Welcome to the ninth release of my Unix environment AmiCygnix!
AmiCygnix offers a directory structure as it is present on Unix systems. All
programs available for AmiCygnix run natively on AmigaOS 4 and do not require
an emulator.
The version 1.7 brings some innovations around the topic "start of external
programs" (remote start). In addition, a Unix shell and an Amiga shell adapted
to AmiCygnix are now available.
By the complete revision of the utility library "libaos4util" for AmiCygnix
some bugs have been fixed again.
The addition of the coreutils package also removes some dependencies on the
OS4 SDK.
New in 1.7r2:
-------------
* The English gui file for the prefs editor "XServer-Access" was broken.
Is fixed now.
* The "echo" command of coreutils was buggy. Is fixed now.
* Slightly bugfixed AmiCygnix Unix shell (acxsh, a special version of the
abc-shell).
* The integrated root certificates for GnuTLS and OpenSSL have been updated.
* Updated Italian translations. Thanks to Samir Hawamdeh!
* Fixed a minor bug in the Install script.
New in 1.7:
-----------
* All display drivers for the Workbench now have a menu for starting a Unix or
an Amiga shell. The environment of these shells is specially adapted to
AmiCygnix. A further menu item can be used to open a preference editor for
changing the access rights to the X server.
Following display driver are affected:
- picasso96wb
- picasso96wb2
- picasso96pip
- workbench
- workbench2
You can also launch these shells through the "System Tools" menu of the
desktop panel.
* Until AmiCygnix 1.6 there were some dependencies to the OS4-SDK. The
commands of the coreutils package needed by some shell scripts were not
included in AmiCygnix. Especially the ROX-Filer was affected by this.
These commands are now included and can also be used in the shells.
* Due to an error in Newlib the arguments of some shell commands were not read
correctly. Especially the backslash "" was affected. This has now been
fixed.
Especially the following packages were affected:
- fileutils
- coreutils
- sed
- grep
- flex
* The shell commands of AmiCygnix compiled with Newlib did not have wildcard
support (resolution of "*" in filenames). The versions of the OS4-SDK
compiled with Clib2 did. This has now been implemented so that no Unix shell
is required anymore for the affected shell commands.
* Contains now a special version of the ABC shell adapted to AmiCygnix called
"acxsh" for better compatibility with AmiCygnix.
* In the new directory "Prefs" is a preference editor to edit the access
rights to the X server. Important for the call of remote applications.
* A script named "Start_XServer_Only.bat" allows to start an X server without
starting an application. Is mainly intended for starting external programs.
* Update of the SSL/TLS layer "GnuTLS" to version 3.7.3. Fixes some problems
with certificates.
The following packages are affected:
- NetSurf
- Claws-Mail
- Pidgin
- uGet
- Audacious (scrobbler plugin)
- Gimp (file-uri plugin)
- UFRaw (FITS Saver)
Therefore please pay attention to updates of these programs!
* The integrated root certificates for GnuTLS and OpenSSL have been updated.
* Now includes the new GTK default theme "Adwaita", which is now also the
default theme for GTK+ 2 and GTK+ 3 programs.
* Support for GTK+ 3 programs was buggy. Bug has been fixed.
* Revised version of the preference editors "myX11Setup" and
"myX11SetupLight".
* When using the window manager "dwm" (Dynamic Window Manager) introduced with
AmiCygnix 1.5, key combinations with ALT could not be used. For key commands
of "dwm" the left Amiga key is now used.
* The library "libaos4util" used in all AmiCygnix programs has been completely
revised and all programs have been re-linked to it.
* The support of the old "threads.library" has been removed. This is no longer
needed by any of the current programs.
* The printer tool "lpr" could crash. Has been fixed.
* The data for the time zones has been updated.
* With installed AmigaOS4 SDK the commands of the SDK are preferred now with
the environment variable "PATH" of the ABC Shell. Basically general
environment variables are set at the start of AmiCygnix only if they are not
present in ENVARC:.
