Changelog
Tuesday, 04/15/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 rc2
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Kernel installer (initrd.img) updated to accommodate Pentium MMX
(Installed kernel was MMX-compatible, but installer was not...)
Kernel recompiled to match updated Slackware kernel,
but included Absolute optimizations.
Abscreen (screen resolution/refresh rate adjuster) updated
to allow setting refresh rate when using Nvidia proprietary driver.
Was previously disabled due to inconsistencies between the
utility setting (via xrandr) and Nvidia reported refresh rate.
Monday, 04/03/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 rc1
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Since Xorg and ICEWM do not play well wit Ctrl+Alt+backspace,
I have temporarily made Ctrl+Alt+Esc force-close X for us.
Added pdfEdit to editors
kernel recompiled, had errors AFTER recompiling madwifi,
might have been a corrupted file from a bad burn -- but
did ot take a chance.
Changed font used in graphic login for "Just in Case" --
(Little buttons that give the user the ability to shutdown
or drop into the console.) Was hard to read...
This is an update to package x/xdm.
Pulled /etc/profile.d/oo.sh from etc package.
Is included now with the OpenOffice package on CD2,
so no worry keeping up to date or mixed-up paths.
(This file puts "/opt/openofficex.x/program" into path
so you can start the programs without hassle.)
Installer initrd.img sets mount for temporary memory (/dev/shm)
in /etc/fstab, but with stricter options than Slack:
defaults,nosuid,noexec,rw
Might not stop abuse, but every little bit helps...
Lilo backdated to non-boot image version. Too problematic.
HPLIP and CUPS are versions 2.7.10 and 1.3.3, respectively,
in order to keep a working HPLIP version.
Otherwise, packages updated to coincide with Slackware Current
Monday, 03/31/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta91
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Gearing up for final 12.1 release...
Upgraded kernel to 2.6.24.4 (with customizations)
updated all packages to sync with Slack Current
EXCEPT for KDE/QT (main use in Absolute is for K3B,
waiting for KDE4 in Slack so added packages will work)
Tuesday, 03/18/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta9
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
pcmanfm (modified for Absolute) takes the place as default file manager
ivman used to autoplay media (audio CD and DVDs)
kernel is a modified 2.6.24.3 (Slackware generic with several additions)
90+ packages updated
Friday, 02/22/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta8
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Documentaion reconstructed. Small scripts installed into
/usr/local/bin/doc (now in path set by /etc/profile) are
installed when individual docs are... therefore they only
show up in the icewm menu when they are actually present.
Therefore all packages with documentation were rebuilt.
Firefox is 3.0b4 (Minefield)
-- this is a beta, but so are we :) Unlike 3.0b3, it has
not given any errors in early testing.
Sylpheed updated to 2.2.8
gtkspell installed to suppport spell-checking in Sylpheed
Icewm was updated to 1.2.35
menus rebuilt to support new documentation model
New default theme. (Absolute Cool - thinner titlebars and cleaner look.)
kernel setting for CD locking changed in new file: /etc/sysctl.conf
Now you can push button on CD-ROM without calling umount
or clicking on "eject"...
find_installed script utility fixed
setDate.py and gdeskcal both internally modified to prevent
the running of multiple instances.
Tuesday, 02/12/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta7
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Updated to Slackware's version of patched kernel - 2.6.23.16
updated some other packages, most notably glibc jibe with
compiled kernel.
Monday, 02/11/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta6
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
still Kernel 2.6.23.12 but --
kernel patched (fs/splice.c) to avoid vmsplice vulnerability
Saturday, 02/09/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta5
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
recompiled mplayer -- the source of the mplayerplug-in
failures when using firefox. (Had originally compiled
newer code from CVS... mistake.)
Updated multimedia installer to use more recent version of
mplayer codecs (Oct '07).
Recompiled OpenChrome driver, built from SVN 20080207
Included neon (libneon) -- used by subversion (SVN) on CD2
(and perhaps others...) Also updated subversion on CD2 to v1.4.6.
Menu for Icewm re-arranged slightly, and also includes a RUN item,
which will run the command entered in a separate process.
xorg-server patched to avoid problem with icewm.
