Fast KDE distro?

[finferflu]

Hi all,
When my HD went down, my only way to make any use of my laptop was Knoppix LiveCD, a KDE based distro. Now, I've been impressed about how much more pleasant and fast was my experience with it than with Kubuntu , which happens to be too slow for my taste (and yes, I've also tried installing only kde-core on Ubuntu). The only problem is that Knoppix is not for installation, I had it installed like 1 year ago, but it didn't work as good as the LiveCD version.

Now, I just wanted to try out some nice, fast KDE distro, possibly something comparable to Ubuntu as for user friendliness, just for times when I get bored of Xfce. Actually I would prefer a debian based one, since I already know how to use it, but I don't mind even trying something new.

So in short *FAST* is my priority here (and KDE is the second priority). If I want something that does everything I've got Ubuntu, I love it, and I think I'll never leave it. Sometimes I just want to do things fast, though...

Thanks for your time :)

[DigitalDuality]

I've found opensuse 10.2 is a lot faster than Kubuntu. The speed in which applications open is amazingly fast.

But you gain one type of speed, and lose another. Yast sucks, and rpms suck IMO. But i've stuck with Suse. I haven't broken Suse like i did more times than i could count with ubuntu.

Ubuntu though has some amazing features, their repo's are awesome, and synaptic/debs are very pleasing. (Though, you can use synaptic in suse too).

It's a give and take.

[Raffo]

Debian :)

[x1a4]

Hi,

Try Mepis (http://www.mepis.org/). You can run it as a LiveCD and install with one click.

[DoeRayMe]

I've found opensuse 10.2 is a lot faster than Kubuntu. The speed in which applications open is amazingly fast.

But you gain one type of speed, and lose another. Yast sucks, and rpms suck IMO. But i've stuck with Suse. I haven't broken Suse like i did more times than i could count with ubuntu.

Ubuntu though has some amazing features, their repo's are awesome, and synaptic/debs are very pleasing. (Though, you can use synaptic in suse too).

It's a give and take.

can you upgrade Suse like ubuntu, via something like apt-get? like 10.1 to 10.2?

[FyreBrand]

Sabayon - If you want fast I would try Sabayon. Both it's 32bit and 64bit versions work great. Then again you have to learn portage and that's a factor to consider.

OpenSUSE - Also OpenSUSE seems fairly fast, but I hate rpm package management.

In the end I remain with Kubuntu because I like the development direction it's heading. It's stable and while not very fast on the boot, for me at least, it run smoothly and it's stable. I've never tried Debian proper because I like current software and Debian seems to take a while before they implement anything.

[Kobalt]

I'd say Debian + the KDE-Core package.

[Bloodfen Razormaw]

Debian.

I've never tried Debian proper because I like current software and Debian seems to take a while before they implement anything.
The majority of software in Debian unstable is typically more up-to-date than that in the Ubuntu repositories (its behind a bit now since its frozen for Etch's release, and experimental packages are queued to go in after).

[Adam_GUI]

Hi,

Try Mepis (http://www.mepis.org/). You can run it as a LiveCD and install with one click.

I second this.

[454redhawk]

I second this.


Third

[mips]

Sabayon - If you want fast I would try Sabayon. Both it's 32bit and 64bit versions work great. Then again you have to learn portage and that's a factor to consider.


+1

Portage is not that hard, just different. Once you are use to it it seems as simple as apt-get :) Sabayon is fast. Wait a little while for v3.3

I'm busy doing a freebsd install and using ports. 10 minutes ago I was bewildered with ports, now I'm going wild building from source. (Yeah, I know you can use binaries but I had to try ports)

My point, the package managers are different but not really any harder than each other.

[TheMono]

So Mepis, despite being based on Ubuntu, is faster than Ubuntu? I'm not being sarcastic, that is a serious question.

[JAwuku]

I would recommend PCLinuxOS 2007, currently in beta:

http://www.pclinuxos.com

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=pclinuxos

It's very responsive, and although uses RPMs, it has the apt-get system the same as Ubuntu.

Many wireless cards (especially Ralink) are auto-detected.

some reviews:

http://www.openaddict.com/review_of_pclinuxos_2007_beta2.html

http://www.seopher.com/articles/a_picture_heavy_review_of_pclinuxos_2007_beta2

http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/12764

[mips]

I tried the Ubuntu based mepis a while back, it di not seem faster to me but it was a better implementation of kde. They do kde better than ubuntu does it.

[JAwuku]

I tried the Ubuntu based mepis a while back, it di not seem faster to me but it was a better implementation of kde. They do kde better than ubuntu does it.

Although Mepis has nice eye-candy (re. Beryl, XGL etc.), remember it is based on Ububtu Dapper, so some of the packages are slightly out of date.

