| Review |
Would you like a Linux distribution which is 100% optimised for your hardware? Would you like one which includes the very latest software packages as they are released by their respective maintainers? How would you feel if we told you about a Linux distribution where the entire download-compile-install process of any software (including the Linux Kernel, glibc, GCC, KDE) is done by one simple command? Intrigued? Then read on. Welcome to the magic world of Sorcerer GNU Linux!
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| 1. Introduction |
Once you install a few Linux distributions, you will soon get to understand the basic process, which is rather similar in most mainstream distributions. Partition your hard drive, select the packages to install, listen to the CD spinning in your drive and when it calms down, you might do some hardware and network configuration to conclude the process. Less then an hour after inserting the installation CD you will have a fully working Linux system on your computer.
But things can be done completely differently. The beauty of Linux is that there are plenty of ways to achieve the same goal. As long as we are free to exercise our creative abilities and implement the resulting ideas, we can create amazing things.
Just think about this for minute - since the vast majority of Linux software comes with source code, why is it necessary to download binary files that somebody compiled on a particular hardware platform and included all sorts of options to run it on thousands of different hardware configurations? Would it not be more logical to compile everything on your own machine, ensuring that the code is optimised for exactly your hardware?
Enter the magic world of Sorcerer GNU Linux, a Linux distribution with a difference.
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| 2. Basic Information |
Sorcerer GNU Linux (SGL) is a new Linux distribution. Its first release was produced in July 2001 and subsequent updates were very frequent at roughly twice a month. The project's web site is unlikely to win any design awards, but the essential information with FAQs and mailing lists to get anybody started is present.
The basic philosophy of Sorcerer GNU Linux is amazingly simple - after installing it, you will end up with the most optimised system for your particular hardware configuration and, at the same time, you will be running the absolute latest software available.
How does Sorcerer achieve this? First, you download the compressed ISO image, unzip it, burn it to a bootable CD and boot from it. After answering a few questions, you will watch the installation of a basic Linux system on your hard drive. Nothing really differs much from any other distribution until you get to the kernel compilation stage. And this is when things become interesting...
But we will leave a more detailed description of the installation process for the appropriate chapter. Here, just a basic overview: After your kernel is compiled, you will reboot into a brand new system. You are invited to configure your networking, knowing that soon there will be plenty of interesting code running down your cable or telephone line from various parts of the world. The great fun of selecting, downloading and compiling your packages can begin.
So what is the downside of such a distribution? If it is so great, why isn't everybody using it? The main reason is the fact that it takes a bit of knowledge and a lot of time to get Sorcerer GNU Linux up and running on your computer.
Installing most other distribution will last less than an hour before you get a full-featured Linux desktop with several window managers, servers and more applications than you can shake a stick at. With Sorcerer, well, you'd better reserve a rainy weekend for it if you'd like to achieve the same. Some people might find this too time consuming, but those of us who like to tinker and optimise every bit and every byte of our hardware and those of us who like to run the latest software as it is produced, will find that Sorcerer is a dream come true.
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| 3. Installation |
Let's get going with the installation process. There are several steps to accomplish this:
1. Download the compressed ISO image.
2. Install a basic (binary) Linux system from the downloaded CD image.
3. Compile the kernel.
4. Configure networking.
5. Recompile all the applications from the original CD image.
6. Get, compile and install all applications you need.
We will look at each of these steps separately.
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| 3.1 Downloading Sorcerer |
The Sorcerer GNU Linux can be downloaded from the project's web site and its mirrors (see the side bar for links).
The size of the compressed ISO image is about 80 MB and this swells to about 250 MB after unzipping the archive.
You can use any standard CD writing tool to create a bootable installation CD.
Keep in mind that this ISO image gets updated frequently, so your downloaded image will quickly become out of date.
This is where a unique feature to update the downloaded ISO image comes handy.
This was primarily designed for those on a slow connection - instead of downloading the entire new ISO image, you can opt to download a small patch with the *.xdelta extension.
To upgrade the original ISO image to the latest version, simply type:
xdelta patch sorcerer-$OLDDATE-to-$NEWDATE.xdelta sorcerer-$OLDDATE.iso sorcerer $NEWDATE.iso
This command will produce a new ISO image. Now you can verify the md5sum of the new ISO and if it matches the one found on the Sorcerer's download page, the image is ready to be burnt!
Naturally, there is no need to get the latest ISOs if you have Sorcerer GNU Linux up and running, but this feature might come handy in cases when you wish to burn the very latest image without actually downloading it.
