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CrunchBang Linux Halts Development

Posted by Soulskill on from the all-good-things dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Philip Newborough, the developer behind CrunchBang Linux, has put an end to work on the distro. CrunchBang was built as a layer on top of Debian using the Openbox window manager that focused on performance and customization. Newborough says the changing landscape of Linux over the past decade has obviated the need for a distro like CrunchBang. "Whilst some things have stayed exactly the same, others have changed beyond all recognition. It's called progress, and for the most part, progress is a good thing. That said, when progress happens, some things get left behind, and for me, CrunchBang is something that I need to leave behind. I'm leaving it behind because I honestly believe that it no longer holds any value, and whilst I could hold on to it for sentimental reasons, I don't believe that would be in the best interest of its users, who would benefit from using vanilla Debian."

20 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Never heard of it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Number of Linux Distributions Surpasses Number of Users

  2. Well, that makes things better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Before this announcement:

    Newbie: "I hear about this Linux thing too. How do I get that?"
    Linux Advocate: "Well, you start by choosing from 10,294 confusing distros and dozens of different desktops..."
    Newbie: "Uh, I think I'll just choose Windows or Mac instead."

    After this announcement:

    Newbie: "I hear about this Linux thing too. How do I get that?"
    Linux Advocate: "Well, you start by choosing from 10,293 confusing distros and dozens of different desktops..."
    Newbie: "Uh, I think I'll just choose Windows or Mac instead."

    1. Re:Well, that makes things better by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There is nothing "super easy" about installing an operating system when it comes to your average n00b. They can barely handle a windows style installer or downloading things with a web browser.

      The only reason they can even run Windows is because it's pre-installed and they get plenty of free tech support from friends and family. The same goes for MacOS to.

      Besides, it's only trolls that are even aware of "1001 distros" anyways. Most normal people just focus on what the first page of a Google search would tell them.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:Well, that makes things better by skids · · Score: 2

      power user features can exist even in user-friendly environments

      Sure they can "exist" but that does not keep the "user-friendliness" from getting underfoot.

      Imagine for a moment that one day you get home, and not only has someone removed all your CD shelves so that safety banisters could be installed on every wall, they have also also baby-proofed your entire apartment so nothing is where you left it, put each of your power tools in its own locked box each with a different key. made all the lights in the place turn on at once when you clap, turned parental controls on your TV on, and entered a one-year contract with a company of tiny elves who will come and rearrange all your furniture every week in new and unusual ways, throw all the food from you fridge out and fill it with bags of pesto, and store the contents of all your wastebaskets in your garage.

      That's the level of difference we are talking here.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    3. Re:Well, that makes things better by twistedcubic · · Score: 2

      Great point! Now tell me, which OS do you use? WIndows 8 Home, Windows 8 Pro, or Windows 8 Enterprise?

    4. Re:Well, that makes things better by fisted · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Have you installed Windows recently? OK, I haven't since Windows 7, myself, but that install just asked me for timezone, language, and maybe which keyboard I was using (but the default was right), and the rest was just "next, next, next" and that was it, it ran for a while and rebooted 2x and was done with no further input.

      So it's basically like the Debian installer, except for the part where you need two reboots (wth, seriously?).
      Not for nothing they say that a chicken could install Debian, provided there's sufficient grain on the enter key...

      --
      CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
    5. Re:Well, that makes things better by morgauxo · · Score: 2

      Nah, more like this

      Newbie2 is an Apple fan, Newbie1 is not

      Newbie1: "I hear about this Linux thing too. How do I get that?"
      Linux Advocate: "Here, I'll help you install "
        = some newbie oriented distro that Linux Advocate is familiar with just for this purpose and recommends to all his/her newbies
      Newbie1: "OK.. procedes to ask questions when needed.. eventually graduates to doing things on own and probably uses a more complex distro... Newbie1 is now a Linux advocate too"

      Newbie2: "I hear about this Linux thing too. How do I get that?"
      Linux Advocate: "Here, I'll help you install "
      Newbie2: "distro? there are choices! that is totally unhip! Later Loser!"
      Linux Advocate: "Wait, come back... just use this, it's easy, you don't HAVE to make any choices, you just can if you want to"
      Newbie2:

    6. Re:Well, that makes things better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      As a long term debian user I'm still amazed by the windows installer. I build a machine for games:
      -installed debian (testing) which recognized everything out of the box so it booted to a working state. Installed from the repository the proprietary nvidia drivers, installed steam, restarted the windowing system and started to play.
      -installed windows 8.1 retail from USB (created from the dvd at my office machine), which installed without fuss, a couple of choices, nex, next, next, reboot. And was left sitting there without network, the motherboard came with a CD but this machine doesn't have one, I only have an ATA interface DVD reader but that interface if absent from new machines. So i booted linux, started downloading all the drivers from various sources (most from the mb manufacturer) put them on the usb device, rebooted to windows, installed driver, reboot, installed driver, reboot..... a couple of times, went to steam downloaded/installed plugged in the controller (ps3), went on a search for non adware drivers and finally could start playing.

