Alex Hornung has posted an elaborate summary of his I/O scheduler work, with details on usage. He reports speed improvements under heavy load. If this sounds interesting to you (and it should), it’s possible to test his changes right now.
Month: March 2010
03/30/2010
OpenSSL bug fixed, BIND updated too
OpenSSL (which recently hit 1.0, though that’s not in DragonFly yet) has been patched to cover a recent security issue, thanks to Peter Avalos.
Jan Lentfer’s updated BIND to 9.5.2-P3, too.
Panic, and fast
Venkatesh Srinivas’s new sysctl, “debug.panic” is available for those who want to panic their machine on purpose, but don’t have direct access to the keyboard.
Recent performance improvements
A problem found by Jan Lentfer and fixed by Matthew Dillon means that you can get a good performance boost if you’re running bleeding-edge DragonFly from the last month or so. Or, you can just wait a week for the 2.6 release.
03/29/2010
I/O scheduler preview
Alex Hornung has been working on an I/O scheduler; he’s made some graphs to show results so far. They’re plain, but pictures are always fun.
2.6 branched, 2.7 now for development
DragonFly 2.6 has been branched, and should be released next week. Check the tag message for a list of the many, many commits.
BSDTalk 187: Sam Smith
The newest BSDTalk has a 25-minute conversation with Sam Smith, who helped organize EuroBSDCon 2009 and other UKUUG events.
03/28/2010
Flash works too!
Thanks to work from Samuel J. Greear and Alex Hornung:
- Install Firefox (natively)
- libflashsupport and adobe-flash-plugin
- mount linprocfs
- null mount devfs within the linux system
There’s occasional video and audio sync problems, but Johannes Hofmann has already found a fix.
Pretty, big graphs
This set of graphs that shows relationships within given languages on github shows some interesting relationships, and also happens to be very pretty.
Would it be worth moving DragonFly to github for the additional services? I’m not qualified to answer.
03/27/2010
New bugtracker possibilities
Alex Hornung has suggested replacing the existing bugtracker (Roundup) with a new one (Redmine). His post about the changes is lengthy and links to a demo, so read on for details; I haven’t had a chance to look at it in full, yet.
cvsup gone, finally
YONETANI Tomokazu has eliminated cvsup, replacing it with net/csup from pkgsrc. The README notes that the pkgsrc package devel/cvsync is another alternative if you need to retrieve the repository and not just the checked out files..
03/26/2010
REDOs done, and 64-bit vkernels too
Matthew Dillon has implemented what he calls “REDO” records in Hammer, which reduce the amount of time taken flushing data to disk. It’ll be in the 2.6 release, but it isn’t on by default.
Jordan Gordeev’s work on 64-bit vkernels has also been brought in, so virtual systems are now available for x86_64 users.
BSD Strikes Again
Steven Rosenberg, who I’ve linked to before, is trying BSD again. The linked post is a “story of my install” format.
03/25/2010
Simple system snapshot setup
Matthew Dillon’s added some tools for building system snapshots, a previously custom process. Look at the README for details.
Statistics on binary pkgsrc use
Based on a comment from John Merino on this very Digest, I managed to assemble some statistics on binary pkgsrc package use. See my full post for the details, including some analysis.
03/24/2010
A fan control narrative
Constantine Aleksandrovich Murenin posted his work on fan control, involving Winbond Super I/O Hardware Monitors. He’s had a series of commits up to this point, and this message nicely sums up the work done, including the presentations for it at BSDCan last year and AsiaBSDCon this year. Even if you aren’t planning to adjust your system cooling, it’s a surprisingly in-depth writeup, with more details available.
Messylaneous for 03/24/2010
In an effort to catch up…
- Matthew Dillon made a change to how material in memory is paged out; it may improve things depending on how much paging your system already does.
- The AsiaBSDCon OpenBSD papers are online, with mention of video of the presentations.
- Use keys for your SSH login, cause this will only get worse.
- Ten Shell One-liners. The first one, using your favorite editor on the command line, is one of those things I knew about, but didn’t know to do. (caveat: some Linuxisms)
- Want to test a big xorg update for pkgsrc? Of course you do.
2.6 very soon
The next release, 2.6, will be branched in the next few days. The official release: next week, with some last-minute benefits.
03/23/2010
Snapshot and mirror changes
The naming convention for the daily snapshots of DragonFly has changed, to make the file names more readable. This may lead to some confusion as the mirrors settle, but it’ll pan out. If you run a mirror, double-check your downloads.
OpenOffice, lpr, and a future reminder
Stephane Russel was having trouble printing with OpenOffice and lpr on DragonFly. He fixed it, and I’m linking to his explanation because someday, someone will have the same problem and be looking for the solution…
03/22/2010
Easy reading for what’s broke
Every time a bulk build of pkgsrc packages is completed, a report is uploaded listing what built and what didn’t. Since there’s so many reports from the now-automated build, I’ve sorted it by architecture and release, to make lookups faster.
This is handy if you’re looking to fix pkgsrc apps on DragonFly, and you need a target. It’s also a good way to see if a desired module exists as a binary.
03/20/2010
New handbook activity
Alex Hornung is working on a new version of the Handbook; my hat is off to him. I brought along the FreeBSD handbook SGML to DragonFly, and converted it through to the current wiki, so I know just how much there is. Check RecentChanges for the new work, and join in if you like.
03/19/2010
Interested in pkgsrc? DragonFly?
We actively need more people to do the small but plentiful fixes to make sure as many pkgsrc packages work as possible. Are you interested? Speak up.
A lot of text about work on malloc
There’s a lot to read, so if you understand it, that’s great. I’m passing it on without other comment.
03/18/2010
Summer of Code 2010: DragonFly BSD
We’ve got a third year in Summer of Code!
The timeline shows about a week and a half for planning, and then student applications begin on the 29th of March, and run to April 9th.
If you want to participate as a student, start planning now by talking with people on IRC (#dragonflybsd on EFNet) or on the mailing lists. You cannot be over-prepared.
03/17/2010
No chlamydia; change your mirror
Simon ‘corecode’ Schubert’s host for DragonFly, chlamydia.fs.ei.tum.de, is down for good. Since it had excellent bandwidth, it was frequently used as the source for a lot of the DragonFly mirror sites out there.
If you were using it for your own mirror, switch to mirror-master.dragonflybsd.org, and tell Matthew Dillon at @dragonflybsd.org your contact info so you can be notified of changes. (If you’re not mirroring, please download from the nearest site that is.)
PHP change in pkgsrc
PHP version 5.3 has some differences from previous versions, so there’s now a lang/php53 port. Use this if you want to upgrade right away, or stick with lang/php if you want to play it safe.
03/16/2010
Some specials: SSDs, port multipliers
Newegg is running some specials: a 64G Kingston SSD for $140, a 256G (yikes!) Crucial SSD for $660, and a Sans Digital port multiplier for $110. The SSDs are good for using swapcache(8), though 256G is probably overkill. Doesn’t make me want it less, though…
The port multiplier’s SiI3726 chipset might be supported, or potentially supported, by the sili(4) driver. Someone have $110 to spare to try this out?
BSD videos now captioned
The BSD Conferences channel on YouTube now has updated captioning, which will be useful if you don’t follow spoken English too well.
03/15/2010
Vinum root mounts possible again
As if Alex Horning wasn’t busy enough with his Linuxulator update, he’s also made it possible to have a vinum root volume in conjunction with using devfs.
Linuxulator progress
Alex Hornung has committed his initial work on Linux support, which is over 6,500 lines so far. (Thanks, Alex!) He’s continuing to work on it, though going by his commit message, Java, Opera, Tomcat, etc. are supported so far. The only major item missing at this point is Flash. There are other followups, such as this note about chrooting into the Linux subsystem.
03/14/2010
Messylaneous for 2010/03/14: complaints, events, iPad
I’ve been building this one up:
- Marc Espie’s post about autoconf holds true; Linux is in danger of becoming a monoculture in itself, similar to Windows.
- The BSDCan 2010 schedule has been posted. (via) Will this be the year I finally make it to BSDCan? Maybe.
- This post about communities (in general, online, not just software) is interesting. So far DragonFly has managed to avoid the drama-with-a-capital-D that afflicts other communities over time. Here’s a reason to not want growth…
- Always have working backups. ALWAYS. (via)
- I once went through almost exactly this, except it was a phone system that spanned several U.S. states and China/Mexico. Asterisk is awful, except that every commercial phone system is worse.
- A very on-target assessment of the iPad from a longtime Apple developer makes me think of something: will the iPad be good for open source? Not as a platform, but as a way to push developers to open source systems, where program development doesn’t require approval from a single company with unclear guidelines. Even the single interface port on an iPad is proprietary, and requires licensing.
- It’s really nice to read about a successful open-source software business that did not hinge on investors or being bought out, but rather on, you know, actually doing business, as seen in this writeup of OpenNMS. (via)
03/12/2010
Another power solution
“Device initiated power management” via AHCI is now possible, thanks to Johannes Hofmann. If I understand it correctly, it lets the computer handle power reductions automatically, which is more efficient than setting by hand.
03/11/2010
More BSD in Argentina
Damian Vicino has posted about plans for an expanded second “BSDDay-AR” (a BSD event in Argentina) this year. If you want to show and give a talk, let him know. It’s always good to hear about a BSD event expanding.
Summer of Code organization application details
I’ve applied for DragonFly for the 2010 Summer of Code program. I posted the details of the application, for the curious. The application period closes in the next 24 hours; hopefully we’ll be in again…
03/10/2010
BIND goes byebye?
Jan Lentfer has accomplished something rather dramatic: the removal of BIND from the base system. It’s not actually out yet, but I daresay it will be after the 2.6 release, freeing people up to install any DNS server from pkgsrc – including BIND.
Ways to improve SSH security
‘Walter’ asked about dealing with endless ssh port dictionary attacks. Several suggested changing ports and removing passwords, with opie(4) for when keyfiles aren’t available. Also, there’s various auto-blocking scripts, though they aren’t as useful nowadays.
03/09/2010
Linuxulator update finally happening
Alex Hornung has taken on a very overdue and very necessary project: an update of linux binary support. His code is available for anyone who wants to try it. Testing so far is working, but it could really use something complex, like Java with OpenOffice or tomcat, or perhaps Firefox/Flash. Will it make it into the 2.6 release, which is potentially a week away? Maybe – testing like the above would help.
p.s. we would all individually owe Alex a beer for this.
03/08/2010
Messylaneous for 2010/03/08
I gots a Summer of Code org application to write up, so you get a linkdump:
An mp3 of “PFSense II, Rocking The Datacenter” at NYCBUG, via Dru Lavigne. Also, her “BSD for Linux Users” at the SCALE website.
A 5-part series about Scripting Vim, written by a terribly smart guy? Interesting! (Yeah, I did link to a part of it before…)
Have you ever wondered if building more than one pkgsrc package at a time can be a problem? Others have too, and apparently there’s a fix. If you don’t want to have to get to a command line to find the answer, it’s:
PKGSRC_LOCKTYPE?= none
The type of locking that will be done if competing processes
attempt to do work on one package directory simultaneously.
Possible values:
* none: No locking takes place at all.
* once: When the lock has already been aquired by another
process, the current process is terminated.
* sleep: When the lock has already been acquired by another
process, the current process will sleep for PKGSRC_SLEEPSECS
seconds and then try again.You should also set OBJHOSTNAME when you are using the same
copy of pkgsrc on different hosts, maybe via NFS. This is because the locking process writes its process ID into the lockfile, and process IDs on different hosts are unrelated.See also: LOCALBASE_LOCKTYPE, WRKDIR_LOCKTYPE.
03/06/2010
Mentoring reminder
We have several potential Summer of Code mentors already, but if you want to get in on the action, let me know. Org applications start Monday, and I’d like a count before then…
03/05/2010
em(4), igb(4) port added
Michael Neumann has added his port of the e1000 driver from FreeBSD, though he doesn’t recommend using it yet. He’s looking for testers who have this hardware.
03/04/2010
pkgsrc-2010Q1 freeze soon
The ‘freeze’ for pkgsrc-2010Q1 is scheduled to start March 16th, which will be right around the same time of the DragonFly 2.6 release. The freeze lasts 2 weeks, usually, so new packages for 2.6 will be built probably about mid-April, based on this info…
03/03/2010
New BSD Magazine: Desktops
A new, free issue of BSD Magazine is out, with the theme of “BSD as a Desktop“. The next issue is “Hosting BSD”, and if that sounds interesting, Dru Lavigne is a contact for writing an article on that theme.
03/01/2010
Self-hosting clang; building DragonFly with it too
clang, which many people look to as a gcc replacement, is now able to build itself. (Thanks John Marino for the heads-up, some time ago) It can also build world and kernel on DragonFly, going on the work of Sascha Wildner!
Using the pkgsrc package, put
clang_CC=/usr/pkg/bin/clang
in /etc/compilers.conf and then set $CCVER to “clang” when building:
env WORLD_CCVER=clang make -DNO_GCC44 buildworld
I haven’t tried this, so any errors in description are mine, not Sascha’s – can someone verify? I don’t have a test system to run it on right now.
Edit: see Sascha’s comment for the definitive method.
Messylaneous for 2010/03/01
I think I’ve almost caught up on my backlog of Things To Post:
The March issue of the Open Source Business Resource is up, with the theme of “Mobile”. The BeagleBoard and OpenBTS articles are going to appeal to some specific people.
More links from Dru Lavigne.
“It’s sinking in that Sun is gone“, the vi Complete Key Binding List, and Post-quantum cryptography, all ganked from Trivium.