LXLE Linux anyone?

[dantheman]

We haven't discussed any Linux stuff much lately...

LXLE is a nice Ubuntu distro i've recently stumbled upon.
It's got a few glitches (mostly on fresh install such as direct install which fails at present time; doesn't seem to capture profile image on install) but other then that, i find it to be the most lightweight and fastest distro at present time.

One of the things that keeps me from becoming 100% penguin user is the equivalent programs to Windows that aren't simply as good.
Any real Windows Explorer alternatives with file preview in Linux?

There are of course many other issues...

[40hz]

We haven't discussed any Linux stuff much lately...

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 06:59 AM)

That's because f0dder won't allow it!

Ok. Lets get more serious now.

Can't say much about LXLE. It's not tracked by Distrowatch.com (which is unusual) and there doesn't seem to be much information or specs posted on their website - although I do appreciate the little essay the builder wrote about the motivation and goals behind creating it. Something I wish more distros would do.

For lightweight feel and a solid build (with no weirdness or oddball glitches) I'd have to hand the job to  CrunchBang Linux. That's my current go-to distro for most laptops or older desktops. Really like that Ninja-charcoal-zero-bling look too! (And the chicks love it! ) But don't let it fool you. Beneath that austere desktop (with a nice mix of Conky monitors sitting in the upper right corner) lurks all the usual penguin goodness found in any Linux distro. It's all just a click away courtesy of the OpenBox desktop manager. A right-click anywhere brings up the menu wherever your mouse pointer is. Very old-school Smalltalk style that is! And addictive once you start using it.

LXLE Linux anyone?

If you like light but still powerful, be sure to take CrunchBang for a 'live spin." Installs like a dream too.  

[dantheman]

Actually, it was thanks to DistroWatch' newsletter that i discovered it.

CrunchBang is a familiar name but i've never taken it out for a spin yet.
Manjaro has a similar version out over the last while.
Don't mind simplicity of an uncluttered Openbox desktop but i do appreciate (and need) an easy way to install apps.
Manjaros' way to install Dropbox for example (via yaourt -S dropbox command) is not user friendly (from a Windows user point of view) compared to Ubuntu style via software center.

[40hz]

Actually, it was thanks to...

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 08:08 AM)

Oops! Well...that's what I get for speed-skimming DW's newsletter so much lately.  

I also have a very bad habit of tending to ignore distros that are either "just announced" or on the waiting list. Mostly because so many of them tend to disappear without fanfare (and a fair degree of regularity) within a year or so of announcement. As my reliance on Linux increases, so too has my concern for the long term. When I was still a hobbyist I loaded and loved just about every new distro that came out. Now that I've put Linux into production for my own business and personal use, I've focused and standardized on the players I have reasonable expectations will still be around for as long as I need them.



What can I say? I guess I've become a somewhat grumpy penguin.

[dantheman]

Well, Distros' newsletter didn't say much about LXLE but the overall experience was a pleasant surprise.
For some reason, the add/remove software program only worked on reboot but that's something i've come to expect from most Linux distros (i.e. headsets).

That too is one of the reasons that makes me hesitate from taking the Linux plunge.
Alot of things just don't seem to run out of the box.
You have to search and search and search before you finally find a solution (if it exists).

How long did it take you 40hz to become a standardized penguin user?

[dantheman]

BTW, i just took out your Crunchie for a byte on the web and swap usage didn't budge.
CPU usage stayed in the 20's (did go to 40 and 50 a few times) while watching a Youtube, so that's pretty good too!
Thanks for sharing your appreciation on this distro!

[40hz]

How long did it take you 40hz to become a standardized penguin user?

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 09:21 AM)

Played with it for the longest time Starting back in the 90s with Slackware.

Got very serious about switching as much as possible over to Nix about 4 years ago.

Got absolutely serious about totally abandoning Windows (a pipe dream btw) when they introduced Win8 and made it clear about the direction they wanted to take the "Microsoft Experience" in.

Now I don't have an intrinsic problem with "cloud" as a concept per se. (Although I do have several serious reservations.) Nor with SaaS or a subscription-based business model if that's what their customers want - or are willing tolerate.

But I have an effin' huge problem with closed ecosystems, walled garden app stores, and being bullied and having my arm twisted by a company I've been a fairly loyal customer and supporter of since the days of MS/PC-DOS and the original IBM PC.

It's not so much I don't like what Microsoft, as a business, produces. It's more that I am no longer willing to put up with the heavy-handed way Microsoft likes to do business. And I was never one to sit on my hands and allow an arrogant bully to go completely unchallenged. But that's me.

And I also don't appreciate being talked down to by people in Redmond who are even more clueless about the future of technology than I probably am.

