Porteus Features (v 1.0)

Post tutorials, HOWTO's and other useful resources here.
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Ahau
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Distribution: LXDE & Xfce 32/64-bit
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Porteus Features (v 1.0)

Post#1 by Ahau » 10 Jun 2011, 14:37

Here's yet another rough draft. This one needs quite a bit more work (lots of cleanup), and I would really love suggestions from the community for things to add to it. I swiped brokenman's changelog for 32-bit from another thread, so I'll need a 64-bit companion...unless they are so similar that I should consolidate them into one full changelog, and note when there were changes in only one edition.

When I put this on the main site, it will have much of the content in sliders and double columns, so it's not a mile long...I'm throwing this on here today in this rough draft because I don't have time to add any polish. Please excuse the mess!


---------------------------------------------------

Porteus is a small (under 300MB) portable linux distribution based on Slackware linux ((LINK TO SLACKWARE)) and a heavily modified version of the linux-live scripts ((LINK TO LLS site)). It is modular in design, meaning programs (or collections of programs) can be installed and removed simply by double clicking on module files ((LINK TO WHAT ARE PORTEUS MODULES)). Unlike other Linux distributions that have a 'live CD' option, or can be shoehorned onto a flash drive, Porteus is designed and optimized to run from a USB flash drive, flash card or CD. It can also be installed in it's compressed form to an external or internal hard disk (AKA a 'frugal' install). Combined with it's small footprint, modest system requirements, wifi support and modern kernel, Porteus is also ideally suited to run on netbooks.

Porteus comes in two editions: 32-bit and 64-bit. For more information on selecting and downloading the proper edition for your system, go here ((LINK TO DOWNLOAD PORTEUS)).

Both editions run version 2.6.38 of the linux kernel and feature the KDE and LXDE desktop environments. The 32-bit edition includes KDE 3.5.12 (Trinity) ((LINK TO TRINITY SITE)), and the 64-bit edition runs KDE 4.6.3.

On a modern system, Porteus will boot up, create it's live filesystem, and be up and running KDE in 30 to 60 seconds when run from a flash or hard drive. If you select LXDE (a lightweight desktop environment), you can be up and running in as little as 15 seconds. Go here ((LINK)) to see a video of Porteus booting to LXDE in 10 seconds!

System Requirements

32-bit --

PORTEUS Requirements
=================

PORTEUS is not pretentious, nevertheless it requires some minimal hardware
to run properly. It depends on what do you wish to use PORTEUS for, of course.
The most important thing is memory. You need at least 30 MB of RAM to
boot porteus. More detailed description follows:

Medium
------
either IDE connected CDROM (to boot from the CD)
or USB FlashDisk (to boot from the mass storage device)
or maybe some harddisk (to boot PORTEUS from the disk)


BIOS
----
either non-emulation booting enabled (to boot from the CD)
or USB FlashDrive booting enabled (to boot from the mass storage device)


Memory
------
36 MB to boot porteus.
96 MB to run Xwindow with fluxbox
144 MB to run Xwindow with KDE
328 MB to be able to use copy2ram cheatcode

Processor
---------
i486 or better, Pentium or AMD are both OK.


Peripheral devices
------------------
some keyboard
some PS/2 or USB connected mouse


Harddisk
--------
No harddisk is required

64-bit --

from requirements.txt in the ISO (DUH!)
Porteus Requirements 64bit/KDE-4 requirements
===============================================

Porteus is not pretentious, though it requires some minimal hardware to run properly.
It depends on how you wish to use Porteus, of course.

The most important thing is memory. You need at least 40 MB of RAM to
boot Porteus in text mode. A more detailed description follows:


Medium
------
Either an IDE connected CDROM (to boot from a CD), a USB FlashDisk
(to boot from a mass storage device),or an internal or external
hard disk (to boot Porteus from a hard disk).


BIOS
----
Either non-emulation booting enabled (to boot from a CD)
or USB FlashDrive booting enabled (to boot from a mass storage device)


Memory (it is not expected that a 64-bit systems will have less than 512MB)
------
512 MB to run Xwindow with KDE
1024 MB to be able to use copy2ram cheatcode


Processor
---------
Any processor with support for 64-bit instructions. Pentium or AMD are both OK.


