Release Candidates :: DSL v2.3 RC2

Release Candidate Two for DSL v 2.3 is now posted here.

Change Log for DSL v2.3 RC2

1. New auto mydsl. Auto scan for directory named mydsl will automatically load extensions.
2. New DSL natively booted can now recognize the Qemu virtual harddisk. Allows for shared backup.
3. Upgraded Qemu to v0.8 for both Windows and Linux versions.
4. New background image (Saturn) to match current theme.
5. Stop duplicate saves of wireless and printer.
6. Fixed boot options frugal and toram when used together would try to remount /dev/shm
7. Updated .xinitrc with another correction for better German keyboard support.

The Saturn background hits me in the face when I first booted up. I love it. It made me smile. It adds pizazz to dsl, something that users will remember. Now I have to go back and look around to see what other surprises it has.

Just to share some of my thoughts on this cut:

Seeing the confusion of where to place extensions for auto loading lead me to make a new feature.
Usually we say place them in the base directory of the boot device.
This is true, but when using USB-ZIP there is no room in there. Or if using a liveCD, you cannot do that unless you remaster or use mkmydsl. So, I made a new feature. By making a directory called mydsl and placing the extensions in that directory, you will have autoloading of the extensions without having to use the mydsl=hdXY boot option. This allows for a hands free boot from liveCD to your custom desktop of extensions. If you use mydsl=hdXY then this will override the auto scan feature. Hopefully this feature will make it even easier to enjoy the community made mydsl extensions.

The second area that I see growth is the use of Qemu and sharing of the virtual harddisk (hdb). It was already available to mount when natively booted. But when natively booted the restore would not take place. This was because it is not a real device. Now with the qemu boot option not only is the virtual device availble for mounting by the restore will also work. This is achieved by booting your Qemu based DSL natively, i,e, BIOS, boot floppy, or cdrom, with the following:
boot: dsl qemu frugal restore=harddisk

Hope you enjoy this version of DSL.

Robert

Pardon the newbie question, but what version of Firefox will be included in v2.3? I couldn't find any release notes for v2.3. If it's older than 1.5.1, how hard will it be for the noob user (me) to upgrade to 1.5.1 (just a simple download/install or do I have to compile the code, etc).

Thx for all your work on DSL. It will bring new life to an old UMax 233MHz laptop. The machine will be used as a wireless terminal w/browser and picture display screen saver.

Another question: what powersaving options will v2.3 have? Standby, screen off, CPU fan off, etc.

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