Our Next CD
Update: 19 Jun 2005
Just checked that I'm not losing it... YES, magazines like "Linux Format";![[WWW]](/wiki-htdocs/modern/img/moin-www.png){kind=small}
http://linuxformat.co.uk/ are dated a month before the calender.
From the last update, the options that look very promising are Slax, DSL, and I'd very much like if some kind soul could download one of:
"Gnome LiveCD"; http://torrent.gnome.org/gnome-livecd-2.10.torrent
"Gnoppix"; ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/gnoppix/
in time for this Tuesday's meeting... (grovel grovel)!
I've updated the
Update: Linux Format 68 (July 2005)
There is a roundup of Mini Distros, but unfortunately they included Zipslack instead of one of the Slax varients. I downloaded Slax (Popcorn) 5.0.5 that comes with XFCE and it screams along. I noticed there were "Modules"; http://slax.linux-live.org/modules.php that can be added and these include Firefox, Thunderbird, Devtools and Gimp. They also included Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog, but this is the install CD rather than the LiveCD. Anyone got Broadband that would be willing to get me the LiveCD till we see what can be done with it.
BTW: At the risk of causing a flame, let's avoid Kluttered DesKtop environment and all it's Korny Program names. After all, we don't want any Kringing over KMyPoxyProgname, do we?
OK, where were we?
I've been playing with a considerable amount of "Live CDs"; http://www.linux-live.org/ (for my own ulterior purposes) but if I hit on something I'm happy with, I'll make sure to share it with the group.
I'm thinking of doing things in reverse, in that instead of stripping down something big, it would be easier to build up something small.
The current distros I'm entertaining are: Note: Both Slax and DSL come with scripts for creating your own ISO.
"Damn Small Linux"; http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ can add our customisations to it if we want.
"Slax"; http://slax.linux-live.org/ (Has UnionFS so we can add our own customs (Gnome, Gnome, Gnome!!!!) as well, possibly CramFSs). I'm trying to see how well "Free Rock Gnome"; http://gsb.sourceforge.net/ sits on it, although at the moment, it's missing libhowl needed for Beagle. Woops --update (May 24th)... libhowl isn't missing, you just need to go to the dependencies directory and install everything there first, BEFORE running the install script -Mel
"ATMission"; http://www.atconsultancy.nl/atmission/ is another knoppix, but I'm not sure how tried and tested the "CowLoop" setup is. Additionally, there was mention of whether or not it contained only free software (in our sense). Just read the FAQ and being knoppix based, I expect it has some non-free software, but that would be removed.
"Ubuntu"; http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ AFAIK will be doing a "LiveCD"; http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/ubuntu-releases/5.04/ as well and that would make a superb starting point, AND it's available for different archs. The "Beatrix"; http://www.watsky.net/ live CD is based on Ubuntu and geared for business.
My own thoughts on our next LiveCD, is that the base of it should be small enough to fit on a mini (so we're talking 210mb). To this we add either devtools for students or usertoys for home users, again either of these options should fit on another 210mb. If we had a third 210mb disk, we could put our audio, PC and Mac software etc. on that.
Other raw thoughts would be that we could have a single (full-size) CD with these images on it, boot from the first, and mount the other(s) as a loopback filesystem as part of the boot process.
Again, no flames please because these are initial thoughts, and when they settle, I'll have (hopefully) got enough feedback and opinions to sift out stuff that won't work!
Comments (by other people)
Mel - this is turning into a nice little list of the available live CD distros. Fancy moving it off your home page and into a sub-page of the IfsoCD project? -- GlennStrong
Also, could you say something about what each distro has going for it, so we can try to evaluate which one would be best to use as a base? -- GlennStrong
Thanks for the research. In selecting what to base the next version of our cd off it might be usefull to set some minimum requirements. It should be able to load "modules" on boot, this allows us to keep our modifications seperate and allows easy updateing. Secondly, it should be an active project that releases new versions in a timely fashon. Thirdly, it should be reasnobly small, < 400meg. Fourthly, it should be 100% Free Software. -- DavidCathcart
* Glen/David - Appreciate the feedback. Slax is a bit of a runaway horse, with thick and fast updates coming (sometimes) within days of each other. I'm now on 5.0.5.
What bugs me about Ubuntu is the Evolution/OOo preselection instead of Sylpheed/Dillo (my email combination of choice) or Thunderbird.
Abiword is much easier on hardware than OOo as you know, and many people may intend to put our live CD on an older PC. Gnumeric (imho) is now far ahead of OOo spreadsheet, without the overhead of additional libs. OOo should be an option. So, I'd like to opt for slimmer apps where possible.
As you'll know, Ubuntu is earmarked by Canonical for six-monthly releases, and true to schedule, Hoary followed Warty right on cue. Ubuntu is also wedged with "good documentation"; http://ubuntuguide.org/