Other Distros

[yerc1]

Semplice Linux has been mentioned elsewhere in the forum, mostly by @jakfish.

It's a 'lightweight' distro that does not sacrifice ease of use, beauty, upgradeability (a rolling-release), stability (a main edition based on Debian Sid and Workstation edition based on Debian Jessie), etc.

Differentiation factor: bloat-free Vera desktop

I'm surprised it's not getting a good press that it deserves.
http://semplice-linux.org/

[cimarron]

Yes, Semplice is very nice. And light; it runs fine with just 500M RAM. I use it with the testing repositories instead of sid to make it a little more stable. It was discussed here earlier this year: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=69050&start=1805

[ally]

giving semplice a run, posting from it here, struggling with a few differences but seems pretty good, advice on a grub settings that can be inserted into the grub4os?

[rokytnji]

When I used to multi boot puppy and semplice linux using grub4dos. I installed semplice grub to the / partition. Not mbr.

Then chainload semplice in grub4dos and let semplice grub take over from there.

Code: Select all

title Semplice GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.2.0-3-486
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
chainloader +1

title Vector STD Gold 7 at /dev/sda2
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1

title Puppy Linux 529 frugal in sdb1 dir macpup529frugal
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
kernel /macpup529frugal/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=macpup529frugal
initrd /macpup529frugal/initrd.gz

I was running bootups and operating systems on 2 different internal ide hard drives. Hence the (hd1,0) for one drive and and (hd0,1) for the other drive. No real fancy uuid needed or code lines needed with rootnoverify with semplice and Vector grub installed to root partition.

[cimarron]

I boot Semplice directly using Grub4dos with this entry:

Code: Select all

title Semplice 7 (sda3)
  uuid cb134ac7-4f78-4bc6-8050-b6605a368b00
  kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3
  initrd /initrd.img

Your uuid would be different, of course, as well as partition used in "root=/dev/sdaX". I found I needed the "root=" parameter or it would not boot. I let Grub4dos config detect Semplice and set up the menu.lst first, but changed the kernel and initrd lines to those above.

On one of my old computers, I also had to add the "nomodeset" kernel parameter or the resolution wasn't detected correctly by the new 4.1 kernel.

[Colonel Panic]

Most distros nowadays come with one of a small number of options for desktop / window, management, such as KDE, XFce or LXDE, but there are still some which dare to be different.

I'm currently trying out an alpha version of Liquid Lemur, a Debian-based distro which uses Window Maker as its window manager and comes with the latest software such as Firefox 40 and LibreOffice 5. It's still an alpha release so I can't recommend it for anything mission critical, but so far the only problem I've found with it is that the download is a bit erratic (it stalled completely at about 279 MB the first time I tried to download it though I was successful the second time).

[EDIT: I've also found problems with installing the distro to my hard drive; the menu links don't work so I wasn't able to do it. Well, they did say it was an alpha release.]

[musher0]

Hello, all

I tried 4M "all-in-one" yesterday evening. (I'm not providing a link, not encouraging the
man. Just go to the DistroWatch site and search for it on that page.)

Phew. What a strange distro.

Imagine a Puppy without the finishing touches: lots of unprocessed console messages.

The most impertinent one is probably the one to choose your keyboard and the
language of the system. It comes up in a leafpad window, and you only have 4-5
languages. "fr" is one of them, but not "fr_CA". So that panel is pretty much useless
to me.

No word-processing, not even a decent text-editing utility. (leafpad is ok in an
emergency, but not for sustained work.) No gnumeric, just galculator.

So where does the 361 Mb weight come from? Maybe the rescue utilties. For which
you have to be grateful if you need them, but in a regular distro, I wonder.

Strange philosophy, too. Why put in the same distro multi-media utilities, games AND
rescue utilities. So the user can enjoy him/her/self while repairing stuff? Or you
intentionally break and repair stuff so you can play game X or Y on this distro? I
certainly don't get the logic of this distro.

Apparently based on Fedora, it looks like a bad Puppy remix. It sure shows that the
developer does not have a Puppy-type community to support him. It looks crude.

I'd say avoid this distro. If you're in a rut, there are other distros solely devoted to
problem-solving.

Bye for now.

musher0

[rokytnji]

Shameless plug from a biker with no sense of shame.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/4mlinux-115/

No. I have not tried it yet.Been busy getting my butt handed to me learning BSD.

[Colonel Panic]

Most distros nowadays come with one of a small number of options for desktop / window, management, such as KDE, XFce or LXDE, but there are still some which dare to be different.

I'm currently trying out an alpha version of Liquid Lemur, a Debian-based distro which uses Window Maker as its window manager and comes with the latest software such as Firefox 40 and LibreOffice 5. It's still an alpha release so I can't recommend it for anything mission critical, but so far the only problem I've found with it is that the download is a bit erratic (it stalled completely at about 279 MB the first time I tried to download it though I was successful the second time).

[EDIT: I've also found problems with installing the distro to my hard drive; the menu links don't work so I wasn't able to do it. Well, they did say it was an alpha release.]

A quick update here; I've just downloaded the latest alpha release of Liquid Lemur and have installed it to my hard drive. I can report that it installed and runs fine now.

[tallboy]

I followed the suggestion given in this thread, and I filled a CD to the brim with an Antix15 for testing.
Well, I guess it's OK, but coming from Puppy and already having a full Debian on the HDD, I am not sure what to believe.

