After reading this review I got so many hopes to get rid of OpenOffice. After installing Symphony, I used it for 10 minutes and uninstalled it: it's a memory hog, slow on loading (duh, build on Eclipse framework), installed takes more space than OO. IMHO, it's way behind OO (which unfortunately it's still far behind MS Office). :(
Good to hear about this. I heard on the outskirt that lotus was still being developed but didn't know anything about it - might actually be a feasible alternative to Open-Office.
Pclinux used to be one of my favorite distros texstar the man behind it works hard along with the community but apparently theirs not enough help! while i have no problem with kde 3X i do have a silent sigh of disappointment to see the the linux kernel is only version 2.6.26! thats the oldest ive seen in any recently released distro! it hurts me inside! if you have a shiny new pc you might just be screwed! the latest kernel is 2.6.30! and i find drivers for shiny new pcs ive run only in 2.6.28+ ! still give it a try and i hope texstar getw more funding and support! this is a nice distro! great review as well! i like the new look of this release! but am slightingly disappointed to see such an old kernel!
Startex, I don't believe Ubuntu is really that good of a distro for beginners. There is simply too much CLI and file hacking to do if the system scripts don't get your hardware right. Distros like Mandriva, PCLinuxOS, and OpenSuse are far better for beginners because of YaST and the Mandriva (PCLinuxOS) Control Center. Now, Ubuntu users may claim that it's good that beginners learn to do that sort of stuff, and I'll bite on that because I learned back in the days of Red Hat 5.2. However, that's talking out of both sides of one's mouth when they claim that the installation process for PCLinuxOS (Mandriva) is too complicated for a beginner. I think that users should learn good partitioning and what a bootloader is and where to put it. I'm not a big fan of the Ubuntu install. It just takes over too much to the point that it does stuff I don't want it to, and I didn't even get a chance to change it.
But, Linux distros are a personal choice thing. I can completely disagree with you on something such as this, but we can both be right. I just see it differently. Linux is about choice and freedom, and we're blessed to have it that way.
PCLinuxOS is a decent "enthusiast" distro, but the full version is a bit bloated and dated. But where PCLinuxOS really shines is their "minime" version, which is the basic version without the added bloat. Personally, I don't see why anyone would use anything other than MiniMe when using PCLinuxOS.
The pros - the stability of the system...very few crashes if installed correctly. That in itself is a huge plus.
The cons - Claiming PCLOS is for beginners is misleading. One of the biggest drawbacks to any Linux based distro is the installation process, and with PCLOS, this is where they fall behind entry level Linux systems such as Ubuntu. The reality is, the "DrakeInstall" isn't for beginners. There are a few steps in the process that can throw a first timer off, causing a faulty install, whereas Ubuntu has an install that is so easy that anyone can do it. And the whole thing with the root vs, sudo....while I can see why some distros use root and user accounts, using such a system during the boot process isn't for the first timers, whereas using sudo is. Thats why Ubuntu uses it.
I personally love PCLinux OS, I just downloaded the new 2009.2 version and I think if I had a good computer to install it on, that would be my distro of choice.
PCLinuxOS just doesn't want users to start coming in and demanding it be more like Ubuntu, or whatever. The 10 post requirement allows new users some time to adjust to the fact that PCLinuxOS is different, and has a different agenda and method than other distros. PCLinuxOS has a specific goal and it achieves it very well.
Us users love the fact that they don't hide the root login or force sudo down your throat. It's long been thought of as a distro easy enough for the very beginner, yet doesn't hold your hand in the way that Mandriva does. It tries to strike a balance. This ideology isn't for everyone, and neither is the ideology that other distros use.
Those that are regular users love the forum. The mods demand that political discussion is kept away and users respect the other users and stay polite. That's it. If you can't do that, then you don't need to be in there.
As far as packages go, you can make the package request once you get the 10 posts, which isn't hard to get, and I've rarely had one denied for me.
