Phinx Rising can also be found now on Twitter. A extra gadget has been placed on this site with a link to the Phinx Rising Twitter profile.
Feel free to follow and recieve the news updates on Twitter too.
Enjoy! :)
The Phinx Desktop and Xfce News Channel
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Phinx Desktop On Softpedia and Distrowatch
While going through some stuff on the web I found out that Phinx Desktop has entered Softpedia on October 17.
Have a look here:
Phink Desktop 2011-08 On Softpedia
The second spotting was on Distrowatch were I noticed that Phinx Desktop has entered the waiting list on October the 5th:
Phinx Desktop on waiting list Distrowatch
This means that the word about the Phinx Desktop project is spreading and noticed by other sites. Awesome stuff going on here!
Have a look here:
Phink Desktop 2011-08 On Softpedia
The second spotting was on Distrowatch were I noticed that Phinx Desktop has entered the waiting list on October the 5th:
Phinx Desktop on waiting list Distrowatch
This means that the word about the Phinx Desktop project is spreading and noticed by other sites. Awesome stuff going on here!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Happy 8th Birthday PCLinuxOS!
Eight years ago, in October 2003, Texstar created a fork of Mandrake Linux 9.2. Texstar has since developed that fork independently into a full-fledged distribution that we all know as: PCLinuxOS.
I want to thank Texstar for this great and stable distribution that is also the base for the Phinx Desktop project. I believe without Textstar and PCLinuxOS this all wouldn't have been possible. Keep up the great job!
Happy 8th Birthday PCLinuxOS!!!!
PCLinuxOS then and now:
Then:
20-12-2004 PCLinuxOS Preview 8
(I couldn't find a screenshot of the 2003 preview but i stumbled upon a screenie of the PCLinuxOS Preview 8.)
Now:
27-06-2011 PCLinuxOS 2011.6
I want to thank Texstar for this great and stable distribution that is also the base for the Phinx Desktop project. I believe without Textstar and PCLinuxOS this all wouldn't have been possible. Keep up the great job!
Happy 8th Birthday PCLinuxOS!!!!
PCLinuxOS then and now:
Then:
20-12-2004 PCLinuxOS Preview 8
Now:
27-06-2011 PCLinuxOS 2011.6
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Rest In Peace Joe Gable a.k.a. Joble
I was shocked and couldn't believe it when i first read the news on the
Phinx Desktop site. The name Joble ringed a bell and i rushed over to
the PCLinuxOS forum where a topic confirmed my fear......
Joble passed away and with that the PClinuxOS and Phinx community lost a great friend and moderator.
I didn't get the chance to know Joble (Joe Gable) myself, but from what i've read in the comments he must have been a great guy.
I just wanted to share this sad news here with you because it hit the PCLOS community and me big time... My condolences to his family and all his friends who knew him very well and were close to him.
I am sorry that i didn't post this sooner, words just failed me yesterday.......
That you may rest in peace Joble. We'll miss you.......
Joble passed away and with that the PClinuxOS and Phinx community lost a great friend and moderator.
I didn't get the chance to know Joble (Joe Gable) myself, but from what i've read in the comments he must have been a great guy.
I just wanted to share this sad news here with you because it hit the PCLOS community and me big time... My condolences to his family and all his friends who knew him very well and were close to him.
I am sorry that i didn't post this sooner, words just failed me yesterday.......
That you may rest in peace Joble. We'll miss you.......
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Phinx Desktop Repo and IRC channel
Phinx Desktop Repo:
Last week Kori set up repositories for both x86 and x86_64. The repo's have been tested by him and both work well. They are empty at the moment but will be filled in the nearby future with packages and it will allow him to create the tweaks and features in Phinx without having to break any compatibilities with the main PCLOS repository.
Source of the news can be found on the Phinx Desktop site itself:
http://phinxdesktop.slyip.net/phinxdesktop/?p=130
Phinx Desktop IRC Channel:
Another step forward and slight change is that we decided to set up a Phinx Desktop IRC channel where the Phinx users can ask for help and not to overload the PCLinuxOS-Support channel with questions related specific to Phinx Desktop.
