Lycoris Desktop/LX Build 71 (beta) is released (547 MB) and it features along wiht a new build system, kernel 2.4.21-pre6; XFree86 4.3.0; new splash screen; little installer fixes – now installs on via miniboards, as well as over USB CDROMs.
Lycoris Desktop/LX Build 71 (beta) Released
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Has anyone played with the gamepack? I know it comes with WineX but is it a complete subscription or do I have to pay them their $5 a month thing to get the updates? I don’t think it would be a viable puchase if I paid $35 for 6 free games and an early release of WineX that doesn’t work with all of my games.
The GamePak is still in beta – nobody actually knows yet.
Does anyone know which version of KDE they have used in this beta? I couldnt find the version on their site.
it uses kde 2.2.2 still, but its much more than kde 2.2.2. lycoris has applied tons of patches and has made its gui much more appealing. it is also much much much more stabler than standard kde 2.2.2.
beware though, it is beta and is not intended for mission critical systems…
D3M0N
Damn the screenshots look so much like windows xp its scary. Can they only imitate ?
Linux aint a clone of windows. Whats the point why not just run windows ?
Wow, the scary part is the only way you can tell it isn’t for sale is a little green “pre-order” next to your shopping cart list, it doesn’t even look like it says it on checkout.
I’d be pissed if I bought this without any real knowledge of a release date or pre existing knowledge that it wasn’t even released. I can’t seem to find anything there.
The whole point of Lycoris is to make a distro that will allow Windows users to feel less intimidated. They want it to look like Windows so newbies will feel comforting familiarity and might not be too terrified to try it out.
It is not targeted toward IT professional. This distro is aimed at casual users who don’t know or care aboutthe details of their operating system. They just want their word processor to work.
Barry
exactly barry, thanks.
No offence to them cos they must have spent alot of time doing it but if your gonna spend so much time doing it why not develop something new. why just imitate ?
I gotta laugh at terms of posting man dont make childish 10 year old posts but abide by a childish 10 yr old set of terms before agreeing to post LMAO.
im 12. been using linux since i was 9. im the one who wrote the lindows review. im just saying that Barry was right on the ticket. thats exactly what Lycoris is aimed at, the desktop audience. it look like windows because that way it looks familiar and doesn’t intimidate new linux users. if they see something completely new, they get freaked out and then are “scared” of their computer. lycoris is helping to fill that gap.
The thing is, they are looking for a good way to easily migrate users from Windows to Linux. By mimicking the look and feel of Windows XP, they are trying to at least stop people from saying “This doesn’t look like my Windows XP, I don’t understand…I hate this”.
Developing something new would only confuse those who work by memorization instead of understanding. I work with quite a few people who work by memorizing what they click and never fully understand what exactly it does when they click it
>why just imitate ?
The answer was already up there. In order to offer something familiar.
Please do not start this discussion again. It is the only discussion regarding lycoris each and every time we have a lycoris story.
Please refer to our archives of lycoris stories and their comments if you want to read about it, do not re-write the same stuff here. This issue has already being beaten to death.
He’s new…he’s allowed to make a mistake
I believe he honestly wanted to know, not flaming…of course I give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong.
i hope that the font rendering is better in this release.
and also responsiveness of the interface, that was crappy in the old versions.
Anybody tried?????????
Their version numbering scheme doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. What is the difference between build 71 and update 2?
There is a mispelling of the word with in the article.
ugly, unpolished fonts and a bunch of apps that sux
skin deep
It’s good but I’ll give it a try when they reach KDE 3.1. Last time I tried Lycoris it inherited the QT/KDE 2 bugs and the most annoying was the clipboard when you select text, it copies it to the clipboard.
If you think Lycoris is for you, you prolly wanna stick to Windows…
All Lycoris offeres is Windows for bums… It just won’t run Windows apps sufficiently, and the GamePak sucks…
If you want to try Linux, get a REAL Linux distro, If you want Windows, USE WINDOWS… quit supporting companies trying to merge the two… If you really can’t live without Windows applications, give Codeweavers a look… its a specialized Wine, running several popular applications successfully including MS Office 2000. If you need games, pay for Transgaming’s product…. Don’t pay for such things through a company trying to make Linux look and feel like Linux!!!!
Build numbers are internal, whereas the “Update” is like a Service Pack.
eg.
Amethyst Update 2 == Build 46
Amethyst Update 3 BETA == Build 71
(Windows 2000 SP3 == Build 2195 SP3 — the main developer over there used to work for Microsoft, and wrote part of the Windows 98 Resource Kit.)
