Firefox ESR DEB now works in container

Running EasyOS 2.2.14, 'belham2' (Puppy Forum name) reported that he installed Firefox ESR from the "petget" package manager, and it worked, but when he tried to convert it to a container, was unable to:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=1053952#1053952

The menu "Filesystem -> Easy Container Management" has a dropdown list of installed apps. You choose one, and then click the button to make it into a container.

However, Firefox ESR is not listed. The reason for this is that the script filters out /usr/share/application/*.desktop files that have "Exec=" entries with a leading path. firefox-esr.desktop has "Exec=/usr/lib/firefox-esr/firefox-esr". Which is odd, as it also installs /usr/bin/firefox-esr, so the entry could have been "Exec=firefox-esr".

I have edited /usr/petget/filterpkgs.sh to automatically fix the "Exec=" line to remove any leading path. if necessary, a script is created at /usr/bin.

I tested it, works fine. One thing I recommend in Easy Container Management, leave the "Security options" alone. The default is fine. Just choose "firefox-esr" from the dropdown list and click the button.

Hmmm, it did create a 16x16 icon on the desktop, that is something else that needs fixing. It should be 48x48, but that is a cosmetic bug. 

EDIT:
The desktop icon now fixed. Edited /usr/local/easy_containers/easy-containers 

Tags: easy

python-gi DEB package was missing

In Easy 2.2.14, if you use PETget (package manager, PPM) and install a package, 'python-gi' will show as a missing dependency.

However, 'python-gi' isn't actually needed. The DEB package 'python-gi-dev' lists 'python-gi' and 'python3-gi' as dependencies, but only the latter is needed by Blueman (the Bluetooth manager, see the tray).

Anyway, to get rid of that message about missing dependency, I have added 'python-gi' to the build list, so it will be in the next release. 

Tags: easy

Busybox umount does not free loop device

This one took me by surprise. If a loop device, say /dev/loop0, is mounted on a mount-point, running the 'umount' command from the util-linux package on the mount-point, will unmount it and also automatically free the loop device.
I have been expecting this behaviour for so many years, that I got caught out when I discovered that the busybox 'umount' does not automatically free the loop device.

lp-dolittle (Puppy Forum name) had reported that he updated EasyPup and when it booted up, it found the save-file for the previous version, and asked if want to use it. He declined, then on the desktop found that the save-file was still mounted, though not actually being used. Also, the partition where the save-file was located, was also mounted and could not be unmounted. EasyPup is running in RAM, so there shouldn't be any partitions mounted.

I have been puzzling over this most of today, studying the 'init' script in the initrd. Finally, the penny dropped, I discovered that Busybox umount needs an explicit "-d" to free the loop device, like "umount -d <mount point>".

Success, it booted up into RAM only, no save-file or partitions mounted.  Note, Busybox in the initrd is version 1.30.1. 

Tags: easy

SFSget now much faster

Those who have used SFSget, see "sfsget" icon on the desktop, will have experienced a big delay while the online SFS repository is probed. This was done with 'wget' "spider" mode, searching for all files under the "sfs" folder. This is very slow.

Now, the "spider" search is eliminated, as I am uploading a file, named 'sfs-repo-file-list', that lists all the files under the "sfs" folder. All that SFSget has to do is download that file. Here it is:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/packages/sfs/sfs-repo-file-list

Two files have been edited, /usr/local/sfsget/sfsget and /usr/local/sfsget/filterpkgs. The latter has a fix for properly handling different SFS repositories.

If anyone wants to setup their own SFS repository, it needs to be added to the 'SFS_REPOS' variable in /root/.packages/DISTRO_PET_REPOS. This is the current assignment:

SFS_REPOS='ibiblio.org|http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/packages/sfs| nluug.nl|https://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/easyos/amd64/packages/sfs|'

You would need to have an upload script that creates file 'sfs-repo-file-list'. This is my script:

#!/bin/sh
#200331 upload a list of files.

[ ! $1 ] && exit 1
PATH1="$1"
[ ! -d "$PATH1" ] && exit 1

echo
echo -n 'Enter the password for easyos@login.ibiblio.org: '
read SSHPASS
[ "$SSHPASS" == "" ] && exit
echo " ...ok, ${SSHPASS}"
export SSHPASS