From the Distrowatch site (http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mepis)

for example, OpenOffice is only at 2.02

[awakatanka]

From the KDE based distro i tested i found PClinuxOS the fastest, But pcbsd and desktopbsd where faster but they are not based on linux.

Tried also saboyan but it had strange bugs for me. Booting till KDM was very very slow, sometimes booting from KDM to KDE was slow but sometimes it was faster, wasn't the only person with that problem.

Mepis has the best KDE and the new 6.5 is very good and easy with beryl if you have nvidia. Beryl is working on the livecd on 6.5

Suse looks slick but had dependecie problems a lot.

Using mepis 6.5 for everyday work and testing distro's if i have time.

[finferflu]

That's all very intresting... I'm downloading PcLinuxOS, even though it doesn't look nice from the screenshots... but I can fix that, especially with KDE.
I was also attracted by Sabayon Linux, but I was not really sure... If PcLinuxOS will not satisfy me I think I'll give a try to Mepis and then Sabayon...

Pure Debian is not a bad idea also, but I guess there's a lot of configuration to do, and I have no time for that now... and I also have a usb dongle, which I would like to see working in my new distro as soon as possible :P

[Albi]

Arch Linux is very fast....it runs KDE better than Xubuntu, but it's just harder to use/install (be prepared to edit a few config files by hand before everything is working)

[finferflu]

I know the fame of Arch Linux, it's considered like an elitè distro, and I don't feel quite ready for that.. I actually would like to try Gentoo sometimes in the future...

[maniacmusician]

I know the fame of Arch Linux, it's considered like an elitè distro, and I don't feel quite ready for that.. I actually would like to try Gentoo sometimes in the future...
If you're giong to try Gentoo, you might as well go with Sabayon. It is basically Gentoo with more polish and a focus on new, cutting edge technologies.

[finferflu]

Maybe I can use it as a starter for Gentoo... I'm afraid it's too difficult for me right now, though...

[FyreBrand]

Maybe I can use it as a starter for Gentoo... I'm afraid it's too difficult for me right now, though...
Sabayon is incredibly easy to install. It's not like a normal Gentoo install you don't start from stage x tarballs. It's a live DVD (or CD if you get the small iso) and has an auto installer. It will even setup Beryl for you. It comes with KDE, Gnome, E17, XFCE, and Fluxbox installed along with about every major application. I found it to be incredibly fast and fairly stable. Firefox and flash both worked great with a 64-bit install.

If I had any criticisms they would be:
1. If you want to change the theme you need to be familiar with KDE theming. They change a couple color settings that are fairly deep down in the KDE settings and it can be difficult for someone unfamiliar with KDE to find.

2. It comes with everything even the kitchen sink. In some instances there were redundant applications which seems kind of silly to me.

3. Their graphical application installer is pretty much rubbish. It's just a front end for portage and not a really good one. I guess they are developing a new one.

4. Portage at it's simplest is easy to use, but for some advanced service installs it's tricky. I realized just how much Ubuntu and apt has spoiled me.

5. Some services such as Apache, MySQL and PHP are installed but not configred properly into a regular stack. The configuration isn't trivial and due to my inexperience in portage it didn't go well. Also if you mess around with installing with portage and start to break things stability starts to degrade quickly. Overall I've found Kubuntu to be very developer friendly. It's so easy to setup a development environment in Kubuntu and still have a really stable system.

Still if I was going to spend time with another distribution this would be it. The speed difference was remarkable enough for me to notice without benchmarks.

[fuscia]

i've only tried the live cd of sidux, but i thought it was great (very quick). it's a version of debian sid, as i understand, so you have apt and all that stuff. i tried sabayon for a while. it was faster, but that just meant i had to wait around even longer for my new stuff to install.

[Rodneyck]

I used Kubuntu for a long time, but finally went looking elsewhere for a faster distro. I agree, Kubuntu has some bottlenecks in speed under Edgy. The problem was I wanted to stay in the Debian family.

Then came Sidux, Debian Sid made stable. It is super fast and their forum is a delight with a very helpful user base. I highly recommend checking it out.


http://www.sidux.com

[finferflu]

Sabayon is incredibly easy to install. It's not like a normal Gentoo install you don't start from stage x tarballs. It's a live DVD (or CD if you get the small iso) and has an auto installer. It will even setup Beryl for you. It comes with KDE, Gnome, E17, XFCE, and Fluxbox installed along with about every major application. I found it to be incredibly fast and fairly stable. Firefox and flash both worked great with a 64-bit install.

If I had any criticisms they would be:
1. If you want to change the theme you need to be familiar with KDE theming. They change a couple color settings that are fairly deep down in the KDE settings and it can be difficult for someone unfamiliar with KDE to find.

2. It comes with everything even the kitchen sink. In some instances there were redundant applications which seems kind of silly to me.

