SAM Linux talk

[RAV TUX]

Development Release: SAM Linux Desktop 2006-2 Preview (http://distrowatch.com/3587) http://distrowatch.com/images/icon-large/sam.png (http://distrowatch.com/sam) Nico Reuter announced the second development release of SAM (http://distrowatch.com/sam) Linux Desktop: "This release means the biggest step in the history of SAM: going away from Mandriva to the new base of SAM: PCLinuxOS. I did this for various reasons, like compatibility of LiveCD tools, more stability, better community support and some more small reasons. SAM contains more than 1100 packages of finest Linux software on only one installable LiveCD... You can export your home directory to an USB key for your private documents and settings. Feel free to download your German or English copy of SAM Linux Desktop 2006-2preview!" Check the release announcement (http://sam.hipsurfer.com/news.php?readmore=4) and the package list (http://sam.hipsurfer.com/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=3&thread_id=48) for more details. Download (http://sam.hipsurfer.com/downloads.php): SAM-2006-2-preview-english.iso (ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/sam/SAM-2006-2-preview-english.iso) (690MB, MD5 (ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/sam/md5sums.txt)). Note: As Ladislav Bodnar is on holiday (http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20060710#archives), updates to distribution-specific pages are temporarily pending.
I am downloading SAM now and I was wondering if anybody here has tried SAM, They seem to have a minor issue with the english language install.

This seems to have an easy fix:
http://www.sam-linux.org/

The new issue is based on PCLinux and includes the Synaptic Package Manager:

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/6414/16ot9.jpg
Terminal + LiveCD Tools

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/7523/15fx9.jpg
XFce Desktop

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/1870/17fk6.jpg
Adesklets+Gdesklets+USB Key Setup+XMMS

[kinematic]

If it's just PCLinuxOS with XFCE then i suspect it will be as fast and stable as PCLinuxOS(that's my other distro).

[ahaslam]

Downloading now, hoping to try it soon: http://sam.hipsurfer.com/news.php

Looks & sound impressive ;)

[RAV TUX]

Downloading now, hoping to try it soon: http://sam.hipsurfer.com/news.php

Looks & sound impressive ;)advanced search is your friend....merging threads now

[ahaslam]

advanced search is your friend....merging threads now

Maybe I should have been more specific, I was referring to the 2007 test release - quite different :rolleyes:

Tony ;)

PS. Just tried it. Unfortunately it's one of the many distro's that grabbed my attention only to fail getting passed my bios. In this case I usually manage to get half of them booted with a little trickery, but no luck here :(

[RAV TUX]

Maybe I should have been more specific, I was referring to the 2007 test release - quite different :rolleyes:

Tony ;)

PS. Just tried it. Unfortunately it's one of the many distro's that grabbed my attention only to fail getting passed my bios. In this case I usually manage to get half of them booted with a little trickery, but no luck here :(never had luck with it either:(

[kerry_s]

I just finished playing with the recent test( http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=03988#0 ) It was okay, but still a little shacky. The one thing i did do was grab that spiffy login music for my Xubuntu install. :D

[kerry_s]

Oh, i forgot i also grabbed that drop down terminal "Tilda", it's in are repos, i just press a key(F1) and it drops down from the top. I think that terminal should be standard in the *ubuntu's it would be alot easier to tell new people just press this key for the terminal. Sam does have some really good features, although i would much rather stay with Xubuntu and just grab the good feature for my Xubuntu install.

[RAV TUX]

so does anybody like SAM?

[.aku]

so does anybody like SAM?
Rav, in fact it is quite good.

//aku

[igknighted]

I have never been a big Xfce fan, or PCLOS fan... but I love this distro (see sig)! In fact I am helping Nico start some documentation for it. I think that it is the most complete Xfce desktop for users who want to go right out of the box. Config tools (especially for wbar and adesklets) are a little lacking at times (as with any lightweight DE/WM), but overall it is solid. Give it a shot!

[ThinkBuntu]

I have never been a big Xfce fan, or PCLOS fan... but I love this distro (see sig)! In fact I am helping Nico start some documentation for it. I think that it is the most complete Xfce desktop for users who want to go right out of the box. Config tools (especially for wbar and adesklets) are a little lacking at times (as with any lightweight DE/WM), but overall it is solid. Give it a shot!
What makes it more complete (or, solid) than, say, Zenwalk? I always thought that was the class of the little-running-mouse distros...

[.aku]

What makes it more complete (or, solid) than, say, Zenwalk? I always thought that was the class of the little-running-mouse distros...

This is not putting ZW down, as I use ZW myself as my main distro..

