Linux World - a smorgasbord of penguins !

[Abarbarian]

This is a thread devoted to the wonderful world of penguins.Mainly posts will concern distros but deviation will occur as in this first post.

The above statement says it all. For instance you can install Ardour on any linux distro and find information concerning the usage of it at the Arch wiki, Slakermedia, the Debian documentation, at the Centos site and many wiered and wonderful nooks and cranny's on the net.

So on with my first offering.

Slackermedia

Introduction


Slackermedia is a book and Linux configuration guide. After reading, comprehending, and implementing the lessons in Slackermedia the book, a user will have a customized Slackware Linux distribution for multimedia production.
The idea is based in part upon the Linux-From-Scratch project and is, with the utmost respect, the antithesis to Ubuntu Studio and other (quite good) “multimedia distros”.
So what is Slackermedia?


Slackermedia is a set of tutorials on how to build your own Slackware multimedia environment that will be tailored specifically for you and how you work.
Slackermedia exists for two reasons:

• 
  To build one's environment is to know one's environment.
  
• 
  Slackware is a stable, powerful, unix-like, well-supported, sensible, free and open operating system, ideal for the needs of a multimedia artist.

http://slackermedia....u.php?id=ardour

If you look at the handbook there is a list of applications each has its own page and gives details about the program along with strengths and weaknesses that the program contains. For example the opening application is ARDOUR,

Ardour is a professional-grade, meat-and-potatoes digital audio workstation: it features all the must-have features that you would expect from a pro DAW, and is actively adding more in a quick but stable manner. It is written by one of the most well-respected audio engineers in the Linux world, and is one of the go-to applications for Linux musicians and audio producers every where.


Strengths [Weaknesses]

Familiar

If you are a flexible and alacritous DAW user, Ardour will be familiar enough to you to pick up in a week or two.
Powerful

Heaps of features, with more appearing each version. Thanks to the communication that the developer has with his user base, the new features are useful and sensible, not just programmer-centric experiments.
Stable

The developer keeps a strictly conservative release cycle, offering only stable and reliable updates to his users.

Weaknesses [Strengths]

Complex

If you are new to professional DAWs, Ardour may at first seem complex.
JACK

Ardour is a JACK-aware application, meaning that it can render complex audio routing that could confuse new users.

 

[Abarbarian]

PORTEUS

Porteus is a complete linux operating system that is optimized to run from CD, USB flash drive, hard drive, or other bootable storage media. It's small (under 300Mb) and insanely fast which allows you to start up and get online while most other operating systems are left spitting dust. Porteus comes in both 32 & 64 bit and aims to keep on the bleeding edge. It also supports several different languages and the user forum has language sections. Join the community now!

IT IS MODULAR
Another nice feature of Porteus is the modular design. Unlike other distros where one has a package manager that connects the internet and downloads a package (program), Porteus uses modules. These are pre compiled packages that you activate and deactivate. The traditional 'installation' of a program is now redundant as simply double clicking on a module, causes it to be mounted and injected into the file system ready for use. This happens in a fraction of a second and the application is ready for use. Double click on it again and the module is deactivated and removed from the directory structure. This means that you are only using a program as you need it, and the system is not bogged down with thousands of files that are rarely used. Modules can be downloaded and stored somewhere locally for activation as you require it.

Today, December 29, 2016, the development team behind the Porteus (formerly Slax Remix) Linux-based operating system series proudly announced the final release of Porteus 3.2.2.

Until today, the Porteus 3.2 series was in development, with no less than five RC (Release Candidate) builds published. It comes a little over a year after the release of the Porteus 3.1 stable branch and promises great GNU/Linux technologies, including the recently released Linux 4.9 kernel.
Porteus 3.2.2 is also the first stable version of the 3.2 series and is distributed in four distinct flavors, with the KDE Plasma 5, Xfce, Cinnamon, and MATE desktop environments. Under the hood, it features the PulseAudio sound system, eudev device file manager, and ConsoleKit2 framework for defining/tracking users and login sessions.

