|
I think that a news feature will
be helpful just to let anyone who
is interested know whats going on.
There may not be a lot of updates,
but I will try and post important
changes and
events.
|
12/1/23
|
I will start
building the Debian 12/23 series
tomorrow. All the themes are ready
and the packages built and uploaded.
But its been a hectic day and a pour
of Wild Turkey Rare Breed is in
front of me. Time to relax a little.
|
11/21/23
|
The next Manjaro
stable update was today. I have
started on the 23.1.0 release
series. I am really enjoying the
performance benefit I got by
spending $23 last month to upgrade
the build server/nas. The builds
finish about 15 minutes faster.
|
11/15/23
|
Life sometimes gets
in the way of fun. I am real busy
taking care of my family and taking
them and myself to appointments
right now. So I took a break on the
Manjaro release cycle until the next
stable update. I still have a little
time here and there like this
morning. I cleaned up the left hand
menu of the website, put the Buy me
a coffee button back, and added a
Sourceforge achievement badge.
|
11/2/23
|
I just posted the
release announcement of SbK Debian
Cinnamon 1123. Its a great release.
To me the Debian releases seem
faster and the iso's are about 200mb
smaller on average. Whats amazing
with that is they have larger
software packages like the Waterfox
browser.
Talking Mate for Debian, the next
release, also has a big advantage,
the screen reader works with the
calamares installer. I have tried
and tried to port the obvious
changes to Manjaro but they dont
work there.
11/23 is looking to be a great
release. Then I will take a small
break while waiting on Manjaro to
make a stable update.
|
10/26/23
|
While updating some
of the websites pages to add Debian
info I noticed inconsistency with
the websites theme. That was a
rabbit hole I fell into and ended up
redoing the website template and
transferring all the pages to the
new theme. It still has the basic
concept of the old theme, but when
going from one page to another the
layout of a page stays closer to all
the other.
|
10/24/23
|
With a nice new https
url that shows the projects domain
and the hosting for the site figured
out I am slowly going through the
pages. The 11/23 Debian spins are
still a few days away from the final
builds so now seemed like a good
time to edit pages. My left
hand is still messed up so the
typing is hard and slow. But a lot
of the pages are Manjaro specific.
Since Debian spins were added,
sections of the pages that deal with
a specific distribution base need to
be defined. Hopefully it wont take
long.
|
10/21/23
|
While I know a little
about websites and hosting, I am not
an expert. But the main host for the
website has been down a week so I
splurged and upgraded my build
server/nas with a core 2 quad and an
extra 4gb of ram for $23 on eBay. I
then installed Apache and had the
site up in no time. Next came a
https certificate. Everything looked
good when I installed the cert, but
the site wouldnt come up. I
proceeded to pound my head into a
wall for two days trying to make it
work. Searching and reading, trying
anything that was suggested.
Turns out my router wasnt setup
correctly.
Well at least I now know way more
about setting up https software than
I ever wanted to. The benefit is
that the site is now working at
https://spinsbykilz.com and is nice
and fast with no warnings.
|
10/19/23
|
I have most of the
work for the Debian 11/23 series
done. I took a little time today to
update the About page. Next month
the project will be 4 years old.
|
10/15/23
|
Just after posting
the release of Xfce-Compiz for
Manjaro Tuxfamily, the main host for
the project, went down. I was
prepared this time and tried hosting
thee site and repo myself, it was a
disaster. Slow and full of
connection errors. But its to be
expected from a AthalonXP (i386)
that I had available. Yes the
project runs on ancient hardware.
The best is a FX-6300 system, my
main computer. The build server/nas
is a Dell 380 with a core 2 duo. I
had hoped some kind soul would have
donated to help me replace them with
something a little newer, but so far
a total of $0 has been donated.
Dont get me wrong, I build the spins
as a labor of love. But a little
help wouldnt hurt. Paid hosting and
upgrading to more modern hardware
(Zen 1, 2 or 3) are the end goals of
asking for donations. Sadly being
disabled and on a fixed income it
wont happen without help.
|
10/03/23
|
Im in the middle of
the Debian 10/23 series and had a
little time. I updated the websites
theme pages adding a Debian page for
full themes.
I pinched a nerve in my back that
affects my right hand. ts getting
better slowly, but my left pinky and
ring finger are useless right now.
