switching to PCLINUXOS 2007 from Ubuntu - week 3 - final observations

This is my third week using PCLINUXOS (PCLOS) after switching from UBUNTU. THis will be my last rpsost on this and here are some final observations.

I have found that PCLOS is a very usable desktop Linux distribution. From the begining I have had very few problems. The install was easy and trouble free. I prefer xfce4 to kde and installing xfce4 was a snap and configuration was easy.

PCLOS is visually pretty, has an excellent set of default applications, and the official repository of programs has first tier programs in all significant categories of software.

For an experience Linux user (I have been using Linux sine Nov. 2000), PCLOS is an excellent choice. It is structured following the expected standards for directories, utilities, configuration files, and so forth. The default applications (Open office, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc.) are all main line and work without a hitch. The available online documentation such as user's manual, installation guide, etc. are quite good, but I found that everything worked so well that I did not need to use any of the documentation. I have checked out the user forum and PCLOS home page and it seems that there is a very active community. Fortunately, I have not needed any help, but it seems that help is available if needed.

The default desktop is KDE, which is a good choice because it is very stable and has a lot of great packages. Gnome and XFCE4 are also available for those persons who prefer them.

For the new user, I think that PCLOS is one of the easiest distributions to get started with. It is a live cd with the option to install. It has great hardware detection and setup (it recognized my wifi card and set it up just fine. The default applications are some of the best available. The developers have included good applications in all the areas that the normal desktop user would probably work in. About the only thing one has to do is to install libdecss to play encrypted dvds. This is explained in the documentation that appears when a browser is started for the first time. The available user manual answers just about any question that a first time user might have.

The synaptic package manager is very easy to work with and hardly needs any instructions for use. I think most any user should be able to find, install, and remove software without any difficulty.

The only minor problems I have had in the three weeks of use are:
1. I needed to turn off ipv6 in firefox and thunderbird by using about:config. At one point loading email and web pages became very slow, and from past experiences I knew that I needed to turn off ipv6 to fix this.
2. The glines game does not retain my score, but klines works fine.
3. The menu item for tightvnc (vncviewer) would open into a terminal window instead of the application. I turned off the terminal option by editing tightvnc.desktop in /usr/share/applications.
4. The flashplayer9 firefox plugin hangs up. I have read in various forums that this is a common problem and happens because flashplayer9 has a problem releasing the audio device. Flashplayer7 does not have this problem. I usually just download the stream video using the firefox plugin download helper and then play it off line.

I have had no crashes or other bad stuff in the three weeks of heavy use.

I would recommend PCLOS to any first time Linux user, but I would recommend they get a good basic book about Linux and become familiar with the user forum and the user documentation.