Salix OS Fluxbox

Salix OS Fluxbox is an open source and free operating system derived from the well known Slackware Linux distribution and built around the minimal, fast and lightweight Fluxbox window manager, as its default desktop environment.

Key features include one application per task, fully backwards compatible with Slackware Linux, optimized for desktop usage, incredibly fast package tools, simple and fully localized system administration tools, beautiful artwork, and a single CD image.

Availability, boot options, supported architectures

This version of Salix OS Fluxbox is distributed as installable only ISO images that can be written on USB flash drives or burned onto CD discs in order to boot them from the BIOS of the PC. It will run well on both 64-bit and 32-bit architectures.

From the text-mode boot prompt, the user will be able to enter extra kernel parameters. Other than that, pressing the Enter key will start the text-based installer. Additionally, the bootable medium can be used as a rescue CD for repairing broken systems.

Installation instructions

At first, the user should choose a keyboard layout and choose an installation method (step-by-step guided installation or fully automatic). We strongly suggest to go with the AUTOINSTALL method, as it will automatically partition the hard drive.

Choose the disk drive where you want to install Salix OS Fluxbox, select to use the entire disk for the operating system, choose the bootable medium from where to install the distribution, and select an installation mode (Full, Basic or Core).

When all packages have been installed, the user must set up and install the LILO boot loader, set up the hardware clock, choose a timezone and locale, enable or disable numlock on boot, create a new user and select a select a repository mirror.

Lightweight and beautiful desktop environment with top-notch apps

As mentioned, this operating system uses the Fluxbox window manager as its default desktop environment, but beautified to look like a modern OS. It comprises of a single, transparent panel located on the bottom edge of the screen from where the user can launch apps and interact with running progams.

Default applications include the Exaile music player, Brasero CD/DVD burning software, Asunder Audio-CD ripper, Whaaw! media player, Geany IDE, GIMP image editor, Viewnior image viewer, Claws Mail email client, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger, Transmission torrent downloader, gFTP file transfer utility, AbiWord word processor, and Gnumeric spreadsheet editor.

Bottom line

Summing up, Salix OS Fluxbox is a very fast and lightweight operating system, mostly because of the Fluxbox window manager, but also thanks to the stable and reliable Slackware base. It is suitable for low-end machines or computers with old and semi-old hardware components.