Right now I'm pretty much all Linux (figure 95%) for my own personal/business use. I do still keep a fairly big hand in Windows and OSX (as in: "when in business, better eat your own dogfood") - but that's primarily just to support my clients.

[40hz]

BTW, i just took out your Crunchie for a byte on the web and swap usage didn't budge.
CPU usage stayed in the 20's (did go to 40 and 50 a few times) while watching a Youtube, so that's pretty good too!
Thanks for sharing your appreciation on this distro!

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 09:47 AM)

My pleasure. It's a great little distro. Good community too. Just be sure you do a quick intro on yourself before you start posting on their forums. They had a very bad experience with spammers and spambots a while back and tend to be somewhat suspicious and reserved with new posters who don't introduce themselves first. (I learned that first hand!) Once they know you're real however, they're great. Maybe not as great as this community, but they're helpful and friendly. I haven't seen any of the carping or dead-catting you sometimes get on the Ubu forums.
 

[dantheman]

Phew!! Dat's quite the profile!
With the years of experience you have, i think i owe you some 'bloody' respect lad!
(Wonder if the brits still use 'bloody'?)

If i can ask a few more questions about Crunchbang...
1. where's the install option via live session?
2. how to 'autohide' the top panel?

One thing that's nice about LXLE (and Crunchbang) is the sharp graphic interface.
Something i can't say for Manjaro and many more distros.

There's one issue that no one seems able to resolve, it's the fact that Canon does not offer a Linux driver for its CanoScan LiDE70.
I've posted elsewhere in many forums and there doesn't seem to be a viable solution.

[40hz]

Phew!! Dat's quite the profile!
With the years of experience you have, i think i owe you some 'bloody' respect lad!
(Wonder if the brits still use 'bloody'?)

-dantheman (March 22, 2013, 12:02 PM)

Dat's called sheer bloodymindedness and a penchant for having odd fun. Therefor no respect called for. (Dunno about the Brits. But my grandfather and grandmother both used to say "bloody" - and as a result, so do I. And I'm not even British!)

If i can ask a few  and mother used to say "bloody"more questions about Crunchbang...f people wonder about.

1. where's the install option via live session?

Ah! That's something a lot of people ask. If you're running version 11 (Waldorf) I don't think there is within a live session like you'd find in Ubuntu. Install has been moved to the boot up menu. You can either select live session or install once the DVD loads.

2. how to 'autohide' the top panel?

That panel is provided by Tint2. No GUI available for it yet I'm afraid. But here's how to enable autohide.

a) Open the main menu, then select: <settings><tint2><Edit config file>

b) Find the #Panel Autohide settings section around line 70. Change Autohide=0 to Autohide=1

c) Save it and close it. That's it!

There's one issue that no one seems able to resolve, it's the fact that Canon does not offer a Linux driver for its CanoScan LiDE70.
I've posted elsewhere in many forums and there doesn't seem to be a viable solution.

Sometimes just plugging a scanner in will work with some of the beefier distros like Ubu or Mint. If it can use anything other than a completely proprietary driver (i.e. twain) it should auto-recognize and just work. Sometimes better than it did under Windows when using the manufacturer's supplied drivers for it.  If it doesn't - and Canon isn't cooperating about doing a nix driver - call it a day and get another scanner. Life's too short to screw around endlessly over one recalcitrant device.
 

[dantheman]

40hz,

Thank you for the configuration tip.
As you said, perhaps a new scanner will be the thing to do.

Did notice that Dropbox wouldn't install unless i installed 'something' else during the initial installation process.
Basic installation of Crunchbang takes 10 min. but the other items (printer, LibreOffice etc.) after reboot take over 20 min.

Can't seem to find the 'check for updates' in Crunchbang.

CB is really smooth on installation process and very light on resources (less than 200 rams, CPU sways between 8-50 max. and no swap usage so far).

BTW, think we're swaying away from initial LXLE theme (also light on resources but more intense on CPU) of this thread...

[40hz]

BTW, think we're swaying away from initial LXLE theme (also light on resources but more intense on CPU) of this thread...

-dantheman (March 23, 2013, 07:27 AM)

Apologies! That happens a lot whenever I show up and start posting. I've been called the Emperor of Off-Topic in some quarters.

Not proud of it. Eclectic polyphasing. It's what I do.

OK. Enough about me and #!. Let's get back to LXLE

[dantheman]

Speaking of which... I just dropped by LXLE.net and they're asking people to stop downloading the beta version until final one comes out this Saturday or Sunday.

For an unknown distro who claims to have 10k beta testers in a month,
i'd say that it sounds "bloody well right!'

[sword]

@dantheman, +1 "...search and search before you find a solution..." (reply#4)
and when you do it *might* work with your OS version and D/E.

