SliTaz Forum
You are not logged in.
Pages: 1
Just from being curious I downloaded the iso that you mentioned here:
http://forum.slitaz.org/topic/smallest-version-ever/page/2
It worked, but I could not get an X-screen, it stopped at a konsole-login. What would you do to start an X-screen then?
(I realized openbox as a wm-manager, but could not start it)
What is your opinon about a “smallest ever” version that just includes firefox, tazpanel and the necessary configuration tools? How big/small would that be, according to your experience?
Offline
>What would you do to start an X-screen then?
>(I realized openbox as a wm-manager, but could not start it)
You'd probably install xorg server (1)
see for configuration e.g. (2) (3)
>What is your opinon about a “smallest ever” version that just includes firefox, tazpanel and the necessary configuration tools?
>How big/small would that be, according to your experience?
+1
(1) try to find by: "tazpkg search xorg"
(2) http://doc.slitaz.org/en:handbook:xwindow
(3) http://doc.slitaz.org/en:guides:xorg-xvesa
Offline
Thanks, Erkan,
well, does not sound that easy for me as then most likely I would need to configure the X-system from a konsole, for me, a notorious gui-user, like in the middle of the night without a lamp. Just for fun I boot the smallest version that Alkeksej has provided (ca. 7 MB) and installed xorg server but was not able to start it.
So, just for curiosity, I booted Slitaz 5.0, recharged the package list, installed firefox and then did a „tazusb writefs“. It resulted in a 177 MB sized new rootfs.gz-file. Apparently not compressed, right?
So, please, just for sport:
Anybody here who would like to find out how to make a minimal slitaz, without sound, just X and firefox, from this starting point http://people.slitaz.org/~lexeii/iso/ (that Aleksej has provided). If it works I would like to show it at our local linux user groups the next time, stressing the need for a proper community as well.
Offline
side note:
Not sure if you saw it yet, but there is a "slitaz-4.0-firefox.iso" (1)
though, it's not the newest FF, and certainly not the smallest iso
(1) http://mirror1.slitaz.org/iso/4.0/flavors/
Offline
Thanks, no, I did not see it yet. It's size is 44 MB. Not the smallest one but I will have a look. - But to make my point clear: this is just kind of sport. I guess for a minimal system useful for a normal user one needs an X-screen, a file manager like pcmanfm and a common browser like firefox (unfortunately not a slim thing). Plus the ability to configure the system, e.g., for a German keyboard in my case. Whether such a thing has a size of 44 MB or 14 MB is not important at all. Just for keeping the nose high... ;-)
Offline
Ok, Erkan. Said flavor worked, in a way. This version has issues with the nouveau driver so I could not get an X-screen.
The other version, Slitaz 5, obtained by „tazusb writefs“ does not include the /home directory so I could not login as tux. But otherwise it worked well. Anybody here to tell how to solve the 2 remaining problems:
- including the /home/tux directory with all the hidden directories and files
- compressing it?
Offline
Download slitaz-rolling.iso from the homepage. This iso allows you to boot into 4 "stages" at your option (which you choose at the bootloader menu):
- base (no X)
- justx (speaks by itself)
- gtkonly
- core (full SliTaz)
This four-in-one ability is reached by splitting rootfs into 4 parts.
Try to boot justx and see if it fits your request after installing FF (but consider Midori, it is a quite good browser and is much smaller).
Also, you can specify compression with tazusb (I think you have [c]tazusb writefs gz[/c] and [c]tazusb writefs lzma[/c]): try [c]tazusb usage[/c] to learn more.
Offline
I don't think you can store /home in rootfs.
- If you want a persistent /home you have to specify a partition on the bootloader command line; then it's persistent and you don't need to "writefs" it.
- If you don't specify a home you end up running a Live version; tux is created on-the-fly during boot.
rootfs is just this: a root FS. Once you have customized your packages and settings, it doesn't change. /home doesn't have its place there, or you would have to "writefs" at the end of /every/ session, and you wouldn't have access to your home outside of SliTaz, etc. (in contrast, if you put your /home on a FAT partition, you'll be able to transfer personal files to proprietary OSes).
