Manjaro KDE! An unpromised Release with promised breakages !!

Today I tested the newly released Manjaro 0.8.0 KDE i686 . I know this distro for quite some time now : the last time I used it that was their  XFCE version. Then it was quite acceptable and even that there were problems it was still working.

But this release is a total disaster as far as KDE version is concerned : they have released their classic XFCE version once again and GNOME also.

Since I tested KDE I will mention the disasters I faced on this version.

It is a live DVD : Boots fine and you see a plain KDE Desktop.

I kept looking for their installer and contrary to their XFCE version they did not bother to place an icon on desktop so one can launch the installer : I kept searching for it in K Menu and after good five minutes I finally managed to locate the installer.

About the installer : It is the same old ArchBang Installer which these few newly forked arch based distros got adopted and works well on others but totally fails on Manjaro.

All the steps on installer apparently went smooth till GRUB2 installation : I opted to default i.e MBR and GRUB2 failed to install : I retried and this time I opted to install to the partition where I was trying to install Manjaro and as expected GRUB2 failed once again. So feeling fully pissed off I opted not to install GRUB2 and planned to boot it with my Arch Linux .

Once I had manually entered Manjaro kernel enteries into my Arch Linux GRUB2 I finally managed to boot Manjaro and more disasters were waiting ahead .

KDE being fully installed should present  KDM to login to Manjaro but there was no KDM : just plain text based login prompt : with grim heart I issued my username and password and weirdly I could see my password visible . I issued startx and X tried to load but crashed in few moments leaving me at login prompt again .

I looked for nvidia drivers and they were already installed : looked for inittab to check if KDM was enabled there and to my amazement there is no inittab file present !

One more missing file offered by Archbang installer normally was rc.conf file so I had no idea what was autoset for my system by Manjaro during installation.

After these apparently visible disasters I lost my all excitement to probe anymore into this distro and I promptly formatted it without any hesitation.

In my humble opinion and with my brief but futile experience with Manjaro KDE I have no regrets to say that it is a total waste of bandwidth and time. Other than a polished new  website and  being accepted by DistroWatch added to its distributions list it seems to be poorly tested and rushed for release only .

This project was quiet for many months and suddenly it comes to surface with a bright new website : three different types of isos and lots of apparent attraction but on real test it failed like a hobbyist distro. And to reassure I had perfectly burned media : no bad download : no wrong md5sums etc.

Contrary to Manjaro , Bridge Linux , Nosonja and ArchbBang all work out of box and I have never faced any issues with any of these distros while installing them on numerous machines.

If Manjaro team wants to be more successful they have to release at least some test releases for public testing and bug fixing before they commit to a new release with broken wings as this  0.8.0 release. 

Best wishes to Manjaro, see you next time when you can at least walk on your feet .

Regards

Fbpanel Configuration file for Arch Linux

 Recently I installed Openbox on Arch Linux : everyone has choice to use any panel or no panel : some like tint2 : I personally like Fbpanel .

So I spent some time to create a working Fbpanel settings for Arch Linux openbox session and I will put it here for quick reference .

Please find the following location in your file manager in super user mode (root )

~/.config/fbpanel

This directory contains a file named as "default" : that is our target file to configure to that we can run a neat and tidy fbpanel on Arch Linux .

This file contains default settings for an fbpanel : you need to modify it so it can work for your Arch Linux Openbox session . Open it with a text editor e.g geany

Just copy paste these conents into this file removing the default settings first 



########################################
## fbpanel configuration file         ##
########################################
Global {
    edge = bottom
    allign = center
    margin = 0
    widthtype = percent
    width = 100
    height = 25
    transparent = true
    tintcolor = #000000
    alpha = 200
    setdocktype = true
    autohide = false
    heightWhenHidden = 0
    roundcorners = false
    setpartialstrut = true
    setlayer = false
    layer = above
    roundcornersradius = 0
    maxelemheight = 0
}
Plugin {
    type = space
    config {
        size = 2
    }
}
plugin {
    type = menu
    expand = false
    padding = 0
    config {
        image = ~/.config/fbpanel/arch.png
        systemmenu {
        }
        separator {
        }
    menu { 
        name = Computer
        icon = computer
           
