Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Review

Posted on: September 24th, 2011 by 16 Comments

This fantastic distribution is not merely another Ubuntu derivative. Bodhi delivers a smooth installation process, and an utterly perfected desktop environment that surely left developers locked in dark basements for weeks on end.

Enlightenment Desktop

Enlightenment may be exactly what all the other distributions are missing. The Enlightenment desktop is lightweight and highly customizable making this distribution a top choice for new or old systems.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot

About Bodhi Linux

Bodhi comes with a minimal list of pre-installed applications as well, perfect if you are picky about what you like. So if you are ready to try something new Bodhi will leave you breathless.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Features

  • Bodhi 1.2.0 is based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
  • Enlightenment 17 desktop is easy to use and highly customizable.
  • The good selection of Bodhi help documentation will aid you with any minor problems you may encounter.
  • Very few installed applications, allowing you to choose the ones you want.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Applications

  • PCManFM 0.9.9
  • LXTerminal 0.1.9
  • Leafpad Text Editor 0.8.17
  • Midori Web Browser 0.4.0

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Installation

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot

After inserting your live CD and booting your computer you will arrive at a login prompt, you can just wait about 20 seconds and Bodhi will begin booting to the live desktop.

Installing Bodhi Linux

From the main panel of the live desktop you can click install Bodhi, which I’m sure you will not regret. First you will see an installation checklist with an option to download updates while installing. Then you can choose your partition options and click install now.

Final Installtion Steps

You can use your entire drive or install alongside another operating system. Next choose your location and your keyboard options. And lastly add your username and password. Then you will be asked to restart your system.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Desktop

After rebooting your system you will be asked to choose a desktop profile, either bare, compositing, desktop, fancy, laptop, tablet, or tiling. This controls the level of effects as well as the layout of the desktop.

Choose Your Theme

You will then be asked to choose a desktop theme, there are 7 themes available and each one is quite unique. Each desktop profile offers a single panel with a start menu and a few useful launchers.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot

More Desktop Details

Depending on the profile you choose you may have different gadgets such as a floating clock already on the desktop. Bodhi also provides several virtual desktops, so you should usually find a workspace switcher on the desktop or in the main panel which will often be needed.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Menus

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot
The Enlightenment desktop menu structure is quite slim, everything is easy to find. You can reach the start menu from your main panel, it’s the Bodhi icon. Or you can left click on the desktop to bring up the same menu.

Main Menu

The main menu contains separate sections for your applications, places, and different settings. You can easily find options to configure your desktop, add new software, or shutdown your system.

Desktop Settings

You can also middle-click on the desktop to see a list of open windows as well. To find your basic settings for the Enlightenment desktop look in your main menu for the settings section and click on the settings panel button.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Panels

Enlightenment 17 uses shelves rather than panels, though they work basically the same. Shelves have more of a KDE plasma desktop feel, much like activities. You can add extra shelves, or configure them to your liking.

Desktop Gadgets

Several gadgets are also available, try the iBar gadget for more of a panel style. To access your shelf options look in your main menu under the desktop section, or just right-click on a shelf.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot

Panel Settings

From the shelf settings window you can allow your panel to show above or below windows, or you can change your panel position. Your panel size can also be changed if you have a small monitor. Auto-hide features are available, and you can choose which virtual desktops you want you panel to appear on.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Software

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot

As I said before the default applications list is extremely minimalistic, basically consisting of the bare essentials. But from the main menu you can click add software to find useful application packages already bundled and ready to install from the Bodhi website.

Installing Software

The available software bundles consist of everything needed for general home use. A chat client, office software, video and audio software, and Firefox to top things off.

More Software Choices

You can choose the larger package of full featured software, or the minimal software suite which focuses on lightweight applications. If you prefer to do things yourself you can always look for the Synaptic package manager inside the applications menu.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 File Manager

The default file manager used in Bodhi 1.2.0 is PCManFM which is lightweight and full of features. PCMan file manager also supports tabbed browsing which is one of the most popular features.

