[sf-lug] alternatives to ubuntu?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Michael Shiloh (michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com):

> thanks to the advice on this list, i've switched to xubuntu, and am
> quite happy. i've downloaded but not yet tested linux mint.

Glad you're happy with that.  I ran Xubuntu for years on my very old
iBook with a 700 MHz PowerPC CPU and 256 MB RAM, and found it more than
good enough performance even on such trailing-edge hardware.

> i'll actually be acquiring a new laptop in a couple of days (flung
> my trusty t60 off the counter at jameco...) so that might be a
> perfect time to try linux mint.

I mentioned the LWN.net article about the several GNOME options to be
offered in the impending Linux Mint 12 release, that are expected to be
particularly appealing to Ubuntu users disaffected by Unity and/or
standard GNOME 3 with GNOME Shell.  That article is now available to
non-subscribers:

https://lwn.net/Articles/465538/

There's a public Release Candidate ('RC') of Linux Mint 12 'Lisa' out
(http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1858), which means the production release
should emerge Real Soon Now.


However, I keep telling people:  For heaven's sake, the Linux world is a
lot bigger than GNOME, KDE, and *ubuntu.  If Xubuntu suits you, great!
However, there's a lot more that _also_ would merit trying out.

One such suggestion (and it's not even exactly daring, at that):  Bodhi
Linux, which is an unofficial Ubuntu variant based on the Enlightenment
desktop environment.

Back around 2000, when I was working with Enlightenment's two principal
coders at VA Linux Systems, Enlightenment was more than a little bloated
(and graphics-heavy), and seemed to have ongoing stability problems.  No
more.  In a refreshing change, Enlightenment now qualifies as a
lightweight environment, I hear, and the code has matured nicely.

http://www.bodhilinux.com/
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=bodhi