This way you can always keep the latest ISO image on the hard disk in case you decide to do a new installation or in case you would like to pass the latest image to a friend.
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| 3.2 Installing a Basic System |
This step is, in most parts, similar to installing any other Linux distribution. The installer offers partitioning tools, such as fdisk, cfdisk and parted to create partitions. You can then proceed with selecting your root partition and its file system (ext2, ext3, ReiserFS and XFS are offered) and a swap partition.
You will be advised to create a large swap partition, the basic rule is that your amount of RAM plus the size of swap partition should be at least 1 GB. Do not ignore this advice! Although the installer will complete the installation even if the above condition is not met, you will run into trouble later when trying to compile large programs and get frequent "out of memory" errors.
This memory requirement might seem strange at first, but the logic behind it is that Sorcerer makes use of "tmpfs", a virtual RAM drive which can also use swap space, to accelerate compilation and minimise file system fragmentation. Because of the "tmpfs" file system, Sorcerer expedites compilation by making the most efficient use of RAM. This makes sense as you are about to do a lot of compiling and the compilation speed gains are definitely noticeable.
As soon as the partitioning is done, you can start with the installation. Note that at this stage you are still installing binary files found on the installation CD to create a basic working system. These packages will be recompiled at a later stage.
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| 3.3 Compiling Linux Kernel |
The next step is where similarities with mainstream distributions end. Yes, you are going to compile the kernel. This is of course where you can spend quite a lot of time tweaking and optimising, but at the very least, you should make sure that you select all the necessary modules for your hardware. Check the modules for your network, sound and video devices as well as any other hardware you need. Of course, you can always recompile the kernel later if something is missing.
After the compiling is done, you will be prompted to configure networking.
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| 3.4 Configuring Networking |
First of all, you need to load the module for your network card (provided that you have compiled it into the kernel). This is best done by creating an alias in your /etc/modules.conf file: 'alias eth0 network-card-module', then loading the module with 'modprobe eth0'. At this point you should have a working network card. If you had compiled the network driver into the kernel, the above step is unnecessary.
Sorcerer used to provide both DHCP a PPP support to connect to the outside world. Being on ADSL connection, I looked for a PPPoE support which my service provider required. I failed to find any way to connect with the tools provided so I had to install Roaring Penguin's RP-PPPoE package, sources of which I had on another partition. When I mentioned this to Kyle Sallee, the author of the distribution, he promptly produced a brand new Sorcerer release with the PPPoE support built into the installation script! "If you need anything slightly more exotic, just provide me with the details to set it up", replied Kyle.
Ah, the wonders of personalised technical support only available in niche distributions!
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| 3.5 Recompiling Installed Applications |
You only need to execute two commands in this stage, but the execution is likely to kill an entire evening. The two commands are: 'sorcery update' and 'sorcery rebuild'. The first command simply fetches the latest application database from the Sorcerer web site. This is to ensure that you do not compile older packages if newer are available.
The second command recompiles the existing software on your system. This process is interactive by default and you are prompted to look at the compilation log after each package. It is possible to disable the prompt in the sorcery menu so that you can run this process during your sleeping time. And when you wake up, you will have a 100% optimised system and it is not even necessary to reboot!
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| 3.6 Getting, Compiling and Installing Applications |
The final step towards a fully working Linux box is downloading, compiling and installing all the software (or spells, in Sorcerer's terminology) you need. The beauty of this seemingly troublesome and scary process (especially if you have tried to do this on other distributions) is that all this is done by a simple command, which is 'cast package-name'. If you prefer a menu-driven way, you can simply type 'sorcery' and you will be presented with a categorised list of applications to choose from.
The list of applications (or spells) is taken from a database called 'grimoire', which is a sorcerer's book of spells containing nearly 700 spells at the time of writing. This database is updated daily ensuring that all new software releases find their ways into the grimoire within a short period of the official release. Trying to impress your friends? Sorcerer GNU Linux will certainly make them green with envy...
So how are all the dependencies resolved, you might ask. Isn't this part the most troublesome of all? The dependencies are taken care of for your convenience and peace of mind. Once you cast a spell (i.e. execute a package installation command), you will be prompted to include all the necessary dependencies into your spell. Additionally, you will be prompted to include or exclude optional dependencies, another feature not found in any other Linux distribution. The most amazing thing about this feature is that the entire download-compile-install infrastructure was written in nothing more sophisticated than Bash.
