| Pardus Linux 2007.2 Review. |
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| Written by Administrator | |||||
| Friday, 17 August 2007 | |||||
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Pardus Linux is funded by the Turkish government. With the support from the government, I hope that Linux and open source software would be given more emphasis by the newly elected Turkey government. As Microsoft Windows is the dominant operating system in Turkey, I hope that this relatively new desktop-centric Linux distribution (Pardus) will slowly capture a portion of the desktop operating system market share and thus release the Turkish people from the grip of Microsoft Windows. Actually, I decided to review Pardus Linux 2007.2 when I got to know of its security model that has raised many eyebrows. Another 2 reasons were the very gratifying wifi experience and of course the Pardus Linux's innovations.
The official website of Pardus Linux is located at pardus.org.tr. Languages supported was a big let down since the first version of Pardus Linux 1.0 (released in early 2005). Turkce and a minimum of English. This was due to the fact that Pardus Linux was created for the Turkish speakers. However, more and more languages are now being supported on Pardus Linux. For example, Pardus Linux 2007.2 now supports Turkce (defaut), English, Deutsch, Espanol, Nederlands, Brazilian Portugues, Catalan, Francais, and Italiano.
Maybe there will be support for major Asian languages in its future versions? For those who know the English language, you can get help from the Pardus Worldforum. You can also access some documentations on Pardus Linux in English here.
Pardus Linux 2007.2 is a maintenance release for Pardus Linux 2007. Pardus Linux 2007.2 was released on 12 July 2007. Pardus 2007.2 comes with the KDE 3.5.7 desktop interface. Under the hood are Linux Kernel 2.6.18.8, X.Org 7.2, and GCC 3.4.6. By the way, Pardus 2007.2 also comes with the necessary toolchain for compiling and installation packages from the source. The Sun Java, sun-jre 1.5.0.12 and its the Java browser plugin were well integrated into Pardus Linux 2007.2. As a result, I had no problems running Java applet from Konqueror or Firefox.
Pardus Linux 2007.2 comes in 2 forms. If you want to give Pardus Linux 2007.2 a try, you could just download Pardus Calisan (Live CD). If you need to install Pardus 2007.2 to your hard disk, you must download Pardus Kurulan (Installation CD). However, the Live CD has no installer! Two in one: a Live CD with installer would be a better strategy and more eco- nomical. Hopefully you don't have to download 2 different iso images in the next version of Pardus Linux. The root password for the Live CD is pardus and the password for the de- fault user, pars, is also pardus.
The programs on both the Installation CD and Live CDs are made up of almost the same set of packages. The main differences, package-wise, that I noticed is the lack of the Virtual-
Box program on the Intallation
CD. The default games provided on the Live CD and also the Installation CD are also slightly different. Well, don't worry, VirtualBox 1.4.1 for x86 virtualization tasks from the Pardus Linux 2007.2 repository.
Luckily for me, the Live CD of Pardus Linux 2007.2 comes with the once popular Tux Racer that my 3 years old daughter likes to play. It's the first computer game that she is capable of playing on SimplyMepis 6.5. I suppose, being able to manoeuvre the Tux on ice and also being able to change the size and the colour of the fonts on Openoffice are what Linux is all about to her. Whenever I wanted to load any Live CD on the computer, she would say this to me "Daddy, got pengiun on ice or not?". This is a typical Malaysian English slang.
YALI - The Installer On The Installation CD (Kurulan). The developers of Pardus Linux 2007.2 have recommended 500MB to 2GB of swap partition and 4GB of root partition. Less than 3.5GB of disk space is not allowed for the root partition. In order to get an effective performance, a RAM of at least 512MB and a processor with 1200MHz clockspeed have been suggested. By the way, the minimum RAM and processor clockspeed are 256MB and 800MHz respectively.
Below is the sequence of screens that you would meet when you load up the Installation CD of Pardus 2007.2 (kurulan):-
1) Language selection (default is Turkce).
2) Boot options screen: -Pardus 2007.2 Caracal caracal. -Pardus 2007.2 Caracal caracal Standard Graphic Mode. -Pardus 2007.2 Caracal caracal Minimum Option. -Memory test. -Continue From Hard Disk. -Other Languages (another chance for you to select your desired language)
3) Acceptance of GPL licensing.
