Distro Review: PCLinuxOS 2010 (KDE and Gnome)

[telemetry9]

pc linux gnome looks very smart. 

[HogRider357]

Thanks for this review. Very helpful. I have been looking through Linux Distros for a 3 year old laptop, and this one might be just perfect!

[twiztidsidfreak13]

I really like 2010 gnom! Everything just works from the start. No having to install drivers or flash like unbun.

[shobogatz]

i'm using bleach in Linux Mint and its great :) also running the live cd with enlightment DE form PCLinuxOS and its growing on me :D. when ever i wanna try a distro i always check if you did a review on it :D great work

[gmanprime500]

PClinuxOS is actually independent not based on mandriva

[Exiliadomx]

I have tried many distros. I am new in linux. And my favorite is Linux Mint Debian, but i have to say that PCLinuxOS is the best "out of the box" or ready to use distro. It is better that Ubuntu because Ubuntu looks so ugly just after being installed, you need to installa so many things in Ubuntu after installation. But PCLinuxOs looks so nice and has so many aplication, also the installation process and the grub is better in PCLinuxOS. try it, u wont regret

[Ograws]

Is this better than Ubuntu?

[thisweekinlinux]

@Ograws depends on your preference. There are more things driver-wise done for you out of the box, and I've heard a lot of people praise PCLOS's implementation of KDE as being one of the best, but the repositories are a bit smaller than Ubuntu's.

[Ograws]

@thisweekinlinux I see thanks good channel

[RangerDK21]

NEVER INSTALL PCLINUXOS, IT"S A SUCKY DISTRIBUTIVE

NO RPM, NO DEB support

SMALL REPOSITORY!

[MrDemilord]

@RangerDK21

???? No RPM? it is a RPM distro based on mandriva...

Small repository? It has 12.000 packages in there..

[akirafactor]

If your skin is crusty and your house is musty, then PCLinuxOS is for you.

If your mind is weak and your outlook bleak, then PCLinuxOS is for you.

If your old and your computer will fold, then PCLinuxOS is for you.

I always wondered what it would look like if all the residents of a resthome got together and made their own linux distro. Now we know... that its ugly and smells like mothballs.

System Requirements include must be senile and 85 years old to install PCLinuxOS.

[premamotion]

Thank you so much for your review!

I was a distro hopper for two years, I used Ubuntu, Fedora, Gentoo, etc etc etc... almost all the well-known distros... PCLOS and openSUSE are the best out there for me! PCLOS is fast, reliable, stable, unlike Ubuntu and Ubuntu derivated distros.

[thisweekinlinux]

@premamotion awesome! I've heard quite a few people who are really happy PCLOS users. I really look forward to trying out the 64-bit version when it's available.

[sale666]

wait i dont get it its based on mandriva? i tohught it was based on ubuntu since it is ubuntu lol?

[thisweekinlinux]

@sale666 it was originally based on Mandriva, but a few "releases" back they created their own base. PCLinuxOS is completely unrelated to Ubuntu.

[sale666]

@thisweekinlinux

i thought it had something to do with ubuntu since it does look like it but i guess kde and gnome make that similar look to ubuntu! However i tested it on my notebook that i had problems with video since its ATI xpress 200m and ubuntu was making a hell lot of trouble but pclinuxos works flawless! Its great but i cant manage to remove the bottom panel i would like to use docky any idea how to do it? thanks!

[thisweekinlinux]

@sale666 yeah, Gnome/KDE, at the end of the day, look pretty similar across most distros. Glad to hear your video card is working well with PCLOS.

Are you on the Gnome version of it? You should be able to just right click and "Delete Panel" if that's the case.

If you're on KDE, you might just have to hide the panel.

[sale666]

@thisweekinlinux

I downloaded KDE its my first time and iv been using linux for like 2 years and never tryed KDE lol... i prefer gnome the geek look lol :D so im quite unsure how to delete it! if i hide it it will pop up if i mouse over it right?

