MyDSL Maker

Forum: myDSL Extensions (deprecated)
Topic: MyDSL Maker
started by: Fordi

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 22 2004,21:17

go over to < the MyDSLMaker beta 0.1 >

It's a script that will build a MyDSL ISO for you (based on 0.8.4 and the myDSL repository as of November 18, 2004).

That is all. If you want the source, I'll provide.

Meanwhile, leave comments on the script here! I want feedback, bugs, improvements, everything!

The script is designed for ease of use, speed, low resource use and low memory use (although it doesn't yet quite hit the mark yet on any of these). The hope is that every myDSL repository mirror will have one of these scripts on it!

Posted by hasty on Nov. 22 2004,21:43

Great Idea
Mix & match dsl.

Page works well, selections easy & download started straight away with size clearly indicated.
Won't feedback till tomorrow as I won't be awake when it arrives..............
so far so good

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 22 2004,22:00

Already found a prospective bug myself.

It's currently set up to do cleanup (remove all dirs starting with dsl_) on every load of the script, causing the temp dir for mkisofs to be removed for one user when another requests an ISO.

Script has been changed to do clean up only when building mkmydsl.html, but since I'm going to be doing development, there may still be problems.

Also, note that resuming your download is impossible, as mkisofs doesn't have a "skip-bytes" type parameter. If your download fails for any reason, you MUST start from scratch. Attempting to resume or to use a download manager will likely give you corrupted ISOs, as you'll end up with the front bit of the ISO repeated throughout the file.

Posted by hasty on Nov. 22 2004,22:16

Download terminated with a corrupt knoppix dir (too small) & unbootable.
The rest of the iso appeared as intended with the packages in the right places.

Looking forward to trying tomorrow........

...............................don't stay up too late

Posted by divajess on Nov. 22 2004,22:18

I just used this and the execution (on my end anyway) was PERFECT. This is the answer to my prayers, because I've been having issues trying to remaster--my laptop is way cranky and doesn't want to cooperate. I have been resorting to just downloading the different MYDSL programs I wanted every time I booted (which was, as you can imagine, quite annoying).

I tested the ISO on my work computer with QEMU and it is just the way I wanted it.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

You just made this girl very happy. DSL is the only way my laptop works at all right now, as I can't afford to fix the failed HDD, and now I have it tweaked to perfection.

Posted by clivesay on Nov. 22 2004,23:01

Fordi -

This is a really slick idea. Really nice work. I gave it a shot myself and it appeared to work just fine.

Chris

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 22 2004,23:42

Changes:
Packages now sorted by type of application (apps/net/multimedia/etc).

Fixed bug causing truncated ISOs (when I'd run the cleaner during another person's download)

Added some more documentation for people less accustomed to the linuxie world.

Streamlined the package enumerator a bit more. eeked about 20% out of it (there's at the start of execution, there's still about a 40% CPU use spike for 0.025 seconds. Once mkisofs starts it's only about 0.5%)

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 22 2004,23:47

Future plans:
Add ability to customize isolinux.cfg (to start in fb800x600 for embedded USB use, for example)

Add ability to include automatic mail setup for sylpheed This, of course, requires personal data to be transmitted as cleartext to someone you don't know if you can trust. I can probably make it so that the password is optional (have sylpheed prompt you for it), as that's what I'd prefer in my linux anyways.

Add ability to build a 1-click desktop shortcut for the RDP connection of your choice (for when DSL just isn't enough, and you need your work computer).

Any other suggestions?

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 23 2004,05:30

Changes in v0.3b:
-Further streamlined the page maker
-Added conditional code to the ISO maker (stuff that the page maker needed, but the ISO did not)
-Added page-generated-in timestamp to page maker
-Added ISO-source-generated-in timestamp to index.html generator
-Added Ram/Ram-recommended/estimated-ISO size calulator via javascript

Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 23 2004,06:47

Wow!

This approach to iso creation is too cool for words.

One question:

Does this web app dynamically rebuild the myDSL extension choices when new ones are added to the official DSL repository by ke4nt1?

If so, this would be a nice "set it and forget it" addition to the main DSL website.

Either way, nice job.

Posted by RoGuE_StreaK on Nov. 23 2004,13:45

Just tried it for the second time, first time I was getting 0KB files, this time around it looks like none of the selected packages were added, as the downloaded file was 50MB, when it should have been around 137MB?

On the plus side, I got a steady download speed of 335KB/s, downloading the iso in like 2 - 3 minutes!!

