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labrona

Member

Registered: 2020-08-12

Posts: 3  

Refracta 10 issues with

Hi,
I am a Linux user for fifteen years now, and an happy user of Refracta 9 for two (or three).  I just wanted to let you know i much i love it, and why.
First of all, security-wise, it is a boon to have it run in ram, to have firejail already installed with a firejail menu, to have Services which enables us to deactivate some services we do not use, such as cups, and plenty of others in my case.  Every time i have Refracta 9 up and running for days at a time, i make sure source.list has everything checked except security and i update my installation for newest security packages.  A very easy task, security-wise.  And i make sure i have latest instance of Firefox-esr installed too.

I do not install OS anymore.  I much prefer having my OS run in ram.  I have a 2tb hard drive installed lately instead of what i had (150 Gb), used only for storage.  It is at once more convenient and more secure that way. All my hardware run well with Refracta 9.  Thanks to developer for a well-rounded OS that i prefer over everything else.  I know for a fact that choosing a Linux OS is not an easy task, so much choice around.  Every OS competes with each other for your attention, and to make a decision you have to consider security, convenience, habits, your ram, your hardware.  With Windows, you make do with what it offers.  With Linux, you have to make a choice.  Plenty of choice.  It takes time to learn what you like and dislike in an OS.

As for Refracta 10, that is something else.  I still use Refracta 9, because the latest Refracta instance lacks some features i like.  No Service menu, updating packages is met with a problem : Firefox-esr does not upgrade itself due to corrupt files.  sudo apt remove --purge firefox-esr let me get rid of corrupt files  before installing Firefox-esr again.  But I decided to use Firefox portable, or chromium chromium-sandbox, for my web browsing needs while using Refracta 10 for a while.

Why change when Refracta 9 is so good you ask?  Because i wanted to use i2p.  I2P is not available with Devuan ascii repositories.  Before you ask, let me tell you that i2p is what you could refer to as security by design, you can do pretty much anything under the radar, including using a torrent client named I2PSnark.  VPNs are refered to as security by policy, you have to have confidence in your VPN service provider that it does not share your data with government agencies and/or commercial entities, which free VPNs do without any shame.

So I have tested Refracta 10, and found that it lacks the polish of preceding instance. I check if the developer of Refracta publishes another version from time to time, more polished.  Up to now, no new version.

But thumbs up for Refracta 9.  5 out of 5.
Refracta 10 : 4 out of 5

HevyDevy

Member

Registered: 2019-09-06

Posts: 358  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

based !

fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,486  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

The missing services menu was part of the mate system tools. Those were left out of refractra10, but I don't recall the exact reason. There was some incompatibility.

Run 'sysv-rc-conf' in a terminal as root (or sudo) and you can easily turn services on or off in selected runlevels. Navigate with arrow keys, select with space bar, then q to save and quit.

Please tell me more about the problem you're having with firefox-esr. I just upgraded it in a live-iso booted in qemu with no problems.

I will make new isos and release them some time probably in the next month or two. Let me know of any other problems so I can fix them.

ofvergara

Member

Registered: 2020-07-17

Posts: 18  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

hello labrona,

• do you have a link where i can download refracta 9?

• do you run it on ram by means of a dvd or usb?

• how do you keep the settings or installed programs when you decide the turn off or restart the computer?

• what is the objective of using the firejail container?  what is the risk difference compared against not using it?

• how do you install i2p in ascii?  how do you use/configure i2p?

• does it add latency to your internet connection?

thank you for your comments. i'm new to the devuan world.
cheers.

golinux

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 3,318  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

@ofvergara . . .

The refracta website:
https://refracta.org/

Download iso images. refracta 9 is available:
https://get.refracta.org/

You can read about creating a persistent partition on usb here:
https://refracta.org/docs/readme.refracta2usb.txt

That should get you started.

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fsmithred

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 2,486  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

do you run it on ram by means of a dvd or usb?

what is the objective of using the firejail container?  what is the risk difference compared against not using it?

You can load it to ram when you boot from dvd or usb. If you must run from dvd, I strongly suggest that you boot it to ram. It takes a lot longer to boot that way, but then it responds much faster while you are using it. Running from usb is almost as fast as running from hard drive, so you might not feel the need to boot to ram.

Running a program in firejail prevents the program from accessing any directories that are not specified in the profile for that program. For example, my firefox can only see the Downloads directory. I cannot access any other files in my home from within firefox, and neither can any of the websites I visit.

labrona

Member

Registered: 2020-08-12

Posts: 3  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

I was asked about i2p.  There is a link by labbe5 which is very informative : http://oldforum.puppylinux.com/puppy/vi … c2f513c854

Since in my previous post i also wrote about VPNs, there is another very informative link by labbe5 and a very popular read : http://oldforum.puppylinux.com/puppy/vi … c2f513c854

ofvergara

Member

Registered: 2020-07-17

Posts: 18  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

Thank you guys for your kind comments & inputs.

i'll read/download those links and continue gaining knowledge in devuan
cheers...

MiyoLinux

Member

Registered: 2016-12-05

Posts: 1,323  

Re: Refracta 10 issues with

Don't forget...

The derivatives that Stanz releases already have i2p installed!

http://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=3382

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I have been Devuanated, and my practice in the art of Devuanism shall continue until my Devuanization is complete. Until then, I will strive to continue in my understanding of Devuanchology, Devuanprocity, and Devuanivity.

Veni, vidi, vici vdevuaned. I came, I saw, I Devuaned.