Devuan Jessie 1.0.0 stable release (LTS)
Dear Init Freedom Lovers,
Once again the Veteran Unix Admins salute you!
Many of you might remember November 2014 when we announced that we were going to fork Debian. Well, we have done exactly that. It has been a long process, but now over two years later, we proudly present Devuan Jessie 1.0.0 Stable.
There have been no significant bug reports since Devuan Jessie RC2 was announced only three weeks ago and the list of release critical bugs is now empty. So finally Devuan Jessie Stable is ready for release! As promised, this will also be a Long-Term-Support (LTS) release. Our team will participate in providing patches, security updates, and release upgrades beyond the planned lifespan of Debian Jessie.
A lot of appreciation has been coming our way in the last few weeks. And now with this Stable release we anticipate that even the most skeptical among private and enterprise users will finally be ready to jump on the Devuan train.
Devuan Jessie 1.0.0 Stable is a major milestone in the new path drawn by the Devuan project and its development has provided an opportunity to lay down a strong foundation for the Devuan community. In the last two years we have put in place a powerful infrastructure to support the development and growth of Devuan, which now includes:
- Source management https://git.devuan.org
- Continuous integration https://ci.devuan.org
- Bug tracking https://bugs.devuan.org
- User forum https://dev1galaxy.org
- Package statistics and analysis https://popcon.devuan.org
During the Jessie release cycle we have strenghtened and optimised these services and also migrated to more powerful hardware to cope with the increased loads we have experienced.
The ambitious plan to provide a no-nonsense universal GNU+Linux distribution does not stop here - it extends beyond this release.
Our main development efforts will now turn to Devuan ASCII (Minor Planet #3568), which will be the next stable release. We are confident that the preliminary ASCII ISOs could be available for testing soon. Beyond ASCII - the saga of Beowulf (Minor Planet #38086) appropriately mirrors the path we have taken. :^)
Please find below instructions to try out or install Devuan Jessie 1.0.0 Stable on your computer and to upgrade from Debian 7 (Wheezy) or Debian 8 (Jessie). If you are already using Devuan Jessie RC2, a simple apt-get update && apt-get upgrade
will be enough to get the latest updates.
Download (for new installs)
Official Devuan images are distributed via the website https://files.devuan.org
To ease the load on our bandwidth we kindly ask you to use one of the following mirrors
- https://mirror.leaseweb.com/devuan
- https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/devuan/
- https://devuan.c3l.lu
- https://devuan.4isp.it
- https://mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/devuan/
- https://xoreaxeax.de/files.devuan.org/
- https://mirror.alpix.eu/devuan/
- https://devuan.smallinnovations.nl
- http://devuan.ksx4system.net
- http://tux.rainside.sk/devuan
- http://neo900.files.dev-1.org
- http://devuan.mirror.k0nsl.org/
- http://mirror.alpix.eu/devuan/
- http://devuan.smallinnovations.nl
- ftp://mirror.leaseweb.com/devuan
- ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/devuan
- rsync: mirror.leaseweb.com::devuan
- rsync: ftp.nluug.nl::devuan
- rsync: mirror.alpix.eu::devuan
Note: For off-line installations we recommend using the DVD image or the live images, not the /installer-iso images. For on-line installations please use the NETINST images.
(The use of the CD image is not recommended, since the iso does not contain enough applications to make it useful in any off-line circumstance.)
All files offered for download come with their SHA256 hash to check the integrity (either in the SHA256SUMS
or in the .sha files) and with a cryptographic signature made using GnuPG by one of the Devuan developers in charge of the build, included as .asc file.
