OpenSuSE 11.4 KDE: Where Desktop Environment Matters

Nothing is stationary in our world. Everything flows and changes. You can never predict what happens next.

I have already reviewed OpenSuSE 11.4. That was review of GNOME version in Live run. I was not much happy about this system. That time I decided myself: enough for OpenSuSE until next release.
I got lots of critic for that review. In general, they all came to 2 main points:

1. Live run is not decisive for system selection. I wrote about this point already, and won't repeat my reasons again.
2. GNOME implementation in SuSE s***cks and I should try KDE version. Maybe, but... GNOME is still a version available for everyone, why shouldn't I review it?

If you read my blog from time to time, you should be aware that I also run site buylinuxcds.co.uk, which is commercial part of this blog. You can order your own CD with Linux there. But I also put my items on eBay site sometimes. This time surprise came from that direction. A person bought a CD on eBay asking me to ship OpenSuSE 11.4 with KDE desktop environment. Could I miss such an opportunity to peek and create my own opinion? Of course not! Moreover, I have to test the disk before handing it down to buyer.
So, CD is recorded. It is in the CD-ROM of my Compaq C300 laptop. Reboot. Choose to boot from optical drive. Let's go!

Vote for your best favourite KDE distro!

Voting is now closed. Please review results.

I have posted recently my opinion about best favourite KDE distro.
There was a storm of comments, as you can see it yourself.
But we are humans... and sometimes we are lazy.
That's why I decided to create another post for similar topic, and this time with small poll. You don't need to write a comment - just select your favourite KDE distro, add comments if you like and send me a confirmation.
I'll pick up responses and publish results somewhere around 20th of August.

BSDanywhere: time machine

I have already written about BSD-based systems several times. I reviewed FreeSBIE and PCBSD.
They were system based on XFCE and KDE. These are more or less modern looking operating systems. Could I imaging myself back into 1990s when I was downloading another BSD-based system?
This time I will tell you about BSDanywhere. This is Live CD based on OpenBSD. Authors write on their site that this OS is not intended to be installed at all, and that it only works from CD. That is fine, because I was interested in Live systems from the very beginning.

Latest version of BSDanywhere has number 4.6 and was released in November 2009. Unfortunately, it is the last version because its single developer stopped any further activities with BSDanywhere and switched to OpenBSD itself.
So, iso image of BSDanywhere is downloaded and burnt onto CD-RW. Disk is in the optical drive of my Compaq C300 laptop. Reboot. Choose to boot from CD-RW. Let's go!

3 Linux Apps for Converting Videos

PC and mobile users often need video conversion tools because of the restrictions placed on various devices. While one device may play H.264 perfectly well, another may insist on MPEG2. These limitations are not insurmountable. With the proper video conversion tools, you can make videos that play everywhere from YouTube to your Blu-ray player.

Aptosid 2011-02: is it any good?

Aptosid is Debian-based Linux distribution aiming desktops of users wishing to live on cutting edge of technology. It is based on Debian Sid, which is unstable branch. Sid is kind of sandbox where developers can test their ideas before they are moved to Testing and eventually to Stable releases. It means that while Debian as whole is considered by many as rock-solid system, Sid should never be considered as such. And this is a platform for Aptosid.
I have looked at Aptosid already, that was Aptosid version 2011-01. I was quite impressed that time, even though there were some issues which were show-stoppers for me.
July saw release of new Aptosid version, this time 2011-02. It was released on 13th of July. Even though it was not Friday, but still 13th. Was it bad day for Aptosid? Let's have a look.
Aptosid allows you to choose several options: XFCE, KDE-full and KDE-lite. My choice, as in previous time, was for KDE-lite version which fits CD. Eventually CD-RW disk was burnt and Compaq C300 laptop prepared for a test.
By the way... If you want to get your own CD with Aptosid (or many other distributions), why not order them at Buy Linux CDs site?
Reboot. Choose to boot from CD. Let's go!

200,000

Seems like just yesterday I ran a contest trying to figure out who can see 100,000 on the visitors' counter on this blog.
It was in the end of May 2011. Only 2.5 months later the counter shows more than

200,000 visitors!

I'd like to say THANK YOU to all the readers and subscribers of this blog! Hope you find it enjoyable and useful.

Another Guest Post

If you follow this blog for some time, you should have noticed that I make guest postings from time to time on selected resources.
Today my guest post was published at Wazi.
Please follow the link to learn How To Create an Ebook with OpenOffice.org.