Will Fossapup's LibreOffice SFS tool work in a full install?

[tredI9100]

The Puppy Linux install guide says that SFS files do not work in a full install, but FossaPup64 9.5 has a LibreOffice tool that creates and loads an SFS file. Will this still work?

[GMBudwrench]

The one in the repo, here; http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pe ... s-fossa64/

should work. There are two versions, download both and try each one. Idk why they shouldn’t work, I have the libre office sfs install in bionic64 and haven’t had any problems

[mikewalsh]

@tredI9100 :-

The reason for that statement generally does hold true for a full install, because the 'full' one doesn't make use of the aufs 'layering-type' file-system like the 'frugal' one does.....and it's the layering file-system that permits an SFS package to function in the first place.

It's one of Pup's few real peculiarities, but you can get used to it, given time. It's why a 'frugal' install is the recommended one to go for, because nearly every piece of software built for Puppy is packaged to work with this method of operation, one way or another.

Mike.

[tredI9100]

@mikewalsh
Interesting! Thanks

[mikeslr]

Frugal installs use a 'merge-file-system', merging in RAM various file-systems. Kind of like layering in graphic programs. An application constructed as an SFS is such a file-system. Under Frugal Installs you can load and unload it. Full Installs don't use a 'merge-file-system' and don't include the mechanism to enable them. Under a Frugal install you can easily test a new version of an SFS: Unload the old, load the new, reverse if there's a problem, keep the one which works best.
If under a Full Install you Right-Click an SFS you will be offered the opportunity to 'install it' just as if it were a pet. Whether 'uninstall' will work, work-fully, or leave a mess or break other applications is at best a guess and may depend on the application.
My guess is that it would be safe to 'install' a LibreOffice SFS. Most of its files will be written to its own folder in the /opt folder. Removing --such as in order to 'upgrade' to a newer version-- at worst will leave some files in its folder in /opt and a couple uniquely named and thus easily identified files else where. You could just delete these. Be aware that there may be some hidden configuration files somewhere under the /root folder.
But why are you using a Full Install? That structure was developed over a dozen years ago when computers typically had less than 512 Mbs of RAM in order to speed up booting. It hasn't been changed since and creates multiple hazards: a broken Full Install is almost impossible to fix; and it provides NO protection against being infected by malware while surfing the Web. The only justification anyone has offered for still using it is that it will perform a little faster if you engage in the RAM intensive activity of compiling applications. How much compiling of applications do you plan to do?
If you only have 512 Mb you can't properly run Fossapup64 anyway. I strongly recommend that at your earliest convenience you switch over to using a Frugal install with a SaveFolder. A SaveFolder will automatically expand to the full extent of the available space of partition on which it is located. Thus, it provides almost all the benefits of a Full Install, none of a Full Install's problems; and all the benefits of a Frugal Install: use of SFSes, use of AppImages, and the ability to test pets and debs from Ubuntu Fossa Focal without committing to them. To test a pet or deb, just install it and restart-X. Puppy will re-catalog what constitutes its 'merge-file-system' in RAM. Until a Save is executed the application being tested is NOT a permanent part of your operating system.

[mikewalsh]

@tredI9100 :-

The main 'premise' behind Puppy's SFS software packages is the ability to add to/remove from the system as & when the user wishes, OK? In other words, you don't "install" it, you simply load it when you want it, and then unload it when you're finished with it.

As previously mentioned, SFS packages don't really work the way they're meant to with a traditional "full" install, because of the lack of the aufs, 'layering', union file-system. However, there IS an alternative way of doing things in Linux, if you wish to use software without permanently installing it. It's called an AppImage.

These are an all-in-one binary package. You simply make them executable (shipping without execute permissions is a security measure), then click on them to launch them. They unpack themselves into RAM, in the /tmp directory while in use, and run from there. When you close them, the contents in /tmp are then deleted at the next shutdown.

LibreOffice is available in this format, and can be found via links from the Downloads page of their website. Because you don't actually install these, either, they can be run from any location you like. You can even run them from a flash drive..!

Mike.