Lycoris Linux (Desktop LX)

Author
Aron Schatz
Posted
September 29, 2002
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90506
You want the ease of use of Windows and the stability of Linux? This distro almost offers everything you could want, almost.
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Page 1
Before I start, I want to apologize for the picture quality; I didn't know how to do a screen cap on Linux in general, or during the install. You'll get the general idea of what the pics are anyway.

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<B>Introduction</B>:
I have always been a fan of Linux, the speed and the stability always was a good feature I wanted in an operating system. Linux is a very fast and stable operating system, but could never replicate the ease of use that Windows has till now (almost). Also, the amount of programs for Linux pales in comparison to the amount of programs for Windows. I mean that the programs I run (games) are scarce. Anyway, To make a long introduction shorter, I needed a test box so I wouldn't crash this webserver. I setup Mandrake 8.2 and it was okay for a workstation. I wanted a desktop OS though. Then, Niscenus pointed me to <a href="http://www.lycoris.com/">Lycoris</a> one day. Lycoris, or Desktop/LX (formally Redmond Linux), promises the ease of Windows with the stability and speed of Linux.

<B>Taking the Tour</B>:
I was skeptical of course, I didn't want to just trash my test box and find out that Lycoris is crap. I took <a href="http://www.lycoris.com/products/desktoplx/">the tour</a>. If your thinking or looking for a desktop Linux OS, I highly suggest you check this thing out. To wet your appetite, just take a look at the desktop.

<center><img src="http://www.lycoris.com/images/cleandesktopsmall.gif">
(Image courtesy of Lycoris.com)</center>

On to the Install!
Page 2
I broke this up into a few parts because I took pictures of every step of the install, and I didn't want dial up peeps to have a huge page to download. All the pictures are in the exact order you will see. This is a beta build (51) so it may be different than the final.

<B>Initial Setup</B>:

Welcome to the world of Lycoris and Linux! I popped in the boot cd (CD 1). After the intial bootup, I was greeted with 3 options (Full Install, Don't Probe video, Don't probe any hardware). You should be only interested in the full install. If the installation doesn't work well, try using option 2 or 3 in that order. My install didn't go well at all. Four hours later, I found out I had a bad ATA cable (<a href="http://www.aselabs.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topicid=759">Go Here</a>Wink. Stupid ATA cable. After I got the hardware part working, Lycoris was ready to be installed. <br/>
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The first screen you are greeted with is a welcome screen.

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/welcome.jpg">
You can feel the love</center>

Bla bla, just press Next to actually get to the meat of the install. The next few screens are the initial setup for the I/O (Keyboard, Mouse, Video) and things.

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/mouse.jpg">
It auto selected the MS Intellimouse (Old non optical one, the correct one)</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/keyboard.jpg">
This is where you'll select your keyboard.</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/smonitor.jpg">
Amazingly, it had the crappy monitor I was using.</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/resolution.jpg">
Select your fav resolution.</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/partitioning1.jpg">
n00bs click use entire hard disk (Or use <a href="http://www.partitionmagic.com/">partition magic</a> if you still need Windows).</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/partitioning.jpg">
Yeah, that first hard drive.</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/startinstall.jpg">
Everything is set, almost.</center>

Everything is very easy to do - Most of the default options will be fine for most users. I WAS going to partition the drive with swaps and different mounts and stuff, but I didn't want to.

Next up, copying everything to the HDD.
Page 3
Your not done setting up everything just yet. What is nice about Lycoris is that it will ask you for stuff while it is copying to the hard drive. You don't need to wait while it copies everything to the hard drive first (or last). If you don't believe me, take a look at the indicator bar on the bottom left of the pics. There sure is alot of crap to answer huh?

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/adduser.jpg">
Adding of the users.</center>

This is the part where you'll add a name for everyone that is going to be using the computer. For you long time Linux users, the 'System password' is the root password; root is otherwise hidden. This is also the same thing that XP does in Pro and up. REMEMBER THE ROOT PASSWORD OVER ANY OF THEM. If you want to do anything that requires full access, you'll need this password. Even for installing programs or new hardware, so make sure you remember it.

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/ethernet.jpg">
I selected DHCP, as I have a router.</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/modem.jpg">
I don't have a modem Skipping this one...</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/printer.jpg">
I didn't have any printers on this one.</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/timezone.jpg">
Where are you located?</center>

Next up is your local timezone. You are greeted with a world map; Just select your locale.

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/bootloader.jpg">
The bootloader</center>

The above screen is the bootloader. Your best bet would be to leave the default. Unless of course you have multiple OSes on your box. That wasn't about to happen with my 1.5GB hard drive Smile.

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/solitair.jpg">
Done with the Q&A part, time to play a game</center>

It isn't all fun and games... Wait, maybe it is. When your done with the Q&A session, you get to play a game while your waiting for it to finish. At least they give you something to do.

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/failed.jpg">
I couldn't do it Sad</center>

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/finish.jpg">
All done!</center>

Next page, the actual OS!
Page 4
<B>25 minutes later...</B> That was the total time of the end of the Q&A section to the finish of the install.

<B>The final product</B>:

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/login.jpg">
Whoa, looks remarkably XPish</center>

Okay, when I saw this login, I couldn't help to think XP. The background is a major copy, almost. Anyway, it looks pretty nice so far right? Just select your name, and enter your password to get started. You can also type in 'root' for the name and enter the root password to log on as root. Don't do this unless you absolutely know what your doing - Root access means no protection from human error (yes, I'm talking about you).

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/final.jpg">
Finally</center>

The desktop that you are given is clean and ready to use. Windows users should be almost right at home with this layout. We've got the familiar My Computer type thing and of course the My Documents. There is a Recylcing bin at your disposal as well (pun intended). I was also interested in the Network Browser icon. Let's get to it shall we?

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/netn.jpg">
OMG! It saw my networks!</center>

Amazing, it found my networks. I couldn't figure out how to do this with mandrake. Anyway, I went to browse on it, but I couldn't. It wouldn't let me open up any computers on the network. Perhaps this bug will be fixed with and update. Some other people have been having the same problem as me, but I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Your install may be different though. With some more fiddling, I can get it to work I'm sure. I am told KDE3.0 fixes this problem as well (The actual bug that popped up was a KDE error and it said to report it). <b>UPDATE</b>: I have installed the new beta build (52) and now all my Windows shares are working. They are not browsable, but I can use them with no problems. Great work Lycoris!

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/cpanel.jpg">
XP again.</center>

This isn't a pic of XP! Lycoris has done an excellent job of mimicking it. All you old gurus can still find the default KDE CP by clicking on it. By the way, there is no Gnome. I never use Gnome, so I don't care. Some of you may though, so this OS may not be for you.

<center><img src="http://www.aselabs.com/images/articles/sept02/lycoris/aseweb.jpg">
This is where you should end up.</center>

<B>Conclusion</B>:
Everything is up and running perfectly (almost). The OS comes complete with an MP3 player and CD/DVD and whatever else you need. I really do enjoy using this OS over Windows for a couple of reasons: I'm not stealing software (not that I do in the first place...............) and Linux is FREE FOR EVERYONE!
There are some bugs and features that aren't really working, but if you can stand a very good work in progress, and you hate Microsoft (And the new 'features' that comprimise your security, WPA, IIS, ASP, and another other bad examples), you'll love this OS. I hope the next few version add more and more features. Just keep the ease of use in it.

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