ClutchOS_13-beta, a Slackware based Live Persistent USB
 

Well
I know there are many slackware'ish distro's out there
but I had to make what I think will be a great distro

Its only a beta for now and too big for CD at 760MB
However it's awesome for USB as it is made with LinuxLiveScripts and so
runs similar to Slax-6.1.2, as it uses the Slax 2.6.27.27 kernel/modules and firmware.

So, I'm not trying to really re-invent the wheel,etc
But, I wanted to instead showcase what a great distro 13 is as a persistent USB.

I know many members here go thru alot to get their 13 setup working off
USB on various PC's
Me too

With this setup it will autofind itself on almost any PC, and it runs persistent

The persistent feature is same as Slax's, using either XFS "slaxsave.dat"
of various sizes, 128MB-2GB, or using a folder on hdd/usb

The great thing is it has many features not found in most distros
I did alot of hacking to get the Desktop made from Scratch
Using JWM-2.0.1, some scripts, a couple home-made apps like systray-volume-control and the customizable and updateable JWM menu system.
I think it is awesome and I think you will too:banghead:
LOL

It retains all the Dev and Libs for making stuff from source
and is expandable using Slax modules:hattip:

So, whats it got?
Lets see some pics

The boot menu, yes the pic is backwards on purpose:)
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack.../pics/boot.png

The JWM desktop
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack...cs/clutch1.png

Heres some of the custom menu entries I made in /usr/share/applications
Note pkgtool, grubconfig, etc
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack...cs/clutch2.png

Here note nano and MC as they all(term apps) open up in Terminal
which I stole from my xfce4 setup
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack...cs/clutch3.png

and the net stuff
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack...cs/clutch4.png

multimedia too
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack...cs/clutch5.png

here grubconfig via Terminal from menu, Liloconfig works same
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack...cs/clutch6.png

So, heres the details

Users:
username: root
password: 77

size 760MB packaged as a .zip, its not a iso!

Build: Slackware current with some SlackBuilds, some source-into-pkg builds, and a couple apps from slacky.

Desktop: JWM-2.0.1 built from modified source

Display Manager: Slim-1.3.1 from SlackBuilds

Requires:
As with Slax-6.1.2, you should have at least 256mB RAM
and 1GB+ for copy2ram mode

The X configuration is just like absolute's default post-install-first-boot xconfig
if unsure choose vesa or "no"
I also placed a copy of the script for xconfig on the root desktop, the script is vidconfig from /usr/local/sbin
by default it deletes the script after first run so if you are running persistent, dont delete it as you may need
it to rerun if you are on a PC with strange card,etc
Its BEST to always use the vesa option if booting on various PC's in persistent mode!

Here's the download

ClutchOS_13 beta
http://multidistro.com/distros/slack...3/CLUTCH13.zip

To install to fat32/ext2/3 USB:
couple ways
either copy to USB manually(USB must have syslinux/grub installed and boot flag set active)

Or, use the "make_iso.sh" in /boot folder to make a iso
then use Unetbootin to install to USB
To use make_iso.sh open a terminal in /boot folder and enter
it will ask for iso name, make sure you end the name in .iso
like myslax.iso, not myslax

it will boot from a ext2/3 usb using grub.

I plan to have a pre-finished rc1 by next week:)

If anyone tries it please post comments,etc
thanks

Well, it's very nice that you have made a functional desktop from multiple components, but it can't be compared with full-feature desktops like GNOME and KDE.
It might be useful for people with old hardware, if you optimize it a bit. Sadly for you, there aren't many people with hardware that isn't able to run a decent desktop. There is a particular area in which this distribution will be useful: if someone has an obsolete computer, and wants to bring it up to life for browsing and this kind of basic tasks.

And I'll tell you what will be _REALLY_ useful:
> Provide all the packages for this desktop, including the login manager (Slim)
> Create a installable Slackware-based distribution (not a LiveCD), which is very stripped out, and only designed for basic tasks

Well done IMO. I like the freedom you display, Linus72, in your work with many distros. I am no distro purest by any means and/but like to show credit where credit is due. It's nice to see the freedom to use GPLed distros customized the way you are doing it. If anyone wants to it is quite easy to add a KDE or Gnome session to your work. So many main-stream distros are getting too beta/buggie with their new stuff. Not to be disrespectfull to the giants in Linux, it is just where we are today; evolving very fast. So what is a person to do in the mean time while things are such a crazy state today in Linux? You customize with what we know works "stable" and it at hand. Just like Linux72 is working on. I am struggling to keep my enthusiasm up with Linux lately and work like this gets me all "fired-up" again. Being the great KDE 3.5.10-11 is being deprecated to KDE 4 what is one to do but exactly what guys like Linus72 is doing.

Two things that are "gut-full" I see and like here are: 1) making a distro-remix with root only and auto-login are mostly unhurd of in the core Linux communities, but what-the-heck why not for repair disks. and 2) Your openness about your work makes it easy to follow and learn from. We need to see more of this attitude again in the Linux world and I applaud you for this type of openness. I am following along and having fun and learning along the way. Thank you for that. :)

Keep up the good work,

EdwinStarr