Peripheral devices
------------------
any keyboard
any PS/2 or USB connected mouse


Harddisk
--------
No harddisk is required


Features:

Lightning-fast boot time
Can be run from USB Flash drives, CDROM's, DVDROM's, hard disks, flash card devices, or just about any device you can get your PC to boot from!
LZMA2 (xz) compression for modules
Changes to the system (customization, downloaded files, browser history and favorites, etc) can be saved persistently to your USB or hard drive, or you can boot into 'Always Fresh' mode, and no changes to your system will be saved anywhere
Support for dozens of languages
A new, dependency-resolving package manager built just for Porteus
Porteus-specific scripts for creating and manipulating modules, network configuration (wifi included), language selection, and much more
Updated installers for linux and windows


Default Boot options:

KDE with Saved Changes, autoconfigure xorg
LXDE with Saved Changes autoconfigure xorg
Copy2RAM, always fresh, KDE (by default), autoconfigure xorg
StartX (VESA mode) - xorg is forced to use a 1024x768 Vesa driver for hardware that is not autoconfigured properly
Text Mode (boot to command line)
PXE Boot (run as usual, but start Porteus as a PXE server, allowing you to boot other computers over the network)
PLoP BootManager - allows you to boot from many kinds of devices, even some from which your BIOS may not support booting.
memtest86 - runs the MemTest utility to check your computer's RAM for possible errors.


Short Changelog from V09 to V1.0 (both editions)

Updated Kernel to version 2.38.???
Updated to new LZMA2 (xz) compression -- modules now have the .xzm extension
New Package Manager (Porteus Package Manager)
Guest user account is used by default to increase security (use the toroot cheatcode to autologin as root)
Userland bumped to Slackware 13.37
32-bit bumped to KDE 3.5.12 (Trinity), 64-bit bumped to KDE 4.6.3
Many bugfixes and optimizations
Graphical installer for windows, and an improved installer for linux that includes support for extlinux
New system configuration script
In order to avoid corruption of saved changes, users of FAT and NTFS formatted devices must use a 'save.dat' file container for saving their changes; a new tool (Porteus save.dat manager) has been added to create and manage the .dat containers.

Full changelogs:
((SLIDERS OR LINK w/INFO)

Changelog for Porteus-v1_final-i486.iso from Porteus-v09-i486.iso

REPO
http://ponce.cc/porteus/i486/current

KERNEL
Updated kernel to 2.6.38.5
- Improved hibernation
- Support for older i486 processors
- USB HID is compiled into kernel
- Fixed dhcpcd long delay for IP in rc.inet1

INSTALLATION
We have tried to make installation of Porteus easier including tidying up the boot folder.
Subfolders have been added to include a tools & docs folder.

Windows users can execute the 'win_start_here.hta' file for a nice GUI.
Linux users can run 'lin_start_here.sh'

Updated syslinux & extlinux means you can install on linux partitions and still have a boot menu.

Added features include:
- Option to backup/restore MBR during installation
- Windows UAC will be disabled so users don't get confused
- md5sum check of essential files during installation

Once you have booted into porteus you have a menu item to install porteus to a USB device.

BOOT TIME
A highly modified linuxrc (by fanthom) means boot time is minimized.
See video here of Porteus booting in 10 seconds!

The standard boot options are still available with an additional plop option.
- text mode
- always fresh
- LXDE graphic mode
- KDE graphic mode
- memtest
- plop to support older machines

10 loops are created during boot so mounting of file systems won't fail.
Nouveau is blacklisted by default, due to difficulty with compilation of nvidia binary driver
PXE boot has been updated and improved.

If the default passwords remained unchanged, you will be prompted during boot to enter a new password and this will be saved as a system module.

If a windows partition is sensed during boot, an xfs save.dat container file will automagically be created to hold the changes made to the default system. If the modules folder is writable it will be moved there by default. This will narrow the chances of corruption of 'persistent changes data'. A GUI tools has also been added to resize, create or attempt to recover corrupt save.dat files.