  3. Could have profound purpose by rubycodez · · Score: 3, Insightful

    CrunchBang could have been the systemD-less distro, unlike Debian which is embracing that morass of bad engineering

    1. Re:Could have profound purpose by shadowknot · · Score: 4, Informative

      CrunchBang could have been the systemD-less distro

      Thankfully, for that we have Slackware.

    2. Re:Could have profound purpose by 31eq · · Score: 2

      If you want a systemd-less Debian, go make a systemd-less Debian. Make it everything you think crunchbang should have been. Nobody's stopping you.

    3. Re:Could have profound purpose by aliquis · · Score: 2

      Yup, if you want "Good old Linux" you've got Slackware.

      And if all you want is "Good Linux" you've got openSUSE.

    4. Re:Could have profound purpose by iggymanz · · Score: 2

      Already done, Linux Mint Debian doesn't use systemd and it's an open question if it will ever have it

      "LMDE 2 'Betsy' received a lot of updates this week and its 'Mint' packages are now almost on par with Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca. The next step is to adapt the Debian Jessie base and port all the changes and fixes already applied for Linux Mint 17.x on top of Trusty. This should take a week or two and we might be in a position to open up a BETA some time in February and to start welcoming feedback from people interested in helping us test this new distribution. Similar to Linux Mint 17.x, LMDE 2 'Betsy' will be using the traditional sysvinit. The move to systemd could happen with Linux Mint 18 and LMDE 3, giving this new technology and the Linux ecosystem 2 years (or more) to mature and to iron out integration and compatibility issues. Cinnamon in particular is built without systemd support by default and the development team is planning to change this in version 2.6 to give the DE the ability to switch at runtime between systemd and consolekit/upower without the need to recompile anything." -- Clem, blog.linuxmint.com Jan 16, 2015

  4. Re:Just started using it by e4liberty · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've been using it for years on a cheap Samsung Atom netbook. I like that it is svelt, has a nice minimalist look, and has great community support. I'm sorry to see it die.

  5. Re:Just started using it by 31eq · · Score: 2

    It isn't much more than a metapackage, anyway. Gnome, KDE, LXDE, and XFCE are all metapackages and Debian live images. There is a point to Crunchbang living on in some form because most of the desktop is different to LXDE (they both have Openbox). And it probably will live, but with a different name.

  6. Re:Just started using it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been a #! user for about 4 years now. I am sure that it will survive as a community-developed netinstall script. A lot tend to install it that way already. Here are a few of my thoughts why it was great:

    1. Forums. Almost completely asshole free. Very helpful to noobs without being patronizing. They helped me set up MPD when I was new. Rather than just treating me as a loser and recommended a bloated gui app, they helped. They also took the time to teach rather than just tell me what to do. I will forever be greatful to them. The Forum is the greatest legacy of #! and is going to stay around too.

    2. Lightweight. Openbox is extremely light on the system. #!'s default looks, keyboard shortcuts, and other config files were clean, well-documented, and saved a heck of a lot of work to set them up myself. It was as if the ideal system of my dreams were pre-configured. Sure it had a user interface from the early 1990s with more up-to-date visuals, but that's what I wanted back when Gnome3, KDE, and Unity were all forcing a new paradigm upon us.

    3. Minimalist in looks and function. Default apps were well-selected with little to no bloat. One tool per task. The interface is clean and simple, making the system about working rather than how pretty the widgets are or the cool transition animations.

    4.. Nice post-install script

    5. The stability and breadth of the Debian base.

  7. Re:Glad I didn't bother trying it by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    I picked my distro based on religious fervor. The righteous way to use Linux is while covered in the blood of your enemies.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  8. Re:Glad I didn't bother trying it by odie5533 · · Score: 2

    Given that Gentoo is a masochistic distro, I think you'd be covered in your own blood.

  9. Re:Like UNIX before it, Crunchbang is irrelevant by stox · · Score: 2

    UNIX RTR is still used to place most of your phone calls. It ain't dead yet. There are still a lot of Fortune 500's running the majority of their operation on AIX, Solaris, or even HP/UX.

    --
    "To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
  10. Re:Just started using it by believekevin · · Score: 2

    +1 to the Crunchbang forums. What an incredible intellectual community and technical resource. Crunchbang has been my daily driver on three different machines over about five years and I never ran into a problem that couldn't be solved with the collective help of the forums. I switched to wmii from openbox a few years ago but still kept up with the Crunchbang releases since they were so close to perfect out of the box. Light a candle for one of the greatest little distros in history!