New Remastersys for Ubuntu 3.0.0 version is in testing - link to download within

[fragadelic]

I have finished with preliminary version of remastersys 3.0.0 for Ubuntu Lucid and newer.

If you would like to test it out, please download the following file and install it.  There are many new features that need to be tested out and this should be tested on a development install and not a real working install as it may bork your system and I will not be held responsible.

With that disclaimer, here is the file.

http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository/ubuntu-testing/remastersys_3.0.0-1_all.deb

If you do test it out, please provide me with feedback in this thread.

Changes and additions:

Added option in the gui to choose the background picture for the live boot.
Added option in the gui to choose the background picture for grub.
Added option to copy relevant settings from your user folder into /etc/skel safely.
Added option to create a simple plymouth theme with your own background picture.
Added SQUASHFSOPTS option in the config file for more flexibility.  Using "-comp -xz" in the options will reduce the size of the iso considerably but at the same time may cause issues for older single core processors so don't use this option if your target audience is older PC's.  It also takes much longer to build the squashfs file with this option.
Fixed installer frontend not being installed issue
Other minor fixes and tweaks.

I almost forgot - I changed the iso build portion to make an iso level 3 which may or may not get rid of the 4GB limit per file.  Please test this out with backup mode on larger installs.

 

[lkjoel]

Nice!
Is remastersys-gtk gonna be packaged with remastersys 3.0?

[fragadelic]

Yes it will if it can get completed in time.

I just put up another package(same name and version as this is my testing one) with a small fix in it and added an option to not show the install icon on backup mode remasters.

[RevLinux]

Excellent new options! 
 I plan to test it out this coming weekend.

[beuheurk]

I am trying to make a backup of an Ubuntu 11.10 with Gnom-Shell installed and Unity removed.
It fail at the install:

keep saying "stdin: error0"

Then after 30~45 sec:
/init: line3: can't open /dev/sr0: no medium found
(initramfs) unable to find a medium containing a live file system

I tried the old and new version of Remastersys and tried twice a fresh install of Ubuntu.

I also tried USB and DVD, same result.

Any thought ?

[edit] olso tried Unetbootin and build-in usb disk creator

[edit2] it is working with DVD sometimes.

[fragadelic]

Try remastering again but take the -comp xz option out of the SQUASHFSOPTS line in the config file.  You can access this either via command line:
sudo nano /etc/remastersys.conf

or via the gui in the Modify config files section.

The final 3.0.0 will default back to the old way with the option of using the newer one.

I'm not sure that is the issue.  It looks like it is having a problem finding your optical drive.

[beuheurk]

Thanks but with usb key it never work. I'll try to modify the remastersys.conf and let you know if it work.

[Moebius]

Hi Fragadelic,
Have been testing Remastersys 3 and have the following feedback for you.

Dist Mode:
Using the option to safely copy contents from 'Home' to etc\skel, works well but also copies across 'user-dirs.dirs' and 'user-dirs.locale'.  Keeping these files in usr\skel will stop the 'respin' from creating home folders (Music, Videos, Documents etc..).

Create Plymouth Theme works well but the new Plymouth Theme must be applied before remastering.  Might pay benefit letting users know during the process (same way you warn users about the Live splash resolution needing to be 640x480)

Same as above regarding Grub background - there are so many various options for native Grub resolutions, it may be simpler to just remove this option maybe?

Have been having issues making GTK Theme and Icon settings stick (Ubuntu 11.10 with Unity + Gnome 3 Shell) but believe this to be my shortsightedness rather than any issue with Remastersys.

Still working with it and have had success (apart from fine tuning), so so far so good.  Will keep you posted with further updates as they arise.

Great job. 

[beuheurk]

Try remastering again but take the -comp xz option out of the SQUASHFSOPTS line in the config file.  You can access this either via command line:
sudo nano /etc/remastersys.conf

Sorry English is not my native language, do you mean remove "-comp xz" ? because it is not the used option on remastersys.conf.

[inashdeen]

hi, i am also building a distro based on ubuntu 11.10 using remastersys 3.0. i tried 2.0x but it also give me the sam stdin error i checked on the xterm while it is running the command, and i spot it shows /gdm/somethin2, no such file or directory. is it related to that? is it a must to use gdm??

[fragadelic]

No inashdeen.  That is just a portion I have in there to remove any non global gdm customizations that will prevent the live system from working.

What problem are you having?

