gOS (operating system)

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Default gOS 2.9 "Space" desktop with MySpace stack open and one window open
Company / developer	Good OS LLC
OS family	Linux
Working state	Current
Latest stable release	2.9 "Space"/ April 6, 2008 (2008-04-06); 149 days ago
Supported platforms	x86
Kernel type	Monolithic kernel (Linux)
Default user interface	GNOME + Compiz Fusion + Avant Window Navigator
Website	www.thinkgos.com

gOS is a Linux distribution created by 'Good OS LLC', a Los Angeles-based corporation. The company initially advertised it as "An alternative OS with Google Apps and other Web 2.0 apps for the modern user." This first version gOS (1.0.1_386) was based on Ubuntu 7.10 and the Enlightenment window manager E17.^[1]

On January 7, 2008, a test version (2.0.0-beta1) of gOS, intended to demonstrate the Everex CloudBook at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, and named "gOS Rocket", was released. This version too was E17 based.^[2] However, the definitive second version of gOS debuted end February 2008,^[3] together with the launch of Everex's new CloudBook, the gBook laptop, and a new, second version of the gPC, the "encore".^[4] This version was called gOS V2 Rocket, and was completely rewritten and now based on the GNOME window manager, Compiz fusion, and the Avant Window Navigator. It was not publicly available at that time, just installed on these systems.

On April 6, 2008, Good OS launched a new publicly available version of gOS, called gOS 2.9 "Space", intended for the gPC mini,^[5] this version is especially geared towards MySpace users,^[6] and is also based on Compiz fusion, Gnome, and the Avant Window Navigator dock manager, but it also uses E17 code. It has a Dock with a "stack" very much like the "fan view" of Mac OS X v10.5.^[7]

Contents 1 Design 2 Variations 2.1 gOS 1.0.1 2.2 gOS 2-beta (gOS Rocket E) 2.3 gOS V2 Rocket (gOS Rocket G) 2.4 gOS 2.9 Space 2.5 gOS 2.9M Escape Pod 2.6 gOS 3.0 Gadgets beta 3 Version history table 4 Live USB 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Design

gOS is based on the Ubuntu 7.10 distribution and a GUI largely imitative of Mac OS X Leopard. The earlier versions (1 and 2-beta) used the Enlightenment 17 window manager instead of the usual GNOME or KDE desktops, to create a desktop that had similar usability to Mac OS X. This was possible because of the flexibility of Enlightenment. Enlightenment acts both as an X window manager, and as a desktop environment. Therefore early versions of gOS worked on systems as low end as a 350 MHz Pentium II with 196 MB of RAM,^[8] but a typical gOS system would have used as a minimum a 1 GHz Pentium III with 256 MB RAM. After gOS2-beta the later versions of gOS abandoned the use as Enlightenment as desktop manager (although some E17 code still seems to be used), in favour of using GNOME, with Compiz Fusion and the Avant Window Navigator. This increased the need for memory to values similar to normal Ubuntu.

Based on the idea of cloud computing, all versions of gOS lean heavily on on-line applications built on Web 2.0 and AJAX technology so they also do not use much hard disk space for applications. The whole gOS-1 system fits comfortably in less than 2 GB. Also many of the documents created with gOS, such as Google Docs documents, can be saved on Google servers instead of on the local hard disk, so gOS can work with very small hard disks. In gOS V2 Rocket, Good OS introduced the use of Google's "Google Gears" technology which promises to make Google's web applications usable without an internet connection.^[9] Currently, Google Reader and Google Docs are the only supported Google applications, though other web applications such as Remember the Milk have added Google Gears functionality.

gOS Rocket's primary features included a Mac OS X-like Dock called iTask-NG (also called'the Launcher'), containing icons to launch the following programs: Firefox web browser, Rhythmbox audio player, Xine video player and Skype for Internet telephony. Other programs could be added to the Launcher as well. The first E17 based version of gOS used another Dock-style interface called the iBar.

There were also icons to launch Firefox to specific web-sites and web applications for Google Mail, Google Talk, Google News, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, Google Reader, Google Product Search, Blogger, YouTube, Facebook, Meebo, Box.net to online chat with Yahoo! Messenger and .NET Messenger Service users and Wikipedia. The rightmost icon was for Faqly, a system developed for Rocket to offer a built-in online community based help system.

