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newsDetach child process from parent
EasyOS uses the traditional Puppy Linux method of launching the
tray applets, such as the volume control, NetworkManager applet and
CPU-temperature applet. These applets are found in /root/Startup and are
executed by /usr/sbin/delayedrun, which in turn is launched from
/root/.xinitrc when Xorg starts.
I think that this method is still supported in Puppy, but deprecated
in favour of the applets being in /etc/xdg/autostart and
/root/.config/autostart.
/usr/sbin/delayedrun has this code near the end of the script:
if [ -d /root/Startup ];then
for a in /root/Startup/*
do
[ -x "$a" ] && $a &
sleep 0.2
done
fi
This is OK, except over the years it has bothered me that 'ps' shows
'delayedrun' as still running, after it has finished. Executing 'pstree'
shows the situation, here is part of the output:
|-delayedrun---blueman-applet-+-{dconf worker}
| |-{gdbus}
| |-{gmain}
| `-{python3:disk$0}
|-delayedrun---yad
|-delayedrun---freememapplet_t
|-delayedrun---nm-applet-+-{dconf worker}
| |-{gdbus}
| `-{gmain}
|-delayedrun---pmcputemp
|-delayedrun---pnmixer
Those applets are children of 'delayedrun', so 'delayedrun' is still
shown as "running". There is nothing wrong with that, but aesthetically
it would seem nice if 'delayedrun' could be completely dismissed.
After an Internet search, I implemented this in delayedrun:
if [ -d /root/Startup ];then
for a in /root/Startup/*
do
if [ -x "$a" ];then
disown -h $! #note, -h will disable forwarding SIGHUP.
fi
sleep 0.2
done
fi
Now, 'pstree' shows that 'delayedrun' has gone, each applet is a child of 'init', for example:
|-blueman-applet-+-{dconf worker}
| |-{gdbus}
| |-{gmain}
| `-{python3:disk$0}
The applets still work, terminate and startup as expected. The "-h" doesn't seem to do anything, works just as well without it.
The problem is that 'disown' is a bash builtin, not available in
busybox ash, nor even with /bin/sh if it is symlinked to bash. However, I
found that this works the same:
if [ -d /root/Startup ];then
for a in /root/Startup/*
do
if [ -x "$a" ];then
setsid --fork $a
fi
sleep 0.2
done
fi
I wrote about 'setsid' recently, used in the 'initrd':
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/fix-for-devtty-in-initrd.html
'setsid' is a busybox utility, also in 'util-linux' package.
I will implement the 'setsid' method in 'delayedrun'. Not that it
really needs to be done, just, as I stated, aesthetically
pleasing.
Here are some relevant discussions:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/269805/how-can-i-detach-a-process-from-a-bash-script
https://superuser.com/questions/178587/how-do-i-detach-a-process-from-terminal-entirely
...though, I don't want to detach from the controlling terminal, just
from the parent script. If anyone knows of a potential downside to
doing this, let me know!
EDIT 2020-09-09:
James (jamesbond in the forums) sent me an email, quoting:
The solution is quite simple, no setsid or bash hackery needed.
Instead of the original code
if [ -d /root/Startup ];then
for a in /root/Startup/*
do
[ -x "$a" ] && $a &
sleep 0.2
done
fi
Do it like this:
if [ -d /root/Startup ];then
for a in /root/Startup/*
do
if [ -x "$a" ]; then
$a &
sleep 0.2
fi
done
fi
Changing the short form to proper if/then block is what fixes it.
Gosh, that works! My understanding has always
been that there is no underlying difference between the two forms. Which
seems to be the general understanding, for example this discussion:
I'm astonished. Thanks James!
Tags: easy
Deutsche langpack updated for Easy 2.4.1
Lutz (L16L on the forum) has posted some updated German translations for EasyOS 2.4.1:
https://easyos.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=130
They are files 'easy-containers.mo', 'easy-rollback.mo' and
'easy-update.mo' in /usr/share/locale/de/LC_MESSAGES, file
'menu_strings.de' in /usr/share/sss/menu_strings and file
'script_strings.de' in /usr/share/sss/script_strings.
The PET is now 'langpack_de-20200906.pet'. Thanks for that!
Tags: easy
Pristine first-boot erase more exceptions
The menu "Filesystem -> Audit -> Easy Version Control" runs
an app that has a button to erase the current session. The same can
also be achieved via menu "Shutdown -> Reboot, with rollback".
With Easy 2.4.1, there were exceptions introduced, so that it need not be a complete wipe of the the session.
I have now added CUPS setup, so the window has a new checkbox:
Today I looked at the EasyOS Forum, and replied to some posts, after a
couple of days elsewhere engaged -- working in the garden. Spring is
here, in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tags: easy
EasyOS version 2.4.1 released
Another exciting release! The last release announced at
Distrowatch was 2.3, on May 30, 2020. Since then, as usual, there
has been a hectic pace of development. Here is an announcement
blurb, with highlights since 2.3:
EasyOS 2.4.1 has significant and exciting new features since
version 2.3. This includes enhancements to "lockdown in RAM" as
an alternative security strategy to containers, tools and
strategies for debugging bootup in the initrd, automatic version
update via an "update" icon on the desktop, and choice of
settings to retain when erase the session. There are many
package changes, including built from Debian 10.5 DEBs and
kernel bump to 5.4.59. Updated applications include SeaMonkey,
Pupradio, fftag, ffplay-gtk, Pmcputemp and EasyDD. New apps
include MATE Calc and iotop. Many infrastructure improvements
and fixes -- too many to list, see the release notes.
