Distro Release: Tiny Core Linux 3.7

It seems like only yesterday (though it was actually last month) that I wrote a brief post about the release of Tiny Core Linux 3.6. Today, version 3.7 came out. It looks like this distribution has grown in the last month. Several of the new features in this point release make it a lot easier to dual boot with Windows on a desktop. Specifically, there seem to be a couple of packages that allow read and write access to NTFS (Windows Vista/7 file format) partitions. Apparently, Tiny Core Linux is no longer just for running from live media.

Distribution Release: Tiny Core Linux 3.7 (DistroWatch.com News)

Bodhi Linux Review on Techworld

Rohan Pierce of TechWorld Australia has posted a review of Bodhi Linux. He's not impressed:

In the end we were somewhat underwhelmed by the end user experience
though. Bodhi can be very pretty to look at, and you can make it even
prettier if you take the time, but these days I find myself longing for
super-minimalist desktops with a focus on staying out of the way (of
course, Bodhi can be made to be this as well, if you are interested in
learning the ins and outs of Enlightenment). The simplicity of the
default installation is great — I don't like being overloaded with apps.
But there was just not enough there to hold my interest — I'd rather
install CrunchBang and customise Openbox.

It seems to me that Pierce didn't pay much attention to the instructions when installing Bodhi. When you are prompted to select your starting profile, one of the choices is a minimalistic setup even leaner than Crunchbang's default Openbox configuration. You can start with nothing but one gadget -- either a clock or system monitor; I can't remember which -- and build your desktop from scratch, with or without a single panel.

To be fair, Pierce does complain about a few egregious bugs and some problems with Bodhi's default laptop layout on a netbook. Most of these problems are probably hardware related, but a reviewer is limited by the hardware they have available for testing. But the main reason he lists for preferring Crunchbang (though it is an excellent distro) over Bodhi seem strange.

Bodhi Linux review - ubuntu, open source, Linux - Open Source - Techworld

Distribution Release: AV Linux 5.0

From Distrowatch:

Glen MacArthur has announced the release of AV Linux 5.0, a Debian-based distribution with a collection of audio and video production software and running on the LXDE desktop: "After more than five months of daily development following the release of 4.2, AV Linux 5.0 is here. This release balances the rock-solid reliability of Debian's stable release and fortifies it with some carefully selected packages to make it a state-of-the-art multimedia content creation powerhouse...."

Obviously, this distro looks like it's using LXDE to leave room for resource hungry audio and video applications rather than to run the OS on older computers. Since multimedia editing isn't my thing, I won't be reviewing this one, ever. However, it may be of interest to some people who stumble on this blog.

AV Linux 5.0 Release Announcement on Distrowatch

Distro Review: wattOS R3

WattOS is an Ubuntu-based distribution designed to run on old computers with limited memory and/or slow CPU speed. It's also designed to have a minimalist interface while minimizing the need to use the terminal. (Developer Ron Ropp, a.k.a. "Biff Baxter" on the WattOS website, describes the goals of WattOS in this Linux Journal interview.


Installation

WattOS uses a LiveCD, which allows you to try it before installing it on your system. It uses the Ubuntu installer, so it's painless to install the OS from the LiveCD. The only possible problem may be setting up a dual boot with Windows 7, which may require you to create a partition before installation using either Windows 7's partitioning tool or GParted (which is available on the LiveCD).


Pros

Fast bootup. WattOS is quick to start up, particularly after login. On my 1GB desktop, the complete LXDE interface appears almost instantaneously once I type my password and hit Enter. It only takes a split second for all the system tray icons to appear.

Simple default layout. WattOS's default layout looks similar to a Windows desktop with the taskbar on the bottom.

The WattOS default desktop

The word "Go" on the menu button is similar to Windows' "Start," and the launchers to its right look a lot like the Quick Start area from previous versions of Windows. Finally, the LXDE system tray sits exactly where the Windows system tray would be. The only difference is the Ubuntu-style shutdown button at the far right. This configuration is simple and easy for converted Windows XP users to grasp.


Cons

Puzzling default software. Most of WattOS's default software choices are sensible, like the standard inclusion of AbiWare and Gnumeric instead of OpenOffice or LibreOffice. However, GIMP also comes preinstalled even though wattOS also includes Fotoxx, a lightweight photo manager with the standard crop and scale functions.

No Openbox configuration manager. Though wattOS includes LXDE's "Customize Look and Feel" dialog box, the Openbox configuration manager doesn't come preinstalled. This means that you can change the desktops GTK widget theme but not the appearance of window borders, even to change the window title font. This problem is easily solved by downloading the obconf package in Synaptic or typing  sudo apt-get install obconf in the terminal. However, it seems like an odd exclusion for a distro that wants to minimize terminal use. Then again, Ropp might assume that the average user doesn't care about customizing the desktop as long as everything works.

No Automatic Updates. In wattOS, you must open Synaptic and click the Mark All Upgrades button to get updates for your installed software. Users who are used to Ubuntu and other distros that notify them of package upgrades may forget to do this, which could result in the inconvenience of outdated software and possibly security problems. However, if wattOS issues a new release with every new Ubuntu version, these problems can be minimized.


Overall Impression

While it has a few quirks that may annoy some users, wattOS is an excellent distro for machines with limited resources. For users who want a light, fast OS and who don't care much about customizing their desktop's appearance, it's the ideal OS.