http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/releases/xerus-8.0/xerus-8.0-announce.htm
The "April" series of Quirky is compiled totally from source packages, using T2. Quirky "Xerus" differs in that it is built with Ubuntu 16.04 binary DEBs.
It must be emphasized that the mere fact of using Ubuntu DEBs does not make Quirky a clone of Ubuntu. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Quirky Xerus behaves just like the April series, with the one difference that packages can be installed from the Ubuntu DEB repositories. The binary compatibility with Ubuntu offers a huge collection of packages, which is the main attraction of this series.
However, some functionality of Ubuntu is castrated, such as systemd. These differences may mean that some Ubuntu DEBs may not work properly (but the vast majority should be fine).
There have been quirkies built from earlier Ubuntu releases: "Tahr", "Unicorn" and "Werewolf". See release notes for Quirky Werewolf 7.4 here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/releases/werewolf-7.4/werwolf-7.4-announce.htm
Announcement
Here is an announcement for Quirky 8.0, in a few paragraphs:
Quirky Linux 8.0 is released. This is codenamed "Xerus", as it has binary compatibility with Ubuntu 16.04 64-bit package repositories. This means that Quirky is able to install DEB packages from these repositories.
Other than that, Quirky is in no way similar to Ubuntu!
8.0 has Linux kernel 4.4.7, SeaMonkey 2.40, and a host of applications to fill every need. As per inheritance from Puppy Linux, Quirky includes the "kitchen sink" in a very small download.
Significant new features for 8.0, in no particular order, are BluePup GUI management for Bluetooth, the ISO now boots on UEFI-firmware machines, YASSM GUI to manage Samba, YouTubeDL GUI youtube downloader, and many applications updated.
And, as usual, a multitude of bug fixes and little improvements.
Release notes
These are release notes and highlights, not in any particular order:
Daemon management in QuickSetup 1
Gummiboot fixes UEFI ISO booting 1
Bug fixes for InkscapeLite 1
BluePup Bluetooth GUI manager 1
YASSM GUI client for Samba 1
YouTubeDL Youtube downloader 1
New and improved apps and utilities 1 2 3 4 5
Various system fixes 1 2 3
Compiling
If you want to compile source packages in a running Quirky, run the Package Manager and install the appropriate "devx" PET.
PET, with filename *.pet, is the native package format for Puppy Linux and derivatives (and forks, such as Quirky).
"devx-*.pet" is a single package that provides everything needed for C, C, and BaCon compiling, and all the usual tools such as git and svn.
You will also see in the Package Manager, the Linux kernel source is available as a PET.
The sources used in Quirky are to be found at ibiblio:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/sources/
Package list
If you want to know exactly what packages are used in Quirky 8.0, please boot it (or open up the ISO file) and look at these files:
/root/.packages/woof-installed-packages
/root/.packages/devx-only-installed-packages
News, feedback
I post regular progress news at my blog:
http://barryk.org/news/?viewCat=Linux
Regards,
Barry Kauler
April 21, 2016
