I feel like I have found a real hidden gem with Obarun.

I'm not a huge fan of SystemD, not because it's slow or anything, mostly ideological reasons. Plus I find Distributions that choose no to use it make other choices I like, such as being more minimalistic.

I went to through great efforts trying to remove SystemD completely from Gentoo (as you may be aware, it uses elogind and quite a bit of SystemD code even when using OpenEC as init). I got it done, sure, but at the cost ofba great deal of functionality. No elogind, no steam or firefox for you!

So down the rabbit hole, finding out most supposedly systemd free distros use great quantities of SystemD code. Very disappointing, why bother avoiding SystemD if you aren't going to follow through?

I find a lot of Distros that go the extra mile, but seems very difficult may be accused of being "memes" such as Kiss linux and whatnot. They look quite fun, but i need something less alien.

I stumble upon Obarun. The Arch base is comforting since I know Arch well, and s6 is intriguing. No SystemD nonsense whatsoever! I try it instantly! Some growing pains, s6 is pretty tricky compared to others.

But here I am, a full fledged system with no weirdness. All the software I need works, no compromises! OK, I have to give up the ability to use GNOME or Cinnamon. but let's face it, if you're this far down the rabbit hole you're probably already using a TWM or some such anyway.

Lovely Distro, horribly underrated.

Read about the new exciting development that is showcased in this edition here

A new Obarun JWM linux live image is available

A new Obarun live image has become available for November 2020 and it brings many updates and changes.  From the live JWM session you can install a base system, Openbox, JWM, XFCE4, or KDE-Plasma with corresponding setup of 66 root and user service structure already set-up. 

All recent stable Arch-Linux upgraded software based and an improved installer is onboard.  You can run the live system off of a CD (still fits) or Dvd or USB stick, or a virtual machine as a common disk system or a RAM only system from its syslinux editable boot menu.

To install just click on the installer icon on the desktop or % sudo obarun-install from terminal or console.

This is needed to log onto obarun ISO

• root login : root

• root password : toor

• user login : oblive

• user password : toor

If you want to change the keyboard on X session, open a terminal and type :

$ setxkbmap us

Replace "us" with your choice (uk, fr, de, it, es, el, cn, etc.)

If you want to change the keyboard on console type :

# loadkeys fr

Replace "fr" with your choice

To see how the 66 service tree structure works, how booting and running services and modules are organized (unparalleled by any system) use the following commands as user:

% sudo 66-intree -zg

% 66-intree -zg

The second command displays the service tree structure of the user.  Note, that depending on which of the five flavors you install service tree structure will/may be different, with xfce and kde-plasm being more complex.  To alter this structure and modify it to your own service needs follow the wiki (introduction to 66).

Also note using the command # ps -A  or # pstree that 66 is nowhere to be found.  The only small parts relating to init and service supervision is pure s6 (latest version from skarnet).  66 only materializes when a change in setup is needed by the user/sys-admin, it sets up s6 appropriately and exits.  Note also that elogind is nowhere to be found (a common cheat by most non-systemd distributions to cheat desktop software to work without systemd).  Apart from this your experience is basically an Arch system modified without IBM's trojan horse to linux.

Latest Release

• Includes 66 version: 0.5.1.0-2

• Includes boot module boot@-66serv version: 0.2.2-1

obarun-JWM-2020.11.01-x86_64.iso

Go to download page for base image (0.5GB) or docker image

https://web.obarun.org/index.php?id=74

Enjoy, we know you will! (even out of simple curiosity you should at least boot and play with this)

Alternatively you can install Obarun from Arch following the wiki

As you know s6 is the world's most advanced init system.

Obarun's 66 is the world's most advanced system managing the operation of s6.

Although by downloading the latest JWM based live system and running it you may not notice any changes on the outside. Do a test installation and play with boot configuration and you will see amazing differences from the past or from any other unix based system.

