Manjaro 0.8.7 Linux Review

Want to know how Manjaro stacks up against the other "unknown" distros of 2013? Click here to find out!

Manjaro 0.8.7 Linux Review

This review is conducted using a live CD version of the Manjaro 0.8.7 Linux distro via a VirtualBox on my MacBook Pro. The MacBook has a 2.5GHZ Intel Core i5 and 4GB of RAM, of which 1GB was allocated to the distro via VirtualBox.

Manjaro is based on Arch and comes with either Openbox or Xfce desktop environments. I downloaded the 64 bit version of the Xfce version for testing. I won't be covering how to install it via VirtualBox, but you can read how to do that by going HERE.

Arch is for a more advanced user of Linux, so it is not for the novice user or someone who wants a user-friendly system. What Manjaro hopes to do is bridge the gap between user-friendly Linux distros like Ubuntu and experienced-user distros like Arch. My personal opinion is that it accomplishes this feat fairly well. Unlike some of the beatings I've dished out on distros in the past on this blog, I really don't have a lot of negative things to say about the distro. It uses slightly more resources than I would normally want it to, but I have resources to spare, and it is a very good-looking OS. My inexperience with the Xfce desktop is no different than my previous inexperience with Apple's OSX. I grew to understand it and a new user can learn to understand Manjaro. As I write from an end-user perspective, I found that Manjaro presents a good case to become your distro of choice.

One of the interesting things about Manjaro is that you see all of the scripts running as it boots up. Many modern distros have gotten away from that in order to provide a smoother user experience and while I can understand that from a user perspective, it's also nice to see the older screen sometimes. I can know that way that the system is working instead of just hoping it boots up (I usually work with decrepit computers!). This may cause an issue with novice users, but probably not for those with any experience at all with Linux.

Once loaded as a live CD, I tinkered around a little to see what was available. Guiding me through that effort was the welcome screen shown below:

The developers have a user guide on the desktop when you first boot the live CD. I want to go on record as saying that this user guide isn't very good. It includes the usual fodder such as why you should choose Linux, but no real information. This would have been better placed into a wiki like most other distros. Ironically, they have a full-functioning wiki that provides all of the necessary information.

At rest, the OS uses 3% of my CPU resources but actually uses a whopping 45% of my memory (1GB allocated from the MacBook's 4GB). This does add some concern as it wouldn't be very usable for a computer user with limited resources. On the other hand, I was using the 64bit version, so perhaps the assumption is that the user will have a substantial amount of RAM.

While running a search on investing (pictured below), my CPU usage jumped to 50% or so and RAM demand bumped to 59%. Considering that the RAM use was already at 45%, this wasn't all that much of a jump. It certainly handled Firefox well.

The basic load-out of Manjaro includes the usual LibreOffice suite version 4.0.5.2. While some distros opt for the Google Chrome browser, Manjaro sticks with Firefox for browsing and Thunderbird for email. The live CD doesn’t come with games per se, but it does come with Steam, so by logging in and buying a version for your Linux box, you could have whatever game they offer to your liking. Other than that it comes with a pretty standard set of programs.

My Take:
I realize that I got a little negative above when dealing with the wiki and how much RAM it uses, but the fact is that I really enjoyed testing this distro. It's clean, comes without a lot of the junk that bogs down other distros, and works great.

One of the things I found most striking about Manjaro Linux is that it utilizes a rolling release development model. That means that you theoretically won't have to download a new version of the distro like you do with Mint, or perform a significant update like you do with Ubuntu. I honestly don't know how this will work out over time, but I'll keep my eye on it as it is an impressive concept.

I don't know if they really achieved the goal of creating a completely user-friendly Arch distro. If you're a new Linux user, or not very experienced, then you'll probably not find it completely agreeable. However, if you want a pretty and useable distro, then give it a try.

