PCLinuxOS 2009.2 fits like an old pair of jeans
Something has gone south in the recent developments of the Linux operating system. My old linux rig IBM Think T41 is experiencing significant slow downs with very latest revisions of Ubuntu, and other major distributions. This is most apparent in web browsing which suffers of notable slowdowns on web pages that have higher than average complexity – it feels almost like using a Vista! So what happens when you throw in a distribution that comes with out-of-date kernel, Xorg, and desktop environment? The damn thing works like a charm again. The PCLinux 2009.2 is like going back to the 2007 again.
The PCLinuxOS is an interesting story altogether. The Mandriva forked distribution came up with a excellent out-of-the-box experience few years back, and started gaining a notable hype even in it’s preview versions. The final stable release 2007 really hit the jackpot being the most desktop ready and “Windows user friendly” Linux distribution at the time. In 2008 they released equally excellent 2008 MiniMe edition of the operating system, but then things started going rapidly downhill. Updates were less frequent, no new major stable release was achieved, main developer was off duty for quite some time, and all kinds of personal drama was stirring in the community. The 2009.1 release was more like a “2007.1″ release and didn’t impress anyone. Personally I was more than ready to dumb PCLinuxOS to the distro grave yard. But then came the 2009.2 with an announcement that it was in fact a quarterly update. Would a solid release schedule be able to blow some fresh air into the once great distribution?
What sets PCLinuxOS apart from Ubuntu and others is still the choice of not to include the very latest versions of certain core components. The desktp enviroment is the classic KDE 3.5.10, the Linux kernel is at 2.6.26.8, and the Xorg the 1.4. Key applications are however quite well updated to recent, or at least quite recent versions.
The resulting user experience is quite interesting – the system is very responsive, performance is good, and user experience out-of-the-box is damn near perfect. My basic installation consumed about 30% less memory than a similar configuration with Ubuntu 9.04 (180MB vs 120MB footprint)Using KDE3.5 makes you wonder once again that what the hell were the KDE4 devs thinking. All this comes wrapped in a rather pleasing blue theme and everything nice configured and ready for daily use. And if you don’t everything to be ready for you and you want to build your desktop from ground up, there is a new 2009 MiniMe edition available as well.
But there are also few areas where PCLOS should improve in the near future. First of all is the installation procedure which starts with a rather unique step 1 – the un-installation of video drivers, which could be confusing for a first time Linux user. The K-menu structure should also be reconsidered, as it contains sub-levels that do nothing but add complexity to the hierarchy. Some file associations did not seem to be in place in Firefox, which was an immediate annoyance. And I also found a bug that sometimes pressing a key on my Thinkpad T41 resulted about 10 key presses on the application. This was a rare issue but I have never seem anything like it on any other distro.
While PCLOS still is very similar than it was back in 2007 and it doesn’t have the bleeding edge core components, it still has the potential to be a very good Linux desktop environment for new Linux users and especially if your hardware is slightly aged. What the project now needs to do is to rebuild the confidence by showing that they can provide a steady flow of updates to the repositories and that they can stick to their new quarterly schedule, while focusing on quality control and implementation. It will be interesting to see how the year goes for them, and I certainly wish them all the best.
Grap your copy at http://www.pclinuxos.com
May 2nd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I have tryed the new PC LinuxOS.
Looks very nice. But I think you need some Linux knowledge to use it properly.
For example the updating process. You must look for a package and install it for it to works called UPDATE-NOTIFIER
I was able to find that out in a forum. But how is is that for a beginner?
For beginners I think Pardus or Linux Mint are the easiest:
http://linuxmint.com/
http://www.pardus.org.tr/eng/
November 8th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
A nice kde3 program is Kooldock you can make it pop up at the screen edge with all your favourite shortcuts on it. Failing that, do as yoyo says but create another kicker bar at the top or side of the screen, and make it self-hide, so it only appears when the mouse hits the edge. With the kicker option, you can just drag icons off the main menu and drop them on it. So simple! With kooldock, you can open a dialog box with a window in it, and drag the icons there. Either way it’s very easy to do.
September 29th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Linux (commonly pronounced /ˈlɪnʌks/, LI-nuks)[4][5][6] is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed, both commercially and non-commercially, by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL[7] and other free software licences.
Linux is predominantly known for its use in servers, although can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from embedded devices , mobile phones and even some watches.[citation needed] to supercomputers.[8] Linux distributions, installed on both desktop and laptop computers, have become increasingly commonplace in recent years, partly owing to the popular Ubuntu distribution[9] and the emergence of netbooks.[10]
The name “Linux” comes from the Linux kernel, originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds.The rest of the system usually comprises components such as the Apache HTTP Server, the X Window System, the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, and utilities and libraries from the GNU Project (announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman). Commonly-used applications with desktop Linux systems include the Mozilla Firefox web-browser and the OpenOffice.org office application suite. The GNU contribution is the basis for the Free Software Foundation’s preferred name GNU/Linux.[11][12]
Now i have to solve the itil questions.
Thanks
July 24th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Quote: And I also found a bug that sometimes pressing a key on my Thinkpad T41 resulted about 10 key presses on the application.
Fix:
Start>System>Configuration>KDE Control Center>Peripherals>Keyboard:
Uncheck the box for keyboard repeat, or adjust the values to slower times to account for ‘lazy finger’ typing.
Hope that helps!
July 24th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Thank you so much for this great article it’s so useful
July 22nd, 2009 at 12:01 pm
@ yoyo
Re: faster access to favourite programs
A nice kde3 program is Kooldock you can make it pop up at the screen edge with all your favourite shortcuts on it. Failing that, do as yoyo says but create another kicker bar at the top or side of the screen, and make it self-hide, so it only appears when the mouse hits the edge. With the kicker option, you can just drag icons off the main menu and drop them on it. So simple! With kooldock, you can open a dialog box with a window in it, and drag the icons there. Either way it’s very easy to do.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Just thought I’d point out that the quarterly “releases” are in fact a community effort (albeit recognized and “blessed” by Tex and the Gang) to reduce the volume of updates a new user needs to have after an install. In fact, 2009.2 is really just the original 2007 release with *all* updates included, up until the time it was released.
PCLinuxOS is a true “rolling release” distro. Install it once, and then make it a point to update it regularly (or let the “auto-updater” do it for you),and you will always have the latest software available for it. I installed 2007 on my home desktop two years ago, and today it is running exactly the same software as is on the 2009.2 disk, just by keeping the system updated.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:05 am
An excellent article!
I’ve been using PCLinuxOS for several years now. I’ve tried about a dozen or more other distros, but have never switched from PCLOS.
I highly recommend it to anyone who is switching from Windows to Linux. PCLOS requires little or no knowledge of the Command Line Interface (CLI). New users will find the GUI very intuitive to use.
It is the most complete distro I’ve ever found. I have it running on two desktop computers and one laptop.
Thanks again for the kind words and honest review.