“Libranet is Canada’s foremost Linux distribution. They have succeeded where others have failed. As far as I know, they are the only commercial distribution based on Debian left standing. Perhaps their success is due to the added value they provide to what is essentially an easier to use Debian 3.0 release, or perhaps it’s their attention to detail; making the small things easy for new users. They have actively fostered a growing and enthusiastic user community that willingly participates in their beta releases and in educating users new to both Libranet and Debian. People from Libranet also interact very openly with the user community paying attention to their praises and concerns. Whatever it is that they do right it seems to be paying off.” Read the review at WindowWatch.
WindowWatch Reviews Libranet GNU/Linux 2.7
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Lindows is Debian based too!
OSnews is superb!
Xandros is based on Corel Linux, which is based on Debian. And it is Canadian too…
Lindows was initially based on Xandros, which is based on Corel Linux, which was based on Debian…
sept 30th was the release date, it came and went and not a peep from Xandros. what gives?
Eugenia…you know anything?
Sure I do:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=1839
>>Xandros is based on Corel Linux, which is based on Debian. And it is Canadian too…
>>
So therefore: Canada = the best:)
I agree Canada is great! Hey, and they’re our Neighbours.
Libranet needs a click and run,Heck they all do.Im not searching all over the net for files anymore.
By the way, is it me or is every review recently saying that yada yada yada distribution is the best.
DAniel:)
You don’t need Click -n- MarketLies
just use apt get, or synaptic
and mandrake has urpmi and can also use synaptic and apt
Lindows is stupid
I think there’s just a crop of new distros that are really good.
Lindows makes perfect sense in the Windows world, which is where it aims. It is not stupid at all for these people who want a simple, elegant solution. Neither the command line apt-get or the ugly SynaAptic is a real solution for these kind of people.
Ah…! I see OSNEWS logo on the Lindows web site
http://www.lindows.com/lindows_michaelsminutes.php
Well, if Michael can actually market his thing to people, that would be great
>I see OSNEWS logo on the Lindows web site
Sure it is there! We published Adam’s 4-page review of Lindows two weeks ago:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=1803
SuSE added a link to my recent review to their pages too:
http://www.suse.com/us/company/suse/reviews/index.html
“Neither the command line apt-get or the ugly SynaAptic is a real solution for these kind of people.”
Actually the article mentions two more frontends – GNOME-APT and Aptitude, both of which can be ran from this distro’s GUI configuration tool. I haven’t tried either one of these, but thought they were worth mentioning.
What about Kpackage? It’ll download things through Apt sources as well. Why doesn’t anyone ever mention THAT one? It’s actually one of the best around, if you use Debian (even supports RPM’s and everything else out there)
Interesting. I thought you were kinda rough on Suse. I’m suprised they posted a link.
Darren
Synaptic is ugly? Yes, I suppose it is, but it’s eminently usable. I’m less impressed by smooth edges and nice graphics than having buttons and menu items that are self-explanatory and actually do something. Ximian’s Red Carpet for instance is very pleasing to the eye. But it hides stuff from the user, so you don’t get the full functionality of rpm. And Gnome-rpm isn’t quite intuitive in its layout. Synaptic, by contrast, gives you apt-get with a simple toolbar and a useful way of keeping track of programs and dependencies.
(And, to stay on topic, Libranet also comes with synaptic as well as KPackage. Two disks, folks. It’s amazing.)
Is there a free download version for people interested in giving this one a try. If I’m not mistaken you can download the 2.0 essential version off their site, but this version now seems to be outdated compared with all the new changes its been making.
Cheers
Lindows makes perfect sense in the Windows world
Windows makes perfect sense in the Windows world.
As far as I know, they are the only commercial distribution based on Debian left standing.
Who forgot Xandros and Lindows? (Both are based on what-should-be Corel Linux 3.0/1.3 – Sun’s disease 🙂
On the rest of the review….. so nice of them to list down the software they bundled in nice paragraphs. I didn’t finish reading the article (who could?
KPackage makes apt-get install look like a walk in the park…… No offence, but I don’t think it was made for CNR junkies…
I don’t see why Debian is considered difficult. I’ve done three Deb installs in the last year and found it fairly straightforward, mostly just checking off options on menus. The last machine went really smoothly – Woody autodetected everything including DHCP settings. There certainly are some rough edges, but Debian is still very much a work in progress. I think the less automated install reflects the fact that you never have to reinstall it – any version of Debian can be rapidly upgraded to the latest version virtually effortlessly, so it doesn’t matter much if the install takes 10 minutes or an hour. Once done, it’s done for good. Even in view of above, the installer is being completely redone for the next release, so I doubt that the “Debian for Newbies” distros will be able to scare people much longer with the Evil Debian Installation.
Also, absolutely *anyone* with an IQ well into the double digits can install software with either Aptitude, Synaptic, or apt itself. I’m all for well-designed interfaces, but most people can productively use programs even if they are “ugly” or a little awkward.
Try installing Mandrake or RH…. or better still Lycoris or Lindows, and redefine your “ease-of-use”. There is a THOUSAND ways Debian could imrpove their installer, copying Libranet ideas is a good start.