![The Bodhi desktop menu in action.](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/8e083201366b6a851ab59d46dcdb111b483afc6a/2023/03/27/1d8ce4b2-d37b-4b33-af77-c4b7bfaa157d/bodhi2.jpg?auto=webp&width=1280)
The Bodhi desktop menu makes opening purposes a easy affair. Picture: Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Bodhi Linux has at all times held a smooth spot in my coronary heart. Not solely is it an attractive, user-friendly working system, it jogs my memory of my earlier days with Linux. That’s principally as a result of the default “Moshka” desktop relies on considered one of my all-time favorites, the Enlightenment window supervisor.
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How about somewhat terminology to start out the day? You see, all desktops are made up of various items, considered one of which is the window supervisor. The window supervisor is answerable for drawing, structure out, and remembering home windows.
For instance, open the Firefox internet browser. You will discover a title bar and a window border. You possibly can seize the title bar and transfer it across the desktop. You possibly can seize the border and resize the window. You possibly can shut Firefox, re-open it, and it will open in the identical location and the identical dimension. That is the window supervisor in motion and so they all have a unique tackle how the person interacts with the remainder of the desktop.
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So far as window managers are involved, Enlightenment was at all times considered one of my favorites as a result of I discovered it to be equal elements creative and environment friendly. One of many major causes for Enlightenment’s effectivity (that Moshka takes benefit of) is the desktop menu. (See above.) With most working system desktops, you both left-click on a menu button (both in a nook of the desktop or on the finish of a panel) to open the menu, the place you’ll be able to then click on to open purposes.
With each Enlightenment and Moshka, you’ll be able to left-click anyplace on the desktop to open that menu, which implies you are dragging your mouse across the desktop far much less. That equates to effectivity.
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However Bodhi is not nearly effectivity. It is also about ease of use and wonder. Even the default theme for Bodhi is sort of properly carried out. And, in case you do not just like the default theme, left-click anyplace on the desktop, go to Settings > Theme, and choose from the assorted pre-installed themes.
No, you will not discover almost the desktop eye-candy the likes of which is available in KDE Plasma, however Bodhi’s Moskha desktop presents loads of configuration choices. And regardless that there is likely to be too many choices for a person who’s new to Linux (particularly in case you open the Settings window and go to the Superior tab, the place you may discover configurations for issues most customers will not wish to contact), that does not imply customers who’ve spent zero or little time toying with the Linux working system ought to keep away from this distribution.
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Bodhi consists of various pre-installed themes. Picture: Jack Wallen/ZDNET
Why? It is an excessive amount of enjoyable to not strive.
While you first log into the newest launch of Bodhi Linux, you get to expertise the marvel of what it was like once you first used a pc. Abruptly, you are feeling the chances are countless and you may completely benefit from the journey.
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Together with the usual instruments and behaviors, you may additionally discover a actually cool characteristic (yet one more inspiration from Enlightenment) known as Shading. Think about you’ve got various apps open and you do not wish to decrease all of them to the panel, however you want them out of the best way. If you happen to right-click the title bar of a window and choose Shade, the window will roll up till solely the title bar stays. You are able to do that with as many home windows as you want.
Window shading has at all times been a favourite characteristic of mine. Picture: Jack Wallen/ZDNET
I take this one step additional and configure (by way of Settings> Enter > Mouse Bindings), in order that if I double-click the window title bar, the window shades up. One other double-click and the window shades down. With this helpful characteristic, I can have as many software home windows open as I want, with out getting misplaced within the fray.
What you may discover in Bodhi Linux
The very first thing to know is that Bodhi Linux can be utilized like a conventional desktop. It has a backside panel, a conventional menu button (together with the “floating” desktop menu), a system tray, a clock, launchable icons on the panel, favorites within the menu, and rather more.
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So far as pre-installed purposes are involved, you may discover the likes of LibreOffice, the Chromium internet browser, Leafpad textual content editor, the GIMP picture editor, Audacious music participant, and some different odds and ends. Luckily, there’s additionally each the Bodhi AppCenter and the Synaptic Bundle Supervisor, each of that are GUIs for finding and putting in from the hundreds of obtainable free purposes.
Who’s Bodhi Linux for?
For the longest time, my tackle Bodhi Linux was that it wasn’t the very best desktop working system for the lots. Nonetheless, with the newest launch (which relies on the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS OS), I can fortunately say that almost anybody might get pleasure from and be productive with Bodhi Linux. Certain, there are configuration choices and options that may confuse some customers, however these aren’t precisely entrance and middle. A person new to Linux must dig by way of the Settings app to get into any sort of bother or confusion and that is not more likely to occur (at the least not till they’ve change into accustomed to the desktop).
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Though Bodhi Linux does provide some options which are distinctive throughout the realm of the desktop PC, nothing ought to journey up the common laptop person of as we speak. It is as easy to make use of as any desktop working system and presents simply sufficient further “enjoyable” to make it a pleasure to make use of.
I extremely advocate you download the ISO, burn it to a USB drive, and set up it on a spare laptop you’ve got mendacity round. And provided that Bodhi Linux could make an ageing laptop really feel model new, it is much less doubtless that previous desktop machine will wind up in a landfill someplace.