Eugenia has it right – Lycoris is meant to be familiar. But, it is not an exact replica of XP. The more you use it, the more you realize the artwork is suggestive of XP. but really has a style of its own. I have the Productivity Pak and that is extended to OpenOffice.org too.
Lycoris *is* a *real* Linux distro. Don’t let any trolls tell you it isn’t.
The version scheme is unique. They use gem stones. Amethyst Update 3 final, I believe, is to be the last of the Amethyst series. Then will come Beryl which, it is assumed, will be the first to include KDE 3.x. All of us Lycoris users are very anxious for this – it should be beautiful.
Most importantly, Lycoris is very usable. The user community at the community websire is really friendly and helpful. Even Joseph Cheek (the Head Honcho) has been known to post there. IRIS, their own software download area, started out tiny, but has been growing.
Lycoris is really a fun distro to use. After awhile, you forget the similarities to XP and it becomes something unto itself.
I installed and tried it only for 20 minutes…. only two words:
IT SUCKS.
Its a good thing Lycoris is bringing its stuff up to date, I dont know if any of you know it but they are getting preloaded on Qli Desktops and Laptops, so they needed to come up with the times. But congrats to the Lycoris team.
Look. I don’t care if you play mumble-de-peg with scalpels or feed your pet pirhanas by hand. If you don’t like what Lycoris is doing, DON’T USE IT!!!
I’ve run Linux since Yggdrasil ’95 edition. I’ve run OS/2 for just about forever. I have to keep Drub98 on my computer to keep certain family members happy and to keep up with the servers my school system runs.
I have SuSE running and Lycoris and I keep coming back to Lycoris for a large number of tasks. It works. It’s nice. I’m composing this on Build 69 right now.
I like it. Now leave me alone.
While I am not a Linuc fanitix, Lycoris is at least more logically setup and organized so that one can understand it better than, say, RedHat should there not be experience with each and every app you need to do whatever it is you need on the exact system you are using (in this hypo, RedHat).
In other words, Lycrois opens the market not just to Winders b00bs, but also to users of other systems and even to those whom have never seen a computer. Logic is essential. Continuity and predictability, more so.
Why is Windows so engrained now? Is it really because M$ is evil? Well, no, actually. They are still #1 because of their evil, but they did not become #1 being evil (just a pain in Apple’s side). They had a product that looked at what their average consumer was going to buy for. They did targeting development.
People wanted the ability to change system colors, Microsoft gave it to them. I bet very rarely has Microsoft been asked to include some bulky crap like KDE with Windows. And I’d be upset if they did.
Users can rest assured that when they use Windows, they will face a certain set of difficulties and incumberments with the system. They realize that they can’t do too much more than one intensive task at a time, and they realize the sometimes the computer just isn’t going to do anything for a few minutes and to go lay down. They know they will very possibly encounter a crash or two, but they know more or less what to expect and don’t get freightened (worried, yes).
Windows has at least taught all of us many many good habits. For instance, I bet everyone of us who has tried to do work on Windows now is in the habit of saving their work after typing every single sentence (for when the app crashes). Windows has also taught us that you don’t have to be the best to be #1, you just have to be predictable and plain. Robustness simply doesn’t when out too often except with those who are really into it.
If I ever get a busted condom and have a kid, I sure am not going to put him/her into my 300HP 850 T-5R Limited Edition Volvo for their first time out around the block. I will instead put them in one of my other cars with much less features, power, and more predictability than that of a 5.3-second (0-60mph) car.
Same applies with computers, why would you give a newbie all this power that could get them in big trouble, when all they are trying to do is learn?
Or, in the case of real Linux systems…
I would be taking my child to mechanics school before even seeing the end result, or knowing how to drive the end result. That would be pretty stupid for the experience level. In fact, I doubt my child would ever need to learn the ins and outs of internal combustion engines. Though they would certainly learn real quick from me about regular maintenance, and minor repairs. Most people, even after driving for fifty years, cannot tell you how their engine works. I’d venture to say that most cannot point out a spark plug under their hood.
And then, why is it that the computer field be any different? I believe Windows, or other clones, will be the order of the day forever. I do believe, however, that Microsoft should voluntarily open its API (true open, not M$ open), and allow competition. The automotive industry had to do it, and so will this one. It is all just a matter of enough venture capitilists trying to convince Microsoft to open it so compatible systems can be made. Good luck? Well, not really. It will happen, and probably sooner than most think.
I have had half a mind to continue the port of WINE to Zeta ( as it has pretty much all the calls I see that are required, but not utimes(), but I could always add that….)
