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[SOLVED] Converting/rebranding one distro to another

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RWIndiana
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[SOLVED] Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#1 Post by RWIndiana »

Alright guys, don't make fun of me, but I'd like to know how to change the name of my linux install. My story: I installed Tanglu GNU/Linux originally when it was based directly on Debian, but about two years ago I switched all my sources to Debian Sid. The problem I am having now is that "Tanglu" occasionally still pops up, specifically in GRUB, and when I run lsb_release ics. Is there a way to change it to Debian instead of Tanglu?

Thanks!

Rod
Last edited by RWIndiana on 2018-02-08 20:09, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#2 Post by Ardouos »

RWIndiana wrote:Is there a way to change it to Debian instead of Tanglu?
Install Debian.
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 15#p542283
There is only one Debian | Do not break Debian | Stability and Debian | Backports

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GarryRicketson
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#3 Post by GarryRicketson »

You can edit your /etc/lsb-release file, and also may need to edit /etc/distrib-release file.

Code: Select all

man lsb_release
has more details.

And you can get even more details using these key words:

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How to change what lsb_release ics shows as the release 
Copy paste in to your favourite search engine.
but about two years ago I switched all my sources to Debian Sid. The problem I am having now is that "Tanglu" occasionally still pops up, specifically in GRUB, and when I run lsb_release ics. Is there a way to change it to Debian instead of Tanglu?
A fresh Debian install would be best, you probably have a mix of various things, and your system is not going to be dependable in this kind of state. I don't know anything about Tanglu, never heard of it.
If grub is using things from that when you boot, and you start changing that, it could very easily leave you with a system that won't boot. Hope you have good backups of your important data, if you don't , that should be the first thing to do.

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#4 Post by stevepusser »

It's probably easier first to check what version of lsb-release you have installed

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apt policy lsb-release
If it's not Sid's, install that and see if that fixes the issue.
MX Linux packager and developer

RWIndiana
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#5 Post by RWIndiana »

Okay thanks for the help thus far. :)

You guys have been pretty good about it but I've seen over and over where people assume to know what's best for the person they are helping or what their end goal is instead of helping them to do what they want to do, or understand the system they are running.

I know I could just "install Debian," and that would accomplish what others might judge to be my goal, but I would have learned nothing. Some of us learn by tinkering and occasionally asking a stupid question. Many online help forums are not very conducive to actually learning. But thank you to those of you who are willing to help people learn. :)

I've run Debian Sid for close to 10 years, breaking it and fixing it many times. Through that I've learned enough to keep it up to date and never have breakages (going on nearly 5 years now). Whenever I've asked a question on various forums, it seems many just want to say "you're stupid for running Sid." No, if I had given up and run stable all these years, I'd be stupid.

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Thorny
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#6 Post by Thorny »

RWIndiana wrote: This thread hasn't been that bad but I've seen over and over where people assume to know what's best for the person they are helping or what their end goal is. Help me to do what I want to do. If you want to ask the reasoning, go ahead, there's no need to be rude.
Rude is after all an opinion.

You've been around here long enough to know that in a public forum, not all posts will be what you want or even on topic. No one is forced to read or respond to any post. Granted, abrasive posts or swearing or name calling sometimes do evoke a reaction, sometimes warranted and sometimes purely emotional.
RWIndiana wrote: I know I could just "install Debian," and that would accomplish what others might judge to be my goal, but I would have learned nothing. Some of us learn by tinkering and occasionally asking a stupid question. Many online help forums are not very conducive to actually learning.
Learning is the responsibility of the individual not the forum.
RWIndiana wrote:I've run Debian Sid for close to 10 years, breaking it and fixing it many times. Through that I've learned enough to keep it up to date and never have breakages (going on nearly 5 years now). Whenever I've asked a question on various forums, it seems many just want to say "you're stupid for running Sid." No, if I had given up and run stable all these years, I'd be stupid. The online forum culture needs to change.
We don't all agree with that. You could join some of the threads on this forum that pertain to the issue, and express your opinion there.

I find it offensive that you take pot shots here in your thread for help when you actually got pretty good help. And, I didn't see anything I would characterise as "rude". You know how much you already know, but that doesn't mean the rest of us do., you don't spend a lot of time here.

I hope you won't find my post offensive, but I can't help it if you do.

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#7 Post by RWIndiana »

You are right, I overreacted to one post. My fault. I am sorry. I came in with a defensive attitude in the first place (hence the "don't make fun of me," which encapsulated these feelings I've had over the years). But yes, you're absolutely right. I apologize.

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#8 Post by Thorny »

RWIndiana wrote:I apologize.
You have shown yourself to be an intelligent person, Rod and I thank you for understanding me in the spirit I meant it.
A lot of the time, I wish more people would. ;-)

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#9 Post by RWIndiana »

I actually don't have /etc/lsb-release. Should I create one? The version of lsb-release is indeed Sid. Tanglu only had a few add on packages to straight Debian, and those, as far as I know, are long gone.

