Puppy Linux "Racy"

Puppy Linux "Racy" is an open source, lightweight, fast and free Linux kerne-based operating system tailored specifically for low-end computers and PCs with old or semi-old hardware components.

Distributed as a 32-bit Live CD

The Racy edition of Puppy Linux is distributed as a Live CD ISO image that contains only software package optimized for 32-bit (i386/x86) instruction set architecture and fits perfectly on a Mini CD disc, though it can also be deployed on a regular CD media or a USB thumb drive.

Boot options

Just like any other Puppy Linux based operating system, this edition comes with a minimal boot menu that starts the live system automatically in five seconds from the moment the user boots the ISO image from the BIOS of a PC.

While pressing the F2 key on your keyboard will give you access to a screen with basic boot options, pressing the F3 key will display information about various advanced boot options designed for experts or people with special hardware.

Same old-school desktop environment powered by IceWM

Once again, Puppy Linux Racy is no different from other Puppy Linux editions. It presents users with the same old-shcool desktop environment powered by the IceWM window manager and designed from the ground up to be low on resources. The layout comprises of a single taskbar located on the bottom edge of the screen, offering users quick access to pre-installed apps.

Default applications

Default applications include the Xarchive archive manager, ROX-Filer file manager, GWhere disk cataloger, Gdmap graphical disk usage, gFnRename batch file renamer, mtPaint image editor, InkLite vector graphics editor, Viewnior image viewer, PupCamera webcam viewer, SeaMonkey all-in-one Internet suite, Geany text editor and IDE, Leafpad text editor, AbiWord word processor, Gnumeric spreadsheet editor, HomeBank finance manager, Planner project manager, Transmission torrent downloader, as well as MPlayer video player.

What is new in this release:

• Racy 5.5 RC2 is using the 3.0.66 kernel.

What is new in version 5.5 RC:

• Racy 5.5RC has the 3.8.0 Linux kernel, configured without PAE support (so only accesses first 4MB of RAM), and for a i586 CPU. It also has 'f2fs' (Flash Friendly File System) support, which is the main reason I was keen to use the 3.8 kernel.
• Most of the system libraries and some applications in Racy (and Wary) have not been upgraded since 5.3, however a plethora of "in house" applications have been updated. Also, the Woof infrastructure has undergone mammoth fixes and improvements since 5.3.
• In fact, it is the significant improvements in the infrastructure that have made building of a new version of Racy imperative.
• I might upgrade some libraries and more applications, but targeting that for Racy 5.6.
• A note about KMS, for those who know what that means. Wary does not use KMS at all. Racy has KMS enabled for the intel 'i915' kernel module and for the 'nouveau' kernel modules, but not for the 'radeon' kernel module. Wary doesn't even have the 'nouveau' kernel driver, only the 'nv' driver (Racy has both, but the 'nv' driver is by default not used).