Been using SimplyMEPIS more often

I like using SimplyMEPIS as a base desktop system. For me, it tends to have all the software I need for routine activities already correctly configured for me. For other uses, especially testing and experimenting, I use Libranet as my base system. Libranet has long been my favorite desktop software. But since I sometimes mess it up and it takes a while to get things fixed properly, it sure is nice to have another solid desktop system handy, and that other system is SimplyMEPIS.

Downloaded aLinux Friday, checked it out today

I installed aLinux (formerly Peanut Linux) today. It installed cleanly and ran cleanly, but the choice of Web browser leaves something to be desired. As configured, the Mozilla Web browser, a test version, terminates whenever you attempt to select fonts. Not a good first impression.

Tested two distros tonight

I got Chubby Puppy 1.04 with Mozilla and Open Office, and I also got Klax KDE 3.4.2 this evening, burned and tried each of them, both of which are Live CD desktop systems.

Chubby Puppy, in spite of its name, is very small and compact, bloated only slightly by the presence of two well regarded large applications, the complete Mozilla browser suite, and Open Office, the most complete free and open office software suite. To say that Puppy is fast is an understatement. It is the fastest desktop system that I have ever used.

Klax KDE 3.4.2 is a concept Live CD, intended primarily for the purpose of testing out KDE 3.4.2. It works VERY well, certainly well enough to handle by browsing needs for the past hour or so.

Distros, distros

I like testing distros.

Ended up getting the latest SimplyMEPIS 3.3.1-1 instead

Instead of installing White Box Linux 4 or Lineox 4, I downloaded and installed the latest release of SimplyMEPIS. This release simply has a few bug fixes and updates to the previous release. It is really easy to install and I did not feel like a long installation, so I downloaded the single ISO image, burned it, loaded the Live CD, and away I went. Then I clicked on the Install Me icon, indicated which disk partition I wanted to use, told it to retain the contents of /home for me, to install the GRUB boot loader in the root partition instead of the MBR, to create user accounts masinick and root and to set the password for each, and to retain the existing local time zone. That was it, installed quickly, and I am already using it. I also used a Konqueror browser briefly as I was doing the installation, but then I went off onto another system and ran Konqueror from PC-BSD, a KDE based spinoff from the FreeBSD project.

This baby is done, I now have an upgraded MEPIS installation and it is working fine.

White Box or Lineox next?

I have had a good week testing out Puppy Linux 1.0.4 and Kate OS 2.1 before that. Live CDs are easy to run and you can test out their basic functionality and actually use them rather quickly, which is what I have done.

I am hoping to have a bit more time to test out either White Box Linux, Lineox, or both. Each of these distributions are Red Hat Enterprise Linux based distributions, but neither of them are directly produced by Red Hat, they are created from the Red Hat source code by two completely separated and unrelated groups.

More details later.

Puppy Linux 1.0.4 tested: Outstanding!

Puppy Linux has been my favorite small Live CD in the size category that can easily load completely into RAM. This distribution is so carefully optimized that it still has room to install the gigantic Mozilla mail, news, and Web browser suite into memory along with the Linux kernel and a carefully chosen set of utilities. If you have never run an entire operating system directly from RAM (Random Access Memory) before, you are in for a treat!

Running from CD is slow, running from disk, though the norm, is still pretty slow. Booting a moderate sized system live from CD, then loading it into memory and running it is quite the treat.

This latest version of Puppy contains a beta test version of Mozilla that runs better than anything I have ever seen. Starting up a browser directly from memory is downright fast, and so are rendered pages.

I had no problems whatsoever during the entire time that I ran Puppy Linux. Granted, I did not beat every application into a pulp, but I did run the browser for a long time and I attempted (successfully) to install several additional applications during my testing, and they installed and did not adversely affect the running system!

Congratulations to the developer of this fine software!