gOS Linux - a very good OS - Overview & short tutorial

[Mrkvonic]

Hi all,

I have just uploaded my gOS article. gOS is a radical new distro, aimed at young people. It combines the uber beautiful Enlightenment desktop manager, Mac OSX looks, and integration of Google Apps and social networking into the desktop.

Plus, it's based on Ubuntu, so it's stable and easy. And fast.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gos_overview_1.html

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Regards,
Mrk

[Riverrun]

Hi Mrkvonic,
downloaded via a very fast torrent last weekend and I was astonished to find that the live CD ran really quickly. I was tempted to install on the HD but I'm not so sure about all that Google stuff in the dock. Not sure if I thrust Google! Let me re-phrase that: I don't thrust Google. That put me off. I suppose these are just links to Google sites? I imagine that I could get rid of them and that this need not be an obstacle.

The desktop manager is very attractive. It's my first time seeing it and it performs well and looks good.

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

Just links to Google Apps. Almost all iBar icons merely launch Firefox. You can remove them, btw - and still have a lovely Ubuntu-based Enlightening 17 desktop.

If you don't wanna use them, it's as if they never were there.

Mrk

[Old Monk]

Excellent Mrk

Another one for the Live Cd collection

Will give it a try later.

Be very interested to see if it can match Wolvix for speed in the LiveCD environment.

I'll let you all know.

[Riverrun]

I'm actually using it now, running from the live CD. How do I get rid og that annoying Google search-bar, the one that sits in the center of the desktop?

The Environment is sweet, no doubt about that and my first impressions have been re-confirmed, it runs fast for a live CD.

[Mrkvonic]

Originally Posted by Old Monk

Excellent Mrk

Another one for the Live Cd collection

Will give it a try later.

Be very interested to see if it can match Wolvix for speed in the LiveCD environment.

I'll let you all know.

Hi,
Since I have tested and written 3 tutorials this last week - gOS, openGEU and Wolvix, I can answer you that: yes it can. All three are lightning fast, btw. Totally sweet. I'm gonna post them all almost back-to-back. Next week, openGEU, then something non-computer, then Wolvix, then other articles: hardware profiles, Pendrive Linux, Mojo, etc.
Mrk

P.S. River, do read the entire tutorial please - it's there . You'll find the answer. But, still, I'm gonna tell you. Left-click, configuration, my settings. Start configuring. Add, remove icons, launchers, panels, etc.

[Longboard]

aimed at young people

Damn: that's me gone, lol: what's this facebook thingy any way
Had it running for a while:
Very Nice implementation of Enlightenment
Like it much better with the iBar icons pared back; but I can see why that would appeal.

? Some element of Google viral marketing push ? gOs + Android. ?

@MrK: why does it seem that this set-up is so much faster than Ubuntu: less tools ? less apps by default?
Windows manager?

@ Old Monk
Speed = Slackware-based with Xfce desktop
= Wolvix
= Zenwalk
= Vector

= Rock and Roll.

PS : and BSD distros

[Old Monk]

Thanks Mrk

Look forward to those articles.

Originally Posted by Longboard

@ Old Monk
Speed = Slackware-based with Xfce desktop
= Wolvix
= Zenwalk
= Vector

= Rock and Roll.

I'd better get the other two as well then

[MikeNAS]

Originally Posted by Longboard

@ Old Monk
Speed = Slackware-based with Xfce desktop
= Wolvix
= Zenwalk
= Vector

= Rock and Roll.

PS : and BSD distros

So I start my Linux career with those three. I take my words back plus have a one question. If I wanna Longboard specified Speed Distro without any additional programs... Which one to choose? I mean that I wanna choose my programs myself.

[Old Monk]

Originally Posted by MikeNAS

So I start my Linux career with those three. I take my words back plus have a one question. If I wanna Longboard specified Speed Distro without any additional programs... Which one to choose? I mean that I wanna choose my programs myself.

Hi Mike

Not quite sure I understand the question and certainy not best qualified to answer.

But, Wolvix for example isn't stripped out to get the speed. It seems very feature rich to me plus also very fast.

Perhaps wait for Mrk's review? Or download a few LiveCD's and have a play

[Longboard]

OT, sorry,
@MkeNAS
Me Not an authority: from perspective of very basic user still on steep learning curve:

Zenwalk Linux (formerly Minislack) is a Slackware-based GNU/Linux operating system with a goal of being slim and fast by using only one application per task and with focus on graphical desktop and multimedia usage.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zenwalk

For relatively straight forward oob speed: Zenwalk, Wolvix, Vector, Absolute.
Almost impossible to pick a single fave
Prolly for me Zen or the Wolf, just on 'feel'

Dont forget: PCLinuxOS ( and SAM and MiniMe PCLOS for bare bones startup) is a great place to start: foolproof. Great tool oob.

and what OM had to say
Go for it.

[FastGame]

Originally Posted by MikeNAS

So I start my Linux career with those three. I take my words back plus have a one question. If I wanna Longboard specified Speed Distro without any additional programs... Which one to choose? I mean that I wanna choose my programs myself.

PCLinuxOS 2008 MiniMe
Wolvix Cub

[Longboard]

I have tested and written 3 tutorials this last week - gOS, openGEU and Wolvix

Damn, you are one productive sob.
Thx.

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

Thanks all.

As to being faster - it's the desktop manager. Enlightenment is extremely light. Gnome is relatively heavy. Underneath, the kernel is the same, so the difference comes from the graphics. KDE is even heavier.

