I built my first PC in 1981 and have seen a great many operating
systems and desktops come and go over the last 25 years, but nothing
like I was about to encounter.
Recently a developer who uses On-Disk.com to distribute his
Linux distribution contacted us about some updates he wanted to do on
his release, but he had a problem. His Internet service made it
almost
impossible to get an ISO uploaded with the changes. I agreed
to try to help him by applying the updates to the
original here then rebuild it so we could ship his release
with the
updates. Little did I know doing this favor was going to land
me smack dab in the middle of the most artistic Linux distribution, or
any other for that matter, I have ever seen.
The Update:
I put in the GoblinX Premium 2006.1
cd and it booted with some very
nice graphics, In fact just looking at them as it booted made the boot
process seem very fast. I was so taken by the graphics
restarted the PC just see if it actually booted as fast as it
appeared. It took about
52 seconds give or take a second on the older 48X CD drive. I
thought, "Wow, this GoblinX is a screamer as far as LiveCD's go".
I logged in as the on-screen directions indicated and typed "startx" to
get to
the desktop, but ran into a little problem. It seems that it didn't
like the built in S3 Unichrome video card. So
I followed the directions and typed xrogconfigure and walked through
the entire X setup script. Luckily I had done this on older xfree86
versions and knew where I was going. For someone without the experience
of using the xf86 text configuration this could be difficult,
especially if it's a brand name PC where they are not so apt to
know hardware is installed. Then I had a thought... I exited the
desktop
back to the command prompt and typed:
#
Xorg -configure
The screen blinked for a moment and
returned to a command prompt telling
me that xorg.conf.new was created.
Next I typed:
#
mv xorg.conf.new xorg.conf
and started X again:
#
startx
(For those who may not
know, this was simply using Xorg's built in automatic
configuration script.)
Now on the desktop, I used the xfce display manager to set the screen
resolution to 1024x768 instead of the maximum screen resolution created
by the Xorg configuration of 1400x1050. (available under "Settings
> All Settings..." on the xfce4 menu.
Next I took a look around for something to keep notes on as I worked.
Under editors I found my favorite text editor "Leafpad" and opened it
up. It's not my favorite
because it's flashy in any way, it's just a Notepad type text editor
that I happen to like.
Now it's time to get to work and update the ISO.
I opened firefox and....ut oh...can't get into my Webpath webmail to
get the update script Flavio sent me. No problem I'll just run
"netconfig" then "dhcpd" which will get a IP automatically.
Hmmmmm...that didn't work. OK, I'll try
to hard code the IP. Nope, ifconfig shows it didn't
take. Well, there is always the possibility that the
update also will address this.
Now here is where having a ton of experience isn't any more useful than
someone using Linux for the first time. You see, I didn't bother to
check the boot options under F3 as it prompted on the initial boot
screen. There is one that is required in this case, "usedhcp".
So although we all hear it over and over,
maybe reading the manual first is a good idea. Or at least
checking the boot options on the very first screen I come to!
After getting ISO and update
module onto the hard drive I
mounted the ISO:
bash-3.00#
mkdir /mnt/hda1/root/mntiso
bash-3.00# mount -o loop GoblinXPremium.2006.1.iso /mnt/hda1/root/mntiso
Then copied the contents of the mounted ISO image to a working
temporary directory:
Then it was just a a matter of placing the module in the /modules
directory and rebuilding the ISO.
There we go, now it's time to test it out. After burning a CD from
the updated ISO, I switched out to a spare hard drive I use in
these circumstances, and again booted from the CD. ...and again spent
the entire
boot time looking at the details of the boot graphic. Normally I would
have hit the Esc or F2 key to watch it detect my hardware and pay
attention to the startup, but I was enjoying the "cover art".
After configuring Xorg again and getting to the desktop I began the
installation. It was one of the easiest installs I have ever
done. I did find it a bit odd that after detecting the previously
existing Linux partition on the drive it said it was going to stop but
then continued and installed after I hit the "OK" button on that window.
After the install was complete I booted from the hard drive but
couldn't start the x server. It was giving me a warning that
a module it uses was newer that the X server version and it
shouldn't
start. This was too weird. How could a different version of a
module required by Xorg be different than what was on the CD? After
about a second and a half I figured I made another rookie mistake. You
see, all distributions have always said to either reformat an
existing partition or re-partition the drive to make sure that it's
blank before installing. I had gotten spoiled with most newer
installers just wiping it out for you by reformatting before
installing. This is not necessarily a good way to go about it, but
usually makes things easier for new users. I took a peek on the drive
and there was a mess of GoblinX mixed with Debian (unstable/testing)
all over the place. I'm surprised it had even booted from the drive.