* Many more bugfixes...
New in 1.6:
-----------
* Update to version 2.24.32 of GTK+, the latest version of GTK+ 2. In addition
to some new features, the drag 'n drop in GTK+ 2 applications now finally
works. The corresponding programs have to be linked again. Programs like
Rox-Filer or Gimp benefit greatly from this. Therefore, please pay attention
to updates of these programs!
* Full support for Unix locale strings. So you can now select the country, the
encoding and special variants in addition to the language. You can also
select multiple locales.
All drivers, all AmiCygnix tools and the X server have been revised for
this.
See the documentation "README.Language.pdf" in the directory "Cygnix:Docs"!
* With the following display drivers for the Workbench, the size of the window
can now be reduced:
- workbench
- workbench2
- picasso96wb
- picasso96wb2
The content can then be moved using a scroller.
This function can be deactivated via myX11Setup!
* Support for version 3.16.3 of GnuTLS, the latest version of the SSL/TLS
layer. Support for SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.3 is new. The Trusted Certificates
included have also been updated. Problems with programs like NetSurf or
Claws-Mail should be solved with it. However, the corresponding programs
must be relinked.
The following packages are affected:
- NetSurf
- Claws-Mail
- Pidgin
- uGet
- Audacious (scrobbler plugin)
- Gimp (file-uri plugin)
- UFRaw (FITS saver)
Therefore, please pay attention to updates of these programs!
* Support for LDAP through OpenLDAP 2.4.49. Is now integrated in libcurl and
will also be used in Claws-Mail.
* Support for AISS in the menus of the Workbench display drivers. The size of
the icons can be set using the "MenuImageSize" environment variable.
* Revised myX11Setup with improved help function. Thanks to Michael Christoph!
* Italian translation updated in many AmiCygnix scripts. Thanks to Samir
Hawamdeh!
* New Spanish translation of the texts in the Workbench display drivers.
Thanks to Javier de las Rivas!
* New catalog in Russian language for myX11Setup. Thanks to Eugene Sobolev!
* The topic "Clearlooks" is now the standard topic for GTK+ 2 and the window
manager "Openbox". The old themes "Amiga-BlueTabs-xxx" or "AmigaOS4" are
still included.
* Fixed a problem when starting the AmiCygnix desktop via myX11Setup.
New in 1.5:
-----------
* The following new display drivers are now available:
a) Driver for a display on a separate screen:
- customscreen
- customscreendb
- customscreendb2
- picasso96clonewbdb2
b) Driver for a display in a workbench window:
- workbench
- workbench2
- picasso96wb2
All drivers that do not use Picasso96 require graphics.library V54!
This brings the number of display drivers to 13. Why this variety of
drivers? It has been shown that the different variants of the drivers have a
different performance depending on the system. In addition to the pure
processor performance and the graphics card driver used, the graphics card
used plays a role. Unfortunately I cannot test every system. Therefore only
trying out which driver works best helps.
Further information can be found in the new documentation file
"Display-Driver.pdf" in the "Docs" directory!
* This release now includes a new Window Manager called "Dynamic Window
Manager" (dwm), recommended for use with programs launched from the
standalone scripts.
This window manager maximizes the main window of the program and does not
add frames to the windows. This avoids duplicate frames, as in a workbench
display and the use of the window manager Openbox.
* If a workbench display is iconized, the name of the icon now indicates the
program started in it, if it was started with a standalone script.
* The X server did not support special keys like "Page Up" or "Home" found on
a PC keyboard. Also the NumLock key was not supported. This has now been
implemented (thanks to Stefan Juhas for his hint!).
* Under certain circumstances, the X server could freeze the entire system
when starting or exiting. This particularly occurred in programs that were
started with a standalone script. All display drivers have been revised for
this and the problems should be resolved.
Thanks to Samir Hawamdeh, Michael Christoph, George Sokianos, Stefan Juhas,
Helge Kvalheim and MR2 for the tips and help with the removal!
