b.coston's Home Page

I did LINUX dialup and still post O.O.B. disc reviews , 3 = the first box tested .  20090405  . 

http://sites.google.com/site/bcoston/socialterms
has useful terms

http://sites.google.com/site/bcoston/hardware

has my hardware info.

20100123 2.6.25.16-elive-686 Debian 4.3.1.2
Measured on 3 after upgrade . I didn't replace the 3 config. files synaptic asked about and got boot errors but it all seems to work . The knetwork manager installed here makes this my best install on 3 . Has KDE. , unlike Kubuntu , recent versions of " KDE. " dont act like KDE. .
Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20100116 Kubuntu 9.10 _i386
On my 3 core G igabyte , it got sound , flash and native resolution . lacks KDE .
Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20100101 Super OS 9.10 12-29-09
Got sound , wireless , flash on 3 . Lack of kde not a disaster , I put both panels on side/s and it did barely help . Trackpad doesn't side scroll . Seems good at net . 201008 Not good at flash .
Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20100101 Berry100 12-27-09
No kde . Got sound , wireless and many firefox crashes ! White print on white background . Has miss Driller .
Didn't work on my 3 core G igabyte board . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20100101 Tuquito 3.1 12-27-09
Got sound , wireless , flash on 3 . No English , or less .
Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20100101 Elive 1.9.54
Got sound and wireless . May get kde after install . 1st Elive to get wireless in some time . Prime distro on laptop = old elive now and this might beat the competition .
Didn't work on my 3 core G igabyte board .Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20100101 Sabayon 8.1, 12-25-09
No kde , got sound and wireless .
Didn't work on my 3 core G igabyte board . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20100101 Kademar 4.9.1 '12-26-09
Has KDE " 3.x " ! got sound and wireless . If I get data backup done , I will add it to my multi - boot . Amazing how many distro don't boot right from standard multi setup anymore , even when they let one click a partition boot option during install . Didn't work on my 3 core G igabyte board .
Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20091226 newest Knoppix
got sound , no wireless
. Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20091129  • 2009-11-20: Dev. Rel. VENENUX GNU/Linux 0.8 RC2 dvd
O 3; didn't localise when I typed lang=us , but it expected a different keyboard , as the = was not an = . No sound , did debian decide my machine doesn't use free enough sound hardware ? No wireless , did debian decide my machine doesn't use free enough wireless hardware ?
Partition install didn't succeed at booting , weird junk in grub directory , didn't list self in menu.lst . Impossible to localize as [ctrl][alt][backspace] doesn't restart the graphics system . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade . I think I'd like to see linux distributions actually get better over time , unlike the trend after the Malware Tsunami of 2007 . This doesn't just come from David Fox dying . While a slight improvement , google sites disappoints when one likes large print . And they slightly botched the move . Suddenly the fan in my laptop does occasionally work now , this part of linux evidences slow improvements .

20091118 VectorLinux 6.0 "KDE-Classic" edition
On 3 ; Overwrote MBR. despite my instructions not to ! After restoring grub. . pointing at
the partition got a grub menu . That's another gross error when the installer says it's using
LILO. . Gui. never came up ! Yet another gross failure masquerading as a linux
distribution . Not good on G .

20091115 simply MEPIS 8.0.12 _32 and _64
Optical on 3 . Has KDE 3 and not an imitation of jwm masquerading as KDE . No sound , native resolution . My wireless = the same as the ee pc , which comes with linux , so the failure here = AWFUL !  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .
20100116 On G , it failed to get the 1440x900 resolution right but cycled through several wrong resolutions , got flash .

20091006 simply MEPIS 8.0.10 _32 and _64
Optical on 3 . Has KDE 3 and not an imitation of jwm masquerading as KDE . Got sound , native resolution . My wireless = the same as the ee pc , which comes with linux , so failing here = AWFUL !  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade . 20100116 On G , it failed to get the 1440x900 resolution right but cycled through several wrong resolutions , got flash .

20090818 Anubis MEPIS. from june
minstall worked on 3 and it played foamy fine . Thus it got native resolution , sound , wireless and flash right out of the box . The kde. 3.x works fine . Repositories list my 2 favorite games . Lost sound after installing some packages . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090818 Kademar 4.8 and 4.9
4.8 looked great as live on 3 . HD install = kernel panick for both , so I dumped Mint on the partition .  kdemar = the password , not kademar . 4.9 managed to go on the usb. stick fine . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090817 Mint , KDE version
Lacks KDE 3.x . Got Wireless , sound , flash . Shockingly good considering the window environment gives no major features over jwm and consumes much more ram. etc. . Trivial administration tasks under kde3.x = horrible on the HD. install ; I rebooted into a simply MEPIS partition and got my work done 20090818 . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090722 ULTILEX 4.0.0
On 3 the SLAX works well with sound , KDE 3.x , flash playing under konqueror over my wireless web access .  Some of the other OSes like puppy do work .  Native screen resolution detected correctly . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090707 a MEPIS
After finally grafting in the xorg.conf from the latest Elive test release , this works very well on 3 .  Didn't test kworldclock as my background wallpaper as internet just came back .  Louder volume and sound stays intelligible after hours of use , unlike many a distro .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090707 AV Linux
The openbox wm looks good on 3 .  No sond or wireless .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090707 Antix MEPIS m82 public test
Got wireless , flash and sound .  But no KDE3. O.k.   Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090707 latest Elive test
Annoying to graft in KDE3. with internet flaking .  Annoying wireless .  Same good stuff iff you like Enlightenment micro text UI. .  Sound not improved , vs new - ish MEPIS .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090707 ANUBIS _64 bit
MEPIS based , has KDE3. Did wireless , sound and clearly played back Foamy's swear words from ill will press .  Missing Konqueror .  Krusader lacks file size view feature of Konqueror .  Typing :
su -
minstall
, should let me succeed at installing to hard drive .  Nice wireless tool UI. .  Tended not to let one install software from repository while running from cd. , possibly from flaky internet here .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090608 GRML 2009.05
on x , jwm worked .  Install to hd. went badly .   [ctrl] + doesn't always work but OS. does cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress . 

