SparkyLinux Forums

Development => Plans for the future => Topic started by: pavroo on January 21, 2015, 02:49:38 PM

Title: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on January 21, 2015, 02:49:38 PM
New 2015 year started already so it's time to make plans.

Releases for 2015:

4.0 - 25th Of June
4.1 - 25th of September
4.2 - 21st of December

To do:
1. Keep moving all sparky tools to the sourceforge git repos - done
2. Merge 'sparky-remastersys' and 'sparky-backup-sys' into a one tool to be used by devs and lets users to make others spins - done
3. Rebuid efi images and add EFI support for 32 bit machines  - under development (MoroS) - done
4. Replace LXDE and Razor-Qt Editions into LXQt - done - not repladed, but LXQt added; so LXDE and LXQt available, Razor-Qt dropped
5. Due to changes in LXDE - replace LXDE for Xfce(?) in GameOver edition ? - not needed yet, GameOver still with LXDE
6. Keep building Enlightenment packages to provide the freshes E versions.
7. Re-Branding - done
8. Users Wiki - under development http://sparkylinux.org/wiki

Razor-Qt spin will be dropped for sure, but I am not sure about LXDE.
Other suggestions leave under this topic so we can talk about that.

Debian Jessie will be stable this year so Sparky should change its numbering from 3 to 4.
We need a new code name as well !
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: 0dder0tter on January 22, 2015, 01:41:32 AM
I'll use this reply as a bit of an introduction ...

I would like to see the documentation -- user guides, FAQ, tutorials, that sort of thing -- expand for Sparky in 2015. In that vein, pavroo and I have been exchanging ideas through email. We've talked about setting up a wiki, so hopefully that will happen soon and maybe some people will feel motivated to contribute to it!

My name is Mark and I'm a US citizen. I work in the IT field at a small college (only Windows, unfortunately) and have some experience writing documentation for Linux. I've been using Linux since around '98 but have not always owned a computer during that time, so don't let the fact that I started with Linux 15+ years ago fool you into thinking I'm an expert.  :) For the vast majority of that time I've used Debian or a Debian-based distro and Enlightenment has been my favored GUI for ~5 years.

That's all for now. I'm open to any ideas anyone has for docs/wiki/guides/etc.

mark
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on January 23, 2015, 02:40:37 PM
Quote from: pavroo on January 21, 2015, 02:49:38 PM
3. Rebuid efi images and add EFI support for 32 bit machines
Under development. ;)

Quote from: pavroo on January 21, 2015, 02:49:38 PM
6. Keep building enlightenment packages to provide the freshes E versions.
I'm thinking about (and currently designing) a port-based system for Sparky (for internal use) to ease our tasks in building custom packages. It'll be something similar to Arch's pacman and Gentoo's portage, but a lot simpler. We don't need that level of complexity (at least not now). Basic features I've been thinking about:
I'm quite laze when it comes to building everything, so I want to have a system that'll require only modifying metadata and issuing a command or two. Pavroo, your experiences in building E packages will be quite valuable here. :)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: The Black Pig on January 27, 2015, 11:10:22 PM
Merge 'sparky-remastersys' and 'sparky-backup-sys' into a one tool to be used by devs and lets users to make others spins - done
Is this now available ? if so how do we install ?
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on January 28, 2015, 12:10:23 AM
It's done already:
http://sparkylinux.org/sparky-backup-system-20150119/
It can be used from a command line or fully automatically via a gui.
Simply install/upgrade sparky-backup-sys up to version 20150119 (changed numbering from 0.x.x to a date).
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: The Black Pig on January 28, 2015, 10:27:25 AM
 8)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: Nimsy on February 10, 2015, 09:11:35 AM
Quote[I'm thinking about (and currently designing) a port-based system for Sparky (for internal use) to ease our tasks in building custom packages. It'll be something similar to Arch's pacman and Gentoo's portage, but a lot simpler. We don't need that level of complexity (at least not now). Basic features I've been thinking about:

  • Dependency management - download and install required *-dev packages or, if required, build dependencies prior to building the target package
  • Build management - handle the few popular building systems available (autogen, configure, make, cmake or simple repackaging and compression)
  • DEB package creation - automatically create DEB packages from the built sources

I've actually been researching how to custom-compile Portage for my system.  There was a guide written for it about ten years ago.

See: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=125553. 

I don't know enough about writing or editing shell scripts to be able to poke at this on my own without quite a bit of trepidation.

But something that might make Sparky more cutting edge would be to figure out how to modernize this guide and include it as an option, particularly in the case of USE-flags.  I've been trying to figure out how to workaround the longstanding incompatibility with Wine and SSL/https.  The main inspiration behind wanting to solve this is to be able to play the Net-7 emulator for the old Earth & Beyond game, which requires being able to handle and accept an SSL.  Everything else works with Wine 1.6.2 to 1.7.33 (and presumably earlier than that).

