If you are new to open source, Linux, FreeBSD then some information is available for you here, here, here, here, and here.
Today we'll be looking at a very artsy Linux distribution, Famelix, from Brazil, that clearly gets its inspiration from an unlikely source. The information page on Famelix over at DistroWatch says that it is from Windows XP, but there is little doubt that it is a more recent release from Redmond that this Linux distribution draws its looks from.
Famelix uses the KDE desktop environment by default, though Fluxbox, a lighter weight (less ram and graphics hungry) alternative is available as well. Just as Ubuntu and other Linux distributions give names to their various operating system releases, so to does Famelix, in this case the 2.0 (beta) release is called 'Hasta La Vista', which surely is an intentional jab at Microsoft.
Imagine if Microsoft were to release its own Linux distribution; it would likely be called Linux Valdez, or Enron Linux, leave all the ports open by default, violate the General Public License, charge customers for it, and leave it in permanent Alpha stage of its release, always promising an 'upgrade', as soon as users ponied up enough cash. Oh wait, they have a system that does that already. Except it's not called Linux. Never mind.
I'm guessing that there are no such things as software patents in Brazil, and that there are a number of very talented artists and developers there; what they have done by copying the look and feel of Vista using the KDE desktop is truly amazing; I guess I shouldn't be surprised after having used Kurumin Linux, another gem from South America.
If you can imagine an operating system that looks and feels like Vista, but is free of Digital Restrictions Management that tries to lock you out of the full functionality of your computer experience, that doesn't try to make adware and spyware a core function of an upcoming release of its software, is open source so that it can be modified, shared, and used any way the user wishes, all wrapped in a beautiful package, then you have a small inkling of what Famelix is like.
I reviewed this Linux distribution (commonly referred to a distro, known in the proprietary world as an operating system, such as XP) in a virtual environment using vmware-server, a free download that lets you test and run various operating systems in a safe environment: all the benefits without the risks, though the graphics still suffer a bit. I gave it 512M of ram, which was a tad shy of what it wanted, and the lack of a native graphics environment slowed it down even further.
That being said, it truly is a stunning work of art, and one of the nicer implementations of the KDE desktop environment that I have seen yet. It's also a testament to what a group of software developers can do if they are not restricted by horrendous copyright and software patents laws--produce a better product borrowing from those that came before them for a lower price, the way a real free market should work. When your success is built on lawsuits or the threat of them, then it may be time to reconsider what business you are in, unless you are located in the US, in which case, just carry on.
A minor gripe (and bear in mind that this is still a beta release) with Famelix 2.0 beta is that the default language is Portuguese, and that choosing 'us' for English in the startup (or boot) sequence still leaves one with a Portuguese menu; this is not a big deal and is easily fixed by going to the KDE control panel and choosing US as the language from the choice of regions and then logging out and back in. The Fluxbox environment lacked any clear way of changing the language, but as I'm not a big fan of the ultra-minimalist look of Fluxbox, I didn't try to sort it out.
This is a Linux distribution that truly shines, and not only in the visual sense; it has all of the things needed to do what you want in a typical computer session without having to adjust a thing--no need to add any software or media codecs to make viewing youtube vids possible or listening to mp3s and watching movies.
Famelix is based on another Brazilian distro, Kurumin, a Linux distribution that is known for its excellent hardware detection, liveCD functionality in a small package (itself being based on Knoppix, the first to use the LiveCD functionality in a Linux distribution); it includes the Open Office Suite of software (the open source version of Microsoft Office), applications for every imaginable purpose, should it be creating web content, editing movies, desktop and web publishing, word processing, manipulating graphics, ripping, mixing and burning CDs and DVDs, nearly all of the packages coming from the KDE desktop environment.
Update: Well, one of the advantages of running a distro in virtualization is that you see fewer of the problems experienced running it on a real live machine; after burning the ISO file to disk and trying it out on my laptop, there might a couple more things that need to be worked out for it be fully useful in a day to day setting; on my laptop (Thinkpad, newish) Famelix failed to recognize the correct resolution of my monitor, and so I had to to an ncurses video card calibration of the X server; not a big deal, but when coupled with the fact that I had to find the control for it in a Portuguese only control panel, I imagine it would be a bit daunting for the average user. Additionally, the 3D desktop compositing did not work at all, something that I have going fine with Compiz and Beryl in Ubuntu and Granular. Some work needs to be done there for this to be a true 'Hasta La Vista'.
