Development release: CrunchBang 10 “Statler” Alpha 1
The first alpha release of CrunchBang 10 is now available. Codenamed “Statler”, this release is, for the first time, built using Debian sources.
Changing from Ubuntu to Debian sources marks an exciting new start for the project. Statler is currently being developed using Debian Squeeze sources. For anyone who is not aware, Debian Squeeze is the codename of Debian’s current “testing” release and will be Debian’s next “stable” release.
Statler alpha 1 is available to download in two main flavours, those being Openbox and Xfce. Both the Openbox and Xfce versions currently feature the same line-up of applications and the new Xfce version has had its session set-up to mimic that of previous CrunchBang Openbox sessions, i.e. a minimal desktop with right-click main menu and application short-cut keys.
Regarding the pre-installed applications, this alpha release features a minimal offering. The application line-up will be revised in future development releases. Further releases will also concentrate on improving documentation, which is currently very sparse.
As always with CrunchBang, this release is not recommended for anyone who requires a stable system. Anyone who uses CrunchBang should be comfortable with occasional or even frequent breakage. Remember, CrunchBang Linux could make your computer go CRUNCH! BANG! :)
Please see the wiki for the release notes. Also, please come and join in the statler conversion on the forums. We would love to read your feedback and suggestions for improvements!
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March 20th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Hey, great news, I like Debian better than Ubuntu, faster, smaller, roots (eheheh). I’m running Alpha 1 live now (thru VMWare) and how do I install it? And how do I change the system default language to pt_BR?
Cheers,
BC
March 20th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Debian better than Ubuntu!!!
What about upgrade from #!9.04 to 10.04?
March 20th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Just the day I’m reinstalling everything :D So good, I’ve always wanted to go on Crunchbang :)
Is it going to be auto updates or will we have to reinstall each time ?
March 20th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Great news!!! Crunchbang is the best! Thank you this fantastic job!
A happy #! user from Hungary.
March 20th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
great news for the community.
March 20th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
What a great news !!!
I’m happy and ancious to see it release as final !!
(will be any kind possible to migrate from 9.04?)
March 21st, 2010 at 9:22 am
Good news. I’ll try the deabian-based CruchBang!
March 21st, 2010 at 9:29 am
This is great news.
Moving over to the Debian sources is a nice move
are we still going to get that great CrunchBang functionality out of box though?
In a new release will Flash, Mp3 and stuff like that work out of box?
March 21st, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Finally! :)
i already stopped hoping there would be another release of c’bang! but now even on DEBIAN base, this is sooo the awesomeness!
That was a big step in the right direction, just look at all the comments everyone is happy :)
March 21st, 2010 at 3:19 pm
LinuxGuy, I don’t know, but I think it’s gonna be improbable, being this version based on Debian instead of Ubuntu.
March 21st, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Looking forward to the new release!
But I’m curious why there’s a switch to Debian. What are the merits of the switch?
I’d really like to know :)
March 21st, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Awesome I am looking forward to it ^_^
March 21st, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Congratulations on the new release. We’ve just posted about it here as well: http://www.opensourcecritic.com/open_source_reviews/crunchbang_10_alpha.html
March 21st, 2010 at 9:18 pm
@ LinuxGuy – It will _NOT_ be possible to migrate from 9.04 Ubuntu/Crunchbang/Mint etc to (or from) Debian.
Great news, hopefully this will give everyone a great choice when looking for a cut down distro! Please keep the memory requirements down as much as possible (128MB min would be great!) for the most basic version – plenty of old school laptops out there!!
March 21st, 2010 at 11:36 pm
@JackSchnippes, regarding the switch to Debian, I have done an interview for Steven Lawson, please see, “Interview: CrunchBang Creator Explains Switch to Debian Sources“.
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Wow! Definitely wasn’t expecting that! Awesome job guys! Keep it up!
#! rocks!
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:42 am
OMG a pre compiled 486 build, I think I am in love… Wont throw out the Pentium Pro yet! Keep up the good work!!
