Pussy: potentially a Puppy with a perfect package manager

[saintless]

building the squash for the new pussy-xtra.squashfs... the size of the new .iso will be approx 660mb. Assaultcube wasnt removed because we had just enough space for it.. but this game will be the first thing to go if and when i figure out how to get virtual box in the squash without breaking it. I have just got to fix some menus then ill upload, will edit this post and supply url when upload is finnished.

Thanks, sickgut,
as you wrote programs can be run before you start X with the command (for example):

Code: Select all

xinit kxstitch

This is very cool option for low RAM computers like mine.
Thanks also for the tutorial in one of yours previous posts about remastering pussy linux. I was trying to do this the wrong way.

Edit: Do you know how many squash files can be used at system start up with numbers in the begining?
I think about making a few separated big ones which I can run only when I need them.
If I manage to make working VBox squash file I will report back.

[sickgut]

[EDIT] the new iso is ready: http://www.thepussycatforest.info/linux ... -xtra2.iso

Here is the final list of the programs and improvements that the new pussyxtra.squashfs file contains:

Added catroll-panel ----> save-file ------> compressed and normal sections both with instructions. The normal section includes the 1gb example save file from the website and instructions on how to extract it to a drive of your choice and reboot and get save file working. The compressed section includes adequate documentation explaining on what setups the compressed save file will work, and how its saved, backing up old save files, and using gparted to extend the Pussy partition to cover the rest of a HDD or USB stick, so make room for a decent save file. I am satisfied that even a newbie will understand how the save file or compressed save file setup will work, and also that the newbie could actually setup the save file.

Added webcam, fswebcam, camstream, luvcview .. for webcam viewing, snapshot taking and video recording. The idea here is to let everyone test and decide what works best for them, and depending on what one is the best we will remove the others in the next version... that is unless everyone likes having a billion webcam programs.

Added the fixed version of the dialup-pppoe addon package and the zillion or so dependencies it required, also added menu entries into Meow? ---> Pussy ---> applications ---> Network ---> Manager -----> wvdial ..... wvdial autodetect modem... and DSL PPPoE. Thanks to aarf for bringing the dependency problem to my attention... too big to include in the /addon on the iso as an option as it would be more than 60mb, as it needed alot of the compiling devx stuff for some reason, so have included it in this pussyextra.squashfs instead.

handbrake-gtk dvd ripping, openshot video editing, gstreamer, hdparm (commandline hdd performance utility, still only accessed via commandline, no control panel entry yet)..
ace-of=penguins card games, gtkballs connect 5 game, skype, ripperX cdrom audio ripper, FBreader ebook reader and ofcause the build-essential and kernel-headers and sources etc.. make, gcc, g++, bison etc etc similar to Puppy devx but includes more stuff.

a high quality desktop wallpaper when roxfiler background is enabled.

Above are the new improvements... the following is stuff that this suqashfs file already had and still has:

OpenOffice 3.2, Java JRE newest version from Oracle, GIMP, Inkscape full, WINE, DOSemu, assaultcube, cadubi, LMMS, milkytracker, Timidity ++ freepats.

the URL is:

http://www.thepussycatforest.info/linux ... -xtra2.iso

The older alphas and the previous version of this pussy-betra-preview-xtra.iso will be removed from the site, as there is no need to keep them because the new ones are in every way better. I will also upload the pussyxtra-beta.squashfs separately for you people who want to upgrade their HDD installs by replacing the old version of the file with the new one.

In the next few days i will also be uploading the USB .img version and the experimental .iso that also has linux live usb creator included and lets you create a USB version of Pussy from windows.

im really quite pleased with what we have managed to fit on the live cdrom, this distro is now a complete solution, and other then virtualbox it contains absolutely everything i ever use a computer for. If i can fit virtualbox into the 40mb free space and get it to work, then the next version will have it included.

[nooby]

I have promised to keep a low profile to not be an annoying stress obstacle something. Hope I don't break that low profile asking this.

I want to test your iso
http://www.thepussycatforest.info/linux ... -xtra2.iso

So what boot code for grub4dos do you suggest is the most likely to get it going?

I have tested so many different now that I lost memory of which one is the best chance to get it to work?

Okay I try all of them until one work. No big deal. I do have time and motivation.

Any suggestion how to get Swedish Keyboard? Not swedish words I mean just the right keyboard.

in Ubuntu I do this setxkbmap se in the terminal but what do I tell in the boot code to produce same result?