Is the iso coming off your own server, or what? 'Cause it's a whole heap faster than iblio...

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 23 2004,15:29

Heh. Not yet. But very good idea; I'll work on it. There's a lot I want this script to do, to be honest.

Meanwhile, changes since last update:
fixed a bug in the calcsize.js script; before, it would add the mkwriteable overhead for each .dsl file, now it does it once (either minimum or recommended-offset, not both) if a dsl is present.

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 23 2004,16:00

Repaired bug that caused it to not build the packages (it was me trying to be slick without quite understanding how list(...)=split(...) worked.)

The people serving the script are methanesea.com. I pay them $10 a month for 10GB of bandwidth, unlimited HD space (within reason), php/perl scripting, mysql databasing, and the ability to run any cgi I feel is appropriate (again, within reason, which is why I'm working so hard to make the script run faster; the last thing I want on my hands is an angry host).

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 23 2004,19:30

made an ftp-updater for updating the repository from ibiblio. It talkes a long time, and my copy of the mirror is wrong somehow (almost every file by a couple of bytes). I'm currently doing the update locally, then I'll update the online repository and run the updater script remotely to make sure evrything's in order.

Posted by hasty on Nov. 23 2004,20:48

OK Initial impression - Bloody Damn ™ Brilliant

Worked a treat. This is going to save a lot messing about.
Congratulations for a very neat idea and execution.

Posted by henrique on Nov. 23 2004,23:44

very useful and easy to use !

thank you very much Fordi :-)

Posted by ico2 on Nov. 24 2004,09:39

omfg, that is soooooooooooooooooo cool

Posted by ypx on Nov. 25 2004,10:27

very nice idea Fordi ! by the way, you should edit your profile to add the url as the www button at the bottom of all your posts.

Posted by reidar on Nov. 26 2004,07:26

Hey, Fordi!
This is really great! I tried it out yesterday, and it worked great! Well done, and keep up the good work. This should definitely be continued!

:-)

-r

Posted by WoofyDugfock on Nov. 27 2004,11:34

Sir, you are a genius.

One question (perhaps a dumb one): would it be at all desirable to add the capability to include selected deb packages as optional at boot, say by typing apt get -i whatever.deb into a form during the process? (I know mixing .dsl's and .deb's can be a hit and miss affair but some of us risk it).

Or is this plain silly, or asking the moon ....

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 29 2004,05:45

In response to the question about having at-boot loaded .deb packages:

That's really a question for Mr Andrews or Mr. Shingledecker. Shell-scripting isn't my strong suit, and that would be something to go in the minirt24.gz's linuxrc file - not to mention apt would have to be enabled, configured and updated before any .debs could be installed. It's a good idea, and conceptually doable, I suppose, but not without causing a massive surge in memory requirements and iso size.

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 29 2004,06:08

Updates:
Currently working in development stuff:
FTP updater for dynamically loading mydsl archive from ibiblio has been improved and integrated with the main mydslmaker.php script. Now, all an administrator has to do is run the script daily through a browser (or just using a cron job for php mydslmkr.php > update_log.html or some such) to keep an up-to-date mirror of ibiblio. It downloads only what's new, making it nice and easy. I also fixed the browser-stalling bug by using the non-blocking FTP functions (also giving the updater a happy little progress bar for every updated file). There's an issue with flushing the output buffer (the current workaround is to toss out about 2000 null characters in an HTML comment, something I think is dirty and lame, but I can't seem to get flush and ob_end_flush to work as documented), but as long as you - as an admin - aren't on dial-up to your host, it should be ok.

I'm including a style-maker for the script, complete with DHTML color and background picker. The current archive of backgrounds I'm using contains everything in the theme packs, as well as a few wallpapers I though would be appropriate for a linux desktop. This is about half-complete, as I spent a while making the DHTML cross-browser (so Win/IE users could appreciate everything as well as could Win/Linux/Firefox users). There's still a bug in the color picker that I can't seem to fix, and it affects DSL/Firefox.uci users specifically. Apparently, the support in firefox.uci for the event DOM object is flawed (specifically, capturing the mouse coordinates is flawed). I'll be working on a way to repair this, but in the meanwhile you can still use the color-picker, it'll just be in the upper-right-hand corner of the page frame.

