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 .