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#10 Post by RWIndiana »

Thorny wrote:
RWIndiana wrote:I apologize.
You have shown yourself to be an intelligent person, Rod and I thank you for understanding me in the spirit I meant it.
A lot of the time, I wish more people would. ;-)
Very kind of you to say. Thank you!

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#11 Post by GarryRicketson »

stevepusser wrote:It's probably easier first to check what version of lsb-release you have installed

Code: Select all

apt policy lsb-release
If it's not Sid's, install that and see if that fixes the issue.
Are you really reading the replies ?

https://packages.debian.org/sid/lsb-release
Post by RWIndiana » 2018-02-07 08:51
I actually don't have /etc/lsb-release. Should I create one?
You need to install it, not just create it.

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 apt install lsb-release 

RWIndiana
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#12 Post by RWIndiana »

Okay I will check again and confirm when I get home, but I did check that the package was installed (by attempting to install it). And I checked the version with "apt-cache show". But that was yesterday, I haven't had time yet to check with apt policy.

RWIndiana
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#13 Post by RWIndiana »

Is /etc/lsb-release provided automatically by the lsb-release package? Or does something need to be configured?

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root@Confluence:~# dir /etc/lsb-release
dir: cannot access '/etc/lsb-release': No such file or directory
root@Confluence:~# apt install lsb-release
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
lsb-release is already the newest version (9.20170808).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 43 not upgraded.
root@Confluence:~# apt policy lsb-release
lsb-release:
  Installed: 9.20170808
  Candidate: 9.20170808
  Version table:
 *** 9.20170808 500
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian unstable/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian unstable/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
root@Confluence:~# apt install --reinstall lsb-release
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 43 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/27.3 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 274659 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../lsb-release_9.20170808_all.deb ...
Unpacking lsb-release (9.20170808) over (9.20170808) ...
Setting up lsb-release (9.20170808) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.0-2) ...
root@Confluence:~# ls /etc/lsb-release
ls: cannot access '/etc/lsb-release': No such file or directory
root@Confluence:~# apt remove lsb-release

RWIndiana
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#14 Post by RWIndiana »

So, apparently the debian-edu-config package provides a /etc/lsb-release file, but it can't be right because in that file it calls the distribution "DebianEdu".

This is the only active line in my sources.list, if relevant: deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#15 Post by stevepusser »

The Sid lsb-release package does not seem to include any files in /etc, so it seems it's up to the distro builders to create and populate it manually. I sort of remember we had the discussion in MX Linux over a problem with tools like screenfetch and neofetch displaying Debian instead of MX Linux.
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GarryRicketson
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#16 Post by GarryRicketson »

Thanks Steve, that clarifies why the OP does not have the directory,..
I have to run, but everyone can disregard some of what I said,..it won't apply,.. if there is no /etc/lsb-release file, then there is nothing to edit.


So what happens if you type :

Code: Select all

lsb_release -a 

at a command prompt ? (please post the put put, use code boxes)

There are other options , but for the moment, just to see if the command works, it should , it looks like you did get it installed ok.


I am going to do a search, using key words :

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How to change what lsb_release ics shows as the release on Debian  
But it may take me a while to get back, because I have some chores to do,
also I do not have a Debian system booted and running at the moment,..
You should also now have the manual pages, for 'lsb-release',since you installed it, try,

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man lsb_release

If lsb-release was installed, the manual should be there, again, I can't look at the specific parts that mention the directory, etc,.. until after I get my debian machine booted.
Something to keep in mind, the 'lsb_release' command, is not going to change what release or distributions you have installed , and editing the file, to make it say it is all Debian, will not change the fact that you have packages and another release mixed in IE: Tanglu .
RE:
The problem I am having now is that "Tanglu" occasionally still pops up, specifically in GRUB, and when I run lsb_release ics. Is there a way to change it to Debian instead of Tanglu?
What I mean is, even if you modify various files, so that they show Debian, as the release name, will not change the fact that some where
"tanglu" is still involved, since you are saying this is in grub, changing the release name, may very well effect your boot, and render it non-bootable.
Can you show us real out put, or exactly where in grub it says "tanglu" ?
========= edit =================
some Search results:
https://www.hiroom2.com/2017/02/21/linu ... b-release/
=========================
https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/lsb ... .1.en.html
From another result:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/91297/h ... thing-else

You really should not change the content of the /etc/lsb-release file.

As you have seen yourself, you will experience problems in applications like Software Center, as these programs need the correct release description. If you simply change this bit of information, the programs are unable to find the proper software repositories, because they are looking for something, which does not exist.

Reedit the file to the old values and Software Center will work again.
The OP may not like it, but honestly, I think the best thing they can do is
back up their home directory, and any other important data, and start fresh with a current debian sid install, and no more mixing in other releases, etc.https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian

Do you have packages that depend on the Tanglu release, ? If the same packages are not available in Debian repos, there are ways to build them for Debian.