As to being productive, well ... was on a sick leave for a few days

Mrk

[Old Monk]

Originally Posted by Mrkvonic

As to being productive, well ... was on a sick leave for a few days

Mrk

I think I'd prefer to see a healthy, less productive Mrk

[MikeNAS]

I mean that I just wanna Linux where isn't so much programs. After installation I like to download+install those which I like to use. Wolvix looks really good. After all I'm gonna test those all three in VirtualBox.

[Mrkvonic]

Originally Posted by Old Monk

I think I'd prefer to see a healthy, less productive Mrk

Hello,
I didn't say I was sick. I said I was on a sick leave ... hi hi hi ...
Mrk

[Old Monk]

Originally Posted by Mrkvonic

Hello,
I didn't say I was sick. I said I was on a sick leave ... hi hi hi ...
Mrk

Have a had a quick play and yes, it is indeed fast.

I'm a linux noob as you know but's quite, quite different in feel and use. First impressions are, I like it. It's very ...

Thanks for bringing to our attention.

[roark37]

Thanks Mrkvonic for this review & tutorial and a general thank you for all of them. I've browsed a lot recently at your site and have a learned a lot My questions are the following:

I may just have missed it but what version is your review based on? Is it Rocket E 2.0?

When you mention the speed, both live & installed, as related to Wolvix & others, is it also fast or faster than XP with similar hardware?

I was thinking that this could be perfect for me for an old pc that I am using to learn & try Linux. It is an old 2001 800 mhz celeron and it had only 128k ram and I had posted a question about it here several weeks ago. Well last week I added another 256k ram so now I have 384k and am hoping that won't limit me to only the real small distros. Would my machine now seem like a decent candidate for this gOS? I was thinking of trying this, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, PCLinux, & Mepis although I have seen many good recommendations here for Dreamlinux & Wolvix also recently. My main requirements are speed, both in using and also a quick boot time if possible. From this review it sounds as if gOS will be faster than Ubuntu/Kubuntu but I was not sure about the others.

Would welcome any advice and thanks again.

roark

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

I don't remember the version now, I'll have to dig in an archive of my virtual machines to find out.

As to an old machine with 384K ram, I'd say, go with Xubuntu - although you can try gOS, openGEU or Wolvix with pretty much the same results. Wolvix is a tiny bit harder - although it is a great distro, especially considering it is based on Slackware.

Compared to XP, most Linux distros run approx. 2 times faster on the same hardware and even more with lower RAM. Once you go over 1GB, the difference won't be felt either way, but anything below 512GB, Linux wins with considerable difference.

gOS will be faster than Ubuntu or Kubuntu, but it will run just like Xubuntu. The only thing is the eye candy, which is a personal choice, really.

Cheers,
Mrk

[yeow]

Hi Mrkvonic,

I've read latest gOS now uses gnome instead of enlightenment desktop. Wonder if tat's so, whether u'll be taking another look at it.

On another note,
Like roark37, I also have old PC with 384mb ram. To me xubuntu didn't feel significantly faster (if at all) than ubuntu. Personally as a noob, I prefer ubuntu over xubuntu, chief reason being there's more help material out on the net for ubuntu.

[roark37]

Yeah, that is why I was asking which version the review was based on as from the official site I found 3 choices. The only enlightment one was the one I figured it was(Rocket E 2.0) but I also thought it could be an earlier version. I would be curious if the new "space" version that is on the homepage is as fast as the earlier ones.

I also have a couple of follow up questions: If you try several live cd's(Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Mepis, PCLinux etc) can you generalize from the performance of the live cd which will perform the best on your machine with a real install? I figured that may not necessarily be the case.

Like yeow, I was leaning towards Ubuntu, not really because of any preference, but because it is much easier to find a book, which I have that gives step by step instructions with pictures which for me who is unfamiliar with this makes it easier. The book I have makes the real installation seem not as intimidating although I have not tried it yet. One thing I have not seen is if you dual boot can you then easily remove the linux part or install another distro over it if you want to try something else? My old pc has only 20 gig with about 15 available. Can you also instead of just dual boot install 3 or 4 or more different distros with say 2 to 3 gig each assigned. Would it work the same way as you would first get a choice of which to boot into? I doubt I would try something like that but I was curious if it was even possible. If it were very easy to remove an installed version then I would be more comfortable experimenting as I want to try a real install as I don't think I am getting a full test with only the live cd.

Thanks again for your help.

roark

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

You can install as many as you want, although 3-4 GB for each is a little tight. But you can create a single swap they'll all share, a single home they'll all share and then dole out the rest evenly for the roots.

Usually, you can extrapolate the behavior of the install based on the live cd, but it's not the best measurement tool, especiall if your CD/DVD is quirky.

Mrk

Originally Posted by roark37

One thing I have not seen is if you dual boot can you then easily remove the linux part or install another distro over it if you want to try something else?

When my first install of Ubuntu with my existing Windows installation went bad because of a culmination of of self-imposed screwups, I just ended up deleting the Linux partitions from within Windows, then re-installed Ubuntu from the cd again. I'm really not yet sure how the heck to use the Partition editor to manually install Linux, so I just took the long road to achieve my needs. Perhaps next time I can figure it, though

On a side note, I have just looked at the live Zenwalk distro. It looks pretty slick, but how do you access the harddrive data, specifically the files for the existing Windows installation, that is "blocked" or whatever that was? Even from root I could not get it. It showed some list of possible applications to use to open?? It made no sense to me. Anyways, I'm still very partial to Ubuntu, so I will stick with it for the foreseeable future.