sidux

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sidux
Website http://sidux.com
Company/
developer		 sidux-team around Stefan Lippers-Hollmann (slh); sidux e.V.
OS family Debian
Source model Open source
Latest stable release sidux 2008-01 nyx "Νυξ" / 2008-04-12
Update method APT
Supported platforms i686, x86_64
Kernel type Monolithic kernel
Default user interface KDE
License Various
Working state Current

sidux [ziːdʊks] is a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Debian, which uses the codename Sid. The distribution consists of a Live CD (bootable CD-ROM) for i686 or amd64 architecture and can be installed to a hard drive through a graphical installer.

sidux is maintained by a team of developers including former Kanotix developer Stefan Lippers-Hollmann (slh). Initial administration was managed by The sidux Foundation, Inc. located in the United States. Now the Berlin, Germany based sidux e.V. is administering and supporting the project.

Contents

[edit] Features

sidux puts Debian Sid packages together and adds its own programs. sidux' own repository avoids packages which are currently defective in Debian Sid. The sidux system management program "smxi" also holds sidux fixed packages until a repaired version from Debian appears in Debian Sid.

[edit] Live CD - DVD - USB

Each sidux release comes as a Live CD or Live DVD, booting to a graphical desktop without installation. By copying the files from the live CD to an USB drive a Live USB system can be created.

[edit] Installer

The graphical installation can be started directly from live-mode. Installation can not only be done to fixed harddisks, but also to USB connected hard disks and USB flash drives.

[edit] Updates

Once sidux is installed, it can be kept up-to-date with updates from the Debian Sid and sidux repositories. Due to the fact that these "unstable" software packages could cause an unstable system, a special tool - smxi [1] - has been developed to prevent sidux from getting damaged during updates. The special part of this tool is not only updating parts of the system or all of it, but selectively upgrading on a daily list of upgradable packages.[clarify] This applies especially to so called dist-upgrades, which not only update the installed programs, but the whole system.[clarify] This way it is not necessary to do a reinstallation to have the newest, most up-to-date release.

[edit] Support

  • The forum is also a good place for questions and talks, however the reaction time is longer, but it is a good source for searches.
  • [citation needed]

[edit] Multilingual

The default language of sidux releases is English, however German localisation (i18n support) is also provided on each release. Selectable at boot prompt. The DVD includes localisations for KDE, Iceweasel and Icedove to additional languages, including Dutch, Danish, Spanish, Russian, French, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese and Romanian.

Currently 2008-01-27 the manual[2] is available in 13 languages: DE Deutsch, DA Dansk, EN English, ES Espanol, FR Français, HR Hrvatski, NL Nederlands, PL Polski, PT-br Portuguese-br, RO Român, RU Русский, JA Japanese / Nihongo, IT Italiano.

[edit] Packages

A screenshot of sidux 2007-04 "eros", showing the opened program menu.
A screenshot of sidux 2007-04 "eros", showing the opened program menu.

sidux comes with a selection of programs, covering system rescue and web surfing. To mention a few: KDE desktop, openoffice, iceweasel, amarok, digikam, gparted, gwenview, k3b, kaffeine, koffice, krita, krusader, sane, vdr, virtualbox, wireless-tools, xawtv, yakuake, ...

The complete package list[3] is available for each release in the download directory, named <release-name>.manifest.

[edit] Releases

The releases were usually available in 4 CD versions, however since release 2007-04.5 a fully equipped DVD and two light CDs will be offered here.

Colour Meaning
Red Old release; not supported
Yellow Old release; still supported
Green Current release
Blue Future release
Release Name Date Info
2007-01 chaos "Χάος" 22nd February 2007 sidux 2007-01 release
2007-02 tartaros "Τάρταρος" 28th May 2007 sidux 2007-02
2007-03 gaia "Γαια" 14th August 2007 sidux 2007-03.1 hotfix
2007-04 eros "Ερως" 2007-11-21 sidux 2007-04
2007-04.5 eros "Ερως" (Christmas-Special) 2007-12-26 sidux 2007-04.5 christmas special
2007-04.5 DVD eros "Ερως" (DVD) 2007-12-30 sidux DVD released
2008-01 nyx "Νυξ" 2008-04-12 sidux 2008-01
2008-02 erebos "Ερεβος" week 14-15 2008[citation needed][4]
2008-03 ourea "Ωυρεα" week 25-26 2008[citation needed][5]
2008-04 pontos "Ποντος" week 37-38 2008[citation needed][6]