Other installed programs can be started through menus, among the most important were the photo and picture editing program the GIMP, the document viewer Evince, and the OpenOffice.org office suite. More programs can be installed using the built-in Synaptic Package Manager.^[10]

[edit] Variations

The operating system was featured on TigerDirect vlog several times.^[11][12][13]

[edit] gOS 1.0.1

gOS 1.0.1 was introduced on November 1, 2007, preinstalled on the Everex Green gPC TC2502 sold at Wal-Mart.^[14] gOS 1.0.1 fully supported the advanced Power management capabilities of the gPC TC2502, so the system could be put in suspend mode and after turning on again was ready in a few seconds.

In December 2007, PC Club followed suit and reintroduced their Enpower Fuzion desktop^[15] for sale with gOS installed for $189, which is their second system to include a Linux distribution since their controversial temporary inclusion of Linspire (then LindowsOS) in late 2003/early 2004^[16] and the sale of the Empower Essence system with Ubuntu during the month of June 2007.

Everex followed on by creating the CloudBook, a laptop based on the VIA NanoBook reference. The CloudBook was bundled with gOS Rocket with a hint that later versions would include a touchscreen. At an RRP of $400, it was to compete with the ASUS Eee PC in the cheap miniature Laptop space.^[17][18] Less well known is the fact that Everex simultaneously also worked on a more classic notebook, called the gBook, and on the Mac mini like gPC mini all designed to run gOS v2.^[19]

Online vendor ClubIT.com offered a RoHS-compliant VIA C7 developer board bundled with gOS.^[20]

[edit] gOS 2-beta (gOS Rocket E)

On 2008-01-07, Good OS LLC released a beta of the second version of gOS, called "gOS-live-2.0.0-beta1" and nicknamed "Rocket". However this version did not seem to be a valid replacement for rev 1.0.1 as it was missing some essential functions, such as hardware and system administration tools, and the easy to use application installer "Add/Remove".^[10] It also missed the capability to access CDs and hard-disk partitions other than its own. The demo version status of this version became extra apparent when the new Everex CloudBook which was due to debut January 25, 2008 was delayed for a month to allow Good OS time to re-write this second version of gOS for the CloudBook ,gBook. and second version of the gPC^[21] On April 11, 2008, Good OS released an updated version of gOS Rocket E.^[22] In addition, a fan of gOS has also released an unauthorized remaster of gOS Rocket E which includes the aforementioned system administration tools and drive mounting as well as the Thunar file manager^[23].

[edit] gOS V2 Rocket (gOS Rocket G)

Later it became apparent that the month was needed because Everex had decided that future versions of gOS for the Cloudbook, gBook and gPC2, would use the GNOME desktop environment, instead of E17. It was announced that this version would also be called "Rocket", to be precise gOS V2 "Rocket", (this version would also be offered to new gPC2 users)^[24][25][26] and would use the Avant Window Navigator system to create a dock to resemble the older gOS versions in looks and functionality. Until the launch of gOS 2.9 this version was not available as a Live CD, but only to CloudBook owners. But after the launch of 2.9 it has now also become available as a Live_CD download from one of the mirrors as found on the Good OS web-site. This version is now referenced to as "gOS rocket G" ("G" for Gnome) to distinguish it from the older beta version now called "gOS rocket E", which is also still available for download.^[27]

[edit] gOS 2.9 Space

gOS 2.9 Space became available as a generic Linux distribution on April 7, 2008, and is a debugged and extended version of the older gOS V2 Rocket G. It can be downloaded as an .ISO^[28] that can be burned on a DVD (it's slightly too large for a CD), or can be put on another external bootable medium such as a memory stick or Secure Digital card reader acting as an external USB drive, with enough capacity. A gOS 2.9 DVD was also announced to be sold from The Good OS store on their website, but until now has not become available.^[29] gOS Space is loaded with new MySpace features, but all the existing Google applications can still be used. As a Linux distribution, 2.9 is much more complete than 2.0-beta and is also less buggy. gOS Space is less "light" (using a small amount of memory) than older, publicly-available versions, as it's based on a combination of Ubuntu 7.10, the Gnome windows manager enhanced with Compiz fusion, and the Avant Window Navigator, a Dock-like launcher that has been enhanced with Stacks. According to Good OS, there is also Enlightenment code used, but its exact purpose is still unknown. In any case gOS Space needs about 384MB of RAM to work reasonably, the same amount as straight Ubuntu 7.10. When Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) became available on April 24, 2008 it became obvious that trying to upgrade gOS 2.9 to the new Ubuntu renders it without any working kernels, leaving a non-working system, so upgrading gOS has been disabled by Good OS. It is not expected that this will be fixed, but that instead a new gOS (rev 3.0) will be released, based on Ubuntu 8.04.

