Chromixium OS 1.0 review

DistroWatch reviews Chromixium OS 1.0

Chromebooks have been hot sellers on Amazon for a long time now, with many models getting high star ratings and reviews. But what happens when you combine a Chromebook-like interface with the power of Linux? DistroWatch did a full review of a distribution called Chromixium that does just that.

Jesse Smith reports for DistroWatch:

I want to make it clear I do not own a Chromebook and, unless I’m mistaken, I’ve never used a Chromebook computer. I mention this because one of Chromixium’s goals is to provide a Chromebook-like experience and, honestly, I have no idea whether it accomplishes this goal. Assuming, for a moment, that it does, I have to admit I’m entirely outside the target demographic for such a device. A computer which deals almost exclusively in on-line web services and web applications would not be useful to me.

However, for a person who wants to use their computer almost exclusively for browsing the web, watching YouTube videos, checking e-mail and social networking sites, I can see how such a simplified user interface would be appealing. In a lot of ways I think Chromixium has similar design goals to Peppermint. Both projects have minimal interfaces, a focus on web apps and use local programs to round out their functionality.

My point is that people who are likely to enjoy Chromebooks and use their computers almost solely for accessing the web will probably find Chromixium quite useful. However, while it is technically possible to access more features and off-line software through Chromixium’s application menu, the process is slow and awkward when compared with other desktop Linux distributions.

Granted, Chromixium is still in its early stages, it just hit version 1.0, so the standalone features will probably improve in time. For now, I think Chromixium offers an interesting web-focused environment with the fallback option of using locally installed applications. The implementation has some rough edges at the moment, but I suspect it will get better in future releases.

More at DistroWatch

The Chromixium site has a full description and download links :

Chromixium combines the elegant simplicity of the Chromebook with the flexibility and stability of Ubuntu’s Long Term Support release. Chromixium puts the web front and center of the user experience. Web and Chrome apps work straight out of the browser to connect you to all your personal, work and education networks.

Sign into Chromium to sync all your apps and bookmarks. When you are offline or when you need more power, you can install any number of applications for work or play, including LibreOffice, Skype, Steam and a whole lot more.

Security updates are installed seamlessly and effortlessly in the background and will be supplied until 2019. You can install Chromixium in place of any existing operating system, or alongside Windows or Linux.

More at Chromixium

Steam adds more Linux games to huge summer sale

Steam has been having a giant summer sale, and now more Linux games have been added to it. Linux gamers seeking bargains can get a good deal with Steam’s sale.

Silviu Stahie reports for Softpedia:

The Steam Monster Summer Sale continues, and today we have yet another batch of great Linux titles that are just waiting to get a buyer. The sale will continue until June 18, and each day will bring us new discounts.

The latest Steam sale from Valve is a very generous one, and it looks like Linux users will be able to pick up some awesome titles at ridiculous prices, but that was to be expected. Now, one in five games on Steam has Linux support, so it’s more than likely that you’ll find something to like and buy. We’ll take a look at some of today’s offerings, but please keep in mind that you have less than 10 hours to decide what you want.

The games in today’s sale that have Linux support are Left 4 Dead 2, Transistor, The Banner Saga, Insurgency, Game Dev Tycoon, Grim Fandango Remastered, Endless Legend, and the Civilization franchise, with the exception of Sid Meier’s Civilization® III Complete and CivCity: Rome.

More at Softpedia

Three ways to improve Debian Linux

Debian is the great grand-daddy of Linux distributions. It’s powerful and offers much to any Linux user. But like anything else in life, it’s not perfect. Gary Newell at Everyday Linux User has listed three ways that Debian might be improved to provide a better experience for those who want to use it as their desktop Linux distribution.

Gary Newell reports for Everyday Linux User:

A few weeks ago I listened to the Linux Luddites podcast and they were discussing Debian Jessie. The comments made on that podcast pretty much echo my views as well. This article lists the 3 main issues that I have with Debian before it has even booted. A full review will be coming shortly.

1. The Debian Website

2. Live Images Are Not UEFI Bootable

3. The Installer Has Too Many Screens

More at Everyday Linux User

Gary’s article got more than one hundred comments in a thread in the Linux subreddit:

Attwo: “I have to agree about the website, it’s horrid. The bit about Debian not booting on EFI is false. Also, the installer is fine as it is, i just hate “smart” stuff that tries to auto-configure stuff for you and inevitably ends up doing it wrong, because my “right” is not your “right”. Debian is supposed to be a distro for those who have at least the basic proficiency required to answer simple questions.”

Whoopdedo: “Moreover, Debian is meant to be a universal operating system. The choice of what to do with the OS is always given to the administrator. That’s why its package repository is so huge. They could simplify things by removing a lot of older and redundant software. But somewhere there’s an system using that obscure package so removing it would upset someone.

Also, in the Debian documentation there are two main guides. One for users, and another for administrators. The two are not always the same and administrators are expected to understand what the options are. Computers have become so easy to use that you can complacently come to think users can always handle their own administration. This is simply not true. Any user will one day be faced with a situation that is beyond their ability. When that happens they end up turning to an administrator who has to fix not only that problem but typically all the things the user fucked up due to their less adept administering. Debian doesn’t lull users into believing they can administer a computer by giving them dumbed-down options.”

Cimeryd: “About point 3, I disagree on his solution. He wants the installer to assume more things, based on previous answers. As a Norwegian with a native keyboard, who prefer English language operating systems, I get really annoyed when installers assume too much based on location.”

5py: “Hope the Debian website maintainers notice this post. I’ve been using Debian for 10+ years and the website has never once been a pleasant experience.”

Xpmz: “I still haven’t figured out how to get proper documentation. Coming from arch linux, which has one of the best documentation I’ve seen, and having a couple computers with debian, it’s always extremely hard to find what I’m looking for. And when I do find documentation, it’s often outdated, or describe one very specific use case and that’s it.”

BirdDogWolf: “When I first came to Debian I was confused about which ISO to download. I thought net install was a PXE utility and thought it bizarre that they would offer that as the default. “

D_r_benway: “Point 2 is wrong. On Debian 8 (at least maybe also 7) UEFI works fine, secure-boot probably doesn’t though.”

Walkerreuben: “And for the other points:

Point 1: I just google “Debian download” and there the download page is. Everything I was looking for was on the first page of the website I visited.

Point 3: There’s nothing wrong with having tons of options in the installer. Most of the options are fairly common anyway, you’d find most of them in even the simplest installer.”

Elroy123: “Debian has never been as easy to install as other “mainstream” distros. The Debian project seems dismissive of people who want it to be really simple.”

Daemonpenguin: “I quite agree with the article. Debian’s installer takes easily twice as long to get through as most other Linux installers and achieves approximately the same result. Not having EFI support on the live CD while having it in the installation media does not make sense.

As for website navigation, a little while back I asked a bunch of people (tech savvy people who were not Debian users) to explore the Debian website and see if they could find the correct download option for their computer. About half of them failed to find an appropriate ISO.A third were unable to find useful documentation regarding how to install/setup Debian.

So, yes, Debian’s website and initial setup/installer are very unfriendly. Sadly it has always been the case. I think some people in the Debian community like it that way.”

More at Reddit

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