Remember that Linux isn't a one size fits all. There are different sizes and styles for everyone. Choose what works best for you.
"They say to post software requests only to a particular thread and then don't allow access unless you are a forum member with 10 posts - at least that is my interpretation based upon a quick look.
Kinda weird, cause some (me) will not be getting serious enough about PCLOS to post on their forum until they have the software. "
I think is easy to see the reason behind that rule, isn't it?
A good review.
For those of us who are not programmers (final users as some tech guys say) and depend on the system 6 days a week 10 hours each day without facing problem in almost three years now, heck at times even helping the windows coworkers using a live cd... PCLinuxOS is a blessing.
The problem Linux has had with all these apps is they fail miserably when one tries to connect an ipod and then sync podcasts.
The "freedom lovers" that hate apple and microsoft might not mind doing all the work to get podcasts on a ipod with some sort of normalized look, but for the majority of pc users we are not ready to re-invent the wheel nor do we have time to manually set up podcast downloading and syncing on the buggy products available on linux. Itunes is a resource hog and it has its drawbacks, but it works every time.
For many this is a deal breaker. Maybe this is off on a tangent, but it seems to me that linux in its current form still has some stability and ease of use issues the "average" user will not be willing to relearn.
I used PCLinuxOS for two years. It is a very good distro. Ultimately I moved to Ubuntu because I could get a few more obscure apps through the myriad of repositories and PPA's that people have made for ubuntu.
The rolling release of PCLinuxOS is something that I miss in ubuntu, and in fact, would miss in nearly every other distro. Almost all of them require a complete reinstallation or a risky "upgrade" which usually leaves something borked. I have experienced fubar'd software upgrading ubuntu and Mint from one release to the next.
Yeah, I agree that the PCLinuxOS forum can seem a little draconian at times as the previous poster intimated.
KDE 4 is not as good as the last revisions of KDE 3.5 by any means. I even installed the very latest Pardus which everyone says has the BEST KDE4 to date. It made me miss 3.5 so I applaud PCLinuxOS and Mepis for keeping the old KDE until the KDE folks get KDE 4 up to speed.
As for the Mandriva vs PClinuxOS arguments as they manifest in many different ways - I dare you to install both and use them for a month and see if you then think that PCLinuxOS is just a rip-off. I have done so and I can say that PCLOS is simply better, more polished, less buggy, has a far better package management system, is more streamlined. It is like Mint to ubuntu if you can relate to the analogy, but probably even more of a stark improvement.
Anyway, it is one of the best distros along with: Mint, Pardus, ubuntu (Super OS, PC/OS, Mint, ultimate) and Mepis.
PCLOS is software that works well. They don't seem to abandon old things that work unless the replacement works just as well.
Evidence is KDE 3, ext3, and the drive identification scheme (hda for a PATA drive). (PCLOS will install no-hassle on a PC that has a PATA boot drive and SATA data drive, and will find itself and all the drives - recently I have had trouble with a variety of Linux distros).
PCLOS is not my personal favorite but is the favorite of others who I personally know value stability highly - I mean really value it.
I find the repository does not include some software that I use, and the moderators seriously caution against installing software any way other than from the repository. If I understand correctly, PCLOS does not want to hear opinions (about what software should be added to the repository) other than the opinion of the people who have regularly posted on their forum. They say to post software requests only to a particular thread and then don't allow access unless you are a forum member with 10 posts - at least that is my interpretation based upon a quick look.
Kinda weird, cause some (me) will not be getting serious enough about PCLOS to post on their forum until they have the software.
IMO, based upon recent comparisons with other distros, for most people who value a stable user-friendly system that uses proven software, PCLOS would meet their expectations.
LiarLiar, are you sure? I believe the GCC and necessary libraries are still Mandriva SRPMs packaged by the Ripper Gang. Everything else, of course, is completely the work of the Gang. When Tex and the Gang did the 2007 rebase, the base itself, including GCC and libraries, was from Mandy, I believe. A lot of the original 2007 release was from Mandy source, as well. Since then, everything has been upgraded using packages built from source. However, since GCC was frozen, it remains the only Mandy sourced packages other than some of the Mandy based tools, which are modified and packaged from source. As a matter of fact, PCLinuxOS 2007 was binary compatible with Mandriva 2007, when it was first released.