I again booted from the
new GXP 2006.1 LiveCD and deleted the partition using Gparted.
Recreated it and reinstalled cleanly.
I was so taken by this distro I
decided I just had to write a little
review:
GoblinX
is created by 36 year old Flavio Pereira de Oliveira from Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. Flavio says he only started to use Linux just
after Slackware 9.0 was released. By trade he is an engineer
who has always worked on architectural projects
instead of buildings and construction. As you will see from
his Desktop Linux distribution, he is also an artist.
Flavio says he loves painting, which
is more than just a hobby to him. A few of his paintings can
be viewed online at: deviantart.com.
Flavio also likes progressive rock, literature, and design, as
well as sports. Grobsch, his nickname (you'll see it in his forums),
was derived from a progressive German rock band called:
Grobschnitt.
I found GoblinX Premium to
be a great combination of "Speed
and Beauty".
Speed:GoblinX Premium is
fast, real fast. Especially for a LiveCD. In
fact the it runs fast
enough from the LiveCD that it's quite usable as a desktop operating
system without ever installing
it. I only had a 1.2Ghz system with 512MB ram to test with. I suspect
256MB RAM would be just as good except you probably can't open as many
applications at the same time.
Beauty:
Honestly I've never seen any distribution come close to the graphical
artistry of GXP. The artwork
on the introduction page and desktop backgrounds are excellent. These
are not desktop graphics,
they are works of art. I was
going to include the various screen
shots but think it's best to just let people experience them on their
own, as one should with any work of art. A few people have found
one of the desktops a little offending, but remember this is art
and
as such it fits into the
distro.
The
attention to detail is quite nice and nearly every icon and button on
the desktop has been customized.
The KDE
desktop is almost unrecognizable as being KDE. GXP uses a custom KDE
tower instead of
the
usual app bar. Again this isn't adequately described with words or
screen shots, it's something
you have to use to appreciate.
There is
nothing about GoblinX Premium 2006.1
that is just "ordinary". It's
definitely not the "Usual"
applications thrown together with the "usual" desktops. From the boot
screen to the icons it's art
in motion. Even the terminal prompt it boots into is graphical.
I could
give my personal opinion of the different desktops and graphics, but
that would just be what I
found interesting and liked, and wouldn't be doing it justice.
There is a lot to like about GXP and
it's really a personal choice of which you will like best....as is the
case with any piece of art.
Software:
GXP has about everything most people would want or need without going
overboard. There
are also a few very good applications included that you don't often see
in other distributions
such as the great CD/DVD burner Graveman, along with Rhythmbox,
Linphone, Inkscape
and others.
Games:
Although GoblinX Premium is not
considered a "Gaming" release it does
contain a nice collection
of games that crosses it over into the realm of a gaming distribution.
I played a few and
everyone I tried worked. Opening the "Game Center" describes what is
included.
I'd like
to mention a few things I have learned that can save a lot of time if
you plan on installing
GoblinX Premium 2006.1.
The
first is that if you intend on an ethernet connection press F3 at the
initial boot screen and type:
goblinx usedhcp instead of just pressing the enter key to boot. If you
don't you won't have network
connectivity even after installation.
The
second is to get your settings straightened out before installing. If
you have to configure X go ahead
and do it because it will install exactly as configured when you begin
the installation process.
I found it easier to get everything like I wanted it, then install
knowing ahead of time how it would
be. Also, you might find it more convenient to use Xorg -configure to
configure your X settings
if your video card isn't supported than to use the manual
configuration.
The
third is that GoblinX Premium is so fast you might not even want to
bother installing it but instead
just save your settings and files on a hard disk or pen drive.
GoblinX
Premium is a very good release made spectacular through the
artistry
of Flavio
Pereira de Oliveira.
He has used Linux as his canvas. If it wasn't for doing him a
small
favor I would have missed out. So I guess helping others does have
it's rewards. Thank you Flavio!
Tuesday 09 February, 2010
22481004 requests since Wednesday 14 September, 2005
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