As soon as the basic stuff is installed, you are free to indulge in the vast packages resources provided by the distribution. You can continue with compiling XFree86 which is a rather lengthy step, taking nearly 40 minutes on the Pentium 4 machine. Casting XFree86 prompts you to run the configuration menu, which is an essential step if you would like to include specific drivers for your graphics card. Afterwards you can proceed with casting a window manager of your choice (the very latest versions of KDE, Gnome, WindowMaker, IceWM, Sawfish, Enlightenment, AfterStep, Blackbox and others are included) plus its associated libraries. Install any other software you need and a few hours of largely incomprehensible messages on your monitor (unless you prefer to turn this output off) will produce a pretty complete system by any standard. The Sorcerer's spells have been cast!
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| 4. Post-installation |
Now you have a complete Linux system ready to be put to productive use as would be the case with any other Linux distribution. But apart from having the most up-to-date and most optimised system within a considerable radius of your location, there are still some interesting and unique tricks up Sorcerer's sleeves, not seen anywhere else. Let us examine some of the more interesting ones:
1. Software updates
2. Sorcery options
3. Rescue and maintenance
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| 4.1 Software Updates |
The beauty of this distribution is that it is incredibly effortless to keep up-to-date with the ever evolving Linux application world.
With a simple command of 'sorcery update', you can do a system-wide update of your entire installation.
Creating a crontab entry for this command to run every night will result in a completely seamless update of your applications.
Wouldn't it be nice to wake up one morning to find out that you have a brand new KDE desktop without as much as moving your finger?
With Sorcerer GNU Linux, this is indeed a reality.
There are two ways to update software on your system - a menu-driven sorcery and a command-line sorcery.
Beginners might find the menu-driven way easier at first and it is certainly worth a look.
The utility is invoked by typing 'sorcery' on the command line.
The first option on the list is 'Spell', which, when clicked, reveals a further submenu.
From this menu, you can select to install new applications from a categorised list of nearly 700 spells, you can recompile all applications on your system, you can select applications that should not be updated during the next system-wide update and you can remove applications from your system.
The menus are very logical and self-explanatory and help is provided in the form of (sometimes humorous) one-line hints at the bottom of the screen.
Updating your system from the command line is equally easy once you master a few simple commands.
Installing a new package is done with the 'cast package-name' command; just remember that the term 'install', used by most other Linux distributions is not accurate as 'casting' actually involves downloading, compiling and installing the package.
Ever tried to compile KDE on another Linux distribution and gave up because of the hard work involved?
With Sorcerer, all you have to do is to type 'cast kde' and off you go, no more studying of installation instructions, interpreting cryptic error messages and searching newsgroups!
It really is as easy as that!
The next command you will use frequently is 'gaze'.
It offers an amazing array of useful options, which you can view by simply typing 'gaze'.
Would you like to see a list of all packages installed on your system? Type 'gaze installed'.
Do you want to see the list of available packages? Type 'gaze grimoire'.
Fancy to find out the package's description, web site, maintainer or md5sum?
How about searching the package list, viewing compile logs or listing the source files for a package?
All this and a lot more can be done with the 'gaze' command, which is worth investigating in detail.
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| 4.2 Sorcery Options |
The Options menu in 'sorcery' offers a range of useful features. We will only mention some of the more interesting ones, but do take your time to find what else is offered.
The PROMPT DELAY option allows you to set the delay time, in seconds, for prompts while compiling and installing multiple packages - if no input is given within the specified time, a default action is taken.
The APPRENTICE option allows you to execute a command even if the associated package is not installed on your system. Sorcery will simply download, compile and install the necessary package before executing it.
The list of executables and associated packages is stored in the /var/lib/sorcery/apprentice directory.
The AUTOFIX option, if enabled, is very useful in cases when important system libraries get updated.
This would normally break most packages that depend on these libraries, but the AUTOFIX options checks and rebuilds all packages that would otherwise be broken.
This option is enabled by default.
It is worth noting that any packages that need to be rebuilt as a result of updated system libraries will not be downloaded again, but rather compiled from sources already present on your hard drive.
Imagine for a moment that a new version of glibc gets released.
To update it, you can simply 'cast glibc', which will build a new glibc, remove the old glibc libraries and recompile every package dependent on glibc.
During this process, there is a brief moment when there is no glibc in /lib or /usr/lib, but despite of that no application already running on your system will be affected!
The Sorcerer's magic at its best!
