DreamLinux 2.2 : Review - A Nice Linux based OS based on XFCE
DREAMLINUX : not quite a dream but still good
Number of Linux distributions just keeps on increasing, every now and then a new distro pops up claiming to be different from other but most of them are remarkably similar in features . However Dreamlinux was one distro I was highly impressed with to start with the distribution was based on XFCE as it's default desktop environment which was a very welcome change considering that Gnome and KDE are resource hungry and do make your old hard-ware slow. It was nice to see a Linux distribution based on XFCE .There are few Linux Distribution based on XFCE and the most notable is Xubuntu.
I tested DreamLinux 2.2 Multimedia Edition on my IBM Thinkpad(Cel 1.4 Ghz , 256 MB RAM ) , the distribution was LIVE CD on booting the CD-ROM the grub menu provided a number of options for booting the distribution , it was the largest set of options i have seen for any distribution .
DreamLinux Booting Up
I chose the default option the system booted in less than a minute the Graphics looked really polished . The System booted in less than a minute , and this was how the desktop looked .
The most notable feature when you first boot into DreamLinux was the Mac OS like Dock Bar at the bottom which did provide a nice feel to the desktop.
Since DreamLinux claims to be a Linux Multimedia Distribution hence there were a number of tools for playing multimedia files . For playing video files GXine (Based on Xine) and Mplayer were installed by default . For Playing Audio files XMMS was installed and yes it did play MP3 files . The small XMMS player at top right corner of screen was really nice .
The Flash Player 9 was installed by default , I feel a lot of distributions should come with Flash preinstalled it does give a more finished look to distribution for Linux Newbies as Flash has now more or less become a important part of Internet browsing experience.
Firefox 1.5.07 was installed by default as Default Web Browser, now they could add opera also.
On thing i disliked was the huge size of icons , the icons are really huge with odd spacing,maybe DreamLinux team would like to correct this.
The software installed included Evince for viewing pdf files , GIMP(For Editing Images) , OpenOffice (Office Suite) , There was aMSN messenger , Bittornado for downloading torrent files , XFCE 4.4 the default desktop enviornment it is running ,XaraLX,Inkspace for vector Graphics , For Desktop Publishing Scribus is installed , GnomeBaker for Burning CD . Wine is also installed for running some windows applications .
Scribus
Since tools for Writing into NTFS drives was installed by default i did not have any noticeable problem in writing to my windows partition, the distribution is based on Morphix and is Debian based so a number of repositories could be used for installing various application.
For accessing other partitions you have to go to Computer and mount the appropriate partitions they are not mounted by default.
Dream Linux comes with DCP(DreamLinux Control Panel ) for various configuration tools / utilities .
Dream Linux Control Panel
Speed Wise DreamLinux works like a charm being based on less resource hungry XFCE . Though I had some problem installing DreamLinux onto harddisk but overall DreamLinux is really good Linux Distro for someone new to Linux with a old hardware it works really well for playing Audio/Video files and surfing the Internet and being based on XFCE and stable Debian platform is another plus. Overall you could give this distro a try it might not be a OS you have Dreamed about but still is quite functional and since can work as a LIVE CD mode so you should have no problem trying it out.
get Dream Linux Here : - http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/english/index.html
DistroWatch DreamLinux page : - http://distrowatch.com/dreamlinux
Article by : -
Ambuj Varshney
For Linux On Desktop (http://linuxondesktop.blogspot.com)
(C) 2007 Ambuj Varshney
I tested DreamLinux 2.2 Multimedia Edition on my IBM Thinkpad(Cel 1.4 Ghz , 256 MB RAM ) , the distribution was LIVE CD on booting the CD-ROM the grub menu provided a number of options for booting the distribution , it was the largest set of options i have seen for any distribution .
DreamLinux Booting Up
The most notable feature when you first boot into DreamLinux was the Mac OS like Dock Bar at the bottom which did provide a nice feel to the desktop.
Since DreamLinux claims to be a Linux Multimedia Distribution hence there were a number of tools for playing multimedia files . For playing video files GXine (Based on Xine) and Mplayer were installed by default . For Playing Audio files XMMS was installed and yes it did play MP3 files . The small XMMS player at top right corner of screen was really nice .
The Flash Player 9 was installed by default , I feel a lot of distributions should come with Flash preinstalled it does give a more finished look to distribution for Linux Newbies as Flash has now more or less become a important part of Internet browsing experience.
Firefox 1.5.07 was installed by default as Default Web Browser, now they could add opera also.
