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Recent Apt-Gettable Goodness From Ark, Conectiva
JimLynch writes "When you think of Linux, certain names spring to mind: Red Hat, SuSE--even Libranet. But you almost never hear someone say "Hey, did you download the latest version of Ark Linux?" Well, it's too bad, because Ark Linux might someday be a viable contender for the Linux desktop crown and it surely deserves some recognition as such at this point. Despite being labeled an alpha, Ark Linux is one amazing little distro." In other distro news, lmvaz writes "Conectiva, the biggest Linux distribution of Brazil and South America released yesterday the 'Conectiva Linux 10 - Technology Preview 2,' bringing the kernel 2.6.1, KDE 3.2 rc1, Gnome 2.4, Mozilla 1.5, OpenOffice 1.1, etc. The release notes are available here and the torrents for download are here. The final release is expected by the end of the first semester of this year. It's a nice bundle for people wanting to help getting the 2.6 linux kernel in shape."
Why do we need so many distros when we already have 1 or 2 well developed, well supported good ones? Instead of making a thousand for different purposes, why not just make it easier to customize Red Hat or Suse to fit all those purposes(i.e. LinuxBBC, uclinux, etc)?
Is it just me or am I the only one who can't find an English page form this distros creators. I'm not some crazy "only English" freak, but unfortunately thats the only langauage I speak... well, barely.
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I'm personally hoping Novell changes the distribution methods for SuSE.
Yes, definitely listening. ;)
You've mostly described Ark Linux in your wishlist.
We do pick only one of every kind where possible, and our choices mostly match yours.
Last time I used ark linux, it didn't let me customize my patritions/hard drives. Is that fixed in later versions?
Isn't Ark Linux the dstribution someone made solely because of Red Hat removing the KDE Credits from Red Hat 8.0? Isn't a distro based on a pissing contest a bad idea?
You're right re the fact that too many distros can potentially be a bad thing.
...) -- the difference here is that they're commercial, and we'll always be 100% free.
So why did we decide to start a new one nevertheless [remember that we did so roughly 2 years ago]?
It's easy, nobody else was doing what we're doing.
Our goal was (and still is) to create a distribution that is easy to use for both Windows converts and total computer newbies, while still providing a powerful system we can use ourselves w/ a bit of customization.
One of the key points in Ark Linux is to pick only one application of every kind (who really needs 500 editors and 30 window managers?), to save the (non-technical) user from having to make choices (s)he can't possibly understand.
Why not do this as a patch to an existing distribution? It's obvious -- does anyone seriously think e.g. Debian would accept a feature request saying "remove 5000 packages"? They won't (and for a good reason - for Debian-type users, having the choice is vital!). And just doing it as a script that uninstalls 5000 packages from a previously installed system wouldn't work, because the newbie wouldn't even get to the point where he can run the script.
Yes, by now there are other distributions that try to do the same thing (Lindows, Lycoris, Xandros,
That said, there's no point in not cooperating -- if anyone from any other distribution is reading this, we'd definitely like to work together -- but the full extent would have to be determined.
Using a common core is an option - but even there, you'll run into different needs -- e.g. for a corporate workstation or server, Kerberos and LDAP authentication are must-haves (and things lots of applications will link to if they're there, introducing dependencies right into the core of the OS) -- for a home user desktop, they're just unneeded bloat - so you'll end up even with a modified core, if you want to get both right.
Ark's philosophy is very good to see. I think it has its place on the installation side of things.
What I think is undersold is that fact that Gentoo can be used perfectly well based on binary packages. The reference platform contains a chunk of packages that can get you up to using KDE without a single compile.
See, what all that ports business is about is upgradability. It used to be a pain for me to manage upgrades to my RedHat 7.x boxes, with RPM dependency hell. Now I have a laptop, a dual Xeon server, and an Athlon desktop and when I need to, I can grab things from source and compile *once* to upgrade all three systems, and upgrades are easy. The only thing I have to sacrifice to do that is a few CPU-specific optimizations which may as well be saved for where it really counts anyway, though I can tweak where I really need to.
It wouldn't be hard to make a Gentoo package that installs every bit as easily and quickly as the others, for those who just want portage as an upgrade contingency. The moment the advantages of Gentoo and something like Ark or Knoppix wind up in one distro, you'll have it. Gentoo's closer to that than you might think.
That said, Ark's got something for the rest to learn from, and I hope that they'll be a part at whatever rises from the ashes of the SCO-infested United Linux.
No. A full install will yield a much nicer experience. I have a little Shuttle XPC sitting next to me here at home and it runs Windows XP. It mostly stays suspended, except when I want to play a game. A few months ago, I downloaded the latest Knoppix for an upcoming work project. For grins I threw it in the Shuttle to see what it would do. I had an experience similar to yours.
If you have an old hard drive laying around (even a 3GB drive would do), add it as a slave, disconnect your Windows HDD and reboot with a full install CD. Poke around on the new install for a while. I think you'll have fun. If you don't like the new distro, leave the disk in there and reformat it Fat32 or something. Use for MP3s. If you wind up liking it, go google for a dual-boot howto.
or is this just a function of not being able to cram everything onto a CD? Would another live-cd give me better results?
I suspect that is part of it. Part of it might also be that certain choices have to be hard-coded into a live-cd distro.
Try Fedora, SuSE, or Mandrake and see what you think. Or Ark. They're all pretty good about balancing hand-holding with letting a savvy user get stuff done. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.