However, ever since 'libgluezilla' disappeared (rather literally), it seems that Wine moved on without trying to replace it.

See:  http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wine
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: stevendupuis on February 13, 2015, 12:18:57 AM
Quote from: Nimsy on February 10, 2015, 09:11:35 AM
Quote[I'm thinking about (and currently designing) a port-based system for Sparky (for internal use) to ease our tasks in building custom packages. It'll be something similar to Arch's pacman and Gentoo's portage, but a lot simpler. We don't need that level of complexity (at least not now). Basic features I've been thinking about:

  • Dependency management - download and install required *-dev packages or, if required, build dependencies prior to building the target package
  • Build management - handle the few popular building systems available (autogen, configure, make, cmake or simple repackaging and compression)
  • DEB package creation - automatically create DEB packages from the built sources

I've actually been researching how to custom-compile Portage for my system.  There was a guide written for it about ten years ago.

See: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=125553. 

I don't know enough about writing or editing shell scripts to be able to poke at this on my own without quite a bit of trepidation.

But something that might make Sparky more cutting edge would be to figure out how to modernize this guide and include it as an option, particularly in the case of USE-flags.  I've been trying to figure out how to workaround the longstanding incompatibility with Wine and SSL/https.  The main inspiration behind wanting to solve this is to be able to play the Net-7 emulator for the old Earth & Beyond game, which requires being able to handle and accept an SSL.  Everything else works with Wine 1.6.2 to 1.7.33 (and presumably earlier than that).

However, ever since 'libgluezilla' disappeared (rather literally), it seems that Wine moved on without trying to replace it.

See:  http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wine

Hi ..
I'm going to take a look at the portage stuff (from your URL above). I've worked with the shell for a long time, and would like to modify / modernize it - initially to see if we get something a) thats workable, and b) actually repeatable.

I have some time over the next week to do some work on it, if no one objects. If someone else has the same thing in mind, let me know and maybe we can collaborate.

Regards,
Steve Dupuis
Ottawa, Canada
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: Nimsy on February 13, 2015, 04:06:18 AM
Definitely keep me posted, and even included, if possible.  :)

This is a project that I was fully willing to poke at for however long I needed, to teach myself any method of making it work.  :)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on February 13, 2015, 02:26:46 PM
Not so fast guys. I'm not making another Portage. ;)

I'm making a build system for releasing custom packages easily to the Sparky's repository, so that's a little different. It has a task of building and packaging some software packages with getting the needed dependecies installed for compilation time and removing them when done (and if they weren't installed manually). It's thought to ease the development work for us, not to provide a ports system to the community, although it'll be available to download from the code repository to poke around, once it's ready. :)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: Nimsy on February 13, 2015, 03:00:08 PM
I didn't suggest it as a replacement to what you were working on, MoroS. :)

But, for Linux-reliant gamers everywhere, it would be a majorly amazing thing.  There are quite a few games out there that create SSL issues.

So what I'm really suggesting, in all honesty, is for you and Pavroo to consider including the concept of it in a mainstream release (i.e. a variant of GameOver), if we're successful at getting it to work.  :)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on February 13, 2015, 04:53:46 PM
Quote from: Nimsy on February 13, 2015, 03:00:08 PM
There are quite a few games out there that create SSL issues.

That I haven't heard about yet. If you have some example links, then could you post them?

As for games on Debian/Sparky, there is the PlayDeb repository with a lot of them, so it might be worthwhile to check it out (and add support for enabling that repo perhaps?).

Maybe we should move this discussion to a separate thread? Pavroo?
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: Nimsy on February 13, 2015, 06:12:13 PM
I will definitely make a point to dig up some links when I have more time (I have too much stuff to do away from the computer, after I reply).

As I mentioned previously, my personally-primary inspiration is to get the Earth & Beyond Emulator up and running.  I used to be a part of the community there, many years ago.  It is more than a bit frustrating that there is that one little thing preventing me from rejoining them.  :P

There's a lot more potential for incorporating the concept of USE-flags besides configuring Wine to accept SSL, of course.  But if you search for "Wine SSL" - you might be surprised by how many topics come back about people struggling with the issue.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on February 14, 2015, 01:42:30 AM
Just I changed status for the question 1 for done - all sparky tools have been moved to git repo now.
Added new point No 7 - Re-Branding
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: drew on February 14, 2015, 06:08:38 AM
The sparky tools are great and should be in every user friendly distro.  ;)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on February 14, 2015, 12:25:20 PM
Mayby it's time to change the description and add 'user friendly' ? :)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: way12go on March 31, 2015, 06:37:59 PM
For almost 2 months I've been to my Elder Sister's house without the Broadband I've at home. I could barely use internet with the aid of the 2G internet dongle owned by my Sister.
So I returned on 29th afternoon around 2-3 PM and was constantly checking for Sparkylinux 4. Every month I pay whooping 1000 Rupees for internet. 10,000 per year ( 2 months free for lumpsum initial pay).

