BL Lithium Release Date?

stroudmw · 2019-09-02 10:45:03

Has a release date for BL Lithium been announced? If not, can I get an approximate idea of when it might be out? I'd like to do a fresh install, but I don't want to have to go through the exercise all over again.

hhh · 2019-09-02 23:04:17

We haven't released a forum testing ISO yet, which is the first step. We're very close to doing that, but we have some major new features (jgmenu, new bl-exit, a BunsenLabs session separate from the default Debian Openbox session, new themes of course, and quite a few more) that we need to take a bit of time to sort it all out properly. Also, IRL gets in the way constantly.

By close on a testing ISO (alpha or whatever), that's really more up to @johnraff and @nobody to surmise. There's adding all the commits, rebuilding the packages, adding the new live-install, live-grub and regular grub configs, and finally running live build to produce an ISO, then we test it a bit, then we release it via the forum for testing and feedback.

ATM, the easiest way to get our current lithium system running is to install Debian buster and...

sudo apt install bunsen-meta-all

Reboot and choose BunsenLabs via the login panel.

I wouldn't do that on your main partition, try it on a testing partition so we can bugshoot.

Git (note the branch dropdown is set to lithium!)...

https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-me … ee/lithium

stroudmw · 2019-09-03 08:21:16

Thanks so much! I'm really looking forward to it!

hhh · 2019-09-04 00:45:43

No problem. Thanks for registering as a forum member and for trying BunsenLabs.

Here's to Lithium being our best release yet, cheers!

stroudmw · 2019-09-04 07:02:56

It seems to work quite well so far.
This is a really old laptop (HP Compaq nc6320 - it has a very nice XP sticker on it. Very reassuring).

CPU: Dual Core Intel Core2 T5500 (-MCP-) speed: 1663 MHz, 2.5GiB RAM.
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet driver: tg3
IF: enp2s14 state: down mac: 00:17:08:36:73:36
Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network driver: iwl3945
IF: wlp8s0 state: up mac: 00:18:de:12:b7:40

I installed the Netinst (it fits on a CD) version of Debian 10. I didn't install a desktop environment, but I did select SSH and the standard system utilities.

I added "contrib non-free" to the /etc/apt/sources.list file.

I installed firmware-linux-extra, and firmware-iwlwifi. I also installed zram-tools, as I've been trying that out lately. I then added the BL repo:
deb https://kelaino.bunsenlabs.org/~johnraff/debian lithium main

I then installed bunsen-meta-all.
The only errors were that bl-welcome failed to install bunsen-extra-images and bunsen-meta-java.

Wifi works (I'm using it as I type this). The display looks ok: no screen tearing that I've noticed.
Memory usage seems high, though: I have Firefox open with only 1 tab (that I'm typing this on), as well as the terminal, and it's using 1.0GiB RAM. But maybe that's because of zram:

              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:          2.4Gi       1.0Gi       752Mi        67Mi       696Mi       1.2Gi
Swap:         255Mi          0B       255Mi

Thanks very much! Apart from the high RAM, it's running very well!

stroudmw · 2019-09-04 07:19:43

Oh Yes, after a reboot, and before starting up Firefox, the RAM looks like this:

              total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:          2.4Gi       224Mi       1.9Gi        32Mi       279Mi       2.0Gi
Swap:         255Mi          0B       255Mi

johnraff · 2019-09-04 07:20:33

Hi stroudmw, thanks for the feedback!

stroudmw wrote:

I then installed bunsen-meta-all.
The only errors were that bl-welcome failed to install bunsen-extra-images and bunsen-meta-java.

Yes, bunsen-extra-images has not yet been uploaded for Lithium - its exact content has yet to be decided. bunsen-meta-java will install OK after the latest package arrives in the repository - a few days probably.

Memory usage seems high, though: I have Firefox open with only 1 tab (that I'm typing this on), as well as the terminal, and it's using 1.0GiB RAM. But maybe that's because of zram:

Yes 1GB RAM does seem a bit high for a machine with 2.4 total, but it might be because of something Firefox was doing previously. What is the situation just after bootup? I usually get just under 200 MB with BL on a low-ram machine.

