Request A Review

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

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.

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.

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!

Here's one that may be right up your alley Mr. Jim! A little off beat. :biggrin:

http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=20…

How about another really "off the wall" one to look at - kongoni.nietschzhe-1_12.2 - a cool, African based KDE distribution with Slackware roots? It is quite fast even in a VM?

See http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=kon… for the details.

I like it, running it in a Virtualbox right now.

Mepis, I do not see a single review of this well supported distro. I have been using a 64-bit KDE version since the 6.5 release, Currently there are a number of remasters that are not the official KDE 3.5.10 release and all of them would be dependable for a main computer system:

AntiX

Gnome

Xfce

LXDE

I recently downloaded a Mepis KDE4.2 remaster set up with the old style menu that completely evaporated any hesitation I had about moving to the updated KDE4 in the future. In the mean time I depend upon the current version Mepis 8.0.6 without any hesitation, using KDE 3.5.10.

JR

BTW, I am using Omega 11 in a Virtualbox OSE instance and it runs well there!

Thanks for the reviews.

I really enjoy your reviews of lightweight distros. I have a msi wind running Crunchbang Linux 9.04 and I am really satisfied. Pretty fast and with fairly full desktop functionality.

I would like to read a review of gOS (http://www.thinkgos.com/index.html). Also a review on the Zenwalk would be nice (http://www.zenwalk.org).
Thank you.

Hi, I so far love your blog. Your reviews seem to be pretty fair, and cover a lot of detail without getting bogged down in things common among distros. It's a great site for people who like to distro hop (who doesn't?).

I'd like to see the latest openSUSE reviewed some time. Although I'd dabbled in dual booting before hand, one of my first cold-turkey Linux experiences was with Suse 10.1. That put me off Suse for a long time, and almost put me off Linux. I'd love to see how Suse is going now.

Greetings Jim. I stumbled across your site from a link posted by the Download Squad regarding your Hannah Montanna Linux review (Oh dear god), and was pleasantly surprised to read your well-thought out reviews and insights.

My request is this : A review (or basic overview) of Enlightenment-using distros/remasters. I know of two, eLive (which I have just downloaded and will try soon) and OpenGEU (which is an Enlightenment-using remaster of Ubuntu 9.04). I think that Enlightenment has enormous potential as part of a lightweight distro, and seems to be far more user-friendly than either IceWM, XFCE or Fluxbox.

A simple overview list (or 'Best Of' listing with brief summaries) would be useful to introduce people to this window manager.

Cheers, and keep up the good work!

I'm adding gNewSense to the list……..

http://www.gnewsense.org/

Its a fork of ubuntu GNU/Linux which is only using free softwares(as described by Free Software Foundation)I don't know anything new is there in this distro,but the philosophy looking good to me…

what about Sabayon Linux?

These 2 look interesting.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mon…

http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20090831#…

Today i have found a site to download LIN-X.

http://www.virtualboximages.com/Lin-X-1.1

So please try this and review it….I would like to have a review about a linux distro looking like apple mac os X just after your review about vixta linux…so please try it……

How about Zenwalk ?

I am interested in seeing a review of Sabayon Linux. It has its own packaging system, and I have installed it with apparent considerable success as 'first linux' for several friends.

J.E.B.

How about a review of yet another unknown - but this one is based on an old classic. It is salix 13.0, based on Slackware 13.0. It has the same rock solid stability as Slackware, but instead of defaulting to KDE, salix offers the XFCE desktop, and it has three ways to configure: full, where it installs all 500 MB of packages, minimal, where it installs enough to get up and running, but leaves the rest to you, so you can customize, or core, where it installs only the core components.

It claims to install in around five minutes, and based on my quick test, it seemed to do just that. I have not given it a full evaluation yet, but it looks like a very fast alternative to Slackware. It uses the same ancient, but ultra reliable Slackware installer, but it configures everything, including X, for you.

See if you like it; distro lovers may want to look at this one.

Jim, may be it is interesting for you to review two projects whom evolved significantly:

- Slackware linux 13.0

- MagicPoint application

Sincerely,

Pablo SAborio Chacón

As molen noted, KAHEL OS is very promising….It is based on ARCH LINUX and it uses GNOME as its desktop environment……It how Zenwalk is to Slackware…KAHEL OS IS ARCHLINUX MADE EASY…..Just visit their website and you will understand how well maintained it is….

