For those kind souls that raised their hand and are starting to pitch in with development here’s a list references for development libs and apps required.

Development libs and packages

build-essential
devscripts
dh-buildinfo
libarchive-dev
libc-dev
libcairo2-dev
libdbus-1-dev
libfixposix-dev
libgconf2-dev
libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev
libgdu-dev
libgdu-gtk-dev
libgee-dev
libglib2.0-dev
libglibmm-2.4-dev
libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-dev
libgstreamer0.10-dev
libgtk-3-dev
libgtk-2.0-dev
libice-dev
liboobs-1-dev
libopts25
libpango1.0-dev
libsm-dev
libx11-dev
libxml2-dev

Vala packages

libvala-0.12-0 0.12.1-2
libvala-0.14-0 0.14.0-1
vala-0.12-doc 0.12.1
vala-0.14-doc 0.14.0-1
vala-dbus-binding-tool
valabind 0.6.4-1
valac 0.12.1-2
valac-0.12

Development IDE

anjuta
anjuta-extras
glade
nemiver (debugging)

Suggested Usage

I put the entire Anjuta project into subversion. If you’re developing then here’s what I’d do as there are absolute paths stored in the Anjuta configs.

1. Create a new VALA project in Anjuta
2. Grab the vala files from Subversion along with the .glade and .ui files
3. Add in the references at project level (right click in Anjuta and add:

–pkg gtk+-3.0 –pkg gdk-3.0 –pkg gdu –pkg gee-1.0 –pkg liboobs-1 –pkg libxml-2.0 –pkg pango –pkg pangocairo –pkg posix –pkg gconf-2.0 –pkg gstreamer-0.10 –pkg

4. Add the libs to the EXOGENESIS build (right click and choose NEW LIBRARY).

5. As this is a test config there is a hardcode path in main.vala ( change to your dev location).

6. There is an array of windows in fexomainwin.vala, this is the flow of windows for navigation. Basically the screens are made up from the following:

i. App creates a main gtk3 window and adds in 1 box.
ii. Screens are read from glade (exogenesis.ui) file. Basically, these are boxes added as top level items. The reference to the box is added/removed to the box on the main Gtk window.
iii. Utility functions are loaded globally.
iv. A global reference exists to gInstallData, this holds all install information that will be applied. This includes user and group information, disk partitioning, language and timezone config.

If you have any questions then please get in touch, it’ll be easier to ask rather than try to work it out.

Steve.

Having worked on the Aurora installer over Christmas (when time and sobriety allowed ) all Exogenesis screens and widgets have been ported to Gtk/Gdk3. The move caused a few issues, especially with the Gtk part of the Gdu API. Most of these issues have been sorted and custom widgets written to replace those implemented by Gdu-Gtk/2. The core of the Gdu interface ported with no problems.

During the rework we decided to simplify the installer UI, especially when it came to disk partitioning. This has a couple of simple options:

- Take over complete hard disk – Will delete the existing schema, create a partition schema based on a series of space/RAM calculations. Basically implementing a Root/Home/Swap schema.
- Alongside – Will resize the available space and create a schema as above.
- Advanced – Will allow you to repartition the disk however you see fit.

The core code has or is currently in the processes of rationalisation to make it easier for other developers to pick up.

There is still an option to backup all users and groups complete with Home folders to USB disk if you do choose to take over the entire drive. If this option is chosen then data is copied back from the USB disk into the appropriate home folders at the end of the installation process. It is hoped that this will help those that didn’t have /HOME on a separate partition to move over to Aurora without losing data. The USB disk needs to be at least the size of everything under /HOME. As passwords are not copied, user accounts copied from a previous version have the password reset to “aurora” and the password change flag set. Users will need to change the password at first logon.

If you do fancy lending a code hand then you can grab the latest version from subversion and hack away. Code is in Vala and project managed with Anjuta. There’s a couple of README files that list all the dev libraries you need. If you do pick up some development then please let me know what you’re working on to prevent duplication of effort.

Based on the time spent on this rewrite so far I estimate that there is around 5 weeks of development left before a test release will be available.

I’ve been posting screenshots on Twitter (@preobrazhensky), I’ll post some on this blog as and when things get finished.

Steve.

The development team can only apologise for the lack of progress recently. We are limited in number and have been involved in, dare I say, Paying projects…

Paul (guitaraholic) has been extremely busy with his new job as a middleware expert for a large, well know media company that rhymes with urgin’.

I’ve been tied up on paying company business and swamped with so much code that I could vomit at the sight of another “if” statement.

Excuses Done

It’s back to the rock and to chip away at the encrustation that has formed on the installer code, kernel mods et al. Pick axe in hand (pneumatic drill required) we’re at it again.

Still based on debian, SID, SystemD and still with our own installer, going with a themed gnome-shell.

The installer code is in subversion, if you fancy lending a vala hand then get in touch, the more the merrier and the faster it’ll be done.

The repo’s are down after a server crash. They were outdated so they’ll be offline for a while whilst we populate with newer packages ready for the ISO release early next year (2012! Before someone coughs ).

Further updates soon, and please, get in touch if you want to help out, package maintainers, vala coders, plymouth designers, shell themers… we do need your help. Paul and I can’t possibly deliver everything we plan to get in the release without YOUR help. Please get in touch and get involved. We had so many ideas and so little resource to deliver.

Thanks,

Steve.

I promised an update this week so here it is

Where we are heading….

Aurora is not aiming to be the “best” Linux distribution , it’s not trying to re-invent the wheel, it’s not trying to do something new. Aurora is here to put the pieces together and make a great product. We have thought long and hard about what that entails and have had SERIOUS version 1.0 feature creep but we think we have finally bolted down our requirements and have the end in our sights!

Read more…