A video review of Zenwalk 15.0

First review of Zenwalk 15.0 milestone 2020

Here's the first review of Zenwalk 15.0 milestone 2020.


https://bitcu.co/en/zenwalk-linux/

Good reading
JP

A new EFI administration tool in Zenwalk

Today : a new tool to manage EFI boot entries has been added.

Have fun

JP

Zenwalk 15.0 - milestone 2020 07 02 is ready

Hi,

Once a year, Zenwalk Current is considered stable enough for a "milestone" release, here's Zenwalk 15 milestone 2020.

Based on Slackware Current July 2020, Zenwalk 15 milestone 2020 is fully compatible.

As usual, the goal is to provide fast simple setup, refined desktop, selection of the best apps, ease of use, with full respect of the Slackware philosophy.

The news are :

• New XFCE desktop based on the latest XFCE 4.14+ with many tweaks providing the widest possible workspace for modern full HD displays
• Introduction of Flatpak support for installing any application from Flathub or Gnome Desktop
• New rewritten Netpkg package manager for instant access to thousand of packages from the Slackware community, and keep the system up to date with one liner command
• PAM authentication system thanks to upstream
• Kernel 5.4.50
• Improved SBC XQ codec in Pulseaudio providing APTX-HQ like high-fidelity music quality
• Chromium Web browser v83.0.4103.61 , intensively used for "everything it can do" : Web browsing, Chromecast streaming, Webapps, Webmail, PDF viewing, image viewing, etc ..."

The ISO image setup is intended to be launched from a USB stick (see the SlackWiki for some tips).

First downloads are here :

• zenwalk-current-15.0-200703a.iso (direct download, MD5)
• fcadf507f53372fe2ce24c44934dda3f6dbae2d1 (torrent)

You can consult the full Changelog for more information. See also announcements and other stories in the BLOG section.

As usual : donations and contributions of any kind go to Patrick Volkerding. Zenwalk remains non profit.


Have fun
JP

Flatpak is available on Zenwalk

Flatpak is the freedesktop.org software deployment and package management standard for Linux, offering a sandbox environment in which users can run application software in isolation from the rest of the system.

In Zenwalk : Flatpak is managed through the App Outlet application (https://app-outlet.github.io/).

You can also browse https://flathub.org/apps, find what you're looking for (ie : VLC) and just launch "flatpak install VLC" in an unprivileged user terminal.

Have fun !!

Netpkg 7.0 : simpler, faster tool to manage packages

Netpkg 7.0 has been released.

Netpkg is the original network package management tool provided in Zenwalk since 2005, and was the first tool of this kind available for Slackware back in the days.

Over the years, following users requests, netpkg has evolved into a graphical (GTK) application with CLI counterpart.

Netpkg is Slackgnostic ;) : it work for any Slackware system.

The CLI version has proven to be easier for the user, is faster, and requires no dependencies except bash, wget, and a few command line utilities found on any Slackware installation :  so it can run in level 3 with just the "ap" packages installed (could even run from the setup from a chrooted mountpoint).

Nowadays graphical applications are more and more handled through Appimages packages and such formats, so the graphical Netpkg is not needed anymore.

So here it is, deeply improved, more powerful, easier to use than any other package management tool : automatic system update, dependency resolution, multi-repository, with full-text search, .new config files management, local packages removal and reinstallation, etc...

Have fun :)

Create your private Hifi streaming service

How to create a private Hifi streaming service?

If you have a quality and relatively large music library, it's a shame to have bought all these albums and to have to subscribe to a streaming service provider to listen to them when you are on the go ...

Maybe have you ever wondered if it would be possible to create a private streaming service and thus replace Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal, etc ... to play your own media library in CD quality?

