Difference between revisions of "COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Small Linux - Not"
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===Major package versions=== | ===Major package versions=== | ||
[http://www.kernel.org Linux Kernel:] | [http://www.kernel.org Linux Kernel:] | ||
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Current Release date: 19-May-2011 | Current Release date: 19-May-2011 | ||
Blurb: The linux kernel 2.6.x offers a wide range of features over the 2.4.x line that it took over from. That being said, it also became a lot more bloated in size and dropped support for older legacy hardware which is what cause the split between DSL and DSL-N | |||
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source: http://www.gnu.org/s/libc/ | source: http://www.gnu.org/s/libc/ | ||
Blurb: likely the latest version that was around when it was released, libc is a necessary component of any linux distribution | |||
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Current release date 10-Nov-2011 | Current release date 10-Nov-2011 | ||
Blurb: GTK+ does a lot of the work of getting a GUI up and running and managing windows, etc, the base GTK is very small and makes perfect sense to include with this distro along with a super lightweight window manager | |||
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Current Release Date: 13 February 2011 | Current Release Date: 13 February 2011 | ||
Blurb: bash is a necessary part of all linux distros and is not in need of new features and is therefore not updated very often, this was likely the latest version available when it was released | |||
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Current Release Date: 29 October 2011 | Current Release Date: 29 October 2011 | ||
Blurb: busybox is designed with the exact same main goal as dsl/dsl-n, size. It integrates a number of system functions and takes up a fraction of the space of having them all separate, making it an ideal application to include with DSL-N | |||
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Current Release date: Sept. 29 2011 | Current Release date: Sept. 29 2011 | ||
Blurb: Seamonkey integrates email and browser together and shares an engine between the two of them. It maintains a familiar mozilla feel to it and shaves off space when compared to competitors. | |||
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Current release date: Oct 27 2009 | Current release date: Oct 27 2009 | ||
Blurb: Abiword is extremely lightweight, small and it has all the features that the average user would use from a more featureful text editor. It won't do the trick for really complicated documents but overall it's compatible with a wide range of document formats and has extremely low space and resource requirements which makes it an ideal application to include. | |||
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Current release date 11/30/2008 | Current release date 11/30/2008 | ||
Blurb: gftp is a simplistic ftp client for file transfers, it fits with dsl-n overall with its simplistic feel and low resource use but it seems a little unfitting to me given that it depends on many gnome libraries that would otherwise be unnecessary for this distro. | |||
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Current release date: 08/20/2011 | Current release date: 08/20/2011 | ||
Blurb: Gaim is a multi-protocol IM client, at the time it was the gold standard for linux distros to include as the default IM client. It is also small, relies on gtk libraries and has low resource usage so it fits with DSL-N | |||
None of the packages I reviewed here appear to be modified by the developer, they are simply packaged together | |||
===Initialization=== | ===Initialization=== | ||
Revision as of 23:42, 16 November 2011
Part II
Software Packaging
Although I would have expected this distribution to use dpkg/apt because it is knoppix based, it seems in the interest of saving space they switched to the rpm package system (as revealed by rpm -i), the functionality is provided by busybox which provides a number of normal system functions at a reduced size.
As with DSL, DSL-N has an incredibly minimalistic guy for the custom package manager and provides repositories of apps ready to install. To access the list of programs you simply right click on the desktop and go to net and choose 'mydsl extension browser'. Then you select a section as shown in my screen shot. You're then presented with a simple list of applications and you can download and install them or remove them with one click. It also has the option to
The software catalog is not very extensive but it contains everything you would expect to find (although a little out of date) like firefox, openoffice, thunderbird, etc. There generally seems to be a focus on smaller less known educational apps as I would see this distribution having a large percentage of its presence in the educational market on low budget computers.