[sickgut]

If someone wants to add different keyboard-layout before the official beta version is ready, here are the commands:

This one will install other keyboard layouts:

Code: Select all

apt-get install keyboards-rg

After that type:

Code: Select all

dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

Follow the instructions and choose your layout. BTW you can choose also to exit X with Ctrl+Alt+BackSpace.

@nooby re: keyboard layouts
please read the above fix from saintless. This option will be added to the catroll-panel in the base OS in the next release, along with experimental install from windows, aswell as other printer/ scanner support and other catroll-panel stuff.

as far as i know. the iso cant be booted directly.

[nooby]

Yes then Swedish will work in that version then. No big deal.
I can do the setxkbmap se easily.

Is the iso uploaded yet?

[sickgut]

Yes then Swedish will work in that version then. No big deal.
I can do the setxkbmap se easily.

Is the iso uploaded yet?

the iso is still uploading, i fell asleep during upload last night, this morning i realized that the upload falied due to not enough space on the server, i have deleted the old alpha-full.iso to make room for it. I will post when the upload has finnished

[EDIT] the iso is finally uploaded, goto http://www.thepussycatforest.info/linux ... -xtra2.iso

[sickgut]

re: USB version of Pussy.

After much experimentation, i have decided to standardize the USB image version of Pussy.

When I upload the beta-preview version of Pussy for USB the old alpha version will be deleted from the server. The size of the image with be optimized for 2GB USB or SDcard removable media and have a single FAT32 partition that covers the entire drive. This is so that the USB stick is still readable on Windows computers and usable and writable on such.
The official save file method for USB will be the compressed save file method that manually writes a new save-file squashfs in the /live dir of the USB stick. On a 2gb USB stick with 650mb used for the OS, there should be atleast 1.1GB free for save file usage. Because of the compression being used for the save file, its quite possible to fit 3GB of data into the 1.1GB free space.

For smaller than 2GB USB sticks:
If you image a USB stick that is 1GB in size then there will be no problem, because the data is only on the first 660mb of the drive, there will be no data loss when the smaller USB stick is imaged with the 2GB image. The single partition that covers the entire drive will still work, but it smaller. Most 1GB USB sticks should still have atleast 250mb free space for the compressed save file. Even tho the dd or other imaging program might error out when the imaging has reached the 1GB mark, the drive will still be fully functional.

For larger than 2GB USB sticks.
After the disk is imaged then using gparted or other partitioning program, the partition that covers 2GB of your disk can be resized to expand to the entire size of the disk.

What about low ram machines?
The USB image version of Pussy will have a auto setup swapfile script. Once executed this script will create a swapfile then update /etc/fstab to mount the swap file on boot, then Pussy will create a save file on the USB stick so that the change will be remembered next boot, but the swapfile will be active immediately without the need to reboot. There will be options to make a 64/ 100/ or 200mb swap file. This will help those computers with low ram to not actually freeze or fail due to running out of memory, but swap isnt a replacement for more ram. Pussy will automatically search your drives for swap partitions and mount them but those of you using windows only will not have linux swap partitions on their HDD's.

This is how the new .img versions of Pussy will be setup. To image a USB stick with the .img file you mu st use the linux dd command, or use an imaging program that does exactly the same thing.

USB stick versions of Pussy can be created from .iso's using a variety of popular programs but having an .img version for imaging to USB sticks is better from a support point of view, because everyone who images their USB stick with the image will immediately have a fully working, writable Pussy with all the menus at boot being exactly how they should be with no other junky files created on the USB stick. When helping a person with support who is using a USB stick image of Pussy, you can be 100% sure that certain files are there and be sure they are configured correctly.

If anyone has comments or input regarding the USB stick .img version of Pussy then please post.

[sickgut]

re: RAM usage and future documentation layout.

for those of you wanting to gloat over the fact that most distros cant even boot with 42mb RAM but Pussy will magically boot, as well as run Xorg in 42mb RAM with pleanty of RAM spare (18MB free) using only 57% of available RAM....while running ssh, telnet, ftp and webservers as well...... you might like to visit the following link:

http://www.thepussycatforest.info/linux ... mb-ram.png

i have uploaded the screen capture .png to the forum as well.