The bug only occurs if Xkb triggers an autorepeat. In this case,
XkbHandleActions overwrites dev->public.realInputProc with
EnqueueEvent. When the device is unfrozen, the realInputProc is
written back to the processInputProc and the whole thing craps out.
patch is to /include/xkbsrv.h
this is a temporary hack, as it has the reprecussion of causing
Xorg to crash on icewm after, for instance, Ctrl+Alt+Del, don't
log out, but later hit the backspace key. To AVOID his completely,
xorg.conf now includes "DontZap" option in ServerFlsags section.
So all functions normally, without any craashes or frezes,
but Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, which usually can be used to close Xorg, is
not available.
Hopfully this awkward work-around will be unneeded soon...
Thursday, 02/03/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta4
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Corrects mod_symvers file in kernel source
updates ndiswrapper package (to 1.52)
Thursday, 02/02/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta3
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Corrected lack of in-kernel support for ext3/ext2 filesystems
Thursday, 01/31/2008:
Absolute Linux 12.1 beta2
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
Too many individual packages to list -- this is another new kernel
(2.6.23.12) which I compiled with tickless (for laptop lower-power,
for battery life extension) Also switched preemption model to low-latency
desktop (from more server-centric setting -- should have done that a while
ago...) plus the usual extra includes instead of modules for user-needed
stuff like MMC (SD) cards, USB MASS STORAGE, NTFS, etc.
Other major change is for wirteless -- switched to WICD. Be sure to
enable WICD daemon when installing if you want to use wireless (of course, you
can always later enable it on startup via the SERVICES menu.) When you
do this you will see the WICD tray icon next to the clock when using ICEWM
(the default window manager.) You can configure WICD from there. (Supposed to
be easy, but I do not have wireless to test with -- get back to me on this,
somebody!)
As I said, too many individual packages to list -- but what folows are a few highlights:
GIMP-2.4.3
Bug fixes to the 2.4 series -- and I included all the SCRIPT-FU updates I worked
on on gimphelp.org.
Firefox-2.0.0.11
Plus newer adobe flash plugin as well as recompiled mplayerplug-in, putting
plugins into /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins instead of versioned Firefox library directory.
GTK2-2.12.4
Alond with updates to the chain folowing this -- cairo, pycairo, pango, etc.
Nicer icons, anyway...
libpng
Security fix
... and about 100 other packages.
Wednesday, 10/31/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.1.0 beta1
BASED UPON SLACKWARE CURRENT
More than half the distro has been recompiled.
After several sleepless nights I can confidently say this is the
most stable, fastest and best-tested of the Absolute 12.x series.
Kernel boot image is 2755k.
reiserfs and ext3 support built in, along with USB mass storage,
HID devces (for usb keyboards and mice) and many mountable filesystems --
for the ease of mounting devices, including read/write to NTFS. (I have
backed-up more than 100 XP hard drives via a usb-ide adapter on Absolute
12.x now. Thank gosh for Windows users!
Xorg-7.3
With custom patches to xinit, vesa video, xdm, and installer script
updated to set "composite" to false, as otherwise things (especially
Nedit) get messed up.
KDE libs updated to 3.5.8
requied some re-write of customization code for URLs and email links.
Help pages now opened by KDE (and documentation on menu) via Dillo.
Dillo-0.6.6
threw in some code to eliminate orphaned file.xpi, bookmarks.xpi and
dpid(s) that were left running after close. Took up about
130k of memory each -- not much, but why waste it?
Firefox upgraded to 2.0.0.8
Compiled with headers and IDL files intact. Enables
dev builds of things like the mplayerplug-in w/o resorting to
gecko SDK. After installing MultiMedia packages (with installer)
it is a brick. Works for everything I tried.
MultiMedia installer
Changed ffmpeg build to create shared lib rather than the default
static. Solved some problems :)
GIMP updated
version 2.4 final. Changes to script-fus that I made are included
so that what is there, works. These include about half of what came
with GIMP originally, plus some others that I personally find very
useful. Sort of my favorites.
libiconv
Removed. Caused many problems. Lightens the load
Icewm recompiled
And some custom tweaking -- we now hae gdeskcal (a light, fast
desktop calendar) that appears when you left-click the taskbar clock.
I find this very handy. Right-clicking now oopens the time-adjusting
utility.
absusb
The utility to load USB stick when not auto-mounting. Corrected a
path in the script to correctly link USB-stick to the shortrcut
generated in MyLinux desktop folder.
absServices.py
Auto-mounting on/off switch now controls both hal and dbus
(hald and messagebus daemons)
abscreen
fixed screen size and refresh rate utility when updating refresh
rate. It was writing to xorg.conf and truncating the refresh value
(dropping trailing zeroes) in screen section so that it did not
match the modeline, and was therefore ignored.
