KIDS these days have amazing play facilities filled with intricate log-and-cable structures designed to test their nerve and athleticism.
Our local park has one such structure, a succession of thick ropes strung like a spider's web over a metal pyramid which attracts kids like, well, flies.
In my 1960s childhood we had a wood full of climbable trees, a shallow stream, lots of rhododendron bushes and bugs.
Back then, swings were made from sticks and real ropes that were guaranteed to take the skin off the inside of your thighs, not like those slippery, bright nylon affairs you get today.
I fell out of more trees than I care to remember - perhaps there's a cause-effect link there somewhere - and quickly learned to leave a box of matches in a dry place, so I could dry out after the inevitable mad chase through the stream.
Ah, happy days.
Now considerably older and annoyingly less mobile (the mind's still willing but the body's weak), I get different, more bloodless thrills sat at a desk, testing Linux operating systems.
You may be wondering what this misty-eyed, nostalgic amble through the woodlands of my past has to do with sidux 2009-02. Well, trees.. branches.. do you see where I'm going yet?
OK, let me explain. sidux 2009-02 is a live Linux CD based on the Debian Linux distribution and, as anyone who spends time in the GNU/Linux world knows, Debian has several branches.
I'm not going to explain Debian's structure/naming conventions, as there's a perfectly good explanation here.
Suffice it to say that sidux 2009-02 is based on sid, the unstable branch of Debian.
Now, the advantage of basing your distribution on Debian's unstable branch is that you are always up-to-date with the latest in GNU/Linux software, but if it breaks, well, that's the disadvantage.
And before we go any further, the lower-case 's' in sidux is correct - that's how the sidux developers spell it and, despite the journalist in me objecting strongly, I'll go along.
This is how the development team describe 2009-02 in their extensive release notes.
"sidux is a full-featured Debian sid-based live CD with a special focus on hard disk installations, a clean upgrade path within sid and additional hardware and software support. The ISO is completely based on Debian sid, enriched and stabilized with sidux's own packages and scripts."2009-02 is available in two 'flavours' - a whopping DVD download featuring the latest KDE 4.2 desktop environment and a smaller, CD-sized download which uses the lightweight, and faster, Xfce desktop.
Initially I tried the DVD/KDE version but after two failed DVD burns (at minimum speed and following the sidux guidelines, incidentally) I switched my attention to the Xfce edition.
There's nothing spectacularly different about the sidux live CD - it loads reasonably quickly, it works reasonably quickly - but if you plan on using the Xfce version as one of those Linux toolbox live CDs, ready to tackle any computing task anywhere, I'd look for one that has more applications because sidux comes pretty light on the apps front.
For example, under Graphics you get an image viewer and Xsane, under Multimedia there's Brasero, gxine, a sound mixer and TVTime (of which, more later), while the Office section has just Abiword, Gnumeric and Orage. All told, it's a fairly meagre offering.
The focus of my review, however, was to be sidux as an installed system, so I knew I could add the necessary applications later.
Before I report on my install experience, a quick word on the documentation that comes with sidux - it's really rather good. There are desktop links to the excellent sidux manual and IRC channel, and via the website you can find a vibrant community forum.
Anyway, to my installation. I was using the second partition on my Fujitsu-Siemens PC - 3.4GHz P4 with 1GB RAM, 512MB Nvidia graphics, 2xDVD/DVDRW, 19inch 1280x1024 LCD - alongside CrunchBang Linux.You access the installer gui via a desktop link. I wouldn't normally spend much time discussing an installation but there are a couple of interesting issues raised by the sidux installer that warrant a mention.
The first is the section dealing with partitioning your hard drive, where the user is presented with a screen offering GParted and various partition choices: It's simply not clear enough at this stage how the user should progress and, while an experienced user will already know whether their partition is properly prepared to accept a Linux distro, a new user would be confused. So, clearer guidance here, please.
On a more positive note, I liked the fact that at the outset the installer informs the user if any firmware updates are required for their hardware, and even issues the commands required in a terminal to get them - a nice touch.
Also during the install, there's a message saying that sidux only contains 'dfsg free software' (Debian Free Software Guidelines) and that to get full functionality you will have to add the sid 'contrib' and 'non-free' software repositories to your apt sources.list later.Again, no big deal for a Linux veteran, but a real obstacle for a new user. Plus, this hardly makes sidux "full-featured" as the release notes proclaim and anyone who has used Debian will know at this stage that there is a fair bit of work to be done post-install before they arrive at anything approaching full functionality.
When installing two Linux distros on the same machine I usually leave my CrunchBang GRUB boot menu intact and have the new distro's GRUB installed into its own root partition.