3. Their graphical application installer is pretty much rubbish. It's just a front end for portage and not a really good one. I guess they are developing a new one.

4. Portage at it's simplest is easy to use, but for some advanced service installs it's tricky. I realized just how much Ubuntu and apt has spoiled me.

5. Some services such as Apache, MySQL and PHP are installed but not configred properly into a regular stack. The configuration isn't trivial and due to my inexperience in portage it didn't go well. Also if you mess around with installing with portage and start to break things stability starts to degrade quickly. Overall I've found Kubuntu to be very developer friendly. It's so easy to setup a development environment in Kubuntu and still have a really stable system.

Still if I was going to spend time with another distribution this would be it. The speed difference was remarkable enough for me to notice without benchmarks.

Thanks a lot, your review was very useful for me! It gave me a clearer idea, and especially the info I wanted to know before trying it out :)

i've only tried the live cd of sidux, but i thought it was great (very quick). it's a version of debian sid, as i understand, so you have apt and all that stuff. i tried sabayon for a while. it was faster, but that just meant i had to wait around even longer for my new stuff to install.

I used Kubuntu for a long time, but finally went looking elsewhere for a faster distro. I agree, Kubuntu has some bottlenecks in speed under Edgy. The problem was I wanted to stay in the Debian family.

Then came Sidux, Debian Sid made stable. It is super fast and their forum is a delight with a very helpful user base. I highly recommend checking it out.


http://www.sidux.com

Thank you, I'll give a look at sidux as well, it sounds promising :)

[mips]

PC-BSD is also very fast although not a linux distro.

[finferflu]

I might consider *BSD stuff after I get some more experience with Linux... from what I know it's not as much supported as Linux is, in terms of hardware recognition, and maybe user-friendliness... I don't know too much about it anyway...

[bailout]

I have thought about trying another kde distro but there are aspects of the whole ubuntu project I don't really want to move away from. The problem with a lot of the other distros is that they tend to be small amateur efforts and hence may not survive if one or two main contributors leave, I had a look at kanotix's site the other day and it sounds as if this has happened. I don't really want to be relearning new distros all the time. I like the stability that Mark's money has brought to ubuntu's future and their focus on a usable desktop distro but don't like the focus on gnome.

I know people have claimed faster kde performance from kde-core etc but again this involves a level of fiddleing that I am trying to avoid. Has anyone really worked out why kubuntu is slower than other kde distros? I think it would be better if those users who had problems with kubuntu tried putting pressure on the devs to correct it rather than go to other distros if possible.

[finferflu]

Actually I've always heard that Ubuntu is not fastness-oriented, rather it's user friendly. I don't know why and how fastness and user friendliness don't really match, but I've understood that I can't expect such a feature here in Ubuntu. As for me I think fastness should be one of the priorities, especially when one does multitasking. Waiting too much makes you lose concentration, also when it's too slow things tend to crash, so it's another distracting factor.
So I stick with Ubuntu because it's an amazing distro, but if I can't expect fastness sometimes I'll need to switch to something else.

[Tictman]

Yes try Mepis it's great!

[Bloodfen Razormaw]

I know people have claimed faster kde performance from kde-core etc but again this involves a level of fiddleing that I am trying to avoid. Has anyone really worked out why kubuntu is slower than other kde distros? I think it would be better if those users who had problems with kubuntu tried putting pressure on the devs to correct it rather than go to other distros if possible.
Just install kde then. That's the whole KDE suite, without the Kubuntu garbage. kde-core just installs kdebase, kdelibs, and arts (kdebase will bring those dependencies in anyway). kde encompasses kde-core and everything else.

[K.Mandla]

Make yourself a SLAX (http://www.slax.org/) USB stick. Or try Arch with KDEmod (http://www.kdemod.ath.cx/). Everybody seems to love that.

[finferflu]

Hmm, for now I've installed Sidux, and it seems very fast, also I've been able to make my USB dongle work in few steps and no pain... Now the only thing is that Beryl (with AIGLX) is not working... And there's no excuse now, it works with Ubuntu, it *must* work with anything, since the issue is not my ATI card. I've also tried to copy my xorg from Ubuntu to Sidux (I don't think it's a brilliant idea though...), but nothing works... however I'm quite satisfied.

[Rodneyck]

Hmm, for now I've installed Sidux, and it seems very fast, also I've been able to make my USB dongle work in few steps and no pain... Now the only thing is that Beryl (with AIGLX) is not working... And there's no excuse now, it works with Ubuntu, it *must* work with anything, since the issue is not my ATI card. I've also tried to copy my xorg from Ubuntu to Sidux (I don't think it's a brilliant idea though...), but nothing works... however I'm quite satisfied.

Don't use Ubuntu apps, items, repos in Sidux. They are not interchangeable.