I'm adding in an option set for the default section of isolinux.cfg. This will allow users to precustomize their at boot settings (IE: use /dev/sda1 as your home directory for thumb drives, use fb800x600 for those working with an EPIA on a TV or using QEMU under DSL). I'm also going to include an option to place the memtest kernel from Knoppix on the CD (the option's there, but the kernel is not) for those who want it.

Automatic mail setup for sylpheed is proving to be problematic. I can't seem to find the files Sylpheed uses to store it's account. I had a lead, but it proved not to work. Does anyone have any ideas here?

The 1-click RDP shortcut is done, working, and quite naace for getting onto my work computer.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them, and if feasible, I'll include them in the script.

OH! Almost forgot! The script now no longer requires you to have a working mydsl repository to start with. Because of the way the FTP updater is designed, the script will now BUILD a repository for you if one doesn't exist. Once I have a RC out (we're still in beta), anyone with the following can host their own MyDSL Maker:
A linux system
Fat pipes
A webserver
PHP with GD2 and FTP support
about a gig-point-five of HD space

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 29 2004,07:06

Update:
The error with the color picker seems to have resolved itself. On the other hand, in order to get a fully-working PHP5, built from source, I've been installing and reinstalling a lot of packages from apt, so stock DSL users may still have the problem. I'm afraid I'm not willing to sacrifice an hour under QEMU to check on this right now, but I will when the other changes to the code have been made.

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 29 2004,18:41

UPDATE:
The < MyDSL Maker > v0.5 RC1 is OUT!!!!!

Current featurelist for users:
1) Allows you to build a Live DamnSmallLinux CD from anythin in the myDSL Repository with almost no fuss
2) Lets you pre-setup a customized desktop
3) Lets you pre-setup an e-mail account (one pop3 only. future plans: IMAP/NNTP/Multiple accounts)
4) Automatically estimates RAM requirements and ISO size as you pick out packages
5) Uses cross-browser compatible DHTML for ease-of-use
6) Does it all simply, cleanly, and efficiently

Featurelist for prospective hosts:
1) creates the main page and saves it as HTML, rather than creating it on-the-fly (keeps CPU down)
2) build and download of ISO are now connected to separate page-loads (lets the server better manage the load)
3) Updates itself on-demand from the myDSL repository
4) Set up is easy as 1, 2, 3
1) extract the tar.gz file
2) add backgrounds to images/backgrounds (none are included)
3) copy, link or mount an existing DSL ISO to mydsl/core
5) FTP update now automatically throttles itself to reduce CPU load and bandwidth use.

Requirements:
Users: An x86 CPU with a modern browser (Firefox or IE). You can boot from a CD, which requires access to a burner, or you can boot from < QEMU >.
Hosts: A Linux system with mkisofs, a webserver supporting PHP with FTP support and the GD2 module. Big pipes are recommended.

Go! Have fun! I am!

Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Nov. 29 2004,21:46

very cools sir!

Posted by ypx on Nov. 30 2004,10:39

very well done Fordi !
perhaps the next step would be to allow a keyboard layout customisation, that should be very handy... but i'm perfectionnist

Posted by Fordi on Nov. 30 2004,19:13

ypx: That's in the works as part of the isolinux.cfg customization. As well as vga resolution, framebuffer, and various other kernel-time configuration options.

The current incarnation in development only allows you to modify the default options. all the other cheat codes still apply.

Posted by RoGuE_StreaK on Dec. 01 2004,02:15

Sorry if I've missed something along the way, but just had a thought, is there a way to make the page, or a system based on the page, in a locally storable manner, that the end user can run on their own machine and have it fetch and compile the packages and settings?

Posted by Fordi on Dec. 01 2004,07:51

Quote

Well, in theory, it could be done.

Problems:
This option would be unavailable to Windows users. The script relies almost completely on the ability to make symlinks.
DSL users would have trouble getting it running; the php.tar.gz does not include FTP or the GD2 libraries. I started out using what was available minimally, but eventually, I ended up building php myself just so I'd have a development environment consistent with my host's. This involved no less than thirty runs to synaptic to grab the appropriate libraries.

So in practice, no, I couldn't do it in a fully-featured manner. In fact, the plain-html page now specifically queries a locally stored php script as javascript for transparent mirror selection (a Mr. Oliver was kind enough to offer his services, so I was kind enough to ensure his mirror got traffic by adding in a small script-tweak), so even saving the page unmodified wouldn't work very well.

