A power failure and an eternity [my internet speed after a certain usage drops down to blazing-amazing 30KBPS] later I finally gave a spin to 32 bit flavor of VSIDO 2014_01_13.iso. And my impression?
Kudos to VastOne 
A job well done 
A near perfect experience 
9 out of 10 
Why only 9 I hear you say 
Well only little gripe I had was tint2 housing wicd in the top right corner was clashing with window controls. Close button of any maximize window was inaccessible as clicking there would open wicd menu. This was in live session. Sadly I don't presently have a spare partition so I wasn't able to install this VSIDO image.
VSIDO is for sure going in the right direction.
Cheers.

Digit said,

Quotehaving said all that, i realise that likely comes across as a heavy handed bitchslap to hakerdefo...

Oh no not at all 
Digit said,

Quotevery, very sorry

Now you are offending me. Friends don't say sorry 
I chose the wrong word, 'kitchen-sink'. What I meant by the kitchen-sink is I was suggesting way too many applications.  But I took a careful consideration before suggesting them.
First the SMPlayer vs UMPlayer,
Here's a what they require on 32 bit install
1->SMPlayer

QuoteDepends: mplayer2 | mplayer, libc6 (>= 2.4), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1), libqt4-network (>= 4:4.5.3), libqt4-xml (>= 4:4.5.3), libqtcore4 (>= 4:4.7.0~beta1), libqtgui4 (>= 4:4.8.0), libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)

QuoteInstalled-Size: 3627

2->UMPlayer

Quotelibc6 (>= 2.4), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1), libqt4-network (>= 4:4.5.3), libqt4-xml (>= 4:4.5.3), libqtcore4 (>= 4:4.7.0~beta1), libqtgui4 (>= 4:4.8.0), libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4), mplayer-nogui | mplayer

QuoteInstalled-Size: 4908

My only problem with UMPlayer is it is not actively maintained.

VSIDO comes with XChat and here is what it requires,

Quotelibatk1.0-0 (>= 1.12.4), libc6 (>= 2.7), libcairo2 (>= 1.2.4),
         libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.0.2), libdbus-glib-1-2 (>= 0.88), libfontconfig1 (>=
         2.10.0), libfreetype6 (>= 2.2.1), libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 (>= 2.22.0),
         libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.35.9), libgtk2.0-0 (>= 2.24.0), libpango-1.0-0 (>=
         1.14.0), libpangocairo-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpangoft2-1.0-0 (>=
         1.14.0), libperl5.18 (>= 5.18.1), libsexy2 (>= 0.1., libssl1.0.0 (>=
         1.0.0), libx11-6, libxml2 (>= 2.6.27), xchat-common (= 2.8.8-7.1)

QuoteInstalled-Size: 859.0 kB

But if you take a look at weechat,

Quotelibc6 (>= 2.15), libcurl3-gnutls (>= 7.16.2), libgcrypt11 (>= 1.5.1),
         libgnutls26 (>= 2.12.17-0), libncursesw5 (>= 5.6+20070908), libtinfo5,
         weechat-core (= 0.4.2-3)

QuoteInstalled-Size: 920.0 kB

And weechat can be extended by it's plugins to support XMPP/Jabber protocol.

wget is great but one look at aria2 and you'll find it is a great and must have application. It supports,
HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/BitTorrent/Metalink/Kitchensink and all it requires is,

Quotelibc-ares2 (>= 1.7.1), libc6 (>= 2.17), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1),
         libgcrypt11 (>= 1.5.1), libgnutls26 (>= 2.12.17-0), libsqlite3-0 (>=
         3.5.9), libstdc++6 (>= 4., libxml2 (>= 2.7.4), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)

While aria2 supports BitTorrent there is nothing like rtorrent for torrents. Hands down the best torrent client. Start downloading a dozen torrents with rtorrent and check the resource usage. You will be surprised. It consumes very little resources. It depends only on,

Quotelibc6 (>= 2.4), libcurl3 (>= 7.16.3), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1),
         libncursesw5 (>= 5.6+20070908), libsigc++-2.0-0c2a (>= 2.0.2),
         libstdc++6 (>= 4.6), libtinfo5, libtorrent14, libxmlrpc-core-c3

An email client is a must have application for any user. I don't think VSIDO includes any email client in it's default install. And you won't get much lighter and functional email client than claws-mail. Beside email functionality it also has extra features like storage formats, feed reader, calendar management, mail filtering. Dependencies are,