Typing is hard without them so I may
be a little slow getting things out.
|
9/24/23
|
I am working on the
Debian 10/23 series. While I
wasnt planing on adding another
desktop after finishing the 9/23
series, I thought Talking Mate
should also be a Debian spin. It has
a special place in my heart as my
wife needs visual accessibility in a
desktop.
Adding Talking Mate to Debian was
not easy and required a new setup.
While it took some time it was well
spent as it will help the Manjaro
version. I have gotten at least some
screen reader functionality
with the Calamares installer.
The change in setup also makes it
eary to disable the screen reader if
someone just wants the Mate desktop.
This will also be useful if someone
who doesnt need a screen reader
wants to use the computer. All thats
needed is setting up another login
and disabling it for that account.
|
9/10/23
|
The Debian 923 series
finished a few days ago, and I am
now building the Manjaro 23.0.1
series.
|
9/4/23
|
I am uploading the
first of the Debian 9/23 series,
Cinnamon. The other two will follow
over the next two days.
|
8/28/23
|
Its been a productive
week. On the Debian side Cinnamon
and Xfce-Compiz were added. This
took a lot of scripting to the eznix
build platform to have multiple
profiles available, and pull
and replace files in the setup
depending on the profile.
A few generators were created to
build and make the common packages,
and one to update the profiles for
the various iso's for a series.
It took some time to setup, but in
the long run it will free up time to
improve the spins. An example, it
took about 6 hours to make the 11
package folders, create the
packages, and test them for the 923
series. The generator does it in
about 3 minutes.
Everything looks on track for the
Debian 923 series to be out the
first week in September. I also have
a head start on the wallpaper and
themes for the next Manjaro and
Debian series. After release its
time to relax and od on Hearthstone
for a few days.
|
8/23/23
|
I have been working
on the 9/23 Debian series.
Xfce-Compiz was so easy I figured I
would get a start on Cinnamon
because there is a dock and a panel
iso. Even if it wasnt done for 9/23
I thought the work would make it
easier to add it for 10/23. The good
news is that Cinnamon is coming
along nicely. There are still a few
things left to do, but it will be
ready for the 9/23 series.
LXQt, Xfce-Compiz, and Cinnamon will
be the lineup for the near
future. For the 10/23 series I
will be looking at the included
software lists to see if I can
improve it.
|
8/17/23
|
The Manjaro 23.0.0.2
series is almost done. Only Cinnamon
is left, and its built and being
tested. It should be released on
8/18/23.
I have built the first Debian
Xfce-Compiz iso. It still needs some
work but it should be ready for the
Debian 923 release. A huge
thank you to Donald Norwood. He
answered an email to the Debian
Forums and said it was ok to post
about the Debian spins there.
|
8/8/23
|
I am uploading the
8/23 Debian release as I write this.
I was able to do the scripting to
make a minimal iso. That will put me
ahead for next month when I plan on
adding a desktop to the Debian side
of the project. I am still thinking
about it. The choices are
Mate-Compiz or Xfce-Compiz. Cinnamon
has an outside chance, but its going
to be more work. Gnome will be last
if its added at all.
I did create my first little
application. Its an update script
for the update notifier. It will
open a terminal, ask for your
password, then update and upgrade.
It will stay open a few minutes in
case there are any errors so they
can be copied into a txt file for
troubleshooting purposes. Not much,
but the other option was bloated and
added a lot of files. For a
lightweight desktop like LXQT, its
good.
|
8/6/23
|
Its been some time
since the last update. The 23.0.0.1
Manjaro series was finished about
two weeks ago and I started on the
Debian spin. Since I couldnt make a
Pantheon spin, I had an extra theme
already made. I used it for the
upcoming August Debian spin that
should be released in the next week.
The Debian side of the project took
some big steps since the initial
release. Its now multiarch, has a
timeshift autosnap, the SbK Debian
repository is up, and lots of
graphics have been made for its
parts. The build script is
also pretty well set for a full LXQt
iso.
The September release will see a
minimal iso release and possibly
another desktop. Thats going to take
a lot of scripting to accomplish so
it wont make the August release.
|
7/19/23
|
The repository and
web host are back up. I am working
on the 23.0.0.1 series. OSDN is
still down, but Sourceforge is a
good for a download host. I am
keeping all the backup sites updated
in case one of the main hosts goes
down in the future. Please, if you
can, help support this project with
the "Buy me a coffee" button.
|
7/17/23
|
Its been a
frustrating week for the most part,
but at least one bright spot. The
frustrating part is that the
website, repository, and release
hosts all went down. There is no
timetable for them to return. I got
a free web host for the website and
resurrected the old Sourceforge site
that had not been used in a year. So
the project is back online, but the
repository on Sourceforge is slow
and sometimes errors out. I will
move back to the hosts I was using
when they are up. The Sourceforge
site will be kept up to date as a
backup from now on.
