Frugalware Linux

Frugalware Linux
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateDormant
Source modelOpen source
Latest release2.1 (Derowd)[1][2] / 5 September 2016; 8 years ago (2016-09-05)
Package managerpacman-g2
Platformsi686, x86 64
Kernel typeMonolithic kernel
Default
user interface		KDE Plasma Desktop - GNOME - Xfce - LXDE
LicenseVarious
Official websitefrugalware.org

Frugalware Linux is a general-purpose Linux distribution designed for intermediate users who are familiar with command-line operations. Early versions were based on Slackware, but it later became an independently developed distribution. Frugalware made use of the Pacman package management system from Arch Linux.[3]

History

Frugalware was founded in 2004 by Miklós Vajna. He considered Slackware's package manager pkgtools too slow, and wanted to rewrite it in C. He was told that it would never be accepted by Slackware, so Vajna started to think about founding a separate Linux distribution. He replaced Slackware's original init scripts and build system, and added Pacman, the package manager from Arch Linux. As a result, Frugalware was born.[4]

Package management

Since version 0.6 Frugalware has used the Pacman-G2 package manager.[5] It is a fork of a CVS version of the complete rewrite of Pacman by Aurelien Foret, which was not officially released at the time.[6] Previously Frugalware used a modified version of the older, monolithic Pacman by Judd Vinet.

Frugalware's packages' extension is .fpm.[7] The packages are archives that are compressed using xz.[8]

Repoman is a tool to compile source packages and automatically create and install closed-source packages.[9] With Repoman, the user can also download all packages' buildscript and recompile them with specific build options. The build options can be changed by editing a configuration file.[7] The first Frugalware release that had Repoman was Frugalware 0.3pre1.[9]

Branches

Frugalware has a -current and a -stable branch. The -current branch is updated daily, and the -stable branch gets updated every 6 months.[8]

Architectures

From the official web site, 2012: "Frugalware currently supports x86 (Pentium Pro or higher) and x86_64 (k8, aka. amd64) platforms".[8]

Releases

Version Codename Release date Notes
0.1 Genesis 2 November 2004
0.2 Aurora 28 April 2005
0.3[10] Trantor 13 October 2005[11] 19 October 2005 (for x86-64 architecture)[12]
0.4 Wanda 30 March 2006
0.5 Siwenna 14 September 2006
0.6 Terminus 22 March 2007
0.7 Sayshell 13 October 2007
0.8 Kalgan 11 March 2008
0.9 Solaria 9 September 2008
1.0 Anacreon 22 March 2009
1.1 Getorin 7 September 2009
1.2 Locris 8 March 2010
1.3 Haven 23 August 2010
1.4 Nexon 13 February 2011
1.5 Mores 15 August 2011
1.6 Fermus 12 February 2012
1.7 Gaia 19 August 2012
1.8 Cinna 6 February 2013
1.9 Arcturus 5 November 2013
2.0 Rigel 16 February 2015
2.1 Derowd 5 September 2016

All the Frugalware releases except "Genesis" have been named after planets in science fiction books by Isaac Asimov.[13]

References

  1. ^ Frugalware 2.1 (Derowd) released
  2. ^ Distribution Release: Frugalware Linux 2.1 (DistroWatch.com News)
  3. ^ "Interview with Frugalware Linux Developer, VMiklos". Open Addict. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  4. ^ "Interview with Miklós Vajna, Frugalware Linux". DistroWatch. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  5. ^ "Frugalware 0.6 (Terminus) Changelog". Frugalware Project. Archived from the original (TXT) on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  6. ^ "Pacman-G2". Frugalware Stable Documentation. Frugalware Project. Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  7. ^ a b "Creating new packages". Frugalware Stable Documentation. Frugalware Project. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  8. ^ a b c "About Frugalware". Frugalware Stable Documentation. Frugalware Project. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  9. ^ a b "Frugalware 0.3pre1-i686 released". Frugalware Project. 22 June 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  10. ^ For the best in today's fashions: Frugalware | Tux Machines
  11. ^ "Frugalware 0.3-i686 released". Frugalware Project. 13 October 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  12. ^ "Frugalware 0.3-x86_64 released". Frugalware Project. 19 October 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  13. ^ "Frugalware Roadmap". Frugalware Project. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2009-03-02.

Further reading