We have loads of websites, reviews and blogs about how "radically simple" PCLinuxOS is.
People that try it almost always like it ( there are exceptions though) and like it to the extent that they have made it Number One Distribution on Distrowatch.
As PCLOS has displaced Ubuntu, so many people try it and then rate it in comparison to Ubuntu.
To site a favorable example, check Maarteen's open source Blog.
I have seen numerous examples of such comparison and in almost all PCLOS wins easily.
However, there are three major problems with PCLOS
Thanks for making such a nice distribution and for making me feel great about being a part of it.
People that try it almost always like it ( there are exceptions though) and like it to the extent that they have made it Number One Distribution on Distrowatch.
As PCLOS has displaced Ubuntu, so many people try it and then rate it in comparison to Ubuntu.
To site a favorable example, check Maarteen's open source Blog.
I have seen numerous examples of such comparison and in almost all PCLOS wins easily.
However, there are three major problems with PCLOS
- Its only in English. Now PCLOS is based upon Mandriva and Mandriva can be customized to most of known languages, the same holds true for PCLOS also, though it might require some tweaking.
- A fresh install would mean more than 500 MB of updates. Ubuntu has a 6 month release schedule, for PCLOS it is unknown. PCLOS has a rolling release system, so people who have installed 2007 simply need to do an upgrade through Synaptic and they will have the latest PCLOS. Any new release would simply be a snapshot of the existing stable software in PCLOS 2007 repository. That apart Texstar is planning to make a release some time soon.
- Community. Now this is one area where Ubuntu scores heavily over PCLOS. Agreed Ubuntu has got the greatest community amongst all Linux Distributions ( gentoo users may contest this ), however, PCLOS is improving on its community and improving very rapidly. Recently I had posted a query in PCLOS forums and was delighted to find and answer by Texstar himself. It was about including Adept Package Manager ( Kubuntu Fame) in PCLOS and Texstar writes back
"I looked at Adept a couple of times already. The first time it just crashed out. Later I snatched Ark Linux srpms and got a little closer but it still crashed out looking for some kind of catergories. Im more interested in Packagekit that Foresight Linux is working on but we'd have to do some udev, hal,dbus updating for 2008 before we can get it into PCLinuxOS."
Now a reply by the Project Manager of the Distribution indeed instills lots of confidence that the Forums are being monitored by the PCLOS team at the highest level. Just read his words, how cleverly he has not only answered my question, but also gave another interesting information about the possible package manager in PCLOS. I then went ahead and check the "software and Installation folders on PCLOS forums". As expected, they are full of questions, however, to my surprise almost all of them has an answer. There are many "Senior members" who take the pains of answering and helping others. Definitely the community is growing.
Thanks for making such a nice distribution and for making me feel great about being a part of it.
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3 comments:
Please keep in mind that the size of the community and quality of the community are not one in the same. The quality of PCLinuxOS's community has exceeded any other I've used. Also. there is a lot of command line stuff and not so obvious things many need to do, and they heavily rely on the community and Wiki in Ubuntu. PCLinuxOS is more straightforward, with GUI configuration tools that simplify those tasks and most users can easily decipher them.
Most of us PCLinuxOS users like the 'rolling release' aspect of the distro. Unlike other distros where you're completely reinstalling with every release, there are very few 'gotchas' in PCLinuxOS. With other distros that release on a predetermined schedule, often releases are buggy, and with a complete overhaul of the distro with those major releases, many people suffer through upgrading problems. This usually doesn't affect PCLinuxOS, with only a few exceptions. Also, the lack of any deadlines allow the packagers to make sure the release is as rock solid as humanly possible.
I've been down the road of every major distro out there and find PCLinuxOS allows me to spend more time using my computer and less time configuring it.
PCLinuxOS truly lives up to its reputation as 'the distro-hopper stopper...'
It's well over a year since I began using Pclinuxos. One of my first posts was answered by texstar. Other members of the development team also answer questions. I've never experienced such direct involvement in user support elsewhere. I agree with anon - quality counts. I go under the name ternor at the forum.
PCLinuxOS has a very small but well knit community. I wanted to emphasize this fact.
Here we find less questions on the forum, but that can be because there are hardly any bugs in PCLOS.
PCLOS just need to improve upon its howtos.
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