About PCManFM

You can launch PCManFM using the file manager icon inside the main panel if your profile has one, or you can look in the places section of the start menu. The PCMan file manager main window is similar to nautilus.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot

More Software Choices

Shortcuts for important locations and devices are in the panel on the left hand side. The right hand part of the main window is where files and folders are displayed. And above that you have the main toolbar, or several menus with additional functions.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Themes

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Screenshot

Before logging into the desktop after installation you will be asked to choose a default theme and wallpaper, but you can try the others at any time. To reach your these settings you can look in the setting section of your main menu, from there click themes.

Get New Themes

The themes window will allow you to import saved themes, get new themes online, or customize your existing themes. To change themes just select a new one and click apply.

Theme Configuration

Each theme includes its own wallpaper. For customization options just click the advanced button. Then select the item you would like to configure from the left panel, and click the theme you would like to apply to that item from the right panel. When finished you can click apply.

Bodhi Linux 1.2.0 Synopsis

Though this is among my first few experiences with Enlightenment 17, and my first time trying Bodhi, I was extremely satisfied yet again. I can already confess a mild addiction. Try the fancy or compositing desktop profile for a superior level of effects, including the cool penguins dancing around on the screen which is noticeable in the desktop screenshot. The desktop environment is refreshing and creative. Everything was entirely stable which will satisfy the masses. New users should probably consider a distribution that provides a wider selection of default applications. But for a slim desktop with several options, Bodhi does it best.

Bodhi Homepage
Download Bodhi

Tags: , , , | Posted in Reviews

  • http://linuxlibrary.org thinkinhurtz

    I just want to thank all visitors and members for your feedback and encouragement which has been highly appreciated. Reviews will continue, now with increased frequency due to high demand! :)
    All opinions and advice will be taken into deep consideration ensuring that visitors receive the best possible experience. So don’t hold back!

    Thanks for visiting!!!

    • jackson

      Hi all!

      Bodhi Linux fascinates me .

      I have execellent  desktops with Enlightenement.

      I can make up my linux  from basic     acording to my needs  !!!

       

       

  • josef

    Hi, THINKINHURTZ.

    It’s very polite of you to post this kind of comment.

    Anyway, my small rant:
    I program alot, and have a lot of windows open. and i missed easy window resizing when i used Bodhi.
    gnome, kde, and even ‘Windoze’ have it.
    i don’t think this functionality exists in E.

    and for your reviews, just a thought,
    it would be very useful if you post RAM usage after first boot(maybe with HTOP).
    or even other statistics of your liking.

    To some people seeing that RAM usage in Bodhi is around 100MB,(to me it was under 100MB)could help them make a decision.
    it’s a minor thing, but helpful.

    Actually i’m going back to Bodhi from Windoze. part of the reason is your review.

    thanks,
    josef.

  • http://linuxlibrary.org thinkinhurtz

    Very good idea Josef, I’m sure potential users would love to see some actual usage statistics included in the review. Thanks for the good advice, I will be sure to start including some numbers!

  • Anon

    The Bodhi website apparently has no way to report or search for known bugs. Maybe Bodhi doesn’t have any? I wasn’t able to use its network manager to setup my desktop system for a fixed IP address. I’ve seen that bug in other distros, there seems to be a trend to write/test distros for laptops/wifi but not fixed IP ethernet.

    • Patrick

      Hi Anon,

      If you go to the wiki and search for connman, you’ll find a way to statically set your IP address. It doesn’t use network manager, and actually removes network manager (for installing connman) however, in the midst there are steps to setting up a static IP by hand.

      The wiki is growing and will eventually contain how to set it up a static IP via the network manager.

      Post all bugs on the forums atm.

      josef: Easy window resizing has a lot to do with your borders and the theme your running. If you play around with your theme, you can adjust the specific border to grab them anywhere for easy resizing. Or, you can set that stuff to key bindings. It is actually all in the E config. (Unless I’m misunderstanding what you mean by easy resizing.)

      I haven’t been using bodhi for very long at all (couple weeks now), but I’ve used E16/E17 for the last 7+ years as my primary desktop.

  • http://ultralighter.blogspot.com/ Dave Sailer

    I played with the previous release for a while, running off a CD.

    It was interesting, but my “final” decision (final for now) is that Enlightenment is not customizable enough to be usable for me.

