Paldo melds source-based and binary in one distro

Once it's running, users can either build packages from source as they would with Gentoo, or install binary packages, as is common with Debian, openSUSE, or Mandriva. Paldo's main features are an easy hard drive installer, GNOME desktop environment, and Upkg package management system. Stable version 1.12 was released last month. I found it to be one of the more interesting and promising distros to come along in a long time.

Paldo Linux is released as an installable live CD with versions for x86 and x86_64 architectures. Several languages are available at the boot screen, including various dialects of English, Portuguese, Dutch, and German. Paldo boots quickly, and I saw the Nvidia proprietary driver splash screen on my way to my desktop. The desktop is tidy and attractive in shades of blue and gray. My resolution was correctly autoconfigured, as was my sound card and other basic hardware. I used Ndiswrapper to import and load the drivers for the wireless Ethernet chip on my Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dv6105us laptop, and the GNOME networking applet connected to my Wi-Fi Protected Access network.

Since the desktop was pretty and my hardware was well-supported, I decided to install the system permanently. The hard drive installer consists of four steps or screens. On the first you pick your language, keyboard layout, and timezone. The second is for partitioning, filesystem, and bootloader preferences. At the third you configure the hostname and root password. The user account is set up on the fourth. The install went smoothly except for a small issue with the bootload configuration. I had unchecked the box to install a bootloader, but I was still given a new text GRUB install that included only Paldo and Windows.

Linux kernel 2.6.23.9, Xorg 7.3, GNOME 2.20.1, and GCC 4.2.2 form the foundation for Paldo. In addition, there's an adequate set of starter applications available upon first boot. It includes accessories such as GPG Keyring Assistant, Multisync-qad (for synchronizing personal information such as calendars and address books), and Revelation Password Manager. Some of the graphics applications include F-Spot Photo Manager, gThumb Image Viewer, and the GIMP. Internet applications include Deluge BitTorrent Client, Pidgin instant messenger, Firefox Web browser, Evolution personal information manager, and Liferea feed reader. Multimedia apps include Totem Movie Player and Rhythmbox Music Player. Brasero is included for disc burning, and OpenOffice.org 2.3 is available for office tasks. There are some programming applications as well, such as Glade Interface Designer, MonoDevelop, and Anjuta IDE.

There is no fancy graphical control center for configuring Paldo or your hardware. In fact there aren't any unique Paldo graphical tools at all. The usual GNOME desktop customization modules are present, but you may have to resort to the command line for some things. I had to manually load the drivers for my architecture in order to take advantage of CPU scaling to prolong battery life and decrease heat production. Fortunately, the Suspend and Hibernate buttons on the logout chooser worked wonderfully.

Just as there are no graphical configuration tools, there is no graphical package manager either. There is a command-line package manager that reminds me of a cross between Gentoo's Portage and Mandriva's URPMI. Paldo's Upkg will download a source or binary package and install it and its dependencies. You can even upgrade your system with Upkg. There are different scripts for each of the processes, but they all start with the prefix upkg. One of the most often used variations is upkg-install. As it implies, it will install binaries of your package choice. The format is upkg-install package name. The following is an example of a package I installed on my system during testing:

Read more