I haven't seen any good review about it when i googled about it….SO IF YOU ARE DOING A REVIEW ABOUT IT it will be USEFUL FOR LINUX ENTHUSIASTS….

http://www.kahelos.org/

How about a review of julinux_0.1.4.7.iso? I downloaded it; I've never seen it in action before, nor had I heard about it previously until today. Claim to fame seems to be the ability to play Windows based games and use a relatively common Ubuntu-derived environment. Might be worth a look for the curious among us. I am hoping to have the time to at least check it out myself.

sidux 2009-03 Preview has been announced. That means that sidux 2009-03 is within a couple of weeks away. This release adds a 2.6.31 kernel for new hardware support, the choice of ext3 and ext4 file systems, the availability of the new GRUB 2 boot manager, the latest KDE 4.3.2 and XFCE 4.6.1 desktop environments, and considerable refactoring of the graphical environment to support changes that have occurred over the past one to two quarters.

Should be a worthwhile release for those who might be new to this one. It is upgradable without installing this release for those who already use it. You can change the appearance to the new backgrounds by installing the "momos" specific sidux packages.

This has always been one of the fastest, most capable releases I use and it remains my personal favorite. I'd like to see what others think of it too.

How about a review of PCLinuxOS

Hi Jim,

Opensuse 11.2 releasesed few days. I would like to see a review of that. I've latelty become a KDE4 fan and this is the biggest Linux Distro whose main Desktop is KDE4.

So i would like to decide if i want to shift from Kubuntu 9.10 to Opensuse 11.2.

Thanks,

Roshan Pius

First, double apologies for my English and I have 2 ideas (hence double apologies…):

a) I noticed that you often use Virtual Box, which is|was a property of Sun:

what about reviewing OpenSolaris (I vmplayed it last year, and was very impressed with its nice gnome, though I am clueless enough not to find softs such as a C compiler I am accustomed to. As it might remain a little young for HW recognition, virtual boxing it would be

*ideal -at least I hope- and

* new to some of your readers I know I am one : they have exotic file system and unusual ways of storing apps, at least).

b) Usual reviews are : "it was {un|}easy to install, HW recognition worked|failed and the fora seemed help{ful|less}"

As, after some time, HW ends up with finding its drivers (at least with installed linuxen I know, it is another story with live {D|DV}Ds, of course…)

what about looking at the softs they ship :

Frugalware made me conscious Octave was getting newer releases last year -and I could recommend Octave to a friend of mine to replace matlab- ,

Mandriva -I bet Fedora and Suze do about the same thing, but I cannot look at everything - often ships unusual (for the time) softwares: [VMplayer, Vbox and qemu] in 2007 -they were little known- , nepomuk in 2008 and sage in the 2010.0 version -which might make a student in math very happy: HW recognition lasts a short while in a mans life, but complicated applications can train someone for years….

I really would like to know a bit more about Calculate Linux. I tried the live CD of the desktop edition (CLD) for previous release, and i liked.

As i was using the live CD, i did not try the package management. However, i think it doesn’t includes proprietary drivers. Nevertheless, i think it’s a good distro.

Here is the link to the main website: http://www.calculate-linux.org/Main_Page

And the link to download section: http://www.calculate-linux.org/Download

By the way, thanks for all the reviews so far.

Hello Jim,

What is your opinion about Zorin OS 2.0? Just been out and I have been reading some nice reviews. I hope you can shine your light about this distro.

Slax please.

Hey jim, I was reading your reviews and their great! :getlost: OK enough of the suck up crap, I think you might find this distro interesting. It's called super OS, Originally called super ubuntu. nothing special but superOS is basicly ubuntu that's toured out-of-the-box and user-friendly experience for ubuntu, it's packed (1.1GB) with more things that a beginner will need and then some. If your thinking it's more like Ultimate Edition then your wrong. SuperOS comes with everything you truly need for a beginner and things that average and advance ubuntu users would like to have. I know that this isn't really convincing but all I'm asking is that you should check it out and if you feel like it review it. Here's the link http://hacktolive.org/wiki/Super_OS. have fun!

How 'bout Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10? I know you reviewed the standard Ubuntu 9.10, but I eant to really see if UNR is better for a netbook than Desktop Edition.

Liked this review!

