antiX 23.2 - a highly capable update to the antiX 23 release!

The antiX 23.2 Full runit image has been made available for testing; with a few minor changes it will be ready for an update release.

As is always the case, I am using this test release; it may become the release, depending on how many changes are required.

antiX 23.1, my every day Linux distribution

 According to https://antixlinux.com/blog/ 

"antiX-23.1 (Arditi del Popolo) is a bug-fix release based on Debian bookworm."

"As usual we offer the following completely systemd-free and elogind-free flavours for both 32 and 64 bit architecture. Available iso files for sysVinit or runit.

antiX-full (c1.7GB) – 4 windows managers – IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and herbstluftwm plus full libreoffice suite. x64 versions come with 2 kernels. Legacy 5.10 and Modern 6.1." 

In addition:

"antiX-base (c1GB) – 4 windows managers – IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and herbstluftwm.

antiX-core (c520MB) – no X, but should support most wireless.

antiX-net (c220MB)- no X. Just enough to get you connected (wired) and ready to build.

(If using core or net versions, to connect to the Internet, you might need to type as root user ifup eth0 or ifup eth1 or if using core – type ceni)

The 32 bit version uses a non-pae kernel.

Note: After installation of antiX-23.1_x64-full editions, the default kernel will be Modern 6.1 even if Legacy 5.10 was booted during the live boot.

* Based on Debian 12 (Bookworm), but without systemd/libsystemd0 and elogind/libelogind0.
* eudev instead of udev
* Customised 5.10.197 kernel
* Customised 6.1.60 kernel (x64 full only)
* libreoffice 4:24.2.0-1
* firefox-esr 115.8.0esr-1 on antiX-full
* seamonkey 2.53.18.1 on antiX-base
* claws-mail
* cups for printing
* pipewire/wireplumber on full editions
* alsa on base and core editions
* xmms -for audio
* celluloid and mpv – for playing video
* smtube – play youtube videos without a using a browser
* qpdfview – pdf reader
* arc-evopro2-theme-antix
* App Select – Much more than a launcher app.
* User Language – set up localisation of popular apps eg Libreoffice

* No snaps (systemd) and no flatpaks (elogind)!"

 

antiX: A Featureful Lightweight Linux

 Reviewed by Howard Fosdick © 2024, originally posted at RexxInfo.org, under open license CC BY-ND 4.0.

Have an older desktop? An underpowered laptop? antiX might just be your ticket to turn that aging machine into a useful rig.

As a lightweight Linux, antiX is also useful for rolling your own distro, building a dedicated server, or creating a bootable live USB.

I've found it handy as a portable tool I carry about on its own USB memory stick. antiX is so small it leaves plenty of room for user data on the stick. Yet it includes all the apps you need for typical laptop or desktop work.

The antiX home page defines the product as:

"... a fast, lightweight and easy to install systemd-free linux live CD distribution based on Debian Stable for Intel-AMD x86 compatible systems.

antiX offers users the “antiX Magic” in an environment suitable for old and new computers. So don’t throw away that old computer yet!"

antiX 23.1 init-diversity

If you look up init-diversity on the Internet you are likely to see various things.

Perhaps because of my posting history, my searches come up with forum messages about the versions of antiX that user @ProwlerGr has contributed recently to the team.

I found the @ProwlerGr blog at https://archive.org/details/antix-23.1_init-diversity-edition_UNOFFICIAL_20240302 that references the March 2, 2024 version of the init-diversity distribution.

https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/antix-23-1_init-diversity-edition-sysvinit-runit-s6-rc-s6-66/ references this same thing and https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/antix-23-1_init-diversity-edition-sysvinit-runit-s6-rc-s6-66/page/16/#post-135277 is the specific post for the newest antiX version of this work; there is also a Devuan and MX Linux variation of this effort; for me personally I prefer the antiX work, but I'm thankful for everything that ProwlerGr has done to demonstrate and share these capabilities!

Popcorn, UNIX brain storming, System V, BSD, then Linux!

 Glad there are a few people who can see my blog. Maybe it’s time to write something recent and current on it.

As far as writing, not only have I written a few blogs, over twenty years ago I was published a few times. Extreme Tech had a Linux distribution review series for a while back in the early 2000s and I wrote for them twice. I think I also wrote a few articles in Linux Review and maybe one or two elsewhere.

My longtime friend, dating clear back to 1985 in Merrimack, NH, Jon “maddog” Hall used to write books and magazine articles about Linux. The most recent article I read from him was only four years ago, so it’s possible that he STILL writes – this one was called “Maddog’s Doghouse @LinuxProMagazine.com. In fact, Jon specifically mentions “In 1986, I took a VAX computer with Ultrix-32 down to Richard Stallman so the GNU project could port its software to Ultrix”.

