Phillw, of the Lubuntu community, has been providing us with a webspace since several months already, for our ISO files on his webserver, http://phillw.net/.
Phillw has zsync on his server, and we decided to make zsync files for the Bento 32 et 64bits versions of the Ubuntu Remix. Later there will be one or more mirrors also providing ISO files and zsync files allowing direct download or zsync synchronisation, which will allow users and testers to save bandwidths when refreshing their downloads.
There are now two directories, one for each of the two architectures.
Using zsync
Open your console ; the command line to use for the i686 version is this one:
After last month events, Linuxvillage and it’s forum are back. Legtux.org had gone through a crash, caused by a corruption of the filesystem, which have triggered the lost of all the hosted databases (about 900 websites involved, I understood). It happened the last day on March, precisely on the “world backup day“. 🙁
After this, two persons offered to provide a place on their dedicated web servers, for Linuxvillage : but it turned out that I needed to dive into the configurations and learn how to manage servers and all the tools I could need, whereas I have no related knowledge, and no time or wish to learn about this. For our little community, wishing a stable and professional hosting, I went to Gandi.net, studied the PaaS hosting formula, which technically is in between a shared hosting and a dedicated server : they are servers of a given size, installed on virtual machines/vhosts.
After a few discussions with leading persons at Gandi.net, we have been offered a PaaS, for a period of 6 months. We accepted the offer with the greatest pleasure, and now we are back ! \o/ The forum and the website are here again. 🙂
A few days of work have been enough to pull out of first edition of Bento 64 bits RC1, built on Ubuntu Mini Remix 12.04, and with the fantastic Ubuntu Builder tool, in the same was as Bento 32 bits has been built. This is an Operating System which might benefit of the same support as the official LTS have, and be used up to 2017.
Several months of work had been used to create and improve Bento 32bits, which allowed the Bento x86_64 to reuse most of the work and helped gaining a lot of time.
It is now ready to be tested under the hardest conditions!
Minimal hardware requirements: a computer with an Intel 64bits or AMD 64bits processor, 768 MB RAM minimum for a comfortable use.
The 64bits edition looks a lot to it’s little sister the 32bits edition, same look and feel, same types of configuration, only the kernel, and at the moment, the list of applications is a little different
It is provided with a 3.11 kernel, but could be coming with a 3.8 in a next version, as it seems as good in features but smaller. The end user programs provided are Libreoffice for the text processing, spreadsheets and so on, Mousepad for the text editor, a web browser, evince to read pdf files, Xchat to visit IRC, Sylpheed for the mail, Xnoise for the video and audio collections, deadbeef as a light audio reader, and a few command line programs.
Bento 64bits RC1 seems very stable. However, this will be the job of the testers to tell use what can be missing to improve it.
Bento is an Ubuntu Remix using mainly the lightweight Openbox window manager as a desktop.
It has been developed since 2012 around the Openbox window manager and features a dynamic applications menu via openbox-menu.
This distribution aims at providing all users with a system relying on Ubuntu and using Openbox window manager without sacrificing ease of use. It is a distribution easy to customize as a bento, and is designed to be working out of the box and used as is by the new users, while still being perfectly suitable for the advanced ones who likes to reshape the entire desktop. It is built on Ubuntu 12.04 to ensure a strong and reliable base for everyday computer usage.
The install comes with the programs Abiword and Gnumeric for the office programs, Gthumb to manage your pictures, Midori to surf the Web, Sylpheed for email, bogofilter for a spam filter, Cups, system-config-printer-gnome and other programs for easy printer configuration, Transmission for a torrent client, the multimedia player and collection manager Xnoise, because it is small and powerful. Are also installed some tools for accessibility which are available in the repositories. A more complete list of applications is available at the end of this page.
Click to the images and change for the next with the arrows or by clicking anywhere on the picture:
First screen
When pressing a key on the keyboard within two seconds we get the language selection screen then several choices for booting. If we don’t press a key on the keyboard during the first two seconds we will reach a screen where it will still be possible to choose the langage as well as the install mode, or the «try without installing» option.
Downloads
Édit as of January 16, 2014:
Thanks to replace all links below with the ones you will find here (modification in progress):
Indeed, Nazral (Archlinux user), who has been lending his tyruiop.eu space kindly to host the files for projects I have been leading since a few years, moved to other countries since this month. I wish him a great voyage and wonderful adventures while going forward! I thank him very much for the service offered and for his generosity.
The links pointing to the web-space offered by phillw are still valid! Thanks to him as well.
The bento-ubuntu-remix-RC-linux-3.2.0-56_non-pae-i386-2012.04.3.iso version as it’s name indicates is provided with the current 12.04 version kernel and is fit for computers whose CPU does not provide the PAE instruction. Zram-config is not installed in it. (See bug #1246664)
The bento-ubuntu-remix-RC-linux-3.2.0-57-generic-i386-2012.04.3.iso, uploaded 10 days after the other ISO files presented here, is provided with a kernel not yet in the current repositories. This kernel version comes from update proposed, and brings in a bug correction which prevented zram-config to start the zram module correctly. This zram module is very interesting to have, in order to improve the live memory capacity. (See bug #1246664)
The iso file bento-ubuntu-remix-RC-linux-3.8-fake-pae-i386-2012.04.3.iso comes with the 3.8.x kernel and the the fake-pae ppa of Bernd Kreuss, which allows starting systems with a pae kernel on some machines having the PAE instruction which however are not detected. (See here for more information https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu-fake-PAE). Some Pentium M and Celeron M are affected by this issue. Zram-config is installed in the system.