An understanding of Devuan’s script-friendly file naming scheme and directory structure will help you find what you need: https://www.devuan.org/os/filenaming
Upgrade (for existing installations)
Devuan Jessie Stable can be adopted as a flawless upgrade path from both Debian 7 (Wheezy) and Debian 8 (Jessie). This is a main goal for the Devuan Jessie stable release and has proven to be a very stable operation every time it has been performed. Detailed installation and upgrade instructions are available including translations: https://www.devuan.org/os/documentation/dev1fanboy/
The Devuan Apt package repositories are:
deb http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/merged jessie main
deb http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/merged jessie-updates main
deb http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/merged jessie-security main
We provide access to our package repository also via Tor:
deb tor+http://devuanfwojg73k6r.onion/merged jessie main
deb tor+http://devuanfwojg73k6r.onion/merged jessie-updates main
deb tor+http://devuanfwojg73k6r.onion/merged jessie-security main
After replacing Debian’s package sources with the ones above, run:
apt-get update
apt-get install devuan-keyring
apt-get dist-upgrade
Then proceed with a reboot, which will keep sysvinit
as init or revert to it in case the machine was running Debian Jessie.
Additional package repositories are available, but considered experimental:
deb http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/merged jessie-backports main
deb http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/merged jessie-proposed-updates main
deb http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/devuan jessie-proposed main
deb http://auto.mirror.devuan.org/devuan experimental main
Distributions based on Devuan
In chronological order of appearance:
- Gnuinos https://gnuinos.org (linux-libre 100% free, FSF review pending)
- Refracta http://www.ibiblio.org/refracta
- Exe GNU/Linux http://exegnulinux.net
- Nelum-dev1 https://sourceforge.net/projects/nelum-dev1
- Star https://sourceforge.net/projects/linnix
- EterTICs https://gnuetertics.org
- MIYO https://sourceforge.net/projects/miyolinux/
- heads https://heads.dyne.org (linux-libre 100% free, FSF review pending)
- Dowse https://dowse.eu/
- good-life-linux https://sourceforge.net/projects/good-life-linux/
- Crowz https://sourceforge.net/projects/crowz
Please contact us on the #devuan-dev IRC channel (freenode) or at https://dev1galaxy.org/viewforum.php?id=9 to have your Devuan derivative included in the list.
Anyone can help Devuan!
Devuan is a large endeavor involving people of all ages, from different countries, with a rainbow of skills and interests. Anyone can contribute to ensure that Devuan maintains its role as a stable and reliable universal operating system. Feedback is essential for Devuan to grow and prosper. Here are some ways you can help:
-
Report a bug If you think you have found a bug in a Devuan package, please report it to https://bugs.devuan.org, either by using the
reportbug
tool or directly via email -
Fix a bug If you think you know how to fix an existing bug, please report the solution in the corresponding page on https://bugs.devuan.org, or, better, roll-up your sleeves, implement the fix, and get in touch with the development team on IRC (
#devuan-dev
on freenode) to have your patch included in the official repos -
Share the love If you like and appreciate Devuan, please spread the word by sharing your experience, providing a review, making a video of Devuan at work, or explaining how Devuan is making your life easier/better/happier. You can also follow: [@DevuanOrg]https://twitter.com/DevuanOrg on Twitter
-
How can we improve? If you have comments about the website and/or other public aspects of Devuan, please get in touch (contact Jaromiljaromil@dyne.org or golinux golinux@dyne.org)
Devuan has a wishlist!
As we grow, the need for community participation and hardware and financial support increases. Here are some suggestions that will help move us along:
-
Maintain a package If you would like a package to be included in Devuan, please consider joining the development team by taking charge of packaging and maintaining it. This documentation will guide you through the process: https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=549
-
Donate a hosted machine (bare metal) If you or your company can host a machine that we can use, with root access, as part of our online service infrastructure, we’d be very grateful. We plan to strenghten our online presence with a revamped core infrastructure plan between 2017 and 2018 so this is the time to step forward. We can well consider this as sponsorship.
