As the rolling release distro chucks out another update, Mayank Sharma takes a look at the decade old one-man distro.
The PCLinuxOS distro rarely makes headlines in the Linux press. But that isn’t a reflection on the distro’s quality, but rather its mild-mannered no-nonsense just-works nature. The distro uses a rolling release model with ISO releases every now and then to assist new users to take the plunge. Officially the distro ships with the KDE desktop and there’s also a barebones KDE MiniMe release that allows advanced users to build their desktop and pull-in apps according to their tastes. Additional communitycreated versions are listed around various desktops including LXDE, Mate and KDE FullMonty.
The distro includes a diverse collection of apps for all kinds of users including LibreOffice, GIMP, Google Earth, VLC Media player, Calibre ebook manager and more.
Despite its vast collection of apps it provides a consistent and coherent desktop experience. In order to ensure that the distro is usable straight out-of the-box PCLinuxOS also includes a bunch of proprietary apps such as Dropbox and Skype and a variety of Codecs that can handle all sorts of online and offline content. Although PCLinuxOS uses the RPM package format, the distro employs a modified version of Debian’s Apt tools that works with RPM packages called APT-RPM. The distro’s repos hold over 13,000 packages that you can install via the Synaptic package manager.
On the downside, the distro uses the classic menu style of the Kickoff KDE launcher which might appeal to old time PCLinuxOS users, but will only irritate new ones not used to trawling menus looking for apps.
Some core components of the distro, such as its graphical installer and the Control Centre configuration app are derived from Mandrake/Mandriva and are visibly similar. The installer doesn’t offer much to write home about – it’s simple enough to be navigated by new users and carries plenty of options for advanced custom installs.
The Control Centre contains a set of system configuration tools that help you through the complete process of setting up various services on the computer. Of note is the 'Network Sharing' section which eases the process of setting up different types of file shares. Then there’s the 'Security' section which will even help inexperienced users setup their firewall. Also, unlike some distros, PCLinuxOS makes a clear distinction between desktop and system administration and has separate tools for both.
Another USP of the distro is its set of custom tools and scripts. The most popular is the mylivecd script which when called takes a snapshot of the installed system including all apps, documents, and settings and compresses them into a custom Live installable CD/DVD ISO image. There’s also the Localisation Manager app which users can add one of the over 85 non-English supported locales. There’s also the LibreOffice Manager which can help you install a localised version of the office suite, fix a broken installation or uninstall it properly from your system.
The distro’s forums are also buzzing with activity and are the ideal platform for getting support with the distro. There’s an IRC channel dedicated for support as well as a Wiki and mailing list. The distro includes a custom Documentation Portal app that takes users to any of the available resources. The community also produces a free monthly PDF magazine based around the distro, so you’re never far from help if you need the some handholding.
Developer: Bill Reynolds
Web: www.pclinuxos.com
Licence: Various