sidux-seminarix 2008-01

We are pleased to present to you today the first version of sidux-seminarix. This is a educational project that merges Seminarix with the base of sidux. Seminarix is aimed at schooling teachers as well as pupils with free and open software to make computer training in schools less costly and more effective. The project was initiated in March 2007 by Wolf-Dieter Zimmermann, who works in the education of students for a teaching credential. First based upon Kubuntu, sidux e.V. started to port it to sidux with the help of teachers and interested users. With sidux as a powerfull free and open Linux distribution the Seminarix project now has a fast, easy to maintain and always current base.

sidux-seminarix is enriched with a comprehensive amount of learning software from the realms of education, culture and science. It has a programstarter icon on the desktop for the educational part that will allow for the Linux newcomer, be they teacher or pupils, to access the software in an easy way and get acustomed with the system. The programstarter also easily enables the user to install further educational software that did not fit on the CD. Weblinks and further information eases up that process.

sidux-seminarix is not only a Live-CD but can also be installed side by side to an existing Windows installtion on a harddisk, or by itself on a harddisk or on other devices like an USB pendrive. For more information on these topics please refer to the sidux manual. Help is also available on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) in the sidux channel. An icon on your desktop takes you right there.

Users already working with sidux can easily add seminarix functionality by installing the packages throught the metapackage installer.

Release notes for Νυξ

"Νυξ" concentrates on KDE 3.5.9, the large changes implied by Kernel 2.6.24.4, the newly added "resolvconf" facilities to deal with DNS settings in combination with "Ceni" and our new build system for sidux. Furthermore a large number of individual functionality enhancements and bugfixes have been applied to the full package line up.

Talking about upstream development, kernel 2.6.24 has merged "i386" and "x86_64" as sub-architectures for the new generic "x86" architecture and offers support for further wireless lan devices like RealTek RTL8180L/ RTL8185, UVC video support for Logitech webcams, high resolution timers and dynamic ticks for amd64 systems. Especially these kernel related changes have imposed a number adaptions on sidux' kernel release process, which is now provided by packages closely following Debian's lead and are finally, accompanied by a number of GPL2 compatible external module packages, available through plain apt-get. Metapackages (please see introduction below) now easily allow selecting the required kernel support and keeping up to date with bug- and security fixes.

Another major topic has been the dissolution of the former "sidux" menu into the XDG compliant menu categories, which — in combination with the new SVG based artwork — allow for better compatibility with alternative window managers and desktop environments and have been a precondition for future KDE4 or potential GNOME or XFCE support. Likewise a number of packages have undergone major changes or been replaced by new approaches (like Ceni replacing netcardconfig) alltogether.

The release plan for further sidux releases in 2008 has been adapted accordingly (yes, this implies a hopefully shorter release cycle for Έρεβος).

Our special thanks go to the sidux art team and especially all mirror hosters for their efforts regarding sidux.

Now to the interesting topics, like what's on the menu for now:

Hints for hardware with non-free needs:

sidux contains only dfsg free software, so you'll probably want to add contrib/ non-free to your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list and ensure internet access. 

# See sources.list(5) for more information, especially
# Remember that you can only use http, ftp or file URIs
# CDROMs are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.
# The /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory provides a way to add sources.list
# entries in separate files that end with sources.list file.

# unstable
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free

# testing
# deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free

# experimental
# deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free

and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sidux.list:

The required firmware can be determined with the following device/ firmware enumeration or by using the newly developed fw-detect script (packaged in configure-networkcard).

We try to provide packages for legally redistributable firmware from our non-free repositories, but not all vendors allow this.

Hints for Upgraders:

sidux tries hard to provide seamless upgrade path for debian and sidux' own packages, nevertheless a few things remain that could be improved with manual interaction.

bash-completion

bash 3.1dfsg-9 has dropped /etc/bash_completion, which provides advanced completion information (like "apt-get i[tab]"), and split it out into a new package called "bash-completion" (>> 20060301-1). Given that "bash" only recommends "bash-completion", it is recommended to install "bash-completion" manually: 

apt-get install bash-completion

(agree to installing the package maintainer's version of /etc/bash_completion)

grub/ grub-gfxboot

The following features have been recently added to grub-gfxboot:

Using any of these new features requires updating the bootsector of your system. Bootsectors written by "grub or earlier versions of "grub-gfxboot" are not able to boot or even access partitions using any of these new features!
While these changes don't affect existing systems, we strongly recommend updating your bootsectors using: 

grub-install --recheck --no-floppy <raw device or partition>

to get access to newly created ext3 (with inode sizes exceeding 128 byte) or ext4 partitions, or to use savedefault features.

Please be careful with updating the bootsector, choosing improper installation targets might render your system unbootable.

Kernel packaging

Starting with kernel 2.6.24, sidux kernels and dfsg-free external modules are exclusively available via apt and can be kept up to date via metapackages.

This upgrade mechanism can be disabled by removing the aforementioned metapackages. Further kernel updates would require manual intervention, bugfixes and security corrections wouldn't be installed as part of the ordinary dist-upgrade anymore!

Obsolete packages

As part of the continuing development of sidux, a number of packages have been replaced by better alternatives or become redundant.

Disclaimer:

This is experimental software. Use at your own risk. The sidux project, it's developers and team members (all represented by the sidux e.V.) cannot be held liable under any circumstances for damage to hardware or software, lost data, or other direct or indirect damage resulting from the use of this software. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you are not permitted to use or further distribute this software.

Download URLs, please give the mirrors some time to sync:

Europe

North America

Asia

Africa

Australia

Our thanks go to all mirror hosters for their efforts regarding sidux.

How to get involved

Getting involved in sidux is easy, just join us on IRC (irc.oftc.net, port 6667, channel #sidux) and discuss your patches/ proposals or additions.

We will gladly discuss any dfsg-free patches and contributions, especially regarding alternative window managers (gnome, xfce), mobile network connectivity (GPRS/ UMTS, Bluetooth, but also ISDN, PPP, PPPoE) or general janitorial tasks or translations/ localisations.

Roadmap:

Please understand that the following roadmap is a rough estimate regarding our release schedule and is affected by the status of upstream Debian sid, major system components like X.org, KDE, the linux kernel and our own developments and is subject to changes.

Special thanks go to the entire sidux team.

Developers:

Joaquim Boura (x-un-i)
Harald Hope (h2)
Bernard Gray (cleary)
Aedan Kelly (etorix)
Stefan Lippers-Hollmann (slh)
Kel Modderman (kelmo)
Horst Tritremmel (hjt)
Niall Walsh (bfree)
Andreas Weber (webera)
Fabian Wuertz (xadras)

Documentation and Manuals:

Jose Tadeu Barros (ceti)
Stefan R. Eissens (eislon)
Roland Engert (RoEn)
HarzG
Richard Holt (Richard)
Markus Huber (hubi)
Philippe Masson (LjanA)
Markus Müller (moto)
Mutsumu Nomura (muchan)
Gabriel Palade (ladepa)
Dinko Sabo (cobra)
Trevor Walkley (bluewater)
zerby
zonker
zulu9

Art Team:

David Creedy (klaymen)
Bernard Gray (cleary)
Daniel-S-P

vital Support:

Alessio Giustini (alessiog75)
Chris Hildebrandt (slam)
Ralph Hokanson Jr. (piper)
Latino
Gerald Prock (raider700)
Ferdi Thommes (devil)
Florian Schneider (hathe)
Torsten Wohlfarth (towo|)
sidux e.V.

Thanks to Hetzner Online AG for sponsoring sidux.com.

On behalf of the sidux team:
        Stefan Lippers-Hollmann (slh)