The closest I can think to do is to save the page, its support images and javascripts, and modify the <script src="mydslmkr.php?stage=mirror"></script> to read <script src="http://www.nolifeline.com/mydslmkr.php?stage=mirror"></script>, and you'd have it downloading the built iso from the mirror. Even then, the buildprocess would still occur on the remote server, and you'd have about just the same effect as just using the page link.

Meanwhile, if you're worried about the site going down, I've got someone willing to pay for anything past my 20G a month bandwidth limit if and when it occurs. They bill me automatically, so no service interruptions. To be honest, they're great hosts. I've even been late paying now and again, and they've just said, "S'ok. We can wait."... And they've got perl, php, options out the wazoo, and they haven't killed me yet for my intensive testing of the MyDSL Maker script (which I'm sure has interrupted service for SOMEONE on one of my badly-written tween-versions) Yes, I think a plug is in order: < Methanesea > <- Zarking great webhosting.

The 20G is what I get for my monthly payment. I'm not ditching the domain any time soon, and I'd like to make some use of it. This is as good as any. I used to have a band, and that used to be the site I maintained for it. We were called, as you can probably guess, "No Life Line", and we made poorly played, angsty, geeky music. "Don't Date Samus" and "Ode to Videogames" (which is neither an ode, nor about any particular videogame) spring to mind.

I got the 20G package so I could allow for massive downloads of the mp3s, but I never once hit my limit. Hell, you guys have been at it for about a week now, and I'm only up to about half (thank you for not making all-package discs ^_^).

Posted by jaykay on Dec. 14 2004,14:26

Fordi,

This idea is superb, and it looks like being a winner, I can see this could be the way forward with all linux distro, I have a couple of questions and comments for your information on my own use, if it helps at all.

Is it possible using this type of system to make new ISO's of DSl as base only disks IE with only the Kernel and system files, just the bare bones with no added progs eg dilllo, firefox, xpdf added and then let users add just one or as many DSL extensions as they need,

Ie users could select base system plus a text editor and firefox for example?

I have made a testing DSL from the dsl maker site and just added abiword and audacity with a theme from the themes menu to see if it all works ok.

The Iso made perfectly and boots, but 2 problems have occured

1. when DSL boots it reports that my-theme ( the one specified to be included in the iso ) the mt-theme is not available ) is this because the actual theme from DSL maker was not available at the time so was not included in the ISO?

I could get iso buster on windows and check if this is the case when I have time

2. When I boot from cd ( with no added boot options) both abiword and audacity are on the desktop as you would expect as they are the two extensions i added to the ISO, it also picks up my stored settings etc from my usb stick sda1 with no problems, if however I boot using the "toram" option Abiword and Audacity or not on the desktop and not available? Again my stored settting are automatically picked up.

I have tried this with and without my usb stick inserted just to make sure nothing on the ramdisk is being overwritten by my stored settings on my usb stick and still the same results

Any Ideas ?

Jaykay

Posted by Fordi on Dec. 16 2004,16:03

Hm. I've never used the toram option, so I can't tell you. I test the output using qemu, and you can understand, ram is limited.

Concerning the theme: dsl 0.9* has removed the /home/damnsmall folder I've been putting themes into (in the 0.8* series, this was symlinked to /home/dsl for compatibility with older dsl and tar.gz modules). This needs to be fixed and will be in the next release.

I do like your idea of a fully stripped core with extensions as wanted. It would sure kill my penchant for accidentally making DSL 0.9* disks with two copies of firefox.

Dillo, however, is required and very small. As is the monkey server and perl. These three are necessary for the MyDSL system (the myDSL script is written in a combination of sh and perl and is served locally to dillo)

Posted by ypx on Dec. 16 2004,16:20

the toram option prevent dsl extensions from loading, to ensure that the cdrom is not needed...

Posted by Fordi on Dec. 16 2004,16:21

The current delay in making a new release of the MyDSL maker is in remastering DSL with slightly modified scripts and bootsplash capabilities (and now that I've been given the idea, perhaps also the stripping of several more programs, making of new extensions, etc.) anyway, essentially, I'm rebuilding bite of the core, and that's going to take some time, as the debugging process is a bit arduous (make minute changes and tweaks, make KNOPPIX image, build into CD, boot with QEMU, step through startup, lather, rinse, repeat).

On the script side of things, the isolinux.cfg maker is almost complete and will be released with the new core. (since the core is no longer an official DSL release, it's fmDSL 0.9.0.1 (Fordi's MyDSL).

