ALT Linux is an APT-ified, RPM-based distribution developed and maintained by the ALT Linux Team (ALT is recursive for ALT Linux Team). It was originally based on Mandrake (now Mandriva) Linux. There are two main development branches, “ALT Linux 5.0 Ark, a suite designed for making integrated solutions, and ALT Linux 5.0 School, a suite that is targeted at secondary [...]

Fedora 12 is the latest major update to Fedora, the Linux distribution that counts RedHat as a major sponsor. Fedora is Free Software and as a consequence, it is not one of those distros that we expect to “just work” out of the box. So if you are new to Fedora, don’t expect the same user-friendliness that you’ll get with [...]

Ubuntu 9.10, also known as Karmic koala, is the latest version of the popular Linux distribution published by Canonical Ltd. Aside from Ubuntu Netbook Remix, the netbook edition, Canonical also publishes the Live CD edition, and the alternate or text-installer edition. The Live CD edition is the edition that most users are familiar with. Though it offers a simple, six-step [...]

Sabayon is a Gentoo-based, multi-purpose, GNU/Linux distribution. The latest version is Sabayon 5, released October 2, 2009. Two iso images, Sabayon 5 GNOME and Sabayon 5 KDE, are available for download. This post is a review of the GNOME edition. As always, let’s start with the installer…

Hymera is a Debian-based, GNU/Linux operating system. It is a relatively brand new distribution developed and maintained by Hymera Engineering S.r.l., an Information Technology outfit based in Milan, Italy. Hymera Engineering publishes four versions of their Linux distribution – Hymera Open, Hymera Desktop, Hymera Evolution, and Hymera Server. This review is of Hymera Open, the free, desktop-oriented version.

Zenwalk 6.2 is the latest version of Zenwalk, a Slackware-based, desktop-oriented Linux operating system. The last review of Zenwalk on this site was of Zenwalk 6. That was just six months ago. What changed between Zenwalk 6 and Zenwalk 6.2? Where the changes of a cosmetic or bug-fix variety, or where they much more substantial? Let’s find out.

Sabayon is a Gentoo Linux-based, multi-purpose distribution. Previous releases of Sabayon came in one huge DVD iso image with the option to install your favorite desktop. However, the latest release is available in iso images distinguished by desktop environments. For example, we have Sabayon 4.x KDE, Sabayon 4.x Gnome, etc. This review is based on Sabayon 4.2 KDE. A future [...]

Pardus is a Linux, desktop-oriented operating system. The latest release, Pardus 2009, was made available for download a few weeks ago. This review, my first of any version of Pardus, also marks the first listing of Pardus on this site. As with all reviews on this site, I’m coming at this from the view point of a regular computer user, [...]

PCLinuxOS is a Linux distribution based on Mandriva Linux. The most recent update, and the first since the last update in 2007, was released last week. This review will be the very first review of PCLinuxOS on this site.

Zenwalk 6, the latest upgrade to the Slackware-derived Linux desktop distribution, was recently released to the public. As with every major distro release, Zenwalk 6 comes lots of changes, and to make it easier for you to decide whether this distro is worth trying out, we offer this review.

Debian 5 is the latest release of Debian GNU/Linux, one of the original Linux distributions. Known for it’s rock-solid stability, more Linux distros are derived from Debian, either directly or by proxy, than any other Linux distro. If you are new to the world of open source operating systems and are trying to decide whether to try Debian, this review [...]

Foresight is a Linux distribution built around the Conary package management system. The Foresight dev team maintains separate DVD install images for Gnome- and XFCE-based desktops for 32- and 64-bit architectures. There is also a CD install image, the Lite edition, a Kids edition, and a Mobile edition for netbooks and ultra mobile PCs. For this post, we review the [...]

Mandriva Linux Powerpack 2009 was first reviewed here on November 4, 2008. As with all the reviews we conduct, we based that review on a default configuration; what you get when you follow all the defualt options of the Mandriva installer.

Mandriva Linux Powerpack is one of three editions of the Linux desktop published by Mandriva, the French Linux software publisher. The others are Mandriva Linux One and Mandriva Linux Free, both of which are free to download and use. Mandriva Linux Powerpack is the commercial edition, and costs 49 EUR, or 62 USD. In this tutorial, we take a somewhat [...]

Some Linux distro developers maintain one iso image per architecture that may be used to install a desktop or server system. Some others have a separate iso image for a desktop installation, and a different iso image for a server installation. The Zenwalk team belongs to the latter group.