Posted by
michael
on from the debian-goodness dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Xandros is now shipping version 2 of their Desktop Linux distro and it's also possible to purchase a download version. Based on Debian (sarge), KDE 3.1.4, 2.4.22 kernel. Cool CD burning is integrated into the Xandros File manager. Screenshots are here."
Mmmm.. prety butans
by
__aavhli5779
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Being primarily a Mac user and hence a whore for pretty interfaces (or really bare interfaces, like the GNUstep interface I use on my linux box), the first thing that came to mind is that Xandros has done a once-over on KDE almost like Ximian did for Gnome. Their theme isn't quite as lickably pretty as Industrial, but it's close, and it looks like they've certainly managed to at least even with them in terms of integration (well, sans the customized OpenOffice which is one of the key perks of Ximian).
Isn't Xandros the company that took all the "Help --> About" dialog boxes of KDE apps, and replace the author's names with their own?
If this is true, then I'm rather disgusted.
Sunny Dubey
Xandros or Mandrake?
by
rmm4pi8
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I'm currently a Mandrake 9.2 user, solidly wedded to KDE, and trying to decide what to upgrade my mother to from Win98. She needs crossover, for sure, but I'm not sure if I should stick with what I know and love ('drake) and just add crossover for her or whether something more integrated like Xandros would be appropriate.
Does it just boil down to whether I want debian or redhat compatibility? (I cant say i'm at all dissatisfied with urpmi, so apt-get isnt all that exciting). Any thoughts?
Re:Stop trying to emulate Windows XP/98/2000.
by
JoshNet
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Looks aren't everything! Xandros looks the way it does because the interface is familiar to normal consumers who regularly use Windows already or have seen it, it's easier to get them to use/look at Xandros if they're familiar with what they're seeing already.
debian-installer
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
I've been trying out all these "easy" debian variants out there but I'm just not satisfied with the bloat. Maybe Knoppix isn't built for speed, but it just seems clunkier than it should be.
I personally would just try debian-installer and get a clean system if only the daily builds were available. The damn breach STILL has gluck out of order. Are they keeping boot images someplace else for the developers right now if they just released Beta-2 yesterday? I would like a copy, damnit.
There's so much installed in this Knoppix install. I'm only afraid that a lot of it is keeping this computer "working" "correctly" and when I get a clean one there will be some not-so-obvious required packages to get the full functionality.
Re:Where's the source?
by
DShard
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Not to worry and certainly nothing to be embarrassed about... the GPL is a lot less restrictive than it is made out to be. The key to a commercial distro is about the cherry on top, and not the two scoops of ice cream or the hot fudge. They keep to themselves that which isn't in the community at large, or at least which is poorly refined. As I see it that doesn't really amount to much.
The thing that I like the least about Debian based distros is the hiding the debian package management tools. This _is_ why I use debian almost exclusively on all my systems. These distros muck it up with click-n-run or xandros network when the cli or open ncurses and gtk/kde frontends already do the job so well. I may not be their audience though.
Making it look like Windows is quite different from running Windows. We're talking about gui versus the engine running in the background.
Making it look like Windows, you make it easier for Windows people to transition while losing the vulnerability and license restrictions of Microsoft world.
Besides, what's really bad about the Windows gui interface?
Re:X2 is a huge improvement
by
agentforsythe
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
"not for power users" - out of the box, no... but I started with xandros 1.0, learned a great deal, tweaked everything to my heart's content, and now have a very nice debian based system that just happens to have once been xandros.
Funny, yes, but untrue
by
DaveJay
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
(Full disclosure: I was part of the beta test, but am not an employee or developer associated with Xandros)
The installer is actually quite comprehensive, but the complexity is optional -- you either do the four click install, or you divert into optional choices should you dare, like partitioning and whatnot.
As far as only supporting industry-leading hardware, I have a small pile of old HP 4150a Omnibooks laying around, and they couldn't boot the Xandros installer due to a BIOS bug (LindowsOS has the same problem, by the way.) Whereas the LindowsOS people took no interest in helping me solve the problem with my PAID copy, the Xandros folks solved the problem in time for this release. My relatively ancient laptops are now supported*.
*except for sound, which no Linux distribution supports without the Open Sound System proprietary drivers.
Re:Where's the torrent?
by
blixel
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
hehe, hopefully she wont flip out too much when she finds her windows xp replaced
Hahahahah... hahahah... hahahaha
Sorry... I find that very funny. Been there. My wife's computer is running Mandrake 9.2:)... I copied all her bookmarks, e-mail, and desktop files over to Mandrake though and she doesn't even notice a difference really. Spider Solitaire is gone, but she was sick of it anyway and really digs Frozen Bubble and several of those other dumb games that come with Gnome/KDE.
Re:Where's the source?
by
nathanh
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Not to worry and certainly nothing to be embarrassed about... the GPL is a lot less restrictive than it is made out to be. The key to a commercial distro is about the cherry on top, and not the two scoops of ice cream or the hot fudge.
