SolusOS 2 Alpha5 Released (Gnome 3.4)

[Monsta]

This thing is beautiful.

It even has a GTK+ theme that makes GTK+2 and 3 widgets look similar (that's what is currently in my wishlist for Mint-X).
The panel looks and feels so much like the one from Gnome 2 that the current gnome-panel devs and maintainers should sprinkle ashes on their heads (okay, I'm kidding ). The desktop config utility with the theme preview feature is also great.

The only thing that I can't get used to is the Cardapio menu...
On the other hand, this is a quick way to realize how handy mintMenu is.

And by the way, this distro is quite stable for something with the "alpha" word in its name.

P.s. I also installed SolusOS 1.1 separately. Very interesting... it has mintMenu 5.2.5 and some other Mint tools... and this mintMenu seems to work in Gnome 2 - I thought the newer versions are edited to use MATE stuff...

EDIT: this mintMenu seems to be actually version 5.2.4 (judging by what's in the commits at the github), don't know if it's a complete copy or a fork. And it was the last version to use Gnome 2 stuff, so the confusion is cleared up now

[sprintcowboy]

SolusOs 2 lts.
How long is the LTS supported?
2 years, 3 years, 5 years???
Not familiar with Debien release cycle.

[bimsebasse]

The more I look at SolusOS, the more sad I am the creator left Linux Mint - he's got aesthetics down to a tee, it looks really slick and coherent, the distro, the webpage, everything (maybe not the plymouth splash screen so much, as the only thing) and it already has some Gnome 3 improvements I'd love to see in Linux Mint. Gonna definitely give it a go when alpha 5 is out.

[KBD47]

I could add to the well-deserved praise of SolusOS, but just wanted to say it is what many of us wished LMDE was, a Stable Debian OS with regular Debian security updates. For those who don't know, SolusOS IS Debian Stable, which means it follows Debian Stable regarding updates and support. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but SolusOS 1 has about another year and a half support, when SolusOS 2 comes out it should have at least 3 years support.
My view is that what Mepis, SalineOS, and now SolusOS do is take the rock solid Debian Stable, and add updated apps and installers to make Debian Stable user friendly. LMDE does this as well, but of course it's based upon Debian Testing. I prefer the former method such as SolusOS uses, but I recognize the advantages of LMDE. For me SolusOS is excellent out of the box, getting regular Debian updates and little to no danger of breakage. LMDE has the advantage of being able to be set to Sid sources, or left at Testing sources, or set to Mint's Latest sources, or if you grab the spins released near the time of Debian Stable's own release, you can set LMDE to Stable sources. But all this takes more effort, unless you just stay in Latest sources for LMDE.
I hope that helps and didn't muddy things even worse
kbd47

[MALsPa]

I would have been more interested in LMDE if it was based on Stable.

The thing I wonder about SolusOS 2 is how they're gonna set up the workspaces. I actually like GNOME Shell's "dynamic workspaces" and prefer that to having a set number of workspaces. The way Cinnamon does it is kinda nice, too -- I like the Expo thing and all that. But I haven't seen anything showing how all that's gonna be set up in SolusOS 2.

[MALsPa]

And, frankly, if SolusOS 2 is really gonna look and behave just like GNOME 2, I'll probably just pass on it. I'm fine with putting GNOME 2 to rest.

I've still got a Debian Squeeze installation with GNOME 2, and I definitely prefer using GNOME Shell instead. So, unfortunately, it sounds like this distro is not for me, even though I'm really pleased to see something else out there based on Stable.

[GeneC]

MAL

Its very easy to add gnome-shell to SolusOS2

I have been running SolusOS2 since the first Alpha came out. Since many new extensions have come out for the Shell (must be around 100 now). I have added the gnome-shell to SolusOS2 and all the extensions I like. It works for me. I have a desktop with lots of RAM and a good video card. For those who don't, Ikey's new (yet un-named desktop) works beautifully with no graphic acceleration and a very small memory footprint.

[MALsPa]

@ GeneC - Good info, much appreciated!

[bimsebasse]

MAL

Its very easy to add gnome-shell to SolusOS2

I have been running SolusOS2 since the first Alpha came out. Since many new extensions have come out for the Shell (must be around 100 now). I have added the gnome-shell to SolusOS2 and all the extensions I like. It works for me. I have a desktop with lots of RAM and a good video card. For those who don't, Ikey's new (yet un-named desktop) works beautifully with no graphic acceleration and a very small memory footprint.

Is he making a shell? The panel in the newest screenshots looks a little bit like Cinnamon with the Ambiance theme, or, well, the old Ubuntu Gnome 2 panel

[MALsPa]

Is he making a shell?

I figured that when it comes down to it, it's another shell for GNOME 3. As with Cinnamon.

