Hi all,

I am going around in circles trying to find the answers to a couple of questions I have about zenwalk so perhaps it is just faster to ask here. I am posting in Beginner's Island because I am have not used Zenwalk before. I have been using Xubuntu for 3 years though so I am used to xfce.

1. I see there is a snapshot repo for the latest applications but I can't find the latest Firefox in either that or the stable repo. What do zenwalk users do to ensure they are using the latest, secure version of Firefox (as of today, at 3.6.10).

2. I can find eCryptfs-utils in the repos. Is it possible to set up home encryption like in the Ubuntu derivitives?

3. Are multimedia essential codecs (like restricted-extras in Ubuntu) included or available somewhere? I didn't see libdvdcss in the repo either but presumably it is available?

I'm looking for a new distro to use because I am tired of having to upgrade Ubuntu every 6 months. I am tired of Canonical trying to make Ubuntu look like a Mac and pushing it towards social networking. And most of all, I am tired of them introducing regressions with each release. I just want a stable OS with current applications. Zenwalk may be what I am looking for.

Hi Welcome to Zenwalk,
i am even more newbie to Linux, just less than 3 months. I played with many distros hahaha.
i do not have answers to you but just write what i know and my experience only
1. i used IceCat , its default browser when i used Zenwalk. Normally i open 20-30 tabs all at the same times, just my habit. at time i used more than one browser at the same time so that i can group similar topics in one browser and some other regular business in another browser.
my experience: IceCat runs and felt like firefox.
here is google IceCat and a copy for a good read

Origin of the name

The name “IceCat” was coined to show our relationship to the Mozilla Firefox browser. Ice isn't Fire and a Cat isn't a Fox, so it is clearly a different package (we don't want Mozilla blamed for our mistakes, nor cause confusion with their trademarks), but is equally clearly intimately related (of course nearly all of the work comes from the Mozilla foundation effort, so we want to give credit).

The gNewSense BurningDog browser and the Debian IceWeasel browser are similarly derived from Firefox, also with the intent of being free software. Technically, however, these projects are maintained entirely independently of IceCat. (Previously, this GNU browser project was also named IceWeasel, but that proved confusing.)

2. i do not know sorry.. being too new to Linux

3. you could follow my questions and franco's answer at below posts and it will be clear to you. Yes, those are in restricted repos.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=28097&start=90

i found Linux is full of choice..i am currently using at least 5-6 Linux OS, on different computers and multi-boot to get exposure to various OS.
Good luck on your search for something you are comfortable with.

@wayne128 - thanks for taking the time to reply It sounds like you are going to develop very good skills in time. I've been using Xubuntu for years but the direction Canonical are taking, combined with the unnecessary bloat they've introduced have motivated me to look for something else. I am not sure a slackware derivative will be the right choice for me but I will certainly try it. Security is a big thing for me hence the reason I need encryption and up-to-date applications. Hopefully, someone will know the answers to those questions.

Hi there and welcome to zenwalk,

to hopefully answer your questions:

• If you want to use a snapshot repo your should make sure that all your packages are updated before you use anything from one. Zenwalk uses IceCat which to the end user is Firefox. It is just rebranded and published under a different license. None of which are really of any concern to anyone who isn't willing to waste half his life debating why one free license is better than another.
• Take a look at encfs and cryptkeeper which allow you to create encrypted directories with a simple gui-interface or via command line. If you wish to encrypt your entire home directory you can use pam-encfs though it isn't available on the repos.
• As wayne128 said those packages are available on the restriced repos. Be sure to pick one that suits your normal repo in regard to snapshot/current.

I hope I could help.

@karlheinz -- yes, thanks, you helped a lot.

nice to have this subject of encryption.

i was familiar with Truecrypt in windows, it can encrypt the whole drive, useful to do on USB stick and USB drive.
just found it is in the repos. someday i shall test it.