Dyne:bolic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The correct title of this article is dyne:bolic. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

**dyne:bolic**

dyne:bolic GNU/Linux Live CD Multimedia Environment
Website:	dynebolic.org
Company/ developer:	Jaromil
OS family:	GNU/Linux
Source model:	Free Software
Latest stable release:	2.4.2 / March 10, 2007
Kernel type:	Monolithic kernel
Default user interface:	text (zsh)/ Graphical (Xfce)
License:	Various
Working state:	Ongoing refinement

dyne:bolic is a LiveCD GNU/Linux distribution with a focus on multimedia production, and is distributed with a large assortment of applications for audio and video manipulation. Unlike many GNU/Linux distributions, dyne:bolic is based entirely on free software, and is recognized by the GNU Project for this characteristic.

1 Live CD
2 Installation
3 Multimedia Support
4 New Features
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Live CD

dyne:bolic is designed from ground up to be used as LiveCD. it does not require installation to a hard drive, and attempts to recognize most devices and peripherals automatically (for example: sound, video, TV, etc). Its kernel is highly optimized for low latency & high performance, allowing it to be extremely suitable for audio & video production.

dyne:bolic is not based on any other existing LiveCD technology. Basic system requirements are relatively low: a PC with an Pentium MMX (i586) class CPU and 64 MB of RAM is sufficient. Some versions of dyne:bolic can be used on an Xbox game console (Note: Xbox is not currently supported by v2.0).

[edit] Installation

Windows & Linux installation is simple & direct. The user copies the db directory from the CD (a process described in db literature as "Docking") to any FAT32 or ext2 formatted partition or drive. Booting from floppy disk is also supported. Unlike other LiveCD technologies, dyne:bolic can save user settings in a file on partition (or even user's own USB flash drive) which can also be encrypted for better privacy (described as "Nesting" in the db literature). Xfce is used as the desktop interface (Window Maker was used before 2.4).

[edit] Multimedia Support

dyne:bolic has been shaped by the needs of media activists, artists and creators, to be a practical tool for multimedia production. It allows manipulation and broadcast of both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode, and stream. In addition to many multimedia specific programs, dyne:bolic also provides word processors and common desktop computing tools.

The dyne:bolic author and maintainer Jaromil has also created various multimedia tools included in the distribution: MuSE, HasciiCam, FreeJ, as well as other software functionalities such as the Nesting and Docking, while developer & friend, Smilzo contributed the port for Xbox game consoles.

[edit] New Features

The latest versions contain many JACK Audio Connection Kit applications and can easily turn a network of computers into an openMosix cluster for instant network-wide CPU clustering. This powerful feature allows a network of machines to work as a distributed supercomputing environment, and can be thought of as an out-of-the-box Render Farm supporting additional features useful in CPU-intensive environments.

A new feature in version 2.0 is that it is truly "Live". Most LiveCD distributions are often a demo of Linux, and to have new software, one will have to wait for a new version. dyne:II is designed to be a truly "live" CD. Basically, Dyne:II is a core; while it can be run live as-is, it is also designed to be customized by placing additional modules (dynemodules) into the ISO image, so that it may truly suit the users' needs.

An example would be pure:dyne, based on the dyne:II core.

The main improvements in dyne:II are:

No longer just booting to root, dyne:II is a now a True Multiuser system in the GNU/Linux & UNIX Tradition.
Inclusion of development tools, including a compiler which can rebuild dyne:II.
More modifications to user settings are allowed.
Modular software add-ons are now available.

The current stable version is v2.4, on a v2.6 kernel. Version 1.4.1 on a v2.4 kernel is provided for Xbox use.