[Migration to meta-repo]

Yes, the docs in the README for meta-repo are outdated and I will update them soon. Sorry for the confusion.

[GCC 7.3.1 in core-kit 1.2 with Spectre V2 fixes]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks to some good work by @temptorsent, we now have gcc-7.3.1 in core-kit 1.2. This version of GCC has spectre V2 fixes, so if you compile the latest debian-sources-lts or latest debian-sources kernel after gcc-7.3.1 is installed, and reboot, you should be protected against spectre V2. Please use this tool to test your vulnerability, both before and after your kernel upgrade, to make sure everything went as planned:

https://github.com/speed47/spectre-meltdown-checker

See https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?px=GCC-7.3-Released&page=news_item for info on gcc-7.3.

Best,

Daniel

[About new kit released.]

I would say just skip that step.

[1.2 Funtoo Linux Release]

Hi All,

The Funtoo Linux 1.2 release is now available for use. Many of us are now running Funtoo Linux 1.2. Here's how to upgrade your system to Funtoo Linux 1.2. Note that soon, 1.2 will be the "default" version of Funtoo Linux. For now, you need to perform certain steps to switch over. We're doing this so that power users can switch over right away, and so we can make things a lot easier for less-experienced users to upgrade to Funtoo Linux 1.2. One of the features I have been working on behind-the-scenes is an "easy upgrade" functionality for ego, to perform big updates automatically. This functionality is not yet ready, but is being worked on. When this "easy upgrade" functionality is ready, 1.2 will be released via "easy upgrade" to systems who have not yet upgraded.

For now, power users can upgrade by performing the following steps. First, select the new kits in your /etc/ego.conf:

[kits]

core-kit = 1.2-prime
security-kit = 1.2-prime
kde-kit = 5.12-prime
media-kit = 1.2-prime
java-kit = 1.2-prime
ruby-kit = 1.2-prime
haskell-kit = 1.2-prime
lisp-scheme-kit = 1.2-prime
lang-kit = 1.2-prime
dev-kit = 1.2-prime
desktop-kit = 1.2-prime

Then, perform the following steps, as root:

# ego sync

This will activate the new kits. Now, if you have a /etc/portage/repos.conf/funtoo symlink, remove it:

# rm /etc/portage/repos.conf/funtoo

Next,

# emerge -u1 gcc

This will upgrade gcc. Next,

# emerge -u1 glibc libnsl libtirpc rpcsvc-proto

Glibc will now be upgraded. Next,

# emerge -auDN @system

This will upgrade your core system set of packages. Next,

# emerge -auDN @world

This will upgrade all other packages. Next,

# emerge @preserved-rebuild

This will rebuild packages that are linked to old libraries. Now, final step:

# revdep-rebuild --library 'libstdc++.so.6' -- --exclude sys-devel/gcc

This will rebuild all remaining packages that need to be linked against the new libstdc++.

At this point, you are now upgraded to Funtoo Linux 1.2! Please report any bugs to https://bugs.funtoo.org and let us know of any issues you experience, either as part of the upgrade, related to dependencies, or related to functionality on your upgraded system.

Best,

Daniel Robbins

[Login issues hopefully resolved]

Hi All,

After some recent upgrades to the forums, there were some login issues, in particular issues with new users logging in to the forums for the first time, and other bugs. I believe I have tracked these down and resolved them, but if you for some reason still do experience issues, please hop on to IRC (freenode) and jump in #funtoo-dev and let us know. Or #funtoo, for that matter. Thanks, and apologies for the issues.

-Daniel

[New fastpull distfile service]

Hi All,

Thanks to funtoo supporters, we now have a new fast download service that is available for everyone. Upgrading to the latest portage-2.3.25_beta2 will enable this service. The fastpull service consists of a lot of different moving parts, but it adds up to distfiles downloading very fast and being available. Here's how it works.

1. When we regenerate meta-repo and kits, ebuilds are scanned for new SRC_URI tarballs, etc.
2. These new distfiles are queued for download.
3. Our fastpull spider then downloads these distfiles automatically, and uploads them to Google Cloud Storage.
4. When you try to download a SRC_URI, you hit https://fastpull-us.funtoo.org first, which redirects you to the download on fast Google Cloud Storage.