I eagerly expect a review on Mepis 8.5. It doesn't have that pretty posterboy face of Ubuntu, but it's definitely a great distribution in terms of stability, usability and overall system integration.

Though it's free I found every release of Mepis to be shining with commercial gloss.

Please review Igelle Linux (http://www.igelle.com/) Looks a nice distro made from scratch. Also is compatible with others platforms.

Would like to see what you think of Antix

it was the only linux I could get to run happily on an old 64Mb pc

that was after trying DSL,puppy,Tinycore slax etc

http://antix.mepis.org/index.php/Main_Page

I'd like to hear what you think of Lubuntu. I tried it on an old laptop (Dell D600) and found it slower than Xubuntu which surprised me.

I don't want to request a review (maybe Slax come to think of it), but I want to alert you to selector at the bottom of fe:

http://desktoplinuxreviews.com/page/3/

I naturally click the Next button. But that is before I read it, and it actually says "Last", which is useless IHO. So I request you change it.

Otherwise it is a joy to have a review available so quickly. Thanks!

sidux 2010-01 Preview 1 is out with the expected release in 1-2 weeks. I would like to see this one visited again. Can we review it with emphasis on what it offers as opposed to the graphics, appearances, and that kind of stuff? That's not where this is strong. It is strong in being fast, current, and a developer's dream, also VERY FAST installing and running in Virtual environments.

Hi jim.

The new release of Parsix Linux is out.

Its version is 3.5 and code name Frankie.

I would be glad to see a review of this distro in your blog.

I've read your review about version 2.0 and 3.0 of this distro and waiting for this one. Especially comparing this with the well known Ubuntu Lucid Lynx.

(All if possible :wink: )

Thanks

Ahmad Sharifpour

Like Jim I would also like a Lubuntu review. :angel:

I am a member of the lubuntu team so I would like to know what to improve.

How about SliTAZ 3.0, a VERY small (30 MB) ISO image that builds into about a 100 MB image if installed. I know of only one system that is smaller in size - Tiny Core is about 10 MB, but SliTAZ rivals distributions in the 100-200 MB size range in its capabilities. This one is worth a look, to review based on what it can do compared to other very small distros. Amazing.

Another amazing piece of software is the fully functional sidux. The Preview 1 release of 2010-01 is now available, and the KDE SC 4.4.4 code is coming into Debian Sid, so we ought to see the final release of this distribution with a VERY current release of KDE plus a really stable release of XFCE.

Even though sidux is a full featured system, it is amazingly fast and nimble to run live or to install. Runs GREAT in a VM!

Can't wait to see what others think about it.

Hello Jim, I would see a review of the new Pardus 2009.2. You write a review of the old 2009. But they have released 2 versions since then.

And now they got a live cd to:
http://www.pardus.org.tr/eng/

Thanks/

John

@ 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. :smile:

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.

Slitaz, Talk about speed!!! 20 sec boot time on an old 1 Mhz celeron

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?

Review the new Mint 9 KDE, please.

hi, thanks for all the great reviews!

maybe you can review gobo-linux, or any other distro that uses this alternative file system (if there is any…)

thanks

marco

the Netherlands

Hi Jim, could you please review Chakra linux sometime? Would love to hear what you have to say about it.
http://chakra-project.org/

Thank you.

new review of Antix would be nice

antiX-M8.5 'Marek Edelman' released

it was the only linux I could get to run happily on an old 64Mb pc

that was after trying DSL,puppy,Tinycore slax etc

http://antix.mepis.org/index.php/Main_Page

Jim C wrote:

new review of Antix would be nice

antiX-M8.5 ‘Marek Edelman’ released

it was the only linux I could get to run happily on an old 64Mb pc

that was after trying DSL,puppy,Tinycore slax etc
http://antix.mepis.org/index.php/Main_Page

antiX is my favorite for a small, fast, lean, and flexible system.

Mint and Antix are my preferred favorites at the moment but Pinguy OS looks interesting , downloading now thanks for the heads up

Jocelyn wrote:

Hi Jim,

Please give Pinquy OS http://pinguy-os.sourceforge.net/ a review.

It appears to be a Ubuntu core with Mint Menu and some other Mint features plus a Mac style docking interface. I find this offering tempting.

If this offering successfully integrates all aspects it could be a 5/5 especially for newbies but I’m skeptical so I’m requesting an experienced review that only you can offer. Thank you for all those reviews – a long time Mint user but not a distro hopper or tester.