ALSO -- turned off setting refresh rates for nvidia and vesa with
utility, as they did not work properly. For nvidia, even setting
"DynamicTwinView" to false in xorg.con (which enables xrandr to
get correct refresh rates) did not result in favoravle settings
-- they worked but the screens were not sized exactly to monitor
edges, so something was not quite right. f yu use the nvidia module,
then leaving the settings up to nvidia seems the best alternative.
icewm
included nvidia icon (for use if proprietary driver is installed)
Thursday, 10/11/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0.7
Bug Removal
clearFstab (used to enable switching between auto and non-auto mounting
on Absolute) has been fixed, so that it will no longer remove any bootable,
swap or floppy devices from fstab which are /dev/sd
DevTray
Fixed mounting of volumes (such as USB STICKS) to mount them UID,
meaning users can mount them and WRITE to them properly.
XDM
updated to fix un-merged resources in custom startup.
fonts and language settings should now be correctly configured on GUI login
Font Update
Pulled bitstream fonts that were not used and put in DejaVu
for better language support. Also putting lots of graphical fonts
in GIMP extra package where they are actually used. (CD2)
HTMLpage and Nedit now both use a programmer's font called Dina.
guten-print
replaces gimp-print package for nice printing from the GIMP.
Most noticeable feature is that a PPD selection is no longer required
on printer setup, just pick you printer and away you go...
epdfview
has replaced xpdf for viewing PDF files.
mimetype in ROX-Filer and firefox handling changed to accommodate.
audacity
reintroduced. latest beta of audacity now builds with wxGTK-2.8.3,
with unicode -- happy days, it's back!
ROX-Filer
updated mime-type handler for OpenOffice writer
to again use swriterRox.sh script. make usage clearer
when OO not installed and when installed before reboot
(and path update has not kicked-in yet...)
etc package
Font changed on system dialog boxes
(usr/share/pixmaps/colorboxDOH.rc)
Multimedia file about, installer and uninstaller scripts added
Mplayer
updated (recompile) w/o skins or GUI enabled (due
to the fact that we now use smplayer frontend.) Winds up being
about 1/2 MB smaller package, despite inclusion of HTML docs.
Multimedia Installer
This is for those who are legally able to install DVD and video codecs.
Script in Icewm menu (as root) to "install Multimedia Files" downloads
some, compiles a lot, and installs all without any needed interaction.
Mplayer-plugin
updated to work with multimedia files, latest builds.
Required rebuild of firefox with all "dev" header files (see below)
Firefox
Updated to 2.0.0.7 - I have read not needed on Linux, but the header
files for Firefox were needed to compile mplayerplug-in. (i had
gotten lazy and installed prebuilt -- compile time is quite long...)
Also set handler for OGG files properly for audacious.
Checkinstall
Still use old version 1.5.3 (no bugs), however, updated the checkinstall
script to no longer automatically install the created package, default
arch type is now i486, and install/soinst.sh is not packages if empty.
HTMLpage
Updated with new base font set for default (Dina)
A small and very readable monospaced font. You can tell 1 from l and so on...
While in the HTMLpage code, I updated anything kicking out deprecation
warnings, before they became a problem.
Friday, 09/28/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0.6
Midnight Commander(mc), Dillo web browser and ggradebook
added to default packages
xdm updated for nice graphical login, when desired
icewm update
to include menu item to switch between
graphic login or text-based. Checkers menu item
changed for better display.
etc package
now includes script that switches login type
-- gets called from icewm menu
DevTray
Pulled AlsaAudio card handler. This originally had a bug with
SB Live cards, takes up memory, and does nothing Asolute does not
already do. Also new DevTray icon and tooltip, to avoid confusion.
Pyalsaaudio and Alsamixergui removed
Were used by DevTray, but no more.
GIMP
Updated to 2.4.0-rc3. Stable and actually faster than previous GIMP.
Pulled translations, which will now be on CD2.
ROX
Updated handler for GIMP in SendTo for images and PDFs.
Updated "Getting Started" information.
GQView
Back-dated version to 2.0.4, due to CPU-usage maxing out. Older
version more stable. Also tweaked "edit with" for gimp. Lastly,
situated HTML docs to show in DOCUMENTATION menu.
Libiconv
Back in to help with the language thing...