If you're looking for us.... we can be found on Freenode IRC in the #PhinxDesktop channel. If you have a IRC client like Xchat for example you can join the channel i mentioned above. Another option is by logging in with a web based client that is to be found on the Phinx Desktop site itself in a sidebar.
Last week Kori set up repositories for both x86 and x86_64. The repo's have been tested by him and both work well. They are empty at the moment but will be filled in the nearby future with packages and it will allow him to create the tweaks and features in Phinx without having to break any compatibilities with the main PCLOS repository.
Source of the news can be found on the Phinx Desktop site itself:
http://phinxdesktop.slyip.net/phinxdesktop/?p=130
Phinx Desktop IRC Channel:
Another step forward and slight change is that we decided to set up a Phinx Desktop IRC channel where the Phinx users can ask for help and not to overload the PCLinuxOS-Support channel with questions related specific to Phinx Desktop.
If you're looking for us.... we can be found on Freenode IRC in the #PhinxDesktop channel. If you have a IRC client like Xchat for example you can join the channel i mentioned above. Another option is by logging in with a web based client that is to be found on the Phinx Desktop site itself in a sidebar.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Total Switch
After running Phinx for a while now on my netbook and since i joined up with Kori on the Phinx Desktop site plus forum, i decided to install it also on my laptop.
So both of my machines are running Phinx now. This is my current desktop layout on the laptop:
I use the standard iconset that comes pre-installed with Phinx, the theme is Shiki Brave and i changed the font to Liberation Sans size 9. I set Alpha of both panels to 80 making it a bit darker but still translucent.
Also i installed some other applications like Firefox and Thunderbird, Asunder, Orage, Pidgin, Xchat, Gimp and Audacious because they fill in my main needs.
Phinx, with Xfce as it's desktop environment and PCLinuxOS at it's base, is a great system and with Ubuntu's Unity around plus Gnome 3 coming up more and more which turn some users away, it's also a great alternative for people who want to keep a more similar, familiar, easy to use and configurable desktop environment like Gnome 2.
Remember the previous article, the focus on the Phinx Desktop is in staying a pure Xfce environment. That's where my focus will also go to, using some apps that are recommended for the Xfce environment and trying to learn some more about Phinx and Xfce.
Xfce Recommende Apps
What can i say more... I'm a 100%
now and i'm proud of it. It's been a while since i enjoyed using a Linux distibution but this one is it for me.
Also a nice surprize, Kori has uploaded some additional wallpapers on the Phinx forum in courtesy of HD Wallpapers which also feature the new Phinx Desktop logo:
http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/phinx/forums-2?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=18
So both of my machines are running Phinx now. This is my current desktop layout on the laptop:
I use the standard iconset that comes pre-installed with Phinx, the theme is Shiki Brave and i changed the font to Liberation Sans size 9. I set Alpha of both panels to 80 making it a bit darker but still translucent.
Also i installed some other applications like Firefox and Thunderbird, Asunder, Orage, Pidgin, Xchat, Gimp and Audacious because they fill in my main needs.
Phinx, with Xfce as it's desktop environment and PCLinuxOS at it's base, is a great system and with Ubuntu's Unity around plus Gnome 3 coming up more and more which turn some users away, it's also a great alternative for people who want to keep a more similar, familiar, easy to use and configurable desktop environment like Gnome 2.
Remember the previous article, the focus on the Phinx Desktop is in staying a pure Xfce environment. That's where my focus will also go to, using some apps that are recommended for the Xfce environment and trying to learn some more about Phinx and Xfce.
Xfce Recommende Apps
What can i say more... I'm a 100%
now and i'm proud of it. It's been a while since i enjoyed using a Linux distibution but this one is it for me.
Also a nice surprize, Kori has uploaded some additional wallpapers on the Phinx forum in courtesy of HD Wallpapers which also feature the new Phinx Desktop logo:
http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/phinx/forums-2?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=18
Monday, October 3, 2011
From The Ashes....
From the ashes of the Phoenix rises another new but familiar project, it's the amazing, beautiful and pure Phinx Desktop.