PCLinuxOS, like Ubuntu, relies on a "mother" distro, Mandy in PCLinuxOS's case, and Debian in Ubuntu's case. However, what differentiates the two is that Ubuntu continually relies on Debian's work. PCLinuxOS only bases itself from the onset on Mandy, but treads its own path thereafter, often fixing many of the bugs present in Mandriva, and the final product is almost a shell of the Mandriva it started from.
Not only that but PCLinuxOS doesn't seem to suffer from the same chinky bugs that are always present in every Mandriva release. I wish Tex would rebase against Fedora and leave the jealous Mandriva fans to their own buggy distro.
I did say 'somewhat behind.' I should have added, as an example, that PCLOS still does not support the ext4 file system. This is a show-stopper for me although there are plenty of good reasons for people new to Linux to choose PCLOS over other distros - including Ubuntu.
Let me set the record straight by saying, it is and it isn't new release. PCLinuxOS is a rolling release. That means GCC and related libraries get frozen in time. The only thing not new in the latest release of PCLinuxOS is GCC and the related libraries. The kernel is new, and so are all the packages. With the exception of KDE, which PCLinuxOS took the stance of wait and see because they thought the KDE 4 release was a disaster and not worthy of a production desktop, everything else about PCLinuxOS is relatively new. The kernel, too, is just a hair behind because, apparently, they'll have to upgrade GCC to get the latest and that means a complete rebase. However, no other single package is behind any other distro. As a matter of fact, they use a pre-release version of Inkscape .47, which is newer than any other distro provides.
If you're new to the rolling release concept, it simply freezes GCC and everything is compiled against that GCC release. Therefore, the other poster is right, you can just take your 2007 install and upgrade all the packages and you'll have basically the same thing. I say basically because there are sometimes slight changes on the ISO that aren't reflected in the repositories. This is a great thing to the users of such distros (and there are others such as Arch Linux) because you don't have to wipe and reinstall with every new release. Most distros upgrade GCC with every release, making new packages incompatible with old releases. Therefore, it obsoletes your install. Not so with PCLinuxOS. One install from when 2007 was released in 3/2007 and regular upgrades via Synaptic result in 2009.2. No reinstalling required. Every now and then GCC needs upgrading and PCLinuxOS will upgrade it and rebase the distro, requiring a complete wipe and reinstall. That doesn't happen too often and you won't notice any difference.
KDE 3.5.10 is by choice and the community was behind that choice. Like many who either left KDE or decided to also stick with KDE 3.5.x series, PCLinuxOS simply felt that KDE 4 wasn't ready so they weren't going to move forward with it until it was. That mark has been met with KDE 4.3 and it's coming very soon, followed by another quarterly ISO release with it as the default desktop.
I find PCLOS 2008.2 reasonably fast, easy to configure and tastefully designed. Alas, it is somewhat behind the times and pales in comparison with such distros as Ubuntu, OpenSUSE and Mandriva in terms of innovation and functionality.
It is the same for me. I am an end user that as been so disappointed y Vista that I switched all my PC to Mandriva 2009.1 (some of them are the commercial version Powerpack, because such a good distro must survive).
Wow... thanks for the cool resources. The games look like a lot of fun! I'll definitely have to check them all out!
You should also try SSuite Office for a free office suite. They have a whole range of office suites that are free for download.
Their software also don't need to run on Java or .NET, like so many open source office suites, so it makes their software very small and efficient.
You can try these links:
http://www.ssuitesoft.com/index.htm
or
http://ssuite5element.webs.com/thefifthelement.htm
I think that layout wise it is a bit better than OpenOffice, but yes it is a bit slower (seems better and better with each version tough).
