# Devuan Weekly News Issue XIII __Volume 002, Week 8, Devuan Week 13__
Released 24/02/12015 [HE](Why-HE) https://git.devuan.org/Envite/devuan-weekly-news/wikis/past-issues/volume-002/issue-013 ## Editorial In the same way that Devuan is the project of a group, with people more dedicated and people around giving advice and support, and thoughts and opinions, the Devuan Weekly News (soon to change name) is the project of a group as well. Like Devuan, it is a growing group, with a small core doing the hard resuming work but several other eyes providing advice, hunting for typos, making small text contibutions and, in general, proofreading. I want to expressly thank those people who make the last issues of DWN possible. You can [contribute too][wiki]! .-Envite ## Last Week in Devuan ### Unanswered questions Some threads on the list are questions that have been not answered. Isaac Dunham [asks][1] for the best way to split a library package, for his libsysdev project. ### [Trios packages openrc][2] lkcl reports that somebody at Debian User Forums reports that Trios GNU/Linux uses OpenRC and is free of systemd, and wonders about this kind of info being hard to find. golinux answers that this was already posted on this list. Some other list members informed that it works for them. ### [Adoption of packages][3] In the long thread about *towards systemd-free packages* hellekin reminds us that > Volunteers for package adoption can now head to the > [devuan-maintainers][0] project. ### [The Onion Principle][4] Noel shows us why concentrating in developing only core systemd-free packages does not mean that we are currently a real fork nor a derivative, since that depends on what we add to that core in subsequent releases. > To resume the principle: The best way to create a very complex > project is to add one layer at a time. ### [XFCE et al][5] David H points us at XFCE which runs in FreeBSD and OpenIndiana virtual Machines as well as in Linux, and is about to publish a new release. He wonders if one of the Devuan developers should contact them, and the unanimous answer was that he can do that himself. On a [later thread][6], David confirmed that he contacted them by e-mail. ### [removing systemd and libsystemd0 in a desktop][7] lkcl reports that he progressed in the task of removing libsystemd0 in a computer running a desktop. He later reports that turning off autoconfiguration on Xorg makes the trick. Isaac Dunham reports that he has been able too to have a working Xorg without udev, thanks to a clever trick: > The trick is that input devices have a description at > /sys/dev/char/<major>:<minor>/device/name Now it seems clear that a good part of the Depends on udev are not true dependencies. lkcl also [publicited it in slashdot][8]. ### [mdev packaging][9] In a branch to the previous thread, Isaac Dunham reports that he has packaged mdev. Then it follows some back and forth about issues with the new code. This is an architecture-independent script to make boxes bootable without udev. ### [mdev and udev][10] In a sub-branch of the previous branch, Godefridus Daalmans asks if purging udev means creates need for the old-style makedev. Isaac Dunham answers that mdev does not depend on makedev. ### [LoginKit on the pre-alpha][11] Dima reports that the Valentine's pre-alpha is able to work with LoginKit. ### [systemd free badge][12] Jaromil suggests the idea of creating a badge about a distribution being systemd-free, to be used by all distributions that share the same idea. hellekin raises the concern that it might be overpolarizing the issue and maybe giving systemd some publicity it doesn't deserve. Joel Roth, on the other hand, suggested using a different text for the badge on the lines of Classical Unix Administration and some others. David Harrison suggests changing to the stanza of an [Init Freedom badge][13]. Init Freedom gained some traction on the list. ### [Linux kernel and the force behind it][14] hal stars a discussion about an [Ars Technica article][15] about the development speed of the Linux kernel, and how it may be being directed by big companie like Red Hat Inc. Gravis makes a point about most patches coming from companies are for drivers, bug fixes and new features, not for changinf the main direction of the kernel development. John Crisp cites a [comment from Trevor Potts][16] to an article in The Register, the comment indicating that the point on systemd is that Red Hat is effectively trying to dominate the Linux ecosystem by making as much software as possible dependent on systemd and thus render Linux (and Linus) prescindible. Discussion then mutated in another one about intended audience for Devuan, and later on to a one about pros and cons of dbus over alternative solutions like standard IPC, SunRPC, and ZeroMQ. A branch on the audience side started by Nate praises the pragmatic approach of going with Xfce as Devuan's default desktop for the first release. ### [KDE systemd lock-in][17] golinux reports that [KDE Will Depend on 'logind' and 'timedated' in 6 Months][18]. The original article specifies that it will not depend on systemd as init system. ### [UEFI Secure Boot not secure][19] Robert Storey expresses concerns about UEFI being even more vulnerable than BIOS to malware, and BIOS motherboards becoming scarce. Gravis sums up reminding issues detected on hard disks firmware as well. It may be that the future is in writing free formware. ### [Easy forkability][20] In a cryptically named thread, Ста Деюс asks how to protect Devuan if the kind of people who corrupted Debian comes and infects it. Hendrik Boom (changing the thread Subject to something more akin) answers that a priority for Devuan should be making it easy to fork, for if it becomes needed. Katolaz also reminds us that freedom of choice is a mere illusion on most sides of any distro: kernel, libc, pam, X, etc. While the principle is sound, its feasibility is not guaranteed. Martijn Dekkers points out the "benevolent dictator" way the VUAs use on Devuan may be the best. ### [Looking for advice in preparation to switch from Debian to Devuan][21] Anto asks how to smoothly upgrade from Debian Wheezy or Jessie to systemd. Nuno Magalhães suggests to pin on wheezy versions, and reading the documentation that this list has produced. ### [GDM switched to Wayland by default][22] Jaromil reports that GDM will use Wayland by default. Concerns were raised about the degree of dependency