As far as Beryl, it is quite easy. If you installed your 3D drivers from the manufacturer's website, such as Nvidia.com, then uninstall those and use the howto in the manual (manual located on the left hand side of www.sidux.com) and look under 3D drivers. There are two methods for installing. I used method B (or the second method for the latest nvidia drivers, other methods are included for different manufacturers.)

Once you have the drivers installed, then find Shame's Beryl Guide in the sidux forum. He walks you through adding the repos, startup and all the other howto stuff.

Good luck and their IRC is very helpful as well as the forum. Posting here is not the best for help.

[finferflu]

I did use the manual (I'm one of those few people who actually RTFM), and as a result I got my X session crashing and direct rendering not working anymore, while it used to work out of the box..

I really don't get it. I haven't mixed up the Ubuntu repositories with Sidux's either.

[Rodneyck]

I did use the manual (I'm one of those few people who actually RTFM), and as a result I got my X session crashing and direct rendering not working anymore, while it used to work out of the box..

I really don't get it. I haven't mixed up the Ubuntu repositories with Sidux's either.

It sounds like something in your xorg.conf might not be correctly configured, like the driver section. You said you used your Ubuntu xorg.conf, correct? Did you backup your default one? If so, and I hope you did, then reinstall that one and use the default drivers to at least get you back into the x server, probably "vesa" if you are using ATI.

Also use the Sidux forums and look under similar ATI situations. I have an nvidia card so I won't be much help to you.

[finferflu]

Yea, it must be there somewhere in /etc/X11 if not, I'll just reinstall the whole thing, it's not an issue since I haven't customised it at all. The forums would have been a bit more helpful I knew German :P
(I've already tried to search there...)

Thanks for your help :)

PS Try to understand my criticism, I really like how Sidux works and its goals, I'm not complaining, it's just constructive criticism from my point of view.

[Rodneyck]

Yea, it must be there somewhere in /etc/X11 if not, I'll just reinstall the whole thing, it's not an issue since I haven't customised it at all. The forums would have been a bit more helpful I knew German :P
(I've already tried to search there...)

Thanks for your help :)

PS Try to understand my criticism, I really like how Sidux works and its goals, I'm not complaining, it's just constructive criticism from my point of view.

I would suggest posting on the Sidux forum and offering criticism there, as it does no good here. Most of the Sidux users and posters know both English and German, so just post your questions on the Sidux forum if you can not find what you are looking for. I do all the time :-) and I have always received a helpful reply. They have a great community/support system.

It's a great distro... have fun.

[RAV TUX]

Hi all,
When my HD went down, my only way to make any use of my laptop was Knoppix LiveCD, a KDE based distro. Now, I've been impressed about how much more pleasant and fast was my experience with it than with Kubuntu , which happens to be too slow for my taste (and yes, I've also tried installing only kde-core on Ubuntu). The only problem is that Knoppix is not for installation, I had it installed like 1 year ago, but it didn't work as good as the LiveCD version.

Now, I just wanted to try out some nice, fast KDE distro, possibly something comparable to Ubuntu as for user friendliness, just for times when I get bored of Xfce. Actually I would prefer a debian based one, since I already know how to use it, but I don't mind even trying something new.

So in short *FAST* is my priority here (and KDE is the second priority). If I want something that does everything I've got Ubuntu, I love it, and I think I'll never leave it. Sometimes I just want to do things fast, though...

Thanks for your time :)

Try Sabayon Linux:
Sabayon Linux x86 3.3 DVD
http://linuxtracker.org/torrents-details.php?id=3744
Info Hash: 9c7c630a6fb6a47529dd9d6a29a601fc02940e46

Sabayon Linux x86-64 3.3 DVD
http://linuxtracker.org/torrents-details.php?id=3743
Info Hash: d163b8c0a9e27267e4f43d0da245e2c3cc9b410fhttp://cafelinux.org/forum/index.php/topic,92.0.html

*also moving to the "other OS" forum*

[igknighted]

http://cafelinux.org/forum/index.php/topic,92.0.html

*also moving to the "other OS" forum*

Sabayon is great, but if quick is what you seek dont get the 3.3 DVD. Look for the 3.2 mini edition or wait a week or two for the 3.3 mini version.

[RAV TUX]

Sabayon is great, but if quick is what you seek dont get the 3.3 DVD. Look for the 3.2 mini edition or wait a week or two for the 3.3 mini version.Good Point mate.

[izanbardprince]

I've found opensuse 10.2 is a lot faster than Kubuntu. The speed in which applications open is amazingly fast.

But you gain one type of speed, and lose another. Yast sucks, and rpms suck IMO. But i've stuck with Suse. I haven't broken Suse like i did more times than i could count with ubuntu.