[thisweekinlinux]

@sale666 This might work: userbase.kde.org/images.userba­se/3/30/Plasma_howto-panel-rem­ove-45.gif

[sale666]

@thisweekinlinux

LOL thanks now i just feel stupid XD haha ..

Great now to do my last tweaks :)

[wataki2]

I used gnome pclinuxos 2010.12 and when ever i tried to do the Manage Hardware my mouse freezes and then i have to manually turn off my computer to get out of it????????

[akirafactor]

Guess what distros this is knock-off of.

[phorneker]

@akirafactor PCLinuxOS is NOT a knock off of any distribution. It is currently an independently developed distribution with a single repository that is kept up to date.

[akirafactor]

@phorneker You have got to be kidding me. Their repo is full of a bunch of stale packages. Want new hardware support, compile a kernel and pull in ALSA yourself. That and every once in while the update of death. Also packages which work fine in other distros, but have bugs in PCLinuxOS.

That and also installed OpenSuse over PCLOS on a 3GHz P4 and the machine was so much faster I couldn't even believe my eyes. CPU load dropped about 30% or more. Load dropped 40% on a thinkpad.

[MrDemilord]

@akirafactor Mandriva

[PCGamerNET]

@akirafactor Mandrake

[blackcoder41]

he killed the keyboard ; )

[dirtripper25]

you type fast

[xeemo]

Wait...Nibbles, a worms clone? If it's a clone of anything it's probably a clone of "snake". Although I'm not sure, because Nibbles may have straight up came first. It was a qbasic game.

[kribnotes]

I'm curious if you ran the update through synaptic. I did (because the live version seemed to run great). After the update, it wouldn't reboot.

[thisweekinlinux]

@kribnotes I can't recall if I did or not. I probably did, but it's been over 4 months ago.

[duffski77]

Excellent work as always! Gee you talk fast :)

[thisweekinlinux]

@duffski77 A bit, yeah. Thanks. :)

[deneverett]

6 people are windows users

[meraed818]

@deneverett .. *_^

[thisweekinlinux]

@ajaycgeek Sorry, I apparently forgot to mention that. There's a script for PCLinuxOS called remasterme, and from what I've read, if you log in as root (go to a terminal, type "su" then give it the root password) you can run "remasterme" and it will create a .iso for you in the root directory.

[phorneker]

PCLinuxOS was based on Mandriva initially. In recent days, that distribution has gone in a direction away from simply being a Mandriva derivative, to something that is well respected and very usable even to the Linux novice. On my PCLinuxOS 2010 installation, my Epson Stylus NX-415 scans and prints out of the box, whereas I would have to download iscan from the Avasys website on Ubuntu and Fedora distributions.

[thisweekinlinux]

@phorneker I agree, PCLinuxOS is a great distro and it makes most hardware-type things a TON easier. :)

[genomega]

No, PCLinuxOS is not based on Mandriva.

Texstar has never told anyone to f*** off, unless they deserved it.

[thisweekinlinux]

@genomega from what I've read, it looks like the 2010 release is a total rebuild from the ground up, but up to 2009 it was a rolling release based off of Mandriva 2007, with PCLOS's own repos.

[control725]

nice job

[mousegeek]

Very good review. I run Mint and Ubuntu but I have tried PCLinux and I really liked it. The thing that Ubuntu has over other distributions is the amount of user posts and help you can find (most of this works for Mint too) and that's what makes Ubuntu the most popular. I actually think MInt it the best for new users because all the codecs come with it and the codecs seem to work better than the ones Ubuntu will install automatically.

[sabombardonist]

Ok, I think I have a new distro to install. Sorry Ubuntu, but Broadcom hates you with a passion. Thanks for the review.

[digitlc]

When did it switch to KDE 4?

A year ago I tried this and it sucked. It could just be that it doesn't have the Broadcom drivers I needed (that oddly enough Mandriva had).

[sarge997]

cool video i love ubuntu.

man if ubuntu could install the stuff i need like some of my office disks and some games it would of been the best os in all of mankind lol

[dmspar70]

Does Texstar still tell those who disagree with him or complain to f**k off? Thats the only reason i'm hesitant to use this distro.

