I tried Vector Linux last night. Vector is a fast, lightweight Slack-based distro, with the slapt-get package manager; it resolves dependencies for you unlike Slackware, which requires the user to know all dependencies, which I find ridiculous.
The text installer was similar to Slackware 11 and Arch, but much more guided and user friendly. Extra packages beyond a basic console are optional, which is nice, because you can build it your way, from a lean terminal to a torqued up KDE.
I installed a fully functional and heavy KDE environment with all the eye candy turned up. My nvidia 7800gt was autodetected on first boot into the system and I was prompted to install the proprietary driver. My eth0 was configured as was my sound, sort of. (Had to run alsamixer to unmute it) The system is very responsive, even with everything cranked.
My default fstab had cdrom and dvd commented out, but udev or hal must not be as smart as in my Arch system by default because I had to manually mount a dvd and plug the path (/dev/hda) into VLC to play it.
Rebooting with cdrom and dvd entries helped a little, but then I got icons for hda and dvd on the KDE desktop.
The package manager, slapt-get works from the console or by frontend gui (gslapt). It seems similar to Synaptic, but not as polished. I didn't fiddle with the repositories, and the default ones seem slow. I ran a system upgrade and I would guess the download speed at <100Kb.
Overall the same old concept applies; Since Vector is more of a do-it-yourself distro, it is fast and lightweight, but out of the box functionality is scarce compared to the bloated automagic distros. It requires hacking. A Slackware-based distro with dependency management sounds very promising, though, since Slack is only lacking in that one regard, IMO.
I think Vector would appeal to Slack, Gentoo and Arch users, and perhaps even Debian users.
The forums and userbase are small, and I couldn't find a wiki, though there very well may be one.
I hope the distro grows and prospers, because they seem to be onto something. If you have the time I recommend a test drive.
The text installer was similar to Slackware 11 and Arch, but much more guided and user friendly. Extra packages beyond a basic console are optional, which is nice, because you can build it your way, from a lean terminal to a torqued up KDE.
I installed a fully functional and heavy KDE environment with all the eye candy turned up. My nvidia 7800gt was autodetected on first boot into the system and I was prompted to install the proprietary driver. My eth0 was configured as was my sound, sort of. (Had to run alsamixer to unmute it) The system is very responsive, even with everything cranked.
My default fstab had cdrom and dvd commented out, but udev or hal must not be as smart as in my Arch system by default because I had to manually mount a dvd and plug the path (/dev/hda) into VLC to play it.
Rebooting with cdrom and dvd entries helped a little, but then I got icons for hda and dvd on the KDE desktop.
The package manager, slapt-get works from the console or by frontend gui (gslapt). It seems similar to Synaptic, but not as polished. I didn't fiddle with the repositories, and the default ones seem slow. I ran a system upgrade and I would guess the download speed at <100Kb.
Overall the same old concept applies; Since Vector is more of a do-it-yourself distro, it is fast and lightweight, but out of the box functionality is scarce compared to the bloated automagic distros. It requires hacking. A Slackware-based distro with dependency management sounds very promising, though, since Slack is only lacking in that one regard, IMO.
I think Vector would appeal to Slack, Gentoo and Arch users, and perhaps even Debian users.
The forums and userbase are small, and I couldn't find a wiki, though there very well may be one.
I hope the distro grows and prospers, because they seem to be onto something. If you have the time I recommend a test drive.
