Review: Bridge Linux 2012.2 Xfce + KDE + GNOME

On my recent review of KahelOS, Dr.Saleem Khan, a regular commenter on reviews here, suggested that I try out Bridge Linux, as it is supposed to be even better and easier to use than KahelOS. That piqued my interest, so I am trying it out now.

Xfce: Main Screen + Xfce Right-Click Menu

Bridge Linux seems to be a fairly new player on the field. Its website is quite sparse; there is not even an "About" section describing the purpose of this distribution. But it has editions with GNOME, KDE, and Xfce, so I am trying each of those now.

I tested each of the three editions using a multiboot live USB made with MultiSystem. Only one of the editions will get the full barrage of testing; the other two will get basically an overview of what is included, what works, and what does not work. I tested the installation of one of the editions in a VirtualBox VM in a Xubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" host with 1024 MB of RAM, 128 MB of video memory, and 3D graphics acceleration allocated to the guest OS. Follow the jump to see whether Bridge Linux can bridge the divide between new users and Arch Linux, as it claims.

Featured Comments: Week of 2012 February 19

There was one post that got a handful of comments this past week, so I will try to repost most of those.

Review: KahelOS 020212

An anonymous reader asked, "Is KahelOS a rolling release?"
Commenter kelvin said, among many other things, "kahelOS is progressing nicely and its a fairly new distro memory is quite high arch with gnome3 and a few extensions running idles at 230mb on my laptop. to install from AUR you need yaourt/packer I find yaourt better uses the same commands as pacman they both find and install dependencies. "I don't understand the statement I would probably use the Arch repositories in KahelOS to install a different DE (probably either Xfce or GNOME 3/Cinnamon". What is the point of installing a OS then mutilating it with bloat to install another DE. if you want open-box use archbang uses 65mb ram. if you want xfce Gnome, KDE, etc. Install arch then add what you want Arch is no harder to install than any other distro you only install what you neednothing more nothing less. Its all in the mind if a 60+ yr old with no education can read and understand the beginners Wiki young people like you should be able to do it."
Reader Dr.Saleem Khan had an alternative suggestion: "Nothing against KahelOS , I have used it for long time in past , was never impressive if we are looking for an Arch Linux alternate for newbies but Bridge Linux (http://millertechnologies.net/) is very impressive,stable and user-friendly for new archers."

Thanks to those who commented on this past week's posts. This coming week, I may or may not have a post put out; it depends on my workload. Anyway, if you like what I write, please continue subscribing and commenting!

Review: KahelOS 020212

I have reviewed Chakra GNU/Linux a number of times here both before and after its split from the Arch base, and I have fairly consistently said that it is an amazing distribution and has a great implementation of KDE. But when it comes to Arch-based distributions, I have never tried the other side of the DE coin — GNOME — until now.

Main Screen + KahelOS Welcome Center

That is where KahelOS comes in. It is an Arch-based distribution that ships with GNOME and aims to make it user-friendly, though like Chakra, it expects that users will be at least somewhat willing to learn and work with the system. It was originally targeted at a primarily Filipino audience, but now it has a more international perspective.

I tested the live session through a live USB made with MultiSystem. I tested the installation in a VirtualBox VM in a Xubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" live USB host with 1024 MB of RAM allocated to the guest OS. Follow the jump to see what this other offspring of Arch is like.