Difference between revisions of "XiniX"

Revision as of 13:46, 4 October 2015

The distro that's poised to usher in the year of the Linux desktop, XiniX has finally been released as a beta! Hitting the market just weeks after the two power houses release their latest versions, Windows 10 on July 29 and iOS on September 16, XiniX, the little-known underdog, has entered the arena and is ready for battle!

So what is XiniX? First, XiniX is an operating system (OS) just like Microsoft Windows and Apple's iOS, but is based on Linux akin to Google's Android. XiniX represents the world's next generation of OS and is currently available for use on conventional computers such as desktop or laptops, with mobile platforms coming in the future. Built to act more as a firmware among devices, one of its primary goals is to remain small and efficient - just enough to get the device into an environment where the users' work takes center stage. In the sections that follow, we will not only cover some of the unique aspects of the amazing operating system, but we will also compare it with others to help users better understand if they would like to make the switch!

License

There are various projects that make up the XiniX core operating system. Each will be listed below with their respective license:

• Linux GPLv2
• grub GPLv3
• busybox GPLv2
• Xfbdev
• alsa-config
• socat
• nmap
• harfbuzz
• imlib2-bin
• libXau
• libXdmcp
• libfontenc
• libXt
• libXext
• libXrender
• Xorg-fonts
• Xprogs
• fonts-mscore
• imlib2
• libXfont
• libXi
• libXmu
• libXpm
• libXrandr
• libffi
• libjpeg-turbo
• libpng
• libxcb
• Xlibs
• file
• clapi CPLv2
• web.de CPLv2
• web.ui CPLv2
• fxwm CPLv2

More information about the CPLv2 licenses can be found under the "Our Licenses" link of our homepage.

Architectures

Currently the beta is only being released as 64bit for the Intel/AMD processors, but we will also being introducing other CPU architectures in the versions to come. At the very least, we will ultimately cover Intel and ARM, both 32 and 64-bit. If our users have enough interest, we will also expand to MIPS and PowerPC.

Installation

There are currently two ways to install XiniX - from our website or within the OS itself. Both will be covered below.

Download

This method involves downloading the proper image from our website along with a few commands to get it written on the proper media. We are currently working on installation wizards for those not comfortable with the command prompt, so if you fall under this category, check back frequently so see if the proper modifications have been made for you! For those of you still with us, once you have downloaded the desired image, you will need to get to a command prompt so the following few steps can be executed to install XiniX to your desired media. For the sake of this example, we will assume that the image currently resides in the '/tmp' directory, has a filename of 2015.10.01.0.tgz, and will be written to the /dev/sdb media or device.

$ tar zxf /tmp/2015.10.01.0.tgz
$ dd if=/tmp/2015.10.01.0.tgz of=/dev/sdb

Issuing the last command should present you with the following output to have a successful installation:

1250000+0 records in
1250000+0 records out
640000000 bytes (640 MB) copied, 119.708 s, 5.3 MB/s

Interface

This method assumes that you are working with an already running installation of XiniX. Using the default theme, locate the "i" button in the top left-hand corner of the screen and click it. From there you will be presented with a popup that explains the values required from you in order to install the operating system to your desired media or device. Use this method if you are creating an installation disk for a friend or if you want to install XiniX on an internal hard drive.

No matter which option from above was chosen, you are now ready to boot into your own copy of XiniX!

GUI

Covering the user interface is outside the scope of this document, but click here to be redirected to the proper location that will explain the interface in detail.

Editions

XiniX will ultimately be distributed in multiple editions to best serve its user base. Each will be covered below:

• Vanilla

• Client

• Server

• Embedded

Features

Some of the benefits of this amazing operating system are:

• Can run from any storage medium (e.g. hard drive, DISC, flash, etc) and, by default, within the RAM itself!
• Universal interface regardless of device class (e.g. desktop, laptop, mini, smart phone, etc).
• Easy-to-understand separation of OS from user data and network resources.
• Ability to easily share applications with friends, family, and associates using a single click!

Take the time to try it and you'll learn why we say "Achieve zen with XiniX!"

Comparison

Competition is always good for the market place, especially when there are only a few power players in the industry. Currently there are only three large operating system vendors - Microsoft, Apple, and Google. The make matters even worse, one of them dominates on mobile and another one dominates the desktop market. As a new competitor, XiniX can only compete in the desktop market so that will be reflected in the table below. Also, the below information will be based on the 64-bit, 'Home' or personal-use edition of each respective OS.