4) Check the integrity of the packages in the Installation CD. It took about 4 minutes to check. I think every Linux distro should come
with this utility. I find that such utility is very important in Vector Linux.
5) Selection of keyboard layout.
6) Next was the partitioning method. I chose autopartitioning over manual partitioning and Yali ended using up the whole hard disk as root partition. No separate partition for /boot, /home or swap. No swap partition was automatically created and Yali didn't insist that I should have a swap partition, even when I tried to install Pardus 2007.2 on a Dell Optiplex with 600MHz processor and a 128MB RAM. Yali took between 22 to 30 minutes to install and 8 to 12 minutes to configure on most of the machines that I tested).
7) Root or system administrator password and hostname set up.
8) Next screen was the place to set up the new users account. The first user is given the administrative rights automatically. However you can un-check the already checked check box to cancel this controversial conferment. The option to prevent this conferment was not there in the previous version of Pardus 2007. The second new user, third new user, and so on would not be given any administrative rights by default. Sounds like Windows XP! Another new option in Yali is that you can let any of the new user to use the autologin facility.
9) Next screen was for the installation of Grub.
10) Congratulation screen appeared. The Installation CD ejected once I clicked on the next button. I was then advised to reboot my computer.
11) After rebooting, the Grub menu appeared. The entry for Windows Vista was there in the menu on my machine notebook with XP. However, other Linux distro on the same hard disk wasn't detected.
12) Then I met the Login Manager after the kernel booting. The artwork of the Login Manager, KDM, like its bootsplash, wasn't impressive. You are not allowed to login as root user.
13) After logging in via the Login Manager. The KDE startup splash started and once KDE was fully loaded up, I heard the typical default KDE theme sound/music. Then, I was immediately welcomed by KAPTAN DESKTOP.
14) Kaptan Desktop application offers :- (i) Setup the mouse first. (ii) Choose the style of your desktop. -Classic style with/without Kickoff style start menu. (Classic style without Kickoff start menu is the default) -Modern style with/without Kickoff style start menu. -NextGeneration style with/without Kickoff style start menu. -Transparent style with/without Kickoff style start menu. (To me, the Transparent style with Kickoff start menu is the best) (iii) Select a wallpaper. (By default, no wallpaper. Just a blue background) (iv) Network configuration starts. (v) Pisi is launched automatically (So that you can configure it and it would automatically proceed to updating its database. If you've have away the administrative rights from the first user, you will get an error here, as you need the administrative rights to launch pisi)
On The KDE Desktop For The First Time. All of my three notebook's touchpad worked graciously with the default synaptics driver. Pardus Linux 2007.2 desktop looks aesthetically-pleasing if you use the eye candy wall- paper suggested by Kaptan Desktop over the default blue color background. The tulliana2 icon theme is also a nice choice. As I use the non-default Kickoff start menu, more and more often, I found it to bebetter than the default Kmenu.
With Mudur (the fast init system), Pardus Linux 2007.2's booting times for most of my note- books and desktop PCs are between 50 to 53 seconds. While the shutdown times were between 26 to 28 seconds. Tasma is a very easy-to-use control centre (modified KDE control centre) that will help you administer your system. However it is still a very young administrative tool. Yast of openSUSE is very matured and thorough. Another tool that I think can be added to Tasma is the newly added tool, Boot Manager, located at the System category of Programs. You can use the new Boot Manager to modify your Grub entry.
With the ntfs-3g version 1.710 driver, I was able to read and write to my automounted ntfs partition out-of-the-box. You can also fix the nfs partition with the supplied ntfsprogs tool. One of the first things that I installed was the Red Hat-pioneered Liberation-fonts from the Pardus 2007.2 repository to replace the default Dejavu- fonts. Since the network was up by default, I could immediately surf some Flash-based website.
Desktop Application Available. After installing Pardus 2007.2 on your hard disk, the popularly used desktop applications available on system are:-
Multimedia:- Amarok, K3b, KMPlayer, kdetv, MPlayer, etc.
Graphics:- Gimp-2.3.18, Digikam, KSnapshot, Kolourpaint, Kooka, KPDF, etc.