Until (and if) Jim decides to review this, let me give you my thoughts on it. There is no way that I would give this a 5/5. It does have just about everything I might want to use, but on the browser, for example, it includes every plugin you can imagine. The result is that the performance is terrible.

I can understand that you may want to have a lot of stuff included because they don't know how to add it. This one has a bit TOO much. It might be better to include basics, such as the codecs to access media, firmware to handle networks, particularly wireless networks, then include the basic core applications. From there, what I think I would have icons on the desk - as PCLinuxOS does for installing Open Office - and have a group of them, maybe one for installing office tools, another for installing social media access, and whatever else. Including it all, especially stuffing it automatically in the browser just leads to poor performance. I give them a five for trying but only a three for their implementation. It is just too sluggish to be useful for very long.

@ Brian Masinick:

Firefox is just as fast as a default install if not faster. There are many reviews about this.

And I quote:
http://www.itlure.com/2010/08/distro-hoppin-pingu…

“Sticking to the Firefox subject, let’s slide towards the part of the article in which I tell you about the bundled software that comes with Pinguy. Starting with, you guessed, Firefox, I have to tell you that it ships packed with 27 (twenty-seven) extensions installed. I was almost certain that all these will equal a heavy burden, but I was quite wrong, as the browser starts pretty quickly, and on top of that, I found most of the add-ons to be quite useful: Opera-like speed dial function, smooth scrolling, Fasterfox, etc.”

http://jeffhoogland.blogspot.com/2010/07/pinguy-o…

"The Firefox that ships with Pinguy is heavily customized to include a fantastic selection of addons that add an array of features to the browser (and Firefox on Pinguy feels much “snappier” than it does on Mint/Ubuntu)."

Pinguy OS wrote:

@ Brian Masinick:

Firefox is just as fast as a default install if not faster. There are many reviews about this.

And I quote:
http://www.itlure.com/2010/08/distro-hoppin-pingu…
“Sticking to the Firefox subject, let’s slide towards the part of the article in which I tell you about the bundled software that comes with Pinguy. Starting with, you guessed, Firefox, I have to tell you that it ships packed with 27 (twenty-seven) extensions installed. I was almost certain that all these will equal a heavy burden, but I was quite wrong, as the browser starts pretty quickly, and on top of that, I found most of the add-ons to be quite useful: Opera-like speed dial function, smooth scrolling, Fasterfox, etc.”
http://jeffhoogland.blogspot.com/2010/07/pinguy-o…
“The Firefox that ships with Pinguy is heavily customized to include a fantastic selection of addons that add an array of features to the browser (and Firefox on Pinguy feels much “snappier” than it does on Mint/Ubuntu).”

I tried installing Pinguy OS in a Virtualbox setting. I've had many distributions work well that way, but unfortunately, though your distribution looks very nice and it is undoubtedly very convenient for some people, I did not share the experience that other reviewers seemed to experience. The desktop itself took so long, and the spinning image stayed spinning long enough that I nearly gave up on it, but I tried and kept it going long enough to finally get it to come up.

Appearance looked excellent, but performance, at least when running in a virtual setup, which is how Jim reviews most, if not all, of the versions he reviews, just didn't cut it.

I'm sure it would do a lot better if natively installed, but I don't have a high powered box like the reviewers did (one of them even admitted that he had the latest and greatest hardware).

I'm glad that this distribution does have an audience, and I'm glad that you built it, and that there are people who enjoy it. Like so many other things, one size doesn't fit everyone, and this one just doesn't work out well for what I like to do. I still applaud your creativity with it, and if you have brought some friends to the Linux environment with it, that's great!

Hi Jim,

What about WattOS? I really like it. It's Ubuntu based with an Openbox Desktop and fast on old hardware.
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=wat… http://www.planetwatt.com/

You did a good job here :smile: mfg Bean

Recently i used Greenie what is not perfect for me since i am abroad but my parents in Prague love it

Hi Jim,

i would love to see a review of ArchBang Linux on your site. Yes it's based on Arch Linux, but it's (in my point of view) MUCH easier to install and to work with.

I used Arch Linux for several months, i tried Chakra and KahelOS, but belong all this Arch-based distributions, ArchBang really caught my attention.