Oh, and here's the good part: When I'm done, the ENTIRE FILESYSTEM will be writable without being on an HD. You know, RAM warnings and all to those with low RAM. Don't try and compile KDE either.

(Essentially, the / will be the ramdisk, KNOPPIX mounted within, the CI Filesystem soft-linked to the ram filesystem, and DSL started proper. This works similarly to mkwritable. Thing is, the actual disk use for symlinks is close to nil. maybe 1k overhead per file. So I'm eating up about a meg of ram at best. On the other hand, it enables one with large gobbing amounts of ram to really scream in the installation department.)

Posted by softgun on Dec. 21 2004,19:08

Hi,

I am new, just tried the MYDSL maker. I selected a few apps and when I click Gimme MYDSL buttom I get a message saying "Connection was refused when trying to contact 127.0.0.1"

What is hapenning?

Posted by John on Dec. 21 2004,21:57

I really like the web-interface in concept, but if it ever became widely adapted it will be a tremendous recourse in terms of CPU cycles and also Bandwidth. I think we should look into a way of incorporating this into DSL proper which isn't a burden on our mirrors. I am worried about losing them as it is.

Posted by KE4QDM on Dec. 22 2004,03:42

On 12/21/04 between 9:00 and 11:00 PM I tried to get an ISO and all that happened after choosing two items (Ham Radio Stuff) was that when I clicked the button at the bottom I was redirected to myself (127.0.0.1)

Linux Fedora Core II, Mozilla 1.6, Pentium 500 Mhz Processor. 128 MB RAM.
and
Windows 2000 and IE 6.0 at work (Same Response)

Am I doing somthing wrong?

David Peterson
KE4QDM

Posted by derrickkwa on Dec. 23 2004,06:07

ok.....this might seem like a stupid question...but i'm quite new to the os n linux n dsl front...so yeah...um....how exactly do i like...install the downloaded iso? like....what do i do with it? :$ ....i know it's stupid...but i really don't know? yeah. would really appreciate if someone could help...sorry again for bothering u guys.... -derrick

Posted by mikshaw on Dec. 23 2004,14:02

The ISO is the equivalent of a CD, except without the actual physical disk, what's called a "CD image". In order to boot from it, it needs to be read...the most common way is to convert it to a CD.
If you have a CD burner, use that to create a CD from the image. Keep in mind that this isn't the same as writing data to a disk as normal; the burning software uses a special process to magically convert your downloaded file into a physical bootable CD.
If you don't have a burner, someone else will have to help since I have no experience with any other media.

Posted by derrickkwa on Dec. 24 2004,13:47

ok...is there a way to run iso from qemu? thanks -derrick

Posted by davide on Dec. 24 2004,16:47

I'm speachless. it's one of the greatest ideas I ever happened to come across surfing linux websites.

just a suggest. could you provide somehow three or four pre-selected stes for categorized hardware?
say:
486 to 166 32M
166 to 333 64M
333-1Gz 128M
More

for each of these you can provide a suggested set of apps. so a newbie could be helped to choose. he/she may not know whether an app is ram-consuming

bye

Posted by Bryan (Fordi) on Dec. 24 2004,19:27

Quote (derrickkwa @ Dec. 24 2004,08:47)

ok...is there a way to run iso from qemu? thanks -derrick

Code Sample

qemu -cdrom MyDSL-[date].iso -L [biosdir] ...opts...

When prompted for kernel options, type
"dsl sb=220,5,1,5 vga=789"

Pick no USB Mouse, PS/2 Mouse, No IMPS/2 Mouse Wheel, 800x600, 24 bit color, No picking own dpi. That'll get you into DSL's x server at the best performance I can give you, and should enable sound support

Have fun!

Posted by Bryan (Fordi) on Dec. 24 2004,19:28

Quote (derrickkwa @ Dec. 24 2004,08:47)

ok...is there a way to run iso from qemu? thanks -derrick

Code Sample

qemu -cdrom MyDSL-[date].iso -L [biosdir] ...opts...

Posted by Bryan (Fordi) on Dec. 24 2004,19:44

Quote (davide @ Dec. 24 2004,11:47)

32M wouldn't work for an XServer, and since you can't remove the xserver, I don't see it being particularly a good idea.

Meanwhile, *I* don't know what's RAM consuming or not, aside from what a program needs to be present (IE: installed). Hell, to be honest, I don't even know how to CHECK for RAM use. I know to leave some room (about 16-32M) free over the "ram suggested" labeled on the website (the 'suggested ram' gives about 1/4 program data's worth of breathing room, but I like to give a bit more), and that's about all I can suggest to anyone.

