Slackel update malaise

miredia
Posts: 39
Joined: 6. Oct 2022, 10:20

Slackel update malaise

Post by miredia »

I was forced to reinstall Slackel for the fifth time because I can never be an "intermediate" Linux user, I'm trying to be but I suck. I had to take down the previous one because there was a serious conflict between PCManFM and Engrampa on an archive I tried to extract from. It wasn't ZIP nor TAR.GZ, I don't think but now I wish I could remember. The system locked up tight and the only thing to do was to hold down the power button or pull the plug on the computer's power chord.

It dispirited me. So much that during the celebration of Slackware's 30th anniversary I didn't have Slackel nor any working "competitive" installation. :(

Oh well I do have Porteus but that's static, it just works but I'm demanding. I also know I could download PorteuX but that's getting complicated with getting any application I choose.

I made an attempt afterward to install Slackel and then full update which failed. About two hours ago I downloaded and installed the OS once more, on external 32GB USB media. I have gotten the same result from "slapt-get" which is this:

Code: Select all

55/223 Get https://slackware.uk/slackware/slackware64-current/ gexiv2 0.14.1-x86_64-1 [624.0kB]...Failed to download: HTTP response code said error
This is very frustrating.

Also I want to know where is the setting to disable "GSlapt" or whatever it is that insolently puts an additional icon on the panel after it makes its own attempt to update its repositories. For antics like this I left Windows. Please allow me to choose when to upgrade my system. I have a slow Internet connection, cannot go more than 1.4MiB per second and this "auto-update" junk is not letting me live.

I have looked into this forum and on the Slackel forum to see if somebody else has had this problem.

I'm sorry about the negative language and it does sound like I'm angry. This time I'm unwilling to run the system as it was installed because in the past I was able to update without problems, and I updated the kernel twice. This was in the course of 2-1/2 months. But I have to stop wrecking things afterward...
djemos
Salix Warrior
Posts: 1433
Joined: 29. Dec 2009, 13:45
Location: Greece

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by djemos »

Please allow me to choose when to upgrade my system. I have a slow Internet connection, cannot go more than 1.4MiB per second and this "auto-update" junk is not letting me live.

Code: Select all

sudo rm  /etc/cron.hourly/slapt-get-update

55/223 Get https://slackware.uk/slackware/slackware64-current/ gexiv2 0.14.1-x86_64-1 [624.0kB]...Failed to download: HTTP response code said error
I have update the repos. I fixed it. The problem was mine. I had to run the script locally to upload the ChangeLog.txt, PACKAGES.TXT etc files to Sourceforge repos. If slackel do not run locally slackware current repos are not updated - synchronized on Sourceforge because of Sourceforge rules

Code: Select all

sudo slapt-get -u
sudo slapt-get --upgrade
Slackel is on sourceforge.net which is free. Sourceforge has its rules. Do not allow cron etc. Slackel do not have financial resorces for having its own server. It is a miracle that Slackel still exists since 2005.
Read this https://slackel.sourceforge.io/forum/vi ... 1934#p1934
https://slackel.sourceforge.io/forum/vi ... 1924#p1924
https://slackel.sourceforge.io/forum/vi ... 1934#p1934

So i suggest do not use Slackel. If this problem is critical for you. There are so many distributions to use.
Slackel is for my own personal use and also is available for free for anyone find it useful.
DidierSpaier
Posts: 518
Joined: 20. Jun 2016, 20:15

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by DidierSpaier »

djemos wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 12:35 Slackel is on sourceforge.net which is free. Sourceforge has its rules. Do not allow cron etc. Slackel do not have financial resorces for having its own server
Dimitris, did you consider using Tadgy's server on https://slackware.uk? I am pretty sure he would be glad to host the Slackel repositories as he does for many other Slackware-related projects, including Salix and Slint, for free.
miredia
Posts: 39
Joined: 6. Oct 2022, 10:20

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by miredia »

djemos wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 12:35 So i suggest do not use Slackel. If this problem is critical for you. There are so many distributions to use.
Slackel is for my own personal use and also is available for free for anyone find it useful.
Hi djemos. Thank you for your assistance, as many times in the past.

