203 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
203 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
# nanodesk - lightweight linux (live) desktop
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Origin: https://git.la10cy.net/DeltaLima/nanodesk
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nanodesk is a lightweight debian linux flavor/distribution, using the
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jwm window manager.
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This is just a fun and learning project. My goal is to have a (live) system
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which is very lightweight and still usable too as daily driver.
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This is for a VM where you need a basic graphical environment or for an old computer
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with less resources.
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## The Operating System
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Actual nanodesk uses **Debian 12 bookworm** as base. It comes with following
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programs preinstalled by default
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- JWM Window Manager
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- Falkon Web browser
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- PCManFM Filemanager
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- Connman Network Manager
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- X File Explorer Suite
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- qpdfview PDF and Image Viewer
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- GParted Partition Manager
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- Synaptic Package Manager
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- LXTerminal Terminal Emulator
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See [Customize nanodesk](#customize-nanodesk) to learn more about how to add
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your own packages and so on.
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## Screenshots
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The most important thing about a linux distro are the screenshots. :p
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Here you go!
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## Build it your own!
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If you want to build nanodesk by your own, maybe with your own customisations - `makeanything.sh` will cover you.
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This script will perform all tasks which are necessary to build nanodesk from scratch, including installing packages on your host machine where you build nanodesk.
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The script is tested running with Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 11 and Debian 12.
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Simply run `./makeanything.sh` and the show will start!
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Your .iso file will be generated in `build`, named like `nanodesk-vX.Y.Z.iso`.
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Git tags and commit count are used for versioning.
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You can give the script a custom debian-mirror, if your prefer e.g.
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`./makeanything.sh http://ftp.debian.org/debian/`
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## customize nanodesk
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Of course you can customize nanodesk to fit your needs!
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The simplest way is to add your favorite packages to the nanodesk live-image.
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Just add them to the file `templates/install_base.customsteps.sh`
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For example, let's add Abiword and Pidgin to nanodesk, the file would look like
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```bash
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apt install -y \
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audacious \
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vlc \
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abiword \
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pidgin
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```
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Now run `makeanything.sh` and you will have both programs on your live-linux.
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You can also jump into the chroot with `chroot build/chroot/ /bin/bash` and do
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customizations by hand. Just run `makeanything.sh` afterwards to recreate the
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.iso
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Keep in mind that the chroot does not get recreated everytime you run
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`makeanything.sh`.
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While experimenting around it could be helpful to delete your complete `build/`
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directory
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```bash
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sudo rm -Rf build
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```
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keeping a fresh copy of `build/chroot/` after the first debootstrap is also a
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good idea to save bandwidth :)
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```bash
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sudo cp -a build/chroot build/chroot.bak
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```
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## install nanodesk on harddrive
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When you booted nanodesk from the iso, then you can install nanodesk to your
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harddrive. The installer is called `nanodesk-installer`.
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Before doing so, you have to create, if not already existing, a partition with
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a formatted linux compatible filesystem (e.g. ext4).
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nanodesk comes with fdisk, so you can create it very quick and format the
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partition afterwards. When you decide to create a swap-partiotion, do not
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forget to run mkswap.
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Then the installer will detect it automatically (I hope so!) and use it.
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This is an example, how to do the partitioning and formatting.
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```bash
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debian@nanodesk:~$ sudo su -
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root@nanodesk:~# fdisk /dev/sda
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Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.36.1).
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Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
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Be careful before using the write command.
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Command (m for help): o
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Created a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0xe29b8e3b.
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Command (m for help): n
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Partition type
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p primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
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e extended (container for logical partitions)
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Select (default p): p
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Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
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First sector (2048-16777215, default 2048):
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Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-16777215, default 16777215): +7700M
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Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 7.5 GiB.
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Command (m for help): n
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Partition type
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p primary (1 primary, 0 extended, 3 free)
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e extended (container for logical partitions)
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Select (default p):
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Using default response p.
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Partition number (2-4, default 2):
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First sector (15771648-16777215, default 15771648):
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Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (15771648-16777215, default 16777215):
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Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux' and of size 491 MiB.
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Command (m for help): t
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Partition number (1,2, default 2): 2
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Hex code or alias (type L to list all): 82
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Changed type of partition 'Linux' to 'Linux swap / Solaris'.
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Command (m for help): w
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The partition table has been altered.
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Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
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Syncing disks.
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root@nanodesk:~# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
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mke2fs 1.46.2 (28-Feb-2021)
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Creating filesystem with 1971200 4k blocks and 492880 inodes
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Filesystem UUID: 59b069ae-d9be-4fc0-a277-4204d20dc293
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Superblock backups stored on blocks:
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32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632
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Allocating group tables: done
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Writing inode tables: done
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Creating journal (16384 blocks): done
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Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
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root@nanodesk:~# mkswap /dev/sda2
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Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 491 MiB (514846720 bytes)
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no label, UUID=700c237a-d6ff-45d5-9cd9-8d623e851e06
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root@nanodesk:~# ./install_nanodesk.sh /dev/sda1
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```
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## Download
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Yeah, you can download the .iso file.
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Download: [http://pub.la10cy.net/nanodesk/](http://pub.la10cy.net/nanodesk/)
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## Resources
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- Linux Logo Button: https://freesvg.org/linux-key-vector-button
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- xdgmenumaker deb package: https://bgstack15.wordpress.com/2020/03/03/package-for-devuan-xdgmenumaker/
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- How To debootstrap a small desktop system: https://git.la10cy.net/DeltaLima/devnull/src/branch/main/debootstrap_minimal_dekstop_from_scratch.md
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- How To create a linux live cd: https://www.willhaley.com/blog/custom-debian-live-environment/
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