Entropy Use [Solved]

[dhinds]

I am running Sabayon 6 from the live cd and haven't found a way to install packages. Evidently Entropy is jno similar to Synaptics package manager (for instance).

What do I need to do to install Wine or Openbox?

[Fitzcarraldo]

You don't say which edition of the various LiveCDs you are using. I'll assume it is SL (Sabayon Linux) 6 KDE Edition.

Installing packages in a LiveCD environment is going to be dog slow and severely limiting, whichever distribution and package manager you use. The RAM disk is relatively small and the read rate for optical media is much lower than for hard disks.

Anyway, you need to read the SL Wiki article Entropy which explains the command line commands and the GUI front-end for the package manager Entropy. Please do that so that you understand how to use the package manager.

Using a read-only LiveCD, with slow access rates, working without hard disk access and only having access to a small RAM disk is very limiting. Anyway, if you want to try installing in such an environment I personally find the command line faster than the GUI. Open a Konsole/Terminal window (Kickoff > Applications > System > Terminal) and enter the following commands:

Code: Select all

$ su  (The LiveCD does not prompt for the root user's password, and jumps straight to the root user's account.)
# equo update
# equo install wine
# exit
$

To search for packages you would use the command:

Code: Select all

# equo search wine

or you can search on-line via the Packages Web page. The packages in blue boxes are in the Entropy package manager's repositories; the packages in brown boxes are in the Portage package manager's repositories. Portage is a source package manager and you can ignore it.

Or you can use Kickoff > Applications > System > Entropy Store to launch the GUI for the Entropy package manager. The GUI front-end for the package manager is variously known as 'Entropy Store' or 'Sulfur'.

Please read the Entropy article in the SL Wiki to understand what the equo update command does.

[dhinds]

You don't say which edition of the various LiveCDs you are using. I'll assume it is SL (Sabayon Linux) 6 KDE Edition.

Hello Fitzcarraldo, how have you been? (It's been a couple of years - but I haven't forgotten how knowledgeable and helpful you were at that time).

Sorry about the lack of info (I should have included that): It's SL6 Gnome, 64 bit.

Installing packages in a LiveCD environment is going to be dog slow and severely limiting, whichever distribution and package manager you use. The RAM disk is relatively small and the read rate for optical media is much lower than for hard disks.

I don't intend to install it to a Live CD. I just want to know how it's done, a factor that will help me decide whether to install it to the hard drive. As things stand, I would certainly do that, because everything else I need to function is working fine - but in order to use SL as my principle OS, I need to run Wine (or something) that allows me to use a Win PIM I've been using for a long time (over 15 years).

I've done that without problems using Mint, Mint Debian, Ubuntu and Opensuse so I assume everything will work using Entropy or Portage (both of which show Wine and Openbox). But so far, it seems to be more complicated.

Anyway, you need to read the SL Wiki article Entropy which explains the command line commands and the GUI front-end for the package manager Entropy. Please do that so that you understand how to use the package manager.

I just did that (I also read the Sulfur and Equo wikis) and it seems straightforward enough.

Using a read-only LiveCD, with slow access rates, working without hard disk access and only having access to a small RAM disk is very limiting. Anyway, if you want to try installing in such an environment I personally find the command line faster than the GUI. Open a Konsole/Terminal window (Kickoff > Applications > System > Terminal) and enter the following commands:

Code: Select all

$ su  (The LiveCD does not prompt for the root user's password, and jumps straight to the root user's account.)
# equo update
# equo install wine
# exit
$

To search for packages you would use the command:

Code: Select all

# equo search wine

Or you can use Kickoff > Applications > System > Entropy Store to launch the GUI for the Entropy package manager. The GUI front-end for the package manager is variously known as 'Entropy Store' or 'Sulfur'.

Please read the Entropy article in the SL Wiki to understand what the equo update command does.

Other people are using Gentoo and SL, so I assume that with a little help, I can too.

I'm going to go ahead and install to the hard disk, and get back to you later if I have any trouble.

Thanks for the pointers - which make a big difference.

[Fitzcarraldo]

You're welcome.

If WINE is your main worry, you should have no trouble. I'm a big WINE user and fan, as some of the applications I use do not have equivalents in Linux. I also use WINE daily to run Office 2007, which I need for work. You can read in some of my blog articles about some of the uses to which I put WINE (http://fitzcarraldoblog.wordpress.com/c ... inux/wine/).