Other options worth mentioning are MAIL_REPORTS, which will e-mail installation reports to the specified e-mail address, VOYEUR, which turns on or off compiler's verbose output and REAP, which, if enabled, causes that upon removing a package, all associated files are also deleted.
Finally, two more useful options to speed things up. To eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks, the software packages do not get downloaded from a central location, but rather from a maintainer's home site, FTP server or mirror.
The 'Software Mirrors' option allows you to select a nearby mirror for the Linux Kernel, GNU packages, KDE, XFree86 and Gnome.
The last option on the menu is 'Optimize Architecture', which gives you a chance to optimise all source code compiles for one of the available processor architectures - i586, i686, K6 or Athlon.
It should be noted that the list of features is not static, but keeps growing based on user feedback.
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| 4.3 Rescue, Maintenance and Administration |
It is worth mentioning that your Sorcerer CD can serve as a rescue image as well. If you happen to get into trouble, you can boot from the CD, log in and carry out any necessary maintenance tasks. While this is not a unique feature, it is always nice to see that there is a simple way to log into your Linux system!
The Sorcerer web site provides a categorised list of FAQs in the documentation section and you are encouraged to join the mailing lists where you will receive a warm welcome from the members.
System debugging is handled with the help of extensive log files No other Linux distribution provides this feature, which greatly simplifies bug fixing and bug reporting procedures. The fact that Sorcerer GNU Linux is so highly up-to-date and remarkably bug-free can be partly attributed to the use of these log files Have you encountered a problem during software compilation or installation? Instead of describing it verbally, submit the log file and the bug will be fixed in no time!
The next question that comes to mind is what if you want to install a package not yet available in the grimoire, the Sorcerer's software database? Apart from compiling the package using the standard method of configure && make && make install, you are more than welcome to create your own spells. This way, not only will the new package become part of the sorcery, simplifying the install/uninstall management, you can also share your spell with the rest of the Sorcerer user community. Creating spells is not too difficult and extensive instructions are provided.
Finally, a recently introduced sorcery feature, called 'cabal' provides administration and command execution tools for simultaneous use on multiple Linux systems. It uses nothing more fancy than ssh2 keys, ssh, and scp, a set of simple tools to make a system administrator's life a little easier.
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| 5. Pros and Cons |
Advantages
1. Sorcerer is 100% optimised. Not many people will argue this benefit. By virtue of compiling every piece of code on your own system, you are making sure that you get as much out of your hardware as you can. Of all the Linux distributions currently tracked by DistroWatch, only three are source-based (the other two being Linux From Scratch and Gentoo Linux). No binary distribution can beat a source-based distribution compiled on its home turf!
2. Sorcerer is the most up-to-date distribution. This benefit might be void in cases where there is no need to run the latest and greatest software, such as in case of some specialist servers. Still, security issues do appear from time to time and having the benefit of an easy path to upgrading the affected application can save many hassles. Because this distribution is so highly up-to-date, all security and bug fixes are applied routinely.
3. Sorcerer offers excellent support, both direct and via mailing lists. In line with most smaller and niche distributions, the author will often personally reply to your concerns and listen to users' suggestions. The PPPoE feature I asked about was placed in the next Sorcerer release literally within a few hours after I e-mailed the author!
4. Sorcerer is continuously being enhanced. While already pretty complete and feature-rich, there are still many new features planned for inclusion in future releases. Of course, many other Linux distributions can claim this, but given the completely unconventional way of doing things at Sorcerer, we can only look forward to more unique features not found anywhere else.
5. Sorcerer is fun to use. Admittedly, this is a highly subjective quality, but I can honestly say that I have never had more fun with any other Linux distro. Period.
Disadvantages
1. Sorcerer takes time to get installed. Installing a Linux distribution is a lot less troublesome than it used to be and most mainstream ones will get you up and running in less than an hour. Sorcerer, on the other hand will require many hours of compiling before producing a full-featured system. However, the benefits of compiling all software are unquestionable.
2. Sorcerer lacks decent documentation. As is often the case with many new projects, the documentation has not been given the highest priority. The current structure of hard-to-navigate FAQs and installation/usage notes resemble a schoolboy's scribbles rather than a carefully designed operating manual. The author seems well aware of this deficiency and welcomes any contributed documentation such as FAQs, man pages or installation instructions.
3. Sorcerer is not for beginners. You don't need to
be a Linux megaguru to install and run Sorcerer, but you should be reasonably proficient in basic system administration. There are many choices to be made during installations and configurations of your system, some of which may be vital. You also need a thorough knowledge of your hardware and the kernel modules required by each hardware component. If you are not sure, you can simply accept the defaults, but it helps if you know a little about the Linux Kernel, XFree86, Perl and other configuration options.