Building a Mentoring Community

It's been a year or so since I wrote a simple "how-to" on mentoring, called "Building a Mentoring Community." It has been released on Barnes and Noble, Sony e-readers, Apple books, and PDF and has been downloaded over 60 times, a stat that I am grateful for. From the book's website:

Mentoring, otherwise known in church circles as discipleship, is not easy. However, it is possibly the most important thing Christians can do to help strengthen the next generation of Christians. This ebook tells you how to do it! 

You can get the book from the following links:

Barnes and Noble
Sony e-reader
PDF

And, of course, in the Apple i-Tunes store!

Thank you for your interest in mentoring!

gNewSense 3.0 Review

Want to know how gNewSense stacks up against the other "unknown" distros of 2013? Click here to find out!

I recently reviewed gNewSense 2.3 and waited patiently for 3.0 to be released. Having seen it pop up on Distrowatch this week, I decided to give it a try.

First and foremost, I am most experienced with Ubuntu. Despite my uncomfortable position with Unity, I feel that Ubuntu is the best overall option with Mint as a close runner-up. The thing I want to stress is that while Ubuntu is my particular flavor (and CE inside of that), I'm intrigued greatly by gNewSense. The idea of making a distro completely free, with zero proprietary software options included, is fascinating to me. I wanted to know exactly how it would work out, so I gave it a try first with the 2.3 version and now the 3.0.

As I use VirtualBox to do most of my Linux testing on my MacBook Pro, I installed gNewSense in VB with a full installation. Booting to Live CD was easy. It loaded up just like any other Linux distro does, so no surprises there. However, I encountered a problem when I tried to install the distro outright. The first time I did it, it got hung up at the timezone selection screen and stopped working. I restarted the VirtualBox and then got through all of what I thought was the installation, but when I restarted it, the installation was gone. Since I have used VirtualBox with Linux before, I knew that I had a good VirtualBox. This was disturbing.

Start Screen for gNewSense 3.0.

I could use it as just a live CD, but you really can't know how well a distro works when all you use it for is a live CD, unless of course that was what it was designed for. Therefore, I really needed to install it as a complete distro. With that in mind, I dove back in and tried again. Third time was the charm. It booted up just fine and looked good, despite having its desktop built on an older Gnome. This doesn't bother me because I actually enjoyed the traditional look of the desktop.

gNewSense comes with a standard load-out of older-model software; OpenOffice being a prime example. I will admit that they did upgrade to OO 3.2 vice the 2.4 of gNewSense 2.3. Unfortunately, OO is now releasing a 4.0 version, so gNewSense is still a little behind, not to mention they aren't using the LibreOffice that just about everyone else is using. It also uses the Epiphany browser instead of Chrome, Firefox, or Opera.

CPU usage when idling is around 1-3% of my resources. Since I have a 2.5 GHz i5 processor, this was absolutely acceptable. I allowed for 1GB of RAM in the VirtualBox instal, and gNewSense was using 84MB during idle. When running Nibbles, it shoots up to 71% of my CPU and 101MB of RAM. Using the web browser for a search, I use about 12% of CPU and 130MB of RAM. While downloading the Opera webrowser (my browser of choice) it needed 14% of my CPU and 112MB of RAM. Overall, it's pretty light on the resources, although I'd like it if a simple game didn't require so much processing power.

Idle memory/CPU usage.

The Good: Two things in particular strike me about gNewSense. First, it is rather fast. It did task my system a little while playing a game or two, but overall, I thought that it moved fast and responded to my demands quickly. Secondly, while I don't like the fact that they continue to rely on older software packages, they did upgrade the OpenOffice suite and it comes with Base from the outset. Most distros make you go get Base on your own. Finally, and to their point, gNewSense comes with a complete load-out of entirely free and unrestricted non-proprietary software. When you use gNewSense, you get a completely free system.

The Bad: First, and to my last point above, you get a completely non-proprietary system, which means you get (in my opinion) a very limited OS. As long as your ethics regarding free software are driving you instead of your need to be productive, you're fine. If you are on a limited hardware setup and all you really need is a word processor and an internet machine, then gNewSense is fine. Other problems are that they don't come with the very nice package installer that Ubuntu has, or any other modern Linux OS has (whatever that flavor of Linux may call it). This makes getting the apps you want difficult to install for novice users. Finally, it's based on an older build of Ubuntu, which just looks bad when most other distros have moved on by now.

