We start down a new path in the Distro II

Today we start down a new path in the Distro II with a review of Libranet. We’ll start this guided tour

As you well know, I have no particular aversion to text-based installers. I cut my teeth on text installs before graphical installs were useful or practical. Libranet uses such an installer. The developers of this install routine, however, have taken text-based installs to yet another level of functionality and ease. The process is laid out in a logical format that leaves little question as to what the next step is or what the results of your actions will be. Evgen if you’re a new Linux users with an aversion to text-based installs, you should have no problem with the routine provided by Libranet.

Libranet has adopted an approach in package selection that will, undoubtedly, also be of use to newbies. The application install clusters similar type applications together, much like the other well-known graphical installers. By selecting the function of a group of applications (office, multimedia, networking, etc.) you’ll be able to seamlessly install all the essential elements of that group. This makes more sense to many than selecting individual applications and hoping that you get everything installed that you’ll need to create a useful out-of-the-box Linux installation.

There is a downside to this approach, though, especially if you’re a more experienced Linux user. That downside is a larger than expected install size. As with the other distributions and those yet to come in this round of reviews, I selected the package groups appropriate to my needs and cut the installer loose. In other words, I didn’t take the time required to create a custom install, weeding out packages that I clearly knew I wouldn’t need. If you’re a more experienced Linux user, you’ll want to take the time to create just such a custom install. By providing full application packages, Libranet has chosen to walk a fine line between full functionality and overkill. While I think they’re achieved the goal of making Libranet a fully functional Linux distribution without all the install pain, the default installation can, as a result, be quite large. If you’re not familiar enough with Linux to hack your own custom install, you’ll find that the default provides a well-rounded set of applications to meet all your office, entertainment and general computing needs. If you’ve got the experience to hack your own, you’ll want to do so.

Libranet is a Debian-based Linux distribution. You’ve undoubtedly witnessed my recent public conversion to Debian after years of RedHat use. In that light, it will come as no surprise that, at first blush, I like the Libranet distribution. Purely from the install and applications perspective, they’ve done quite well at providing the power of Debian without the pain of a “roll your own” installation. The fundamental Debian tools are present in the default install, including apt-get, dpkg and dselect. The presence of those tools makes updating and upgrading your installation to the latest and greatest a trivial matter.

We’ll continue the guided tour of Libranet on Wednesday when we submit this desktop-oriented Debian distribution to the vaunted Nessus security audit.

Tony
Steidler-Dennison