The Linux Project part VII Vector Linux, a good little distribution for all.
Vector Linux Logo
As I have progressed with The Linux Project, I have come to discover that some distributions are truly friendlier than others. One of the most friendly in almost every sense of the word is a distribution known as Vector Linux. It is available at their web site, ( http://vectorlinux.com ). If you are a newbie who wants your first foray into the world of Linux to be a good experience, then you need to consider Vector Linux very strongly.
Vector Linux is built upon Slackware. It should surprise no one that has been keeping up with The Linux Project that I consider that a good thing. Since Slackware has become my fast favorite, it tends to follow that anything built upon Slackware is probably going to get some hefty praise from this hefty man! In the case of Vector Linux, the fact that it's built Slackware is a good thing indeed.
What's even better is that in some ways, it stands as a serious improvement on Slackware. There are certain little goodies in Vector Linux that make me wonder why others couldn't figure out some of these things. I'll get into that a little more when I get into the heart of the review. Suffice it to say for now; Vector Linux is good stuff! But let's get the criterion.
On the first criterion, installation, Vector Linux gets four stars. It is one of those distributions that needs a little help getting started. When you boot the CD, you come to a point where you can either type in arguments that get passed to the kernel. At that point, you need to type in the following: "ide=nodma", without the quotes. What this does is shuts down the ultra DMA function of modern IDE drive interfaces. If you do not type in that argument, the install disk may die as soon as it's time to start cramming all the data onto your hard drive. I very nearly threw my Vector Linux install CD away thinking it was corrupted. I also played CD ROM drive roulette thinking the problem was hardware related. While it technically was, replacing the CD ROM drive wasn't the cure.
Once you get past that hurdle, you have to pick options from an ANSI style menu system. It's pretty straight forward, and on par with its Slackware counterpart. Once again, you need to know a little about computers to partition your hard drive, but you can elect to have your drive partitioned automatically. From there, just tell it to install everything. Then sit back and relax. Vector Linux installs fairly quickly when you consider that it's pumping almost 1.6 gigs of data onto your hard drive from just under 700 megs on the install CD. Even on the test system, which is at least five years out of date, it took barely an hour to go from sticking in the CD to the first boot from the hard drive.
Once again, since it is built on Slackware, it comes as no surprise that it receives five stars for the second criterion, basic system operation. Once it boots from your hard drive, it's ready to go! Internet functionality is perfect. It comes with Firefox (a very good thing), as well as some other bundled web browsers. I don't quite get the idea of packaging so many web browsers with one operating system. Maybe it's all about giving you lots of options. Freedom of choice is a good thing, or so we are told. It also comes bundled with lots of other programs. It has the obligatory office suite, as well as graphics, networking, games, and some system tools as well. They all work well.
The thing I really liked about Vector Linux is the configuration tools you get with it. You can configure it to boot directly to the GUI, or you can elect to start out in console, or command prompt mode. At boot time, you are once again afforded a choice as to which way you want to boot. This means that if your GUI dies, you can get it back by going to console mode and fixing the problems.
If you do elect to go for console mode, right after you log in, it spits out a list of the most commonly used console based programs. Among them is yet another configuration utility. It allows you to set basic parameters for each possible boot scenario. By using it, you can fix errors, or change the look and feel by the choices you make. There is also a GUI version of the same configuration program so you can also reconfigure in X Windows as well console.
On the third criterion, device support, once again, Vector Linux gets five stars! Not only did it find the sound card, the net card, and the video card and set them up properly, it also realized I was using a two button wheel mouse, and set it up properly. It checked with me to make sure it was right, which I thought was a great thing! To me, that showed a bit of class on the part of the person whose idea that was. It also worked just fine with both CD ROM drives. It was the first to set them both up properly. I was quite impressed.
When I began to really delve into The Linux Project, I didn't think that I'd find a distribution that would set things up properly the first time. I didn't think I'd find a distribution that would come close to the Microsoft ideal of having everything work right from the first reboot after installation. Vector Linux proved me wrong. I admit I was somewhat surprised, but in a good way.
On the fourth criterion, look and feel, Vector Linux gets another five stars. Now, it's not just that it looks and feels cool, once again; it's about how configurable Vector Linux is. Right before you get to your desktop, you can make a choice about which desktop you want to use. Vector Linux comes out of the box with Xfce4, fluxbox, and the tvwm desktops. Using the provided package installation program (yet another really awesome feature), you can also take the time to download the entirety of the KDE desktop. I elected to do this because I wanted to check to see how difficult it would be to add something like a new desktop setup.
