Great distros I wouldn't want to try
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn Aug 26, 2009 2:27 PM EDT |
The author makes a big deal out of source based or advanced distros he can tweak to the nth degree. He likes to compile "weird" software. That's nice but I don't think these distros are what most Linux users are looking for. An entirely free OS is nice from a philosophical viewpoint but it is very likely to not fully support my hardware or, for that matter, most people's hardware. Again, this article is from a very specialized viewpoint, not a good set of general recommendations. |
| bigg Aug 26, 2009 2:42 PM EDT |
I think it's good to give alternative distros some press. All the top distros are pretty much the same. There are some interesting things going on with the lesser-known distros. I dislike the use of the word "weird". Does that mean you don't use it? If you measure weird by popularity, using any Linux distro is weird. |
| Steven_Rosenber Aug 26, 2009 2:48 PM EDT |
I would call it "great distros I've never heard of," with the exception of GoboLinux, which I first learned of a week or so ago (and no earlier than that, so it still qualifies as "barely heard of." I was ready for the article to be of little value, but I was wrong -- I like hearing about distros I've never heard of. And some of these looked worth trying. You never know what small project today is going to grow and become something ... bigger, and for that reason I like to see this kind of thing. If somebody out there is actually making use of Distro X or Project Y, it's nice to hear real-world experience about what it's like to install and run it. |
| caitlyn Aug 26, 2009 2:55 PM EDT |
@bigg: Sorry, I misquoted. It should read obscure, not weird. That was the word the author used. @Steven_Rosenberg: I agree with you about giving press to lesser known distros. I've been doing that with my DistroWatch reviews. In this case the author chose one fully free distro and several source based distros. He also chose one because he found it easier to rewrite the system tools. Not exactly what most people look for in a distro. |
| flufferbeer Aug 26, 2009 3:18 PM EDT |
@Steven_Rosenber The one that seems worth trying for me is INX. It's cute that INX stands for INX is Not X similar to GNU's GNU is Not Unix. Like you, I hope that more of these kinds of small projects come out and get some better exposure.... maybe some good black inx in the press? :-D 2c |
| Steven_Rosenber Aug 26, 2009 4:27 PM EDT |
Now that you mention it, I did try INX once. I wonder if I have the disc somewhere ... That's a wonderful example of a small-scale distro that uses the Ubuntu base to do something a bit different, in this case a non-X live CD. Back at the project's Web site http://inx.maincontent.net/info/info.html I remembered that there is no installer at present. But there are scripts http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~inx-devel/inx/inxtaller/changes available if you want to install it. I really liked the idea of an environment set up for the console-only user. I've had a few machines so old and memory-poor that a better console environment is a very good thing. And like all distros, I often get ideas about applications and configurations in one that I can later use in another. |
| flufferbeer Aug 26, 2009 4:50 PM EDT |
@S_R
There's an even older console-only project you might be interested in, that's now morphed into a full LiveCD distro. Finnix http://www.finnix.org Developed by Ryan Finnie based upon Debian testing, and intended mostly for sysadmins who don't require desktops, productivity tools, or sound support. So a different focus approach here than INX's in a similarly nice, fairly small liveCD. There is even a Finnix LiveCD for PowerPC Macs......... and I'm not aware of _ANY_ other Linux distros that have liveCD versions for Macs! |
| olefowdie Aug 26, 2009 5:18 PM EDT |
While I mentioned source capability, 3 of the distros ship with GUIs and none are strictly source based. |
| Steven_Rosenber Aug 26, 2009 5:52 PM EDT |
A live CD for PowerPC?? That's something I'll be checking out ... |
| caitlyn Aug 26, 2009 6:10 PM EDT |
+1 Finnix, as a systems admin tool anyway. Not so much for general use. |
| Sander_Marechal Aug 26, 2009 6:22 PM EDT |
Quoting:I'm not aware of _ANY_ other Linux distros that have liveCD versions for Macs! Ubuntu used to, until Apple switched to Intel Macs. I still have a couple of Ubuntu 5.10 PowerPC Live CD's here. |
| Scott_Ruecker Aug 27, 2009 2:26 PM EDT |
Did someone say a live CD for Power PC? I have an old iMac that recently came my way that it would be cool to try an get Linux installed on or at least play around with a little. |
| Steven_Rosenber Aug 27, 2009 11:16 PM EDT |
Scott, I say Debian. Etch was great on my G4 ... I'll try Lenny eventually but don't have it networked for the upgrade. |
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