A Low Resource, Minimalist Linux Desktop that Packs Power
We have featured TAILS as your mobile Ubuntu/Linux OS for safe and anonymous browsing on other computers, SparkyLinux as one of the better desktop and laptop low resource and fully packed Linux distros.
Another important, low resource Linux Distro is OpenBox touting CrunchBang. We are curently giving it a run after using Kubuntu for a while. You can download a copy for FREE from the crunchbang.org portal and burn an install DVD.
CrunchBang boot menu for the DVD installer, you can run a live session from the disk or install directly to your hard drive, this Linux Distro installs faster than most others including Kubuntu.
While Kubuntu is the eye candy darling of the Ubuntu versions because of its KDE environment, CrunchBang is the opposite, the Linux OS runs with a very simple and elegant Openbox window manager that still allows you to choose and customize into different front ends.
CrunchBang is a Debian GNU/Linux based distribution that is low resource, fast and easy to install, yet fully configurable to your desired rig as a Linux front end. It is fast and stable, gorgeously spare and clean, yet all you need for most computing jobs are right there.
Sourcing some of the base apps from the Debian reppository, you get secure and stable Open Source solutions to most of your computing needs. Free software folks! Crunchbang's own repositories are then configured on top of the Debian core, offering a user friendly OpenBox front end.
OpenBox Experience
OpenBox is a Linux window manager that offers zippy performance with full featured apps like GIMP (graphics and photo editing) and LibreOffice (word processor-office suite), yet it uses up very low resources. As a minimalist window manager, OpenBox allowd CrunchBang to run fast even on older computers. The system boots up in a jiffy and CrunchBang based apps run faster than a dedicated regular Debian GNOME/KDE installation.
Password log in screen after bootup for CrunchBang OpenBox Linux distro.
OpenBox can also be set up to match your preferred front end experience: Debian, GNU, or CrunchBang's own. If you like to tinker with your OS, you can rig OpenBox to look any way you want it too aside from the available default settings.
In the default set up, Openbox is kept clean and spare to suit anybody. Without too much worries about configuring your system, you get control and access to great apps at boot up.
In the default set up, Openbox is kept clean and spare to suit anybody. Without too much worries about configuring your system, you get control and access to great apps at boot up.
This is a customized OpenBox front end with the panel moved to the bottom, a system monitor on the left and wallpaper preferences, you see the drop down menu at the far right.
CrunchBang base applications are also flexibly configurable according to user preferences: Conky, is your system monitor tool that can be personalised to show only what you want to see running. Thunar is the default file manager that is also simple yet you can still hack it to work the way you want..
CrunchBang comes with VLC so you can play most popular media formats: MP3, DVD playback and Adobe Flash. Additonally, you get a zippy web browser: Iceweasel (Firefox), a GNOME media player and its own BitTorrent Client (Transmission) for getting almost everything in the file sharing universe. CrunchBang runs the same APT package management tools and update manager from Debian: You add or upgrade packages the way you do with a Debian or Ubuntu distro.
CrunchBang showing a music streaming player running off its Iceweasel (Firefox) default browser.
If you are looking for the easiest to use out of the box Linux OS, faster and leaner than eye candy Kubuntu and clean interface layout like Mate or Mint from Ubuntu, check out CrunchBang.
The only caveat about this OS is that you might need to tweak it a little on your own (unlike Kubuntu or the other Linux distros which are still healthy and thriving) because development on CrunchBang as an active Open Source project has ceased and the developers are moving on to Bunsen Labs, something similar to CrunchBang. We will be looking forward to checking out this version from the team that brought you CrunchBang. In any case, you can install this as one boot-up option that you can run on the same hard drive or on a second hard drive.
CrunchBang is lean, fast and easy to use. For basic computing needs to improve productivity from an Open Source software project, you get a FREE, yet robust Linux version that works on older equipment.
Get yourself a copy off a download and share it with friends. Spread the Open Source computing community and get a better computing experience for always.