The Phinx Desktop is a linux distribution with the well known PCLinuxOS as it's base that uses Xfce as it's desktop environment and it has been the little sister of the PCLinuxOS Phoenix community edition before.
Now Phinx has gone it's own way. The developer, packager and maintainer Kori (a.k.a. Sproggy) wants the project, where he worked on for 18 months, to stand on it's own feet from now on.
Things will be explained soon by my good friend Kori in an exclusive and indepth interview a bit further below in this blogpost.
But first i would like to give some more info about what happend through the years and most of all lately, which is related to me, PCLinuxOS and the Phinx Desktop project.
I used PCLinuxOS in the past when i first started out with linux myself somewhere in 2007 and was amazed by it back then that i worked with it for a few months. After that it was almost four years of distrohopping, sometimes even switching to another distro within the same day.
Last May or June, can't recall that exactly at the moment, i found the test 2 iso of the upcoming PCLinuxOS 2011.6 32bit and installed it on my laptop. Since almost 3 to 4 months i've been running the various PCLinuxOS versions and to be very honest... i've been sneakpeaking at another rolling release... LMDE. But however, i came back 100% to PCLinuxOS, the community on the forum and even on IRC.
Soon i found myself trying all the newly released 2011 editions and have to say they are all great in their own way. Even the 64bit KDE test 4 version was running very fast and smooth on my laptop. It's too bad that i can't run all of them because i own only a netbook and laptop. Virtualbox is something i don't like so i don't use that. While running the 64bit KDE test 4 version on the laptop, with the Phinx edition to the left of me installed on my netbook and hanging out on the PCLinuxOS IRC channel, i took notice of a little conversation which got me confused at first, after that, while getting small pieces of info..... more confusion because it still wasn't clear to me what was about to happen.
I thought that Kori just put up another blog or site to keep the Phoenix and Phinx editions more or less separated from each other to give each one of them their special place on the web.
That they would be separated is true but.... i never thought that it would turn out into a lot more than just separated blogs.
The Phinx Desktop site took shape and i figured out that a forum had been added. The first post on the new site, the added forum and a post on the PCLinuxOS forum made clear to me that what was and is about to happen is indeed a lot more than i ever could imagine. Phinx is going it's own way!
If there is something i like it's new projects and to be honest, i like Kori's work. So i found myself running his PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition in no time on my laptop instead of the 64bit KDE and Phinx still running on the netbook. I registered myself on the new site and forum, leaving a reply with the offer to help Kori on the board as a moderator only if he wanted and liked to.
That choice was quickly made by me.... I know if something is good and i want to be a part of that, no matter what.... I love to see it grow, evolve, help and even help to promote it where possible. Within a day it was all settled. Kori plugged me in as a moderator and i entered the new Phinx Desktop realm.
For me this is a new beginning, also rising from the ashes sort of speak together with the Phinx Desktop project. PCLinuxOS and it's community gave me back the feeling that i lost somehow. The feeling when i first started with linux..... lot's of fun that want to get you involved more and more, bit by bit. I've been in various places but no other community achieved it to keep me hooked and to stay like they do. And now with the rise of the Phinx Desktop project it has been made complete.......
Now.... let's switch over to the promised interview with the man behind the Phinx Desktop project and the PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition: Kori.
K: Mandrake 7.2 ... couldn't get it to do dialup so binned linux for a while ...
then did the full distro hopping thing ...
M: When did you get involved in the PCLinuxOS project and how long have you
been developing the Phoenix and Phinx editions for now?
At that time there was an XFCE called SAM ... when the Dev's left they took SAM
with them and based it on something else ... this left a massive XFCE user
base without an iso to install ... from this event came Phoenix ... 2009.4 ...
the story of how she has her name is old history but if you don't know ... like
a Phoenix that DE rose from the ashes ... Phinx came later as a project to
create a smaller and purer XFCE experience ...
M: Not to long ago i picked up on IRC that the Phinx edition took a departure
somehow, which shocked me at first, and is no longer a PCLinuxOS community
edition anymore but has become a project that you want to stand on it's own feet
if i'm not mistaken. How did it come to that?
