Introduction

BackSlash Linux is an Ubuntu and Debian-based Operating system developed in India for AMD64 and Intel x64 based Personal Computers. It is based on free software and every release of the Operating System is named after the characters of the Disney blockbuster, Frozen. Since the third major release, BackSlash Linux Olaf, BackSlash Linux uses its own custom version of KDE, called the BackSlash Shell, as the default user desktop.

Design

BackSlash Linux's design is very hybrid. It resembles macOS at the very first look with KDE at its bottom, but instead of being a KDE based distribution, it ships with many GNOME based applications. Also the buttons on the title bar resemble macOS but are arranged in a Windows like manner. The top bar resembles GNOME at the first look but after opening any App, it displays the Universal Menu Bar, looking similar to macOS or Unity.

Development

Development of BackSlash Linux was started in mid 2016. Being Ubuntu-based, it is compatible with its repositories ad packages and uses Discover Software Center to handle installation/removal of software. Its user interface aims at being intuitive for new users without consuming too many resources.

BackSlash Linux is based on Ubuntu's Long Term Support releases, which its developer actively maintains for bugs and security for years even as development continues on the next release.

Pre-release Versions

Three pre-release versions, codenamed as Alpha, Beta and Gamma were released before the first stable release. These were still available to download until May 2017 but now have been taken off from the website.

Anna

The first stable version of BackSlash Linux was BackSlash Linux Anna published on 2 November 2016 and based on Ubuntu 14.04. It ran on the Cinnamon Desktop Environment. The support and download option for this version is still available on BackSlash Linux's Website. An article was also published on Linux.com introducing BackSlash Linux.

Elsa

The second release of BackSlash Linux was published on 20 December 2016 and was called BackSlash Linux Elsa. Elsa was built atop the Ubuntu "long-term support" release - Ubuntu 16.04 and ran on the flagship desktop environment of elementary OS, Pantheon. It added a lot of additional applications besides the core applications shipped with elementary OS and replaced the Epiphany browser by Google Chrome. Many additional utilities like Skype, Wine, Deluge BitTorrent Client and Dictionary were also shipped out of the Box. Inclusion of GNOME Boxes for virtualisation of Desktops was another time-saver.

Olaf

BackSlash Linux Olaf is the third major and the current release of BackSlash Linux. It was published on 9 May 2017 and introduced 150+ new features over the last versions of BackSlash Linux. It was based on Ubuntu 16.04 and ran BackSlash Shell - a customised KDE Desktop. Due to it's heavily modified beautiful Desktop, it gained much attention and received much praise than it's earlier versions. This version of BackSlash Linux removed some of the applications to cut down the ISO size and also brought many refinements. Google Chrome was replaced by the Open-Source Chromium and Wine was upgraded to version 2.0.1.

Thunderbird was also included in this version for better email experience and the simple idea was to include the best apps available instead of KDE-specific apps. This is the reason we see GNOME apps like Calendar, Disks, and Maps in this release.

BackSlash Linux Olaf also introduced a full-screen "AppLauncher" which resembled the "Launchpad" of macOS which was a fork of the discontinued application, "Slingshot".

Reviewing BackSlash Linux Olaf, Souris from ProCambodian, said "For me I think this is the best build distro, it feels more complete and you don’t need much time to config it, cause’ everything is working out of the box."

Kristoff Beta

BackSlash Linux Kristoff running BackSlash Shell v2.0 BackSlash Linux Kristoff is the next upcoming version of BackSlash Linux series and a public beta was released on 14 August 2017. For this very first time BackSlash Linux is providing users to test their beta releases and report bugs on their launchpad page. It builds upon the previous release of BackSlash Linux, Olaf, fixing almost all the bugs and also introduces the BackSlash Shell v2.0. Performance improvements have been highly worked on and it also introduces a new email client and a system optimizer. Installer issues have been fixed and UI has been redesigned. GTK+ support has been greatly worked on and now BackSlash Linux Kristoff also supports Fingerprint Recognition for Lockscreen, Terminal Authentication and other App Authentications. Multitouch gesture support has been also implemented in addtion with Wine 2.14. Redshift (Night Light) is also introduced with better temperature controls. Additional Components include a sidebar, better Notfication, audio and network management, Hardware-Enabled (HWE) Kernel and App Expose.

The final version will be released later this year.

Contact Information

support@backslashlinux.com

Audience

Tailored for beginners.

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