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1. Release Notes
Check here for a high-level description of changes in Sidious Linux.
Even more detailed logs of changes are in sectionrefsec:changes.
New users may begin with
``Installation: Testing Whether Your Hardware is Supported''
See section ![[*]](cross_ref_motif.gif)
.
Subsections
- Firefox 1.5.0.3 replaces Mozilla. Thunderbird must be added
by the user if the e-mail client is needed.
- More TrueType Fonts with the possibility to antialias, a new Ghostscript 8.53 and Acrobat Reader 7.
- System-wide Upgrade to latest Xorg X11R7, glibc 2.3.6, and gcc-3.4.5.
- Sidious scripts and source code are now under Revision Control and
can be rebuilt from scratch with scripts and Makefiles.
- Packages allow users to easily install local
copies of things like ``/apps/gimp'', ``/apps/emu'' (wine) etc.
on laptops and standalone desktops. Run the script ``/upgrade-sidious''
to add/remove packages or upgrade/repair the base Sidious.
- Mozilla 1.7 replaces 1.4. Latest flash and Java2
plugins are installed but the ``system'' java is still 1.3.1.
- WIFI Status bar. Wireless signal strength added to xosview. See section .
- DHCP Enhancements. MACs can be assigned Fixed IPs
on a simple ``reconfig'' screen, and dhcpd start-up behavior
was also modified to be more like other unix services.
- Kernel Drivers Added. Atheros wireless, Xilinx parallel
port programmer, and an upgraded lotuspci (3.04.)
- Log rotation helps prevent /var/log from filling up, and can
be disabled under Preferences.
- Module Errors at Startup. If a kernel .config exists, it will
now be used to determine whether or not it is necessary to load a module
for most of the items that can be selected in ``reconfig'' instead of
the previous (harmless) error message when running non-modular SMP and
net-boot kernels.
- Kernel 2.4.26 (-si4 and -smp4). After upgrading from an older Sidious,
this kernel upgrade can be done manually. A security-patched 2.4.19
will also be available for Sidious soon. Both options should provide
adequate protection against recently discovered memory allocation bugs
in the Linux kernel.
- Firewall improvements. Sidious NFS and Samba clients and servers
can now talk to each other, with their firewalls turn on. A list of
trusted IP addresses can be entered. (MAC address filtering is planned
for the future too.)
- Apache2, Python, Subversion, and repository Web stuff were all added.
- New rarpd server option.
- Upgraded to awk 3.1 with switch statements enabled.
- Fixes to dhclient for security and compatibility with firewall,
initrc to clean up /tmp/ in the background to speed reboots
on machines with real /tmp/, and gpm mouse sluggishness over
network.
- You can now set your desired XFree86 AGP VideoRAM size in reconfig.
- C Library upgraded from 2.2.3 to 2.2.5 for security and
other fixes. Old programs were not recompiled after 2.2.5 was
installed, but will use the new shared library.
- XFS Release 1.2.0 (kernel-2.4.19-smp6) is now the official
kernel for use on Sidious servers and workstations.
It incorporates fixes to minimize the chance of getting files
filled with zero-bytes after a crash, and has improved log
recovery code. Use of software RAID-5 and/or RAID-1 is
discouraged because there are unresolved issues with the kernel
crashing when a disk has an error instead of handling it.
- 64 GB of RAM is now the maximum supported by the new
2.4.19-smp6 kernel, and vmware was upgraded to accommodate
this change (the previous configuration was limited to 4 GB.)
- CD, DVD, floppy options. Using a supermount kernel
patch now in 2.4.19-si6 and 2.4.19-smp6, CDs
(and floppies) are mounted automatically. See ``reconfig''.
Also in ``reconfig'' are options to enable DMA on a CD or DVD
separately. (Most of these options are hidden, and force ON,
if you select the CFHT profile.) /dev/cdrom and /dev/dvd links
were added, which fixes commands like ``eject.''
- Power Management. Separated ``use APM to blank screen'' and
``use APM for apmd'' options. ACPI is now also available
in the 2.4.19-si6 kernel, along with swsusp, software suspend
handled by Linux. The older APM kernels were more stable, but some
newer laptops require ACPI support to function correctly. The
default kernel therefore has ACPI support, but it is mostly turned
off (see /etc/lilo.conf.)
- Mouse Auto-detection. 3-button emulation works properly
now, and both 3-button and scroll wheel functions are automatically
detected if you select those options.
- Mozilla 1.4 has replaced Netscape 6.21, and there is a
new version of acroread (5), and a small HTTP browser called
dillo 0.7.3.
