I admit it, waiting until Easter to publish the review of a distro called MilagrOS, is something that I would do on purpose. And not because it is (that if it is) an ideal alternative for those who want to take advantage of the holidays to try Linux, but by the amount of possible word games. However, I did not realize until now of the coincidence. For once, I was a serious blogger.
The project
MilagrOS GNU / Linux 2.2 Omega is a reformulation of MX Linux, a family of lightweight distros that combine stability and performance.
Its developers belong to the project of Venezuelan origin TicTac. who previously developed a cryptocurrency-focused distribution called MinerOS
From TicTac they describe the new distro as:
An unofficial edition (Respin) of the MX-Linux Distro. Which comes with extreme customization, configuration and optimization, which makes it ideal only for 64-bit computers, both with low resources (1 GB RAM) and / or old, and for modern and / or high-end computers. It is found focused on being useful mainly for users with no or limited Internet potential and / or limited knowledge of GNU / Linux, since, it has a philosophy of use of the type "Turnkey" or "Install and use", which allows that, once obtained (downloaded) and installed, it can be used effectively and efficiently without the need for Internet, as everything you need and more is pre-installed, and highly customized, configured, and optimized.
Features of MilagrOS GNU / Linux 2.2 Omega
We can download the distribution that we discussed in two versions:
- MilagrOS Alfa: It comes with the XFCE desktop and you can choose from three window managers; FluxBox, OpenBox and i3. The image weighs 2.3 GB
- Omega Miracles: You can choose 3 Desktop Environments: XFCE, Plasma and LXQt, and 3 Window Managers; FluxBox, OpenBox and i3, This image is heavier since it occupies 4.6 GB
Both versions include a wide selection of software for home, entertainment, office, multimedia, virtualization and cryptocurrency mining.
User experience
Maintaining a Linux distribution requires not only time and dedication. An infrastructure is also required for downloading the distribution and updates. The developers opted for Mega and Google Drive which are not the most intuitive or comfortable options. Mega actually warns you that if you don't have a payment account, the download may be cut off. Downloading from Google Drive was pretty fast, but a Linux newbie might have a hard time figuring out which file to download.
It also took me a while to find the download information on the website.
In return, the initial menu of the distribution (which I inherit from the mother distribution) is aesthetically beautiful and very easy to understand. It also allows you to select between multiple variants of the Spanish language and select the time zone by searching for your city.
The creation of the installation pendrive with Fedora Media Writer (it is the tool that I use regularly) was done without problems. It takes the usual time for distributions of this size.
Before facing the live mode of MilagrOS it is convenient to re-read the purpose of the distribution made by the developers. Is that when you take a look at the menu you find an overload of applications for all purposes.
For the seasoned user who is more likely to pull out apps than add them, it can be a bit annoying. But, for those who are new to the Linux world, it is great. There is even an update script that makes it easy to use the terminal which is always faster than any package manager.
Installation
The installer (Inherited from MX) is not showy but it fulfills its function of telling you what you have to do and where you have to press.
My opinion on MilagrOS GNU / Linux 2.2 Omega
It is a light distribution but with everything you may need (and when I say everything, I mean everything). The big problem I have with derived layouts is that they never tend to provide anything other than a different wallpaper. Instead, MilagrOS GNU / Linux 2.2 Omega provides excellent software curation for new users or for those who want to have everything at hand. It is like wanting to know a new kitchen and find a buffet that allows you to taste all the varieties so that you can later choose what you like the most.
Tic Tac Project Website
Telegram group:
Telegram channel
Distribution information
Download from Google Drive
Mega direct download
Greetings, Diego. I loved your post about our Distro! There is so much to say, test and use in MilagrOS that not even in a 2 or 3 hour video you can do everything completely. But anyway, the main objectives are 2:
a) Let people know that they can make their own Respin, in their style and need with MX Linux.
b) That those who manage to obtain it, downloading it or sharing it, have practically everything ready in live mode or when installing. Therefore, it makes it very suitable for beginners, and with little or no internet.
Again, thanks for the post.
I do not know, if it is a mxlinux, then it does not generate any confidence, since I installed mxlinux and ended up uninstalling it, because no matter how famous it has and no matter how much they say, it is a distro that has a lot to polish, now this fails , now you fail the other, etc and in the end I got tired and uninstalled it, I had time, I liked it, but I don't like Distros that suddenly, so for good things start to come out. Example, the detection and mounting of USB had always been perfect and suddenly you connected any USB and it did not detect it, like that, without more than overnight, if you lost the Internet connection, for whatever reason, then it did not reconnect it alone, but also suddenly, before yes and well, one thing after another. It is not a polished distro. So I replaced it with xubuntu 20.04.2 and as expected a true jewel of the Caribbean, without a single problem, no problem or anything.
MX LINUX is fine, but just that, fine. I think it is overrated, SOLIDKX also based on DEBIAN, for my humble opinion, it gives it a thousand turns, much more stable, beautiful and fast. Then another thing that there is no way to fix it in MX LINUX, when you are going to install a FLATPAK, the equipment totally hangs, sucks all the resources, and takes what is not seen in the writings. I said, okay, but nothing more.