Request A Review

Is there a Linux distribution you’d like to see reviewed? A Linux app you’d like to see covered? Post a note in the comments below and I’ll check it out. I can’t promise to review every app or distribution but I’ll definitely check out your recommendation.

Thanks in advance for your review suggestions.

69 Responses to “Request A Review”

Brian Masinick
June 22, 2009 at 12:52 pm | Permalink

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Hey Jim, I am waiting with eagerness for the next sidux release (they generally come out quarterly). Usually each release comes with a KDE-lite edition, an XFCE edition, and a full DVD edition including both KDE and XFCE.

The current release is 2009.01, which was released early this year. It is a true rolling release, so when KDE 4.2 came into Debian Sid, sidux picked it up. The community very quickly described how to do the KDE 3 – 4 migration smoothly, but a developer, h2, who has been working on a script called smxi for several years, incorporated all of the KDE migration stuff into his script. While the h2 script is not an official part of sidux, to me, it is what makes sidux so special – getting cutting edge software to work with very little effort.

When sidux 2009.02 comes along, I’d like to see your impressions of it. Mine are clear: this is my number one favorite distro.

Other distros that have long held my favor include SimplyMEPIS, which I appreciate for its basic simplicity and solid stability. I always keep one around, just in case my ambitious exercises torch one or more of my other favorites; antiX, a SimplyMEPIS derivative using lighter window managers and fast applications, MEPIS Cano 2, a respin by MEPIS Lovers Forum packager, “Danum”, MEPIS XFCE 4.6.1, a respin by another excellent packager, Marcos. The packaging community at MEPIS Lovers have really become experts over the past two years. Marcos and Danum are two of the more recently visible packagers who have made their own creations to share; anticapitalista was perhaps the first one; he made antiX, and it was regarded highly enough to be sanctioned by Warren Woodford. It appears that Marcos’ work is also starting to gain Warren’s approval as well.

I like this kind of stuff – efforts a bit off the commonly beaten path. I don’t know if you want to review some distros that are far off the mainstream path, but if you do, the MEPIS Lovers Forum has some great ones. The sidux stuff is closer to the mainstream, and you will find an almost rabid enthusiasm for it among the admittedly modest sized user base – it has the kind of enthusiasm that Libranet used to get in the early part of the decade – that may give you an idea of its usefulness.

Whatever you choose to review, I am sure I will find something of interest in it, if for no other reason than to read the viewpoints of someone whom I have long valued and respected. I think I’ve read opinion pieces from you and Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols about as long as any other writers in this particular niche of the business, and I still enjoy each of your styles and opinions very much. Keep it up!

Brian
Bill Julian
June 22, 2009 at 8:19 pm | Permalink

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Put Knoppix 6.1 Live DVD on your hit list. I have one courtesy of Linux Journal and it is quite good and innovative! Klaus Knopper is back at it.

What I find interesting is that if you want to do an HD installation the reply at the Knoppix Wiki is more-or-less “Why the heck do you want to do that?”

And then “Well if you must just understand we won’t hold your hand.”

Darned impressive as a Live DVD though, and it can be persistent. Take a look Jim.
masinick
June 24, 2009 at 2:44 pm | Permalink

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Mentioned in the Mint 7 review, but a review on the new Elive would also be nice.
Shashwat
July 3, 2009 at 2:08 pm | Permalink

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Please review Mandriva.. I have already reviewed a lot of distro, thus I am interested in reading your opinion about Mandriva 2009.1 :)

Nice work ..
Bill Julian
July 6, 2009 at 9:14 am | Permalink

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I see Mas has made a pitch for Sidux, which I have just installed. Blazingly fast at least in the Xfce version. Well worth a look, but not a first-timer’s distro, IMHO. There is a new version just around the corner, evidently. Might be best to wait for it.

Is there enough reader interest for a review of Arch Linux? My impression is that there are people who are quite passionate about it.
Jim Lynch
July 6, 2009 at 10:19 am | Permalink

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Hi Bill,

I checked out Arch and I’ll have to pass on doing a review. I was not able to get it to install properly in VMWare and, after doing a bit of research on it, I don’t think it’s really well suited for a general desktop distribution. Not that it can’t be used that way but it seems like it’s geared a bit more for a different kind of user.
Brian Masinick
July 10, 2009 at 1:49 am | Permalink

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How about a fresh review of the latest Crunchbang Linux 9.04.01 that was announced on July 8?

I’m looking forward to a sidux review, too. It is now in preview testing; I will let you know when it is final. Notice that Bill Julian was quite impressed with the speed. It’s not a newbie distro (you can probably say the same thing about Crunchbang), but it sets the mark for a fast base installation (I got two minutes and seventeen seconds by throwing the ISO image on a USB stick and installing it). Crunchbang is a pretty fast Openbox based offshoot of the Ubuntu family, but it looks and feels VERY different from Ubuntu, believe me.
Brian Masinick
July 10, 2009 at 2:23 am | Permalink

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How about a review of the real, true blue Debian? Lenny is no longer a beast to install; it is actually fairly easy, though still more “steps” than some of the easiest distros. While still perhaps not an early beginner distro, Debian is no toughie either, and it is fast, effective, efficient, and very stable.

Debian Lenny was released in February 2009, and there has now been an update to the original release, so the number might be something like 5.0.1 or something like that. Well worth a review and well worth using!

I retrofitted mine with KDE 4.2.4 from a back port repository and it runs KDE 4.2.4 as well as anything I’ve ever seen. XFCE runs great on Lenny too, as do GNOME (the typical default), the classic KDE 3.5.10, and plenty of lightweight desk and window managers – Lenny has many of them in its repository.

How about a review of the stock setup?
Fr. Stephen
July 12, 2009 at 7:24 pm | Permalink

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Thanks for the reviews – especially the “Who Should Use It” section. Your review of TinyCore is the first time I’ve gotten the point of what that distro was about.
Would there be any interest in a “Linux for old dead hardware” review? I have a P-II with 356 MB of RAM that needs something better than its current tired install of Win2000. I’m thinking along the lines of TeenPup – I’m on the same page re: the necessity of OpenOffice.
(Also have a P-III running Ark Linux, to get a “light” KDE system with KOffice; have tried Slax & Puppy; DSL is a bit too bare-bones for my use.)
A comparison of various lightweight distros with fairly full desktop functionality could be very useful.
Thanks again!
masinick
July 12, 2009 at 9:45 pm | Permalink

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Jim, have you ever looked at eLive? It is a Debian based Live CD using Enlightenment as the desktop environment. http://www.elivecd.org/ is the site where it is located, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=ES&hl=es&v=nCJ8QDfA95U has one of the best promo videos you have ever seen for a Linux distro. Might be a nice change of pace.

http://elive.homogenica.com/development/ is one location where you can get development releases – 1.9.34 (July 11) is the most current development release). The most recent “Stable” release goes way back to 2007 – however, I have not found the development releases in the past to be unstable at all – that’s more a Debian term than anything else.

If you want to try something out of the ordinary, this could be another good one to review – it’s a pretty fast system too.