Contents
Editorial



May 2017

The last edition was written partially while I was at home and finalised on the road. I do like to travel but unfortunately I'm not able to bring all of my tools with me. This edition was written entirely on the road so it may not be as plump as previous editions. I do rely on others to add to the newsletter so please keep those contributions coming.

One of the shortfalls with the old free version of Notecase is the absence of a good spell checker. Now there are many ways spell checking can be done but everything I've tried has been quite laborious. Because of this I have now registered a copy of the latest Notecase which has spell checking included. It required a bit of back and forth to the creator, Miroslav Rajcic, to get it working in Fatdog64-710.
This does not mean you need to rush out and buy a licenced copy of Notecase, although I'm sure Miroslav would appreciate it.
I will continue to write the newsletter in Notecase 1.9.8 but I will do the initial spell checking in 4.2.6. This way everything should work transparently in the older version. Hopefully this will also make it easier for my two proof readers.

Distro's

The Puppy Linux Discussion Forum is the main source for a lot of the information repeated here. Where appropriate, links will be provided so you can read first hand about the distros development. This section will likely just provide highlights as a starting point.




Xenialpup64 7.0.8.4

Xenialpup64 by 666philb

This project seems to be progressing quite nicely. 666philb has done a very good job developing this distro and it works very well. He has been very responsive to correcting any problems that have been discovered. Xenialpup64 is based on ubuntu xenial xerus with 16.04 libs.

It looks very nice too.



Follow the development discussion on the Xenialpup64 thread.

JL64-702

Developed by Dry Falls

JL64-702 Slackware-14.2

Just Lighthouse 702 has been a work in progress since May 2016. Dry Falls finally released the final on 5th April 2017.

If you are looking for a full featured distro then JL64-702 is worth considering. It weighs in at 343M which is not small but it does pack a big punch. The main ISO can be downloaded here.
FluxPup

Written by oldyeller

FluxPup 1.6.1





Why FluxPup? Why not, I have tried many window managers and
fluxbox is the best out there lol. I found a pup called Pupflux which was
based on Puppy 5.1.1 by steve_s and so it began for me with
fluxbox.

FluxPup is an updated version Pupflux based on precise.
This edtion is updated with the latest debs and fixes. What makes
this window manager better than the rest?

1) It's light weight
2) low on resources
3) easy to configure
4) fast

I enjoy FluxPup and it works on a lot of different equipment. There are
things about the menu that I think are nice.





Tabs on the windows are nice. If all windows are the same size you can
place them on top of each other and middle click the mouse to get to
the next one you want. This is a nice option to have if your desktop is
not big and you want all your windows open.



You can also put the tabs in the corners as shown in this picture.



Another nice feature of fluxbox is the way you can separate the submenus from
the main as shown in this picture which is really nice to have especially
if you use a lot of programs in one submenu. To do this, just move your
mouse over the heading of the submenu and left click and drag the
menu off. To put it back on the mainmenu, go to fluxbox menu and
hit restart.






From the fluxbox menu you can configure fluxbox the way you want,
like transparency as shown in this picture.




You can also change the background picture from the fluxbox menu as
shown in this picture instead of opening up Nathan's wallpaper
changer.

FluxPup is a very nice pup, one that should be in your kennel. Try it and
see if you like it. This is fun to use and setup is easy.

Software

mmview - A file viewer
GROWL - Help with computer security
Wire - An alternative to Skype
mmview

There's some nice work being done by MochiMoppel on a little universal file viewer. It seems to be gaining functionality and has caught the eye of many developers on this forum. The forum thread is a good place to read all about its development.

GROWL

Written by Lobster

GROWL April 2017 release 2.1 from Lobster
Puppy Netizen based cyber security - Down with FUD.

The GROWL 2.1 code can be found here: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=335216#335216

ABOUT ME
Internet name: lobster
Security Podcast (pawedcast): https://youtu.be/_uZ_qZgOwg4
- five years old now but still I hope relevant to Puppy users
Puppy Bio: http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Lobster?redirect=no
Website: http://tmxxine.000webhostapp.com/

GROWL is a simple, open, configurable, Puppy security tool. I use it for Slacko64. GROWL is used for enhancing security, education and probing one's set up. GROWL is a small application that provides a selection of tools and information to help you manage your computer security. Some of the facilities I found in Linux Kodachi and frankly if obsessed with security, try getting out more, that steel cage keeps no one out of facebook, twitter, google, commercial data mining services etc but keeps you inside. Just a thought.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/19/linux_backdoor_intrigue/

When surfing the web and you notice something a bit unusual happening to your computer like someone controlling your computer remotely without your permission, what do you do? In GROWL you select menu option 'Security' then click on Quick Disconnect Eth0. This will disconnect you from the internet so the probably imaginary intruder can no longer control your computer. See FUD for details.

