Q: What inspired you?
A: Ubuntu. Me and a few friends were looking around the net and realized there were not nearly enough Linux distributions based on Ubuntu. We were using Ubuntu ourselves but didn't like the way Ubuntu was pushing Unity as the desktop of choice. So after smoking a few more joints we decided to make Bloat Linux.
Q: So you didn't want to just switch Unity off and go with something like 'Gnome' or 'Gnome Classic'?
A: No. It is about innovation. We decided to take the Unity desktop, stop the HUD feature, and add certain parts from Cinnamon and MATE. The installed desktop went from 110MB to 241MB with all the new libraries to make it work.
Q: What makes Bloat Linux different?
A: Instead of following the crowd with just a standard distribution we decided to give you as much software as possible. There are 6 different media players included, 20 different window managers, 3 full office suites, and over 100 different backgrounds to choose from.
Q: Why not just give a base Operating System and allow the user to decide what software they want to install?
A: That would be too easy. We saw that the CD was dead and that DVD had taken its place. There is 4.7GB to use up. So we basically threw everything but the kitchen sink in there. Oh wait; Kitchen Sink v1.0.0.2.1.0.1 is available on the 2nd DVD.
Q: But Ubuntu uses Synaptic, Apt, and their Software Center. Almost everyone has a decent Internet connection, surely it would be better to allow them to decide what to download and install?
A: Users make mistakes. They do not know the inner workings. For example how many of the users know the difference between Libre Office and OpenOffice? They may not care about the differences but we do so we gave them both Office Suites.
Q: Chances are they will only ever use one or the other; seems they are almost identical except a few differences which the end-user will really not care about. So why have an ISO with both?
A: That is what we wanted to do. Why let the user choose. They may install Libre and then a few months down the line they may decide they want to use OpenOffice. We have given them both.
Q: What if they want neither?
A: They can go to the terminal and type: "Sudo apt-remove crappy-office-suite-i-never-wanted" (without the quotes) and they will be gone; except a few libraries and other files that the system will class as needed but never actually use. It is a simple procedure.
Q: That is the point. Why not make it the other way round. If they want it they can install it?
A: Because this way we are using more DVDs and filling the hard drive. Times change. People use DVDs or USB sticks to install Linux. We have to make it look like it was worth while.
Q: But other Linux distributions, such as TinyCore, Slitaz, Slax, and DSL, go the other route and give you the minimum and let you add what you want. So why not just go that route?
A: Because we are no longer worried about the Operating System itself. We are giving you an Operating System, eye candy, software, and drivers that you will have no use of.
Q: What about specifications. What is the minimum that Bloat Linux will run on?
A: We worked really hard to make sure it would work on a 800Mhz Pentium 1 CPU. But for the best experience the recommended specs are: 3.2Ghz CPU, 4GB RAM, 120GB Hard Drive, and a 1GB Video Card. Honestly, at 800Mhz even though it works it takes forever for anything to open. As an example the latest Firefox takes 2 minutes and 58 seconds to open after the icon has been clicked.
Q: Why so long?
A: There are certain effects to go through. Once you click on the icon it doesn't just open the program it has to first glow the icon, then rotate the icon, then finally the icon changes color and fades. Then, and only then will the program open.
Q: Why not leave that to Compiz and Enlightenment. If a user wants that 'eye candy' they can install it?
A: Because we give them everything. They can turn it off if they don't want it. When you install Bloat, by default everything is on, you will have a Samba server, web server, mail server, clustering options, and your own private cloud running in a virtual machine in the background. We spent minutes stealing the very ideas of other desktops and changing the graphics to say "Bloat" so we want to make sure the user sees all of them.
Well that is Bloat Linux. You can either download it or pick any of the other bloated Ubuntu-based distributions that are saturating the Linux world.
NOTE: There really is no "Bloat Linux Live" although it does exist under many different distributions out there. This post is merely a mockery of how some of the Linux distributions are going. Gone are the days where Linux was the choice because it gave the user the control of what to install; it is following the path of Microsoft Windows and installing a ton of software most desktop users, the people the distribution is aimed at, will never use and will have to waste the first 2 hours of use removing all the junk. This cycle of destruction can only be stopped if people make the decision to search, research, and choose distributions that put the user back in control. Linux used to be about choice; but now it is becoming nothing more than an Open Source version of Windows - including all the crap you never wanted.
All too true!
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