–The loon
You know Dave you should not base your opinion of Lycoris in just 20 minutes of usage!! Its unfair and is misleading to people who are interested in trying it out. Think about this can anyone judge a distros pros and cons with in 20 minutes?
I used Lycoris for about 2 month last year and thought it were great because everything were very easy to setup (like ADSL/PRINTER/CD-BURNER) and it worked! But after a while I understood that it were uncompatible with most of the Linux-apps out there. So then I started to wonder, why am I using a system which runs nearly none apps? BeOS got even better support! This ain’t Linux because it doesn’t compile a single thing I have downloaded from Freshmeat.net.
hm… I went back to the Redhat and stayed there. Hey WinXP is great too!
Actually you are all very wrong, making something look like Windows and attempting to make something mimick Windows is gonna be 100 times harder on the user when things aren’t exactly similar.
Desktop Distro’s need to apply common UI knowledge that Apple has demonstrated for years, and Microsoft since 2000 or so. That is, if you make a UI logically acceptable where a user can almost guess the next move to make, or has a good idea how to do something, you’ll never have to mimick anything to teach a user how to operate their computer.
Imagine somebody moves from Windows XP to Lycoris, it looks exactly the same, so mentally they think, ‘wow it’s the same’, but they start to play around with it and realise that it’s completely different!! OMG! Now they are a little more than baffled and pissed off, you completely ruined their expectations. They thought they could just move across without a hitch from all the eye candy and mods that have been applied to Linux. But all along you’ve been deceiving the user cause Linux is still Linux at the end of the day no matter how you package it.
guess whenever anything that posted about lycoris, this is going to happen.
“it sucks” “looks to much like windows…” “why bother imitating”
a few people see the point, and others are probably just to dense to realize the point
“Grab the new operating system and office suite that are powering the desktop revolution”
What a joke.
Seriously, I would rather use Mandrake 9.1 with greater compatibility than this thing stuck on kde 2.2
Cause nobody likes to see resources and time wasted on a futile project. Nothing wrong with their aims but I find their approach immorale and plain ignorant. This is why we are stuck at square one, the Linux community gets laughed out because all it can do is mimick.
I installed Lycoris a few versions ago, and was pleased overall. There were some usual Linux “glitches”, but overall the installation was simple, daily operation is uncomplicated, and there were some traits uncommon in other Linux distros that make Lycoris stand out.
All was fine until I “upgraded” my graphics card… Has anyone read the instructions for getting support for Nvidia cards in Lycoris? I’ve read the directions and decided “forget about it!”
As I said, the version I have is an earlier release, and so I don’t know how many of the “glitches” have been repaired. I would still recommend Lycoris to someone wanting to run Linux software with a minimal amount of hassle.
-Bob
it sucks cause it can’t compile. lick it dumarse. download cd3 devtools and it’s as full featured a dev enviroment as any distro.
looks too much like windows….yeah, so change it retard.
it’s only got kde2 so it sucks. you suck. the distro works. might but be the fastest out there…but it works.
it’s the easiest linux to get new users up and running quickly.
bash it if you want…but back up your statements or shut up.
For a change, instead of writing a crappy stupid comment than most of you here, I will start with a question:
Did anyone have problems with X after installing Build 71? Here, it finds all hardware fine, the X test on installation works too, but when rebooting to Lycoris, it won’t load anything. X will just freeze in the grey screen with the X cursor. Anyone else with such a problem?
Previous Lycoris versions worked fine on this machine.
Bob:
Have you tried the new nVIDIA Unified Linux driver? It might solve your problem, and installation seems to be more straightforward than the ones before.
About my Lycoris experience:
I’ve used Lycoris for a few months before and was quite impressed by it. I would’ve used it longer if I had figured out then how to use my modem and update my nVIDIA driver.
I think what they’re trying to do- bring linux to a level that’s easy to use- is alright considering that at the end of the day, linux is just another OS, and Lycoris is a business. I guess it all boils down to a matter of choice.
Eugenia,
That was really harsh. Most of us? I see a bunch of flames, trolls and generally terrible posts, but the majority of them are people asking questions, and people answering them.
Do you really think that poorly of your readership?
>Most of us? I see a bunch of flames, trolls and generally terrible posts
Yes, a lot of people. And in the other thread today, the linux editorial, people are even worse today. I had to turn on moderation.
>Do you really think that poorly of your readership?
When it is sunday and I want to relax and instead I get a bunch of freaking idiots on a number of different threads, yes, I do. It pisses me off and I hate it to have to read each and every comment over here today just to make sure people don’t get overboard, when all I want to do is relax next to my husband and not have to think of osnews on a Sunday.