XDM
Updated to make font in shutdown/console options more readable.
chess and checkers
fixed both these x games. Chess had a bug with new gcc and
checkers was a configuration thing, also set up checkers display
better and put images it uses in /usr/share/games/xcheckers.
Tuesday, 09/07/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0.5
ndiswrapper - updated to 1.48rc2
Kernel Update (yes, again) - this time to include built-in support for
USB keyboard during install of Absolute
Any patent-encumbered software removed
BCI-enable Freetype (replaced with non-BCI enabled)
libmad, lame, ffmpeg and libdvdcss removed --
SlackBuild for each available in /usr/src/restricted
as well as one to install the mplayer-codecs-all
(libdvdcss and mplayer-codecs require user download)
Dependencies for them updated - a52dec, faac, faad2, x264, xvidcore
Pidgin - updated to version 2.1.1
Fluxbox menu updated with some icons
Updated mailNotify.py (mail notification setup)
so user can toggle notification on/off
(default is now OFF)
linHDD updated to 0.5
Further stripped down code for fdisk customization (abs_fdisk)
Included diff file for code changes in /usr/doc/linHDD/source_diff
Convertor script for kde docbooks to html (docb2html)
mime type/run action incorporated into ROX-Filer settings,
so clicking on a docbook will convert it to HTML and open it with Firefox
Rebuilt kdelibs - still version-2.5.7, but I wanted to include source code
changes as patches with descriptions, and rebuilding with patches I was
going to redistribute seemed the safest path to follow.
ROX-filer updated - flac and ogg mime-handlers,
send-to script for converting mp3 to ogg
(if you install libmad, lame and ffmpeg from /usr/src/restricted)
Icewm - updated themes (since we enabled transparency,
might's well get fancy-like.) Also dumped themed start menu buttons
for consistency. Added 2 icons (Pidgin and term)
Sunday, 09/02/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0.4
k3b FIX - was not working as non-root, and k3b setup, with all its dependencies,
was not an option. So cdrdao, readcd and cdrecord are now all:
root:cdrom 4710
tested and works. Nothing to set up.
Kernel, modules and source packages again updated
compiled for smaller kernel as some folks had memory limitations
generic smp kernel with (not modules) of:
ext3 and reiserfs filesystems
iso9660, UDF, DOS, vfat, NTFS, NFS and Windows Logical Disc manager
EHCI USB (2.0), USB Mass Storage, USB HID and MMC (SD) cards
Kernel bzImage is now lowly 2542k
eliminated xfs, as it alone added 254k to the kernel.
kernel source properly "prepped" and used in place of original Slackware version.
Running "make prepare" on kernel source, also jibes with nvidia documentation.
Edited ROX-Filer source code and recompiled 2.6.1
added all screen-related utilities to panel right-click menu
(diffs to all source files are included in /usr/doc/rox)
Added fuse and ntfs-3g for mounting NTFS partitions read/write
Rebuilt xorg xinit to make single .Xauthority file in ~/, instead of leaving
ultiple serverauth.xxxx files lying around (source difference included)
Updated icewm
added background color change menu item to "Settings"
Pulled all gtk-docs from all packages that had them
they will appear on CD2, extended documentation under GTK_Docs package
and if installed, show up under /usr/doc/gtk/gtk_doc_other
Began including the TENTATIVE doc project
which for now appear under "How We Do It" in the documentation menu
Removed gimp_extra_bypaul and put on CD2 list. Many folks won't need it,
clears 10MB of space, and will allow GIMP to start faster for basic users.
Response to request to keep iso of Absolute below 690 MB.
Added icewm menu items for apps on CD2 (they only show up when installed)
Added mime-type to ROX to handle .mp4 audio files (m4a and friends) with audacious.
If not encrypted they will play.
Updated abscreen
Added nvidia-settings to main menu
(will show up if you have a relatively recent nvidia proprietary driver build)
Wednesday, 08/22/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0.3
Updated slapt-get and gslapt. Packages include:
gnupg-1.4.7 (which can coexist with instaled gnupg-2.x
Also added gpgme-1.1.4, gslapt-0.3.18 and slapt-get-0.9.12
Kernel source/header versions corrected, compiles nvidia driver OK
Adjusted mime-handlers in ROX for wma and wav files and
adding conversion scripts in SENDTO menu -- wav2mp3, wma2mp3 and flv2avi
Fixed error in DevTray where DATA DVDs were not "auto-mounting",
(was caused by missing png file)
Fixed modules install to properly match custom kernel
(had caused problems for nvidia-compiling folks)
Updated to Firefox-2.0.0.6, also updated xpdf, mkinitr, and the ati, nv and vesa x-modules.
