PCLinuxOS

[bigbearomaha]

I am just curious as to how many, and if anyone here has actually played with and used PCLinuxOS to any degree.

Just like I check other distros to see what cool things are going on there and let the folks at PCLOS know about them, maybe there's an idea or two to be borrowed from PCLOS that might be useful implented in Mint.

anyway, just wondering.

Big Bear

[veloct]

I've used 0.91, 0.92, 0.93 and the test 1. It's a nice solid distribution that works real well.

I like the beautification team idea, it's a great way to bring in a lot of good artists into a nice collaboration of effort.

P.S. I can not be converted, been there and done that.

[clem]

Hi,

I reviewed 0.93 junior here: http://www.linuxforums.org/reviews/pcli ... eview.html

My comments about the FOSS aspect could also apply to Linux Mint. Overall I think PCLinuxOS is a really good distribution.

Clem

[mumbo719]

0.93 Big Daddy was the first distro I tried. It did not like my hardware at all. I tried something like 10-12 distros and found a home with Mint.

[kenetics]

The new PCLOS 2007 test looks very polished, has a new logo and a plain blue background with a "wave". One problem is that they stopped updating the .93a repository but don't have a stable version of 2007 out yet.

[Fragadelic]

PCLinuxOS is hit and miss.

I have used 0.93a big daddy and junior and a lot of previous versions. I really like "remasterme" and "mklivecd" so you can make your own after you add the stuff you want on it. I'm currently working on a similar tool for Mint and Ubuntu.

Anyway, PCLinuxOS runs slower on all my hardware and certain apps just don't work well. I always load up gcompris for my kids and sound is messed up in 0.93 with that. Acidrip won't show progress or anything.

All in all I think it is a decent project but it needs more quality control. Had Texstar used debian or ubuntu as a base, I think there would be very few distros that could come close to it.

The worst part is if you aren't a paying member, the download speed of the repos is like dialup.

I tried the test1 of his latest and it wouldn't even boot up.

I am happy with kubuntu and Mint and will be sticking with the Ubuntu base system until further notice - lol.

[Fragadelic]

The new PCLOS 2007 test looks very polished, has a new logo and a plain blue background with a "wave". One problem is that they stopped updating the .93a repository but don't have a stable version of 2007 out yet.

Thats just one of the problems. They have stuff in the .93a repo that is worse than beta stuff.

Take a look at their forum - within hours of the release of the next test versions they just released, there are tons of bug reports similar to test1.

[kenetics]

I never had a problem with the download speed and there are a number of mirrors for 2007 test2. The latest version seems faster and it was entirely rewritten, probably the reason they are behind schedule with lots of bugs to be worked out. I prefer Mint and Gnome, but PCLOS is close behind along with openSUSE (despite YaST).

[Fragadelic]

The biggest problem with doing your own thing like this is the lack of software available.

If folks are just looking for browsing and basic word processing kind of stuff, any distro will work.

IMHO - it is much better to take somethign that has a good app repository and make it better. Just like CLem did with Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is the perfect base for a distro today.

Of course nothing is perfect but Ubuntu and Mint come as close as I've seen in a long time.

[OzTracker]

I've tried 0.92, 0.93 Big Daddy and 0.94 Release 1. They all worked sort of okay but had major problems with wireless on the laptop and screen size on my desktop.

Found Mint and have never looked back since. Just waiting for Bianca stable to come out so I can wipe the windows partition from my desktop.

[bigbearomaha]

those are some interesting responses. I like to think that while all the up and coming distros are making ;loads of improvements on the current bases, It takes real innovation and creativity to make it more than what it was.

This is where I think PCLOS and Mint have gotten a strong foothold.

There is great thinking going on in the dev teams and the communities in both are very closeknit and not just a bunch of rabid distro fanboys. which I like even better, a bunch of bad apples in a forum can make or break a distro.

If Mandriva has much more difficulty, I can see PCLOS moving it's base to something else I don't know if that would be Ubuntu or not, maybe redhat proper seeing as how they seem to prefer an RPM base. but that's not my place to say really, just thinking out loud.

Of course, the community is growing in PCLOS really strong, so it's possible there could get some really strong original stuff for PCLOS in the future that could place it more on it's own feet. I don't know, but it's cool to think of.


This community in Mint and the distro itself, along with PCLOS as I have stated before, really have some of the same strong qualities and direction that are in the best interests of Linux in general I believe.

keep up the good work going on here. I think you guys are doing great stuff.