Quotelibarchive13, libassuan0 (>= 2.0.1), libatk1.0-0 (>= 1.12.4), libc6 (>=
         2.15), libcairo2 (>= 1.2.4), libcompfaceg1, libcurl3-gnutls (>=
         7.16.2), libdb5.1, libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.0.2), libdbus-glib-1-2 (>= 0.78),
         libenchant1c2a (>= 1.6.0), libetpan15 (>= 1.0), libexpat1 (>= 2.0.1),
         libfontconfig1 (>= 2.11), libfreetype6 (>= 2.2.1), libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0
         (>= 2.22.0), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.35.9), libgnutls26 (>= 2.12.17-0),
         libgpg-error0 (>= 1.10), libgpgme11 (>= 1.1.2), libgtk2.0-0 (>=
         2.24.0), libice6 (>= 1:1.0.0), libldap-2.4-2 (>= 2.4.7), liblockfile1
         (>= 1.0), libpango-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpangocairo-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0),
         libpangoft2-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libpisock9, libsasl2-2 (>= 2.1.24),
         libsm6, xdg-utils

QuoteInstalled-Size: 3,789.0 kB

While you can do with diff and co. most users will enjoy the ease and functionality that meld provides. And it doesn't require much,

Quotepython:any (>= 2.6.6-7~), python-gtk2 (>= 2.14), python-glade2 (>=
         2.14), python-gobject-2 (>= 2.16), patch

QuoteInstalled-Size: 1,877.0 kB

Catfish is the best light weight file searching tool for Linux. And in my opinion a file searching utility is a good addition to VSIDO. It requires,

Quotepython:any (>= 2.6.6-7~), gir1.2-glib-2.0, gir1.2-gtk-3.0,
         gir1.2-pango-1.0, gir1.2-gdkpixbuf-2.0, locate

QuoteInstalled-Size: 817.0 kB

VSIDO attracts many advanced users and most of them will be using either tmux or GNU Screen. Byobu is session-managing wrapper for tmux-SCREEN. It greatly enhances the functionality of  tmux-SCREEN. One go at Byobu and you will be a fan for sure. And it doesn't require much,

Quotedebconf (>= 0.5) | debconf-2.0, gettext-base, python, python-newt (>=
         0.52.2-11), tmux (>= 1.5) | screen, gawk

QuoteInstalled-Size: 587.0 kB

Coming to FatRat it is not in the repos and is not light weight but it is hands down the best download manager for linux. It can also be integrated in almost all major browsers.

Lyvi is also not in the repos but it supports almost every linux audio player and fetches lyrics from over 20 sources. Cool it is 

EDIT:
Those cigar smoking cool emoticons in the quotes above are a side effect not intended 
Cheers.

Right click on the LXPanel then choose 'Panel Settings' from context menu. This will open 'Panel Preferences' window. Click on the 'Advanced' tab. Under 'Properties' section you will see two items,
1-> 'Make window managers treat the panel as a dock'
2-> 'Reserve space, not covered by maximized windows'
Check both this options.
This will prevent maximized windows from covering the panel and also it won't appear in the window switcher list.
Cheers. 

Please replace UMPlayer with SMPlayer. SMPlayer is more actively developed. Also include smtube with SMPlayer.
Now I'm gonna throw the kitchen-sink here 
I'll limit the kitchen-sink to only ten entries cause it can go forever otherwise 
http://byobu.co/
https://github.com/nicolargo/glances
http://www.claws-mail.org/
http://meldmerge.org/
http://fatrat.dolezel.info/
http://www.twotoasts.de/index.php/catfish/
http://www.weechat.org/about/features/
http://aria2.sourceforge.net/
http://libtorrent.rakshasa.no/
http://ok100.github.io/lyvi/
Cheers.

Quote from: VastOne on January 08, 2014, 07:13:18 PM
^ That is one of the reasons why Iguru created and recommends udevil... to eliminate the need for udev and systemd dependencies

But in case of Arch Linux udevil requires udev and udev is part of systemd so udevil also requires systemd. Circle is complete. Lennart wins.
This is all coming from a distro that believes(?) in the principles of KISS and user choice.
Lennart is by no means fool. But his ideas often take inspirations from monopolistic apple and microsoft. The idea of systemd for example was clearly inspired from apple's launchd. Now apple design it's computers with a complete integration in mind. Hardware, O.S, Drivers, Applications are tightly integrated and therefore they are naturally dependent on eachother. And that's what monopolistic apple wants. But this model when applied to the world of open source operating systems is a sure shot failure. Oopsy enough rant for the day...
Cheers.

That's what I also wanted to convey in my earlier post. By the way I think the guys at linuxbbq have already roasted such a console menu.
Cheers.

Quote from: Digit on January 08, 2014, 11:56:58 AM
... or am i missing how much of a fundamental (and backwards incompatible) change to the system the decision to go for 'systemd|upstart' would bring?

If we take case of Arch Linux systemd is currently required by 97 packages. This include essential things like lightdm, mesa, networkmanager, pulseaudio, xf86-video-ati, xf86-video-nouveau, spacefm, apache etc. etc.
Here's a complete list,
https://www.archlinux.org/packages/core/i686/systemd/
Cheers.

