Chakra GNU/Linux 2013.05 user reviews

After downloading the distro, I noticed that the size of it is only 308 Mb. Small wonder, that it only contains a basic skeleton of programs. ( please note my previous comments )......

I don't know, whether we are talking about the same distro here.

I burnt it to disk and loaded it into memory. I scrolled through the applications and was amazed NOT finding the apps that are listed and given, such as:

No Chromium, no firefox, no opera - only rekonq
no Focus Writer, no Libre Office - only Calligra

What happened?

It is the best distro I have come across. Unlike other linux distro including Ubuntu and Mint, Chakra (2012.09) detected all my mobile broadband modems. This distro automatically detects and configures all my laptops (Sony, Samsung) hardwares.

First time linux user that searched through 25-30 distros before choosing this one. I just plain love it.

verry good

After breaking a couple small things, by being a total noob and adding the testing repos, it really kicks major ass! In Jacks summary he notes "It's the end of distrohopping." This is very true.

Chakra Alpha 3 uses KDE 4.3.1 (NOT 4.1.3 - significant difference).

Chakra is the distribution made by the guys behind KDEmod and some of the guys are involved in KDEprojects as well. They know their way around and it is reflected in Chakra.

Although it simplifies installation compared to "the Arch way", the graphical tools for administration does not hide the functionality beneath. It is easy to find and identify the options from the config files familiar to Arch users.

For new users that start with the GUI that means Chakra is educational - they will reckognize the options from GUI in the config files.

Chakra and Arch uses rolling release and updates. Therefore there are no versions and users don't have to wait for the biannual release.

Users gets the "new stuff" when it's available and ready. great for anyone that wants the latest and greatest. Users will get the latest kernel earlier than with "any other distro", and they will get the latest KDE 4 version very early.

Users will also get the latest and greatest Amarok, K3b, OpenOffice with KDE 4 Gui, and BasKet with KDE 4 look.

Graphic drivers such as Nvidia's seems to be updated when a new kernel arrives. That's pretty rational and makes the user's experience good.

Stability is good and Chakra handles resources (ram/cpu) gently. It's fast and snappy compared to Ubuntu (gnome) and OpenSuse (gnome and KDE).

As with all distros: Stick to the standard repos and you are in good hands - development/experimental/unstable distos are for users that ACCEPT the risk of breakages. With Chakra you also can get access to AUR (packages built by Arch users). I have never experienced any problems with those, but if you attempt to install from AUR you get a warning. That warning should be adhered to. It's important.

Summary:

A very educational distro. Great distro if you want to be ahead of the pack while actually using your machine for something useful. It's the end of distrohopping.