antiX-forum

I am booted up to the livecd now. I hooked up my Netgear dongle, went to Net connections, and it went online right away. Amazing! That was the best news. I didn't even have to configure anything. So far, I am very, very pleased with what I see in this OS.

A few questions:

1. Does it download new software using Synaptic Package Manager? If so, where is it located--I couldn't find it. Or if it uses another utility, please let me know what that is.
2. Will I be able to download and use a Remote Desktop utility like VNCviewer.
3. I've been using Ubuntu for the past year, in which there is an Update Manager and security/software updates are posted almost daily, for download. Is there that sort of arrangement for AntiX as well? Perhaps it isn't needed, I am just curious about it.
4. The following observations about cpu and fan usage have to be taken in the context that this is seen with the livecd and not the installed version. For that reason, I am not concerned-- it may not at all apply once I install it on the HD in the morning.

I noticed that as soon as I started up the internet browser, the laptop's fan started working and it hasn't stopped since, for as long as I've had the internet browser open. The cpu meter is reading 65-80% continuously. Isn't that a high demand for an internet browser? Do you think the cpu demand and the fan use are related with the fact that it is running from the cd?

add: I just tried closing down the internet browser. The cpu usage dropped to 50%, and the fan stayed on. When I then cut the internet connection, the cpu usage dropped to 3%, and the fan went right off. When I reintroduced the internet connection, cpu usage immediately increased again to 50%, but the fan remained off. And when I opened the browser, the fan came right back on. Any thoughts appreciated. Going online and opening a browser shouldn't be so demanding, should it?

Hello and welcome to antiX.
Glad to read you are enjoying it so far.

1. Synaptic is used. It is found in the fluxbox menu -> Settings ->Config-System -> Package manager.

You could also use apt-get in a terminal, or aptitude.

2. I haven't used VNC, but you should be able to install it ok. In debian it is vnc4server.

3. There is no automated update-manager in antiX. Though if you reload synaptic regularly (every day or week as you see fit) it will show which apps/libs can be upgraded.
Be careful though! antiX uses the Debian Testing repos and some upgrades may break (temporarily) an app eg If you upgrade gxine (now 15 May 2008) it will segfault.

4. It is probably as you think ie as a livecd. It does the same on my box. You could probably reconfigure your settings for this. I'm not sure how, but other uses can probably help.

Thanks for your really helpful replies.

anticapitalista wrote:3. There is no automated update-manager in antiX. Though if you reload synaptic regularly (every day or week as you see fit) it will show which apps/libs can be upgraded.
Be careful though! antiX uses the Debian Testing repos and some upgrades may break (temporarily) an app eg If you upgrade gmplayer (now 15 May 2008) it will segfault.

In Ubuntu, the updates that come are often billed not as software updates, but security updates and as being critical to the security of the system. Are such periodic updates needed for Linux to be secure? Or if I decide to run AntiX as my main OS, then will it be secure, safe, stable until such a time as the next version of AntiX comes out? In other words, is the concept of an Update Manager something which is entirely optional to a well-running Linux system, or do all the major distros (Red Hat, Fedora, etc) also do this and it is a standard of practice?

This is quite a naive question on my part, I've just never used anything other than Ubuntu.

Security updates ie critical upgrades will come from the Debian repos. Debian security repo is enabled in antiX.

As far as antiX being secure, safe and stable, I would say it is as much as Debian Testing allows it to be. If you only upgrade the debian security upgrades and nothing else, then antiX should be secure, safe and stable. If you install/upgrade some stability *may* be lost, but others gained as upgraded apps may be better than the versions they replace, noy only in features, but in security and stability.

anticapitalista wrote:Security updates ie critical upgrades will come from the Debian repos. Debian security repo is enabled in antiX.

And does "enabled" here mean that they come in automatically, or instead that the debian security upgrades are available through Synaptic? Is there any signal that appears on the AntiX desktop when security updates are available? Or does it require periodic checking in Synaptic to see if any are there.

anticapitalista wrote:As far as antiX being secure, safe and stable, I would say it is as much as Debian Testing allows it to be.

