Manjaro Kla for Full and Frugal installation.

[josejp2424]

New Manjaro KLA!

Manjaro KLA is a flexible distro that allows you to choose between a Full or Frugal installation, adapting to your needs. With its simple and functional installer, you can customize the system as you prefer.
Key Features:

Full and Frugal Installation
Choose between a Full installation, which gives you the entire system from scratch, or a Frugal installation, ideal for those seeking speed and efficiency.

Custom Installer
The new installer makes the Manjaro KLA installation process intuitive. If you select the Full installation, you can format your disk and choose the system language, all in the same process.

Intrd.gz and Puppy Tools
Use an optimized intrd.gz for Full installations, with tools like probedisk and probepart from Puppy Linux, ensuring efficient disk and partition detection.

Future Improvements
Soon, I plan to implement the new init to work with the initrd.gz from @wiak , so that only a single initrd can be used for both Full and Frugal installation modes..

Grub2Config
Although it may take a bit longer than the original, Grub2Config works perfectly for detecting and managing multi-boot setups with operating systems.

Why Choose Manjaro KLA?

Manjaro KLA is perfect for those looking for a personalized experience with an easy and functional installation.

Thanks to @nilsonmorales for the scripts and grub files.

Password user and admin : spot










Download

https://sourceforge.net/projects/kla-ma ... ox-2.9.iso

[bigpup]

Choose between a Full installation, which gives you the entire system from scratch

What does this provide that is needed?

I can list a lot of things that a frugal install provides, that a full install can not.

[Clarity]

Hello Jose

Preliminary test on bare-metal: Ventoy launched ISO file. Persistence option taken and disto boots to desktop.

Complete set of admin tools such as Neofetch, TLDR, hardinfo2, SAMBA; all OOTB.

Swift and clean

Only issue was when changing the number of desktops, it lost the ability to see the taskbar. This required a desktop restart (cntrl-alt-bksp).

This video (nvidia adapter) is connected to a TV via HDMI which is becoming common-place among users.

Will test other scenarios in the future.

[josejp2424]

Choose between a Full installation, which gives you the entire system from scratch

What does this provide that is needed?

I can list a lot of things that a frugal install provides, that a full install can not.

Hi @bigpup
Full Installation

Advantages:

Uses the entire filesystem conventionally (ext4, ext3, etc.) without relying on compressed SFS files.

Allows installing large packages and making permanent changes without space limitations.

Similar to a traditional Linux installation, offering better performance on older hardware with limited RAM.

Does not require decompressing files at each boot, which can make it faster on traditional hard drives.

Disadvantages:

Less portable, as it depends on the disk structure where it is installed.

Lacks the "session save" feature found in frugal mode, meaning changes cannot be easily discarded.

Requires more disk space.

Frugal Installation

Advantages:

Runs in SquashFS mode (compressed SFS files), reducing disk usage and allowing the system to load into RAM.

Portable, as it can be easily copied to another drive or backed up by simply copying the main files.

Can run entirely in RAM.

Supports save files, enabling the option to keep or discard changes easily.

Can be used on USB drives without excessive write cycles.

Disadvantages:

May be slower on mechanical hard drives if constantly loading from SFS files.

Some large programs may not work properly if they require a complete filesystem.

Relies on save files for persistence, which may require manual management.

Which one to choose?

If you have a low-RAM device or want a traditional installation: Full

If you prefer portability and flexibility: Frugal

That's just my opinion.

[josejp2424]

Hello Jose

Preliminary test on bare-metal: Ventoy launched ISO file. Persistence option taken and disto boots to desktop.

Complete set of admin tools such as Neofetch, TLDR, hardinfo2, SAMBA; all OOTB.

Swift and clean

Only issue was when changing the number of desktops, it lost the ability to see the taskbar. This required a desktop restart (cntrl-alt-bksp).

This video (nvidia adapter) is connected to a TV via HDMI which is becoming common-place among users.

Will test other scenarios in the future.

Hi @Clarity

Thank you for taking the time to test the distro on real hardware. I'm glad to hear that booting from Ventoy and persistence are working well. I'll take note of the taskbar issue when changing desktops and will look into it.

[Clarity]

Today, I want to explore this system more. What are the users passwords?

[josejp2424]

Today, I want to explore this system more. What are the users passwords?