Internet:- Firefox-2.0.0.4, Konqueror-3.5.7, KTorrent-2.2, Kopete, Krdc, Konversation, KGet, Akregator, KFTPGrabber, etc.
Office:- Kontact, Openoffice suite 2.2.1, KOrganizer, KAddressBook.
Small Number Of Server Applications. As the Net-SSLeay 1.25 Perl module and openssl-0.9.7m packages have been already installed by default, installing the popular Webmin program is very much easier. If you should need server services on your Pardus Linux 2007.2, a small number of important server packages are also available on the Pardus Linux 2007.2 repository. They are Apache-2.0.59, Bind-9.4.1, Dhcp-3.0.5, Dovecot-1.0.0, Mysql-server-5.0.40, Postgresql- server-8.1.9, Vsftpd-2.0.5, Ntp-server-4.2.4, Postfix-2.3.4, etc.
Excellent Wired And Wireless Networking. Network-wise, I had no problem in accessing my network's workgroup, computers and shares via the Smb4k or Konqueror. Pardus 2007.2 has not failed to handle any of the wired ethernet that I threw at it, no problem even with the Nvidia's MCP51 ethernet or the many Broadcom-based ethernet. The most exciting thing was the wireless support offered by Pardus Linux 2007.2. Connecting via the WPA-PSK on my notebooks with wlan adapter of IPW2100 chipset, IPW3945 chipset, BCM4311 chipset, BCM4312 chipset, and the Atheros chipset worked out-of-the-box.
However, I was not satified with Pardus Linux 2007.2's support for the non-miniPCI based wlan adapters. For instance, my desktop-based (PCI interface) Ralink wlan card with the RT2400 chipset and the RT2500 chipset worked out-of-the-box, but without any encryption. Another example of non-mini PCI-based flop was the failure to support the pcmcia-based and USB-based Ralink card on my notebook out-of-the-box although these Ralink cards were detected. Pardus Linux 2007.2 failed to detect my Belkin Wireless G USB Network Adapter which has a Zydas wifi chipset. The unique network applet of Pardus Linux 2007.2 was also easy to use and intuitive. The PEAP-MSCHAPv2 wireless encryption protocol is also available in its network applet.
Media Supported On Pardus Linux 2007.2. I have no problems playing WMA, WMV, AVI, Flash, Realaudio, Realvideo, Google video, MPEG, Divx, Quicktime video files. With the availability of the libdvdcss, I had no problem
in playing my original DVD video out-of-the-box.
Unique Package Management. Package management-wise, I had no problem using the Package Manager, which is the front-end of Pisi. As a matter of fact, the Package Manager was very efficient in all facets. If you prefer a non-graphical front-end, just use the Konsole. In order to install a program from the commandline interface, CLI, just type sudo pisi install <package>. If you need to list all available packages, just type sudo pisi list-available. If you need to upgrade your existing system from 2007.1 to the latest 2007.2 version, just execute sudo pisi up. If you need to configure Pisi, you can edit the /etc/pisi/pisi.conf file. With more than 2300 packages available on the repositories (Pardus 2007.2 + Contrib), I am spoilt with choice despite the very much less available packages as compared to the Debian repositories. By the way, if you should need a package which is not available at Pardus Linux 2007.2 repositories, you can submit your request for a new package at http://bugs.pardus.org.tr.
Elite User With Too Many Wheels. Although Pardus Linux developers seem to have listened to criticisms about the security model of Pardus Linux 2007.1 and its earlier versions, and therefore have included the option of not conferring the administrative rights to the first new user, you would still receive this warning if you disable the default conferment to the first new user during
installation of Pardus 2007.2.
"A user without administrative rights cannot complete system in the wheel group)? Kaptan Desktop will not be able to start the network for you if the network wasn't started by an administrator. If the network was started, as a new user without administrative rights, I will not be able to edit the network applet. I will not be able to perform an update with the Pisi either. In fact I will not be able to perform any of the system admi- nistrative tasks. You can execute kdesu at in the Konsole but you would receive "wrong password" message. If you try to execute su in the Konsole, you would receive the "Perm- ission denied" message. Basically, I would be locked up! An average Linux user wouldn't be able to free himself from this lock!
