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.

104 Responses to “Request A Review”

Brian Masinick
June 23, 2010 at 12:12 am | Permalink

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How about CloudUSB, based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS?
http://cloudusb.net/?CloudUSB_Computer
jacobdb
June 24, 2010 at 2:05 pm | Permalink

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@ Brian Masinick:

if you could review mint 9 isadora. or if that one has already been done review zenwalk linux 6.4 because i would like your opinion about it.
mukhtarz
June 24, 2010 at 5:14 pm | Permalink

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Hi Jim,

Can you please tell us what you think about opensuse…
Brian Masinick
July 2, 2010 at 6:22 pm | Permalink

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Brian Masinick wrote:

sidux 2010-01 has now been released with KDE SC 4.4.4, a very current sidux 2.6.34 kernel, a solid XFCE desktop alternative, fast, highly compressed bootable image, great hardware support. One of the very best distributions for the experienced Debian user community, still my every day system.

I’ve been using the RELEASED version of sidux 2010-01 since the middle of June, the preview prior to that, and rolling releases of sidux for some time. It’s nice to see KDE SC 4.4.4 in Debian Sid because sidux works really well with it. XFCE has stabilized and has only had modest changes over the past 1-2 years, but it is fast and solid. These are the two desktops that the sidux DVD includes; KDE, XFCE and fluxbox are the sidux defaults. According to the latest sidux manual, GNOME has stability issues in the Debian Sid repositories, and therefore GNOME is explicitly NOT supported, but unofficially it is possible to run it; you may be able to ask someone nicely, or you can be brave. Me? I can run the standard KDE, XFCE, Fluxbox, IceWM, JWM, fvwm, fvwm-crystal, just to name a few. That’s MORE than plenty, and they ALL run extremely well.

I know what I think of this release. I’d like to hear how you review it Jim, and if I am the only one who still likes this software.
Aaron
July 14, 2010 at 5:31 pm | Permalink

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I would like to see a review of WattOS…based on Lucid Lynx and designed for lower power usage.
zahurdias
July 17, 2010 at 4:29 am | Permalink

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Slitaz, Talk about speed!!! 20 sec boot time on an old 1 Mhz celeron
Bill Julian
July 19, 2010 at 11:06 am | Permalink

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Jim, you probably saw the reference to UberStudent Linux on Distrowatch this morning. This is another Ubuntu re-spin, this time optimized for “teaching, learning or doing academic computing.” It is an interesting website and it appears that UberStudent can be used in structured courses or for self-taught, self-paced activities.

Whoever does it knows today’s students. Needless to say there’s a full load of multimedia/social networking stuff!

Worth a look maybe?
Brian Masinick
July 20, 2010 at 10:08 am | Permalink

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I’d like to see a “shootout review” where a number of distributions that feature the LXDE desktop environment are featured. LXDE is one of the newest desktop environments. It’s quite a bit newer than the OLDEST one in the free software space, XFCE, which predates even KDE by a couple of years, and actually started in the UNIX space as a free alternative to CDE, the ugly Common Desktop Environment. XFCE was once pretty ugly, too, but it’s gone through well over a decade (and a half) of enhancements. XFCE can be modestly small if you keep its feature set trim, but it can get a bit bloated if you are not careful, though not to the extent of KDE or GNOME. But LXDE does not have all of that fancy message passing stuff, just a session manager, window manager, and a few applications, and they are all designed to be light and simple.

The netbook craze, the tablet craze, and the general mobile craze have created interest in lighter environments and it is unnecessary to use a big KDE or GNOME, though they, too, have many interesting new features for power users.

Given the fact that we’ve recently looked at a few LXDE based distributions, I’d like to see a broader review across several of them, spanning the range from miniscule, such as SliTAZ to large – maybe Fedora or OpenSUSE with LXDE, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

I’ve done a little of that myself in the Desktop Linux Reviews Forums if anyone wants to take up a discussion with me there.

I’d love to see a review that generates Jim’s thoughts on this and responses from others as well. Whaddaya think?
Brian Masinick
July 20, 2010 at 10:17 am | Permalink

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jacobdb wrote:

@ Brian Masinick:
if you could review mint 9 isadora. or if that one has already been done review zenwalk linux 6.4 because i would like your opinion about it.

I have not worked with the full GNOME release of Linux Mint Isadora, but this week I installed Linux Mint 9 LXDE, and found it to be very easy to install with no obvious issues at all, a clean, visually appealing environment, a fast, light desktop, and a few of the usual Mint management tools that have been improved for speed. If you like Mint, you are likely to like this version. The full version of Mint using the GNOME desktop has more software and applications that are more familiar to frequent Linux users and it is a fairly trouble free desktop environment.

I have not recently used any versions of Zenwalk, but I did just recently read about them. Zenwalk, which has Slackware foundations behind it, had in recent years started to diverge from Slackware, but then the developers rethought their position, realized that Patrick Volkerding has REALLY GOOD base packages in Slackware, so in the Version 6 stream Zenwalk has really returned to the active use of base Slackware packages, and where they’ve focused their attention are in features and performance aspects not found by default in Slackware.

When I have used Zenwalk in the past, I’ve found it somewhat easier than Slackware to install, configure, and manage, with desktop performance very similar to what you get in Slackware. I would rate it similar to Mint in ease of installation, but I would give Mint more points for tools and overall flexibility, and Mint also tends to release new features in a more timely basis, has a more active user community, and has much better name recognition. Both, however, represent very good desktop systems, so it ultimately depends what you are looking for. Chances are that either of them could deliver a solid desktop experience, but that, to a certain degree, will depend on your needs and interests and also on the particular hardware and software that you use.
bytebulimic
July 28, 2010 at 7:11 pm | Permalink

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Review the new Mint 9 KDE, please.