Personally I only use the Ethernet disconnect and may find a use for the password generator. The rest is to keep the security paranoids busy and therefore I don't use any of the features or offer support or explanation for them. Sorry guys busy building a time machine to keep my psychiatrist and security adviser happy . . .

GROWL 2.1 is designed to modify, educate and scare the paranoid tin hats. I dedicate it to Nooby who I was sad to hear died. Every potential vulnerability had Nooby running for advice from our Murga Puppy forum. One of my favourite Puppys (Puppy users). RIP Nooby. You are safe now :-)

GROWL stands for:
Guard!
Restrict!
Observe!
Watch!
Lookout!

NEW for 2.1
eth0 disconnect, reconnect, SFR Password Generator - Nice bit of code from SFR. Now you can get a physical password book and change all your passwords . . . you lucky dogs . . .
htop process viewer, pswrd reset, ipinfodb probe, noc.to probe, webkay probe, GNU Privacy Guard.
More anon proxies added, final thoughts (that might scare a few of you, who knows)

HOW TO USE GROWL:
Save the code as a text file,
make it executable (right click on the text file once you have saved it and go to permissions).
Click to run.
Modify if needed.

To explain some of the code ...
Below is the smart new Password Generator written by SFR. It contains the option to set the size of the password and keep generating new ones. Do I understand it [ahem] ... no, it is code above my pay grade. However here it is . . .
Good job SFR - many thanks.

#### SFR Password Generator
PASSGEN ()
{
# Generates a password with at least:
# - 1 lowercase letter
# - 1 uppercase letter
# - 1 digit
# - 1 punctuation mark

TITLE="PassGen"

# Min: 8, Max:256, Default: 16
LENGTH=$(Xdialog --stdout --title "${TITLE}" --spinbox "Password length:" 0 0 8 256 16 "")
[ $? -ne 0 ] && exit

[ ${LENGTH} -lt 4 ] && LENGTH=4 # must be at least 4, or else the loop below will never end

while true; do
while true; do
PASS="$(tr -cd '[[:alnum:]][[:punct:]]' < /dev/urandom 2>/dev/null | head -c ${LENGTH})"
if [ -z "${PASS##*[[:lower:]]*}" -a -z "${PASS##*[[:upper:]]*}" -a -z "${PASS##*[[:digit:]]*}" -a -z "${PASS##*[[:punct:]]*}" ]; then
break # all criteria were met, so break the loop
fi
done

echo "${PASS}" | Xdialog --title "${TITLE}" --ok-label="Repeat" --cancel-label="Close" --textbox - 0 0
[ $? -ne 0 ] && break
done
}

export -f PASSGEN

#### End of Password Generator code

---------

Menu items have a label and a simple action
So for example this disconnects from a cabled Ethernet connection

<menuitem>
<label>Quick DISCONNECT eth0</label>
<action>ifconfig eth0 down &</action>
</menuitem>

----------

Wire

Post by Mike Walsh

I, smokey01, saw this post by Mike so I thought I would have a look. This looks like quite a good application and may give Skype some competition.

Mike confirmed it ran in a number of Pups he had tried. I tried it in Fatdog64-710 and it worked. I tried two different methods, the AppImage and the Deb package. I converted the Deb package to a Fatdog package and installed it. The AppImage just needed to be made executable and clicked on. The version I tried was wire-2.12.2729-x86_64.AppImage. The later version 2.13.2739 did not work.

It's a cross platform application and will run on Osx, Android, Windows and Linux in both 32 or 64bit. It can be also run on the web in a browser.

The web version would not run on Seamonkey-2.47 in Fatdog-710, it said Seamonkey was too old.

Read about it here

Download the applications here.

Thanks Mike.

Biography

This month I have included a few brief notes about some of our long term developers.

Hopefully in the future I will be able to provide a more comprehensive BIO on each.

This is not a big list and I have not included everyone. So for the many who believe they should be on this list, and I believe there are quite a few, hopefully I will get around to adding you soon. If you would like to send me a BIO of yourself, I will publish it. Please don't be modest.

radky
rcrsn51
zigbert

radky

radky has been a regular contributor in Puppy Linux since May 2010. During this time he has created many great applications that have become common place in many distributions and on various desktops.

