How about a review of Bridge Linux? http://www.millertechnologies.net/ It’s Xfce and made by some company called Miller Technologies, which might be just one guy for all I know.

I would like a review of Bridge Linux. It’s based on Arch Linux, includes Xfce as the desktop, and has several applications like LibreOffice and Chromium. It is designed to make it easier and faster to set up Arch Linux for the desktop. Check it out at http://millertechnologies.net and https://sourceforge.net/projects/bridgelinux/

I see mention of Arch back in 2009 and a decision not to review it. Does that still stand? At the time there was a comment about it being aimed at a different type of user than the standard desktop variety. This was incorrect even back then. It has great package management, an awesome wiki and community and it allows you to actually own YOUR system. I’ve been using it for years now and it, good old Debian and FreeBSD round out my standard OSs that I always return to. You should take a look at it again.

Hi,

Linpus has just released for public download the latest edition of their Linux distro, Linpus Lite Desktop.

Linpus Lite Desktop Edition is an extremely powerful yet versatile desktop, all-in-one, notebook and netbook operating system. Based on Gnome 3, it has a significant array of enhancements that make it a great choice whether you require productivity, entertainment or lead an extremely social, connected online life.

It is also designed to work on a broad range of hardware and handle the most intensive tasks

http://www.linpus.com/downloads.html

Thanks,

Happy Christmas!

Warren

Jim:

Please review ZevenOS Linux Neptune

Jim:

Please review PearOS Panther Linux 3.0

Review Kororaa Linux 16 please. It is a Fedora 16 remix with all the non-free codecs already installed, thirdy party repositories already configured, flash plugin installable through an on-demand script. Kororaa has the Ubuntu “Jockey Device Driver Manager” to install proprietary video drivers fon NVidia videocard.

What about Frugalware 1.5 ?

I would like to see Fedora 16 and Mint 12 reviewed. Yes, Mint 12 final, not RC, has been released a few days ago, back on Wednesday, even though there was no formal announcement on either DistroWatch or Linux Mint’s website.

@Brian,

LM Lisa gave me a positive impression to extent of recommending you to take a look at it when having time to do so. The functionality of this LM is the thing that caught my attention. Just about everything works in the DVD edition works, straight out of the box. For those who do not want to tweak, tinker nor have the time to mess with these kind of things, and don’t want to pay for Windows, the LM 12 version could be the distro hopper stopper for many people if it does correct one thing before the final release is out. This is also novice friendly, too.

The real minor issue in LM Lisa is its compatibility with Moonlight Mono. It didn’t work. If they get this figured out before the final release, then what I posted above could become true. Pinguy, in this latest release, somehow got this right, even though the rest of the operating system tends to drag along.

After raving about the LMDE Gnome of this past January, I had tried the newer one which came out in the spring. This was a disappointment. Whatever they did, they regressed. It was lot slower in loading, and not all the repositories worked.

I’ve noticed same about the LMDX. One did not like their hard ball coding mechanism. Their mode of restarting is not what I call this process. I tried it for one day then ditched. Message to that version is thanks, but no thanks.

easyed wrote:

@ Brian Masinick:
Good Day Brian, I would take a look at the latest Linux Mint Gnome. Its RC is up on the repositories.

So you really like it, EasyEd? I am not particularly a GNOME, Ubuntu, or Mint fan, but based on your positive impression, I’d be willing to give it a look.

Anything in particular lead you to your positive impression – or were you just hoping that I would look at it and give you my impression of it?

What I can generally tell you about Mint distributions is that they are extremely easy to install and they have just about anything you can think of. The Debian Edition versions are not as well polished yet as the regular versions, but they are just as easy to install. If they tune those up just a bit better, they could end up being the best possible thing out there, because with the Debian Testing repositories backing them, you install it once and you are done until you choose to get something else; you can run the same distro for years, just upgrading it occasionally.

For me, I would have liked the Linux Mint Debian Xfce Edition, (LMDX), except that they made a choice that really bothered me, so eventually I just dumped the distro. What they did (and THEY definitely did this) was hard code a scheme that instead of rebooting the system using the usual /sbin/reboot program, in place of that program, they put an exec call to simply replace the currently managed OS image with a replacement (in UNIX and Linux terms, a “fork” is when you initiate a child process, a second process, of a parent process, and an “exec” is when you replace or overwrite the current process, executing or killing the current process with a new one. So their “Reboot” is not really a reboot at all; it won’t go and return to the system boot loader, it just restarts itself. Fine if that’s your only system, but with LMDX, rebooting just restarts itself. You have to do a halt to completely stop the system, then boot using the boot manager to find another system. How crazy! If it weren’t for that lousy feature, I’d like the release, but that’s a show stopper for me!

@ Brian Masinick:

Good Day Brian, I would take a look at the latest Linux Mint Gnome. Its RC is up on the repositories.

I have to confess, Linux Mint 12 Gnome, which is now in a release candidate cycle, could become another blow for distro hopping. It could be lights out when the polished product comes out in a couple of weeks, around 25 November.

LM 12 Gnome,although in RC at present, deftly took something that’s spastic, erratic and user unfriendly in Gnome 3 with Unity interfacing, and build their own version of Mint’s shell. It works very well. Would strongly download this, then see what it does when the final release is out. It has that kind of potential…to slow down distro hopping.

