Vector

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FEATURE DESCRIPTION
KEY FEATURES Speed, performance, stability are the attributes that set Vector apart from the crowded field of Linux distributions. The creators of Vector had a single credo: keep it simple, keep it small and let the end user decide what their operating system is going to be. Vector is Slackware-based distribution and comes in 5 editions - Standard, SOHO, Deluxe, Lite and Live. Standard edition features XFCE desktop environment and over 2 GB of software included on single CD-ROM; it is freely downloadable, specifically designed for use on older computers with slower processors and less RAM, or for owners of modern computers who appreciate bloat-free and extremely fast distributions. KDE based SOHO and Deluxe are paid editions.
Supported architectures i586, x86_64 (still Beta release)
Minimal hardware requirements Standard: Pentium 200 or better, 96MB RAM, 2.1GB hard drive space for system only, more for your data. SOHO: Pentium 750 or better, 256MB RAM minimum, 3.1GB hard drive space for system only, more for your data, video and monitor capable of 1024x768 resolution at 24 bits colour.
INSTALLATION
Installer - overall (6) Modified Slackware installer. Fast, simple and straight forward ncurses-based text installer. Offers resizing of ext2 and fat partitions, cfdisk for repartitioning and Lilo bootloader recovery.
Package selection (4) There is package selection. You can choose between four different package groups, but single package selection is not possible, except for extra software. Selection among extra software offers choice for - web browsers, multimedia, NVIDIA and ATI proprietary drivers, printing software, window managers etc.
Predefined package groups (4) Four package groups include - X11 (contains Xorg, XFCE and dependencies), development (gcc, make), kernel source and extra software.
Expert mode install (0) Not available.
Graphical installer (1) The installer is semi-graphical - ncurses-based. Graphical installer is being prepared for next release.
Installer speed (8) Quite fast. Full installation with initial configuration (X server, network, sound, users, services etc.) takes approx. 25 minutes.
CONFIGURATION
Graphical system management (8) Yes. Powerful VASM (Vector Administrative and Services Menu) configures everything from disk partitions and boot manager to network, services and X server. Independent from VASM there are some tools available like vwifi for wireless network configuration, vxconf for easy X server configuration, vnetconfig for wired network configuration etc.
Console-based system management (8) VASM is available in both - gui and console mode. Slackware's pkgtool is also available. Also, you can manually edit well documented configuration (just like in Slackware) files using editors like vim, nano etc.
PACKAGE SYSTEM
Package number (4) TGZ format from Slackware, but compressed with more powerful LZMA compression. Extension for Vector's packages is TLZ. Small official repository, but good selection of packages in it (popular software). Compatible with Slackware packages both - official and third-party (Slacky.eu and LinuxPackages.net). Also, in last release vpackager tool is included. Vpackager offers easy way of installing software from source by automaticaly creating TLZ package or by using cruxports4slack. Vpackager is also front-end for cruxports4slack.
Package management, automatic dependency solving (5) Yes. Official package tool is slapt-get. It is modified and patched by Vector's developing team. Succefully resolves dependencies when used with official repository.
Graphical package management tool (4) Gslapt is slapt-get front-end. It is GTK based application, but not as nearly powerful as console-based slapt-get. It offers easy way to manipulate with packages (installation and removal), but not upgrades (disabled by Vector's developing team in last release).
PERFORMANCE
System boot speed (6) Quite fast. Not fast as Zenwalk, Gentoo or Arch, but still fast. Boot speed could be improved by editing well documented configuration files.
System responsiveness (8) Excellent responsivness. Vector is optimized for older hardware and side effect for that is extremely good performance on modern hardware.
STABILITY/SECURITY
Popularity (5) Not as popular as deserves, but among top 20 according to DistroWatch. Fairly good and friendly community, active forums.
Security focus (2) No official security policy. Small number of official security updates. Slackware's packages from patches directory could be used instead. There is vleasytables tool that offers relatively easy way to setup firewall.
Stability and maturity (7) Since it is based on rock-solid Slackware, Vector is extremely stable. System wide upgrades are discouraged. All software that comes with Vector is throughly tested and higher version number is not priority.
INTERNATIONALIZATION
Does the installer support multiple languages? (1) Installer is English only. Just keyboard layout setup is present.
Is the system localized after installation? (2) Default language is English. Requires manual intervention if you want native language and encoding support. Extra software can be localized e.g. Firefox, Thunderbird and KDE from extra repository.
Is manual system localization easy? (2) Requires manual editing of configuration files.
APPLICATIONS/NETWORK
Support for restricted formats (8) MP3, video codecs and flash support are available out of box.
Sagem DSL modem support (?) ?
Alcatel DSL modem support (?) ?
ISDN support (2) CAPI support is included into default kernel. No additional ISDN cards support.
Wireless support (7) Yes, excellent support. Wireless out of box.
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