Most people I know, whom aren’t very used to linux yet, are afraid of the command line, they think it’s hard to learn and somehow useless but that is entirely false… The command line is very easy to learn, well at least the basics of it, but you should know that the shell is much more powerful than anything you have, or will, ever use…
In this small article I will try to show you all the basics on the command line, but first things first, let’s start with the directory layout:
- /bin: Contains binaries that are needed for the boot process or for working in single mode, this folder should always be within the root partition!
- /boot: Contains boot information, usually it’s where grub/lilo and kernel files ends up.
- /dev: Contains device nodes, like /dev/console, /dev/sda /dev/hda etc… It used to be populated by devfs but now udev take care of it, you will find many articles on both devfs/udev on Google
- /etc: Contains system-wide configuration files and login information.
- /home: Contains the home folders for all non-root users
- /lib: Contains libraries needed for booting and single mode, just like /bin but it also includes kernel modules, This must reside in root as well.
- /media: Contains folders where removable devices will be mounted, like USB flash key
- /mnt: Contains any misc partition you might have, and CD/DVD drives too
- /opt: Contains anything that doesn’t fit inside /usr, basically any binary released software or Non-GPL licensed software… Be Aware that a lot of distribution choose this folder for different purposes, like installing Gnome/KDE inside, IMHO it’s not good but I respect their decision.
- /proc: Contains information on all running process, and some misc files like /proc/cpuinfo which is a detailed information on the processor.
- /root: is the home directory for the user root.
- /sbin: Just like /bin but only binaries that can’t be used unless you are root.
- /sys: Contains information on the system and all the attached devices on all ports (USB, IDE, Parallel Port… etc.. ) populated by the kernel.
- /tmp: Contains temporary files, you want to download/check something just throw it here, it’ll be deleted then next time you boot. NOTE: this is false for some distributions, please check the distribution to see if it does clean it up on boot.
- /usr: Contains binaries, libraries and include files for all the installed applications.
- /var: Contains databases and data files.
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You may run into a really nice piece of software and discover that is it not in portage nor in an overlay. You really want the software and would like the package manager to handle it for easier maintenance. I stress using the package manager for everything. It’s just one of those things you don’t question and follow the proper practices. One of the first things I do is head over to Gentoo’s bugzilla and see if an ebuild has been submitted. In this scenario I will use Galaxium im software as an example. I jump over to Gentoo bugzilla and presto, someone has already done up the ebuild. Now if you’re new to portage you maybe thinking great, but what do I do with these ebuilds. So than we need to look at the gentoo wiki for a guide on 3rd party ebuilds. Let me do a quick walk through of this process. You will need to be root to do this process. Since Galaxium has two ebuilds, we need to create two directory structures, which are:(Note I edited the ebuilds and resubmitted them to sabayon linux bugzilla so I will be using those one - reason for edit was so I could install it on my 64 bit install.)
In terminal/konsole
- su and enter your root password
- # mkdir -p /usr/local/portage/dev-dotnet/libanculus-sharp
- # mkdir -p /usr/local/portage/net-im/galaxium
How do you know what to name the directories? You want to follow the proper categories layout that Gentoo uses.
First thing we need to do is make sure your /etc/make.conf has the correct line in it so it can find your custom ebuilds. Simply add PORTDIR_OVERLAY=”/usr/local/portage” to it if it’s not there.
Than we need to get the ebuilds into the directories and digest them so we can install them, let’s start with libanculus-sharp first:
- # cd /usr/local/portage/dev-dotnet/libanculus-sharp << changes u to the correct directory >>
- # wget -O libanculus-sharp-0.3.1.ebuild http://bugs.sabayonlinux.org/attachment.cgi?id=53 << will get the ebuild and put it in the directory >>
- # ebuild libanculus-sharp-0.3.1.ebuild digest << prepares the ebuild for install >>
You will notice when you digest a file it will retrieve the files from the internet it needs and place them into your /usr/portage/distfiles Now you can emerge your ebuild by:
# emerge libanculus-sharp
Now we can do Galaxium:
- # cd /usr/local/portage/net-im/galaxium
- # wget -O galaxium-0.7.3.ebuild http://bugs.sabayonlinux.org/attachment.cgi?id=52
- # ebuild galaxium-0.7.3.ebuild digest
- # emerge galaxium
Pretty painless and now your ebuild is there to stay and it’s easy to maintain when a new version comes out. Now you maybe thinking what do I do if I can’t find an ebuild for the software I want. Well you can learn how to make an ebuild or use the sabayonlinux bugzilla and request an ebuild and maybe some kind package maintainer will build it and put it in the overlay for you. You can request a package for Entropy package manager also. The above method works great tho if you can’t wait for a package or even an updated version to get into an overlay or portage.
