Tag: Create your own Debian system

DebEX KDE (Debian Buster/Sid) Build 171203 with Plasma 5.37 and Calamares Installer (so you can install DebEX in any language!)

Dec

2017

NEWS 171203 about DebEX KDE Plasma – a Refracta Build
I have made a new version of DebEX KDE Plasma Live DVD. It replaces version 171023. It’s a pure Debian 10 system. (Buster/Sid). I.e.: There are no Ubuntu or Kubuntu elements involved. DebEX KDE Plasma uses KDE 4.16 and KDE Plasma Desktop 5:37 as Desktop environment. It uses kernel 4.13.0-16-exton – (4.13.4). I have replaced Wicd with NetworkManager. It works better. I have installed Nvidia’s proprietary graphic driver 384.90. I have replaced Google Chrome with Firefox 57.0 (for Netflix). I’ve also added SMPlayer – an alternative to Vlc. (SMPlayer is a free media player for Windows and Linux with built-in codecs that can play virtually all video and audio formats. It doesn’t need any external codecs. Just install SMPlayer and you’ll be able to play all formats without the hassle to find and install codec packs). All other installed packages have also been updated to the latest version of 171203. Study the full package list. MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE: I have replaced Refracta Installer with Calamares 3.1.9 Installer Framework. Now you can choose language when the installation starts. When it’s ready everything will be in your chosen language! Log in to KDE as the ordinary user user with password live or as root (superuser) with password root.

About Calamares
I’ve installed Calamares in ArchEX (Arch Linux) Build 171129. It works extremely well. So I thought why not install Calamares also in DebEX? Watch a YouTube video about running Calamares in ArchEX. Calamares works in the same way in DebEX. What is Calamares? – Calamares is an installer framework. By design it is very customizable, in order to satisfy a wide variety of needs and use cases. Calamares aims to be easy, usable, beautiful, pragmatic, inclusive and distribution-agnostic. Calamares includes an advanced partitioning feature, with support for both manual and automated partitioning operations. It is the first installer with an automated “Replace Partition” option, which makes it easy to reuse a partition over and over for distribution testing.

Important about Refracta
You can use the Refracta snapshot (pre-installed in all three versions of DebEX) to create your own installable Debian Live DVD once you have installed DebEX to hard drive. I mean change everything and then create a whole new Debian live system. When you start Refracta it will look like this. You don’t even have to install DebEX to hard drive before you can use the Refracta tools. If you have plenty of RAM you can create a new (your own!) Debian 10 system while running DebEX from DVD or a USB stick. Please note that the whole Refracta process (creating your new ISO) will only take 10 – 50 min! You’ll find the ISO in /home/snapshots. Or change that by editing /etc/refractasnapshot.conf.

Screenshot of DebEX’s Desktop when Calamares is running
Screenshot of DebEX’s Desktop when Refracta snapshot is running

ExLight 64bit, Build 171121, based on Debian Buster/Sid with Enlightenment 0.22 (latest, installed from source) and Refracta tools

Nov

2017

NEWS 171121 ABOUT ExLight
I’ve made a new extra version of ExLight today based on Debian Buster/Sid. The “old” version from 171112 is based on Ubuntu 17.10 (alias Artful Aardvark) and Debian Buster/Stretch. Furthermore version 171112 uses Enlightenment 0.20 installed from Ubuntu’s repositories. Build 171121 of ExLight uses Enlightenment 0.22 installed by me from source.

Almost unique
Enlightenment 0.22 was released 171102. Only two (!) Linux distributions in the whole wide world (besides ExLight) uses Enlightenment 0.22 as Desktop environment.

I have kept the old version (171112) on SourceForge.net server since that version of ExLight can be considered more stable being based (mostly) on Ubuntu 17.10.

Installed packages
To be able to install Enlightenment from source I had to install a lot of extra packages. The ISO file has therefore increased from 1210 MB to 1560 MB. Study all installed packages in ExLight Build 171121.