It might be too late now, but next time you might consider allocating a bit more swap space too - say 2~3GB.

EDIT: cross-posted!
Your bootup RAM looks reasonable.

Last edited by johnraff (2019-09-04 07:22:26)

stroudmw · 2019-09-04 08:14:35

One other thing: I can't get the bl-obmenu-generator to show the icons. But I guess that's pretty low priority

Cheers, Mike

johnraff · 2019-09-05 04:40:54

Sorry I can't help with bl-obmenu-generator - it's not a standard BL package. Where did you get it?

stroudmw · 2019-09-05 06:56:04

I got it here: Dynamic menus on BunsenLabs - a comprehensive guide

johnraff · 2019-09-05 08:34:43

^Then you could try posting an issue on its git repository?

chrisdb · 2019-10-01 13:15:11

Hi guys,

I was thinking, would it be safe to use the current lithium system from git on my main system, or should I wait for the official release?

johnraff · 2019-10-02 02:05:41

It depends on what you use your main system for whether it would be advisable to run the current Lithium on it.

It's safe enough in the sense that it probably won't break your system, but upcoming changes will likely result in unexpected behaviour here and there which you would have to be prepared to sort out by hand.

There's an experimental system available if you follow the instructions here:
https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic.php?id=5546
These packages were built from fairly recent versions of the source on git.
Of course you can build your own from the very latest source, but that is more likely to bring bugs.

chrisdb · 2019-10-02 07:52:31

johnraff wrote:

It depends on what you use your main system for whether it would be advisable to run the current Lithium on it.
It's safe enough in the sense that it probably won't break your system, but upcoming changes will likely result in unexpected behaviour here and there which you would have to be prepared to sort out by hand.
There's an experimental system available if you follow the instructions here:
https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic.php?id=5546
These packages were built from fairly recent versions of the source on git.
Of course you can build your own from the very latest source, but that is more likely to bring bugs.

is it possible to install it next to an existing debian xfce DE installation?

johnraff · 2019-10-02 08:05:18

If by "next to" you mean in the same Debian Buster system, then the answer is "sort of".

BL Lithium has its own xsession, so at login time your Display Manager should offer you the choice of "XFCE Session" or "BunsenLabs Session". There will likely be some interference between the various apps installed by each setup though - which we would be very interested to hear about, because it will help us improve BL. On the other hand, such a setup might not be ideal for a computer you rely on to behave predictably at all times.

If, though, you mean installing on a different partition, then there would be no problem at all.

hhh · 2019-10-02 23:30:12

A buster/lithium Xfce session alongside a BL-Openbox session should be no problem. I'm willing to test this on my current more-or-less default BL Lithium system. Give me half an hour and I'll report back.

hhh · 2019-10-02 23:57:31

+1, can recommend.

sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies

Output...

