VectorLinux 4.3 - Rocket Fueled Slackware

SilentBob4 writes "Mad Penguin has the first review of the latest VectorLinux release. Vector is based on Slackware Linux, but is built on a newer 2.6.7 kernel (Slackware 10 was still built on a 2.4 kernel with the option of using 2.6) and is optimized to run well on older hardware. Even old Pentium PCs run well on this distro. Complete review with screenshots."

Comments

SOHO

[gid13]

I've used Vector Linux 4.0 (SOHO version) for a while, and I have to say a couple of things.

1. Judging it by the same apps (firefox, for instance), it was STUNNINGLY fast compared to XP Pro and all other Linux distros I've tried (Fedora, Mandrake, Arch, even Gentoo).

2. It sorely lacks a good dependency-handling package manager. Two exist that I'm aware of (Swaret and Slapt-get), and unfortunately they both just aren't that good. If this was remedied, well... just... wow.

Re:SOHO

[TheKidWho]

You could always try out gentoo, it happens to be very easy to install apps with portage, and it is very speedy too.

No package system...

[dark-br]

no dependency control, no thanks.

Vector is the shizzle

[CestusGW]

I've had the chance to use vector before, and I have to say it's the cleanest distro I've ever come across. No bloat, no extra features, no bizillion things starting at system boot.

Re:Actually a *big* problem

[13Echo]

Why's it too much work to simply download updated packages from Slackware-Current and run "upgradepkg"?

Pat keeps the thing up to date at all times, and all critical exploits are practically always fixed in current. He updates practically every few days.

http://www.slackware.com/changelog/current.php?c pu =i386

Re:VL

[timeOday]

RTA. VectorLinux isn't about patchsets or compile options:

Whenever possible (which is most of the time) in cases where there are two or three good applications to perform a specific chore, they would choose to include the most lightweight one out of the bunch for inclusion into the final release. This is what makes VectorLinux what it is, and always has been.

Can you take any linux distro and hand-pick all the lightweight software for an old box yourself? Sure, with enough elbow grease. Or you can use VectorLinux, because they already did it for you.

What to run?

[steveha]

I already described how to set up a lean Debian system. But I would like suggestions on what would be the best system to run on a desktop computer with old hardware.

Here is what I think I know about this. A while ago I tried several systems on a Pentium 233 with 64MB of RAM.

GNOME -- if you can install enough memory (I recommend at least 256 MB) then this is actually a reasonable way to go, even on an older computer. But if you have a computer with limited RAM and no convenient way to upgrade it, stay away. (Maybe if you like GNOME 1.x, and can find it somewhere... no, I don't think so.)

Xfce -- getting better. Smaller, faster than GNOME. But when I tried it, it was still slower than I wanted.

IceWM -- actually, pretty nice! But IceWM itself is a window manager, and you need more than just that. So I suggest combining IceWM with ROX.
I used ROX filer a few years ago, and I loved the speed. The whole ROX system looks pretty slick, and it's fast!

ROX is complicated enough to install (only old packages for Debian; they want to you use a new system called ZeroInstall now) that I didn't do a full-on install test of it. But if I had an actual need to run a desktop system on old hardware, I'd definitely use ROX plus IceWM.

But if you know something even better, please add a comment about it!

steveha