What do we need in a modern operating system?

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quotaholic
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Re: What do we need in a modern operating system?

Post by quotaholic »

While the compression format is the same it does not mean that any tar.gz format will install in slackware. A Slackpackage is a tgz file that is a prebuilt binary that can install on any slackware system. This is the root of how their package manager slackpkg works. There are tutorial out there on how to make a slackbuild. These are scripts that can make tgz files frovided you have all build tools and the source code for the oackage in question.

Their newest "current" snapshot installs at just over 400 megs with gui so it is much bigger then previous versions. I have not played with it much

quote
serialjoepsycho
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Re: What do we need in a modern operating system?

Post by serialjoepsycho »

my understanding of tgz2pet is to convert tar.gz slackware packages into pet packages or you can decompress and use another thing called dir2pet. I read somewhere that 90% of slackware packages work with puppy with no intervention on the users part but there is  some kind of compatibility layer to add to cover any missing dependencies on the part of those packages.
quotaholic
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Re: What do we need in a modern operating system?

Post by quotaholic »

The tricky part is the "slackware packages".

To make a slackware package we need a slackware box with build tools installed that lines up with the kernel version of the target hardware. The only way I have been successful in making a slackware package is to head over to slackbuilds.org and get a premade template for the package you are looking to convert. From there one needs the source code and then by running the script we get a .tgz file from source code or tar.gz.

I do not know enough about code to be able to make my own slack-builds or slackware packages. Thus when it comes to the penmount calibration utility, we are not going to be able to make a slackware package out of it as there are no templates for it on slackbuilds.org.

Besides that i dont think penmount will allow that to take place. They are not in to letting others bundle their software. On top of that puppy uses weird kernel versions for their releases. The only slackware kernel that includes the acpi atlas button controller needed for working buttons is in kernel 2.6.29 I dont think puppy is even close to that kernel.

Bottom line we would have better luck writing the developers of puppy and asking for this and the acpi atlas button controller to be included in the image. While its "just" a matter of getting the touchscreen to work, if the company making the needed code does not want that code integrated in anyones binary releases then the word "just" takes on new and nearly impossible meaning.

quotaholic
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Re: What do we need in a modern operating system?

Post by david_halliday »

I actually attempted to install the package manually, that is I extracted the files, found the kernel modules and XOrg drivers, added these to the necessary system files and bingo. Big fat error about the XOrg version being incompatible with the Penmount driver on Puppy 421

I also tried the open source touch screen drivers, they installed and the kernel device in /dev output stings similar to the strings I would expect to see but the calibration was way off. (almost random)

Puppy 5 was even more problematic as it did not even boot into graphics, it seems to have a major problem with the graphics drivers but it is still very much a beta version. I posted it on the Puppy forums.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 2&start=60

I have not given up but have not worked on it in over a month, as I said earlier my twin boys are taking all my time at the moment.

Dave.
serialjoepsycho
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Re: What do we need in a modern operating system?

Post by serialjoepsycho »

damn.
quotaholic
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Re: What do we need in a modern operating system?

Post by quotaholic »

I am a little late with this but here is more info on tgz's

Taken from

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/installpkg-of-a-.tgz-file-results-in-a-broken-partial-install-744849/

Files that end in .tar.gz are almost always source packages that you have to compile into a binary program, and are never installable Slackware packages. You would need to use a Slackbuild or similar system to turn that source package into something you could actually install on your system.
Taken from further down the same page:
Let's clarify in terms of Slackware:

The tar.gz extension means "A bunch of stuff, usually source-code, tarred into a pile, called a tarball, and then compressed with gzip"

A .tgz or .txz extension usually implies a "compiled, already built, package ready for installation into Slackware. It isn't source-code, it's compiled binaries, config files, etc."

Hence my mentions that one needs a slackware box running the same kernel for the intended hardware. While its possible to throw in a switch that identifies a previous kernel version I would feel more comfortable lining up the kernels. Slackbuilds.org is the place to go to get "templates" or slackbuilds. These, combined with the tar.gz of the source code will make a .tgz file for you. The needed ingredient is the template or the slackbuild script.

For more information on slackbuilds"

http://www.slackwiki.org/SlackBuild_Scripts


In the form of long distance goals I hope to make a slackware based live image that is targeted for the DT. I just installed an emulator environment and axed out a partition as the build area. Congrats Dave on your new arrivals. I can identify with not having time. If I wasnt building a website as a paying gig on top of moving in 3 weeks I would have time to dedicate to this. On my current pace I will sit down to start on this image around the holidays. There are too many tiny slackware based live distro's out there. Makes me think its easy to do.
Last edited by quotaholic on Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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