[Sansui350A]

The package info for apt is stripped out in order to gain more space.. on some setups this can be about 100MB or so... sometimes even more. (This is the reason you only see the installed packages in synaptic). Just thought I'd put that out there... Oh, and PCLOS GNOME FTW!!!

[tostoday]

Gnome black looks cool. hav u had any luck playing HD vids on single core Linux machines? Windows flies but Linux dies :{

[thisweekinlinux]

@tostoday it's been a little while, but my old desktop was a single core athlon64 that could play them pretty decently, and even with an ATI video card.

[lbaquerizo]

Nice review but can you do one on Zorin Os 3 that just Came out.

Thanks man and keep up the good work.

[thisweekinlinux]

@lbaquerizo Looks like Zorin OS is another Ubuntu-based distro designed to make things easier. Looks like it has some interesting themes, but what sets it apart from Ubuntu and/or Mint (or any of the other 1,000 Ubuntu-based distros) ?

[lbaquerizo]

@thisweekinlinux so i guess you will think about it

[thisweekinlinux]

@lbaquerizo oh, I'll definitely think about it. I'm still trying to find out what's different about it.

[lbaquerizo]

@thisweekinlinux why flash its really unstable in linux ?

[TechnoL33T]

I'm going to try it now. Really.

[juppukun]

Wow! Awesome looking distro and great review! For a while now I have been trying out new distros of linux on my laptop. I am currently running xubuntu 10.04 but I really feel like giving this one a shot since I started my baby steps in the linux world with linux mint 8 and now I really want to try this one out. Thanks for the review and keep it up. Very interesting stuff! :D

[FeelItRising]

used to be based off Mandriva, but now is considered independant I believe.

[TwitterUniQue]

i don't like icons The system !!

actually Ubuntu is the best for me :)

[74ryanwolf]

Cool! You got T-Shirts!

[thisweekinlinux]

@74ryanwolf Oh yeah, I've had a t-shirt store for several months now. I actually made a video about it a long time ago. I've only bought one of the shirts myself, but I'm planning on picking a few up soon, perhaps even a couple to give away. :)

[ReadWriteAccess]

PCLinuxOS should be the OS that the newbies start with ... everything common is installed.

[cavibird2005]

Texstar is a Genius!! 90% of the Time I'm in PCLOS

[codebean]

Nice this is one of the distros i'm particular fond of, however i don't like kde version, they tried to make it look too much like 3.5 & alot of the system apps are gnome based which make it look a bit frankensteined imo. However gnome version i think has to be one of the best distro's around.

[sneekylinux]

nice.........

[Dreadfultime]

hey my good sir, have you tried pardus? i know for a fact that i would use instead of linux mint if i had an all linux computer, it is also one of those everything works out of the box distros, and idk i just feels good

[thisweekinlinux]

@Dreadfultime I have indeed tried pardus. I've got the latest ISO downloaded, and it's on the poll on my website. As soon as it makes it to the top, I'll start working on the review for it. :)

I'll admit, I'm a pretty big fan of Linux Mint. It's an excellent lazy man's distro. I've got it on my laptop right now to save time.

[ssmIXpRo]

what do you think of andlinux , i haven't tried it yet but it seems interesting .

[thisweekinlinux]

@ssmIXpRo I've read a little about it. It looks interesting, but I have a feeling it will confuse people.

[russjr08]

I noticed the quality of this video is really good! Have you seen the doctor yet? I hope your feeling better today.

[thisweekinlinux]

@russjr08 Thanks for asking! I went to the doctor just now, and he confirmed what mobz said last night, it's an ear infection. Got some antibiotics and sudafed, and I should be well in a couple of days.

[russjr08]

@thisweekinlinux I hope you do feel better, I'm sorry that did happen to you. Feel free to get some rest, if you need to take a rest on videos, that is fine with us

Get well soon! :)

Russell

[Tarnus88]

Hum, looks like a nice distribution, though i don't really get how it became so popular.

btw. have you ever used Sidux?

