With so many beta releases coming in the near future, I have decided to install them to provide my readers screenshots. These articles will not contain much useful information regarding the release, but will give a brief overview of how the system looks. Yesterday, the first release pre-release version of SimplyMEPIS 7.0 was announced. This is a prebeta release (alpha to many users) meaning that this is still in major testing and should not be used for production machines requiring stability.

This release marks the end of a great Ubuntu-based distribution, but the beginning of a spectacular distribution based on Debian - and yes, I do know that Ubuntu is based on Debian. Below is a section of the MEPIS press release, courtesy of MEPIS. Please read the rest of the press release for more information.

MEPIS has discontinued using Ubuntu binary packages in favor of a combination of MEPIS packaged binaries based on Debian and Ubuntu source code which is combined with a Debian Stable OS core and extra packages from Debian package pools.

Warren Woodford of MEPIS explains the change “By using the latest Debian and Ubuntu source code for building user applications, we can provide the best latest versions of the applications users want the most. And by building on top of a Debian Stable core, we can provide a release that has the the stability and long life that users want.”

Warren continues “Most Linux users are tired of having to reinstall every 6 months in order to have up-to-date applications. We expect that with this approach MEPIS can offer a superior user experience that will be incrementally upgradeable for 2 years without reinstallation of the OS.”

The prebeta includes a 2.6.22 kernel, Debian Etch core, KDE 3.5.7, Firefox 2.0.0.5, Thunderbird 2.0.0.4, and OpenOffice 2.2.1. This is an early release with many rough edges. In particular the splashy boot splash does not run reliably, some extra kernel drivers are not yet compiled for the new kernel, some gui components are not themed for MEPIS, and the prebeta has had very limited testing.

I have been playing with the system for the past few hours and have not had one hiccup when it comes to web-browsing, document creation, FTP, or mild system admin. While I have noticed very few differences, I look forward to seeing how this great system looks for the official 7.0 release expected later this year.

Feel free to check out my SimplyMEPIS 6.5 review or for those readers that just wantto see some screenshots for this prebeta release follow the link! (Read more…)

Lets keep this review ball rolling! After a few incoming links from the Vector Linux website I decided to give their latest offering, Vector Linux 5.8 SOHO, a look. I was quite excited when I noticed that Vector is based out of Canada, my home country. Based on the Slackware 11.0 code-base, Vector tried to deliver a more complete, out-of-the-box system. Now, lets head over to DistroWatch for the summary (clearly written by a huge fan) of the Vector distribution.

“Vector Linux is a small, fast, Intel based Linux operating system for PC style computers. The creators of Vector Linux had a single credo: keep it simple, keep it small and let the end user decide what their operating system is going to be. What has evolved from this concept is perhaps the best little Linux operating system available anywhere. For the casual computer user you have a lightening fast desktop with graphical programs to handle your daily activities from web surfing, sending and receiving email, chatting on ICQ or IRC to running an ftp server. The power user will be pleased because all the tools are there to compile their own programs, use the system as a server or perhaps the gateway for their home or office computer network. Administrators will be equally as pleased because the small size and memory requirements of the operating system can be deployed on older machines maybe long forgotten.”

Wow, so is this really the holy grail of Linux distributions? Let me just say, not quite (but please read the rest of the review for details). Vector has been consistently in the top 20 distributions, according to the unofficial DistroWatch rankings. The system was installed on my desktop computer, therefore forcing me to use it continuously for about a week.

Follow the link for the rest of the review! (Read more…)

After all of my ‘distro-hopping’ I always find myself coming back to install Linux Mint on my main machine. Based on Ubuntu, Linux Mint offers a greatly enhanced GNOME interface as well as a more complete, out-of-the-box, experience. No need to install codecs, Java, Beryl, and more - it is all just ‘there’. One of the main problems experienced by the Mint crowd is that KDE and XFCE editions have not yet been released for version 3.0. Well, no longer! The official KDE release should be out next week and the XFCE in the near future (beta versions are currently available). With Mint climbing the DistroWatch rankings, this is great news for a fantastic distribution.