It was a snap! I entered the letters "kde" into the search space provided with the package program, and grabbed all the files necessary to install the KDE desktop in my Vector Linux set up. A mere half an hour, and about a gig more space taken, and I was working in KDE under Vector Linux.
That wasn't nearly as impressive as the fact that KDE was operating at incredible speed under Vector Linux. For some reason, even though it's built upon Slackware, Vector Linux runs everything faster. While I'm willing to bet somewhere down the line, they are sacrificing overall stability for speed, you can hardly tell.
To be sure, there were some glitches with Vector Linux. It had a tendency to get a little unstable at times, but never did it crash to the point that you couldn't get back to operating close to normal. Perhaps the biggest annoyance with Vector Linux was that the streaming audio player kept dying for no apparent reason. I don't know whether it was a problem with the player or something else in the system. I also made it operate a bit on the ker-chunky side by becoming aggressive with some of the configurations. However, when I figured out what I was doing, a little backtracking always brought it back around.
Ubuntu Linux; a distro worthy of your consideration
I suggest you give Ubuntu a try. Here is a link to the Ubuntu web site: http://www.ubuntu.com/
You should download the ISO image and burn it to a CD. The ISO image is something like 695 megs. After you download and burn it, you can then boot from it (the ISO is live) so you can look without committing to it.
I heard about Ubuntu at several Silicon Valley Linux User Group meetings, so when I had a chance to buy a magazine (Linux Format) bundled with 3 CDs. One of them was the boot-able distro disk, and the other two were software that would otherwise be down-loadable from the web, but because the software was already on the CDs, it would be possible to put together a stand alone machine without a network connection.
I bought this machine at a garage sale, and decided to scrap the Windows 98 that was in it, so my install was remarkably easy and fast. The machine came with 128 Megs of RAM, so I added another 512 Megs, for a total of 768 Megs. It also had a 20 gig hard drive.
I completed the install in about 20 minutes, with only a few questions and no pain. I think the most involved questions were about the set-up of the network card, since this machine is on a small office LAN, with 7 or 8 Windows machines and a networked printer behind a firewall. We have a pretty standard DSL (1.5 megs down, 384 K up) with a small number of fixed IPs. The most difficult question for me was which of the many software packages available for Ubuntu to install.
This machine fooled several of my coworkers. When they saw it running, they thought it was XP, except they knew I told them it wasn't XP. They also knew the install was faster and easier then XP.
There are many nice features I like about Ubuntu. One of the features I especially like is Ubuntu's auto updating feature. A symbol appears indicating the updates are available. Clicking on it will bring up a menu of the updates, so you can select which one you want to install. From there on, the update process is fully automatic and painless.
I think Ubuntu is probably the most user friendly distro available, but believe it or not, it's Debian deep inside, however, this is nothing like the Debian install you described.
Enjoy! (Or at least Ubuntu a look....)
LinearBob
by
LinearBob (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 14 comments)
on Monday, April 9, 2007 at 4:42:27 PM
...is going to be reviewed soon enough. It is in the queue, and has spent time on the test machine. As a matter of fact, I have not only worked with Ubuntu, I have also worked with both available versions of Kubuntu (6.06 {stable}, and 6.10 {anything but}).
As a slight preview of those reviews, let me say a few things about Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Firstly, while I freely admit that it is incredibly user friendly, a snap to set up, and requires almost no brain-power in that set up, it is not the way to the cross, so to speak. While it has overcome its decidedly crappy and problematic progenitor (Debian), in taking it there, there have been some decidedly irritating things put into the code.
Perhaps the most irritating of all is the lack of a root user account that's accessible by the root user, ie the guy who sets it up in the first place. While I can understand their idea, and perhaps there is a logic to it that I just don't grasp, the point remains I am a person who wants to be able to place files wherever I want to place them. I want to be able to make various and sundry sub-directories outside of the "home" space provided. The lack of a root user account precludes this. It also puts X-CD-Roast out of contention for making CD's or DVD's. It also cramps my style when it comes to development.
So, I agree that Ubuntu is a good thing, and my review (when it makes it here) will be favorable indeed. However, it's not the best in the west. You will be able to see more when I upload that article. I need to review to see how far down the list it is. I'm sure it will be up here in a few weeks or so.