If you were in my position, 3 years full of such crap, you will understand better.
You sound like you need a vacation, a hiatus from osnews. You’re letting the worse of them get the better of you and it’s sad when that happens. I have noticed a hint of aggression in your responses quite a bit in the last few weeks.
This isn’t meant to be condenscending, but really. If they are not making this fun for you anymore, why do it?
I had vacations from osnews. From Dec 2002 to Feb 2003. The bottomline is that most people will never behave on the web. They see the web as the mean to write whatever they want, to show their worst selves. Therefore, there is no reason for me to “take a breath”, because these people will never change, so my vacation will change nothing.
In response to you actual relevant question, I have nto had this problem. However, I did have difficulties with bitmap fonts when I went from Build 69 to Build 71 via the update wizard.
As an alternative, I ftp’d the RPM packages to a separate directory, then reinstalled Build 46 unpgraded manually via the softare manager, one RPM at a time. This worked perfectly and it fixed the bitmap font problem. Apparently the problem is with the upgrade process itself, at least on my machine.
From your post I am unclear on whether you were upgrading or making a clean install from a Build 71 ISO. I have seen recent posts on the Lycoris forums about these kind of situations. But then, that is why they call it Beta.
Some other points that have been mentioned on this thread.
Point #1. You can install third party software fine on Lycoris. I have never had a problem with installing RPMs that I downloaded directly from the project website. OpenOffice installed fine, no trouble. Codeweavers CrossOver Office installed fine, no problems. Games and screen saveers, no problems.
The only difficulty I have ever had with Lycoris came when I tried to install specific packages that had come with either my RedHat or Mandrake distro. Then I (sometimes, not always) ran into dependency issues, which is not really surprising. These people who complain about Lycoris not being compatible with mainstream Linux programs must be using a different source for their applications than I do.
But then, I almost never compile. I like to keep things simple for myself, so I go after RPMs or something with an installation script available.
Point #2 is the issue of programming tools. They are there, freely available. All you have to do is download the second CD of the from the Lycoris ftp site. Maybe folks haven’t bothered to look at the other directories? The ones labeled “Develop”.
Point #3 The KDE issue has been thrashed to death on the Lycoris forums. What is boils down to is that Lycoris has added so many bells and whistles and features and nice little perks that the desktop cannot properly be considered a normal KDE 2 desktop anymore. Also, there are RPMs available from the download section that will add KDE 3 functionality to the Lycoris desktop. They are labeled as alpha, but I have never had a speck of trouble with them. Mainly I don’t bother, because with all the tweaks Lycoris already put in, they don’t really add much at all. The best increase in speed that Ihave seen came from updating the kernel (which Build 71 has) and upgrading to XFree86 4.3 (which Build 71 also has). Some people had decided to get impatient and installed XFree86 4.3 fromthe binaries available at the XFree86 project site, and they reported no problems. I was just lazy and waited until Lycoris took the time to package them for me.
And the WinXP clone appearance is a non-issue. There are a lot of alternative wallpapers and icons included with Lycoris. If none of them are suitable, you can download or copy over from some other distro. They work fine. I switched out some from RedHat and they worked fine. Then I decided that I like the Lycoris ones better anyway. You can customize the appearance of Lycoris to look like anything you want, or customize your own graphics and insert them.
>From your post I am unclear on whether you were upgrading or making a clean install from a Build 71 ISO.
Clean install.
I have already emailed Joseph.
Eugenia,
I have had a similar problem like this wen I updated to 4.3.0 on my SuSE machine. I dont know what your setup is but here it goes:
My problem was the NVidia GLX got overwritten, what I had to do was uninstall the GLX and reinstall it. Also 4.3.0 also puts in Load Dri, delete that and save the config file, If that helps you great, if not send me your X config file because that is the ” root ” of your problem, hehehehe excuse my dry humor.
I got a Voodoo5 card.
