Swift Linux: lightweight, large repository, user-friendly

[wojox]

Love the Magnum P.I. wallpaper.

[CompyTheInsane]

Linux is much safer from viruses and other malware. One reason is the need for special authorization to change the system in Linux, which malware doesn't have. (This is where root comes in.)

Linux has EXCELLENT resistance to viruses, spyware, malware, and crackers.

And does it have resistance to malware that is given root access to be installed?
Nope. Root/authorization prompts alone do not prevent a user from installing viruses or any other type of malware. It's all up to common sense and user education to help prevent this regardless of operating system.

Windows requires you to manually install drivers for just about every piece of hardware.

Not for every piece of hardware with Windows 7. I was able to get sound and graphics working out of the box with Windows 7 on my PC without having to do any slipstreaming.

The Blue Screen of Death (or the equivalent) becomes more and more frequent over time.

In over what amount of time? The longest amount of time I've used Windows without having to reinstall it was two years and have never gotten a BSOD aside from such that resulted from a GPU driver bug triggered by a certain game that I played at the time.

More importantly, say good-bye to opportunities to unwittingly host a spam mail server or to let your credit card numbers and passwords fall into the wrong hands.

And how does Linux prevent that? I would like to know.

[swiftlinuxcreator]

I recently started a new Linux distro called Swift Linux (www.swiftlinux.org).

Background: The pedigree is Debian Testing -> MEPIS Linux -> antiX Linux -> Swift Linux. The purpose of Swift Linux is to be lightweight and user-friendly like Puppy Linux while also offering a superior repository like Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint. Swift Linux is based on antiX Linux and requires just 128 MB of RAM (256 MB recommended) and a Pentium II or newer processor. Like antiX and MEPIS, Swift Linux is fully compatible with the Debian repository.

Although antiX Linux is based on Debian Testing, I have Swift Linux default settings configured to download Debian Stable packages instead of Debian Testing packages. However, I'm now considering having all subsequent versions use Debian Testing packages, as the Swift Linux base is Debian Testing, and I'm not sure that the Debian Stable packages really mean that much improvement in stability. What do you think?

That said, for the versions of Swift Linux that have OpenOffice preinstalled, I intend to stick with OpenOffice 2.4 (from Lenny) because it's lightweight. Version 3 of OpenOffice has double the requirements of version 2. I don't think version 3 would work well with 128 MB of RAM (minimum requirement for Swift Linux), and the extra space it requires would likely make the Swift Linux ISO file too large to fit on a CD.

[TBABill]

I recently started a new Linux distro called Swift Linux (www.swiftlinux.org).

Background: The pedigree is Debian Testing -> MEPIS Linux -> antiX Linux -> Swift Linux.

Although antiX Linux is based on Debian Testing, I have Swift Linux default settings configured to download Debian Stable packages instead of Debian Testing packages. However, I'm now considering having all subsequent versions use Debian Testing packages, as the Swift Linux base is Debian Testing, and I'm not sure that the Debian Stable packages really mean that much improvement in stability. What do you think?

I don't understand. You have based your distro off another distro based on another distro that bases itself on Debian Testing. Yet you point the repos in your distro to Debian Stable? And thinking of having all subsequent versions use Testing?

I'd suggest first picking your poison. Now that Squeeze is the stable version of Debian, if you based your distro on anything "pre-release" (meaning while Squeeze was still 'Testing'), then you are already based on Stable and your distro is based on stable so long as you leave the sources.list alone. But once you open those repos up to testing you will pull in what is, for now, Wheezy. So you change your distro to something rolling from something stable.

But if you setup your base from Debian Testing AFTER the release of Squeeze, then you are already based on Wheezy. Tying it to the stable repos is pointless at that point because nothing will update. Wheezy has many newer files (hundreds already) than stable that would never change unless you reverted users back to testing.

My suggestion is to go with your base. If you are basing off of testing, then stick with it unless you have the resources to manage it once your base changes in one direction and you go another. If Antix>Mepis>Debian are using testing, your safest bet is also testing. And Stable is certainly more stable than testing, as you'd find in a search of the forums today after last night's "broken package" update from testing. It'll clear up, but at that point your users would be looking for answers and expecting someone to find them. But since you said AntiX is based on testing you'd have to find a different route/path to Debian than the one you are on if you want real stability consistently.

Testing is great, but stable truly is more....stable. No question about it. It's thoroughly tested and cleared of bugs heavier than any other Debian version.

[K.Mandla]

I'd suggest first picking your poison. ...

+1. It's very very rare for me to have a problem with testing. But if you want something that's stable ... well, there's your answer.