Developer Bodhi Linux Team Working state Current | OS family Unix-like Source model Open source | |
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Initial release 26 March 2011; 5 years ago (2011-03-26) Latest release 4.1.0 / 27 January 2017; 37 days ago (2017-01-27) | ||
Bodhi Linux is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that uses the Moksha window manager. The philosophy for the distribution is to provide a minimal base system so that users can populate it with the software they want. Thus, by default it only includes software that is essential to most Linux users, including a file browser (PCManFM), a web browser (Midori) and a terminal emulator (Terminology). It does not include software or features that its developers deem unnecessary. To make populating systems with software easy, Bodhi Linux developers maintain an online database of lightweight software that can be installed in one click via apturl.
Contents
In addition to the standard version of Bodhi Linux, which is for Intel-compatible processors, there was an alpha release version for tablet devices with ARM processors, based on Debian. The tablet device version of Bodhi is not officially supported anymore, because of the amount of time needed to keep it up to date. Package and image updates will rarely be made, if at all, in the future.
Performance
System requirements include 128 MB RAM, 2.5 GB hard disk space, and a 300 MHz processor. 32 bit processors without PAE capability are supported on same terms as PAE-enabled ones. Only difference between the Bodhi versions is that an older kernel is used.
By using an Enlightenment DR17-based fork called Moksha Desktop, Bodhi provides rich desktop effects and animations that do not require high end computer hardware. The rationale for forking the project from DR17 was due to its established performance & functionality while E19 possessed "optimizations that break existing features users enjoy and use" as per Jeff Hoogland's statement. The Enlightenment window manager, as well as the tools developed specifically for Bodhi Linux, were written in C programming language and Python.
Support
Bodhi Linux is derived from the Ubuntu long term support releases (10.04, 12.04, 14.04...), so support follows the same pattern: Security bug fixes are released on a daily basis throughout the five-year period. As opposed to Ubuntu, Bodhi has no short term support. An installed Bodhi Linux can be upgraded to the latest state via command line or package manager.
Release Cycle
Releases are numbered x.y.z, where
The major release (x.y.z; e.g. version 2.y.z > 3.0.0) follows the Ubuntu long term support with a delay of a few months. The goal is to deliver a new major release in July every other year following the new Ubuntu LTS, which is expected in April. New functionality is not added after the release. The Bodhi Linux 3.0.0 branch was released in February 2015 with an additional legacy version for older hardware.
The update/point release (x.y.z; e.g. version 2.3.z > 2.4.0) is similar to point releases in Ubuntu (12.04.1, 12.04.2,...). Once more frequent, they are used for delivering new software versions and other improvements which are not related to security.
Beginning with version 2.4.0 update frequency is reduced to three times a year. Every four months - in January, May and September for now - a new update should come out. Bodhi Linux 2.4.0 (planned for release in August 2013) appeared a little late in mid-September, when it [was] ready. A bug fix release (x.y.z; e.g. version 2.4.0 > 2.4.1) is meant for correcting errors with the default configuration.
R_Pi Bodhi Linux
The R_Pi Bodhi Linux build was built directly on top of Raspbian and incorporates all of the changes and improvements to produce optimized ″hard float″ code for the Raspberry Pi (armhf or ARM HF). Technically, R_Pi Bodhi Linux is built with compilation settings adjusted to produce optimized ″hard float″ code for the Raspberry Pi (armhf or ARM HF). The hard float application binary interface of the ARM11, a 32-bit RISC microprocessor ARM architecture with ARMv6 architectural additions, provides enormous performance gains for many use cases. However, this has required significant effort to port elements of Debian Wheezy to ARMv6 CPU, as official builds require ARMv7. This should significantly enhance performance for applications that make heavy use of floating point arithmetic operations, as previous less efficient "soft float" settings, that is, native ARMv6 architecture floating point arithmetic operations simulated by software. Because of the effort to build a working release, the ARMHF release is not officially supported anymore at the moment.