I guess I can't use this leftover bandwidth anymore. I get 15 MBps for first 40 GB and then 2 MBps unlimited. I only use this bandwidth to download Sparkylinux + updates + online streaming of videos. No other downloads what so ever.

So, FEB and MARCH bandwidth has been wasted.

I hope tomorrow April 1st I get to download Sparkylinux 4.

I'm absolute fan of Sparkylinux and I don't want to use any other Operating System or Linux Distribution.

I'm just worried that HP project Machine is releasing new Linux++ distro and later their own built from Scratch Carbon OS.

Also SteamOS is getting onto my nerves. Anyway I don't have gaming PC.

I'm looking for 8000 to 10,000 Rupees per month Job. Very very small job... Because of Paranoid Schizophrenia. I didn't finish BE Computer Engineering and Dual degree M.Sc Geology.

I just have +2 qualification.

When I've a job I will surely donate money to the amazing people of Sparkylinux.

Thanks friends.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on March 31, 2015, 09:31:37 PM
Hi way12go
Nice to see you back.
Sparky 4 will not be ready tomorrow for sure, but I own you and other Sparky users some explanations.

As you saw Sparky following Debian Jessie (still testing) so there are not big changes in repos by now.
I still wait for Jessie to be stable, Stretch become testing and some new packages will be moved to Strech repos such as kernel, base-files, and a few more.
Hope it will happen soon.

In this moment I polish sparky packages and sparky's environment as well as many small other things.
What I can do and probably I will - I'll upload one Sparky testing spin's iso to let you test it and report anything I missed, before the final version of 4.0 will be released.

On the other side, you don't need to wait and download a newer iso image, because Sparky use rolling model.
Ones installed can be working as long as your machine will do.
Simply keep it updated and follow instructions posted on forums or on the Sparky blog.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on March 31, 2015, 09:33:11 PM
Quote from: way12go on March 31, 2015, 06:37:59 PM
I hope tomorrow April 1st I get to download Sparkylinux 4.

Hi. The official timeline for Sparky 4 is... well, when Debian releases the next stable (which will cause a shift in their repositories: Testing becomes Stable, Unstable becomes Testing and so on). From there it's probably a few days to get new ISOs ready. That and getting everything stable on our side as such shifts often cause some problems for the existing installations. Anyway, there's no point in waiting to the next release, as Sparky is a rolling distro. Current installations will get updates as soon as new packages arrive. It's more like Arch or Gentoo model than Debian Stable or Ubuntu. We only version the ISOs to mark a major stage in Sparky's development, but as I said: existing installations get everything as soon as the user upgrades his/hers system. :)

EDIT: @Pavroo: Awww... You beat me to it. :P
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: Christoffer on March 31, 2015, 10:57:13 PM
I have a good code name!! Eh... what about... Stable Skunk? xD
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: way12go on April 01, 2015, 06:10:01 AM
Quote from: Christoffer on March 31, 2015, 10:57:13 PM
I have a good code name!! Eh... what about... Stable Skunk? xD

lol you got me.

Thanks to Sparky guys.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on April 01, 2015, 02:38:00 PM
Well, if it's not an April Fools joke, then Debian is set to release on April 25th. Sparky should follow a few days later. :)

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Debian-8.0-Jessie-Release-Date
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on April 01, 2015, 04:14:19 PM
And all updates should landed in Debian repos up to April 18.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: Christoffer on April 03, 2015, 11:27:12 AM
Quote from: MoroS on April 01, 2015, 02:38:00 PM
Well, if it's not an April Fools joke, then Debian is set to release on April 25th. Sparky should follow a few days later. :)

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Debian-8.0-Jessie-Release-Date

Quote from: pavroo on April 01, 2015, 04:14:19 PM
And all updates should landed in Debian repos up to April 18.

Sweet!
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on April 03, 2015, 02:49:03 PM
As I said I did.
Sparky 4.0 RC Openbox and LXDE is at LinuxTracker already and they flying away to SourceForge now.
If you find anything wrong simply post it at the forums, please.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on April 07, 2015, 01:03:41 AM
Just I updated:
- numbers/versions of Sparky 2015
- rebranding marked as done
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: ElQuia on April 25, 2015, 07:56:18 PM
Hi guys, a (maybe) noob question. I am on sparky razorqt i586 v3.6, use on three old machines.  I am VERY anxious about version 4.0, 

QUESTION: Will I have an upgrade path? I mean, seeing that razorqt will be no more? What are my options? will I have to full reinstall all machines?

