Granular Linux
Encyclopedia
Granular, or Granular Linux, is a Linux distribution targeted at the common desktop
users. Granular is based on PCLinuxOS
and comes as an installable live CD
. The CD version of Granular features two desktop environments
- KDE
and a development version of Enlightenment
. Where KDE is a full-featured desktop environment, Enlightenment is a lightweight desktop shell which is markedly faster than KDE.
. The Granular Linux Project kicked off in October 2006, when its first demonstration was given to some college students. The first release that was made available for download later on 30 December 2006. In the beginning, a news website was launched on 5 December, under the domain http://www.granular-linux.com/main/. The first public release of Granular was the version 0.12 which was officially released and made available for download on 30 December 2006. Later, the main website was shifted to another server under a new domain name. The present website address is: http://www.granularlinux.com/.
The main idea behind the birth of the project, was to redefine the application set included in PCLinuxOS
to some extent and to introduce the idea of having more than one major desktop environment on a single LiveCD. The latter idea was implemented beginning from the second version release of Granular - version 0.25 - where two desktop environments (KDE and Xfce) were included, KDE being highly customizable and feature-rich but resource heavy, and Xfce being a light-weight yet feature-full desktop environment.
After v0.25, came out v0.90, and finally v1.0. Granular 1.0 (code name Esto Vox) was the last of the "Esto" series; the first was 0.90 (Esto Vello).
In October 2007, a special DVD edition of Granular 0.90 was released with the name "FunWorks" (Granular FunWorks 2007), which featured the LG3D desktop environment along with three others and a host of many other software and games.
Granular utilizes the PCLinuxOS repository and its own as well for software/package management. Granular's own repository was opened in March 2008, and since then, it has been a source of all Granular-specific RPM
packages, some of which are not available in the PCLinuxOS repository.
and Enlightenment
17. Like PCLinuxOS, Granular uses Synaptic Package Manager, a GUI frontend to APT, for package management (installing, updating, or removing packages). Granular comes with a Perl
-based script mklivecd
which makes it possible to remaster
Granular or create a backup CD/DVD out of the installed system. It also included Granular StartPoint, which is a HTML-based and acts as a primer to the various major software included in Granular.
Desktop computer
A desktop computer is a personal computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lay flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright...
users. Granular is based on PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
and comes as an installable live CD
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
. The CD version of Granular features two desktop environments
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
- KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
and a development version of Enlightenment
Enlightenment (window manager)
Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is a stacking window manager for the X Window System which can be used alone or in conjunction with a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE...
. Where KDE is a full-featured desktop environment, Enlightenment is a lightweight desktop shell which is markedly faster than KDE.
History
Granular has its roots in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The Granular Linux Project kicked off in October 2006, when its first demonstration was given to some college students. The first release that was made available for download later on 30 December 2006. In the beginning, a news website was launched on 5 December, under the domain http://www.granular-linux.com/main/. The first public release of Granular was the version 0.12 which was officially released and made available for download on 30 December 2006. Later, the main website was shifted to another server under a new domain name. The present website address is: http://www.granularlinux.com/.
The main idea behind the birth of the project, was to redefine the application set included in PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS, often shortened to PCLOS, is a GNU/Linux distribution, with KDE Plasma Desktop as its default user interface. It is a primarily free software operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use...
to some extent and to introduce the idea of having more than one major desktop environment on a single LiveCD. The latter idea was implemented beginning from the second version release of Granular - version 0.25 - where two desktop environments (KDE and Xfce) were included, KDE being highly customizable and feature-rich but resource heavy, and Xfce being a light-weight yet feature-full desktop environment.
After v0.25, came out v0.90, and finally v1.0. Granular 1.0 (code name Esto Vox) was the last of the "Esto" series; the first was 0.90 (Esto Vello).
In October 2007, a special DVD edition of Granular 0.90 was released with the name "FunWorks" (Granular FunWorks 2007), which featured the LG3D desktop environment along with three others and a host of many other software and games.
Granular utilizes the PCLinuxOS repository and its own as well for software/package management. Granular's own repository was opened in March 2008, and since then, it has been a source of all Granular-specific RPM
RPM Package Manager
RPM Package Manager is a package management system. The name RPM variously refers to the .rpm file format, files in this format, software packaged in such files, and the package manager itself...
packages, some of which are not available in the PCLinuxOS repository.
Features
Granular comes as a LiveCD, which means you don't have to install it to try it. The standard CD version of Granular includes two desktop environments - KDEKDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
and Enlightenment
Enlightenment (window manager)
Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is a stacking window manager for the X Window System which can be used alone or in conjunction with a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE...
17. Like PCLinuxOS, Granular uses Synaptic Package Manager, a GUI frontend to APT, for package management (installing, updating, or removing packages). Granular comes with a Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
-based script mklivecd
Mklivecd
mklivecd is a script for Linux distributions that allows for one to compile a "snapshot" of the current hard drive partition and all data which resides in it and compress it into an ISO 9660 CD-image. This allows easy backup of a user's data and also makes it easy to create customized...
which makes it possible to remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
Granular or create a backup CD/DVD out of the installed system. It also included Granular StartPoint, which is a HTML-based and acts as a primer to the various major software included in Granular.