I’ve pushed another iso update today to include the OpenSSL 3.0 upgrade as well as a patch to grub which fixes grub from reading ext file systems created with the newer e2fsprogs versions I’d you use the iso as a rescue disk, you want the grub patch. Trust me.
20230221
I’ve slowly been going through these packages and running them through the sbo-maintainer-tools, not to prepare them for submission (-current packages cannot be added) but to help me find issues/errors in them. I am maintaining 3 branches of scripts and things tend to get lost in the shuffle. I’ve found some errors and fixed things along the way for a few packages that have been bothering me for some time now. Flatpak should now correctly place it’s shell script in /etc/profile.d (before it always kept the .new suffix), I’ve re-built xdg-desktop-portal-gnome again finally fixing regressions in the package. This package controls the xdg-portals within GNOME mostly for flatpak packages. I’ve updated Epiphany to 43.1 (along with webkit2gtk 2.38.5), and I’ve added Gradience – this application themes GTK4 apps and is becoming very popular. It has a repo of themes and soon will be able to theme gnome-shell as well, for a complete desktop feel. GNOME 43 has settled down and is a bit more stable now than at first, so I figured it’s a good time to add this one. I’ve also set the ISO to enable pipewire by default, which fixes the built-in gnome-shell screen recording functionality. You can now record video on your desktop without configuring pipewire on the ISO. This is not the default in Slackware, and is controlled by some shell scripts in /usr/bin. If you have issues with pipewire, you can disable it by running “pipewire-disable.sh” as root (it’s in your path). Note by enabling pipewire, Flashback/metacity will not operate, you must disable pipewire to use the GNOME Flashback desktop session. I don’t like shipping it in a semi-broken state, but I’ll assume most are not using the Flashback desktop (although I do quite like it), hopefully eventually Metacity will work with pipewire.
Along the way, I’ve removed a few Slackware packages, mostly ones that interfere with GNOME in some way. easytag is one that no matter the xdg setting, would always pop-up when I wanted to open Nautilus from a notification. Removing it fixes all my woes. I’ve also removed a bunch of legacy apps from the /xap series since the GNOME desktop mostly replaces them.
I’ve also added D-Spy, a d-bus explorer application that will show you what open apps are actively using d-bus services. This is mostly useful for debugging issues with applications, but could prove useful to a slacker.
I’m still submitting packages to SBo for the nwg-shell which I’m trying to get up before the end of the week, so liveslak things will be tapering off for a while. I’m working on the GNOME 43 packages for aarch64, which I’d like to have available before long. GNOME 44 will be out eventually, so that’s coming up, and I’m going to let this simmer for a bit for a change, instead of constantly updating the iso. Enjoy.
20230211
Refreshed the ISO today with the latest -current changes as well as the latest GNOME updates.Featuring gnome-software 43.4, evolution-3.46.4, and gnome-contacts 43.1, among other updates.
20230206
Nothing much new this week (yet). I’ve updated the iso with the latest -current and kernel 6.1.9. I haven’t added anything new, but I am considering to remove some Slackware shipped X11 apps. Things like thunderbird, xmms, and other things covered by the GNOME desktop, I may remove to shrink the iso a bit, as it seems to keep growing. Maybe next revision.
I’ve been working on getting scripts for nwg-shell SBo-ready. Which means they have to build on 15.0 and comply with their guidelines. In the end, I’m going to have a way for users to build it locally, a SBo install option will exist, and I’ll have a package repo available as well. This way one can do as they wish to get the software. I know many users want a simple solution, and SBo works for that, so hopefully I’ll finish that work soon. And within the week nwg-shell should be available there as well.
Nothing else cookin’ this week. I need to do my taxes and other fun adult stuff, but I’ll keep doing this and avoid it all, like a seasoned vet 😉
20230201
Changes in the latest GNOME-liveslak ISO are plenty this time around, as I try to fill out missing pieces I’ve skipped over along the way. I’ve added the extra optional “GNOME-Flashback”, Metacity-based throwback Desktop as an option. Select “GNOME-Flashback (Metacity)” from your GDM gear menu to load the Desktop. Metacity will use the current set theme for light/dark mode, and it will pick up your icon set as well. Slackware’s adwaita-icon-theme is missing some icons, as such, I’ve added a re-pack to the repo which fixes this as it effected menus in Flashback. I don’t know if it’s Adwaita to blame or issues with Slackware’s provided package, as I’ve yet to look into it.
