A complete set of GNOME 2.18 packages have been added to the Vector Linux Extra repository. This means that users of Vector Linux 5.8 Standard or SOHO can add GNOME easily in addition to Xfce or KDE. From the command line a simple
slapt-get --update slapt-get --install gnomemeta
will add or upgrade roughly 100 packages on your system. Oh, and no, it doesn’t break KDE or Xfce. For those who are a bit command line phobic you can also find the gnomemeta package in gslapt, the graphical package management tool. Previously GNOME was only offfered with the Deluxe (paid for) versions of Vector Linux.
Fair warning: if you don’t have any GNOME bits on your system already doing this install can consume over 900MB in hard disk space. Installing GNOME online is definitely not recommended for those who still have only dial-up internet access.
I’m still not a huge fan of GNOME but I do think choice is good and making it easy to choose from a variety of Linux desktops is a very good thing for Vector Linux.
Being a GNOME person all I can say is, it's about time. ;)
Thank you very much for the update on this and thanks to VL for recognising the need to have a wide variety of desktops available.
JustAnotherGeek: You're welcome. Now if we can convince the VL developers that it's time for a 64-bit version and a multilingual installer they'll have a truly first rate distro by v. 6.0. Actually, as of v. 5.8 VL is already my favorite distro which explains why I write about it so much.
For me, as for a Gnome and Vector SOHO user, that's very useful hint. Thanks!