It seems there is some love for Porteus in Asia too,

http://www.techphylu...l-released.html

The best and useful thing introduced in this update is, one can update individual applications right from the console.How? Just fire up the console and type in the command update-firefox or say update-libreoffice.

One of my favourite USB distros. It is not meant to be installed on a pc though you can do a frugall install. The best way to run it is from a usb stick with the "toram" feature enabled. Porteus is a neat way to investigate the KDE environment.

 

[Abarbarian]

AV Linux 2016 news

Glen Mcarthur has just posted a preview video of what will become the next release of AV Linux. The upcoming release will be based on a carefully put together version of Debian testing, optimised for use with audio production.

With this release, Glen will be moving away from the 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach and instead will be focusing on providing a very stable base suitable for low latency audio production.

While it will still come with the usual set of popular audio production software, the software choice won't be as extensive out of the box as with previous releases. It will however be compatible with KXStudio's repositories so users can take advantage of a finely tuned distro along with the up to date audio software available from the ever popular KXStudio.

AV Linux

Overview:

AV Linux is NOT an actual Linux ‘Distribution’ in the proper sense, mainline Distributions are large organizations which have full development teams and support infrastructure (ie Debian, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE etc.). AV Linux is a niche project maintained by a single developer derived from the Debian/GNU Linux “Testing” Distribution which is utilized to create a independent, focused and specialized platform for Multimedia Content Creation using Linux. It is made available as a freely shared 32 and 64bit downloadable and installable ISO Image created from a carefully pre-configured snapshot. AV Linux is essentially a collected and combined showcase of the phenomenal work of Open-Source and Commercial Audio developers from all over the planet and celebrates and presents their work organized in an easy-to-use fashion. In addition to a hardware-friendly efficient XFCE4 Desktop a low-latency Audio environment is provided with a custom ‘RT’ kernel and JACK Audio Connection Kit. Are you a Linux developer? A full, robust development suite is included for software developers and the leading Audio/Video/Graphics applications are included or available for installation from the Debian or included KXStudio software repositories.

AV Linux is not your everyday distro and whilst it can be used as a normal day to day os you should be aware that it really organised to be used as a tool for multimedia production. So there are some aspects of this well made distro that are slightly outside the norm. Taking heed of the creators notice to new users would be a very very sensible idea,

Before downloading AV Linux it is essential to read it’s User Manual,

Also for anyone deciding to try AV Linux out as a live os from cd or usb it is vital that you take notice of this,

Important Info!

AV Linux uses Systemback as an installation method and therefore inherits it’s limitations, at the current time UEFI boot is only possible with 64bit and is not fully implemented, GPT Partition tables are also not supported yet. AV Linux will also automatically alter the permissions of Hard Drive partitions for Read/Write Access, this is not malicious in nature it is simply a convenience feature to facilitate accessing media files to demo with the Audio/Video Applications. After evaluating the AV Linux LiveISO you may want to check and reset the permissions of your Hard Drive partitions if you do not proceed with an install.

Apart from creating an excellent distro the developer deserves credit for promoting torrents as the preferred way of downloading the distro.

Downloads:

Distribution of the AV Linux ISO files would not be possible without the generous assistance of the following people: Allen Tate, Anahata, James Lawrie and Robin Gareus. Thanks also to any volunteers seeding the Torrents.

Torrents (Preferred Method):

AV Linux 2016.8.30 64bit

AV Linux 2016.8.30 32bit-PAE

@floppybootstomp might find this of interest.

 

[bootneck02]

Just was going to say I bet Mr Boots would be interested in that distro.

 

[Abarbarian]

The Linux distribution that's always in the black (2002)

Many of today's new Linux users wouldn't have a clue as to who Patrick Volkerding is. For the brigade whose main arguments are over the merits of this GUI and that, the word Slackware wouldn't ring a bell either.