Around that same time, Jon and I ran into one another several times in the afternoon next to the popcorn maker near a coffee station. There, we’d share our ideas. I happened to be a member of Digital’s Telecommunications Systems Engineering Group, and we would sponsor development groups to write device drivers for new PDP and VAX systems in order that AT&T divisions and spin-off companies could run genuine UNIX System V on Digital Equipment computers. John wanted to go further than that: he wanted to unify features from BSD based UNIX systems, which Ultrix-16, Ultrix-32m and Ultrix-32 were at the time; that vision resulted in Digital UNIX; we both worked in that organization in the middle nineties, but by that time, both of us realized that large server systems were on the way out, to be replaced by Intel and AMD hardware running Linux! Naturally that was NOT a popular point of view, because about $200-300 Million per year was invested in each of Digital’s operating system groups; layered software products also had significant product investments.

It didn’t take very long; by the end of the first decade in 2000s, while UNIX wasn’t gone, it certainly was no longer bringing in a 20-30% or greater market. Even by 2000, many major companies, particularly IBM and Hewlett Packard, and later Dell, were bringing in 20-39% of their total server revenue from their Linux server business; desktop Linux never exceeded 1-2% ever, but when Google released Chrome at the beginning of the next decade, after making huge strides with their search engines in the early 2000s, that put Linux software squarely in both server and desktop configurations, though not always directly; Google stuff used Linux KERNEL components, not Linux-based window or desktop configurations.

Today, we have all kinds of stuff that has either a UNIX or Linux derived kernel; Apple products use system kernels derived from BSD-based UNIX kernels. Google still uses parts of the Linux kernel in many of their products. Automation manufacturers and automotive applications often put UNIX or Linux derived components into their software firmware that goes into many of their devices. Software from both UNIX and Linux communities, and also Linux-like code even in real time systems, is much more common than it was twenty or more years ago. Why completely reinvent something when you can use or reuse it? Some companies that want to copy WITHOUT acknowledging or recognizing the original source CAN sometimes do that with a BSD-based license, whereas that is never possible with Linux – you CAN use it, but you MUST cite the Linux license, which is the sticking point and why it’s not used even more.

I bring up the past and this history because all that is going on has evolved from the work that has taken place. The contested software licensing between 1984 and the period between 1989 and 1991 led to at LEAST four distinct branches that sought to protect themselves from AT&T or other expensive kernel licenses, which could be $3000 (on an individual small computer), or much more on larger servers at that time. With the cost of hardware plummeting, that was a major incentive to develop cooperative free licensed software. FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD were three BSD-based free approaches. Apple poached from parts of these; Linux, at nearly the same time, was written because those non-Microsoft licenses were prohibitive, as was Microsoft Xenix (the Unix license they once sold themselves). Torvolds couldn’t afford buying one; that’s what led him to write his initial simple kernel and share it.

Hall became familiar with all of these activities and sought to get Digital much more involved; he pretty much did so without much help and it eventually happened; once HP bought Digital some of the big companies finally realized that Linux in almost any form could be profitable; the servers were still definitely the main money makers, but as Google helped others see, there are MANY different ways to make money; the best way is to get into as many of them as possible, which has clearly taken place.

As for what we do, we carve our own niche; it’s not a money maker; it’s a money saver for those who are keeping old hardware alive.

Ungoogled Chromium

  Ungoogled Chromium

"A lightweight approach to removing Google web service dependency"

Objectives

In descending order of significance (i.e. most important objective first):

1. ungoogled-chromium is Google Chromium, sans dependency on Google web services.
2. ungoogled-chromium retains the default Chromium experience as closely as possible. Unlike other Chromium forks that have their own visions of a web browser, ungoogled-chromium is essentially a drop-in replacement for Chromium.
3. ungoogled-chromium features tweaks to enhance privacy, control, and transparency. However, almost all of these features must be manually activated or enabled.

antiX 23 releases

 The antiX project continues to grow and offer a variety of choices.

For the antiX 23 release, there are four distinct release choices:

1) antiX-full (c1.7GB) – 4 windows managers – IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and herbstluftwm plus full libreoffice suite. x64 versions come with 2 kernels. Legacy 5.10 and Modern 6.1.

2) antiX-base (c1GB) – 4 windows managers – IceWM (default), fluxbox, jwm and herbstluftwm.

3) antiX-core (c520MB) – no X, but should support most wireless.

4) antiX-net (c220MB)- no X. Just enough to get you connected (wired) and ready to build.

These four choices have iso files for sysVinit or runit.

They are also available for 32-bit or 64-bit systems, so there are a total of sixteen images available.

Known issues.

IMPORTANT IF INSTALLING GRUB TO UEFI/ESP

Before installing
sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade
This will update the gui and cli installers and bring in missing efivar and efibootmgr

Alternatively,
sudo apt update && sudo apt install efivar efibootmgr

antiX-23.1 will have this fixed

On antiX-base versions:

1. the browser may not open from the menu or toolbar/taskbar.
Fix: Open Control Centre > Preferred Applications > Web-browser > Select first SeaMonkey option > Apply

2. ps_mem.py tool doesn’t open
Fix: sudo apt install python-is-python3

Also, The default repos for antiX and Debian are reported to be extremely slow.

Use Repo-Manager in full versions or manually edit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list to a more reliable one.