Quote from: sqlpython on January 08, 2014, 07:40:49 AM
Change is good, learning is powerful, passion drives them both

An open appeal to VastOne. Just for the sake of change, learning and passion build a VSIDO test image featuring runit.
Here is a very good rant from a guy who loves and uses BSD-style init, hates upstart-systemd and makes a good case for runit,
http://wizardofbits.tumblr.com/post/45232318557/systemd-more-like-shit-stemd
And the official runit links,
http://smarden.org/runit/benefits.html
http://smarden.org/runit/replaceinit.html#sysv
I had a look but it's beyond my capabilities but it shouldn't be too hard for you. Give it a go, Who knows you might...
Cheers

This is my idea of console applications for VSIDO,

Internet:
wicd-curses, links, alpine, rtorrent
Audio-Video:
mplayer, moc, pyradio
Graphics-Image:
feh, scrot
Programming-Document:
joe, vim, poppler-utils, wordgrinder, sc
File-System:
midnight commander, parted
Utilities:
glances, conky, atool, cdw, aptitude, smxi

Cheers.

I said I won't kid my self with possibility of a Debian fork because Debian is huge. It's gigantic. In 2012 Debian's value was estimated at a whopping 19 billion dollars. RedHat's market capital is yet to reach 10 billion dollars mark. Canonical hasn't even crossed 1 billion mark.
See why they are interested in Debian.
Yes starting and running fork won't require 19 billion dollars but you can bet that it will be a huge sum.
Money talks whether we like it or not.
Cheers.

Quote from: statmonkey on January 07, 2014, 06:59:56 PM
...tilting at windmills is needed sometimes and philosophical/emotional input helps (in the proper perspective in decision making)...
...This is a vibrant, interesting, intelligent community (present company excluded)...
...P.S. I freely confess my open desire to kid myself relentlessly that someone will overcome this challenge and the core principles that Debian was founded on will live another day. 

Yes emotions are what differs us from robots.
Re present company excluded, your well informed posts and your great passion made this a great thread.
Amen to Debian core principles living for another day, for forever.
Cheers.

Quote from: statmonkey on January 07, 2014, 05:19:20 PM
Pretty good list hackerdefo.  I never use clawsmail but can see it being in there. I do use pithos a fair amount but it could be added per user. Please put my arandr on that list and filezilla.  But otherwise nothing to dispute.

Thanks for arandr. It is a must have utility. Actually there are apps in the above list that I don't personally use but I listed them because they integrate better with VSIDO. For example I use opera as my main browser and it has a great mail client inbuilt so I don't use clawsmail. I also didn't include many other applications like filezilla, gimp, audacity, xchat, pidgin etc. etc. as they are not something what I consider base applications.
By the way I would suggest you to try the following lightweight alternatives to filezilla and pithos,
http://gftp.seul.org/
http://6xq.net/projects/pianobar/
gFTP hasn't been updated in a while and pianobar is a console application but give them a go and see how they compare to their bigger brothers.
Cheers.

This discussion thread has shown emotional and philosophical sides of members.
But realistically speaking Debian is choosing between devil and deep blue sea. It loses and suffers no matter what is chosen. Only gainers here will be RedHat or Canonical.
And how can we blame RedHat-systemd or Canonical-upstart? They have their own interests. And they should and they will protect their profits-interests. systemd and gnome go hand in hand cause that's what serve RedHat the best. On the other hand Canonical has it's own plans of unity across PC-TV-Phone. And their shuttle is going to steam toward that goal.
In the end remember what ma quail said to her babies "Be self sufficient and don't rely on others."
Debian sadly is going to learn this lesson the hard way no matter what it decides.
I would only hope and request VastOne to continue the journey of VSIDO regardless of what Debian chooses.
P.S. I won't kid my self with the idea of some Debian developers creating a Debian-systemd fork.
Cheers.

This is my idea of base gui applications that can get any user started comfortably without burdening him or the system down,

Internet:
wicd, iceweasel, clawsmail, transmission
Audio-Video:
smplayer, gmusicbrowser, radio tray
Graphics-Image:
nitrogen, mirage, xfce4-screenshooter
Programming-Document:
mousepad, geany, evince, abiword, gnumeric
File-System:
spacefm, gnome-disk-utility, gparted
Utilities:
arandr, roxterm, clipit, bleachbit, lxtask, conky, volume icon, tint2, P7zip, xfburn, synaptic package manager

Cheers.

VSIDO include many good terminal applications that are not visible in the menu. So many users might not be aware of their existence. How about a list of included terminal apps with the version of VSIDO here on the website or better still somewhere in the user directory of VSIDO install or best how about a terminal menu for terminal apps?
Cheers.