But for many others who jumped on the Linux bandwagon when it was exclusively for geeks, Volkerding is a hero.
In early 1993, he started the distribution called Slackware which was basically an attempt to address many of the problems people faced with SoftLanding System Linux, the first and only commercial Linux at the time.
While most other commercial Linux distributions have problems balancing the books, Volkerding hasn't had to worry since he decided in 1994 that the only way to keep the project going was to find some way to fund it.
But let him tell it in his own words:

Let's start with the statement you made about two years back that Slackware has always been commercially successful. Is this true?

By your own guesstimates, how many people use Slackware?
To assist my guesswork, I'll refer to the data that's been gathered by the Linux Counter project which has been collecting user registrations for years. According to their estimates, the number of Linux users is around 18 million, and about 12 percent of the registrations they've recieved are from people running Slackware. Based on those numbers, there are around two million Slackware users.

What's your opinion of the commercialisation of Linux - especially things like Lindows and UnitedLinux?
I don't have a problem with commercial versions of Linux (Slackware is one, after all). My main concern is that everyone plays by the rules, and I've heard about things (like binary only releases and beta testers forced to sign non-disclosure agreements) that just don't seem compatible with the GNU General Public License. Hopefully the Free Software Foundation is keeping a close eye on the situation.

Oh my oh my commercial linux, what ever will happen next , will the world end ?

Wait up that was fifteen years ago and the world has not ended yet. Phew thank goodness for that.

 

[bootneck02]

I have skimmed through this, very interesting. I will have to set aside some time to go through it properly.

 

[Abarbarian]

I have skimmed through this, very interesting. I will have to set aside some time to go through it properly.

Apparently he is a real penguiista as this reply from my posting elsewhere shows.

Yup, good ole Pat. Even outside of being "Benevolent Dictator for Life" of Slackware, he is a pretty cool dude:

Volkerding is a Deadhead, and even by April 1994 he had already attended 75 concerts.

Volkerding is a Church of the SubGenius affiliate/member. The use of the word slack in "Slackware" is a homage to J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. About the SubGenius influence on Slackware, Volkerding has stated: "I'll admit that it was SubGenius inspired. In fact, back in the 2.0 through 3.0 days we used to print a dobbshead on each CD."

Volkerding is an avid homebrewer and beer lover. Early versions of Slackware would entreat users to send him a bottle of local beer in appreciation for his work.

https://en.wikipedia...rick_Volkerding

 

[Abarbarian]

If you want privacy you need to run Linux (2017)

True, I’ve been praising desktop Linux for ages, but privacy is a new reason to use it. In the past, while Windows had lousy security, at least it didn’t report into headquarters. Now it does. So do almost all operating systems.

Chrome OS and Android, for example, are Linux distributions, but they perform at full power only with an internet connection. Google makes its money from your information.

So if privacy really matters to you, you need an operating system that doesn’t broadcast your moves to the World Wide Web. For all practical purposes, that means desktop Linux.

Don’t get me wrong. Linux has its share of security problems, but there are far fewer of them. Still, as security guru Bruce Schneier wisely said, “Security is a process, not a product.“ With Linux, however, you’re starting from a more secure and private foundation.

With folk like Russia and China adopting Linux or are using linux in some fashion in everyday life I wonder how long linux will stay secure.

 

[Abarbarian]

Open source has won, and Microsoft has surrendered

Many Linux fans greeted the news that Microsoft is joining the Linux Foundation with anxiety-fueled anger.

For example, spooling through Reddit and my Google+ comment feed, I found these sorts of reactions:

“This will destroy Linux.”

“Trump is elected president and now this…”

“Satya [Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO] is very customer-centric. If [our customers] run Linux, and they often do, we want to make them happy. We have to play in an open, heterogeneous world.” He added, “Microsoft actually uses a lot of Linux in-house. It’s no longer everything has to be run on Windows internally.” Microsoft is doing this, he said, because “we’re solving business problems and we’re very pragmatic.”

“Microsoft has grown and matured in its use of and contributions to open-source technology. The company has become an enthusiastic supporter of Linux and of open source and a very active member of many important projects.”

Today, believe it or not, we’re no longer caught in a war between proprietary and open-source software. Open source has won, and Microsoft wants to be on the winning side.