K: The decision was made for Phinx to stand alone because PCLOS has always had a drive to keep certain things across all the DE's exactly the same ... the Menu is a good example of this ... with the arrival of XFCE 4.8 ... there also arrived a new menu structure ... look ... and feel ... this would not be in keeping with the PCLOS look and feel ...
We have seen many times that reviewers always give PCLOS the bad turn when
something new is introduced ... and rather than a negative review delivered to
PCLOS ... in creating Phinx with the XFCE defaults ... the reviews should not
have any negative effect on PCLOS ...
M: Curious as i am sometimes i couldn't help myself and went on to take a look
on the new site you have put up for the Phinx Desktop project. To be honest...it
got me hooked on it from the very first look and really like what you have set
up there knowing it's still a 'work in progress' at the moment. Are you working
alone on the site and it's looks?
K: Yes all the work is mine alone ... whether you are aware or not i am quite multi talented ... artwork and internet go hand in hand with me ... so creation of the site was quite easy ... my bigger issue's is to ensure the user base start using
it ... and filling it with new ideas etc ... after all it is for them
M: Who designed the Phinx logo? Realy like that one.
K: The Phinx logo is the head of the Phoenix logo but twisted to an upright
position as if ready to receive food from it's parent ...
M: As you know i'm running the Phinx edition on my netbook which i really like a lot by the way. The Phoenix edition took it's place on the laptop for now which
is also a favourite of mine. Would you be so kind and explain to our readers
what the differences are between the two editions, besides from that Phoenix
still remains a community edition and Phinx has become a more 'stand alone'
project with PCLinuxOS as it's base?
K: It's simple ... the 2 editions are seperated by 1 simple thing .... Phinx is a
pure XFCE environment ... using only XFCE recommended Applcations, Settings and Tweaks ...
Whereas Phoenix ... uses all apps and settings from any other DE ...
M: I have read that you have been working on Phinx for 18 months now and that
you have released a 32bit version. Those 18 months... are these the 'development
months' for the currently released Phinx version only? If so... How was it for
you to work on it that long, what was your experience during that time?
K: Well it has taken 18 month solely because i have spent 9 months with a jaw break and shoulder seperation ... so in realiy i have only had 9 months of development... packaging .. testing and tweaking ... and working on it has been fun all the way along ...
M: Knowing that PCLinuxOS is a rolling release distribution and Phinx Desktop
uses it as a base, does this mean that Phinx will also remain a rolling release
distribution?
K: Quite simply yes ...
M: You have told me and i have read it on the Phinx Desktop site that you're
planning a 64bit version too, which i'm waiting for to be released by the way.
But what are your further future plans for the Phinx Desktop project, what
vision do you have?
K: Yes a 64bit version of both Phoenix and Phinx are in the plans ... with regards
to the vision ... i am hoping to ensure Phinx stays the purest of desktops ...
and hopefully move it into getting more native XFCE apps available for it ...
M: Do you appreciate the input from the users to help shape the Phinx Desktop
distribution with their ideas? And are you willing to change it here and there
that might help it to grow to achieve your goal?
K: Absolutely ... any and all feedback is listened too ... i hope to find great
individuals who can share the vision and help with their great ideas and input
to help it become the great environment i believe it can be ...
M: Thank you so much Kori for taking your precious time to do this interview,
which was my first one ever by the way and i hope you enjoyed it as much as i
did. I appreciate it a lot.
K: you are very welcome dude
So there you have it, another awesome project explained by a great guy.
For those interested in following the great Phinx Desktop project that provides a more pure Xfce desktop environment can have a look at the site and feel free to join us on the forum to provide us with feedback:
Phinx Desktop
Phinx Forum
For a download of the iso have a look here:
Phinx 2011.08
Original Screenshot of Phinx 2011.8
The Phinx Desktop is a linux distribution with the well known PCLinuxOS as it's base that uses Xfce as it's desktop environment and it has been the little sister of the PCLinuxOS Phoenix community edition before.
