TahrPup Linux 6.0

My Linux (Puppy Precise 5.7.1.) quit working few days ago. Recovery was futile: the amount of browser and persistency data accumulated over time probably clogged up the rather small save file, so my Puppy started to show BSODs on shutdown. Or perhaps it was a memory card issue, since it used to boot from an old, crappy 2GB SD card and run entirely in RAM, just as all my other minimalist Linux distros did. Eventually it was unable to load altogether. With my modest Linux-fu, there was nothing I could do but boot Wind0ws, format the SD card and start from scratch.

I had to say farewell to some browser bookmarks and a text file containing mostly links to cheap Chinese web store items, since there was no way I could open 1.25GB Puppy save file in Windows text editor and try to salvage what's left undamaged. I don't do back-ups regularly and I tend to put my stupidly unconditional trust in software, so all loss is my fault. No big deal, I'm just learning on my (same & frequently repeated) mistakes.

I searched the web for a similar but updated distro, and here it is: downloaded (ISO file, 199MB) and installed on SD card via Unetbootin in about 20 minutes, fresh and clean TahrPup 6.0 is running on my battered HP Compaq notebook at the moment I'm typing this. Setting up the system and customizing Pale Moon web browser took a further hour or so. I chose non-PAE version of Tahr, which is more suitable for older 32-bit x86 hardware that lacks support for RAMs larger than 4GB.

Unfortunately, Gmail sees Pale Moon web browser as "outdated". Same thing happened with Sea Monkey browser which was included with my late Precise Puppy 5.7.1. but I didn't observe any functionality problems with this Google service. Maybe this is going to change in the near future. Both browsers are very similar to Firefox and they (mostly) support its assortment of add-ons and extensions. Speaking of options, Pale Moon is even more austere in its features and customizations than Sea Monkey.

TP 6.0 desktop (custom GNU/Linux wallpaper by Dablim @deviantart)

File browser with hidden files shown.

 Pale Moon web browser (similar to Firefox), here shown already customized with FF add-ons.

Log out options

TahrPup 6.0 booting, web browser open/close, shutdown in real time

More info on this Linux on DistroWatch.com

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Update 19-JAN-2015: Instead of Pale Moon, my Tahr 6 now runs Firefox 35, installed easily via Puppy Linux's system utility (Puppy Menu>Internet>Firefox). Unrelated to TahrPup, the only major bug that I've noticed with this browser so far is its (already known) inability to remember the global (Google.com) search page as a homepage after the program is closed, so it keeps on reverting to national Google domain (Google.rs in my case). Solving this issue permanently took me some time and a few resets. Basically you have to enter and save https://www.google.com/ncr as your homepage and leave option "Never remember history" under Privacy Preferences unticked if you don't want to be redirected to your national Google homepage every time FF is closed and opened again. This means that you have to fiddle with other privacy options if you don't want to leave traces of browsing behind you.

Flash Player is up-to-date and works fine on YouTube and similar video sites (updated using TP6's "GetFlash" utility, Menu>Internet>GetFlash Install Flashplayer). With FF35 installed, Google services don't show "Unsupported browser"pop-up alert any more...