[inashdeen]

ok, here goes. i am developing revamp 12, based on ubuntu 11.10, see here for info www.revamplinux.blogpsot.com . as you may see, rv11 works well on remastersys 2.x. it doesn't even hiccup. for rv12, first, i installed ubuntu 11.10 and put in remastersys 2.x. it didn't have a proprietary driver, just for you to note. i put in all the applications, then i install gnome3-shell. i install cairo-dock (it created its own list in the session option), then i tweak it a bit here and there, and i remove the unity session manager (the cairo dock session is still there). i renamed both the session manager into the name i've chosen. then i edit the plymouth. and i run remastersys. it works well in building the CD. the md5 and iso was checked and confirmed correct. i open my other OS ( i tried both on windows and linx) and run virtual box and try out the new cd. it runs well, i choose run in live dvd grub, then it got stuck in plymouth. at first i thought it is an older remastersys, thats why it doesnt work. i purge and remove everyhthing from remastersys 2.x, and install remastersys 3. it doesnt worked.i thought it doesnt run because i am using cairo dock, so i set the session manager to run on gnome3 by default, it didnt run.  i thought it is a virtual box issue, so i ran directly on a burned live dvd. again the problem persist. i thought it is a GDM issue, so i changed to GDM, again no luck. i thought it is a plymouth problem. so i reconfigured the plymouth using remastersys tool. and again, the problem persist.lastly, i thought it is a prob with hardware acceleration, so i set it to run on unity 2d. and again the prob persist. i badly need to get it work because revamp 12 will be released on 11.12.11

[inashdeen]

 

[fragadelic]

For those that are having the stdin error, please post the results of the following:

find /etc/udev/rules.d/

find /home/remastersys/remastersys/dummysys/etc/udev/rules.d/

[inashdeen]

find /etc/udev/rules.d/ gives me :
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
/etc/udev/rules.d/README

whereas find /home/remastersys/remastersys/dummysys/etc/udev/rules.d/ gives me :
/home/remastersys/remastersys/dummysys/etc/udev/rules.d/README

[fragadelic]

That is what it should be.

If you can put your iso image up for download somewhere, I'll download it and take a look at it.

[RevLinux]

I'm making a copy of Ubuntu 10.04, and the live CD come up to a login screen.
I may have done something wrong, so I will use a clean copy of the OS and see if it works without any modifications.

[Sparkz]

will remastersys work with Mint9? im looking for 100%working remastersys to backup my Mint9.

Thank You

[fragadelic]

What ubuntu version is Mint 9 based on?  If it is based on Ubuntu 10.04 or newer then you can use it.  Just check my website for the ubuntu information.

[lkjoel]

I think the reason why you have the stdin problem is because you removed the "clean temp users" part. I know that this can be a cause of the stdin problem because I had the same problem with relinux.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't see the lines below it! lol

[fragadelic]

Cleaning temp users has been in there for 5 years now.  What is your point?

The code for that part is borrowed from Ubuntu's own casper scripts with my changes.

I know you have a competing project now lkjoel and its almost like you're coming to spread fud or something without posting any direct references.  You just post general things that for the most part aren't even correct.

In the future if you would like to post here, please do so in a constructive manner rather than just coming off like your spreading fud trying to promote your own project.

[lkjoel]

Cleaning temp users has been in there for 5 years now.  What is your point?

The code for that part is borrowed from Ubuntu's own casper scripts with my changes.

I know you have a competing project now lkjoel and its almost like you're coming to spread fud or something without posting any direct references.  You just post general things that for the most part aren't even correct.

In the future if you would like to post here, please do so in a constructive manner rather than just coming off like your spreading fud trying to promote your own project.

Oh right, I just saw the section of your code. I thought you had removed it lol! Why are you calling this destructive? I'm trying to help you, not advertise! Since we have different goals, I don't see why we can't help each other.

[fragadelic]

What I mean is that if you post something specific like this, post the code in question along with a possible fix or at least what you think is wrong with it.

If you are referring to the post on your blog where you mentioned remastersys is dead and I posted in my defence but you never allowed the post to go public then I guess you might be right.  The difference is that I left your post here and asked you to be more helpful if you really want to be.

If you want to post fixes I'll gladly look at them and incorporate them if they fit with my goals and will fix the issue at hand.

If you want to help then help.  If not that's fine too.  I've been doing this for 5 years on my own for the most part with a few code snippets donated here and there.  If I know what the issue is I fix it - plain and simple.

[lkjoel]

ok yeah. I forget to post code snippets. I'll try to remember next time.
What? You just forgot to look at the blog! http://lkubuntu.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/relinux-a-way-to-create-a-bootable-iso-out-of-your-system/#comment-625.
Since version 0.4 of my product will be completely rewritten, I don't get why you have a problem with me helping out a different software with a different goal (remastersys).

[fragadelic]

I don't have any problems but relinux does overlap remastersys on the dist mode.

I am quite happy getting help as is evident by the fact that there are other names in the script of the people who helped and the default gui is made by a fellow from Bulgaria.

This is what I saw in your post:

1 - you mentioned a bug that doesn't exist in the current code and hasn't existed for a while.
2 - you mentioned your project relinux.

I'm no Sherlock Holmes and I guess I took those 2 things the wrong way.  Not sure how else to take those though.  Seemed like a slam against remastersys to me and promotion of relinux.  My apologies if I was wrong.

Our code bases are completely different now that you have moved away from bash to C but feel free to help out if you want.