After reading this review I got so many hopes to get rid of OpenOffice. After installing Symphony, I used it for 10 minutes and uninstalled it: it's a memory hog, slow on loading (duh, build on Eclipse framework), installed takes more space than OO. IMHO, it's way behind OO (which unfortunately it's still far behind MS Office). :(
Good to hear about this. I heard on the outskirt that lotus was still being developed but didn't know anything about it - might actually be a feasible alternative to Open-Office.
Pclinux used to be one of my favorite distros texstar the man behind it works hard along with the community but apparently theirs not enough help! while i have no problem with kde 3X i do have a silent sigh of disappointment to see the the linux kernel is only version 2.6.26! thats the oldest ive seen in any recently released distro! it hurts me inside! if you have a shiny new pc you might just be screwed! the latest kernel is 2.6.30! and i find drivers for shiny new pcs ive run only in 2.6.28+ ! still give it a try and i hope texstar getw more funding and support! this is a nice distro! great review as well! i like the new look of this release! but am slightingly disappointed to see such an old kernel!
Startex, I don't believe Ubuntu is really that good of a distro for beginners. There is simply too much CLI and file hacking to do if the system scripts don't get your hardware right. Distros like Mandriva, PCLinuxOS, and OpenSuse are far better for beginners because of YaST and the Mandriva (PCLinuxOS) Control Center. Now, Ubuntu users may claim that it's good that beginners learn to do that sort of stuff, and I'll bite on that because I learned back in the days of Red Hat 5.2. However, that's talking out of both sides of one's mouth when they claim that the installation process for PCLinuxOS (Mandriva) is too complicated for a beginner. I think that users should learn good partitioning and what a bootloader is and where to put it. I'm not a big fan of the Ubuntu install. It just takes over too much to the point that it does stuff I don't want it to, and I didn't even get a chance to change it.
But, Linux distros are a personal choice thing. I can completely disagree with you on something such as this, but we can both be right. I just see it differently. Linux is about choice and freedom, and we're blessed to have it that way.
Thx a lot. It has solved my problem.
PCLinuxOS is a decent "enthusiast" distro, but the full version is a bit bloated and dated. But where PCLinuxOS really shines is their "minime" version, which is the basic version without the added bloat. Personally, I don't see why anyone would use anything other than MiniMe when using PCLinuxOS.
The pros - the stability of the system...very few crashes if installed correctly. That in itself is a huge plus.
The cons - Claiming PCLOS is for beginners is misleading. One of the biggest drawbacks to any Linux based distro is the installation process, and with PCLOS, this is where they fall behind entry level Linux systems such as Ubuntu. The reality is, the "DrakeInstall" isn't for beginners. There are a few steps in the process that can throw a first timer off, causing a faulty install, whereas Ubuntu has an install that is so easy that anyone can do it. And the whole thing with the root vs, sudo....while I can see why some distros use root and user accounts, using such a system during the boot process isn't for the first timers, whereas using sudo is. Thats why Ubuntu uses it.
PCLinuxOS was around for a few years earlier than 2007.
I personally love PCLinux OS, I just downloaded the new 2009.2 version and I think if I had a good computer to install it on, that would be my distro of choice.
PCLinuxOS just doesn't want users to start coming in and demanding it be more like Ubuntu, or whatever. The 10 post requirement allows new users some time to adjust to the fact that PCLinuxOS is different, and has a different agenda and method than other distros. PCLinuxOS has a specific goal and it achieves it very well.
Us users love the fact that they don't hide the root login or force sudo down your throat. It's long been thought of as a distro easy enough for the very beginner, yet doesn't hold your hand in the way that Mandriva does. It tries to strike a balance. This ideology isn't for everyone, and neither is the ideology that other distros use.
Those that are regular users love the forum. The mods demand that political discussion is kept away and users respect the other users and stay polite. That's it. If you can't do that, then you don't need to be in there.
As far as packages go, you can make the package request once you get the 10 posts, which isn't hard to get, and I've rarely had one denied for me.