It's possible and quite simple, you just need to have:

• A NAS server: for example : a Linux NAS, or a Windows NAS, or a Synology NAS, or a simple Linux or Windows PC ... or even any Android mobile with sufficient storage capacity.
• BubbleUPNP Server (a software available for free download, installed on the previous NAS). BubbleUPNP Server is a UPNP proxy: it transforms your NAS into an ultra versatile DLNA broadcast server and "Internet ready"
• BubbleUPNP Application on Android mobile / tablet (~ 4 € on Play Store) and / or Foobar2000 on Windows

BubbleUPNP Server is available in the Zenwalk repository (package is for Slackware as well).

The configuration of BubbleUPNP is simple and well documented :

https://www.bubblesoftapps.com/bubbleupnpserver2

BubbleUPNP Server is configured graphically via the browser (see screenshot below).

At the Internet BOX level: add two port redirects 58050 and 58051, as illustrated below.

BubbleUPNP allows:

• Access your library from your home (FLAC, AAC, OGG, ...) with a very ergonomic reader interface, bookmarks, multiple customization settings, playlists, etc ... and by adding the compatibility of certain file formats to your Chromecast or DLNA receivers.
• Access this same library (FLAC, AAC, OGG, ...) from the Internet (train, office, vacation ...) in a secure and authenticated way with the same ergonomic player interface. In fact we do not realize the transition to Internet mode: it is transparent: your library is available from the same app "everywhere".
• From the Android BubbleUPNP app: stream to any speaker / amp connected to the network, Chromecast or DLNA, or via Bluetooth (BubbleUPNP Android is one of the few players that supports almost all connected speakers / amplifiers).

So you won't have ripped your CDs for nothing;) ... and 1 year of Qobuz "Hires" subscription saved will allow you to buy a few dozen albums in order to integrate them into "your" BubbleUPNP media library (Hires it too, if you want, or in any case CD quality, because the Hires doesn't bring anything ... but that's another story ...). You can share it with all your family and friends: in private.

A simple deposit of FLAC files on the NAS and they are instantly available via BubbleUPNP.

Don't forget to make a small donation to the developer, if you want ...

BubbleUPNP Server is available in the Zenwalk repository (package is for Slackware as well)

MFP - Music Folder Player

MFP is folder oriented Music Library manager and player.  It provides most features expected from a Music Player.

MFP is the answer for good and latency-less Chromecast support in Linux. It requires Chromium, Apache and PHP to run.

Media files (flac, mp3, ogg, opus, aac, ....) should all be contained in the "Music" folder in your home directory (you can create a symlink ~/Music -> your_music-folder).

Just launch the Music Library Player application menu entry (in the Multimedia category), and have fun ! :)

See:  https://github.com/ltGuillaume/MusicFolderPlayer

The package for Slackware & Zenwalk : mfp-1.0-x86_64-200103.txz

Audio quality of SBC XQ Bluetooth audio codec

SBC XQ provides a better sound quality than APTX-HQ. It's considered transparent : 100% CD quality.

A good article about Bluetooth codecs on soundexpert.org

SBC XQ is available from scratch in Zenwalk ;)

Enjoy the best BT "lossless" quality available on GNU Linux !

JP

Here is the patch, for those who want to use it to oher distributions : https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/Hyperion/pulseaudio/tree/SBC-XQ

Spotify client for Slackware or Zenwalk

Just built the latest official and unmodified Spotify client package for Slackware or Zenwalk :

spotify-1.1.10.546-x86_64-190901.txz

Enjoy !

JP

DLNA support is ready

I just added DLNA support (Chromecast, and other uPnP streaming services) to Zenwalk.

It will work as well on stock Slack current.

Just install the pulseaudio-dlna package and it's deps, then activate the process in your desktop session manager, and... Have fun :)

XFCE 4.14 is ready !

After a long development period - 4 years and 5 months of work, the XFCE folks have just announced the release of the Xfce desktop 4.14, a new stable version that supersedes Xfce 4.12.

Full changelog here : https://www.xfce.org/about/news

(my small contribution to this release is folder thumbnails support in Thunar ;) )

Packages are ready for Zenwalk and Slackware.

