Within the Linux ecosystem we can find a large number of distributions, some very popular and well-known, such as Ubuntu, designed for the average user, others, such as Kali Linux, designed for specific purposes (such as computer security) and others that, although less known , allow us to realize the potential that Linux offers when polishing and taking care of details that other distros are not able to do. This time we will talk about Solus, a Linux distro written from scratch that is earning the appreciation of a large part of the community.
Unlike many other Linux distros, which are based on others (for example, Ubuntu in Debian, or Manjaro in Arch, Solus is a distro written from scratch by its developer and the help of the community. This has many advantages, but also It has disadvantages, like that, although we have previous experience in Linux, making the leap to SolusOS is a radical change.
This distribution uses a version derived from the PiSi package manager, called eopkg. We can install and manage the packages using the terminal with the eopkg commands , although the most practical and quick is to use your own software center, where we will find practically what we need.
As for the desktop, we find one of our own called “Budgie”, a very fast, fluid and customizable desktop whose appearance is reminiscent of GNOME 2, although it has elements of Whisker and Cinnamon. We can also find editions with GNOME, MATE and PLASMA desk.
As we can see, this desktop gives some air to Windows 10, both in the bottom bar and in the notification area. Something that Windows users will appreciate and encourage them to give this distro a chance.
To facilitate the work for users, SolusOS also comes with drivers for the latest hardware components. Even the latest Intel and AMD processors, and the latest Radeon and NVIDIA graphics. That way, from the first moment we can have our computer running 100%.
A Linux for all audiences
While on the network we can find a lot of Linux distros for all kinds of purposes (work, multimedia editing, day to day, play, ets), the creator of Solus wanted to create a distro suitable for all users.
On the one hand, this Linux distro is prepared for day to day, both at home and in the office. Just install it and we will have basic applications to start working with it, such as a web browser (Firefox), a mail client (Thunderbird), a media player (VLC and Rhythmbox) and, of course, the LibreOffice office suite.
If we go further, Solus is also designed for programmers. This distro has a great variety of editors (Atom, Idea, GNOME Builder, Qt Creator, Visual Studio Code, etc.), compilers, programming languages (Go, Rust, PHP, Node.js and Ruby, among many others) and version management systems (Bazaar, Git, Mercurial, SVN and GitKraken) so that any developer can feel comfortable in this distro and work with it from the start. Docker and Vagrant are also part of Solus, being an ideal distro for virtualization and containers.
Solus includes a series of editing programs of all kinds, such as Synfig Studio for animation, Musescore and Mixxx to create music, GIMP and Inkscape for image editing and Avidemux, Kdenlive and Shotcut for video editing. An all multimedia one that will undoubtedly meet the needs of any content creator.
And finally, who said that Linux is not to play? This Linux distro is prepared to work with any command, it has support for a large number of platforms (Itch.io, Lutris and Steam) and includes several games installed by default, such as Freeciv, OpenTTD, Red Eclipse and Warzone 2100. In addition, we can install Steam and Wine to play Windows games on Linux without problems.
Solus Requirements
For all that it offers us, Solus does not have extremely high requirements, which makes it ideal for computers that are already a few years old and that, for various reasons, Windows does not work well.
The minimum requirements to install this distro are:
- 512 MB of RAM (recommended 2 GB).
- 4 GB of hard disk space. (recommended 10 GB).
- 64-bit processor of at least 2 GHz.
It is not one of the lightest and lightest Linux distros we can find, but its requirements are quite low. We will not have problems to install it in practically no computer. And if we have an SSD on the computer, Solus will literally fly on our PC.
Of course, this distro is not compatible with either ARM or 32-bit processors.
How to download SolusOS
SolusOS is a completely free Linux distro for all users. No matter what use we will give it. We can download the latest version of this distro from the following link .
We will find ISO images for each of the desks offered by its developer:
- Budgie: desk full of details and with the latest technology.
- GNOME: a contemporary experience.
- MATE: traditional desktop for advanced users and PCs with few resources.
- Plasma: sophisticated desk for those who want to go beyond.
Once the ISO image we want is downloaded, we record it to a USB stick (using, for example, Etcher or Rufus) and we can start with the installation of Solus on our PC. The installation is quick and simple, it does not differ much from the start-up of any other Linux distro, and when finished, we will have this operating system ready for our day to day.
Rolling Release Updates: “Install Today. Update Forever”
A very important aspect of this Linux distribution is that it is committed to a Rolling Release update system. This means that, once we install it for the first time, we will always keep it up to date through its corresponding updates.
We will always have the latest version of the Kernel, the latest programs and all the changes reflected without having to reinstall the distribution or make a dist-upgrade. And all thanks to the support offered by its developer and the large community of users and developers behind SolusOS.