WINDOW MANAGERS

LXDE git compiled on slackware 13.75 (ponce)
- improved icons
- added login script to create desktop trash
- added menu item to empty trash

KDE bumped to 3.5.12 Trinity
- Many visual changes
- Performance improvements
- be aware that /root/.kde & /home/.kde have been changed to .kde3
- Improved right click service menu options
- Trinity is a very large version of KDE so we have stripped it down and kept all the extracted packages as modules that require no dependencies!

IMPORTANT CHANGES
0. Compression of initrd has been changed to newer lzma2 (xz). All modules have also been moved to this compression as the ratio and performance are superior (see bottom of page). All modules will now end in .xzm. Any older squashfs3 or squash4 .lzm modules will be automatically converted during activation.
1. Many new cheatcodes have been added. Please familiarize yourself with these (docs folder) as many questions asked on the forums can be solved with these.
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=444&p=3038#p3038

2. Userland has been bumped to slackware 13.75
3. Wicd network manager puts and end to internet connection problems
4. The LST (Language selection tool) allows users to download the locale and man files for their chosen language. Keyboard layout is easily changed.
5. Firefox has been update to version 4
6. Alot of scripts have been updated with GUI - system menu

NEW MENU ITEMS

Games
- Extra classic games

Graphics
- Color chooser
- Screen ruler

Internet
- Firefox 4
- Netowrk folder wizard
- Dialup tool
- Remote desktop connection
- Online dictionary

Multimedia
- Beep media player
- CD audio ripper
- Krec recording tools
- Arts control tools

Office
- A more complete koffice suite

System
- save.dat file creator/resizer
- Language selection tool
- Magic folders setup tool
- Module manager
- USB installer
- Ksysguard performance monitor
- Porteus encryptor
- Porteus FAQ page
- Porteus moduel tools
- Porteus network setup wizard
- Porteus system info generator
- Power saver switch

Utilities
- Scientific calculator
- Countdown application
- Xarchiver

NEW BUILT IN SCRIPTS
mloop - creates a spare loop and mounts a file system at /mnt/loop (brokenman)
save-changes - saves your changes to a specified path (fanthom)
rempkg - removes a package from a specified base module (brokenman)
extpkg - extracts a package from a base module or running porteus (brokenman)
modtools - module manipulation tools (brokenman)
porteusmodman - manage base modules (fanthom)

((END SLIDER FOR 32-bit changelog -- NEED CHANGELOG FOR 64-BIT))

Programs included in the Porteus ISO by default:

Sliders for each category, w/32 and 64 bit columns


Programs available from KDE/LXDE Menu: (Each category will get it's own slider with two columns - 32 bit and 64 bit)


64-bit
Development:
CMake
Diff/Patch Frontend


32-bit
Games:
Kastersoids
Kbounce
Kpoker
Patience card game
Kbattleship

32-bit
Graphics:
GPicview
KColorChooser
KRuler
KSnapshot
KView
KolourPaint

64-bit
Graphics:
Okular
GwenView
GPicView
KolourPaint
KSnapshot

32-bit
Internet:
Firefox
KNetAttach
KPPP
Konqueror
Kopete
Krdc
Wicd
KPPPLogview

64-bit
Internet:
wpa_gui
BlueDevil
KPPP
KNetAttach
Wicd
KRDC
Firefox (with flash)

32-bit
Multimedia
Beep
K3b
KAudioCreator
KMix
KPlayer
KRec
aRts Builder
aRts Control Tool

64-bit
Multimedia:
Qmmp
K3b
SMplayer
Kmix

32-bit
Office:
KOffice Workspace
KWord
KSpread
KPresenter
KFormula
KPDF
KWrite
Kate
Online Dictionary
KThesaurus
Kugar Designer

64-bit
Office:
Okular

32-bit
Settings:
Audio CD's
Configure the Panel
Customize Look and Feel
Desktop Settings Wizard
Menu Editor
Menu Updating Tool
Monitor Settings
Samba
Wallet Management Tool

64-bit
Settings:
Appearance
Monitor Settings

32-bit
System
Changes file creator
K3b Setup
KRandRTray
KSysGuard
Konsole
Language Selection Tool
Magic Folders Setup Tool
Manage Printing
Porteus Module Manager
Porteus-2-usb
Porteus-Encrypter
Porteus-FAQ
Porteus-Module-Tools
Porteus-Network-Setup-Tool
Porteus-System-Info
Power-Saver-Switch
Super User Mode - PCMan
Super User Mode - Terminal
Task Manager
Use Porteus Module

