User Feedback :: Moving Forward - What's Your Desire?
I also voted for upgrading DSL to 2.4.34.
Slightly off-topic, but Roberts, how is DSL actually done? I mean, is it a dedicated HD-install somewhere, which you modify, and when happy, just do a mkisofs in the root dir?
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Slightly off-topic, but Roberts, how is DSL actually done? I mean, is it a dedicated HD-install somewhere, which you modify, and when happy, just do a mkisofs in the root dir?
No. Over the years I have modified several scripts that allow much automation of the currently four DSL images based on, what I call, the working directory method of remastering. This allows me to perform such from any published DSL CDROM and a mounted ext2 partition both direct access and chroot.
I usually test new additions on a live or frugal environment.
The only time when I rely on a full traditional hard drive installation is when I upgrade the kernel and modules. This I always do at runlevel 2.
Both of which, remastering and kernel building, can be on the same machine or networked machines.
I never want to have "all my marbles" tied to a particular machine.Thanks. That clarified it.I raise my hand for 2.4.34 on a tiny core. There is a fad in Linux right now to take large distros and make a 'Lite' version. These are already covering the 2.6 kernel niches. I don't see a reason for DSL to add to that list.
If RS went this route then I guess the question would be how small to make the core and what version of Debian to base it on? I'm talking over my head here.
I have always felt that a small core with apps added over unionfs and uci is the strength of Robert's DSL development. Why include an old Firefox in the base when someone is going to immediately grab a Firefox uci to get a newer version? That's just an example.
Make the core small and turn the apps over to the community. If someone wants to run kdelibs over unionfs, then let them do it.
ChrisHey lucky13, I like your blog post on DSL's future. You make some good points.
I run DSL two ways. One, as a primary operating system (frugal install) on older hardware that I want to use as a Server. I add a couple of MyDSL packages and poof, I have my music/web/webcam/samba/file/you-name-it server up and running. I find it a great way to re-use old hardware. I like that it has a low resource GUI interface so I don't have to remember all the command line mumbo-jumbo when I'm making changes.
Secondly, I run DSL as a temporary operating system (via usb stick or live CD) on more current hardware. Usually, I only do this to demonstrate Linux to others or do some repair work when the primary operating system on that machine will not boot.
I think if people are looking for a primary operating system on newer hardware they'll probably go with something like Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora, etc
Why did I first pick DSL? I was interested in learning Linux, I had some old hardware to experiment with and I was tired of downloading large distributions only to find out that they didn't work with my hardware or they were too complicated for me to understand. DSL was a quick download and the Live-CD feature let me get Linux up and running in no time. After that the forum community support and the MyDSL modules kept me around.
My vote:
1 - Stay with the 2.4 Kernel, with updates to .34, for at least another year, then re-evaluate the user base... eventually “newer” hardware becomes “older” hardware. 2 - Remove applications as needed to make space for more hardware support. Firefox was a real slick thing to have in a 50mb distribution but if I can download it as an add-on and still have Dillo in the base, that's fine. 3 - Don't worry about having to fit on a mini-cd. Heck, I think 64 meg usb sticks are easier to find and cheaper then mini-cd's in some locations. Don't let the size get too large but I don't think many people will leave DSL if it becomes a 60 or 70 meg download. 4 - Don't kill yourself putting out release updates. If you can do two or three releases a year, that would be great. I would hate to see Robert/John get burned out. I know it's a labor of love for them but I don't want them to be under the pressure of a new release every other month, unless that's what they want.