Hi Jim,

Well, we've seen both Ubuntu and Kubuntu 10.10 now, and since I am an XFCE fanboy, I think it might be nice to see what Xubuntu 10.10 is bringing to the table. ;)

Thanks for the great reads so far!

Ups! I just realized that you've already reviewed Trisquel :/

http://desktoplinuxreviews.com/board/f12/debian-s…
and
http://desktoplinuxreviews.com/board/f12/debian-s…
have two mini reviews of builds I've done recently on Debian Live.

How about Crunchbang Statler Alpha 2…both the Openbox and XFCE

@ Dick MacInnis

I tried your distro. You should have had least included Flash out of the box for the intended purpose of your operating system.

doh, i knew i was forgetting one. GnackTrack!

http://www.gnacktrack.co.uk/

Hi Jim,

Could you review these distros please:

1. PureOS/PureOSlight

pureos.org/index.php?lang=english

distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=pureos

2. SliTaz GNU/Linux 3.0

slitaz.org

Regards,

Iffi.

I have not requested a review in a while, so why not request an Epidemic - a review of Epidemic Linux? My friend Scott, a.k.a. Trash80, co-author of the inxi system management tool - the one that is called in the smxi tool, written by another of my friends, Harold, a.k.a. h2, put me on to this distro and mentioned it to me several months ago, and I gave it a quick look, but I gave it a longer look today and I grabbed the Beta 2 build of Version 3.2. Version 3.1 is the supported release, but Beta 2 of Version 3.2 is available. It may be worth a Quick Look review, followed by a full review when 3.2 becomes available. You can make all kinds of jokes about a Linux Epidemic if you write a review! :-)

It's a pretty good one, Brazilian based, and we don't review many Brazilian distros, so I'd like to see this one in our mix soon.

Brian

Please make review for newest "Austrumi" linux. It has grown and improved a lot since last review..

Hello.

I mostly just have an eclectic bunch of desktop releases to suggest - Gentoo, Mandriva - as well as some more portable ones. The new Knoppix and Damn Small Linux editions in particular.

Also, maybe a few hardcore distros, like Slackware.

That should give you a few ideas for December.

Thanks in advance if you do any of these.

How about the latest version of Crunchbang Statler XFCE or Openbox

Any change you'd consider doing a review of Bodhi Linux? http://bodhilinux.com/

~Jeff

Greetings Jim,

LMDE 10 is out. Give it a whirl. You'll won't be disappointed. It's probably one of best distros I've ever tried.

Hey Jim, how about a Linux review for super-duper OLD computers. Connochaet, formerly DeLi Linux, is now based on Arch. It used IceWM as the default, so its pretty user friendly. I have used it on my VMware to experiment with it a little, and I found it pretty cool; well, for what it is. It isn't a "blow your socks off" kind of distro. Connochaet is the basics for what one would need to operate a computer. I think it would be good for a Linux user (no, not for a newbie — it is based on Arch after all) who knows someone that could use that old desktop in the closet floor. Once its set up, its ready to go!

Anyway, take it easy Jim. I enjoy your reviews a lot.

-Josh :devil:

Oh, and have you ever reviewed Legacy OS (formerly TeenPup)? That would be another good one for older computers. Works well in VMware.

http://pupweb.org/wikka/TeenPup

Unity and Tiny Me are a couple Mandriva-based little OS's I like a lot.

http://unity-linux.org/

http://tinymelinux.com/

There's a pretty interesting-looking distro called paldo (Pure Adaptable Linux DistrO). It's source-based, but its installation uses binary packages, and there are also binaries available in the repository. There's a stable, testing, and unstable branch, just like Debian. I'd love to read what you have to say about it (Be warned, though-there's no graphical package manager!)

Thanks,

Ezra

Dear Lynch,

We've enjoyed your Pardus 2009 review and looking forward to hear your thoughts on recently released Pardus 2011 as well…

Best,

Löker

Hello

I would like to see a review of the new Pardus 2011:
http://www.pardus.org.tr/eng/

There's a new distro that might be of interest. It's called iGolaware Linux 2.0 and is an Ubuntu 10.10 derivative. The thought behind this distro is similar to Pinguy however the emphasis is for ease of use for the beginner, no extra downloads for codecs / plugins, and a variety of apps aimed to satisfy the average home user. The download page is

http://www.igolaware.com/index.php?option=com_con…

Check it out

@ c_h0use:

Me too; I'd rather see a comprehensive review of this distribution, looking at it from the perspective of a long term, stable operating system for either desktop or server use.