Re. 'windows explorer equivalent' (original post):
I don't have a need for that but I recently viewed some reported equivalents at:
www.winehq.org > appdb.winehq.org > [search: "explorer"]:
1. CubicExplorer (highest 'platinum' rating),
2. ReactOS Explorer (medium 'silver' rating),
3. Explorer++ (low 'bronze' rating.
 - note: latest wine_1.5.26, 463 pages of apps at about 25 apps per page.
 - note: the file system and file manipulation in Linux is still awkward for me
and I'm looking at solutions. I am trying Linux "recoll", Linux "tracker", only
for use under Gnome (.gnome.org/tracker/) and Linux "pyrenamer" and they seem
to work well. I can't find "Nautilus" to explore it :-) so I'm looking for a
good file/folder visualizer to use under Mint. Meantime I just keep everything
important on usb sticks and view files with Eagle Mode *live* or the default
text or image viewers in Mint and Puppy. Most people would probably not put up
with the inconvenience :-).

Re. "...easy way to install apps..." (reply#2):
Linux Mint 14 could not be easier.
 - note: I use version 14, 64bit upgraded to DVD edition on USB strictly *live*.
Linux puppy-precise_5.4.3 32bit is easy to add packages to but there are no
detailed descriptions or web link to see details, as in Mint.
 - note: I use puppy strictly *live* on DVD-RW but app upgrade or install is
often a problem so I use it on a usb drive, that I add apps to, then I 'remaster'
it to the DVD-RW.

Wine looks promising. ReactOS seems to be stuck at alpha stage and I could try
their livecd-58595-dbg.7z (27.93MB) of 2013-03-23 but I was waiting for beta.

[dantheman]

You're right Sword!
I'm probably not doing enough diggin'

LinuxMint is still one of my favs.
In fact, if i had to install a Linux system for a friend it would be Linux Mint Mate.
I just don't find it as fast as it could and should be on my relatively 'new' system (now going on 3 years - duo core only).
So, i've gone onto Manjaro for a stretch but I've not found anything to be as good looking or that much faster than LinuxMint.

Have tried LinuxMints latest Debian.
-Cinnamon is just as fast as a turtle.
-Mate is nice but not much faster than other present versions.

Then i came upon LXLE.
So far, it is the most lightweight and esthetically pleasing.
Of course this isn't all that counts but i'm presently inclined to like it.
Hope 40hz doesn't get upset!

After reading up on Microsoft Office 2013 and their $100 annual fee.
I don't want to find myself in a dead end when the later decide to change the Word extension to .docxyz or whatever.
A new scanner Linux compatible + LibreOffice may well end up being the best alternatives.

[dantheman]

Final LXLE version was ready this a.m.
Many bugs were fixed but i still have to boot twice to get the software manager updated.
Didn't know the previous version was beta, but anyway, this one is doing good so far.

[40hz]

Hope 40hz doesn't get upset!

-dantheman (March 23, 2013, 07:48 PM)

Phazes him not in the least.    

Anytime anybody comes here with questions about LXLE we'll just send them over to bug you.

Have tried LinuxMints latest Debian.
-Cinnamon is just as fast as a turtle.
-Mate is nice but not much faster than other present versions.

-dantheman (March 23, 2013, 07:48 PM)

Interesting. I have Mint Cinnamon running on an Inspiron 1525 (Core2) machine w 4Gb RAM and it seem more the sprightly enough. Maybe it's your video driver?

Either way, when it comes to perceptions of speed, the old adage de gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum was never so true.

[Lutz_]

Hi,
does any of these light Linuxes render fonts similarly to windows out of the box or with minimal fuss?
(are hinting and subpixel smoothing used and actually producing tolerable results?).  I would like to run Linx on a netbook, but so far I really have problems dealing with the (distracting) font rendering (Suse, Ubuntu).

[dantheman]

A friend of mine quite familiar with many distros was impressed by the graphical quality of LXLE. The present download is probably non-PAE so it should satisfy your needs Lutz_

40hz i love Cinnamon but it don't like me.
If there were a way to tweak video configurations then i would be game for sure!
Would throwing a few latin words at it help?
Do have 4Gs of RAM...

[40hz]

40hz i love Cinnamon but it don't like me.
If there were a way to tweak video configurations then i would be game for sure!
Would throwing a few latin words at it help?

-dantheman (March 24, 2013, 10:43 AM)

Probably. But maybe some "old Dutch" words would be more appropriate in your case?

[dantheman]

You're good 40hz!   
With a bit of Old Dutch, things will be really Spic and Span!
Can't wait to try it out!

BTW, although the author doesn't mention it, LXLE latest 'final' version is PAE on my laptop.