Now Phinx has gone it's own way. The developer, packager and maintainer Kori (a.k.a. Sproggy) wants the project, where he worked on for 18 months, to stand on it's own feet from now on.
Things will be explained soon by my good friend Kori in an exclusive and indepth interview a bit further below in this blogpost.
But first i would like to give some more info about what happend through the years and most of all lately, which is related to me, PCLinuxOS and the Phinx Desktop project.
I used PCLinuxOS in the past when i first started out with linux myself somewhere in 2007 and was amazed by it back then that i worked with it for a few months. After that it was almost four years of distrohopping, sometimes even switching to another distro within the same day.
Last May or June, can't recall that exactly at the moment, i found the test 2 iso of the upcoming PCLinuxOS 2011.6 32bit and installed it on my laptop. Since almost 3 to 4 months i've been running the various PCLinuxOS versions and to be very honest... i've been sneakpeaking at another rolling release... LMDE. But however, i came back 100% to PCLinuxOS, the community on the forum and even on IRC.
Soon i found myself trying all the newly released 2011 editions and have to say they are all great in their own way. Even the 64bit KDE test 4 version was running very fast and smooth on my laptop. It's too bad that i can't run all of them because i own only a netbook and laptop. Virtualbox is something i don't like so i don't use that. While running the 64bit KDE test 4 version on the laptop, with the Phinx edition to the left of me installed on my netbook and hanging out on the PCLinuxOS IRC channel, i took notice of a little conversation which got me confused at first, after that, while getting small pieces of info..... more confusion because it still wasn't clear to me what was about to happen.
I thought that Kori just put up another blog or site to keep the Phoenix and Phinx editions more or less separated from each other to give each one of them their special place on the web.
That they would be separated is true but.... i never thought that it would turn out into a lot more than just separated blogs.
The Phinx Desktop site took shape and i figured out that a forum had been added. The first post on the new site, the added forum and a post on the PCLinuxOS forum made clear to me that what was and is about to happen is indeed a lot more than i ever could imagine. Phinx is going it's own way!
If there is something i like it's new projects and to be honest, i like Kori's work. So i found myself running his PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition in no time on my laptop instead of the 64bit KDE and Phinx still running on the netbook. I registered myself on the new site and forum, leaving a reply with the offer to help Kori on the board as a moderator only if he wanted and liked to.
That choice was quickly made by me.... I know if something is good and i want to be a part of that, no matter what.... I love to see it grow, evolve, help and even help to promote it where possible. Within a day it was all settled. Kori plugged me in as a moderator and i entered the new Phinx Desktop realm.
For me this is a new beginning, also rising from the ashes sort of speak together with the Phinx Desktop project. PCLinuxOS and it's community gave me back the feeling that i lost somehow. The feeling when i first started with linux..... lot's of fun that want to get you involved more and more, bit by bit. I've been in various places but no other community achieved it to keep me hooked and to stay like they do. And now with the rise of the Phinx Desktop project it has been made complete.......
Screenshot of a slightly customized Phinx 2011.08
Now.... let's switch over to the promised interview with the man behind the Phinx Desktop project and the PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition: Kori.
M: How long ago did you start with Linux, what's the first distribution you
used?
K: Mandrake 7.2 ... couldn't get it to do dialup so binned linux for a while ...
then did the full distro hopping thing ...
M: When did you get involved in the PCLinuxOS project and how long have you
been developing the Phoenix and Phinx editions for now?
K: i kinda fell into helping late 08 early 09 ... some things we not right with the Dev team at that time and they all departed ... leaving just a few Dev's and Tex... i first started with Providing Artwork ... 2009.2 was the release that i orchestrated, altho alot of the original work was Geminiguy's he gave me carte blanche to make it into a full theme ... which is the beautiful sky blue theme for 2009.2 ...
At that time there was an XFCE called SAM ... when the Dev's left they took SAM
with them and based it on something else ... this left a massive XFCE user
base without an iso to install ... from this event came Phoenix ... 2009.4 ...
the story of how she has her name is old history but if you don't know ... like
a Phoenix that DE rose from the ashes ... Phinx came later as a project to
create a smaller and purer XFCE experience ...