Big Bear

[carltonh]

If PCLOS 0.93a had worked for me, I might not have tried Mint. However, it, like Knoppix 5.1.1, required me to switch to framebuffer mode, (as I finally found out) just to boot up when Mint, XFLD, and DreamLinux autodetected good display settings.

When I first booted into PCLOS I got a black screen. I tried pressing buttons and such to get it up, but somehow I must have chosen some install function, because when I finally reset the PC due to the black screen. PCLOS had corrupted my MBR. It was sad that I had to say that at least XP could fix the PCLOS damage.

Despite that, I'll still test out 0.94 when done... but I'm not touching their test releases with a ten foot pole.

[pegazuz]

If PCLOS 0.93a had worked for me, I might not have tried Mint.
When I first booted into PCLOS I got a black screen.

I tried it a couple times, it used to run years ago on my older computers but the last versions would not boot up on my laptop even from live CD, Mint and others did. I think there are enough different versions now that one can keep looking till you find something that works well on your machines with no or minimum tweaking. So far for me that is Kubuntu and Mepis, Mint and Suse are two others I might be trying further too.

[antiquexray]

When I 1st read about PClinuxOS on this forum I downloaded the .iso...it wouldn't run. For grins, I bought a CD off Ebay that arrived today. It ran, but it would not do the things Mint does. Over the years I've experimented with many distros, but none have come close to Mint for ease and versatility of use.

[gabhla]

PCLOS is great. Been using it for over year and, like Mint, have had no problems. I'd say PCLOS is about the best KDE distro, while Mint/Ubuntu is the best Gnome distro. I just tend to like Gnome; but, PCLOS is a keeper.

[plipster]

hello everyone..

i would just like to say my thoughts on some of your comments regarding pclos..

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Had Texstar used debian or ubuntu as a base, I think there would be very few distros that could come close to it.

this might be true,but don't you realize it might also be the other way around?..that this is why pclos stands above the rest,because tex doesn't use debian or ubuntu as base?

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The worst part is if you aren't a paying member, the download speed of the repos is like dialup.


texstar,and any of the ripper gang,does not in anyway require people to be a paying member just so you can download at a faster rate..it is merely the donator's choice..pclinuxos has way too many mirrors for download for you to fret about..it's not texstar's fault if your connection's speed is like dial up..

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Thats just one of the problems. They have stuff in the .93a repo that is worse than beta stuff.

Take a look at their forum - within hours of the release of the next test versions they just released, there are tons of bug reports similar to test1.

well,mock all you want,this is your forum anyway,and you might have your own set of rules about distro bashing..as far as i'm concerned,pclos toppled ubuntu at the top spot at distrowatch at some point even with just its first test release of pclos 2007,something no other distro has barely even come close to achieving,even with their final stable releases..

take a look at their forum you say,and within hours of release all the bug reports are everywhere?..well,this just goes to show you how helpful and strong the pclos community is..they report bugs as soon as they see it to help texstar make pclos as nearly perfect a distro as it can be..we feel the need to help texstar in any way we can for all the effort he does in putting up a free distro that can go at it with a linux os backed by a multi-millionaire and other linux enterprises..

texstar would be more than happy to see and hear all the bugs we can report just so he can polish the next release as shiny as he can..

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The biggest problem with doing your own thing like this is the lack of software available.

this is merely a misconception..are we measuring the greatness of a distro with the number of apps available in its repositories now?is that the barometer these days?..pclinuxos's repositories have those apps and those apps only because tex believes they are the best from the bunch and the most stable from that pack..

it so happened that they may just have different principles in adding apps in the repositories (speaking of ubuntu and pclos)..with ubuntu,they add up everything they could find out there..this is not the case with pclinuxos,as tex makes sure that the apps you might be getting from the repositories will not ruin your system..so he carefully evaluates and chooses the apps for the repos..

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IMHO - it is much better to take somethign that has a good app repository and make it better. Just like CLem did with Ubuntu.

now i don't know the reasons why Clem chose to use the ubuntu repo (though it's quite obvious already since mint is basically a fork of ubuntu) but again,having so many apps to choose from is not always good..it sometimes leads to confusion..saying ubuntu has a good app repo is just personal preference..i can easily say that fedora has a good app repo..others can say otherwise,and vice versa..want to hear my personal preference?..well,i think ubuntu has way too many apps in its repo that sometimes it's quite confusing what to get,especially with regards to drivers..i don't have this problem with pclos..