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| 6. Summary |
Of all Linux distributions available today, Sorcerer GNU Linux is positively the most unconventional. Instead of following the tried and tested method of many binary distributions, the development team has not only created a unique product, it has at the same time solved many of the perceived problems, traditionally associated with the Linux operating system. The amazingly simple and fluent method of installing and upgrading software and system libraries makes one wonder why no other distribution has invented anything even remotely similar.
While some may argue that Sorcerer's is a more time consuming method of keeping up with the Linux application development, it is still much less time consuming than resolving library dependencies, interpreting error messages and spending time on newsgroups searching for answers. Because of the sophisticated download-compile-install infrastructure of sorcery (while written in nothing more sophisticated than Bash), keeping your Linux box up-to-date is a painless process. Best of all, every single package is fully optimised for your hardware as it is compiled.
Despite the development team's claim, Sorcerer GNU Linux is, in my opinion, a revolutionary Linux distribution. Do yourself a favour and download the 80 MB file, then find a weekend to explore it. I can virtually guarantee that at the end of the weekend you will be asking yourself questions like: "Why has nobody else thought of this!? Is it possible that installing and upgrading Linux software can be as simple as that?" You will have to pinch yourself to believe that you are not dreaming.
I do not normally indulge in predicting the future. But if only 6 months of development resulted in the product of this sophistication and quality, then I honestly believe that Sorcerer GNU Linux is going to become a major Linux player in the near future. |
| Copyright Notice |
Copyright (C) 2002 Ladislav Bodnar
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved. |
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| Test Configuration |
| Processor |
| Intel Pentium 4 1.4 GHz |
| Motherboard |
| ASUS P4T Mainboard |
| Video |
| Matrox Millennium G450 |
| Memory |
| 384 MB RDRAM |
| Hard Disk |
IBM 40 GB, 7200 RPM
IBM 60 GB, 7200 RPM
|
| Other Storage |
Panasonic CD-RW drive
Sony DVD drive
Panasonic Floppy drive
|
| Network |
| Realtek 8139too (on board) |
| Monitor |
| ViewSonic VG150 |
| Sorcerer Specifications |
| Version |
20020103
20020115
20020117 |
| Kernel |
| 2.4.17 |
| GUI |
| XFree86 4.1.0 |
| File Systems |
ext2
ext3
ReiserFS
XFS
FAT
ISO9660
|
| Requirements |
32 MB RAM
1 GB RAM + swap
500 MB HDD
CD-ROM
Internet Access
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| Platforms |
Intel i586
Intel i686
Athlon K6
Athlon K7 |
| Features |
Partitioning tools
Convenient tools for:
* downloading software
* compiling source code
* installing software
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| Bundled Software |
Apache 1.3.22
Galeon 1.0.2
GCC 2.95.3
Gimp 1.2.2
glibc 2.2.4
Gnome 1.4
Gnumeric 1.0.1
GTK+ 1.2.10
KDE 2.2.2
KOffice 1.1.1
Mozilla 0.9.7
MySQL 3.23.47
Nautilus 1.0.6
Perl 5.6.1
PHP 4.1.1
Python 2.2
Samba 2.2.2
Xmms 1.2.6 |
| Price |
Free
GNU General Public License |
| Support |
| |
| Terminology |
| boost |
| a software package management tool that helps with the tracking of installed files and the removal of files from previous versions (manpage) |
| cabal |
| a tool for simultaneous administration and command execution on multiple computers |
| cast |
| install software packages (manpage) |
| dispel |
| uninstall/remove software package (manpage) |
| gaze |
| query/view sorcery package management information (manpage) |
| grimoire |
| the software catalogue for sorcery (manpage) |
| sorcery |
| a package management system, command line or menu-driven (manpage) |
| spell |
| a software package in source code form |
| reap |
| a sorcery option; if enabled, it removes all associated files during a package uninstallation |
| voyeur |
| a sorcery option; it turns on/off the compiler's verbose output |
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Learn more about our full service package and all benefits from buying at TUXEDO.
|
| Star Labs |
Star Labs - Laptops built for Linux.
View our range including the highly anticipated StarFighter. Available with coreboot open-source firmware and a choice of Ubuntu, elementary, Manjaro and more. Visit Star Labs for information, to buy and get support.
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