Regarding documentation, i plan to have readme or help or instruction whatever name you li ke to call it... files in the catroll-panel, next to options that require explanation. If you try the new pussy-beta-preview-xtra2.iso you will notice an attempt to do this in the catroll-panel ----> save-file section. Please let me know what you guys think about doing it like this. The idea is that documentation is right next to and available to read whenever you would like to do something. That way the user doesnt need to read 100 pages of docs before using Pussy or sort through the subject headings to find the info they need about save files. If we use this way of doing it, then i will also add a catroll-panel setting that deletes all documentation... good for non newbies who dont need it. I hope to impliment the read as you go documentation (for example, the /www dir where the cleanmode browser lives, will have a readme.txt (or whatever we will call the .txt files) that tells the user exactly what cleanmode browsing is.

I think its a good idea to not presume there are alsolute stupid newbies using Pussy and documentation required for everything.... No documentation for the screen-capture in the catroll-panel or the filesystem options in catroll-panel..for example... they explain themselves. But for things that are different enough to normal OSes to the point a normal user might need help.. will have documentation. Any future HDD install feature and also using the wvdialup will need documentation for example. Also when pussy boots, the login screem next to the logo will tell the user about startx and other console applications installed.. this should have already been done but i forgot.

Please let me know what you guys think about teh documentation thing.

[saintless]

Good idea to include documentation in pussy linux, sickgut.
It doesn't take much space and if you include code examples, like how to mount drives, how to setup keyboard layout, how to change screen resolution and etc. it will make pussy linux easy to use for everyone.
I'm sure debian users already know those things, but the way of doing them is different from puppy linux.
Thank you for the new iso. Downloading and start testing.

[sickgut]

just so everyone knows why the crappy pussy logo is still the default desktop when you boot to normal desktop, and a nice pussy cat is really awesome when you select rox filer background:

The nice high quality cats eye wallpaper doesnt work with JWM very well. BUT also a no background makes the desktop look like a grid and this to an unseasoned user may look like there is an error or there is something wrong. I experimented with just a pure black background but this will also give the impression that something isnt right... we have all used linuxes where the desktop hasnt loaded propperly and there is an error and the desktop is one colour and the icons are missing..... I dont want to panic a new user with a desktop that looks like it isnt working. This is why i kept the crappy cat logo as the background.

Can someone please make a small cat logo that scales well? Must look ok on 800x 480 (the smallest screen size currently on the market for intel based netbooks EeePC 701sd for example)..... all the way up to 1440x 900 or so which is the standard high resolution used for most LCD screens.

The only reason i didnt replace "crappy cat" with a better cat was my lack of ability in computer graphics. I would like to keep the logo as like clipart, not photo realistic, as JWM can only hand XPM format pics and these get really huge with photo quality. Also i would like the logo to be memorable and recognizable and this logo will be used to promote pussy on other websites maybe with an animated gif on distro watch etc.


also a reminder the new xtra version with all the apps has finnished uploading and you can get it at http://www.thepussycatforest.info/linux ... -xtra2.iso
note the "2" in the name of the ISO, this is the seccond version of this ISO because the original one had a non working virtualbox. If your using the one with xtra.iso at the end then download this new one, it contains alot more programs and fixes too

[big_bass]

.

[saintless]

I don't think I will be able to make a good logo for pussy linux, but I attach one of the other pictures for alternative desktop.
I kind of like the original desktop cat from the alpha. This was the first image of pussy linux and I think you should keep it in the iso at least like a picture in the documentation folder.

Edit: I attach the same picture in XPM format. It works with JWM. The Pussy linux text is a little bit higher on that picture, because the taskbar was on top of it.
Sickgut, if you like I can try to convert the picture from the ROX-filler background the same way and see if it works with JWM.

Edit 2: OK, I put two of the pictures in archives to save space. In background.tar.gz is the white pussycat and in the background2.tar.gz is the original cat from ROX-filler background. Booth work on pussy JWM desktop before starting ROX-filler background, but the second picture is 3 MB. We can reduce the quality and size if you decide to use them, sickgut.

[sickgut]

I don't think I will be able to make a good logo for pussy linux, but I attach one of the other pictures for alternative desktop.
I kind of like the original desktop cat from the alpha. This was the first image of pussy linux and I think you should keep it in the iso at least like a picture in the documentation folder.

Edit: I attach the same picture in XPM format. It works with JWM. The Pussy linux text is a little bit higher on that picture, because the taskbar was on top of it.
Sickgut, if you like I can try to convert the picture from the ROX-filler background the same way and see if it works with JWM.

Edit 2: OK, I put two of the pictures in archives to save space. In background.tar.gz is the white pussycat and in the background2.tar.gz is the original cat from ROX-filler background. Booth work on pussy JWM desktop before starting ROX-filler background, but the second picture is 3 MB. We can reduce the quality and size if you decide to use them, sickgut.

