Foresight Linux 2.0 XFCE Edition Alpha 1 Release Notes
Foresight Linux is a Linux distribution for your desktop that features a rolling release schedule that always keeps your desktop up to date; a revolutionary package manager, Conary; the latest GNOME and XFCE desktop environments and an innovative set of excellent, up to date packages.
This is the first alpha release of the Foresight XFCE Edition, which is for testing, and is not recommended for every day use or in a production environment.
We hope you enjoy using Foresight Linux as much as we do. Because your desktop should be cool.
What’s new
In addition to a new toolchain, the Foresight 2.0 alpha series features a new tar-based installer, that should install in less than 10 minutes, including formatting a 200 GB hard drive. Users should find it much easier to install and use binary video card drivers from Nvidia and ATI than in Foresight 1.x.
PackageKit
With the 2.0 release of Foresight, the Foresight System Manager has been officially replaced with PackageKit. PackageKit aims to be a unified package manager and installer available for many different Linux distributions, and Foresight is proud to be the first distribution to ship with PackageKit using the Conary backend. PackageKit is a GUI tool for managing software packages and updates for your computer, including installing, removing or searching for new software.
After a default installation, PackageKit is installed and running on your system. PackageKit is configured to check for updates once a day, and you will be prompted to install them by clicking on the PackageKit icon on your panel.
To manually search, add or remove software, click on System -> Administration -> Add / Remove Software.
Additional documentation on using PackageKit can be found on the Foresight Linux Wiki at http://wiki.foresightlinux.com/confluence/
XFCE 4.4.2
The Foresight XFCE Edition Alpha 1 includes XFCE 4.4.2. XFCE is a desktop environment designed for productivity, loading and executing applications quickly while conserving system resources.
Syslinux
Syslinux has been added as the default bootloader during installation. Syslinux is under active development, and Foresight is proud to be the first distribution shipping with Syslinux. After installation and during boot-up, Syslinux will appear as Extlinux at the bootloader screen. GRUB is still an option during installation.
Current Issues
- The XFCE terminal currently does not run correctly in virtual environments.
- Many packages need to be added to the repository.
Packages Included in Installation
- Exaile: A lightweight music player
- Abiword: An open source word process
- Gnumeric: The GNOME spreadsheet application
- Claws: An email and newsreader application
Packages Not Included by default
- Compiz
- OpenOffice
Downloading and Installing
The latest alpha release is available as x86 and x86_64 installable ISOs from Foresight’s project page on rBuilder at http://www.rpath.org/rbuilder/project/foresight/release?id=6051.
Credits
Thanks to Mark Trompell, Ken VanDine, Antonio Meireles and all the developers and users who contributed to this release. Please file any bugs!
Thank you for testing this latest alpha release.
Is this still being developed? I see an Alpha release in 2008 and nothing newer. It’s a good idea, did it die on the vine? I also question Fedora as the base, when Ubuntu has shown similar results using Debian. However, although I use Ubuntu, it is not up to the point that you have imaged, which is “you don’t need to know Linux”.
there is a release from 2010 now.