Macpup PLEAAAAASE! (:

How about a new review in general?!? It’s been a while (almost 2 months as of October 2011?) since your last one. I would love to read your review on anything Debian, Ubuntu, and/or Linux Mint related since the release of the controversial Gnome 3.

How about an updated review on pinguyos, jim? 11.04.1 is out now! :D

Seeing as how this isn’t a widely known Distribution of Linux, I figured I’d start posting it to a few respectable Review/Watch sites.

http://www.everydesk.org/

Thank you.

thanks for the review.

I would request you,if possible,to review openSUSE 11.4, and help us
make up our minds about it,as we find your views and analysis of distros very helpful and comprehensive.
Thanking you for all the good work you have already done;
js.

Hi, could you review PCLinuxOS 2011.7? Looks very interesting, good hardware support, appearance is very pretty :)

Brian Masinick wrote:

I would really like to see a review of Mageia. While the first version was nothing particular earth shattering, it had a couple of attributes besting the distro from which it forked, Mandriva. One, it isn’t tied to corporate budgets, schedules, or staffing requirements. Two, the first version focused on establishing an infrastructure and creating a stable core system. I feel that they did very well, and the new user community deserves to see Mageia in action because it is pretty good, and it is easy to handle.
Mageia 2 is well under way, and it behaves similar to the Mandriva Cooker. I like the fact that Mageis is no longer under the thumb of the poor senior management at Mandriva, who have failed for over a decade to produce a consistently reliable and viable system, not only for business, but for the community. Mandriva has tried Clubs, changed strategies multiple times, cleaned house two or three times, shedding excellent developers. Quite a few of the finest developers have landed with Mageia, and I think it merits a look. I think novice to intermediate users will get along fine with it, and old time Mandrake users might appreciate it too; I have.

Glad you took a look at Mageia and reviewed it, Jim. Now how about a look at Jason Hsu’s work on Swift Linux? Granted, it’s similar to antiX in a lot of ways, and it uses the MEPIS installer, but to me, those are both reasons for this one to get a + or a check.

Swift Linux is a bit easier than antiX to use, and targets a combination of antiX, Puppy, and forensics users as its audience.

The fact that Jason has created a few “fun” boot and wallpaper screens, plus some interesting sound bites on some of his “marketing” derivatives (Taylor Swift Linux, NASCAR Linux to name two), speak to the flexibility of this system.

In Swift Linux numbering, this one is not yet Version 1. That’s because it’s truly not 100% its OWN distro yet, it still has too many references to antiX, something that Jason is working on. But in spite of that, I think this one has merit. One, it makes an excellent forensic distro. Two, it’s small, easy to run live, possible to load into memory and use from CD or DVD or even install to USB, yet it is also installable. Three, it’s pretty solid, and you can get help and information on it, not only through Jason’s site, but also in the antiX forum and the MEPIS Lover’s Community forum, because in its true underlying essence, its a MEPIS derivative, 100%. Only the packaging and user experience, which are what Jason is emphasizing, differ, and those differences are worth looking at in my opinion.

Jimmy wrote:

I think you’re reviews are the best. How about the little nice distro called Chakra?

Chakra would be a nice one to look at. Originally based on Arch, some people probably avoid it because of that, but they really shouldn’t. Chakra takes the complexity out of a lot of it, and seems to be diverging from the goals of Arch, yet still benefits from several of the good things that Arch has done.

Perhaps Chakra is not quite a beginner or mainstream distro, but it is an interesting one that the type of people who visit this site ought to take a look at. The fact that you can run it live, by its very nature, makes this one doable for most people.

I think you’re reviews are the best. How about the little nice distro called Chakra?

Hy Jim !
Could you try out Kanotix 2011-05.That was a very popular distro back in some time.But the best part is that it is built on debian stable and it installs the ati driver during the installation of the the os
Cheers

Jason Hsu wrote:

Please review my distro, Swift Linux. Swift Linux 0.1.0 is now available at http://www.swiftlinux.org and based on the new antiX Linux M11.

Here is another vote, not only for Swift Linux, but for anything that is a member of the MEPIS family. SimplyMEPIS and antiX also released their Version 11.0 systems the first week of May, and they have quietly, with very little fanfare, been the favorites of many.

To show the versatility of both MEPiS and antiX, first of all, antiX has been doing a very nice remake of MEPIS for over five years now. It does not sport a desktop by default; the full version offers IceWM and Fluxbox instead.

The Swift Linux variation was birthed from an interest in forensic Live CDs and a sense of humor and learning by the developer, Jason Hsu. He’s done iCarly, Magnum PI, Taylor Swift, and a few other “fun” respins, just to show what you can easily do with a remaster or respin, but he’s also added some value to the antiX infrastructure. Anti tries to keep things minimal, and Jason has done so too, but Jason has focused a bit more than anti on simplicity so Swift Linux may in some ways be a better choice for a curious newcomer.

Swift Linux is not quite yet 100% “branded”; it’s roots and its remastering from antiX are strongly obvious. As long as that’s not a problem for anyone, this is a fine distribution, and I’ve been congratulating Jason along the way.

I could see a family or string of reviews here, even a series:

1. Debian Squeeze (out since Winter).
2. Simply MEPIS 11.0 (out since May).
3. antiX M11.0 in any of three flavors (out since May).
4. Swift Linux (many samples available Spring and Summmer).