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:46 am
Just tried the alpha 10 release in the XFCE 4 variety. Looks, runs and feels awesome. Been looking to switch away from vanilla Ubuntu, Debian backed crunchbang looks set to be my new distro of choice for showing off a Linux that actually looks cool to my I.T. work mates!
Keep up the good work guys, love the direction you’re taking this distro.
March 23rd, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Great news – congratulations!
I like CrunchBang 9.04 a lot but when I tested against Debian 5 (GNOME) I was surprised that it used more RAM than Debian!
I repeated the tests (office documents, net, youtube, play music or video – not just booting the system) and realised that it was using as much RAM as Mint 7 XFCE and Mint 8 Fluxbox and only 10-20% less than Mint 7, Mint 8 and Ubuntu 9.04. Mint 5 XFCE (LTS) was faster and used less RAM (supported until April 2011).
That is not lightweight for a 128/192/256MB RAM PC and a slow disk. I assumed it was the Ubuntu-based part of CrunchBang that was responsible for this and made the switch to Debian 5 (GNOME).
I am looking forward to test CrunchBang 10.
Note:
- I was also surprised that Debian 5 XFCE / KDE 3.5 / LXDE only use 10-20% less RAM than the GNOME version. Expected more, in my test that was only 20-40MB of RAM.
- Puppy 4.3.1 was using about 25% less RAM than Debian 5
- DSL 4.4.10 with OpenOffice 2.0.4 was using 55% less but youtube failed.
March 23rd, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Errr, congrats again! Honestely! Looking forward to the final version… Like you said, CrunchBang users are mostly distro-hoppers, but I reckon this release will make some of us settle down for good (finally!).
Anyone did a test regarding the RAM usage for the openbox Statler version? That would be interesting to know… (in particular for a i686 :p )
Now, may I ask a totally off-topic stupid question?? I so love this blog! It’s so simple and elegant… Is it an actual theme for WordPress, or did you code it by hand? Any chance of sharing? :)
Sorry for clogging up your dashboard. Feel free to delete this dim-witted comment…
March 23rd, 2010 at 5:46 pm
@TuxTemplar, if I remember correctly, I created this theme from the WordPress default effort. When I get a chance, I will try to make a tarball and make it available. :)
March 24th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Appreciate it! :)
March 24th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
The BIG Question ;-} – Which version of GRUB is being used? Big for me in that GRUB2 does not play nice with my multiboot setup on my main PC (separate /boot partition), and I really had a hard time getting the damage repaired when Kubuntu 9.10 blind-sided me with that.
Another (smaller) Question – Will Statler continue supporting the touchscreen on the Fujitsu Lifebook P1120 (“play PC”)? I was amazed and delighted when 9.04 threw that ‘bonus” in (although the TransMeta Crusoe CPU is still fairly sluggish – hoping “pure” Debian performance improvements will help with that).
Keep up the good work!
March 24th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
@RO, the first alpha is using GRUB 2 by default. Sorry, but I have no experience of the touchscreen. You could always run a live session and see what happens! :)
March 25th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
f*ck ya! awesome. i also thought you guys gaveup on the distro. i’ll be putting this alpha on my x60s this weekend.
Any install option to encrypt the disk??
March 26th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Wow!! Waiting for #! base on 10.04. But I love crunchbang…. debian is the best.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:28 am
Ubuntu is becoming a big pedratosaurius, Good change!
March 27th, 2010 at 7:38 am
You have no idea how excited I am to hear this! Thanks, Corenominal!
March 28th, 2010 at 8:12 am
I like it #!CrunchBang ….Debian rulez and now CrunchBang rulez!!!
March 30th, 2010 at 11:56 am
I am still wearing baby-size linux-shoes… Will there be any difference in system administration or whatsoever?
(but as far i understood, the basics in all unix systems are a lot-a-like)
Will i have to learn new stuff, or as a noob-user of 8.10 CB i’ll get along?
Anyway…i had a GREAT experience with this OS, gave 9.04 a try, it already used less resources – the CPU didn’t got as hot as with this 8.10 release i use.
Probably this hop will do even a better job?!
April 1st, 2010 at 10:19 am
Is there a page that lists the schedule for statler release?
Also I thought ubuntu had more support for applications than debian?