Debian is not Ubuntu or Mint, and should not be compared to them, it should be compared to other long term stable systems, such as Slackware, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and other systems that have a three to five year life expectancy. Comparing Debian in this manner, I believe it stacks up very well with its competition.

Have you noticed how more and more distributions are trying to distinguish themselves by offering "specialized" features vs. just being still yet another, (more or less) run of the mill distro with pretty much the same software set ?

For example… JoliCloud ? Not to mention similar types aimed at the NetBook market.

Several distro's (Fedora for example)have a "specialized" Games version; or "Electronics" version; Mythbuntu is another example.

Here's a new and unique one…. SPLASHTOP. What makes it unique is that it claims to load on-top of Windows, but instead of being just another Linux distro, SplashTop allows an almost instant boot allowing a quick check of email and the web. Little more.. but hey… most times that's all I want… to quickly check my email and be gone.

How about doing one of your famous reviews on this one Jim.

Hi Jim

I really like your reviews,and I would suggest you too ,after you tested the latest debian,try the latest slackware.I've tested many distros but slack is slack.After all the people dont say just for fun that if you learn ubuntu you have learned ubuntu,but if you learn slackware you have learned linux.

PS: Sorry for my bad english.

Cheers

Linux Mint 10 KDE

Opensuse 11.4 Gnome and KDE desktops when it is released tomorrow

Jim,

Have you checked out iGolaware Linux 2.0 This is a distro which I have created to appeal to the noobs to Linux. It's Ubuntu based and I'vr tried to include the software that your average family with 2.2 children would appriciate. Take a look and please do a review.

i want to request ubuntu sabily 10.10

You should review (if you have not already) the up and coming Fuduntu. It is based on Fedora however has some of the desktop focus of Ubuntu. It is also intended to perform well on the go for portable devices such as netbooks. The community is fairly strong as well and I am sure they would appreciate the review! :)

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Fu… http://www.fuduntu.org/

Puppy Linux is a great piece of work … but what about Slitaz (http://www.slitaz.org)? Could you tell us?

Hey Jim, Can you do a review of PCLinuxOS. Just curious what your take is on it - especially for newbies. Thanks.

Hey ,

I known this isn't really a desktop linux distribution but can you review Tiny Core. By the way great website.

I would like you'll review my distro eQuityOS, remastered from Ubuntu 10.10.

I made it with passion and I think some users could aprreciate it.

Thanks my friend

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.

How about writing a review for USU Linux http://learnfree.eu/ ?

It is Bulgarian Ubuntu-based educational distribution (but it's not only for Bulgarians!).

It has three variants

- USU Desktop - includes MANY educational apps (way more than Edubuntu). It's not only useful for students in universities, but also for schools and kids (includes Gcompris and other similar apps)

- USU Mini - it's for the regular users - with working out of the box experience

- USU Netbook - optimized for netbooks

All three versions of USU include a lot of tweaks and also some useful custom built apps (like LiveUSB Install - better than unetbootin and usb-creator).

One key highlight of USU is that unlike many spin-offs of Ubuntu, it has carefully selected list of applications (not just "install everything from the repos"), custom GTK theme, very complete icon theme based on elementary (has icons for a lot of apps), and more…

I'm one of the developers of USU actually.

Hello,

Would you consider to review Crux Linux? it is for advanced users.

Thank you

Review Kororaa, please. I have tried the KDE Live-DVD: it is an interesting Fedora-based distro.

:w00t:

Can I get a review on PCLinuxOS KDE 2011.6 please? Its seems like they offering yum and yumex in their repo.

Hi Jim,

Yes, after trying a million distro's the last couple of years, I was surprised by the new PC Linux OS. KDE.

Disappointed with Unity and the new Gnome 3, never a KDE fan, it got me by surprise. A brilliant Distro.

Give it a try. Everybody should, in this year of disappointing distro's.

You might be surprised like me. Find yourself the high quality you were looking for. Thanks Texstar !

Regards,

Hassle.

By the way, nice weather in Ireland …..

Stijn wrote:

SimplyMepis 11. Please pretty please!?