of Wayland on systemd, but it seems that the Wayland protocol is independent on systemd, according to Jude Nelson and Jack L. Frost. ### [systemd NOCOW on btrfs][23] Jim Murphy wonders about systemd putting its journal file with the NOCOW flag. Didier Kryn and Adam Borowski elaborates on how it exactly works. Some off-branch discussion arised about kludging own code around compiler (or even library) issues. ### [Three usability features][24] Jonathan Wilkes points out how important (and safe) it could be for novice users to have * A selectable list of wifi connections * An immediate search for applications by natural language typing or name * A menu raising after pressing the Super (Windows logo) key Ron points out that 1 can be done with wicd. Jaromil states that these issues are important but not a priority for Devuan Jessie. Steve Litt gives dmenu and umenu as examples of programs able to cope with 2 and 3. ### [vdev status update][25] Jude gives an update on the status of vdev. It is > closer to being done than closer to having been just started, and > it's mature enough that early testers can start experimenting with > using it Some technical interchange comes later to enrich mdev and udev. ### [plan to install valentine pre-alpha on real hardware][26] Hendrik Boom reports he is about to install Valentine's pre-alpha on real hardware, and requests advice about how to make it boot from an USB drive. Jude explains about dd and Envite about BIOS boot method. ## In the press ### Linux Format February 2015 (Issue 194) The Linux press is taking notice of the Devuan project. Issue 194 of Linux Format carries a short article outlining the Debian schism and Devuan's manifesto as outlined on the website. The article quotes the devuan site several times and includes a link. The subsequent editorial remarks are fairly balanced, tough a little downbeat about Devuan's chances to win users over from Debian. Some here might, of course, disagree. See [this Tuxradar page](http://tuxradar.com/content/linux-format-194-next-gen-linux) for details of issue 194 (February 2015). ## Devuan's Not Gnome DNG is the discussion list of the Devuan Project. - [Subscribe to the list][subscribe] - [Read online archives][archives] ------------------- Help us to [write the issue for the next week][wiki]. There will be a lot to read! Thanks for reading us this week. Sincerely yours, the Sleepless Team: * Noel, "er Envite" (Editor) * hellekin (Markup master) * golinux (main typo spotter) * David Harrison (press clipper) * DocScrutinizer05 (fellow typo spotter) [0]: https://git.devuan.org/devuan/devuan-maintainers#tab-readme "Volunteers for package adoption" [1]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150217.233504.3df6e5b3.en.html "Question about properly splitting packages" [2]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150217.174901.c141a0f6.en.html "trios already packaging openrc and removed libsystemd0" [3]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150219.010846.777b69f8.en.html "Volunteers for package adoption" [4]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/thread/20150219.170948.cb8b18c8.en.html "The Onion Principle" [5]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/thread/20150220.214945.2de71a8e.en.html "XFCE et al" [6]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150221.130231.b11e3dba.en.html "Xfce" [7]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150215.162755.79dd4285.en.html "successfully manually removing systemd and libsystemd0 from debian and still maintaining a working desktop" [8]: http://slashdot.org/submission/4203115/removing-libsystemd0-from-a-live-running-debian-system "removing-libsystemd0-from-a-live-running-debian-system" [9]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150220.155742.453cdaaa.en.html "WIP: mdev packaging" [10]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150220.200856.45450e4f.en.html "about mdev and udev" [11]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150220.214457.fe7abd6e.en.html "LoginKit on the pre-alpha" [12]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150221.090804.12f3c0d3.en.html "systemd free badge" [13]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150221.121457.86d0308b.en.html "Init freedom badges" [14]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150219.123628.fdfef01e.en.html "OT: Linux kernel and the force behind it" [15]: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/02/linux-has-2000-new-developers-and-gets-10000-patches-for-each-version/ "Linux has 2,000 new developers and gets 10,000 patches for each version" [16]: http://m.forums.theregister.co.uk/post/reply/2375127 "Re: If systemd is so bad..." [17]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150220.165933.cfc6af96.en.html "KDE systemd lock-in" [18]: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=15/02/20/101235 "KDE Will Depend on 'logind' and 'timedated' in 6 Months" [19]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150222.160654.74bec919.en.html "UEFI secure boot not secure" [20]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150222.143851.c07b6a9f.en.html "Dng Digest, Vol 5, Issue 11" [21]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150216.201613.e9157e21.en.html "Looking for advices in preparation to switch from Debian to Devuan" [22]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150222.102759.b69f8838.en.html "GDM switched to wayland by default" [23]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150222.182806.cfcab7f6.en.html "OT - It may be only one file, but it does point to the bigger problem!" [24]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150222.201112.1e04eb50.en.html "three important UI features" [25]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150223.010058.a39e855f.en.html "vdev status update" [26]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/20150223.212412.c6bb71b4.en.html "plan to install valentine pre-alpha on real hardware." [subscribe]: https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng "Subscribe to DNG" [archives]: https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/list/dng.en.html "Read DNG List Archive" [upcoming]: https://git.devuan.org/Envite/devuan-weekly-news/wikis/upcoming-issue "Upcoming Issue" [wiki]: https://git.devuan.org/Envite/devuan-weekly-news/wikis/home "Devuan Weekly News"
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