        item {
        name = Terminal
        icon = terminal
        action = lxterminal
        }
            item {
                name = Lock Display
                icon = gnome-lockscreen
                action = slimlock
            }
            separator {
            }
            item {
                name = Reboot
                icon = gnome-session-reboot
                action = sudo reboot
            }
            item {
                name = Shutdown
                icon = gnome-session-halt
                action = sudo shutdown -h 0
            }
            item {
                name = logout
                icon = gnome-session-logout
                action = openbox --exit
            }
        }
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = space
    config {
        size = 12
    }
}
Plugin {
type = launchbar
config {
button {
icon = file-manager
tooltip = File Manager
action = pcmanfm
}
button {
icon = terminal
tooltip = Terminal
action = lxterminal
}
button {
icon = web-browser
tooltip = Web Browser
action = firefox
}
}
}
Plugin {
    type = space
    config {
        size = 15
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = wincmd
    config {
        icon = gnome-fs-desktop
        tooltip = Show Desktop
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = space
    config {
        size = 15
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = pager
    config {
        showwallpaper = true
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = taskbar
    expand = true
    config {
        ShowIconified = true
        ShowMapped    = true
        ShowAllDesks  = false
        tooltips = true
        IconsOnly = false
        MaxTaskWidth = 150
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = space
    config {
       size = 15
    }
}
plugin {
    type = tray
    expand = false
    padding = 0
    config {
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = space
    config {
        size = 10
    }
}
plugin {
    type = volumebutton
}
# Digital Clock
Plugin {
        type = dclock
        expand = false
        padding = 0
        config {
        ShowSeconds = false
        HoursView = 12
        TooltipFmt = %A %x
        Color = #1068a0
        ShowCalendar = true
    }
}
Plugin {
    type = space
    config {
        size = 10
}
}
separator {
}
Plugin {
type = launchbar
config {
button {
image = ~/.config/fbpanel/exit.png
action = /usr/bin/oblogout
}

# 'icons' plugin lets you customize window icons.
# these changes apply to entire desktop
Plugin {
    type = icons
    config {
        DefaultIcon = /usr/share/fbpanel/images/default.xpm
        application {
            icon = gnome-terminal
            ClassName = XTerm
        }
        application {
            icon = gnome-terminal
            ClassName = mlterm
        }
        application {
            icon = gnome-terminal
            ClassName = URxvt
        }
        application {
            icon = gnome-emacs
            ClassName = Emacs
        }
        application {
            icon = mozilla-firefox
            ClassName = Firefox-bin
        }
        application {
            icon = mozilla-firefox
            ClassName = Firefox
        }
    }
}
---------------------------------------------------

Install "oblogout" from AUR so you can use the Exit button on your panel .The Exit button 

icon is given on this post : place it in 

 ~/.config/fbpanel 

direcotry along with "arch.png"(arch.png will work for your menu button set for Arch Linux ) so your fbpanel picks them according to the settings in "default" file pasted above .

You are all set to use Fbpanel on your openbox session now .



Two Rolling Release Distributions

PCLinuxOS .92

I am using Arch Linux and PCLinuxOS for past many years with PCLinuxOS dating back to V.92 and Arch Linux since early 2010 . I also used Sabayon Linux , ALT Linux , Chakra , Fuduntu and Unity Linux for different periods of times in past but never settled down with any of these for a daily usage due to many different reasons ranging from instability to facing many problems at different levels.

I prefer using a Rolling-Release Distribution and when I searched on google I found out that Arch Linux and PCLinuxOS are the commonly used Rolling-Release Distributions.

 In recent years LinuX Mint Debian Edition ( LMDE) , antiX and
siduction ( Debian based Rolling ReleaseDistributions ) have gained much popularity as well and I tried them at different stages but did not use them for much longer time periods . Worth mentioning here is semplice ( sid with openbox ) which I still like but have not tested it well enough as yet .

 Out of my perosnal experience I find both the Arch Linux and PCLinuxOS as one of the best Rolling-Release Distributions till now : they are stable, reliable,easy to configure and use and work on almost all common hardware.

I use them on daily basis and promote them to my friends , family members and to those who want to try a Linux Distribtution as a replacement for Windows. Of course I urge them to use PCLinuxOS at first and later switch to Arch Linux when they are more experienced and comfortable in handling routine Linux computing issues in command line.

PCLinuxOS Desktop Screenshot

My freshly cooked PCLinuxOS Desktop sporting KDE 4.8.3 with all the latest software packages .

Arch Linux Openbox Installation & Configuration

Smaller the better , better things come in smaller packs but it takes lot of efforts to make smaller delicate items .

I am an Arch Linux user for many years now and the simplicity of Arch has always fascinated me .But this is simplicity needs basic core knowledge and unless you subject yourself to manual editing of important files and make yourself familiar with commands in terminal you will face lot more difficulties than you expect . Plainly speaking Arch Linux is not a point and click Linux , it demands you to know what you are doing and why .

Openbox obsessed me recently and I refused to install and use available forks of Arch Linux with preconfigured openbox since it goes against the will to submit yourself to Arch`s simplicity as I mentioned above . Yes, I did consult these Arch Linux + Openbox forks to see what is hidden underneath the beautifully crafted desktops on these distributions and I admit that I learned a lot.