Offline
Thank you, llev! As said before it is just for a demonstration. Sliaz 5.0 is better suited for this. Nevertheless I stay curious on how experienced Slitazers, why not @Aleksej, would solve the problem to create a minimal Slitaz, but with X, firefox and those configuration utilities. „My“ solution, based on Slitaz 5, works. But the rootfs.gz has 177 MB. For a demonstration that is ok, though.
Offline
Well, "justx" is the reasonable minimal version having X, where "reasonable" means it still has SliTaz tools! When you add a package (say, firefox-official), only needed dependencies are added. So you still have the minimal version suiting your needs. Then you [c]tazusb writefs lzma[/c] and you're done.
If you want GUI config tools, install slitaz-tools-boxes.
P.-S.: there is no SliTaz 5.0 yet; only release candidates, and Rolling which is an "alpha" (or "beta"?) version.
Offline
I just made, using „tazlito writeiso lzma“ command, a new .iso after having installed firefox and slitaz-tools-boxes. It has a size of 61,5 MB. Not a big thing for a OS that is ready to use out of the box.
Next step will be to find out how to get it even smaller! ;-)
Step by step. But help of really experienced Slitazers is still welcome!
In addition: the most minute thing that @Aleksej has shown is only 7 MB. It boots without headache into a command shell, but is connected to the Internet. What steps are needed after “tazpkg recharge“ to get a functioning X-server into it. Including the necessary configuration steps?
Offline
> Next step will be to find out how to get it even smaller!
My scripts for faster removing unnecessary packages:
http://people.slitaz.org/~az_ua/tazpkg-remove-sort-size.sh
http://people.slitaz.org/~az_ua/tazpkglog.sh
Offline
(I cannot boot the different versions that llev has mentioned (base, justx etc.) as I do not see such an offer when booting from the CD. When I mount the iso-file to mnt/loop and copy from there to the hard-drive I cannot boot them from the command line:
root (hd1,6)
kernel /slitaz/boot/bzImage root=/dev/ram0 rw
initrd /slitaz/boot/rootfs1.gz
boot
- gives a kernel panic. In case I use “initrd /slitaz/boot/roofs1.gz rootfs2.gz” as well.
I am confused now - what is the difference between
slitaz-rolling-core.iso, 17.11.2015, 42 MB
and
slitaz-rolling.iso, 18.11.2015, 43 MB
(@az_ua: the is a much later step! I am at the beginning to look for a minimal slitaz with just a working X and firefox installed)
Offline
Hi there!
I did not initiate the assembly of this ISO, as well as do not advertise it. It was just a one-time job: to assemble the ISO of these packages:
[c]busybox gettext-base glibc-base libtaz slitaz-base-files slitaz-boot-scripts tazpkg tazusb udev[/c]
First I would like to say that this is impossible. Assemble, of course, possible, but it is not going to work. In reality, there are two packages more. ISO image contains "linux" (Linux Kernel) and "syslinux" (boot loader) outside the rootfs.gz. Of course, you realize that nothing would have happened without the kernel and without the boot loader.
I booted from this image, and it works. I can typing in console different commands, such as "whoami" and "date"...
All the matter dependencies. More precisely, of their correctness. If the dependencies are correctly registered in the packages, then you can install the one "firefox" package in rootfs and get the environment that contains everything necessary for it's work.
On the other hand, dependencies may be excessed. For example, "busybox" dependencies:
[c]slitaz-base-files glibc-base ncurses-common[/c]
But it works without "ncurses-common". I think, "ncurses-common" is for ncurses-based applications only, but this ISO such a small that it not contained no one of them. And the size of "ncurses-common" is small that then you do not want to argue. Just for fun, you can try to collect your minimal system and learn, without which it will work. In the above topic, I described the steps as possible to collect image of your hand.
There is a special tool to build images, tazlito, but I know him very badly yet. A simple one-time job easier to do manually.
