iEntry 10th Anniversary
LinuxHaxor
WH
MHLook Ma, No ‘X’
INX is an interesting Linux distro released today, which is based on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and it is console only, without any graphical “X” programs. According to the release note INX is intended as a ‘tutorial’ and “introduction to the Bash command line”. It is important to note that INX is not the only console-only Linux distro. However their intention seems to be clear, as they are looking to build a console only “liveCD” distro which is “fun, and not intimidating for console beginners.”
Click for larger image.
Some information about INX 1.0, quoting from their website:
“INX 1.0 also includes new features; you can now set up wireless with the “Ceni” tool from the INX “Net & Web” menu. You can use your mouse with programs like xlinks2, elinks, mc, and the jed text editor. In addition to the powerful GNU Screen program, INX now sports the “Dvtm” Dynamic Virtual Terminal Manager, a “tiled terminal manager”.”
Not to confuse with my earlier post, I think there are enough supporters for both console users and GUI lovers to have distros specifically designed for their needs. If you are into consoles you might want to give INX a shot.
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This post: http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/05/21/a-day-without-x/ has some excellent information on working without X. Web browsing, email, chat, rss, file management, music, text editing, even viewing images & videos. Pretty great stuff, all of which of course would work with INX.
No that’s not Dynamic Virtual Terminal Manager - it’s GNU Screen :)
dvtm is a tiling terminal manager - it divides the screen in various ways vertically and horizontally, and is include in INX 1.0 of course. You can use both together, as well.
It looks like DOS.
@Defender:
You mean DOS looks like Unix, which Linux is based on. Unix has been around for a lot longer than DOS, and certainly influenced the design of both DOS and CP/M.
There are some strong advantages to running a console-only distribution on a server. Too many distros load up way too much junk by default. That’s fine on your desktop, but you don’t *need* X and KDE running on a server - both from a memory footprint and security point of view.
A distro whose goal is to help people learn the command line? Nice.
I understand the server benefits of a distro such as this, and MAYBE I will agree with the whole learning command line aspect… but in my mind… with the power of today’s machines, there’s no real legitimate end-user reason to have a distro without a gui.
@WallOfSheep
End users who demand more power and flexibility than a gui can provide is a legitimate reason. Mutt is a better mail client than Thunderbird, IMHO.
Also, text-only distros can provide a LOT of flexibility and power to a machine that is older. A PIII 700Mhz might suck running XP or the latest full version of Ubuntu + GUI, but CLI only? It’ll scream. ;) Sure it’s not for everyone, but for those comfortable on the command line, it works great and gives a good reason to keep that old computer around a little longer.
Great for a old laptop
I use mrxvt in full-screen mode. mrxvt has the really nice support for tabbed terminal windows. If you decide to try it, take a look at the customizations and some of the example stuff in the package before you write it off. It’s actually really nice.
@WallOfSheep
I don’t think it’s intended for people who intend to be end users. It would appear that it’s intended to wean end users who want to become power users off the GUI.
Looks delicious! I haven’t booted it yet, but I’ve already got it downloaded and seeding in ktorrent. I hope it’s got emacs, cause I’ve not a viguy.
Hey Josh, I got two P3s. This one (800 mhz) is running Ubuntu Hardy Heron. The other is 600 mhz, running Debian Etch. They don’t suck. I usually use KDE3 apps with fluxbox. If I need a little more boost, I’ll run icewm. But I can run gnome or KDE3 pretty well, or even KDE4 if I don’t get all widgety.
Besides power and flexibility, for certain tasks, a “bashbox” can be very conducive to getting work done. I learned that when the MOBO to my P4 had to go back to the factory, and for a couple of months I had nothing to tide me over but a Pentium 133 with 32 mb RAM. I installed Slackware 11.0, and I wrote for hours, using emacs. There’s something to be said for the efficiency of a computer without thousands of distractions that are only a click away.
The question is whether a distro that is meant to run without x suceeds in making the bashbox more comfortable, ejoyable of effective than simply running another distro without X. If so, I think it’s legitimate. After all, there are hundreds of distros out there, and most of them include X.
I’m not sure if I approve of an X-less distro being employed as the means for teaching people the command line, as it reinforces the misconception that the command line and the GUI are separate, competing entities, and that using the command line means leaving the GUI behind. In fact, I think some GUI-based command line educational tools are badly needed to help desktop users make the leap.
Just to clarify - INX is a live CD. It is possible to install from the live CD to the hard drive, but currently the installer is experimental. INX is neither “anti X” nor intended as a base for a server, although it could be used as a base for one, by installing the needed packages.
INX is intended to be a fun demo of what can be done in virtual terminals, and the primary motivation for making it was to bridge the gap for people who are interested enough to learn. The primary developer does not live in the console, but uses it as an adjunct to the graphical interfaces :)
In other words, this is not an “either/or” but more like a “Hey, I bet you didn’t know
you could do and ” . If you already know about foo and bar, INX wasn’t made for you.
