AV Linux 23 Downloads suspended for Development Phase

[AVLinux]

Hi,

As you may or may not know AV Linux is a one-man project with the proper acknowledgement that the 'MX parts' (build tools, assistance and base Packaging) are kindly provided by MX Linux. The AVL parts (custom packaging, performance tweaking, utilities, theming, ISO prep and builds etc..) are done by me. We have the imminent release of Debian Trixie which will bring MX-25 and AVL-MXe 25 to fruition at some point and I will soon have AVL-MXe 25 and MX Moksha 25 Release Candidates for testing. When Debian Trixie is released the current Debian Bookworm base of AVL-MXe 23 will become 'oldstable'. As far as the MX parts of AVL-MXe, oldstable is well supported by the MX Devs and Packaging Team. The so called 'wheels and chassis' of 'ole 23' will keep running smoothly for quite some time but as one person working full time elsewhere I can only actively support a current release and in a short time AVL-MXe 25 will become the actively supported release. With this in mind I have decided to remove the AVL-MXe 23 downloads from my VPS (a) because I don't have VPS space to host two complete versions of AVL-MXe and MX Moksha and (b) I don't want people unaware of the release schedule to download and install 23 only to see 25 released at the same time..

I'm OK with having a Download break and I'm also OK running one limited VPS that I alone am accountable for.. Trust me AVL-MXe 25 is going to be greatly improved in many ways over 23 because I have had a couple of years to better understand the Enlightenment Desktop Environment and I've heard the concerns and criticisms that Users have brought forward so there will be no reason to go backward. I ask and thank folks in advance for your patience and this will soon be an exciting period of testing after which downloads of the new release will commence!

In the meantime here is a screenshot of today's Live Boot test in a VM and things are progressing toward a Release Candidate very well.



Some things of note:

-A new hybrid E/AVL Logo which has been OK'd by the Enlightenment developer.
-Enlightenment 0.27.1.
-A first-run Setup Wizard so non-English Keyboard Users can more effectively set up Keyboard layout.
-Completely new Gruvbox palette, Custom skewaita GTK Gruvbox theme and Artwork.
-Current testing Kernel is Liquorix 6.15.8 and as the system shows up and running in about 490Mb of RAM with a few light apps open.
-Windows VST Audio Plugin support is broken in Wine-Staging versions greater than 9.21, this has been broken for many months..
-A 'Wine4VST' utility has been created which will specifically install Wine-Staging 9.21 for Debian Trixie + put it on hold automatically.
-Wine4VST will also enable installing the 'YADbridge' UI to manage Windows VSTs..
-More EFL apps... improved ePhoto photo viewer ported from Bodhi Linux (Thanks @the_waiter) and 'Evisum' a really great system task manager.
-Optional AVL Packages will be in a new 'BSRPKG' archive and not be tied to a specific Debian release version name.
-New File Action for downloading YouTube Videos with yt-dlp (Thanks @CharlesV and @Melber)
-Infinite other small details...

[dreamer]

Looking good! Retro but stylish.
Lots of hard work....

[AVLinux]

Looking good! Retro but stylish.
Lots of hard work....

I appreciate that, thanks!

[Aceediq]

Looking good! Retro but stylish.
Lots of hard work....

for reals though, the efforts @AVLinux puts in for the aesthetics is really up there...intention...precise, logical and functional intention is what makes AVLinux...

[Aceediq]

@AVLinux bsrpkg? no darling appimages

also would there be an option to have conky similar to what was on AVL 19? the current one is too minimal, more details on used and free resources would be welcomed...

the merger of AVL and e logo is spot on I hope it can be used as the start logo

please, you would do a recording of how you go about the 'themeing' of AVL, right?

with what's on the horizon, it seems there would be a needed re-evaluation of AVL MXe vs AVL Moksha...

[AVLinux]

@AVLinux bsrpkg? no darling appimages

also would there be an option to have conky similar to what was on AVL 19? the current one is too minimal, more details on used and free resources would be welcomed...

the merger of AVL and e logo is spot on I hope it can be used as the start logo

please, you would do a recording of how you go about the 'themeing' of AVL, right?

with what's on the horizon, it seems there would be a needed re-evaluation of AVL MXe vs AVL Moksha...

Hi!

Installing the 'mx-conky-data' package will give you a multitude of Conky types to choose from with the new MX Conky application.

"BSRPKG" (Bandshed Records Package) is simply a more generic name in the Package name instead of 'bookworm1-1' or 'trixie1-1'. Packages will be more open to sharing between MX Moksha (there is no AVL Moksha) and AVL-MXe. There will still be wrapped AppImages, Ardour bundles and all of the many lo-fi dirty hackaging tricks that AVL Users have come to dread...

If I had enough time to make a Video on Enlightenment theming then I would first have to take the time to make 15 previous Videos on basic system usage and other more important and relevant things, sorry, won't be happening..

You can choose Enlightenment or Moksha as a base and then install what you like in either from the MX Repos and the BSRPKG archive. Other than DE-specific things all of the Audio and Video applications should work in both and both will have the same Kernel, Performance Tweaks, PipeWire setup and File Actions.. Both ISOs will be a base system of roughly 2.2-2.5 Gb and it's up to the User to pick and choose what they want..

[guildorf]

I have found your releases to be extremely stable and trouble free over the years. More so than 'big name' distros. No easy task, a bit like break-dancing near quicksand I look forward to the next release. Hopefully I can find a four terrabyte sata ssd for my old computer, to get things consolidated and fast for the new system.
Cheers

[FullScale4Me]

Have you thought about a sourceforge.net account for hosting your ISOs?

I gave them a quick look. It appears there's no cost, size limits or bandwidth limits for that matter.

[AVLinux]

I have found your releases to be extremely stable and trouble free over the years. More so than 'big name' distros. No easy task, a bit like break-dancing near quicksand I look forward to the next release. Hopefully I can find a four terrabyte sata ssd for my old computer, to get things consolidated and fast for the new system.
Cheers

Thanks, much appreciated! You may prefer the Moksha variant if you used Bodhi before..

[AVLinux]

Have you thought about a sourceforge.net account for hosting your ISOs?

I gave them a quick look. It appears there's no cost, size limits or bandwidth limits for that matter.

Hi!

I appreciate the suggestion. In the past I had a second mirror on Bytemark maintained by an AVL User and acquaintance in the UK and I also had alloted space for another mirror at linuxaudio.org up until it got hacked and they had to restore it, in both cases there were sometimes extra layers of complication and I decided to sign up for a 3 year VPS contract with my hosting company and that way I could do whatever I wanted on my own schedule and only be a burden to myself...lol. I recently renewed the VPS contract so I'm going to stay with that. If there is some downtime nobody will die and AVL is now a pretty niche and small project. Oddly my numbers on Distrowatch are stronger than ever despite Enlightenment giving my reviews a good thrashing, I don't really study my web traffic metrics all that closely but my point is I don't think the world really cares if AVL Downloads take a development pause.

I want it to be useful to people but at this point I'm pretty much 'use it or don't' it is what it is and I'm not chasing any illusions about it being all that vital in the Distrosphere...