Zenwalk Linux
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Zenwalk Linux should not be confused with Zen Linux.
 Zenwalk logo |
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| Website: | www.zenwalk.org |
| Company/ developer: |
Jean-Philippe Guillemin |
| OS family: | Linux |
| Source model: | Open Source |
| Latest stable release: | 4.0 / November 20, 2006 |
| Kernel type: | Monolithic kernel |
| License: | GPL |
| Working state: | Current |
Zenwalk Linux was originally a Slackware-based Linux distribution founded by Jean-Philippe Guillemin. Under the lead of JP, as he is affectionately called, the distribution has become very different from Slackware in most regards while still maintaining compatibility with binary installation packages. It is a now multi-purpose Linux distribution that focuses on Internet applications, multimedia and programming tools. Zenwalk comes with many specialized tools, designed for beginner through advanced users as it offers system configuration via both graphical and command-line operations.
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[edit] Project Goal
The basic goal of Zenwalk is to create a Linux OS by incorporating one application per use into the final ISO image. This enables the installation disk to end up at around 400 MB, yet still contain applications for several uses, such as multimedia, artwork creation, office work, networking and application programming.
[edit] Package Management
Zenwalk uses the netpkg package management tool. It is developed in-house, and it provides similar functionality to the apt-get variety of package managers. It uses Slackware's .tgz package format, but adds dependency resolution functionality. The system uses meta files to provide dependency information, as well as package description during the install process. This convenience is only available to the official Zenwalk mirrors listed in the netpkg configuration file, netpkg.conf. The current version is netpkg 3.5.4, and it includes a command line interface, as well as a synaptic-like GUI. Packages available in the Zenwalk mirrors attempt to stay true to the project's philosophy of using one application per task, but allows for customization of the end-user's systems by offering more variety.
As of Zenwalk 4.0, package compatibility with Slackware is still maintained. Slackware packages may be used to substitute Zenwalk packages where necessary. Additional package availability can be found at LinuxPackages.net.
[edit] Project Versions
There are 2 versions of Zenwalk :
Zenwalk (full version ~ 390MB iso download) is a complete system : out of the box, you will be able to browse, mail, chat, listen to music, program in C, Perl, Python, Ruby,.. watch videos in various formats, write documents, print, scan, burn CD and DVD, connect your camera and edit your photographs, without adding anything. Coders will like the full set of development libraries and interpreters.
Zenwalk Core (~ 320MB iso download) is a Zenwalk system without X applications. Zenwalk-core is intended to be used as a starting point to build a custom desktop system or a server system, and for users with limited space on their disk, or great perfectionists wanting to build their personal desktop system themselves.
[edit] Release Timeline
Minislack 0.1 2004-05-21
Minislack 0.2 2004-08-23
Minislack 0.3 2005-02-17
Minislack 0.4 2005-03-26
Minislack 1.0 2005-04-24
Minislack 1.0.1 2005-05-03
Minislack 1.1 2005-06-10
Zenwalk Linux 1.2 2005-08-12
Zenwalk Linux 1.3 2005-10-15
Zenwalk 2.0 Core 2005-11-27
Zenwalk Linux 2.0.1 2005-12-04
Zenwalk Linux 2.1 (Core) 2006-01-18
Zenwalk Linux 2.2 2006-02-16
Zenwalk Linux 2.4 2006-04-04
Zenwalk Linux 2.6 2006-05-23
Zenwalk Linux 2.8 2006-07-21
Zenwalk Linux 3.0 2006-09-08
Zenwalk Linux 4.0 2006-11-20
[edit] Historical Release Announcements
Minislack 0.2: "The new version of Minislack comes with kernel 2.6.7 and GCC 3.3.4, following the release of Slackware 10.0. At desktop level: the X server switches to Xorg, and default graphical environment becomes KDE with an elegant look inspired from Gnustep. WindowMaker is provided in CVS version with new antialiased fonts support. Of course Minislack provides essential tools for coding (Python 2.3.4, Perl 5.8.4, Vim 6.3.004, Kdevelop 3.0.4, Quanta 3.2.3, Kate), office production (GIMP 2.0.2, Koffice 1.3.1, CD burning tool K3B 0.11.12), as well as Internet software (Mozilla 1.7, Kmail 1.6.2), and more."