64-bit
System:
Language-Selection-Tool
Magic-Folders-Setup-Tool
Manage Printing
Nepomuk Backup
Porteus module manager
Porteus save.dat manager
Porteus-2-usb
Porteus-Encrypter
Porteus-FAQ
Porteus-Module-Tools
Porteus-Network-Setup-Tool
Porteus-System-Info
Power-Saver-Switch
Super User Mode - Dolphin
Super User Mode - PCMan
Super User Mode - Terminal
Dolphin (File Manager)
KInfo Center
KDE Partition Manager
Task Manager
KRandRTray
System Monitor
Konsole

64-bit
System Settings

32-bit
Utilities:
Ark
KCalc
KCharSelect
KJobViewer
KJots
Klipper
LXTerminal
Leafpad
PCMan
Xarchiver
KTimer

64-bit
Utilities:
Leafpad
Xarchiver
Ark
Klipper
SuperKaramba
KCalc
LXTerminal
KWrite

32-bit
Find Files/Folders
KDE Help Center
KDE Control Center

64-bit
Find Files/Folders

Command line tools/apps

32-bit
Command Line Tools (scripts):
porteus-module-tools
chkbase.sh
dir2xzm
fromdos/todos
xzm2dir
activate
deactivate
deb2xzm
extpkg
language-selection-tool
lzm2dir
lzm2xzm
magic-folders
mloop
modtools.sh
pns-tool
porteus-scripts
porteus-usb.sh
porteus-encrypter
porteusmodman
pxe-boot
psinfo
rpm2targz
save-changes
tgz2xzm
txz2xzm
update_module
xzm2dir

64-bit
Command Line Tools (scripts):
porteus-module-tools
chkbase.sh
dir2xzm
fromdos/todos
xzm2dir
activate
deactivate
deb2xzm
extpkg
language-selection-tool
lzm2dir
lzm2xzm
magic-folders
mloop
modtools.sh
pns-tool
porteus-scripts
porteus-usb.sh
porteus-encrypter
porteusmodman
pxe-boot
psinfo
rpm2targz
save-changes
tgz2xzm
txz2xzm
update_module
xzm2dir

32-bit
Command Line Apps:
??

64-bit
Command Line Apps:
??


If you would like to view a complete list of the packages included in Porteus, go here ((link to full package lists--https://porteus.org/component/content/a ... -v-10.html))

Anything else???
Last edited by Ahau on 13 Jun 2011, 16:50, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Fix the title error.
Please take a look at our online documentation, here. Suggestions are welcome!

User avatar
Hamza
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Posts: 1908
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 07:41
Distribution: Porteus
Location: France

Re: Porteus Features (v 1.0)

Post#2 by Hamza » 10 Jun 2011, 14:44

I fixed just an error in Title. It was Porteus Featurs (v 1.0).

Excellent Works !!!!
Thanks a lot!
NjVFQzY2Rg==

User avatar
Ahau
King of Docs
King of Docs
Posts: 1331
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 15:18
Distribution: LXDE & Xfce 32/64-bit
Location: USA

Re: Porteus Features (v 1.0)

Post#3 by Ahau » 14 Jun 2011, 16:18

I've put this up online as a tutorial in the General Info section:
http://porteus.org/info/docs/57-general ... -v-10.html

It looks a little neater there than my jumbled mess of text above.

Please take a look -- I'd still like suggestions from folks if they have more to add. Also, what do you guys think about moving this one from the "docs" section and making a link to it from the "Info" dropdown menu?
Please take a look at our online documentation, here. Suggestions are welcome!

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fanthom
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Posts: 5666
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 02:42
Distribution: Porteus Kiosk
Location: Poland
Contact:

Re: Porteus Features (v 1.0)

Post#4 by fanthom » 14 Jun 2011, 18:58

great job Ahau!
i have almost forgotten about some features (did not use v09 since ages). good memory refreshment :)

Thanks.
Please add [Solved] to your thread title if the solution was found.

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