MakuluLinux Max is a new offering that opens the world of artificial intelligence to the Linux desktop. It raises the operating system to an experience not available anywhere else.

It uses a tweaked Gnome Software Center that fully supports Flathub and Snaps. You can also use the installed Synaptic Package Manager.

Max comes with Steam pre-installed. Additional gaming platforms are available from the Software Center.

Figure 1. New MakuluLinux Release Brings AI to the Max

New MakuluLinux Release Brings AI to the Max is shown in Figure 1. The MakuluLinux Max Desktop Manager lets you customize and theme your desktop. You can select from system layouts, constructing tools, special effects, cursors, icon sets, wallpaper management, and theme colors. All changes are almost instant; no scripts, no commands, and no reboot required.

The Max OS also comes with the Constructor Tool that lets you recompile the operating system with all your changes back into an ISO to reinstall on other computers. This feature has been a staple in other MakuluLinux editions for the last few years.[1]

The AI Integration options really stand out. I have written about several AI startups in recent months. All of them required third-party requests for access and cloud-delivered connections.

Not so with Max’s own AI model that Raymer created. Early versions of the AI feature used the OpenAI-developed model. The MakuluLinux developer later built his own, so it was simple for users to access without needing anything else or paying any fees, he noted.

He tweaked coding from Llama/Palm2/Google and Bing AI models to create an AI experience that runs 50 processes and is capable of handling an average of 400 queries per minute.

Maturing Family Lineage

MakuluLinux arrived on the Linux scene in 2015 with a different approach to implementing Linux OS features that Raymer hoped would disrupt the status quo. I have reviewed nearly one dozen MakuluLinux releases since then.

Each one involved a different desktop option. Each one introduced new features and improvements that gave MakuluLinux the potential to challenge long-time major Linux distro communities.

What Max brings to the open-source OS community should establish this South Vietnam-based Linux developer with key player status in the Linux distro field.

AI-Integration Game Changer

When I first ran Max in a live session, Electra’s face popped onto the screen and was perfectly synched with voice and lip movements as the entity presented an overview of the built-in AI capabilities. That first encounter was sort of creepy!

Electra is very capable of operating within this Linux OS. It told me so in as many words.

Actually, referring to Electra as an “it” after the on-screen introduction is awkward. So I am assigning Electra’s — ahem, preferred pronouns of she/her — for the purposes of this review.

Electra communicates in natural language, answering questions comprehensively and informally and generating different creative text content formats.

She can also collaborate on tasks like code generation, creating code snippets, debugging and explaining code, writing jokes, music, social media content, blogging, generating summaries of web pages, researching, and communicating using voice input, etc.

My HP Inspiron laptop is eight years old and is powered by an Intel Pentium N3700 (4) processor running 8GB RAM. It has balked at running other Linux distros. But its performance running Max has been a pleasant experience.

Electra Helped Shape AI Features in Max

Raymer noted in his website comments and in our email exchanges about the Max release that Electra actually had a critical role in helping him develop some of the Max distro’s other AI-powered features, such as the Virtual Cam, Image Generator, Story Teller, and Widgets System.

“Electra had a big hand in the development of each of those tools … in fact, many of the AI applications we use now in Max were in part created with the assistance of Electra,” said Raymer.

The AI system residing in Max is very capable. It learns daily and will continue to grow over time, he added.

“Electra has excellent memory. Each conversation is tracked with an ID, ensuring continued uninterrupted conversion. This was also very important to us,” Raymer said. [2]

References:

1. http://news.tuxmachines.org/n/2023/06/30/New_MakuluLinux_Release_Brings_AI_to_the_Max.shtml
2. https://www.technewsworld.com/story/new-makululinux-release-brings-ai-to-the-max-177104.html

Cite this article:

Gokula Nandhini K (2023), New MakuluLinux Release Brings AI to the Max, AnaTechmaz, pp.561