Next place is #archlinux@freenode , lot of devoted people are always there to help and I gained more core knowledge about openbox on arch Linux . Worth mentioning here are Arch Wiki and forum , they are loaded with information.

So after almost 2 weeks struggle and efforts I managed to install and configure my openbox and I want to put all those steps here stepwise .

1 . You are expected to know how to install and configure Arch Linux core installation or else this post is useless for you .
2 . You can install openbox with a simple pacman command and for more help you can consult arch wiki .
3. I will just mention the main steps I used to configure my openbox , there are many options , you can choose whatever suits your liking and requirements.

a) Panel : I use lxpanel , I find it easy to configure . You can use tint2 , fbpanel and even xfce4-panel

b) Slim : It is simple and it solved my issue of mounting all the partitions on my system . You can simply use startx , lxdm , lightdm , gdm-old or any other DM you like .

c) .xinitrc file

It should have these contents

#!/bin/sh

export BROWSER=firefox

export DE=openbox

exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch openbox-session

d) openbox autostart file

It should have these contents

(sleep 3 && /usr/bin/nm-applet --sm-disable) &

lxpanel &

conky -q &

volumeicon -b &

nitrogen --restore &

openbox-menu &

xcompmgr -CcfF &

e) openbox environment file

# Set system-wide environment variables here for Openbox

# User-specific variables should be placed in $HOME/.config/openbox/environment

# To set your language for displaying messages and time/date formats, use the following:

#LANG=en_CA.UTF8

# To set your keyboard layout, you need to modify your X config:

# http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+set+keyboard+layout+xorg

f ) “ /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/55-myconf.pkla “ file

[Storage Permissions]

Identity=unix-group:storage

Action=org.freedesktop.udisks.filesystem-mount;org.freedesktop.udisks.drive-eject;org.freedesktop.udisks.drive-detach;org.freedesktop.udisks.luks-unlock;org.freedesktop.udisks.inhibit-polling;org.freedesktop.udisks.drive-set-spindown;org.freedesktop.udisks.filesystem-mount-system-internal

ResultAny=yes

ResultActive=yes

ResultInactive=yes

Once you have all these settings as mentioned above your Arch Linux openbox will work without any issues. The rest of tweaking of the system is mainly cosmetic and you can do it according to your taste and needs.

This post shows the core of everything that works for me, it is not a replacement for Arch Wiki or forum at all , but it works for me and I am sure it will work for everyone .

Best of luck and welcome to Arch Linux + Openbox !

Arch Linux " A nightmare for "'n00bs"' , Well, not anymore !

There was a time when I was desperate to install Arch Linux like many other home users and I kept failing in doing so because I apparently lacked the core knowledge of "DIY" and "KISS" needed for Arch Linux . There was "godane" and others who tried to teach me how to get over this nightmare of installing an Arch Linux based system but I surely failed every time. It literally took me four years to overcome this nightmare of my computing life. Ever since then I have managed to install it not less than hundreds of times on many computers for my friends , colleagues and in my office.

Then came the time of Chakra , ArchBang Linux , CTKArch and KahelOS , distributions which made installing Arch Linux peanuts for everyone . But Chakra was the only one Arch forked distribution that ever impressed me.

I often ask myself : where were these talented people running relatively new but tantalizingly impressive projects like Nosonja and Bridge Linux when I was dying and striving to install an Arch Linux based system?

I was already in deep love with Bridge Linux when today I came to know about this new beauty called Nosonja !

I will not try to advertise these distributions here in my post , rather I wish that those who want to taste something real and still want to be a pure Arch Linux user must explore these two distributions, I assure them they will not be disappointed at all .

I don`t need to get these two installed because I am already running Arch Linux on my computers but since I am so impressed by both these projects in true sense that I am going to install both of these distributions on my computer to enjoy the great work of both these amazing projects.  

Bridge Linux | A Linux Distribution for New Archers

 Bridge Linux is a stable , easy and nicely created new Linux Distribution for those who want to install Arch easily without the "scary" Arch text based installer.

Here is the DOWNLOAD PAGE for all the available version of Arch Linux Distribution .

There is an upcoming Bridge Linux LXDE version  which is expected to be released to the public in near future. I am sure it is going to be as exciting as the XFCE , GNOME and KDE versions.

My PCLinuxOS Gnome3 Desktop

This is my newly cooked PCLinuxOS Gnome3 Desktop I built on latest released Zen-Mini x64 ISO.

It is working like a charm and if I can manage I will try to remaster it and upload an ISO somewhere .

An eye on simpleLinux GNU/Linux

I am closely following the development of this interesting project from Malaysia known as simpleLinux GNU/Linux  , it has interesting news on its development page about their forthcoming release of the version known as SAKURA which is based on Tinycore . The news are exciting and I am patiently waiting what they will release soon as they are promising .