The bright spot worth mentioning
here is that the first Debian spin
was built and released. I spent a
long time in the Debian community at
large. It feels good to give
something back. You can check
it
out here if you want.
|
7/4/23
|
I have added a "Buy
me a coffee" button to the website.
If you would like to help support my
work you can click on the button. At
present the plans for any funds
raised will be used for paying for
the domain the project uses.
Additional money raised will likely
be saved to upgrade the ancient
computers the project uses before
they die.
Thanks in advance for any donations.
|
6/24/23
|
I have uploaded the
new website theme. I hope everyone
likes it.
|
| 6/22/23 |
With all the work
that went into the last series on
the theme generators I find I have a
little extra time on my hands. While
I am typing this I am looking at the
dated website I created in the early
days. It works and info is easy to
find, but its far from my best work.
That being said I have been working
on a website refresh. Not sure when
it will be done, but the early test
page has progressed to a point it is
the clear path forward. A little
more work and maybe it will be ready
for the launch of the next series.
|
| 5/7/23 |
An update was
released, so the next series
(22.1.1) is being built. There is a
new LTS kernel 6.1. I expect the
LXQt spin will be released Monday.
|
| 4/30/23 |
All the themes and
wallpapers are ready. A release
should happen with the next big
Manjaro stable update. Until then I
will take some time and polish a few
things.
|
| 4/21/23 |
If there was one
piece of advice I would give to
someone working with css or some
other code they do not know like the
back of their hand, its backup
often. After two days of hard work I
had the full theme generator 98%
complete. I forgot to back it up. I
made some changes to get that last
two percent done. That didnt
happen, I fubar'd the gtk 3.0
and 4.0 templates up. I thought I
had a current backup, but it was
more than a day old. So back to work
I went, backing up after each little
area I worked on. Two days later its
all done.
The project now has a complete theme
generator instead of five separate
ones. This is going to make the
theme very consistent, and save a
lot of time. The next release series
will use themes from the generator,
and I am sure there will be bugs
that need to be fixed. But I am also
sure I will backup as much as
possible, at least until a month
goes by and I start some other
project. :)
|
| 4/17/23 |
The new Gnome shell
theme is pretty much done. There are
a few tiny things I would like to
change, but its nice as it is. The
advantage is that all themes from
this point on will include a gnome
shell theme. I am thinking of making
this an all in one generator. It
will take a little work, but it
should be doable.
|
| 4/16/23 |
I have spent a few
days working on a new gtk theme
generator script. Its based on
Otis,
but has had extensive changes
including a complete recreation of
the gtk asset icons. The css is also
modified. Its looking real good. One
advantage is that Otis also has a
Gnome Shell theme, something I
wanted to address at some point.
Well no time like the present. I
already have the shell icons I need
modified for the script. Next is the
css.
|
| 4/11/23 |
The 22.1.0 series is
complete. It turned out to be very
nice, and as a total might be the
best series of the past few. But I
think it can be better. One area I
am not happy with is the gtk theme.
Specifically the dotted outlines in
some situations. I will be looking
into alternatives for the next
series.
|
| 3/31/23 |
The big update I was
waiting for happened today. I have
started work on the 22.1.0 series.
The packages for it are uploaded. I
had to do a little work on the build
scripts, but everything looks to be
ok now. I expect to have LXQt up
tomorrow, and the rest will follow.
|
| 3/11/23 |
The last big update
was to close to the last release
series, so I put it off for one
more. Everything is ready, so the
next series will come right after
the next big update.
|
| 1/26/23 |
I have uploaded the
first of the 22.0.1 series. The rest
is going slow. I may get out
Mate-Compiz today, but it will take
some luck. If not the rest of the
series should be out daily after
today.
|
| 9/29/22 |
I have a lot of spare
time so I went looking for things to
fix. In September of 2021 the
project moved to a new repository.