I've just been reading a bit about Debian Testing. It seems that there are three stages to Debian development: unstable->testing->stable. Regarding these phases, the Debian site writes,

If you want to have a secure (and stable) server you are strongly encouraged to stay with stable. However, there is some limited security support for testing: The Debian testing security team handles unembargoed issues for testing. They will make sure that the fixed packages enter testing in the usual way by migration from unstable (with reduced quarantine time)....

Is there any particular reason that you chose to go with the Testing version rather than the Stable version? The Debian team writes,

An important thing to note, both for regular users and the developers of testing, is that security updates for testing are not managed by the security team.

It sounds a little like by using the Testing version, you're kind of out in the cold as far as security is concerned. But I'm sure you've thought about all these issues carefully, and probably have a much more subtle understanding of the issues than me.

anticapitalista wrote:If you only upgrade the debian security upgrades and nothing else, then antiX should be secure, safe and stable. If you install/upgrade some stability *may* be lost, but others gained as upgraded apps may be better than the versions they replace, noy only in features, but in security and stability.

When you say "If you install/upgrade..." are you referring to downloading added software? Is there any way to predict what sorts of downloads may be risky so far as stability is concerned? Or is there a list of approved downloads for AntiX that have been found to be stable? If one limits one's downloads to what is available in Synaptic, what that effectively achieve this critierion of stability?

1. You have to regularly check for upgrades via synaptic.

2. antiX wanted to use a newer version of Xorg (amongst other things) as the one used in Etch/stable doesn't work well with some new and widely-used graphics cards. (See Mepislovers site for examples). antiX wants and is more up to date than Etch/stable. Some apps that I see as crucial to antiX are not available in Etch/stable, eg slim login manager.

3. Certainly you lose a bit by using Testing as compared to stable, but IMO you gain more as the apps are more up-to-date and antiX is still very secure and safe. (especially if you compare it to M$)

4. No certain way to predict if upgraded software will 'break' even ones available in synaptic, except that this site will have some warnings eg gxine.

antiX is meant to be a 'rolling release' ie upgrades of installed packages are through Debian, so there should be no reason to re-install a new release of antiX in the future. All you need to do is a regular;

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade


It doesn't work like Ubuntu. Ubuntu basically gets its packages from Debian Unstable (and I think a few from Debian Experimental), repackages them to produce a stable release and keep those apps secure and up-to-date using the same repos eg Hardy, until work is done on the next version. Then you can either add the new "I" repos to keep the OS 'rolling' or wait until Ubuntu "I" is released and then upgrade or re-install a new version.


Of course security is important, but IMO I think M$ have scared too many people into thinking that your computer is open to all sorts of evil people out there waiting to do harm and so you need to install XYZ to keep it safe. Linux, as I'm sure you well know, is inherently a much more secure system.

All fantastic information. Thank you so much.

Regarding the security versus being up-to-date issues, it all makes total sense.

And as for the rolling release versus periodic new version releases, I was not aware of this distinction at all. So there should never need to be a new version of AntiX released-- that seems to me like a much better way to go than the way Ubuntu does it, where every six months there is this frenzy of efforts to install the new version with the attendant difficulties involved therein. I wonder if there is some other benefit to the way they do it, that they feel it is worth making everyone go through that every six months.

Not quite that there should never be a newer version released. Due to the nature of a rolling release, there *may* be problems, usually temporarily, in upgrading on a regular basis. The nature part is precisely because the rolling release 'allows' users to upgrade as soon as the changes hit the testing repos, which in Debian is pretty quick.
Some users prefer to 'play safe' when using a testing or unstable distro, and never upgrade and simply stick to the version they installed and prefer to install the next release of the distro which obviously will include all the upgrades plus the certainty that it is ok (otherwise the maintainer would not release it as a final version).
So antiX has a release cycle of about 4-6 months (very flexible as Testing is a moving target compared to stable), mainly for new users and also for the more 'conservative' users.

I see. That's probably what I'll do then, at least in the beginning-- stick to the version which I know works and wait for the new release. That is, if I can get my wireless working. It all depends on that (please have a look at the other thread in M7.2 if you get a moment).