The version bento-ubuntu-remix-RC-linux-3.11-i386-2012.04.3.iso has the 3.11 kernel. I don’t know what more this kernel brings, besides being obviously bigger in size than the two other ones. It is provided with zram-config installed.
Accessories
File-roller (archive manager)
Galculator (calculator)
Xournal (notetaking application + adding annotations to PDF documents)
Graphics
Gthumb (image viewer and organizer)
flphoto (allows the access to pictures on some MPT-PTP digital cameras)
Gpicview (simple images viewer)
French locales
language-pack-fr
language-pack-fr-base
language-pack-gnome-fr
language-pack-gnome-fr-base
Scanner
Simple-scan
Character Map
Gucharmap
Torrent client
Transmission
Multimedia
Xnoise (reading and managing audio and video collections)
Radiotray (radio streams in the systray)
Deadbeef (simple music reader)
Brasero (burn CD/DVD)
Gnome-alsamixer (tune the volume)
Volumeicon-alsa (control of the volume for the systray)
Among which some codecs
libmatroska5
gstreamer0.10-nice
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse
gstreamer0.10-plugins-base-apps
gstreamer0.10-tools
gstreamer0.10-x
System tools and preferences
Network-manager-gnome (manage Internet connections)
Bleachbit (cleaning the system)
Htop (watch and manage processes)
Sakura (terminal emulator)
Among which applications management
Ubuntu Software Center (Choose and install programs)
Synaptic (Install, uninstall and update all programs all at once)
Gdebi (install an Ubuntu deb package)
Update-notifier (management and reminder for the updates)
Text mode programs
Imagemagick (collection of tools to modify images)
Lftp (command line ftp client)
Openssh (server and client)
Testdisk (restore deleted partition tables)
Sdparm (manipulate SCSI peripherals parameters)
Hdparm (manipulate IDE peripherals parameters)
Foremost (restore deleted files)
Lshw (list hardware components)
Many more programs are available on the Ubuntu repositories. Additionally several more sources from the community have been added, especially to get a recent version of the Libreoffice suite, as well as several other programs already integrated into Bento. You will find more information about the PPA system on the Ubuntu documentation page
Thanks
Thanks to all the people whose work allowed creating this version: the programmers whose work have been used, the artists who created the different parts used for the theme, and thanks to all the testers who brought feedback version after version since 2012.
Disclaimer
Bento Ubuntu Remix is not an official Canonical project. It is delivered to you under the GPL licence except for the system parts which can be under other licences, free or not free as per the GNU GPL licenses such as some firmwares whose distribution is allowed and whose licenses are located under /usr/share/doc/linux-firmware/licenses in the system tree directory. The licenses for the other packages forming the system are under /usr/share/doc in their related directories.
Bento Ubuntu Remix is provided as is without any guarantee: we can’t be held responsible for any breakage in your system or in your hardware. We provide no guarantee
The hosting at kegtux.org might have been back at some time during the last week, but for 3 months only as per their post on the front page of the kegtux.org website. Therefore all the steps have been taken to move the LinuxVillage forum at another hosting where it will be stable and secure. All members of the forum should have now received a mail with all information related to this arrangement.
The situation takes time to be back to normal and it will anyhow be a temporary solution, therefore the solution will be to restore it somewhere else.
Could it be that LinuxVillage is a nomadic community? You should certainly not believe such a thing! 🙂
Last night the coming back of the forum was brief and the right time to get a fresh copy of the databases. The former one was one week old, so not so good.
Alas the forum has been unreachable since this evening. Due to problems about which they didn’t give details, the people of Kegtux who are managing the server had to migrate the data to a new server, and has been unable to avoid loosing some of the datas, which they announce to be 1234 Innodb tables.
We do have backups, but one week old. I will wait until monday evening last delay to restore a forum at some other place.
LinuxVillage is proud to present our very own distribution. VillageBox is now available for download.
ISO – Village_RC-2_TEST_xz.iso 415 MB
Village_RC-2_TEST_xz.iso.md5 59kb
Note 2015: project stopped
VillageBox is part of a community – The LinuxVillage forum.
This is where you will find help regarding VillageBox. But it’s
much more than that. You are welcome at any time for any
question or topic related to Linux, or simply to hang out,
chat and make friends.
VillageBox is a lightweight but fully functional operating system based on Debian
and currently uses the Testing repositories. It will become Stable once
Debian Wheezy is officially released, and there will also be a
Testing version of VillageBox available for those who wish to
stay even more up-to-date.
