New Linux Distribution Brings Goodies to Debian

by Ostatic Staff - Jan. 21, 2011

Saline OS 1.0 has been released. Saline is a new Linux distribution based on Debian Squeeze with the main purpose of bringing some of the things users' might want that doesn't fit in with Debian Open Source philosophy. It uses Xfce for the desktop, making it light weight enough for some older machines and netbooks while still bringing modern amenities.

Saline OS is delivered as an installable live CD and features Linux 2.6.36, Xorg X Server 1.7.7, and GCC 4.4.5. Chromium Web browser, IceDove mail client, Rhythmbox, Fotoxx photo manager, Parole video player, Osmo organizer, OpenOffice.org, Pidgin, and Xfburn media creator are part of the software stack. Synaptic setup with Debian Squeeze repositores is available to install other software if desired. An icon on the upper panel launches automatic updates, which are pulled in from Debian Squeeze. The lower panel with lots of application launchers hides until hover.

sgfxi is one of the tools available and it installs proprietary graphic drivers. Another tool called "Installrestrictedmultimedia" installs multimedia codecs. Saline also includes a users' manual to help new users find their way around and get started at the commandline. There's an icon on the upper panel that clears your browsers cache and cookies. The hard drive installer is a typical graphical wizard similar to other distributions.

This is another addition to the crop of new light distributions to crop up lately. Perhaps this is a trend toward more resource conservative systems after years of increasingly hungry desktops. Give this attractive Debian derivative a try.