Rolling Release Puppy based on Manjaro

[nubc]

Rolling release Puppy based on Manjaro 0.8.10 -Xfce or -Net (minimal). Develop the new Puppy derivative in beta until Manjaro 1.x comes out, probably in a couple years time.

Get Manjaro (download links to SourceForge)
http://manjaro.org/get-manjaro/

Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce 32-bit (1077 MB)
Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce 64-bit (1186 GB)

Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce-minimal 32-bit (613 MB)
Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce-minimal 64-bit (692 MB)

Manjaro 0.8.10 Openbox 32-bit (611 MB)
Manjaro 0.8.10 Openbox 64-bit (687 MB)

Manjaro 0.8.10 Net (Minimal) 32-bit (396 MB)
Manjaro 0.8.10 Net (Minimal) 64-bit (497 MB)

The NET edition of Manjaro provides a base installation without a pre-installed display manager, desktop environment, or any desktop software applications.

Invite your suggestions and comments on feasibility of rolling release Puppy.

[mavrothal]

A rolling release and any puppy-like system with a read-only core OS layer, are conceptually conflicting.
Unless the developer releases a new iso/delta every week/month, the OS will become soon a "full-install" with a huge savefile/folder, and even then updating kernels will be tricky. If no new iso/delta, almost every advantage that a puppy-like system has over a traditional OS, will be gone after few "rolling" months. A new iso/delta every week/month is not really the idea of a rolling release and I would be surprised to see a developer doing it for any time.

If you just want an Arch-based layered OS, try alphaOS.

[nubc]

You may be right, that many advantages of a frugal install Puppy would be lost with a rolling release. I use a full install, exclusively, so I won't venture an opinion. When you recommend Arch-based alphaOS, are you implying there is an architectural difference between Manjaro and alphaOS? If so, please specify what that difference is. I see that alphaOS is a liveCD with frugal install option. Obviously, I choose Arch-based Manjaro over the other fledgling Arch derivatives. Manjaro is well-organized, more stable than Arch, easy to use, supported, principled and popular. Manjaro is 19 on DistroWatch. (Puppy is currently 14 on DistroWatch. Ahem)

So then, maybe a full-install Puppy based on Manjaro Net (core) with Puppy apps on top. Maybe this derivative will be more Manjaro than Puppy. Manjaro Puppy rather than Puppy Manjaro, as it were. Might be good idea to ask for permission, if not blessing, from creators of Manjaro. For example, BlueSystems' Netrunner Rolling is enthusiastically promoted on the Manjaro website. (No surprise there as BlueSystems is the parent company of Manjaro.) Whatever apps are chosen for our Puppy derivative, we certainly want the Manjaro team to do most of the work.

Manjaro Kernel: Manjaro allows the use of multiple kernels.
https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Manjaro_Kernels

Manjaro is different from Arch.
https://blog.manjaro.org/index.php?titl ... d_of_Beast

Rolling Release Development Model (Manjaro wiki)
https://blog.manjaro.org/index.php?titl ... ment_Model

Rolling Release Development Model (wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_release

Point Release vs Rolling Release (developer, user, and security considerations)
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-sec ... derations/

Let's talk about the advantages of Puppy over a traditional OS. In fact, let's enumerate the qualities of Puppy that we want in this derivative, and try to meet these standards.
1. root user, no passwords or permissions required
2. small enough to run liveCD in RAM
3. complete set of apps to accomplish most tasks
4. liveCD doubles as rescue disk
5. excellent hardware detection despite small size
6. full range of connectivity options, including dial-up
7.
8.
9.

Maybe someone could summarize how our devs integrated Puppy with Ubuntu (Precise) and Slackware (Slacko). Would be helpful and educational.

Catchy names: RollOver Puppy, Rolling Puppy

[mavrothal]

(Puppy is currently 14 on DistroWatch. Ahem)

I'm afraid that when it comes to distrowatch Publish or Perish is equally valid. Puppy became "popular" at the time when Lucid, wary, racy, precise and slacko where co-produced and we had a new puppy almost every 2 months. The last year only slacko 5.7 was released. Under this conditions puppy is holding very well at 14...

So then, maybe a full-install Puppy based on Manjaro

You may want to convince BK out of retirement . His quirky 6 is the only puppy designed from the beginning to run as full install.

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
Comes with no DE or applications?
497mb? Of what???

[nubc]

The NET edition of Manjaro provides a base installation without a pre-installed display manager, desktop environment, or any desktop software applications.

Linux kernel, basic file system, drivers, command shell, install options, I guess.

