[Stromson]

Howdy all,

I thought I'd give a little bit of feedback/mini review of Bohdi 1.2. Before getting into it, here's a little background: I'm a very recent Linux convert (coming from Windows), and an ever more recent Bohdi user (installed it last week), so I don't have months or years worth of experience to draw upon (just Google). I'm a network admin by day, and budding developer and now Linux lover by night, so I do have *some* technical experience that has probably helped fill in the gaps. That nonsense out of the way, let's talk about Bohdi!

Installation: Good, but not great. I'm using a Dell XPS 15, and have been dual booting Windows 7 and *Insert Linux Distro* here. When I popped in the Bohdi disc, I planned on having it overwrite the currently installed distro (Fedora 15 at the time) and overtake that partition. Being based on the Ubiquity installer, I was planning on that being easy, but turned out to not be as straight forward as I'd hoped. Every other graphical installer I've used gives you the option to "Overwrite existing Linux Partition" (or something along the line), but with Bohdi I had to either wipe the whole disk or configure the partitions manually. This wasn't a big deal by any stretch, but was a minor disappointment. Once I'd gotten the partitions squared away, the install proceeded smoothly.

First Impression: Poor - After installing and rebooting, I couldn't log in! I entered the correct username and password, and I was continually rejected as if I'd be entering it incorrectly (which I'm 1000000% sure I wasn't). I have no idea if this was user error during the install, or some mystery bug, but I couldn't get the password to work in the slightest. Annoyed, I wiped the partition clean this time, and reinstalled.

First Impression, Take Two: Much better! When loading in for the first time, I was impressed by the array of themes that came by default, and setting up the initial look was as easy as falling asleep. Everything was super quick, and very straight forward. I immediately had a usable desktop, which hasn't always been the case with distros I've tried.

Software: For the first 5 minutes, I was disappointed by the lack of preinstalled software (I understand and appreciate the philosophy behind this though), and wasn't looking forward to trolling through Synaptic tracking everything down. Thankfully I stumbled across the Software Wiki first, and I simply don't have enough plaudits for what I found. Both bundled packages were amazing, 15 minutes later (after a fast install of the wonderful Nikhila set) I had everything I needed. Shortly thereafter, I found the Art Wiki, and subsequently the excellent bundle of pre-made themes to install. Again, very impressive and very user friendly. These were nice touches, and really made those crucial first 30 minutes much warmer and fuzzier.

Outside of those initial moments, I was a little disappointed not to find the Ubuntu Software Center (with it being an Ubuntu derivative and all), but soon discovered that I didn't miss it in the slightest. I've found I actually prefer working through the command prompt, and with apt-get and Synaptic, I never felt wanting for software options. I'm now full supportive of the decision to omit the USC, and hope that continues to be the trend.

Bugs: Outside of that initial login issue (which again, was probably user error during the install), I can't say I've found anything that I would describe as a bug. Having previously lived in Windows, Gnome 2, and Xfce, I've been experiencing some E17 growing pains, but that's about it.

(Side note: During my first test of Bohdi, I used a VM from my Windows partition, and the icons on the bottom panel had a tendency to disappear. I'm willing to chalk this up to a quirk with using a VM, but I thought I'd mentioned it just in case.)

Documentation: Very Good! If I had to compare, I'd say it it's significantly better than Ubuntu (who's documentation I've always found difficult to use), but not quite as good as Arch (who I think is more or less the gold standard). The Document Wiki had everything I needed to get started, and the Guide to Using Enlightenment was a Godsend. Everything was pretty well written and easy to understand, and I never felt like I was out of my depth.

Closing Thoughts: I've spent the better part of the last month trying to find my Linux home. I knew I was ready to make the move from Windows (sans video games, of course), and was eager to find the distro that fit "just right". I've had a brilliant time testing out multiple distros, and now finally Bohdi. I discovered the distro when DistroWatch announced the new release last week, and decided to try it on a whim. I'm more than thrilled to say that it was the best spontaneous decision I've made since buying the Jurassic Park collectors edition. Not to sound too mellow dramatic, but I do believe I've finally found my Linux home.

I've been impressed by Bohdi on multiple levels, and Enlightenment is both beautiful and wonderful to use. Not content to merely sit idly by as a "user", I'm hoping to polish up my coding skills and become an active contributor to the distribution. Big thanks to Jeff, Mark, and the whole team for all the hard work you've put into Bohdi; you've done a great job!

[Charles@Bodhi]

Stromson, on 15 September 2011 - 06:06 PM, said:

Big thanks to Jeff, Mark, and the whole team for all the hard work you've put into Bohdi; you've done a great job!

Amen!

And thank you for writing this all down.

Enjoy your stay at Bodhi, as I do.

Charles.

[Jeff]

Some good quotes in here. Thanks for sharing your experience

~Jeff

[Timmy]

Welcome to the boards Stromson!

Your post reminds me a lot of my first go at Bodhi, which was also an act of impulse, leaving me with Bodhi installed on all of my machines for almost a year now.
It's really a good feeling reading all of those nice comments and thoughts. I hope you will feel as welcome here as I did once. This community is the best one I've found yet.

[aeonius]

Welcome to the board, Stromson!

Jeff, on 15 September 2011 - 06:56 PM, said:

Some good quotes in here.

Gotcha =)

Edit: Forgot to say "hi"

This post has been edited by aeonius: 16 September 2011 - 02:27 PM

[JerryL]

Welcome! I feel very much at home here, both with Bodhi, and with these forums. Hope it's the same for you.

Jerry L.
Oregon, USA

PS. Don't forget to pin yourself on the member map. It's fun to check every day or two.

[ottermaton]

Wow, Stromson, I don't really know what to say ... which is ironic considering I'm the doc guy.

Thanks very much for your very kind words. In regards to contributing, I feel there is always and always will be a need for new and/or improved stuff on the Wiki. So, if you come across something puzzling that you later figure out, feel free to add a page to the Wiki describing the fix/workaround/whatever. My goal is to someday be in the same league as the Arch Wiki. Yes, I know that's a hell of a goal.

There's a section on the Wiki front page "Getting Involved" where you can find various info on contributing. Also, we try to post a note on this forum thread so that others can see and/or correct/improve any wiki additions.

Feel free to contact me about anything.

cheers
mark

[Stromson]

Thanks for all the kind words; it's really encouraging to see such a friendly community. I've added myself to the member map, and I'm looking forward to a bright future with Bodhi.

[hippytaff]

A bit late, but welcome. When i first started getting involved i found everyone very helpful and encouraging (and patient). Be sure to join us on irc sometime.

Welcome to bohdi!