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Libranet 2.8 Released
Jon Danzig writes "Hi, Libranet 2.8 has been released and I hope you will inform your readers. Libranet is our implementation of Debian to which we have added our installer, up-to-date software e.g. KDE, Gnome, kernel, etc., and generally packaged GNU/Linux into a super smart fast and stable system. The installer has sophisticated hardware detection and setup with flexable installation of software packages. We keep hearing that the Linux Desktop is on the horizon and while the horizon never gets any closer Libranet is steadily making its way in that direction."
Quit improving so fast. Wipe machine, install new RedHat. Wipe machine, install new FreeBSD. Wipe machine, install new OpenBSD 3.3. Wipe machine, install new Libranet.
Can we all just get along?
Trolling is a art,
So anyone know which kernel etc this ships with. Also do they maintain their own apt repository?
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Now, admittedly I'm not a KDE user so this might be something that KDE imposes rather than Libranet, but even so is it really necessary to have three submenus for this?
Cheers,
Ian
Looks kinda cool, but can we cool down news of such Linux releases back-to-back. First it was Redhat 9, then Redhat 64-bit, SuSE 8.2, now Libranet.
Look, where is Windows man? I mean Windows 2003, reviews, ads, interviews by Steve Ballmer about how his coders worked 46 hours a day, ads for Win 64 bit???
Slashdot must be neutral.
-------- Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate -- the bombs always hit the ground.
for a distribution that is based on Debian and apparently only differs in its installer, I see no screenshots of the installer in action.
I would never have the desire for a GUI install, it's just not necessary for me, but I would like to see what makes this particular distribution so special that I would have to pay for it...
The screenshots of the desktops look like any other KDE/Gnome desktop screenshot I have seen.
Where's the beef?
(Insert smileys where appropriate - it's a joke, son.)
-- "Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?"
Sun drops their distro. And there are 6 others to take its place :)
Consensus is good, but informed dictatorship is better
Semi-rare to be able to post quickly.
My take is that these guys are going to fall by the wayside unless the open source community stands behind them bigtime. Imagine if SCO went after this company first.
Just a thought.
I run Redhat for clients and on a couple of boxes at home but IMHO Libranet can't be beat. Using 2.7 and apt-get is a relief sometimes after putting up w/ Mandrake's and Redhat's rpm dependencies. The Adminmenu tool works great, even comes w/ a built in firewall. The installer is ncurses based and not as pretty as other distros but it works and works well. Hell, Libranet is the first distribution that I got Return to Castle Wolfenstein running on. Some problem or the other always crops up w/ Redhat. Also, the mailing list is well populated w/ helpful people. Not much RTFM comments on there.
This guy is way out there
Yet another failure. There's so many "desktop distros" out there that completely miss the point. This appears to be, like in most cases, a simple packing of sources straight from KDE, GNOME, etc. That's not how you create a good desktop distribution.
Desktop environments such as GNOME and KDE are like reference implimentations. They demonstrate the technology they've created. They show one way it could be used to create a usable environment. I argue that they are not necessarily meant to fall directly into the hands of end users. The reason for this is that the coders are not user interface specialists, they're technologists. They have little talent for creating a system grandma can use. Case in point: look at the default GNOME 2 environment from the project and look at how RedHat reworked it. Out of the box, GNOME 2 is almost completely unusable in my opinion whereas on RedHat 9, it's excellent.
RedHat, in my opinion, have got it right. I recently tried installing RedHat 9 on my mom's new system and I will never look back at other distros for desktop purposes. They took technologies provided by KDE and GNOME and put them together in such a way that serious consideration was given to usability! They didn't just package up the source trees and say: "Here! Linux for the desktop!" They created a tightly integrated environment with simplified menus, a good theme, powerful but understandable tools for configuration, and all that. Once again: it's not just a blind repackaging.
If we want Linux to move to the desktop, there needs to be more effort towards making these environments really usable. They are currently designed by techies for techies and that just does not cut it. So in this respect, Libranet is not much better (save installation tools) than default Debian or any other distro that gives no thought to the big picture.
Join Tor today!
Why do they need a NEW distrobution for this? Can't they just add their improvements to Debian? Now I need 10 distros based off Debian. One for installs, one for graphics, one for music, one for work, one for servers... I mean come on! Let's work together here!
They do have a downloadable version - you just have to pay for the privilage of downloading it. BM
www.monkeys-in-bras.com - _the_ place for the decerning monkey viewer.