The design of fastpull is to ensure that all distfiles are always available going forward. It will also help us to identify situations where for some reason or another we are missing a distfile for download, although these situations should happen less and less frequently (and hopefully disappear) now that fastpull is deployed.

Best,

Daniel Robbins

[Funtoo Linux Release Schedule for 2018]

We're running a bit late, primarily due to flu stuff.... 1.2 is almost ready.

[2nd Generation Funtoo Compute Infrastructure and Plan Upgrades]

One note that when we upgrade to core-kit-1.2, the minimum kernel supported will be linux-3.2. This upgrade should be happening within a week. You can choose not to upgrade and stay at core-kit 1.0 if you need OpenVZ RHEL6 compatibility. So it does appear that we will be moving away from OpenVZ for our default build.

[2nd Generation Funtoo Compute Infrastructure and Plan Upgrades]

We will continue to support the OpenVZ RHEL6 kernel. This kernel will still be maintained upstream for several years.

LXD runs on newer kernels and is getting mature enough to use in production, so it worked well for us.

[2nd Generation Funtoo Compute Infrastructure and Plan Upgrades]

Migration typically involves 1-5 minutes of downtime. Typically if you do not have a ton (like 100GB of data) the downtime is closer to one minute. So pretty painless.

[IMPORTANT: iptables firewalls in containers]

New LXD containers should allow full use of iptables. We need to ensure the modules you need are loaded but beyond that, things should be pretty well-supported.

[networking in containers needs a more sincere approach.]

We currently offer iptables support and have for a long time.

For IPv6, our datacenter doesn't have native IPv6 but we will likely set up a tunnel soon to provide IPv6 addressing. That's kind of a bummer. It is more than offset by our datacenter powering our servers using solar power, and passively cooling them (no AC needed) for over half of the year, giving our tiny datacenter an efficiency that rivals Facebook and Google's build-outs.

As for new technology, we are now using ZFS RAID-Z, Intel Optane to accelerate our IO, have 40 core (80 cores hyperthreaded) systems, and are now using LXD and kernel 4.14.12-2 (migrating away from OpenVZ and RHEL6 kernels.) And we also document our setups so others can do the same. (Docs for our 2nd generation infrastructure are in the works.)

[2nd Generation Funtoo Compute Infrastructure and Plan Upgrades]

Hi All,

We have deployed our second-generation compute infrastructure and have begun the process of moving containers over to it. This funtoo-based infrastructure is running on faster hardware and is using ZFS for storage. For more information on our second-generation platform, see https://www.funtoo.org/Funtoo_Containers

Also note that plans have been upgraded. Our base plan for $15/mo now comes with 8 cores and 60GB of storage (was 6 cores and 50GB previously.) The medium plan now has 16 cores and 120GB of storage (was 12 cores and 100GB). And our large plan now has 32 cores and 240GB of storage (was 24 cores and 200 GB). All existing containers will be automatically upgraded to these new resource levels when they are migrated to the new infrastructure :)

Best,

Daniel

[Meltdown patches]

We are currently deploying our 2nd-generation compute infrastructure which runs on LXD and debian-sources-4.14.12-2, which provides some mitigation for the recent exploits. We are also running the latest Intel microcode and will continually update as new fixes become available.

[Funtoo Linux Release Schedule for 2018]

Hi All,

In order to have more predictability for users, Funtoo Linux is going to adopt a six-month release schedule starting in 2018. Our kits are currently at 1.0-prime, and we are going to skip over 1.1-prime (it didn't get done fast enough) and jump to 1.2-prime. We are going to start development on 1.2-prime today, December 28, 2017, with a planned release of the production 1.2-prime on January 21, 2018. We will then maintain the 1.2-prime kits for the next six months, until they are replaced with 1.3-prime.

The schedule in detail is as follows:

December, 28, 2017: start development on 1.2
January 1, 2018: we will be rolling out a python-modules-kit and perl-modules-kit as new kits (for 1.0+)
January 4, 2018: Alpha release of 1.2
January 11, 2018: Beta release of 1.2
We will have a release candidate when we feel we are ready, with a scheduled production release on January 21, 2018.