    One thing that drove me crazy is the analog clock, which is extremely hard to see unless it’s huge, and there does not seem to be any easy way to convert it to a digital format.

    Another thing is that it seems that customizing the look requires learning the nuts and bolts of the various desktop components and their configuration files before any real tweaking is possible.

    Ultimately (again, ultimately for now) I decided that it was too much work to be worthwhile. I’m waiting to see what Lubuntu feels like when it becomes an official part of the Ubuntu family. Meanwhile, there is Mint, Mint LXDE, and Fluxbox on top of Mint. I’m currently using Ubuntu 10.04 on two desktops and Mint 11 Gnome on a netbook, but am really skittish about what will happen when the “mainstream” is either Gnome 3 or Unity.

    Sad to say, KDE 3.5 was just about perfect, but as you know, it’s gone. Dang. I really loved Kubuntu 8.04 until I needed to update key pieces of software. Thus I came to Ubuntu 10.04.

    • ppurka

      There is tclock as Patrick mentioned. Several months ago there was a change made to the clock itself, so that it can be changed to digital/analog, and show up a calendar on click. In fact you can see that analog display on the screenshots in the article itself.

      Customizing the look is indeed more involved. But that is quite true of even gtk or qt, unless you use some specific themes which come with their own configuration dialogs. What e17 offers in this respect is an advanced theme configuration where you can mix and match different components from different themes.

  • Patrick

    Dave: E is a learning curve, but worth the time spent. Bodhi has great intro to E docs that come with the system and online. I know there improving the docs everyday and making great strides! As far as the clock is concerned, you can easily load another clock module or right-click and choose the digital interface.

    The one I personally use is called TCLOCK and that is a module. Settings Modules TCLOCK >> Load. Then go to your gadget or shelf and right-click, contents. Add TCLOCK, and your done.

    Like I said before, E has a learning curve, but it is well worth the investment of time. :)

  • http://isu.itiopi.com Vincent

    I installed bodhi on a Dell Inspiron 5000, which has no ethernet port on it. It runs fine except for when i turn on my wireless card.
    The system locks up, the caps lock and num lock light keeps flashing, and i have to poweroff the system.

    The wireless card is uses a ralink chipset which loads rt2500.

    Any info on how to solve this issue is kindly appreciated.

  • richard

    i have tried lots a linux distros and found it hard to tie one down, they all have issues, upto now bodhi is the best i have found ..great job, thank u

  • http://www.google.co.uk duncan

    I am struggling to get bodhi 1,2.0 (and previous release) to boot on a 64 bit AMD processor the E-350 chip featuring AMD/ATI’s discrete but on-chip fusion graphics,

    Seems to fall down at that animated bootsplash (which does not display correctly)

    A pity since the same live cd boots just fine on my intel Core 2 Duo based laptop (4 yr old Lenovo 3000 N200 – 0769)

    If you have any tips or have had success using AMD fusion and this distribution please comment or email me
    thanks…

    duncandobson a_t ya_hoo _dot_ co _ uk

    • Martín

      I have the same problem with Bodhi with that procesor. But Ubuntu 11.04 works fine specially with the propietary drivers.

    • Riki

      Try replace  queit and splash with nomodeset on live cd boot default boot option.It worked for me.

  • http://linuxlibrary.org thinkinhurtz

    Sorry Duncan, I myself haven’t had much luck with AMD/ATI and Linux in recent years. All of my systems were AMD/ATI until I began having too many graphical errors and no time for corrections. Now all of my systems are Intel/Nvidia. Perhaps Bodhi has a command line installer, or non-graphical at least. From there some X.org tweaking would be next I imagine. Sorry I can’t be more help, I rarely have graphical problems on Ubuntu derivatives any longer.

  • josef

    hello, thinkinhurtz.
    So your review DID drive me to install Bodhi 1.2.0.
    This distro is almost perfect, there is nothing noticeably wrong with it.

    I’m using Dell studio 1535 and it picked up the wireless out of the box.

    Performance is mind blowing when taking ‘eye candy’ in consideration.

    there remains one problem though, the ATI driver issue. i’ve had this issue with almost all the distros i tried.
    It seems ATI and Linux will never be friends.

    josef