Here are the release notes:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/buster/2.4.1/release-notes-2.4.1.htm
Download English, French and German builds:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/buster/2.4.1/
And if you need it, installation instructions:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/buster/2.4.1/readme.htm
Here are some posts to show new feature highlights:
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/save-session-while-running-totally-in-ram.html
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/menu-changed-from-inline-to-cascading.html
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/keep-some-settings-when-erase-session.html
https://easyos.org/dev/guidelines-for-debugging-easyos.html
https://easyos.org/user/easy-version-upgrade-and-downgrade.html
EasyOS now has his own forum:
This is a tarball of woofQ, the build system used to create
EasyOS:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/project/woof/woof-project-20200830.tar.gz
Kernel source, with patches and build scripts, is here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/source/kernel/
Have fun!
Tags: easy
Bugfix notes for the aborted 2.4 release
It wasn't online for very long, several hours, before I pulled it
down, but if you do have it, there are notes here about manual
fixes for a couple of the bugs:
https://easyos.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=119
Tags: easy
EasyOS version 2.4 released - NOT
Oh cr*p, we have found two
show-stopper bugs in 2.4. The release is withdrawn. Hopefully
in a couple of days I will have fixed the bugs and will
re-upload. Sorry about that!
Bugs fixed! Version 2.4.1 is released:
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/easyos-version-241-released.html
Another exciting release! The last release announced at
Distrowatch was 2.3, on May 30, 2020. Since then, as usual, there
has been a hectic pace of development. Here is an announcement
blurb, with highlights since 2.3:
EasyOS 2.4 has significant and exciting new features since
version 2.3. This includes enhancements to "lockdown in RAM" as
an alternative security strategy to containers, tools and
strategies for debugging bootup in the initrd, automatic version
update via an "update" icon on the desktop, and choice of
settings to retain when erase the session. There are many
package changes, including built from Debian 10.5 DEBs and
kernel bump to 5.4.59. Updated applications include SeaMonkey,
Pupradio, fftag, ffplay-gtk, Pmcputemp and EasyDD. New apps
include MATE Calc and iotop. Many infrastructure improvements
and fixes -- too many to list, see the release notes.
Here are the release notes:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/buster/2.4/release-notes-2.4.htm
Download English, French and German builds:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/buster/2.4/
And if you need it, installation instructions:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/buster/2.4/readme.htm
Here are some posts to show new feature highlights:
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/save-session-while-running-totally-in-ram.html
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/menu-changed-from-inline-to-cascading.html
https://bkhome.org/news/202008/keep-some-settings-when-erase-session.html
https://easyos.org/dev/guidelines-for-debugging-easyos.html
https://easyos.org/user/easy-version-upgrade-and-downgrade.html
EasyOS now has his own forum:
This is a tarball of woofQ, the build system used to create
EasyOS:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/project/woof/woof-project-20200828.tar.gz
Kernel source, with patches and build scripts, is here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/source/kernel/
Have fun!
Tags: easy
Save session while running totally in RAM
There are two boot menu options, "Copy session to RAM &
unmount all partitions" and "Copy session to RAM & disable all
drives", lets call them lockdown modes #1 and #2.
I posted earlier, that the desktop now has an "update" icon, that
you can click to perform automatic version update of your EasyOS
installation:
The menu now has a cascading structure, and I have changed the
"Shutdown" layout:
As I have posted about earlier, if we choose "Reboot, lockdown in
RAM", we get a window:
If we choose "Copy session to RAM & disable drives", and tick
the "Permanent" checkbox, all future bootups will be in that mode.
In this totally-running-in-RAM mode, there are various
restrictions. One restriction is no support for containers, as
totally-running-in-RAM is to be considered as an alternative
security strategy. After rebooting in this "lockdown #2" mode,
there is an information popup:
Lockdown has also removed the "update" icon, replaced it with a "save" icon. Here are the icons:
So, you cannot update the version in this lockdown mode, instead there is an icon to save the session. Clicking on "save":
...because, this is lockdown #2, drives disabled. You have to
physically replug the drive to make it accessible, so doing that:
...click "OK", and the session is saved!
It is not just the '.session' folder that gets saved. The
working-partition has folders 'containers', 'home', 'releases',
'sfs' and '.session'. If you had taken screen snapshots, or
downloaded via the the web browser, the default path is somewhere
under the 'home' folder (which is '/home' in the file manager).
Or, if you had downloaded a SFS file, it would be under the 'sfs'
folder. Hence, those folders are also saved.
Yes, "sfsget" icon is still on the desktop, but as containers are
not supported, you will only be offered to install an SFS as a
layer on the main desktop.
No container support, but you still have good-old "spot", so you
can run the browser, for example, as user "spot".
Note, you are not asked if you want to save the session when you
shutdown. It is only done via the "save" icon. The lockdown modes
are to be considered as defaulting to leaving no foot print on
your computer. Only save if you want to, or, if there is just a
file that you want to save, no need to save the entire session --
just replug the drive, mount the partition, copy the file to it,
unmount the partition, and unplug the drive.
Tags: easy
Lots of little improvements and fixes
Working toward releasing Easy 2.4, I have been improving and
fixing, and neglecting to document. OK, better post changes just
made...
L16L has updated MoManager, see:
https://easyos.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=104
There was a comment about gParted having limitations as being an
older version:
https://easyos.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=110
I had downgraded gParted, so now have reverted to version 1.0.0.
At the time, I was grumpy that gParted has abandoned gtk2, so went
back to the last gtk2 release. But, have to live with the reality.
L16L and esmourguit have posted updates for de and fr langpacks.
Tags: easy