VectorLinux, a lightweight distribution of GNU/Linux was just released. The new version is called SOHO 1.0, and while it is based on the previous version, VectorLinux v2.5, it still has many enhancements. Features the KDE 3.x desktop including Koffice and the KDE development suite. OpenOffice, AbiWord, the Gimp, Realplayer, Xmms, Mozilla-1.0, Opera 6.x, Cups printing system, scanner support, java runtime, kernel 2.4.18 and several entertaining games are all included. The founder, Robert Lange, is looking for more developers to join him, a new web master and people to try the free download of SOHO or to buy the CD in order to fund the project.
VectorLinux 2.5 SOHO-1.0 Released
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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It appears that Vectorlinux now includes KDE3 and Openoffice. KDE 3 and Openoffice are really not lightweight. I am using Vectorlinux 1.5, with Icewm as it’s windowmanager, Abiword en SIAG Office. In my opinion it would have been better if the Vectorlinux team did not include such heavyweight things as KDE 3 and Openoffice.
I guess lightweight here only means less redundancy in softwares, rather than lowering hardware requirements (except for the HD space). It is probably helpful to new Linux users if they don’t have to choose from 6 email clients, 7 IMs, 5 ftp programs, etc. 🙂
Red Hat has 5, SuSE has 7
They build and test all of that code for every release.
Can anyone comment on their experiences using Vector Linux? Since most of my linux experience have been with Redhat or Mandrake, I’m looking to try another distro.
Slackware 8.0 Suse 8.0 .. coming up in September Mandrake 9.0
Surf to http://www.linuxiso.org.
i am pro-linux guy and choose to use it as my primary OS, but do we really need another distro… new users to linux probably get a little fruastrated with 50 flavors of the OS… can anyone conmment on this strategy?
I also have a problem in dealing with so much diversity in distros and apps.
What I think atenuates this problem is that, while Unix tends to fork due to economic/strategic corporative interests, in Linux, OTOH, I perceive a cycle of innovation and posterior convergence (pessimists will attribute this to companies folding, while optimists will regard this as developers being smart).
I’d suggest you say cool about it and compare this to magazines: some are mainstream and remain for long; others are zines or alternative… they come and go, but the truly good ones become mainstream.
Every one of them has its niche.
For the record the SOHO edition is a branch of VectorLinux and not a brand new distro. This was built on top of the last release v2.5 and is intended as a value added package to the base system.Lots of new people to linux try Vector play with it for awhile but don’t have the knowledge or time to be hunting down software that makes their system really useful and productive.So we thought we would solve that problem for them and install some of the best productivity software available test satisfy dependencies etc. Make sure everything just works. Then once installed everything is ready to go, no dependency hell long downloads or compiling. Also Vector itself is not new has been around a good three years now and has over 300,000 downloads that we are aware of.
I like a little diversity, especially in the small distros since the guys/or girls tend to work hard at them, and I can always get the latest and greatest from them. Personally I’ve tried peanut linux more often than vector (once, when they where at 1.xomething, peanut tried it when it first went to 9.3. Although I switched to suse7.3 when a friend gave me some burned copies of it.
Oh, where else than a small distro can you actually go to the forum and get support from the distro compiler. (linuxkid from peanut linux is the main guy there always helpful, never actually visited the vector forum but linuxkid and vector each link to each other and I believe there’s some kind of mutual thing going on a while back).
I use it! started with 1.8 and am now using 2.5. I think its a great distro, little bit of a learning curve but nothing to difficult. Actually have learned more about linux using this distro which comes in handy at times. Runs great on old p-233 with 64 megs off ram. Will buy the new version a.s.a.p.
Also like the fact that people are very helpfull on the forums, even the developer.
Paul
But in those screenshots the fonts are just butt ugly…
Judging from the screenshots I’m 100% sure it runs just awesome on old hardware!
After a refreshingly simple install process through a text based installer, the OS booted cleanly and smoothly on an old compaq P2-350 with 256mb. Not really modern stuff but not el-sucko 486 either. The desktop is neat and shows someone is thinking hard about setting up a linux desktop with a minimum of BS.
Did you buy Windows like the rest of us? Just import your fonts to SOHO. Works for me and solved the endless frozen screen syndrome right in the middle of my most important documents.