Madbox Linux

Madbox Linux is an open source distribution of Linux based on the highly acclaimed Ubuntu and built around the Openbox window manager. It includes the SLiM display manager and provides users with a straightforward desktop configuration system.

Availability, boot options, supported platforms

The distribution is available for download from the dedicated section (see above) as a single Live CD ISO-hybrid image, which means that you can burn it on a blank CD disc or write it to a USB thumb drive. Even if it is tagged with the i386 (32-bit) instruction set architecture, the distro also supports 64-bit hardware platforms.

The ISO's boot prompt is very basic, text-mode, designed from the ground up to allow users to quickly boot the live environment, without much fuss. It only provides support for changing the keyboard layout, between English US (default), French and Belgian. The system will automatically boot in 30 seconds if no button is pressed.

Simple, lightweight desktop environment, very minimal selection of apps

As mentioned, the distribution uses the lightweight and minimal Openbox window manager as its default desktop environment, which features a single panel located on the upper part of the screen and a clean desktop with a modern system monitoring widget powered by Conky.

The panel can be used to interact with running programs and the functions implemented in the system tray area, as well as to switch between the two virtual workspaces. The main menu can be accessed by right clicking anywhere on the desktop, so you can launch applications or configure the system.

Default applications include the Chromium web browser, PCManFM file manager, Geany IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and text editor, GNOME MPlayer media player, LXTerminal terminal emulator, as well as a handy screenshot utility implemented in the main menu.

Bottom line

Summing up, Madbox Linux is a very nice, very fast and very minimal distribution that uses the stable and reliable base of a LTS (Long Term Support) release of the world's most popular free operating system, Ubuntu Linux.

What is new in this release:

• Based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
• Linux kernel 3.13
• Openbox 3.5.2