On February 1, 2018, the 1.0-prime kits will be deprecated and users will be migrated to the 1.2-prime kits (this should be seamless unless you've hard-coded 1.0 or 1.1-prime kits in ego.conf.)

For 1.2-prime, what we are going to attempt to deliver is a default gcc of 6.4 and all ebuilds updated to be in sync with Gentoo as of January 2018. We will be using a 'current' (non-snapshotted tree) until around January 4th when we will freeze the tree and then will start backporting security fixes and updates.

In a few hours, the 1.2-prime kits will appear but will be tagged as DEVELOPMENT quality, so they should not be used until they are made default. I will post updates here on our progress.

Regards,

Daniel

[OpenGL applications segfault]

It looks like mesa-17.2.7 is something that we should bump since it is the latest stable version and fixes a lot of bugs since 17.2.0.

[Anonymous usage reports for funtoo kits usage]

I like the idea. We can collect usage data on ebuilds and thus know what ebuilds we should prioritize for users. As long as there is an opt-out for people, I think it's ok. We can add this functionality to ego.

[How to update world with new CFLAGS: -O3 ?]

Also, just a note, I don't recommend -O3 and it is not always faster. -O2 contains all the 'almost always good' optimizations, and -O3 contains some questionable ones.

[Same account for forums and bugs?]

OK, I've gone ahead and made the change.

[Ebuilds for Razer mouse and keyboard support]

Hi All,

Coming in the next regen of meta-repo are ebuilds and supporting tools for configuration of Razer (https://www.razerzone.com/) keyboards and mice. This allows you to create neat glowy and color effects, as well as do other useful things.

To configure your Razer devices, first perform the following:

	# emerge polychromatic
	# reboot

Then, you will need to add your desktop user to the plugdev group, and then start openrazer-daemon in your personal .bash-login or .xprofile:

openrazer-daemon

At this point, you should be able to run polychromatic controller in your desktop environment to configure your Razer devices.

[Are there any plans to make genkernel-next more funtoo-friendly?]

Yes, I am working with robbat2 on a genkernel rewrite and a modular system to integrate initramfs like dracut, etc. We are just getting started and the holidays are keeping me from diving in right now. The project is/will be hosted here: https://github.com/funtoo/xkernel . You can see that robbat2 has contributed a host of issues/todos that I will be whittling away on soon.

[ego trouble]

@palica, ego query should be patched to work with python 3.4+.

[New ebuild: turbovnc]

Hi All, 

I have just committed net-misc/turbovnc to the Funtoo tree. Turbo VNC is a very good VNC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Network_Computing) client and server. As a client, it will allow you to connect to remote systems and is very fast and feature-rich, with a ton of security options. As a server, it integrates with X and supports VirtualGL. VirtualGL is functionality that overcomes some inherent limitations of VNC, which traditionally does not support OpenGL or forces applications to use non-hardware rendering. With VirtualGL, you can remotely access a Funtoo system with hardware-accelerated OpenGL and benefit from its GPU (graphics will render on the remote system using hardware acceleration and then the rendered images will be transmitted to your client.) Learn more about VirtualGL here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtualGL

As a client, I've found turbovnc to be significantly faster than tigervnc, and the client has a lot of very useful configuration options -- see screenshots below.

Please give the ebuild a try and let me know how it works for you.

[Dropbox changes]

I've also just updated the reworked dropbox ebuild with a bunch of fixes, so when the -r1 ebuild shows up in meta-repo, that should merge cleanly for everyone (gnome or non-gnome users.)

[Dropbox changes]

Yes, sorry for the inconvenience of this change -- dropbox is supposed to be set up under each user's home directory rather than installed centrally. While this fixes quite a few other complications it does make things more complicated for you. Fortunately there is a pretty good way to get dropbox working the way you want -- using /etc/local.d. See if this works for your needs. Try creating an /etc/local.d/dropbox.start script that will start dropbox as the user of your choice when the system boots:

#!/bin/bash
su username -c "/usr/bin/dropbox start"

Then...

# chmod +x /etc/local.d/dropbox.start

This will run dropbox as user "username" when the system starts.