A neat thought provoking article which dovetails nicely with this news.

The top 5 Microsoft announcements you likely missed this year

But there were a few key announcements that flew under the radar this year. While they may not have the splash factor of a Surface Studio or HoloLens, these developments have the potential to alter Microsoft and the world for years to come.

Microsoft rebranded Xamarin Studio as Visual Studio for Mac, meaning the company’s integrated development environment for Windows now has a Mac counterpart.

In addition, PowerShell for Linux launched, giving operations professionals who are used to that scriptable command line a new set of tools that work outside the confines of Windows.

All the Visual Studio and PowerShell expansion this year was made possible in part by Microsoft’s open-sourcing parts of .NET. This is part of an overall move by the company to embrace open-source software.

At the end of March, Microsoft announced it would bring the popular bash (short for Bourne Again Shell) command line to Windows by building an entire Linux subsystem for the OS, working with Ubuntu creator Canonical. That’s a big change for a company that previously called Linux a cancer.

All very interesting stuff.

 

[bootneck02]

All I am doing is waiting, and waiting for the fallout

 

[Abarbarian]

Well I do not see Microsoft going bust anytime soon and I could care less if they do or do not. I would like to see their tight grip on the computing world broken and it looks like it is finally happening. Lets just hope they do not find some way to grab control and lock in all of the open source stuff they are using.

 

[bootneck02]

As people are becoming more technically minded and inquiring especially the young people just out of school and college and want to experiment I can see more Linux Distro's being downloaded and used.

 

[bootneck02]

I can see that younger generation coming out School and Colleges who have inquiring minds dabbling with Linux and although it will not kill off Microsoft but I think it will in the long term reduce the hold they have on the market. I have a friend who is a IT technician who at the moment is working for a small IT support company as the senior technician and has secured a new job as a technician for a large ISP he has had to give 3 months notice to his original company.
He has only got knowledge of Microsoft, the new company who support large server banks so in away he is starting at the bottom as he will have to learn Linux to be able to maintain them as most server banks run Red Hat and similar so he will be able to expand his IT knowledge, he is looking forward to the new challenge.

 

[Abarbarian]

Welcome to Devuan Jessie 1.0 RC2

Devuan GNU+Linux is a fork of Debian without systemd. The latest 1.0 release candidate series marks an important milestone towards the sustainability and the continuation of Devuan as a universal base distribution. Since the Exodus declaration in 2014, infrastructure has been put in place to support Devuan’s mission to offer users control over their system. Devuan Jessie provides continuity as a safe upgrade path from Debian 7 (Wheezy) and a flawless switch from Debian 8 (Jessie) that ensures the right to Init Freedom and avoids entanglement.

Above seems to cover everything about this os so if you want more info then there is plenty to read on the main site.

Apart from the Refract fork which has those handy transferable tools for refractainstaller, refractasnapshot and refracta2usb, there are some other interesting forks.

Good Life Linux

Minimal and base LXDE, Openbox, and Xfce operating systems.

Brought to you by:goodlifelinux

Good Life Linux was made so that users with older hardware could install a minimal and base LXDE, Openbox, or Xfce system in order to make their system into what they need without any additional bloat to remove. Featuring the artwork of Ghost Sixtyseven, you get an attractive, stable, and base system (that's low on resources) which allows you to add only what you want or need. What goes on your system is up to you.

There are no major applications preinstalled; such as, Firefox, Chromium, LibreOffice, Abiword, VLC, etc. No major applications are forced on you. They can easily be installed with the Synaptic Package Manager or the terminal. Aside from including some preinstalled wireless firmware, all that you get are a few essential tools and a few applications that are required by LXDE or Xfce. Other than that, you're free to install what you want on your system.

heads ::: the libre privacy distro

heads is a GNU/Linux liveCD distribution aimed at people who like the aspect of controlling their privacy and anonymity on the Internet. You might have heard of Tails as a similar GNU/Linux distribution. heads was born as an answer to Tails, since Tails is using systemd as an init system and also contains non-free software.
In heads, the init of choice is not systemd. systemd is a huge piece of software that, while being free software, has not been audited for security since its creation. Being big as it is, it is hard to do so, and as time goes, it's becoming even tougher to audit systemd. We do not aim to disrespect or get into the controversy on why systemd is a bad choice. We just do not wish to use it.

