There are two new, small tools available for Sparkers: Sparky Play MP3 and Sparky Player.

What is Sparky Play MP3?
It is a simply, small, Yad based tool which lets you search directories and play mp3 audio files.

The tool lets you:
– choose a directory to be searched using a keyword (singer, song name, etc, whatever is used in a name of a mp3 file) or
– use * to find all mp3 files in a chosen directory
– display all mp3 files been found in a drop down menu
– play your mp3 files

Installation:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sparky-play

The Sparky Play MP3 project page: github.com/sparkylinux/sparky-play
The tool is created by Elton, partly based on a work of Raimundo Portela, with my small improvements.

The second tool is Sparky Player.
What is Sparky Player?
It is a simply and very small tool which lets play any audio or video file, which…
– it is available from a context menu only
– it doesn’t provide a standard’s desktop menu entry
– it doesn’t provide any button and other graphical features
– it calls and uses ‘ffplay’ to play all audio and video files
– it supports all audio and video files which are supported by ‘ffplay’ via ‘libavcodecs’

Installation:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sparky-player

Just mark your audio or video file and choose ‘Sparky Player’ to let it play, or set ‘Sparky Player’ as a default player for a chosen multimedia file.

Anyway, it lets you manage a playing audio or video file in a player window via your keyboard, for example:
– pause = space bar
– quit = q or Esc
– full screen = f
– right arrow = forward
– left arrow = back

The Sparky Player project page: github.com/sparkylinux/sparky-player

Please test both tools and report whatever you find.

There are development live/install media of Sparky 5.7 20190203 of the rolling line available for testing.

The new iso images features improved Advanced Installed which provides a bug fixing around wrong detecting partitions.

If a number of partitions you have is bigger than 9, and if you choose the first partition as the first choice (swap partition on Bios machines; UEFI partition on machines with UEFI motherboard), sda1 for expample, the installer cut out from a next window all of existing partition with the number starting you already choosen (sda1 – sda10, sda11, sda12, etc.).

So they are not visible in Installer window and can not be used for installing Sparky.

‘sparky-backup-core’ 20190203 features a fix for that issue so your existing iso image can be used anyway, if you update the package in the live system.

The second change is about the Linux kernel – the present iso images are shipped with Debian Linux kernel back as default.

Please test the new images and report whatever you find.

The issue has been found by guy under ‘The Operating System World’ nick name – thank’s a lot!

New development iso images can be found at download/development page.

Many thanks to all of you for supporting Sparky!
Your donations help keeping Sparky alive.

Don’t forget to send a small tip in the February too

The 1st this year monthly report of the Sparky project:

• Sparky 5.6.1 Special Editions released
• iso images of stable and rolling line updated again: 4.9.2 & 5.6.2
• added to repos: Franz, MultibootUSB, Rambox, GitKraken, Sparky Tube (downloads videos and converts to audio or video files, thank’s to Elton), WPS Mui (a part of Sparky Office, which installs WPS locale packs; thank’s to Elton)
• Sparky’s Linux kernel updated up to version 4.20.6
• the new app APTus AppCenter is still active under development, so be patient
• the Sparky SB Server is also under active development, together with Daniel

There is a new tool available for Sparkers: Sparky Tube

What is Sparky Tube?

Sparky Tube downloads a video file from a web site and converts it to an audio or video output file.

Features:
– download a video from a web sites
– convert it to an audio format: acc, flac, mp3, m4a, opus, ogg vorbis, wav; or
– convert it to a video format: avi, mkv, mp4
– store the converted audio or video file on your local disk
– lets you play the converted file using your default audio or video player
– small and lightweight – uses Yad as its GUI

Installation:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sparky-tube

The Sparky Tube git repo: github.com/sparkylinux/sparky-tube
The application is created by our community member Elton Fabricio Ferreira.

There is a new tool available for Sparkers: GitKraken

What is GitKraken?

GitKraken is a tool designed to manage GitHub repositories via a GUI interface. You can open, clone and create completely new repositories. To start working, you have to log in to GitHub or Bitbucket. However, you can avoid entering login details thanks to your SSH key.

The free version redistributed via Sparky repos is available for open source, early-stage startups and non-commercial use.

Installation (64bit only):
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gitkraken
or via the latest version of Sparky APTus.

The GitKraken project page: gitkraken.com
The application is added thank’s to Daniel request.

There is a small addition to APTus Office module as well, provided by Elton, called MS Font Installer, which installs the Microsoft fonts for you.

There is a new tool available for Sparkers: Rambox Community Edition

What is Rambox?

Free and Open Source messaging and emailing app that combines common web applications into one.

