site  contact  subhomenews

Quirky Pyro32 0.6.1 released

December 04, 2017 — BarryK

Another one! Download Quirky Pyro32 0.6.1 from here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/releases/pyro-0.6.1/

This is for 32-bit (i686) CPUs, with BIOS (not UEFI) firmware PCs.

Tags: quirky

Quirky Pyro64 version 0.6 released

November 26, 2017 — BarryK

Quirky Pyro64 0.5 was released on October 29, announced here:

http://bkhome.org/news/201710/quirky-pyro64-05-released.html

And Quirky Pyro32 0.5 was released on November 5, announced here:

http://bkhome.org/news/201711/quirky-pyro32-version-05-released.html

Pyro64 0.6 is now out, testers are welcome.

Download:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/releases/pyro-0.6/

...as usual, choice of three files. The 8GB image is interesting for UEFI-firmware PCs, as it has rEFInd.

There is also a Service Pack for upgrading from 0.5:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/packages/pet_packages-pyro/service_pack-0.5_TO_0.6-pyro64.pet

...it is a bit large, due to many changes since 0.5, such as a complete recompile in OE, updated kernel, icu and SeaMonkey.

Feedback is welcome here:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=110541&start=120

Tags: quirky

PPLOG now works in Quirky Pyro64

November 23, 2017 — BarryK

I had reported that PPLOG, our simple local personal blog, does not work. Now it does.

I am using this PET:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/pet_packages-noarch/pplog-1.1.3-1.pet

In OpenEmbedded, I had compiled these extra Perl modules and they are included in the Pyro64 build:

libdbd-mysql-perl
libdbi-perl
libxml-parser-perl

Yesterday I did a recompile in OE, and added these Perl modules:

libcgi-perl
libdigest-sha1-perl
libhtml-parser-perl
liburi-perl
libxml-simple-perl

PPLOG worked after I installed 'libcgi-perl' and 'libhtml-parser-perl' in Pyro64. Yippee.

I have decided to include all of these modules in the next release of Pyro64.

Tags: quirky

OE recompile, SM 2.49.1, kernel 4.14.1

November 23, 2017 — BarryK

I mentioned recently that some library packages compiled in OpenEmbedded were too old. I ended up only bumping 'icu', 'nss' and 'nspr', to versions 58.2, 3.31.1 and 4.16. Then did a complete rebuild in OE.

Built Pyro64 0.5.2, and compiled SeaMonkey 2.49.1, this time using the system icu, nss and nspr, making the package considerably smaller. The PET is here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/packages/pet_packages-pyro/seamonkey-2.49.1-pyro64.pet

I also compiled the 4.14.1 kernel, and was most surprised when "make modules_install" did not create /lib/firmware. A quick google, and it seems the firmware is no longer in the kernel source tree.

I didn't know how to respond to this situation, but decided to take the /lib/firmware from the compile of kernel 4.13.11, for inclusion in the kernel PET. The PET is here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/packages/pet_packages-pyro/linux_kernel-4.14.1-pyro64.pet

The source, patches, and build scripts are here:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/source/kernel/4.14.1/

Tags: oe, quirky

Plans for next Quirky Pyro64

November 18, 2017 — BarryK

I have been away. Here is a photo:

photo

While on holiday I couldn't get into the mood of doing any Linux development, but intend now to start putting together the next Pyro64. The current release is 0.5.

0.5 has the latest LibreOffice, that I compiled in Pyro64, and I had to use some inbuilt libs as some packages compiled in OpenEmbedded were too old. Had the same problem with latest SeaMonkey. For example, had to use SM's inbuilt icu, as the system package was too old.

The problem with this is that it makes the distribution bigger. So, I plan to do a recompile in OE, and bump the versions of some packages.

Another thing, plan to compile some extra perl modules in OE, as previously only had the base perl package. It seems that pplog, and probably some other apps, need extra perl modules. I think that I have figured out the extra modules needed.

Then, will build a new Quirky Pyro64, and compile the latest LibreOffice and SeaMonkey.

Also plan to upgrade the Linux kernel to 4.14.x, as this is LTS, supported for six years. Which is great.

So hopefully then I will build a Pyro64 which will also be a LTS. Might release it as version 0.6.

I previously mentioned creating a GUI wrapper for shellCMS and put into Pyro64 as a replacement for pplog personal blog. Haven't got very far with that.

Then there's Easy OS. Not forgotten, an idea is percolating.

Another photo:

photo

Tags: oe, quirky

SeaMonkey 2.49.1 compiled in Pyro64

November 10, 2017 — BarryK

I have compiled SeaMonkey 2.49.1 for the next release of Pyro64.

It is a bit bigger, the PET package is up from 44MB to 51MB. Mostly this is because I was unable to link against the system 'nss' and 'icu' packages, and had to use SM's inbuilt packages.

nss and icu compiled in OE are too old. SM requires nss >= 3.28.6 and icu >= 58.1

Sometime in the future, I intend to do a recompile in OE with these later packages.

Tags: quirky

Xcalc crash fixed

November 06, 2017 — BarryK

In both Pyro32 and Pyro64 (versions 0.5), the xlib-based calculator xcalc crashes on startup, and also brings down Xorg.

When this was reported on the forum, I tested xcalc ...and it worked!

Later, in a pristine first-bootup of Pyro32 0.5, tried xcalc again, this time it did crash, as did Xorg. So, I tried in a terminal and got this message:

# xcalc -h
Warning: Cannot convert string "calculator" to type Pixmap

A bit of research, found that xcalc looks for file /usr/include/X11/bitmaps/calculator, which doesn't exist. In fact, /usr/include doesn't exist, and it may be the missing folders that brings down Xorg.

The missing file is in package "xbitmaps", which is in the "devx" PET. So, of course, it clicked in my mind. When xcalc did work for me, devx PET was installed.

Solution, click the "install" icon on the desktop to run the Package Manager, do a search for "xbitmaps" -- it is in the "oe-pyro" package. Install it, xcalc will then work.

Changing the subject. yesterday's upload of Pyro32 0.5 was about 2GB, the day before I uploaded all of the "oe-pyro" binary packages which was about 1GB -- that is 3GB, half of my $40 6GB monthly prepaid allowance!
I'm with Optus, might change over to Vodafone as they are offering 14GB for the same price. This is for my mobile phone, that is how I access the internet, phone as a wi-fi hot-spot. The downside with Vodafone is they don't have quite the same 3G/4G coverage as Optus.

Anyway, thanks again for the donations, it is covering this expenditure!

Tags: quirky

Quirky Pyro32 version 0.5 released

November 06, 2017 — BarryK

It has been a long time since I have built a 32-bit distro!

Release notes:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/releases/pyro-0.5/release-notes.htm

Download:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/releases/pyro-0.5/

Feedback:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=110541&start=90 

Minimum CPU requirement is Pentium-Pro (i686). Minimum RAM -- don't know, probably 1GB. For PCs with BIOS-firmware, not for post-2012 UEFI-firmware PCs. Will only recognise a maximum of 4GB RAM. The Linux kernel will recognise multi-core CPUs.

Tags: quirky