Barry Kauler, the founder of the Puppy Linux project, has published the experimental distribution EasyOS 4.5, combining Puppy Linux technologies with container isolation for running system components. The distribution is managed through a set of graphical configurators developed by the project. The size of the boot image is 825 MB.
In the new release:
- The Linux kernel has been updated to version 5.15.78. Compilation settings have been included in the kernel for improved support KVM for QEMU, and TCP syncookie support has been added to protect against SYN flood attacks.
- The panel used for viewing IP TV on the desktop has been updated to version MK8.
- The woofQ build system has been migrated to GitHub.
- Package versions have been updated, including Firefox 106.0.5, QEMU 7.1.0, and Busybox 1.34.1.
- Preparation has been made to revise the model of operation solely under the root user (as the current model of root operation with privilege dropping at the start of each application is overly complicated and insecure; experiments are underway to allow operation under a non-privileged user).
- The OpenEmbedded (OE) environment used for package rebuilding has been updated to version 3.1.20.
- The script for launching Pulseaudio has been moved to /etc/init.d.
- The system installation process has been modified and separated from the bootloader. Previously used bootloaders rEFInd/Syslinux have been replaced with Limine, which supports booting on both UEFI and BIOS systems.
- SFS packages with Android Studio, Audacity, Blender, Openshot, QEMU, Shotcut, SmartGit, SuperTuxKart, VSCode, and Zoom have been added.
- A utility ‘deb2sfs’ for converting deb packages into sfs has been added. The ‘dir2sfs’ utility has been improved.
- Printing support from programs compiled with GTK3 has been established.
- Compiler support for the Nim language has been added.
Features of the distribution:
- Each application, as well as the desktop itself, can be launched in separate containers using the Easy Containers mechanism for isolation.
- Operation by default with root privileges, dropping privileges at the start of each application, as EasyOS is positioned as a live one-user system.
- The distribution is installed in a separate subdirectory and can coexist with other data on the storage device (the system is installed in /releases/easy-4.5, user data is stored in the /home directory, and additional application containers are placed in the /containers directory).
- Encryption of individual subdirectories (for example, /home) is supported.
- Meta-packages in SFS format can be installed, which are mountable images with Squashfs that combine several regular packages and are similar to appimages, snaps, and flatpak formats.
- The system updates in an atomic mode (the new version is copied to another directory, and the active directory is switched with the system) and supports reverting changes in case of issues after the update.
- There is a mode for running from RAM, in which the system is copied to memory at boot and operates without accessing disks.
- The distribution is built using the WoofQ toolkit and source texts of packages from the OpenEmbedded project.
- The desktop is based on the JWM window manager and ROX file manager.
- The base package includes applications such as Firefox, LibreOffice, Scribus, Inkscape, GIMP, mtPaint, Dia, Gpicview, the Geany text editor, Fagaros password manager, HomeBank personal finance management system, DidiWiki personal wiki, Osmo organizer, Planner project manager, Notecase notes system, Pidgin, Audacious music player, Celluloid, VLC and MPV media players, LiVES video editor, and OBS Studio streaming system.
- To simplify file sharing and organize printer access, there is a proprietary application called EasyShare.
Source: opennet.ru