For a long time the old repository
was left as it was and it was more
or less forgotten. In June of this
year I was forced to pretty much
empty it because of limited hosting
space. That brings us to today, I
have created a symlink linking the
old repository to the new
repository. I am not sure how many
people are still running the old
spins, but they will need to add the
new repository key to access the
files,
instructions are found here.
|
| 9/27/22 |
The 22.0.0 series has
been done for a few days. My foot is
getting better and while it is
healing it gave me time to finish
the preparations for the next
series. It also gave me time to sit
and think about what needs to be
done. One area of need was a way to
backup the build server, the
repository and the theme creation
setup. A day of scripting fixed that
and I can now backup everything with
a command. While it doesnt improve
the spins it does make sure that if
something would happen to a hard
drive it would be easier to restore
it from archives stored in the
cloud. Otherwise years of work
could be lost, and its a real
possibility with my ancient
hardware.
|
| 9/19/22 |
Just when things are
going good, life takes a turn. I was
mowing my backyard, in a house I
have owned for over 20 years. I must
have walked on every part of that
yard, or so I thought. I stepped on
a big rusty crusty nail that went
into my foot. I cleaned it out, put
antibiotic ointment on it. The next
morning my foot swelled up, I went
to the emergency room.
I spent over a week in the hospital,
had surgery, and now have a nifty
hole in my foot than needs to heal.
I have been out now a few days and I
am working on the 22.0.0 release
that Manjaro released during my
hospital stay. Its going slow, but I
am half way done. I hope you like
that new Pantheon spin.
|
| 8/28/22 |
A few days after
stopping work on the Enlightenment
spin I tried Pantheon. It has gone a
lot better. Most of the work was
theme and package selection related.
The only real bug is I ran into was
getting the live environment to auto
sign in. Along with its release,
likely in the next release cycle,
will be a Pantheon specific theme
that may work with other desktops,
but I havent tested it yet. Still
some scripting work to do to fit the
desktop into my build/packaging
setup, it should be easy but time
consuming.
|
| 8/22/22 |
After pounding my
head against a wall for a day trying
to change the default file manager
in Enlightenment, I am shelving this
build for a bit. The file
manager that is part of
Enlightenment is just bad. I was
considering Caja or Nemo, but after
trying a lot of ways to do it, it
still wont start them by default.
|
| 8/21/22 |
The 21.3.7 series is
done and I'm a little bored. I have
some of the theming done, and the
rest wont take to long, and a month
until I will likely release the next
series. I have been looking at
Enlightenment as a possible desktop
to spin. I have created a buildiso
profile and an iso. The iso boots to
the desktop, and installs. But there
is a lot of work to do. I'm not sure
when it will be ready, or if it will
ever be released. But its a start.
|
| 7/18/22 |
The 21.3.4 update
dropped this morning. Its only been
21 days since Manjaro was updated to
the 21.3.1 series, but I am going to
create the SbK 21.3.4 series.
Updates to stable have been over a
month at times in the past. If the
next update takes that long there
would to much time between releases.
I have all the packages created and
uploaded and I will start making the
iso's soon.
|
| 7/9/2022 |
I went ahead with
spinning the Kora icon set. I
created a color change script and
created the base package
(KoraSpinBase). The base package is
in the SbK repository, but it only
has grey folders. Kora will not be
in the next release because the
icons for it are already done, but
they will be in the one after that.
|
| 7/7/2022 |
I am getting a little
bit bored at the moment. So I am
looking for ways to improve the
spins. FlatRemix icons are nice, but
the appeal they once had is swiftly
fading. I have been looking at the Kora
icon set. There is a good
chance I may Spin it. It likely wont
appear for two releases if I do.
|
| 6/22/2022 |
I think I
misunderstood what was said on a update
post on the Manjaro forum. I
thought that the 22.0 series was
next, and Manjaro did not update the
lsb-release package that shows the
release version. So I named the last
SbK series 22.1.b. Then Manjaro
released 21.3 after the SbK 22.1.b
series was released. In the future I
will not advance the series number
if that happens again, instead I
will create a point release.
At present all the theming is
done for the next series. Its likely
to be 21.4 or 21.5 with the release
coming after the next stable update.
I will delete the 22.1.b iso's from
OSDN site once the next release is
posted since the numbering will be
off.
Earlier this week I did some
repository maintenance. I removed
some ancient packages from a very
old repository on OSDN. I created
some empty package databases and
uploaded them to OSDN so any users
that still have not moved to the new repository
will not get any errors. |
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