[sf-lug] PCLinux OS release

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Bobbie Sellers (bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com):

> From Linux Planet:
>   Gnome 3.8 returns choice of Classic Desktop to the user.
> <http://www.linuxplanet.com/news/gnome-3.8-debuts-new-open-source-linux-desktop.html>

GNOME Classic (what is being referred to as 'Classic Desktop', there) is
not the same as Fallback Mode, which as I said was eliminated as of
GNOME 3.8.  GNOME Classic _is_ mentioned at the Wikipedia link I cited.

> But next to Gnome 3.x that I have tried briefly 2.3 was light
> and fast, but the tools were not too reliable and I refer to CD/DVD
> writing specifically.

BTW, cdrkit/wodim and dvd+rw-tools/growisofs work beautifully on any
distribution under any DE or none.  Whenever you get tired of flaky
graphical front-ends, they'll still be there.

http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/
http://www.cdrkit.org/

When I burn distros, I just stick to /usr/bin/wodim.  It always works, 
no muss, no fuss.

> But so far is only a couple of years.

Distro years are like dog years, I notice.  ;->

> Still they are doing better than Mandriva or whatever they
> will call the organization. 

Well, I warned you about Mandriva's prospects at the time of the mass
departure of developers towards Mageia, didn't I?

> I generally agree about the release timing but I think that a
> "rolling release" as PCLinux is doing may be better in the long run.

I personally really like rolling releases, provided the base OS 
from which they're derived is reliable and stable enough, _and_ 
provided that the user is a non-novice who is prepared to fix occasional
upgrade-related problems.

The Aptosid, Siduction, and Semplice Linux installable live CDs qualify.
Also CrunchBang and antiX.  On a good day, also the Elive betas.  Those
all have in common being based on Debian testing/unstable rolling
distributions, which thus I also include in that number (albeit they
offer more choice that novices want and little handholding).  I'm not
sure much else does, as there's a _lot_ of shaky behaviour in most other
rolling distributions' base package sets.  The track record of Red Hat
Rawhide, Mandrake/Mandriva Cooker, and OpenSUSE Tumbleweed for quality,
for example, has been pretty hideous and saved only by the fact that
they warn you that if/when it breaks, you get to keep both pieces.
I.e., it's what it says on the tin, or pick your own preferred metaphor.

I see from the filename you downloaded (pclinuxos64-kde-2013.04.iso) 
and burned that you didn't go for the KDE FullMonty edition.  Any
particular reason?  Just curious.