Anyway, I've given the noob (and noob is relative. Chances are, if you've found the MyDSL maker, you've already been poking around here. Thus, you're trying to figure out how myDSL works and are a newb to that, not DSL) enough to build an ISO and burn it. Part of learning not to be a noob is trial and error. In other words, if you're a newb, I've just got this to say: "Yes. You're going to burn a coaster or two. Get over it." Thing is, they'll not be coasters because they're useless. They'll be coasters 'cos they won't run in the target machine (ie: will be too ram-greedy.)

But if you want some guidelines:
Be VERY careful what extensions you have loading at boot. Myself, I prefer to have the better of the UCI's and that's it. Everything else can be loaded on demand. This way you have maximum flexibility at boot with almost no RAM use, as well as a good deal of added flexibility to experiment with other software. If you overdo it, you can just reboot. Once you've figured out exactly which programs are good and which you think you don't need, you can burn a new disc.

Later, I'll post my "How to make a .tar.gz or .dsl into a .uci" (yes, it can be done with .dsl files. It's done using symlinks within a .dsl file to point to the mounted position of the uci in /opt.)

Posted by KE4QDM on Dec. 28 2004,13:28

I initially had trouble downloading the ISO from the internet. The very next day everything worked great.

I was able to load the dsl base onto my 266Mhz 32Meg Ram laptop. It worked great. A little slugish, but I expected that. The system picked up my wireless card and with a bit of configuring I was into my home network.

Great Job,

Thanks,
David

Posted by softgun on Jan. 06 2005,09:34

Brian said:

Be VERY careful what extensions you have loading at boot. Myself, I prefer to have the better of the UCI's and that's it. Everything else can be loaded on demand.

I agree. This is the best way.

This way you have maximum flexibility at boot with almost no RAM use, as well as a good deal of added flexibility to experiment with other software. If you overdo it, you can just reboot. Once you've figured out exactly which programs are good and which you think you don't need, you can burn a new disc.

I have no clue how these uci ones are used. Never used them as a result. Are they as easy to get up and working as files with dsl extensions?

Later, I'll post my "How to make a .tar.gz or .dsl into a .uci" (yes, it can be done with .dsl files. It's done using symlinks within a .dsl file to point to the mounted position of the uci in /opt.)

What are the advantages of this apart from reducing RAM usage?

Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 07 2005,05:11

FYI,

If you encounter a PC with little RAM and your customized DSL livecd will not work because the automatically booted extensions take up too much ram, try booting with this command:

dsl base

It should skip all of the myDSL extras for this boot only.

and for REALLY low RAM computers, type:

dsl xsetup noicons base

and choose Xvesa 800x600 16bit color

Posted by grandmaster on Feb. 10 2005,10:38

The link does not work on the first page.

Any ideas.

Posted by Alex on Feb. 21 2005,18:25

Hmm, the link really does not work. Where is the DSLMaker? It'd be a pity to loose it.

Posted by ypx on Feb. 24 2005,15:40

it seems that www.nolifeline.com does not exist anymore...
is that good (updating) or bad (game over) ? only Fordi can tell...

Posted by Fordi on Feb. 28 2005,07:16

Softgun: My name is Bryan. Note the 'y'. Seems a silly thing to be pickish about, but I am. Sorry. ^_^

UCI is short for Unifide Compressed ISO. DSL handles these naitively, and if there's a choice between them and something else, use it.

On that note: you do take a performance hit for using ucis. dsls and .tar.gzs run from RAM. This means they're farking fast. .ucis are read directly from the CD in compressed-block chunks. This means that while they occupy only a loop-info pointer in kernel memory, they also run slowly. Think CD access+read+decompression. On that note, it's not near slow enough to irritate anyone on a high-end machine, and low-end machines have little enough ram that they have little choice if they want to install OpenOffice or the Java runtime.

Posted by Fordi on Feb. 28 2005,07:20

As for the MyDSL Maker's disappearance. my host got sold, and the new guys are having trouble keeping their new-found DNS database straight (apparently). This came at the same time as my DN came up for renewal, so I'm mostly up an unpleasantly colored and odored creek without so much as an electric sausage to help guide my path through the disturbingly thick medium.

So I'm looking for a new host. I'll let you know when, but when it's back up, it'll be fordi.org (I have full control over the DNS entry so this won't happen again).