Pleasantly Boring Linux
Apr 15, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
The “Feature Story” of the 400th issue of DistroWatch Weekly is “First look at CrunchBang Linux 10” by Jesse Smith. I am hesitant to call it a review, because after reading it, I thought it was a rather shallow write-up and did not really serve any purpose, other than to be a filler for the 400th issue, which seems like a wasted opportunity to me (I am sure there are far more exciting things happening in the GNU/Linux ecosystem right now). Anyhow, I did find Jesse’s summary interesting:
Once the system was up and running and looking the way I wanted it to, the experience was pleasantly boring. Nothing really jumped out at me as being great or terrible. Thus far I haven’t found any niche CrunchBang fills — its resource usage, install process and user-friendliness seems to be about on par with plain Debian, so I’m not sure who this project is targeting. My conclusion is CrunchBang appears to be a good tool, I just haven’t found any task for it.
Firstly, I would like to address the “pleasantly boring” remark, which I think is a huge compliment to the project. I am not sure what others require from their OS, but I want an OS that does not get in my way and just works, in a pleasantly boring fashion. I can live with pleasantly boring, but more importantly, I can work with pleasantly boring. So, if anyone comes looking to CrunchBang to fulfil some fantastical idea of a whiz bang operating system, they should probably look elsewhere. CrunchBang is pleasantly boring and I am happy that it is.
Maybe it is time to consider changing CrunchBang’s name? Pleasantly Boring Linux anyone?
Secondly, there is the remark about who the project is targeting, which is really easy to answer; nobody. I have said many times that CrunchBang does not have a target audience and that I work on CrunchBang for myself. I guess this concept is quite foreign to some people as this is not the first review which has questioned CrunchBang’s targeting. Having said that, maybe it is just foreign to people who write reviews, as most of the commentators seem to get it.
Just for the record, again, CrunchBang is not a marketing exercise. If someone finds it useful, c’est bon. If not, c’est la vie.
19 responses to “Pleasantly Boring Linux”
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Apr 15, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
I am living proof that if you live with “pleasantly boring” for long enough, then it turns into “truly exceptional” without you even noticing! :-)
I’m so proud of what you’ve achieved, considering that you have done this on your own, for your own use and to your own design. The fact that there are over 5000 other users out there who also agree with you and have downloaded the distribution and signed up to the forums, then that can’t be bad!
Apr 15, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
already posted this in the #! forums, this “review” is ridiculous - like one of the fellow crunchbangers put it - the guy who wrote that review just didn’t get it (what #! is all about) and I might add, he probably had a bad weekend before / while writing it.
just gotta love #!, thanks a lot (again ?) for creating this amazing OS, and keep up the good work.
! is the distro of the hour, ESPECIALLY after moving over to Debian … you know, honestly, at first I thought you’re crazy, getting out of Ubuntu for Debian but seeing the result, it’s the best thing you could ever do - besides it seems you’ve started a trend, Mint (main) will be over in a release or two, and world & dog will follow soon … and you can always say you were the one that started it :)Apr 15, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
Pleasantly boring? What utter nonsense. Obviously the reviewer didn’t judge CrunchBang based on my needs and desires for a distribution. Nor did the reviewer consider all of the effort I had to put in to make CrunchBang work the way I wanted it to. However, I still find CrunchBang unable to cook grits for me.
Oh wait, it isn’t about me because CrunchBang isn’t designed for me.
PS. This was a poor attempt at sarcasm and I need a nap…. and some kippers with grits
Apr 15, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
@jezra, grits? I had to look it up as we do not have it over here. We have porridge made from oats, which is similar, I think? Either way, sounds yummy! :)
Apr 15, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
corenominal, in my opinion you’re on the right track! Keep up your pleasantly boring work because we’re pleasantly bored users who happen to pleasantly bore crunchbang linux! :D
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
In a bind, you can just use polenta. (do you polenta?)
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
You know what? #! is pleasantly boring. So pleasantly boring in fact that it never ever lives up to it namesake and actually goes Crunch! Bang!. :D
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
@jezra: to be honest, I do not think polenta is a common ingredient in any UK dishes, but apparently it is stocked in some UK supermarkets, so it should be doable. w00t.
I may make it my mission to have grits by the end of next week. :)
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
@corenominal Grits are awesome, especially with cheese (or, if unavailable, butter).
p.s. Is this the LO forum?!
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
@Michael, blimey, grits with cheese! These grits are becoming more and more enticing! :)
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
Pleasantly Boring Linux… I like that, it has been working for me fine already couple years. Actually I suspect that I belong in this bizarre niche group that likes things without that much bling bling which seems to be very common feature these days.
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
Gotta love it when someone writes a review to fill some space…
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
I used to polenta, but I put my back out.
Anyway - Pleasantly Boring Linux could be your new strapline. “CrunchBang Linux - not nearly as exciting as it sounds!”
Apr 16, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
@Col, I like it!
Brilliant! :)
Apr 24, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
Like the old saying goes: If you don’t get it, then it wasn’t meant for you anyway. Spend a couple of hours with Unity all up in your face and the jump back on !#. The purpose of it will become obvious.
Apr 25, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
I read that review and was surprised by it. I don’t remember seeing a review quite like it before. I agree that it was very shallow… but the review admits that he didn’t see the niche for the distro. Maybe that is enough explanation for the poor review.
For me !# was a perfect fit… I had been looking for a while for a distro that was performant and clean. I think it is a little like Arch in that Arch doesn’t find you - you find Arch. I feel the same about !#. I wouldn’t recommend it to a new convert to Linux… but for the right kind of user it just works and works well.
I hope to use it for a long time. Nice one. Thanks
Apr 30, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
As a regular user of Crunchbang, I have to say it’s my favorite lighter-weight distro for use on old machines or for lightweight vm’s (my personal niche crunchbang fills very well, when every other lightweight distro just didn’t fit). Despite it’s claims (on the original website) of not being completely stable, i have found it to be very stable and it “just works”. …and the the clean and lean appearance of the openbox window manager is pleasant on the eyes. I love it. Thanks a million.
I can’t think of any great names so far, but I suggest collecting possible names you like and holding a poll to select the distro user’s favorite out of the list…
May 15, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
As a more-or-less dedicated Debian user who is wary of distros based on Debian or claiming to be “Debian done right” I think #! is a fantastic effort. It installs and it ready to go in about 15min with minimal further tweaking. My problem is I usually can’thelp tweaking so I break something and have to reinstall. The simplicity of installing from a USB stick is heavenly after throwing away piles of CDs justa quick dd and you have a bootable USB with live-OS or installer. One thing I particularly like is the nice fonts and graphics work. Debian tends to be a bit harsh on the eye at times being more of a DIY OS IMO. The effort that has gone into making #! easy on the eye (and hardware) is obvious to me and much appreciated. I develop java apps for windows and run VirtualBox PUEL on an old sempron laptop (2005) and ‘crunchy’ (as I call it) hums along nicely. Perhaps I might suggest that another (more suitable) word for ‘boring’ is RELIABLE. Debian and #! are both in spades but only the Unix crowd seems to know what that is when it comes to computers these days. MS ware is painful to work with.. Well done and thanks very much for the effort Corenomial.
Jun 1, 2011 (about 11 months ago)
If the name is not already taken , “Cleanux” would be pretty much on the spot. I’m probably not as savvy as half of you, but the idea/philosophy/principle behind crunchbang is what I really love. It just feels good to crunch!
The review was unpleasantly boring - crunchbang is a riot. Although on the quiet side :-)
Many thanks to your incredible effort and generosity!