But I never wanted you to write something like that. Your distribution is the only way right now I could have Slackware. I also have Porteus but I'm dissatisfied with it because I have to use it as is, afraid of doing anything to it such as upgrading. I don't like rolling-release distributions but Slackel is too good to pass over. It could be installed onto an external pluggable disk and doesn't care about any internal disk. It's something I can't get eg. from Debian.

I know PorteuX exists also but I don't like their mania with "keeping it small". Such as their MATE desktop being crippled so there's no way to set the time with NTP sync, the thing just crashes. It looks nice but it's not complete. Slackel may look bloated a bit but it feels complete, only have to watch out for a few programs unwilling to get along with each other.

This is a problem at my end, with the Internet connection I'm paying for. Last year GSlapt used to allow the user to choose which "official" server to obtain the majority of packages. So I chose the "xmission" one in Utah, U.S.A. but that also gave me bad performance. Now the main server seems to be hard-coded to the main Slackware one in the U.K. I have to break out of "slapt-get" regularly because it downloads only one package at near top speed, then on the next try it could go down to 20KiB/second.

As I've said, it's a problem with my Internet and my unwillingness to stay still. :)

I was able to resume system update by going a short while with "--no-dep" switch even though I wanted to avoid that even as last resort. I had to break out of "slapt-get" again, then went again only with:

Code: Select all

sudo slapt-get --upgade
and the offending package downloaded successfully but I'm not sure if it was installed correctly. But right now I'm typing this message in Slackel with Firefox.

EDIT: I was able to update the system. Then I raised the Linux kernel to v6.1.41. Went down quickly. (love)

I cannot join Discord or any "active" social-networking site like that. Otherwise I'm trying my best to spread the good word about this distro and encouraging people to try it. I have written a review about it but it's not complete. I would have to use it everyday for at least two weeks.
djemos
Salix Warrior
Posts: 1433
Joined: 29. Dec 2009, 13:45
Location: Greece

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by djemos »

DidierSpaier wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 19:45
djemos wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 12:35 Slackel is on sourceforge.net which is free. Sourceforge has its rules. Do not allow cron etc. Slackel do not have financial resorces for having its own server
Dimitris, did you consider using Tadgy's server on https://slackware.uk? I am pretty sure he would be glad to host the Slackel repositories as he does for many other Slackware-related projects, including Salix and Slint, for free.
Thanks Didier. I will contact with him.
djemos
Salix Warrior
Posts: 1433
Joined: 29. Dec 2009, 13:45
Location: Greece

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by djemos »

miredia wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 22:58
djemos wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 12:35 So i suggest do not use Slackel. If this problem is critical for you. There are so many distributions to use.
Slackel is for my own personal use and also is available for free for anyone find it useful.
Hi djemos. Thank you for your assistance, as many times in the past.

But I never wanted you to write something like that. Your distribution is the only way right now I could have Slackware. I also have Porteus but I'm dissatisfied with it because I have to use it as is, afraid of doing anything to it such as upgrading. I don't like rolling-release distributions but Slackel is too good to pass over. It could be installed onto an external pluggable disk and doesn't care about any internal disk. It's something I can't get eg. from Debian.

I know PorteuX exists also but I don't like their mania with "keeping it small". Such as their MATE desktop being crippled so there's no way to set the time with NTP sync, the thing just crashes. It looks nice but it's not complete. Slackel may look bloated a bit but it feels complete, only have to watch out for a few programs unwilling to get along with each other.
Porteus, slax are not distributions. They are toys. They are not complete. As i said i use slackel as my own operating system to do my work for everything, pay bills, surf, listen to music, use LibreOffice, record or edit music files, playing games etc. So slackel iso is 2.4 GB because i also to use it as a live distro (frugal installation) and have what i want to be productive.