@Clarity
Password: spot

[Amol]

Hello josejp2424 !
I give it a test with ventoy using a persistence folder : 1°) the screen resolution doesn't persist after reboot 2°) there is no tool to change the look and feel theme in the menu 3°) can we have the touchpad driver ?
Best regards,
Amol

[bigpup]

Choose between a Full installation, which gives you the entire system from scratch

What does this provide that is needed?

I can list a lot of things that a frugal install provides, that a full install can not.

Hi @bigpup
Full Installation

Advantages:

Allows installing large packages and making permanent changes without space limitations.

bigpup response: Same applies to frugal installs if using save folder. Only limit is free space available on the drive partition.

Similar to a traditional Linux installation, offering better performance on older hardware with limited RAM.

bigpup response: Actually it will operate slower, because anything you do has to first be read from drive and then loaded into RAM.

Does not require decompressing files at each boot, which can make it faster on traditional hard drives.

bigpup response: It would have to be a really old computer with a very slow RAM and CPU to even see a difference.
A frugal install will run much faster after loading all into RAM.

Disadvantages:

Less portable, as it depends on the disk structure where it is installed.

Lacks the "session save" feature found in frugal mode, meaning changes cannot be easily discarded.

Requires more disk space.

bigpup response:

Takes longer to start any program provided in the operating system. The program will first need to be read from the drive and then loaded into RAM to run.

the complete operating system is in read write operation and any changes are written directly to original files as they happen.

Any part of the operating system can easily be corrupted. Usually to correct it is required to do a completely new total installation. (unless it is easily understood what is corrupted and what will fix it)

Must be installed to a Linux formatted location and uses all of the partition space. Only operating system that can be on that partition.

Frugal Installation

Advantages:

Runs in SquashFS mode (compressed SFS files), reducing disk usage and allowing the system to load into RAM.

Portable, as it can be easily copied to another drive or backed up by simply copying the main files.

bigpup response: Only the save is required to be copied to make a backup of the complete install.
The save is storage for all changes. All other parts of the install are read only and never change.

If system really gets messed up. Only the save needs to be replaced with a good save backup

Can run entirely in RAM.

bigpup response: All is loaded into RAM except for the save. The save being read write is only layered into the operating file system.

Supports save files, enabling the option to keep or discard changes easily.

bigpup response: All of the install is in a folder. It only uses the space needed by the folder size. Rest of partition can be used for other stuff.

Can be installed in a location that has another operating system installed. The frugal folder is just another folder in that location. (installed inside the other operating system)

Can have multiple installs of different frugal installs all in the same drive partition.

Can be installed on any format. (Linux, Windows fat, ntfs, etc.....)

Only way to be able to load and unload SFS packaged programs.

Can easily change Linux kernel if needed.

Can be used on USB drives without excessive write cycles.

Disadvantages:

Some large programs may not work properly if they require a complete filesystem.

bigpup response: What??? The complete operating file system is in operation at all times.

Relies on save files for persistence, which may require manual management.

bigpup response: Can make save folder which auto adjust size as needed. Only limited by available free space in storage drive partition.

Which one to choose?

If you have a low-RAM device or want a traditional installation: Full

If you prefer portability and flexibility: Frugal

That's just my opinion.

[Amol]

Hello josejp2424 ! Forget my request concerning the touchpad, it's ok.
Amol

[Clarity]

Hello @Amol

... I give it a test with ventoy using a persistence folder ...

Is this on a system drive via the KLA boot-menu option 2 or 3?

The system looks for the following 2 elements: A dedicated partition and a folder on that partition where all of the sessions for all the KL's will be found.

KLs attempt to make this simple for any user(s) no matter a user's Linux knowledge or experience so that the boot understanding is the same for all KLs. Further, each KL is intelligent enough to know which of the saves in the Sessions folder is the appropriate one when booting/saving.

My question is for mere curiosity.

[Clarity]

@josejp2424 @nilsonmorales

Booted Ventoy. Launched a pristine Manjaro KLA v1.0 taking the boot-menu's option 2 to boot to RAM.

On desktop in the filemanager (PCManFM), I do not see all the partitions of my system drive or my Ventoy disk. Not sure "Why???" The system drive has a NTFS partition (labeled Windows) and and EXT4 partition (labeled Persistence).

