It seems as if the software was getting more and more complex. This means we need more and more powerful hardware. This has been a trend for many years till now, and mainly promoted by Microsoft. Windows Vista, his last operating system is the heaviest ever seen. So annoying that most of the brand new computers fail his performance test.

But people is getting fed up and now many choose light computers such as netbooks. For this hardware Vista is not suitable, that's one of the reasons why Microsoft has been working hard to release his new and thin operating system, Windows 7.

In Linux words, some distros like Ubuntu, Suse or Fedora have followed the Microsoft steps providing a huge set of features which slows down the system. Probably in an attempt to attract users to the Linux desktop.

Fortunately Linux world is not only popular distros and we have a wide range of possibilities. One of them is Arch Linux. A modern, constantly updated and simple distribution. Arch follows the KISS principle offering a reduced set of tools to start to build your customized system.

This is a list of my preferred light applications for Arch:

• Openbox as window manager.
• Conky to monitor the system.
• Tint2 as a task panel.
• iDesk to define shortcuts to most used apps.
• Stalonetray as system tray.
• Brasero as CD/DVD burner.
• Of course Firefox as web browser.
• Thunderbird for mail.
• Gimp for image manipulation.
• Inkscape for vector graphics.
• Geany as advanced text editor.
• PCmanFM for file management.
• LxTerminal as terminal emulator.
• Mplayer/SMplayer for media.
• Transmission to download torrents.
• Virtualbox for virtualization.
• Gparted to manage partitions.
• Openoffice for office stuff.
• ePDFView, GPicViewer as file viewers.
• Pidgin for instant messaging.
• Asunder to rip CDs.

All these are components to have a minimalist destop, fast and reliable. Most of them are enough for a standard user.

We must accept (and I'm pleased to do it) that open software is hitting more and more strong, high quality and stability are their best skills. But the most important of this move is not the generated code, it is the way of doing things. Free colaboration and to share knowledge publicly are essential. And even better it is that this philosophy oftenly is spread to daily life.

Recently I read an article about risks at open source sotfware, warning about unexpected situations that sometimes happen. At the beginning I get a little bit scary, but not too much, till I understood what it was about.

When these projects start, oftenly they are leaded by just one person. He usually is a good programmer with a good idea, and knowing what and how he wants to. This is a good start point, and enough to get a first release showing the good idea and its potential.

But it happens that if the project is accepted and a community starts to grow around it, the project must be release to the community. I mean, not only to take the community opinion into account, but also to take part in coding.

In this way, some projects are open but they only prosper thanks to the main developer, and the rest of the community only uses the product and reports bugs. They can work on it but just in a local way, they know the code but have no access to the main repository.

It's possible that if the main developer leaves the project, the community has to work hard to coordinate people to go on or start a new fork.