SCREENSHOTS
1. The Enlightenment 0.22 Desktop
2. The Login Screen – LightDM. Choose between Enlightenment and Fluxbox

DebEX Barebone, 64bit, based on Debian Buster/Sid with LXDE, Refracta tools and kernel 4.13.0-16-exton

Oct

2017

About DebEX Barebone, DebEX Gnome and DebEX KDE Plasma Linux 64 bit
All three systems/distributions are a based on Debian Buster/Sid (upcoming Debian 10). LXDE is used as Desktop environment in DebEX Barebone/LXDE. Gnome 3.26 and Mate 1.18 are used in DebEX Gnome. KDE 4.16.08 and KDE Plasma Desktop 5:37 are used in DebEX KDE. All three DebEX systems use my special kernel 4.13.0-16-exton. (Kernel 4.13.4). The system language is English (in all three versions of DebEX).

NEWS 171030 about DebEX Barebone/LXDE – a Refracta Build
A new version of DebEX Barebone with LXDE and kernel 4.13.0-16-exton (equivalent to Kernel.org’s stable kernel 4.13.4) is ready. All packages have been updated to the latest version as of October 30, 2017. DebEX Barebone is now based on Debian Buster/Sid (upcoming Debian 10). I have replaced Google Chrome with Firefox 56.0-2 (for Netflix). Most important: The ISO has decreased from 1860 MB to 1330 MB, which makes it easier to run the system live from RAM. That ability allows DebEX LXDE to be very fast, since reading and writing data from/to RAM is much faster than on a hard disk drive.

Important about Refracta
You can use the Refracta tools (pre-installed in all three versions of DebEX) to create your own installable Debian Live DVD once you have installed DebEX to hard drive. I mean change everything and then create a whole new Debian live system. When you start Refracta it will look like this. You don’t even have to install DebEX to hard drive before you can use the Refracta tools. If you have plenty of RAM you can create a new (your own!) Debian 10 system while running DebEX from DVD or a USB stick. Please note that the whole Refracta process (creating your new ISO) will only take 10 – 50 min! You’ll find the ISO in /home/snapshots.

Screenshot of DebEX LXDE Desktop

DebEX Gnome (Debian Buster/Sid) – Build 171026 – with Gnome 3.26 (latest), Mate 1.18 (latest), Refracta tools, Nvidia 387.12 and kernel 4.13.0-16-exton

Oct

2017

About DebEX Barebone, DebEX Gnome and DebEX KDE Plasma Linux 64 bit
All three systems/distributions are a based on Debian. DebEX Gnome and DebEX KDE are based on Debian Buster/Sid (upcoming Debian 10). DebEX Barebone is based on Debian 9 (Stretch) and Debian unstable (Sid). LXDE is used as Desktop environment in DebEX Barebone. Gnome 3.26 and Mate 1.18 are used in DebEX Gnome. KDE 4.16.08 and KDE Plasma Desktop 5:37 are used in DebEX KDE. DebEX Barebone LXDE uses my special kernel 4.12.0-12-exton. (Kernel 4.12.8). DebEX Gnome and DebEX KDE use my special kernel 4.13.0-16-exton. (Kernel 4.13.4). The system language is English (in all three versions of DebEX).

NEWS 171026 about DebEX Gnome/Mate
I have made a new extra version of DebEX, which I call DebEX Gnome Live DVD. It’s a pure Debian system using the testing (buster) and unstable (sid) repositories. Two Desktop Environments are pre-installed. Gnome 3.26 (latest) and Mate 1.18 (latest). I have also installed Nvidia’s proprietary graphics driver 387.12 in this new version of DebEX. To be able to enjoy Gnome 3.26 while running DebEX live (from DVD or a USB stick) you’ll need to have a new Nvidia graphics card installed. You can see which cards are supported here. Otherwise you’ll have to settle for Mate 1.18. (Not a bad choice btw). Furthermore I have installed replaced Google Chrome with Firefox 56.0. It is now possible to watch Netflix movies using Firefox in Linux. All other installed packages have also been updated to the latest version as of 171026. DebEX Gnome uses kernel 4.13.0-16-exton corresponding one of Kernel.org’s latest stable kernels 4.13.4.

Important about Refracta
You can use the Refracta tools (pre-installed in all three versions of DebEX) to create your own installable Debian Live DVD once you have installed DebEX to hard drive. I mean change everything and then create a whole new Debian live system. When you start Refracta it will look like this. You don’t even have to install DebEX to hard drive before you can use the Refracta tools. If you have plenty of RAM you can create a new (your own!) Debian 9/10 system while running DebEX from DVD or a USB stick. Please note that the whole Refracta process (creating your new ISO) will only take 10 – 50 min! You’ll find the ISO in /home/snapshots.

