Refracta Development, Scripts, etc.
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golinux

- golinux
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Fri Jun 21, 2013 12:56 am

One month later. Wheezy is released. Thought the new site was going to accompany the new refracta release.
*edit* It's OK if you've changed your mind. Just let me know and I'll take it down.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Sat Jun 22, 2013 3:43 am

No, I haven't changed my mind. I think I have to read this entire thread again in detail and read all the web pages in detail to give you the last changes. I keep putting that off. Sorry for the long delay.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Fri Aug 30, 2013 2:52 pm

Final changes: (These are the ones I'm sure about. I think I have some questions about a few things, but I want to get these out of the way.)
Resources:
Remove these five links:
Debian GNU/Linux device driver check page
craigevil's sources list
source list generator
GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide
HowTo Build a Package from Source the Smart Way
Add the links that have addresses, keep them in this order. Space them according to what looks right:
Debian “Wheezy” Release Information http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/
Debian wiki
Debian packages
Debian mailing lists
Debian User Forums
The Debian Administrator's Handbook
Linux Documentation Project (LDP)
Debian help
Debian tips
Debian Reference http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/
Debian Tutorial http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/doc/debian/in ... l#contents
---------------------
RELEASE NOTES:
First line: Change (Wheezy, currently Testing) to (Wheezy)
Web Browser section:
Remove "-Download helper is also installed. It's the cherries? pawnshop balls? near the address bar. Use for downloading/saving media files."
Refracta Github - Add at end of section:
If you get an error on 'git pull origin master' and it refuses to update, do the following.

Code:
  `cd /home/github
  rm -r refracta
  git clone git://github.com/fsmithred/refracta
  `

------------------------
Download page:
The following links need to be added at or near the bottom. What to do with the top of the download page will go in a post to follow this, because I think it needs some discussion.
youtube-viewer source https://github.com/trizen/youtube-viewer
youtube-viewer package http://www.daveserver.info/antiX/main/
grub-doctor source https://github.com/SalineOS/SalineOS/tr ... GrubDoctor
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:15 pm

Download page: Nothing firm yet other than the third-party stuff I mentioned above (yt-viewer and grub-doctor). As you mentioned, the directory structure at the ibibliio site is a mess. The wheezy isos are at the sourceforge site, and I plan to keep them there for a couple of reasons - download speed is much faster, and it's easier for me to upload large files there.
When we start building isos based on jessie or sid, they'll be smaller - the testing versions aren't going to contain all the software that the stable version has. I plan on keeping those isos at ibiblio. The current directory structure at ibiblio is split into two main categories - those are "distro" and "web" . All the web pages and support files for that, including the screenshots, can go under web. All the downloadable files go in distro.
Right now, the directories under distro look like this:

Code:
  `|-- files
  | |-- 6.0.6
  | |-- Refracta_7
  | |-- current -> Refracta_7/
  | |-- documentation
  | |-- old
  | |-- refracta2usb
  | |-- refractainstaller
  | `-- refractasnapshot
  |-- misc
  |-- screenshots
  `-- testing
  `

I'm thinking it makes sense to do something like the following. Split distro into stable, testing and old. Old will contain Dean's 8.x versions of refractasnapshot and refractainstaller, but I don't think it needs to be linked from the download page. It's there in case anyone asks for it. Stable could contain current stable versions of the tools (snapshot, installer and refracta2usb) along with a message saying that the isos are at the sf site and maybe a file containing md5sums. Testing would include any testing versions of the tools as well as isos.
Links on the download page could point directly to the iso files on sourceforge and also to the files section at sourceforge, which gives you access to all the downloads there. For testing, probably a single link to the testing directory, which gives access to anything in there and doesn't have to be changed every time I upload or delete testing stuff.
Not sure what to do about the links to the stable isos. Right now, the file name contains the date it was created. If I drop that, I'd probably want to change the version number every time I update the files, so either way, I need to be able to edit those links from time to time. New names will have the arch in the filenames for both amd64 and i386. (i386 instead of i686 because that's how Debian is still doing it.)
I'm getting close to uploading updated isos. Right now, I'm fixing a few errors that are in the ones I just made about a week ago. (language selector on the desktop keeps losing UK English and German, and the installer was screwing up on encrypted install.)
golinux

- golinux
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Fri Aug 30, 2013 4:48 pm

Hooray!! I'll take a look at this and start making changes later today! FYI . . . getting the word out about Refracta . . . a while back I posted a link on the Xfce forums to the work-in-progress site. This month 55 people have opened that link. Last month 90! YEA!
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:51 am

