Elive 2.0 LiveCD released

 Elive version 2.0, named Topaz, has been released. Elive is a Debian GNU / Linux based LiveCD distribution that can be run from CD or installed on a USB stick or hard drive. The developers say the distribution is designed to minimise the hardware resources required, and will even run a modern desktop with sufficient speed on older computers.

Topaz, uses Linux Kernel version 2.6.30.9 and comes with both the Compiz window manager and Enlightenment (version e17). However, the developers don't recommend Compiz for production use, because the system could become unstable. New features include support for Bluetooth, Internet dial-up via cell phone or data stick and support for the Ext4 and ReiserFS 4 file systems.

Elive 2.0 supports not only the upgrade from the previous stable release 1.9, but the conversion of almost any Linux system to Elive, where the user accounts, including passwords, data, and various configuration files are automatically copied over to the new installation.

The interesting thing about this distribution is that it is also aimed at MacBook users. According to their webiste, there is support for:

• WebCam: Working good and directly, but only with applications that use v4l2 (many applications use only v4l), you can view it with the command mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2 -fps 15 , for now you can use ekiga with it (old gnomemeeting), we also hope amsn supports it soon!
• Audio: Multi-audio system working, you can watch youtube between the music and a video are playing on other desktop and you have audio applications working and anything what-you-want
• Wireless: Working good with experimental madwifi driver, ndiswrapper is added also but don't use it, ndiswrapper can freeze your computer (with any wifi card, not only on macbooks), the network via LAN works also without problems, of course :)
• IR remote control: Works perfectly and with predefined actions, you can change it on the e17 hotkeys configuration
• Backlight and Volume keys: Works by pressing the key Fn in conjunction with the Backlight or Volume keys.
• Kernel optimized for MacBooks and patched for that special hardware
• Other hardware: Bluetooth, iPod's, Firewire, usb's, dvd device... all working
• Games: Neverball is a very addictive 3D platform marble game, but on this version of Elive you can use the laptop to interact with the platform of the game. That means you can manipulate the marble by MOVING YOUR MACBOOK FROM SIDE TO SIDE!!!

• Mouse pad:
• • You have the middle and 3rd button enabled on the pad, this is a pretty ingenious hack, the top left corner is the middle button and the top right corner is the 3rd button
  • Vertical Scroll and Horizontal Scroll enabled on the right and the bottom of the pad, also. If you press the pad with 2 fingers, you can scroll (for example pages in firefox) vertically and horizontally
  • A very annoyning glitch on the mousepad of the macbooks is fixed...when typing you accidentally hit the button and your mouse goes all over the screen, changing your window and making clicks ins strange areas... this problem is solved on the special version of Elive which disables the mouse, 1 second after your last click on the keyboard
  • You can drag-n-drop only with the touchpad (without clicks on the button)
  • Clicks and movements fine-tuned for macbooks

• Keyboard: The keyboards of the MacBooks are very peculiar and lack some very useful and needed keys, this is how Elive solves that problem:
• • Left Apple button is equivalent to AltGr
  • Right Apple button is equivalent to the "windows" key (a hotkey often used like other extra hotkeys in Elive)
  • Fn + Delete is your Supr. key
  • Fn + Arrows: PageUp / PageDown, Home and End buttons
  • Fn + F1/F2: Backlight control
  • Fn + F3/F4/F5: Mute and Volume control
  • Eject button working with umount to automatically eject the device

If you have a MacBook computer and you've been discouraged in the past by Linux installs and configurations that don't work... then run Elive for MacBooks as a LiveCD and if you are satisfied, install Elive on the hard disk for your main system. Elive is tuned primarily as a distribution rather than a LiveCD. What can be better than a Linux distro optimized and configured exactly for your machine ? For people having trouble, there is a specific MacBook forum.

Elive is suitable for machines with low hardware requirements, but you wouldn't believe how light and remarkably fast it is on that little Mac, I'm thinking of selling my Amd64 machine to get a newer Macbook :)