#create a date file for sfs uploads
DATE="$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M)" #ex: 201908121739
case "$PATH1" in
 */sfs/*)
  #200331 have to keep this file for older versions of easyos...
  echo "$DATE" > ${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs/date-last-upload
  #seems have to upload this separately...
  echo "Uploading 'date-last-upload' file..."
  rsync -cpt -e "sshpass -e ssh -p 22" ${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs/date-last-upload easyos@login.ibiblio.org:/public/distributions/easyos/${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs
  #200331 upload file-list...
  find ${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs -mindepth 2 -type f > ${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs/sfs-repo-file-list
  PTN="s%^${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs/%%" #ex: easyos/oe/pyro/kernel_5.2.21-p1_src.sfs
  sed -i -e "$PTN" ${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs/sfs-repo-file-list
  echo "Uploading 'sfs-repo-file-list' file..."
  rsync -cpt -e "sshpass -e ssh -p 22" ${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs/sfs-repo-file-list easyos@login.ibiblio.org:/public/distributions/easyos/${PATH1%/sfs/*}/sfs
 ;;
esac

rsync --exclude-from=rsync-exclusions --exclude=synchronize --delete -rltzvc -e "sshpass -e ssh -p 22" ${PATH1}/ easyos@login.ibiblio.org:/public/distributions/easyos/${PATH1}

SFS files need to be in an appropriate path. for example:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/packages/sfs/easyos/debian/buster/

Locally, you would have something like "www/amd64/packages/sfs/easyos/debian/buster" with the SFS files (and .specs and .png files, see the 'dir2sfs' script). The above script would be at "www/remote-sync", and you would sync the buster SFS files like this:

# ./remote-sync amd64/packages/sfs/easyos/debian/buster

Some more reading:

https://easyos.org/tech/how-easy-works-part-2.html

https://easyos.org/user/using-easy-containers.html

https://bkhome.org/news/201810/dir2sfs-utility-for-sfs-package-manager.html

https://bkhome.org/news/201811/dir2sfs-take-2.html

https://easyos.org/dev/coding-for-easyos.html 

Tags: easy

mtPaint 3.49.25 compiled

wjaguar (Puppy Forum name) reminded me that Easy has a very old version of mtPaint, 3.49.12. Yes, I used the PET from the Pyro-series of Easy.

I have obtained the latest from the project page:

https://github.com/wjaguar/mtPaint

Compile it in EasyOS 2.2.14. There was a TIFF header file missing, so left out TIFF ...who uses TIFF anyway? It is a very long time since I have seen an actual TIFF image.

This will be in the next release of Easy. 

Tags: easy

PackIt PET fixed

I reported about SFR's PackIt and UExtract, that are in the latest (2.2.14) Easy:

https://bkhome.org/news/202003/packit-and-uextract-now-in-easy.html

When right-click on a file or folder, if it is not an archive file, that is, not something like 'afile.tar.gz', then the right-click menu will have "PackIt" as one entry. This is convenient means for archiving, for example turn a folder into a tarball, or compress a file.

However, after releasing Easy 2.2.14, I discovered that the "PackIt" entry was not in the right-click menu. I puzzled over this, as it had worked in earlier testing. I have now fixed the 'pinstall.sh' script in the PackIt PET.

Also tweaked a few things in the PackIt and UExtract PETs -- for example, they are in the "Utility" menu, but should be in the subcategory "package", that is, mime "X-Utility-package" -- in Easy, look at the main menu, the "package" subcategory is where the 'XArchive' app entry is.

The PETs will be uploaded soon. 

Tags: easy

EasyPup 2.2.14 released

Hot on the heals of EasyOS 2.2.14, EasyPup is released, for those who want a more traditional puppy. The apps and user interface is pretty much the same as EasyOS, but the underlying infrastructure is different. This page explains:

https://bkhome.org/linux/easypup-a-blend-of-classical-puppy-and-easyos.html

Here are the release notes:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/easypup/amd64/releases/buster/2.2.14/release-notes-2.2.14.htm

EasyPup is available as a traditional ISO file, a hybrid-ISO that may be written to either optical media or a USB-stick. It is also compatible with both traditional BIOS or the modern UEFI-BIOS, and does not require "legacy boot mode" in the UEFI setup.

If you need help with booting from optical media or USB-stick, there are plenty of tutorials on the Internet. You might find this page helpful, it is written for EasyOS, but does have relevant information for booting EasyPup:

https://easyos.org/install/prepare-your-computer-for-booting-linux.html

There are English, French and German builds, download from here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/easypup/amd64/releases/buster/2.2.14/

Feedback is welcome. The primary feedback thread, in English, is here:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=118021

There are also French and German feedback threads, primarily for EasyOS, but you can ask EasyPup-related questions also:

de: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=116594

fr: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=116589

...it is best not to post elsewhere in the Puppy Forum, as Barry and other EasyOS/Pup developers and testers might not see it. 

If you want to read a bit about the background/history of EasyPup, see this blog post:

https://bkhome.org/news/202001/easypup-a-blast-from-the-past.html

Links for developers:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/easypup/amd64/releases/buster/2.2.14/readme.htm 

Tags: easy