20090528 latest MINT
Got sound , wireless , native resolution of screen .  Desktop very smooth but poorly conceived .  Didn't succeed at x restart in different desktop environment on LIVE cd .  Repositories added flash fine .  Kuickshow went in fine too .  If it can KDE. , and I don't mean that dead common stupid recent fork away from KDE. this distro should work well .    Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090504 PCLinuxOS 2009
On 3 it does get wireless and more software in the repositories makes this viable , unlike before .  Never worked out on x .  Did flash vid fine and I'm writing from it now .  Good KDE. oob. and native resolution .  I dislike the freeciv in the base repositories .  Kuickshow still displays noise instead of pictures even after replacing extra parts of the graphics system from the basic repositories .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090430 simply MEPIS 8.0.06 64 bit
On 3 , Got sound , KDE. , only native resolution .  No wireless .  Test terminated , no - I don't care if some extra tweaking might change the wireless situation .   Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090428 simply MEPIS 8.0.06 32 bit
On 3 , Got sound , KDE. , only native resolution .  No wireless .  Test terminated , no - I don't care if some extra tweaking might change the wireless situation .   Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090423 Sidux1.09 kde full
Got sound and nice resolution on G .  Sound but no wireless on 3 .  No , I won't waste time on your ethernet fantasies when hundreds of other distributions would like a review too .   Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090423 Calculate x64
Botched screen on 3 after I told it the resolution .  No wireless on 3 . Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090423 ELive 1.7.24 8-27/09
Just added KDE 3 to hd install , doesn't seem as good as my upgraded install but does flash etc. fine . After KDE. install , wireless gets much easier after adding Epanel to KDE.'s panel .  20090429 Maybe my new main distro as it currently sees the partitions of other distro.'s ok. .   2009.06.18 Suspend to disk MORE than doubles battery life , indicating that it doesn't just shut down one core .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090423 antiXmepis 20090211
No wireless and no further review .   Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090423 Frugalware 1.6 final 686
Would not install on 3 .  

20090415 Chakra 686 - 090218alpha2
Needs KDE . Got wireless , sound , flash . Looks good iff you can get real KDE .  20090423 hd install hung at desktop .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090415 Kubuntu w actual KDE 3.x
Has KDE , much better UI. than last version of distro .  Got native resolution on 3 .  Internet failed on wireless despite Knetworkmanager seeing the available networks .  Ether net also failed .  Couldn't test sound or flash .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090411 Calculate
Didn't get KDE on Live running distro despite evidence in synaptic that it can get KDE3 . Very bad U.I. . They should have stuck to jwm. so they would waste less ram etc. . Got internet over ethernet cable .

20090411 Mint 6 KDE.
Didn't get KDE on Live running distro despite evidence in synaptic that it can get KDE3 .  Very bad U.I. .  They should have stuck to jwm. so they would waste less ram etc. .  Got internet over ethernet cable .  Sound worked .  Didn't initially boot on 3 but it booted on David's laptop .  Wiping giant smudges off disk and spinning it very fast in another laptop did clean it enough to boot on 3 .

20090411 SLAX 'now'
ksr--wKDE 3.x works fine .  Sound worked .  Only got native resolution of laptop 3 .  Wireless didn't work .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

20090405 Elive got upgraded
Tended to freeze when I opened 90 browser tabs , unlike Sabayon 4 .  Everything seems to work fine . 20090411 still tends to lose sound quality if pandora.com goes through some power saving state .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade .

 20090330 Untangle 602
Shares stuff out fine but doesn't come with squid caching for my virtual rack .  Refused to recieve DSL. from nic vs onboard ethernet but a re-install fixed that .  Very good at letting box 2 route .
20090330 Puppy , latest
Burn didn't verify but worked fine on 3 . -wireless but potentially fixable . An impressive little monster .

20090324 PCLinuxOS and MEPIS 8 , latest
Both = good .  I'm using 2 rc back as the MEPIS on 3 and I suspect a different RC was better on x .  Current plan = use MEPIS as prime distro on x as it saw everything including a driver specifically for the new ip4200 printer .  MEPIS also did pppoe with great ease .  The switch will wait until we get settings for the 'network' worked out .  I like the new PCLinuxOS but after I download a couple applications on MEPIS PCLinuxOS still suffers from lack of working devices .  Both suffer a critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade ..

20090222 Sidux
This one got sound on g .  I didn't test it on x .  It might make a wired connection and then one might manage to fix the wireless .  Suffers critical defect , distro fails to cycle through extra resolutions after [ctrl][alt][+] keypress which worked for over half a decade ..