I've always thought the commercial distro is more like the tables, chairs, bowls, spoons, napkins and the overworked waitress who cleans up after you.
Getting Linux without a distro is like putting your hands out and having a scoop of icecream dumped in your palms. It's messy, even if you did get the same icecream.
Have you ever looked at the file open/save dilogs? In a directory with lots of files/directorys with long names?
Have you ever wandered through 5-6 layers of dialogs looking for what seems like a simple setting?
Have you ever mis-clicked a menu item because the stupid "smart" menu moved all the items around in a cludge to combat poor UI design?
Have you ever used Windows?
Why the ignorant nay-sayers?
by
labradort
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
First of all, I like gentoo. It suits me fine.
However I'm a techie.
For the rest of the world, computers need to be simple to use. GUIs and friendly interfaces are
a help.
Gentoo has a valid role to play. So does Xandros.
To counter some of the criticisms placed on this site:
It is called Xandros Desktop, not Xandros Server, so no, your SMP machine isn't in the target market. Get over it and find a better suited distro. Even if it did support SMP and
P4 hyperthreading, you would have moved on to
something else.
If a desktop oriented Linux distro comes along
and makes life easy, it doesn't mean it is as
stupid as Microsoft software. That is like saying
all orange colored objects taste like oranges.
Don't knock something you have not tried. I know it is hard for you cynical bastards to hold back, but consider the possibility that you don't have a clue what you are saying!
If you want the number of Linux users in the world to grow, then you should not blindly attack any desktop oriented distro. Or perhaps deep down you want to keep Linux for the elite users.
The Debian under the hood aspect is nice for
those of us who know about this, but it isn't required for the Xandros user to master. Updates
are available through Xandros Network, which
ensures you won't need to learn apt-get or
dselect. However if one needs packages outside of the
few Xandros provides, Debian's set is available.
I've heard that if the right preferences are set
in the apt-sources there will be no danger of upsetting the customized stuff from Xandros (which includes KDE).
What Xandros Has...
by
Eamon+C
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
What Xandros has that other Linux distros lack is my favorite feature in OSX 10.3 and WinXP -- fast user switching. Am I the only Linux user who lives in a house with more people than computers? Sure, it's possible to start X as a different user on a different display, but it's not the kind of thing you can expect a non-zealot to be comfortable with.
I've been trying to figure out the best way to introduce polished fast user switching into Linux, and the best way I can think to do it is at the display manager level.
This might sound a lot like a rant, and might be one, but why is it that we're seeing yet another desktop employing the same old tired taskbar metaphor and the same old tired windowing system.
Surely the open source community have the brawn to pull together a talented crew of innovators that can push the envelope in terms of desktop systems, and come up with something that breaks the mold, is not an entirely academic excersize, and has commercial/desktop applicability and (most importantly) usability.
IMHO, Project Looking Glass is a great step forward in this regard, but what'll happen to it if/when the Sun finally sets once and for all one day?
Slashdot Mirror
Being primarily a Mac user and hence a whore for pretty interfaces (or really bare interfaces, like the GNUstep interface I use on my linux box), the first thing that came to mind is that Xandros has done a once-over on KDE almost like Ximian did for Gnome. Their theme isn't quite as lickably pretty as Industrial, but it's close, and it looks like they've certainly managed to at least even with them in terms of integration (well, sans the customized OpenOffice which is one of the key perks of Ximian).
Isn't Xandros the company that took all the "Help --> About" dialog boxes of KDE apps, and replace the author's names with their own?
If this is true, then I'm rather disgusted.
Sunny Dubey
I'm currently a Mandrake 9.2 user, solidly wedded to KDE, and trying to decide what to upgrade my mother to from Win98. She needs crossover, for sure, but I'm not sure if I should stick with what I know and love ('drake) and just add crossover for her or whether something more integrated like Xandros would be appropriate.
Does it just boil down to whether I want debian or redhat compatibility? (I cant say i'm at all dissatisfied with urpmi, so apt-get isnt all that exciting). Any thoughts?
U.S. War Crimes blog. Email for free Mandriva support.
Looks aren't everything! Xandros looks the way it does because the interface is familiar to normal consumers who regularly use Windows already or have seen it, it's easier to get them to use/look at Xandros if they're familiar with what they're seeing already.
I've been trying out all these "easy" debian variants out there but I'm just not satisfied with the bloat. Maybe Knoppix isn't built for speed, but it just seems clunkier than it should be.
I personally would just try debian-installer and get a clean system if only the daily builds were available. The damn breach STILL has gluck out of order. Are they keeping boot images someplace else for the developers right now if they just released Beta-2 yesterday? I would like a copy, damnit.
There's so much installed in this Knoppix install. I'm only afraid that a lot of it is keeping this computer "working" "correctly" and when I get a clean one there will be some not-so-obvious required packages to get the full functionality.
