PCLinuxOS 2025.9 KDE

[kc1di]

I get asked from time to time why I sometimes use PCLinuxOS. Short answer is I've used it since it's beginning and just like it's philosophy.
It was originally forked from Mandrake. Remember that one. Mandrake was a good distro in it's day. but alas it didn't last.
Right now though PCLinuxOS is going through a transition. It was a hybred distro for many year meaning it uses RPM packages but Apt and synaptic as package managing system.
Recently though they are transitioning to DNF and that is all right but has some hiccups along the way.
some Pluses and Minuses ;
Plus
1. It's a solid what I call a semi rolling release. Most of the packaging is done by it's Lead developer Texstar (Bill Reynolds) Who started with Mandrake and packaged a series of his own takes on their software which became quite popular with the Mandrake crowd. By semi Rolling I mean. Most major apps are updated quite quickly. While the under laying system remains quite stable.
(Note: this is one of the only distros around where the lead developer is almost always available on it's forum.)

2. It's a systemd free environment. If your not a big fan of systemd you may want to give it a try. I'm not trying start a war here about the benefits of it or not. But it offers an alternative to some Distors..

3. It has a great user forum, but it's a little how should I say it in your face at times. But they are a great group to get to know.

4. Has a very good Monthly online Magazine which has been published almost as long as the Distro has been there.

The PCLinuxOS Magazine: The Latest

This is the home page for The PCLinuxOS Magazine

www.pclosmag.com

Well worth a look even if you don't use their distro.

Minuses:
1. It suffered a big loss last year as the home of it's servers burnt down and they lost a lot of the old forum and their nice web page. (They are slowly recovering from that.) They have no corporate investors and the whole distro is run on Donations from it's users. (That maybe a plus).

2. Since most of the distro is packaged by one man it could disappear at any time. But so far has been resilient. (IE Mepis)

3. There are some differences in function that are not what you'll be use to and may require you to modify it a bit to suit your needs or wants.

4. For those that like gnome - Sorry it does not offer gnome.

It's a fun distro to use if you don't mind doing some tweaking yourself.

JMHO

 

[Alexzee]

Good information @kc1di !

I tried to install PCLinuxOS a few years back.
It booted to a black screen explaining that I needed to configure a graphics driver for the monitor.

When I have more time I'll look more into the forum here:

PCLinuxOS-Forums - Index

PCLinuxOS-Forums - Index

www.pclinuxos.com

A couple of questions:
What size are the updates? If more than 1 gig I'll have to installed alongside Debian 13 on the 1 TB HDD.
Any suggestions for a second go at this?

 

[kc1di]

most updates are fairly small but are frequent. If you allow them build up they can be quite large. I update it about 2 times a week. The size of the actual operating system as comparable to other distros. I use the KDE version which is a bit heavier than the XFCE version.

 

[Alexzee]

most updates are fairly small but are frequent. If you allow them build up they can be quite large. I update it about 2 times a week. The size of the actual operating system as comparable to other distros. I use the KDE version which is a bit heavier that the XFCE version.

I use KDE on my Slackware installation and it's really nice.
I'll have to give it a spin in Vbox and see how it fairs.

Thanks for the details.

 

[ron.alan]

@kc1di I have been thinking about switching over to PCLOS, but with Mate as the DE. As far as I know, they are the only distro that has fixed the Mate panel weather applet. I guess that's a silly reason to switch distros, but it's something I miss since somebody (don't know exactly who) broke it. I posted about that on the PCLOS forums and within hours the other guy (i.e., not Texstar, but Upgreyed, who also does PCLOS-Debian edition) had it fixed. That impressed me. Also, it showed that it must have been an easy fix, so I don't know why all the other distros that have Mate don't fix it just as easily (Debian/Devuan, I'm looking at you).

I was just wondering, is it just as simple to use as any other distro? Since you use it, I assume you consider it trustworthy?

 

[kc1di]

@kc1di I have been thinking about switching over to PCLOS, but with Mate as the DE. As far as I know, they are the only distro that has fixed the Mate panel weather applet. I guess that's a silly reason to switch distros, but it's something I miss since somebody (don't know exactly who) broke it. I posted about that on the PCLOS forums and within hours the other guy (i.e., not Texstar, but Upgreyed, who also does PCLOS-Debian edition) had it fixed. That impressed me. Also, it showed that it must have been an easy fix, so I don't know why all the other distros that have Mate don't fix it just as easily (Debian/Devuan, I'm looking at you).

I was just wondering, is it just as simple to use as any other distro? Since you use it, I assume you consider it trustworthy?

Well I have used it off and on since it's first edition and it's always worked well for me. But it has it's quirks like any Distro. and some things get fixed fast others take a while. but they seem to eventually fix them. It's a good solid distro and does break from time to time but like I said it's normally fixed quite quickly. Right now they are in a transition from apt for RPM to DNF package management and that causes some trouble for some people. I haven't used their mate edition so can't really comment on that. Their KDE & XFCE edition have been solid though.

 

[ron.alan]

As far as I know, they are the only distro that has fixed the Mate panel weather applet. I guess that's a silly reason to switch distros, but it's something I miss since somebody (don't know exactly who) broke it. I posted about that on the PCLOS forums and within hours the other guy (i.e., not Texstar, but Upgreyed, who also does PCLOS-Debian edition) had it fixed. That impressed me.

(This is on the Debian edition of PCLinuxOS.)
The other day I posted about the broken "Get Screenshot" button in Synaptic (info about the broken button here), and again he got it fixed and out in 3½ hours. I was planning on going back to Devuan when the new version came out, but I've changed my mind, I'm sticking with PCLinuxOS - Debian Edition.