Some distributions tend to simplify the interface. Others try to do their best to get users out of their way. Only few try to find golden middle.
Do you want examples? I have them.
Unity. Isn't it simplifying of interface? Yes, it is. But for some users this is over-simplifying. Something of Linux soul was lost in here. From "do whatever you want" it switched ideology to "do whatever we allow you to do".
After few failed attempt to build Knoppix Live USB I decided to try CD version.
This is not my first review of Knoppix. I wrote few words about it in one of the first posts in this blog.
Now few words about the version of Knoppix I tried. This is not the latest version. Simply because latest version 6.5 was exclusively distributed with Linux Magazine in March 2011. Previous version 6.4 is freely downloadable on official mirrors. That is the version I burned onto my CD-RW.
Disk is in the drive of Compaq C300 laptop. Reboot. Choose to boot from CD. Let's go!
Booting
Once booting of Knoppix starts, you are asked with only one question. This is to specify "cheatcodes" which Knoppix has a lot of. I did not put any of them and just continued with "Enter".Total boot time of Knoppix is approximately 4 minutes for Live CD version. This is not the best result, but more or less acceptable time.
Once booted, system works more or less fast. I noticed that each time you start a new program, system reads CD. But closing and restarting of same program even after some time does not involve CD drive usage. That is quite nice feature.
Wireless
Nicely enough, WiFi card Broadcom 4311 was found and activated automatically. Same was in previous version of Knoppix, so no surprises here. My network was found automatically, and I only needed to provide security key. I'm online, and this post was drafted from Knoppix.Just for experiment, I used same CD-RW to boot my Toshiba L500 laptop with Realtek 8191 WiFi card. Result? Unsatisfactory. This card is still not working under Knoppix 6.4.
Desktop
LXDE is default, but not the only, desktop environment in Knoppix 6.4, as in many other versions of this Operating system. CD version only has LXDE. If you want to have other desktops, you need to download and use DVD version. Knoppix comes with 8 diferent desktops on Live DVD: KDE, GNOME, IceWM, Fluxbox, Openbox, LarwWM, EvilWM and TWM. Some of them are rather exotc, I have never seen them before. But again, all of them are only available on Live DVD while I was running Live CD version.Default wallpaper in Knoppix 6.4 is some kind of computer generated curve. It is the only wallpaper if distribution.
Knoppix features more or less standard desktop layout. There is a panel at the bottom and only one desktop icon.
I was surprised when I saw no button to switch virtual desktops in Knoppix. Yes, there is no button for this. Instead, moving cursor to the top-left corner allows you to switch between 4 different desktops. They share same application toolbar, not like GNOME.
Another feature of Knoppix LXDE desktop appears when you move cursor to the right-top corner. You can see all the windows on current desktop and switch between them.
Knoppix by default has lots of desktop effects, which are something I'd rather avoid. They significantly increase time required to close / minimize / restore window. That is unproductive waste of time from my perspective.
Software
PCMan is default file manager for LXDE hence for Knoppix. It is not extremely rich in features, but enough for most tasks.Iceweasel is default browser in Knoppix. By default is starts with lots of security restrictions. It annoys when you are viewing sites like Blogger or even Google, because these sites actively use scripts, and scripts are disabled by default. Luckily, there are just couple of clicks to allow all the scripts. Iseweasel has spellcheker activated, but English is not in dictionary for whatever reason. At least, I saw all my words underlined when I typed in draft of this post. These underlines disappeared after some time for same strange reason.
Knoppix 6.4 has LibreOffice as office package. Moreover, it is not just "core" LibreOffice products, but full package. It includes Draw, Math and Base.
There are not many graphical tools in Knoppix, but it is OK since GIMP and LibreOffice Draw are there. Other than that, scanning program and xpdf (PDF viewer) are included. I was surprised by the fact of absence of screenshot tool in Knoppix. But then I found ability to make screenshots directly in GIMP. It is quite unusual to use such a big gun for this small task, but still an option if need be.
Multimedia tools are not widely represented: GNOME Mplayer, Braser and aumix. This is full list. Not enough? I think that's enough because MPlayer is mighty combine in multimedia tasks. I would rather prefer VLC here, but that is my personal preference.
Wine is installed by default in Knoppix 6.4, if you are interested in running Windows applications.
I was slightly surprised that Knoppix includes not many applications at all. You can see much more in official list, but listed are mostly CLI-based or system (not to be run by users) packages.
If you need more, then Synaptic is at your disposal. Knoppix has repositories for all Debian branches activated (sid, testing, stable and previous version - Lenny) by default.
Network and local drives
I mentioned PCMan above as not-very-functional tool. That is true only partially. For example, PCMan includes Network Drives utility. It automatically found my external network drive, but showed folders on that drive as separate computers. Of course PCMan could not mount them.Manual mounting with mount command also failed :
This error usually means lack of user access information (username and password), but I provided parameters guest,nolinux in mount command, so I am not sure Samba understood me correctly.CIFS VFS: cifs_mount failed w/return code = -5
Local partitions NTFS and Ext3 were mounted by Knoppix OK automatically. Even Russian characters worked fine in PCMan.
I could play MP3 files from local NTFS partition out of the box. Initially MPlayer showed Russian characters in filenames, but after some time they disappeared for whatever reason. You can see no filename in the screenshot I took.
Opposite to MP3 codecs, there is no Flash Player in Knoppix 6.4. YouTube videos do not work out of the box, but require installation of Adobe Flash. I tried to do this, but there is no .deb version on official page.
Keyboard
I wrote in my previous review that Knoppix has quite strange approach to multi-lingual users. Has anything changed since then? Unfortunately, no.There is still no option to switch keyboard layout in LXDE.
Conclusion
Knoppix is Live CD (DVD) system based on Debian.Debian gives Knoppix very stable and large platform.
What has changed in Knoppix since my last review? I'd say not much.
Most of these changed are due to new version of Debian. Squeeze changed Lenny, and now Knoppix uses Squeeze as stable repository. Other that that? LibreOffice became official office manager. Then... Argh, to be honest, I can't name any other difference. Can change of default wallpaper be the one? I doubt.
From my perspective, Knoppix now simply follows the trend to update packages up to the latest version of those. Nothing significant happens in this part of Linux world.
Somebody can call it stagnation. Somebody can call it stability.
Have you tried Knoppix yourself? How do you like it? How do you use it?
If you have not tried it yet, why not Buy Linux CD with it?
Do you realize full potential of Knoppix? Have a look at books about Knoppix.
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