Not to worry and certainly nothing to be embarrassed about... the GPL is a lot less restrictive than it is made out to be. The key to a commercial distro is about the cherry on top, and not the two scoops of ice cream or the hot fudge. They keep to themselves that which isn't in the community at large, or at least which is poorly refined. As I see it that doesn't really amount to much.
The thing that I like the least about Debian based distros is the hiding the debian package management tools. This _is_ why I use debian almost exclusively on all my systems. These distros muck it up with click-n-run or xandros network when the cli or open ncurses and gtk/kde frontends already do the job so well. I may not be their audience though.
Making it look like Windows is quite different from running Windows. We're talking about gui versus the engine running in the background.
Making it look like Windows, you make it easier for Windows people to transition while losing the vulnerability and license restrictions of Microsoft world.
Besides, what's really bad about the Windows gui interface?
"not for power users" - out of the box, no... but I started with xandros 1.0, learned a great deal, tweaked everything to my heart's content, and now have a very nice debian based system that just happens to have once been xandros.
(Full disclosure: I was part of the beta test, but am not an employee or developer associated with Xandros)
The installer is actually quite comprehensive, but the complexity is optional -- you either do the four click install, or you divert into optional choices should you dare, like partitioning and whatnot.
As far as only supporting industry-leading hardware, I have a small pile of old HP 4150a Omnibooks laying around, and they couldn't boot the Xandros installer due to a BIOS bug (LindowsOS has the same problem, by the way.) Whereas the LindowsOS people took no interest in helping me solve the problem with my PAID copy, the Xandros folks solved the problem in time for this release. My relatively ancient laptops are now supported*.
*except for sound, which no Linux distribution supports without the Open Sound System proprietary drivers.
hehe, hopefully she wont flip out too much when she finds her windows xp replaced
... hahahaha
... I find that very funny. Been there. My wife's computer is running Mandrake 9.2 :) ... I copied all her bookmarks, e-mail, and desktop files over to Mandrake though and she doesn't even notice a difference really. Spider Solitaire is gone, but she was sick of it anyway and really digs Frozen Bubble and several of those other dumb games that come with Gnome/KDE.
Hahahahah... hahahah
Sorry
I've always thought the commercial distro is more like the tables, chairs, bowls, spoons, napkins and the overworked waitress who cleans up after you.
Getting Linux without a distro is like putting your hands out and having a scoop of icecream dumped in your palms. It's messy, even if you did get the same icecream.
Have you ever looked at the file open/save dilogs? In a directory with lots of files/directorys with long names?
Have you ever wandered through 5-6 layers of dialogs looking for what seems like a simple setting?
Have you ever mis-clicked a menu item because the stupid "smart" menu moved all the items around in a cludge to combat poor UI design?
Have you ever used Windows?
For the rest of the world, computers need to be simple to use. GUIs and friendly interfaces are a help.
Gentoo has a valid role to play. So does Xandros.
To counter some of the criticisms placed on this site:
It is called Xandros Desktop, not Xandros Server, so no, your SMP machine isn't in the target market. Get over it and find a better suited distro. Even if it did support SMP and P4 hyperthreading, you would have moved on to something else.
If a desktop oriented Linux distro comes along and makes life easy, it doesn't mean it is as stupid as Microsoft software. That is like saying all orange colored objects taste like oranges.
Don't knock something you have not tried. I know it is hard for you cynical bastards to hold back, but consider the possibility that you don't have a clue what you are saying!
If you want the number of Linux users in the world to grow, then you should not blindly attack any desktop oriented distro. Or perhaps deep down you want to keep Linux for the elite users.
The Debian under the hood aspect is nice for those of us who know about this, but it isn't required for the Xandros user to master. Updates are available through Xandros Network, which ensures you won't need to learn apt-get or dselect. However if one needs packages outside of the few Xandros provides, Debian's set is available. I've heard that if the right preferences are set in the apt-sources there will be no danger of upsetting the customized stuff from Xandros (which includes KDE).
What Xandros has that other Linux distros lack is my favorite feature in OSX 10.3 and WinXP -- fast user switching. Am I the only Linux user who lives in a house with more people than computers? Sure, it's possible to start X as a different user on a different display, but it's not the kind of thing you can expect a non-zealot to be comfortable with.
I've been trying to figure out the best way to introduce polished fast user switching into Linux, and the best way I can think to do it is at the display manager level.
This might sound a lot like a rant, and might be one, but why is it that we're seeing yet another desktop employing the same old tired taskbar metaphor and the same old tired windowing system.
Surely the open source community have the brawn to pull together a talented crew of innovators that can push the envelope in terms of desktop systems, and come up with something that breaks the mold, is not an entirely academic excersize, and has commercial/desktop applicability and (most importantly) usability.
IMHO, Project Looking Glass is a great step forward in this regard, but what'll happen to it if/when the Sun finally sets once and for all one day?