Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

I would like to know if this is possible, too. So far, I have been tarring up my chroot (the filesystem, not the image file), making a new image file or untarring the empty 1GB one, mounting the empty image, and then untarring the chroot back into the new file. That's really slow...

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

Doing a little google'n, seems there is a way with resize2fs - which is missing from Maemo, but ironically is on the Debian file. I tried copying it off the Debian file system and moving it over to Maemo's /sbin and it appears to run. I haven't reboot to unmount the image, but I bet this will work.

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

I have spent the (Canadian long) weekend learning how to do if-then statements in shell scripts so that the chroot script is much faster and much more flexible (you can put your image on either SD card and it figures it out, and it can handle ext3 file systems now), figuring out how to give the Xephyr window an icon in OS2008 (using a tiny Python program! it works!), and modifying a script by PenguinBait (thanks, PenguinBait!) to download and untar the big chroot image file automatically, without having to know how to use the command line. It has been a very productive weekend. I should have an updated .deb very soon; I think I'm almost ready to start a new thread and make the big announcement...

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

Played around with installing some applications (well, mainly games ;) - gotta keep productivity up) and thought I report my hits and fails if anyone else is interested.

• Lordsawar - this is a Warlords 2 clone which runs amazingly well on the NIT, even though it appears to partially be programmed for 800x600 for some parts (like the introduction screen). While in game, I could not see anything "missing" and everything - minus naming a save file - is sylus driven. All in all, I'd say it is quite a success (and perhaps I'll need to figure out how to re-compile things and get it running under raw Maemo).
  
  
• Pingus - I did not realize that there was already a Maemo port of this, however the debian install worked great with a few command line options (I ran with pingus -f -g 800x480 -s -m). The -s and -m is due to lacking of having SDL mixer installed, but likely would work with those. The screen updates were completely usable, at least in the first level I played, at 800x480 full screen.
  
  
• kg - Sounded promising; an RPG similar to the Final Fantasy series. It ran, however it definitely needs some keyboard loving and unfortunately I don't have a floating keyboard installed yet since my reinstall. All in all, likely promising, especially for n810 folks.
  
  
• falconseye - Why stop at nethack, or at least so I thought. It appears it only runs in 800x600 (I couldn't find a option to change it) and I cannot get past the first screen as the button to continue is hidden. However, as the source is available, this may be a good candidate for some mucking to get it scaled down and running in Maemo.
  
  
• xconq - This turn-based strategy appears to be running and fitting on the tablet. To be honest, I didn't muck with it much, but nothing obvious was cut off and the speed appears to be quite usable.
  
  
• milkytracker - This is a mod/IT/XM/etc. music tracker. It loads - it appears to be fitting relatively on the screen (perhaps things missing on the bottom?) - however, I need to get sdl-mixer installed to see if it will play. Likely won't be wonderfully usable without a real keyboard though...

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

Another useful debian install --> mp3info-gtk which is a mp3 tagger, one kind of app that's lacking as far as I know for the IT. After installing, you can call it from the command line with "gmp3info". Then, you can craft a .desktop file.

But, really, better start another thread for debian apps. Much better, another forum section for debian?

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

I would vote for another sub-form -- there is more possible threads for Debian than KDE, which has it's own, and it is a discrete, different environment and not really proper for "Apps".

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

Me three. I have no idea how to request such a thing, however...

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

Me four. Just PM Reggie. Someone did that and he put up a whole new section for Android. ;) And Debian is so much farther along, I don't think he'll say no.

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

I am putting together a new apps package for the big release. I want to include a lightweight WM for use with Xephyr and my new little Python script so that apps like OpenOffice will look their best.

While Window Maker is certainly lightweight, it is really too minimalistic to be usable by most newbies. xfce4 is nice, but it is almost too big and bloaty. I haven't tried JWM nor ICEWM, but I think I will end up choosing one of them. ICEWM has the benefit of looking like MS Windows, and the newbie crowd that I'm aiming for with this project will probably appreciate a familiar-looking WM...

Any comments on this?

EDIT: I'm going with IceWM because it is tiny and familiar unless someone can tell me why I should go with another one...

Re: Running Debian in a chroot
 

Me five, and now it's done. Here's how. :p

(I was going to PM Reggie about it in a day or so if he hadn't done something about it, but I thought discussion on the other proposals I made could be useful, too, so I did that first. Of course, Reggie never sleeps, so he got it already. :cool:)