Developer documentation for QT and xdialog moved to CD2 to make space.
Frostwire package added.
abscreen updated to 2.2
NOTE: IF YOU RUN THE CD INSTALLER AS UPDATE the kernel packages will not be updated.
(kernel, kernel source and kernel modules) I changed the naming scheme to an
appropriate arch/version.
Tuesday, 08/07/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0.2
BUG FIX: Where rebooting with sata drive wiped its entry in fstab (so no boot if sata was boot drive)
fixed clearFstab, a script to wipe fstab entries of mountable devices due
to switching between auto and non-auto mounting -- so that it does not wipe
fstab entries for sata drives set in Lilo
ndiswrapper > updated due to compile error
Geting Started document shortcut put on user as well as root desktop.
Also includes 1st_RUN_INFO.htmlL file with some appropriate facts
Removed XTRA version of linux-wlan-ng
Removed grub for the time being
Wednesday, 08/01/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0.1
kernel recompiled to support 586 CPUs (Pentium-1 and K6-2)
K3B > 1.0.3 Updated for bug fixes, including one device error that could prevent app startup
Firefox > 2.0.0.5
and seperated Absolute custom firefox startup sripts from
the firefox install, and put them in a/etc package. This
version has them in both firefox installer and the new a/etc package.
Java, jre > version 6, update 2
Sylpheed > 2.4.4
Lame and ffmpeg libs recompiled
ufraw plugin for GIMP now included by default
nvidia xconfig utility now included
Mail notification setup now restarts icewm itself to take effect immediately
XFS filesysem now an additional formatting option upon install
RAR files have a handler under ROX now, which unpacks to a subdir of rar file name via unrar
putty added to Internet Apps
menu items added for putty, (and Azureus and kshowmail, but not on installer disk)
GIMP 2.2.17 updated (gimprc) to include font path of data extras
Monday, 07/16/2007:
Absolute Linux 12.0
Auto-mounting implimented using udev/Hal/DevTray.
Actually, added devices are shown in a panel BELOW the
taskbar -- click arrow at right of taskbar and
it will slide out of the way, revealing the panel
with device icons. Single mouse click
runs the device default action -- right-click on icon
shows a menu.
Uses 2.6.21.5 SMP kernel. 586 is NOT supported.
(Don't try to install on a Pentium-I or a k6-2.)
Monday, 02/27/2007:
Absolute Linux 11.0.92
Corrected icewm to iconify audacious in tray only and,
once again, not run icewmbg in the background, although
icewmhint and icesh I left alone.
Icewm configured with the folowing flags:
--prefix=/usr --with-kdedatadir=/opt/kde/share
--with-cfgdir=/usr/share/icewm --disable-winmenu
--without-gnome --disable-shape
Turned off inetd and crond by default, but can easily be
turned on if needed via services run menu or making the
daemons executable in /etc/rc.d.
Memory usage on test system was 18MB on idle, second machine
was still 20. I think this is as low as I can go :)
Corrected this changelog. Corrected spelling error
in the installer. This is it until 11.1 series, which will
have the 2.6 kernel.
This update seems minor, but keeping Absolute running and
firing up Firefox with memory usage BELOW 32MB (which without
icewmbg it does) was rather important to me.
Monday, 03/26/2007:
Absolute Linux 11.0.91
Nothing earth-shaking.
I corrected all reported bugs since 11.0.9.
Everything on "updates" download page also included.
Additionally:
ROX, icewm were updated, but no real functionality differences in these.
I had new inclusions and just wanted to compile against later libs (since
original compiles.) Trying to clear out anything a bit aging for long-term use and before 11.1.
Firefox is 2.0.0.3.
(Better audio mimetype handling and Sylpheed reintegrated into email sendto:)
linHDD is 0.3
(bug fix for possible broken-line df output)
audacious was upped to 1.3.1
(dep of mcs added for new config file, cd-playing still works nicely)
etc always echoes version (11.0.91)
(contains several of the custom Absolute scripts.)
GIMP has some extra stuff in "extras"
Monday, 01/29/2007:
Absolute Linux 11.0.9
--------------------------------------------------------------
Large-scale changes. Suggest reinstall for this version or you
will have to copy sudoers.new from package and delete the HOME
directory folders for mozilla and frostwire. Also the
/usr/lib/firefox-2.0.0.1 folder should be removed.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Switched from Azureus to ktorrent.
