Because it's so easy to get caught up in the KDE vs. Gnome debate, the Enlightenment window manager often goes overlooked. And for good reason - there are very few distros available that utilize Enlightenment as a default WM. As a former KDE user myself, I was hesitant to try anything different. However, like so many other Linux users, I am always willing to try something new. Enlightenment captured my attention.
One distribution, E-Live, comfortably mixes Debian with Enlightenment on a Live CD that may be installed as an alternative. I was able to install every program that I needed and am impressed at how quickly programs load. Even more captivating are the finishing touches applied by E-Live's developers complete with animated backgrounds (twinkling stars) and multimedia codecs preloaded.
If you love speed and power - you owe it to yourself to check out E-Live. It's fast, takes up less system resources as other WMs, and it may be installed on any machine that meets the following minimum system reqs:
"The minimum hardware for running Elive is a 100 Mhz CPU and 64 MB of RAM, but the minimum recommended hardware is 300 Mhz and 128 Mb of RAM. You don't need any special graphic card or 3D acceleration to run E-Live."
You are able to choose between E-16 (stable) or E-17 (default) when booting. Choose E-17... you won't be disappointed.
For some amazing screenshots of this rising star distro check out:
http://www.elivecd.org/Main/Screenshots/
Watch the Developer's YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCJ8QDfA95U&eurl=http://www.elivecd.org/Main/About
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Shawn Powers has a message for hardware vendors. Listen up!
From the Magazine
August 2008, #172
There's nuttin like a Cool Project to give you some relief from the summer heat, so get out your parka cuz we got a bunch of em. First up is the BUG, not a bug, The BUG. It's got a GPS, camera and more, in a hand-sized package that's user programmable. The BUG does everything. It's both a floor wax and a dessert topping. Get one now. Need a software version of a Swiss Army knife? Take a look at Billix, and don't leave home without it. Then, chew on this one, an X server on a Gumstix device driving an E-Ink display. Need more storage? How about 16 Terabytes? Can do.
And, of course, we have the usual cast of characters: Marcel, Reuven, Dave, Kyle, Doc, plus the new kid on the block Shawn Powers. But it doesn't stop there: build a MythTV box on a budget, build your own GIS system, set up the tools to monitor your enterprise and more. Finally, remember The War of the Worlds? Now you can play too.
On the road to Enlightenment
On November 30th, 2007 Mike Roberts says:
Jay, thanks for suggestion about Enlightenment and Elive. That sounds like just the thing for an old Armada M700 test mule I've got. My M700 has a whopping 192MB of RAM. It is currently packing Xubuntu reasonably well. I'm curious how well Elive supports WiFi and EVDO cards. *ubuntu has been good at supporting my NetGear WG511T WiFi needs with "native" support. For my EVDO card(VZW PC5220) I've been using wvdial so I suspect Elive should be able to handle that with no problem.
I've been a DamnSmallLinux fan and user for a few years. Elive sounds like another nice bang for the processing power distro.
Yet another Hope/Crosby/Linux road trip I'll be taking...
__________________________Mike Roberts is a bewildered Linux Journal Reader Advisory Panelist.
E-Live & WiFi
On November 30th, 2007 jaykruizenga says:
Hi Mike,
You posted: "I'm curious how well Elive supports WiFi and EVDO cards."
Not too good I'm afraid. At least not yet. E-Live is relatively new to the scene. A new E-Live development, announced by Distrowatch, may be what you are looking for. It is free to download but very unstable. Not certain if everything (too include WiFi) is working yet. But keep an eye on future developments. I know I will be.
http://www.elivecd.org/Download/Development
Stretching my brain...
On November 30th, 2007 Shawn Powers says:
Wasn't Enlightenment the window manager for Gnome back in the day? I seem to remember using "E" a lot back in the 90s, but then it sorta slipped off my radar. I could be way off base, that happens a lot, but I'm pretty sure Enlightenment was mainstream at one point...
__________________________Shawn Powers is the Associate Editor for Linux Journal. You might find him chatting on the IRC channel.
Gnome + Enlightenment = GEUbuntu
On November 30th, 2007 jaykruizenga says:
Hi Shawn,
I think you might be right. I know that there is presently (not official yet) an Ubuntu-related distro that is combining both Gnome and Enlightenment - just as you remember. It goes by the name GEUbuntu.
The folks there at GEUbuntu seem to think that Enlightenment is being too heavily developed (constant changes and instabilities) for sole usage as a Windows Manager. But when combined with the unique features of Gnome they feel all is well.
The only other distro that I am aware of having used Enlightenment is Gentoo which has now dropped E17 like a lead balloon.
So, besides E-Live and GEUbuntu I am not aware of any other distros choosing to focus intently on Enlightenment. What a shame.
Jay Kruizenga