mailing-list for TeXmacs Users

[Paul Zarucki <address@hidden>]

Hi all,

A Texmacs virtual appliance with Maxima, Octave, R, GNUplot, Latex and other software running on Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 may now be downloaded from Sourceforge who has kindly agreed to host it. This is my first attempt at making something like this so comments and constructive criticism will be welcome. If people like it I will devote time to making it better and easier to use.

The download is a 1GB compressed archive which contains a 4GB disc image in VirtualBox format, so you will need 5GB or so free space on your hard disc. As it runs under VirtualBox, it should work on most Windows, Mac OS/X, Linux and Solaris computers that have 512MB or more RAM.

1. Download and install VirtualBox from www.virtualbox.org

2. Download the file debian4_4gb_v0.1.tar.bz2 from texmacsva.sourceforge.net

3. Extract the files (on Windows you can use the free program 7zip)

4. Read the pictorial guide "Virtual Appliance recipe" on my web site kpweb.homelinux.org if you are not sure what to do next.

All being well, you should see a Linux desktop in a window. Click inside the window to grab the cursor. Press the right control key on the keyboard to release it again. The desktop format is only 1024x768 pixels which I hope is small enough to fit most computer screens but large enough to be useful. I still have to write a recipe explaining how to enable larger screen formats and how to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions. All of the passwords are set to blueplanet.

If you want to run Java software such as GeoGebra then you will need a suitable version of Java. It is not installed by default because, in this version of Debian, the required Java package is not free which conflicts with Sourceforge's requirements. To install it yourself, open a terminal window (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and type the following commands:

su root
apt-get install -y sun-java5-jre sun-java5-plugin

Type the root password (blueplanet) when asked and press return. You will also be asked to agree to Sun's license (press the tab key then return). The software will be downloaded and installed. You can then open the web browser, go to www.geogebra.org and use WebStart to install Geogebra.

The virtual disc image can also be installed on a 4GB or larger USB drive by converting it to "raw" format (using the "VBoxManage convertdd" command) and using the Unix dd command to copy the raw disc image directly to the USB device (unmount the USB drive first). When you boot from the USB drive, press the down-arrow key as soon as you see the blue Debian boot menu and choose USB1. CAUTION: You will lose everything that was previously on the USB drive. Incorrect use of the dd command could potentially erase your hard disc!!!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via the Texmacs users mailing list.

Regards,

Paul Zarucki.

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