Lunar Linux is a fork off Sorcery Linux and it recently had its 1.0 beta release. In the meantime, ROOTLinux was just released version 1.3, and it includes kernel 2.4.19, it is compiled with GCC 3.2 and it has many brand new packages like KDE 3.0.3 and Gnome 2.0.1. We also learned that CRUX will have a new release soon too, and it will be also switched to GCC 3.2.
ROOTLinux, Lunar Linux Released; CRUX on its Way Too
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Eugenia Loli
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… this brings the number of linux distros up to, what? Somewhere around 6.02×10^23 ? More? How many of them install side-by-side with my existing OS so I can take a poke without having to back up, format, partition six different ways (without sufficient documentation) and then hassle with X and (not enough) choice of window managers?
It’s a rhetorical question, but if there’s an answer- hey, somebody beat me with the cluestick.
(Choice between KDE and Gnome for WM doesn’t count- I’ve used both and have no taste for either- they both smell like Windows Explorer knockoffs.)
(Choice between KDE and Gnome for WM doesn’t count-
Suuuure they do! *stomp* *stomp* *stomp*
I’ve used both and have no taste for either- they both smell like Windows Explorer knockoffs.)
Which leads to the obvious questions:
What should a WindowManager smell like?
What should a WindowManager taste like?
How does one properly prepare a WindowManager?
and, finally,
Should you service a WindowManager with Red or White Wine?
solios: (Choice between KDE and Gnome for WM doesn’t count- I’ve used both and have no taste for either- they both smell like Windows Explorer knockoffs.)
Firstly, all other WMs are in no way ready for the desktop, both GNOME and KDE are more ready. I used Window Maker for a long time, but in no way I would consider it ready for the desktop.
Secondly, your claim on KDE and GNOME being knockouts of Explorer (Windows’ UI) is absolutely absurd. Sure, KDE and GNOME stole some ideas from Windows, but have you even seen how the default GNOME 2.0’s UI looks like? I use both Windows and Linux, and whoever that say GNOME and KDE are cloning Windows are either smoking dope or implying that KDE and GNOME developers did a bad job at it.
Anyway, back on topic, I wonder, which is better, Lunar Linux or Gentoo Linux? I’m planning to use Gentoo Linux 1.4 when it comes out, the Lunar Linux’s site is void of any information… (They should go to gentoo.org and see how they do their site). So, how does this two compare?
I’ve used CRUX in the past and I’d like to say it’s one of the best Linux distributions I’ve seen. It serves under the KISS principle, yet is as powerful as any other distribution. Although I currently use FreeBSD, I would consider CRUX an excellent alternative (in the Linux world) to the Daemon.
Hmm, Windowmaker is not ready for ‘the’ desktop?
Gentoo seems much more well known, so it may have more packages ready? But Lunar is apparently based on Sorcerer,
which was very cute with its ‘spells’ concept, and featured that groovy UI for package management. Gentoo could do with
something like that, if it doesn’t already..
I’m not that interested in GUI tools 😛
Windows Explorer knockoffs
To someone who thinks that Microsoft invented the GUI it might look that way.
To me Windows XP looks and acts like a rip off of GEM on the Atari ST
It all depends on your persepective.
Can someone tell me why KDE and GNOME are not yet ready? People say it all the time but never explain why.
So, how does this two compare?
I think it is quite early for that, but an article comparing Gentoo and Lunar would be nice. 🙂
I tried to unpack it but my bzip tells me CRC error.
I want to try Lunar as I’m sick of Gentoo.
rajan: don’t wait for Gentoo 1.4 , it’s not going to be better, you’ll just get more packages.
The ‘portage’ packaging system is about version 20 something – this may tell you about the quality.
Here is another “high quality” experience with gentoo :
just did yet another ’emerge -update’ stuff and got things like ‘warning: sandbox.c : void function returns int value’ or something like that. And don’t even look in their shell scripts.
If you ever put gentoo then install as little packages as you can – otherwise, you’ll need to do ’emerge –update’ nightly to keep up.
Too bad their web site has some problems at the moment. I
would like to take a look at it.
Well, what is that really? “Ready for the desktop.” Rajan r says: “I’ve been using WindowMaker for years but it is not ready for the desktop.” Where did you use it then? 😉
I’m using fluxbox and it is so nice. I can do everything I want and it is fast. I don’t need anything more.
Maybe you are talking about how friendly it is to first-time users. Windows is first-time-userfriendly. But for me fluxbox is more friendly. I’ve got all my frequently used programs under a key-combination and it is fast. I don’t need a start menu filled with tons of programs and stuff. I don’t want tons of icons on my desktop. The first time, it’s very nice, but when you use it every day, you don’t want all that.
Fluxbox is ready for my desktop!
The weaker ones will always die off, and there’s nobody putting a gun to your head telling you to use this or that distro, do your homework like anyone who invests in an Operating System should.
About the windowmanagers (Or as you claim lack thereof) why not try installing your own if your distro of choice doesn’t come with it pre-packaged for your lazi… err, convenience? Mandrake and Slackware have plenty for me.
On the subject of X hassles… well… I honestly cannot understand how someone could not figure out how to configure the XFree86 4.0.x config file by hand, but if you ever need any help, you can either browse the web or drop me an e-mail. I’m always there for misc. help for anyone who’s a bit down with their Linux or even Windows.
Is this a slackware ripoff except for the i586-precompiled binaries (instead of slackwares i386) and a devfs devicefile-system instead of the old /dev one? I can’t see too many important changes to make me switch from slackware.
That’s very nice of you!
