Linux100-Puppy Studio 3.1-107

Even though I used PCLinux as my gold standard (it has some problem with its new partition tool-not recognizing some partition types) for live CDs for its versatility and the availability of many versions at disposal, the record for most number of CDs downloaded goes unquestionably to Puppy Linux (I have, more than 20).

Puppy Linux Studio is the latest I downloaded.
It has lite version which is 288MiBs.
The full version is 376 MiB. 

It is pretty good and has taken most of the useful packages from TeenPup and LeagcyPup.

Both over 650MiBs.

Puppy less than 200 is always in my front pocket even when I travel abroad.

Even though I carry a flash drive (pen drive) I rarely use it for any problem solving.
Puppy is enough and it is amazing in doing simple and complex things.

Why carry a laptop when one can avoid it.

Before I buy something I load Puppy and see whether everything works before paying in foreign currency.
If Puppy fails I do not buy that for sure however much the market hype is.

As far as I am concerned I categorize (like any other Live) Live CDs based on Puppy MiBs.
Is it less than 200 MiB?
I love the ones below 200.

NimbleX is one of them. NimbleX has bcome bit fatter recently but still less than 500.

The next category is 200 to 500 MiB (little less or more).
CRUX, Peppermint and many more out there now.
What annoys me is why try to compress into 700 MiB which is impossible unless one uses compression used by Knoppix.

If it goes beyond 700 MiB might as well double 500 to 1000 and go for a decent DVD like Mint rather than remain in no man’s land.
There is another problem with trying to compress into 700MiB.
Unless one has 1GB RAM, live session is slow and painful.
Many people do not have more than 512 RAM or DVD.
Many of the old machines can be revitalized with 500MiB input.
I am glad to see some are catering for these machines.

Having said that with or without your own machine all Puppies are adorable.

I will be with you on Pendrive Linux soon.

Linux100-ScentiLinux-102

I thought i have made an entry for ScentLinux but I haven’t.

I have been strict and you did not have a live CD (so you were not eligible) till lately.

 

May be you have seen my comments here and decided to make one before I pass the century.

It is a very good distribution coming from Switzerland with multi-language capability which is something I admire. Linux is an international phenomenon not an American Dream so language capability is a must. 

It is known when one speaks one language (English) one does not use the important half of the brain necessary for creative activity and that is what Microsoft is about. When it introduced 42 languages with X.P it completely forgot about Sinhala (there are 2000 languages at present). 

It took ages for them to rectify this.

High marks for language capability and also for blender included in 400 MiB distribution.

What I like most is the xfce with the mouse as a logo (not Mickey Mouse of Walter Disney) that brought me into live CD with PCLinix– SAM the man.

Booting, internet connection and the graphic appearance are great.

It comes from Paldo and I have an entry for Paldo too.

I have forgotten GoBo Linux and it is a big mistake.

GoBO Linux is the only except perhaps YOPER which is looking at Linux in a different point of view and perspective.

Breaking away from hierarchical architecture is difficult.

Now that Fedora is thinking of a change it is high time GoBo picks up the baton and run.

Wake up GoBo

it’s new edition is long overdue.

That may be the reason I missed it.

Sorry Guys and Girls.

I am sorting out all the distributions and I will be writing on those missing entries.

I have multiple entries for Nimblex and R.I.P.

In fact you are within the hundred (100).

Linux100-SuperOS-33

SuperOS is a distribution that I have mounted on my laptop but rarely used, just to have the feel of Ubuntu for demonstrations.

It has Wine and Skype.

Open office is the hindrance to it’s development.

Could have been abiword instead and added few more utilities with the new release.

I was waiting for the new release to write home about it but hardly anything new with only a graphic face lift.

The is the price one has to pay when trying to emulate Microsoft.

It probably has something for the laptops but not way above others.

It is of the middle weight category and slow to boot but I prefer it rather than Ubuntu.

 

Linux people should never have the Megalomaniacs names like what you get in the commercial counterparts.

It should shed some of its graphic weights and open office (get open office from its repositories) weight and include blender and gambase (Visual basic counterpart but much better) mobile media converter (like PCLinux genome edition) and iTune compatibility.