For more on Linux Mint, please check out my review of version 3.0 - Cassandra!

Now it is time for me to install Sabayon 3.4 - released earlier today! This, I believe, is my first Gentoo-based operating system so I hope to give it a good ride before posting my review!

Time for some formatting,

Cole

The first full version of Elive, 1.0, was released at the beginning of July this year to a fair amount of acclaim. It has been touted as one of the most visually appealing distributions, but how does it stake up against the out-of-the-box review style of Shift+Backspace? I have been quite busy with work over the last week and have kept Elive installed on my desktop computer, making it my primary operating system. That being said, I found myself often booting into a live CD version of Linux Mint 3.0 as I generally did not like Elive 1.0. Of course, I do want to give Elive a fair review, so lets do the regular and head over to DistroWatch for the brief description of Elive.

“Elive, or Enlightenment live CD, is a Debian-based desktop Linux distribution and live CD featuring the Enlightenment window manager. Besides being pre-configured and ready for daily desktop use, it also includes “Elpanel” - a control centre for easy system and desktop administration.”

This relatively new distribution has climbed the DistroWatch rankings quite quickly and is already at number 23. Elive is the first distribution I have ever installed that uses the Enlightenment desktop environment, so please take this into account throughout this review (most of what I say may apply to the environment over the actual distribution).

Follow the link for the rest of the review!

(Read more…)

The latest installment of Pardus, version 2007.2, was officially released on, July 12, 2007. Pardus is a relatively new distribution based on GNU/Linux. Worried this review has been rushed due to the recency of the release? Do not worry, I had been using the release candidate for a while now and installed the official release before authoring this review. The distribution comes from Turkey, but is available in a vast number of languages. Lets head over to DistroWatch for the short, but sweet, overview of the distribution.

“Pardus is a GNU/Linux distribution funded and developed by the Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey. Pardus has a range of unique features, such as Mudur, a start-up framework of Pardus to speed up the boot process, and PiSi, an efficient package management system with a user-friendly graphical interface.”

While some readers may argue that looking at the DistroWatch rankings is useless, I feel that it offers a general idea of the popularity of many distributions. Pardus is currently ranked 46th overall, making it the lowest ranked distribution I have reviewed, but that being said, I have received a dozen or so emails asking for an overall look at this latest edition. I have installed Pardus 2007.2 on my desktop (AMD 3700+, ATI X800XL) for the purpose of this review. Please note that this review is quite short, therefore I invite any Pardus users to write about their experience in the comments below.

Please follow the link for the rest of the review! (Read more…)

Slackware Linux 12.0 was formally released on July 1, 2007. I have been looking forward to reviewing Slackware for a few weeks and now that the official release of version 12.0 has occurred, I cannot think of a better time to review it. Slackware has existed for nearly 14 years as version 1.0 was released in 1993; making Slackware one of the oldest Linux distributions in existence. Slackware is known for releasing very tight and well-test distributions making me quite happy that they do not rely on fixed release schedules where new full versions are released every few months. According to the Slackware website, the Slackware Linux Project is “aimed at producing the most ‘UNIX-like’ Linux distribution” available while maintaining Linux standards. Off to DistroWatch for the summary of Slackware Linux (also available on the Slackware website).

“The Official Release of Slackware Linux by Patrick Volkerding is an advanced Linux operating system, designed with the twin goals of ease of use and stability as top priorities. Including the latest popular software while retaining a sense of tradition, providing simplicity and ease of use alongside flexibility and power, Slackware brings the best of all worlds to the table. Slackware Linux provides new and experienced users alike with a fully-featured system, equipped to serve in any capacity from desktop workstation to machine-room server. Web, ftp, and email servers are ready to go out of the box, as are a wide selection of popular desktop environments. A full range of development tools, editors, and current libraries is included for users who wish to develop or compile additional software.”

Slackware has consistently ranked in the top ten of all Linux distributions for many years according to the ranking system used at DistroWatch. I would like to point out that I have never used Slackware before so this review will be my fresh opinion on how Slackware installs and looks, along with other details, on my Inspiron 8500 notebook.