On thing i disliked was the huge size of icons , the icons are really huge with odd spacing,maybe DreamLinux team would like to correct this.
The software installed included Evince for viewing pdf files , GIMP(For Editing Images) , OpenOffice (Office Suite) , There was aMSN messenger , Bittornado for downloading torrent files , XFCE 4.4 the default desktop enviornment it is running ,XaraLX,Inkspace for vector Graphics , For Desktop Publishing Scribus is installed , GnomeBaker for Burning CD . Wine is also installed for running some windows applications .
Scribus
Xara LX(vector Graphics Software)
The root account could be used by typing sudo at the terminal similar to what Ubuntu does by default , root account was not activated by default .Since tools for Writing into NTFS drives was installed by default i did not have any noticeable problem in writing to my windows partition, the distribution is based on Morphix and is Debian based so a number of repositories could be used for installing various application.
For accessing other partitions you have to go to Computer and mount the appropriate partitions they are not mounted by default.
Dream Linux comes with DCP(DreamLinux Control Panel ) for various configuration tools / utilities .
Dream Linux Control PanelSpeed Wise DreamLinux works like a charm being based on less resource hungry XFCE . Though I had some problem installing DreamLinux onto harddisk but overall DreamLinux is really good Linux Distro for someone new to Linux with a old hardware it works really well for playing Audio/Video files and surfing the Internet and being based on XFCE and stable Debian platform is another plus. Overall you could give this distro a try it might not be a OS you have Dreamed about but still is quite functional and since can work as a LIVE CD mode so you should have no problem trying it out.
get Dream Linux Here : - http://www.dreamlinux.com.br/english/index.html
DistroWatch DreamLinux page : - http://distrowatch.com/dreamlinux
Article by : -
Ambuj Varshney
For Linux On Desktop (http://linuxondesktop.blogspot.com)
(C) 2007 Ambuj Varshney
DREAMLINUX : Not Quiet a Dream but still Good
ReplyDeleteIt's "not quite" .. thank you
I also had trouble installing it, but cosmetically, Dreamlinux is one of the most beautiful distros I have ever tried.
ReplyDeleteTricky to install. Requires persistance depending on hardware.
ReplyDeleteApt-get/synaptic crashes and burns. Did they ever find a fix for this?
thanx
ReplyDeletecorrected some of the typos
It is very beautiful and its Debian Etch, so you've got to love it. I installed 2.2MM on a friend's computer and liked it so much that I put it on a home box, as well (actually, the 2.2MMGL beta). It has a few rough edges, though. The GUI Morphix partition tool didn't work for me in either occasion, so I used CFDISK. The ethernet card doesn't seem to activate by default in either version, and I'm still having trouble with it on the GL version, I need to do a 'ifup' to kickstart it. I have a few more niggles, but on the whole it is a very impressive distro.
ReplyDeletewhat is the point of bringing out a Linux distro if it does not work 100%.
ReplyDeletehow can the hypocrite Linux users slag off Bill Gates and his software when the Linux community turns out trash that only works at 50% capacity on a daily basis?
Its rather like buying a Rolls Royce only to find the buyer gets the ngine in a wooden box and has to build it himself,..or there is a wheel missing, or no oil in the gearbox
untill now I haven't seen any linux distro 100 percent compatible with my hardware.they're improving though.but a multimedia edition without a decent tv application out of the box?come on!or am I spoiled with my (illegal) windows xp? I don't like the firm from Redmond but 'till there's a linux distro that fully satisfies my needs I'll keep using it.I don't have the patience or the skills to get an incomplete os working
ReplyDeleteThe person who said `Linux community turns out trash that only works at 50% capacity on a daily basis?` should try Vista. After five years of development it is behind both MaC OS and Linux in terms of usability and driver support, and requires a 256MB Video card for a 3D Desktop, something which Mac and Linux have managed with much less memory for a while now. Until recently Linux lagged behind MS in terms of driver support but Vista has reversed this overnight.
ReplyDeletewent to there website.... my mcafee virus scan popped up and let me know their site was trying an ie epxloit on my machine... I think i will pass on their distro.
ReplyDeleteThe total cost of ownership of a rolls-royce and linux is a quite a bit different... if you want free software, you have to invest in your own knowledge. if not, buy your redmond software. This is no problem, just the way it is. I would never understand why the newbies think you can get all for free...
ReplyDeleteIm angry about some problems, too, no discussion, but please believe that you dont have some with windows.
It is very beautiful
ReplyDeleteThanks man..
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to port the display of my Windows machine over to my Linux desktop?
ReplyDelete