New SpaceFM Net Installer, Changes To Distribution Sites

SpaceFM’s release methods are being streamlined, which affects where source packages may be downloaded from, what packages will be available, and the contents of assorted documentation and websites. Also, SpaceFM has a new interactive net installer which can download and install any version or branch of SpaceFM with a single command.

To use the new net installer (beta test), see the updated homepage instructions. This installer replaces the old self-extracting installer and self-building packages, which are no longer being produced after version 1.0.3.

IgnorantGuru’s PPA will no longer include spacefm or udevil packages (they will be removed shortly). If the official Debian packages don’t work for you or you want custom build options, the new net installer is recommended, or see the SpaceFM Debian Wiki for other options (if you find other solutions, feel free to add them to the wiki).

Sourceforge will no longer host copies of SpaceFM’s source archives, as Sourceforge is under new ownership and there have been some questionable malware practices with other projects. Plus, those files are no longer being created. However, SpaceFM’s forum will still be hosted on Sourceforge for now.

The new location for downloading source archives is Github Releases. Signed source archives and other packages are no longer being created. (If you want to check a GPG signature, see the new README.)

The README file has been rewritten, and contains some new sections, including on how to use git to get SpaceFM.

That’s a summary of the changes underway, and udevil will be seeing similar changes in a bit. For more details on the above changes, or to participate in testing, please see Issue #571.

Why? This project is several years old, and is suffering from a bit of sprawl in terms of sites managed, packages created, etc. In order to spend less time on overhead like that, the release process is being streamlined, and most of the work is now being done within git. This is also more feasible now that SpaceFM and udevil are more widely known and are available in most distros’ repos, meaning they can pick up the packaging work and I can focus on development.