Salix OS Ratpoison

Salix OS Ratpoison is an open source operating system, a special edition of the Salix OS distribution that uses the Ratpoison window manager, which provides users with a desktop environment that has no fancy graphics, no window decorations, no rodent dependence, and no fat library dependencies.

It can only be installed on a local drive

This special Salix OS edition can be downloaded as 32-bit and 64-bit bootable ISO images that can only be installed on a local drive. The user must write the ISOs to CD discs or USB flash drives in order to boot them from the BIOS of a computer.

Basic boot options

The ISO images come with a basic boot prompt that allows the user to quickly access the text-mode installer or enter custom kernel parameters. In addition, the ISOs can be used as system rescue CDs by exiting the installer after choosing the keyboard mapping.

Salix OS’ not so scary text-mode installer

The text-mode installer is not so scary as users might think, as it requires them to choose a keyboard layout, select an installation method (AUTOINSTALL is the recommended option), choose the target drive, select the installation source and the installation mode (FULL is the recommended option).

It is also a must to configure and install the bootloader, enter a root (system administrator) password, create a new user, and setup the clock and timezone after all packages have been installed.

A window manager for skilled programmers

Ratpoison is a window manager for advanced users or programmers who are looking for a desktop environment that can only be controlled with the keyboard. After installation, you will be dropped to a shell prompt, where you must login with the user created during the installation process and run the “startx” command to start the graphical desktop interface.

Bottom line

Summing up, the Ratpoison edition of Salix OS is the first ever Linux distribution that features Ratpoison as its default and only window manager/desktop environment where all interaction is done through keystrokes.

What is new in this release:

• Salix Ratpoison 14.0.1 is ready! This is a very special release for us, as Ratpoison makes for an experience that is completely different. The aim of the Ratpoison edition is to create a system that is fully usable with the keyboard only, no mouse required! For everyone that is not familiar with Ratpoison, Ratpoison is a window manager for X "with no fat library dependencies, no fancy graphics, no window decorations, and no rodent dependence". Ratpoison uses a workflow that is similar to that of GNU screen, which is very popular in the terminal world. All interaction with the window manager is done through keystrokes.
• The application selection for the Ratpoison edition is rather special. The main reasoning behind selecting any of the default applications included in this release is their ability to be used completely with the keyboard, not requiring any mouse interaction. To that effect, a lot of the included applications are actually terminal applications.
• In terms of bundled applications, some things changed since the 13.37 release. This time we have included Wordgrinder, a word processor that has minimal features but as a command line application, it can be used only with the keyboard. Also the SC spreadsheet is available from the ratmenu as well. Pidgin has been replaced by a combination of the popular IRSSI IRC client and the MCabber Jabber client. Also, Alpine has replaced Mutt as the default mail application, as it is a lot easier to setup than the latter. Otherwise, it's mostly the same applications that were included in previous Ratpoison releases. The default web browser is Vimprobable2, a lightweight webkit-based browser that uses vim-style keybindings. Gnome Commander is the default file manager, while Midnight Commander is also present. You can play music with Music On Console and videos can be played with the Whaaw Media Player, which is not specifically targetted at keyboard users, but can be used only with a keyboard anyway. MPlayer2 is available through the repositories of course and that may even make a better video player as it plays just about anything out there. Gvim is included as text/code editor and Apvlv can be used to view pdf files. Package management is done only using Gslapt, which can be comfortably used only with a keyboard and Sourcery, our home-grown graphical tool to easy install extra software from SlackBuilds has been updated so that it can be used only with a keyboard too. Of course their command line counterparts, slapt-get and slapt-src are also available. Included is also our unique GUI tool to manage mounting of external devices and local partitions that we have written from scratch, GMountMan, and it has been designed from the ground up to be used with the keyboard only (although users of other window managers will find that it works fine using a mouse too).
• A new system configuration tool has been included in this release for the first time; reposetup. You can find it in the System section of the ratmenu and it will allow you to easily configure the package manager with a repository mirror that is fast for you. It is recommended that everyone runs this tool after installation, as the repository mirror that is included by default might not be the fastest for everyone. By the way, reposetup is also available to users of all our other editions as well, as long as you have kept up with package upgrades.
• With this release, a non-PAE, i486 kernel has be included as well as the i686 PAE kernel included in our Xfce and KDE editions. In order to use the non-PAE, i486 kernel, you'll have to input "huge.s" in the initial prompt you get as soon as the installation medium is booted.