[edit] Ports

As like many other Linux-distributions, sidux has spinoffs, mainly versions of different languages. Some to be named here:

  • celtux [7] - Irish, Irish/Gaeilge localisation
  • Deb-on-Air [8] - French localisation
  • myrinix [9] - Digital Home Edition
  • sid-icewm-edu [10] - educational version

[edit] Name

The name of the distibution sidux is derived from Debian Sid (Sid Phillips character in Toy Story - usually destroys and tortures his sister Hannah’s toys.) and the common use of -ux for Unix derivates. The names of the releases are taken from the Greek mythology.
Writing: sidux is always written in small letters. As well the sidux e.V. is written in small letters, however e.V. is a German abbreviation for "eingetragener Verein" (incorporated society) and must therefore be written with a capital "V".

[edit] History

Due to incompatible opinions[citation needed], a group of former Kanotix developers, accompanied by many users, divided from the Kanotix-project to continue the former goal of Kanotix in a new project with a defined declaration[11].

The sidux project appeared on 2006-11-24,[12] with the goal of providing a hard disk installable Debian Sid-based Live CD distribution.

The first sidux preview appeared on the 2007-01-24[13] with the finished release appearing on 2007-02-22,[14] codenamed 2007-01 “Χάος"(chaos).

In February 2007 sidux was awarded by DistroWatch with the donation of US$350[15].

The second sidux Live CD was released on the 2007-05-28,[16] codenamed sidux-2007-02 "Τάρταρος"(tartaros).

During the linuxtag 2007 (an open source fair in Berlin) a special linuxtag-edition was distributed at the shared booth of KDE e.V. and sidux.

On the 2007-05-31 sidux e.V.[17] (foundation) has been officially registered with the German authorities.

On 2007-11-15 sidux e.V. was accepted as Non-profit organization by German law[18], retroactively as of 2007-04-01.

[edit] Software

sidux releases contain only free software as defined by the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). To aid proof of compliance, a monolithic tarball containing the source for all packages used in the release is provided alongside the Live CD ISOs.[19] Access to non-free software such as codecs, plugins and wlan firmware can be enabled by configuring contrib and non-free Debian and sidux repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list

In keeping with the evolutionary nature of the "unstable" Debian branch, sidux releases do not provide an upgrade path from previous release versions. Rather, once sidux is installed, incremental updates are performed via regular "dist-upgrades". The idea of a sidux "release" is instead to improve Live CD hardware support, performance, flexibility and reliability, built from the current debian unstable repository.[citation needed]

sidux also provides a "meta-package installer"[20] for installation of related packages for common requirements via a graphical install process. Existing meta-packages include security, graphics, games, educational software and to provide support for older computers.

[edit] System recommendations

sidux is officially supported for the i686 computer architecture.

AMD K6 and VIA C3 Samuel and Ezra[21] cannot be supported[citation needed] because those don't support the full i686 instruction set (missing CMOV support).

[edit] sidux e.V.

For permanent support and financing - on 2007-04-01 the non-profit association "sidux e.V." [22], seated in Berlin, Germany, was founded. Whose constitution, and goals however supersedes the aims of the support and spreading of sidux.

[edit] See also

Free software Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sidux smxi dist-upgrade/ maintenance script.
  2. ^ sidux-manual.
  3. ^ package list of 2007-04.5 kde-full.
  4. ^ sidux release dates.
  5. ^ sidux release dates.
  6. ^ sidux release dates.
  7. ^ celtux - sidux in Irish language.
  8. ^ Deb-on-Air french version of sidux.
  9. ^ myrinix - Digital Home Edition.
  10. ^ sid-icewm-edu.
  11. ^ sidux declaration.
  12. ^ initial-sidux-announcement.
  13. ^ sidux-pre1-announce.
  14. ^ 2007-01-announcement.
  15. ^ distrowatch donation.
  16. ^ sidux-2007-02_release.
  17. ^ sidux_e.V..
  18. ^ sidux e.V. accepted as non-profit organisation.
  19. ^ release-source-repository.
  20. ^ meta-packages.
  21. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIA_C3#Samuel_2_and_Ezra_cores
  22. ^ sidux e.V. - constitution / Satzung

[edit] External links

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Linux distributions