Minislack 0.3: "Smaller and still more complete than ever, this is a key release of Minislack. Minislack 0.3 runs by default on kernel 2.6.10, with support for most hardware including SCSI, ACPI, PCMCIA, frame buffered video-card support, and was built in accordance with Slackware's i486 philosophy. Minislack 0.3 provides two of the fastest and most reliable X environments: XFce (4.2) and WindowMaker (0.91), along with all needed GTK2/GNOME libraries. GNOME and KDE users will like to install their favorite desktop using the included Slapt-get tool."
Minislack 0.4: "The Minislack Linux Team is pleased to announce the availability of Minislack 0.4. This new stable release has been tested during 2 weeks of daily work. It includes updates, enhancements, and also new applications. Main updates are kernel 2.6.11.4, GCC 3.3.5, X.Org 6.8.2, GTK+ 2.6.3, Firefox 1.0.1, Gaim 1.2.0. Gnomebaker 0.3 replaces X-CD-Roast for CD/DVD burning, Beep 0.9.7 replaces XMMS and Ethereal 0.10.9 was added. Minislack 0.4 now includes an easy to setup firewall, and the install script has been simplified. Our testers report performance enhancement, reliability, and great hardware support."
Minislack 1.0: "The Minislack project's team is happy to announce the availability of the 1.0 version. 1.0 includes lots of updates: kernel 2.6.11.6, XFce 4.2.1.1, GNOME 2.10, Thunderbird 1.0.2, Firefox 1.0.3, AbiWord 2.2.7, Gnumeric 1.4.2, Gxine 0.4.1, Grip 3.2.0, Leafpad 0.7.9, Libglade 2.5.1, and more... This release also includes security enhancements (firewall, inetd tuning), and good cpufreqd support for laptops. Minislack provides all needed GNOME libraries to run most GTK+2 Gnome applications. KDE users will find an optimized KDE 3.4 distribution in the packages section of the Minislack website."
Minislack 1.0.1: "Minislack 1.0.1 is a maintenance release providing the following changes: a new service management tool called 'service'; a more pleasant setup color; addition of the Ruby language interpreter; cleanup in the package tree; minor bugfixes (XFce package). The ISO is already available in the download section (by the way, the torrent mirror is currently unavailable, sorry for this)."
Minslack 1.1: "The Minislack team is pleased to announce availability of Minislack 1.1. This version introduces the fast and reliable Reiser4 filesystem, NPTL support, and 'netpkg' - a user friendly package management and update tool. Main updates are kernel 2.6.11.10, XFCE 4.2.2, OpenOffice.org 2.0b (available via netpkg), Firefox 1.0.4, Gaim 1.3.0. A lot of minor updates are also provided, please take a look at the changelog for details. The XFce desktop has been redesigned for a modern and sober look & feel with SVG icons. This release has been examined during 2 weeks by our team of testers, thanks to the growing Minislack community for their help supporting the project."
Zenwalk Linux 1.2: "We are happy to announce the first release: Zenwalk 1.2. New features are the hardware Discover service (v2.0.7), Gnome System Tools (v1.2) which provide a more user-friendly way to setup network, users, time, and Gnome CUPS Manager for easy printer setup. A large number of packages have been updated, most significant being the kernel (2.6.12.2), GCC, Firefox, Thunderbird, Gnome-libs, OpenOffice.org (1.9.122). Developers can also try the new Chai source code editor, which is available in the extra section."
Zenwalk Linux 1.3: "The stable Zenwalk Linux 1.3 is available as a CD-ROM ISO. More than a hundred packages have been updated, including kernel 2.6.12.6 with Reiser4 support. Many new features have been added. The fast and complete XFce desktop environment (4.2.2) has been updated with the new Xffm file manager (4.3.3.1) that allows desktop icons and 'icon view' mode of operation. Zenwalk is leaning towards the GTK toolkit API and provides its own gnome-libs packages (2.10.2), but runs both GTK and QT environments at will. Installing and running KDE as your primary desktop is optional. Zenwalk 1.3 is a complete desktop and multimedia environment including a host of graphical (GTK) system configuration tools."
Zenwalk 2.0 Core: "We are proud to announce the release of Zenwalk-core: a new branch of Zenwalk Linux. Zenwalk-core is a complete Zenwalk system without X applications. Zenwalk-core is intended to be used as a starting point to build a custom desktop system or a server system, and for users with limited space on their disk, or great perfectionists wanting to build their personal desktop system themselves. The idea is simple: the user downloads and install the 230MB ISO, then uses the 'netpkg' online tool to install his preferred desktop environment (XFce, KDE) and only applications he needs from the Internet repository, resulting in a fully personalized Linux system."