For the rest of the review follow the link! (Read more…)

The latest installment of Sidux, 2007-02 codenamed Tartaros, was released on May 28th of this year. Sidux is based on Debian, inparticularly Sid, which is the more modern, or development branch of Debian. Sidux is currently ranked 27th on the DistroWatch rankings, but is a very new distribution that I believe may be able to crack the top ten in future years. Now, to the DistroWatch website for their description of Sidux.

“Sidux is a desktop-oriented distribution and live CD based on the unstable branch of Debian GNU/Linux. It was originally created by a group of developers who split from the KANOTIX project and launched their own distribution.”

I have had close to a dozen emails from individuals requesting that I review this latest version of Sidux, so lets move on!

Follow the link for the rest of the review! (Read more…)

Anyone who follows the DistroWatch news feed closely will have noticed that the last month or so has been absolutely packed with alpha news, beta news, release-candidate news. I have been looking to review distros that are closing in on official release, yet remain in the pre-release stage (not that any are behind schedule necessarily). These distributions include:

• Sabayon (currently beta 3)
• Slackware (currently RC2 = very close!)
• Pardus (currently RC2 = very close!)
• Dreamlinux (currently RC3 = very very close!)

After looking at a few other releases I feel I can comfortably review Debian Etch, Mandriva, Gentoo and Zenwalk in the coming weeks before the surge of full-releases.

Anyways, I am very excited for so many upcoming releases and I feel my July and August will be full of many more reviews!

Until next time,

Cole

Recently there has been plenty of news regarding the alpha releases of the next openSUSE release, 10.3. While I will be taking a look at the Alpha 5 or Alpha 6 release in the near future, many users have requested a review of openSUSE 10.2. Released in December 2006, openSUSE 10.2 has been the strong number two performer (according to DistroWatch rankings), but with the recent release of PCLinuxOS 2007 it has fallen to number three. For more information regarding the openSUSE distribution lets get the summary from DistroWatch.

“The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by Novell. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, this program provides free, easy access to openSUSE, a complete Linux distribution. The openSUSE project has three main goals: make openSUSE the easiest Linux for anyone to obtain and the most widely used Linux distribution; leverage open source collaboration to make openSUSE the world’s most usable Linux distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users; dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make openSUSE the platform of choice for Linux developers and software vendors.”

The entire distribution, previously known as SuSE Linux has been around for many years with a very strong and knowledgeable community backing it since the beginning. Once again, this review will be focusing on the capabilities of openSUSE 10.2 without any intervention or further downloads. The operating system is being installed on my Inspiron 8500 notebook.

For the rest of the review follow the link! (Read more…)

Interestingly enough, I have been using Ubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04 since the release candidate was released, yet have not reviewed it! Actually, just a few days ago I switched to Linux Mint (based on Feisty Fawn), but I still feel that my multi-month use of straight-up Ubuntu is testament enough. Ubuntu is arguably the most popular distribution of Linux available at the moment and is a Debian-based operating system that has regularly releases every 6 months. Media coverage sky-rocketed when Dell official announced, and since released, computers pre-loaded with Feisty Fawn. Off to DistroWatch for some more info about the Ubuntu distribution!

“Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. “Ubuntu” is an ancient African word, meaning “humanity to others”. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.”

There is an interesting story behind the beginning of Ubuntu and the ‘dictator’ Mark Shuttleworth. According to the entry on Wikipedia, Mark Shuttleworth was a developer on the Debian project in the 1990’s during the time when he sold an internet company, Thawte, to VeriSign for $575 million US. Mark is a strong supporter of social innovation and has helped fund many open-source projects. In 2005, Ubuntu was created by the multi-million dollar investment from Mark…thus the beginning of a great distribution. Oh, did I mention that in 2002 Mark Shuttleworth went to space with the Russians? Yup, he did! After such an inception, Ubuntu has consistently ranked at the top of the DistroWatch rankings over the past couple of years.

Follow the link for the rest of the review! (Read more…)