KLA Manjaro.png (115.35 KiB) Viewed 1633 times

[Amol]

Hello Clarity !
It is with save to persistent at shutdown and direct save to persistent.It is only the resulution screen which is not saved in the persistent folder.
Furthermore the look and feel can be change with a right click on the desktop but not in the menu.
Amol

[Clarity]

Recommendation for Chrome browser added to the distro.

[josejp2424]

@josejp2424 @nilsonmorales

Booted Ventoy. Launched a pristine Manjaro KLA v1.0 taking the boot-menu's option 2 to boot to RAM.

On desktop in the filemanager (PCManFM), I do not see all the partitions of my system drive or my Ventoy disk. Not sure "Why???" The system drive has a NTFS partition (labeled Windows) and and EXT4 partition (labeled Persistence).

KLA Manjaro.png

In Manjaro KLA, it is managed as a regular user and not as root. When you use PCManFM in root mode, it will not show the partitions. To be able to see them, you need to use PCManFM as a regular user and mount the partitions from there.

I also saw that you ran pactl info, and it shows that you are only using PulseAudio, but PipeWire is only available for the spot user. Here’s an example of what my own pactl info output shows:

Code: Select all

Server String: /run/user/1000/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 35
Server Protocol Version: 35
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 73
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: spot
Host Name: spot-kla
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 1.2.7)
Server Version: 15.0.0
Default Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left, front-right
Default Sink: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo
Default Source: alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo
Cookie: 1023:1641

In summary, make sure you are using PCManFM as a regular user to mount the partitions, and if you want to use PipeWire, you need to do it under the spot user.

[josejp2424]

Hello josejp2424 !
I give it a test with ventoy using a persistence folder : 1°) the screen resolution doesn't persist after reboot 2°) there is no tool to change the look and feel theme in the menu 3°) can we have the touchpad driver ?
Best regards,
Amol

hi @Amol

You're right, it doesn't appear in the menu. lxappearance.
If you want it to appear, you can go to /usr/share/applications/lxappearance.desktop, and remove this line:
NotShowIn=GNOME;KDE;XFCE;MATE;
After that, you will see it in the favorites menu.

Also, for the next version, there will be a touchpad driver, as well as kernel 6.13, a version in GNOME, and the same one in Openbox.

[Amol]

Hello the community !
I solve my problem of the resolution persistence.I ve had the same problem with a distro called Crowz based on Devuan with fluxbox and tint2 and it's was easy to solve it with Crowz.And i do the same with Kla-Manjaro.You must check the openbox config file there is wo line for such thing but i add one given by ARandR.
That's all folks
Amol

[Clarity]

Had a few moments more today to review this distro. Booted Ventoy to launch, as before. WONDERFUL!

It has a good compliment of admin tools, OOTB.

btop_screenshot_20250326_071135.jpg (28.82 KiB) Viewed 223 times

The system packages were updated with no issue. Dolphin and Tealdeer was added for admin use.

On session-save reboot, launching from SG2D this KLA's session is found and desktop arrival is rather quick, too.

Request
I only have 1 recommendation to consider: KLs come with SAMBA built-in, with most if not all, with 2 additional admin tools such that all PUPPY users would recognize, as well. Thus 2 additional smb tools in KLs and PUPs are 'findsmb' and "Simple Samba Management". One of these in the desktop-menu is a SAMBA obvious admin tool while the other is a terminal listing of other LAN smb PCs. These tools are designed to minimize (rather, "they eliminate") user errors in setup for sharing on the local LAN (of course, I'm positive you already know).

Question

• Is there a REPO that must be added to provide Chrome browser for installation?

Summary
This KL is beautiful, package management is clear, its swift, navigation is as easy as the wayland KL-KDEs (even though this is an X11), etc.

Thanks @josejp2424 for this Art work.

P.S. I'm not having any boot problems, but I'm curious to review: Which folder are the boot logs kept? In dmesg I see this:

Code: Select all

[    0.000000] Linux version 6.1.119-1-MANJARO (root@spot-spot) (gcc (GCC) 14.2.1 20240910, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.43.0) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Jan 30 19:28:36 -03 2025
[    0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz w_bootfrom=/Manjaro-kla-openbox-2.9.iso w_changes=LABEL=Persistence=/Sessions/Manjaro-kla-openbox-2.9 w_changes1=RAM2 net.ifnames=0 rdinit=/vtoy/vtoy
[    0.000000] KERNEL supported cpus: ...