BeleniX is an operating system distribution that uses OpenSolaris code as its base.
BeleniX is an impressive OS distribution that is based on OpenSolaris codebase. It is a basic LiveCD distribution that can be easily booted directly off the CD into a multiuser shell. The name of BeleniX is inspired by the Sun God Belenos in Celtic Mythology. The distribution includes all the OpenSolaris bits along with other GNU/OSS software that adds to its feature list. However, it only supports 32 bit x86 platforms, even though OpenSolaris supports AMD64 as well. The developers are currently working on adding support for booting the LiveCD with AMD64.
One of the most significant features of BeleniX is that it boots into a 32-bit multiuser console login prompt. Support for GUI via Xorg and a desktop environment is coming shortly. It is essential to note that it is based on the OpenSolaris build 20 source base. Another key feature is that it can run in about 200MB RAM, though a minimum of 256MB is good. It automatically scans the hard disk for recognizable partitions and mounts them. This feature is incredibly useful, especially if you want to recover any data from the hard disk.
BeleniX has several other noteworthy features too. For instance, it tries to use physical swap when the hard disk already has a formatted Solaris partition. This helps reduce RAM usage for swap, which is incredibly useful for users. It also allows the user to configure the Keyboard layout via a simple UI during bootup. Additionally, it includes various software packages like Dan Mick's prtpci script, Casper Dik's acpi, AMD powernow drivers and powernow utility for CPU frequency scaling, Masayuki Murayama's open-source network drivers, Juergen Keil's audio drivers for Solaris, and many more.
BeleniX comes with an excellent splash screen derived from one of Chandan's excellent collections. It also includes various GNU/OSS software packages like gcc 3.4, GNU assembler (from binutils), Bison, Flex, GNU Gettext, Gmake, Gtar, Gzip and Bzip2, Less, Layer 4 Traceroute (an enhanced traceroute utility), Libiconv, Libpcap, Ncurses, Lynx, Vim, Wget, Top process status utility, GNU Screen (Terminal Multiplexor), and more.
BeleniX allows you to use the aperture driver that is required to eventually get X11 working on this distro. It also includes Perl 5.8.4 that comes default with OpenSolaris. Moreover, it includes Fontconfig, Freetype2, Expat that are required by Xorg X11 server. The FreeBSD math library is also ported to work with OpenSolaris, making it essential for a self-hosting OpenSolaris distribution.
The latest update of BeleniX includes OpenSolaris build 93, bug fixes, and updates to KDE 3.5.9, among other changes. It also includes the latest Caiman installer, which makes upgrades from this release possible in the future. BeleniX also includes Firefox 3.0.1, RAM-based boot (toram option), updated packages, XVM PV drivers, and Ksh93 as a system shell. All these features make BeleniX a reliable and efficient OS distribution that is well-suited for various computing needs.
One of the most significant features of BeleniX is that it boots into a 32-bit multiuser console login prompt. Support for GUI via Xorg and a desktop environment is coming shortly. It is essential to note that it is based on the OpenSolaris build 20 source base. Another key feature is that it can run in about 200MB RAM, though a minimum of 256MB is good. It automatically scans the hard disk for recognizable partitions and mounts them. This feature is incredibly useful, especially if you want to recover any data from the hard disk.
BeleniX has several other noteworthy features too. For instance, it tries to use physical swap when the hard disk already has a formatted Solaris partition. This helps reduce RAM usage for swap, which is incredibly useful for users. It also allows the user to configure the Keyboard layout via a simple UI during bootup. Additionally, it includes various software packages like Dan Mick's prtpci script, Casper Dik's acpi, AMD powernow drivers and powernow utility for CPU frequency scaling, Masayuki Murayama's open-source network drivers, Juergen Keil's audio drivers for Solaris, and many more.
BeleniX comes with an excellent splash screen derived from one of Chandan's excellent collections. It also includes various GNU/OSS software packages like gcc 3.4, GNU assembler (from binutils), Bison, Flex, GNU Gettext, Gmake, Gtar, Gzip and Bzip2, Less, Layer 4 Traceroute (an enhanced traceroute utility), Libiconv, Libpcap, Ncurses, Lynx, Vim, Wget, Top process status utility, GNU Screen (Terminal Multiplexor), and more.
BeleniX allows you to use the aperture driver that is required to eventually get X11 working on this distro. It also includes Perl 5.8.4 that comes default with OpenSolaris. Moreover, it includes Fontconfig, Freetype2, Expat that are required by Xorg X11 server. The FreeBSD math library is also ported to work with OpenSolaris, making it essential for a self-hosting OpenSolaris distribution.
The latest update of BeleniX includes OpenSolaris build 93, bug fixes, and updates to KDE 3.5.9, among other changes. It also includes the latest Caiman installer, which makes upgrades from this release possible in the future. BeleniX also includes Firefox 3.0.1, RAM-based boot (toram option), updated packages, XVM PV drivers, and Ksh93 as a system shell. All these features make BeleniX a reliable and efficient OS distribution that is well-suited for various computing needs.
What's New
Version 0.7.1 / 0.8 Beta 1: N/A