Ubuntu though has some amazing features, their repo's are awesome, and synaptic/debs are very pleasing. (Though, you can use synaptic in suse too).

It's a give and take.

I'm skittish about using OpenSuse.

That deal with Microsoft notwithstanding, when you start having to tack on all kinds of unofficial repositories to get the programs you want, well, my thinking is, why do that when Ubuntu has 99% of what I want in the official repo?

[finferflu]

Sabayon is great, but if quick is what you seek dont get the 3.3 DVD. Look for the 3.2 mini edition or wait a week or two for the 3.3 mini version.
I'm downloading Sabayon Linux 3.2 mini edition, I hope I will be able to upgrade in a way similar to Ubuntu...

[mips]

I'm downloading Sabayon Linux 3.2 mini edition, I hope I will be able to upgrade in a way similar to Ubuntu...

Can I stop you right now. The 3.3 mini edition will be out very shortly.

Upgrading is not as simple as ubuntu.

[finferflu]

Can I stop you right now. The 3.3 mini edition will be out very shortly.

Upgrading is not as simple as ubuntu.
Ok, I shall stop right now then. Thanks for telling me :)

[Eddie Wilson]

Mepis 6.5 final when it comes out would be the way to go. Thats where I'm headed.
Eddie

[finferflu]

Ok, my experience so far:
since I had already downloaded PcLinuxOS before Sidux, I just wanted to give a look at it.
I've installed it, and the first thing I noticed was that there was no Ubuntu in my Grub List (I got it back when I reinstalled Sidux). Then I tried to get my wireless dongle (WG111) working, and I thought it wouldn't have been that difficult since I've been able to do so on Ubuntu and Sidux. Instead it wasn't: ndiswrapper would recongnize everything, but there was no way to make it start. The graphical interface would detect it and set it up with another preinstalled driver, but again, no way to see the blue light go on the dongle. I spent about one hour messing around, I've been able to see my router, but not to connect with it. Having seen that, I just uninstalled since I don't want to mess too much around a distro that is not my main one - at least not for the internet connection. But the good thing about PcLinuxOs is the look and feel: fonts are extremely polished, I wonder if I can achieve that on Ubuntu, and also Beryl, which worked out of the box, was a lot smoother than what I have on Ubuntu (quite choppy, indeed), I would really like to have my Ubuntu box look and feel the same.
I'm going to try the Arch KDEmod now...

[Frak]

Try PCLinuxOS 2007. Very, Very, VERY fast.

[finferflu]

Try PCLinuxOS 2007. Very, Very, VERY fast.
In my previous post I just described my experience with it, maybe I should have specified the version... fast, yes, but I couldn't get my wireless card working, which I got working on Sidux in less than 5 minutes. And actually Sidux is very very fast as well. So far I stick with Sidux.

I tried to install the KDEmod, but I think Arch Linux is too advanced for me. I found myself in front of a command line, with no internet, no graphical interface, nothing I could consult... so I went back to Sidux...

[Frak]

Sorry, I read the first page with no regard to the pages following.

[mips]

Ok, I shall stop right now then. Thanks for telling me :)

Soon now...

[wxnker]

Mandriva One 2007 KDE. Definately! :)

The orange look may not be appealling but that was soon gone in my case. It runs so great out of the box with MP3, XGL (ONE click), Compiz etc. The menu's are way more organized than in Kubuntu and in general the OS seems more finished.

In Mandriva it's hardly necessary to edit files like xorg. At least I haven't touched it yet. You can even edit GRUB from the control center MCC.
The only downside is that the integrated Compiz isn't new so it does not support kde window decoration untill the next version that will also come with Beryl and Metisse.

I think Mandriva proves that KDE does not have to be a jungle of options. Installation is really simple, the menus are clean and the Mandriva Control Center MCC makes setting things up VERY simple. It also puts all basic settings in ONE spot which is something that Kubuntu still lacks if you ask me.

I absolutely love Kubuntu and I'm watching it's development closely but it seems to me Ubuntu gets more attention and is getting evolved before Kubuntu. Therefore I mainly use Mandriva One (free) until Kubuntu goes further in development. I keep my good ol' Kubuntu as an option via dualboot though :D

[finferflu]

So far my experience with Sidux is so good I find it very difficult to remove it from my HD, which probably will not happen. I'll just stick with it for now, and try everything else as a LiveCD.
My review for Sidux is that it's FAST and efficient. I could configure my wireless card in less than 5 minutes, it took me longer on Ubuntu. I like the idea of having more updated packages, and especially I like *Debian*. I can easily find my way around, and everything seems crystal clear - no broken packages, things not working and so on, since it's not ultra featured. But that's what I wanted: a good base system, user friendly enough for my limited experience. Now I can configure it the way I want. The only thing I miss in Sidux is the Ubuntu-like sudo way of doing things.. it seems like they don't look at it with good eyes...

