Gaztronics EPEL Repository

Intro

I am pleased to offer my own personal repository of Rocky Linux / CentOS / RHEL RPMs that I have rebuilt from the Fedora sources in order to provide the extra functionality that is missing from the EPEL project. The RPMs have been downloaded as source-RPMs from official Fedora repository mirrors and rebuilt with an rpmbuild script on a Rocky 8 build-system. They are offered without warranty, so use them at your own discretion. They work on my various desktop and laptop builds, so they should work for you. Always back-up your system prior to installing 3rd party RPMs!

If the packages in this repository are ever repeated in EPEL, I will remove my version in preference to the EPEL version.

I have included the BASH script I have used to rebuild the package. Feel free to download it and use it for your own system. The scripts call others to sign the RPMs, and I have a separate script to upload the SRPMS and RPMs to the VPS hosting this. Adjust to suit your own requirements.

I am predominantly using Rocky Linux 8 at the moment. I have not invested the time in building the packages for Rocky Linux 9 at the moment as 9 is too new and lacks the packages in EPEL that I would build against.


Rocky Linux Logo

Rocky Linux 8

If you would like to use the repository via dnf, please install the following RPM package: sudo dnf install http://epel.gaztronics.net/gaztronics-8-0.noarch.rpm

Many of the packages in this repository rely on packages from EPEL, so remember to install with: sudo dnf install epel-release

Browse the contents of the repo here: http://epel.gaztronics.net/epel/8/x86_64/

Source RPMS are available here: http://www.gaztronics.net/8/SRPMS

Use the following command to list all available packages: dnf --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="gaztronics" list available.

Unable to rebuild

I have been unable to rebuild: blueberry (Bluetooth control); dnfdragora (update notification daemon), and mail-notification (deprecated libgnome-devel dependency).

Update 3rd March 2024 New - blueman added to provide GUI Bluetooth control. Deprecated - I have dropped trustedqsl as later versions require wxGTK-devel, so I suggest using the Flatpak version. I have also dropped gqrx as the build-dependencies changed and no longer build without replacing upstream gnuradio version. I suspect this will become a larger problem as EL8 is left behind EL9.


Amateur Radio packages

dxcc-gui

Info: Amateur Radio callsign-to-country look-up utility.

Install: sudo dnf install dxcc-gui

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Notes: Installs dxcc as dependency.

Build script: dxcc-build


flrig

Info: Flrig is a transceiver control program designed to be used either stand alone or as an adjunct to fldigi.

Install: sudo dnf install flrig

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: flrig-build


gpredict

Info: Gpredict is a real time satellite tracking and orbit prediction program written using the Gtk+ widgets.

Install: sudo dnf install gpredict

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: gpredict-build


js8call

Info: JS8Call is an experiment to test the feasibility of a digital mode with the robustness of FT8.

Install: sudo dnf install js8call

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: js8call-build


klog

Info: KLog is a Ham radio logging program for KDE.

Install: sudo dnf install klog

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: klog-build


ibp

Info: Amateur Radio International Beacon Project transmit schedule.

Install: sudo dnf install ibp

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: ibp-build


qsstv

Info: Qsstv is a program for receiving slow-scan television and fax.

Install: sudo dnf install qsstv

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: qsstv-build

Notes: Built with a little sed to remove deprecated openjpeg dependency. Unable to test properly at present as I cannot select the correct USB sound-card for my FT-991A, although there is a External link  work around.


rtlsdr-scanner

Info: Frequency scanning GUI for RTL2832 based DVB-T dongles.

Install: sudo dnf install rtlsdr-scanner

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: rtlsdr-scanner-build


xastir

Info: Automatic Position Repeater System (APRS) for Amateur Radio.

Install: sudo dnf install xastir

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: xastir-build

Notes: heavily tested as I use this most days.


xlog

Info: xlog is a logging program for amateur radio operators.

Install: sudo dnf install xlog

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: xlog-build


Useful utilities

compiz

Info: Compiz is one of the first OpenGL-accelerated compositing window managers for the X Window System.

Install: sudo dnf install compiz compiz-bcop compiz-manager compiz-plugins-experimental compiz-plugins-extra compiz-plugins-main ccsm fusion-icon emerald emerald-themes

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Notes: Rebuilt as I like the 3D effects on the MATE desktop. Use at your own risk. Seems to work well with nVidia cards. I am unable to use it on my AMD GPU powered laptop. The rebuild includes the emerald decorations.

Build script: compiz-build


blueman

Info: Blueman is a tool to manage Bluetooth devices.

Install: sudo dnf install blueman

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Notes: Has been a little flaky on my laptop and desktop - use at own risk!

Build script: blueman-build


gtkterm

Info: Serial terminal emulator application - handy for configuring network switches and routers.

Install: sudo dnf install gtkterm

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Notes: In order to be able to use gtkterm as a normal user you need to do: usermod -a -G dialout,lock <username> as root, replacing <username> with your username, so that your user can access the serial ports.

Build script: gtkterm-build


hplip

Replaces out-of-date distro version!

Info: The Hewlett-Packard Linux Imaging and Printing Project provides drivers for HP printers and multi-function peripherals.

Install: sudo dnf install hplip

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: hplip-build


mediawriter

Info: A tool to write images of Fedora media to portable drives like flash drives or memory cards.

Install: sudo dnf install mediawriter

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: mediawriter-build

Notes: includes udisk package.


system-config-printer

Info: system-config-printer is a graphical user interface that allows the user to configure a CUPS print server

Install: sudo dnf install system-config-printer system-config-printer-applet

Built from: Fedora 36 SRPM

Build script: system-config-printer-build

Notes: Configure printers via a GUI instead of messing around with CUPS in a browser.


wallpapoz

Info: This tool enables your Gnome/MATE desktop to have different wallpapers for different workspaces or virtual desktops.

Install: sudo dnf install wallpapoz

Built from: Fedora 35 SRPM

The detection routines in wallpapoz fail to detect MATE. You can fudge this by changing line 107 in /usr/share/wallpapoz/lib/wallpapoz_system.py to the following: self.window_manager = 'MATE'. Logout and in again and wallpapoz should start to work.

wallpapoz

You may need to create an autostart entry in ~/.config/autostart called wallpapoz-autostart.desktop and it needs to contain the following:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=wallpapoz-autostart
Comment=Wallpapoz Autostarter
Exec=daemon_wallpapoz
Terminal=false
X-Desktop-File-Install-Version=0.15
Hidden=false

Page updated: 3rd March 2024