MateriApps LIVE For Linux

MateriApps LIVE is an open source and freely distributed desktop-oriented operating system derived from the award winning and highly acclaimed Debian GNU/Linux distribution and designed for people who want to use MateriApps applications from the Japanese portal with the same name. It uses the lightweight LXDE desktop environment.

At the moment, the latest stable version of the distribution is available for download as a dual-arch, hybrid Live DVD ISO image that fits well on a computer supporting either of the 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x86_64) instruction set architectures. To boot it from the BIOS of your PC, you must first burn the ISO image onto a blank DVD disc or write it on a USB flash drive of 2GB or higher capacity.

By default, both English and Japanese languages are supported by the Live DVD, which can be easily selected from the boot menu, by choosing to start the live system with support for either of the aforementioned languages, as well as with support for a respective keyboard layout. Among the advanced boot options, we can mention the ability to start the text-mode or graphical installer directly, test the RAM for errors, boot in failsafe mode, or run the Hardware Detection Tool (HDT).

As mentioned, the distro uses LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) as its default and only graphical desktop environment. It is a traditional graphical session that uses a single panel located on the bottom edge of the screen, comprised of various applets needed for cycling between virtual workspaces, navigating the main menu, interacting with running programs, as well as to access specific programs that run in the system tray area.

Despite the fact that the distribution has been designed to run MateriApps applications, it includes only a couple of such apps in the default setup, such as Tapioca and GAMESS. Default applications include PyMOL, ParaView, OpenDX, LibreOffice, GNU Emacs, GIMP, Leafpad, Xarchiver, LXTerminal, Dropbox and Iceweasel.