Bodhi Linux Hits Beta

Two months after our first release, the Bodhi Linux team and I are proud to announce our first ever beta release. This release features a number of package updates including the Firefox 4.0 beta 8 and the latest Enlightenment SVN build as of 01/08/2011. For a full change log see here.

The most important change in this release is how the default theme for Bodhi is now handled. After listening to the complaints of people more than a few times, I realized I needed to do with Bodhi's theme what we had done for applications - let the user make their own choice. As of 0.1.4 Bodhi now comes with two different themes, one light and one dark, and four different custom Enlightenment configurations to choose from.

When you boot your system for the first time (or the live CD) you are presented with a series of choices starting with language:

In an effort to keep the disc size small Bodhi only ships with the English language. If there is a demand the team and I will publish discs in other languages as well.

Next you select your theme color and Enlightenment layout:

Each of the four layouts lists a short description of what configuration provides and is offered in both light and dark flavors. Scroll down the end of this article for images of what these layouts look like.

Next you select what you want your menus to show for applications. 99.9% of people will want to select System Default, selecting Settings will cause your application menu to show applications that normally appear under Settings->All->System (and not any other applications).

Next, you are asked if you would like xterm to be listed in your applications. If you are a terminal junkie like myself, you won't mind having two.

Finally you are asked what applications you would like to be shown on your quick launcher bar. If you are booting the LiveCD with plans on installing, just tick off the Install launcher for quick access to it.


For those who are wondering, the following are screen shots of what the four different layouts (and two new Enlightenment themes) look like.

Bare Dark


Desktop Light


Laptop Dark


Fancy Light

For those looking to download this beta you can get a direct download from source forge here or via high speed torrent download here. Have any comments, questions, or suggestions please feel free to drop a message below or drop by our forums.

Cheers,
~Jeff Hoogland