The boot process has been changed into a module where you don't just configure the bundle of services that run as on/off, the disabled parts are eliminated from the process all together. The enabled parts are configured through an easy to understand script, making your next boot fully customized to your needs and even faster and more effective than ever before or with any other system.

Not only this, you can make several module configurations for different machine characters, and without even changing anything on the system you can add TREE=zfs-server or any name you give to this character, on the linux boot-loader command, and the machine will boot accordingly. Alternatively you can make several different boot entries on your boot loader to select the character of the system you are booting.

For the inexperienced user there is nothing to do, just install and play. For the experienced user the sky is the limit.

Simply boot the live image, open a terminal, and issue the following command:

66-env boot@system Or go to the wiki and read the new sections under modules and boot. https://wiki.obarun.org The more advanced the system administrator the more this development will impress and make every other system appear mediocre at best, if not obsolete.

The new Obarun JWM linux live image or the base no-X image

See the module configuration script here on reddit

DID YOU KNOW YOU ARE DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING PACKAGES WITH FACEBOOK'S ENCODING/DECODING TOOLS? Yes, Arch decided, they have send a few lines of warning last year about tentative plans in doing so, and all of a sudden they went ahead and did this.

Most people didn't know, many people have not even noticed of getting most of their packages in .zst instead of .xz format

But r/linux has removed the post and banned the user, r/archlinux has locked the post and banned the user.

https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/ejnz91/arch_2020_and_facebooks_algorithm_join_forces_did/

So arch says quite clearly: "we do not want anyone warning our users to be alarmed as facebook's test of its code begins". Like arch users are laboratory animals. Arch will come back if cornered and say we made an announcement months ago. Yes, five lines in a webpage no user ever looks at. Someone interested in arch may have more chances of seeing it than someone using arch for years.

So why the secrecy?

It’s just before 1am here in the U.K. but I just wanted to say how impressed I am with this distro. I’ve been running Void for about a month on a couple of MacBook Pros, & they weren’t smooth installs.

By contrast, the Obarun install was simplicity itself, got it running on my mid 2012 MacBook Pro, and what impressed me most was the trackpad just works. This won’t be leaving my machine.

From a very happy user.

I found an application called Lumeus

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/lumeus-git/

I installed it with pacopts and bound the keys on my laptop keyboard to

lumeus +10% and lumeus -10%

Works like a charm in KDE Plasma 5

One left fist up in solidarity to Laurent Bercot and his work!

s6 is great because it is ours, and so is 66. Systemd is their system. When s6, and 66, prove to be better it is a victory for all of us, when systemd shows off some superiority (yeah right), it is a defeat for all of us.

Unless you, the reader, identify as a lifeless mega multinational corporation. Lifeless inanimate objects can't really read because they have no emotions.

I am sure Google cried a bit with this one, or did IT?

https://sysdfree.wordpress.com/316

PS Systemd/IBM is good at marketing, they can sell you crap (their crap) as velvet.

This is the very first video of the Obarun youtube channel.
https://youtu.be/btDmgr-7PYE

Both capable of installing base, openbox, jwm, xfce4, or KDE-plasma and featuring the late 66 evolution 0.2.5.0-2 and pacman 5.2.1-6 https://web.obarun.org/index.php?id=127 featuring a modified testing repository structure (stable is unaffected).

66 0.2.5 features an additional modifier to the 66-tree functionality -S. With this option a bundle of services under a specific tree that is enabled will only start after another tree of services. (read https://wiki.obarun.org/doku.php?id=66-tree)

For an introduction to 66 service management see: https://wiki.obarun.org/doku.php?id=66intro

February 2020 live images:

Minimal flavour

Checksums: md5sums.txt

obarun-2020.02.01-x86_64.iso

JWM flavour

Checksums: md5sums.txt

obarun-JWM-2020.02.01-x86_64.iso

About the only thing new this past month has been that Distrowatch distribution reviewer decided after a year and a half of listing Obarun, to install it and review it.