Exe GNU/Linux. (Devuan GNU/Linux with Trinity Desktop)

Exe GNU/Linux (originating from Exmouth, in south-west England) is a "Live Linux image" preconfigured with a selection of applications for general desktop use. The image, written to CD or USB, may be used to start almost any computer with an Intel or AMD processor and runs as a complete operating system..
A fixed disk installation can be done from the "live" session. This can replace Microsoft Windows (or other OS) or install as a dual-boot configuration.
The core system is a Devuan GNU/Linux base. Previous versions were based on Debian. Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE) is preinstalled. Please note, this is not an "official" Devuan nor TDE project.

There are other forks but these particularly caught my eye. The GoodLife as it is suited for older hardware plus it is a very minimal base to build your own custom os, reminds me a tad of the Arch way.
Tails because it is a systemd free security os and Exe due to its Trinity environment plus it is developed in the UK.

Enjoy

 

[Abarbarian]

Refracta 8.0 Is a Pint-Sized Powerhouse (2106)

Refracta is a somewhat obscure Linux distribution that offers exceptional functionality and stability.
Obscurity is not always a bad thing when it comes to Linux distros. You can find some very worthwhile alternatives to your current operating system. Refracta is a big surprise in a small package.

The Refracta project includes a collection of useful tools not usually found in Linux distros, such as refractainstaller, refractasnapshot and refracta2usb. They make it much easier to customize the installation or to create a custom live CD or live USB image. These tools will work on most Debian or Devuan-based systems.

This distro's support is limited to i386 and x86_64 Architecture. If your computer is 32-bit, you will not be able to sample the live CD version, let alone install it.

Refracta is a no-nonsense Linux distro that delivers speed and reliability. It is still a bit of a rarity, in that not too many distros have jumped on the DevuRefracta is a no-nonsense Linux distro that delivers speed and reliability. It is still a bit of a rarity, in that not too many distros have jumped on the Devuan instead of Debian fork wagon.

I find this an interesting fork due to the tools mentioned the most interesting being the, refracta2usb, which apparently works in Debian aswell. It could be a neat way of making a full backup of a working system for Debian users or anyone using a Debian fork, if it works with Debian forks of course.

 

[bootneck02]

Very interesting AB, might dabble in the future.

 

[Abarbarian]

For all you Ubuntu and Mint fans here is an article to stimulate the old grey cell.

Distro watch for Ubuntu lovers: What's ahead in Linux land (2017)

With the death of Unity, Canonical will focus more attention on Ubuntu servers, Ubuntu in the cloud and Ubuntu in the so-called Internet of Things.

Even if you give Canonical the benefit of the doubt - that it will continue working on desktop Ubuntu - at the very least, desktop Ubuntu's future looks uncertain.

Post Unity, how will the transition to GNOME work? Will existing Unity users be "upgraded" to GNOME with 17.10? Canonical is reportedly plotting out solutions to much of this uncertainty right now, but for users, the uncertainty rules the day.

 

[bootneck02]

How will that affect Linux Mint Cinnamon which is based on Ubuntu?

 

[Urmas]

How will that affect Linux Mint Cinnamon which is based on Ubuntu?

Whatever "that" may or may not be... nothing dramatic will happen. Besides, Mint already offers a "Debian Edition".

HERE is Shuttleworth's comment. My take is that this is a case of making a virtue of necessity — I mean, honesty, did anyone like Unity? ANYONE?

 

[Abarbarian]

Whatever "that" may or may not be... nothing dramatic will happen. Besides, Mint already offers a "Debian Edition".

HERE is Shuttleworth's comment. My take is that this is a case of making a virtue of necessity — I mean, honesty, did anyone like Unity? ANYONE?

Well I never liked the look of Unity so I never even gave it a trial run.