Zenwalk Linux 2.0.1: "This release is based on the 2.6.14.2 kernel, with Reiser4 filesystem support and many enhancements and updates. Zenwalk 2.0.1 is the biggest jump in Zenwalk evolution since the beginning of the project. Main software updates are XFce 4.2.3.2, xine 1.1.1, Firefox 1.5, KDE 3.5 available from 'netpkg'. GTK has been updated to version 2.8.7, based on the Cairo library designed for a better use of display hardware acceleration. All GTK applications that can take advantage of Cairo were rebuilt or upgraded. Zenwalk 2.0.1 includes full OpenOffice.org 2.0...."
Zenwalk Linux 2.1 (Core): "Zenwalk core 2.1 is released! The new version of Zenwalk core includes the following improvements: based on Linux kernel version 2.6.14.4 with Reiser4 support; SGI XFS support was added; Pcmciautils replaces Pcmcia-cs; video detection tool 'videoconfig' was improved and should auto-detect nearly 100% of video card drivers and monitor frequencies; network configuration tool 'networkconfig' now handles wireless settings; glibc is upgraded to version 2.3.6, GCC to version 3.4.5; Netpkg now has full dependency support...."
Zenwalk Linux 2.2: "Zenwalk 2.2 has been released! This version introduces many improvements at system and desktop levels. Zenwalk 2.2 runs atop Linux kernel version 2.6.15.4, introducing an improved hotplug subsystem, fully based on udev. This is a major change in the way Linux handles hotpluging and coldpluging, thus resulting in faster boot times. About 140 packages have been updated, including the Mozilla Firefox web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird email client, AbiWord word processor, Gnumeric spreadsheet.... Like before, the Zenwalk desktop is based on XFce (version 4.3.0)."
Zenwalk Linux 2.4: "Our latest release sports a brand new 2.6.16.1 kernel, and the latest udev, which provides improved support for hotplugging devices - cleaning up the remains of the old hotplug system. Now that the transition to a full udev is complete, we were also able to remove the discover service. The changes were not limited to the base system though; with the 2.4, a series of updated packages will be released (nearly 130 packages)."
Zenwalk Linux 2.6: "A new stable Zenwalk release 2.6 is available as a CD-ROM ISO. More than 80 packages have been updated or added. The kernel is 2.6.16.16. Since the last release, we worked on the desktop look and feel, and also on Zenwalk specific system tools like networkconfig and serviceconfig and Zenwalk USB automount system.
"In our continuous search for the best applications for our GTK2-based platform, we have added Wifi Radar to handle wifi roaming network profiles. The extra section provides optional add-on packages made specificially for your Zenwalk system, like for example the OpenOffice suite of applications or KDE. The structure for KDE is changed/expanded and now provides the user with the option for a slim KDE 3.5.2 or a more complete KDE installation."
Zenwalk Linux 2.8: "The development team of the Zenwalk GNU/Linux distribution is pleased to announce that their latest stable release, Zenwalk Linux 2.8, is now available: "Zenwalk 2.8 is a major evolution as more than 160 packages have been updated or added, including the Linux kernel 2.6.17.6 and several system improvements... Visual enhancements include a new boot splash screen and 4 new icon themes for the latest XFCE desktop environment (version 4.3.90.2). The most significant recent addition to Zenwalk's software repository is a full GNOME desktop environment built in only six packages! Extra desktop environments (Gnome and KDE) are available as optional packages in the repository, available via Zenwalk's internet based package management system "netpkg"."
Zenwalk Linux 3.0: "The development team of the Zenwalk Linux operating system is pleased to announce that the latest stable major release, Zenwalk 3.0, is now available for download as a CDROM ISO, and from CD stores. This release includes numerous software and visual advancements. Key software improvements include XFce 4.3.99.1, the Linux kernel 2.6.17.11 Firefox 1.5.0.6, Thunderbird 1.5.0.5, Xarchiver 0.4, as well as many others all updated to the latest releases (around 200 packages updated or added). Visual aspects of the desktop have been improved by using a complete Tango icon set."
Zenwalk Linux 4.0: "As announced, the major version number grow reflects that X11 is updated to version 7.1. All X-Software has been recompiled. The kernel has been switched to the stable 2.6.18.1 and several upgrades have been done, including Firefox 2.0 and OpenOffice.org 2.0.4. New packets have been added and some optimizations have been made."