If I didn't have a full Debian already, I might have installed an Antix. I am impressed with how much Debian they have managed to squeeze onto a CD. I will regard it more as a competitor for Lime than Puppy. The installation process of new programs seemed very well laid out, but making my wifi work was another matter. I could not find a section in Antix dealing specifically with networking, nor any documentation or tips on network/internet. (WHAT, clumsy, me?? ) Conclusion: Antix15 had no WOW-factor for me.

But, I already have my slightly modified LupuPlus 5.2.8-005.1, which despite beeing only one fourth the size of Antix, have all the applications I need, and more! It works flawlessly, and gives me all I need.
I'll stick with that!

tallboy

[tallboy]

Sorry, double post.

tallboy

[rokytnji]

No Brainer runner



Brainer runner

[musher0]

Hey, rokytnji.

That snowy owl is our national bird! What distro is that?
A French-Canadian respin of something?

Thanks in advance.

musher0

[rokytnji]

What distro is that?

http://antix.freeforums.org/post43200.html#p43200

I inherited the laptop from my wife because the Windows 7 on it is not supported for Windows 10 upgrade because it has Windows 7 Enterprise on it.

So I bought her a Asus Flip Touchscreen and she gave me that Dell in exchange. She is a happy camper with her touchscreen Windows 10 Asus Flip.

I threw a SSD in it. Bagged up the platter 300 gig sata. Because I wished to keep the Win7 Enterprise in case my biker tuner laptop with Windows on it died. My backup plan.

[darry1966]

To JamesC and Roky and other fans of LinuxBBQ
new XFCE release from Machinebacon
http://linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f ... 720#p45720

[rokytnji]

To JamesC and Roky and other fans of LinuxBBQ
new XFCE release from Machinebacon
http://linuxbbq.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?f ... 720#p45720

* Debian vanilla 586 kernel, version 4.2
* sysvinit
* no upower, no udisks, no gvfs, no policykit, no consolekit
* no-GTK top level applications:
** gitfm file manager
** alpine mail reader
** elinks web browser
** feh image viewer
* BBQ toolbox:
** Music: tinyradio, playstream, playmp3
** System: env-info, automount, bbqexit
** Utilities: dkeger, bbqpkg, bbqsnapshot, bbqinstaller
* additional goodies:
** cclive (needs a media player, eg. mplayer)
** scrotnow, scrotsel (keybinds to PrntScr and Shift+PrntScr)
** ceni for network configuration
** units unit conversion
** curl/wget download helpers
** ssh/sftp secure shells
** printfile (needs lprng)
** mpg123 music player
** etc etc

Sounds like a Core Iso with XFCE thrown in. Then one can apt-get or aptitude their way to toning her body up to what you prefer later.

Later on. I am going to break out a crt, a tower desktop, a keyboard, a wirless usb, and give https://www.dragonflybsd.org/docs/newha ... roduction/ a chance to give me a table dance.

My test box for this is 64 bit. Because the above dropped i386 support a few realeases back.

If anyone with a i386 box has the same itch to scratch later on. Go with
https://www.freebsd.org/where.html

They let you run with Window Managers or Desktop Enviroments during the install process. Up to you. I do stuff like this to hurt my mind. Trying to learn so keep my mind in motion.

Thanks darry1966 for the heads up. It is why I love this thread.
I use this thread way before I ever go to distro watch.

[darry1966]

Hi Roky,

true for the most part its a standard Sid except it has a lot of crap that a standard Debian Sid install has removed, ts the very minimal xfce without thunar and
no upower, no udisks, no gvfs, no policykit, no consolekit that makes it special. Great for old machines for those that what to run XFCE without all the crap that comes with it and plus have LinuxBBQ's tools as well. Anyway hope your BSD adventures are going well.

[Colonel Panic]

Another good distro for old computers is WattOS. I've just installed the latest version (R9) which is based on the LTS version of Ubuntu (14.04).

The full version of Watt, which I'm using, uses LXDE as its desktop environment, but there is also a micro version in which you have to install your own desktop / window manager. I haven't tried that one and don't know much about it.

It's very much a lightweight distro so you have to install your own office software, but since it's based on Ubuntu you have all the Ubuntu repositories to choose from. It has Firefox 38 as its main browser.

[peterw]

Hi All

I have an Acer C720 Chromebook and dual boot various Puppies on it as well as other distros. There have been problems with the touch pad, the keys and suspend when the lid is closed, etc. This version of Ubuntu seems to have overcome the problems.
HugeGreenBug's Ubuntu 15.04 for Haswell Chromebooks/Chromeboxes
which can be found at:
https://www.distroshare.com/distros/get/72/

The following observations summarise my observations:
1. Boot time similar to Puppy about 25 seconds from the grub4dos option screen.
2. Unity window works well as on other Ubuntus. And the system is responsive.
3. Keys such as volume, brightness, etc work as on chromeOS.
4. Closing the lid suspends as it should.
5. Touch pad works smoothly, including tapping.
6. And SWAP is interesting. Quote "You no longer need to create a swap partition when installing. This is due to zram, which creates a compressed swap space in memory that performs much better than swap on the ssd."
7. Microphone in Google works to aid searching.

If you have a Chromebook it is well worth a try.

Regards
peterw

[Billtoo]

I installed Ubuntu Mate 15.10 beta 2 to my macmini, installed synaptic and some other applications.
It's working well.