Another Live CD Article on OS News
Forum: User Feedback
Topic: Another Live CD Article on OS News
started by: ke4nt1
Posted by ke4nt1 on Feb. 02 2005,05:13
Read this..< http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=9569 >
73
ke4nt
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Feb. 02 2005,05:15
Was there something wrong with the < existing thread >?^_^
I had to.
-J.P.
Posted by ke4nt1 on Feb. 02 2005,06:11
Hmm.. what have you been smokin, SU?< http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=9569 >
< http://www.nwfusion.com/columni....s-linux >
"I had to.."
73
ke4nt
Posted by John on Feb. 02 2005,07:21
Thanks for the defense there Kent! I felt like we were getting a a little snubbed. know though that DSL's spartan defaults aren't for everyone.
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Feb. 02 2005,13:12
Ack.You were right.
See what I get for reading slashdot...
-J.P.
Posted by mikshaw on Feb. 02 2005,15:57
| Quote |
| I haven't seen such a mishmash of interfaces and programs since my old DOS computer |
I wonder what the author expects from a linux system....Should all the applications be KDE, or Gtk, or some other uniform interface, regardless of whether the apps are not all the best for the job? Personally, I don't really care what the individual applications look like, as long as they do the job and they don't waste space.
Posted by Caspar_s on Feb. 02 2005,21:44
| Quote |
| What goes into DSL is clearly governed by these two rules alone: it's fast, and it fits |
Sounds good to me.
Posted by cbagger01 on Feb. 03 2005,05:32
I don't take someone's opinion seriously when they rank look and feel above functionality, especially when we are talking about an OS that runs from a CD drive.In one paragraph, the author stresses the importance of a "get down to business" approach in a livecd vs. a "demo cd" approach. Then a couple paragraphs later, he is slamming all of these good livecds because they don't look the way his favorite Gnome 2.8 does. You can't have it both ways. Either functionality is more important, or style is more important.
Some of his favorites had a great look and feel but are all but unusable (from CDROM) on anything but the newest hardware.
Call me crazy, but I actually LIKED my old DOS computer (and FYI it now runs DSL
)Oh well.
Posted by ke4nt1 on Feb. 03 2005,06:22
I'd have to side up with cbagger01 on this one....( usually a smart move anyway... that's another story.. )
For me, learning to command a dos environment from a dos prompt,
or even better, configuring "norton commander" to handle batch files and
filename extension execution activity was a great stepping stone to linux.
All the good viewers, players, and apps were run from cli at a dos prompt.
So on, and so forth, with xtree gold, and many other tools to help
with file management in a dos world.
DOS was my friend, not something to be feared..
Many of the things I see happening here in linux with
hardware configurations, IRQ's and IO's, bash scripts,
or the familiar /opt/bootlocal.sh filetypes,
are so similar and familiar to the " batch" files from the ol' dos days.
DSL has the norton knockoff, 'MC'... ,
but as I use and customize emelfm more and more each day,
it feels very much like my old NC buddy ..
My old 286-12 ( turbo! ) , and my first 386-16DX,
would have never run DSL , but with a whopping 40MB Seagate HD,
and a VGA monitor , they were the stuff of legends....
( could you imagine back then, filling up a few gigabytes of HD space? )
73
ke4nt
Posted by clivesay on Feb. 03 2005,14:05
Yeah, I'm not putting much stock in reviews. Many of us have tried alot of distros that are much "prettier" than DSL but this is where we return. I admit that I sometimes get caught up in the look of the latest Mepis release because it is familiar to XP and it really is just a pretty darn nice distro for full features. But, when I open the menu and have to search and search and search and search for an app, I appreciate the clean efficiency of a distro like DSL.I can't ignore the fact that sometimes I have to check my PC to make sure my CPU fan is still working because my system fan is running 1200-1300rpm's SLOWER running DSL than when I am booted into XP.
That tells me I have a cooler and happier PC. Since I rely on her for alot of important stuff, I prefer to use what makes her the happiest!
I sound like a broken record but I am not sure why you would go to a distro just for Gnome or KDE. I know there are some things that appear to setup easier with those WM's but are they really worth all the bloat associated? I have come to really appreciate fluxbox and how it doesn't get in my way. With wmdrawer added, it gives me everything I need with single-click and runs just like KDE.
Funny to think a year ago I was telling myself, "man, this Linux stuff is a real pain in the butt!"