[fuscia]

when is the next update to sidux (are there releases, or just updates? can you tell i don't really understand these things?)?

sudo is one step. is su always two? (sorry about the rhyme.)

[saneone]

The only thing I miss in Sidux is the Ubuntu-like sudo way of doing things.. it seems like they don't look at it with good eyes...

actually, it's not a problem... you can add "sudo" on your own...

[stokedfish]

PCLinuxOS is a pretty fast KDE distro.

[manmower]

The only thing I miss in Sidux is the Ubuntu-like sudo way of doing things.. it seems like they don't look at it with good eyes...

Setting up sudo is surprisingly easy. I haven't ever used Debian / Ubuntu enough to know the exact commands by heart but you should take the following steps (paraphrased from the Arch Wiki).

download and install the sudo package
add "USER_NAME ALL=(ALL) ALL" to your sudoers file (In Arch Linux it is /etc/sudoers, might be in a subdirectory of /etc on Debian though, not sure). This will allow user "USER_NAME" full root access when typing sudo and entering his/her password.
add "complete -cf sudo" to /home/USER_NAME/.bashrc; this will enable tab completion for executables (-c) and regular files (-f) when using sudo.

[finferflu]

when is the next update to sidux (are there releases, or just updates? can you tell i don't really understand these things?)?

sudo is one step. is su always two? (sorry about the rhyme.)

I actually don't know how releases work, but what I know is that you can always keep up to date by apt-get dist-upgrade through a particular procedure (http://manual.sidux.com/en/sys-admin-apt-en.htm#apt-upgrade). So I guess you're always upgrading your system as much as you like. I did it, and it worked flawlessly.

With su you can actually use the command su -c <command>, but when there are spaces inside the command you're running you need quotes, which is quite frustrating for me. When I use only su, I forget to get back to normal use mode, and I feel that's more dangerous than sudo.
LOL for the rhyme! :D

PCLinuxOS is a pretty fast KDE distro.

I've already tried and reviewed it in some previous post.

actually, it's not a problem... you can add "sudo" on your own...

Setting up sudo is surprisingly easy. I haven't ever used Debian / Ubuntu enough to know the exact commands by heart but you should take the following steps (paraphrased from the Arch Wiki).

download and install the sudo package
add "USER_NAME ALL=(ALL) ALL" to your sudoers file (In Arch Linux it is /etc/sudoers, might be in a subdirectory of /etc on Debian though, not sure). This will allow user "USER_NAME" full root access when typing sudo and entering his/her password.
add "complete -cf sudo" to /home/USER_NAME/.bashrc; this will enable tab completion for executables (-c) and regular files (-f) when using sudo.


What I did is: I created a group "admin", and added my user to it. Then I copied the sudoers file from Ubuntu to Sidux. Quite trivial, but it works so far. Maybe I haven't learnt much, but I want things to work at this stage.

Thanks :)

[Rodneyck]

when is the next update to sidux (are there releases, or just updates? can you tell i don't really understand these things?)?

sudo is one step. is su always two? (sorry about the rhyme.)


The great thing about Sidux is that once you install it, you never have to update/upgrade via a cd or dvd ever again. The easiest way to keep you system updated is by running an amazing script called du-fixes;

http://techpatterns.com/forums/about736.html

It not only performs all necessary upgrades, but does a whole lot more, such as keeps the kernel updated, installs proprietary drivers (nvidia, ati, etc) and apps, system tweaks, cleanups, and much, much more. It is one of the best things in a distro I have come across.

There are two livecds, one lite (kde-base only) the other full with all the kde stuff, so just install and enjoy. It is one of the fastest running systems out there. Warning: It probably isn't the best distro for a newbie that wants things to just work out of the box. You have to be the type of user that either is not afraid to fix or find things or a moderate to advanced user. This is cutting edge stuff here fresh from the mother's tit, no Ubuntu package freezes and updating every 6 months.

[finferflu]

The great thing about Sidux is that once you install it, you never have to update/upgrade via a cd or dvd ever again. The easiest way to keep you system updated is by running an amazing script called du-fixes;

http://techpatterns.com/forums/about736.html

It not only performs all necessary upgrades, but does a whole lot more, such as keeps the kernel updated, installs proprietary drivers (nvidia, ati, etc) and apps, system tweaks, cleanups, and much, much more. It is one of the best things in a distro I have come across.

There are two livecds, one lite (kde-base only) the other full with all the kde stuff, so just install and enjoy. It is one of the fastest running systems out there. Warning: It probably isn't the best distro for a newbie that wants things to just work out of the box. You have to be the type of user that either is not afraid to fix or find things or a moderate to advanced user. This is cutting edge stuff here fresh from the mother's tit, no Ubuntu package freezes and updating every 6 months.
Yay! That bought me! Amazing stuff out there. I wonder why it's not that popular *yet*. I might stick with it for a looooong time :D
And by the way, packaging on Sidux is quick as light, did I mention that already? It takes really little time to install packages. Amazing.

