DSL Bugs

Forum: User Feedback
Topic: DSL Bugs
started by: MrUmunhum

Posted by MrUmunhum on Oct. 01 2006,20:39

Hi guys.
Fisrt I would like to thank all of you for these forums about DSL.
DSL is a great idea. There are thing lacking but there are also work arounds.

I have found two things that I think are bugs:
1) Start DSL with 'init 3', starts OK but you can not change to 'init 5'.
2) Start DSL in 'init 3' does not restore user's backup.tar.gz, this is only
done using 'init 5'.

Where should this things be brought to light?

Init 3 should be used with embedded systems, in mt opion.

Posted by mikshaw on Oct. 01 2006,21:05

Runlevel 3 in DSL is basically a duplicate of runlevel 2, which is single-user root only. There is no need for a backup.tar.gz because root (mostly) doesn't use dsl's user files.

Runlevel 5 is technically multiuser text mode. The difference in DSL is that 5 is set up to automatically log in user dsl, and user dsl's .bash_profile is set up to automatically start x.

Posted by Lars on Oct. 18 2006,16:32

It seems that runlevel 5 is the only one I can use. Any other disables my keyboard - not my mouse though. Is that normal?
I use version 2.4 on an (very) old laptop.

Posted by MrUmunhum on Oct. 18 2006,22:28

Quote (mikshaw @ Oct. 01 2006,17:05)

I think this is wrong! Init 3 should be a multi user mode without a Windowing system, like other Linux systems.

For example:

If you want to use DSL as a base for an embedded server system. You don't
need a monitor for a server.

I have a need for a small OS ( DSL ) for just this purpose. I have be fighting
with DSL and I think I finnaly have a solution. I will post my results when
I have the process down.

DSL is a great idea but it needs to be re-thunk. If needs to be more flexible.
:laugh:

Posted by mikshaw on Oct. 19 2006,02:41

Quote

Init 3 should be a multi user mode without a Windowing system, like other Linux systems.

Some distros do this, others do not. Mandrake, Suse, and a handful of others use runlevel 3 as multiuser textmode. In Debian systems, runlevels other than 0,1, and 6 don't really have any specific pupose until the user decides what to do with them, as far as I know. In the Debian-based DSL runlevel 5 logs you in and starts x automatically, but it's still technically text mode...the graphical system is not started during the init process, but rather from dsl's bash login script. If you remove "startx" from ~/.bash_profile you will not enter X.

In any case, I don't think there are any distributed non-distro-specific applications that require a certain runlevel other than the 3 above to perform in a certain way.

If you're using the system as an embedded server, try runlevel 2. You'll probably need to be root to run the server anyway.

And finally, DSL is extremely flexible. It's simplicity and size make it much easier to tweak than some of the larger bulkier distros. Perhaps what you are implying is that DSL needs to be more like other distros?