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VectorLinux SOHO 5.9 Deluxe Reviewed

Posted by timothy on from the heavy-duty-polish dept.

An anonymous reader writes with a link to Caitlyn Martin's review of the Slackware-based Vector Linux SOHO 5.9 Deluxe: "I've read past reviews by other reviewers describing Vector Linux as 'better Slackware than Slackware' or 'what Slackware should be' and I always felt that was a bit of a stretch. With this release it isn't a stretch. You get all the reliability and stability of Slackware, better performance than vanilla Slack (at least on my hardware) and the features and most of the conveniences users of distributions touted as user friendly have come to expect."

5 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. Cool by BPPG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Vector Linux is a decent distro to try out if you're a distro-hopper. But it's still just one of those generic desktop distros that doesn't seem to have any specific aim. I've used it in the past on computers that struggled with other distros, and it seemed to work well.

    --
    What's the value of information that you don't know?
    1. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I used VectorLinux for awhile, but I found that the packages really didn't have much in the way of quality control. There was a release that was built on one of the Slackware-current snapshots, and when SC got updated it made some packages unavailable... I don't remember the details too well but I remember upgrading became a headache. Plus some of the other packages done by community members really weren't done properly, but still made it into the official tree.

      Hopefully they've sorted these things out, but it was enough for me to just be done with it and go back to Slackware.

  2. Vector's aim by number6x · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Vector's aim is to be a small stable distro for home and small business use.

    That pretty much puts it in a class with a few hundred other distros. The difference with Vector is that it is a small stable Slackware based distro for home and small business use.

    For most people new to Linux that difference might be like saying 'but our's goes to 11!'. However, for long time Slackware users it is a good thing. If you have year's(or even decade's) of Slackware experience and are looking for a user friendly distro. Vector would be a good choice. Especially for small businesses.

    For non-Slackware users and Linux newbies you are absolutely correct that it does not stand out from the crowd.

    Vector is for Slackware what Libranet was for Debian. A really great implementation based on the parent distro. I miss Libranet. I keep hoping that Ubuntu or Mepis get up to Libranet quality standards someday.

  3. Sorry by Chemisor · · Score: 3, Interesting

    No 64-bit build - no deal. All modern CPUs are 64-bit, and pretending that they don't exist is not going to help you.

  4. Great for older hardware too..... by budword · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm a Kubuntu fan, but when I'm setting up older hardware, sometimes even xubuntu and fluxbuntu are too heavy. Vector Linux light edition runs just fine on a 500Mhz box with 64MB of ram. DVD's and other multi-media run out of the box, no difficult config needed. Set up was easy too, though I wasn't using any unusual hardware. It's worth trying out.