For your information, a new user without administrative rights in Pardus Linux 2007.2 can only play audio and music, handle modem/fax, handle removable and fixed storage unit devices, administer peripheral devices, access video hardware, and access power control.
Of course, you can execute su and kdesu successfully if your are a new user with the administrative rights. What I failed to understand was why the Pardus Linux 2007.2 deve- lopers have to allow the user with administrative privilege to access almost all of the "carotid" or "jugular" administrative graphical tools without needing any password. Out of the 40 over tools in Tasma, only Disk Manager, Login Manager, and Samba tools need root password, while tools like Package Manager, Service Manager, Firewall Config, and User Manager can be launched without ever needing any sort of password.
What type of "elite user" is this? Windows XP type, of course! Obviously, this could have been designed to accommodate Windows XP users who have been used to making system-wide changes, changing user accounts, installing programs, and starting or stop- ping services via a graphical interface without being asked for a password.
Graphic Cards And Monitors. I was happy because Pardus Linux 2007.2 managed to configure my LCDs with 1024x 768, 1200x800, 1280x1024 resolution correctly. However, it failed to configure my LCD with 1680x1050 resolution. So I had to edit the xorg.conf. Open source graphic drivers were used to drive the Intel, Ati and the Nvidia graphic cards of my notebooks and des- ktops. You can run xorgconfig to configure your monitor resolution if it is not configured properly, or just edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file directly. The 915resolution tool was also bundled with the Installation CD, just in case your Intel graphic card's video BIOS need some modication in order to achieve a certain display resolution. You can download the proprietary Nvidia or the Ati drivers from Pardus 2007.2 repository.
For instance, if you have a Nvidia graphic card, you need to execute nvidia-xconfig from the Konsole as root user and then restart the xserver. After restarting the xserver, you can execute nvidia-settings from the Konsole to launch the Nvidia utility. As far as 3D eye candy is concerned, the Beryl package is not in the Pardus 2007.2 repository yet. You need to download the source from it's website and compile it. After installing Beryl, you must not forget to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to enable compositing. The "easier" way would be submitting the absence of Beryl as a bug!
Sound Support Needs More Polishing. As far as sound is concerned, the Intel 82801DB-ICH4(Sigmatel STAC9750 chipset) sound card on my Dell Inspiron 600M notebook worked out-of-the -box with Pardus Linux 2007.2. However, the scenarios were different with the sound card on my Dell Inspiron 640M note- book and my Compaq Presarion V3222AU notebook. I needed to run alsamixer utility from the command line to unmute the HDA Intel (Sigmatel STAC9200 chipset) sound card of my Dell Inspiron 640M notebook. It was much harder with the HDA Nvidia sound card that came with Conexant CX20549 chipset found on my Compaq Presarion V3222AU notebook. I had to run alsaconfig as an administrator and then adjust the volume using alsamixer. uckily, the sound cards on my three other desktop PC (Optiplex and Dimension) worked beautifully.
Other Hardwares. work was a breeze. Accessing my automounted usbkey was also an easy task. The rem- ovable disk icon look great too. Pardus 2007.2 developers has added support for Jmicron IDE controller. I was also delighted that there were no problems in the handling of my new Sony hard-disk-based camcorder and also my Sony digital camera. Sadly, there was no program to handle my Genius webcam in Pardus Linux 2007.2.
Suspend Function Performed "As Expected". Suspend to Disk and Suspend to RAM only worked beautifully on on my Dell Inspiron 640M notebook but not on the Inspiron 600M model. On my Compaq Presario V3222AU note- book, the Suspend to Disk worked but it failed to Suspend to RAM.
Good Idea To Base A New Linux Distribution On Pardus Linux. In Conclusion, Pardus Linux 2007.2 has a very good hardware detection. It has all the necessary non-proprietary and proprietary codecs/plugin/applications which are needed on a modern desktop. The unique Pisi is definitely fast, efficient and intelligent. The miniPCI- -based wlan adapters' support for notebooks is definitely second to none. Much better than Ubuntu. On the security side, I hope that the developers will become more receptive to criticisms and strive to develope (despite being a government project) a more secure
Pardus Linux for the world, not just Turkey.
Thank you for reading my review.
If you have any suggestions or comments, kindly send your email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
By Michael Shee Choon Beng.
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