I’ve been working on a programming project for a couple days, and updated my string library (strfuncs.h) to include some spiffy string cleaning functions. I now have a utility to strip all instances of a single character, or all instances of a string of characters from another string.
However, in writing the library yesterday, I failed to notice that I had typed a ‘c’ instead of ‘k’. Yep, that’s right - I broke the entire function by one character.
Gotta love the typo.
Posted by wmyers as projects, personal, hints at 11:08 AM EST
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In generating Shodonix images, I did a lot of package alterations, and it turns out that Ghemical 2.01 had been updated to 2.10 - but in updating the package, a couple libraries updated that broke Intel i810 graphics chip support - which might not be too horrible, but many many educational institutions go for the educational specials when buying workstations, and they tend to have integrated graphics chips, and those are often the Intel i810 line. So, I had to back up to 1.03, then reupdate the CD, which this time included yanking Ghemical. It’s not a vital package, and frees-up space for other applications in the future.
So, in case you ever decide to customize a Knoppix CD, and you have a ‘normal’ PC with integrated Intel graphics, be sure you don’t break the support for the chip.
Posted by wmyers as news, work, projects at 3:31 PM EDT
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Yep, another series of software updates have been called for, and Shodonix 1.04 is already out. We’re working on a new initial boot splash image, but otherwise, the CD is ready for workshop use.
My supervisor pointed out last week that “I bet you didn’t think you’d be maintaining a Linux distro when you started”, and he was right. Far from the initial idea I had to just stick all the requested tools on a CD (in Mac and Windows formats), and then bring the CD but run stuff from it using existing machines, the project morphed into “let’s customize a Knoppix iso”, and then into “let’s make this really cool, with custom graphics, lots of extra tools, and… oh yeah: document it so that we can continue to maintain it in the future”.
Nope, I hadn’t planned on maintaining a Linux distro when I started here, nor even when I started back this summer. Strange how things go sometimes. Admittedly, the distro is just to be used in-house, but it’s still pretty cool, and I can now do it for anyone that needs/wants a customized CD.
Posted by wmyers as projects, personal at 2:05 PM EDT
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one package was missing, and another was acting up, so the image has been recreated again
we should be one user test away from using the cd in workshops
Posted by wmyers as work, projects at 11:19 AM EDT
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Right. So, it turns out that if you don’t unmount /proc while chrooted, the iso won’t compress properly, which is what happened to my first attempt. The second following attempt was done from a fresh expansion of Knoppix, and I made sure I unmounted /proc, and everything’s copasetic.
The last thing to get working is the offline edition of Interactivate to load correctly (and fit). I am currently 10M over the limit, and the launch shortcut is wrong, but we’re very close.
Posted by wmyers as news, work, projects at 6:10 PM EDT
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the first edition of our custom cd is ready - now to test 
Posted by wmyers as news, work, projects at 1:52 PM EDT
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This is an odd one: I’ve managed to grow my custom linux image from 1.8 to 2.1 gigs, yet it compressed to 657M as an iso. Queer. Now the problem is that I’ve apparently gotten a little too aggressive in trimming, and I can’t log in when it boots.
Posted by wmyers as work, projects at 3:03 PM EDT
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even after shrinking our custom linux/cd install down from the default knoppix size of 2.3G to 1.8G - it won’t compress to fit on a single cd, which leads me to believe that what I’ve stuck on there is already compressed
back to trimming-out unnecessary items 
Posted by wmyers as work, projects at 1:25 PM EDT
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at first, this appears to be a task that’s harder than it’s worth, but it’s not
after several passes through the installed packages that come with knoppix list, I believe I’ve trimmed out everything we don’t need to provide a mobile lab environment
Posted by wmyers as work, projects at 3:15 PM EDT
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I have just launched a new volunteer-run homework help site. Please check it out when you have a chance: Homework Help Question & Answer.
Posted by wmyers as news, projects, personal at 8:04 PM EST
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