We're getting around 40-50 downloads per week. That's for all files - tools, isos and docs. A few weeks ago it was over 100, and some weeks, more than half the iso downloads are from windows users. Last week it was popular in Italy, and this week it's France.
We had a five-star rating until someone came along and gave it one star. Kinda wish I knew why. Gotta wonder if they didn't like it because it's just like debian, or maybe they did the simple install and wiped out their windows (which should be worth six stars.)
golinux

- golinux
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- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 1:23 am

## Re: Refracta wiki project

Sat Aug 31, 2013 3:17 am

Just put up the revised Resources page. I have not checked all the URLS but they should work unless I miscopied and pasted. I can't remember whether we discussed this before but what about adding the 'other' Debian User Forums - http://www.debianuserforums.org/ . There has been more activity there lately and there are some excellent How Tos. Problem is that both forums have the same name so a bit confusing. On to the RELEASE NOTES . . .
golinux

- golinux
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:24 am

Have uploaded revised Downloads and Release Notes pages.
golinux

- golinux
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Sat Aug 31, 2013 4:33 am

Here are some questions/comments:
Release Notes - Web Browser section. . . I have a dash before the noscript entry which indicates there was some question about including it. Does it stay as written?
Directory structure . . . I'd like to suggest something like this:

Code:
  `OLD STABLE
  CURRENT STABLE
  TESTING
  REFRACTA_TOOLS - refracta2usb, refractainstaller, refractasnapshot
  WEB SITE PAGES including DOCS and SCREENSHOTS - Web site directory should not be accessible to visitors.`

Download page . . . There should probably be links to the root directory at ibiblio and to the entry page at sourceforge. Your choice whether to link to individual isos - that would be quite a few for different releases and architectures but would take out the guesswork for the less experienced - or you can send them to the directories to sort out on their own.
I might not be making much sense. Really tired. More tomorrow . . .
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: Refracta wiki project

Sat Aug 31, 2013 11:09 am

Dash before noscript can go away. I think that was originally meant as the text equivalent of a bulleted list. Or maybe not. It serves no purpose now.
Directory structure - I guess I'll go with:

Code:
  `Stable
  Testing
  Refracta_Tools`

Stable will contain the stable version iso files'
Testing might contain subdirectories, various versions of tools and isos, and it might get a little messy.
Refracta_Tools will contain stable versions of the tools, probably all in the same directory.
The web pages are actually on a different server from the downloads, and I don't think anyone can access those files except as web pages. And the oldstable (squeeze) isos will be removed due to limited space. If someone wants old versions of refracta, they're available in nadir's archive. I think that's an occasional archive that's available upon request, sitting on an antiquated box in his living room. Probably don't need a link to that, unless he wants to use it to heat his home in winter.
There might be another directory in that mix, too. Right now I've got one named "misc" that contains screenshots of error messages for a recent post in the Help section of the forum. I put them there because the last time I used a free image hosting site, they disappeared on me, and when I tried another, they required login. Maybe that's a good reason to keep all the downloads in subdirectories of 'files' as they are now - then anything that doesn't really belong can be outside of that, but still linkable, like the 8.x version of the tools.
For the links on the Downloads page, I thought you were in favor of having direct links to the isos. I'm happy just to have a link to the directory that contains the current stable versions at sourceforge. Right now, that directory is called "isohybrid". That's the same as the debian-live download site, and it tells the user that it's an isohybrid file. But not everyone understands what that means. I've thought about changing the name of that directory to something else, but I can't decide what makes the most sense. (LiveCD, Live-CD-DVD, Live-media, iso9660-files-that-can-be-burned-to-optical-media-like-CD-or-DVD) And it's already linked the way it is in some scatterd forum posts, so I don't want to break those.
Maybe something like this for the Downloads page...

Code:
  `#points to isohybrid directory at sf.
  Download current stable versions of Refracta-7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  #points to Refracta_Tools dir at ibiblio
  Refracta Tools (refractainstaller, refractasnapshot, refracta2usb)
  #points to testing folder at ibiblio.
  Download testing versions of Refracta and Refracta Tools
  All files at sourceforge
  All files at ibiblio
  github
  yad, etc...`

I see a copy/paste error in the release notes... Remove "select all" in the github section:

> If you get an error on 'git pull origin master' and it refuses to update, do the following.
> Select all
> cd /home/github
> rm -r refracta
> git clone git://github.com/fsmithred/refracta

One question - when it's all done, are you going to send me a tarball with all the web pages in it? When I tried saving your sample web pages, it didn't work, and I ended up with a lot of black on the screen. (Don't remember exactly, but I know it was wrong.)
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