[edit] gOS 2.9M Escape Pod

As of July 2, 2008 Good OS together with Osram Sylvania launched the Sylvania g netbook. Its similar to the original Everex CloudBook with more memory, and the trackpad and buttons have moved to the front of the device. the new system runs gOS 2.9M, a specially modified version of gOS 2.9 "space" based on Ubuntu 8.04 ^[30][31]

[edit] gOS 3.0 Gadgets beta

The beta version of gOS 3.0 was released on August 6, 2008 on the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo 2008, and at the same time as a publicly download-able live CD. Its main innovation seems to be the support of Google Gadgets, and the inclusion of Wine 1.0. This version seems to go "back to its roots", as it is intended for netbooks, The Avant Window Navigator's (abbreviated AWN or Awn) dock-like bar has been removed again, and seems to be replaced by a more "lightweight" version of the Dock like the one used in the first Enlightenment-based gOS versions, but this one is built using LXDE technology.^[32] But the system still supports, and uses a lot of GNOME software. gOS 3.0 Gadgets beta comes in the form of a Live CD, but according to the support site this is still a beta release, you might want to wait a few weeks for a more final version before installing it to your hard-disk, as there are some bugs in this beta version, and some people have problems installing it.^[33]

[edit] Version history table

Colour	Meaning
Red	Old release; no longer officially available
Yellow	Old release; still officially available
Green	Current release
Blue	Future release

Version	Code name	development name	Release date	released for	Based on	Freely available?	Desktop Manager	Features and Changes
1.0.1_386	gOS	Painfull	2007-11-01	Everex gPC	Gutsy Gibbon	Yes Live_CD	E17	Initial release; Based on Ubuntu 7.10 and the Enlightenment 17 Desktop environment, plus lots of Google applications
2.0.1-beta1	gOS Rocket (E)	Reloaded	2008-01-07	Everex CloudBook Demo at CES 2008	Gutsy Gibbon	Yes Live_CD	E17	Beta demo version especially developed to demonstrate with the Everex CloudBook at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. still based on Enlightenment 17 desktop
V2	gOS Rocket (G)	Unknown	2008-02-22	Everex CloudBook, gBook, gPC and gPC2	Gutsy Gibbon	V2 NO, gOS 2G Yes	GNOME +AWN	Final version as delivered installed on the CloudBook, and later the gBook and the gPC2. Not available as a live CD until the launch of "Space". Now based on GNOME and the Avant Window Navigator and Compiz fusion
2.9	gOS Space	Unknown	2008-04-06	Everex gPC mini	Gutsy Gibbon	Yes as Live_CD	GNOME +AWN	Specially promoted as a version for MySpace users, adds "stacks" to the AWN launcher, and uses MySpace applications, does not need 3D hardware to support AWN. Fits only on a live_DVD
2.9M	gOS Escape pod 2.9M	Unknown	2008-02-07	Sylvania g netbook	Hardy Heron (8.04)	No, only on g-netbook	GNOME +AWN	Specific "light" version, especially developed for netbook systems
3.0	gOS 3.0 Gadgets beta	Aphrodite	August 6, 2008	Netbooks	Hardy Heron (8.04.1)	Yes, as live CD	GNOME + LXDE	Light netbook version that supports the Google desktop, including Google Gadgets,[34] and adds Wine 1.0, and Picasa. Fits on a Live CD, but at the moment it's still in beta and your mileage may vary.[35]
3.0 (Final)	Unknown	Unknown	September 2008	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown

[edit] Live USB

A Live USB of gOS can be created manually or with UNetbootin ^[36].

[edit] See also

• Everex green computers
• Zonbu
• Goobuntu
• LXDE

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• gOS home page
• gOS forums
• gOS Universe - Community Dv and Help
• Interview with David Liu, founder of Good OS LLC.
• Official gOS Community Support Group and Help Forums
• Linux Software Search - Online gOS Software Installations

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