- New, full version of gphoto2,
new gftp graphical FTP client,
and a full set of mplayer codecs and DVD utilities are installed
in /usr/video now, unless you omit that (see /rsync-sidious.)
- Booting from the 9.36 CDROM now supports iLink (firewire/ieee1394) CD drives as on the Vaio SR99 and others. Ethernet drivers for e1000
gigabit ethernet are loaded, and once on the network the stock CD will
check with the answering DHCP server for a sidious.config.HOSTNAME
in /tftpboot. This allows any machine to CD-boot into this release
as ``itself''
even if the netboot server doesn't run it. Only the host's sidious.config
needs to be made available by TFTP.
- /tmp is now automatically sized according to the amount of swap.
9.x and 8.x versions of Sidious use the same startup and configuration
scripts. There was a stable, 8.34 release, but no corresponding 9.x
CD was made at the time.
- Back to old (non-menu) version of LILO to boot the CD itself
because it works on more CDROMs than the new LILO.
- Upgrade to autoterm utility.
- Upgrade to inetd and more rsh connections allowed in inetd.conf.
- Fixed bug in gpm causing ssh connection to hang after reconfig.
- Added e1000 and syskonnect to auto-detected NICs.
- New option to increase number of open files.
- Fixed rc.reboot so it doesn't cause nscd core files.
- Added libfitstcl, sdf (scripted-df utility), mirror-shadow, share_pi.
- Re-built ncftp to try passive FTP first.
- Applied critical security patch to sendmail 8.12.1.
- Fixed bug in rsync that used to replace read-errors with nulls.
- Fixed bug in initrc only affecting configurations with
real /tmp and /var disks.
- Synchronized documentation and kernel module directories with 9.33.
(Read the ``What's new in 9.34'' above to see what is missing in 9.32a.)
- Window Manager Configurations to match CFHT's site are
now included in /usr/wm/ (eliminates need for /apps/wm/
software, which was crashing sometimes.)
- New jdk1.3.1_06 included in /local/apps/java-linux for Q tools.
- The vendor provided NVidia driver was missing in 9.32, causing
the X-Server to fail to start if you have an NVidia card.
- Upgraded HSF modem driver for Vaio laptops (previous
version crashed after being loaded several times.)
- Reduced memory usage by rsync during installation (for machines with
low memory.)
- Kernel. The 2.4.19 kernel is now the default
one. Some of our Promise IDE controllers didn't work with 2.4.18 + XFS 1.1,
(so we kept those machines running 2.4.16 for now).
- New hardware support. New support for Sony Vaio SRxx and Lucent ``linmodems'',
mice with scroll wheels, Personal UPS, and proper RAID shutdown.
- New software. New programs mplayer DVD/AVI player, xmcd and cda CD players, ``tight'' Xvnc server, an updated vncviewer, x2vnc, and x0rfbserver.
- Wireless networking support now includes WEP key
support to enable encryption.
- Security. A filtering firewall, configurable by ``reconfig''.
This feature is still in its early stage, and may need to be turned
off if it blocks legitimate traffic (one example is NFS, so it should not
be used at CFHT yet.)
- Administration of netboot clients is now possible from the
server, or the client itself (just run ``reconfig'' normally.)
- Kernel. Full support for the 2.2 series Linux kernels,
a newer version of LILO with a menu, and reconfig option
to add ``Power off'' and ``Reboot'' buttons to your X login screen.
- New hardware support. USB storage devices and PCMCIA IDE devices
are automatically
mounted on /mnt/usb/ and /mnt/pccard/ respectively, when you plug them in.
Fixed USB storage driver so it recognizes some Sony DSC cameras.
Better wireless support, including a LinkSYS WUSB11 driver.
- Site. NFS Server exports now survive reboots, restarts,
and crashes. More insecure legacy protocols added to inetd: ftp, finger. Added option to encapsulate hosts.equiv, syslog.conf,
rc.shutdown.local.
- Desktop. Print-screen/print-window functions, bound to the
PrtScrn/Shift-PrtScrn keys in fvwm2.
Audible warning when battery is less than 3 percent.
New option to set disk spindown time in seconds in reconfig.
- New software. New programs xplanet, aterm, pgplot, rdist.
Also added lynx, which, write, getopt, disk-utils.
- The Intel C++ compiler, icc, is installed in /opt. (Copy this and any other
/opt/ packages from the CD manually if you need them.)
- Upgraded software. Newer patched version of xv with PNG support.
Miscellaneous programs fixed: lpc, xmmix, vaiojogd, latex font generation.