And I can’t send anything, as I can’t get to text mode at all (and lycoris only boots to gfx mode). X freezes before I can kill it, and changing consoles doesn’t work properly (the gfx driver is so crashed that when changing to a console doesn’t let text mode to take over and the fonts are unreadable). Also, SSH and Telnet are not enabled by default on Lycoris, therefore this installation is completely helpless unless the Lycoris guys fix it. There is nothing someone can do to fix it. I hope that the Lycoris guys at least enable SSH by default…
Have you tried wiping and reinstalling Build 46, then perhaps installing all of the Build 71 RPMs except the XFree86 upgrade? I am using a Radeon 7200 on one machine, and a Mach 64 on the other, and I have had no trouble with either machine since I tried it that way. I was able to install XFree86 as well, but maybe it just doesn’t like VooDoo 5 cards. 3dfx has many enemies
Barry
I won’t waste my time with Lycoris forever, I have 10 more OSes to run. If it doesn’t work properly, it doesn’t work properly. I sent a bug report to Joseph and I will wait for a fix for Update3. That’s all I am willing to do at this point. It’s not that I am using Lycoris in day to day basis and I really need it (I don’t). I just wanted to write a preview article, but things did’t work well.
Hi there,
I had the X86 corruption at reboot bug with build 69. As far as I can tell (a few hours use and 2 reboots) build 71 works so far. Still ugly as sin tho 😉 Looking forward to incorporation of a better looking gui in the next releases!
Thanks for the tip regarding the Unified nvidia driver. I knew there is one for BeOS, but have never heard of the Unified Linux driver. Hopefully I’ll have time to look into it this week – I’ve been busy with construction lately, and have ranch work tomorrow.
It would be better if Lycoris conformed to United Linux, or one of the major distros – Nvidia releases these drivers directly.
I wrote to nvidia e-mail support regarding the availability of drivers for my card model for BeOS, Lycoris, an older Mandrake, and QNX. I received a short reply, “We do not support these operating systems.”
Thanks again Chris,
Bob
I can understand Eugenia’s frustration with some of the posts here. She runs a web site, starts a topic and expects a fruitful discussion about the topic at hand. But a large percentage of posts are of “this sucks or that rulez” nature. OSNews used to have more intelligent discussions in the past, but as the site’s popularity increases, so does the percentage of silly posts (a la Slashdot).
Those of you who read similar forums on non-English language sites will probably agree with me – the discussions on these forums are a lot more intelligent. You will hardly ever see a “that sucks, period” comment on a Russian forum. That’s because in Russia, only people who really want computers, own computers, and they are not going to waste time posting rubbish. In US and other rich countries, every Tom, Dick and Harry has a computer as well as plenty of time to kill with senseless rants.
I get lots of requests to start a public forum on DistroWatch, but so far I’ve resisted the requests for exactly the same reasons as those that piss off Eugenia – because there are far too many people who enjoy posting senseless crap.
One thing I’ve really like regarding the last couple of Lycoris builds is how network browsing works right off the bat. Still can’t use the new nvidia drivers for linux tho.
Xine took some coaxing to get running properly, but this time the libdvdcss2 and xine-dvdnav replacement fix actually worked. Unfortunately, when in full screen, the DVDs look like crap (occasional blurring when motion occurs) The online update feature appears to be still listing “update 2” packages, or am I reading it wrong? Also, the lizard installer has the best mouse detection I’ve seen yet, worked immediately with USB and wheel. Another plus is that the whole OS feels almost as fast as Vector now…still wish Linux boots with the n00b distros were faster.
re: public forums,
Man that sucks. Thankfully, from the chaff there are some grains of wheat 😉
I think Eugenia is very liberal about postings here. That’s what makes me even madder when people trash her. I ran a self help forum for years that had, as one component, message boards for all the various self help areas. I deleted posts all the time without a second thought. Can you imagine a woman who had been raped posting and then some psycho posting, calling her a slut and that type of thing? Believe me, those posts were deleted pronto. The fact that Eugenia almost always uses moderation is, again, a testament to her belief in free speech.
But me, all the posts bashing people, insulting people, trolling would be totally deleted. I know my experience in the past has made me look like a Nazi. I don’t care. And the fact that it is Eugenia that bears the brunt of these attacks makes me feel even more that way. Why should a person who works hard for free, helping to make a great place to discuss operating systems, have to take any crap from anyone? There is, of course, no reason, no excuse. If it was me, i’d not only delete your posts, but ban your IP’s, kick you out of the forum.
worked fine after upgrading (Quadro-modded GF2 GTS). It did seem to check quite a bit for the correct res/refresh — how long did u wait and let it stay that way..?
Eugenia,
I had a similar prob with an earlier version of Lycoris (when it was Redmond).
I found that there is a combination of keys that are supposed to act like F8 in windows and make the OS boot to a different runlevel. The keys didn’t work for me though, and as understand they are not the same for every build.
This is what I had found:
left alt = runlevel 1
left shift = runlevel 3
left ctrl = runlevel 4 (video recovery ¿?)
I hope it helps
… and lycoris only boots to gfx mode…