Quality/options not so bad as to offset HUGE performance gain.
The java client, Azureus, was a resource pig.
Updated Frostwire, needed to switch to Sun jre from Blackdown Java to
accommodate this. Blackdown is just too old... and Sun stepped up to
the plate by open-sourcing Java.
Rebuilt Firefox plugins and Firefox packages.
Added handful of randon splash screens.
Added Skype internet telephony app. Version 1.3.0.53
Put a libGL.la into /usr/lib -- just a text file used for linking.
Needed to compile KDE applications if nvidia driver is not present.
(nvidia driver installs the libGL.la file.)
Fixed CD data and DVD mounting from CD scripts
(which are included in the a/etc package)
cdir utility had a problem with data DVDs, so I
had to resort to a "mount" command to do some checking.
Because of this sudoers also had to be altered to accommodate
non-root users having access to the mount command in sbin.
[If you are updating you will have to update /etc/sudoers manually,
just copy sudoers.new from sudo package to /etc/sudoers.]
Also in etc-11.0.9, removed some wallpapers and sounds to make room,
moved firefox startup script out of etc package and into firefox
package where it belonged.
Updated mplayer from CVS to recompile with added libraries.
Libdvdcss, libdv, libmpcdec were added.
Rebuilt Audacity from cvs (01_26_2007) to accommodate libflac and unicode properly
Updated abs_usb (fstab entry to set device mounting to rw)
GIMP_extras added 5 parchment patterns
In X -- fonts_scale added 2 fonts
Put font paths into gimprc for use with freetype plugin
Tweaked absAdduser.py, ensuring added user is part of "users" group
Make "SendTo" links in ROX for images to ImageMagick Display and kiconedit
Icewm update only affects behavior on initial boot. (Sound setup tweaked
to be a bit more explanatory if need be...)
Added a couple brief HowTos in the desktop "Help Me" link, in the rox_filer package.
LAST 3 ARE PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS/TWEAKING:
Turned off crond and atd by default -- but they also now appear in the
Services Menu (absServices.py), which can be turned on or off.
Took out > 2 virtual terminals by commenting out c3,c4,c5,c6 in /etc/inittab
(hence new version of sysvinit)
Fixed starting second instance of icewmtray from ~/.icewm/startup "icewmtray&"
(Since icewm-session started the tray for us already...)
Thursday, 01/11/2007:
Absolute Linux 11.0.7
Fix. Put in proper faad2 version for use with audio/video
conversions using ffmpeg. Also included needed libmp4v2.
Updated usbdrive (for usb sticks/devices) so as to properly
handle usb sticks as a user and when swapping between
different devices.
Include commandline unrar utility
Turned off sshd in services by default.
Monday, 01/01/2007:
Absolute Linux 11.0.6
Fix. Filefinder did not do other searches after a cancel.
Change. XMMS replaced with Audacious. Allows Audio CDs to be
played without any setup/playlist hacks and includes ability
(default) to play audio from CDs directly (no audio cord needed.)
All CD startup scripts that appear in MyLinux were updated to
accommodate, as well as mimetypes, mplayer and additional audio
support files.
Added/updated audio libs include ffmpeg, faad, faac, id3lib, taglib.
Aditional Mplayer support includes ability to play .flv
(Flash video, a la YouTube) standalone, mimetype set in ROX.
Fix. Email notification setup utility can handle usernames that must
include "@" character. (Thanks Noisome)
Updated. Firefox to 2.0.0.1. Automatic updating is turned OFF.
(Would not work for non-root users on Absolute, anyway.)
Monday 11/27/2006:
Absolute Linux 11.0.5
Fix. Pulled last-minute USB-stick setup solution. Good idea
but my implimentaion conflicted with sata drives on /dev/sda.
Stupid oversight on my part...
I will find a solution after I have parts to test with.
Saturday 11/25/2006:
Absolute Linux 11.0.5
Included Jeff's USB-stick mounting technique.
(You'll see a "USB" directory in MyLinux.)
Upgraders (but not first-time installers) will
have to add this line in their /etc/fstab:
/dev/sda /mnt/usb auto noauto,users,noatime,async 0 0
ppp and kppp included for dial-up modem users
File Finder utility completely re-written.