M: Not to long ago i picked up on IRC that the Phinx edition took a departure
somehow, which shocked me at first, and is no longer a PCLinuxOS community
edition anymore but has become a project that you want to stand on it's own feet
if i'm not mistaken. How did it come to that?
K: The decision was made for Phinx to stand alone because PCLOS has always had a drive to keep certain things across all the DE's exactly the same ... the Menu is a good example of this ... with the arrival of XFCE 4.8 ... there also arrived a new menu structure ... look ... and feel ... this would not be in keeping with the PCLOS look and feel ...
We have seen many times that reviewers always give PCLOS the bad turn when
something new is introduced ... and rather than a negative review delivered to
PCLOS ... in creating Phinx with the XFCE defaults ... the reviews should not
have any negative effect on PCLOS ...
M: Curious as i am sometimes i couldn't help myself and went on to take a look
on the new site you have put up for the Phinx Desktop project. To be honest...it
got me hooked on it from the very first look and really like what you have set
up there knowing it's still a 'work in progress' at the moment. Are you working
alone on the site and it's looks?
K: Yes all the work is mine alone ... whether you are aware or not i am quite multi talented ... artwork and internet go hand in hand with me ... so creation of the site was quite easy ... my bigger issue's is to ensure the user base start using
it ... and filling it with new ideas etc ... after all it is for them
M: Who designed the Phinx logo? Realy like that one.
K: The Phinx logo is the head of the Phoenix logo but twisted to an upright
position as if ready to receive food from it's parent ...
M: As you know i'm running the Phinx edition on my netbook which i really like a lot by the way. The Phoenix edition took it's place on the laptop for now which
is also a favourite of mine. Would you be so kind and explain to our readers
what the differences are between the two editions, besides from that Phoenix
still remains a community edition and Phinx has become a more 'stand alone'
project with PCLinuxOS as it's base?
K: It's simple ... the 2 editions are seperated by 1 simple thing .... Phinx is a
pure XFCE environment ... using only XFCE recommended Applcations, Settings and Tweaks ...
Whereas Phoenix ... uses all apps and settings from any other DE ...
M: I have read that you have been working on Phinx for 18 months now and that
you have released a 32bit version. Those 18 months... are these the 'development
months' for the currently released Phinx version only? If so... How was it for
you to work on it that long, what was your experience during that time?
K: Well it has taken 18 month solely because i have spent 9 months with a jaw break and shoulder seperation ... so in realiy i have only had 9 months of development... packaging .. testing and tweaking ... and working on it has been fun all the way along ...
M: Knowing that PCLinuxOS is a rolling release distribution and Phinx Desktop
uses it as a base, does this mean that Phinx will also remain a rolling release
distribution?
K: Quite simply yes ...
M: You have told me and i have read it on the Phinx Desktop site that you're
planning a 64bit version too, which i'm waiting for to be released by the way.
But what are your further future plans for the Phinx Desktop project, what
vision do you have?
K: Yes a 64bit version of both Phoenix and Phinx are in the plans ... with regards
to the vision ... i am hoping to ensure Phinx stays the purest of desktops ...
and hopefully move it into getting more native XFCE apps available for it ...
M: Do you appreciate the input from the users to help shape the Phinx Desktop
distribution with their ideas? And are you willing to change it here and there
that might help it to grow to achieve your goal?
K: Absolutely ... any and all feedback is listened too ... i hope to find great
individuals who can share the vision and help with their great ideas and input
to help it become the great environment i believe it can be ...
M: Thank you so much Kori for taking your precious time to do this interview,
which was my first one ever by the way and i hope you enjoyed it as much as i
did. I appreciate it a lot.
K: you are very welcome dude
So there you have it, another awesome project explained by a great guy.
For those interested in following the great Phinx Desktop project that provides a more pure Xfce desktop environment can have a look at the site and feel free to join us on the forum to provide us with feedback:
Phinx Desktop
Phinx Forum
For a download of the iso have a look here:
Phinx 2011.08
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)