THANKS  ;)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on April 25, 2015, 08:34:37 PM
Quote from: ElQuia on April 25, 2015, 07:56:18 PM
Hi guys, a (maybe) noob question. I am on sparky razorqt i586 v3.6, use on three old machines.  I am VERY anxious about version 4.0, 

QUESTION: Will I have an upgrade path? I mean, seeing that razorqt will be no more? What are my options? will I have to full reinstall all machines?

THANKS  ;)

Sure. Your upgrade path is just using APTus (or Synaptic, or apt-get, or whatever you use for upgrading your system). Sparky is a rolling distro, so whenever updates to 4.0 hit the repository, you'll just need to upgrade your current instalation. No need for reinstalling. :)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: ElQuia on April 25, 2015, 09:00:05 PM
Maybe I did not frase my question correctly, sorry  :-[ I wanted to know how to get LXQt and if on release of sparky 4.0 I will be able to upgrade 3.6 razorqt TO 4.0 lxqt ?
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on April 25, 2015, 09:22:14 PM
Quote from: ElQuia on April 25, 2015, 09:00:05 PM
Maybe I did not frase my question correctly, sorry  :-[ I wanted to know how to get LXQt and if on release of sparky 4.0 I will be able to upgrade 3.6 razorqt TO 4.0 lxqt ?

Well, we'll probably issue some kind of migration guide. It's only natural to do something like that when dropping some feature. Still RazorQT and LXQt are two different desktop environments, so the personal settings probably won't be migrated (we'll have to check it first). Still there won't be any reason for reinstalling, probably some package installing and removing, but that's that. ;)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: ElQuia on April 25, 2015, 09:30:06 PM
OK, that will be nice, another plus for sparky- Will wait for that, also, when 4 comes out I will be installing some x64 machines also  8)

Any ETA for 4.0 lxqt?
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on April 26, 2015, 12:21:26 AM
QuoteAny ETA for 4.0 lxqt?
No, it's not.
The LXQt spin will be released when be ready.
Mayby next month with all the sparky spins http://sparkylinux.org/whats-up-sparky/ or later, don't know yet. 
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on June 22, 2015, 01:16:22 AM
I have added users wiki on the 'to do' list and updated relase day of 4.0
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: tuqueque on June 22, 2015, 07:48:23 AM
Great! I'm waiting for 4.0 final version to test Sparky and maybe use it as my main distro from now on... Hopefully there will be a JWM version on release day.

Thank you for your hard work!
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on June 22, 2015, 11:25:42 AM
Point #3 should be marked as done if we're good with the EFI32 support (and I think we're good). Maybe we should just move the "done" points to the dev-wiki, leave the "to do" points here (and also add them to the dev-wiki, but leave them here also for quick reference) and add a link to it?
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on June 22, 2015, 12:43:49 PM
The #3 changed to done.
It's good idea to move the list to dev-wiki having it in one place.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: dhinds on June 27, 2015, 12:09:20 AM
Two Questions:

1.- When can I expect a version 4 of the Sparky Openbox Edition?

and

2.- How would the LXQt Edition run with the Xfce4-panel and some of it's widgets?

Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on June 27, 2015, 12:24:22 AM
1. I hope it'll be ready next week.
2. Add xfce4-panel to LXQt startup : LXQt Settings-> Session Manager-> Autostart
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: dhinds on June 27, 2015, 04:25:29 AM
Thanks Pavroo

I take it that means that no incompatibility exists.  Both LXQt and Xfce are modular in nature.
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: pavroo on June 27, 2015, 11:36:14 AM
Honestly I never tried to use a panel from one desktop to another.
There is only one way to find out...
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: MoroS on June 27, 2015, 03:40:46 PM
Quote from: pavroo on June 27, 2015, 11:36:14 AM
Honestly I never tried to use a panel from one desktop to another.
There is only one way to find out...
They're just different programs. Most probably one can run aside another without problems. :)
Title: Re: Plans for 2015
Post by: way12go on June 28, 2015, 10:10:24 AM
Quote from: tuqueque on June 22, 2015, 07:48:23 AM
Great! I'm waiting for 4.0 final version to test Sparky and maybe use it as my main distro from now on... Hopefully there will be a JWM version on release day.

Thank you for your hard work!

You have a old computer but it is technologically new enough so you can try any Sparkylinux iso with no problems whatsoever.