again, the gecko - leap 42.2

I replaced openSUSE "Leap" 42.1 with a fresh installation of the newly released 42.2 (I downloaded openSUSE-Leap-42.2-DVD-x86_64.iso). openSUSE no longer offers a live session iso; there's a full, DVD-sized installation iso, well over 4 GB, and a network installation iso (see: https://software.opensuse.org/422/en).

I went with a fresh installation instead of an in-place upgrade. Desktop choices offered by the installer: KDE, GNOME, Server (Text Mode), Xfce, Minimal X Window, and Enlightenment. I chose the KDE Plasma desktop, which is at version 5.8.3 in openSUSE 42.2.

After about 30 minutes with the excellent openSUSE installer, I booted into KDE Plasma 5, in Folder View:

Nice, but of course I had to come up with my own setup:

As with the previous release, the KDE installation of openSUSE 42.2 provides a login option for the IceWM window manager, for when you're in the mood for a lightweight setup:

I'll probably add Fluxbox eventually, but there's enough to explore in the KDE and IceWM setups to keep me happy for now.

I was reluctant to replace 42.1; that release was working great for me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But I enjoy doing Linux installations, so I took the plunge, and openSUSE 42.2 hasn't disappointed. openSUSE is still one of the best Linux distros out there.

The release has a support life cycle of about 18 months, but the next Leap release is expected in November 2017.

Jesse Smith's review of openSUSE 42.2 at DistroWatch: https://www.distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20161128#opensuse

linux hardware guide

"The Linux-Hardware-Guide provides a data base of hardware and investigates the Linux compatibility of the equipment."

http://www.linux-hardware-guide.com/

fresh antergos

Antergos "iso refresh" announced: https://forum.antergos.com/topic/5489/iso-refresh-2016-11-20

As can be seen at the Antergos blog's news page, these .isos drop on a fairly regular and frequent basis, which is very nice.

searching bash history

Something I didn't know about until recently: For a reverse search of the commands in bash history, press the ctrl+R key combination. Pressing ctrl+R again takes you to the previous command in bash history. "Enter" to run the command. ctrl+G quits the search.

Perhaps even more useful, use grep to find each command in bash history that includes a given string. For example:

$ history | grep pacman

Or better yet, if you need to quote a string:

$ history | grep 'sudo pacman -S'

Then you can run the desired command from the resulting list by using this simple trick:

!n: Expand to command with history number "n"

For example, the following will find command No. 70 in my bash history (see screenshot, above) and run sudo pacman -Syu:

$ !70

from spain, antergos

I downloaded the Arch-derived Antergos (antergos-2016.10.23-x86_64.iso) and installed it in a multi-boot setup on one of my computers. The Antergos installer lets the user choose between Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE, MATE, Openbox, and Xfce desktops; I went with Openbox.

The default Openbox setup keeps things simple: right-click anywhere on the desktop to access the Openbox menu; there's a tint2 panel at the top, a dock (Plank) at the bottom center, and a basic, gray background -- boring and uninspiring, just the way Openbox-lovers like it. :)

Once installed, running Antergos is supposed to be the same as running Arch. We'll see. The Pamac GUI shows me that a handful of software packages come from the Antergos repository, which can be disabled. The other repos shown are official Arch repos:

For the most part, I'm in the "if you want Arch, install Arch" camp; you get a "cleaner" Arch system and you have a lot more control over what gets installed than you will if you go with an Arch derivative. Still, Arch derivatives (thinking of some I've run in the past, like ArchBang and Bridge Linux) can be great not only for folks who want to get a feel for what Arch is all about, but also for somewhat experienced Arch users who simply want a quick and easy Arch-based system installation.

With Antergos, you basically have to download the .iso, get it onto a flash drive, boot up, run the installer. I didn't find much good documentation at the Antergos site, but I did find a few nice guides (with screenshots) online. They're easy to find; for example: http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2016/08/an-everyday-linux-user-review-of.html

I think the Antergos site needs a nice installation guide along those lines. For post-installation documentation and help, the Arch wiki (they should provide a link to that!) and the Antergos forums should suffice.

Post-install, Antergos is ready to go "out-of-the-box" -- although some things might need to be added by the user, like maybe LibreOffice or whatever. To update the system, Antergos has the Pamac Update Manager available:

Or one can simply use pacman from the command line normally, as with Arch. Whatever the approach, the user should check the Arch homepage for important announcements before bringing in system updates.

I got rid of the Plank dock, went with a different tint2 panel setuup, edited the menu, added a few of my favorite apps (and some wallpapers!), tweaked a few other things, and came up with a desktop that works better for me:

Kinda bloated, perhaps, but quite crisp and snappy in action, as to be expected with Openbox.

Here's a link to DistroWatch's Antergos page: http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=antergos

mx at wikipedia

New Wikipedia page for MX Linux: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MX_Linux