I agree. Out of all the distributions that are available, this one is one of the least likely to ATTRACT attention - at least through fancy gimmicks, but when it is time to provide a system that handles the every day work (or hobby) that we have, SimplyMEPIS is one of the very few that get it done efficiently and in a no-nonsense kind of a way.

You can argue that Mint or PCLinuxOS or Ubuntu provide more of this or that. All of that is available, either directly from MEPIS, through Debian, or one of the non-free Debian Multimedia Repositories, or perhaps even through the well-regarded MEPIS CR - the community repository that has been established to deliver the same kind of quality that Warren Woodford puts into his base system,

For me, this is the number one stable, no nonsense system. Built on Debian Stable, you KNOW it is stable. Built with Warren Woodford's knowledge and experience, you know that it is solid and well tested. Backed by the MEPIS Lover's Community, you know you can get the questions you may have answered without getting into philosophical arguments about chickens and eggs or something equally irrelevant, you get answers.

Jim, I know this one doesn't get attention, but Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols consistently agrees with me - this one is ALWAYS on his top five list and would be a top one or two except for the small number of key participants, which he feels adds some risk. Warren is no longer a youngster, so I suppose some of that risk is real, but Version 11.0 is here now and it's one of the best. How about if we get a solid review before Version 12 is in Alpha or beta testing and instead of reviewing this one at the end of its development cycle, let's get it right in the middle. Doable? I hope so. This one is unexciting but it's also likely not to frustrate those who try it. Always one of my highest recommended systems, this release is no different. How about it, Jim?

I tried Brian's favourite distro MEPIS 11. It's another one meriting a review. Very good.

@ Brian Masinick:

Wow at AntiX. I didn't know there are three variants of this. I am now testing MEPIS 11. Is it still Fluxbox? Maybe I didn't realise the potential of MEPIS in the past, but it seems to have come into its own, in my mind with this release. I knew it was a good distro before, but one was always having some sort of minor issue with it until this version.

I tried the PCLOS, and wasn't terribly impressed by it. I think MEPIS beats it soundly. It plays multimedia much better than PCLOS KDE.

Last I communicated with you, I was using Mint Linux Debian Edition. I still have it on a partition, but is not using this as often. I kind of drifted away from Debian until today when deciding to try the new MEPIS (I know, a month old).

Recently, I have migrated toward the Slackware related Linvo. It is extremely stable. Has been using it over past few months, with out one single issue. It's my main distro of choice at present. After installing, I liked it very much to extent of forgetting about testing for a few months. It's latest upgrade could be a distro hopper stopper. Everything just works.

Last month, I tried the USU that someone posted on here. That is a very good Ubuntu type of distro. The 7 mini was the one tried.

easyed wrote:

I meant to ask if the Anti X is still Fluxbox.

Yes, antiX still has a Fluxbox window manager, and includes IceWM as well in the full version. I personally find IceWM to be a bit easier for someone to start with; both Fluxbox and IceWM are straightforward to configure for those who know how to mess with config files, and antiX at least makes it a bit easier by providing a tool that calls up the multi-tabbed Geany text editor/IDE to simplify things slightly.

SimplyMEPIS, I agree, does things right. PCLinuxOS usually works well, but occasionally they take some steps to try new things and then things inexplicably break. You rarely see that with MEPIS; I've never experienced strange behavior in MEPIS in any released version from 2003 until 2011.

I recently took a look at UberStudent, a variant of Ubuntu for higher education students. It seems like a nice distro and would welcome your walk through of it with your helpful observations.

@ Brian Masinick:

I just happen to believe PCLOS is bit overrated. In spite of saying this, one is eager what will come out of their next Gnome ambitions. Will they stick with the classic style, or go bold with Gnome 3 or shell? The PCLOS KDE is pretty good. but for some reason MEPIS 11 beats it hands down in audio/video playing. You're correct in the PCLOS tendency to try new things, then have these go astray - which happens to be my experience when playing videos in full screen mode.

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).

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

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.

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.

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. :happy:

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

:w00t:

Jim:

Please review ZevenOS Linux Neptune

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. :ninja:

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.

My name is Alessandro Bompadre, i'm a software developer and I am pleased to report a new Linux distribution, created by me, his name is Mystras and is an unofficial ubuntu derivative

you can find any informations and downloads at

http://mystras.cloudfactory.eu/

Thanks in advance for your attention.

Review SimplyMepis 11.0.12 DVD please.