VillageBox uses Openbox as the window manager, with Tint2 as the panel but
without icons. There is no desktop manager involved, and therefore
no “desktop” as such. The Openbox Applications menu updates
automatically when software is installed.
VillageBox has Remastersys installed, which allows you to make an installable
copy of your system. This can be used as a backup, to
distribute to friends, or as a base for your own creation.
VillageBox is 32-bit and runs the 3.2.0-4-686-pae kernel, which allows the computer to see more than 4GB of RAM.
VillageBox runs the following main software:
Openbox – window manager
Openbox-menu – updates the applications menu on the fly
Obconf – configure Openbox
Tint2 – panel
Lightdm – display manager
Thunar – file manager
Midori – web browser
WICD – network manager
Gigolo – local network
Geany – text editor
ePDFViewer – PDF viewer
Catfish – file search
Geeqie – image viewer
Sakura – terminal
Gparted – partitions
Remastersys – remastering software
Xarchiver – archiving
Xfburn – CD/DVD software
Synaptic – package management
Conky – lightweight system monitor
LXappearance – customize appearance
CUPS – printing
Keeptalking – language and regional settings
Xcompmgr – “desktop” effects
Gigolo
VillageBox allows setting language and locale preferences. Feh controls the wallpaper as a plugin for Thunar – right-click on an image and set it as wallpaper.
Launch Gigolo from the system tray and it uses Thunar to display network shares – double-click in Gigolo to open in Thunar. Remastersys now offers a “Boot to RAM” option in the live cd/usb.
The wallpaper and login to the Desktop Manager have their own look and feel. Desktop keyboard shortcuts are listed in the context menu.
Screenshots are enabled by scrot via the context menu or by pressing “PrintScreen”. CUPS printing is available via the browser thanks to its own command under “Applications – System Tools – Printer”.
Sudo is NOT enabled. Gparted’s file recognition has now been extended.
VillageBox was designed as a minimal but fully functional base for people to build their own spinoff.
If you want to add LXDE or another desktop manager; change browser, file manager or panel; configure a multimedia or diagnostic spinoff; port it to another language; add things like
ZRAM and sudo: this is the raw canvas that will allow you to build what you want.
Or you can use it as is!
Screenshots
Define the background
A note on the install procedure with Remastersys Live Installer and VillageBox.
When you initially boot the live cd/usb, you have the option to load from the media or load to RAM. Loading to RAM means the system runs much faster, and you can also eject the media you booted from. In either case, there can be a wait of up to half a minute while the system loads. It will look like nothing is happening, but be patient – it simply depends on the speed of your machine.
The system will take you straight to the desktop – remember there is no root account – no password is required to activate the installer. As there are no icons on this remaster, you need to activate the context menu and go to Applications-System Tools. Once there, click “Live Installer”.
The installer is fairly straightforward. It will ask if you wish to continue, what keyboard and locale settings to use, what partition to use, and then it will open gparted.
Go ahead and adjust your partitions accordingly – if no action is needed, simply quit gparted. You will then be asked which partition root will go on, what file system you want, where to place /home, and then the password/user details.
VillageBox does not run sudo, so you will have a root account to configure. Just be aware that if you are used to “keying” down a list, press “tab” not “return” when filling in the user details – “return” will take you to the end of the list and give you an error message.
After setting the user details, you will then be asked where you want to install the bootloader and to set the timezone. At this point, you will receive the location where the install will take place and be asked if you wish to continue. If all looks good, click yes.
The install doesn’t take very long on hardware – however, be patient if you are loading in VBox. When installing grub, a terminal will pop up with scary error messages regarding the process. Just close your eyes!
A minute or two later, when you open them again, they will be gone and you will have a dialog box telling you a new system is installed and asking if you wish to reboot. If you click “yes”, the system will eject the cd/usb and reboot.
The whole process, from boot to reboot, shouldn’t take more than ten to fifteen minutes. You can also do a full install to a USB device, giving you your own portable computer that fits in your pocket!
Everything will go well and the lightDM login screen will appear – simply log in with your username and start playing! Remember you can use Remastersys to create your own build. Simply go to Application-System Tools-Remastersys Backup and you too can create your own spinoff as a backup, to give to friends, or create your own mini distribution. And after all that, don’t forget to drop by the Forum and let us know how it all went.
Changelog 26 Jan 2013
Fixed network mount issue that could cause Thunar to hang on boot. Thunar and gigolo still work well together. Simply click the network share and it will mount and stay mounted for the session.
Installed numlockx to allow numlock to activate on boot.
Default is OFF due to some laptop incompatibilities. Edit autostart to enable.
Modified Remastersys to allow a “Boot to RAM” option in the live cd/usb device.
Removed Azenis icon theme and installed MeliaeSVG. Retained Tango as 1 the root icon theme, and it fills in the gaps left by MelaieSVG.
A few cosmetic changes made to Tint2.
01 Feb 2013
Parted now recognizes the following file systems: btrfs; ext2, 3, 4; fat16, 32; hfs, hfs+; jfs; linux-swap; nilfs2; ntfs; reiser4; reiserfs; xfs.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All?, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
