The SparkyLinux distribution is known mainly among relatively experienced users who have already tried many options and settled on a really good one. And also among those who need a lightweight operating system for a laptop to save battery power.
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| SparkyLinux XFCE |
What do we mean when we define a distribution as lightweight? Usually, attention is paid to the responsiveness of the interface and the consumption of RAM. However, there is such an important parameter as the load on the processor. This directly affects how long the laptop battery is alive. What's the point of the system being fast and compact, but when idling, it torments the CPU cores without hesitation. And when you trivially drag a window, the graph jumps up to fifty percent. So, the XFCE desktop is truly economical in this regard. When no program is running, it eats one or two percent, no more, and this parameter often drops to zero.
SparkyLinux is based on Debian which has always been a semi-finished product for independent completing. SparkyLinux is already designed and equipped with software. Useful programs have already been added. As well as a pleasant, not irritating appearance (the combination of white and blue has a calming effect). The interface is classic, like in Windows, so you will not have to change your habits. At first glance, you might even think that this is Windows itself.
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| Settings Manager |
Let's add another keyboard layout if we need it. This is done in two stages. First, let's set the indicator. Right-click on the panel — Panel — Add New Items — find Keyboard Layouts — click Add.
Now right-click on the indicator that has appeared — Keyboard Settings — Layout — disable Use system defaults — Add. In the drop-down list Change layout option, select a convenient key combination for switching between languages.
Let's deal with the panels themselves. As you might guess, you need to right-click on the existing one — Panel — Panel Preferences. There you can configure the number (you can add another one), and the size, and the color, and the translucency, and the automatic hiding (so that it serves as a so-called dock).
How to set the clock and date. For some reason, this is still not in the Settings Manager. But no problem. A right click on the corresponding indicator — Properties. It is enough to specify your Timezone, all other corrections will automatically come from the Internet.
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| AppCenter |
The main difference from other XFCE distributions is a kind of application store. This is not a gluttonous Gnome Software monster that eats up hundreds of megabytes of RAM. This is nothing but a graphical interface for the APT package manager. The user does not have to search for package names for a long time and type commands in the terminal.
However, it is better to explain the essence with a specific example. Let's say we really don't like that the VLC media player included in the package, it may stutter when rewinding, and the sound drops out. The golden age of this program is long gone, but the developers, apparently, are plagued by nostalgia, so they include it in releases. But we want to use excellent Celluloid.
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| Finding Celluloid |
Let's go to the corresponding section where programs for working with video are collected. We open a window with a description of the player and the Install button, click on it and see a black and scary terminal emulator launch. Do not be afraid, all you need to do is to enter the password (it is not visible at all) and confirm the installation by pressing the Enter key. After its completion just press Enter again. And that's it. You don't have to remember all those sorts of abstruse Linux commands.
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| Do not be afraid of the terminal |
Celluloid immediately registers itself as the default application for opening video files, so you can immediately move on to cultural recreation.
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| Celluloid |
In general, right-click on the file — and assign in Properties what it should be opened in. Or you can find Default Applications in the main menu and sort everything out there.
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| Default Applications |
We add all the necessary software in exactly the same way. However, almost everything is already for a trivial office work. Including the Onboard on-screen keyboard, necessary for devices with a touch screen. Though, its settings are taken out to a separate program which also needs to be launched. For example, a dark color, stretching to the entire width of the screen, an automatic activation when trying to type text and translucency can be adjusted.
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| Onboard |
Remember that a SparkyLinux ISO must be downloaded exclusively from the developer’s website.