Apart from all my apparent Linux nuttery, I'm also a big fan of electronics in general, spending a fair amount of time every couple of weeks in checking out what the latest laptops look and feel like, trying them out, etc.; Famelix runs much, much faster on 512M of ram than Vista itself does using 2G of ram--I would guess that the main reason for this is that the Vista 'upgrade' uses so much of its system's resources to monitor your digital rights (i.e., what you can and cannot do with your computer, decided at their leisure), that little is left to provide for the user's actual computing needs. Pretty pathetic.
I'm tempted to use this as one of my main operating systems on a more recent laptop simply so I can have folks ask how I got my Vista installation to run so fast. Mwahahahahahaha. Once the hook is planted, I will then reveal that it isn't Vista at all, but a system that is secure out of the box, offers no restriction to its user, doesn't spy on them or phone home without their knowledge or permission, and runs faster and better on less ram. I wonder if they'll be interested. Naahh. What's to like about that?
While Microsoft and its allies in the US corporate world and government attempt to crack down further on what users can do with their computers, trying to lock them into closed, proprietary formats and an eternal 'upgrade' path, the rest of the world is quietly routing itself around the whole greedy, grubby mess; Japan, which has the world's second largest economy, and is one of the workhorses of technological innovation in the world today, has decided to fully embrace the Open Documents Format, and no shilly-shallying around with the OOXML that is Microsoft's answer to being 'open'; they are followed by the Italian Parliament as well as a large number of countries in the Asia Pacific region that want security, transparency, lower total cost to operate, and the numerous other advantages that are offered by open source software.
The advantages to using open source software and adopting an Open Documents Format are greater than those listed above; a company (or country) can be left vulnerable should a proprietary format be abandoned, with the ability to open those files lost--think of all the company's secrets (Colonel's Special Recipe?) or National Security documents being held hostage by a company that suddenly drops one format for another. A scary thought indeed, both from an economic and a national security perspective, all because a monopoly wants to up its quarterly revenue. Heckuva job, Billy.
The open source movement is about transparency, openness, sharing, and moving technological progress forward; all things that scare the willies out of the folks who want to lock down what you can do on the internet, with your hardware, with your software, and your data. They want an eternal revenue stream that grants them the right to soak you, the consumer, while adding to the egregiously large mountains of cash they already sit atop.
They'll cry 'free market!', or 'I've got the patents', or simply label all their hard-working customers as crooks, threatening them with onerous legal repercussions if they want to do something with their computers that the monopolists and cartels don't like.
That's why folks like this, who dedicate their lives to sharing with others, are so anathema to what they stand for; consumers as lowly peasants that will take what they are given and like it (or else), and the monopolists and cartels as nobles, throwing out a few crumbs of cake to the unwashed masses as they gorge themselves full on the work of others.
Some companies get it; that you can make a profit embracing the open source movement--Dell is making headway in this respect, updating its Linux repositories (didn't know they even had any!), and Intel, which has agreed to work with the one laptop per child organization to help spread the benefits of computing and the internet to children in third world and developing countries.
It's better to share the wealth of knowledge available to all areas of the world; it benefits hundreds of millions who otherwise would have no access to the incredible educational opportunities offered by computers and the internet; additionally, the technological, innovation and creative benefits by the sharing of resources and knowledge in the open source movement will spur progress in all those areas, creating new job opportunities, new technologies, and new progress in the fields of technical research, medical research, and education. It's a net positive for all involved.
The nobles can lock down the castle gates and build high walls to innovation and progress in their software patents and copyright laws, sating themselves on their ill-gotten gains; the unwashed masses aren't knocking on the castle doors--they're building a new city nearby, one that benefits all its residents. Where would you want to live? By embracing open source, you benefit yourself, and you benefit the world. Make the move.
Finally, here is what Famelix 'Hasta La Vista' looks like in action: