Has is really been a year? How the time flew by… In July 2003 I took a gamble that’s paid off like I never imagined it would. In early 2003, I came across Lycoris and Desktop/LX.
Not the product, but their web site and community forum; appropriately named, “The Greenhouse.” My initial thoughts were that this was a potential Linux platform to keep my eye on. Though I didn’t purchase their OS, it did catch my eye. The company’s Greenhouse Forum also looked to have one of the most active user-bases I’d ever come across.
After checking out the company for a period of time, I downloaded the free ISO of Update 2 in July 2003. After burning the CD and installing it on my system, I was very impressed. Here was a Desktop Linux OS that went well beyond the normal jargon that everyone claims of their products. Sure, there were a few minor limitations in Update 2, but the OS was exceptionally stable, well designed and it worked very smoothly.
I was impressed enough to order Desktop/LX. After receiving it a couple of days later, I immersed myself into Desktop/LX and found that this amazingly simple OS was also powerful and feature-filled. It became quite obvious that while being simple to use, it wasn’t stripped-down or crippled in any way. This OS was just as powerful, even more so in my opinion, than other distributions.
The Greenhouse Forum turns out to be the shining star for Desktop/LX users. This had to be one of the best experiences I’ve been involved with. Visitors will quickly notice that there is usually a high level of activity. New forum threads will be opened requesting help with a particular issue, and in a few minutes time, one of the many regulars will have answered the question. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for someone to ask a question and return later that day to see two or three replies. This is a fantastic group of people and all are willing to help or respond in the various topics.
The Lycoris Chat Room is another bright star. There are quite a few who are noted as being part of the ‘regular’ cast of characters. Many not only discuss Desktop/LX, but have built true relationships. On one evening this past winter, my wife came into my office and I was in the Lycris Chat Room. She noticed the chat window and asked in an accusatory tone, “Are you in a ‘Chat Room’..?” When I said yes, she asked what I we were talking about. I answered, “Sexy stuff.” She just about bowled me over to get to the screen. On it, she saw all sorts of scripting and coding going on. When she asked what in the world all that ‘stuff’ was, I explained that there were five of us chatting and we just finished helping someone fix a particular problem he was having with his system. We did it on-line and in real time. I even told her what country everyone was from. I then said to my wife, “Now that’s sexy!” She shook her head and while walking off, I heard her mumble something about nerds and geeks (can you believe it?). But since that day, she never worries if she notices me in a chat room.
In September 2003, my daughter asked me to put Desktop/LX on her computer. She was 9 years old and she knew I’d been having a lot of fun with Desktop/LX and now she wanted to give it a try. Prior to loading it onto the system she shares with her brother, I let her jump on my system for a few sessions. She loved it, and was soon whipping around the apps & menus like she’d been doing so all her life. Needless to say, I purchased another license from Lycoris and loaded Desktop/LX on the kids’ machine. They both really enjoy the ease of use and have no trouble getting it to play games, navigate the ‘net (under strict parental supervision, only) or fooling around.
User friendly? Absolutely! If children 5 an 9 years old enjoy what Desktop/LX has to offer, that speaks for itself.
Shortly after getting involved in the, “Lycoris Lifestyle,” as I put it, I signed an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) with Lycoris. This not only meant that I’d be able to contribute more actively, but I’d be a little better informed as to new products, new innovations, and I’d get advance notice of, ‘what’s to come.’ Knowing the direction a company plans to take and having a hand (even a small one) in helping to cultivate something new is always rewarding. Just knowing that your efforts will bring about something good is always satisfying.
In January 2004, I attened LinuxWorld in NYC. The folks at Lycoris had extended an invitation to come to NYC so we could all meet. Since I lived in the Boston area, NYC wasn’t out of the question. When I talked to my wife about going to the event, she asked, “Who are these people?” Then I reminded her of the chat room. After chuckling, she gave me her blessing and a kitchen-pass!
A few weeks later, with my kitchen-pass in hand, I boarded the train from Boston to New York City. It was at LinuxWorld where I met Joseph Cheek, Lycoris President and CTO, and Rus Bayne, VP of Sales. After the face-to-face introductions we started talking Linux. The next thing I knew, Joseph and Rus tossed me a brand new shirt. It was tailored, button-down, my size, and had a very nice weave and an embroidered Lycoris Logo on the left breast. They told me I should change, as if I was going to be there, I should look the part. Stunned, I went off to change. When I returned, Joseph and Rus were busy answering questions and doing demos. Then I jumped in and started answering questions, demoing products and having the time of my life. Very late that night, I was on the train back to Boston. It was the best 20-hour day I’d had since becoming a father.
While at LinuxWorld, Joseph Cheek showed me his Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. Installed on it was a pre-Alpha of Desktop/LX Pocket PC Edition. He told me to play with it and let him know what I thought. All I kept thinking was, “Don’t pinch me. If this is a dream, I’m sleeping in…….” Later, I did have to wake up as Joseph returned. But even in it’s ‘alpha’ stage, the Pocket PC Edition of Desktop/LX was feature-filled and impressive enough to literally drool over (I really needed a bib). Sorry, I can’t provide any details; I’ll leave that for the Lycoris Staff.
Over the course of my first year with Lycoris and it’s products, I’ve enjoyed and even contributed a little to some of the changes in the company and it’s products. We’ve all seen the following updates & new products:
Desktop/LX Update 3,
Solitaire Ace (new),
ProductivityPak Update 1,
Updates to the Iris Software Gallery (enhanced),
Iris Software Gallery on CD (new),
13 FontPaks (all new),
Book; Lycoris Desktop/LX: The Authorized User Guide (new),
Bitstream Relationship (new),
Wallpaper-A-Day.com Relationship (new),
CodeWeavers Relationship (new),
And more… with more to come, I’m sure.
As I’m putting these thoughts down, many Desktop/LX users are eagerly awaiting the much anticipated debut of Desktop/LX 1.4 (previously known as Update 4). This will be the most ambitious release from Lycoris to date. Filled with new features, enhanced capabilities, improvements, and more.
What will the NEXT year be like?
I’ll let you all know how it went in July 2005.
If you would like to see your thoughts or experiences with technology published, please consider writing an article for OSNews.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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..
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….
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)
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
…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 :^)
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
.
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!
..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…
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.
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…
“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.
Agreed, that is one of the most intelligent things I’ve heard from someone on here in a while.
…the one that works best for YOU!!!
You misspelled “Gentoo”. Glad I could help.
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?
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.
I imagine it will be 2.4.26. Lycoris have traditionally left newer Linux components well alone until they are ultra-stable.
I like Desktop/lx. I have actually written an howto for ICS for it.
http://www.area3d.net/thread.php?id=55
Jim
Ahh. They still have it in their forums
http://www.lycoris.org/viewtopic.php?topic=252&forum=20
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
<a href=”http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=Desktop%2FLX“>…
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.
“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.
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.
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!
Answer clearly and unequivocally:
Are you saying that a father should not be allowed to share his software with his child? Yes or no?
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.
*Thank you* – you got it exactly, even better than how I said it