Faq
q: How do you install minux?
q: How do you install the beta version or a custom one
a: visit the forum topic on switching repository servers
q: how do you set up a rednet login server
a: visit the wiki page for more info
q: i installed minux, now what?
a: you can read the user manuals that's a good place to start. by default minux installs "minux-main" wich is only the base program, any other additions or programs have to be installed seperate. you can visit the forum topic on available software for more functions. also try out the networked user accounts!
if you have absolutely no idea how CC itself works, try our beginners guide
q: i installed minux and it runs, but it doesn't seem to do much?
a: minux doesn't say much unless it has to, if in the background it did 30 steps to process your commands it won't tell you about every single one of them, it won't tell you about the 30 files it downloaded but it will tell you about the one that it did not. if minux doesn't say much it's because it worked. if there is an error or invalid input it will tell you, it does talk but only if things to wrong. otherwise it would become very spammy.
unless of course this is what you want it to do, in that case, run "config debug enabled" to turn on the spam, or "config debug logging" to turn on log files, you can find the log files in /var/. for the extremely brave we have "config debug full" wich turns on both. if you get tired, "config debug disabled".
Q: can i still run my own programs on a minux system even if it's not designed to do so?
a: yes. It will work, minux does not remove any cc capacities, it only adds. There is chance of conflicts if the same filenames are used.
Eg: the file "startup" is required for minux to boot up, no way around it, if you have a program that also needs to start on bootup, check the developer part of the wiki
Q:every 3-4 starts it tells it me it crashed and went in safe mode, why?
A:minux has a crash handler, just like real life operating systems do. if you don't shut down your pc properly it will notice and think you may have a crash issue, this is the price you pay for not bricking your system in case things do go bad.
you prevent this by properly shuting down the system, in command line this is done by either 'exit', 'halt', 'shutdown', 'reboot' or 'restart' commands or the options in the menu.
in your own programs you can call on the functions 'minux.halt()' and 'minux.restart()' to do a proper shutdown.
q: i seem to have broken my system, it won't start up properly anymore?!
a: seems like you need a technician's page!
q: people keep hacking my local login computers and i can't do networked login, how can i stop them?
a: very hard, since any boot disk always overrides the startup script, this is hardcoded into CC and i can't change this trough code. that being said, if you were to manually create the folder "/disk/" and place ANY file in there, you'd break CC's ability to mount that folder as a floppy drive, essentially disabling floppy disks on that machine even if others place a disk drive next to it. warning: if you do this and lock yourself out of your computer then the only way to recover it is by manually deleting said "disk" folder in the minecraft server files, this cannot be done from inside CC.
q: i've made my own program and i'd like to automatically start it or create a custom system command for it
a: Minux allows for custom apps to autoboot and create system commands (aliases). the forum post regarding apt compatibility explains where these files are and how to use them. while these are designed to be used with apt, you can use the dynamic boot and alias system even without using the apt program.
in short, any file in "/etc/apt/boot/" and "/etc/apt/alias/" will be processed by apt when you try to update, even if there's no actual update to be had. (run "apt -U" to trigger apt to rebuild it's boot and alias list).
Alternatively, you can autostart any program in a seperate tab (new window) by renaming your program (or it's starter) to "/etc/server.sys", or launch it in the main window after login trough "/boot/override.d")
q: i've installed the servers but my rednet network doesn't have the range, how can i increase the rednet network's range without having to place miles of cables,
a: actually not a minux thing, but here's what i do. place a computer, attach an "ender modem", then edit "/startup" and make it do 2 things. first line "repeat", second line "os.reboot()"
this system will repeat any wireless message sent by any wireless modem to any other wireless, in effect creating a dimentional communication device. don't forget to place a chunk loader nearby.
q: my rednet servers keep going offline causing the network login system to crash, why is this and how do i stop this?
a: when no player is near the chunk the pc is on, the minecraft server unloads said chunk, this in turn shuts down the computer. to prevent this, use a chunk loader close to the servers, this will prevent them from being unloaded. combined with the ender modem trick mentioned above this will give you unlimited wireless range without servers shutting down because you are to far away.
q: is there an easy to download copy available of minux's code?
a: yes. it's right here. you are free to use it or host your own repository.
q:i want to make software, is there any documentation on minux's functions i could use?
a: yes, there's an entire board for this explaining both the network and system functions in detail for easy intigration in other programs.
q: can minux create log files?
a: yes, by default this is disabled but this can be turned on using the "config" program (use "config man"), it can create log files and it supports 3rd party applications in using those log files themself.
q: i want to share a program i've made trough the APT system, how?
a: you can run your own repository or use the primary server.
Q:i want to run a repository server but don't have a real world webserver!?
A:we can host a private repository next to the primary one..
Q: am i allowed to make a forked version of minux?
A: of course you can, i'd love to see how you would tackle the same questions and problems i encountered.
I will ask that you keep it compatible with apt so users can switch versions on the fly.
Q: can i join the minux project?
A: yes you can, if you want to take over any of the software packages (eg: auth-server/client or "minux-main") then contact me on this forum.