[lkjoel]

No, we have different goals on it. Mine is to let the user pretend that they made it "by hand" (yes, I know we had discussions of what that mean't, but let's just say it means like Ubuntu does it). Yours, well, I don't know, but you told me that you didn't like my goal.
Sorry, I thought it existed, but I didn't inspect quite carefully. Fine, what should I have said? My project? That would have been worse! I mean't that as a testimonial that the bug was not just my imagination, but it can happen by not cleaning the temporary users.
And yes, it wasn't a slam. It's 2 different, but similar projects now, not 2 competing projects. I find that people just do not help similar projects, and they keep on bashing them. That's why I'm trying to help out your project.

[fragadelic]

Temporary users have been cleared out since the early 1.x versions of remastersys.

I'm not bashing relinux - never have but at the same time I wouldn't think of going on your forum(if you have one) and mentioning remastersys.

I've had to deal with people forking it and not giving me credit - like you started out doing which is against the GPL license I released it under.  You corrected that when I approached you about it but I can't imagine why you would have done that in the first place so you'll have to excuse me for being cynical.

There are still forks out there that don't mention remastersys or me even though there is a large percentage of code in them(over 50% of my code) and this clearly is a violation of the GPL.

I released it under the GPL license so folks could use it but everyone and their uncle seem to want to try to make it like they are innovating when they are just copying my code and making a few changes.  This is also why I am against trying to hide the fact that your distro is made with remastersys.  Give credit where credit is due.  That's all I ask from folks.  If that is too much to ask then they need to do their own thing from scratch.

When I started remastersys I even gave credit to mklivecd and remasterme from PCLinuxOS where the idea came from even though absolutely no code was used since it is a completely different method.

I never deny where my code comes from or if I modify an existing project to suit my needs.  I clearly state the facts in keeping with the GPL.  I have always played nice with other projects.  Others have not always played nice with me so I am cynical.

You have only started doing the relinux thing.  I have been dealing with this for 5 years now and frankly it gets old - like me - lol - but I am not about to sit by and let these projects just steal my code.  I've put a lot of time and money into remastersys over the years.

This is not something personal against just you.  It is just me trying to defend my code and my project.

You and I have chatted via google chat several times and those chats were entertaining.  Your goals are different and that is fine as I told you.  I appreciate you trying to help but I am always cynical as folks tend to have ulterior motives for their actions.  You'll understand when you've been around as long as I have - lol.

[lkjoel]

Ok, yeah. For some reason I thought you removed it (this is the third time I've said this...).
I NEVER violated the GPL license! I have no idea where you came up with that. I was sure that on the front page remastersys was mentioned! You didn't read the GPL license as far as I'm concerned! It doesn't matter how much I copied over, just as long as I changed code. Did you see how Flight Pro Sim stole FlightGear? They just rebranded it, but it followed every rule of the GPLv2 license! I don't get how you think that me, changing your code a lot, would be violating it! Also, remember that Flight Pro Sim didn't mention FlightGear.
If you don't like how the GPLv2 license works, then why did you release it under the GPLv2 license?

Edit: I'm sorry, I forgot about adding the copyright logo before your name. Ok, I did violate that, and I'm going to fix it. Sorry!

[fragadelic]

Perhaps you should read the license and the FAQ on it.

I want to get credit for my work. I want people to know what I wrote. Can I still get credit if I use the GPL?
    You can certainly get credit for the work. Part of releasing a program under the GPL is writing a copyright notice in your own name (assuming you are the copyright holder). The GPL requires all copies to carry an appropriate copyright notice.

This is from http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0-faq.html

You need to understand a bit more about copyright.

For your current version in C code it doesn't matter but the original ones where a large portion of my bash code was there it is required.

Distribution is free and must contain the original copyright.  Any derivatives must also contain the copyright as that code is copyright to me.

I'm not saying "Don't use it" I'm just saying to give credit where credit is due in the app itself as is required by the copyright.

The original code is my copyright. The license to distribute is GPL V2 so any derivatives must be under the GPL as well and mention the original copyright holder.

Going after companies or people in court is expensive which is why most don't bother.

I want people to help with it, change it for their needs, etc but at the same time they need to give credit back for the code I wrote.  That is all I'm asking.  I'm not asking for money or preventing anyone from doing anything.  Not giving credit in the code is a very immature and lame thing to do as well as unethical in my eyes.

This reluctance to give proper credit is what pi$$es me off the most about folks like you.  You take the code and try to make it look like your own.  Good luck in your ventures and you had better hope you don't copy anyones code that really cares and has money to go after you.

So what you are saying is that what happened to FlightGear is ok and the other company is good in your eyes?  Tells me a lot about you.

[gray wolf]

Joel Leclerc, you are a tool............

Your vision of 'the ends justifies the means' is self-serving at best.  Justification for your actions, failing to give credit where credit is due for the underlying code (Remastersys) upon which you base your project, is reprehensible. 

If you found something about Remastersys not to your liking and/or found a way to 'build a better mousetrap' upon Remastersys', then bully for you!  Thus is the nature of open source.  Everything in the open source domain is built upon and has origins in something that preceded it.  You did not create your DNA from new/original source or come to be in a spontaneous manner (if you did, it would be very 'second coming of J.C.' ).  And so it is with your little (noticed) project.

At the end of the day, honor the traditions and values of open source, give credit for the 'contributions' of other's work product as required, and get over yourself. 

GW