But for new users, SAM is more complete and ready out-of-the-box.
It has Flash 9, Zenwalk doesn't.
I think it has Java, ZW doesn't.
Wine, RealPlayer, stuff that most users want.
Even Beryl. Zenwalk doesn't.
It has a nice base from PCLinuxOS 07, quite up-to-date packages in the repo.
The configuration tool(s) (also from PCLOS) is easier for the noob than Zenpanel.

Myself, I can copy 'libflashplayer.so' in /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
also a little "sh NVIDIA-1.0-9631-blahblahblah.run -s" is not that hard, after installing the kernel sources, that is.
I prefer ZW over Sam, but for the new user, Sam is more complete, easier and ready to use.
For me, Zenwalk provides a super steady, slack-based, sleek and fast distro with the stuff I want and need.

Is SAM more solid ? Umm, can't say anything on that, as I haven't run Sam for more than a day, but more complete (OOTB) I would say..
But then again, this doesn't mean that ZW would be missing anything, in fact it is just perfect as it is now.
I don't want Beryl, as it is a resource hog.
I don't want Wine, or Java..

But probably the newbies and people who don't want to do anything to a distro to make it 'work', SAM is more complete.

//aku

[igknighted]

What makes it more complete (or, solid) than, say, Zenwalk? I always thought that was the class of the little-running-mouse distros...

.aku covered some good points...

I dislike Slack's package system, and Zenwalk suffers because of this. There isn't much selection, and the Zenwalk repo's are so annoying to use. SAM uses apt/synaptic with RPM so package management is far better. Plus, me being a big fan of docks, there is a fantastic dock included with SAM called wbar that I haven't found anywhere else. It set up my wireless without hassle, and included a very smart set of apps (including GRUB which slack doesn't use). Zenwalk probably has it on speed by a little, but SAM looks much better ootb (not a reason to choose a distro, but still a plus).

For master tweakers, you probably want to stick with Zenwalk. But SAM is a distro that just plain works, and works well.

[ThinkBuntu]

But Zenwalk's prettier :^)

But in all seriousness, I've yet to find a distro with the stability of Zenwalk. I gave up on it because, while I got wireless up no problem, the included Wifi Radar was horrible and completely jammed up once I started to get signals. In any other environment, I'd be using Zenwalk, but I rely on open wireless networks for internet when I'm away from the office, so troubleshooting, etc. become painfully tough when I can't hop onto my local coffehouse's network...

And I won't go in there with two laptops (MacBook and ThinkPad). That would be slightly shady.

[igknighted]

But Zenwalk's prettier :^)

But in all seriousness, I've yet to find a distro with the stability of Zenwalk. I gave up on it because, while I got wireless up no problem, the included Wifi Radar was horrible and completely jammed up once I started to get signals. In any other environment, I'd be using Zenwalk, but I rely on open wireless networks for internet when I'm away from the office, so troubleshooting, etc. become painfully tough when I can't hop onto my local coffehouse's network...

And I won't go in there with two laptops (MacBook and ThinkPad). That would be slightly shady.

:) nothing is more stable than slack, even Debian.

[psycosmyth]

Just gave it an install for a few days, very nice. I tested it a while back and had bugs. It is very stable now and Beryl is as solid as it can be. I like what he has done even though I don't like Wbar or green. I did like that he kept GTK intact rather than use KDE stuff everywhere. I liked Exaile so much that I am using it with Xubuntu, should be included btw. I got tired of waiting for PCLOS final and with the numerous complications Tex has been hit with I thought I'd give it a break. As far as RPM's go this is the best MandrakeChild I have used! Debian just feels right for me though, so the MAnd's will be my second OS's.


Finally! 200:D

[kazuya]

pclinuxos2007 is a second to my Ubuntu feisty install. Sabayon is also great. Sam, I like as well. I have an older PC which seems to have issues with booting up, Ubuntu or Sam, etc in livecd mode.

Zenwalk is the only distro that works on this system. By Zenwalk, I mean Zenwalk 4.0 not Zenwalk 4.4. They all seem to struggle with my CDROM device. May need to flash my Bios on that system.

Zenwalk works on most systems than most other distros except when it comes to wireless. I like Sam's XFCE implementation, but if I go xfce for speed , configurability and beauty, I would always take Zenwalk over the competition.

It works more fluidly than any other. Sam is nice to work with though, but Zenwalk is just more adaptable to more PCs inspite of age than Sam.

Having said all this for a newbie or total beginner to Linux I would recommend Sam over Zenwalk. For a basic user who has ever installed a linux system, and craves performance and ease of adminstration, plus to learn linux at an easy pace, Zenwalk is one of the best choices.