Fatdog64 700 alpha1
Posted: Thu 31 Jul 2014, 16:19
Kirk and jamesbond are pleased to announce the release of Fatdog64 700 alpha1. This marks the first public release of Fatdog64 700 series.
Thank you to all contributors: rcrsn51, 01micko, and many others.
Thank to preview-testers too.
Summary
Fatdog64 700 alpha1 is a new major release of Fatdog64. All of its five-hundred-odd base packages have been updated to the latest and greatest. Some highlights:
- kernel 3.15.5
- glibc 2.19
- gcc 4.8.2
- Xorg 1.15.2
- Mesa 10.2.4
- GTK2 2.24.24 with Glib 2.38.2
- vlc 2.15
- seamonkey 2.26
- ffmpeg 2.1.3
- abiword 3.0
- gimp 2.8.10
- ffDiaporama replaces avidemux
- cups 1.7.3
And many others.
Another thing that will be immediately obvious: Fatdog64 dispenses with PET packages and have now switched to Slackware-style packages. Fatdog64 now uses gslapt from http://www.jaos.org as its primary package manager. Note: While it is possible to install pet packages from older version of Fatdog64, *they may not work properly* in 700 series. SFS from 600 series may or may not work - some of them do work.
Get it from the usual location in ibiblio or one of its mirrors: aarnet, uoc.gr, and nluug.nl.
SFS-es are here: http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/sfs/700/ and on ibiblio's mirrors too.
Fatdog64 700 does not update from Fatdog64 631 or any other earlier versions..
Longer reads
Unlike the 500 and 600 series which were built from T2, Fatdog64 700 is built from modified versions of LFS (Linux From Scratch) and BLFS, version 7.5 - the latest as of today. We compiled every single package from source by hand - we own and know the process of how every package comes to be, from the cross-compiler onwards. (The build system is indeed similar, and was actually adapted from FatdogArm build system).
Major infrastructure changes:
---
Like its predecessors, Fatdog64 700 is a pure 64-bit system, but all libraries now live in /lib64 and /usr/lib64. There are no more bind-mounts - /lib and /usr/lib are now almost empty. All scripts that depend on the fact that /lib and /lib64 contain the same files will fail.
Xorg now lives directly under /usr, there is no more /usr/X11 or /usr/X11R6 or /usr/X11R7. All scripts that depend on these locations will fail.
Random Notes
---
1. Despite the fact that it uses Slackware-style package (and uses Slackware package management tools), Fatdog64 700 is not based on Slackware. I haven't tested how compatible 700 is with Slackware packages.
2. It is now possible to *remove* built-in packages - a feature that has been long asked for.
3. We have been running 700 ourselves for a couple of months to iron out the most obvious bugs - but being the first release, this of alpha quality and may still contain a lot of bugs.
4. Documentation have not been updated yet. While most of them still applies, some (with regards to making your own packages) have not. I will update this posts with details on how to making your own packages - there are 3 ways of doing so.
The final version of Fatdog64 600 series (version before this one): Fatdog64 631.
Thank you to all contributors: rcrsn51, 01micko, and many others.
Thank to preview-testers too.
Summary
Fatdog64 700 alpha1 is a new major release of Fatdog64. All of its five-hundred-odd base packages have been updated to the latest and greatest. Some highlights:
- kernel 3.15.5
- glibc 2.19
- gcc 4.8.2
- Xorg 1.15.2
- Mesa 10.2.4
- GTK2 2.24.24 with Glib 2.38.2
- vlc 2.15
- seamonkey 2.26
- ffmpeg 2.1.3
- abiword 3.0
- gimp 2.8.10
- ffDiaporama replaces avidemux
- cups 1.7.3
And many others.
Another thing that will be immediately obvious: Fatdog64 dispenses with PET packages and have now switched to Slackware-style packages. Fatdog64 now uses gslapt from http://www.jaos.org as its primary package manager. Note: While it is possible to install pet packages from older version of Fatdog64, *they may not work properly* in 700 series. SFS from 600 series may or may not work - some of them do work.
Get it from the usual location in ibiblio or one of its mirrors: aarnet, uoc.gr, and nluug.nl.
SFS-es are here: http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/sfs/700/ and on ibiblio's mirrors too.
Fatdog64 700 does not update from Fatdog64 631 or any other earlier versions..
Longer reads
Unlike the 500 and 600 series which were built from T2, Fatdog64 700 is built from modified versions of LFS (Linux From Scratch) and BLFS, version 7.5 - the latest as of today. We compiled every single package from source by hand - we own and know the process of how every package comes to be, from the cross-compiler onwards. (The build system is indeed similar, and was actually adapted from FatdogArm build system).
Major infrastructure changes:
---
Like its predecessors, Fatdog64 700 is a pure 64-bit system, but all libraries now live in /lib64 and /usr/lib64. There are no more bind-mounts - /lib and /usr/lib are now almost empty. All scripts that depend on the fact that /lib and /lib64 contain the same files will fail.
Xorg now lives directly under /usr, there is no more /usr/X11 or /usr/X11R6 or /usr/X11R7. All scripts that depend on these locations will fail.
Random Notes
---
1. Despite the fact that it uses Slackware-style package (and uses Slackware package management tools), Fatdog64 700 is not based on Slackware. I haven't tested how compatible 700 is with Slackware packages.
2. It is now possible to *remove* built-in packages - a feature that has been long asked for.
3. We have been running 700 ourselves for a couple of months to iron out the most obvious bugs - but being the first release, this of alpha quality and may still contain a lot of bugs.
4. Documentation have not been updated yet. While most of them still applies, some (with regards to making your own packages) have not. I will update this posts with details on how to making your own packages - there are 3 ways of doing so.
The final version of Fatdog64 600 series (version before this one): Fatdog64 631.