Have fun
JP

TOR Browser 8.5.3 is available for download as Slackware package and AppImage

Latest TOR Browser 8.5.3 is available for download as Slackware package and AppImage :

• New release tor-browser 8.5.3
• tor-browser-8.5.3-x86_64-190709.AppImage
• tor-browser-8.5.3-x86_64-190709.txz 

zenwalk current ISO for 02 06 2019

Hi,

 New current ISO is ready ! 

In addition to the hundreds of packages updates from upstream Slackware Current and Zenwalk native, you'll get the new Firefox 67.0, latest XFCE 4.13, a new desktop theme, and a brand new Whisker applications menu.

For complete changelog see both Slack changelog on slackware.com and Zenwalk changelog on this site.

ISO can be downloaded here :
zenwalk-current_190602.iso
zenwalk-current_190602.md5

Don't forget : if you want to support Zenwalk : donations go to Slackware ! Zenwalk is not a job for me, as Slackware is for Pat !

Have fun :)
jp

Firefox 66.0 is available for Slackware and Zenwalk

Hi,

The new Firefox 66.0 is available for Slackware and Zenwalk !

Compiled today in the Slackware way, and running great here.

See what's new : https://hacks.mozilla.org/2019/03/firefox-66-the-sound-of-silence/

Package : http://download.zenwalk.org/x86_64/testing/mozilla-firefox-66.0-x86_64-190319.txz
MD5 : http://download.zenwalk.org/x86_64/testing/mozilla-firefox-66.0-x86_64-190319.txz.md5

Have fun

JP

Firefox 66.0b3 64-bit for Zenwalk / Slackware

Hi,

Don't wait to try the latest Firefox !

Running great and stable here.

See what's new : https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/66.0beta/releasenotes/

Package : mozilla-firefox-66.0b3-x86_64-190131.txz

Have fun

JP

zenwalk current ISO for 13 12 2018

Hi,

Here's the latest current ISO :
zenwalk-current_181213.iso
zenwalk-current_181213.iso.md5

Have fun
jp

Firefox 64 beta is ready for testing

Some release notes :

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/63.0/releasenotes/

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/64.0beta/releasenotes/

And package : mozilla-firefox-64.0b7-x86_64-181106.txz

Pulseaudio with APTX support

Hi,

For your audio experimentations : here's Pulseaudio with APTX support for Slackware/Zenwalk :

http://download.zenwalk.org

Have fun :)

New Xorg vulnerability

An Indian security researcher has discovered a highly critical flaw in X.Org Server package that impacts OpenBSD and most Linux distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora.

Xorg X server is a popular open-source implementation of the X11 system (display server) that offers a graphical environment to a wider range of hardware and OS platforms. It serves as an intermediary between client and user applications to manage graphical displays.

According to a blog post published by software security engineer Narendra Shinde, Xorg X server doesn't correctly handle and validate arguments for at least two command-line parameters, allowing a low-privileged user to execute malicious code and overwrite any file—including files owned by privileged users like root.

The flaw, tracked as CVE-2018-14665, was introduced in X.Org server 1.19.0 package that remained undetected for almost two years and could have been exploited by a local attacker on the terminal or via SSH to elevate their privileges on a target system.

The two vulnerable parameters in question are:

• -modulepath: to set a directory path to search for Xorg server modules,
• -logfile: to set a new log file for the Xorg server, instead of using the default log file that is located at /var/log/Xorg.n.log on most platforms.

Changelog Thu Oct 25 19:21:09 UTC 2018 :x/libinput-1.12.2-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
x/xorg-server-1.20.3-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
x/xorg-server-xephyr-1.20.3-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
x/xorg-server-xnest-1.20.3-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.
x/xorg-server-xvfb-1.20.3-x86_64-1.txz: Upgraded.

 

 Source : https://thehackernews.com