Offline
Hi michaelbischof,
I am confused now - what is the difference between
slitaz-rolling-core.iso, 17.11.2015, 42 MB
and
slitaz-rolling.iso, 18.11.2015, 43 MB
Here, on a downloading page http://mirror1.slitaz.org/iso/rolling/ you'll see the file README. And if you scroll down the page, you'll see the content of this README without need to open it. Brief excerpts from there:
[c]slitaz-rolling-core.iso => full desktop with 32 bits kernel
slitaz-rolling.iso => full desktop with 32 bits kernel, with gtkonly,
justx and base alternatives (4x), also known as
rolling-4in1.iso, current prefered ISO to
download. The default boot selects the best flavor
according the RAM size.[/c]
Offline
Thanks! In the meantime I have checked it with Slitaz 4
- with Firefox plus pcmanfm: justx is 32 MB, the iso-file
- with Firefox plus slitaz-tool-boxes: gtkonly is 36 MB
- with Firefox : core is 48 MB
I used “tazlito writeiso lzma”. Justx is hard to handle for a user as one cannot dock opened programs. Thanks for your help, guys!
Offline
(I cannot boot the different versions that llev has mentioned (base, justx etc.) as I do not see such an offer when booting from the CD.
Strange. But I don't use CDs, so I can't help. You used slitaz-rolling, not slitaz-rolling-core, right?
When I mount the iso-file to mnt/loop and copy from there to the hard-drive I cannot boot them from the command line:
root (hd1,6)
kernel /slitaz/boot/bzImage root=/dev/ram0 rw
initrd /slitaz/boot/rootfs1.gz
boot
- gives a kernel panic. In case I use “initrd /slitaz/boot/roofs1.gz rootfs2.gz” as well.
This is the reverse: base is rootfs4 only, justx == rootfs4 + rootfs3, etc. Don't ask why ;-)
Also, just in case: Grub (version 1 at least) cannot use several files in the initrd command.
Offline
@llev
Yes, when doing it I saw the same: it is reverse!;-) Whatever, it worked. But 32 MB including firefox is something. Not really useable: one cannot dock opened programs somewhere you all one can do is to open a konsole and firefox and let them open. The gtkonly-version is only 36 MB but gives a normal desktop view. May be some justx plus a tweaked fluxbox could do it with even lessen then 36 MB. In this moment I do not have the time for that.
Offline
Finally one thing:
Nick Veitch
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/8-of-the-best-tiny-linux-distros-683552/5
has done a comparison of 8 tiny linux distributions. His result:
„There can be only one winner in the context of our Roundup, and it should be Slitaz. It's fast, easy on memory, and comes with a considered selection of apps. Not being able to install new software easily apart from stuff in the Slitaz package format is one of the few drawbacks, but for a fast, lightweight desktop it's hard to beat.
SlitazAll the versions tested here either install from a live version or have live versions available, so check that your hardware's compatible before you install. It's not always the case that the biggest distros are the most compatible – it varies, although those tested here should provide basic functionality (some sort of graphics, keyboard, mouse and wired network).
If your target is a laptop, you might be in for all sorts of difficulties. Many laptop parts aren't what they seem to be, at least as far as kernel drivers go.“
The last point is important: since Slitaz 4 I often have trouble to boot into an X-screen on different machines with some old graphic cards.
Offline
Why you make iso after install all packages? ...if you want small iso use it as live version like me ...install all packages at boot time. Now im using four packages for my base rootfs(dont know if possible to remove any of them)busybox, glibc-base, slitaz-base-files and slitaz-boot-scripts my rootfs size 1.47MB.Total packages after install 84 including four base packages with firefox ,flash ,sound wifi workin.Im advice you create your iso using Aleksej guide here
http://forum.slitaz.org/topic/smallest-version-ever/page/2#post-39946
Offline
Pages: 1
[ Generated in 0.018 seconds, 7 queries executed - Memory usage: 1.58 MiB (Peak: 1.77 MiB) ]