A collection of radky's apps can be found at what he calls PupMates.
rcrsn51

Another prolific contributor is rcrsn51. He has been frequenting the Murga forums since way back in September 2006. He's another one of those great guys who is willing to put up his hand and help anyone that needs it. A collection of his applications can be found throughout the forum. As greengeek mentioned in a recent crossword, a lot of rcrsn51 applications are prefixed with Peasy as in Peasy-WiFi for example.
As far as I'm aware all of his apps are available on the Murga forums, to my knowledge there is no single repository however, I'm happy to be corrected on this.

To find his applications, use Wellminded Search and type Peasy. He has also created many other great applications without the prefix Peasy. Just type in Samba or Networking and his name will pop up all over the place.

zigbert

zigbert is another one of our long time developers who joined the forums in March 2006.

Most people would know zigbert from two very popular applications called pBurn and pMusic which have featured in Puppy Linux for many years. A lot of zigbert's work can be found at http://smokey01.com/zigbert/
Compiling

This is a good section to discuss how to compile software. Compiling is not everyone's cup of tea but the more people that can manage it, the longer life Puppy will have.

The hardest part of compiling is the build recipe as there are so many options. Let's include some proven recipes here.

xfe

Written by smokey01

Xfe is quite a nice little file manager that's quite easy to use.
Before you can compile xfe you need to install fox-tools as it's a required dependency.

To compile fox-toolkit
Download source http://www.fox-toolkit.org/download.html
Extract the tarball, enter the extracted directory and open a terminal.
Then type:
./configure --prefix=/usr --disable-static --with-xft --with-xim --libdir=/usr/lib64
make
make install

To compile xfe
Download source http://sourceforge.net/projects/xfe
Extract the tarball, enter the extracted directory and open a terminal.
Then type:
./configure --prefix=/usr --libdir=/usr/lib64
make
make install

If you are compiling on a 32bit system you don't need to add --libdir=/usr/lib64 to the configure line.
The libdir will normally default to /usr/lib

Under Menu Item Filesystem you should find xfe.

Home page of xfe.



I only tested this on Fatdog64-710 but it should work on other Puppys.

Scripts & Code

This month I have included a script from RSH/Lazy Puppy that will make managing SFS files fun.
Load Application inside SFS

Script written by RSH/LazY Puppy

If you've read previous newsletters you will be aware that I'm very keen on Squash File System files.

SFS files can be loaded on the fly when you need them or they can be loaded on a permanent basis. Here's a thought, wouldn't it be nice to simply click on an SFS file and it loaded automatically, then ran the application within the SFS. When you close the application, the SFS is automatically unloaded. This would keep your main system very small and fast.

Believe it or not, such a script exists, keep reading.

This is the post where I sourced it: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=669703#669703

This is the script: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?mode=attach&id=62260

To make the script work for your particular SFS and Application you only need to do three things:

1. Give the script a suitable name like: run-skype, if you want to make your skype sfs run.

2. Inside the quotes place the executable name EG: NameOfProg="skype"

3. The full path to the skype sfs package NameOfSFS="/mnt/home/skype.sfs"

If you want to make this even better, assign the script to a desktop file like this.

#!/bin/bash -a
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Basic RunScript, first step of the LazY Puppy SFS P.L.U.S. RunScripts
# Edition No. 4 for the murga forum users to use this on cd/dvd/hd/usb
# 2012-12-07 RSH for (LazY) Puppy Linux
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Note: adding the path to the sfs name increases the speed of loading an sfs
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=669703#669703
#
# Define Names of SFS File and Program to load and to run
NameOfProg="alsaplayer"
NameOfSFS="/mnt/sdd1/LazY/LP2_ALSAPlayer-0.99.81.sfs"
#NameOfSFS="LP2_ALSAPlayer-0.99.81.sfs"

