Quirky Unicorn 6.2
Quirky 6.x
Quirky Tahr builds on the same ideas, except is constructed with binary DEB packages from the Ubuntu Trusty Tahr repository. Quirk Tahr debuted at 6.0, though chronologically later than the above Quirky series. The latest Quirky Tahr is 6.0.5, released February 16, 2014, read about it here:
Quirky Tahr 6.0.5
After a hiatus of several months, I have created Quirky Unicorn, which is built from Ubuntu Utopic Unicorn (version 14.10) DEB packages. The "Unicorn series" is debuting at version 6.2, released October 25, 2014.
There have been some bug fixes and improvements since Quirky Tahr 6.0.5, but most especially a heap of application, utility (and kernel) upgrades. Summarising:
- Bug fixes, upgrades and improvements 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
- Childproofing mechanism 1
- New popup utility "popup" 1
- FreeOffice (free version of SoftMaker Office) 1
- Linux kernel 3.16.6 (user: p#up#py password: l#in#ux) 1
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/unicorn-6.2/unicorn-6.2.usfs.xz
which may be installed to a hard drive partition or to a Flash drive, by these scripts:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/unicorn-6.2/install-quirky-to-drive.sh
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/unicorn-6.2/install-quirky-to-partition.sh
Note, for those unable to run those scripts, due to not having Linux running or an inadequate Linux, there is a image file for a 8GB Flash drive (202.1MB):
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/unicorn-6.2/unicorn-6.2-8gb.img.xz
...please read the original Quirky6 release notes for full installation instructions:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/unicorn-6.2/1release-Quirky-6.x.htm
Yes, despite being only 193.2MB, this release includes the full FreeOffice suite. However, some components are split out to separate PETs. For local documentation, please install this PET (12.6MB):
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/packages/pet_packages-common/freeoffice_DOC-2012-rev690-x86.pet
For non-English users, install this (29MB):
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/packages/pet_packages-common/freeoffice_NLS-2012-rev690-x86.pet
FreeOffice is free, but does require registration before it can be used. A popup will take you to the website, when you try to run FreeOffice, however, you can go there now to obtain the license key (click the Download button, which will send the key to your email address):
http://www.freeoffice.com/
The new childproofing feature may interest some people, see above link. It is a simple mechanism to hide certain partitions on your internal hard drive.
Of course, the other main feature of Quirky is that it is built from Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn DEB packages, except for many of our own PETs. And of course, I have to make the usual statement that apart from using the Ubuntu DEBs, Quirky is in no way like Ubuntu. From the ground up, every aspect of the infrastructure, the UI, everything, is different and unique.
Quirky is a fork of my previous baby, Puppy Linux. Just as an example of how different Quirky is from Ubuntu, you won't find a whiff of Systemd anywhere -- Quirky (Puppy also) uses Busybox init, and Quirky uses eudev, a fork of the udev part of systemd.
Then there's the UI, Quirky (and Puppy) uses JWM window manager (and panel) and ROX-Filer for the desktop.
Theme
I have gone for a green theme this time:
GTK: Eucalypt
JWM: GreenWhiteX
Desktop icons: green-glow
Wallpaper: green-vapors.jpg
ROX-Filer desktop text: white, no shadow, DejaVu Sans 11
Developers
To turn your Quirky installation into a complete compiling environment, grab just this one PET (121.3MB):
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/x86/packages/pet_packages-unicorn/devx-6.2-unicorn.pet
If you also need the kernel source (121.8MB):
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/noarch/packages/pet_packages-noarch/kernel_src-3.16.6-patched.pet
Please read the Quirky thread of my blog for news about all of these changes.
As with all my Quirkies, I don't go through a long bug-fix cycle with users/testers. Instead, I just release a Quirky when it seems OK to me, and maybe release updates (Service Packs) later.
Feedback
I am really retired from Linux development, just doing this Quirky thing as an occasional entertainment. But, there are threads on the Puppy Forum where you can provide feedback and discuss with other users, and I will likely also read these threads.
For example, this thread I will probably monitor (starting on page 50):
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=90784&start=735
Don't report bugs direct to me, unless you have a fix. There are expected to be bug fixes and upgrades. Monitor my blog for news about these:
http://bkhome.org/news/?viewCat=Quirky
Regards,
Barry Kauler
October 25, 2014