Well, the screen shot looks beautiful. I can’t wait to try inx, but for s9ome reaon, my first attempt to burn the CD wouldn’t boot up. on either machine. I’d get the grub boot menu. but after that, just darkness forevermore. And then, i couldn’t even burn the CD. So now I’m about to download inx again.
I finally got to try INX out, and it was everything I’d hoped for and more. It’s a lot more than Ubuntu minus X. As a console distro aimed at the general user, inx automatically guides the user through some amazing stuff that I didn’t know you could do from the console, like browsing Google images (!) viewing webpages in full color, and and downloading some image files. There’s an easy to use internet radio function that made me feel right at home right away (I went for the Baroque station, and they played one of my favorite Bach Violin Concerti). Inxs also played an animated film for me one of those awesome stop-motion animation shorts using lego toys.
This is a live CD, and it’s not meant to replace your current OS or solve any of your IT problems. It’s an educational toy, meant to challenge, surprise, and intrigue the user with the console. If you have any curiosity of the command line at all, it does a great job on all counts.
There are some practical benefits to the console, though, and not just for system administrators. It works great on an old machine, and if you get used to using a command line editor like emacs, it can be a really efficient, focused way to work, free form the distractions of a Desktop Environment. Once I was forced to use the console, because only an very low-end machine was available, and I was surprised to discover that I got a lot more done.
Here’s what you have to remember with INX. Typing “x” will get you a command prompt (advance). Typing “menu” will get you a menu (retreat). Remember that, and you’ll always have some place to go.
It’s brilliant. I hate to be a contrary bastard, but all that’s missing is… X. Or to put it another way, I’d really love to see these console menus or something like them available in every distro, so I could run the console from Ubuntu, for example, get some help finding my way, get that awesome internet radio function, and then, when I need the desktop, I could just type “startx”. Sometimes, you can just get more done from the console.
but I don’t want to have to burn the bridge back to fluxbox.
It continues to dawn on me: this is huge! Think of it: Someone has actually reinvented the command line! I don’t know if this kind of menu-supported BASH shell was original with INX, but I’ve never seen it before, and it blows me away the more I think about it. The really awesome thing here is that it’s “menu-supported” not “menu-driven”. I’ll say it again: you advance through the bash prompt, by typing ironically enough, “X”. If you get stuck, you can “retreat” by typing “menu” and you get help moving forward again. So, theoretically you’re never without a place to go, but the menus don’t hold you back. The shell, prompt– the fastest, most powerful interface there is– is always the way forward, and as the user learns, she depends on the menus less and less. Bono would call it brilliant… with a capital F!
I would love it if, one day, command line shells all adopted this approach, whether by this sort of scripting, or by incorporating these innovations into the shell. I do think we’d need a different set of menus for a shell operating with X than for a shell working without X.
In my opinion, the dispised and misunderstood command line is GNU/Linux’s greatest strength. You don’t need the command line to use Linux any more, and there’s practically no one who doesn’t think this is a good thing, but I don’t know anyone who really, really loves Linux who doesn’t use the CLI… not all the time. Linux has some wonderful GUIs, and you get to choose which one you like best, but ultimate desktop power comes with a minimal understanding of the shell command. I use it to customize my GUI. I use it automate functions that used to take hours and hours. That other OS doesn’t have this kind of power at the CLI., and this is where I get compensated for all grief of having to install my own OS, worry about hardware support, and put up with bullshit like ABC.com’s media player not letting me stream episodes of LOST.
Like I always say: It’s not about one tool being more better than another tool… it’s about two tools being better than one tool. Linux is a two tool OS, and if you want use Linux, but to confine yourself to one tool, you have that option. A massive amount of time and effort has been invested in giving you that option. You may enjoy save improved security, make a political statement, or save a few bucks, but you won’t understand the power that makes Linux fanboys out of ordinary humans.
The Linux command line isn’t hard to learn, but it’s hard to get started with, it was hard for me, well here’s the beginning of a change that makes the command line easier to learn… built in. It’s the first real step forward in command line education since god knows when.
So yeah. I would say INX is justified. Big time.
It astonishes
I’ve gushed enough, but I wanted to report that I’ve installed INX to my hard drive (the current script requires a clean whole hard drive, but it was a breeze. ) And then I was able to install Ubuntu-desktop, KDE and fluxbox on top of it! So now I’ve got a real two-tier operating system, with a console that I enjoy spending time again. Other than that, it’s the same old Ubuntu Hardy Heron… and I love it!
So far, the only snag is that mplayer doesn’t play video in X, only from the console. I encountered the main author in the inx irc chat, and he suggested a fix. So it’s all good.
(I don’t do well when I can’t edit my posts)