I mean, really great offer. Not too often one can see not a RTFM-response.
..nobody can write decent apps for them yet. It would seem to me that KDE apps are still better, but, for instance, I just spent some time trying out every GNOME cd-burning app and they are all much less usable than equivalent $50 apps on Windows (my usability benchmark was Padus DiscJuggler).
I just converted a friend to Linux and he’s ready to go back. Trying to explain to him the difference between .tar.gz, .tgz, .zip is giving him reservations. It’s not that he isn’t smart and astute enough, but he’s getting to the point where it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Some of these things should have been taken care of in the UI already…
Crux 1.0 won’t be gcc 3.2 based.
I just converted a friend to Linux and he’s ready to go back. Trying to explain to him the difference between .tar.gz, .tgz, .zip is giving him reservations. It’s not that he isn’t smart and astute enough, but he’s getting to the point where it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Some of these things should have been taken care of in the UI already…
—
Why do you explain him the difference between tar.gz, tgz or zip? You don’t need to know that, just click on it, and it opens. (KDE3: in konqueror, GNOME2: in fileroller).
It’s really my pleasure.
I still have not been answered on why is multiple partations are needed on Linux/BSDs/UNIX? Security concerns? Speed related?
Let see:
Under Windows XP: 1 NTFS partition
Under eComStation(OS/2): 1 HPFS partition
Under BeOS: 1 BFS partition
Under Mac OS X: 1 HFS+(or UFS) partition
they aren’t. you may need a swap partition if you have a low amount of ram, otherwise, partitions are used for security/ease-of-updating.
forgive me, i’m at work, i’ve had 2 hours of sleep, i have a headache, and i still consider myself a linux newbie. :/
….I make one totally biased comment about Gnome and KDE- which (I’m a Mac user, thank you), look and feel just like Windows Explorer (which is and is not a good thing)….. and everyone decides to flame my troll on THAT basis, rather than step up to bat and actually comment on the REAL question in my statement.
I’ll rephrase:
How many Linux distros can I drop onto an existing, functioning, formatted drive and play with, without hosing my existing OS ? You can do it with Be, QNX and Mac OS X….
>Crux 1.0 won’t be gcc 3.2 based.
Yes, it will be. The author told me yesterday.
What the hell are you talking about? If you have a free partition for it, 99% of all Linuxes go on without a hitch…same for the BSDs
I’ve had 5 OSes on the same computer before…Mandrake 6.2, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and Win98…none of them got “hosed” when i added a new one…and like any other major software installation, you are a fool if you don’t back up all your important stuff first…in that case it won’t matter if by some freak accident your existing OS does get “hosed”
If that isn’t what you meant you’re going to have to clarify again.
-bytes256
How many Linux distros can I drop onto an existing, functioning, formatted drive and play with, without hosing my existing OS ? You can do it with Be, QNX and Mac OS X….
__________________________________________
There are several distros that will boot off of a CDROM or a floppy(ies) and do not require you install anything to your harddrive. There are a few that will boot off the hard drive and use a small file on your hard drive.
Could you please provide a few examples of post that contain RTFM (and also the post that originally requested help)?
It has been my experience that if you ask politely for help, many people are more than happy to use some of their time to help you solve your problem without expectation of anything in return. I have never been told to RTFM. But I have many, many times received help from strangers who had no obligation to help me.
It has been my experience that the Linux/OSS community contains many kind and helpful people who will take the time to help you for sheer love and enthusiasim.
To get me to the point of “RTFM!”
I have had pretty much none. I have it running on my server and 2 old IBM PS/2 MCA machines. There have been one or two errors with portage. But they where always fixed quite easily. Just nuke your /usr/portage/dis* and /var/tmp/portage then emerge clean; emerge rsync. If you are upgrading a package and it still does not work uninstall that package with emerge unmerge package then emerge the new version. Anyone that has had a load of trouble has not 1) read the faq. 2) asked in the mailing list for help. Gentoo is the closest thing to the greatness of the BSD ports system – and it does upgrades. Ports does not.
My system is not really powerful enough to withstand Gentoo’s build-from-source portage system (At least in terms of my patience and time). However, given that the latest processors are 6.2-x more powerful than my current one, I don’t think it’s much of a problem for people with up-to-date systems.
Portage is truly wonderful, and if you ask me, the pains of Linux software installation are negated by this great system.
All in all, though, isn’t it quite off topic to discuss Gentoo on this new article?
When you said you talked to the developer did you talk to Per Liden or some other dude?
To Per Liden.
There are several distros that will boot off of a CDROM or a floppy(ies) and do not require you install anything to your harddrive. There are a few that will boot off the hard drive and use a small file on your hard drive.
Any examples? I’ve tried Simply GNU Step, but found it severly crippled. Any other ideas/recomendations?
TIA,
Nick
All in all, though, isn’t it quite off topic to discuss Gentoo on this new article?
All I asked was a comparison between Gentoo and Lunar, and I got nothing 🙂
[i]How many Linux distros can I drop onto an existing, functioning, formatted drive and play with, without hosing my existing OS ? You can do it with Be, QNX and Mac OS X….[i]
Which OS? OS X or windos?
Slackware has zipslack which will install onto fat32 but not NTFS yet.
And there are Linux distros that boot off of a floppy or a CD.
http://www.knoppix.com/
Knoppix is such a distro
Slackware also comes with a live disk that runs off the CD
http://www.slackware.com
I don’t think you can download it though it comes with the set you buy.
These are for x86 arch for PPC I don’t know
I don’t have a PPC machine