Installation:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install rambox
or via Sparky APTus + Sparky APTus Extra >= 0.2.11

The Rambox GitHub project page: github.com/ramboxapp/community-edition

There is a new tool available for Sparkers: MultiBootUSB.

What is MultiBootUSB?

MultiBootUSB is a software/utility to create multi boot live Linux on a removable USB disk. It is similar to UNetbootin but many distros can be installed, provided you have enough space on the disk. MultiBootUSB also provides an option to uninstall distro(s) at any time, if you wish.

MultiBootUSB allows you to do the following:
– Install multiple live Linux and other Operating Systems to a USB disk and make it bootable without erasing existing data.
– Ability to uninstall installed OS later.
– Write ISO image directly to a USB disk (you can think of GUI for Linux dd command).
– Boot ISO images directly without rebooting your system using QEMU option.
– Boot bootable USBs without rebooting your system using QEMU option.
– Boot USB on UEFI/EFI system through GRUB2 bootloader (limited support).

Installation:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-multibootusb

The MultiBootUSB GitHub project page: github.com/mbusb/multibootusb
The project author is Sundar; and co-author is Ian Bruce.

There is a new tool available for Sparkers: Franz.

What is Franz?

Franz is your messaging app / former Emperor of Austria and combines chat & messaging services into one application. Franz currently supports Slack, WhatsApp, WeChat, HipChat, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Google Hangouts, GroupMe, Skype and many more. You can download Franz for free for Mac & Windows.

Installation (64bit only):
sudo apt update
sudo apt install franz
or via Sparky APTus (+ Sparky APTus Extra >= 0.2.9)

The Franz GitHub project page: github.com/meetfranz/franz
The project developer is Stefan Malzner.

Sparky iso images of both lines stable and rolling have been updated and rebuild again.

This is a minor but important update which provides fixed chown and chmod of /etc/shadow which makes some problems after installing Sparky on a hard drive; the wrong settings been made via sparkybackup tool during a new iso building process so it happens on both stable and rolling iso images.

No system reinstallation is required, to set it right simply run:
sudo chown root:shadow /etc/shadow
sudo chmod 640 /etc/shadow

The second issue is targeted to Sparky iso images of the rolling line only: slow starting of most desktops; installation of ‘haveged’ package should fix that problem.

Also, the Linux kernel 4.20.0 has been rebuild with a few (missing before) modules enabled.

There are new live/install iso images of SparkyLinux 5.6.1 “Nibiru” GameOver, Multimedia & Rescue available to download. Sparky 5 follows rolling release model and is based on Debian testing “Buster”.

GameOver Edition features a very large number of preinstalled games, useful tools and scripts. It’s targeted to gamers.

Multimedia Edition features a large set of tools for creating and editing graphics, audio, video and HTML pages.

The live system of Rescue Edition contains a large set of tools for scanning and fixing files, partitions and operating systems installed on hard drives.

Changes:
– system updated from Debian testing repos as of January 2, 2019
– Linux kernel 4.20.0
– the Calamares installer 3.2.1
– added Sparky new repos configuration
– /etc/shadow has right owner and chmod in live session and after installing Sparky on a hard drive now
– added packages: xfce4-notifyd, xfce4-power-manager, sparky-fileopen
– thunar daemon is enabled as default
– many other small fixes

32 bit iso images are shipped with Linux kernel i686-pae.

System reinstallation is not required. If you have Sparky 5.x installed, simply install the latest version of ‘sparky-apt’ package, then make full system upgrade to be working in the latest version.

New iso images can be downloaded from download/rolling page.

Many thanks to all of you for supporting Sparky!
Your donations help keeping Sparky alive.

Don’t forget to send a small tip in the January too

The 12th and the last in this year monthly report of the Sparky project:
• added to repos: Midori 7.0, Lightdm-Settings
• Sparky’s Linux kernel updated up to version 4.20.0
• Sparky 5.6 released
• the new app APTus AppCenter is still under development, so it takes time to even make a first beta
• Sparky repos changed so upgrade ‘sparky-apt’ package as first and refresh package list after, and before upgrading whole the system
• small update of iso images of stable 4.9.1 and rolling 5.6.1 lines
• the latest Linux kernel has been rebuild which features many missing options enabled now, so upgrade it to version 4.20.0-2

Happy 2019 year Sparkers !

Sparky iso images of both lines stable and rolling have been rebuild and updated.
This is a minor but important update which provides new settings of Sparky repositories.

