SLAX 7.0: The Comeback

It was the operating system I was waiting for a long time, simply because I felt nostalgic about it.

SLAX

SLAX 6 was (practically) the first Linux operating system I tried. It was the subject of the first review I wrote. Unfortunately, Tomas M, the author of SLAX, abandoned the project after version 6 was released. That is why branches of SLAX, like Porteus, sprang up.

After all this time, Tomas M. has returned to the business. The new version of his famous operating system, SLAX 7.0, was released in the middle of December 2012. I downloaded that release soon after, but, unfortunately, it took a significant amount of time before I had a chance to try the OS and to write the review. While I was doing it, SLAX went through several releases, and SLAX 7.0.4 was released not so long ago. It fixed some issues I noticed, but more about that later.

The image size of SLAX 7.0 is notably small. Depending on the language, it weighs between 210 and 220 Mb. Yes, you read it right. The full operating system weighs less than quarter of gigabyte! You can download each language version as an ISO for CD, or as a ZIP file for USB stick. The USB version also includes some other files needed to "burn" the image to the live USB itself.

I downloaded the ZIP file, unpacked it in my Xubuntu installation and clicked on the .sh file.

OpenOffice Writer English Grammar Checkers

If you wish there was an English grammar checker for OpenOffice Writer, you’re in luck. Two popular extensions let you add an English grammar check to OpenOffice for free.

Mini-interview with ROSA

Some time ago, I wrote an article "How Fresh is the Dew?" That article was about the first release of the Linux distribution named ROSA. In Russian, the word "rosa" means dew, so that was playing with words that time.

I am not sure if the developers of the distribution read my article or not, but the latest release of ROSA, announced on the 19th of December 2012, got the name ROSA Desktop.Fresh 2012. You can read the official press release yourself. However, after reading it I decided to ask some clarification questions of Konstantin Kochereshkin, the PR-manager of ROSA Labs.

I think the answers could be interesting for you, that's why I have published them on my blog.

From the Eyes of a Penguin: Linux Uses and Wows

An operating system is the flavor, personality, and structure of a computer. For most machines, Windows and Macintosh make up the functional aspect of how a user views the world.

One of the first operating systems in the world was invented and entitled Unix. It was implemented under AT&T's Bell Labs in 1969 for a 1970 release. To this day, Unix still functions as the foundation for both Macintosh and another lesser known, yet quickly growing, operating system that could: Linux.

Linux, for the most part, is an open source operating system that is free of charge. It comes in a variety of flavors. The most common Linux distributions include Ubuntu, RedHat, Fedora, Mint, and Debian.