[RAV TUX]

Hi all,
When my HD went down, my only way to make any use of my laptop was Knoppix LiveCD, a KDE based distro. Now, I've been impressed about how much more pleasant and fast was my experience with it than with Kubuntu , which happens to be too slow for my taste (and yes, I've also tried installing only kde-core on Ubuntu). The only problem is that Knoppix is not for installation, I had it installed like 1 year ago, but it didn't work as good as the LiveCD version.

Now, I just wanted to try out some nice, fast KDE distro, possibly something comparable to Ubuntu as for user friendliness, just for times when I get bored of Xfce. Actually I would prefer a debian based one, since I already know how to use it, but I don't mind even trying something new.

So in short *FAST* is my priority here (and KDE is the second priority). If I want something that does everything I've got Ubuntu, I love it, and I think I'll never leave it. Sometimes I just want to do things fast, though...

Thanks for your time :)I suggest you try Yoper. (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=393242)

[Frak]

I still agree that you should take a look at Mandriva 2007 if you haven't already, it is a very nice KDE distro.

[Rodneyck]

I wonder why it's not that popular *yet*..

One, because Sidux is a new distro. I was excited about it when it was in its infancy. The other reason is mostly because it is not a distro for everyone. There are a lot of people that don't want to understand or fuss with their OS, ie it must just work. Sidux attracts a very different crowd, those that want to learn about their system and aren't afraid of things breaking, and I guess that is also part of its charm.

I personally don't want to see users come over and fill up the forums with..."Why can't I install Automatrix on Sidux?" *sigh*

They are working on the look and there is a wallpaper competition underway to change the Sidux default appearance, which has yielded a lot of fine stuff already. Here's one wallpaper and I am working on two more. Then I will submit it into the competition.

Middle of the page *Sidux Wet*... (p/s I think you have to be a member to see it, not sure.)
http://sidux.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-2149-start-30.html

[finferflu]

One, because Sidux is a new distro. I was excited about it when it was in its infancy. The other reason is mostly because it is not a distro for everyone. There are a lot of people that don't want to understand or fuss with their OS, ie it must just work. Sidux attracts a very different crowd, those that want to learn about their system and aren't afraid of things breaking, and I guess that is also part of its charm.

I personally don't want to see users come over and fill up the forums with..."Why can't I install Automatrix on Sidux?" *sigh*

They are working on the look and there is a wallpaper competition underway to change the Sidux default appearance, which has yielded a lot of fine stuff already. Here's one wallpaper and I am working on two more. Then I will submit it into the competition.

Middle of the page *Sidux Wet*... (p/s I think you have to be a member to see it, not sure.)
http://sidux.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-2149-start-30.html
Yeah, but the bad thing is that they seem to hate Ubuntu in particular. I could feel some bias towards me only because I'm an Ubuntu user - around the lines of: "Sidux is not Ubuntu, so stop treating it like Ubuntu", whereas I've never thought for a single second to treat it that way. I don't understand why, on the Ubuntu forums they've shown me how to respect every other distro, but there I can't feel such atmosphere. That's the only bad side of it; they should be more open, or at least not biased, since I've never complained about Sidux not being like Ubuntu.

As for graphics, I actually don't really like its default look, but I don't mind, I can fix that. Especially, I don't like the Sidux logo, it's quite unelegant, I hope they will be open to change it, and I hope to contribute sometimes... I like small projects :)

Ah, very very nice wallpaper, my compliments, you improved the logo a bit, but it's the shape I really don't like.. not your fault I think :)

[igknighted]

They are working on the look and there is a wallpaper competition underway to change the Sidux default appearance, which has yielded a lot of fine stuff already. Here's one wallpaper and I am working on two more. Then I will submit it into the competition.

Middle of the page *Sidux Wet*... (p/s I think you have to be a member to see it, not sure.)
http://sidux.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-2149-start-30.html

NOOOOO!!!! I love the default look and wallpaper on Sidux. It's the only distro I've ever used that I just felt the default theme worked so well that I left it. The wallpaper they use is tremendous. I put some nicer caps on my beryl cube and a red fiery skydome and its awesome.

[Rodneyck]

Yeah, but the bad thing is that they seem to hate Ubuntu in particular.


LOL...well I don't think they hate you, but there is some Ubuntu biased thinking with SOME of the users. Please do not generalize and say all. There are threads on this forum and others regarding Ubuntu's good and bad points, but the main bad point is that it does not give back to the Debian community. Ubuntu pulls from Debian Etch and reworks the packages for its own users/distribution. There is no upward stream, only downward. It's basically a leach.

