3/18/02 Entry

Sorry about the recent errors in the tutorials, you try to fix one thing and ten more seem to pop up. Apparently google has spidered this page(rather unexpecatedly, I might add) before I was fully ready to unviel the SDL series – my fault for putting them up. All is good now, as I believe I’ve found all the errors in the first one, and am on the lookout for people visiting now. Thanks to everyone that emailed me encouragement to continue the series – I plan to, although a bit more carefully. I don’t want to spend my life editing tutorials instead of writing them.

I’ve gotten a bit bored with the site look and layout, and since I plan on posting a couple new projects, expect to see some changes shortly. I’ve started moving toward generating all these pages via scripts(but keeping them static on the server), to make editing news, and adding tutorials a bit easier. The next set is in the works, but after I put them up(there are 3 more), I’m going to take a timeout to make this site a bit more managable – in addition to reformating the older tuts.

Distro news, not much new to report here, except that I’ve decided I hate RPMs. I hate that the LSB requires RPM compatibility. SPEC files are the devil.

2/26/02 Entry

I’ve gotten true type fonts working with XFree86 and KDE3, antialiasing is disabled in the shot though.

Big structural changes in the distro going on, HaX and I are busy at work trying to get things setup for a wide BETA, and trying to get other things setup for current Beta testers.

I’m working on setting up a NICE set of default fonts, an area that Linux is sometimes (needlessly) lacking in. The fonts running in the screenshot are in general toyfonts though. Hehe.

On the tutorial front, I’ve been pretty busy lately, but tuts 4 and 5 are on their way, so keep an eye open.

2/14/02 Entry

Evil_Messiah has been kind enough to provide the distro with an uber-l1337 background. (I’ll be updating the screenshot on Saturday.) HaX and I have launched mission make Linux usable for real.

Next, I’m busy trying to move these pages over so that they are all dynamically generated. This will not change anything here though. This will allow me to update these pages a bit more regularly.

I’ve started work on an SDL tutorial that will eventually cover all of SDL. The first 3 installments are up right now. I’m currently working on the fourth(alpha blending and color keying).

More distro news. We are currently moving to RPMs and trashing our own system. We’ll be handling the move in what I feel is an interesting and easy to manage way, but we are still doing it. This does NOT mean we are basing our distro off of RedHat or any other – look at SuSe vs. Mandrake. Both use RPMs.

This series of structural changes to the distro, started with my original base-redo, has definatly been for the better, albiet they were all very time consuming, and frustrating. To respond to gcc-3 concerns: yes, gcc3 is by default the default compiler. Yes, it’s possibly to revert to gcc-2.95. This does not mean that everything is compiled with gcc-3, or even most things. Just enough for compatibility, and those items which are stable, secure, and tested with gcc-3 are being compiled. (This means the kernel/glibc aren’t getting 3’d.)

1/11/02 Entry

Major DISTRO News.

We have started migrating to gcc-3, now that it seems to have matured a bit more. The old gcc-2.95.x releases and libraries, are still there, but the new, default compiler is gcc-3. We have done this for several reasons, the foremost of which, is that we would really like to keep compatibility with the other major distros. Many of which are already running gcc-3 builds.

This will not affect all major packages – it is being done strictly for compatibility and future-proofness.

Next, I’ve started pointing people here when they ask about the status of the distro, so I’ll try to keep this page updated a bit more often. I’ve also been making a few more changes around here… I hope to clean up and post a couple of tutorials on 3d, OpenGL, and Linux programming from things I wrote earlier. Don’t worry, this site will stay optimized for Lynx friends. 🙂

1/10/02 Entry

Wow. I’ve started getting emails/etc.. from people interested in the distro, mainly with the single question: WHERE IS IT? Just like that, the caps, bold – everything.

So here is a bit of a status update. HaX took a much needed vacation after I made him package GNOME – alone. His hair should start growing back pretty soon, and the doctors tell me the stroke did no permanent damage. While he was off, I did a foolish thing, and mangled just about all of base. Like I said before, it’s basically a completely new distro.

Some of my personal goals for this distro have changed. For one, I still want the end-user usability that would put Mandrake to shame – but unlike Mandrake, I would like to remain true to the sources that made Linux – and Unix – what they are in the first place. Some Linux distributions seem to forget about the advanced end user’s expectations. Others provide administration utilties that carelessly write over hand edited configuration files. This has greatly changed my entire approach at packaging the base system, and that is what a lot of the “base” redo reflected. That said, there is no reason why such a base, developed correctly, can not be used to build something easy to use for the end user.

Currently, beta testing is open to advanced linux users only, advanced linux users being defined as people that don’t mind hand editing config files when things go wrong. As everything is still in development things WILL go wrong.

HaX is currently working on packaging a new X, and I am putting the finishing touches on base – and trying to get the REAL installer (Beta users currently use a make-shift temporary one) ready for Prime Time. 🙂

12/12/2001 Entry

Yet another day of mindless distro hacking. QT 3.0.1 was released today. Nifty. So far, LSB progressions have been pretty good, and QT 3.0.1 compiled without a hitch. Given the current status of KDE development, I’m going to start migrating all the packages to KDE-3. Now, the good news: the major portions of the base redo are done. This means that another beta is getting a lot closer.

Edit:

Sometime past 11:00

DO NOT EAT AT MCDONALD’S. They are the Satan of this world. Part of the great head of evil. Yes fokes, today I have experienced the wonders of the Big XTra, little did I know that the Extra was a wonderful bit of food poisoning. Having had all sorts of nasty stuff in the past, I think that this is the worst I have ever felt, in my life ever. There is no escaping from the pain that is the golden arches – in either end. Now, excuse me as I puke up my guts, again.

12/11/2001 Entry

Redid this page today. I’ve kept it optimized for us Lynx friends, so don’t complain to me about the lack of pretty graphics, crappy banner ads, and overuse of images. Before this page was a minimal mirror of golgotha source code, textures, music, and not much else. I’ll be posting relevant public updates to the distribution stuff I’m working on here. (Status and such) If you’d like to help – give me a line, my mail is at the bottom of this page. Any major distribution developments that I’m responsible for, and are public info will be posted here. 🙂