Yes, i did that before.. and just like you posted... when you convert the jpg to xpm its way too big at 3 or 4mb, this is what i tried before but i think 3mb for wallpaper is too much. And JWM seems to not want to work with the original 330kb jpg. it doesnt make sense to me to have a 3mb background for the basic JWM background, as i want it to load fast as possible.

[Bert]

Hi sickgut,

I've been following this topic from day one

About backgrounds in JWM: maybe I don't understand your problem, but I've attached the default list of jwm backgrounds in Slacko..no size problem whatsoever.. but again, maybe you're facing a problem I'm not aware of. Good luck for Pussy!

[saintless]

I did some tests with the web camera programs.

Luvcview - works fine, but I can't figure out how to capture images. I'll read more about how that program is working.
Fswebcam - looks very promising, but it needs to make manual configuration file to work. I will investigate how to do it. It can continuous capture images with interval less than 2 seconds.
Webcamera Monitor just shows if there is a camera swiched-On in the taskbar.
Webcam - I can't make it work for me. It gives me a message "reading configuration file: /root/.webcamrc can't get RGB24 data". It might need some configuration file as well.
Camstream - it opens a window, but can't get image from my camera.

I've installed with apt-get camorama. It is 29 Mb, it captures continuously with not less than 60 seconds interval and can not capture video.

Sickgut, please include in the next iso GTkam camera manager which puppy has. I've installed it with apt-get and it works fine. We need a program to copy images from camera to computer.

[john3voltas]

sickgut:
This thread has grow big!
Can't read it all.
Yesterday I think I caught you mentioning something about an issue when trying to mount the partition where Pussy boots from.
I'm not sure if you've noticed it already but /live/image is mounted RW and it is the partition where you boot from with Pussy.
Or have I misinterpreted you?
Cheers

EDIT: I'm running the beta-preview2 and I must let you know that I'm still having keyboard issues. Starting to think if this isn't an issue with debian itself...

[nooby]

sickgut:
This thread has grow big!
Can't read it all.
Yesterday I think I caught you mentioning something about an issue when trying to mount the partition where Pussy boots from.
I'm not sure if you've noticed it already but /live/image is mounted RW and it is the partition where you boot from with Pussy.
Or have I misinterpreted you?
Cheers

EDIT: I'm running the beta-preview2 and I must let you know that I'm still having keyboard issues. Starting to think if this isn't an issue with debian itself...

Maybe you mean when he told me about his IRC chat with Debian Developers and them told him them are working on it.

There is a huge differences between Ubuntu and Debian.

Ubuntu already works. I can save changes and edit and delete
any kind of file AFAIK but even this latest version of Pussy
does not even allow me to edit the menu.lst that I used to boot it on.

So it is not Sickgut's error it is the Debian people that set it up that way.
Way back in time Unix people decided on policies and Debian hold on to them.

I trust Ubuntu does too but that them made some human error and
that the current "permission" I have is some kind of bug.

[saintless]

john3voltas, what are the keyboard issues? Check if the information below solve them. Sickgut will add a fix for this in the next iso.

If someone wants to add different keyboard-layout before the official beta version is ready, here are the commands:

This one will install other keyboard layouts:

Code: Select all

apt-get install keyboards-rg

After that type:

Code: Select all

dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

Follow the instructions and choose your layout. BTW you can choose also to exit X with Ctrl+Alt+BackSpace.

We steel have a problem with RW on NTFS Boot partition only. All other vfat and ext boot partitions have RW access. If NTFS partition is not the one pussy boots from, it has RW access as well. Only NTFS Boot Partition is waiting to be fixed for debian (not only for pussy linux).

[sickgut]

sickgut:
This thread has grow big!
Can't read it all.
Yesterday I think I caught you mentioning something about an issue when trying to mount the partition where Pussy boots from.
I'm not sure if you've noticed it already but /live/image is mounted RW and it is the partition where you boot from with Pussy.
Or have I misinterpreted you?
Cheers

EDIT: I'm running the beta-preview2 and I must let you know that I'm still having keyboard issues. Starting to think if this isn't an issue with debian itself...

the writing to boot partition is only and issue with ntfs filesystems as the kernel read only driver mounts it before ntfs-3g can.

[nooby]

Yes that seems to be the best explanation for it.
Suprising things is that Ubuntu obviously has changed how
them set up things then because there it works?