New Website

All posts from any of my blogs are now moved to my website. As well, I actually update it. Often. Usually bi-weekly (once every 2 weeks, not twice every week.)

Blogging again!

K so I'm back.


First off, Ubuntu 9.04 is coming, yay? Indeed, looking forward to it. Kernel updates, software updates, we're good to go! I'll have some new hardware to stick this baby on in a couple of weeks, and now to the meat of this post: Autoback 1.0.1. An app to backup your pc.

Download it here, and install. Follow the instructions on the post.
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=148&t=23646

PS> I wrote the app, so it's safe.

Install Debian from Pendrive

Okay, here's the low-down.

Needed:

8 Gb Flashdrive & Debian (full); or
4 GB Flashdrive & Debian (mini or net)

I'll use instructions for full.

First off (assuming you're using an Ubuntu based distro) type in:
sudo apt-get install syslinux

this will install syslinux.

Then type:
sudo su root
mkntfs /dev/sd(x)1 - ('x' is the location of the drive (usually 'b'))
syslinux /dev/sdb1

Next, you need to extract some files. Using file-roller, open the Debian ISO (I'm using Lenny). Go to the directory "/install.386" and extract "initrd.gz", "vmlinuz", and the directory "GTK" to the root of your flash drive.

On the root of the drive, and make a new file called "syslinux.cfg". Then add the line:

default vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.gz ramdisk_size=10240 root=/dev/rd/0 devfs=mount,dall rw DEBCONF_PRIORITY=medium


Then the final step, just copy your iso to the root of the drive.

That should be it. Hope this helps.

Updates & Stuff

Alright, as you may or may not've heard, I was making a distro. Still am, and I have a feeling that this may take a long time (~5 months). Anyhow, after that I still have to do an installer. I decided that I can't just leave it like other distro's (cdlinux anyone?). So, that being said, I'll prolly use the ReactOS or Arch Linux installer. As well, I guess I'll need an autoconfig script too, so, if anyone happens to know how to and is willing, email me! And the spec's changed too.

72 Mb Ram (8mb onboard video)
4 GB HDD (Again prolly way less, ~400Mb hoping)

And that should do it.

News:

I am using Linux From Scratch, so I will build using the lates GCC and G++ and then after that after X.Y.0 release I will do an update, but it should for the most part be a rolling distro.

LFS - Custom Distro

Ever get tired of Linux distro's that just don't do what you want them to (Probably not). Well sometimes I do, so it has motivated me to make a custom distro. So, I guess I may as well show what I'm gonna do, hey?

Well, first off, it's just at the concept right now. I've downloaded VirtualBox, so now I can make the distro without having to logout. Here are the basics for it:

It's going to be a very light distro. Now here's what seperates it from Puppy Linux or DSL. It doesn't have a goal. It's going to be a rolling distro (Core stays the same, everything else upgrades). It's not designed to be under a certain size or run on whatever, just it needs to be light, fast, and do everyday desktop things, such as email, msn, ipod, music, pictures, etc. So, that will be included.

As far as computer specs, since it's being designed in a Fake Computer with the specs of:

128 Mb Ram
8Gb Hard Drive
8Mb onboard video

You should have no problem with those specs, and possibly only ~1.5Gb of hard drive space.

Installing:
Well, that may take a bit more. The system will be ISO'd, and then you'll have to extract it to the drive via a different Linux distro (doesn't matter which), then edit your partition records manually in order to get it to work. But other than that, it should be pretty easy.

Anyhow, look forward to it :-)

Jaunty Jackalope

The next Ubuntu. Read a post the Mark Shuttleworth.

As we approach the launch of Ubuntu 8.10, it's time to create space for
future plans, and so I'm writing to introduce you to The Jaunty
Jackalope.
Jaunty, the code name for what will most likely become Ubuntu
9.04, will be the focus of our efforts from November through to April next year.
We will be gathering forces in Mountain View on 8th - 12th December to survey
the upstream landscape and finalize Jaunty plans, enjoying the excellent
hospitality of Google and Silicon Valley's abundance of talent and innovation.
The Ubuntu Developer Summit is the social and strategic highlight of each
release cycle and it would be a great pleasure to welcome you there. Jono Bacon
has written up a guide (http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=1278)
to sponsorship for those who would have a substantial amount to offer at the
Summit.

The Warrior Rabbit is our talisman as we move into a year where we
can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to consumers
who can reasonably expect the software experience to be comparable to those of
the traditional big OSV's - Microsoft and Apple. The bar is set very high, and
we have been given the opportunity to leap over it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime
chance to shine, and we want to make sure that the very best thinking across the
whole open source ecosystem is reflected in Ubuntu, because many people will
judge free software as a whole by what we do.

There are some specific goals that we need to meet in Jaunty. One
of them is boot time. We want Ubuntu to boot as fast as possible - both in the
standard case, and especially when it is being tailored to a specific device.
The Jackalope is known for being so fast that it's extremely hard to catch, and
breeds only when lightning flashes. Let's see if we can make booting or resuming
Ubuntu blindingly quick.

Another goal is the the blurring of web services and desktop
applications. "Is it a deer? Is it a bunny? Or is it a weblication - a desktop
application that seamlessly integrates the web!" This hare has legs - and horns
- and we'll be exploring it in much more detail for Jaunty. We have already laid
some foundations for weblications in the online services discussions that took
place in Prague, but since we fully expect those services to ship in 9.04 the
discussion will be that much more intense in Mountain View.

Those bizarre-but-fearsome antlers might well remind one of the
intricate pattern of collaboration between developers in a distributed version
control system. So it's fitting that Jaunty will see us move all of Ubuntu into
Bazaar. For the first time, any developer will be able to branch any Ubuntu
package with a single bzr command, publish their changes, and perhaps even
publish builds of that package in their own Package Archive. We will also make
the developer community structure of Ubuntu much richer - in addition to MOTU
and core-dev, we are introducing ways for developers to participate in specific
applications, either at the package-upload level or at the version-control
level. Whatever your level and specialisation of interest, we'll make sure that
you can participate accordingly.

December's UDS is likely to be packed full of interesting people
and ideas. I very much look forward to seeing everyone there. "There he goes!
That way!"

Delete the MBR

Okay, if you're anything like me, you like to mess around with your pc. Not just a bit, but turn it into an unbootable slop that requires hours (which turns in to less as you get more experienced) of work to repair. So, this is just a little fix. Suppose letsay, that you don't have a DVD burner. And you want to download a 4.1Gb file who's name happens to be openSUSE 11. So, earlier I bought an 8Gb pendrive, succesfully installed Ubuntu 8.04 and then messed it up by formating it later. Now the MBR is all screwed up, and I need to get rid of it so:

Linux-based solution:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hd(x) bs=512 count=1 - This deletes your MBR completely! At own risk!

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=446 count=1 - This just zero's your MBR, and you keep it.

Remember, you must be logged in as root ('sudo su root' for Ubuntu & variants, 'su' for everything else)

(x) is where your HDD is. 'a' is located at / and 'b', and 'c' are usually USB drives.