Slackel can also installed in an external ssd or usb stick. This has be done for me and it is useful for others too. Last months i do not have slackel installed in an internal ssd. i have slackel 32 and 64 bit installed through SLI in an 64GB usb stick and i use it to boot on every laptop i use. It is a real installation same as installation to internal ssd. There are also a gui utility to upgrade or install the new kernels (huge and generic) which is very useful. I use slapt-get to upgrade the system and install_upgrade-kernel_ext-usb gui utility to upgrade the kernel. Consider that i used another 64bit usb stick where i had salix installed, real installation and there i developed salix-xfce-15 live iso. So the technic method is working and is tested for a year.
When users inform me about problems i solve them immediately. As the problem with slackware sync repos. In general Slackel is stable because i use it but sometimes because of slackware upgrades may appeared problems in some app. This is because of slackware current and the team do not test before upload to their servers.Even in this case i found a solution so slackel to work to be stable. There is not Debian with a tone of programs because this can be done only having hundreds of people to work. Debian has a huge community as you know.
This is the story behind slackel.
User avatar
Papasot
Donor
Posts: 247
Joined: 3. May 2015, 18:37
Location: Patras, Greece

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by Papasot »

djemos wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 12:35 Slackel is on sourceforge.net which is free. Sourceforge has its rules. Do not allow cron etc. Slackel do not have financial resorces for having its own server. It is a miracle that Slackel still exists since 2005.
As a long-time Slackel user, I can tell such minor issues happen sometimes, and they are not djemos' fault, actually. I usually report them in Slackel's forum and they are solved in a matter of a few hours, if not minutes. I never really needed to reinstall Slackel, and I use if for pretty much everything. In fact, Slackel was installed 8.5 years ago in the oldest system that I have it installed, and I just upgrade as appropriate since then.
A pleasant detail in this forum: several people pick a picture of their pet as their avatar. Who am I to do otherwise? ;-)
djemos
Salix Warrior
Posts: 1433
Joined: 29. Dec 2009, 13:45
Location: Greece

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by djemos »

djemos wrote: 27. Jul 2023, 06:47
DidierSpaier wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 19:45
djemos wrote: 26. Jul 2023, 12:35 Slackel is on sourceforge.net which is free. Sourceforge has its rules. Do not allow cron etc. Slackel do not have financial resorces for having its own server
Dimitris, did you consider using Tadgy's server on https://slackware.uk? I am pretty sure he would be glad to host the Slackel repositories as he does for many other Slackware-related projects, including Salix and Slint, for free.
Thanks Didier. I will contact with him.
I sent an email on 27 July 2023 but i got no response.
DidierSpaier
Posts: 518
Joined: 20. Jun 2016, 20:15

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by DidierSpaier »

I just pinged Tadgy on IRC. Let's see if/when he answers.
DidierSpaier
Posts: 518
Joined: 20. Jun 2016, 20:15

Re: Slackel update malaise

Post by DidierSpaier »

Tadgy just answered:

log of the conversation on #slackware.uk
DidierSpaier: Tadgy: Hi and ping!
Tadgy: DidierSpaier: Hey - long time no see :)
DidierSpaier: Howdy? Did you receive an email from Dimitris Tzemos, aka djemos, Slackel maintainer? He told me that he emailed you on 27 July 2023 and did not receive answer yet.
Tadgy: DidierSpaier: I did, and replied twice to him. One with details of what I needed, and then a follow up asking if he got my first message.
DidierSpaier: Actually I suggested him to contact you: viewtopic.php?f=45&t=8658&p=49381#p49350 ;)
Tadgy: DidierSpaier: If he didn't get my messages, he may need to check his gmail spam :)
DidierSpaier: I will tell him that. :)
Tadgy: Cool. If he still can't locate my messages, ask him to try from a different email address (that isn't google/gmail)? :)
Post Reply