Now, this is not to say there's anything wrong with trying to make money from Linux. However, it's truly unfortunate that there's no way to check out this distro without shelling out some money. RedHat lets you download for free, as do all the other major distros. However, they'll also take your money if you want the box version or if you want support. Libranet can't seriously hope people will shell out money to switch to this without being given a risk-free chance to experience it.
And, since they basically took Debian, modified it, and made it not-free as in beer, I'm wondering why they just got free publicity on Slashdot.
There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
Can someone please explain to me why they need to have a 'Preferences', a 'Tools', a 'System Settings', a 'Utilities', and a damn 'Control Center'!!! MAKE A CONTROL PANEL!! Put it all in the same place!! Every time I go to look for a dang program setting I have to wade through menu options forever! Is this some strange organizational system that makes sense to everyone else but me?!?? :)
No I didnt spell check this post...
You don't know what you're talking about. I run both Redhat 9 and Libranet so I think I'm a bit more qualified to comment. Aside from your gripes about the default Gnome install (I wouldn't know, I don't use Gnome), Libranet 2.7 (haven't bought 2.8 yet) is far and away better thatn Redhat 9. No more endless lib dependencies when installing a package, everything just works. In my opinion, usability also is a measure of how hard it is to install a package, recompile a kernel, etc. Not just the menus. Libranet's Adminmenu tool allows any newbie to setup a personal firewall, install packages, recompile a kernel, install Flash, install Microsoft Truetype Fonts, or even RealPlayer. You can install Java when doing th actual install. Last time I checked, Redhat had no tools that could do these things for a newbie w/ a GUI. Well, I guess Redhat's package manager is alright if you like RPM hell. I haven't even gotten into how much better apt-get is. I know ap4rpm is out there and I use it weekly but it doesn't compare to the speed, selection of packages, or the stability of Debians's apt-get
Bottom line: You haven't used it so you don't know what you're talking about.
This guy is way out there
So, what is the real diference between the Libranet "system" and everyone elses "package". They stress that they are different because their product is a system, but never really give solid examples of the way(s) their system is different than a package. There is almost too much variety available to make a decision on which system/package to use without going to the trouble of trying several of them. While that can be fun, sometimes you just need to get something installed and running without too much "buyers remorse" after the system is up and running. I have used various unixes (both BSD and AT&T style) and also linux (Redhat) in the past for a variety of situations, but trying to grok the advantages of the different systems/packages for linux can be frustrating.
_-=^=-_-=^=-_-=^=-_ Can you imagine a world without hypothetical situations?
Since we have to pay for it, they should really offer something worth $70 over other free distros. Firstly, if they can somehow offer the drivers with the package, nvidia, tokenring in default installs, they'd be QUITE different.
But I would personally pay for a distro that can completely strip down the binaries, even stripping off READMEs and man pages, and compiling it optimised for size. Knoppix is one awesome distro that can detect most hardware, and comes with so much command line utilities, but something that can beat that would be worth 70.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
I can't find a way to download libranet at all (either iso or separate packages). They require you to pay to download anything...
thanks, but no thanks. I'll stick with Red Hat.
they are watching.....
Everyone who is trolling libranet has obviously never used it before *waits for more trolls on how it isnt free*... For those that want a preview on what they can expect can go to LinuxISO and download libranet's 2.0 essential version. I have tried it and it is absolutely fantastic--from the installation to the tools (adminmenu) everything worked great, better than any linux distro I have ever used.
Libranet is also well known for having superior technical support and has a very friendly userbase that offers to help the newbies rather than tell them to RTFM.
Try before you Troll, thanks
Someone can do with GPL-ed s/w whatever he or she wants, provided that if he or she distributes their derivative they _must_ include the sources.
So, the website does not have to have links to downloadable ISOs or something. But if you buy their product, the sources have to be available to you. And _you_ can do with these sources whatever you want to (under the GPL), even provide free downloads on the net.
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
They haven't violated the GPL.
Under the GPL, you're free to sell the software, at any price you desire. That's fine, since no one is obligated to buy it. You must also provide the source, but only to the same people you distribute the binaries to.
So, what they're doing is just fine by the license. We'll see how much success they have by the market, though.
So if all you're paying for is the download bandwidth and support, why doesn't some kind soul offer mirrors of the downloads?
Perfectly acceptable under the GPL, right?
You can sell GPL software for any price you like. The license places no restriction on the price you sell it for. Of course there is nothing to stop the customer from giving away free copies subsequently.