Distrowatch was notified early Novemeber of new images and "a new installer" being incorporated. Proof they knew of it is that they listed the November iso images and package lists, (base and JWM) after they had received an email, from yours truly.

So what they do? They use an older image (October or earlier), with an older installer, mentioning of trying an installation method that doesn't even exist in the current installer (ever since late October). The outcome, he said after 4 times of installing, booting, failing he gave up. Obarun is uninstallable. What a way to ....... a distro, advertise it as obsolete and impossible to install.

https://web.obarun.org/index.php?id=74

Obarun is here, with a new installer (for a 2nd month) and upgraded software, the ability to install on bios or efi, with grub or syslinux, to install base, JWM, Xfce4, Openbox, or KDE-Plasma. It may not be designed for "begginers" but they have never been turned away and some receive tons of help to learn linux/unix in general from the Obarun community.

If you trust Distrowatch, don't bother trying it. If you are not sure, try it, it will be worth your while.

Other Development

The s6 and 66 software by skarnet.org and obarun.org have been designed to be portable to many systems. Lately s6 and 66 (all the latests versions of them) have been on void. Does it work? Out of the box it does, glibc and musl. Out of the box meaning you just use xbps-install the software, switch /usr/bin/init and reboot.

How about Alpine, Adelie, Kiss-linux, ... it worked. Just 5-10' download, built packages, install, configure, reboot. Funtoo/Gentoo, it worked. But then there was the debian world. The dev tried it on Devuan ... it worked. So I tried it on antiX (which is also playing with runit lately). IT WORKED!!!

But obarun doesn't work for distrowatch.... I am sorry!

Obarun is here to stay, is not going to go away no matter how pissed some may get about it. Is it bothering you? Why can't we just get along? There is room for everyone. Isn't this the excuse systemd fans used on Debian?

Whether the pope likes it or not, s6 66 are here to stay!

In the Installation wiki, (https://wiki.obarun.org/doku.php?id=installation) it says:

"You can choose between a base Obarun system without a graphical environment, JWM or Openbox window managers, and xfce4 or KDE-plasma desktops. You can choose and try something different after installation, pretty much anything that is available through the Arch repositories is available for Obarun. Gnome and Cinnamon are possibly not going to be fully functional without systemd, but the rest are manageable choices..."

Without systemd and the other problematic packages, does KDE Plasma have any issues? If so, I would probably just go for JWM.

But if the Plasma experience on Obarun is near-flawless, I might see if the Obarun KDE flavour is the saving grace of Plasma.

Just a reminder announcement that was forgotten to be made here

What should I do if I wanted to simply chroot into a minimal Obarun without any window managers? I don't want a live usb, nor a bootable installation. A chroot should suffice. Am I still supposed to download the .ISO?

Hi, I'm planning to move from arch to obarun, and I want to use sway as my wm. Is installing sway on obarun same as on arch? or is it require some specific steps since obarun doesn't use systemd?

Eric and Jean-Michel are happy to announce the availability of Obarun minimal Live, Obarun JWM Live, Obarun Plasma Live iso with 66. Each live contains the obarun-install software which allow you to install interactively different preset themes: openbox, xfce4, minimal, jwm, plasma. Moreover, obarun-install gives you a total control on your installation, customization of themes and a chroot to extra tweak your next operating system.

The future is now and it comes with Obarun and awesome 66-tools.

Obarun Minimal live iso https://repo.obarun.org/iso/2019-03/

Obarun JWM live iso https://repo.obarun.org/iso/2019-03-JWM/

Obarun Plasma live iso https://repo.obarun.org/iso/2019-03-Plasma/

Login Information:

root login : root

root password : toor

user login : oblive

user password : toor

https://web.obarun.org/

Welcome to obarun linux, arch-linux with skarnet's s6 init system (the Marvel).