Major package versions
Linux Kernel: Version Present: 2.6.12
Source: uname -r
Build Release Date: 17-Jun-2005
Current Version: 2.6.39
Current Release date: 19-May-2011
Blurb: The linux kernel 2.6.x offers a wide range of features over the 2.4.x line that it took over from. That being said, it also became a lot more bloated in size and dropped support for older legacy hardware which is what cause the split between DSL and DSL-N
Source: ls /lib/libc*
Version Present: 2.3.2:
Current Version: 2.14
source: http://www.gnu.org/s/libc/
Blurb: likely the latest version that was around when it was released, libc is a necessary component of any linux distribution
Current Version GTK+ 2.24.8
Current release date 10-Nov-2011
Blurb: GTK+ does a lot of the work of getting a GUI up and running and managing windows, etc, the base GTK is very small and makes perfect sense to include with this distro along with a super lightweight window manager
Source: bash --help
Version Present:2.05b
Build release date: 17 July 2002
Current Version 4.2
Current Release Date: 13 February 2011
Blurb: bash is a necessary part of all linux distros and is not in need of new features and is therefore not updated very often, this was likely the latest version available when it was released
Source: rpm -i
Version Present: v1.0.0.0
Build Release date:2006.01.20
Current Version: BusyBox 1.19.3
Current Release Date: 29 October 2011
Blurb: busybox is designed with the exact same main goal as dsl/dsl-n, size. It integrates a number of system functions and takes up a fraction of the space of having them all separate, making it an ideal application to include with DSL-N
Seamonkey Email + Web Browser:
Web Browser Version Present: 2.0.2
Email Version Present: seamonkey 1.0.2
Build release date: 2006/05/16
Current Version: 2.4.1
Current Release date: Sept. 29 2011
Blurb: Seamonkey integrates email and browser together and shares an engine between the two of them. It maintains a familiar mozilla feel to it and shaves off space when compared to competitors.
Version Present: 2.2.7
Build release date: 18 December 2003
Current Version: 2.8.6
Current release date: Oct 27 2009
Blurb: Abiword is extremely lightweight, small and it has all the features that the average user would use from a more featureful text editor. It won't do the trick for really complicated documents but overall it's compatible with a wide range of document formats and has extremely low space and resource requirements which makes it an ideal application to include.
Version Present: 2.0.18
Build release date: 05 Feb 2005
Current Version: 2.0.19
Current release date 11/30/2008
Blurb: gftp is a simplistic ftp client for file transfers, it fits with dsl-n overall with its simplistic feel and low resource use but it seems a little unfitting to me given that it depends on many gnome libraries that would otherwise be unnecessary for this distro.
Version Present: 0.7.7
Current Version: pidgin 2.10
Current release date: 08/20/2011
Blurb: Gaim is a multi-protocol IM client, at the time it was the gold standard for linux distros to include as the default IM client. It is also small, relies on gtk libraries and has low resource usage so it fits with DSL-N
None of the packages I reviewed here appear to be modified by the developer, they are simply packaged together
Initialization
I discovered the boot scripts in /etc/rcS.d, there are 2 boot scripts:
S00knoppix--autoconfig runs first and does the following:
1.reinit usb devices that could not be started from linuxrc, probe necessary modules
2. mount filesystem readonly, with or without encryption
3. load alas sound daemon
4. load localization
5. set time
6. if running from HD, check file systems
7. mounts in read-write before continuing
8. if running from hard drive, regenerate module dependencies (klconfig ; depmod -a 2>/dev/null)
9. Set resolution and load /etc/init.d/splash.sh
10. delete links to hardware that doesn't exist ie. /dev/sdrom /dev/mouse, etc
11. write knoppix config files for other scripts to parse
12. Activate modules for acpi (power management)
13. usb mouse check/seup. try both usb mouse modules in case someone has 2 different controllers usb-uhci and usb-ohci
14. load firewire modules, search and configure hardware, setup carom that hasn't been setup by hwsetup
15. automatic xf86 setup using /usr/sbin/mkvf86config
16: create /etc/fstab and scan for partitions/hard drives to add
17.auto mount all devices; floppies, cds, etc
18. overwrite old /etc/fstab
19. run /etc/init.d/autofs start to start the automounter
S01dsl-config runs next and does the following:
1. loads special modules for different devices
2. makes a list of installed applications
3. makes menus
4. /etc/sysconfig/mydsl
5. ensures networking modules are loaded
6. deletes temporary folders created during boot /tmp/firstboot /miniroot /var/tmp and sets up a sym link from /var/tmp to /tmp and sets permissions on it.
7. checks for validity of user account and forces you to set a new password if you must
8. sets boot device
9. starts the appropriate user defined services in this order: ssh, lp, nfs, monkey web server, syslog, ftp, /etc/init.d/mkwriteable, touch /etc/sysconfig/unionfs touch/etc/sysconfig/writeable, load rest of modules
10. mount directories
11. iconcheck, orphancheck, mkmydslmenu