* Fixed some bugs in myX11Setup and myX11SetupLight (thanks to Michael
Christoph!).
* For the following programs, the Italian translation has been updated
or recreated:
- For the adjusters myX11Setup and myX11SetupLight
- The installer script
- For the desktop panel "lxpanel"
- For all display drivers and some tools
Thanks to Samir Hawamdeh!.
* The "lxpanel" desktop panel could crash under certain circumstances. Has
been fixed. Also thanks to Samir for the hint!
* A bug in the GTK + themes "Amiga-BlueTabs-Light" and
"Amiga-BlueTabs-Brushed" has been fixed, which showed up in the selection
of menu items.
* The display drivers xpicasso96clonewb and xpicasso96wb were revised for
better performance, especially on 32bit screens.
* The included "Trusted Certificates" have been updated.
* The documentation in the "Docs" directory is now predominantly in PDF
format.
* Several internal tools were revised.
New in 1.4:
-----------
* All display drivers and the X server binary were revised to fix the
following problems:
- With newer graphics cards like the Radeon HD 7xxx the colours of the
display were wrong.
This was completely fixed in following drivers:
- picasso96clonewbdb
- picasso96wb
For the following drivers, the problem has been resolved only partially
therefore only recommended for older graphics cards:
- picasso96clonewb
- picasso96
- cybergraphx
The driver picasso96pip works only with older graphics cards like the
Radeon 9200.
- Since AmigaOS 4.1 final Update 1 it came to program crashes, if the
graphic driver picasso96clonewbdb was used. Is fixed now.
* The display driver picasso96clonewbdb can now also open 32 bit screens
internally, however, the data is still processed in 16 bits.
* The print command "lpr" now supports the printout via Turboprint whereby
the print quality is increased.
* The window manager "Openbox" is now available in version 3.6.1.
The context menu of Openbox has been revised.
* Updated SSL support over OpenSSL and GnuTLS. The included Trusted
Certificates have been updated.
* The tool "chown" did not work. Has been fixed
* The experimental mode "Quick Transfer" - available since release 1.1 - has
been removed. The benefit was unfortunately too low.
* The start scripts of AmiCygnix has been revised.
* The standard height of the panel has been increased for better readability.
* Many minor improvements and bug fixes.
New in 1.3 r2:
--------------
* The support of dead keys was revised again. In 1.3 r1 this feature didn't
work properly. Additionally all dead keys - except "DeadDialytikaTonos" -
defined in the keymap files in "KEYMAPS:" are now supported.
New in 1.3:
-----------
* A new display driver, which opens its display on a separate screen.
It is an enhanced version of the driver "picasso96clonewb", but offers
a better performance, especially when moving windows and also while
scrolling. But it needs twice the amount of RAM.
This driver is now enabled by default.
* The X server did not supported dead keys. Has been resolved. Support of key
combinations with Alt key, however, is still implementented in the clients.
This makes an update of these programs necessary.
* Keyboard layouts that do not conform to ISO-8859-1 standard (eg Polish or
Greek keyboards) are now better supported. This is also implemented in the
clients. An update of the previously published packages becomes necessary.
* The preferences programs "myX11Setup" and "myX11SetupLight" were revised and
an Italian and a Swedish catalog has been added.
Additionally it is now possible to switch on/off the experimental "quick
transfer" mode.
* Some programs had problems with file names containing umlauts or other
special characters. Has been largely eliminated.
* It was reported, that some systems freezed while opening the X server dis-
play. The bug is fixed now.
New in 1.2:
-----------
* The whole system could freeze when the X server was finished (version 1.1
and 1.1r2). This should now be fixed. Additionally the clients are stopped
more clearly.
* The whole system could freeze, if the existing assigns were listed in a
file requester. The problem was fixed and the affected binaries were
revised. (thanks to Paolo Vanni!)
* The preference editors "myX11Setup" und "myX11SetupLight" were revised and
a spanish catalog was added. (thanks to Michael Christoph!)