Installation guide for Manjaro NET 0.8.2
https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?titl ... tion_0.8.2

Installing Manjaro Linux 0.8.3 64-bit NET Edition (YT video tutorial)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rg016q-i1A

[nubc]

The Manjaro website has a glitch/issue with Firefox, so that visitor gets redirected to Manjaro wiki. I can't fix the glitch in FF, so I am using Midori to access the Manjaro website. So then, here is the direct link to Manjaro 0.8.10 downloads at SourceForge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/manjaro ... se/0.8.10/
Ah, looking at the above page, I see there is a Xfce-minimal version in 32- and 64-bit.

Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce-minimal 32-bit (613 MB)
Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce-minimal 64-bit (692 MB)

[James C]

Still Arch but much more "puppysized" or at least closer.....

archbang-rc-2014.10.07-i686.iso (319.8 MB)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/archban ... o/download

Downloaded it today....k-3.16.4, Openbox,Opera 12.16,SpaceFM,Deadbeef,Leafpad......the basics anyway.

Code: Select all

[live@archbang ~]$ uname -a
Linux archbang 3.16.4-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Oct 6 08:23:49 CEST 2014 i686 GNU/Linux
[live@archbang ~]$ 

[nubc]

I couldn't get Archbang to boot when I tried it several months ago. Also the Archbang project is rinky-dink compared to Manjaro. Which project would you prefer to be upstream, providing updates, fixes, patches, and apps? But I like the size of Archbang. On the other hand, Manjaro requires two security passwords, one for user/superuser and another for root. Also has LibreOffice by default. Plenty of fat to trim.

I installed Manjaro Xfce 0.8.10 64-bit today. The install interface was ncurses, been a while since I used ncurses. I tried to set up partitions like I would do for a Puppy install, but the installation stalled while unsquashing system files. So I tried again, with success, letting Manjaro control the partitioning. Manjaro wants a separate /boot partition, sda1, sized 164 MB minimum. Next partition is Linux Swap, sda2. Third partition is / (root), sda3, and finally sda4 is /home. Plus 2.49 MB unallocated space at the end of the drive. Note that this arrangement uses all 4 of 4 available primary partitions. Any dual boot will require the use of extended partition(s).

/dev/sda1 ext2 /boot (518 MiB)
/dev/sda2 linux-swap (1.47 GiB)
/dev/sda3 ext3 / (30.2 GiB)
/dev/sda4 ext3 /home (116.8 GiB)

As I said, the first try to install Manjaro failed, so I wanted to set up partitions using GParted. I didn't find GParted in the Manjaro menu tree, so I booted up Fatdog64-630. Didn't boot: kernel panic. Also tried Slacko 5.5, same thing, kernel panic. Tried Manjaro Openbox, kernel panic. So the only OS that has booted this computer, so far, is Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce, which is, after all, the "default" version of Manjaro. Great, but there was a problem. The menu tree was sorely lacking in configuration apps. Then I noticed a scroll bar on the right side of the menu tree. Ah, Settings and System headings are playing hide&seek behind and below the taskbar, I wonder if that is planned, hiding Settings and System to keep newbies from messing up the system. I mean, that's what the root password is for, to keep me from messing myself, right. Anyway, user can drag the menu tree up, to make Settings and System headings visible again. It wouldn't have mattered if I could find GParted in the menu tree, because it was protected by an unknown password for root. Workaround: make a new password for root, which action requires user/superuser password.

Code: Select all

# sudo passwd root

I experienced the same clock error as I had with Linux Mint, where the clock was 4 hours ahead of local time. BTW, you should close the Manjaro Welcome screen better sooner than later because I believe it causes a script error that freezes everything.

[nubc]

My box: Asus A8V SE Deluxe, Athlon 3000+ (2000 MHz) 64-bit, 1.5 GB DDR, 150 GB Seagate Baracuda, Samsung combo; purchased at yard sale for $5 USD (trophy box!)

- Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce 64-bit booted to desktop successfully, installed to hdd successfully.
- Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce-minimal 64-bit did not boot up in a reasonable amount of time.
- Manjaro 0.8.10 NET 64-bit booted to login prompt successfully.
- Manjaro 0.8.10 Openbox 64-bit experienced kernel panic.
- ArchBang rc2014.10.07 64-bit booted to desktop successfully. Didn't like the choice of apps on ArchBang.
- Manjaro Xfce's default mediaplayer is VLC. Good choice!

And the winners are...tada...Manjaro 0.8.10 Xfce, Manjaro 0.8.10 NET, and ArchBang rc2014.10.07 Openbox.

