DISTRO: Snal
VERSION: 1.27
BASED ON: Arch
The ISO was launched a few weeks ago. This is an OS that many people aren't going to be comfortable with, and installing it might not make it better. I have decided to remain using the ISO although it's clunky.
The first option of GRUB boot menu for this live distro is to load the OS into RAM. This is not recommended for people who have 2GB RAM or less! It creates a 256MB ramdisk like Bluestar live mode. There is one major problem with using this ramdisk that I will get to in a moment.
After it finishes booting the user is given the choice to "startx" or not. This is in case he/she wants to treat this OS as if he/she just finished successfully installing Arch.
There is no desktop environment. The GUI is a variation of "i3" window manager. The "wallpaper" is dominated by a big snail and instructions for which keystroke combinations do what. Universally press
Meta
(Windows key) with a digit key to switch to that numbered workspace. Include
SHIFT
with one of those key combinations to move an application window to the wanted workspace such as
Meta+SHIFT+4
to move it to workspace #4. However, other key combinations are different from expected in other window managers such as to open the file manager and terminal. The system has CPU indicator which is updated every five seconds. The user will have to program for fancier visuals on that top panel after he/she installs this distro. The system has "pango" monospaced serif font with 16 point size, which looks kewl but might be too big. Sadly setting 14 point size makes it harder to read and the "s" looks too weird. The 16 point size has another problem: on my computer, which is a laptop having 768 pixels up and down, the whole bottom line remains blank because Bash, Nano and other programs don't know what to do with it.
The "cat" terminal command is aliased to "bat" which is annoying unless one likes the pretty-print. There is neither "inxi" nor "neofetch" or something else to get some information about the system quickly. However it comes with Mousepad, Nano and Vim to edit text files, the latest Lua interpreter v5.4.6, Python v3.11.3 and recent GNU Compiler Collection. I don't know how far a developer could go with the latter two.
OK, here's the flaw that might put off an user of Linux which isn't experienced enough. Snal Linux comes with PCManFM which is incomplete with recognizing external media plugged in for the regular user at "/home/snal". In fact it shows nothing of it. The user must get "root" privileges, go to the terminal and use "mount" command to access a disk formatted for "fat32" in the least to save a text file such as this one. I don't like this file manager but there must be another way to get it to cooperate without seeking elevation. Especially when one is saving to the 256MB ramdisk and is anxious to commit it to more-lasting media, this is not something he/she wants to come across suddenly. Another thing is that for each workspace the terminal is opened into, it asks "run screen?" for a GNU Screen configuration that doesn't exist, which is irritating. Then the user is left with dollar-sign prompt worthless for any file creation.
I clarify: when an ordinary USB disk is plugged in, there is no sign of it such as "/run/media/snal/MYDISK". There is not even a "media" directory under "/run". I believe there is a way for "root" to mount a disk for the sake of the regular user, but this is a hassle which indicates this live distro is not for beginners and not for people who "just want to use it". It would have to be done everytime Snal is started, unless it's formally installed.
Using Mousepad and giving the command to save a file for the first time, the OS draws a save file requester on my computer where the text field is cut off from the top, to be able to see typing in a filename. This is a flaw with XFCE that I have been disgusted with a few months before their "huge" v4.18 release.
Snal comes with "ranger" Python program for file management but it was impossible to navigate with it on my computer. It seems to prefer for Snal ISO to have been written on its own to an USB disk instead of being launched by Ventoy. In "ranger", to look at a text file it launches Vim on the same workspace.
I haven't gone online with this live distro; I don't have a need. Eventually Firefox is going to need an update. The easiest way out is to get the AppImage from "srevinsaju" Github page. Somebody else will have to review this distro to check out its extensive tools for networking troubleshooting.