Bodhi is a minimalistic, enlightened, Linux operating system based on Ubuntu.
System Requirements:
Minimum -
* 300mhz i386 Processor
* 128megs of RAM
* 1.5g HD space
How can it be free?
Bodhi is free of charge and always will be. How? Easy, it's open source. Everybody's doing it " from IBM to Google, Firefox to Wikipedia " some of today's best software is based on open-source technologies. Shared code, shared efforts, shared principles-- No cost.
How do I get software I need?
By clicking "Get Software" on the Bodhi homepage naturally! We have assembled the best applications and made them easy to install. Simply search for what you are trying to do, click "install now" and sit back and relax as the software is automatically downloaded and installed on your computer.
Have a system that lacks an Internet connection? Not a problem! With our handy offline application installers you can download all the software you want for Bodhi on another computer, and then transfer the installers via a usb flash drive or external hard drive.
What file formats can Bodhi read?
With the right applications (see above) Bodhi can be compatible with nearly every file type. Microsoft Office Documents (doc, xls. ppt), popular media formats (mp3, mp4, wav), Bittorrents, and more - Bodhi is compatible with all of them with a few simple clicks.
Is Bodhi compatible with Ubuntu/Windows/OSX Software?
Bodhi is fully backwards compatible with Ubuntu 10.04 packages. Bodhi can run some software designed for Microsoft Windows via Wine software (results will vary depending on the program). Bodhi does not support applications written for the OSX operating system.
Why Minimalistic?
Everyone has different computing needs making Application installation and usage entirely subjective. Therefore Bodhi includes only the basics most all users will use:
* A Web Browser (Firefox)
* File Manager (Elementary Nautilus)
There is also a terminal application (for power users) and synaptic for graphical package management.
What powers Bodhi?
Bodhi is built on top of an Ubuntu 10.04 core, using the latest, elegant Enlightenment desktop, all accessed by the light weight LXDM login manager. Bodhi uses dpkg and apt-get for package management.
What will Bodhi's release cycle be?
The current plan for Bodhi is to have a two year release cycle, meaning the second version will be based on Ubuntu 12.04. Things such as software and kernel updates will be backported (as best as we are able) to the current Bodhi version for five years - this way you can have the latest up-to-date software and hardware support without reinstalling your operating system every six months.
Why Ubuntu? Have you considered a Debian base or "distro X" base?
Ubuntu in general provides a solid base and has lots of resources available to it. For these reasons (among others) the Bodhi team feels Ubuntu is the best base for the time being.
We would LOVE to have an RPM based Bodhi version at some point. Currently we are leaning towards, and have been working on, a Fedora disc using the Enlightenment desktop. This is a side project and not the main focus of Bodhi. We very much love the choice that FOSS software offers. It is because of this that we would like to one day make an RPM powered Bodhi a reality.
Rationale:
Why are we making Bodhi when there are hundreds of existing Linux distros? Is it redundant? Bodhi sets itself apart from other Linux distros due to it's use of the Enlightenment desktop. Examining all the Linux distros, you will find fewer than a dozen that use Enlightenment.
Why use Bodhi over other "light weight" distros such as LXDE or XFCE? Enlightenment-- It is superbly designed, gorgeous and extremely fast on a wide variety of hardware. Screen shots do not do it justice.
The Name:
Bodhi comes from the Buddhist term for "enlightenment". It is also a type of sacred tree, thus the leaf used in our logo.
Product's homepage
What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]
· The end of March is approaching and that means our first quarter update release is here! As is the case with all our update release packages are fairly fresh. Enlightenment has been built from a fresh SVN pull from March 20th and the default Midori browser has been updated to the latest release.
· A more current build of the Linux kernel is in use as well. We are using the 3.2.0-19 build from upstream Ubuntu sources this release.
· Beyond that you will find current versions of other non-default software in our repositories including Firefox 11, Chromium 17 and LibreOffice 3.5
· A new feature this LiveCD sports that previous releases lacked is the ability to boot fully into system memory (RAM). Selecting this option will take slightly long for the live environment to boot (and needs at least 512meg RAM) - but once it is fully loaded things will run much quicker than they do from the CD and you can even eject/remove the disc! Neat right?
· We also implemented a number of minor improvements to the base system. These include resolving an issue that had prevented PCManFM's application menu from working.
· E17's everything module calculator feature now works out of the box.
· Enlightenment's notification module is now enabled by default in our profiles.
· Our setup wizard got some much needed color improvements.
· and finally - as always - the default theme selection got a rotation.
Find us on Google+