[nubc]

Manjaro 0.8.10 reviews (YouTube videos)

Matthew Moore, Manjaro Linux 16:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxXMpO7SycA

Matthew Moore, Manjaro Linux, Update (bug fixes) 17:38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4simcmjYQ4

Spatry, Manjaro 0.8.10 Roundup (Xfce, Openbox, KDE, MATE) 42:04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POKxjp49-bs

Spatry, Manjaro Mania: ADVANCED XFCE TWEAKS 26:46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-2KPrzIwao

Jeff Linux Turner, Manjaro XFCE My Thoughts 18:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU6M-qxGdi0

Das Gregor, Manjaro 0.8.10 XFCE Edition 64 bit Second Glance 16:56
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_N89NTAVY8

Linux Help Guy, Manjaro 8 10 XFCE 12:56
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMmFY0NoZc

Matthew Moore, Manjaro Cup of Linux Edition v0.8.10 15:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biUyrH9hjdo

[nubc]

Manjaro is pronounced Mahnyahro, which is the German j as in "ja", not the Spanish pronunciation of j as h. I was just reading distro introduction and philosophy on the Manjaro Forum, where project leader PhilM welcomes and encourages participation from other distros. There are already two "distrolets" (spinoffs) based on Manjaro, Sonar and Netrunner Rolling. A Puppy dev in charge of the derivative would definitely need to be a member of the Manjaro Forum, where I get the sense that his Puppy-specific feedback would be welcome. I don't know exactly how Puppy devs whittle down the core of another distro to less than 100 MB, but if devs can do this with Ubuntu and Slackware, I'm sure they can do it with Manjaro NET (core). With all due respect to mavrothal, I'm not entirely convinced that a rolling release base necessarily precludes the frugal install Puppy. And if there is someone out there who would care to entertain the possibility of rolling release frugal install, I would appreciate some ideas, as I know very little about the frugal install. What I do know is that it is a royal PITA to keep up with Firefox updates on Puppy. It's not necessary to suggest the obvious, that user set up a dual boot of Puppy and Manjaro. That kind of solution is not the reason I started this thread. I am concerned about maintaining the Puppy capability of being small enough to run in RAM. And I still hope there is an outside-the-box solution to the frugal install option. Perhaps a longer cycle before updates are applied, or a frequent snapshot type upgrade (eg, PCLOS Live USB creator), or a rolling release for selected apps only. I believe there was at least one member of the Manjaro Forum, probably a dev, who was making frequent snapshot ISO images of Manjaro (every couple days).

[nubc]

DistroWatch Weekly (10-13-04) Feature Story: Rolling-Release testing, by Jesse Smith
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue ... 13#feature

Install bare-bones Arch Linux, step-wise procedure
http://meekgonkey.blogspot.com/2013/07/ ... stall.html

Arch Linux custom install by Lifehacker
http://lifehacker.com/5680453/build-a-k ... he-process

[nubc]

Manjaro 0.8.11 has been released.
http://manjaro.org/2014/12/01/manjaro-0-8-11-released/
(The above link may not work correctly in Firefox/Seamonkey, so try Opera or Midori.)

direct link to Manjaro 0.8.11 downloads at SourceForge
http://sourceforge.net/projects/manjaro ... se/0.8.11/

DistroWatch announcement
"Phil Müller has announced the release of Manjaro Linux 0.8.11, the latest update of the Arch Linux-based distribution featuring the Xfce and KDE desktops: "We are happy to announce the final release of Manjaro Linux 0.8.11. The Xfce edition remains our flagship offering and has received the attention it deserves. Few can claim to offer such a polished, integrated and leading-edge Xfce experience. We ship components from the Xfce 4.11 series after having tested them in-house, ensuring suitability for everyday use. This edition now uses LightDM for login management, display locking and user switching, including custom integration for Xfce. Spearheaded by the Turkish Manjaro community, our KDE edition continues to deliver this powerful, mature and feature-rich desktop environment with a unique look-and-feel and with the perks of Manjaro's latest tools." Here is the release announcement with screenshots. Download: manjaro-kde-0.8.11-x86_64.iso (1,481MB, SHA256), manjaro-xfce-0.8.11-x86_64.iso (1,377MB, SHA256)."

[AbdelAziz]

You may try Manjaro with LXQT
http://sourceforge.net/projects/manjaro ... T/2014.06/
manjaro-lxqt-0.8.10-i686.iso 773.8 MB
manjaro-lxqt-0.8.10-x86_64.iso 890.2 MB

Also Manjaro is based on Arch, there was a puppy based on Arch.