I still have yet to run across a distribution that gives me everything that I get from good old Slackware. I'm using it right now as a matter of fact.
Thanks for reading the article. I always appreciate getting feedback from my readers.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Monday, April 9, 2007 at 11:34:23 PM
I agree with you about one of the irritating things you mentioned. I ran into the "You're not Root, so you can't do what you want" message when I tried to copy one USB flash key onto another USB flash key, apparently because some of the files in the original flash key were Root level files. Eventually, I found a way to get to the ubuntu Root account and to a real command line, and from there I was able to duplicate the flash key.
I think ubuntu represents a conscious effort to protect newbies from themselves, not unlike the way Windows protects people from themselves. This is not to say that handholding is either right or wrong. But I must say that adding a "Trash" file to the desktop and putting everything you delete into the "Trash" file, so you can retrieve it if you suddenly realize that you have deleted the wrong file, makes a lot of sense, especially for people new to the Linux/Unix world.
Ubuntu starts out with the familiar desktop metaphor complete with many of the same file manipulation features Windows has behind a "right" click, and those features work pretty much the same way they did in Windows. This helps to avoid the "culture shock" of an OS that starts up in command line mode, and of having to enter some arcane mumbo jumbo, just to get past the command line and into a graphical interface. Older DOS users might not be intimidated by a command line like that, but Microsoft has been actively suppressing the use of the command line for some time now. I am sure there are many Windows users who have never used, or even seen, a command line in their lives.
Perhaps ubuntu could be thought of as "Linux with training wheels." Ubuntu helps people familiar with Windows make a relatively painless transition to Linux, while holding their hands and protecting them from themselves. I think as more people become familiar with easy to use versions of Linux like ubuntu, they may migrate to other, more Unix like versions of Linux. If they do decide to migrate, having started with ubuntu, they probably have avoided at least some of the steep learning curve a Windows only user would otherwise encounter. I think that steep learning curve is what deters many people from trying Linux.
by
LinearBob (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 14 comments)
on Friday, April 13, 2007 at 3:51:30 AM
I go over some of the things you mention in that review. I have to say, Ubuntu came the closest to making me reconsider Slackware as a permanent Linux option. I really like Ubuntu for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that it comes "out of the box" ready to do everything. Samba works right off the bat. CUPS works right off the bat. Pretty much everything works and works right, right off the bat.
No other Linux distribution tested can make those claims. In The Linux Project, I have tested at least fifteen different Linux distributions. Of all of them, bar none, Ubuntu was the only one that had everything working right the first time. That's saying a lot. Even Ark had some troubles, and Ark is definitely the preeminent newbie distribution.
As far as Ubuntu being another distribution with training wheels, that is a sad but true assessment. However, since it is built upon Debian, I am sure that there are hacks out there that will eliminate the lack of root user problem.
Truly, of all the distributions I tested, Ubuntu, actually Kubuntu (I live for KDE) is the only one I'd consider to replace Slackware. If only for the fact that every possible Linux program and library gets ported to Debian, and Ubuntu has the Debian package manager, it is the one that I'd opt for in a heartbeat if Slackware was suddenly unavailable. As much as I have become used to compiling programs for Slackware, and have begun posting those finished programs on my business web site (http://www.bear-upstairs-studio.com ), frankly, I'd much prefer the ability to just download pre-compiled programs and install them without all the grief.
But one makes choices in life, and for better or worse, my Linux choice is Slackware. It is incredibly stable, allows me to use console mode with the choice to start X Windows, or exercise my command line typing skills.
Since I cut my computational teeth by typing BASIC programs into my TI-99/4A, I am a command junkie. I also had a computer when Windows 3.1 was falling out of favor, and Windows 3.11 was just being released. Ergo, I am not scared of a command line environment.
Too bad so few can make the same statement nowadays. "If it can't be done with a mouse, it can't be done," is the prevailing notion now. How untrue that is.
Anyway, I am getting way to verbose...gee, that never happens. The Ubuntu review should be posted here in the next day or so. I'm amazed it's not up yet, but with all the bullshit that's happening in the world of politics, I'm sure the editors are swamped with postings. I hope you do like it when it's published.
Blessed be! Pappy
PS, if you have a hack to remove the training wheels from Ubuntu, let me know. I have another computer I have set up to run Linux. I'd like to see if I can make Ubuntu into something I could use without the "no root user" irritation.
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Friday, April 13, 2007 at 12:28:41 PM