As a final note, the gNewSense team has developed their own builder program. Unfortunately, I don't see how that is really beneficial. Since the build is based on Ubuntu Hardy, which is from 2008, I just don't see how it's all that relevant today.

Here's the biggest problem with gNewSense. It is trying to do the right thing, but it's doing it by providing a second-rate product. If you are not busy trying to tackle the issues of today (how to get Linux and other open source software to the masses) then you're on the wrong side of history. Ubuntu, for example, is working on the Edge project. Trying to get a Linux phone out there is a great idea. Sure, Ubuntu is a little bloated and of course it isn't completely non-proprietary, but the game plan is right. Despite their best efforts, gNewSense lacks a modern operating system to work from. If they are worried about the modern Ubuntu's proprietary packages, then they should go to the Linux kernel and start from scratch with their own product.

Fat Tuesday #2 CPO 365 Phase II

Chief results came out just a few days ago and much excitement over the new selectees has ensued. I personally enjoy this time of year a lot since making Chief myself a few years ago. It's much more enjoyable, of course, on this side of the table as I now have all of the answers and I get better sleep at night than selectees do!

Obviously there is a connection between a struggle with weight and Chief selection season (now called CPO 365 Phase II). If you fail a weigh in at any time during your career as a Petty Officer First Class, you might as well tack on four more years to your time as an E6. I know I did, and it's not getting any easier. I recently had to have "that talk" with a Sailor who failed her weigh in...it's a rough talk to have, because you have to tell the Sailor that he or she has just ruined several years of an otherwise good career. A struggle with weight is that dangerous!

I didn't think I was fit to help do too much during Phase II this year because I'm so overweight right now. I've definitely struggled more than I have in the past and an unhealthy fear of injury is fueling that struggle. Nevertheless, I am happy to report that I lost 1.8 pounds since last Tuesday! Can I call it 2 pounds? I suppose not. Anyway, I'm very grateful for the loss...any loss! I'll take it and try to roll it into a loss for next week. The Chiefs who make future Chiefs should be able to maintain the standards. We like to say we "own" the standards...so do I? Well, I know the standards, and I enforce them, even when it's marking down a failure on my own part. Phase II is the drive to succeed. This is my last one before commissioning as a Chief Warrant Officer

Anyway, yes, I'm taking part in CPO 365 Phase II. My weaknesses make me a viable part of the Mess and yes, I bring them along with me too. So here we go!

Next week I'll give an update on the Fort2Base race coming up on the 25th! And I have family coming in the week after that, so we'll talk about visiting family members the following week! Should be a lot of fun!

Ubuntu 12.04 Christian Edition Review

Want to know how Christian Edition stacks up against the other "unknown" distros of 2013? Click here to find out!

Having been a fan of Ubuntu Christian Edition (Ubuntu CE) for years, starting with Ubuntu CE 5.0 and 6.0, I was somewhat saddened when David Kuntadi, who had been assisting a lot with the project, left the team for other business. After that, and with my own Masters degree work in Religion (finished in May-13), I had to back away from Linux in general and CE in particular. I did help with Ubuntu CE 6.0, providing desktop backgrounds for the project. I didn't even know there was a new project going. I'm so happy to report that Ubuntu Christian Edition is back in the action!

Sadly, they kept the Ubuntu 12.04 Unity desktop. With all that Ubuntu does well, and they do so much, Unity is the worst idea ever. I say that while looking at my Macbook Dock, so take that with a grain of salt. Still, what Apple does extremely well, the developers at Ubuntu have not. Unity is bulky (especially on smaller screens) and while it has some customization, it is so far out from what the traditional Linux desktop looks like (whether you talk about KDE or Gnome) it's almost disgusting. Using something like Mint's Cinnamon desktop, or xfce, or honestly anything that looks more traditional would have been a blessing, but aside from the desktop, it's a good system.

