Libranet GNU/Linux 2.7

Posted Sep 18, 2002 2:52 UTC (Wed) by masinick (guest, #2653) [Link]

I have to tell any of you who have ever contemplated running a Debian GNU/Linux system that Jon and Tal's Libranet is the easiest way to get into a Debian system. I had longed for quite some time to be able to use a Debian system. In the summer of 2001, I went on a buying rampage and picked up both hardware and software to try out Linux and BSD systems. Unfortunately I picked up a system that was much more proprietary than I had realized - a Compaq Presario 5000 series desktop computer (that I've since given to my father in law so that he can play games and listen to CDs while running Windows XP).

I tried running Corel Linux on that Presario, thinking that it'd install automatically, then I'd have my Debian environment to do whatever I wanted to do. No luck. I tried Progeny Debian 1.0, thinking that a version created from a company started by the originator of the Debian idea (Ian Murdock) might give better results. Still no luck. Then I tried installing a plain, ordinary Debian distro from a Dummies book and a couple of CDs and had some success, but it was very difficult to get things working.

Finally, a Canadian friend of mine told me about Libranet. Though this friend is from Montreal and Libranet is from Vancouver, the connection worked. I first tried Libranet 1.9.1, and thought enough of it to write a favorable review for Ziff Davis Media's Extreme Tech Web site, http://www.extremetech.com in their Linux and UNIX OS section. I contacted Jon and asked him if he'd send me pre-release versions of future software, so that I could help him test and iron out pre-production problems and he willingly did so.

Libranet 2.0 was better than 1.9.1, and added newer applications and a newer version of the XFree86 server. But there was a little room for further improvement in terms of automating a few things that could be streamlined and detected. I'm here to report that Libranet 2.7 did a terrific job once again. A few minor issues were caught and corrected during testing and this is one beautiful, fast, flexible. solid, reasonably easy to use software package. The only kind of person that I would possibly steer away from Libranet is the kind of person who has never installed any computer software at all and knows nothing about technical jargon. Even for such an individual, Libranet is within reach, but it might be a bit overwhelming. For anyone else, especially enthusiasts who are looking for stable, easy to update software, Libranet should not be overlooked. You can find Libranet online at http://www.libranet.com. Would I work with these gentlemen again? You'd better believe it! This is software you shouldn't miss!

Brian W. Masinick
Freelance Writer, UNIX and Linux Software Consultant
mailto:masinick@yahoo.com