If they think like Linux mint and have few more versions including OEM edition surely it can live up to SuperOS .

I think they should drop this megalomaniac name and go something similar to Mint, Peppermint, Imagine, Element and the like.

English names are disappearing very fast.

Grab hold of one before it is too late.

My humble contribution is to go for Sensation instead.

Vanity is another name which may foot the bill but not Superman or Spiderman or Batman.

They only have a historical value.

Linux is too mature to go for Super mentality.

Linux is super anyway!

Debian-Live-update

Debian has entered on the Live CD Flora in style.
It has core, light weight and four (4) light middle weight versions that include, KDE. Genome. xfce and LXDE.
I like the LXDE but all are equally good and outstanding.
Being the God Father of Linux its repositories are full of utilities that nobody else can boast.
There are over 31 (I have 12 in my safe) CDs in its repertoire of repositories.

Thanks for following PCLinux’s foot path to freedom.
Instead of packing all X windows in one distribution robust individual x window systems is the way forward.
Do not forget its nFLUX light weight distribution.
Many thanks for your effort, you can be on par with UBUNTU your God Son soon.
Your grandsons will boast about the grandfather for many centuries to come.

PCLinux-2010-07-Update

PCLinux-2010-07 has released its latest CD. True to its origin keep it slim and fast unlike other KDE versions.
Go and download and enjoy Linux;
It is my Gold standard of Live installable CD.
It also has lighter weight versions and gnome versions too to download.
Pick is yours.
Do not forget to send a donation too.
This update was done on the fly with its live CD.
If you have problem with linking to the internet, the fault is with the Sri-Lankan Telecom.
Make a complain to Telecom and ask for a modem that does support Linux.
If you do not get a proper service let me know in return of wire post.
We have to pressurize them to do that.
Good Luck with Telecom!

Linux-100-AVLinux-04-31

The is the best Middle Weight (version 4) category (1.7 GB) of Linux distributions that I have downloaded so far.

Nealy 12 hours of downloading it (pay for 50 bits per second but it is snail pace of 15 to 20 bits-my Linux computer records it accurately) in Sri-Lanka it was worth the wait and the weight in MiBs.

The version 3 has enough utilities and is only 1.0 GB.

It has all the utilities one needs to operate an old or new computer.
It has lots of Audio and Video packages and Blender too.
(XMBC which has problems with configuring the mouse and its resource craving make one feels light weight and happy with LXDE and AVLinux).

A Debian derivative once mounted (Live or Installed) one can download a Linux iso and use Unebooting to make a distribution that can be mounted (OLD-computer without USB booting) with a USB drive.

It is important that one understand the working of Linux before one uses this distribution especially when using Gparted.

This is a distribution for a newbie as well as a savvy.
You can connect your iPod too.
This is something I wanted badly to promote in Linux community, if one cannot change iTunes to another format why not beat it (after having bought it).

Please do not confuse with aLinux which is a peanut Linux derivative which I tried sevearal times but have my own reservation recommending to a newbie.

Note worth Recording
I downloaded Genitoo 10.1 Live CD of 2.5 MiB and found that I could not install it on hard disk.
This is what I call Heavy Weight Distributions of no use.

If few MiB cannot be allocated for the Installing it is an utter waste of downloading where it takes 12 hours (Electricity Bill Sky Rocketing) to download 1.5 GB (Sri-Lanka).
India may be no better.
I downloaded six months of toil in Sri-Lanka in couple of hours in Singapore, airport included.
I wonder where the foreign aid to develop our infrastructure is going?
Our Ministers cannot even mange Sports including Cricket.
IT they do not have the knowledge of 15 year old computer kid (Wizard).
So be it!

Go and download this distribution and send a contribution too, to the developers.

I have copied its introduction from Softpedia.
Please read the full content from Softpedia.

Directly copied.

AV Linux 3.0 is a LiveDVD ISO image that is a self-contained, full-featured computer Operating System.  

It was created using the Debian GNU/Linux Testing branch and Remastersys.

