I'd like to see antiX Linux replace or at least go head-to-head with Ubuntu Linux as the go-to distro for Linux newbies. My local Free Geek group only uses Ubuntu to give donated computers a second life and refuses to work with computers that need a lighter distro. Think of all the additional computers that could be revived if antiX Linux were considered a viable alternative to Ubuntu. Think of how much more economical it would be to give away 10-year-old computers instead of 3-year-old computers. Think of the additional computers that would be saved from the landfill. Think of the natural resources saved by reusing more old computers and manufacturing fewer new ones.

While Ubuntu is a great distro that has won over more Windows users than any other distro, it is bloatware by our standards. Ubuntu is user-friendly and has a superior repository (over 30,000 packages available) but requires 512 MB of RAM and will likely require even more in future versions. This distro is no longer a viable option for a computer with 256 MB or less of RAM.

Puppy Linux is user-friendly and lightweight, but it has a weak repository. Of all the distros I have tried (including heavier distros like Ubuntu and Mint), I've found Puppy Linux to have the most user-friendly desktop. Unlike antiX Linux, Puppy Linux provides a desktop environment and clickable icons to the most commonly used applications (setting up the network connection, word processing, spreadsheet program, software installer, email client, web browser, etc.) BY DEFAULT. While antiX Linux and other distros have a menu, it's easier to access programs when there are clickable shortcuts on the desktop. Only Puppy Linux provides this in the default setup. The fact that Puppy Linux can do this is proof that a more user-friendly.

What I envision for antiX Linux is a super distro that combines the best attributes of Ubuntu Linux and Puppy Linux. The result would be a distro that is lightweight (which antiX already is), has a superior repository (which antiX already has), AND is the most user-friendly of all (which is within the reach of antiX Linux). antiX Linux has so much going for it. No other existing distro combines all three of these attributes. Other distros can beat or at least compete with antiX on one or two of the criteria, but NONE can for all three.

For those of you who are new to antiX Linux, I cannot recommend this distro enough. I have procedures for various tasks on my web site at
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Please vote in the poll. I reserve the right to Diebold the results if I don't like them. __{{emoticon}}__

Jhsu i choose both yes and no, while I like the idea of desktop items for quick access to applications I do not like how they can clutter the desktop, this is why I like and still use wbar, ( a mac style application bar ) it is light duty and able to be used on a pentium 3 without much hurt, and will work on a pentium 2

My knee-jerk reaction was a"no." I did vote against default icons. But jhsu's reasoning is more compelling than I first thought, mainly the idea that default settings are more important than we often think--despite the ease with which effects can be turned on or off. Maybe as a matter of principle it should be the veteran user's obligation to turn things off rather than the novice user's obligation to turn them on. Just a courtesy that the powerful pay to the less-powerful.

Still, I'd hate for antiX to lose (or even blur) its character as a close-to-minimalist distro. Once we go down the path of"the best distro for *everybody*"...well, that's a greased rail to Ubuntu-land.

As Gomer Pyle says"suprise.suprise" with a big grin.

I have posted my preferences to jhsu other thread so he knows where I stand and why.
However. I can do what I wish in AntiX as far as Desktops go. So Yes. I capitulated to New User
whatever and voted Yes.

However. I hold you jhsu to answering all threads on how to change from rox pinboard to other Desktops when new users ask how.