# Not here ! ! !
BNameOfSFS="`basename $NameOfSFS`"

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Create AutoUnload Script Function
# Do not change anything in this here section ! ! !
# But you can modify 'sleep 2' to what you like
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Create AutoUnload Script
function CreateAutoUnloadScript(){
# Check if Program runs
ProgRuns=echo $(`pidof "$NameOfProg"`)
if [ "$ProgRuns" != "" ]; then
echo '#!/bin/bash
AutoUnload="true"
#ProgRuns=echo $(`pidof "'$NameOfProg'"`)
while [ "$AutoUnload" = "true" ];
do
#ProgRuns=echo $(`pidof "'$NameOfProg'"`)
if [ "`pidof "'$NameOfProg'"`" != "" ]; then
echo "'$NameOfProg' is still running"
sleep 2
else
sfs_load --unload --cli --skip-fixmenus --quiet "'$NameOfSFS'"
AutoUnload="false"
fi
done
echo "SFS unloaded and AutoUnload exited"
exit 0'> /tmp/$BNameOfSFS.AutoUnload.sh
chmod 755 /tmp/$BNameOfSFS.AutoUnload.sh
fi # if [ "$ProgRuns" != "" ]; then
}
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# End of create AutoUnload Script Function
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# '$NameOfProg' might need the path if not in /usr/bin or /usr/sbin
# If Program exists then go
if [ "$(which $NameOfProg)" ]; then
# Execute Program
exec "$NameOfProg" &
else # Program doesn't exist ---> do load the SFS first
# Load the SFS
sfs_load --cli --skip-fixmenus --quiet "$NameOfSFS"
# Execute Program
exec "$NameOfProg" &
CreateAutoUnloadScript
# Execute AutoUnload Script ---> runs in background
/tmp/$BNameOfSFS.AutoUnload.sh
# Remove AutoUnload Script
rm /tmp/$BNameOfSFS.AutoUnload.sh
fi # if [ "$(which $NameOfProg)" ]; then

exit 0

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# End of simple-run-script-c ---> This is so cool, isn't it?
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: I can confirm this does not work on Fatdog64 as it uses a different load_sfs.sh script, but it should work on all pups that use the sfs_load script.
Run Skype desktop file

Written by smokey01

The normal place for desktop files in Puppy is /usr/share/applications

In this example we will call the desktop file run-skype.desktop

This is the contents of the desktop file.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Skype
Comment=VOIP Internet Telephony
Exec=run-skype
Icon=skype48.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Categories=X-Internet;

A couple of things to remember with desktop files.

1. The script you are running must be in the path, EG /usr/bin or usr/local/bin ETC, If not then you need to specify the full path.

2. This is the same for the icon.

Exec= determines the application /path/name and
Icon= determines the icon /path/name

Tips & Tricks

Tips & Tricks are simple little actions you can take to make your life easier when using Puppy. You will probably know most of the tips but there are always new users that don't.
Personal .desktop files

Personal .desktop files
Written by peebee

I make extensive use of personal .desktop files to record and simplify access to locations, both local and in the cloud,
that I visit on a regular basis but can't hold their access details in my short term memory ;-). e.g.:



I thought that some of the techniques I use might be of interest to others.

To illustrate the ideas I'm going to use the following personal.desktop file which is also available to download.

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Example Personal .Desktop
Icon=gtk-preferences
Exec=sh -c "echo '{clipboard contents}' | xclip -selection clipboard & xmessage -bg lightblue '>>{clipboard contents}\n{password reminder}' & fpm2 & defaultbrowser http://lx-pup.weebly.com/"

As well as the .desktop file itself, there are 7 other utilities used:
- sh -c : to run a sequence of commands
- xmessage : to display some prompts
- fpm2 : to store and retrieve passwords
- xclip : to put entries onto the clipboard
- defaultbrowser : to run the web browser
- defaultspreadsheet : to display a spreadsheet
and specific to LxPup....
- pcmanfm : for access to ftp and sftp sites

The key line in the .desktop file is the Exec= line which has the following components:

sh -c "a & b & c & d"
This runs the set of commands between "" where each command is separated from the next with the & character

echo '{clipboard contents}' | xclip -selection clipboard
This places onto the clipboard all of the text between ''

xmessage -bg lightblue '>>{clipboard contents}\n{password reminder}'
This displays a prompt message with whatever useful information between '' is required.
By (my) convention, the item preceded by >> is what has been copied onto the clipboard.
Typically, the clipboard might hold the login account details and some password or other security reminders might be given on other lines.
The \n string prints a newline.
The background colour (-bg) is optional and to user choice.

fpm2
This calls Figaro's Password Manager 2 which can be used to store all passwords protected by a master password,
but is particularly useful for those completely random passwords for which no safe reminder is possible.

defaultspreadsheet {location of the spreadsheet file}
As an alternative to fpm2, passwords could be stored in a spreadsheet protected by a master password

defaultbrowser {url}
This opens the web browser, typically on a login page, where Ctrl+v can be used to paste the account details into the login form followed by the password
pcmanfm ftp://{url} or pcmanfm sftp://{url}
As alternatives to access via a web browser, these commands (LxPup specific) connect to remote storage sites using the ftp or sftp protocols

With just these few techniques, really useful personal .desktop files can be constructed to help with remembering access details to all those pesky sites with different login details.

Probably the hardest part of constructing the .desktop is getting a suitable Icon= for the file!!