Then it's just a simple matter of using a live CD - I always use GParted Magic - to copy the new distro's menu.lst entry into my CrunchBang GRUB menu.lst - this method is slightly long-winded but it avoids any problems with partition identities etc, and so it proved with the sidux install.So, here I am at my new sidux 2009-02 Xfce desktop - with a minor tweak/tidy - and doesn't it look nice? That pretty Xfce desktop takes about 3 SECONDS to load once you hit the 'enter' button on the login screen - Windows, eat your heart out!
Now, my first post-install task was to edit the repository list from which sidux draws its software and updates (experienced users can skip this bit).To do this, it's necessary to launch your text editor - in this case, Mousepad - as root, so launch a terminal, enter 'su' then input your root password, then the following command:
mousepad /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
That then launches the repository sources list in Mousepad, to which I added the bold elements below to give me access to contributors' packages, non-free software and the codecs required to play multimedia files:
deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ sid main contrib non-free
deb http://debian-multimedia.org/ sid main
Then, you need to enter the following command in your terminal, still as root, to synchronise your package database with the repositories:
apt-get update
With that done, you're ready to start installing the software you need, and in sidux 2009-02 that's quite a lot. Your needs will differ, so to quickly summarise what I've installed so far, I started with the package manager, Synaptic (the sidux manual recommends Debian Package Search, so why not include it by default?), then added vlc, Mplayer and its Mozilla plugin, libdvdcss2, win32codecs and Kaffeine (plus a pile of dependencies).
You might be wondering why I bothered with Kaffeine, and it's because the included TVTime TV Viewer simply refused to run, whereas Kaffeine always works beautifully with my Terratec DVB-T TV adaptor, giving me a full range of Freeview channels and digital radio.
sidux is what's called a "rolling release" distribution which means there's no real need to periodically wipe your disk and install a new version - all that's required is to first exit X by issuing an 'init 3' command in a terminal, then run 'apt-get update' and 'apt-get dist-upgrade' on a regular basis to keep things current.This latter point brings me to the best comparison I can give for sidux, and it's with Arch Linux. Both are what I'd call niche distros, requiring a level of knowledge and experience that mean they're not really suited to anyone new to Linux.
But if you have the required experience and the time needed to tailor a system to perfectly suit your needs and your hardware, then sidux, like Arch, can be a very nice place to be.
My final experience with sidux also illustrates the flip-side of going out on a limb with packages from Debian's unstable branch: While installing Claws-mail via Synaptic, my PC froze solid, requiring a hard reboot.
So, that's sidux 2009-02: Bags of fun to be had for the adventurous, but if you haven't got a head for heights, you might be better off looking elsewhere.
16 comments:
I enjoyed you initial nostalgia about rope tied wooden swings. And yes, Sidux is a wonderful distro indeed. Their manuals are so easy to read and implement that even a "noob" feels like a veteran. I am the adventurous kind and love Sidux. Sidux being a KDE distro and Debian based its best attraction for me.
sidux is a very nice distro.
sidux (kde) and CrunchBang is my two favorite laptop distroes.
Why did you use "lenny" in your multimedia repository?
Why not
deb http://debian-multimedia.org/ sid main
Writings on techy issues can often be stale and dehumanising. So, I also enjoyed the childhood nostalgia that you brought into the mix - it was refreshing! :-)
For me something like Arch is to Linux what Meccano is to toys. I wonder if the only similarity between sidux and Arch is the fact that both are rolling releases and bleeding edge? Is sidux as configurable and fast to run? Does it have an active user contributed repository a l'AUR? Not to mention the genius package frontend that is 'yaourt'.
I used to think Linux has too many distro's and the community needs to focus. I still think there is too much cruft, but then things like Arch are certainly meaningful additions to the Linux eco-system.
@ Nitz - thanks, I just try to make things a bit more interesting and different from the usual Linux reviews.
As to the Arch question, it was the closest distro I could think of. sidux is nowhere near as difficult to install as Arch, but there's still plenty to do once it is installed and that's what I was trying to get across. Don't get me wrong though, it's still a very nice distro.
@ anonymous - Ha! I knew someone would spot that Lenny thing!! The simple reason is that before I wrote the sidux review I was looking back at my Debian 5.0 Lenny review and I'd added the Lenny multimedia repo to get the codecs issue fixed.
Then, when writing the sidux review, I remembered it and just added the same one to my sidux sources.list - it should, as you rightly point out, be sid main (I'll edit the article immediately).
Cheers, and well done for paying such close attention! (PS please leave your name next time so I can address you properly - you clearly know your stuff!)
@ Morten - I totally agree with you about CrunchBang, it's my favourite of all time. Thanks for taking the trouble to comment.
Nice job with this. One thing that the sidux team does do is review Sid packages on a constant basis and report on packages that should be put on hold, either because they do not work or because their packages are mismatched with libraries.
