Inside Linutop

The version 2.2.1 of the Linutop OS can be downloaded. Most of the changes are bug fixes, and we’ve added a few things:

• the full-fullscreen and flashblock plugins for firefox
• support for NTFS filesystem (to more easily share files with Windows)

The full changelog is on the wiki.

Follow the upgrade installation to get your new system!

We are pleased to announce the release of the 2.2 version of the Linutop OS, based on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (codename Hardy Heron). This release features an improved boot time, between 10 and 15 seconds less than the previous one, the system is more reactive, the configuration tools and the lusm tools have been rewritten to be more stable, secure and efficient. The Xorg driver has been updated and can now automatically detect the screen. New software has been added such as rdp and vnc clients and auto handling of external hardware.

This release also ships Firefox 3.0, the brand new browser from Mozilla, OpenOffice 2.4, the last version of the open productivity suite, Xfce 4.4.2 and all the packages from the Ubuntu database are also available.

To upgrade your OS to this new version, please use the documentation.

Please report any bugs you may find on our bugtracker.

Nothing really new in this version, but a bunch of bug fixes:

• no more wake up at 00H00
• some WiFi key working again
• an up-to-date sources.list
• the usual ubuntu updates

You can install the new system on an external USB key. Then you can use the backup/restore tool to install from the USB key to the internal flash on Linutop 2.

The next step will be the port of the Linutop OS to the latest Ubuntu version (Hardy Heron 8.04, the new Long Term Support release). You can already test a preview and report bugs on our bugtracker.

If you need to install packages from the Ubuntu repositories on your Linutop, you will have to edit /etc/apt/sources.list (with sudo) and replace the ubuntu.com lines with:

deb http://archive.linutop.eu/ubuntu edgy main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.linutop.eu/ubuntu edgy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.linutop.eu/ubuntu edgy-security main restricted universe multiverse


If you prefer a simple command line:

sudo sed -i "s/ubuntu.com/linutop.eu/" /etc/apt/sources.list

Don’t forget to run sudo apt-get update if you plan to use apt-get (synaptic should handle this automatically, or just clic the ‘refresh’ button).

Edgy is not supported by Ubuntu anymore, but still by us (a fixed openssl will be available in the 2.0.2 image for instance).

A new Linutop OS image based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) is being prepared, and should be available soon. As usual, you can test a preview of this system. To create a new key from your linutop you can download the lusm-web script, make it executable (sudo chmod a+x lusm-web) and use it with:

sudo ./lusm-web -d /dev/sda http://images.linutop.eu/2.1

If you test and find bugs, please report them on our bugtracker to get them fixed ASAP.

A community mailing list (discuss) is now open. The goals of this list are to share ideas about how the Linutop can be use, to propose enhancements or patches, to request help from other users to solve problems on the OS, etc.

You can register on the listinfo page.

The version 1.4 of the Linutop OS is ready for download!

The 1.x series are dedicated to the Linutop 1.

This version brings more stability, more settings, and a greater user experience. All the Ubuntu security and bugfix updates have been included. The default graphical settings have been updated for a more enjoyable use of the desktop.

The filesystem of the second partition is now checked at each boot, and problems are fixed if they exist (the check itself takes less than one second). You can also load the system entirely in RAM, ideal for a kiosk use (reboot the system and everything will be clean, including user settings).

The steps to follow to download it are available on the Linutop wiki.

We’ve also open a bugtracker on which you can report problems. You can request support by writting a mail to support AT linutop.com, or join the newly created #linutop IRC channel on the freenode network.

Enjoy!

We’ve built a LAMP image for the Linutop. You can try it of course. Note that it’s a Beta image.

It uses the same system architecture than the Linutop OS, i.e. a squashfs image on top of which a rw layer is added; everything is unified by aufs to obtain a standard system from the user point of vue. This means that if you break your installation, you just have to reset the second partition of your USB key/hard disk to get a clean installation. And the full system (apache 2, mysql 5, php 5, vim, standard debian/ubuntu tools…) takes less than 110 Mo :).

We’ve installed a dotclear blog using this image and it works very well!

The new version of the Linutop OS (1.2) will be available soon.

This new version will bring nice improvements, for instance:

• an updated kernel, an updated xorg driver, bringing you a nice multimedia experience (full screen video)
• a boot time down to one minute
• a more reactive system thanks to aufs
• a cleaner boot screen

Some fun material as been added:

• watch DVB-T streams or broadcast them on the network
• “full fullscreen” in firefox
• easy file sharing with Windows

The system can now be fully persistent (not enabled by default though), and various boot options hav been added (failsafe mode, USB key restoration and PXE boot).

You can of course test a preview of this new version.

Feel free to report bugs and/or suggestions by mail or using the Google groups.

I never tried to boot the Linutop other the network until today. The hardware can’t handle that, but it’s easily doable using syslinux and rom-o-matic.

I’ve added a small doc on the wiki.

It was the occasion for me to test edubuntu for the first time, and it works just fine! The Linutop is really responsive (with GNOME and big parts of KDE used), that’s impressive. I already see the linutop in lots of school, libraries or even universities next to an edubuntu or an unix server