http://www.osnews.com/story/7783/A_Year_With_Lycoris_Desktop_LX Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:59:47 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Lycoris Desktop/LX= ok for your kids or a new linux user, but the lack of packages,the new Novell linux,debian and it`s "parnters" (libranet etc) soon comming. I`d love to downl the power pack and give it a try- and probably very nice to use as a desktop os, but for linux users who wich to poke,make,build etc there are other linuxès that I think will do it better. I shure will be one of the first to get Novell 1, and a couple of debian "partner" shure looks promising.

1: they need to have a free downl ( fedora like one) open up, get more packages in there

2: More updates

etc

But hey I can be wrong Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? lycoris is also a good desktop linux distro however it gets very less exposure than other desktop linux distro (Xandros or Lindows, oops Linspire) so sometimes it gets forgotten
may be they need to do some publicity stunt like linspire to make their product famous.
i am sorry linspire fans, but linspir wouldn't have been as famous as it is today Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Does anyone know if the Lycoris discount is still in effect (not that I'm interested, but just wondering)? I read many months ago that they were doing a promotion where, if you sent them a retail copy of Windows XP, that they would give you a discount on their Lycoris OS. I thought this was silly, and was wondering if it is still in effect. Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Please stop asking for a free beer everytime someone tries to make a few bucks, it's really annoying and childish.

The people over at Lycoris work their asses off to make a living, and therefore they have the full right to let people pay for their product. How would you like to work 9 to 5 without getting paid?

I'm definitely awaiting their newest release. Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? From my experience Lycoris, is not a suitable Linux Distro for any off the more experienced users. I believe that the personal edition does not come with a compiler, which is a huge draw back for those off use who are used to compiling our own packages/kernel/programs.

Still a nice interface, if you're into that whole FisherPrice feel.

If I recall correctly Lycoris does offer a free download, search http://www.linuxiso.org you'll probably find it on the front page. Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Yea I love the design and look of Desktop/LX. The problem I have always had is the lack of easy to find software.

Desktop/LX is based on Caldera, at one point people were packaging for Caldera which means a lot of it could be used on Desktop/LX. But after the SCO crap came to light people stopped packaging for the Caldera platform and that caused new software to fall off for Desktop/LX.

I am hoping that their new version will also include an updated version of Iris with tons of apps.

(I know I could take any app and make it run in Desktop/LX but why wast the time when I can download the same thing from Linspire Click and run or Xandros's Xandros networks which are both loaded with quick to install applications.) Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Lycoris is much cleaner and less clunky looking than Linspire. I sort of like the idea that Lycoris is less of a PR/Marketing machine than Linspire...man, Lindows went through major version number increments way to fast. At best, Linspire 4.5 is more like a 1.5 product. But, the major version number boosting got them more headlines...

Lycoris seems more interested in making a solid product than grabbing headlines.. Fri, 23 Jul 2004 19:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Equvialent: Dropline Gnome? Or does it also rely on other technologies.

Anyway I think it looks great, usable, all those good things. It looks like it gives KDE more simple approach, look at the graphics menu compared to default KDE!!

http://lycoris.com/products/desktoplx/menu/pictures.php

Also it's task based. Interesting.... Fri, 23 Jul 2004 20:08:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Linspire 4.5 is fine. It is no less stable then Lycoris. On top of that Lycoris is using very out dated Libraries, an OLD version of KDE. The kernel is still the same from the Caldera days.

I mean the new version might be good. But the current version is not very usable at all. Click and Run blows Iris away. I think there are like 10 applications in Iris and like 3000 on click and run, most of them up to date.

Yes Linspire is clunky looking out the box you can make it less clunky looking (Since they are both using KDE) I can take the Lycoris theme and use it in Linspire. (And if not I can tweak Linspire to look and feel like Lycoris) Fri, 23 Jul 2004 20:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Desktop/LX Amethyst 1.4, which will be on display at LinuxWorld booth 1483 and will be released next week, has KDE 3.2.3 and a current kernel. Iris has hundreds of applications in it, and we will soon open the door for hundreds more.

Thanks!

Joe Fri, 23 Jul 2004 20:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? ...the one that works best for YOU!!!



there is "no best" distro, they are for the most part ALL good, so i wont bash Lycoris, i will just "Let it be" (like that old Beatles song) and keep chugging along with my slackware :^) Fri, 23 Jul 2004 20:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Great human interest story. Sounds like Lycoris is really looking to be a community company, a very cool thing while it lasts.
One of these days I wanna try Lycoris, I won't recommend a dist till I try it. So right now I recommend Fedora2, and derecommend(sic) Mandrake . Fri, 23 Jul 2004 20:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Lycoris was a very very pleasent experience I must say! But at that time it did lack software a problem which seams to soon be fixed according to Joe Cheek.