[thisweekinlinux]

@Tarnus88 I don't believe I've tried Sidux. Heard a lot about it, but never gave it a shot.

[Tarnus88]

@thisweekinlinux it sounded like an interesting concept to me, especially since i am one of those guys who always has the luck thhat some part of his hardware gets supported just with the next kernel(and i don't really want to compile and maintain my own one ;))

And get well soon :)

[crunchy3neo]

Sometimes I feel that the distro's go overboard on the amount of applications they include. To me, even ubuntu includes about 10-20 too many. I guess it's good for new users, but it's still something worth thinking about changing.

[thisweekinlinux]

@crunchy3neo Depends on your preference, I suppose. I like a lot of preinstalled apps occasionally, but when I don't, I generally go for Arch, because that way I get total control.

[TechnoRacoon]

Is the KDE version fast on your laptop cause mine was only one of the first laptops to run vista and kde works slower than a plain vanilla vista install?

[thisweekinlinux]

@TechnoRacoon You know, I didn't install the KDE version on my laptop, but trying it on a VM, it ran just as fast as the Gnome version for me.

[aerosmithkor]

i hope wine works right outta the box, if not, how can i get wine on this distro?

[SeaofInfinity32]

Good review. It's fun, the Gnome version looks very nice. But in the end, for me at least, it just did not feel right, I guess. I consider this one too Mandriva like (which I love) and practically a waste. But just as people love Mint because "it just works", they will love this.

[prathameshdk]

great review

[CHVNX]

This is one of those distros that I couldn't care less about. Stupid name, poor documentation and their desktop looks ugly. KDE is so damn ugly. Apt is a nice feature, but rpm sucks. I'd rather use Mandriva than this.

I feel dirty posting that comment using a Windows box.

[thisweekinlinux]

@CHVNX I'll agree that the name isn't great, and the KDE by default is mediocre, but the Gnome version looks pretty decent out of the box.

Personally, I don't mind RPM-based distros. They're a ton better than they used to be, especially concerning dependency resolution.

[FearedBliss]

@thisweekinlinux Fedora's RPM is extremely slow to update, even with yum-fastestmirrors. In theory it should be extremely fast because of the Delta patches, but I find APT to update and install updates much faster.

[nvanadium]

Hope your feeling better. Good review as always. Is Bleachbit in KDE version or is there an equivalent?

[thisweekinlinux]

@nvanadium Thanks, I'm actually going to the doctor this afternoon. :)

Bleachbit is available in the KDE version and comes installed by default. I just ran through the menus very quickly on it. Looking back, at 3:32 I see it in the menu there.

[DerLachClub]

Nice Review thx :)

[carlosinfl]

Snapshot for creating live ISO's is pretty nice but other that...nothing special. Thanks for the awesome review!

[thisweekinlinux]

@carlosinfl having the broadcom driver preinstalled is pretty special for a lot of people, since Ubuntu/Mint requires that you plug into a wired connection to install your wireless drivers. Other than that, I'd agree, Mint is pretty awesome.

Thanks for watching!

[korwinblue]

I don't know why, But KDE runs so much better in PCLinuxOS than other KDE distros I've tried.

[thisweekinlinux]

@korwinblue I haven't tried installing the KDE version on real bare-metal hardware yet, but the Gnome version was beautiful.

[FwdFx]

Great review, keep 'em coming! :-)

-Jake

[FlamingLinux]

Nice video man :)

PCLinuxOS is Win, but it is a little too slow =\

[thisweekinlinux]

@FlamingLinux sorry to hear that. when I tried it on my laptop the liveCd had a tendency to lock up on me, but once I got it installed it ran very nicely.

[FlamingLinux]

@thisweekinlinux meh, i would use USB, it's faster.. =\

[thisweekinlinux]

@FlamingLinux a good point, and less chance of the CD locking it up. :P

I need to invest in a spare USB flash drive. I've got an 8gb, a 4gb, and a 1gb, and I usually keep live distros on the 1gb, but I need a larger one for larger distros.