Noob questions about LinuxIce and nGhost

**cyan** · 03-03-2009, 01:43 PM

I am a linux noob intersted in setting up a linux carpc. In reading about LinuxIce and nGhost, I am not clear on how the two work together. Is nGhost basically a GUI overlay? Sort of like the Netbook Remix in Ubuntu?

Put another way, can I load LinuxIce and use it out of the box without nGhost or do I need to have nGhost as well?

Also, I haven't seen much on satellite radio functionality for LinuxIce. I did, however, see it mentioned in a writeup of nGhost, which lead to my confusion.

Any help for this noob is appreciated. Thank you.

**tripzero** · 03-03-2009, 08:59 PM

The theory is that LinuxICE is an implementation of the OpenICE platform stack. nGhost is a core peice of that platform. This may explain a bit further.

nGhost is technically a desktop. It is *not* an overlay, much like windows front-ends. I believe the netbook-launcher in the ubuntu netbook-remix is a very good comparison. http://wiki.openice.org/index.php/The_nGhost_Project

There are no plugins, nor current plans for satellite radio integration. Just not enough demand yet on the Linux side.

Hope that helps!

**cyan** · 03-04-2009, 01:13 PM

Kev,

Thanks for the reply. So when I run LinuxIce, does nghost come configured? Or do I need to download that and configure it as well?

I am downloading the iso right now and will test it out this evening. I am so excited this project is out there. The idea of having a linux based carpc (particularly one based on my distro of choice) is great.

Thanks for all the info and work!

**tripzero** · 03-05-2009, 05:07 AM

nghost comes preconfigured in linuxice. you will still need to add music. Do note that things are in flux in the project as we are transitioning to a new base (linuxice2). After installing, you'll want to upgrade it to "gutsy" or "hardy". Google "upgrade feisty to gutsy" and that should help. It involves some changes to a file in /etc/apt/sources.list. The nghost/linuxice repository is also down, so if you want to upgrade nghost, you'll have to compile from source. I may upload periodic packages to openice.org in the meantime.

**cyan** · 03-05-2009, 12:36 PM

That gives me a lot to work with, thank you. I'll follow up with any questions. And I'd like to reinforce my earlier interest in having a Linux front end that supports satellite radio.

Thanks again for all your work!