There was an automated tool set up, which was once a part of sidux, but due to some philosophical differences with its developer, it no longer has any direct ties to sidux - it is the excellent smxi script. That script works great with any distro that uses actual Debian repos (But not derivatives that change the Debian distro, such as the Ubuntu family).
Personally, I enjoy using the smxi tool and I use it, but it is not completely necessary, simply a convenience. The sidux team, by the way, recommends using ONLY apt-get dist-upgrade from init 3, so you should take their recommendation into account, too. That may help avoid problems, such as the ones you ran into.
@ Brian - thanks for those useful comments and tips. I had heard about the smxi script but I read somewhere on the sidux website/forum that it was no longer officially recognised, so I stayed clear of it. perhaps it's something I can investigate in the future.
Also, you are quite correct in pointing out that the 'apt-get dist-upgrade' command should not be issued from within X - I'll amend my article to reflect that.
Thanks again for your comments.
SMXI is the most beautifull thing in sidux...use it!
Actually, as the rather good manual points out, if you want to start a GUI application like leafpad as root you should log in to the terminal with sux instead of su.
It is a pity the smxi script was taken off the installation media and references to it were removed from the manual. I guess it clashes with the DSFG ethos of Debian & the sidux developers objected because they didn't have write access to the scripts. SMXI is a very useful tool, not only for keeping your system updated but also for installing graphics and network drivers, proprietary codecs, virtual machine installer, and system tweaker.
I used sidux on several machines without major problems starting from when the distro was first formally released in February 2007 (Χάος) until I hurt myself in March. I was holding back waiting for the debris to clear up after the transition from Etch to Lenny as stable (with major changes to xorg and from KDE3 to KDE4) and suddenly couldn't get access to my machines for 3 months. At this point those installations are probably borked, since the manual points out that sidux should upgraded every week or two and 2-3 months should be considered the maximum outside limit. Even upgrading every couple of weeks was a big chore requiring hundreds of MB of downloads and a fair amount of time outside the GUI. I ended up using apt-proxy and apt-cacher so I would only have to download the packages to my server for the most part, but the packages changed so quickly that it didn't really save me that much bandwidth unless I upgrading all my machines within a few days of each other. There is literally a new kernel every day or two. When I get around to it these boxes are going to become Lenny (Debian Stable), where I don't even bother opening a root terminal most of the time because the packages change so slowly.
Another thing to consider, if you need to use the proprietary ATI fglrx driver sidux may not the distro for you unless you have some good technical chops.
hi steve nice review....just now i completed reading your review about PARDUS 2008.1....After that i checked their website....PARDUS 2009 has been released....PLEASE do a review about it...
I've actually run sidux for a very long time and nothing has ever broken for me! the sidux team does their best to make sure everything works! of course some exotic packages may need a little tweaking but i had this same problem on testing! (squeeze)
I don't even get why they call it "unstable" it's not that scary so don't be afraid like the average user... everybody!
smxi is an absolutely fantastic tool to use to maintain and update sidux - even though the sidux devs recently decided to "un-recommend" it for essentially political/personal reasons
you can get it at smxi.org
Hi, Sidux is fast, lean and stable but can be daunting for a new user. SMXI makes life so much easier The hardest bit is installing new programs with the apt-get as you may not know the exact package name and have to do a lot of searching on the net.
If you need the latest kernels or programs this is an excellent choice.
The forums are helpful but can be rather constricting in what you are allowed to discuss on them but there are many knowledgable people on it.
@ anonymous, not essentially personal reasons. anyone who would care to do a bit of research would realise the real reasons behind it. dig deeper into the legality of it.
That fud about 'legality' was recently exposed to be the total nonsense it always was known to be by those who could read licenses.
So while it's unfortunate that some people insist on spreading such ridiculous claims, that is merely a symptom of deeper problems in the sidux project, problems which sadly are driving users away in large numbers.
But most people can safely ignore these essentially personally motivated and sadly stereotypical issues, and just use the developer's work if they like it, and whatever helper scripts they decide to run.
Hello
i am using sidux distroes since ... the end of kanotix evolution.
it is The Debian Sid distro : better than ubuntu, better than debian (pure) itself, and from far...
it took me some "efforts" to understand how to use this top of the art (heart) linux debian sid distroe and i feel very happy to be part of the sidux users. I am not a very good specialist but please take note of these interresting points :
installing sidux on a hard disk partition takes between 5 and 15 minutes(according to the material)
partitionning is safe (provided you inform somehow before to act) and very well documented : forums, sidux manual, web)
personalisation (for me : french langage, docs, softs i need) is more than easy with apt-get once you have customised your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sidux and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian (preferably using vi in a console, witch you can learn within 15 minutes and use for a lifetime)
sidux is stable, documented, and the irc is here to allow a direct link with some of the main contributors
this is a chance in a geeks life to meet sidux !!!
Alleluyah !!!
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