Remember that Linux isn't a one size fits all. There are different sizes and styles for everyone. Choose what works best for you.
"They say to post software requests only to a particular thread and then don't allow access unless you are a forum member with 10 posts - at least that is my interpretation based upon a quick look.
Kinda weird, cause some (me) will not be getting serious enough about PCLOS to post on their forum until they have the software. "
I think is easy to see the reason behind that rule, isn't it?
A good review.
For those of us who are not programmers (final users as some tech guys say) and depend on the system 6 days a week 10 hours each day without facing problem in almost three years now, heck at times even helping the windows coworkers using a live cd... PCLinuxOS is a blessing.
The problem Linux has had with all these apps is they fail miserably when one tries to connect an ipod and then sync podcasts.
The "freedom lovers" that hate apple and microsoft might not mind doing all the work to get podcasts on a ipod with some sort of normalized look, but for the majority of pc users we are not ready to re-invent the wheel nor do we have time to manually set up podcast downloading and syncing on the buggy products available on linux. Itunes is a resource hog and it has its drawbacks, but it works every time.
For many this is a deal breaker. Maybe this is off on a tangent, but it seems to me that linux in its current form still has some stability and ease of use issues the "average" user will not be willing to relearn.
I used PCLinuxOS for two years. It is a very good distro. Ultimately I moved to Ubuntu because I could get a few more obscure apps through the myriad of repositories and PPA's that people have made for ubuntu.
The rolling release of PCLinuxOS is something that I miss in ubuntu, and in fact, would miss in nearly every other distro. Almost all of them require a complete reinstallation or a risky "upgrade" which usually leaves something borked. I have experienced fubar'd software upgrading ubuntu and Mint from one release to the next.
Yeah, I agree that the PCLinuxOS forum can seem a little draconian at times as the previous poster intimated.
KDE 4 is not as good as the last revisions of KDE 3.5 by any means. I even installed the very latest Pardus which everyone says has the BEST KDE4 to date. It made me miss 3.5 so I applaud PCLinuxOS and Mepis for keeping the old KDE until the KDE folks get KDE 4 up to speed.
As for the Mandriva vs PClinuxOS arguments as they manifest in many different ways - I dare you to install both and use them for a month and see if you then think that PCLinuxOS is just a rip-off. I have done so and I can say that PCLOS is simply better, more polished, less buggy, has a far better package management system, is more streamlined. It is like Mint to ubuntu if you can relate to the analogy, but probably even more of a stark improvement.
Anyway, it is one of the best distros along with: Mint, Pardus, ubuntu (Super OS, PC/OS, Mint, ultimate) and Mepis.
PCLOS is software that works well. They don't seem to abandon old things that work unless the replacement works just as well.
Evidence is KDE 3, ext3, and the drive identification scheme (hda for a PATA drive). (PCLOS will install no-hassle on a PC that has a PATA boot drive and SATA data drive, and will find itself and all the drives - recently I have had trouble with a variety of Linux distros).
PCLOS is not my personal favorite but is the favorite of others who I personally know value stability highly - I mean really value it.
I find the repository does not include some software that I use, and the moderators seriously caution against installing software any way other than from the repository. If I understand correctly, PCLOS does not want to hear opinions (about what software should be added to the repository) other than the opinion of the people who have regularly posted on their forum. They say to post software requests only to a particular thread and then don't allow access unless you are a forum member with 10 posts - at least that is my interpretation based upon a quick look.
Kinda weird, cause some (me) will not be getting serious enough about PCLOS to post on their forum until they have the software.
IMO, based upon recent comparisons with other distros, for most people who value a stable user-friendly system that uses proven software, PCLOS would meet their expectations.