I recommend that you use a WINEPREFIX (see one of my articles for an example). Once you get used to using WINEPREFIX, it's not difficult. I do that for all my applications under WINE.

[dhinds]

If WINE is your main worry, you should have no trouble. I'm a big WINE user and fan, as some of the applications I use do not have equivalents in Linux. I also use WINE daily to run Office 2007, which I need for work. You can read in some of my blog articles about some of the uses to which I put WINE (http://fitzcarraldoblog.wordpress.com/c ... inux/wine/).

I'm reading those.

I recommend that you use a WINEPREFIX (see one of my articles for an example). Once you get used to using WINEPREFIX, it's not difficult. I do that for all my applications under WINE.

I assume i can install Wine (and WinePrefix) via Entropy.

Do you feel that Wine would do a better job than (say) Openbox at running the couple of Windows Apps that I've come to depend on (EccoPro and The Bat!)?

As currently configured, Entropy is checking only Sabayon Repositories. How can I get it to draw on Gentoo sources?

[Fitzcarraldo]

I assume i can install Wine (and WinePrefix) via Entropy.

Code: Select all

# equo install wine

Do you feel that Wine would do a better job than (say) Openbox at running the couple of Windows Apps that I've come to depend on (EccoPro and The Bat!)?

Openbox is a windows manager (lower-case "w"), isn't it, not a Windows emulator (upper-case "W")? They're two different things. If you are using Linux, whichever desktop environment and windows manager you are using, if you want to run Windows applications then you either need to use WINE (or commercial variants such as CrossOver or Cedega which incorporate WINE) or else run Windows inside a virtual machine such a VirtualBox or VMware (in which case you need a Windows licence to run that OS legally). Try WINE first to see if your Windows applications work. As they say, you have to suck it and see.

As currently configured, Entropy is checking only Sabayon Repositories. How can I get it to draw on Gentoo sources?

The packages in the Entropy repositories are binaries built from Gentoo sources and the Sabayon Portage overlay. Therefore they are drawn from the Gentoo sources. If you mean "how can I install packages that are not currently in the Entropy repository but there is an ebuild in Gentoo" then you can either a) request for the package to be built and the binary be put in an Entropy repository (Requesting Packages for Entropy - New Policy), or b) use Portage (see the SL Wiki article on Portage, the Gentoo Handbook, and the articles in the SL Wiki on mixing Entropy and Portage).

[dhinds]

If you mean "how can I install packages that are not currently in the Entropy repository but there is an ebuild in Gentoo" then you can either a) request for the package to be built and the binary be put in an Entropy repository (Requesting Packages for Entropy - New Policy), or b) use Portage (see the SL Wiki article on Portage, the Gentoo Handbook, and the articles in the SL Wiki on mixing Entropy and Portage).

That's good to know.

I'm going to mark this thread "Solved", since I installed Wine as per your instructions and for some reason, it works better than it has on other Linux Distros. On the other hand, I'm having a hard time installing the printer driver. Sabayon recognizes the printer correctly but when I try to point it to the ppd file, I get "unable to write to because Permission denied". I check the properties of the file and find nothing I need to remove.

I'm trying to get myself up and running up to speed on Sabayon 6. My comment about the Gentoo repositories was motivated by: 1.- Some of the versions in the Sabayon repository are not the most recent and not all of the things I looked for were found; 2.- T he Ubuntu spin-offs access it's repositories (likewise for Debian spinoffs); 3.- I assume Gentoo has more users and developers; 4.- Installing the first round of updates took hours (I installed from a v. 6 live DVD I had burned a while back) and I assume Gentoo Repositories would be located somewhere closer to my location (south of the USA).

On the other hand, Sabayon must be different enough from Gentoo to warrant the limitation and components do actually appear to be better integrated than is the case with most other distros. And the quality of the support I'm getting constitutes an important reason to continue.

As for a Virtual Machine vs Wine: My goal is not to combine platforms but rather, free myself from the things M$ does and represents - not run it from within something better.

I will go ahead and edit the subject, looking forward to your suggestions regarding installing the printer driver (I made sure and purchase one that supports Linux and provides a CUPS driver).