In all Puppies (probably), if you run Pup-SysInfo from the menu and select the Sys-Apps tab then GTK Icons will show you a list of possible icons.
Or you can use PupControl's Utility tab and then GTK Icons to get same list. Pick the icon you want and then edit the .desktop file with the name chosen,
e.g. gtk-preferences.



In LxPup only, you can install the Extra Right Click package from the Change Appearance - Options menu
then right-click on the .desktop file, choose Make/Edit Shortcut, and then click Change Icon



Have fun!
Cheers.
How to move windows around

Written by bigpup

How to move windows around on the desktop.

Alt button hold.
Left mouse button click on window and hold.
Move mouse around.

Note:
Placement of mouse pointer is important.
The location of the pointer, is the limit of movement past edge of screen.
The window will move the full range of the mouse pointer on screen.
Just move, to different location of mouse pointer, to change movement amount with window.

Tutorials

Tutorials this month:

Google Calculator
Puppy Boot Parameters
If You Need Help


Google Calculator

Provided by don570

Were you aware that you could use Google in your browser as a calculator, I must admit I wasn't. Ah and another surprise provided by Moat.

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=110071

Puppy Boot Parameters

Sourced from the http://puppylinux.org/wikka page by darkcity

The Linux kernel will accept many boot parameters. This provides a great deal of functionality and configurability.

This is a small list of boot parameters that are available to Puppy.
If You Need Help

Murga Thread started by bigpup.

There are many forum members that are willing to assist people with problems. The biggest issue for the helper is the lack of detail. If you need help, please provide as much information as you can.

For anyone requesting help, please read this thread.
Entertainment

The May crossword by greengeek.

I think most of us can relate to this?

Crossword

Puppy Crossword (May)
(Formatted by greengeek using the "Puzzlefast" website)
(See clues below image)





Scroll further down for answers:




Jigsaw Puzzles

Quite a nice site if you like doing jigsaw puzzles.

http://www.jigsawplanet.com
Letters to the Editor

This section is where people may ask questions or tell a story about their positive Puppy experiences.

This is the second month in a row without a contribution. Because of this, I think I may drop this section. A newsletter is supposed to be an information source not a communications medium. The Murga Forums already do a very good job of communications.



Useful Links

Puppy Linux Forums USA

Ibiblio repository USA

nluug repository Netherlands

Internode repository Australia

University of Crete repository Greece

aarnet repository Australia

Internet archive repository USA

Puppy Linux Tips by smokey01

Puppy Linux wikka Puppy sites

Bookmarkos provided by kerl

Search the Puppy Linux Forums

Barry Kauler's News Blog

Contributors this month

Not all of the people below have physically given me the information to publish. If I find information I will give the credit where it is due. So if you see your names on this list below please don't be alarmed or upset. You are not losing your mind.

smokey01
don570
darkcity
bigpup
greengeek
Lobster
666philb
Dry Falls
OldYeller
peebee
MochiMoppel
SFR
RSH/LazY Puppy
Mike Walsh

Proof reading - russoodle +1

Newsletter Information

Display tip:
To improve the Notecase display format please press F7 then:
- Tick the "Restore last position/size" checkbox.
- Select the "Display" tab and tick "Wrap text".

Contributions

If you have information you would like to see in the newsletter please email it to smokey01 at smokey01@internode.on.net. It must be created in Notecase otherwise it makes my job far too difficult. I don't intend doing any significant editing but I will attempt to read all of the articles and ask a couple of others to do some proof reading. If you would like to assist in proof reading please let me know on the email address above.

Notecase is very easy to learn and use. Try and keep your articles to less than 1000 words. Photos and images should be no bigger than 1024 x 768. I can always make them smaller.

The deadline for articles is the 20th of each month. Let's not worry about time zones. I know it may be the 20th in Australia and only the 19th in the USA but I can live with this. If it's more than 24 hours late with respect to Australian CST then your article may be pushed right, into the next edition. I expect proof reading to take less than a week which will provide about four days to publish at the beginning of each month.

I will upload the Newsletter to my site at http://smokey01.com/newsletters. There will be two versions. One will be an xz compressed Notecase file and the other will be a html file so it can be read in a browser.

I have changed the original naming convention to 0001-PuppyLinuxNewsletter-Jan2017.ncd.xz and 0001-PuppyLinuxNewsletter-Jan2017.html respectively. The formatting of the html is not brilliant but readable. The newsletter is intended to be downloaded and read in Notecase.

Disclaimer

The editor has the right to veto any articles that he/she considers inappropriate. A reasonable effort will be made to avoid spelling and grammatical errors however, I'm sure some may slip through. This newsletter is published by volunteers, and is free, so please be kind. Constructive criticism is acceptable.

smokey01