Absolute Linux is a light-weight modification of Slackware Linux. It includes several utilities that make configuration and maintenance easier and it has many common desktop and Internet applications installed and configured with tight integration of menus, applications and MIME types. Absolute Linux uses IceWM and ROX for its window and file managers.

This is Slackware 12.0 modification. Features kernel 2.6.21.5 (smp) and implements auto-mounting capabilities for devices and media. Updates to Hal and DevTray installation since last release. 586 is NOT supported for now, so don't try to load on a Pentium I or a k6-2 processor. Devices are not actually mounted automatically -- their icons appear in a panel BELOW the taskbar. When you want to look, click the arrow on the right of the taskbar, that bar will slide off to the right, and the devices listed by DevTray appear on the lower panel.

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Home_http://www.pcbypaul.com/absolute/
Downloads (~669 Mb)_http://www.ibiblio.or...olute_12.0.zip

Big change is with the installer, "Autoinstall" option that takes care of drive partitioning along with the Lilo setup, making install much easier for new-comers to Linux and/or text-based installation. The usual options for installation are also still available. Documentation (HTML instructions for the install) have been updated both online in the ZIP that contains the iso. Here's the changelog: Redesigned installer to include an "autoinstall" option; Corrected internal "name" of links2.desktop file; absgamma.py (utility to adjust gamma of monitor) updated; Java updated to jre-6u7; gnome-icon-theme added for compatibility with some apps; Svgpage moved to CD2.

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Downloads (~674 Mb)_http://www.ibiblio.or...te_12.1.05.zip

I am happy to announce the release of Absolute Linux 12.1.07. It is package-compatible with Slackware-current (NOT Slackware 12.1). A large number of changes include new kernel 2.6.24.7, GCC 4.2.4, XULRunner 1.9.0.1, Firefox 3.0.1 built on XULRunner, both more highly optimized over previous releases and some Firefox settings have been tweaked - on a test system it uses about 20% less memory. Please note two things: base-supported CPU is now a Pentium II and the kernel source package is now on the second CD.

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Downloads (~670 Mb)_http://www.ibiblio.or...te_12.1.07.zip

OpenOffice.org upgraded to version 3.0.0 on CD2, supports latest MS Office format; rebuilt AbiWord 2.6.4 against updated Enchant, libgnomeprint and libgnomecups, also includes support for MS Word and OpenOffice.org docs; HTMLpage, the Firefox 'View Source' viewer and editor has been updated to 2.0, now uses Python's urllib to grab online pages; finished testing with updated UTF-8 settings; updated XULRunner 1.9.0.3, updated and recompiled Firefox 3.0.3, compiled Thunderbird, which now replaces Sylpheed as the default mail program; Updated to Slackware 'current' with latest HAL, dbus, udev, glibc; updated GIMP to 2.6.0...

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Downloads (~700 Mb)_http://downloads.sour...te-12.1.08.iso

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Downloads (~699 Mb)_http://voxel.dl.sourc...te-12.1.12.iso

Absolute Linux 12.2.2 released. This release brings kernel 2.6.28.7, auto-install defaults to ext4 file system. (Regular install allows for ext3 and ReiserFS as well.) The kernel, for now, is the Slackware 'hugesmp', so it is Slackware 'stock'. Waiting for feedback to see if users like this or would rather get specific configuration tweaked. The large number of changes along with imminent bump in X.Org led me to go with the flow for now in order to allow easier input from Slackware-compatible repositories. In addition to the new kernel there was a very large number of applications, as well as library updates -- so installing via GSlapt is not advised.

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Downloads (~696 Mb)_http://downloads.sour...ute-12.2.2.iso

Absolute Linux 12.2.5 released. New Linux kernel, new package format, new Python. Every single package has been at least re-packed, modified or updated. Interface updated along with Linux kernel, Python, packaging system which is now TXZ and, due to higher compression, the main release contains much more than previously: OpenOffice.org and Java, as well as many other applications, now fit on a single CD. PCMan file manager and Rox have both been modified to work seamlessly with the TXZ package archives, as well as the new 'Add/Remove Programs' item in root menu. New volume control (now in system tray). New theme, more complete file type handling.

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Downloads (~685 Mb)_http://downloads.sour...ute-12.2.5.iso

Absolute 13.0 released. During the large number of changes from 12.x to 13 lots of things were broken as I kept up with Slackware and pounded out customizations for IceWM and PCMan File Manager and scripted helper utilities. Focus since end of July, however, has been on making everything work. I managed to get all quirks and bugs out. PCMan File Manager crashes were isolated to thumbnail image use, so that option has been eliminated and integration between ROX and PCMan File Manager has been increased (quick thumbnails and resizing, among other handy features). K3b (Qt 4 version) now closes multi-session disks properly. AbiWord prints without crashing. A log of applications now fit on the CD using the new TXZ packaging; OpenOffice.org is the most noteworthy base install inclusion.

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Downloads (~689 Mb)_http://downloads.sour...e_mirror=sunet

New Perl, new PIM/calendar:

and some additional interface scripting/tweaking.

This is the nice, peaceful, usabillity-improving portion of development.

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Downloads (~695 Mb)_ftp://ftp.absoluteli...ute-13.0.3.iso

Absolute Linux 13.0.2 released. GTK+ themes engines included along with customized theme changing utility (gtk-chtheme) that calls script that changes IceWM theme, PCMan File Manager desktop background and ROX-Filer background. Makes our lightweight interface more cohesive, but if any setting should fail it does so silently so you can hack away changing stuff and it will not mess up your system. Brasero has replaced K3b. KDE libraries, KDE Multimedia and Arts have all been removed. If you want KDE, you can safely drop in the entire Slackware KDE packages, but for the UI-stay-out-of-my-way types, we've eliminated more overhead. Updates include: Firefox, SeaMonkey, Flash plugin, IceWM and a number of scripts in the a/etc package.

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Downloads (~865 Mb)_http://downloads.sour...ute-13.0.2.iso

Monthly minor release cycle? Primarily security updates (kernel, GIMP, Firefox, BIND, etc.). Also removed Brasero (CD burning) as it is too dependent upon GNOME and switched to a simpler Xfburn. It has a few Xfce-related dependencies but these are small and they also allow easier development for users if they want to use the libraries. You may also notice that wxGTK libraries are in the base install, used by the CHM help viewer and also support Audacity, now compiled and sitting on CD2 in the multimedia folder.

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Downloads (~678 Mb)_http://downloads.sour...ute-13.0.5.iso