- Recompiled X11 and the multi-processor kernel with "-O2" instead of
"-O" based on recommendations found on newsgroups.
- Mostly cosmetic changes to kernel messages and startup scripts.
- Upgraded to XFree86 4.2.0
- New packages: rcs (co/ci), cron, wget, xscreensaver, tcpwrappers.
- Hopefully fixed UsePPosition so Java will finally work correctly.
- There are now two standard kernels: 2.4.16-si, the single processor
kernel for laptops, and 2.4.16-cfht, the mulit-processor kernel,
with mostly built-in support rather than modules.
- NFS: If you forget to unmount a disk from another machine and that
machine becomes unreachable, it is usually possible with the 2.4.16
kernel to forcibly unmount the disk. Try "umount -f". It sometimes
needs to be done a few times in a row.
- A preliminary "rsync-sidious
--upgrade [--delete] /mnt/cdrom/"
option has been added. Read /rsync-sidious for instructions on
adding lines to your sidious.config (with "reconfig") to specify
which files your don't want from the CD (or which files you have
on disk which you don't want the upgrade to erase. Upgrades
can also be done over the network by mounting
central-services:/nfsroot/sidious9/ and running the same script.
- The bootable CD now contains everything (including kernel source.)
- Auto-detection of (some) ethernet and (most) sound cards.
- Added vim (VI Improved) and some PostScript utilities.
- Fixed SAOImage, which was not compiled properly for Sidious 9.
- Minor bug fixes.
- The bootable CDROM now includes a full installation with development
libraries, LaTeX, etc. (The /usr directory on the ISO filesystem is
now transparently compressed. This requires kernel 2.4.14+.)
- XEmacs "gamma" release 21.4.5 replaced 21.1.14. (21.1.14 is
also still available as an optional package if you need it.)
- Netscape 6.2.1 added and Netscape 4.77 replaced by 4.78.
The command "netscape" launches the version selected in "reconfig"
while "netscape4" and "netscape6" always launch 4.78 and 6.2.
- TrueType Web fonts have been installed so you can see the Web the
way Microsoft always intended.
- ImageMagick GNUplot and a bunch image libraries have been added.
- RealPlayer is now standard with the distribution.
- "xdm" is now an option in reconfig for the X-Server (see the help.)
- An "adduser" convenience script was added.
- Downgraded to more stable gcc (2.95.3) which matches SuSE and RedHat.
- Hewlett Packard's (dead) calculator division has released the HP48 ROMs.
The Sidious Calculator is now legal! (It also doesn't freeze anymore.)
- New stuff: some man pages which were not part of any package, and xpaint.
- Installed a more complete set of X11 fonts.
- Netscape browser plug-in and mime-type for realplayer is configured.
- Added security fix for sshd and some PPP dialing options.
- New programs: info sox(audio) csh unzip ispell(french+english) x2x
- Added autofs and yp-tools (NIS but not NIS+) for better integration
in network cluster computing environments.
- Larger, 100 DPI fonts are now installed for higher resolution screens.
(See reconfig if you preferred the smaller fonts.)
- Minor tune-ups.
- NETSCAPE 4.78 and Communicator 4.78 have been added. Unless you
select one of these new versions under reconfig -> Installation
you'll still get 4.08 or 4.77 though.
- TKDESK FILE MANAGER was added. It has a Next-like layout.
- UNIX PRINTING is now available with a special version of lpr
which understands "lpr -Pprinter@host" (no config files!)
A default printer can be set with "reconfig".
- FVWM2 is available. It eliminates the focus bug and has a few
other nice features. If you don't have a .fvwmrc in your home
directory, you will be upgraded to FVWM2 automatically. If you
do have one, you will be given the option to stay with FVWM1
in case problems occur when converting your .fvwmrc -> .fvwm2rc
- PC CARD handling is better, and window manager menus provide a
way to eject the CDROM and power down the PCMCIA slot which you
should always do before physically popping out the card.
The CD is auto-mounted on /mnt/cdrom.
- TMPFS. A new kernel has been built with tmpfs support. This
help with applications and install programs that were getting
confused by not being able to run "df" on /tmp and /var. See
/etc/lilo.conf.default to find out how to switch to this new
kernel. Re-run "lilo" before rebooting if you have edited your
/etc/lilo.conf.
- Other stuff added: Tcl/Tk xmmix xanim bc cal mt cpio rpm2tgz ...
See the section for more detailed changes.
Also go through the settings in reconfig and check for new settings
(like the default printer.)
Next: 2. Installation
Up: Sidious Linux 10.04
Previous: List of Figures
Contents
root
2006-05-11