Elive 2.2.2 Beta Is Here!

Yay!  Elive has a new beta release: 2.2.2!

It finally comes with my long awaited feature: an installer!

Gotta download it ASAP to start testing it.

The release anouncement is here.

Promising Newcomers: Three not-yet-finished Linux Distros that Are Aiming High!

If you are starting your Linux adventure, you may have already learned that there is not a single Linux.  Surely, some names are more well-known than others.  Mint, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Debian, and Mageia (a newcomer that proved its value) are probably among the most visible distributions.  You might have also learned about Slackware, the oldest Linux distribution alive, and about Linux distros especially designed to breathe new life to computer dinosaurs that otherwise would be littering up our planet (Like Puppy, antiX, GalPon MiniNO, and SliTaz)

But Linux is constantly evolving.  Some distros sadly reach the end of their life while new ones see the light for the first time.

Among these new distros, three are trying to join the varied ecosystem of Tux and they look very promising.  They haven't released a finished version yet, but these newcomers are aiming high indeed, pretty much as Mageia did when it entered the scene.


Which are these three new distros?

(my customized Pisi install)

1.  Pisi Linux:  Pisi Linux?  What's that? Wasn't it Pardus Anka?  Wasn't it PiSi LinuX?  While the distro started as Pardus Anka and later changed its name to PiSi LinuX, its name has become Pisi Linux.  Although still young (is not officially born yet), its history has been quite complex.  If anything, it is a story of how community members loved their distribution so much that, instead of letting it die, decided to pursue a dream.  You can read about it here.  This distro may have a small team behind it, but I can tell you that Pisi is outstanding.  I've been running a beta release and it feels as a finished product.  It is stable, powerful, visually appealing, and its members are very helpful. 

(credits: Mandrivachronicles.blogspot.com)

2.  OpenMandriva:  This is another example of community power.  After Mandriva (the company responsible of the original Mandriva distribution) had several problems (some of them becoming the cause of Mageia's birth), the future of Mandriva (the distro) was pretty uncertain.  Then, OpenMandriva Association was created to work on a new distro that would take Mandriva's legacy to higher grounds.  The development process has reached the Release Candidate level.  Is it any good?  You can read about OpenMandriva RC1 here.

(credits: Distrowatch.com)

3.  Elive:  Although Elive is not precisely new (it was dormant for quite a long time, after its release 1.0 in 2007), its comeback in 2010 is worth following.  This distro is one of the few ones that use Enlightenment as their default desktop environment, by the way, and offers a lot of eye candy with little use of computer resources.  Visit Elive's house and see for yourself why I say it is promising!

The Dormant Are Awakened: Elive 2.0 Topaz

Elive has started development again after quite a long time sleeping (3 years)!  I have to download the ISO right away!



On their site, they describe Elive as:

      A very stable system that will continue to run day after day without problems. The Enlightenment desktop is ultra-fast and perfectly stable with no random errors or surprises. There are no viruses, trojans, spyware, adware, or any similar nuisance. Elive is a secure and serious system.

I was greatly pleased to know that this Belgian, Debian-based distro using E-16 at that time is now moving forward.  It also comes now with E-17!

Concerning its development philosophy, the site states that:

        Elive is made with and for pleasure. Things designed with pleasure are worlds better than the things designed due to a workers obligation.

I must agree with those words.  I remember that Elive impressed me with its performance, design, and eye candy.  Everything worked off the CD, the visual aspect was very artistic and its animated wallpapers made me drool!

What does this Elive 2.1.23 (Alpha release of Elive 2 Topaz) bring?

• The final stable release of Enlightenment 17!
• Improvements in E17 like "focus remember", or an emodule for productivity (style pomodoro with window controls)
• Composite and transparencies even in older computers without 3D accelaration, and other good features even when not in use
• Very efficient and fast overall system
• Allows for better resolution in older computers where it was once not possible to play high quality videos due to resources required (includes HD videos in h264)
• Perfect screen sincronization in video playback.
• Kernel 3.2.0 supporting older computers, which means that new computers will be supported too
• Recent and updated applications
• Lots of packages like libreoffice ready for giving a complete suite to the end-users
• Extremely useful new tools made by Elive, like: bkp, waitfor, elivepaste, showmyip, etc...
• A enlightened terminal with a great demo

 It sounds good, doesn't it?

Concerning the target users of this distro, there is a warning on the site, though:

      Elive is not made for newbies. Elive is not made for experienced people. Elive is not made for enterprises or personal user. Elive is art. It is simply for the people who appreciate it and want to use it. Feel free to try Elive, because only you decide what you want in this world!

Those are refreshing words in a world threatened to be Metrofied!  :P
Now, will Elive be for you?

El Camino de la Iluminación

No tengo idea de por qué, pero ayer en la noche, mientras tomaba un poco de té verde, vino a mi mente una pregunta...

"¿Qué tal si agregamos Enlightenment a Mepis?"

Enlightenment (o "Iluminación") es un manejador de escritorios para Linux, al igual que lo son KDE y GNOME entre otros. Por supuesto, cada uno se comporta diferente. Todos tienen sus puntos a favor y en contra, al igual que fanáticos y detractores.


Enlightenment es un manejador de escritorios lleno de efectos, el cual rivaliza con los de MacOS X. Las distros que lo utilizan sencillamente hipnotizan a quienes jamás las habían visto. Un ejemplo es Elive:




Por supuesto, el camino de la Iluminación no es tan fácil de alcanzar. ¡Un neófito como yo no puede aspirar a la luz con tan solo tres minutos de descarga!

Tal vez fueron mis dudas, no lo sé. Mientras mi "larga" meditación/descarga se llevaba a cabo, pensamientos mundanos me asaltaron. "¿Qué pasa si E16 (Enlightenment) nos carcome el sistema del mismo modo que sucedió cuando intentamos instalar CompizFusion?", escuché a la Falta de Fe preguntarme. "Si eso sucede, del mismo modo que lo hicimos entonces, restauraremos Mepis y lo dejaremos totalmente funcional en tan sólo 20 minutos.", la voz de la Experiencia le respondió.

Después de mi debate espiritual, continué con el rito de iniciación de los Iluminados: efectué un cierre de sesión y luego pedí "E16" como el tipo de sesión al iniciar Mepis Linux.

¿Qué obtuve?

Obtuve una pantalla verde muy extraña que me hizo pensar lo peor. Al principio, me desanimé. Creí que ya había acabado con mi sistema. No obstante, cuando el instante de pánico cedió ante la observación y la curiosidad, me di cuenta de que sí estaba en el Camino de la Iluminación: rústico tal vez, pero me encontraba en el escritorio de E16.



De hecho, todos mis programas se encontraban allí. Incluso los de KDE funcionaban sin problemas:



Al parecer, el camino de la Iluminación no es tan fácil, pero tampoco es imposible de alcanzar. Supongo que nada más tengo que dedicar un poco más de tiempo para familiarizarme con esta nueva herramienta, experimentar con ella y poco a poco iré obteniendo mejores resultados.

No cabe duda, el Software Libre le proporciona a los usuarios la libertad de experimentar, escoger y crecer en su conocimiento tecnológico. Linux se parece en verdad a un set de Legos. Con él se puede construir lo que uno desee; solamente se debe aprender cómo colocar las piezas juntas y estar anuente a experimentar. De todos modos, en el peor de los fracasos, el sistema se puede restaurar completamente con considerable rapidez.