In comparison, Sidux and their community may find a broken package and the devs may fix it. That contribution is then reaped by all the Debian community at large, including Ubuntu. Sidux and others like it may be viewed as a sort of testing field since they get all the new, cutting-edge releases at any moment. I guess you could say Sidux is a cleaner fish, serving a symbiotic relationship to Debian at large.

Anyway, I don't want to change the topic of this thread as we have already hijacked it enough. Back to fast distros...

Sidux is fast, try it. How's that for getting back on track?

[finferflu]

LOL...well I don't think they hate you, but there is some Ubuntu biased thinking with SOME of the users. Please do not generalize and say all. There are threads on this forum and others regarding Ubuntu's good and bad points, but the main bad point is that it does not give back to the Debian community. Ubuntu pulls from Debian Etch and reworks the packages for its own users/distribution. There is no upward stream, only downward. It's basically a leach.

In comparison, Sidux and their community may find a broken package and the devs may fix it. That contribution is then reaped by all the Debian community at large, including Ubuntu. Sidux and others like it may be viewed as a sort of testing field since they get all the new, cutting-edge releases at any moment. I guess you could say Sidux is a cleaner fish, serving a symbiotic relationship to Debian at large.

Anyway, I don't want to change the topic of this thread as we have already hijacked it enough. Back to fast distros...

Sidux is fast, try it. How's that for getting back on track?
I didn't say all, I was talking about the atmosphere... I'm not so experienced or willing to do Ubuntu apologetics. I like it, it works, I don't want to be treated differently only because I use it - especially when I don't bring it up.

Anyways, so far I don't think we're really gone off topic, I guess that's part of the distro review. I must say that one of the main reasons why I stayed here and kept using Ubuntu is because of the wonderful community support, I was really amazed by the friendliness I found here and I felt home. In the end a distro is not only about software, it's a community thing, so in order to recognize yourself with a distro you need to feel accepted by the community which supports it.
I can understand their "fear" of Ubuntu users joining the project and then complaining about Automatix not being there, and maybe in the future, when the community will become bigger and the distro will receive a clearer identity, there will be less fears of being misunderstood, thus less bias.

And yes, Sidux is very fast, I have no complaints, I can't even say it could go faster, I'm fully satisfied. Let me add that I find their documentation very well organized, pointing at the right issues, I found myself using it on and on, as if they already knew I was gonna face those problems. Such a small project (at least compared to other projects), such a great job. So far I'm very impressed.

[az_s_za]

Sidux may be fast, but how stable is it?
(I'm thinking about giving it a try).

Also, once its installed, is it simple enough to change to Debian Stable, or other Debian repositorites?

[az_s_za]

Also, I have a vote for a fast KDE distro ... Kubuntu Hardy!

I have tried KDE and Kubuntu before and never liked them, but since I found myself using more KDE apps (such as K3b and Amarok),I decided to try Kubuntu Hardy Heron, and my experience is much better than previous versions of Kubuntu.

It has also introduced me to some new apps that I will stick with, for example, the Dolphin File Manager and Firefox 3.0 are both awesome. :)

[Frak]

Sidux may be fast, but how stable is it?
(I'm thinking about giving it a try).

Also, once its installed, is it simple enough to change to Debian Stable, or other Debian repositories?
It's so-so on stable. One day it may be extremely stable, next you have breaking packages. Be aware that the repositories are updated CONSTANTLY. Just because an app is in the repo now, doesn't mean it will be in an hour. Also, make sure you are somewhat sure of what you are doing. Sidux is a hard-hat area.

On the repos, you can go from unstable (sid) to testing (umm... testing...) to even experimental (lenny). Though, to use "stable" applications, you'll need to use a backport repository such as backports.org. For multimedia, you will need to use debian-multimedia.org for their "non-free in terms of legality" codecs.

You can edit the repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list and sidux.list.

Happy riding the bleeding edge :)

[swoll1980]

I'm not a fan of kde but mandriva is still my favorite distro of all time the only thing that keeps me from using it is that it's not debian based and I really can't figure out how to use it for some reason. When I got my new video card I couldn't get it to work I don't know the mandriva equivalent to dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg the mandriva comunity is no where near as helpful as Ubuntu. other than that though everything about it is perfect. the way everything is integrated and the quality of audio and video playback are unsurpassed in the linux world I don't know why it's not more popular than it already is.

[finferflu]

Ah! since this thread has been resurrected, I might as well add an epilogue: I have settled with Arch. Thanks to the people who have encouraged me to try this incredible distro. :)

[AdamWill]

swoll1980: "I don't know the mandriva equivalent to dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg"

drakx11

"the mandriva comunity is no where near as helpful as Ubuntu"

have you visited http://forum.mandriva.com/ ?