* The printing tool "lpr" did not open a status window anymore since version
1.1 of AmiCygnix. The window is opened again.
Additionally it is now possible to stop the printing process.
* The content of USB mass storage devices were not displayed in the file-
requesters. Fixed now. (thanks to Thomas Blatt!)
* It was possible, that the system mouse pointer was not removed in a
X server display, so both mouse pointers were visible. Fixed now.
New in 1.1:
-----------
* Support of programs compiled for GTK+ 2.24 and GTK+ 3.x. Ports of current
software projects are possible now. All new packages for AmiCygnix will
depend on it. As an advantage these programs do have a better performance,
for example because of the now working icon cache.
* A new (experimental) display driver is included, which opens a X11 display
in a workbench window: "picasso96wb". Compared to the older driver for this
purpose "picasso96pip" (overlay windows), this driver uses standard intui-
tion windows. Because of this, more than one display can be opened on the
workbench at the same time.
As a disadvantage the performance of the driver sometimes a bit low, but on
the other hand moving windows is faster compared to the other drivers.
* The X server and the display drivers were revised. The server can now be
launched several times without problems. Especially with the new driver this
is an interesting feature. But also with the other drivers applications can
be opened on it's own screen without the desktop environment.
* All new programs with an own directory in the AmiCygnix "Software" directory
will have two start scripts: One for opening the application on the desktop
(just like before) and a script, which opens the program in an own display.
* With a special version of the settings editor "myX11Setup" you can select
the display driver and the window manager for every application, which is
launched with the new start script. Many thanks to Michael Christoph
(Meicky-Soft)!
* A new icon theme in AmgaOS 4.1 style is included. It is conformable to the
"Freedesktop Icon Theme Specification".
Nearly all icons of this theme were created by Martin Merz (Mason). Many
thanks for the permission to include them in my package.
* The workbench icons are now all in AmigaOS 4.1 style. Nearly all of them
were created by Martin Merz (Mason) and Thomas Blatt (tommysammy). Also
many thanks for this!
* On every start of an applications the main dependencies are checked. If
something is missing, it will be installed or the user will be noticed about
the problem.
* Version 1.0 of AmiCygnix could not be installed on partitions formatted with
the filesystem JXFS. This is now solved.
* Most of the programs and libraries used in this package were replaced by
current versions.
* Better support of the MIME system.
* The X server supports a special "Quick Transfer" mode. Refer
"AmiCygnix-en.guide" for this.
* The X server includes now the MIT screensaver extension.
What is X11?
------------
The X Window System is the base for the all graphical user interfaces on unix
or Linux systems. No matter which GUI-toolkit is used, on the lowest level
works X11.
The system is splitted into a server and in a client part, which is typical
for Unix like systems. The server is responsible for processing the graphics
and handles the user events like mouse-moves or key-events. The client finally
is an application (e.g. a paint-program or a text-editor), which is using this
system for displaying his windows.
What is the advantage to have this on an Amiga system? It makes it easier to
port open source software to the Amiga, because the sources for the GUI part
can be compiled without any (or at least very few) changes.
Installation
------------
1. Doubleclick on the "Install" icon in the unpacked AmiCygnix package.
Everything will be installed automatically. Please follow the
instructions of the installer script.
An already installed AmiCygnix package version 1.0 - 1.6 will be recognized
and updated. An installation of Cygnix Prerelease cannot be updated.
An existing installation of AmiCygnix 1.7 will be overwritten.
I recommend to install AmiCygnix from scratch to avoid problems.
Please do not install by hand!!
2. Afterwards you should reset your Amiga.
Donations
---------
If you like to support my work, you can make a donation by using Paypal:
http://www.schwan-clan.de/amiga/Donate.html
Thanks!
Thanks to...
------------
... Hans Verkuil for his initial port of X11R6.3 to OS 3.x
... Michael Christoph for his support
... more greetings in "Docs/AmiCygnix-en.guide"
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