LiarLiar, are you sure? I believe the GCC and necessary libraries are still Mandriva SRPMs packaged by the Ripper Gang. Everything else, of course, is completely the work of the Gang. When Tex and the Gang did the 2007 rebase, the base itself, including GCC and libraries, was from Mandy, I believe. A lot of the original 2007 release was from Mandy source, as well. Since then, everything has been upgraded using packages built from source. However, since GCC was frozen, it remains the only Mandy sourced packages other than some of the Mandy based tools, which are modified and packaged from source. As a matter of fact, PCLinuxOS 2007 was binary compatible with Mandriva 2007, when it was first released.
PCLinuxOS, like Ubuntu, relies on a "mother" distro, Mandy in PCLinuxOS's case, and Debian in Ubuntu's case. However, what differentiates the two is that Ubuntu continually relies on Debian's work. PCLinuxOS only bases itself from the onset on Mandy, but treads its own path thereafter, often fixing many of the bugs present in Mandriva, and the final product is almost a shell of the Mandriva it started from.
Not only that but PCLinuxOS doesn't seem to suffer from the same chinky bugs that are always present in every Mandriva release. I wish Tex would rebase against Fedora and leave the jealous Mandriva fans to their own buggy distro.
@ Comment #1. PCLinuxOS does not contain a single original Mandriva rpm so calling it Mandriva 2007 with updated apps is just a lie.
I did say 'somewhat behind.' I should have added, as an example, that PCLOS still does not support the ext4 file system. This is a show-stopper for me although there are plenty of good reasons for people new to Linux to choose PCLOS over other distros - including Ubuntu.
Let me set the record straight by saying, it is and it isn't new release. PCLinuxOS is a rolling release. That means GCC and related libraries get frozen in time. The only thing not new in the latest release of PCLinuxOS is GCC and the related libraries. The kernel is new, and so are all the packages. With the exception of KDE, which PCLinuxOS took the stance of wait and see because they thought the KDE 4 release was a disaster and not worthy of a production desktop, everything else about PCLinuxOS is relatively new. The kernel, too, is just a hair behind because, apparently, they'll have to upgrade GCC to get the latest and that means a complete rebase. However, no other single package is behind any other distro. As a matter of fact, they use a pre-release version of Inkscape .47, which is newer than any other distro provides.
If you're new to the rolling release concept, it simply freezes GCC and everything is compiled against that GCC release. Therefore, the other poster is right, you can just take your 2007 install and upgrade all the packages and you'll have basically the same thing. I say basically because there are sometimes slight changes on the ISO that aren't reflected in the repositories. This is a great thing to the users of such distros (and there are others such as Arch Linux) because you don't have to wipe and reinstall with every new release. Most distros upgrade GCC with every release, making new packages incompatible with old releases. Therefore, it obsoletes your install. Not so with PCLinuxOS. One install from when 2007 was released in 3/2007 and regular upgrades via Synaptic result in 2009.2. No reinstalling required. Every now and then GCC needs upgrading and PCLinuxOS will upgrade it and rebase the distro, requiring a complete wipe and reinstall. That doesn't happen too often and you won't notice any difference.
KDE 3.5.10 is by choice and the community was behind that choice. Like many who either left KDE or decided to also stick with KDE 3.5.x series, PCLinuxOS simply felt that KDE 4 wasn't ready so they weren't going to move forward with it until it was. That mark has been met with KDE 4.3 and it's coming very soon, followed by another quarterly ISO release with it as the default desktop.
I find PCLOS 2008.2 reasonably fast, easy to configure and tastefully designed. Alas, it is somewhat behind the times and pales in comparison with such distros as Ubuntu, OpenSUSE and Mandriva in terms of innovation and functionality.
FYI: PCLinuxOS 2009.1/2 is just a point release of 2007 (Mandriva2007-based) and is SIMPLY AN 2007 + UPDATES ISO. IT IS NOT A NEW RELEASE!!!
It is the same for me. I am an end user that as been so disappointed y Vista that I switched all my PC to Mandriva 2009.1 (some of them are the commercial version Powerpack, because such a good distro must survive).
Great experience, not tweak to do
Been using RocketDock for quite a while now. Great app.