Shahor 04052013

Puppy related raves and general interest that doesn't fit anywhere else
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Iguleder
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Shahor 04052013

#1 Post by Iguleder »

Introduction

Shahor is a GNU/Linux-libre distro similar to Puppy, built using the roar-ng II framework. It targets the x86_64 architecture, so it should work on pretty much any computer manufactured after 2004.

Shahor is very similar to Puppy: it uses JWM and ROX-Filer and tries to be as lightweight as possible, but it's an original creation: it's Puppy, re-imagined. It focuses on efficiency, high quality of code, portability and simplicity. Therefore, consumes less RAM than Precise Puppy 5.5 on the same hardware and feels fast.

Features

- 64-bit, built using Debian Wheezy packages and up-to-date applications.
- Uses the long-term supported Linux-libre 3.2.44 kernel.
- Shahor's graphical environment is familiar (similar to Puppy's), multi-language, easy on the eyes, does not require 3D acceleration and features fast generation of the root menu.
- Shahor has two interfaces: every graphical application has a text-based alternative, which can be used over SSH or just because it's lighter.
- Shahor's infrastructure is small, efficient, properly documented and implemented in clean way.
- Shahor is very easy to build and customize.
- Shahor does not have any redundant processes running, to reduce load, while Puppy has annoying, heavy scripts like pup_event_frontend_d running all the time.
- Shahor is easy to manage and secure, since it ships with a pre-configured, hardended SSH server and an unobtrusive firewall. It includes a wide variety of command-line tools that make administration easier.
- Shahor ships with a full develoment environment. The devx concept makes Puppy much bigger and makes it harder to develop for it.
- Shahor is multi-user. Puppy is a single-user operating system, which makes it less secure and suitable for computers user by more than one person.
- The development process of Shahor is fully automated and architecture-independent, so Shahor can be used to build itself out-of-the-box. Puppy is built manually and has some semi-automated tools, so it's hard to port and customize.
- Shahor's package manager is fast, since it uses AWK scripts for heavy text processing. Puppy's package manager is incredibly slow, due to heavy use of processes (e.g grep and cut) for parsing.
- Shahor's package manage is able to download and install packages from pretty much all major distros and has a plug-in interface which makes it easy to add support for additional ones, while Puppy's package manager supports multiple distributions using monolithic design.

Current Status

Currently, Shahor is in pre-beta quality. It does not have any graphical wizards or an installer, but it runs well: its package manager and all graphical applications work great. I run it from a slow USB flash drive persistently with Seamonkey and it performs very well.

However, since it's incomplete, it ships without any kind of warranty: use at your own risk.

Let me repeat myself: use at your OWN risk!

Include Applications

Graphical:
- Desktop: JWM, ROX-Filer, rxvt-unicode, slock, Parcellite, Obmixer, gsimplecal, gtk-theme-switch, gtkdialog, Yad
- Network: Firefox, Sylpheed, XChat
- Multimedia: DeadBeeF, xine-ui
- Graphics: Viewnior, rgbPaint, XSane
- Documents: Geany, Ted, Dia, ePDFView, Leafpad
- Utilities: gRun, LXTask, Galculator, Xarchiver

Textual:
- Network: aria2, Dropbear, BitlBee, ELinks, fetchmail, Irssi, LFTP, rTorrent, maildrop, msmtp, Mutt, Snownews, Surfraw
- Multimedia: cmus, FFmpeg, id3v2, normalize
- Graphics: fbv, fbshot, OptiPNG
- Documents: Vim, Aspell, shed
- Utilities: Ytree, Calcurse, htop, ncdu, Abook, TuDu, GNU Screen, dvtm, dtach, FIGlet, frost, AdvanceCOMP, fbset, bwm-mg
- Games: UnNetHack

How do I install it?
At the moment, Shahor does not have an installer, so you have several options:
- Install Puppy with Syslinux, then replace the files with those in the Shahor ISO (syslinux.cfg and the "boot" directory)
- Burn it to a CD (not tested, since I don't have an optical drive myself)
- Dangerous: install it manually
- Dangerous: instant "live" USB

How do I connect to the internet?
You'll have to do this manually, through command-line tools.

How do I install a package?
First, update the list of available packages (takes about 2-3 minutes on my old netbook):

Code: Select all

hpm-makedb
Then, use hpm-get. To install GIMP, run:

Code: Select all

hpm-get gimp
After the installation, go to the menu and click Settings -> Window Manager -> Update Menu.

How do I make it persistent?
Unlike Puppy, Shahor always saves changes to the partition it booted from. Just add the boot code "persistent" to the boot loader configuration. For example, in the case of Syslinux:

Code: Select all

LABEL shahor
	LINUX /boot/vmlinuz
	APPEND sleep=5 persistent
	INITRD /boot/initrd.gz
How do I change the interface language?
First, add the language name and keyboard map to /etc/locales.conf:

Code: Select all

echo "fr_FR UTF-8 fr_FR.UTF-8" >> /etc/locales.conf
Then, generate locale files:

Code: Select all

locale-gen -f
Finally, edit /etc/profile.local:

Code: Select all

export LANG="fr_FR.UTF-8"
This change will be applied the next time you log in.