This Live DVD ISO image can be downloaded, burned onto any DVD-R(W) and then booted and demonstrated on virtually any recent Windows PC without any effect on the existing OS.

If the user desires it can be installed to the Hard Drive either on it’s own or “dual-boot” with an existing Windows or Linux OS. Once installed AV Linux transforms the users computer into a full-blown Audio/Video Workstation ready to use!

The User Interface features the very lightweight and efficient LXDE 0.5.0 Desktop Environment.

It’s well-rounded program selection covers most every common everyday computer tasks, it features a full complement of the best F/OSS Multimedia Applications available allowing users to enjoy Multitrack Audio Recording and Mixing, Video Capturing, Editing and Converting, DVD Authoring and Creation, iPod Tools and much more.

AV Linux also contains Hard Drive utilities making it an excellent troubleshooting and rescue solution.

Keep an Older PC Productive:

Computer Operating Systems continue to become more and more resource intensive, many times people upgrade their Operating Systems in the hope of improving their system only to be terribly disappointed when their existing hardware isn’t sufficient to even run the supposed “upgrade”.

PC’s have actually been powerful enough for Multitrack Audio and DVD Video Editing since the late 1990’s but with the latest Operating Systems wasting precious CPU and RAM on superficial eye candy many potentially productive computers end up being relegated to closets, basements, garages and even worse to garbage dumps and landfills.

The chilling legacy of our “disposable” societal mindset is already evident in so-called “tech dumps” in rural China and many other places intentionally well hidden from the comforts of the developed world.

By combining the general efficiency of Linux and enhancing it further with a light Desktop Environment like LXDE I consider it an AV Linux mandate to keep older PC’s in daily use.

I’ve personally encountered dozens of people who truly believe it isn’t possible to build a home recording studio without buying a brand new Mac or PC and spending thousands of dollars on commercial software.

The AV Linux Live DVD serves to demonstrate that this is not necessarily true .

There is more to read. Please visit Softpedia download.

 

Linux100-Peppermint-24

Peppermint, another Ubuntu derivative is going through a rapid transformation.

I had to figure out how to boot it when I first downloaded it but the latest version boots automatically without a hassle.

It is fast to boot and install and light weight.

Added Google Viewer and Documents in its package which is a welcome a change.
Gets over 800 points from me which is above average.
Good for a newbie.
The synaptic repository have enormous collection of extra packages.

It has given a new face to Ubuntu clones.

Go and enjoy it.

Linux100-Element-20

Element is a wonderful Media Center and now HTDV enabled.

It easily gets over 750 points on my scale. If they incorporated abiword light or similar document viewer and improved its installation procedure by adding an icon on the desktop and a simple line in the command prompt to say how to boot it (re-user and password).

I would have given 1000 points.

In fact it took three days for me to figure out how to sign up after the graphic prompt.

This is where an excellent distribution may be lost in the wild.

Linux Guys and Girls should learn how to market the product.

In any case it is an excellent distribution for media groovies and I give thousand (1000) and above now, expecting the guys to rectify the minor irritation (documentation to be precise) in the next release.

Why not add Skype too?

PCLinux-2010.1 and PCLinuxE17 plus XorduS

PCLinux-2010.1 and PCLinuxE17 are pretty good and reluctantly though I formatted my hard drive including home partition to install them in two of my computers.

I bet anybody who test the Live CDs would do that.

Both have Apple not Microsoft feel.
They are my gold standards and score is well above 1200 out of 750.

Hat’s off to the team and I hope they will soon come out with a Server Version.
Even though the Ubunbtu 10.4 was good its Server Version had some problem with My Server naming a for b and b for a (hard drives) and I had to use Debian to correct the Grub File.
Debian’s XorduS with net install of all the (top ten) major Linux distribution is making life easy for newbies and groovies,

Linux-100-XorduS-17

For 400 odd megabytes this live CD with Xfce is one of the best and very very fast to boot.

Once in the in the internet you are directed to the enormous resource base of DEBIAN and is a clear winner in the light weight category.

Hat’s off to you at Debian.

It has given a knock out punch to all other Live CDs and hence, I want allocate any marks except stating it should be taken as a Benchmark to assess others.