I’ve also added “orca” the GNOME screen reader for visually-impaired users. My logs have been cluttered for months complaining this isn’t there when I login, so this should provide a fix for that, as well as making GNOME-liveslak now usable for people with visual impairments. I happen to be visually-impaired, but I can’t say I want my computer to talk to me but I do hope it’s useful for those who need it.
Additionally I’ve added apostrophe, a WYSIWYG markdown editor which I’ve been too lazy to get building for months now. But this is an amazingly useful MD editor and since I’m still planning on moving this site to a MD-based site at some point, this will prove useful to me at least, maybe you as well!
The ISO has been updated with other package updates as well as the latest -current, now on kernel 6.1.8, Firefox 109, gstreamer 1.22 and more. As of today, Slackware has offically updated gjs,mozjs102, and polkit, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic about these changes finally getting in -current! I’m going to continue refining and doing housekeeping as I go, and we already have the 44 Alpha release in our hands so eventually the ISO will be brought to that branch. If you wish to stay on 43, the option will exist as well if you have an installation or just no longer update anything on the ISO. The 43 repo will still receive updates while we work toward 44.
Outside of all this, the nwg-shell repo has seen some updates in preparation for the ability to auto-update nwg-shell on Slackware. There are still a few kinks there, but it’s a very solid DE. I’ll soon have package sets for x86_64 15.0 and for aarch64-current in repos since it’s moved on from being a work-in-progress to a viable desktop option, so look out for those updates soon!
20230119
Updated the ISO today to latest -current, kernel 6.1.7, and included some software updates for gnome which have landed in the repo already. Also added a GNOME 3.38.9 Slackware 15.0-based ISO I made for fun for my personal use on my old hackintosh desktop. It mimics the default Debian ‘bullseye’ GNOME install, and has it’s own repo attached. I’ll put up more information at a later date, I’m pressed for time at the moment. Try it out if you like the faster and stable GNOME experience pre-40+ versions. It includes the latest libreoffice 7.4.4 and some desktop games as well as the Gnome-Flashback optional desktop (X11 only). Don’t expect many updates as 3.38 is EOL but I’ll be adding some more apps to the repo over time. Enjoy!
20230110
Updated the ISO yesterday to include all the latest changes to -current. Kernel 6.1.4 is included this time around! Don’t forget to run “slackpkg update && slackpkg upgrade-all” as root to get the latest repo updates (repo was updated after the ISO so the latest changes weren’t included). Cheers!
20230104
Updated the ISO today to include over 20 missing python dependancies for pika-backup which enable the use of google accounts/services to backup your data to.
Also with the latest -current changes as well today.
20230102
The holiday events are over and things will start to go back into their usual flow soon in the world. And as such, it’s Sunday/Monday, my normal day to update the liveslak ISO. So we’ve got the latest in -current and with that also now the Linux 6.1.2 kernel from testing/ instead of the 5.19.17 still shipping in -current.
I’ve also noticed I’ve skipped over some Python deps for Pika-Backup (but it appears to operate?), I’ll be adding those as soon as I finish creating SlackBuilds for them. It never ends with the Python…
I noticed those deps were missing during my initial porting of nwg-shell to/for Slackware. nwg-shell is a sway/gtk-based shell written in Go and Python, and it’s really nice to work from. Only there are still some bugs I haven’t patched up yet (you can’t shutdown/restart from the menu) and others. But there is a repo up for it for “testing” purposes. If you’re feeling frisky, go ahead and give it a shot. Add the repo to slackpkg+ and see what you think (or what you can break)!
20221227
This weeks slightly delayed because of laziness update brings a new package thanks to Nathanial Russell – Endeavour. Endeavour is a personal task manager application for GNOME. I’ve also added pipewire-jack and it’s deps with scripts from Alien Bob’s repo as requested by rizitis. I’ve also moved the ISO to use the 6.1.1 kernel from testing/ on -current, since I’m sure many would like to try out that kernel on their systems. Here’s a perfectly portable reason to do so! – Happy Holidays!