They have downloadable versions of a previous release. They charge for the new stuff and personally I don't have a lot of trouble with that because their installer does an excellent job. It detected all my hardware properly and installed the nvidia driver - geez, redhat, mandrake didn't do that. Plus there are admin tools that install flash, realplayer, and the java runtime plugins.
If this software is 100% GPL they can charge whatever they want to give it to you and they are required to give you access to the source code. But, if it is 100% GPL there is nothing stopping someone from buying it, and the providing it to everyone else for free. At least, that is how I understand it. But what the hell do I know?
-- Jason
Not about to use Gentoo! Do you want to Libranet with me?!?! Let me show you whats its.....* fierce drum beat*.....
Another Linux Distribution???? /*Why is there a penguin on my desktop?!*/
Another Fork?
Toghter we stand, Divided We Fall....
The lunatic is in my head
Ummm, KDE 3.1 just came into Debian in it's entirety, finally, and now packages that depend on KDE are coming into unstable. (Cool stuff like K3B.) If you run unstable, you can build a NICE desktop system already. (KDE took forever to come in for a variety of reasons, but I'd say that the biggest holdup was the ever-changing g++ ABI, which is outside of Debian's control. Wanting to "do the right thing" and work out the technical problems of live updates within Debian took some time given the shifting ABI - it's a complex problem.)
Also, the debian-installer people are making big progress as we speak. Debian is improving daily. Desktop Debian is a reality for some, and will be a reality for more people soon.
kprinter will take printing input the same way lpr will, then you have a very windows-esque dialog to select printers, options, etc. You can set up new printers in the control center, and, assuming you have the proper drivers (I always use PS-compatible printers) they just work. Even with network printers.
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
As one of the beta testers for Libranet, and responding to such debates on the Libranet discussion board, I will wade in with my views. /usr/lib/adminmenu. It is just a bunch of perl and shell scripts that make configuring things easier. Unless you really enjoy playing find the config file, then this is not for you. All this crap about Red Hat being the top shit of Linux is ignorant. Red Hats absoulute reliance on GUI tools and inablity to issue common root commands from xwindows makes it to combuersome to use. (Open a term as root and try ifconfig, my RH 8 will not recoginize it unless I dropout of X)
The GPL does not prohibet selling code, just modifing it and not releasing it. All the source is located on the installed hard drive in
If your mother is looking for an easy to use disto that is reliable and she does not have to tweek, then get a Mac.
For people that are wondering what all the hype about Linux is, and are not certified or taking CS classes, then a distro that makes learning the advanced features of Linux easy is what they need.
Rad Hat hides the OS, Libranet holds your hand while you learn it. Try using only the GUI on your Linux box, and try to imagine how a newbie will use it. Konoptix and Gentoo are just flavors of the month, a CD based distro and one that makes you compile everything. Ohter than that, just repackaged Debian.
Pant fumes getting to me, tux is waving, must finish installing Yellow Dog 3.0 which was released today.
no
I've used Knoppix and default Debian. I've never used Xandros or Libranet. How do these three compare as a poweruser desktop (i.e. sort of like what Mandrake is usually used for).
Go and buy a copy, put it on your own server for download. Then there will be a downloadable version. Or heck, charge for downloads, but charge less than they do. It's all legit, it's GNU!
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
So Xandros does give you configuration tools for things like Apache or Samba (as a server not a client). Not for industrial enterprise use, but more for light powerdesktop use (i.e. an Apache that gets 4 hits per day).
Libranet is possibly the oldest distro based off of Debian, predating Corel (RIP), Stormix (RIP), Progeny (RIP), LNX-BBC, Lindows, Lycorix, Knoppix and Morphix. (Not sure how it compares age-wise to LRP -- but then LRP is rather specialized.) If you haven't heard of it, it's probably because it's most popular in Europe.
:)
This is not "another Linux Distribution", this is an old, well-established Linux Distribution; if you want to complain about something, go complain about "new-fangled" Distros like Mandrake!
My first ever Linux experience was installing 'Potato' on some semi-weird hardware. As a complete newbie, I managed to get X setup and everything else with very few problems.
Installing 'Woody' was far easier. There is now a really good mini-cd (unofficial) with some damn fine h/w detection stuff to install a very basic Debian. The rest can be retrieved via apt.
There is a team of people working on an official redesign of the Debian installer.
Ah, I see I've been modded down to troll, merely for asking for clarification on what the GPL permits and what it doesn't permit. And since my comment was at score 3 for a long time, I can only assume that the three successive troll mods in a row must have come from an editor. Ah, censorship. Gotta love /.
There is no sig, there is only Zuul.