No system reinstallation is required of existing Sparky installations, simply make full system upgrade:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sparky-apt
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade

Additionally, Sparky of the rolling line 5.6.1 is shipped with Linux kernel 4.20.0 as default and Python 3.7 (3.6 has been already removed)

If you would like to install a new desktop via older MinimalGUI/CLI iso images (=< 4.9 / =< 5.6) you have to upgrade the 'sparky-apt' package in live system before starting the Advanced Installer.

There is a change in the Sparky repository as of 27 December 2018.

What changed?
– Sparky stable line stopped using mixed Sparky stable and testing repos, couse it would be difficult keep in this stage for upcoming new ‘stable’ and ‘oldstable’ repos (next year)
– most packages are available via a new ‘core’ repos now, but ‘stable’ and ‘testing’ repos provides some packages targeted to the specific branch.

So…
Sparky stable line uses repos as follows:
https://sparkylinux.org/repo core main
https://sparkylinux.org/repo stable main
+ source repos as well

Sparky testing line uses repos as follows:
https://sparkylinux.org/repo core main
https://sparkylinux.org/repo testing main
https://sparkylinux.org/repo unstable main
+ source repos as well

Pinning has been changed too.

There is no need to reconfigure Sparky repos manually, simply run:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sparky-apt
sudo apt update
then make system upgrade as you always do.

Existing iso images of Sparky MinimalGUI/CLI still can be used to install a desktop of your choice, the new sparky-apt package will be installed during desktop’s installation process.

There are still many the same package (versions) in the ‘testing’ and ‘core’ repos, but they will be removed from ‘testing’ to clean it up. Let me know if you find any problem, please.

After that, iso images will be refreshed to provide the latest setting to you.

The first release of Linux kernel of the new 4.20 line just landed in Sparky “unstable” repository.

Build status:
– amd64 – build and installed OK -> uploaded
– 686-pae – build and installed OK -> uploaded
– 686 (non-pae) – did not build

The Sparky’s Linux kernel is available in Sparky “unstable” repository, so enabled it to upgrade (if you have older version already installed) or to make fresh installation:
https://sparkylinux.org/wiki/doku.php/repository

Follow the Wiki page: https://sparkylinux.org/wiki/doku.php/linux_kernel to install the latest Sparky’s Linux kernel.

Then reboot your machine to take effects.

To quick remove older version of the Linux kernel, simply run APTus-> System-> Uninstall Old Kernel tool.

Merry Xmas Sparkers!

There is a new tool available for Sparkers: Lightdm Settings.

What is Lightdm Settings?
It is a configuration tool for the LightDM display manager.

Installation:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install lightdm-settings

The Lightdm Settings is borrowed from the Linux Mint project:
github.com/linuxmint/lightdm-settings

The tool has been brought to Sparky by Szymon “lami07”.

There are new live/install iso images of SparkyLinux 5.6 “Nibiru” available to download. This it the 4th and the last this year iso image update of the rolling line, which is based on Debian testing “Buster”.

Changes:
– system updated from Debian testing repos as of December 16, 2018
– Linux kernel 4.19.9 (4.19.10 & 4.20-rc7 available at Sparky “unstable” repos)
– the Calamares installer 3.2.1
– many small fixes

Changes of small window managers configuration (can be installed via Minimal iso images or APTus):
– a previous sound applet changed by pnmixer
– PCManFM file manager changed by Thunar
– added packages: xfce4-notifyd, xfce4-power-manager, sparky-fileopen
– thunar daemon is enabled as default

32 bit iso images are shipped with Linux kernel i686-pae now. If you have an old machine with 32 non-pae CPU – I recommend to use Sparky stable i686.
System reinstallation is not required. If you have Sparky 5.x installed, simply make full system upgrade to be working in the latest version.

New iso images can be downloaded from download/rolling page.

There is a new, small tool available for Sparkers: Sparky SU.

This tool provides Yad based front-end for su (spsu) allowing users to give a password and run graphical commands as root without needing to invoke su in a terminal emulator.

It can be used as a Gksu replacement to run any application as root.

Installation:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sparky-su

Usage:
spsu command
To run a terminal based application using spsu, run:
spsu "x-terminal-emulator -e command"

There is a new application available in our repos: Midori 7.0.

Midori is a lightweight yet powerful web browser which runs just as well on little embedded computers named for delicious pastries as it does on beefy machines with a core temperature exceeding that of planet earth. And it looks good doing that, too. Oh, and of course it’s free software.

This point release has been published after over 3 years of development break.
The browser has been completely rewritten in Vala & GTK3.

Installation/Upgrade:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install midori

Midori 7.0 is available for Sparky 4/Debian Stretch and Sparky 5/Debian Buster users as well.

Midori Git repos: github.com/midori-browser/core