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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: bash-3.00#
mkdir /mnt/hda1/root/tempgob
bash-3.00# cp -p -R mntiso tempgob 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 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! |
| Thursday 02 September, 2010 | 24112023 requests since Wednesday 14 September, 2005 |
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