Linux Lite is based on the long-term-support version of Ubuntu, so it will be maintained until 2016. It recommends 512 MB and a Pentium III.

The live disk and installer are based on Ubuntu (without the current bugs), so the Ubuntu installation instructions can be used by those unfamiliar with partitioning, etc. Encryption is available.

The desktop is a standard Xfce, although some components are missing, like Xfce-goodies and Catfish. The software includes LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Mumble, Xchat, Gimp, and VLC. Running from the CLI revealed a number of gtk warnings, but nothing serious. Flash and the media codecs are installed, and also a beta-test version of Steam. LibreOffice comes without any dictionaries. VLC will not work with some video drivers. I installed Parole, which also failed, but that could be cured by reconfiguring with the command ‘parole --xv false’. Extra software is installed with Synaptic from the Ubuntu repositories.

There was the usual shortage of configuration tools one associates with Debian and Ubuntu. To enable my USB speakers I had to edit two separate configuration files and reboot. There were no tools for controlling services and the firewall: in fact, there’s no firewall. If a distro is too large for a CD, there seems no reason to omit commonly-used software: one would like a firewall, the rest of Xfce, more configuration tools, Pidgin, a music manager, a dictionary…

Nevertheless, Linux Lite is well worth considering among the Debian/Ubuntu devivatives with Xfce: better than Xubuntu, if not as good as Saline.