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If Mandriva has much more difficulty, I can see PCLOS moving it's base to something else I don't know if that would be Ubuntu or not, maybe redhat proper seeing as how they seem to prefer an RPM base. but that's not my place to say really, just thinking out loud.

who knows?you may just be right..but just for the other's info,pclos has outgrown mandriva in the sense that it is its own already..pclos 2007 was built from scratch,which is why it won't be upgradable from 0.93a and would require a full reinstall..

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I'd say PCLOS is about the best KDE distro, while Mint/Ubuntu is the best Gnome distro. I just tend to like Gnome; but, PCLOS is a keeper.

i'd say i have to agree here..as i have clearly stated,it's all about personal preferences..most of you here might have fallen in love with mint,along with its gnome desktop that when you see something not so gnome-ish,you tend to brand it a lesser caliber..for me it's like comparing an apple to a cow..there's just no point of comparison because pclos is kde-based and mint is gnome-based..yes,for me pclos is the best kde out there and my vote goes to mint for best gnome,and that's it..pclos can't be said better than mint nor mint be better than pclos since they're coming from different directions..so in my case,i tend to like KDE, but Mint is a keeper..


by the way,i come all the way from the PCLinuxOS forums..i like what i see with mint,especially with bianca,and looking forward to its next releases..i actually have a copy of bianca..i hope mint eventually surpasses ubuntu the way pclinuxos has surpassed mandriva (pclinuxos is originally a fork of mandriva only in its early stages)..

[Fragadelic]

plipster

I'm not bashing PCLinuxOS - I'm stating my opinion and experience with it. I'm not a linux newbie. I've been running linux since 97 and developing since 2002. I have run ALL of the major distros and a great number of smaller ones too.

The biggest complaint you get with most distros is the lack of software in their repos period. Anyone can make a basic distro to browse and do office stuff. They are a dime a dozen. Pretty much any operating system on the planet can do these things - big deal.

For the record - I use 93a junior on my server.

As for my connection speed - I wouldn't exactly call a 6Mbit connection slow - would you?

I use acidrip a lot to convert my dvd's to avi for my server as this is where all my home theatre pc's get their data from and acidrip on PCLinuxOS doesn't work right at all. It works fine on any Ubuntu. There are a lot of other apps like this that work like poor beta quality stuff on their repos - that is a fact.

I applaud them for what they do but be careful who you accuse of what. I've actually helped Texstar out long ago with some custom settings for his livecd so don't go accusing me of not knowing what I'm talking about.

This is your first post so I'm not sure if you're a PCLinuxOS dev or what and it doesn't really matter. If you are, you can take this as constructive criticism and improve it if you like. If not, don't worry about it.

PCLinuxOS is a better Mandriva - that is a fact. Yes they may be doing their own thing now but there is a lot of overlap still.

Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Fedora and Mepis have been besting PCLinuxOS on the distrowatch charts for a very long time. I don't really care about distrowatch stats as all they are are just page hits to ther distrowatch page for that particular distro - it means nothing.

I'm not associated with Mint in any official manner other than the fact that I am one of the original forum members and am the author of the Remastersys script, which BTW, is very similar to the mklivecd and remasterme scripts in PCLinuxOS.

It is fine that you state your opinion just like the rest of us here but don't go bashing me on an individual basis when you have no idea who I am or what my linux credentials are.

[clem]

I don't think Mint is a "better" Ubuntu. And I don't think PCLinuxOS is a "better" Mandriva. Different distributions go different ways and appeal to different people for different reasons.

We have a lot of similarities with PCLinuxOS in the way we forked from a big distribution, in our structure and our vision of what a desktop should be. We certainly have a lot to learn from their success.

In the case of PCLinuxOS (and I find it true with Fedora as well) I noticed the the community was very supportive of the distribution and that they were also very open minded. This is probably one of the best possible achievements for a distribution and I hope the community which forms around Linux Mint can be as nice and passionate as the one of these distributions.

Clem

[Fragadelic]

Clem,

Mint is gaining popularity cause it includes all the stuff that Ubuntu won't. As far as the end user is concerned, Mint is the better final result.

Same goes for PCLinuxOS. My biggest beef with PCLinuxOS was the total abandonment of 93a for 2007 development. My kids love gcompris and the version 93a has is horrible. Sound doesn't work properly at all and for an application that uses sound to teach younger children that can't read...well is kind of counterproductive. There were quite a few others but I'm not going to bother listing everyone of them - I think I made my point.

Anyway, to each his/her own. I'm sticking with Mint but I will check out 2007 when it goes gold.

[clem]

I definitely will check it out as well. I might even review it for linuxforums.com