Ubuntu Christian Edition has been accused of just slapping some Bible study tools onto a Ubuntu platform and marketing it as a different distro. Go to that review if you're interested in CE and read the exchange between the developer and the reviewer. Very impressive. The review is from a very early version of CE. Hopefully this review helps update the overall process.

The reason I bring up Ubuntu's Unity desktop and that old review is because of where this review is headed. Christian Edition got some very important things right. First, they made Bible software very easy to get. I tried once upon a time to replicate CE on Fedora, and it just isn't the same. Putting everything together on the Ubuntu platform was brilliant. The second thing they did extremely well is the install process, which I chronicle for you below:

Installing the OS was easy. Ubuntu, and therefore Christian Edition, has always been an easy install screen, as pictured above. Things obviously went well as it's basically the Ubuntu 12.04 install process. Nothing is really that different until it's finished with the basic install. Once the OS is installed (I did so on Virtualbox), a wonderful thing happened. A terminal window (shown below) opened and asked if I wanted to install updates.

Hit any key...I dare ya! Just kidding. Please hit any key. It gets you started on the process. After it spends about 15 minutes retrieving and installing any updates that your computer needs, it will ask you if you want to update the media files, as shown below. As with the above example, all you have to do is hit a key and it will do so. If it took a while to retrieve and install the previous updates, then you might have to input your password. No biggie. Put it in and the installer takes care of the rest.

Once the media tools are installed, it will ask you if you want to install Skype. I rarely use the service, though I do have an account, as I have a Macbook and use FaceTime to do most of my video chatting. However, as I do have an account, I chose to let Ubuntu 12.04 Christian Edition install Skype for me. Again, if it's taken a little bit of time to install previous updates, it might ask you for your sudo password.

As soon as your Skype install is complete, it will ask you if you want to install Dropbox. I'm a huge fan of Dropbox. I use it all of the time. Because of that, it's even more important to me than Skype. Obviously, it was a no-brainer for me. I allowed CE to install Dropbox.

Dropbox is the last thing to install on Ubuntu 12.04 Christian Edition. Once you've finished that, it will ask you to exit the terminal, which will lead you straight to the desktop. This is the base configuration for Ubuntu CE. As you can see from my screenshots, you have everything on the panel to the left. Included in the base install is Chrome browser, Xiphos, formerly known as GnomeSword, and a small array of other programs. As with it's parent, Ubuntu CE uses LibreOffice for all word processing, spreadsheets, database work, etc. Actually, to be forthcoming, you'll have to go download Base, which is LibreOffice's database program, from the software center. The icon for the software center is the 9th Icon from the top at the left hand side of the desktop pictured above.

Here's the skinny on Ubuntu 12.04 Christian Edition: I hate the desktop, but I don't like Unity no matter what else is running it. It's one of those things you either love or you hate. It is what it is. That, however, is the only negative I can see from my tinkering around. What is absolutely impressive is the ability to fire it up and have a host of programs that aid me as a Christian. It's ready and working out of the box. The distro is perfect for any church that is running older equipment and can't afford to upgrade all the way to Windows 8, which is a pathetic system anyway. You'll have to learn a new Operating System, sure, but you'll have to do that with Windows 7 or Windows 8 (or Mac OSX for that matter), so a pastor or church staffer shouldn't use that as an excuse. The bottom line is that it's ready to go for anyone who needs a complete load-out for Christian-related work as soon as the install is complete.

Because I'm so convinced that Ubuntu 12.04 Christian Edition will work for Christians and churches on a budget, I'm willing to help you get set up and running if you get stuck. If I can't answer your questions, I will find someone who can. Despite the obtuseness of Ubuntu's Unity desktop, which is just a preference problem on my part, the OS will help any church save money, which can then be better used to fund ministry and missions.

Well done to the Ubuntu CE team. Keep up the good work!