It's the best Linux experience I have had actually. For beginners and Windows switchers. Because I after I had installed all the development package and stuff the glitches from Calderas distro came by. Caldera OpenLinux is incompatible with about 50% of all the Linux software out there, but I heard romours a year ago that Lycoris would be based on another distro in the future. Did that ever happen?

Anyway it's as easy to setup a printer in XP as in Lycoris/DX and thats great for being Linux! Fri, 23 Jul 2004 20:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? ..the one that works best for YOU!!!



there is "no best" distro, they are for the most part ALL good, so i wont bash Lycoris, i will just "Let it be" (like that old Beatles song) and keep chugging along with my slackware :^)


Nice.. I wholeheartly agree, this is one of the most intelligent things said yet... Fri, 23 Jul 2004 22:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I will be ready to try it as soon as it comes out. Trust me I am not bashing Desktop/LX. I have tried it several times going back to when it was Redmond Linux. Fri, 23 Jul 2004 22:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Be sure to try it in its 1.4 release.... its moved *along* way from its Caldera roots and has improved greatly over its earlier RedmondLinux days... Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "Linspire 4.5 is fine. It is no less stable then Lycoris. On top of that Lycoris is using very out dated Libraries, an OLD version of KDE. The kernel is still the same from the Caldera days."
Get your facts right before posting, please! You are wrong on almost every single thing you said. The current version of Lycoris does in fact have an old version of KDE, highly usable, but indeed outdated. The part about the kernel is downright wrong. They have a pretty recent version in Update 3. (2.4.22 I'm pretty sure). Update 4 (or version 1.4), will have KDE 3.2.3 (latest stable release).

BTW, this was a very nice article. Kudos to the author, pelly. Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Agreed, that is one of the most intelligent things I've heard from someone on here in a while. Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? ...the one that works best for YOU!!!

You misspelled "Gentoo". Glad I could help. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 00:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Speaking of Linspire... I saw this (http://www.everaldo.com/splashs/lsongs2.htm) on Everaldo's site. I'm figuring this is Linspire's new look. Mighty nice, isn't it? Sat, 24 Jul 2004 08:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Um, would it be too much trouble to state which kernel is being used, instead of stating "new kernel?" The reason I'm complaining is that I recently downloaded the newest version of Xandros, only to have it not install because I'm using a VIA SATA chipset. I could have completely avoided wasting my time and optical media if the kernel version was stated on the website. Lycoris doesn't state which kernel is being used on their website, either. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 11:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I imagine it will be 2.4.26. Lycoris have traditionally left newer Linux components well alone until they are ultra-stable. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 11:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I like Desktop/lx. I have actually written an howto for ICS for it.

http://www.area3d.net/thread.php?id=55

Jim Sat, 24 Jul 2004 12:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Ahh. They still have it in their forums

http://www.lycoris.org/viewtopic.php?topic=252&forum=20 Sat, 24 Jul 2004 12:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? well at least if i am to judge by this article. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 15:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Linux and NDAs? That just does not fit together. Strange that somebody is so openly saying that he signed an NDA and is not getting ashamed. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 15:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Ughh you people really annoy me. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 18:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Shame on yourself, you post on this website!

Explanation: osnews.com's PHP scripts are closed-source. And to people like you, that should not be a sub-optimal solution but no solution at all, so if you would put your money where your mouth is, you should carefully check each link you click to be sure you don't actually hit a closed-source php script. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 18:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? In fact, it isn't uncommon for someone to ask a question and return later that day to see two or three replies.

In the Gentoo forums, it can well happen that you ask a question, read another thread, return to the previous and find your problem already solved. You just have to ask questions the intelligent way and give enough detail. Or you can use the search function.

Are the fonts in Desktop/LX really rendered as badly as in
http://lycoris.com/products/desktoplx/menu/ ?

I don't care if they have NDAs, it's a company, and the NDAs are about company information, not about the software. But if they don't state which kernel version they are using, that's a little too closed for my taste. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 18:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? What I find hilarious is that this guy is paying for a "license" for each desktop computer in his house. What an amazingly silly thing to do.

The whole idea of GNU/Linux is to share software. The guys at Lycoris are breaking the spirit of free software if you can't share software with your kids without paying for another license. Their Microsoft days seem to have left them with some pretty interesting views about how to approach a business.

