COMP 3000 2011 Report: Damn Small Linux - Not

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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The software catalog is not very extensive but it contains everything you would expect to find (although a little out of date) like firefox, openoffice, thunderbird, etc.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

Report on the version numbers and upstream source (URL of original source) for some of the major software packages included in your distribution as part of the standard install:


Choose at least 10 packages that fit into this list (you don't need to cover every category) and report the following:

  • What is the vintage of the included package? How old is it, and how far is it behind the latest stable release for this package?
  • How heavily has the package been modified by the distribution authors? (You'll need to figure out how to determine this.)
  • Why do you think this particular package was chosen for this distribution's standard install? You may speculate, but please make an argument informed by relevant facts.


Linux Kernel: Version Present: 2.6.12 Source: uname -r Build Release Date: 17-Jun-2005 Source Code: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ Current Version: 2.6.39 Current Release date: 19-May-2011


libc: Source: ls /lib/libc* Version Present: 2.3.2: Current Version: 2.14 source: http://www.gnu.org/s/libc/

gtk+ 2: Current Version GTK+ 2.24.8 Current release date 10-Nov-2011


Bash: Source: bash --help Version Present:2.05b Build release date: 17 July 2002 Current Version 4.2 Current Release Date: 13 February 2011


busybox: 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


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

abiword Version Present: 2.2.7 Build release date: 18 December 2003 Current Version: 2.8.6 Current release date: Oct 27 2009


Gftp: Version Present: 2.0.18 Build release date: 05 Feb 2005 Current Version: 2.0.19 Current release date 11/30/2008


gaim Version Present: 0.7.7 Current Version: pidgin 2.10 Current release date: 08/20/2011


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

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