In 9.04, I could use ubuntu packages If I dont find a package in crunchbanglinux.
Whats the alternative to install a package that doesnt have a crunchbanglinux package?
April 1st, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Well, Ubuntu is based on Debian, so it shouldn’t be *that* much of a change as far as base code goes, and you can always add the ubuntu repos if you need other stuff (aptitude still handles dependencies, so as long as an app is native to Linux (2.26 in Debian 5?) then it should work in #!10)
Would be awesome if it has the capability to be self aware and install next to windows 7 like Ubuntu does… Slackware hates my 7 partition (lol I don’t blame it).
Debian>Ubuntu though. So ftw.
Can’t wait for the beta!!!!!!
April 3rd, 2010 at 8:52 am
thank you very much to the crunchbang team of developers as. in France as one loves CrunchBang!
April 5th, 2010 at 3:36 am
Tried to install the XFCE version and it, uh, broke GRUB. Twice. Recover mode reinstall failed. (AMD64 version on Intel iMac.) Am now trying to find a good way of installing only the bootloader from some other source. Failing that I guess I’m back to 9.04, which is solid except for Xorg taking up half my CPU all the time. I’d be bummed if it came to that, though — I like how you’ve implemented XFCE a lot.
The installer was iffy in a few other places — kept switching between saying 3% and 0% done on the time sync, hung at 66% on update-grub for a long time, and once hung at 0% on configuring grub-pc. Also as a Colemak user I miss the ability to pick keymap (beyond locale) in the install process.
Tried to register on the forums to post this there but it kept saying the CAPTCHA was wrong even though I’m sure I was right….
April 5th, 2010 at 7:46 am
Addendum: Saved by Super Grub; still no idea why installer failed. Statler is very shiny! Now I just need to figure out which of my hacks I can get working again, and how to do it. Apparently my conky and tint2 configs need tweaking and I’m not sure if terminator-as-desktop works in XFCE at all, so I’m in for some fun.
April 7th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Great Stuff,
The Ubuntu release schedule does my head in… Would this mean that Crunchbang would follow the Debian release cycle or would you just do what Ubuntu does but use the testing Branch as opposed to Unstable at regular release times?
Ubuntu is a great Distro but I feel quite strongly about supporting the Debian Project Directly, it has given so much to so many people, so this is great news.
Thank
April 8th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
I don’t know a damned thing about computers to be honest, but Crunchbang is just great – man I thought windows sucked … MAN IT SUCKS. I can’t really even say I’ve been learning Linux either, #!’s just been pretty easy to use and a pleasure to do so.
THANK YOU MAN!
THANK YOU
April 13th, 2010 at 2:27 am
Looking forward to Crunchbang 10!
April 13th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Sweet! I stopped using Crunchbang because I got tired of Ubuntu, but I’m looking forward to this! I’m going to try the alpha in VirtualBox right now.
April 15th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
@Corenominal,
What used to be my favorite pastime – distrohopping – has been getting quite tiring lately.
I don’t have time anymore to explore strange new worlds and seek out new distros and DEs… My profession has actually taking over my spare time (I’m a legal consultant, btw) and just need to commit to something that, at the end of the day, is just there… stable, user-friendly, and filled with out-of-the-box bliss. The new and improved #! seems to provide me that: a touch of Debian with a nice chocolate chip topping.
This having been said, have you been looking at your download stats from both of the Alpha versions (i.e. xfce vs. ob)? Which one has had the highest adherence? … or people are actually trying out both?
I’m afraid to commit to one DE and find it discontinued in the following version of #! due to lack of enthusiasm from the community…
… or maybe I should had chosen a different profession… oh well, too late for that now :p
April 15th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I just downloaded CrunchBang and tested it briefly and wrote a comment at Google’s Blogspot and you can reach it by typing Asoka and parafox.
I have given you over 1000 points, well above the standard 750.
Thank you for switching to Debian. the God Father of Linux/
Good Luck and I wish that you go “from strength to strength”.
