Saturday, August 14, 2010

PuppyLinux-Series-64

The best thing that happened to me apart from getting into Linux is downloading a copy of Puppy Linux.

Puppy Linux did everything that one needs in less than 100 MiB in its series 4.
It can be loaded into a Flash Drive, external hard disk.

Loaded to the RAM
it does amazing things.
In its latest series Puppee has Google chrome and Puppy series 5 has net-serf web browser which is amazingly fast.

Puppy has spawned many other versions Wolfe and Quirk and many more.

SimplyMepis-63

Simply Mepis is one of the distributions I have installed in my laptop and desktop on a regular and permanent basis.
The other is Berry Linux. I must confess that I use them for demonstration of cute little distributions and not for daily work.

(Edited today 15-08-2010)
I think I have touched upon some intuition.
What is written below was before the download of Mepis DVD.
Thanks to Guys and Girls in Mepis for sweeper (which I call a Mind Sweeper).

Making me happy Mepis has introduced a package named Sweeper to clean up the system. It is a welcome I had being waiting for a long time. I had been doing this manually until now even with PCLinux.
This utility should be developed into MinD Sweeper for others to follow.


I use PCLinux (now 2o10-01) on daily basis and it does not give any problem because it has the nice habit of deleting unnecessary files in tmp on a regular basis (at boot up) and there is no clutter or clogging due to large log files (large log files that are essential for a server and should not be used obsessively in a desktop
).


I of course on a regular basis look at the available memory after three or four downloads and having archived the images delete big files keeping the distribution robust and up to date.

Whereas my wife and daughter
who also use two different (both PCLinux-2009) desktops on a regular basis come up to me saying that Linux sucks memory since they download many photos and the like files.


Luckily I have not given them the administrative rights and when things are bad in five minutes I clean up the unnecessary files and get the box running like new.

The cardinal mistakes everybody makes is that, not running the box over 24 hours at least occasionally and to let the Cron jobs run. that do the clean up jobs in servers and desktops.

This is something that Linux desktop developers should look at and develop cron jobs, akin to frequent savings in office utilities.

I think a utility of this nature is essential for laptops.

What they should do is to send a message at random fashion while when the desktop is being used and asking the user whether it is safe to activate the cron jobs (name it the clean up jobs) without compromising the downloading and downloaded files still in the tmp.

Sorry for the diversion but I feel this piece of advice is vital for the newbies.


Coming back to Mepis it is one of the best distributions in a single CD and has everything one needs and sometimes things that are missing in PCLinux.

That is why I use them for some special occasions.

Mepis has a new DVD and bit 32 and 64 versions, I am currently downloading them and write few lines about them soon (having tested them).

Mepis is something one ought to have to get the fresh and Debian feel like Morphis.


Morphix-62

Morphix is something that I downloaded for testing and then completely forgot about it.

I was looking for gamers which Linux even now sadly lacking and this was one of the few that morphed form Debian into a successful distribution way back in 2003 when live CDs were not in vogue and I was immature to Linux.

But it has everything I am (now) looking for.
Debian base and hence stable.
Morphed into modules hence assembling is easy.
It is light weight and boots fast with many options at boot time.

Problem is that it has gone into long five year hibernation.

According to Alex it is in coma.

Thank god he left all 4 versions in various iso sites.

I am going to download all now that without them me writing a review is absurd.

Morphix Team should wake up from slumber and it is a distribution which should not be in the attic.

It has all the virtues.

You know when some body wakes up from a coma it feels very fresh and there is lot of energy left.

My kick-ass mentality is the only way to make one realizes its potential.

I am waiting are you ready.

KDE-61

As I expected and planned preemptively before the download I will fondly name this as the Gorilla Edition.

It is beautiful but like a Gorilla at a dinner party has voracious appetite for RAM.

In my 4 GB RAM in the Laptop (IBM)
it took the same time it took to write a DVD (4.3 GB) on my desktop (IBM) with I GB RAM (IBM-1.8 speed).
There is no improvement except the face lift and I prefer the old 2009 version which boots faster both on my Desktop and Laptop.

If one wants to bloat an image (literally and metaphorically) without any addition to the personality this the one that fits!

Sorry guys / girls I could have said something nicer but I cannot cheat myself.