[GeneC]

Is he making a shell? The panel in the newest screenshots looks a little bit like Cinnamon with the Ambiance theme, or, well, the old Ubuntu Gnome 2 panel

No. So far Ikey's gnome 3.4 desktop (the official SolusOS desktop) is based on the old 'gnome-fallback-mode', but with many additions. Its easy to add most all the old familiar gnome 2.3 panel style apps, and configuration is easy with the "SolusOS Desktop Tool". Composting in this mode is handled by metacity. It looks, feels, and acts much as the old gnome 2.3, but is based on gnome 3.4. It will be maintained by SolusOS should gnome decide to no longer support the gnome-fallback mode.
I guess some would say why not use MATE? Well, this new desktop is based on Gnome 3.4 not the old no longer supported gnome 2.3, and any updates/benifits added to gnome 3.4, 3.xx will be available there as well. It has a much smaller footprint and doesn't have the issues with compiz that Mate seems (or seemed?) to have had. I am not really familiar with the current Mate, perhaps those issues had been addressed. I know I did have issues with it a few months back. Very high (50% cpu usage).


I took it upon myself to add the gnome-shell, because its my preferred DE. Its the standard gnome-shell that I added from the Debian repos. This is not officially supported by SolusOS (yet,... don't know if it will be later?).

[bimsebasse]

Cheers, Gene's "Ikey's new (yet un-named desktop)" is a dangerous thing to say in these times with new desktops (as opposed to modified desktops) spawning left, right and center

Hope alpha 5 is out soon!

[MALsPa]

Thanks, Ikey!

[exploder]

I am very interested in seeing the SolusOS 2 release. I have been watching the development and it is looking very good. I like the idea behind the whole project. A stable base with application updates is very appealing. The tools used in SolusOS are looking very professional from the screenshots I have seen.

SolusOS is quickly climbing the DistroWatch ranks and I have read some very positive reviews. I listened to ikey on mintcast a couple of weeks or so ago and really liked what he had to say about the features SolusOS 2 would have. I have seen what ikey can do and I can see SolusOS 2 being a very popular release.

I recognized some of the names of the people working with ikey and I think he has a very good team to work with. I am really looking forward to seeing the final release of SolusOS 2.

[exploder]

WOW, that is really looking nice! I have not been around for a while because the inter-occular implant in my eye dislodged a few months ago. I only have the one eye and the healing process for the surgery I had is pretty lengthy. Hopefully, I will have my sight back to normal in another month or so.

I am getting by enlarging the text in Firefox for now. I still have 4 stitches in my eye and of course I will have to have to have new glasses or a contact lens when my eye has completely healed.

I have been trying to keep up on the development of SolusOS 2. I am really looking forward to seeing the improvements in the installer when the release goes final. Everything I have seen so far looks very consistent and professional. I like your approach to dealing with Gnome 3 and I think the end result will be very well received. I have seen your work and I am confident that SolusOS 2 will be a very high quality release. You have addressed many of the things that people have wanted for a long time in a Debian based release.

Thanks for posting the screen shots! If there is anything I can do to help you out let me know. You can e-mail me from the Mint forum. Keep up the excellent work, it is really looking great!

[Monsta]

We use gnome-panel, metacity, nautilus, gnome-settings-daemon, etc.
I've patched gnome-panel for traditional interaction (no need for alt+click, combined context menu,
proper dragging/management). Nautilus has a patch so you can create launchers again. gnome-settings-daemon
is patched to use notify-osd, we use notify-osd by default so that we can have Compiz. The ugly
gnome notification-daemon looks out of place on a classic desktop too. gnome-control-center, totem, nautils
and gnome-panel are patched so that they use the system icon theme and not the symbolic icon theme.

Thank you for all this work, these modifications look quite promising

[bimsebasse]

Man, going out of one's way to prevent symbolic panel icons ... Lots of chunky colourful icons in the panel is the quickest way to lose refinement and style to some people and apparently a blessing to others

[Monsta]

Man, going out of one's way to prevent symbolic panel icons ... Lots of chunky colourful icons in the panel is the quickest way to lose refinement and style to some people and apparently a blessing to others

The only way to please them all is to make this an option one can turn on or off... well, if that is technically possible, of course

[zerozero]

Let's keep the SolusOs2 news here in this topic (it's easier to follow )
and also remember the words in the opening post

(For Support)...Best to reply on the SolusOS forums.
General comments welcome on this thread .

[GeneC]

SolusOS Alpha 5 released
Jun 27, 2012

The SolusOS team is pleased to announce the release of SolusOS 2 Alpha 5. This release utilises the Gnome Classic Desktop Environment 3.4 (not fallback), which is heavily tweaked to behave and look the same as Gnome 2. Please note that this is a development release and is not intended for use on production machines.
What’s new?
This time we’ve gone all out to give you the best looking Gnome desktop we can, and it’s increasingly difficult to tell the difference between our Gnome Classic and Gnome 2. We’ve gone to great lengths to improve the overall look and feel of the desktop whilst enhancing usability at the same time.
Included Software
LibreOffice 3.5.4-2
Linux 3.3.6-solusos (BFS/preempt)
Firefox & Thunderbird 13.0.1
Adobe Flash 11.2.202.235
VLC 2.0.1
gnome-panel 1:3.4.2.1-5solusos1
nautilus 1:3.4.2-1.2
solusdesktop 3.4.3.2.1
That’s just a brief overview, in no way can we cover everything included. However, please note that non-free codecs are used in SolusOS to provide an out-of-the-box multimedia experience. We’ve also included firmware for some common wlan chipsets.
.

http://solusos.com/blog/2012/06/solusos ... -released/