The MiniSlack - cut the crap.

Continuing the string of LIGHT n SMALL. This time on linux. After some googling I came across a distro called as MiniSlack. This time lets do the review a bit formally.

Why MiniSlack:

1. Small install size, 1.1GB if everything is installed. And inspite of doing this you aren't left with good-for-nothing just-desktop-linux like Ubuntu & the clones. Its a complete development platform that you get installed, loaded with all development tools & languages(Python, Perl, Ruby,..).

2. Based on the rock solid fame Slackware.

3. This is for those who think installing 4GB of crap is unjustified, so what if its a 5 star flagged distro.

4. It feels better if disk space is used for non-system stuff.

5. The name.

Inside:

The policy followed by MiniSlack is that there should be just one application of each type (exceptions are text editors & terminal emulators). So you wont see 10 different audio players & 3 different movie players.

1. Theres just one BMP(Beep Media Player, a fork of xmms) audio player & all-ends-here GXine video player. They do satisfy all the multimedia needs with support for almost all formats.

2. And theres a better default text editor called Leafpad(in which i am writing this) say bye bye to gedit, kedit ,kwrite, kate etc. If you want to write code its vi, dont expect syntax highlighting & the related with Leafpad, its meant to be light & simple, not full featured.

3. The default desktop & window manager is Xfce 4.2.2 & believe me it is as much usable as any other & you do feel at home with it. Its plugins like the Xffm (file manager) are packed with usability improving features.

4. It comes with Anjuta, the IDE & Bluefish HTML editor. I have never setup Anjuta but people say its good. Bloggers, theres Bluefish.

Considering the range of applications covered it doesnt feel like anybody would need anything more, except for may be OpenOffice that is substituted by Abiword & Gnumeric(spreadsheet).

Suited for:

1. A person who has used linux before. It doesnt really come with click-n-run config tools for novice users.

2. Its a developer's linux, but one who wants everything from it. Its like a MUV compared to a SUV.

USP:

1. All up & running, featured packed Linux with a Single CD install, that too 400MB.

2. Its light like a feather & runs like a horse.

PS: The universe is available in Slackware's repositories so dont worry about finding your favourite app's package. If not theres a utility to convert rpms to Slackware tgz's, rpm2tgz. And heres a screenshot.

Category [ _Linux_ ] [ _Review_ ]