minios-linux/minios-live v5.1.0 on GitHub

v5.1.0

This release includes bug fixes for all issues discovered since v5.0.0, along with new features and improvements.

1. Build System and Code Quality Optimization

Improved Man Page Generation: The Makefile and debian/rules have been updated to improve man page generation and localization.
Translation Enhancements: The translation process has been improved, with updated .po files and better statistics output.
Package Handling: The package installation logic has been refactored to streamline repository handling, especially for Ubuntu.
Code Refactoring: Several scripts have been refactored for improved clarity, readability, and functionality.

2. User Experience (UX) and Interface Improvements

Boot Menu: Multilingual support has been added for the SYSLINUX and GRUB boot menus.
Boot Parameters: Added automatic timezone and keyboard layout configuration based on selected language in boot menu
Desktop Keyboard Setup: Added automatic keyboard layout configuration in desktop environment from system settings. Now supports keyboard model, layout, variant, and options (including layout switching combinations like grp:ctrl_shift_toggle, grp:caps_toggle). Configuration is processed by live-config component 0150-keyboard-configuration and applied to XFCE/Fluxbox desktop environments. Desktop keyboard setup utility moved to minios-tools package.
Virtual Machine Display: Added minios-virtual-resolution utility for automatic screen resolution adjustment in virtual machines without guest utilities. Supports virtres=WIDTHxHEIGHT kernel parameter and novirtres to disable. Moved to minios-tools package.
Ventoy Compatibility: Compatibility symlinks for Ventoy have been added to improve the boot experience.

3. System and Package Management

New Ubuntu Support: Support for Ubuntu Bionic and Focal has been added to the build configuration.
Kernel Management: The kernel options in minios-cmd have been refactored, replacing kernel-type with kernel-flavour.
Package Updates: Several packages have been added and removed to optimize the different MiniOS editions. Added firmware-mediatek package to improve support for MediaTek wireless adapters.
Audio System Modernization: Transitioned from PulseAudio to PipeWire for Standard, Toolbox, and Ultra editions, providing modern audio/video routing and lower latency.

4. Applications and Tools Updates

Session Manager:

Major update with new functionality - added session export/import to .tar.zst archives with automatic mode conversion support
Implemented session copy and conversion between modes (native/dynfilefs/raw)
Added full FAT32/NTFS filesystem support with fallocate for raw sessions and sync after mkfs.ext4
Implemented disk space checking for all operations
Fixed session size handling with proper size preservation and corrected MB/bytes conversions
Changed default session size from 4000MB to 1000MB
Fixed GUI SpinButton range and crash issues
Improved reliability on FAT32 filesystems
Added MiniOS version/edition detection helpers
Updated bash completion for new commands
Added experimental dracut-based initrd support with path corrections

MiniOS Installer:

Added experimental dracut-based initrd support with automatic detection
Implemented multilingual configuration copying and localized bootloader configs
Enhanced SYSLINUX configuration processing with localized configs and fallback mechanisms
Refactored bootloader detection to support multiple types
Auto-detect boot menu language from cmdline locales parameter
Set boot menu language combo box to value inherited from cmdline
Remove live-config parameters from boot configs for localized installations (parameters stored in minios/config.conf instead)
Enhanced integration with configurator - automatically passes -i flag for parameter inheritance
User settings from current live session are automatically detected and suggested during installation
Added French and Portuguese (Portugal) translations
Improved Ventoy compatibility symlink handling
Updated zero_fill_disk function to 2MB overwrite size
Added gir1.2-udisks-2.0 dependency

MiniOS Configurator:

Added -i/--inherit-cmdline option to automatically inherit configuration settings from kernel command line
Configurator detects and uses settings from the running live system when launched from installer
Configuration is pre-filled with current boot parameters for improved installation workflow
Added support for parsing 21 unique config parameters from kernel command line (42 cmdline parameter variants)

Kernel Manager:

Added automatic detection and support for both dracut and livekit initramfs builders
Implemented JSON output support
Enhanced error handling in main function
Improved encoding detection in Syslinux config updates
Added multilingual SYSLINUX configuration support
Updated translations
Improved Ventoy compatibility

MiniOS Tools (sb2iso, dir2sb, etc.):

Implemented experimental dracut-based initrd support across all tools
Improved Ventoy compatibility with new cleanup function and method changes
Enhanced sb2iso script with unified menu type handling and automatic bootloader type detection
Improved language support and refactored variable names for clarity
Added bash completion functions for dir2sb, rmsbdir, savechanges, and sb2dir
Suppressed error output in file searches
Removed unnecessary source paths
Updated documentation

Mini Commander:

New application added to repository - simplified clone of Midnight Commander for terminal environments
Provides dual-pane file manager interface with basic file operations

Ncurses Menu:

New application added to repository - terminal-based menu utility
Features multi-line title support and improved layout handling

Rescuezilla:

Replaced nbd-server and nbd-client dependencies with nbdkit
Updated SVG button files for improved interface

DriveUtility:

Enhanced disk filtering logic to hide mounted disks by default for improved safety
Renamed "Show all disks (DANGEROUS)" checkbox to "Show mounted disks"
Added confirmation dialog for operations on mounted devices with color-coded buttons and detailed risk warnings
Fixed mountutils to allow operations on mounted devices when explicitly confirmed by advanced users
Added support for optical drives (CD/DVD) in Create Image mode for ISO creation
Updated translations for new UI strings across all supported languages

Flux Tools:

Added Session Manager and Kernel Manager integration to fbliveapp
Implemented gettext support for translations in fbappselect, fbdesktop, and fbliveapp scripts
Updated French translations
Refined VLC descriptions and installation prompts
Lowered bash dependency to 4.4
Added manual pages

5. System Components and Documentation

Live Config:

Enhanced configuration scripts to detect initramfs type for ISO paths
Improved user-media configuration to check for from.log in initramfs log directory
Updated init script to copy config.conf if it exists
Refactored components to support default Debian Live paths alongside MiniOS paths
Added support for fluxbox-flux alongside fluxbox-slax

Elementary MiniOS Icon Theme:

Added new icons - media-floppy and package-x-generic at 64px size

Documentation:

Updated with priority queue regex pattern matching support
Added new boot parameters (including automount)
Comprehensive Rebuilding ISO documentation
Added curl to required packages list

6. Dracut Integration (Experimental)

Dracut as Build-Time Alternative: Experimental integration of dracut as an alternative initramfs builder option. By default, MiniOS uses livekit as the stable and production-ready initramfs builder. The INITRAMFS_BUILDER variable in build.conf allows optionally selecting dracut for testing purposes during system builds. Dracut support is currently experimental and available only as a build-time option, not in the final system.
Script and Configuration Updates: Numerous scripts have been updated to support both livekit and dracut, including minios-init, minios-shutdown, and various build scripts. The system automatically detects which initramfs builder was used and adapts accordingly.

Full Changelog: v5.0.0...v5.1.0