Other than that, I am glad that the guy who wrote the story is enjoying his days in Linux. The one thing I do like about Lycoris is that they move slowly. Now if they could have a 5000 app repository and worked harder to have their KDE patches merged upstream, I would be a little more interested in what they do. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 19:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Julian: Fonts are just not shown to well in a screenshot I would say, most Linux fonts are good so don't worry.
Why not download the free version and see what you think?
I'm downloading now. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 19:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? That screen shot is from Update 2. Fonts have taken a huge jump in quality in 1.4 now that Lycoris is using Bitstreams Bxt2 technology. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 19:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "What I find hilarious is that this guy is paying for a "license" for each desktop computer in his house. What an amazingly silly thing to do."
Why is that silly? You don't have to buy an extra license. You only have to buy another license (PID, Product ID) if you want to have access to Iris on another computer. You can install Desktop/LX on as many computers as you want, but one will only have access to Iris. The addition license, like I said provides you with access to Iris on another computer.


The whole idea of GNU/Linux is to share software. The guys at Lycoris are breaking the spirit of free software if you can't share software with your kids without paying for another license. Their Microsoft days seem to have left them with some pretty interesting views about how to approach a business."
The GPL didn't mean for Linux to be "free as in beer", more of "free as in speech". I think what I said above may clear some of your misconceptions up - I hope so at least. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 20:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "In the Gentoo forums, it can well happen that you ask a question, read another thread, return to the previous and find your problem already solved. You just have to ask questions the intelligent way and give enough detail. Or you can use the search function."
I'm not bashing the Gentoo forums in anyway at all, but that is what is nice about the Lycoris forums. As Lycoris' target audience are people moving from Windows to Linux, they probably *don't* know how to make a very good post either as they don't know what to say, or don't know enough details. Which if that is the case someone will ask for the information and usually tell them step by step instructions to get the information into a forum post. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 20:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "But if they don't state which kernel version they are using, that's a little too closed for my taste."
If they do indeed not post it, I'm sure it was overlooked. Actually... it's over at distrowatch. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 20:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Fonts are just not shown to well in a screenshot I would say

Why would you say so? A screenshot is a capture from the screen, so they are shown in the screenshot just as good.

most Linux fonts are good so don't worry.

I know what you mean, thank you (actually "Linux fonts" would be the console fonts you can compile into the kernel). My fonts are rendered excellently on X.org.

Why not download the free version and see what you think?
1. Currently i have no hard disk, mine (a shitty maxtor 80 GB) crashed after just 8 months of use. Don't buy Maxtor products btw.
2. This distro is not for me. I pretty much hate every aspect of it and i am very happy with Gentoo.
But i thank that especially when they sell their own font packages, they should include decent fonts in the distro and be able to configure X to render fonts well-readable, with good hinting and crisp.
This is just for me to personally rate whether Lycoris is "just crap" or "not for me, but recommendable for those who love Windows XP expect for being insecure and from a monopolistic company."
I wouldn't spend so much time, bandwidth and a coaster for that. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 20:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "But i thank that especially when they sell their own font packages, they should include decent fonts in the distro and be able to configure X to render fonts well-readable, with good hinting and crisp."
Like I said above, those screenshots are either from Update 1 or Update 2, both very old versions. Update 3's fonts are rendered much better than that, and Desktop/LX 1.4's are going to kick arse. Sat, 24 Jul 2004 20:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I have no misconceptions that you or anybody to clear.

Proprietary licenses suck. If you are aware of the work of the free software foundation, one of its primary goals is the sharing of software. Read the FSF's philosophy and see how many times the word share comes up.

You may justify the proprietary licenses with your vague and empty statements, but they suck.

A father should be able to install his software on his neighbor's or kid's computer. Sun, 25 Jul 2004 05:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I have nothing ot say to you but w/e. Linux wasn't meant to be free as in beer - free as in speech! Lycoris does share. They have contributed many patches back to kde, including myself! Sun, 25 Jul 2004 06:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Answer clearly and unequivocally:

Are you saying that a father should not be allowed to share his software with his child? Yes or no? Sun, 25 Jul 2004 07:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I thought Brandon had already stated that it was possible to install Lycoris on whatever system he pleased (his son's system, his neighbours or whoever else floats your boat) - an additional license only being required should you want to be able to download additional programs from Iris on any of these additional systems that Lycoris is installed on. I thought this was all crystal clear ....

It is entirely irrelevant as to whether another system is his sons, neighbours, Joe Blogs from down the way or whatever other worthy you might use to colour your query.

It is Lycoris' bandwidth - whatever business model they use to be able to pay for it (so Iris is available to their customers) is down to them. Sun, 25 Jul 2004 13:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? *Thank you* - you got it exactly, even better than how I said it Sun, 25 Jul 2004 20:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments