will i miss the old packages?

[tobiaus]

i loved .dsl packages, mydsl was getting really good, but i loved that i could just download a package and install it the same way whether it was online or not. it was even more convenient since i never made any setup persistant. i would just load from .dsl everytime. for larger packages i loved the ones i could mount and unmount, i don't know the difference between .uci and .unc (they were the same to me.)

i've been looking at the "getting started" page and it looks like .dsl packages won't be used. makes sense, since tinycore is not "dsl." but i wonder what the analogs between .dsl, .u??, and the new packages are.

i also wonder if it's going to be easy to download the packages and install them without either a connection, partition, or external device. (maybe from a -separate- cd.) just like i could with .dsl and .uci. i like to boot toram from cd, i liked that you could add .dsl packages to the cd without actually "remastering," and i like the convenience of using mydsl online, but not as much as the option of just keeping .dsl files in the option folder.

if playing with the tinycore cd i'm about to make answers any of these questions, i'll post the answers i have here, but i'll ask now.


answer 1: it's obvious from this website you can download .tce packages, i just downloaded one. for now i only assume (it only makes sense) that it will be possible to install it later. i just found the faq's on the wiki, robert you have such a great website for tinycore. whoever is responsible did a beautiful job.

answer 2: up to 255 loop devices for .tcz!

[mikshaw]

tce packages are identical in format to dsl packages (tar.gz).  The difference in TC is that the base system is entirely writable by default (it's a much smaller system so it's not a big deal to add a few files here and there).  The tcz package is similar to the uci package in DSL, in that it is mounted and can be unmounted  (/usr/bin/tcz-uninstall), and uses no extra ram for storage unless you save the package itself to ram.  The tcz package is bound to /usr/local, though, so libs and executables are in standard locations.  In DSL, uci was mounted in /opt and the libs and executables often needed extra work to behave like standard programs.

[^thehatsrule^]

Currently, tcz's are actually bound (RO) to /tmp/tcloop/pkgname and then symlinks are created for access, which can be almost anywhere.

[tobiaus]

thanks for the speedy replies, my next post will be longer and i won't be expecting any, it's just for feedback.

[curaga]

For loading extensions from the command line, see tce-load
It's the same as selecting "Load local" from the appbrowser.
One thing to remember is that offline loading does not check dependencies, so you need to load them yourself.

[tobiaus]

One thing to remember is that offline loading does not check dependencies, so you need to load them yourself.

i noticed the one-install-at-a-time thing when i downloaded leafpad, but thanks for the tip! i'd much rather install one at a time from the command line than from the gui.