2 weeks ago
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Bunson Labs Linux is as beautiful as it is easy to use.
Every so often, I'm surprised by a Linux distribution. After working with and reviewing these things for the past few decades, you'd think there aren't any surprises left. That's why it's always a special experience when I do come across a distribution, unlike anything I've seen to date.
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That's what happened when I installed and first logged into Bunson Labs Linux.
Bunson Labs Linux is a continuation of what was once a popular distribution within the Linux community called CrunchBang Linux. For those who aren't aware, CrunchBang refers to #!, which are the first two characters in Linux scripts, as in:
This Linux distribution uses a Debian base (with zero changes in the way the OS is managed) and uses the Openbox window manager with the addition of the tint2 panel (a desktop panel), conky (a desktop widget that displays various bits of information), and jgmenu (a user-friendly desktop menu). When you combine all of those things together, you get a desktop operating system that is as beautiful as it is easy to use.
Don't get me wrong, Bunson Labs Linux might look like a take on the Ubuntu desktop (what with the vertical panel), but it's very much not that desktop environment. Openbox is a lightweight DE that helps to make Bunson Labs Linux perform like a beast. Even as a virtual machine (with just 3GB of RAM and 2 CPUs), my test installation performed brilliantly. This is a result of Debian and Openbox, both of which offer outstanding, out-of-the-box performance.
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Even better, it took me seconds to figure out how to use this desktop operating system. I'll admit, at first, I assumed the panel was as straightforward as any. I was wrong. The vertical panel found on this desktop is reserved for multi-tasking, which means any open app will appear as an icon in the top portion of the panel. When you open an app, the app icon will appear in the panel, allowing you to minimize the app and bring it back with a single click.
A right mouse click brings up the desktop menu.
But how do you get to the installed apps? A single right click and the desktop menu appears. I'm a big fan of such menus because it means I can access them from anywhere on the desktop. Instead of having to always drag my mouse to the bottom left (or top left) corner of the display, I can click anywhere to access it.
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Another handy mouse-based feature comes by way of the middle-click (scroll wheel), which brings up the virtual desktops manager, where you can switch to a different desktop, add a new desktop, or remove the last added desktop.
Bunson Labs Linux comes with LibreOffice, Firefox ESR, Catfish File Search, the Thunar file manager, BL Media Player, VLC, the Synaptic Package Manager, and much more. If you've ever used the Synaptic Package Manager, you should know that it's been around for quite some time, and the UI hasn't changed much. Because of that, the GUI package manager might seem a bit long in the tooth, but trust me when I tell you that it works just fine. With Synaptic, you can install any apps from the standard Debian repositories.
Synaptic might seem out of date but it works very well for installing applications.
The one thing Buson Labs Linux doesn't ship with is a universal package manager, so you won't find either Snap or Flatpak installed out of the box. You can install either of those package managers, but getting support rolled into Synaptic isn't going to happen.
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And, of course, there's always the command line. If you want to install Snap (so you can more easily install third-party apps like Slack and Spotify), you can add it with:
After that, make sure to start and enable the Snap daemon with:
You can then install an app like Spotify with the command:
sudo snap install spotify
Who is Bunson Labs Linux for?
This is always the big question, and the answer for this distribution is fairly simple. If you want a lightweight desktop operating system that is as rock solid as they come (thanks to Debian) and as user-friendly as any operating system, Bunson Labs Linux is a great choice. The only things to keep in mind are as follows:
- It does take a minute to get used to clicking the right mouse button to bring up the menu.
- It doesn't ship with Wine or Steam, so running Windows apps and games will require a bit of extra work.
- There are a lot of configuration options available… but you don't have to bother with them.
- Out of the box, Conky is configured to display a list of handy keyboard shortcuts, and you'd do well using them.
- The side panel also serves as a means to switch between virtual desktops (and you can add as many as you like).
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Like with any Linux distribution, you can install and use Bunson Labs Linux for free (installing it on as many computers as needed).
Anyone, regardless of Linux experience, will be perfectly at home with Bunson Labs Linux, so long as you take those bits of advice to heart. Do that, and Bunson Labs Linux will serve you well for a long time.
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