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  desktop-base fonts-quicksand gtk2-engines-xfce libgarcon-1-0
  libgarcon-common libkeybinder-3.0-0 libplymouth4 libqrencode4
  libunique-1.0-0 libutempter0 libwnck-3-0 libwnck-3-common libwnck-common
  libwnck22 libxfce4ui-utils libxres1 plymouth plymouth-label ristretto
  tango-icon-theme xfce4-appfinder xfce4-battery-plugin xfce4-clipman
  xfce4-clipman-plugin xfce4-cpufreq-plugin xfce4-cpugraph-plugin
  xfce4-datetime-plugin xfce4-dict xfce4-diskperf-plugin xfce4-fsguard-plugin
  xfce4-genmon-plugin xfce4-mailwatch-plugin xfce4-netload-plugin xfce4-notes
  xfce4-notes-plugin xfce4-panel xfce4-places-plugin xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin
  xfce4-sensors-plugin xfce4-session xfce4-settings xfce4-smartbookmark-plugin
  xfce4-systemload-plugin xfce4-taskmanager xfce4-terminal xfce4-timer-plugin
  xfce4-verve-plugin xfce4-wavelan-plugin xfce4-weather-plugin
  xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin xfce4-xkb-plugin xfdesktop4 xfdesktop4-data xfwm4
Suggested packages:
  plymouth-themes kdelibs-data gtk3-engines-xfce parole xfce4-indicator-plugin
  xfce4-mpc-plugin xfce4-radio-plugin xsensors fortunes-mod mugshot menu
  xfwm4-themes
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  desktop-base fonts-quicksand gtk2-engines-xfce libgarcon-1-0
  libgarcon-common libkeybinder-3.0-0 libplymouth4 libqrencode4
  libunique-1.0-0 libutempter0 libwnck-3-0 libwnck-3-common libwnck-common
  libwnck22 libxfce4ui-utils libxres1 plymouth plymouth-label ristretto
  tango-icon-theme xfce4 xfce4-appfinder xfce4-battery-plugin xfce4-clipman
  xfce4-clipman-plugin xfce4-cpufreq-plugin xfce4-cpugraph-plugin
  xfce4-datetime-plugin xfce4-dict xfce4-diskperf-plugin xfce4-fsguard-plugin
  xfce4-genmon-plugin xfce4-goodies xfce4-mailwatch-plugin
  xfce4-netload-plugin xfce4-notes xfce4-notes-plugin xfce4-panel
  xfce4-places-plugin xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin xfce4-sensors-plugin
  xfce4-session xfce4-settings xfce4-smartbookmark-plugin
  xfce4-systemload-plugin xfce4-taskmanager xfce4-terminal xfce4-timer-plugin
  xfce4-verve-plugin xfce4-wavelan-plugin xfce4-weather-plugin
  xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin xfce4-xkb-plugin xfdesktop4 xfdesktop4-data xfwm4
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Installed, there was an error regarding updating initramfs-tools. Removing plymouth, which xfce4 tries to bring in, fixes it...

sudo apt --autoremove purge plymouth*

Reboot.

My BL-Openbox session is the same...
https://www.scrot.moe/image/xBrlZ

Slightly tweaked default xfce4-desktop...
https://www.scrot.moe/image/xBhMW

Some delving into autostart files might be in order, but this looks good out of the box. I can pretty much guarantee that the RAM increase for the BL session is the icon set I'm using vs. the default xfce one. Bigger icon set, more icon cache, more RAM.

hhh · 2019-10-03 00:27:09

I had to reset my default terminal to mate-terminal in System>Debian Alternatives>xxx-terminal-emulator. I'll probably have to adjust a few other things like this.

Nili · 2019-10-03 06:30:49

hhh wrote:

I can pretty much guarantee that the RAM increase for the BL session is the icon set I'm using vs. the default xfce one. Bigger icon set, more icon cache, more RAM.

+1,
simply-circles-icon-theme > spacefm 19.5MB | papirus-icon-theme spacefm 40MB
I want to add also package fonts-noto it is ram eaters. I am careful about selecting icons or fonts.

hhh · 2019-10-03 11:02:31

@Nili, thanks for the confirmation. It's a weird bit of RAM usage, and apparently not experienced by everyone, or else it's just not noticed. By the way, fonts-noto is the default Lithium font set, if I recall correctly.

#1 2019-09-02 10:45:03

BL Lithium Release Date?

#2 2019-09-02 23:04:17

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#3 2019-09-03 08:21:16

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#4 2019-09-04 00:45:43

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#5 2019-09-04 07:02:56

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#6 2019-09-04 07:19:43

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#7 2019-09-04 07:20:33

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#8 2019-09-04 08:14:35

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#9 2019-09-05 04:40:54

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#10 2019-09-05 06:56:04

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#11 2019-09-05 08:34:43

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#12 2019-10-01 13:15:11

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#13 2019-10-02 02:05:41

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#14 2019-10-02 07:52:31

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#15 2019-10-02 08:05:18

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#16 2019-10-02 23:30:12

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#17 2019-10-02 23:57:31

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#18 2019-10-03 00:27:09

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#19 2019-10-03 06:30:49

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

#20 2019-10-03 11:02:31

Re: BL Lithium Release Date?

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