SCREENSHOTS
1. DebEX Gnome Desktop
2. DebEX Mate Desktop
3. DebEX running in VirtualBox
4. DebEX running in VMware
5. DebEX – Refracta snapshot has started

DebEX KDE (Debian Buster/Sid) – Build 171023 – with KDE Plasma 5.37, Refracta tools, Nvidia 384.90 and kernel 4.13.0-16-exton

Oct

2017

NEWS 171023 about DebEX KDE Plasma – a Refracta Build 171023
I have made a new version of DebEX KDE Plasma Live DVD. It replaces version 161001. It’s a pure Debian 10 system. (Buster/Sid). I.e.: There are no Ubuntu or Kubuntu elements involved. DebEX KDE Plasma uses KDE 4.16 and KDE Plasma Desktop 5:37 as Desktop environment. It uses kernel 4.13.0-16-exton – (4.13.4). I have installed Nvidia’s proprietary graphic driver 384.90. I have replaced Google Chrome with Firefox 56.0 (for Netflix). I’ve also added SMPlayer – an alternative to Vlc. (SMPlayer is a free media player for Windows and Linux with built-in codecs that can play virtually all video and audio formats. It doesn’t need any external codecs. Just install SMPlayer and you’ll be able to play all formats without the hassle to find and install codec packs). All other installed packages have also been updated to the latest version of 171023. Study the full package list.

What’s new in kernel 4.13?

Important about Refracta
You can use the Refracta tools (pre-installed) to create your own installable Debian Live DVD once you have installed DebEX KDE to hard drive. I mean change everything and then create a whole new Debian live system. When you start Refracta it will look like this. You don’t even have to install DebEX to hard drive before you can use the Refracta tools. If you have plenty of RAM you can create a new (your own!) Debian 10/9 system while running DebEX from a DVD or a USB stick. Please note that the whole Refracta process (creating your new ISO) will only take 10 – 30 min! You’ll find the ISO in /home/snapshots.

SCREENSHOTS
1. The KDE Plasma Desktop in version 171023
2. The KDE Desktop with Netflix running
3. DebEX KDE running in VMware
4. DebEX KDE running in VirtualBox
5. Installation in VirtualBox – error to ignore
6. DebEX KDE running in VMware
7. YouTube running in DebEX KDE

DebEX LXQt (Debian Stretch) with LXQt 0.11, Refracta tools and kernel 4.9.0-9-exton (4.9.0-rc8)

Dec

2016

NEWS 161209 about DebEX LXQt – a Refracta Build
A new version of DebEX Barebone with LXQt 0.11 (released 160924) and kernel 4.9.0-9-exton (equivalent to Kernel.org’s latest kernel 4.9-rc8) is ready. You can download “my” new kernel if you want to use it in another Debian/Ubuntu system. I have also installed Nvidia’s proprietary graphics driver 375.20 in this new version of DebEX Barebone. All packages have been updated to the latest version as of December 9, 2016. DebEX Barebone is now based on Debian testing – Stretch – (upcoming Debian 9) and Debian unstable – Sid. I have replaced Google Chrome with Tor Browser – it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.

What’s new in kernel 4.9?

Replacement
This version of DebEX with LXQt replaces version 161025, which used Xfce 4.12.1 as Desktop environment. Note: LXQt version 0.11 can’t be installed in Ubuntu 16.10 just yet.

About LXQt
Historically, LXQt is the product of the merge between LXDE-Qt, an initial Qt flavour of LXDE, and Razor-qt, a project aiming to develop a Qt based desktop environment with similar objectives as the current LXQt. The Razor project has merged with LXDE and is now LXQt.

Important about Refracta
You can use the Refracta tools (pre-installed in DebEX LXQt) to create your own installable Debian Stretch Live DVD once you have installed DebEX LXQt to hard drive. I mean change everything and then create a whole new Debian Stretch live system. When you start Refracta it will look like this. You don’t even have to install DebEX to hard drive before you can use the Refracta tools. If you have plenty of RAM you can create a new (your own!) Debian 9 system while running DebEX from DVD or a USB stick. Please note that the whole Refracta process (creating your new ISO) will only take 5 – 10 min! You’ll find your new ISO in /home/snapshots.

Screenshot 1 – DebEX LXQt – root’s Desktop
Screenshot 2 – DebEX LXQt – live’s Desktop