As predicted, rc-2 came out for core-beta team and I have assembled the iso files, but haven’t had a chance to test it yet. If there is no problems, the final will finally be released. Below are the changes from Loop3 thru RC-2
RC-1 brought:
Changes/Fixes:
- squashfs format updated to 3.1
- Fixed libgphoto2/CUPS issues
- Fixed iputils suid executables (/bin/ping)
- Firefox 3.0
- Wine 1.0
- ISOLINUX 3.63 fixing the infamous keyboard issue
- Removed pommed from sabayonlive
- Installer/GRUB: ensure MBR writes
- Fixed net-setup
- Fixed Privoxy init script (updating to OpenRC layout)
- Entropy: added proxy username and password settings
- Entropy: added a function to copy a package from a repository to another (community repos)
- PAM+SHADOW updates/fixes
- Removed useless JAVA VMs
- Added IcedTea Java VM on x86_64
- Miro has been removed (broken despite what upstream says)
- Compiz Fusion 0.7.6
- Sauerbraten 2008.06.17
RC-2 brought:
Changes/Fixes:
- updated Kernel to 2.6.25.9
- updated AUFS driver (porting from Ubuntu Intrepid git, they seem to use their own branch)
- updated sabayonlive-tools to 1.8.1:
– moved xorg.conf to xorg.conf.sabayon, Live setup will work out it and move to xorg.conf
– added UseEvents “True” option
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but Summer is here, time to get outside and enjoy it too.
Sabayon Linux 3.5-R1 is under way for the core-beta team and getting closer to a final release of 3.5. Not a lot of reports have come in yet from the beta team, but we did run into a couple issues right off the bat and lxnay is on the case via our reports. 3.5 is probably going to be the best release to date. The installer in 3.5 gives you way more control. There will be no room to complain about too much stuff being installed now. Select your desktop and than use the individual package selection to choose what you want. You still have the option to use the core install to basically build from CLI for the real gurus. The inclusion of Entropy package manager is a dream come true for many. The documentation on it is still a bit sketchy as it is still in beta and keeps on getting better each time lxnay works on it. I hadn’t tried Entropy in several months, only when it was first introduced and I did not care for it. Since than it has improved greatly and now even has a GUI called Spritz and has a tray notification of when new updates are available. I should mention that Entropy is the binary side of Sabayon Linux. This means you do not have to compile your packages and they will install much faster. You don’t have to worry about dependencies and libraries going missing as Entropy has intelligence to maintain your complete system. Don’t get me wrong tho, the user can still create a mock if they are not paying attention. This is just common sense with anything and so many new users need to learn the system.
Many of you have already seen the new artwork for 3.5 through the update process. It’s a love hate thing from what I am seeing. People either love it or absolutely hate it. IMHO Sabayon Linux artwork for the past two releases now are over done with same color. There is no contrast/accents and all blends together making it difficult to see things. Last theme was red on red and now we have blue on blue. You have to admit tho, the blue is a lot easier on the eyes than the red. I agree it needs improvement and we need themes to be able to satisfy everyone.
There has been a discussion in irc a couple times about getting various people to contribute artwork and start a community art repo that offers various themes. It would be nice to see the community to become more involved. We have over the last month or so gained a few more people in helping with maintaining and coding. I do hope in time we see more and more devs coming aboard. I think with 3.5 release the Gentoo community will have to admit that Sabayon Linux is not a leech and is a very serious distro that helps benefit Gentoo. I see more and more Gentoo users giving Sabayon Linux a try all the time.
Anyway, we are expecting a 3.5-R2 and if no problems, I would expect the final.
I always love Linux, I actually never use windows, but I still have to choose a distribution, I always loved Gentoo because it’s very easy to use, besides it’s a source based… And I truly love the USE flags, You can build the packages the way you like
I mean no offense to Gentoo whatsoever actually I thank them over and over again, but since Gentoo’s developers are always very busy, Gentoo’s default configuration is very ugly and a lot of packages are outdated, so I went looking for a distribution forked/based on Gentoo and I found it 
Sabayon is a very nice and beautiful distribution, in fact just booting the liveDVD will give you a very good feeling, the graphics are very nice, the music playing on startup ( original eh? ) is very nice too… Here’s some screenshots… So I decided to join the developers team and here I am helping as far as I can… I just love every aspect about Sabayon and if you’re reading this then do me a favor, download the ISO and try it.
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After months and months and months of hard work, I am happy to say that Sabayon Linux 3.5 final will enter the final beta testing stage within 48 hours and will stay there for a couple of weeks. All I can say is that the difference between 3.4 and 3.5 is REALLY REALLY huge. During this period we’ve worked out all the concerns we collected about 3.4, like binary packages (Entropy!!), security updates, ease of use, speed, hardware support: we are now ready to steadily enter the TOP 5 DISTRO arena, but it’s not done here! After 3.5, expect our exciting and impressive release cycle to be back, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 and so on!
So, here’s an incomplete (teaser) list about what you can expect from Sabayon in the coming months, also thanks to our NLnet Foundation sponsoring (but it’s not enough! keep donating!):
- Faster release cycles (4.0, 4.1, 4.2)
- Entropy Packages and Package Management
- “User Generated Content”-based features
- Complete top-to-bottom integration (website included)
- Free services (packages, images, video and howtos sharing)
- A new shiny and more interactive website
So to speak, Sabayon Linux 3.5 release date is set before the 6th of July, 2008