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#17 Post by Thorny »

Hi Rod,
I don't think you need lsb-release unless you have some third party software that needs to find it and I think you've said that your system is now pure sid.

I feel confident that you are wise enough to have a current, backup and know how to use it.

I'm going to mention that the Jessie system I'm running at this moment does not have such a file, and running lsb_release returns, No LSB modules are available.

Maybe all you need to do is not issue that command lsb_release in order to not see what you don't want to see. ;-)

Do you have /etc/os-release as a link? Maybe all you need to do is read that to see the name Debian. ;-)

Now GRUB might be a different story but you haven't actually told us what you see regarding grub.

[edit] You are using a stock Debian kernel, aren't you?

Might it be something in /boot/grub/grub.cfg that names Tanglu?

or

Something in /etc/default/grub that adds something?

Perhaps all you need do is re-install the GRUB package from Sid. (but don't quote me on that, ha, ha.)

With a good backup, how much does it matter, live dangerously.

Or maybe tell us more about what you see about GRUB and Tanglu.

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#18 Post by RWIndiana »

The Sid lsb-release package does not seem to include any files in /etc, so it seems it's up to the distro builders to create and populate it manually. I sort of remember we had the discussion in MX Linux over a problem with tools like screenfetch and neofetch displaying Debian instead of MX Linux.
Thanks for the tips and the links, guys.

Okay, I just did this:

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DISTRIB_ID=Debian
DISTRIB_RELEASE=Sid
DISTRIB_CODENAME=sid
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Debian Sid"
I'm not sure if all that was necessary, but at this moment it seems to have worked! lsb_release -ics outputs Debian instead of Tanglu. Update-grub change "Tanglu GNU/Linux" on the title to "Debian GNU/Linux," but I haven't checked if the system is bootable yet.

Yes, I do have a full backup on a flash drive (bootable), I have learned the hard way never to be without that. ;)
Do you have packages that depend on the Tanglu release, ? If the same packages are not available in Debian repos, there are ways to build them for Debian.
As far as I know, there are no Tanglu packages left in the system at all. Someday soon I will probably do a fresh install of Sid, changing the name and branding was just something I wanted to learn how to accomplish first. I always feel like I've failed somehow when I have to reinstall to fix something like this. I like to know exactly what's broken and how it could be fixed. I guess I'm a little weird (OCD?) that way.
Can you show us real out put, or exactly where in grub it says "tanglu" ?
Right now, since creating lsb-release it my grub.cfg says

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menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux'
Where before it said Tanglu in place of Debian. I will try deleting lsb-release again to see if the changes are permanent: Hmmm . . . deleting the file changes the lsb_release -i output back to Tanglu! So I'm still missing something. Is there another file that it would fall back on if lsb-release isn't there?
Hi Rod,
I don't think you need lsb-release unless you have some third party software that needs to find it and I think you've said that your system is now pure sid.

I feel confident that you are wise enough to have a current, backup and know how to use it.

I'm going to mention that the Jessie system I'm running at this moment does not have such a file, and running lsb_release returns, No LSB modules are available.

Maybe all you need to do is not issue that command lsb_release in order to not see what you don't want to see. ;-)

Do you have /etc/os-release as a link? Maybe all you need to do is read that to see the name Debian. ;-)

Now GRUB might be a different story but you haven't actually told us what you see regarding grub.

[edit] You are using a stock Debian kernel, aren't you?

Might it be something in /boot/grub/grub.cfg that names Tanglu?

or

Something in /etc/default/grub that adds something?

Perhaps all you need do is re-install the GRUB package from Sid. (but don't quote me on that, ha, ha.)

With a good backup, how much does it matter, live dangerously.

Or maybe tell us more about what you see about GRUB and Tanglu.
Haha, I get it - "see no evil!"
Yes my os-release file shows Debian all the way. I guess next on the agenda is to check my grub files.

Okay this is what /etc/default/grub says:

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GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
It stays the same after I remove my custom lsb-release file and update-grub again. Although /boot/grub/grub.cfg is back to saying "Tanglu".


Well, lsb-release back in place. Now to see if my system crashes and burns when I try to reboot. :)

RWIndiana
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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#19 Post by RWIndiana »

Well, here I am again. Reboot apparently successful. ;) It even showed the Debian blue splash screen in grub! Sweet! Unfortunately, I still can't rest until I figure out where "Tanglu" is coming from when lsb-release is deleted. :?

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Re: Converting/rebranding one distro to another

#20 Post by stevepusser »

From what I remember, there were at least a couple other files in /etc that could be hiding Tanglu. You could look for a file with version in the name in that directory, or start doing a recursive grep in that folder for the "tanglu" string. Rpl in the repos is a cool terminal command that goes through any numbers of text files and replaces strings with one of your choice, so maybe you can turn that loose on your whole root directory and replace the string with "Debian".
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