Uses a combination of python code and findutils
for fast and effective searching. Will also open
many applications with their default editors.
Ability to stop mid-search, select case sensitivity
and whether to look through subdirs. Other file options
include opening parent folder in ROX-Filer and to display
extended file information. Toolkit is Tk, opens and runs
quickly.
GAMMApage update.
Icewm menu editor recompiled and its documentation repackaged.
ETextReader replaced with Gutenpy
(text list format updated and could not accommodate with
the older etext reader.)
Friday 11/10/2006:
Absolute Linux 11.0.3
Installer rewritten.
Should behave better -- allowing much better control of
the install process. Also there is option to UPGRADE
instead of install. When running SETUP, after you pick
your target and source partitions, you are given the
option to either INSTALL or UPGRADE.
Above simply uses a modified UPGRADEPKG in the installer
to update any of the base Absolute packages that have
changed since you installed your older version. Packages
you have added yourself will remain untouched.
Added collapse button to icewm taskbar, had previously
forgotten to add the option when I updated the version.
Appears on right hand side (by clock) and allows taskbar
to slide out of the way to the right.
Changed add user utility (absAdduser.py) script to
set the INITIAL group to users. Oversight had left
"users" without ability to play audio CDs.
Eliminated symlink to Python Tools that landed in /
due to earlier renaming of documentation directory.
Also corrected location of pyfloppy and pySqlite docs.
Added /etc/absolute-version file for possible future use.
Added a couple directory icons to ROX and...
Created a "getting started" folder in /usr/doc and linked to
desktop for root. Should come in handy for new users and I will
add to the contents as I go along... suggestions welcome :)
Friday 10/27/2006:
Absolute Linux 11.0.2
Install now runs vidconfig script on first boot
to build a better xorg.conf, with probed monitor ranges
and correct video card driver.
Sound init (in /sbin/initinit) deleted if card not found
(So it will not continue to try after each boot)
Corrected font used by fluxbox Meta style (the default)
Icewm-session apps icehint, icewmbg and icesh renamed to *.bak
to prevent them from running on each startx. They were unused.
Done to speed things up a pinch.
Anagramarama has tweaked dictionary.
Friday 10/27/2006:
Absolute Linux 11.0.1
Firefox 2.0 - updated from 1.5.0.7
A couple extra utilities added
Alsa sound preconfigured on install if card detected and supported.
Corrected problems with "Spooky" game modifications.
Completed repackaging of most everything to eliminate my
error of including a copyrighted name as part of the release name :(
[My bad. I wasn't trying to appropriate anything... Absolute being
really nothing more than a modification, I thought it would be
presumpuous to call it something else.
Because I want to keep the release numbers compatible with Slackware's,
anything I release between the minor numbers (11.1, 11.2, etc) will be
11.0.1, 11.0.2, etc.
Sunday 10/22/2006:
Absolute Linux 11.0 released
CHANGES MADE to Slackware 11:
KDELibs changed to accommodate HTML-only system
(the rest of KDE is not installed, just libs, gamelibs and a few programs.)
Also Firefox is set to open url Links, Sylpheed to grab MAILTOs.
DUE TO KDE DCOP errors I updated the modified LIBS to 3.5.5 --
tested beautifully thereafter :)
Icewm and Rox-filer are the default window/file managers,
with a sparse Fluxbox/Fox-PathFinder as a BU.
Several server/development/older applications removed in order to
replace with more commonly used desktop applications.
Many, many libs added in support of the additional applications.
Several configuration "helper" utilities and creative menu items used to
ease maintenance and setup of the distribution.
Documentation for several programs given places in separate documentation menu.
Eases access for some of the more commonly used apps, and there is extended
documentation for some of the programming capabilities, especially the scripting
variety.
Sun JRE replaced with older but more stable Blackdown SDK. lends itself to
development ability. Install ANT package and you can dev in Java.
(...and Firefox PLUGIN actually works on all tested systems.)
Custom icon library for Icewm. Some custom and customized themes. NO GTK2
theming.
APM module is LOADED. (See /etc/rc.d/rc.modules) allowing true power-down on many
desktops.
ROX-Filer compiled on-system and highly customized for application set.
Installer changed to bypass package selection and other tweaks.
Java had trouble with SUN jre, substituted Blackdown's jdk.
Played nice. Just prior to release I compiled MPlayer on-box (3.31) version.
Was finally able to stop, go back while videos were playing withou locking up
Firefox for several seconds.
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