Posted by subarus on Feb. 04 2005,23:49
| Quote (cbagger01 @ Feb. 03 2005,00:32) |
| I don't take someone's opinion seriously when they rank look and feel above functionality, especially when we are talking about an OS that runs from a CD drive. |
Me neither. But guess what, superiority in features dont matter. what matters is how good it looks and how easy to use it is. common guys!!! havent we learn this lesson yet after 2 decades of computer revolution?
Posted by linux_gal on Feb. 05 2005,00:05
My copy of DSL came from Linux Format. Is there a newer versionavailable? Where on this site do I find that out? I just saw some great stuff
and I don't think I have those things.
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Feb. 05 2005,00:22
Heh, try the Downloads page.Most of the mirrors should have 0.9.3 by now.
-J.P.
Posted by mikshaw on Feb. 05 2005,00:22
There is most likely a newer version, since 0.9.3 was just released.When you mention great stuff you don't think you have, keep in mind that one of the great features of DSL is the ability to add applications to the system, even if you don't have it installed on your harddrive. Some of that stuff you've seen may be extensions.
Posted by RoGuE_StreaK on Feb. 05 2005,00:56
Everyone seems to basically be saying "Yeah, DSL is ugly, but it works and has lots of stuff on it". I'm thinking that the exact same functionality can be preserved, but with a facelift, if we simply do some renaming, rearranging, and icon updating.First thing is icons. A lot of the icons are, lets face it, pretty ugly, and could probably do with at least some sort of attempt at a standardised look. BUT, that said, I personally think that half of these icons could simply be dropped from the desktop, leaving only the MAIN icons, with secondary apps still accessable from the menu. Also clearly labeling what they do. For example, having the rows of icons sorted into related groups, say:
row1: System: Command Line (XTerm), Control Panel (DSL Panel), Install Packages (MyDSL), File Browser (Emelfm)
row2: OfficeStuff: Editor (Beaver), Word Processor (FLWriter), spreadsheet (whatever this is), PDF Viewer (Xpdf)
row3: Net: Web Browser (Firefox), Email (Sylpheed), Chat (Naim), FTP (axFTP)
row4: Multimedia: Media Player (XMMS), Image Viewer (xZVG), Paint (xPaint)
To my mind, everything else could be removed from the desktop, as they are usually secondary alternatives of these apps, and available through the menu. This would greatly clean up the desktop, and clearly label what the apps do.
I think the menu needs a little more grouping or labeling too - for example, going into "Net", you are confronted with a list of apps in no particular order, and no idea what each does unless you already know the app.
Just saying that DSL could be made to appear cleaner and "prettier" with just some carefully planned rearrangement and renaming, and possibly some new icons - it doesn't need any system-intensive gnome or KDE stuff, just a bit of a tidy up.
Posted by Rapidweather on Feb. 05 2005,01:11
I've been quite curious about all the live cd distros, and when I got broadband, I downloaded quite a few of them.Here are some general observations:
1. Some do not have the overall quality and polish that DSL has.
2. Most are much bigger, and tend to default to KDE, which is hard
for a lot of computers to run.
3. My favorites are:
SuSE 9.2 livecd eval.
XFLD
PCLinuxOS
Knoppix 3.7
The PCLinuxOS is a full-size one, and very well done. SuSE 9.2, also big,
is really nice, and has a neat user switching setup. I have to bring Firefox
to SuSE on a usb stick, however.
I won't mention all the ones that are rather badly done, etc. but there are
a few. Some of the Knoppix remasters do not bother to redo the logo.16
screen, when they add specialized programs to Knoppix.
The XFLD is nice, and can save your configuration similar to Knoppix.
None of them allow a restore of configuation after bootup, like DSL can.
---
Right now, I am using DSL 0.9.3, and brought my own wvdial on a floppy for
use with my dialup modem. I just use the DSL mount app to mount the floppy, then I copy the wvdial, wvdialconf and my wvdial.conf to "/" and then run wvdialconf in a root rxvt:
# wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf
When done, my own dial up settings phone number, etc. are ready, without
any editing in beaver (but I could), and I can then run wvdial to connect:
# wvdial (enter)
That's it!, I have Firefox ready on Desktop 1, so off I go!
---
Normally, I use a cable modem, so wvdial not necessary there...
---
--Rapidweather