tyme Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 for a while now i've considered starting a linux distro of my own. to this point, lack of the necessary knowledge has held me back. however, i'm slowly getting a better understanding of the internals (since my use of both gentoo & arch linux) and have been hunting around for a distro that suits my needs....so far, no luck :-/ so, what i'm wondering right now is if anyone here would be interested in helping out. just getting a feel for the support, if it looks like there are enough interested people, i'll give further details on what i'm considering. i know the idea of "there are already enough distros" may come up....to that, all i can say is: pffffft. there's never enough! anyways...if you're interested, let me know..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramfree17 Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 you have to give more details than that tyme with a small t. what exactly is your need that this distro will fill? ciao! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted June 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 right now i'm just looking to see if there is any interest. maybe tomorrow i'll write up my idea....right now i'm goin' to bed :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
static Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 I was going to send you a PM regarding this, but I feel it might be worth letting others read it. I was having the exact same thought last week, but I have some concerns. Roles need to be defined - that is, tasks need to be delegated by a board of say 3 people, not one in the case of a collaborative effort (i.e. it wouldn't be MY or YOUR distro, it'd be ours) - but that's the easy part. It can be tough to agree on what is "needed" and what is optional within the distro. (If you're going to through in everything, why not use another prefab, eh) The point for us I assume would be to make a streamlined distro aimed at speed and security, not quite as much for newbies (call it intermediates). I was thinking tentatively: [*]Fluxbox with Krusader as the default file browser/manager [*]Guarddog and ipkungfu [*]Comliance with the LSB (linux standards base) [*]support for both RPM and APT/aptget [*]RXvt and eterm [*]Mozilla Thunderbird and one other browser with D4X and Gaim [*]k3B and one other burning app (CD Bake Oven?) [*]Xine and a well rounded cd/mp3 player [*]OpenOffice.org and Dia [*]A few network tools like ethereal [*]Racer and another kickass free game or two Basically never more than 2 of one type of app. I'm already familiar with fluxbox configs for menus, backgrounds, etc. I can write scripts and program a GUI for our own "control center". I would like it to all fit on to one bootable install CD, and I'd like a built in option to burn live cd using the options / configs that the current user has (that is to say if userA hits "Make Bootable Live CD" it will come out with his desktop, bookmarks, passwords, etc. He'd be root of that live cd). Obviously this is all negotiable with the "board", but remember that it can be frustrating if some guy's screaming GNOME! while another's shouting KDE! I'm up to it, as long as there's order in the court and we agree on making it somewhat different from all the "include everything" distros like red hat, mdk, slackware, SuSE, etc. It should have server stuff too, but why reinvent the wheel, right? No need to try making a firewall distro when devil-linux or gibraltar do it so well ;) What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
static Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 PS My band could make some sounds to choose from for when X starts up :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HJ Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 I'd be interested. Although I don't know what it is I could do... But if there is, I would love to.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 I'm interested. I had this idea very recently, too. Must be something in the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Interested, yes.. interested to help, maybe.. that depends on your vision of what kind of distro it is going to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Yep, i'll help. i've been wanting to do this sorta thing for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 Which is the best distro to learn? Answer, your own. :D But: Static has some good points and it needs careful planning. For instance, the gnome/kde descision should be made from day one for release 1. I'm not saying it would only ever support one but you'd have to be realistic! More fundamental, what is this distro aimed at? Speed/Gaming or stability/server. Gentoo-like install from source or pre-compiled binaries?? If its binaries RPM or APT...? portage-alike? I like most of the stuff Static wrote down though I'd leave out the games. Thats's just me but I'd do a CD2 for games later. I like the liveCD idea too. Aside: Ive been wondering what to do for my XBOX in terms of distro and leaning towards the live CD idea. Anyway, I think first thing is to firm up what kind of distro it is then hammer out details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah31 Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 do you even realize how much work it would be ? you have to learn init scripts, have very strong base in understanding C/C++ and othe r languages, you have to design you package manger (if you are having one) then have another app that can automate you packahing procedure, you should know how tho deal with PAM, evetually integrate secure packages, you have to have servers and know the ins and outs of all administration of those servers, determine who is to be in control of those server and the write acces to them, etc. i am not trying to discourage you but it is ALOT ALOT ALOT of work. I am only a package manger for arch linux but i could easily spend 8 hours a day just maintaining packages. i consider myself fairly knowledgable but there is no way in the world that i would ever consider taking on the task of making my own distro. just some words of caution. like a business i think you should do alot of research to see if you are even capable of taking on the task you are thinking of. talk to other developers (ie i am sure, if you can corner him one night apeiro (judd) the main arch developer would be willing to discuss what needs to be done) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonChild Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 making distros can be hard Or easy. people made a lot of work on them, and since all the work is GPL, you can use it. I had the idea myself too in the past, but it was different. I wanted a distro that I could install at school at our computers. That means consistency, LSB, ease of use, and above all, a single application to a single task. ie. Mozilla as a browser only, OpenOffice only as an office suite, sylpheed, etc But not a huge range of applications. I want it to look like a windows box when you first install it, so people can instantly have a usable system, but they should have the ability to upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah31 Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 actually not all the work on distros is GPL. alot of the major distros handy tools and installers are all closed source. i also strongly strongly strongly disagree that making a distro is easy. i doubt any developer would tell you that. just ry maintaining a four package plus tree for several months on your own. try packaging up gnome. building from source OpenOffice.org. another thing that i don't and will not ever agree with or follow is LSB. i am all for standardization but sometimes the implimentation of standards get all muddled up. LSB is one of those muddling of standards. (So is the CGC in comic collecting as another example.) I am glad that the distros i like or am interested in do not comply with LSB and never will. just my 2 canadian cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 16, 2003 Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 I think the first thing is to define what will be in the distro. Will it be an all encompassing one or limited and targetted. I think as someone else said the thrown everything in distro's are already done. As much as anything this will be a learning experience fotr anyone involved. Personally I think a LiveCD distro might be a good start. Also I know i have a vested interest but perhaps a specific hardware support like the XBOX. Suggestions on this are: XBOX server - ie. running network services like proxy, samba and routing. Sort of a server in a box. Obviously the multimedia machine is also dying to be done specifically for this. Sarah points out how much work it is and I agree so I think if we (you them us) do it its better to start off with something easy at first and then plan expansion later. Anyway, not saying that it should be XBOX but it seems that or similar is a good starting point. The reason Im saying this is I was looking at the Gentoo stuff for Xbox. As the guy said he took the basic scripts and 'just' compiled everything specifically. Quite a buit of work just doing that! The Mandrake XBOX development seems to have been abandoned ... Another source of inspiration was Movix ........ As they say, they just ..... but still a lot of work. I think something very targetted but basic to start with until developers and maintainers get the idea would be the easiest start-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted June 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2003 wow, lots of replies...didn't get to read them all...i'll post this afternoon with some info on what i was thinking (or "envisioning")...right now, gotta get ready for work :) oh, a few notes: static: yes, "my" would become "our" in the case that people join in :-) sarah31: i know it would be a ton of work, that's why i'm askin' for some help from people here :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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