD.
I’m confident that my Linux system is secure enough for daily contact with the net (I never use Win 98SE for that). I’ve been using it for years without a hitch except where my knowlege of Linux falls short and I goofed up. I suppose one shouldn’t be too complacent about the potential for problems. However, I haven’t heard of any complaints from running as root.
Our Windows brethren are certainly plagued by their share of problems. In the past I’ve used Puppy to run Fprot on inactive Windows partitions and search them for virus. I can’t say I’ve had any problems in that regard with Linux. – Yorkiesnorkie
@ dragonmouth:
Indeed you are using puppy as root. But you can bypass this imaginary security flaw by changing the passwords of “root” and the user “spot.
Simply run all internet related programs, like your browser, IM programs, or the spyware called “skype” as restricted user “spot”, and it will have no acces to the system, or to mister root”s home.
I myself am a puppy linux fanboy.. yes, I admit it. Having a minimalism OS, that runs in memory. Fatser and more versatile then any other distro that I know of.
I have all the apps i need, and if it’s not there, i can search and compile it myself (or it can be found in thge forum)
Having an aprox 110mb operating system on my USB stick, running completely from memory, with some extra software enables me to run all internet related programs, my favourite games, like battlefield 2 with addons, footballmanager, The sims 3, and also all the multimedia software i need. That is simply amazing.
The only thing that you have to be aware of is that large programs, compile dirs, and other stuff that has large tempfiles, you be on a physical disk, and not in roots home. Because that will lead to problems. But, nothing is perfect.
@ Paul Eakins:
To Paul and everyone who notices that the Puppy desktop looks a bit bland and ugly..
There is a .pet file called “EZ-Pup” that is availble for just about all Puppy versions from about 2.xx – 4.xx. This adds the wonderful IceWM desktop to Puppy with a bunch of new themes and wallpapers. I’ve used it with Puppy 4.0 and 4.11 and it makes things look a lot nicer.
Actually, though you may not even need it with Puppy 4.2 and 4.21, because I believe IceWM is included with those versions. When you get to the logout dialog box, I think one of the options is to switch to IceWM. Puppy 4.2x, by default has a nice looking desktop though. With 4.3, it looks like they are going back to the basics, but that’s ok. Hopefully EZ-Pup will be available for it.
Dan
Is there a user “spot” ?
how do we get to use spot ?
I am new with puppy and linux in general, however I have been using Windows
for many years and very comfortable with it. the only reason I am trying a small
distro, is windows forces me to upgrade my machine everytime a new version
comes out. so I got to a point where I had enough of it, wasting money and
at the same time doing something good for the environment.
Yeah it would be good to be able to use another user, rather than root. don’t
understand why it would be so difficult to implement that feature. Maybe
someone in the puppy community can explain it better.
thanks
It is best for low end computers and perfect for netbooks and sure it is best than windows 98. Now I can say it is a perfect windows killer.
To read more about Puppy 4.3 visit
http://distrolove.blogspot.com/2009/09/puppy-linux-43-linux-2u.html
Quit your bellyaching now that Puppy Multi-User version is here!
http://puppylinux.org/news/puplets/puppy421multiuseriso/