-
Host a mirror Have extra bandwidth? Please consider hosting a mirror of Devuan images/repos. Get in touch with Devuan developers on IRC at (
#devuan-dev
on freenode) to discuss details -
Build a local community Devuan encourages multi-lingual support and localized groups. Consider setting up additional support options on the dev1galaxy forum or an email list or IRC channel etc., in your native language. Here are some suggestions to get you started: https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1498#p1498
-
Translate language packs for FluxBB This contribution would allow local communities to use the dev1galaxy.org forum in their native language. So far Polish, Italian, Swedish and Croation are in process. See: https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1528
-
Contribute RTFM stuff Documentation and/or translations in any language are needed. Contributions could go into https://git.devuan.org//devuan/documentation or https://dev1galaxy.org/viewforum.php?id=7
-
Sponsor the cost of a dedicated server (from ~50$/month/server) (contact devs on
#devuan-dev
) -
Donate an ARM development board (50$-100$) (contact parazyd parazyd@dyne.org /
#devuan-arm
) -
Donate an ARM or ARM64 build host (50$-200$) (contact parazyd parazyd@dyne.org /
#devuan-arm
) -
Donate a MIPS board (50$-200$) (contact parazyd parazyd@dyne.org)
-
Donate PowerPC/Sparc hardware for build/development (contact devs on
#devuan-dev
) -
Or you can always make a one-time or recurring donation of any amount. Please visit: https://www.devuan.org/os/donate where you can also see the current Devuan financial reports.
Thanks
As our journey led by world-class experts, supporters, enthusiasts, and donors continues, we acknowledge with heartfelt thanks and appreciation each and every one of you who has participated in the process. Working together we have made Devuan a reliable universal distribution, as well as a friendly, collaborative community.
A special thanks goes to the Dyne.org Foundation for facilitating the birth of Devuan and sustaining its development and to Franco (nextime) Lanza and Denis (Jaromil) Roio, the public advocates for init freedom who persisted against all odds.
And last but not least, thanks to our team of intrepid Devuan developers who have successfully forged Devuan GNU+Linux into a world-class base universal distribution.
Community
The source of all Devuan packages can be found on https://git.devuan.org
Devuan Bug Tracking System is at https://bugs.devuan.org
Devuan Popularity Contest is at https://popcon.devuan.org
Devuan’s web forum is at https://dev1galaxy.org
IRC channels: #devuan
, #devuan-arm
, #debianfork
, #devuan-dev
, #devuan-www
, #devuan-fr
, and perhaps even more on freenode.net
Announce mailinglist (low traffic, only release announcements) https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/devuan-announce
Discussion mailinglist (high volume traffic) https://mailinglists.dyne.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dng
Enterprise support
Some of the world-class experts behind Devuan are now ready to provide enterprise-level support and customised builds of Devuan derivatives, crafted with great attention and love for details.
In particular two companies, one in New Zealand (Centurion Computer Technology) and one in Amsterdam (Dyne Solutions) are willing to extend their offer to new customers interested in adopting Devuan as a base distribution for embedded devices or cloud images or any other use for which a certified build of Devuan can be a solution.
Plans are there to provide at competitive cost a custom, certified image of this GNU+Linux based distribution, running ad-hoc software with certified updates and a privilege escalation model that is hard-coded and leaves no space for surprises.
Related projects
Here is a short list of projects which use Devuan as a base OS for their research and development:
-
Dowse - the IoT awareness Hub which won the ISOC NL Innovation prize 2016 is based on Devuan and just released its 1.0 beta: https://dowse.eu
-
DECODE - An R&D project on data sovereignty and blockchain technology financed by the EU Commission is based on Devuan: https://decodeproject.eu
-
heads - a live distro focused on privacy, security, and freedoms, experimenting with Devuan Ascii, and having a workshop this July @ http://2017.rmll.info: https://heads.dyne.org
Init Freedom
Devuan is about choice. We think people should be able to choose whether to use a GNU+Linux system with or without systemd.
Devuan decided to fork not only the base distribution, but also its governance, because Debian has made it difficult to avoid systemd as init, entangling the system with unnecessary dependencies and did so despite widespread community concern. We encourage potential Devuan users who wish to install systemd to use Debian’s installer, Debian’s packages and Debian’s mailing lists, all available directly from Debian’s mirrors.
Devuan is the Debian that was and could have been. Our goal is to provide a viable and sustainable alternative. It is a new path, nurtured with your help and support.
happy hacking ;^)