Key bindings
Shahor's JWM is pre-configured with useful key bindings, for example:
- Super + l locks the screen
- Super + t starts a terminal
- Super + h opens the home directory
- Super + s suspends the system
- Super + p runs the music player, pauses playback or resumes it
- Super + r starts a launcher
You can see the entire list under ~/.config/jwm/keys.

Known Issues
- The first boot takes much longer, because some files are genereated.
- CUPS doesn't work.
- Issues with permissions - regular users are unable to run X. For now, use root.
- Mail fetching to /var/spool/mail was not tested.
- cron was not tested for regular users.
- Sometimes, the package manager skips top-level dependencies for an unknown reason.

Download
You can download Shahor 04052013 here, it's 346 MB. MD5 is d84d811a4e1d858d65eab3afdf06bb24.
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simargl

Re: Shahor 06042013

#2 Post by simargl »

.
Last edited by simargl on Sun 01 Sep 2013, 15:02, edited 1 time in total.

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#3 Post by Iguleder »

No, I'd like to focus on one architecture until I have a release-quality product in my hands.

And yes, they do. All these distros are supported.
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#4 Post by jamesbond »

I'm surprised that I don't see many more comments or interest here. roar-ng-ii is the equivalent of woof; shahor is like wary or racy. It is a fresh original re-implementation of puppy's ideas. That in itself is worth a look.

Iguleder, I seem to recall that roar-ng (the original) has a build system for source packages; but the readme for roar-ng-ii has no mention about it. Does roar-ng-ii still support building from source packages (in addition to other distro's packages)?

cheers!
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#5 Post by Iguleder »

Yes, of course! All of Shahor's own packages (applications and the kernel) are built automatically, using roar-ng II.
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#6 Post by Iguleder »

Bump! Uploaded a new version.
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#7 Post by Ted Dog »

Iguleder wrote:Bump! Uploaded a new version.
Link and md5sum please.

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#8 Post by Iguleder »

Everything is in the first post. :)
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#9 Post by scsijon »

greetings, does this mean that your roar-ng ii framework is now ready/nearly ready to build with?

and, your "roar-ng" starter file, can be downloaded from?

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#10 Post by Iguleder »

Yes, everything works great. This image was built with a vanilla checkout.
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shahor problems?

#11 Post by scsijon »

Where do you want problems Iguleder? Do you have a problems setup on your git?

REMOVED them from here, now on git.

On the other hand, all the 64bit Intel video boxes are ok to start it.

And all the boxes I'm testing on can run fatdog64 ok so it shouldn't be a 32bit vs 64bit problem.

regards
scsijon
Last edited by scsijon on Tue 21 May 2013, 04:29, edited 1 time in total.

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#12 Post by Iguleder »

Thanks, I'll address these issues on Saturday probably.
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greengeek
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Re: Shahor 04052013

#13 Post by greengeek »

Iguleder wrote: It targets the x86_64 architecture, so it should work on pretty much any computer manufactured after 2004.
I'm not really clued up about 32bit versus 64 bit, but are you saying that this should work on a 32 bit machine built after 2004? thx

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#14 Post by vovchik »

Dear Iguleder,

The project certainly sounds interesting. I will download and test ... and am looking forward to it :) Thanks.

With kind regards,
vovchik

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#15 Post by Iguleder »

It won't work on 32-bit machines. Only x86_64.
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#16 Post by vovchik »

Dear lguleder,

Thanks. I am still using 32-bit for most everything, but have a quad-core CPU, most of it just sitting there. :)

with kind regards,
vovchik

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#17 Post by Iguleder »

I haven't heard of any quad-core 32-bit, x86 processor. If you decided to use 32 bit software, that's up yo you already.
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#18 Post by vovchik »

Dear lguleder,

I have got one of these:

Intel® Core™ i7-2600

and one if these:

AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+.

Am I in luck?

With kind regards,
vovchik

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#19 Post by jamesbond »

vovchick, I assume you're not kidding :lol:
The "64" in the your "AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+" definitely stands for something :lol:

Generally speaking:
- Any Intel CPU (not Atom) after CoreDuo supports 64-bit (that includes Core2 Duo, i3, i5, i7, generation 1, 2, 3 ...)
- Any Intel Atom CPU equal or newer than N450 onwards supports 64-bit
- Any AMD CPU equal or newer than Athlon 64 supports 64-bit ...

If you're not sure, visit this: http://www.cpu-world.com/.
Find your CPU there, then look in the "Features" page and see if your CPU has either AMD64 or EM64T - both means the 64-bit support.

cheers!
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Any news about Shahor?

#20 Post by laurentius77 »

I discovered Shahor yesterday. Iguleder is the guy that, in the past, posted a guide about compiling a Puppy kernel. Using his guide I was successful with that. After this I used his script in building kernels.
Shahor is great. It's very fast and runs perfectly on my ultrabook Acer S-391. It recognized my WiFi card and everything works like expected.
I didn't manage to mount any internal or external drive (USB or harddrive).
I will try to compile some applications because I understood that all the developers tools are in their place.
I hope Iguleder didn't abandon this great project.
I didn't try roar-ng ii but i think it has the potential to compete with woof.
For Shahor it needs more customization in order to allow the user to tweak settings, to remaster the distribution. For temporary remastering I have some ideas regard extract main .sfs, include the files and create .sfs again but a proper tool will be welcomed.
Thanks for all your effort and please keep going because this project has a great, great potential.

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