April 16th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
@TuxTemplar, thank you for your kind words. If you are interested in download stats, please see: http://crunchbanglinux.org/downloads/statler/stats/ :)
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:10 am
Crunchbang looks like a good distro for low horsepower machinery; without the bloat of a major distro.I use Ubuntu on my main box because it generally works well.
What were the guys smoking when they came up with Grub2? I only just had my head around grub1, hadn’t noticed any glaring deficiencies in it. What are they trying to achieve?
Will you be using ext4 in Crunchbang?
cheers
Pete
May 1st, 2010 at 11:38 pm
You guys are in the right track! I tried it last night and I am keeping it. Beatiful and simple…
-t
May 6th, 2010 at 10:29 am
The anticipation is palpable!
If i install the alpha now, will i have to reinstall when the actual release comes or will i be able to update?
May 6th, 2010 at 10:34 am
@Virtualism: you should be able to update your system as you go. :)
May 6th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
@corenominal: Thanks for the quick reply! brb, installing :d
May 15th, 2010 at 8:41 am
You might want to amend the description at the top of the Crunchbang home page — it still claims it’s Ubuntu-derived, not reflecting your change over to Debian. I’m looking forward to trying it out! :)
May 15th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
@Xyzzy, the development release is based on Debian, but the current stable release is based on Ubuntu. Once Statler goes gold, the website will be updated to reflect the change. :)
May 22nd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Awesome. Any word on when the final release will be out? The release cycle will not be tied to Debian now will it? WILL IT ?
May 23rd, 2010 at 5:39 am
@unmole, it will be released when it is ready, so yes, it kind of is tied to Debian. :)
May 27th, 2010 at 9:26 am
Just re-installed #! (Statler) on my Eee PC 701 after trying six other distros over the last year or so, and I came back to #!, I like it so much more than the others that I’m keeping it on this box. It will be interesting to see how it performs with the Debian code, but it still boots fast, and has been pretty stable for the first 24 hours of use except for an Iceweasel crash during customization. I’ll be giving it the acid test by using it to stream music for my broadcast radio show Friday night. Love #!
May 28th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Debian.. oO
WTF? Ubuntu rulez!
May 29th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
This is the best news to come out of the linux arena in over 2 years. You guys just made my day. :)
June 14th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
This is by far the best distro I have used. Ubuntu is great to learn on, but once I have learned the depth of that which is Linux, #! is where I will stay. As long as you have a healthy knowledge of Linux, #! cannot be beat. The latest stable release (based off of Ubuntu 9.04) ran a bit crusty at first, but update to the latest kernel, and everything is smoking. Also, the openbox manager is super customizable. Love it.
June 19th, 2010 at 5:38 am
Any word on the next Alpha or Beta release? I have always been a faithful Ubuntu user, however I like the idea of trying something new. I use #! on my old IBM computer and am installing it on another older 800mhz computer I got out of someones trash. Much to learn, however since 9.04 is kind of old, I am looking forward to this newer release (even if it’s based on Debian and not Ubuntu). Hopefully we’ll hear more soon. I keep checking at distrowatch hoping the next alpha or beta release will come up. Hopefully the final release won’t be that far off as well. I have been turning more people onto #! lately and we are all in waiting for this next version.
June 19th, 2010 at 5:48 am
Sorry for the delay. I have been working on the next alpha release and it should be available soon. :)
June 25th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Hello,
I have come to love this distribution over other Linux based distributions, off late I have noticed that Crunchbang is slipping in popularity probably on account of (what I believe to be) late news on development or the development cycle itself. Having said that I would also like to say that I not being a programmer or a software engineer am not in a position to contribute .. nor do I have enough money, with a new addition to our family, to donate to your effort. I would request you to please keep this website updated with the latest news and probably set-up a section that allows people to get perhaps a monthly if not fortnightly news letter to keep all #!ers alive and loyal .. another idea could be to run a donation campaign perhaps .. something like “Wikipedia” did a few months back .. with people either donating their services or money ..
If you think I can be of any help please do let me know .. would appreciate it.
I would like to see this OS grow ..
Best,
Shiv
P.S. Sorry I posted this in the wrong area
September 2nd, 2010 at 8:50 pm
+1 for Shiv’s idea of more news about what kind of progress is being made.