IceMint

[verbertus]

I've been trying out Cassandra for several weeks now and, like many, I'm impressed!

Has anyone ever thought of creating a version of Linux Mint based on Icewm, instead of Gnome?
I've been following the developments of the Enlightment and Xfce versions with much interest, but from what I understood, Icewm is even lighter on computer resources, promising an even swifter OS, both on new and older hardware. From what I've seen the lack of eye candy, that used to be an Icewm problem, has been abundantly solved.

My personal interest is in low power "green" computing, using small, power efficient, fanless systems, but without losing the user friendliness and capabilities of a modern distro.

Would anyone be interested in looking into this, to see if this "IceMint" idea would be possible? I'm just an end user, trying to build such version of Mint would be way above my capabilities

Perhaps the upcoming Xfce version would be a good starting point?
Or maybe Icewm could be just an option inside the Xfce linux Mint?

Or maybe I'm just daydreaming...

[OU812]

Hello. While you are waiting for "icemint", you could download icewm packages using synaptic. Then next time you log in, change the session to icewm. It should work; for a while I was interested in icewm (before I tried mint) and so I read some posts in the ubuntu forums about icewm. There were several users who had installed ubuntu + icewm. So, I think it is possible here.

john

[verbertus]

Thanks John,

Yes, I've seen the icewm packages in synaptic. Problem is I have a history of destroying distros by adding things. I much enjoy the solid Linux Mint as it is now, in its pristine state and am hesitant to start experimenting..

Before Linux Mint I spent some weeks with Ubuntu and bookmarked the very interesting "Anyone else dig IceWM?" forum thread. I tried to apply some of the ideas, but didn't get anywhere. There seem to be two schools of thought, one saying: just add icewm on top of Ubuntu and get done with it, and the other saying: lets start afresh with a minimal -server- Ubuntu and only add what we really want, fast things like Rox or Thunar for example.

You propose to just add IceWM on top of Linux Mint and I understand the advantages, but I feel more attracted by a "pure" icewm approach. The guys who are developing the Enlightenment and Xfce versions of Mint could also have just added those WM's as an extra, but they preferred to start all over, removing some standard Mint stuff and adding things that are more in line with the goals of their version.(lightness, speed for example)

Another advantage would be the distro could shrink in size, like Zenwalk or smaller..Smaller size means easier download and less things to worry about. And it could open a future for e.g. booting from usb-keys, etc.

Just some thoughts from a layman tho..
Thanks again,
Bert

[OU812]

I actually tried starting with the server edition since ubuntu did load on my laptop even after 2 hours of waiting. A couple of things that I find interesting about the server edition are that the iso is about the same size as the ubuntu download and in the absence of x, you get server tools. The trade-off, of course, is that you get a leaner, meaner ubuntu. But perhaps too lean. One day I plugged in my usb stick and it was not recognized. So I tried downloading some usb packages. The problem was that I didn't know which ones were needed and when I was finished, I still could not access the usb stick. After a few more episodes like this (I was also missing the auto updater and some other tools), I started to feel like I was doing a "linux from scratch" thing or perhaps something closer to installing and building an arch system. Therefore, perhaps it is better to start with a fleshed-out system and install icewm on top of that. You'll get a few tools you probably don't need in exchange for some tools that you do indeed need. Also, if you have a habit of breaking your system, you may want to look into partimage.

john