antiX A Fast And Lightweight Linux Distribution
antiX is a fast and lightweight Linux distribution. It is based on Debian stable. antiX is a very different distro, it isn’t like Debian or Ubuntu. It doesn’t use systemd. Actually, most Linux distros are using systemd to manage the system processes, but antiX doesn’t like systemd. I don’t have any problem with systemd, but time after analyzing systemd, I realized that it is not the best way to replace SysVinit, because it doesn’t follow the UNIX philosophy. I think that systemd is very complex, maybe this is the reason why antiX doesn’t use it.
antiX comes with support for Intel – AMD x86 compatible systems, you can install it or use it as Live USB. antiX is perfect for old computers, it’s able to work with 256MB of RAM and using a Pentium III, that’s amazing! Also, you can install it in most recent hardware, antiX is good for any computer.
antiX-16 Berta Cáceres (released in June 2016)
antiX-16 is the latest version, but antiX has another edition called MX “Fusion”, this last is featuring the XFCE desktop environment.
antiX comes in 3 flavors for both 32 and 64-bit processors:
| Name | Size | Quick features |
| antiX-full | 695 MB | 4 window managers |
| antiX-base | 510 MB | 3 window managers |
| antiX-core-libre | 190 MB | without GUI (X), support only for wired connection to the internet |
antiX-full features
- Based on Debian Jessie, but without systemd nor systemd-shim.
- kernel: Customised 4.4.10 LTS kernel with fbcondecor splash
- Documents, presentations and more: Libreoffice 4.3.3-2
- Web Browser: Firefox-ESR 45.2.0
- Mail Client: Claws-mail 3.13.0
- Audio player: xmms
- Video player: gnome-mplayer
- Youtube without web browser: smtube 16.3.0
- Streaming: streamlight-antix
- File Manager: spacefm
- Network Manager: Wicd
- Flash plugin: flashplugin-nonfree
- Text editors: vim and nano
If you want to see a more detailed list, please go to the following link: http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
LiveUSB Features
- Fast boot times without systemd
- Auto-customizable bootloaders
- Easy persistence
- Frugal installs remaster and respins
- Legacy boot support
- UEFI (x86, x86_64) support
LiveUSB-Storage Feature
LiveUSB-Storage directories are created for the root user and the demo users. This gives you easy, direct access to store files on the LiveUSB without having to enable persistence. The only size limitation is the size of the LiveUSB partition You can disable this with the “nostore” cheat.
SaveState Feature
The savestate feature saves a few files across reboots. For example files for wicd are saved, so the system will remember your wireless networks and passwords. You control which files get saved by editing the list in /live/antiX/state/general-state-files and /live/antiX/state/machine-state-files. The general files are saved and restored across machines while the machine files are saved and restored for each machine so each machine can have its own copy.
If you want to see a more detailed list of LiveUSB features, please visit the following link: http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
Quick description of antiX Desktop Environments.
JWM
JWM is a light-weight window manager for the X11 Window System. JWM is written in C and uses only Xlib at a minimum. Because of its small footprint, JWM makes a good window manager for older computers and less powerful systems, it is a good choice if you have an old computer.
Fluxbox
Fluxbox is a window manager for X that was based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. It is very light on resources and easy to handle but yet full of features to make an easy, and extremely fast, desktop experience.
iceWM (Default)
IceWM is a window manager for the X Window System (freedesktop, XFree86). It’s very fast, and it focuses on simplicity.
Features:
- Fully usable with keyboard
- Alt+Tab window switching
- Efficient resource usage
- Task bar (optional)
- Multiple workspaces
- Themes
The MX edition
antiX has another special XFCE edition made in collaboration with the MEPIS Community called MX “Fusion”. The stable version is MX-15 “Fusion” but the latest is MX-16 (Metamorphosis).
MEPIS is another distro based on Debian Stable, if you want to download an MX edition please check the following links:
MX-15: https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/files/Final/MX-15/
MX-16 (Testing): https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/files/Testing/MX-16/
XFCE
Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user-friendly.
Conclusion
I think that antiX is a great distro because many users can’t use Linux with the most common desktop environments like unity, gnome or KDE. antiX is for any computer, doesn’t matter if the computer has the most recent hardware or not, antiX can run over very low resources. If you are a newbie in Linux, you should choose the MX edition for a better experience, but if you like the minimalistic desktop environments you should use antiX-16 with iceWM.