Spotlight on Linux: Puppy Linux 5.2

Susan Linton — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Puppy Linux began life as a really cool small-sized Linux distribution designed primarily for lower specification hardware while still providing most of the amenities that make Linux fun and usable. It included lots of original utilities and tools for completing tasks and configurations without a lot of resource overhead. Best of all, it was blazing fast. Well, the little puppy has grown up some and branched out, but is still that same light-weight wonder in spirit.

The latest release, 5.2, codenamed Lucid Puppy, is a result of branching out of the project in new directions. In late 2008 Puppy developers designed a new build system, Woof, that can take binaries of other popular distributions and incorporate them into new Puppy builds. One of the most commonly used, and probably most popular, is Ubuntu. Underneath, the foundation is still the independent Puppy we know and love, but many components come from Ubuntu such as shared libraries and some applications. As a result, Puppy Linux 5.2 is compatible with many other Ubuntu packages. Whether this has increased Puppy's popularity could be debated, but according to Distrowatch.com's Page Hit Ranking, Puppy has been moving up the chart each year with the biggest jumps seen since Woof has been used to make Ubuntu compatible versions.

One of the most remarkable things about Puppy Linux is that it's a very small download size. It began life around the 50 MB range, but later grew to just over 100 MB. Still, it's quite small when many distribution images are getting too big to fit on a CD. Puppy's small size lends it very easily to installation onto USB memory keys with the ability to save any personalize settings and installed software. When booting, Puppy loads into your machine's permanent memory (RAM), which frees up the boot device for other uses. That also makes for a remarkably fast system.

Puppy's interface and tools also contribute to the high performance. Puppy uses JWM and OpenBox with FBPanel, all known for their minimum system requirements. Most tools have a simple interface and some are console-based. Contrary to common belief, this doesn't make them difficult to use. And there is quite a selection as well. There are tools to configure and monitor just about every aspect of the system, including eye candy.

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Quick Look at Lucid

Zach Schneider — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:10:49 +0000

by Zach Schneider

Ubuntu just released the beta 1 version of their new LTS (Long Term Support) Distribution, Lucid 10.04. The theme is based on "light" and it looks great. Here's what to expect and what not to expect when you first install this new flavor of Ubuntu:

The first thing you notice when you launch the live CD is Ubuntu's new logo. Don't worry, they still have the basic logo but they added some new typography and use the logo like a registration mark. They went with the black desktop theme for their default, which is fine, but they moved something around. The window manager buttons went from the right side to the left, which is difficult at first if you are not used to it.

When I went to go launch Firefox: lo and behold the default search engine is Yahoo! I found this very interesting. Way to go Canonical! I am assuming they are getting some funds to help pay their developers.

Ubuntu has added a new Social Networking tool called Gwibber Social Client. Gwibber is an interesting application. It integrates your Flickr, Twitter, StatusNet, Qaiku, Facebook, Friendfeed, Digg, and Identi.ca all in one easy-to-use application. Empathy added the option to use Facebook chat which is really useful, especially if you use lists with your Facebook friends. Your contact list will be separated by the Facebook lists you have created.

Something that is missing with the new version is our old friend Gimp. Unfortunately Gimp is NOT installed by default, but it is in the repository, making it easy enough to install. I wish they would allow me to customize the sound scheme, because the only option you have is sounds or no sounds.

I heard a little rumor that Ubuntu would be adding a new Software Center where they will have paid applications, but fortunately they didn't take that path. Although they did add a Featured Applications section, they have a Canonical Partners section too.

Lucid means transmitting light, and that is what this new distro does. In short, it is shiny with a great looking GUI that isn't too boggy.

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